A Renewable and Ultrasensitive Electrochemiluminescence Immunosenor Based on Magnetic RuL@SiO2-Au∼RuL-Ab2 Sandwich-Type Nano-Immunocomplexes

An ultrasensitive and renewable electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor was developed for the detection of tumor markers by combining a newly designed trace tag and streptavidin-coated magnetic particles (SCMPs). The trace tag (RuL@SiO2-Au∼RuL-Ab2) was prepared by loading Ru(bpy)32+(RuL)-conjuged secondary antibodies (RuL-Ab2) on RuL@SiO2 (RuL-doped SiO2) doped Au (RuL@SiO2-Au). To fabricate the immunosensor, SCMPs were mixed with biotinylated AFP primary antibody (Biotin-Ab1), AFP, and RuL@SiO2-Au∼RuL-Ab2 complexes, then the resulting SCMP/Biotin-Ab1/AFP/RuL@SiO2-Au∼RuL-Ab2 (SBAR) sandwich-type immunocomplexes were absorbed on screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE) for detection. The immunocomplexes can be easily washed away from the surface of the SPCE when the magnetic field was removed, which made the immunosensor reusable. The present immunosensor showed a wide linear range of 0.05–100 ng mL−1 for detecting AFP, with a low detection limit of 0.02 ng mL−1 (defined as S/N = 3). The method takes advantage of three properties of the immunosensor: firstly, the RuL@SiO2-Au∼RuL-Ab2 composite exhibited dual amplification since SiO2 could load large amount of reporter molecules (RuL) for signal amplification. Gold particles could provide a large active surface to load more reporter molecules (RuL-Ab2). Accordingly, through the ECL response of RuL and tripropylamine (TPA), a strong ECL signal was obtained and an amplification analysis of protein interaction was achieved. Secondly, the sensor is renewable because the sandwich-type immunocomplexes can be readily absorbed or removed on the SPCE’s surface in a magnetic field. Thirdly, the SCMP modified probes can perform the rapid separation and purification of signal antibodies in a magnetic field. Thus, the present immunosensor can simultaneously realize separation, enrichment and determination. It showed potential application for the detection of AFP in human sera

Effects of Hepatitis B Virus S Protein Exposure on Sperm Membrane Integrity and Functions

Background: Hepatitis B is a public health problem worldwide. Viral infection can affect a man’s fertility, but only scant information about the influence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on sperm quality is available. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hepatitis B virus S protein (HBs) on human sperm membrane integrity and functions. Methods/Principal Findings: Reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation (LP), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization were determined. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays and flow cytometric analyses were performed. (1) After 3 h incubation with 25 mg/ml of HBs, the average rates of ROS positive cells, annexin V–positive/propidium iodide (PI)-negative cells, Caspases-3,-8,-9 positive cells and TUNEL-positive cells were significantly increased in the test groups as compared to those in the control groups, while TAC level was decreased when compared with the control. The level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the sperm cells exposed to 50 mg/ml of HBs for 3 h was significantly higher than that in the control (P,0.05–0.01). (2) HBs increased the MDA levels and the numbers of ROS positive cells, annexin V–positive/PI-negative cells, caspases-3,-8,-9 positive cells and TUNEL-positive cells in a dose-dependent manner. (3) HBs monoclonal antibody (MAb) and N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced the number of ROS-positive sperm cells. (4) HBs decreased the TAC levels in sperm cells in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion: HBs exposure could lead to ROS generation, lipid peroxidation, TAC reduction, PS externalization, activation o

Construction of a Medical Micro-Object Cascade Network for Automated Segmentation of Cerebral Microbleeds in Susceptibility Weighted Imaging

Aim: The detection and segmentation of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) images are the focus of clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, segmentation is difficult in clinical practice, and missed diagnosis may occur. Few related studies on the automated segmentation of CMB images have been performed, and we provide the most effective CMB segmentation to date using an automated segmentation system.Materials and Methods: From a research perspective, we focused on the automated segmentation of CMB targets in susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) for the first time and then constructed a deep learning network focused on the segmentation of micro-objects. We collected and marked clinical datasets and proposed a new medical micro-object cascade network (MMOC-Net). In the first stage, U-Net was utilized to select the region of interest (ROI). In the second stage, we utilized a full-resolution network (FRN) to complete fine segmentation. We also incorporated residual atrous spatial pyramid pooling (R-ASPP) and a new joint loss function.Results: The most suitable segmentation result was achieved with a ROI size of 32 × 32. To verify the validity of each part of the method, ablation studies were performed, which showed that the best segmentation results were obtained when FRN, R-ASPP and the combined loss function were used simultaneously. Under these conditions, the obtained Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) value was 87.93% and the F2-score (F2) value was 90.69%. We also innovatively developed a visual clinical diagnosis system that can provide effective support for clinical diagnosis and treatment decisions.Conclusions: We created the MMOC-Net method to perform the automated segmentation task of CMBs in an SWI and obtained better segmentation performance; hence, this pioneering method has research significance

The implications of Down's syndrome serum screening on the detection of other aneuploidies and low birth weight

