WeChat-based vestibular rehabilitation for patients with chronic vestibular syndrome: protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Introduction Dizziness is one of the most common symptoms seen in chronic vestibular syndrome, which has been linked to an increased risk of falls, substantial disability and negative psychological consequences. Recent evidence demonstrated that vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is effective for treating chronic vestibular symptoms. However, the delivery of VRT remains challenging because of lack of facility, insufficient qualified physiotherapist resources, as well as being in the actual situation of the pandemic. WeChat, the most widely used mobile app in China, offers a more viable way of delivering VRT than traditional office-based approaches do. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the WeChat-VRT programme for patients with chronic vestibular syndrome.Methods and analysis This is a parallel-group, assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial. Fifty patients who experienced chronic vestibular symptoms longer than 3 months will be randomised into either the WeChat-VRT group or the usual care (UC) group. Participants in the WeChat-VRT group will receive 8-week VRT mainly through the WeChat app. Participants in the UC group will receive once-weekly VRT in the clinic for 8 weeks and remaining time home-based exercise. Outcome assessments will take place at baseline and at the 8th, 12th and 24th weeks after randomisation. The primary outcome will be the change from baseline to the eighth week on the patients’ functional improvements quantified by the Functional Gait Assessment (FGA). The secondary outcomes will include dynamic balance function, emotional well-being, and vestibular activity and participation level. Intention-to-treat analysis will be performed using generalised estimation equation modelling.Ethics and dissemination The trial has been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Eye and Ear Nose Throat Hospital of Fudan University (reference number 2017047/1). The study findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journals and conferences.Trial registration number ChiCTR2000029457; Pre-results

Improved secretory expression of lignocellulolytic enzymes in Kluyveromyces marxianus by promoter and signal sequence engineering

Abstract Background Taking into account its thermotolerance, high growth rate, and broad substrate spectrum, Kluyveromyces marxianus can be considered an ideal consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). A major obstacle to ethanol production using K. marxianus is the low production of lignocellulolytic enzymes, which reduces the cellulose hydrolysis and ethanol production. Thus, further improvement of enzyme expression and secretion is essential. Results To improve the expression of lignocellulolytic enzymes, the inulinase promoter and signal sequence from K. marxianus was optimized through mutagenesis. A T(-361)A mutation inside the promoter, a deletion of AT-rich region inside 5′UTR (UTR∆A), and a P10L substitution in the signal sequence increased the secretory expression of the feruloyl esterase Est1E by up to sixfold. T(-361)A and UTR∆A increased the mRNA expression, while the P10L substitution extended the hydrophobic core of signal sequence and promoted secretion of mature protein. P10L and T(-361)A mutations increased secretory expressions of other types of lignocellulolytic enzymes by up to threefold, including endo-1,4-β-glucanase RuCelA, endo-1,4-β-endoxylanase Xyn-CDBFV, and endo-1,4-β-mannanase MAN330. During the fed-batch fermentation of strains carrying optimized modules, the peak activities of RuCelA, Xyn-CDBFV, MAN330, and Est1E reached 24 U/mL, 25,600 U/mL, 10,200 U/mL, and 1220 U/mL, respectively. Importantly, higher yield of enzymes by optimized promoter and signal sequence were achieved in all tested carbon sources, including the major end products of lignocellulose saccharification and fermentation, with growth on xylose resulting in the highest production. Conclusions The engineered promoter and signal sequence presented increased secretory expressions of different lignocellulolytic enzymes in K. marxianus by means of various carbon resources. Activities of lignocellulolytic enzymes in fed-batch fermentation were the highest activities reported for K. marxianus so far. Our engineered modules are valuable in producing lignocellulolytic enzymes by K. marxianus and in constructing efficient CBP strains for cellulosic ethanol production

Monoclonal antibody-based colloid gold immunochromatographic strip for the rapid detection of Tomato zonate spot tospovirus

Abstract Background Tomato zonate spot virus (TZSV), a new species of genus Tospovirus, caused significant losses in yield and problems in quality of many important vegetables and ornamentals in Southwest China and posed a serious threat to important economic crops for the local farmers. A convenient and reliable method was urgently needed for rapid detection and surveillance of TZSV. Methods The nucleocapsid protein (N) of TZSV was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified, and was used as the antigen to immunize BALB/c mice. Three monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) 3A2, 5D2 and 5F7 against TZSV were obtained through the hybridoma technique. The mAb 3A2 was conjugated with colloid gold as detecting reagent; mAb 5D2 was coated on a porous nitrocellulose membrane as the detection line and protein A was coated as the control line respectively. The colloid gold immunochromatographic (GICA) strip was assembled. Results The analysis of Dot-ELISA and Western blot showed that the obtained three independent lines of mAbs 3A2, 5D2 and 5F7 specifically recognized TZSV N. Based on the assembly of GICA strip, the detection of TZSV was achieved by loading the infected sap onto the test strip for visual inspection. The analysis could be completed within 5–10 min. No cross-reaction occurred between TZSV and other tested viruses. The visual detection limit of the test strip for TZSV was 800 fold dilutions of TZSV-infected leaf samples. Conclusion The mAbs were specific and the colloidal GICA strip developed in this study was convenient, fast and reliable for the detection of TZSV. The method could be applied for the rapid diagnosis and surveillance of TZSV in the field

