Lactobacillus pentosus expressing porcine lactoferrin elevates antibacterial activity and improves the efficacy of vaccination against Aujeszky’s disease

In this study, Lactobacillus pentosus expressing porcine lactoferrin (pLF) was tested for in vitro antibacterial activity and for its ability to enhance immunity induced by an orally administered Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV) vaccine. The cDNA encoding N-terminus of pLF was cloned into a Lactobacillus-specific plasmid to produce L. pentosus pLF expressing transformants (pPG612.1-pLFN/ L. pentosus). The antimicrobial activity of the recombinant pLF protein inhibited bacterial growth in vitro. The supernatant of pPG612.1-pLF-N/L. pentosus had an inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus strain CVCC26003, Bacillus subtilis strain CVCC63501, Escherichia coli strain CVCC10141 and Salmonella enterica ssp. enterica Choleraesuis strain CVCC79102, while it did not inhibit the growth of Lactobacillus casei strain ATCC393. A mouse model was established to test the effectiveness of the orally administered probiotic L. pentosus recombinant strain in the gastrointestinal tract. Mice were immunised with an attenuated porcine Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV) vaccine. Serum antibody levels determined using a mouse Aujeszky’s disease IgG ELISA showed that IgG levels were significantly higher in the pPG612.1-pLFN/L. pentosus group than in the PBS and Lactobacillus pentosus groups at days 7 and 21 (P < 0.01) and at day 14 (P < 0.05), indicating that this oral recombinant strain can improve the effectiveness of the vaccine and play a role in immune enhancement through humoral immunity. These results suggest that the recombinant Lactobacillus pentosus not only has the beneficial characteristics of lactic acid bacteria but also produces biologically functional lactoferrin

Binaural Sound Source Localization Based on Convolutional Neural Network

Binaural sound source localization (BSSL) in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and high reverberation environment is still a challenging task. In this paper, a novel BSSL algorithm is proposed by introducing convolutional neural network (CNN). The proposed algorithm first extracts the spatial feature of each sub-band from binaural sound signal, and then combines the features of all sub-bands within one frame to assemble a two-dimensional feature matrix as a grey image. To fully exploit the advantage of the CNN in extracting high-level features from the grey image, the spatial feature matrix of each frame is used as input to train the CNN model. The CNN is then used to predict azimuth of sound source. The experiments show that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the localization performance of BSSL in various acoustic environments, especially to deal with low SNR and high reverberation conditions

A Novel Black Box Process Quality Optimization Approach based on Hit Rate

Hit rate is a key performance metric in predicting process product quality in integrated industrial processes. It represents the percentage of products accepted by downstream processes within a controlled range of quality. However, optimizing hit rate is a non-convex and challenging problem. To address this issue, we propose a data-driven quasi-convex approach that combines factorial hidden Markov models, multitask elastic net, and quasi-convex optimization. Our approach converts the original non-convex problem into a set of convex feasible problems, achieving an optimal hit rate. We verify the convex optimization property and quasi-convex frontier through Monte Carlo simulations and real-world experiments in steel production. Results demonstrate that our approach outperforms classical models, improving hit rates by at least 41.11% and 31.01% on two real datasets. Furthermore, the quasi-convex frontier provides a reference explanation and visualization for the deterioration of solutions obtained by conventional models

Identifying Product Defects from User Complaints: A Probabilistic Defect Model

The recent surge in using social media has created a massive amount of unstructured textual complaints about products and services. However, discovering potential product defects from large amounts of unstructured text is a nontrivial task. In this paper, we develop a probabilistic defect model (PDM) that identifies the most critical product issues and corresponding product attributes, simultaneously. We facilitate domain-oriented key attributes (e.g., product model, year of production, defective components, symptoms, etc.) of a product to identify and acquire integral information of defect. We conduct comprehensive evaluations including quantitative evaluations and qualitative evaluations to ensure the quality of discovered information. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed model outperforms existing unsupervised method (K-Means Clustering), and could find more valuable information. Our research has significant managerial implications for mangers, manufacturers, and policy makers

Comparison of Pulmonary Function Changes Between Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Chemoradiotherapy Prior to Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy: A Randomized and Controlled Trial

PURPOSE: Adequate pulmonary function is important for patients undergoing surgical resection of esophageal cancer, especially those that received neoadjuvant therapy. However, it is unknown if pre-operative radiation affects pulmonary function differently compared to chemotherapy. The purpose of this study was to compare changes in pulmonary function between patients undergoing minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. METHODS: Between March 2017 and March 2018, esophageal cancer patients requiring neoadjuvant therapy were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned to receive chemotherapy (CT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) before MIE. All patients received pulmonary function testing before and after the neoadjuvant therapy. Changes in pulmonary function, operative data, and pulmonary complications were compared between the 2 groups. RESULTS: A total of 71 patients were randomized and underwent MIE after receiving CT (n = 34) or CRT (n = 37). Baseline clinical characteristics were comparable between the 2 groups. The CRT group experienced a greater decrease of forced expiratory volume at 1 s (FEV CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative CRT affects pulmonary function more than CT alone, but does not increase the risk of pulmonary complications in patients undergoing MIE

Lack of Airborne Transmission during Outbreak of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 among Tour Group Members, China, June 2009

This outbreak was caused by droplet transmission

Endothelial CCRL2 induced by disturbed flow promotes atherosclerosis via chemerin-dependent β2 integrin activation in monocytes.

