A Model Combining Testosterone, Androstenedione and Free Testosterone Index Improved the Diagnostic Efficiency of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Hyperandrogenism is frequently observed in patients with polycystic ovary (PCO). The purpose of this study was to develop an easy-to-use tool for predicting polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and to evaluate and compare the value of androstenedione (Andro) and other hormone indicators in the diagnosis of patients with hyperandrogenic PCOS. METHODS: This study included 139 women diagnosed with hyperandrogenic PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria and 74 healthy control women from Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital. The serum hormone levels of the patients and controls were measured using a chemiluminescence immunoassay and incorporated for further analysis. RESULTS: Total testosterone (TT), Andro, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and free androgen index (FAI) were significantly higher in the PCOS group than the control group. Further, Andro, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), TT, FAI, and LH/FSH in the hyperandrostenedione group were higher than the normal Andro group. The Youden index was the highest for Andro (0.65), with 81.82% sensitivity and 83.16% specificity. Correlation analysis showed that FSH, LH, TT, FAI, insulin sensitivity index, and LH/FSH were positively correlated with Andro, while fasting blood glucose and 2-hour postprandial blood glucose were negatively correlated with Andro. CONCLUSIONS: The model using Andro, TT, and FAI may help to identifying women with undiagnosed PCOS. Serum Andro is a meaningful biomarker for hyperandrogenism in PCOS patients and may further aid disease diagnosis.

TGF-ß3 Induces Autophagic Activity by Increasing ROS Generation in a NOX4-Dependent Pathway.

Higher concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been associated with epithelial cell damage, cell shedding, and airway hyperresponsiveness. Previous studies have indicated that transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß) mediates ROS production and NADPH oxidase (NOX) activity. In our previous study, we also observed that TGF-ß3 increases mucus secretion in airway epithelial cells in an autophagy-dependent fashion. Although it is well known that the relationship between ROS and autophagy is cell context-dependent, the exact mechanism of action remains unclear. The following study examined whether ROS act as upstream of autophagy activation in response to TGF-ß3 induction. Using an allergic inflammation mouse model induced by house dust mite (HDM), we observed elevated lung amounts of TGF-ß3 accompanied by increased ROS levels. And we found that ROS levels were elevated and NOX4 expression was increased in TGF-ß3-induced epithelial cells, while the lack of NOX4 in the epithelial cells could reduce ROS generation and autophagy-dependent MUC5AC expression treated with TGF-ß3. Furthermore, our studies demonstrated that the Smad2/3 pathway was involved in TGF-ß3-induced ROS generation by promoting NOX4 expression. The inhibition of ROS generation by N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) resulted in a decrease in mucus expression and autophagy activity in vivo as well as in vitro. Finally, TGF-ß3-neutralizing antibody significantly reduced the ROS generation, mucus expression, and autophagy activity and also decreased the phosphorylation of Smad2 and Smad3. Taken together, the obtained results revealed that persistent TGF-ß3 activation increased ROS levels in a NOX4-dependent pathway and subsequently induced autophagy as well as MUC5AC expression in the epithelial cells.

[Localized Scleroderma of Lower Extremities:Clinical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical and musculoskeletal characteristics of localized scleroderma with lower extremities affected. METHODS: All the localized scleroderma patients,who received magnetic resonance (MR ) examinations of affected lower extremities at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from April 2013 to June 2014,were retrospectively reviewed. Their clinical data and laboratory results of antinuclear antibody,anti-double stranded-DNA antibody, and anti-extractable nuclear antigen antibody were collected and analyzed. All the MR examinations were non-contrast imaging using Siemens Skyra 3.0T MR scanner. RESULTS: There were 16 localized scleroderma patients with lower extremities affected, 11 of whom were linear scleroderma, 4 generalized morphea, and 1 deep morphea. Female to male ratio was 1:2.2. The mean age was 22.5 years. The mean time span was 7.4 years. Four of the 14 patients (28.6%) who received antinuclear antibody test were positive. All the 10 patients who received anti-double stranded-DNA antibody test and the 7 patients who received anti-extractable nuclear antigen antibody test were negative. The most common musculoskeletal MR features were subcutaneous septal thickening (16/16) and fascial thickening (11/16). The thickened speta and fascia could either be hypointenstiy or hyperintensity on turbo inversion recovery magnitude/proton density weighted imaging. Other MR manifestations were intramuscular speta thickening (3/16), muscular abnormal signals (1/16), and bone marrow abnormal signals (2/16). CONCLUSION: Musculoskeletal manifestations of the lower extremities with localized scleroderma can be well revealed using MR imaging.

