Temperature and impurity effects of the polaron in an asymmetric quantum dot

We study the temperature and impurity effects of the ground state energy and the ground state binding energy in an asymmetric quantum dot by using the liner combination operator method. It is found that the ground state energy and the ground state binding energy will increase with increasing the temperature. The ground state ener-gy is a decreasing function of the Coulomb bound potential, whereas the ground state binding energy is an in-creasing one of it

Expanded CURB-65: A new score system predicts severity of community-acquired pneumonia with superior efficiency

Aim of this study was to develop a new simpler and more effective severity score for communityacquired pneumonia (CAP) patients. A total of 1640 consecutive hospitalized CAP patients in Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University were included. The effectiveness of different pneumonia severity scores to predict mortality was compared, and the performance of the new score was validated on an external cohort of 1164 patients with pneumonia admitted to a teaching hospital in Italy. Using age≥ 65 years, LDH>230u/L, albumin<3.5g/dL, platelet count<100×109/L, confusion, urea>7mmol/L, respiratory rate≥30/min, low blood pressure, we assembled a new severity score named as expanded-CURB-65. The 30-day mortality and length of stay were increased along with increased risk score. The AUCs in the prediction of 30-day mortality in the main cohort were 0.826 (95%CI, 0.807–0.844), 0.801 (95%CI, 0.781–0.820), 0.756 (95%CI, 0.735–0.777), 0.793 (95%CI, 0.773–0.813) and 0.759 (95%CI, 0.737–0.779) for the expanded-CURB-65, PSI, CURB-65, SMART-COP and A-DROP, respectively. The performance of this bedside score was confirmed in CAP patients of the validation cohort although calibration was not successful in patients with health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP). The expanded CURB-65 is objective, simpler and more accurate scoring system for evaluation of CAP severity, and the predictive efficiency was better than other score systems

A coronary computed tomography angiography study on anatomical characteristics of the diagonal branch of anterior interventricular artery

Background: This study investigated the anatomical characteristics of the ramus intermedius (RI) and its correlation with the proximal diameter of the branch vessels of the left coronary artery (LCA) using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Materials and methods: We screened patients who underwent CCTA from January to September 2021 and randomly enrolled 267 with RI (RI group) and 134 without RI (control group). We evaluated the anatomical features of RI (distribution, proximal diameter, length). We measured the proximal diameter of the anterior interventricular branch of the left coronary artery (LAD) and the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery (LCX). We compared the differences between groups in the proximal diameter of LAD and LCX and the correlation between gender and each parameter of the left coronary artery (LAD, LCX, RI) within the RI group. In addition, we compared the correlation between the distribution characteristics of RI and the proximal diameter of LAD and LCX within the RI group.  Results: The LAD and LCX proximal diameters in the RI group were significantly smaller than those in the control group (P &lt; 0.05). Comparisons within the RI group showed the following results: The RI distribution, RI diameter and length, and the LCX proximal diameter were not significantly different between male and female patients (P &gt; 0.05), and the LAD proximal diameter was significantly larger in male than in female patients (P &lt; 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the LAD and LCX proximal diameters between the different RI distribution groups (P &lt; 0.05). Based on the pairwise comparison, there were significant differences in the LAD (LCX) proximal diameter between the RI-beside-the-LAD (LCX) group and the RI-middle group, as well as between the RI-beside-the-LAD (LCX) group and the RI-beside-the-LCX (LAD) group (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: A CCTA accurately evaluated the anatomical characteristics of an RI, which has an impact on the proximal diameter of the branch vessels of the left coronary artery (i.e., LAD and LCX), the degree of influence of which is correlated with the RI distribution

Dietary inclusion of fermented ginger straw effect on the growth performance, gastrointestinal tract development and caecal fermentation of fattening rabbits