Analysis of Volatile Aroma Components and Regulatory Genes in Different Kinds and Development Stages of Pepper Fruits Based on Non-Targeted Metabolome Combined with Transcriptome

Aroma is a crucial attribute affecting the quality of pepper and its processed products, which has significant commercial value. However, little is known about the composition of volatile aroma compounds (VACs) in pepper fruits and their potential molecular regulatory mechanisms. In this study, HS-SPME-GC-MS combined with transcriptome sequencing is used to analyze the composition and formation mechanism of VACs in different kinds and development stages of pepper fruits. The results showed that 149 VACs, such as esters, alcohols, aldehydes, and terpenoids, were identified from 4 varieties and 3 development stages, and there were significant quantitative differences among different samples. Volatile esters were the most important aroma components in pepper fruits. PCA analysis showed that pepper fruits of different developmental stages had significantly different marker aroma compounds, which may be an important provider of pepper’s characteristic aroma. Transcriptome analysis showed that many differential genes (DEGs) were enriched in the metabolic pathways related to the synthesis of VACs, such as fatty acids, amino acids, MVA, and MEP in pepper fruits. In addition, we identified a large number of differential transcription factors (TFs) that may regulate the synthesis of VACs. Combined analysis of differential aroma metabolites and DEGs identified two co-expression network modules highly correlated with the relative content of VACs in pepper fruit. This study confirmed the basic information on the changes of VACs in the fruits of several Chinese spicy peppers at different stages of development, screened out the characteristic aroma components of different varieties, and revealed the molecular mechanism of aroma formation, providing a valuable reference for the quality breeding of pepper

Multi-Scale Deep Information and Adaptive Attention Mechanism Based Coronary Reconstruction of Superior Mesenteric Artery

Vascular images contain a lot of key information, such as length, diameter and distribution. Thus reconstruction of vessels such as the Superior Mesenteric Artery is critical for the diagnosis of some abdominal diseases. However automatic segmentation of abdominal vessels is extremely challenging due to the multi-scale nature of vessels, boundary-blurring, low contrast, artifact disturbance and vascular cracks in Maximum Intensity Projection images. In this work, we propose a dual attention guided method where an adaptive adjustment field is applied to deal with multi-scale vessel information, and a channel feature fusion module is used to refine the extraction of thin vessels, reducing the interference and background noise. In particular, we propose a novel structure that accepts multiple sequential images as input, and successfully introduces spatial-temporal features by contextual information. A further IterUnet step is introduced to connect tiny cracks caused using CT scans. Comparing our proposed model with other state-of-the-art models, our model yields better segmentation and achieves an average F1 metric of 0.812

Effectiveness of an app-based intervention for unintentional injury among caregivers of preschoolers: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Each year, over 15,000 preschoolers die from unintentional injuries in China. Many interventions proven to work in other nations have not been implemented nationwide in China. The rapid popularity of smartphones offers an opportunity to overcome this limitation and disseminate evidence-based interventions to the large population of China. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of an app-based intervention for caregivers of preschoolers to prevent unintentional injury among young Chinese children. Method A single-blinded, 6-month, parallel-group cluster randomized controlled trial with 1:1 allocation ratio will be conducted in Changsha, China. In total, 2626 caregivers of preschoolers ages 3–6 years old who own a smartphone will be recruited from 20 preschools. Clusters will be randomized at the preschool level and allocated to either the control group (routine education plus app-based parenting education excluding unintentional injury prevention) or the intervention group (routine education plus app-based parenting education including unintentional injury prevention). The app-based injury prevention program was developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Haddon Matrix, the Mobile Learning framework, and a needs assessment. Data collection will be conducted at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up via app-based survey plus printed questionnaire survey. The primary outcome measure is unintentional injury incidence among preschoolers in the past 3 months. Secondary outcome measures include economic losses due to unintentional injury in the past 3 months, the Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratios (ICERs), and parent’s attitudes and behaviors concerning supervision to prevent preschooler unintentional injury in the past week. An intention-to-treat approach will be used to evaluate outcome measures. Chi-square tests will examine differences for outcome measures between groups at each time point and generalized estimation equations (GEE) will test the overall effectiveness of the app-based intervention. Missing outcome data will be imputed using the Expectation Maximization algorithm (EM). Discussion This trial will examine evidence concerning the effectiveness of an innovative app-based intervention for caregivers of Chinese preschoolers. If effective, the app-based intervention could offer an effective population-based intervention option to cost-effectively promote unintentional injury prevention in countries and regions where injury control is under-supported. Trial registration ChiCTR-IOR-17010438. Registered 15 January 2017

Additional file 2: of Effectiveness of an app-based intervention for unintentional injury among caregivers of preschoolers: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

Homepage of app intervention (English version). Note: This version is translated from the original Chinese version (Fig. 3). (PDF 2445 kb

Additional file 1: of Effectiveness of an app-based intervention for unintentional injury among caregivers of preschoolers: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

SPIRIT 2013 Checklist: Recommended Items to Address in a Clinical Trial Protocol and Related Documents. (DOC 88 kb

Hormone metabolic pathway and heat map of related transcription factors.

A, B, C, D, Schematic diagram of gene expression related to hormone signal transduction pathway; E, Statistical histogram of 661 differential genes; F, Differential transcription factor heatmap.</p