Study on the Expression and Potential Function of LncRNA in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis.

BACKGROUND: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune disease that has the characteristics of difficult early diagnosis and a high disability rate. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to further explore the possible mechanism and potential function of lncRNA in AS. METHODS: We used lncRNA microarray technology to detect the expression of lncRNA and mRNA in patients with active AS, stable patients, and healthy controls (HC). Afterward, bioinformatics analysis was conducted on differentially expressed genes. Seven differentially expressed lncRNAs were screened out for real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), combined with various clinical indicators for correlation analysis, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the potential of lncRNA as a diagnostic marker for AS. RESULTS: The results showed that the expression levels of NR-037662 and ENST00000599316 in the AS subgroups were significantly higher than those in the HC group, while the expression levels of ENST00000577914 and ENST00000579003 were lower than those in the HC group. The expression levels of NR-003542 and ENST00000512051 in the ASA group were significantly higher than those in the ASS and HC groups, while NR-026756 was just the opposite. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that the expression level of NR-003542 was positively correlated with Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), and high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP). The expression level of NR-026756 was negatively correlated with the Bath Ankylosing Spine Inflammatory Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), BASFI, ESR, hsCRP, and globulin (GLOB). In addition, it was also found that the ROC curve analysis of the 4 lncRNAs between the AS group (ASA group and ASS group) and the HC group were statistically significant, and the area under the curve (AUC) of NR-037662, ENST00000599316, ENST00000577914, and ENST00000579003 was 0.804, 0.812, 0.706, and 0.698, respectively. CONCLUSION: It was found that these differentially expressed lncRNAs of AS may be involved in the occurrence and development of the disease. Among them, NR-037662, ENST00000599316, ENST00000577914, and ENST00000579003 might have the potential to become AS diagnostic molecular markers. Moreover, NR -003542, ENST00000512051, and NR-026756 might have the potential to be indicators of disease activity.

[Clinical and pathologic characteristics of patients with scleredema].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical and pathologic characteristics of patients with scleredema. METHOD: The clinical and pathologic data of 67 outpatients with scleredema who were admitted to PUMC Hospital from 1982 to 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Neck and upper back lesions were detected in all patients, but no hand or foot involvement was noted. Among 54 patients who received serum immunoglobulin examination, 19 (35.2%) showed abnormal serum immunoglobulin results. Among 67 patients, 22 (32.8%) had concomitant diabetes mellitus. Alcian blue staining was performed in 35 patients, among whom 23 (65.7%) had positive results and 12 (34.3%) had negative results. CONCLUSIONS: Scleredema may have systemic involvements in addition to skin lesions. Patients with scleredema also tends to have concomitant diabetes mellitus. Alcian blue staining is not sufficient to differentiate scleredema and scleroderma.

[Clinical characteristics of patients with juvenile localized scleroderma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics of juvenile localized scleroderma (JLS). METHODS: The clinical data of 100 outpatients with JLS who were admitted to PUMC Hospital from 2000 to 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Of a total of 100 cases, 51 (51%) were confirmed as linear scleroderma, 26 (26%) as plaque morphea, 26 (26%) as deep morphea, 12 (12%) as generalized morphea, and 15 (15%) as a mixed subtype. Nine patients (9%) had family histories of rheumatic or autoimmune diseases, while 16 (16%) might be triggered by unknown factors. Totally 84 patients underwent antinuclear antibody tests and 38 patients (45.2%) had positive results. CONCLUSIONS: Linear scleroderma are the most frequent subtype of JLS. Localized scleroderma may be associated with some autoimmune-related causes.