[EN] This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of fermented ginger straw on the growth performance, gastrointestinal tract development and caecal fermentation of fattening rabbits. A total of 160 45-d-old Laiwu black rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups and fed 0% (Control), 5, 10 or 15% fermented ginger straw in their diet as a replacement for peanut straw powder. The trial lasted for 7 d of adaptation and 43 d for testing. Growth performance was recorded from 52 to 95 d of age (n=5 per treatment with 30 rabbits, 3 males and 3 females per replicate), TTAD of nutrients from 91 to 95 d of age, and gastrointestinal tract development, caecum fermentation and carcass traits were determined at 95 d of age (n=5 per treatment with 10 rabbits, 1 males and 1 females in per replicate).The results showed that the average daily gain and final body weight in the experimental groups (5, 10 and 15% fermented ginger straw) were higher than in the control group (P&lt;0.05). However, the average daily feed intake in the 15% group was higher than in the other groups, while the total tract apparent digestibility of crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre were lower than in the control group (P&lt;0.05), and the relative weights of the stomach, small intestine and caecum content in the 15% substitution group were higher than those in the control group (P&lt;0.05). In addition, the thickness of the muscle layer in the 15% substitution group was higher than that in the other groups (P&lt;0.05). Moreover, pH and total volatile fatty acids concentration in the caecal content were similar among the 4 groups (P&gt;0.05). The current work shows that fermented ginger straw could be used as roughage material in fattening rabbit production up to a dietary dose of 10%.This study was supported by Earmarked Fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (CARS-43-G-7); Shandong Province Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System (SDAIT-21); Scientific and Technological Problems Project Unveiled by Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SHJB2021-43).Sun, HT.; Wang, Y.; Bai, LY.; Liu, C.; Xu, YH.; Gao, SX.; Jiang, WX.... (2022). Dietary inclusion of fermented ginger straw effect on the growth performance, gastrointestinal tract development and caecal fermentation of fattening rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 30(4):267-276. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2022.1609326727630

The Proinflammatory Cytokines IL-18, IL-21, and IFN-γ Differentially Regulate Liver Inflammation and Anti-Mitochondrial Antibody Level in a Murine Model of Primary Biliary Cholangitis

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a cholestatic liver disease primarily featured by autoimmune-mediated damage of intrahepatic small- and medium-sized bile ducts. Elevated serum proinflammatory cytokines, serum anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMAs), liver inflammation, and fibrosis are also hallmarks of PBC disease. However, whether the elevated proinflammatory cytokines play a role in autoimmune cholangitis remains unknown. Herein, we utilized the p40-/-IL-2Rα-/- PBC mouse model to investigate the roles of proinflammatory cytokines IL-18, IL-21, and IFN-γ in the onset and progression of PBC. IL-18-/-, IFN-γ-/-, and IL-21-/- mice were crossed with p40-/-IL-2Ra+/- mice, respectively, to produce corresponding cytokine-deficient PBC models. Autoantibody level, liver inflammation, and bile duct injury were analyzed. We found that livers from p40-/-IL-2Rα-/- mice exhibit similar transcriptomic characters of PBC patients. In p40-/-IL-2Rα-/- mice, deletion of IL-18 has no remarkable effect on disease progression, while deletion of IL-21 indicates that it is necessary for AMA production but independent of liver inflammation and cholangitis. IFN-γ is responsible for both AMA production and liver inflammation in our model. Our results demonstrate that different proinflammatory cytokines can regulate different effector functions in PBC pathogenesis and need to be considered in PBC treatment

Alterations of Serum Levels of BDNF-Related miRNAs in Patients with Depression

Depression is a serious and potentially life-threatening mental disorder with unknown etiology. Emerging evidence shows that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in the etiology of depression. Here this study was aimed to identify and characterize the roles of BDNF and its putative regulatory miRNAs in depression. First, we identified that miR-182 may be a putative miRNA that regulates BDNF levels by bioinformatic studies, and characterized the effects of miR-182 on the BDNF levels using cell-based studies, side by side with miR-132 (a known miRNA that regulates BDNF expression). We showed that treatment of miR-132 and miR-182 respectively decreased the BDNF protein levels in a human neuronal cell model, supporting the regulatory roles of miR-132 and miR-182 on the BDNF expression. Furthermore, we explored the roles of miR-132 and miR-182 on the BDNF levels in depression using human subjects by assessing their serum levels. Compared with the healthy controls, patients with depression showed lower serum BDNF levels (via the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays) and higher serum miR-132 and miR-182 levels (via the real-time PCR). Finally, the Pearson’s (or Spearman’s) correlation coefficient was calculated to study whether there was a relationship among the Self-Rating Depression Scale score, the serum BDNF levels, and serum BDNF-related miRNA levels. Our results revealed that there was a significant negative correlation between the SDS scores and the serum BDNF levels, and a positive correlation between the SDS scores and miR-132 levels. In addition, we found a reverse relationship between the serum BDNF levels and the miR-132/miR-182 levels in depression. Collectively, we provided evidence supporting that miR-182 is a putative BDNF-regulatory miRNA, and suggested that the serum BDNF and its related miRNAs may be utilized as important biomarkers in the diagnosis or as therapeutic targets of depression