Gene therapy of hypoparathyroidism with TheraCyte-encapsulated stem cells

The parathyroid hormone (PTH) (1-34) gene was inserted into a pcDNA3 promoter and E. coli competent cells were used to amplify the cDNA. C3H/10T1/2 stem cells were transfected with PTH (1-34) cDNA using Lipofectamine reagents. After G418 treatment live cells at a density of 4x107 were loaded onto a TheraCyte unit. After parathyroidectomy, rats were either the implanted with 4x107 TheraCyte-encapsulated cells (group A), subcutaneously injected with 4x107 live cells containing PTH (1-34) cDNA (group B) or injected with nothing (group C).Serum levels of calcium, phosphorus and PTH (1-34) were measured at baseline, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and 4 months after therapy. Immunohistochemical staining and RT-PCR were performed to find PTH (1-34)-positive cells and to detect PTH (1-34) mRNA.Serum calcium and PTH (1-34) levels were significantly higher in group A than in group B or C. PTH (1-34)-positive cells were found in the TheraCyte group 4 months after implantation. PTH (1-34) mRNA was detected in stem cells 48 hr after transfection and also in stem cells after transfection and 72 hr after G418 treatment.Implantation of the TheraCyte-encapsulated stem cells, which were tranfected with PTH (1-34) cDNA can treat hypoparathyroidism

Different WDR36 Mutation Pattern in Chinese Patients with Primary Open-angle Glaucoma

Purpose: To determine the distribution of WD repeat domain 36 (WDR36) sequence variants in Chinese patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Methods: One hundred and thirty-five unrelated POAG patients (82 high tension glaucoma [HTG], 42 normal tension glaucoma [NTG], and 11 juvenile-onset POAG [JOAG] patients) and 77 unrelated controls were recruited. All 23 coding exons and splicing junctions of WDR36 were sequenced using BigDye® Terminator v3.1 cycle sequencing kit. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and haplotype associations were analyzed using PLINK (version 1.04). Results: Nineteen sequence alterations were identified, and eight of them were novel including two novel nonsynonymous SNPs (L240V and I713V). Except the common I264V polymorphism, no other previously reported disease-causing or disease-susceptibility mutations were found. The novel I713V mutation was observed in three (3.7%) patients with HTG. One intronic SNP, IVS5+30C>T (rs10038177), showed significantly higher frequency of minor allele T in HTG patients (16.5%) than in controls (1.3%; Odds ratio [OR]=15.0, p=7.9×10−7, Bonferroni corrected p=1.5×10−5). Haplotype GTA, which is composed of rs13153937, rs10038177, and rs11241095, was significantly associated with HTG (OR=22.5, p=0.002, Bonferroni corrected p=0.013). Neither the individual SNPs nor haplotypes of WDR36 were associated with NTG or JOAG (Bonferroni corrected p>0.05). Conclusions: Findings in this study suggest WDR36 to be associated with sporadic HTG but not with NTG or JOAG. Our results also suggest a different mutation pattern of WDR36 in the Chinese population from other ethnic populations

Hugus 哈格斯

Hugus is a pair of fluffy dolls designed for two parties who need to spend extended time periods separated by distance. Each of the parties owns one of the dolls. To connect the Hugus, all the parties have to do is to link up their smartphones with the Hugus App via Bluetooth, and set up a reunion date with a pairing code... 哈格斯是一對兩隻的毛毛玩偶，專為長期分隔異地的人而設計。二人雙方各擁一隻哈格斯玩偶，以智能手機透過藍芽接入哈格斯應用程式，再以配對碼設定相聚的日期，就能連結彼此的哈格斯... Award: Merit奬項: 優異

Consecutive Tumor Lysis Syndrome and Hepatic Failure after Transarterial Chemoembolization for Treatment of Hepatocellular Aarcinoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Introduction: Acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS) and hepatic failure are fatal complications that can occur in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who undergo transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).Presentation of Case: We report the case of a 78-year-old man with HCC who had successive ATLS and hepatic failure after the first course of TACE. He succumbed due to rapid deterioration of his condition.Conclusion: We therefore concluded that awareness of the risks of ATLS and hepatic failure before administration of TACE is crucial in patients with HCC

A Rapid and Low-Cost Pathogen Detection Platform by Using a Molecular Agglutination Assay.

Rapid and low-cost pathogen diagnostic approaches are critical for clinical decision-making procedures. Cultivating bacteria often takes days to identify pathogens and provide antimicrobial susceptibilities. The delay in diagnosis may result in compromised treatment and inappropriate antibiotic use. Over the past decades, molecular-based techniques have significantly shortened pathogen identification turnaround time with high accuracy. However, these assays often use complex fluorescent labeling and nucleic acid amplification processes, which limit their use in resource-limited settings. In this work, we demonstrate a wash-free molecular agglutination assay with a straightforward mixing and incubation step that significantly simplifies procedures of molecular testing. By targeting the 16S rRNA gene of pathogens, we perform a rapid pathogen identification within 30 min on a dark-field imaging microfluidic cytometry platform. The dark-field images with low background noise can be obtained using a narrow beam scanning technique with off-the-shelf complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imagers such as smartphone cameras. We utilize a machine learning algorithm to deconvolute topological features of agglutinated clusters and thus quantify the abundance of bacteria. Consequently, we unambiguously distinguish Escherichia coli positive from other E. coli negative among 50 clinical urinary tract infection samples with 96% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Furthermore, we also apply this quantitative detection approach to achieve rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing within 3 h. This work exhibits easy-to-use protocols, high sensitivity, and short turnaround time for point-of-care testing uses

Pityriasis lichenoid-like mycosis fungoides in a 9-year-old boy: A case report

No abstract availabl