Relationships between Secreted Aspartyl Proteinase 2 and General Control Nonderepressible 4 gene in the Candida albicans resistant to itraconazole under planktonic and biofilm conditions.

This study aimed to explore the roles of SAP2 and GCN4 in itraconazole (ITR) resistance of C. albicans under different conditions, and their correlations. A total of 20 clinical strains of C. albicans, including 10 ITR resistant strains and 10 sensitive strains, were used. Then, SAP2 sequencing and GCN4 sequencing were performed, and the biofilm formation ability of different C. albicans strains was determined. Finally, real-time quantitative PCR was used to measure the expression of SAP2 and GCN4 in C. albicans under planktonic and biofilm conditions, as well as their correlation was also analyzed. No missense mutations and three synonymous mutation sites, including T276A, G543A, and A675C, were found in SAP2 sequencing. GCN4 sequencing showed one missense mutation site (A106T (T36S)) and six synonymous mutation sites (A147C, C426T, T513C, T576A, G624A and C732T). The biofilm formation ability of drug-resistant C. albicans strains was significantly higher than that of sensitive strains (P < 0.05). Additionally, SAP2 and GCN4 were up-regulated in the ITR-resistant strains, and were both significantly higher in C. albicans under biofilm condition. The mRNA expression levels of SAP2 and GCN4 had significantly positive correlation. The higher expression levels of SAP2 and GCN4 were observed in the ITR-resistant strains of C. albicans under planktonic and biofilm conditions, as well as there was a positive correlation between SAP2 and GCN4 mRNA expression.

Burden of lung cancer attributable to household air pollution in the Chinese female population: trend analysis from 1990 to 2019 and future predictions.

This study analyzes the long-term trend of the burden of lung cancer attributable to household air pollution in the Chinese female population, from 1990 to 2019, and make predictions for the next decade. Based the data from the 2019 Global Burden of Diseases (GBD 2019), the joinpoint regression model was used to reflect the temporal trend of the burden of lung cancer attributable to household air pollution, and an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used to predict the burden of disease over the next decade. From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rates of the Chinese female population were higher than the global rates, and the gap due to residential radon increased over time. The burden of lung cancer attributable to solid fuels has shown a significant downward trend while that due to residential radon has increased slightly overall, but remains lower than the former. The burden of lung cancer increased with age, and the peak age of DALYs rates changed from 70 < 75 years in 1990 to 75 < 80 years in 2019. The model predicted that the burden of lung cancer attributable to solid fuels will gradually decrease over the next decade, whereas the burden of lung cancer due to residential radon will gradually increase and surpass the burden due to solid fuels in 2023. Residential radon will become a more important factor of household air pollution than solid fuels in the next decade for the Chinese female population. Future interventions targeted at household air pollution are needed to reduce the burden of lung cancer.

Burden of lung cancer attributable to household air pollution in the Chinese female population: trend analysis from 1990 to 2019 and future predictions / Carga de doença devida a câncer de pulmão atribuível à poluição do ar domiciliar na população feminina chinesa: análise de tendências de 1990 a 2019 e previsões futuras / Carga de morbilidad del cáncer de pulmón atribuible a la contaminación del aire doméstico en la población femenina china: análisis de tendencias de 1990 a 2019 y predicciones futuras

This study analyzes the long-term trend of the burden of lung cancer attributable to household air pollution in the Chinese female population, from 1990 to 2019, and make predictions for the next decade. Based the data from the 2019 Global Burden of Diseases (GBD 2019), the joinpoint regression model was used to reflect the temporal trend of the burden of lung cancer attributable to household air pollution, and an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used to predict the burden of disease over the next decade. From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rates of the Chinese female population were higher than the global rates, and the gap due to residential radon increased over time. The burden of lung cancer attributable to solid fuels has shown a significant downward trend while that due to residential radon has increased slightly overall, but remains lower than the former. The burden of lung cancer increased with age, and the peak age of DALYs rates changed from 70 < 75 years in 1990 to 75 < 80 years in 2019. The model predicted that the burden of lung cancer attributable to solid fuels will gradually decrease over the next decade, whereas the burden of lung cancer due to residential radon will gradually increase and surpass the burden due to solid fuels in 2023. Residential radon will become a more important factor of household air pollution than solid fuels in the next decade for the Chinese female population. Future interventions targeted at household air pollution are needed to reduce the burden of lung cancer.