Discussion on the theoretical thinking of fire-needling treatment of patients with stroke flaccid paralysis based on Tongjing Roujin therapy / 国际中医中药杂志

Stroke flaccid paralysis is stroke patients with abnormal physical movement function and muscle tone decline as the main performance and is a kind of common pathological state after apoplectic stroke. The longer the flaccid paralysis is, the worse the prognosis. The theory of TCM holds that stroke is mainly due to "deficiency, wind, fire, phlegm, stasis, qi", and when the pathogenic factor accumulate and block the meridians, which would cause blood stagnation, muscle and tendon damage and flaccidity, resulting in stroke paralysis. Therefore, it is necessary to set up the "Tongjing Roujin" (stimulating the muscle and nourishing the tendon) as its main treatment. Fire-needling has the effect of stimulating muscle, warming yang, nourishing tendon, and relieving pain in the treatment of stroke flaccid paralysis. It can warm yang and dissipate cold, replenish and nourish meridian qi, release muscle nodules, promote the circulation of qi and blood, and nourish all limbs and bones. Fire-needling therapy can promote the recovery of neural pathway, strengthen local metabolism, improve local muscle tension, and thus restore limb function. The high-quality clinical research, acupoint selection rules, and standardized operating techniques of fire-needling treatment for stroke flaccid paralysis need to be further deepened.

Targeting cAMP in D1-MSNs in the nucleus accumbens, a new rapid antidepressant strategy

Studies have suggested that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is implicated in the pathophysiology of major depression; however, the regulatory strategy that targets the NAc to achieve an exclusive and outstanding anti-depression benefit has not been elucidated. Here, we identified a specific reduction of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in the subset of dopamine D1 receptor medium spiny neurons (D1-MSNs) in the NAc that promoted stress susceptibility, while the stimulation of cAMP production in NAc D1-MSNs efficiently rescued depression-like behaviors. Ketamine treatment enhanced cAMP both in D1-MSNs and dopamine D2 receptor medium spiny neurons (D2-MSNs) of depressed mice, however, the rapid antidepressant effect of ketamine solely depended on elevating cAMP in NAc D1-MSNs. We discovered that a higher dose of crocin markedly increased cAMP in the NAc and consistently relieved depression 24 h after oral administration, but not a lower dose. The fast onset property of crocin was verified through multicenter studies. Moreover, crocin specifically targeted at D1-MSN cAMP signaling in the NAc to relieve depression and had no effect on D2-MSN. These findings characterize a new strategy to achieve an exclusive and outstanding anti-depression benefit by elevating cAMP in D1-MSNs in the NAc, and provide a potential rapid antidepressant drug candidate, crocin.

Inhibitory effects of Galidesivir(BCX4430)on rabies virus in vitro / 中国人兽共患病学报

This study analyzed the inhibitory effects of BCX4430 on rabies virus with different virulence(CVS-11 and SC16)in vitro.Direct immunofluorescence(DFA),quantitative real-time PCR and half tissue culture infective dose(TCID50)assays were used.BCX4430(250 pmol/L),compared with T-705,significantly decreased the viral titer and the relative expres-sion level of viral mRNA,similarly to the inhibitory effects of ribavirin.Thus,our study demonstrated that BCX4430 signifi-cantly inhibits the replication of rabies virus in vitro.

