211 research outputs found
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Development and validation of a bedside instrument to predict carbapenem resistance among gram-negative pathogens in complicated urinary tract infections
We developed a bedside instrument to predict carbapenem resistance in complicated urinary tract infections. A model assigning weighted points for admission from an extended care facility (1), history of weight loss (1), early mechanical ventilation (1), age \u3c50 years (2), male gender (3), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (4), prior antibiotics treatment (4), and prior carbapenem-resistant infection (8) exhibited good discrimination (C statistic, 0.721)
1,2-Di-tert-butylethane-1,2-diyl bis(tert-butanesulfinamide)
In the title compound, C18H40N2O2S2, a vicinal diamine derivative, the crystal structure is stabilized by two intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The distance between the two kernel chiral C atoms is 1.580 (2) Å
VastTrack: Vast Category Visual Object Tracking
In this paper, we introduce a novel benchmark, dubbed VastTrack, towards
facilitating the development of more general visual tracking via encompassing
abundant classes and videos. VastTrack possesses several attractive properties:
(1) Vast Object Category. In particular, it covers target objects from 2,115
classes, largely surpassing object categories of existing popular benchmarks
(e.g., GOT-10k with 563 classes and LaSOT with 70 categories). With such vast
object classes, we expect to learn more general object tracking. (2) Larger
scale. Compared with current benchmarks, VastTrack offers 50,610 sequences with
4.2 million frames, which makes it to date the largest benchmark regarding the
number of videos, and thus could benefit training even more powerful visual
trackers in the deep learning era. (3) Rich Annotation. Besides conventional
bounding box annotations, VastTrack also provides linguistic descriptions for
the videos. The rich annotations of VastTrack enables development of both the
vision-only and the vision-language tracking. To ensure precise annotation, all
videos are manually labeled with multiple rounds of careful inspection and
refinement. To understand performance of existing trackers and to provide
baselines for future comparison, we extensively assess 25 representative
trackers. The results, not surprisingly, show significant drops compared to
those on current datasets due to lack of abundant categories and videos from
diverse scenarios for training, and more efforts are required to improve
general tracking. Our VastTrack and all the evaluation results will be made
publicly available https://github.com/HengLan/VastTrack.Comment: Tech. repor
Square-lattice s=1/2 XY model and the Jordan-Wigner fermions: The ground-state and thermodynamic properties
Using the 2D Jordan-Wigner transformation we reformulate the square-lattice
s=1/2 XY (XZ) model in terms of noninteracting spinless fermions and examine
the ground-state and thermodynamic properties of this spin system. We consider
the model with two types of anisotropy: the spatial anisotropy interpolating
between 2D and 1D lattices and the anisotropy of the exchange interaction
interpolating between isotropic XY and Ising interactions. We compare the
obtained (approximate) results with exact ones (1D limit, square-lattice Ising
model) and other approximate ones (linear spin-wave theory and exact
diagonalization data for finite lattices of up to N=36 sites supplemented by
finite-size scaling). We discuss the ground-state and thermodynamic properties
in dependence on the spatial and exchange interaction anisotropies. We pay
special attention to the quantum phase transition driven by the exchange
interaction anisotropy as well as to the appearance/disappearance of the
zero-temperature magnetization in the quasi-1D limit.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures include
NLRP3 downregulation enhances engraftment and functionality of adipose-derived stem cells to alleviate erectile dysfunction in diabetic rats
BackgroundThe transplantation of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) is a most promising treatment for diabetic erectile dysfunction (DMED). However, the effect of high glucose on the post-transplantation survival of stem cells limits the efficacy of ASCs transplantation. Prolonging the survival time of ASCs in vivo after transplantation is a key issue in the utilization of ASCs for DMED. Herein, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of ASCs by downregulating NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) as well as its mechanism of action in DMED.MethodsASCs were obtained by isolating subcutaneous fat from SD rats and were identified using lipogenic and osteogenic differentiation assays, as well as flow cytometric analysis. The shNLRP3 lentivirus with the best downregulating effect was screened, and shNLRP3 lentivirus (LV-shNLRP3) was transfected into ASCs (ASCsshNLRP3) to detect apoptosis and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in each group under high glucose conditions. In DMED rats, ASCsLV-shNLRP3, ASCsLV-control, or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were administrated via intra-cavernous injection, and normal rats served as normal controls. One week post-injection, animal imaging was performed to track the ASCs. Four weeks post-injection, erectile function was evaluated by measuring the intra-cavernosal pressure and mean arterial pressure. Corpus cavernosum pyroptosis and endothelial function were examined by western blotting and immunofluorescence.ResultsNLRP3-mediated pyroptosis might be a pathogenic mechanism of ED and DMED. ASCs were isolated successfully. Thereafter, the LV-shNLRP3 with the highest transfection efficiency was selected and used to modify ASCs successfully. LV-shNLRP3 could protect ASCs paracrine function under hyperglycemia through anti-apoptosis and anti-ROS deposition mechanisms. Furthermore, ASCsLV-shNLRP3 showed an advantage in the suppression of pyroptosis compared to ASCsLV-control. The ASCsLV-shNLRP3 group had improved cavernous endothelial function and smooth muscle injury, thus reversing erectile function, and was superior to the ASCsLV-control group.ConclusionsNLRP3 Inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis might be involved in DMED formation. Intra-cavernous injection of ASCsLV-shNLRP3 could suppress cavernosal pyroptosis, contributing to improved erectile function in DMED rats
