Aberrant expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide and its correlation with prognosis in severe childhood pneumonia

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the serum levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and the prognosis of pediatric patients with severe pneumonia. METHODS: Children diagnosed with severe pneumonia (n=76) were stratified into the survival (n=58) and nonsurvival groups (n=18) according to their 28-day survival status and into the non-risk (n=51), risk (n=17) and high-risk (n=8) categories based on the pediatric critical illness score (PCIS). Demographic data and laboratory results were collected. Serum CGRP levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to determine the cutoff score for high CGRP levels. RESULTS: Serum CGRP levels were significantly higher in the survival group than in the non-survival group and were significantly higher in the non-risk group than in the risk and high-risk groups. The ROC curve for the prognostic potential of CGRP yielded a significant area under the curve (AUC) value with considerable sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that CGRP downregulation might be a diagnostic marker that predicts the prognosis and survival of children with severe pneumonia

Admissible Solutions of the Schwarzian Type Difference Equation

This paper is to investigate the Schwarzian type difference equation Δ3f/Δf-3/2Δ2f/Δf2k=Rz,f=P(z,f)/Q(z,f), where R(z,f) is a rational function in f with polynomial coefficients, P(z,f), respectively Q(z,f) are two irreducible polynomials in f of degree p, respectively q. Relationship between p and q is studied for some special case. Denote d=max⁡p,q. Let f(z) be an admissible solution of (*) such that ρ2(f)<1; then for s  (≥2) distinct complex constants α1,…,αs , q+2k∑j=1sδ(αj,f)≤ 8k. In particular, if N(r,f)=S(r,f), then d+2k∑j=1sδ (αj,f)≤4k

Simultaneous broadband generation of second and third harmonics from chirped nonlinear photonic crystals

Ultrabroadband laser sources are highly desirable in a wide variety of modern science disciplines ranging from physics, chemistry and materials science to information communications and processing. Here we present the design and fabrication of a chirped periodically poled lithium niobate (CPPLN) nonlinear photonic crystal that supports multiple orders of quasiphase matching with finite bandwidth and allows for the simultaneous broadband generation of second and third harmonics with high conversion efficiency. Moreover, the chirp rate has a significant influence on the conversion efficiency and bandwidth. The CPPLN scheme offers a promising approach for the construction of short-wavelength laser sources and enables the generation of the three primary colors - red, green and blue - from a single crystal, which may have potential applications in large-screen laser displays

Urinary screening of elementary school students in Taicang, China

AbstractBackground: Chronic kidney disease in children is a severe progressive disease that influences the growth, development, and life quality of patients. This study aimed to explore the detection rate of proteinuria and hematuria in elementary school students in Taicang, China.Materials and methods: From 2015 to 2019, urine specimens were selected from 11,753 pupils in Taicang. The samples were tested for proteinuria and hematuria by applying single urine tests and urine sediment microscopic examinations. The observation results were divided into three groups: hematuria, proteinuria, and co-existing hematuria and proteinuria. In addition, kidney biopsies were carried out.Results: The positive rate of urinary abnormalities was 0.842% (99 cases), of which there were 51 cases (0.433%) of proteinuria, 42 cases (0.357%) of hematuria, and six cases (0.051%) of co-existing proteinuria and hematuria. In terms of gender, of the 99 cases, 63 were female students (1.142%) and 36 were male students (0.577%). Additionally, the age distribution results indicated that the prevalence of urine abnormalities in each age group from age 7 to age 13 were 11.11%, 12.12%, 12.12%, 16.16%, 29.29%, 18.18% and 3.03%, respectively. Furthermore, one immunoglobin A nephropathy case was certified by renal biopsy assay in the follow-up at six months.Conclusions: The urine screening revealed that abnormal proteinuria was the main form of urinary abnormalities in elementary school students from Taicang. Urine screening is necessary for early detection and intervention of kidney disease. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(2):91-96] Key words: Urine screening, Taicang, elementary school student, proteinuria, hematuri