Intraocular pressure distribution and reference interval of high-altitude eye health screening population from Xining, Qinghai / 中华实验眼科杂志

Objective:To investigate the distribution of intraocular pressure (IOP) in high-altitude population aged 18 years and over in Xining, Qinghai and establish the reference interval (RI) of IOP.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in Xining, Qinghai Province at 2.271 km above sea level from September 2019 to May 2020.Ophthalmic examinations and IOP measurement were conducted among subjects from Physical Examination Center of Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital.The subjects who had been living in Xining without leaving for three months were enrolled.Ophthalmic examinations included vision examination, IOP measurement, slit-lamp microscopy, fundus photography, anterior and posterior segment optical coherence tomography.IOP was measured using Goldmann applanation tonometry under local anesthesia.Subjects with factors that could cause significant changes in IOP and affect the accuracy of IOP measurement, and those who were unable to receive IOP measurement were excluded.Subjects were grouped according to sex, age and ethnicity, and the distribution and RI of IOP were compared among all groups.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University (No.TRECKY2017-024). Written informed consent was obtained from each subject.Results:A total of 6 120 subjects (6 120 eyes) aged 18-90 years old were enrolled, including 2 850 males and 3 270 females with average age of (45.54±13.85) years.The average IOP of high-altitude population in Xining, Qinghai Province was (14.32±1.93) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), with the RI of 10.54-18.10 mmHg.The average IOP was (14.42±1.98) mmHg in male with the RI of 10.54-18.30 mmHg, (14.23±1.88) mmHg in female with the RI of 10.55-17.91 mmHg.The IOP of male was higher than that of female ( t=3.71, P<0.001). The IOP of Han, Tibetan, Hui and other nationalities were (14.38±1.91), (13.93±2.06), (14.21±1.87), (13.94±1.95) mmHg, respectively, with a statistically significant overall difference ( F=6.73, P<0.001). The IOP of Han nationality was significantly higher than that of Tibetan, Hui and other nationalities, and the differences were statistically significant (all at P<0.05). Conclusions:RI of IOP in high-altitude population from Xining, Qinghai is lower compared with normal altitude area.

Investigation of ABO and RhD blood groups in childbearing age people in rural areas of Yunnan Province / 中华预防医学杂志

The participants in this study were 20-49 years old rural childbearing age people who received the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project (NFPHEP) in Yunnan Province during 2013 to 2019. The proportion of ABO and RhD blood groups among different ethnic groups and different areas were calculated. The proportion of 2 748 131 participants with blood group A phenotype was highest (32.60%), followed by O (30.60%), B (27.33%) and AB (9.47%). In the RhD blood system, the proportion of the RhD positivity (RhD+) and RhD negativity (RhD-) group were 99.29% and 0.71% respectively. The proportions blood groups were significantly different among ethnic groups and areas (all P<0.001). Among 18 ethnic groups with more than 3 000 participants, Yao (42.75%), Bouyei (40.58%) and Dai (40.37%) ethnic groups had higher proportion of blood group O phenotype than other ethnic groups. Wa ethnic groups had highest proportion of the A (40.15%) and AB phenotypes (11.23%). Miao ethnic group (34.70%) and Lahu ethnic group (34.42%) had higher proportion of blood group B phenotype than other ethnic groups. Wa ethnic group had the highest proportion of RhD-group (1.88%). In all 16 prefectures of Yunnan, the proportion of blood group O phenotype was highest in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture (40.27%). Baoshan city (36.39%), Lincang city (36.22%) and Dali Bai autonomous prefecture (36.06%) had higher proportion of blood group A phenotype than other regions. Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (30.83%) and Qujing city (30.48%) had higher proportion of blood group B phenotype than other areas, while Zhaotong city had a highest proportion of blood group AB phenotype (11.19%). The proportion of RhD-group was highest in Honghe hani and Yi nationality autonomous prefecture(1.37%). The A RhD+(39.36%), A RhD-(0.78%), AB RhD+(11.03%), AB RhD-(0.20%) and O RhD-(0.48%) blood groups were higher proportion in Wa ethnic group than in other ethnic groups (P<0.001).

