Gingyo-San Enhances Immunity and Potentiates Infectious Bursal Disease Vaccination

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of Gingyo-san (GGS), a traditional Chinese medical formula, on peripheral lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody titers in chickens vaccinated against the infectious bursal disease (IBD) virus. Treatment groups were fed one of three doses of GGS in their diet (0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0%, w/w), and the IBD vaccine was administered at 1 and 3 weeks of age. At Weeks 8, 12 and 16, changes in serum IBD antibody titers were measured via the micro-method and T cell proliferation. In gene expression experiments, GGS-treated peripheral T lymphocytes were stimulated with concanavalin A (ConA) for 24 h. The mRNA expression of interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) was determined using a semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay. The results showed that a low dose of GGS could significantly raise the antibody titers. Medium and high doses of GGS enhanced IL-2 and IFN-γ production. GGS altered the expression of IL-4 and IL-12 in T lymphocytes. CD4+ T lymphocyte development was also skewed towards the Th1 phenotype. GGS enhanced cell-mediated immunity and augmented the effects of IBD vaccination in strengthening subsequent anti-viral responses

Clinicopathologic features and outcomes following surgery for pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) is a rare pancreatic malignancy subtype. We investigated the clinicopathological features and outcome of pancreatic ASC patients after surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The medical records of 12 patients with pancreatic ASC undergoing surgical treatment (1993 to 2006) were retrospectively reviewed. Survival data of patients with stage IIB pancreatic adenocarcinoma and ASC undergoing surgical resection were compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Symptoms included abdominal pain (91.7%), body weight loss (83.3%), anorexia (41.7%) and jaundice (25.0%). Tumors were located at pancreatic head in 5 (41.7%) patients, tail in 5 (41.7%), and body in 4 (33.3%). Median tumor size was 6.3 cm. Surgical resection was performed on 7 patients, bypass surgery on 3, and exploratory laparotomy with biopsy on 2. No surgical mortality was identified. Seven (58.3%) and 11 (91.7%) patients died within 6 and 12 months of operation, respectively. Median survival of 12 patients was 4.41 months. Seven patients receiving surgical resection had median survival of 6.51 months. Patients with stage IIB pancreatic ASC had shorter median survival compared to those with adenocarcinoma.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Aggressive surgical management does not appear effective in treating pancreatic ASC patients. Strategies involving non-surgical treatment such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy or target agents should be tested.</p

Seroepidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae colonizing the intestinal tract of healthy chinese and overseas chinese adults in Asian countries

[[abstract]]BACKGROUND:Capsular serotypes K1 and K2 of Klebsiella pneumoniae are thought to the major virulence determinants responsible for liver abscess. The intestine is one of the major reservoirs of K. pneumoniae, and epidemiological studies have suggested that the majority of K. pneumoniae infections are preceded by colonization of the gastrointestinal tract. The possibility of fecal-oral transmission in liver abscess has been raised on the basis of molecular typing of isolates. Data on the serotype distribution of K. pneumoniae in stool samples from healthy individuals has not been previously reported. This study investigated the seroepidemiology of K. pneumoniae isolates from the intestinal tract of healthy Chinese in Asian countries. Stool specimens from healthy adult Chinese residents of Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam were collected from August 2004 to August 2010 for analysis.RESULTS:Serotypes K1/K2 accounted for 9.8% of all K. pneumoniae isolates from stools in all countries. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of K1/K2 isolates among the countries excluding Thailand and Vietnam. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was nearly the same in K. pneumoniae isolates. The result of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed no major clonal cluster of serotype K1 isolates.CONCLUSIONS:The result showed that Chinese ethnicity itself might be a major factor predisposing to intestinal colonization by serotype K1/K2 K. pneumoniae isolates. The prevalent serotype K1/K2 isolates may partially correspond to the prevalence of K. pneumoniae liver abscess in Asian countries

BPS States on M5-brane in Large C-field Background

We extensively study BPS solutions of the low energy effective theory of M5-brane in large C-field background. This provides us an opportunity to explore the interactions turned on by C-field background through the Nambu-Poisson structure. The BPS states considered in this paper include the M-waves, the self-dual string (M2 ending on M5), tilted M5-brane, holomorphic embedding of M5-brane and the intersection of two M5-branes along a 3-brane.Comment: 25 pages, reference adde

