Methylation levels at IGF2 and GNAS DMRs in infants born to preeclamptic pregnancies

BACKGROUND: Offspring of pregnancy complicated with preeclampsia are at high risk for hypertension, stroke and possibly obesity. The mechanisms behind the association of intrauterine exposure to preeclampsia and high risk of health problems in the later life remain largely unknown. The aims of the current investigation were to determine the changes in DNA methylation at IGF2 and GNAS DMR in offspring of preeclamptic pregnancy and to explore the possible mechanisms underlying the association between maternal preeclampsia and high risk for health problems in the later life of their offspring. RESULTS: Umbilical cord blood was taken from infants born to women of preeclampsia (n=56), gestational hypertension (n=23) and normal pregnancy (n=81). DNA methylation levels of IGF2 and GNAS DMR were determined by Massarray quantitative methylation analysis. Methylation levels at IGF2 DMR were significantly lower in preeclampsia than normal pregnancy. The average methylation level at IGF2 DMR was significantly correlated with preeclampsia even after birth weight, maternal age, gestational age at delivery and fetal gender were adjusted. The difference in methylation level was not significantly different between mild and severe preeclampsia. The methylation level at GNAS DMR was not significantly correlated with birth weight, maternal age, gestational age at delivery, fetal gender, preeclampsia or gestational hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded preeclampsia induced a decrease in methylation level at IGF 2 DMR, and this might be among the mechanisms behind the association between intrauterine exposure to preeclampsia and high risk for metabolic diseases in the later life of the infants

A case report of neurosyphilis coexisting with a positive MOG antibody manifested as optic neuritis

BackgroundNeurosyphilis refers to an infection of the central nervous system by Treponema pallidum. The clinical manifestations of neurosyphilis are diverse, making it easy to miss or misdiagnose. Anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease is a recently defined immune-mediated inflammatory demyelinating central nervous system disease. Few studies have reported the coexistence of the two diseases.Case presentationThis case report presents a 37 years-old male patient with neurosyphilis manifested as optic neuritis with a positive myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody. This patient received intravenous administration of 3.2 million units of procaine penicillin every 4 h for 2 weeks, followed by a two-week intramuscular injection of benzathine penicillin. Additionally, methylprednisolone sodium succinate was administered intravenously at 1,000 mg/day, gradually reduced to 500 mg/day and 240 mg/day every 3 days. Subsequently, prednisone tablets at a dosage of 60 mg/day were orally administered, with a gradual reduction of 5 mg/day every 3 days until reaching a dosage of 30 mg/day. The patient’s visual acuity was improved after 26 days of hospitalization. However, the visual field and color vision did not. At 3 months of follow-up, the symptoms remained unchanged despite the patient continued taking oral prednisone tablets at a dosage of 30 mg/day.ConclusionNeurosyphilis could be a potential triggering factor for MOGAD. In patients with neurosyphilis, it is strongly recommended to perform testing for MOG antibody along with other brain disease antibodies

ÔØ Å ÒÙ× Ö ÔØ Constructing a Reliable Web Graph with Information on Browsing Behavior ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Constructing a Reliable Web Graph with Information on Browsing Behavior

Abstract Page quality estimation is one of the greatest challenges for Web search engines. Hyperlink analysis algorithms such as PageRank and TrustRank are usually adopted for this task. However, low quality, unreliable and even spam data in the Web hyperlink graph makes it increasingly difficult to estimate page quality effectively. Analyzing large-scale user browsing behavior logs, we found that a more reliable Web graph can be constructed by incorporating browsing behavior information. The experimental results show that hyperlink graphs constructed with the proposed methods are much smaller in size than the original graph. In addition, algorithms based on the proposed "surfing with prior knowledge" model obtain better estimation results with these graphs for both high quality page and spam page identification tasks. Hyperlink graphs constructed with the proposed methods evaluate Web page quality more precisely and with less computational effort. HIGHLIGHTS 1. With user browsing behavior information, it is possible to improve the performance of quality estimation results for commercial search engines. 2. Three different kinds of Web graphs were proposed which combines original hyperlink and user browsing behavior information. 3. Differences between the constructed graphs and the original Web graph show that the constructed graphs provide more reliable information and can be adopted for practical quality estimation tasks. 4. The incorporation of user browsing information is more important than the selection of link analysis algorithms for the task of quality estimation

High performances of dual network PVA hydrogel modified by PVP using borax as the structure-forming accelerator

A dual network hydrogel made up of polyvinylalcohol (PVA) crosslinked by borax and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was prepared by means of freezing-thawing circles. Here PVP was incorporated by linking with PVA to form a network structure, while the introduction of borax played the role of crosslinking PVA chains to accelerate the formation of a dual network structure in PVA/PVP composite hydrogel, thus endowing the hydrogel with high mechanical properties. The effects of both PVP and borax on the hydrogels were evaluated by comparing the two systems of PVA/PVP/borax and PVA/borax hydrogels. In the former system, adding 4.0% PVP not only increased the water content and the storage modulus but also enhanced the mechanical strength of the final hydrogel. But an overdose of PVP just as more than 4.0% tended to undermine the structure of hydrogels, and thus deteriorated hydrogels’ properties because of the weakened secondary interaction between PVP and PVA. Likewise, increasing borax could promote the gel crosslinking degree, thus making gels show a decrease in water content and swelling ratio, meanwhile shrinking the pores inside the hydrogels and finally enhancing the mechanical strength of hydrogels prominently. The developed hydrogel with high performances holds great potential for applications in biomedical and industrial fields