Investigation and analysis on the detection of IgG antibodies against the rubella virus among rural childbearing-age women in preconception period in Yunnan Province from 2013 to 2019 / 中华预防医学杂志

A study was conducted on rural women of childbearing age aged 20-49 who underwent the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project (NFPHEP)in Yunnan Province from 2013 to 2019. Descriptive analysis was conducted to determine the negative rate of IgG antibodies against the rubella virus and its differences among various socio-demographic characteristics. Among the 1 511 203 study subjects, the negative rate of IgG antibodies against the rubella virus was 24.36%. Only 2.64% of the population had received rubella virus vaccine. The negative rate of IgG antibodies among rural childbearing-age women in the preconception period in Yunnan Province decreased with age and educational level (Ptrend<0.001). The negative rate of IgG antibodies in ethnic minority women of childbearing age in the preconception period (25.19%) was higher than that of Han women (23.88%). Among the 22 ethnic groups with over 1 000 participants, the negative rates of IgG antibodies in women of childbearing age from the Blang (32.85%), Bouyei (31.03%), Zhuang (31.01%), and Miao (30.70%) ethnic groups were higher than those of women from other ethnic groups. Among the 16 states (cities) in Yunnan Province, the negative rate of IgG antibodies in pregnant women of childbearing age in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (38.06%) and Lincang City (32.63%) was higher than that in other states (cities). The negative rate of serum IgG antibodies in women who reported having received rubella virus vaccine (18.60%) was lower than that in other non-vaccinated populations (24.52%). The proportion of rural women of childbearing age in Yunnan Province who were susceptible to the rubella virus before pregnancy was still high. It is necessary to promote rubella vaccination among people susceptible to rubella, especially pregnant women, to prevent rubella virus infection and reduce the incidence rate and disease burden of rubella people.

Investigation and analysis on the detection of IgG antibodies against the rubella virus among rural childbearing-age women in preconception period in Yunnan Province from 2013 to 2019 / 中华预防医学杂志

A study was conducted on rural women of childbearing age aged 20-49 who underwent the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project (NFPHEP)in Yunnan Province from 2013 to 2019. Descriptive analysis was conducted to determine the negative rate of IgG antibodies against the rubella virus and its differences among various socio-demographic characteristics. Among the 1 511 203 study subjects, the negative rate of IgG antibodies against the rubella virus was 24.36%. Only 2.64% of the population had received rubella virus vaccine. The negative rate of IgG antibodies among rural childbearing-age women in the preconception period in Yunnan Province decreased with age and educational level (Ptrend<0.001). The negative rate of IgG antibodies in ethnic minority women of childbearing age in the preconception period (25.19%) was higher than that of Han women (23.88%). Among the 22 ethnic groups with over 1 000 participants, the negative rates of IgG antibodies in women of childbearing age from the Blang (32.85%), Bouyei (31.03%), Zhuang (31.01%), and Miao (30.70%) ethnic groups were higher than those of women from other ethnic groups. Among the 16 states (cities) in Yunnan Province, the negative rate of IgG antibodies in pregnant women of childbearing age in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (38.06%) and Lincang City (32.63%) was higher than that in other states (cities). The negative rate of serum IgG antibodies in women who reported having received rubella virus vaccine (18.60%) was lower than that in other non-vaccinated populations (24.52%). The proportion of rural women of childbearing age in Yunnan Province who were susceptible to the rubella virus before pregnancy was still high. It is necessary to promote rubella vaccination among people susceptible to rubella, especially pregnant women, to prevent rubella virus infection and reduce the incidence rate and disease burden of rubella people.

Moving Object Detection Using Tensor-Based Low-Rank and Saliently Fused-Sparse Decomposition.

In this paper, we propose a new low-rank and sparse representation model for moving object detection. The model preserves the natural space-time structure of video sequences by representing them as three-way tensors. Then, it operates the low-rank background and sparse foreground decomposition in the tensor framework. On the one hand, we use the tensor nuclear norm to exploit the spatio-temporal redundancy of background based on the circulant algebra. On the other, we use the new designed saliently fused-sparse regularizer (SFS) to adaptively constrain the foreground with spatio-temporal smoothness. To refine the existing foreground smooth regularizers, the SFS incorporates the local spatio-temporal geometric structure information into the tensor total variation by using the 3D locally adaptive regression kernel (3D-LARK). What is more, the SFS further uses the 3D-LARK to compute the space-time motion saliency of foreground, which is combined with the l1 norm and improves the robustness of foreground extraction. Finally, we solve the proposed model with globally optimal guarantee. Extensive experiments on challenging well-known data sets demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches and works effectively on a wide range of complex scenarios.