O objetivo do texto foi analisar a tendência a longo prazo da carga da doença devida a câncer de pulmão atribuível à poluição atmosférica domiciliar na população feminina chinesa de 1990 a 2019 e fazer previsões para a próxima década. Com base nos dados da Carga Global de Doenças 2019 (GBD 2019), o modelo de regressão joinpoint foi utilizado para refletir a tendência temporal da carga da doença devida a câncer de pulmão atribuível à poluição atmosférica domiciliar e um modelo autorregressivo de média móvel integrada (ARIMA), para prevê-la na próxima década. Entre 1990 e 2019, as taxas de mortalidade padronizada por idade e esperança de vida corrigida pela incapacidade (DALYs) da população feminina chinesa foram maiores do que as taxas globais e a diferença devido à exposição residencial a radônio aumentou ao longo do tempo. A carga da doença atribuível a combustíveis sólidos mostrou uma tendência significativa à queda, enquanto aquela devida à exposição residencial a radônio aumentou ligeiramente no geral, mas permanece menor que a primeira. A carga da doença aumentou com a idade, e a idade máxima das taxas de DALYs passou de 70 < 75 anos em 1990 para 75 < 80 anos em 2019. Nosso modelo previu que a carga da doença atribuível aos combustíveis sólidos diminuirá gradualmente na próxima década, enquanto a carga da doença devida ao radônio aumentará paulatinamente e superará a carga devida aos combustíveis sólidos em 2023. A exposição residencial ao radônio se tornará um fator mais importante à poluição atmosférica domiciliar para a população feminina chinesa do que os combustíveis sólidos na próxima década. Futuras intervenções direcionadas à poluição atmosférica domiciliar são necessárias para reduzir a carga do câncer de pulmão.

El objetivo fue analizar la tendencia a largo plazo de la carga de morbilidad del cáncer de pulmón atribuible a la contaminación del aire doméstico en la población femenina china de 1990 a 2019 y hacer predicciones para la próxima década. Según los datos de la Carga Global de Enfermedad de 2019 (GBD 2019), se utilizó el modelo de regresión joinpoint para reflejar la tendencia temporal de la carga de morbilidad pulmonar atribuible a la contaminación del aire doméstico y un modelo autorregresivo integrado de media móvil (ARIMA) para predecir la carga de morbilidad durante la próxima década. De 1990 a 2019, las tasas de mortalidad estandarizadas por edad y años de vida ajustados por discapacidad (AVAD) de la población femenina china fueron más altas que las tasas mundiales, y la brecha debida al radón residencial aumentó con el tiempo. La carga de morbilidad atribuible a los combustibles sólidos mostró una significativa tendencia decreciente, mientras que la del radón residencial aumentó ligeramente, pero en niveles inferiores a la anterior. La carga de morbilidad aumentó con la edad, y las tasas de edad máxima de AVAD cambiaron de 70 < 75 años en 1990 a 75 < 80 años en 2019. El modelo predijo que la carga de morbilidad atribuible a los combustibles sólidos disminuirá gradualmente durante la próxima década, mientras que la carga de morbilidad por radón residencial aumentará gradualmente y superará la carga debida a los combustibles sólidos en 2023. El radón residencial se convertirá en un factor más importante de contaminación del aire doméstico que los combustibles sólidos en la próxima década para la población femenina china. Se necesitan intervenciones futuras dirigidas a la contaminación del aire doméstico para reducir la carga del cáncer de pulmón.

Dysuria, heat stress, and muscle injury among Nicaraguan sugarcane workers at risk for Mesoamerican nephropathy.

