Diagnostic accuracy of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma, interlukine-10 and adenosine deaminase 2 in differential diagnosis between tuberculous pleural effusion and malignant pleural effusion

BACKGROUND: The current study was performed to investigate the potential biomarkers for the differential diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) and malignant pleural effusions (MPE). METHODS: Among ninety patients (n = 90) involved in the study, 47 with tuberculous pleural effusion aged from 18 to 70 and 43 with secondary malignant pleural effusion aged from 34 to 78. We tested the pleural levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-10 as well as the enzyme activity of ADA(2), and then we compared the differential diagnostic efficiencies of those biochemical parameters with ADA between the two groups. RESULTS: Our results show that, the concentrations of pleural TNF-α (45.55 ± 15.85 ng/L), IFN-γ (114.97 ± 27.85 ng/L) as well as activities of ADA(2) (35.71 ± 10.00 U/L) and ADA (39.39 ± 10.60 U/L) in tuberculous group were significantly higher compared to malignant group. Furthermore, according to the ROC curve analysis the thresholds of TNF-α, IFN-γ, ADA(2) and ADA were found to be 30.3 ng/L, 103.65 ng/L, 29.45 U/L, and 39.00 U/L, respectively. TNF-α, IFN-γ and ADA(2) yielded better sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the diagnosis than ADA. Our investigation further revealed that the combinations of TNF-α and ADA(2) further increased the specificity and accuracy for the differential diagnosis. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we found that TNF-α, IFN-γ, ADA and ADA(2) all increased in TPE. Combinations of the TNF-α and ADA(2) yielded the best specificity and accuracy for the differential diagnosis of TPE from MPE. Our investigation suggests that the applications of TNF-α together with ADA(2) may contribute to more efficient diagnosis strategies in the management of discrimination between tuberculous and malignant pleural effusions

HOXC6 promotes migration, invasion and proliferation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells via modulating expression of genes involved in malignant phenotypes

Background HOXC6 is a member of the HOX gene family. The elevated expression of this gene occurs in prostate and breast cancers. However, the role of HOXC6 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains largely uninvestigated. Methods The expression of HOXC6 was examined by immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time PCR and immunoblotting assays. The lentivirus-mediated expression of HOXC6 was verified at mRNA and protein levels. Wound healing and Matrigel assays were performed to assess the effect of HOXC6 on the migration and invasion of cancer cells. The growth curving, CCK8, and colony formation assays were utilized to access the proliferation capacities. RNA-seq was performed to evaluate the downstream targets of HOXC6. Bioinformatic tool was used to analyze the gene expression. Results HOXC6 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues. HOXC6 overexpression promoted the migration, invasion, and proliferation of both Eca109 and TE10 cells. There were 2,155 up-regulated and 759 down-regulated genes in Eca109-HOXC6 cells and 95 up-regulated and 47 down-regulated genes in TE10-HOXC6 cells compared with the results of control. Interestingly, there were only 20 common genes, including 17 up-regulated and three down-regulated genes with similar changes upon HOXC6 transfection in both cell lines. HOXC6 activated several crucial genes implicated in the malignant phenotype of cancer cells. Discussion HOXC6 is highly expressed in ESCC and promotes malignant phenotype of ESCC cells. HOXC6 can be used as a new therapeutic target of ESCC

Super-Resolution Imaging Strategies for Cell Biologists Using a Spinning Disk Microscope

In this study we use a spinning disk confocal microscope (SD) to generate super-resolution images of multiple cellular features from any plane in the cell. We obtain super-resolution images by using stochastic intensity fluctuations of biological probes, combining Photoactivation Light-Microscopy (PALM)/Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM) methodologies. We compared different image analysis algorithms for processing super-resolution data to identify the most suitable for analysis of particular cell structures. SOFI was chosen for X and Y and was able to achieve a resolution of ca. 80 nm; however higher resolution was possible >30 nm, dependant on the super-resolution image analysis algorithm used. Our method uses low laser power and fluorescent probes which are available either commercially or through the scientific community, and therefore it is gentle enough for biological imaging. Through comparative studies with structured illumination microscopy (SIM) and widefield epifluorescence imaging we identified that our methodology was advantageous for imaging cellular structures which are not immediately at the cell-substrate interface, which include the nuclear architecture and mitochondria. We have shown that it was possible to obtain two coloured images, which highlights the potential this technique has for high-content screening, imaging of multiple epitopes and live cell imaging

Designing Statistical Model-based Discriminator for Identifying Computer-generated Graphics from Natural Images

The purpose of this paper is to differentiate between natural images (NI) acquired by digital cameras and computer-generated graphics (CG) created by computer graphics rendering software. The main contributions of this paper are threefold. First, we propose to utilize two different denoising filters for acquiring the first-order and second-order noise of the inspected image, and analyze its characteristics with assuming that residual noise follows the proposed statistical model. Second, under the framework of the hypothesis testing theory, the problem of identifying between NI and CG is smoothly transferred to the design of the likelihood ratio test (LRT) with knowing all the nuisance parameters, and meanwhile the performance of the LRT is theoretically investigated. Third, in the practical classiffication, using the estimated model parameters, we propose to establish a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT). A large scale of experimental results on simulated and real data directly verify that our proposed test has the ability of identifying CG from NI with high detection performance, and show the comparable effectiveness with some prior arts. Besides, the robustness of the proposed classi_er is veri_ed with considering the attacks generated by some post-processing techniques

The Spatial–Temporal Changes of the Coupling Relationship among Agricultural Labor Force, Agricultural Economy, and Farmland in Chongqing

