The Role of H. pylori CagA in Regulating Hormones of Functional Dyspepsia Patients.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori, Hp) colonizes the stomachs of approximately 20%-80% of humans throughout the world. The Word Healthy Organization (WHO) classified H. pylori as a group 1 carcinogenic factor in 1994. Recently, an increasing number of studies has shown an association between H. pylori infection and various extragastric diseases. Functional dyspepsia (FD) is considered a biopsychosocial disorder with multifactorial pathogenesis, and studies have shown that infection with CagA-positive H. pylori strains could explain some of the symptoms of functional dyspepsia. Moreover, CagA-positive H. pylori strains have been shown to affect the secretion of several hormones, including 5-HT, ghrelin, dopamine, and gastrin, and altered levels of these hormones might be the cause of the psychological disorders of functional dyspepsia patients. This review describes the mutual effects of H. pylori and hormones in functional dyspepsia and provides new insight into the pathogenesis of functional dyspepsia.

Adipose-derived stem cells: A candidate for liver regeneration.

The scarcity of donor livers and the impracticality of hepatocyte transplantation represent the biggest obstacles for the treatment of liver failure. Adipose-derived stem cells, with their ability to differentiate into the hepatic lineage, provide a reliable alternative cell source with clear ethical and practical advantages. Moreover, adipose-derived stem cells can effectively repair liver damage by the dominant indirect pattern and increase the number of hepatocytes by the secondary direct pattern. In recent years, the development of the indirect pattern, which mainly includes immunomodulatory and trophic effects, has become a hot topic in the field of cell engineering. Therefore, adipose-derived stem cells are considered to be ideal therapeutic stem cells for human liver regeneration. In this article, we reviewed the advantages of adipose-derived stem cells in liver regeneration, and explore their underlying mechanisms.

[Water treatment efficiency of constructed wetland plant-bed/ditch systems].

Shijiuyang constructed wetland (SJY-CW) in Jiaxing City adopted plant-bed/ditch systems originated from the natural landscape as its major functioning unit. The constructed root channel technology (CRCT) is the core technique applied within the plant-bed/ditch systems. Monitoring results demonstrated that the wetland had the capability of improving water quality indexes by one rank grade according to the national environmental quality standards for surface water (GB 3838-2002). In order to optimize the water quality improvement function of plant-bed/ditch systems and CRCT, a pilot project in SJY-CW was constructed from May to October, 2010. The project contained 16 independent experimental cells. Orthogonal test design was applied to probe into the effects of constructed root channel layers, plant species combination, and reinforced physical substrates on promoting the water quality amelioration efficiency of the plant-bed/ditch systems. Comprehensively considering water treatment effects, construction difficulty, and construction and maintenance cost, the recommended optimal ways are as follows. Plant straws were preferably paved under subsurface zones by two layers with a gap of 20-30 cm. The preferable plant combination was reed (Phragmites australis) plus wild rice (Zizania caduciflora). Calcite might be applied as alternative reinforced media in some suitable sites of plant-bed/ditch systems. Water treatment effects were compared between pilot project and the whole wetland area of SJY-CW. The results showed that the reinforced pilot project exhibited higher treatment efficiency for nutrients than SJY-CW itself. The removal rates of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and ammonia nitrogen were increased by about 20% - 40% in the pilot project. This suggested that SJY-CW could release its vast water treatment potential by means of increasing water flux through the subsurface root channel zones of plant beds. Therefore, some adjustment and control measures could be proposed to maintain the tradeoff balance between the potential release and maximization of wetland treatment efficiency and the treated water amount, such as constructing or modifying the hydraulic structures to regulate flow amount through large ditch, redistributing water flow and increasing the water head difference between the two sides of alternate small ditches.

[Development characteristics of aquatic plants in a constructed wetland for treating urban drinking water source at its initial operation stage].

The development characteristics and improvement measures of aquatic plants were studied in Shijiuyang Constructed Wetland (SCW) at its initial operation stage. SCW was a large-scale wetland aiming to help relieve the source water pollution in Jiaxing City. A checklist of vascular plants in SCW was built, and species composition, life forms, biomass and association distributions were examined. Our objectives were to examine the diversity and community structure of aquatic plants in SCW at its initial operation stage, and to find out the possible hydrophyte improvement measures. The survey results showed that there were 49 vascular plant species belonging to 41 genera, 25 families in SCW, which greatly exceeded the artificially transplanted 13 species. The life forms of present aquatic plants in SCW were dominated by hygrophilous plants (20 species) and emerged plants (17 species), which accounted for 75.5% of the total number of aquatic plants. The aquatic plants transplanted artificially were dominated by emerged plants (accounted for 69.2%), while those naturally developed were predominated by hygrophilous plants (accounted for 47.2%). The horizontal distribution of aquatic plant community in SCW was mixed in the form of mosaics, which made up typical association complex. Except association Aeschynomene indica L., the dominant species of other associations were all those transplanted artificially. The naturally grown species scattered throughout the SCW and only occupied a small percentage. A marked difference was detected on the species and species richness of aquatic plants in different regions of SCW. Biomass of aquatic plant associations in SCW was 167.7 t. SCW has shown a trend of succession heading for quick increase of plant diversity at the primary operation stage. This trend provides a good material base for the future stable community of aquatic plants in SCW. According to the current status of aquatic plants, some suggestions were put forward on the further optimization and utilization of aquatic plant systems in SCW.