OBJECTIVES: Nicaraguan sugarcane workers, particularly cane cutters, have an elevated prevalence of chronic kidney disease of unknown origin, also referred to as Mesoamerican nephropathy (MeN). The pathogenesis of MeN may include recurrent heat stress, crystalluria, and muscle injury with subsequent kidney injury. Yet, studies examining the frequency of such events in long-term, longitudinal studies are limited. METHODS: Using employment and medical data for male workers at a Nicaraguan sugarcane company, we classified months of active work as either work as a cane cutter or other sugarcane job and determined occurrence of dysuria, heat events and muscle events. Work months and events occurred January 1997 to June 2010. Associations between cane cutting and each outcome were analyzed using logistic regression based on generalized estimating equations for repeated events, controlling for age. RESULTS: Among 242 workers with 7257 active work months, 19.5% of person-months were as a cane cutter. There were 160, 21, and 16 episodes of dysuria, heat events, and muscle events, respectively. Compared with work months in other jobs, cane cutting was associated with an elevated odds of dysuria [odds ratio 2.40 (95% confidence interval 1.56-3.68)]. The number of heat and muscle events by cane cutter and other job were limited. CONCLUSIONS: Working as a cane cutter compared with other jobs in the sugarcane industry was associated with increased dysuria, supporting the hypothesis that cane cutters are at increased risk of events suspected of inducing or presaging clinically evident kidney injury.

Clinical evaluation of modified ALPPS procedures based on risk-reduced strategy for staged hepatectomy.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Radical resection remains the only curative treatment for liver tumors. Although associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) can increase the resection rate, huge controversy exists for high reported mortality and morbidity. This study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of modified ALPPS procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients who were performed ALPPS in single-center in recent 5 years were retrospectively reviewed. The modified strategy included strict patient selection, precise future liver remnant (FLR) assessment and operation planning, and usage of minimally invasive methods. Data including clinical records, functional FLR increase, complications, and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. RESULTS: Sixty patients underwent modified ALPPS procedure and recovered well. No severe complications happened after the 1-stage operation, and the increasing FLR was 179.3 cm3(±72.4 cm3), with similar functional FLR increase. The OS was 20.0 months (±4.5month). CONCLUSIONS: ALPPS could be a feasible treatment for complex liver tumors by risk-reduced modification. It could be expected to provide long-term survival for patients without enough FLR.

Morphological characteristics of soft tissue profile of Angle's class II division i malocclusion before and after orthodontic treatment / Características morfológicas del perfil de tejido blando de la clase II de la división I de maloclusión de ángulo antes y después del tratamiento de ortodoncia

SUMMARY: By analysing cephalometrics before and after the treatment of Angle's class II division 1 malocclusion, soft tissue profile changes were observed, and to explore whether there was a correlation between the change of posterior occlusal plane (OP-P) and soft tissue profile. The study aimed to provide a theoretical reference in the clinical diagnosis and orthodontic treatment of early permanent dentition of Angle class II division 1 malocclusion patients. We randomly selected 20 cases of orthodontics in Shanxi Medical University orthodontics patients (aged 12-18 years) of the lateral cephalograms, Winceph 8.0 software was used to measure the posterior occlusal plane (OP-P), TUL-EP, TLL-EP, nasolabial angle, upper lip base thickness, upper lip tension, lower lip H line distance, chin soft tissue thickness and Z angle. And SPSS 22.0 software was used to analyze the correlation between OP-P and other measurement indexes. The change of posterior occlusal plane was positively related to the distance from upper lip to the esthetic plane, the distance from lower lip to the esthetic plane, the tension of the upper lip and distance from lower lip to H line, and the change of posterior occlusal plane was negatively related to nasolabial angle and Z angle. The change of posterior occlusal plane had no significant correlation with upper lip base thickness and soft tissue chin thickness. The change of posterior occlusal plane has an important guiding significance for orthodontic treatment,by focusing on the change of the posterior occlusal plane to achieve the purpose of changing the soft tissue profile.