AIMS: Chemoattractants and their cognate receptors are essential for leucocyte recruitment during atherogenesis, and atherosclerotic plaques preferentially occur at predilection sites of the arterial wall with disturbed flow (d-flow). In profiling the endothelial expression of atypical chemoattractant receptors (ACKRs), we found that Ackr5 (CCRL2) was up-regulated in an endothelial subpopulation by atherosclerotic stimulation. We therefore investigated the role of CCRL2 and its ligand chemerin in atherosclerosis and the underlying mechanism. METHODS AND RESULTS: By analysing scRNA-seq data of the left carotid artery under d-flow and scRNA-seq datasets GSE131776 of ApoE-/- mice from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, we found that CCRL2 was up-regulated in one subpopulation of endothelial cells in response to d-flow stimulation and atherosclerosis. Using CCRL2-/-ApoE-/- mice, we showed that CCRL2 deficiency protected against plaque formation primarily in the d-flow areas of the aortic arch in ApoE-/- mice fed high-fat diet. Disturbed flow induced the expression of vascular endothelial CCRL2, recruiting chemerin, which caused leucocyte adhesion to the endothelium. Surprisingly, instead of binding to monocytic CMKLR1, chemerin was found to activate β2 integrin, enhancing ERK1/2 phosphorylation and monocyte adhesion. Moreover, chemerin was found to have protein disulfide isomerase-like enzymatic activity, which was responsible for the interaction of chemerin with β2 integrin, as identified by a Di-E-GSSG assay and a proximity ligation assay. For clinical relevance, relatively high serum levels of chemerin were found in patients with acute atherothrombotic stroke compared to healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that d-flow-induced CCRL2 promotes atherosclerotic plaque formation via a novel CCRL2-chemerin-β2 integrin axis, providing potential targets for the prevention or therapeutic intervention of atherosclerosis

FXR Acts as a Metastasis Suppressor in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma by Inhibiting IL-6-Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

Background/Aims: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a complicated condition, with difficult diagnosis and poor prognosis. The expression and clinical significance of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR), an endogenous receptor of bile acids, in ICC is not well understood. Methods: Western blotting and immunochemical analyses were used to determine the levels of FXR in 4 cholangiocarcinoma cell lines, a human intrahepatic biliary epithelial cell line (HIBEpic) and 322 ICC specimens, respectively, while quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the mRNA levels of FXR in cholangiocarcinoma cell lines. We evaluated the prognostic value of FXR expression and its association with clinical parameters. We determined the biological significance of FXR in ICC cell lines by agonist-mediated activation and lentivirus-mediated silence. IL-6 expression was tested by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry. In vitro, cell proliferation was examined by Cell Counting Kit-8, migration and invasion were examined by wound healing and transwell assays; in vivo, tumor migration and invasion were explored in NOD-SCID mice. Results: FXR was downregulated in ICC cell lines and clinical ICC specimens. Loss of FXR was markedly correlated with aggressive tumor phenotypes and poor prognosis in patients with ICC. Moreover, FXR expression also had significant prognostic value in carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) negative patients. The expression of FXR was negatively correlated with IL-6 levels in clinical ICC tissues. FXR inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of ICC cells via suppression of IL-6 in vitro. Obeticholic acid, an agonist of FXR, inhibited IL-6 production, tumor growth and lung metastasis of ICC in vivo. Conclusions: FXR could be a promising ICC prognostic biomarker, especially in CA19-9 negative patients with ICC. FXR inhibits the tumor growth and metastasis of ICC via IL-6 suppression

A Metalloporphyrin Nanosystem Enables Non‐Invasive Visualization and Specific Treatment for Thrombosis and Ischemic Stroke

Thrombotic ischemic stroke (IS) is a severe neurological disease of the brain, with high global mortality and disability rates. The significant temporal disconnect and lack of coordination between thrombolysis (≥15% hemorrhage risk from short half‐life thrombolytics) and IS treatment results in limited clinical efficacy. Innovative strategies are required to: 1) resolve stereochemical conflicts in single‐molecule multifunctional materials; 2) enable spatiotemporal functions for effective diagnosis and treatment; 3) establish unambiguous structure‐property relationships. Herein, 4IrMn nanoparticles (NPs), with a dual transition metal core exhibit an endogenous peroxynitrite (ONOO−) response, which triggers near‐infrared chemiluminescence (NIR‐CL) signals for the precise location of lesion sites. Under laser irradiation, 4IrMn NPs initiate synergistic photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) in mouse thrombus models to achieve effective thrombolysis (the relative volume of clots decreased by ≈60%) with no observed hemorrhagic complications or recurrent embolism. After thrombolysis, 4IrMn NPs effectively scavenge excess cytotoxic reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (RONS) and suppresses pro‐inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor‐alpha/interleukin‐6 (TNF‐α and IL‐6). Ultimately, 4IrMn NPs enhance neuronal survival in the ischemic penumbra and reduce the extent of cerebral tissue death. This single‐molecule‐based multifunctional nanosystem integrates diagnostic‐therapeutic‐prognosis features, realizing a significant advance in addressing the constraints of current thrombosis and IS treatment