Purification, Characterization and Antitumor Activities of a New Protein from Syngnathus acus, an Officinal Marine Fish

Discovery and development of new antitumor agents from abundant marine fish are attracting an increasing interest. In the present study, we extracted and purified a novel antitumor protein Syngnathusin from the whole body of Syngnathus acus L., a precious marine fish traditionally used for tumors. Syngnathusin was comprised of 16 kinds of amino acids, mainly acidic amino acids. Its molecular weight was 67.3 kDa and its isoelectric point was 4.57. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of Syngnathusin was determined to be Lys-Arg-Asp-Leu-Gly-Phe-Val-Asp-Glu-Ile-Ser-Ala-His-Tyr and showed no significant homology with the known proteins. Syngnathusin could significantly inhibit the growth of A549 and CCRF-CEM cells. However, the obvious proliferation inhibition against human non-tumor cell lines was not observed. Flow cytometry, morphologic assessment and comet assay revealed that Syngnathusin could induce apoptosis in A549 and CCRF-CEM cells and strongly cooperated with MTX. Syngnathusin could inhibit the growth of S180 tumor transplanted in mice. Syngnathusin may be developed as a novel, selective and effective antineoplastic agent

Presentation of dizziness in individuals with chronic otitis media: data from the multinational collaborative COMQ-12 study

Purpose: In chronic otitis media (COM), disease chronicity and severity of middle ear inflammation may influence the development of inner ear deficits, increasing the risk of vestibular impairment. This secondary analysis of the multinational collaborative Chronic Otitis Media Questionnaire-12 (COMQ-12) dataset sought to determine the prevalence of vestibular symptoms in patients with COM and identify associated disease-related characteristics. Methods: Adult patients with a diagnosis of COM in outpatient settings at nine otology referral centers across eight countries were included. We investigated the presence of vestibular symptoms (dizziness and/or disequilibrium) using participant responses to item 6 of a native version of the COMQ-12. Audiometric data and otoscopic assessment were also recorded. Results: This analysis included 477 participants suffering from COM, with 56.2% (n = 268) reporting at least mild inconvenience related to dizziness or disequilibrium. There was a significant association between air conduction thresholds in the worse hearing ear and presence of dizziness [adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 1.01; 95% CI 1.00–1.02; p = 0.0177]. Study participants in European countries (AOR 1.53; 95% CI 1.03–2.28; p = 0.0344) and Colombia (AOR 2.48; 95% CI 1.25–4.92; p = 0.0096) were more likely to report dizziness than participants in Asian countries. However, ear discharge and cholesteatoma showed no association with dizziness in the adjusted analyses. Conclusion: Vestibular symptoms contribute to burden of disease in patients with COM and associates with hearing disability in the worse hearing ear. Geographical variation in presentation of dizziness may reflect financial barriers to treatment or cultural differences in how patients reflect on their health state

Uptake of fluorescent gentamicin by peripheral vestibular cells after systemic administration.

In addition to cochleotoxicity, systemic aminoglycoside pharmacotherapy causes vestibulotoxicity resulting in imbalance and visual dysfunction. The underlying trafficking routes of systemically-administered aminoglycosides from the vasculature to the vestibular sensory hair cells are largely unknown. We investigated the trafficking of systemically-administered gentamicin into the peripheral vestibular system in C56Bl/6 mice using fluorescence-tagged gentamicin (gentamicin-Texas-Red, GTTR) imaged by scanning laser confocal microscopy to determine the cellular distribution and intensity of GTTR fluorescence in the three semicircular canal cristae, utricular, and saccular maculae at 5 time points over 4 hours.Low intensity GTTR fluorescence was detected at 0.5 hours as both discrete puncta and diffuse cytoplasmic fluorescence. The intensity of cytoplasmic fluorescence peaked at 3 hours, while punctate fluorescence was plateaued after 3 hours. At 0.5 and 1 hour, higher levels of diffuse GTTR fluorescence were present in transitional cells compared to hair cells and supporting cells. Sensory hair cells typically exhibited only diffuse cytoplasmic fluorescence at all time-points up to 4 hours in this study. In contrast, non-sensory cells rapidly exhibited both intense fluorescent puncta and weaker, diffuse fluorescence throughout the cytosol. The numbers and size of fluorescent puncta in dark cells and transitional cells increased over time. There is no preferential GTTR uptake by the five peripheral vestibular organs' sensory cells. Control vestibular tissues exposed to Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline or hydrolyzed Texas Red had negligible fluorescence.All peripheral vestibular cells rapidly take up systemically-administered GTTR, reaching peak intensity 3 hours after injection. Sensory hair cells exhibited only diffuse fluorescence, while non-sensory cells displayed both diffuse and punctate fluorescence. Transitional cells may act as a primary pathway for trafficking of systemic GTTR from the vasculature to endolymph prior to entering hair cells

Enhanced Performance of Inverted Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells by Using Metal Oxide Electron- and Hole-Selective Layers with Process Temperature ≤150 °C