Effect of music interventions on anxiety during labor: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Anxiety is commonly experienced during the delivery process and has shown to have adverse effects on maternal and infant health outcomes. Music interventions tend to reduce the effects of anxiety in diverse populations, are low cost, are easily accessible, and have high acceptability. The aim of this review and meta-analysis was to assess the effectiveness of music interventions in reducing anxiety levels among women during labor. Methods Seven databases from inception to the end of December, 2018, without any language or time restriction including Embase, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, PsycINFO, Airiti Library, and PerioPath: Index to Taiwan Periodical Literature were searched using key terms related to pregnancy, anxiety, and music. Randomized controlled trials that assessed the effect of music during labor and measured anxiety levels as an outcome were included. Meta-analyses were conducted to assess anxiety reduction following a music intervention compared to that after placebo treatment. Results A total of 14 studies that investigated a total of 1,310 participants were included in this review. The meta-analyses indicated that those in the intervention group had a significant decrease in anxiety scores (standardized mean difference = −2.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) [−3.29 to −1.52], p < 0.001; I2 = 97.66%), heart rate (HR) (difference in means = −3.04 beats/min, 95% CI [−4.79 to −1.29] beats/min, p = 0.001; I2 = 0.00%), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (difference in means = −3.71 mmHg, 95% CI [−7.07 to −0.35] mmHg, p = 0.031; I2 = 58.47%), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (difference in means = −3.54 mmHg, 95% CI [−5.27 to −1.81] mmHg, p < 0.001; I2 = 0.00%) as compared to the women in the control group. Conclusions Music interventions may decrease anxiety scores and physiological indexes related to anxiety (HR, SBP, and DBP). Music interventions may be a good non-pharmacological approach for decreasing anxiety levels during labor

Functional characterization of cellulases identified from the cow rumen fungus Neocallimastix patriciarum W5 by transcriptomic and secretomic analyses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Neocallimastix patriciarum</it> is one of the common anaerobic fungi in the digestive tracts of ruminants that can actively digest cellulosic materials, and its cellulases have great potential for hydrolyzing cellulosic feedstocks. Due to the difficulty in culture and lack of a genome database, it is not easy to gain a global understanding of the glycosyl hydrolases (<it>GHs</it>) produced by this anaerobic fungus.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed an efficient platform that uses a combination of transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to <it>N. patriciarum </it>to accelerate gene identification, enzyme classification and application in rice straw degradation. By conducting complementary studies of transcriptome (Roche 454 GS and Illumina GA IIx) and secretome (ESI-Trap LC-MS/MS), we identified 219 putative <it>GH </it>contigs and classified them into 25 <it>GH</it> families. The secretome analysis identified four major enzymes involved in rice straw degradation: β-glucosidase, endo-1,4-β-xylanase, xylanase B and Cel48A exoglucanase. From the sequences of assembled contigs, we cloned 19 putative cellulase genes, including the <it>GH1</it>, <it>GH3</it>, <it>GH5</it>, <it>GH6</it>, <it>GH9</it>, <it>GH18</it>, <it>GH43 </it>and <it>GH48 </it>gene families, which were highly expressed in <it>N. patriciarum </it>cultures grown on different feedstocks.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These <it>GH </it>genes were expressed in Pichia pastoris and/or Saccharomyces cerevisiae for functional characterization. At least five novel cellulases displayed cellulytic activity for glucose production. One β-glucosidase (W5-16143) and one exocellulase (W5-CAT26) showed strong activities and could potentially be developed into commercial enzymes.</p

Large Fragment Pre-S Deletion and High Viral Load Independently Predict Hepatitis B Relapse after Liver Transplantation