Agricultural labor force, agricultural economy, and farmland use are momentous components of sustainable development in rural areas, as well as essential causes of drastic changes in the urban–rural transformation. This paper studies the spatial–temporal characteristics of the labor–farmland–economy coupling structure from 2000 to 2018 in rural areas of Chongqing using spatial analysis technology. The study has four main results. First and foremost, not only has the average annual rate of the agricultural labor force in Chongqing reduced by 3.73%, but the reduction rates in Jiangbei District, Dadukou District, Nan’an District, Shapingba District, and Yubei District have exceeded 15%. Then, the average annual rate of the agricultural economy has increased by 9.32%, but it has been in a downward trend in Dadukou District, Jiangbei District, and Shapingba Districts. Furthermore, the average annual decline rate of farmland area is 0.34% with larger reduction occurring in the nine of the central urban districts, Chengkou County and Wushan County. Ultimately, there have been 33 districts and counties with the temporal–spatial characteristics of labor–farmland–economy coupling above primary coordination, which includes 16 districts and counties reaching a high coordination. This provides theoretical and methodical supports for the coordinated development of human and land industries in different regions

Analgesic Effect of Ultrasound-Guided Anterior Quadratus Lumborum Block at the L2 Level in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy: A Single-Center, Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ultrasound-guided anterior quadratus lumborum block (QLB) at the L2 level in patients undergoing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. Methods. Patients who were 18–70 years old with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status of 1-2 and were scheduled for elective laparoscopic partial nephrectomy were recruited into the cluster randomized controlled trial. Sixty-three patients were randomly allocated to receive QLB (group Q, n = 32) or no block (group C, n = 31). The patients were not masked to the group allocations. The postoperative follower was blinded to the group allocations. All patients received total intravenous anesthesia, the same multimodal analgesic regimen, and rescue analgesia when needed. The primary outcome was perioperative cumulative sufentanil consumption. Results. 30 patients in group Q and 29 patients in group C were included in the statistical analysis. Block-related complications were not found in this study. Sufentanil consumption during the perioperative period (155.41 [19.58] vs 119.37 [12.41] μg, p < 0.001) and sufentanil dosage during surgery and 0–6 h, 6–12 h, and 12–24 h after surgery were lower in group Q than in group C, while 24–48 h after surgery was similar between both groups. The median sensory blockade area in group Q was T9-L1. Comparison of invasive blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) before and after skin incision in group C was statistically significant, but there was no significant difference in group Q. Both at rest and during activity, numerical rating scale (NRS) scores and the incidence of rescue analgesia were lower in group Q at any time point after surgery. The incidences of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), time from postoperative to discharge, postoperative recovery quality, or anesthesia satisfaction were similar between the two groups. Conclusions. Anterior QLB at the L2 level can reduce the perioperative dosage of sufentanil and the degree of postoperative pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, but it did not improve postoperative recovery quality and anesthesia satisfaction

The complete chloroplast genome of Callicarpa siongsaiensis Metcalf (Lamiaceae) from Fujian Province, China: genome structure and phylogenetic analysis

Callicarpa siongsaiensis Metcalf is a drought resistance shrub with ornamental potential. In this study, Illumina sequencing data were used to assemble the complete chloroplast genome of Callicarpa siongsaiensis. The length of the circular genome is 154,144 bp. It contains a total of 130 genes, including 87 protein-coding, 36 tRNA, and seven rRNA genes. The GC content of the chloroplast genome of C. siongsaiensis is 38.09%. The phylogenetic analysis fully resolved C. siongsaiensis in a clade with C. formosana

Study on corrosion mechanism of high-nitrogen steel laser-arc hybrid welded joints

In this paper, the electrochemical microcorrosion behavior of High-nitrogen steel hybrid weld joints with different wires addition were investigated. Polarization curves measurement was conducted to evaluate the corrosion feature in 3.5% NaCl solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the specific corrosion behavior and pitting deepening mechanism induced by precipitated ferrite-dendrites. The experimental results showed that the addition of nitrogen-containing welding wire improved the corrosion resistance of whole weld joint. As a transitional region, the HAZ exhibited relative weak pitting resistance and severe shedding behavior. The coherent dendrites and similar complex geometries led to the accumulation of continuous corrosion channels. The XPS spectra results indicated that the additional nitrogen in the welding wire optimized oxide composition of the surface passive film

Viral infection and immunity view of SARS-CoV-2 using RBD-assembled DNA Soccer-ball Framework

Elevated understanding of the viral infection process contributes to development of neutralizing agents and vaccine to combat infectious diseases. Although crystal structure of single SARS-CoV-2 spike/RBD and host receptor ACE2 is known, the viral attachment and immune response initiated by numbers and distribution patterns of natural spikes on SARS-CoV-2 are still obscure. Leveraging a ~74 nm DNA soccer-ball framework (DSF), we developed an aptamer-guided SARS-CoV-2 RBD precisely assembly strategy, thereby exploring the viral infection and immune response in specific numbers and distributions of RBDs. Thirty evenly distributed RBDs on DSF could achieve sufficient binding affinity against host cell (Kd of 122.2 pM), whereas 60 evenly distributed RBDs on DSF could bind to host cell rapidly (Ka of 0.845 min-1). While RBDs in centralized manner compared to evenly distribution facilitated higher and faster binding to host. Moreover, evenly distributed 20 RBDs on DSF achieved up to 88% immunity elicitation of macrophage cells. Overall, this strategy provides a prospective direction for the assembly of virus-like particles based on DNA origami, thereby facilitating understanding of viral infection and efficient vaccine design