National High Technology Research and Development (863) Program (2011AA01A205) and Re-search Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China

ABSTRACT Click-through behaviors are treated as invaluable sources of user feedback and they have been leveraged in several commercial search engines in recent years. However, estimating unbiased relevance is always a challenging task because of position bias. To solve this problem, many researchers have proposed a variety of assumptions to model click-through behaviors. Most of these models share the sequential examination hypothesis, which is that users examine search results from the top to the bottom. Nevertheless, this model cannot draw a complete picture of information-seeking behaviors. Many eye-tracking studies find that user interactions are not sequential but contain revisiting patterns. If a user clicks on a higher ranked document after having clicked on a lower-ranked one, we call this scenario a revisiting pattern, and we believe that the revisiting patterns are important signals regarding a user's click preferences. This paper incorporates revisiting behaviors into click models and introduces a novel click model named Temporal Hidden Click Model (THCM). This model dynamically models users' click behaviors with a temporal order. In our experiment, we collect over 115 million query sessions from a widely-used commercial search engine and then conduct a comparative analysis between our model and several stateof-the-art click models. The experimental results show that the THCM model achieves a significant improvement in the Normalized Discounted Cumulative Gain (NDCG), the click perplexity and click distributions metrics

Bioadhesive Microcarriers Encapsulated with IL‐27 High Expressive MSC Extracellular Vesicles for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment

Abstract Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy is a promising candidate for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment, while overcoming the limitations of naive seeding cells function and realizing efficient intestinal targeting remains a challenge. Here, a bioadhesive microparticle carrying interleukin‐27 (IL‐27) MSC‐derived extracellular vesicles (MSCIL‐27 EVs) is developed to treat IBD. The MSCIL‐27 EVs prepared through lentivirus‐mediated gene transfection technology show ideal anti‐inflammatory and damage repair function. By encapsulating MSCIL‐27 EVs into dopamine methacrylamide‐modified hydrogel, a bioadhesive EVs microcarrier via microfluidic technology is fabricated. The resultant microcarriers exhibit ideal MSCIL‐27 EVs sustained release effect and effective wet adhesion property. Furthermore, the therapeutic potential of MSCIL‐27 EVs‐loaded microcarriers in treating IBD is demonstrated. Through giving IBD rats a rectal administration, it is found that the microcarriers can firmly anchor to the surface of colon, reduce the inflammatory response, and repair the damaged barrier. Therefore, the bioadhesive MSCIL‐27 EVs‐loaded microcarriers provide a promising strategy for the biomedical application of MSC‐derived EVs, and broaden the clinical potential of MSC therapy

The Synthesis of Carbon Black-Loaded Pt Concave Nanocubes with High-Index Facets and Their Enhanced Electrocatalytic Properties toward Glucose Oxidation

Catalysts with high catalytic activity and good stability are desirable in the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose. Herein, Pt concave nanocubes with high-index facets (HIFs) supported by carbon black (Pt CNC/CB) are prepared through a hydrothermal method. The experimental results demonstrate that the peak current densities in different potential regions on the Pt CNC/CB anode are 0.22, 0.20, and 0.60 mA cm−2. The catalytic process of the glucose oxidation reaction is investigated in electrolytes with different pH values. Better stability is achieved by Pt CNC/CB than by Pt concave nanocubes (Pt CNCs). Abundant surface defects with low-coordinated atom numbers, such as steps, kinks, and edges, served as active sites in the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose. With the addition of carbon black, the catalytic activity can be improved by facilitating the full exposure of the active surface defects on the HIFs of the Pt CNCs. Moreover, to address the aggregation of Pt CNCs, caused by the high surface energy of HIFs, the introduction of carbon material is an effective way to preserve the HIFs and thus enhance the stability of the catalyst. Hence, the prepared Pt CNC/CB electrocatalyst has great potential to be applied in the electrooxidation of glucose

Mesosphere of Carbon-Shelled Copper Nanoparticles with High Conductivity and Thermal Stability via Direct Carbonization of Polymer Soft Templates

Copper nanoparticle (Cu NP) is a promising replacement for noble metal nanoparticles due to its high electrical conductivity and low cost. However, Cu NPs are relatively active compared to noble metals, and current ways of protecting Cu NPs from oxidation by encapsulation have severe drawbacks, such as a long reaction time and complicated processes. Here, a facial and effective method to prepare the mesosphere of carbon-shelled copper nanoparticles (Cu@MC) was demonstrated, and the resulting Cu@MC was both highly electrically conductive and thermally stable. Cu@organic (100 nm) was first synthesized by the reduction of Cu ions with poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and sodium poly ((naphthalene-formaldehyde) sulfonate) (Na-PNFS) as soft templates. Then, the carbon shells were obtained by in situ carbonization of the polymer soft templates. The Cu@organic and Cu@MC showed an anti-oxidation ability up to 175 and 250 °C in the air atmosphere, respectively. Furthermore, the Cu@MC exhibited excellent volume resistivity of 7.2 × 10−3 Ω·cm under 20 MPa, and showed promising application potential in electric sensors and devices