RESUMEN: Se realizó un estudio cefalométrico antes y después del tratamiento de ortodoncia en pacientes portadores de maloclusión clase II división 1 de Angle. Se observaron cambios en el perfil de los tejidos blandos y se exploró si había una correlación entre el cambio del plano oclusal posterior (OP-P) y el perfil de los tejidos blandos. El objetivo de este estudio fue otorgar una referencia teórica en el diagnóstico clínico y el tratamiento de ortodoncia de los pacientes con dentición permanente temprana con maloclusión clase II división 1 de Angle. Seleccionamos al azar 20 casos cefalometrías de pacientes de ortodoncia de la Universidad Médica de Shanxi (entre 12 y18 años). Para ello, se utilizó el software Winceph 8.0 para medir el plano oclusal posterior (OP-P), TUL-EP, TLL-EP, ángulo nasolabial, grosor de la base del labio superior, tensión del labio superior, distancia entre líneas del labio inferior H, grosor del tejido blando del mentón y ángulo Z. Se utilizó el software SPSS 22.0 para analizar la correlación entre OP-P y otros índices. El cambio del plano oclusal posterior tuvo una correlación positiva con la distancia desde el labio superior al plano estético, la distancia desde el labio inferior hasta el plano estético, la tensión del labio superior y distancia del labio inferior a la línea H. El cambio del plano oclusal posterior tuvo una correlación negativa con el ángulo nasolabial y el ángulo Z. El cambio del plano oclusal posterior no tuvo una correlación significativa con el grosor de la base del labio superior y la barbilla de tejido blando. El cambio del plano oclusal posterior tiene un importante significado de orientación para el tratamiento de ortodoncia, de tal manera que al cambiar el plano oclusal posterior se podrá lograr el propósito de cambiar el perfil del tejido blando.

The utility of serum hepcidin as a biomarker for late-onset neonatal sepsis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of hepcidin, a potent regulator of host defense and inflammation, in the diagnosis of late-onset sepsis in very low birth weight infants. STUDY DESIGN: We compared the diagnostic performance of hepcidin with C-reactive protein from the serum concentrations in acute and convalescent blood specimens obtained from 44 infants suspected of late-onset sepsis. The predictive accuracies were assessed from the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves and the cutoffs that differentiated infants with and without sepsis were identified using classification and regression tree analysis. RESULTS: Seventeen of the enrolled infants in this study were bacteremic and/or received antibiotics for neonatal sepsis for ≥ 5 days (infants with sepsis). The concentrations of hepcidin were increased 4-fold in infants with compared with infants without sepsis (P < .0001) and returned to similar levels following therapy. The areas under receiver operating characteristic curves of hepcidin was 0.93 compared with 0.83 for C-reactive protein, P = .06. Hepcidin concentration >92.2 ng/mL correctly classified 91% of all infants (positive predictive value: 100%, negative predictive value: 87%, specificity: 100%, and sensitivity: 76%). CONCLUSION: Serum hepcidin concentration may be a useful adjunct test, in addition to blood culture and other markers of infection, in the evaluation of late-onset sepsis in very low birth weight infants.

Interaction between human cytomegalovirus UL136 protein and ATP1B1 protein

Interplay between the host and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has a pivotal role in the outcome of infection. A region (referred to as UL/b’) present in the Toledo strain of HCMV and low passage clinical isolates contains 19 additional genes, which are absent in the highly passaged laboratory strain AD169. Products of the UL/b’ genes may determine the manifestations of HCMV infection in vivo. However, little is known about the host factors, which interact with UL/b’ proteins. This study was conducted to investigate the function of the HCMV UL136 protein. By yeast two-hybrid screening, the β1 subunit of the host Na+/K+-ATPase (ATP1B1) was identified to be a candidate protein, which interacts with the HCMV UL136 protein. The interaction was further evaluated both in vitro by pull-down assay and in vivo by immunofluorescent co-localization. The results showed that the UL136 protein can interact with ATP1B1 in vitro. Co-localization of UL136-EGFP and ATP1B1-DsRed in cell membranes suggests that ATP1B1 was a partner of the UL136 protein. It can be proposed that the HCMV UL136 protein may have important roles in processes such as cell-to-cell spread, and in maintaining cell osmotic pressure and intracellular ion homeostasis during HCMV infection.