In this work, an efficient inverted organic solar cell (OSC) based on the non-fullerene PBDB-T:IT-M blend system is demonstrated by using an aqueous solution processed ZnO electron-selective layer with the whole process temperature ≤150 °C and a thermally evaporated MoO3 hole-selective layer The ZnO selective layer is deposited by aqueous solution and prepared in a low-temperature process, so that it can be compatible with the roll-to-roll process. The proposed device achieves an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.33% compared with the device based on the high-temperature sol-gel-processed ZnO selective layer, which achieves a PCE of 8.62%. The inverted device also shows good stability, keeping more than 82% of its initial PCE after being stored under ambient air conditions and a humidity of around 40% without any encapsulation for 240 h. The results show the potential for the fabrication of efficient non-fullerene OSCs with low-temperature metal oxide selective layers

Comparison of surgical outcomes between early and advanced class of jugular paragangliomas following application of our modified surgical techniques

Abstract To compare the safety and effectiveness of surgical treatment of jugular paragangliomas (JPs) following the application of our modified surgical techniques. Fifty-six patients with JPs were analyzed for tumor classification, surgical outcomes, and intratumor blood vessels. The gross total resection in C1–2 (100%) was significantly greater than that in C3 and D (66.7%). Good postoperative facial nerve (FN) function (House–Brackmann I–II) was achieved in 89.5% C1–2 cases, which was not significantly different from C3 and D (93.3%) (P = 0.694). Preoperative and postoperative lower cranial nerve (LCN) deficits correlated with the Fisch’s classification of tumors (P < 0.05), and intraoperative blood loss was greater in advanced tumors (P = 0.050). Further study showed that the cross-sectional area of intratumor blood vessels was positively associated with intraoperative blood loss (P < 0.001). Surgical excision of JPs is a safe and effective strategy, and early surgical treatment is a good option for patients with C1–2 tumors without surgical contraindications

On the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of CrNx/Ag Multilayer Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering

CrNx/Ag multilayer coatings and a comparative CrNx single layer were deposited via reactive magnetron sputtering. In multilayer coatings, the thickness of each CrNx layer was constant at 60 nm, while that of the Ag layer was adjusted from 3 to 10 nm. Microstructure of the films was characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron spectroscopy. The results suggest that the film containing 3 nm of Ag layer presents a nanocomposite structure comprising fine nano-grains and quasi-amorphous clusters. With Ag layer thickness reaching 4.5 nm and above, Ag grains coalesce to produce continuous an Ag layer and exhibit (111) preferential crystallization. Hardness of the films was detected by nanoindentation and it reveals that with increasing the Ag layer thickness, the hardness continuously decreases from 30.2 to 11.6 GPa. Wear performance of the films was examined by the ball-on-disk test at 500 &deg;C. The result suggests that the out-diffusion of Ag towards film surface contributes to the friction reduction, while the wear performance of films depends on the thickness of the Ag layer

Efektivitas pembelajaran eksperimen terhadap hasil belajar, pemahaman konsep, dan keaktifan siswa kelas X SMA Negeri 2 Yogyakarta pada pokok bahasan gerak harmonik sederhana tahun ajaran 2016-2017

<p>Diffuse, cytoplasmic GTTR fluorescence was detected in saccular and utricular hair cells at 0.5 hours and significantly increased in intensity over time to peak at 3 hours after systemic injection of GTTR. At 4 hours, diffuse cytoplasmic fluorescence was significantly attenuated compared to the 3 hour time point (* p<0.05, ** p<0.01, ***p<0.001; mean ± s.d.; n = 5).</p

GTTR fluorescence in the lateral semicircular canal (LSC) peaked 3 hours after a single systemic injection of GTTR.

<p>At 0.5 hours, intense fluorescent puncta were readily seen in dark cells (A1) and transitional cells (A2), with less intense puncta seen in sensory epithelia (A3). Low intensity diffuse GTTR fluorescence was also detected in dark cells (A1) and transitional cells (A2), with weaker fluorescence in supporting cells and sensory hair cells in the sensory epithelia of the LSC crista (A3). At 1 hour, dark cells (B1), transitional cells (B2), and sensory epithelia (B3) had increased numbers of puncta and higher fluorescence intensity compared to at 0.5 hours (A1-A3). Increased intensity of diffuse cytosolic GTTR fluorescence was also observed in dark cells (B2), transitional cells (B2), and sensory epithelia (B3). Two hours after GTTR injection, increased cytosolic GTTR fluorescence was apparent in dark cells (C2), but less so in transitional cells (C2) and sensory epithelia (C3). Also, increased numbers of fluorescent puncta were found in dark cells (C1), transitional cells (C2), and sensory epithelia (C3), compared to earlier time points (A1-B3). Fluorescent intensity peaked at 3 hours, and declined by 4 hours (E1-E3), in all three regions. Mice injected with hydrolyzed Texas Red for 2 hours showed negligible fluorescence in all three vestibular regions (F1-F3). Scale bar in A3 = 20 <i>μ</i>m.</p