Danhong Huayu Koufuye Prevents Diabetic Retinopathy in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats via Antioxidation and Anti-Inflammation

Danhong Huayu Koufuye (DHK), a traditional Chinese prescription, is used to treat central retinal vein occlusion clinically. We previously reported that DHK prevented diabetic retinopathy (DR) in rats. Moreover, we found that it protected endothelial cells from hyperglycemia-induced apoptosis through antioxidation and anti-inflammation. Here, we investigated whether antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of DHK contributed to its therapeutic effect on DR in streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic rats. DHK significantly blocked the breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) and increased the thickness of the inner nuclear layer (INL), as well as suppressed the swelling of the ganglion cell layer (GCL) in diabetic retinas. DHK remarkably increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in plasma, and decreased serum level of nitric oxide (NO). Moreover, DHK markedly reduced the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Furthermore, DHK significantly downregulated protein expressions of VEGF and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and mRNA expression of ICAM-1 in retinas. These results suggest that the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of DHK may be important mechanisms involved in the protective effect of DHK on DR in STZ-induced diabetic rats

Identification and investigation of depression-related molecular subtypes in inflammatory bowel disease and the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of paroxetine

BackgroundUp to 40 per cent of people with active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) also suffer from mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Notwithstanding, the fundamental biological pathways driving depression in IBD remain unknown.MethodsWe identified 33 core genes that drive depression in IBD patients and performed consensus molecular subtyping with the NMF algorithm in IBD. The CIBERSORT were employed to quantify the immune cells. Metabolic signature was characterized using the “IOBR” R package. The scoring system (D. score) based on PCA. Pre-clinical models are constructed using DSS.ResultsUsing transcriptome data from the GEO database of 630 IBD patients, we performed a thorough analysis of the correlation between IBD and depression in this research. Firstly, the samples were separated into two different molecular subtypes (D. cluster1 and D. cluster2) based on their biological signatures. Moreover, the immunological and metabolic differences between them were evaluated, and we discovered that D. cluster2 most closely resembled IBD patients concomitant with depression. We also developed a scoring system to assess the IBD-related depression and predict clinical response to anti-TNF- therapy, with a higher D. score suggesting more inflammation and worse reaction to biological therapies. Ultimately, we also identified through animal experiments an antidepressant, paroxetine, has the added benefit of lowering intestinal inflammation by controlling microorganisms in the digestive tract.ConclusionsThis study highlights that IBD patients with or without depression show significant variations and antidepressant paroxetine may help reduce intestinal inflammation

Disentangling the Drivers of Diversity and Distribution of Fungal Community Composition in Wastewater Treatment Plants Across Spatial Scales

Activated sludge microbial community composition is a key bio-indicator of the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the activated sludge microbial community dynamics is critical for environmental engineers to effectively manage the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, fungal communities associated with activated sludge have been poorly elucidated. Here, the activated sludge fungal community in 18 geographically distributed WWTPs was determined by using Illumina sequencing. The results showed that differences in activated sludge fungal community composition were observed among all WWTPs and also between oxidation ditch and anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (A/A/O) systems. Ascomycota was the largest phyla, followed by Basidiomycota in all samples. Sporidiobolales and Pezizales were the most abundant order in oxidation ditch and A/A/O systems, respectively. The network analysis indicated cooperative and co-occurrence interactions between fungal taxa in order to accomplish the wastewater treatment process. Hygrocybe sp., Sporobolomyces sp., Rhodotorula sp., Stemphylium sp., Parascedosporium sp., and Cylindrocarpon sp., were found to have statistically significant interactions. Redundancy analysis revealed that temperature, total phosphorus, pH, and ammonia nitrogen were significantly affected the fungal community. This study sheds light on providing the ecological characteristics of activated sludge fungal communities and useful guidance for improving wastewater treatment performance efficiency