Interaction between human cytomegalovirus UL136 protein and ATP1B1 protein.

Interplay between the host and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has a pivotal role in the outcome of infection. A region (referred to as UL/b') present in the Toledo strain of HCMV and low passage clinical isolates contains 19 additional genes, which are absent in the highly passaged laboratory strain AD169. Products of the UL/b' genes may determine the manifestations of HCMV infection in vivo. However, little is known about the host factors, which interact with UL/b' proteins. This study was conducted to investigate the function of the HCMV UL136 protein. By yeast two-hybrid screening, the ß1 subunit of the host Na+/K+-ATPase (ATP1B1) was identified to be a candidate protein, which interacts with the HCMV UL136 protein. The interaction was further evaluated both in vitro by pull-down assay and in vivo by immunofluorescent co-localization. The results showed that the UL136 protein can interact with ATP1B1 in vitro. Co-localization of UL136-EGFP and ATP1B1-DsRed in cell membranes suggests that ATP1B1 was a partner of the UL136 protein. It can be proposed that the HCMV UL136 protein may have important roles in processes such as cell-to-cell spread, and in maintaining cell osmotic pressure and intracellular ion homeostasis during HCMV infection.

Human erythroid progenitors from adult bone marrow and cord blood in optimized liquid culture systems respectively maintained adult and neonatal characteristics of globin gene expression.

In vitro suspension culture procedures for erythroid progenitor cells make it possible for us to obtain large cultures of erythrocyte populations for the investigation of globin gene switching. In this study we aimed to establish optimized culture systems for neonatal and adult erythroblasts and to explore the globin expression patterns in these culture systems. To culture CD34+ cells purified from human umbilical cord blood (CB) and adult bone marrow (BM), we respectively replaced the fetal bovine serum (FBS) with human cord serum and human adult serum. These CD34+ cells were then induced to erythroid differentiation. All the globin mRNA (including alpha-, zeta-, beta-, gamma-and epsilon-globin), the hemoglobin (Hb)-producing erythroid cells and the cellular distribution of fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) were identified during the culture process. The results showed that the globin expression pattern during erythroid differentiation in our culture systems closely recapitulated neonatal and adult patterns of globin expression in vivo, suggesting that our specially optimized culture systems not only overcame the higher Hb F levels in the BM-derived CD34+ culture in FBS-containing medium but also eliminated the disadvantages of low cell proliferation rate and low globin mRNA levels in serum-free medium.

Human erythroid progenitors from adult bone marrow and cord blood in optimized liquid culture systems respectively maintained adult and neonatal characteristics of globin gene expression

In vitro suspension culture procedures for erythroid progenitor cells make it possible for us to obtain large cultures of erythrocyte populations for the investigation of globin gene switching. In this study we aimed to establish optimized culture systems for neonatal and adult erythroblasts and to explore the globin expression patterns in these culture systems. To culture CD34+ cells purified from human umbilical cord blood (CB) and adult bone marrow (BM), we respectively replaced the fetal bovine serum (FBS) with human cord serum and human adult serum. These CD34+ cells were then induced to erythroid differentiation. All the globin mRNA (including alfa-, xi-, vita-, gama-and epsilón-globin), the hemoglobin (Hb)-producing erythroid cells and the cellular distribution of fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) were identified during the culture process. The results showed that the globin expression pattern during erythroid differentiation in our culture systems closely recapitulated neonatal and adult patterns of globin expression in vivo, suggesting that our specially optimized culture systems not only overcame the higher Hb F levels in the BM-derived CD34+ culture in FBS-containing medium but also eliminated the disadvantages of low cell proliferation rate and low globin mRNA levels in serum-free medium.