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) associated end-stage liver diseases are the leading causes of liver transplantation (LT) in Taiwan. Relapse of hepatitis B occurs after LT, raising the risk of graft failure and reducing patient survival. Although several oral antiviral agents have been approved for anti-HBV treatment, lamivudine (LAM) remained to be the most widely used preventive regimen in Taiwan. While several clinical predictors have been identified for hepatitis B relapse, the predictive roles of the histopathological characteristics in liver explants as well as the genotypic features of the viruses in pre-LT serum samples have not been assessed. Between September 2002 and August 2009, 150 consecutive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive patients undergoing LT were included for outcome analysis following assessment of the clinicopathological and virological factors prior to LT. Kaplan-Meier analyses discovered that pre-operative LAM treatment ≤3 months; membranous distribution and higher expression of tissue HBsAg in liver explants; preoperative viral load ≧106 copies/ml; and presence of large fragment (>100 base pairs) pre-S deletion (LFpreSDel) correlated significantly with hepatitis B relapse. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the presence of LFpreSDel (P = 0.001) and viral load ≧106 copies/mL (P = 0.023) were independent predictors for hepatitis B relapse. In conclusion, besides high viral load, LFpreSDel mutation is an important independent predictor for hepatitis B relapse after LT. More aggressive preventive strategies should be applied for patients carrying these risk factors

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Induces Autophagy via Reactive Oxygen Species Generation

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process that maintains cellular homeostasis under stress conditions such as starvation and pathogen infection. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a multifunctional cytokine that plays important roles in inflammation and tumorigenesis. Cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α that are induced by MIF have been shown to be involved in the induction of autophagy. However, the actual role of MIF in autophagy remains unclear. Here, we have demonstrated that incubation of human hepatoma cell line HuH-7 cells with recombinant MIF (rMIF) induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and autophagy formation, including LC3-II expression, LC3 punctae formation, autophagic flux, and mitochondria membrane potential loss. The autophagy induced by rMIF was inhibited in the presence of MIF inhibitor, ISO-1 as well as ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). In addition, serum starvation-induced MIF release and autophagy of HuH-7 cells were partly blocked in the presence of NAC. Moreover, diminished MIF expression by shRNA transfection or inhibition of MIF by ISO-1 decreased serum starvation-induced autophagy of HuH-7 cells. Taken together, these data suggest that cell autophagy was induced by MIF under stress conditions such as inflammation and starvation through ROS generation

Meeting the cultural and service needs of Arabic international students by using QFD

Quality has become an important factor in global competition for many reasons. Intensive global competition and the demand for better quality by customers has led organizations to realize the benefits of providing quality products and services in order to successfully compete and survive. Higher education institutions are one example of these organisations. Higher education institutions work in an intensive competitive environment worldwide driven by increasing demands for learning by local and international students. As a result, the managers of these sectors have realized that improving the quality of services is important for achieving customer satisfaction which can help survival in an internationally competitive market. To do this, it is necessary for organizations to know their customers and identify their requirements. To this end, many higher education institutions have adopted principles of total quality management (TQM) to improve their education quality which leads to better performance through involvement of every department to achieve excellence in business. This chapter considers the importance of measuring quality in order to assist universities to proactively manage the design and improvement of the social and academic experiences of postgraduate international students, and plan management decision-making processes to deliver high-quality services in a globalized business of provision of higher education. Higher education institutions must operate effectively and efficiently and be able to deliver quality programs, by seeking to better understand the needs of their customers to be competitive in this market space

A Single Nucleotide in Stem Loop II of 5′-Untranslated Region Contributes to Virulence of Enterovirus 71 in Mice

BACKGROUND: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) has emerged as a neuroinvasive virus responsible for several large outbreaks in the Asia-Pacific region while virulence determinant remains unexplored. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this report, we investigated increased virulence of unadapted EV71 clinical isolate 237 as compared with isolate 4643 in mice. A fragment 12 nucleotides in length in stem loop (SL) II of 237 5'-untranslated region (UTR) visibly reduced survival time and rate in mice was identified by constructing a series of infectious clones harboring chimeric 5'-UTR. In cells transfected with bicistronic plasmids, and replicon RNAs, the 12-nt fragment of isolate 237 enhanced translational activities and accelerated replication of subgenomic EV71. Finally, single nucleotide change from cytosine to uridine at base 158 in this short fragment of 5'-UTR was proven to reduce viral translation and EV71 virulence in mice. Results collectively indicated a pivotal role of novel virulence determinant C158 on virus translation in vitro and EV71 virulence in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: These results presented the first reported virulence determinant in EV71 5'-UTR and first position discovered from unadapted isolates