Affinity transfer of nanobodies to a CDR3 only single-domain antibody fragment NBL42 / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To evaluate the potential of a previously identified CDR3 only single-domain antibodies (sdAbs) fragment, NBL42, as a general framework for affinity transfer.Methods:The H3 loops of VHH-A4(A4), VHH-H5(H5), cAb-Lys3(L3) and B6H12 which bind with alliinase, PD-1, lysozyme and CD47, respectively, were grafted into the corresponding loop of NBL42. The genes of the reconstituted CDR3 only sdAbs were synthesized, expressed in E. coliand purified with Ni 2+ column affinity chromatography. The antigen binding and stability of the recombinant CDR3 only sdAbs were assayed by ELISA. Results:The recombinant NBL42-A4CDR3, NBL42-H5CDR3, NBL42-L3CDR3 and NBL42-B6H12CDR3 ran as a single peak at 15, 15, 28 and 16 kDa, respectively, in SDS-PAGE as expected molecular weight. Grafted sdAbs NBL42-A4CDR3 and NBL42-H5CDR3 expressed in a soluble form and specifically bind with alliinase and PD-1, respectively, but lost about 50% of their binding activity. In contrast, the grafted sdAbs NBL42-Lys3CDR3 and NBL42-B6H12CDR3 completely lost their antigen binding capacity. NBL42 sdAbs and grafted sdAbs NBL42-A4CDR3 and NBL42-H5CDR3 retain roughly half of their binding activity after 90 ℃ heat treatment, indicating high stability. The C88Y mutation in NBL42 and the Swiss Mode 3D model predicted that the C88Y residue in FR3 may play a key role in NBL42 stability and CDR3 affinity transfer.Conclusions:The structure of NBL42 has potential as a framework for CDR3 transplantation and affinity transfer.

Lumazine synthase displayed poly-nanobodies for detection of soluble PD-L1 in human serum / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To established a method for the detection of soluble programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein in serum based on the poly nanoantibody of lumazine synthase(LS).Methods:A dual nanobody-based sandwich ELISA was established with a competitive ELISA to screen nanobodies recognizing different epitopes of PD-L1 as paired antibodies. To improve sensitivity, PD-L1 nanobody P3C8 and lumazine synthase(LS) were fused, and nanobodies were obtained in polymeric forms as sPD-L1 protein captures, so as to develop an LS-displayed polymeric nanobody-based sandwich ELISA (LSNbs-ELISA) method to detect sPD-L1.Results:Compared with the Nbs-ELISA method, the LSNbs-ELISA method is approximately 11-fold more sensitive for sPD-L1 detection. The limit of detections (LODs) of Nbs-ELISA and LSNbs-ELISA for sPD-L1 in serum were 2.87 ng/ml and 0.255 ng/ml, respectively. Both assays were highly specific for the detection of sPD-L1 and did not react with structure-related proteins PD-1, CD27, CD70, CD137, and CD147 when spiked into the human serum.Conclusions:The Nbs-ELISA and LSNbs-ELISA assays both have high sensitivity and specificity for detecting sPD-L1 in serum and could have potential clinical applications.