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Development of the Private and State-owned Logistics Enterprises in China : case study in GREE and CHINATRANS.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the current status and development of the private and state-owned Third-party Logistics (3PL) companies. In China, there are mainly two common kinds of ownerships, one is state ownership, and the other is private ownership. These two forms of ownerships have enormous influence in various industries. The state-owned company GREE and private company CHINATRANS are taken as the case study in this thesis. The management systems of these two companies are analyzed by interviewing their managers. Furthermore, an innovation assessment tool is used to examine the innovative performance for these two companies. The return on investment model is also used to compare on the financial problem. Based on the analysis of management, cost and innovation aspect in GREE and CHINATRANS, the pattern of different ownerships affecting 3PL companies is identified. The conclusions of this thesis are: The private Third-party Logistics companies have a more flexible management system than the state-owned Third-party Logistics companies. Moreover, the private Third-party Logistics companies have a good performance on cost management and human resource. The core-competitiveness for them shows in the grasp of the market. The state-owned Third-party Logistics companies have a strict management system; they have advantage of innovation management, especially for new technology development. Excellent service is their core competence. Nowadays, Chinese third-party logistics industry has a low ROI, but still has a large space for 3PL to improve. Through the case study of GREE and CHINATRANS, value-added services and low cost operation are effective approaches to increase ROI

The impact of education, law and family factorsinfluence of gender discrimination in China

Purpose: This paper is to investigate the impacts of education, law andfamily factors influence of the gender situation. And what factor hasmost impact to change the sex discrimination situation in China Design /method/approach: We did a survey at a Chinese university.In total, 96 student informants and 134 staff informants were surveyedin order to get the opinions of the gender discrimination. Finding: We find education, law and family factors all can influencethe opinion of gender situation. Conclusion: The relationship between education, family and lawshould be mutual promotion and mutual influence. But from thesurvey’s result, education has the largest influence on gender situation.The second one is family factor, and the law factor has lowest affect.The reason for these results is traditional family culture and the policyof government. Unbalanced policies and the culture of family, both ofthem lead to the differences of influence. Suggestion for future research: First, the research base only in auniversity, although the sample covers gender, education elements, thegeneralization of the conclusion is still limited due to the sample size.In the future, more informants should be covered to test the hypothesesproposed. Second, the authors only discussed education, law andfamily factors influence of the gender discrimination. Future studiesare encouraged to deeply explore what else factors can influencepeople’s opinions on gender discrimination. Contribution of the thesis: Owing the lack of empirical research onthe situation of gender discrimination in China, this thesis provides anempirical study on the factors influencing the gender discrimination.Our research results can help Chinese to develop better solution toreduce the gender discrimination. Paper type: Research pape

Prognostic Value of Soluble Suppression of Tumorigenicity 2 in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Objective. Previous studies have controversial results about the prognostic role of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Therefore, we conduct this meta-analysis to access the association between sST2 and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and CVD events in patients with CKD. Methods. The publication studies on the association of sST2 with all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and CVD events from PubMed and Embase were searched through August 2020. We pooled the hazard ratio (HR) comparing high versus low levels of sST2 and subgroup analysis based on treatment, continent, and diabetes mellitus (DM) proportion, and sample size was also performed. Results. There were 15 eligible studies with 11,063 CKD patients that were included in our meta-analysis. Elevated level of sST2 was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR 2.05; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.51–2.78), CVD mortality (HR 1.68; 95% CI, 1.35–2.09), total CVD events (HR 1.88; 95% CI, 1.26–2.80), and HF (HR 1.35; 95% CI, 1.11–1.64). Subgroup analysis based on continent, DM percentage, and sample size showed that these factors did not influence the prognostic role of sST2 levels to all-cause mortality. Conclusions. Our results show that high levels of sST2 could predict the all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and CVD events in CKD patients

Differentiation Potential of Human Wharton’s Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Paracrine Signaling Interaction Contribute to Improve the In Vitro Maturation of Mouse Cumulus Oocyte Complexes

In vitro maturation (IVM) in cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) can be improved by the presence of human Wharton’s jelly-derived MSCs (hWJ-MSCs), under specific culture conditions. COCs were cultured in twelve different culture systems, composed of four stock media, stock media conditioned with hWJ-MSCs, and stock media in which the oocytes were indirectly cocultured with the hWJ-MSCs. The rates of maturation to meiosis II were compared among the groups. G2-PLUS and coculture with DMEM-F12 were the most efficient systems for the maturation of COCs. The fertilization rate and rate of development to the blastocyst stage were compared between these two groups. Moreover, hWJ-MSC-conditioned media showed no benefits for the COC-IVM. The analysis of OCT4 expression of hWJ-MSCs in G1-PLUS, TYH, and G2-PLUS showed a downregulation of OCT4 by 25.9, 24.7, and 6.6%, respectively, compared to that in hWJ-MSCs cultured in DMEM-F12. Finally, we have demonstrated that two prerequisites appeared to be necessary for the hWJ-MSCs to improve the IVM of COCs: hWJ-MSCs’ differentiation potential and the presence of coordinated paracrine interaction between the stem cells and COCs. Under the appropriate conditions, the paracrine factors produced in the coculture system with DMEM-F12 may help to develop synthetic media for successful in vitro culture of COCs

Research Progress on Ferroptosis-mediated Antitumor Immunotherapy

Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation and is closely associated with a wide range of biological processes, such as aging, immunity, and cancer. Tumor multidrug resistance, especially resistance to apoptosis, has prompted the urgent search for a new antitumor treatment option. Remarkable progress has been made in the study of the role of ferroptosis in antitumor, especially the interaction with immune cells. Studying immunotherapy based on ferroptosis pathways has become a new direction in antitumor research. In this work, we review the role of ferroptosis in immune cells and antitumor immunotherapy to provide new ideas for ferroptosis-mediated antitumor immunotherapy