The Rat Genome Database (RGD): developments towards a phenome database
The Rat Genome Database (RGD) (http://rgd.mcw.edu) aims to meet the needs of its community by providing genetic and genomic infrastructure while also annotating the strengths of rat research: biochemistry, nutrition, pharmacology and physiology. Here, we report on RGD's development towards creating a phenome database. Recent developments can be categorized into three groups. (i) Improved data collection and integration to match increased volume and biological scope of research. (ii) Knowledge representation augmented by the implementation of a new ontology and annotation system. (iii) The addition of quantitative trait loci data, from rat, mouse and human to our advanced comparative genomics tools, as well as the creation of new, and enhancement of existing, tools to enable users to efficiently browse and survey research data. The emphasis is on helping researchers find genes responsible for disease through the use of rat models. These improvements, combined with the genomic sequence of the rat, have led to a successful year at RGD with over two million page accesses that represent an over 4-fold increase in a year. Future plans call for increased annotation of biological information on the rat elucidated through its use as a model for human pathobiology. The continued development of toolsets will facilitate integration of these data into the context of rat genomic sequence, as well as allow comparisons of biological and genomic data with the human genomic sequence and of an increasing number of organisms
Multidrug resistance, inappropriate empiric treatment and hospital mortality in Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia and sepsis
Background: The relationship between multidrug resistance (MDR), inappropriate empiric therapy (IET), and
mortality among patients with Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) remains unclear. We examined it using a large
U.S. database.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Premier Research database (2009–2013) of 175 U.S.
hospitals. We included all adult patients admitted with pneumonia or sepsis as their principal diagnosis, or as a
secondary diagnosis in the setting of respiratory failure, along with antibiotic administration within 2 days of
admission. Only culture-confirmed infections were included. Resistance to at least three classes of antibiotics
defined multidrug-resistant AB (MDR-AB). We used logistic regression to compute the adjusted relative risk ratio
(RRR) of patients with MDR-AB receiving IET and IET’s impact on mortality.
Results: Among 1423 patients with AB infection, 1171 (82.3 %) had MDR-AB. Those with MDR-AB were older
(63.7 ± 15.4 vs. 61.0 ± 16.9 years, p = 0.014). Although chronic disease burden did not differ between groups, the
MDR-AB group had higher illness severity than those in the non-MDR-AB group (intensive care unit 68.0 % vs. 59.
5 %, p < 0.001; mechanical ventilation 56.2 % vs. 42.1 %, p < 0.001). Patients with MDR-AB were more likely to
receive IET than those in the non-MDR-AB group (76.2 % MDR-AB vs. 13.8 % non-MDR-AB, p < 0.001). In a regression
model, MDR-AB strongly predicted receipt of IET (adjusted RRR 5.5, 95 % CI 4.0–7.7, p < 0.001). IET exposure was
associated with higher hospital mortality (adjusted RRR 1.8, 95 % CI 1.4–2.3, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: In this large U.S. database, the prevalence of MDR-AB among patients with AB infection was > 80 %.
Harboring MDR-AB increased the risk of receiving IET more than fivefold, and IET nearly doubled hospital mortality
Inhibition of Mesothelin as a Novel Strategy for Targeting Cancer Cells
Mesothelin, a differentiation antigen present in a series of malignancies such as mesothelioma, ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancer, has been studied as a marker for diagnosis and a target for immunotherapy. We, however, were interested in evaluating the effects of direct targeting of Mesothelin on the viability of cancer cells as the first step towards developing a novel therapeutic strategy. We report here that gene specific silencing for Mesothelin by distinct methods (siRNA and microRNA) decreased viability of cancer cells from different origins such as mesothelioma (H2373), ovarian cancer (Skov3 and Ovcar-5) and pancreatic cancer (Miapaca2 and Panc-1). Additionally, the invasiveness of cancer cells was also significantly decreased upon such treatment. We then investigated pro-oncogenic signaling characteristics of cells upon mesothelin-silencing which revealed a significant decrease in phospho-ERK1 and PI3K/AKT activity. The molecular mechanism of reduced invasiveness was connected to the reduced expression of β-Catenin, an important marker of EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition). Ero1, a protein involved in clearing unfolded proteins and a member of the ER-Stress (endoplasmic reticulum-stress) pathway was also markedly reduced. Furthermore, Mesothelin silencing caused a significant increase in fraction of cancer cells in S-phase. In next step, treatment of ovarian cancer cells (OVca429) with a lentivirus expressing anti-mesothelin microRNA resulted in significant loss of viability, invasiveness, and morphological alterations. Therefore, we propose the inhibition of Mesothelin as a potential novel strategy for targeting human malignancies
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