Preparation of anti-VirB12 nanoantibodies, a surface protein of type Ⅳ secretory system of Brucella / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Objective:To prepare camel-derived nanoantibodies that can bind to the recombinant protein VirB12 antigen with high affinity and lay the foundation for further research.Methods:Xinjiang Bactrian camels were immunized six times with VirB12 recombinant protein, total RNA was extracted from lymphocytes isolated from peripheral blood, and the VHH gene fragment was amplified by nested PCR to construct a phage VHH display library. ELISA solid-phase affinity and enrichment methods were used for screening. After three rounds of affinity screening, the clones enriched in the second and third rounds were randomly picked out, and the binding of a nanoantibody with soluble expression to VirB12 was analyzed by ELISA. After sequence determination and multiple alignment, repetitive sequences were removed, and finally five non-redundant sequences were obtained, which were named D1, E6, H8, H9, and H10. The five identified nanoantibody genes were transformed into the WK6 strain, and the soluble expression of an intercellular substance was carried out at 16 °C. After purified expression of Ni-NTA, the binding ability and thermal stability of nanoantibodies and the antigen VirB12 protein were detected by Western Blot and ELISA.Results:Five strains of nanoantibodies were expressed in WK6 bacteria in soluble form. SDS-PAGE showed that the purity of five anti-VirB12 nanoantibodies was close to 90%, and they had high antigen-binding activity and obvious antigen-antibody concentration dependence. All four strains of nanoantibodies showed high thermal stability, and after being treated at 90 ℃, they could still retain more than 60% binding activity.Conclusions:In the study, a VHH phage display library with a capacity of 2.8×10 8 cfu/ml was constructed from Xinjiang Bactrian camel lymphocytes immunized with VirB12 recombinant protein. Five anti-VirB12 nanoantibodies with high affinity and thermal stability were obtained through solid-phase screening and enrichment and soluble monoclonal ELISA detection. These results laid the foundation for further development of VirB12 nanoantibodies.

Joint Hierarchical Category Structure Learning and Large-Scale Image Classification.

We investigate the scalable image classification problem with a large number of categories. Hierarchical visual data structures are helpful for improving the efficiency and performance of large-scale multi-class classification. We propose a novel image classification method based on learning hierarchical inter-class structures. Specifically, we first design a fast algorithm to compute the similarity metric between categories, based on which a visual tree is constructed by hierarchical spectral clustering. Using the learned visual tree, a test sample label is efficiently predicted by searching for the best path over the entire tree. The proposed method is extensively evaluated on the ILSVRC2010 and Caltech 256 benchmark datasets. The experimental results show that our method obtains significantly better category hierarchies than other state-of-the-art visual tree-based methods and, therefore, much more accurate classification.

Bioaccessibility analysis of active components in Salvia miltiorrhiza / 药学学报

In this study, a method for simultaneous quantitative analysis of 6 salvianolic acids and 4 tanshinones in extracts of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma was established by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). The semi-biomimetic method was applied to simulate digestion process in vitro, to explore the digestion and transport characters of oral administration through the gastrointestinal tract, and to explain the content ratio changes and bioaccessibility of active ingredients in Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. The results showed that the 10 index components have a good linear relationship in the corresponding concentration range, and the average recovery rate was 91.35% to 105.65%. After simulated digestion in vitro, types of chemical composition in simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid digested extracts of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma did not change significantly. While the content ratio of salvianolic acid B and rosmarinic acid decreased, and the content ratio of protocatechuic aldehyde and danshensu increased. In the simulated gastric fluid digestion extract of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, the order of bioaccessibility was: danshensu (50.19%) > salvianolic acid B (33.44%) > lithospermic acid (27.34%) > salvianolic acid A (21.71%) > rosmarinic acid (12.31%). In the simulated intestinal fluid digestion extract of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, the order of bioaccessibility was: 15,16-dihydrotanshinone Ⅰ (5.45%) > tanshinone Ⅰ (3.67%) > cryptotanshinone (3.29%) > tanshinone ⅡA (3.01%) > salvianolic acid A (2.39%) > lithospermic acid (1.57%) > salvianolic acid B (1.02%) > danshensu (0.41%) > rosmarinic acid (0.34%). In conclusion, the UHPLC method established in this study can be applied for accurately and sensitively detecting the contents of 6 salvianolic acids and 4 tanshinones in Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. The results of semi-biomimetic extraction showed that not all components were extracted with simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid, especially rosmarinic acid and salvianolic acid B. Therefore, in the quality study of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and its extract, bioavailability should be considered at the same time when select quality markers and determine their content limits.