A critical review of the vaginal microbiota and its relationship with human papillomavirus

The study of bacterial 16S rRNA genes is facilitated with the assistance of next-generation sequencing methods (NGS) which allow a thorough investigation of vaginal microbial community makeup to an extent not achievable with regular culture-supported microbiological methods. The human papillomavirus (HPV) triggers cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), the precursor of cervical malignancy. Vaginal microbiota has a mutualistic symbiotic connection with their host and has a significant influence on health and disease. Surging proof points to a likely connection between the vaginal microbiota and repeated HPV infections. Some vaginal microbial types can be either prophylactic or pathogenic in cancer development of the cervix after repeated HPV infection. In this review, we discussed the composition and structure of the vaginal microbiota as well as the relationship between HPV infection and the vaginal microbiota. We also covered the link between the vaginal microbiome, HPV, and immune response

Anatomical Structure Sketcher for Cephalograms by Bimodal Deep Learning

The lateral cephalogram is a commonly used medium to acquire patient-specific morphology for diagnose and treatment planning in clinical dentistry. The robust anatomical structure detection and accurate annotation remain challenging considering the personal skeletal variations and image blurs caused by device-specific projection magnification, together with structure overlapping in the lateral cephalograms. We propose a novel cephalogram sketcher system, where the contour extraction of anatomical structures is formulated as a cross-modal morphology transfer from regular image patches to arbitrary curves. Specifically, the image patches of structures of interest are located by a hierarchical pictorial model. The automatic contour sketcher converts the image patch to a morphable boundary curve via a bimodal deep Boltzmann machine. The deep machine learns a joint representation of patch textures and contours, and forms a path from one modality (patches) to the other (contours). Thus, the sketcher can infer the contours by alternating Gibbs sampling along the path in a manner similar to the data completion. The proposed method is robust not only to structure detection, but also tends to produce accurate structure shapes and landmarks even in blurry X-ray images. The experiments performed on clinically captured cephalograms demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000346352700099&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Computer Science, Artificial IntelligenceCPCI-S(ISTP)

Anthocyanin-containing Purple Potatoes Ameliorate DSS-induced Colitis in Mice

Ulcerative colitis (UC), a major form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is on the rise worldwide. Approximately three million people suffer from IBD in the United States alone, but the current therapeutic options (e.g., corticosteroids) come with adverse side effects including reduced ability to fight infections. Thus, there is a critical need for developing effective, safe and evidence-based food products with anti-inflammatory activity. This study evaluated the antiinflammatory potential of purple-fleshed potato using a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) murine model of colitis. Mice were randomly assigned to control (AIN-93G diet), P15 (15% purple-fleshed potato diet) and P25 (25% purple-fleshed potato diet) groups. Colitis was induced by 2% DSS administration in drinking water for six days. The results indicated that purple-fleshed potato supplementation suppressed the DSS-induced reduction in body weight and colon length as well as the increase in spleen and liver weights. P15 and P25 diets suppressed the elevation in the intestinal permeability, colonic MPO activity, mRNA expression and protein levels of pro-inflammatory interleukins IL-6 and IL-17, the relative abundance of specific pathogenic bacteria such as Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and pks+ E. coli, and the increased flagellin levels induced by DSS treatment. P25 alone suppressed the elevated systemic MPO levels in DSS-exposed mice, and elevated the relative abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) as well as attenuated colonic mRNA expression level of IL-17 and the protein levels of IL-6 and IL-1β. Therefore, the purple-fleshed potato has the potential to aid in the amelioration of UC symptoms

Long Noncoding RNA Can Be a Probable Mechanism and a Novel Target for Diagnosis and Therapy in Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common congenital hereditary disease of low intelligence after Down syndrome. Its main pathogenic gene is fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene associated with intellectual disability, autism, and fragile X-related primary ovarian insufficiency (FXPOI) and fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS). FMR1 gene transcription leads to the absence of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). How to relieve or cure disorders associated with FXS has also become a clinically disturbing problem. Previous studies have recently shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) contribute to the pathogenesis. And it has been identified that several lncRNAs including FMR4, FMR5, and FMR6 contribute to developing FXPOI/FXTAS, originating from the FMR1 gene locus. FMR4 is a product of RNA polymerase II and can regulate the expression of relevant genes during differentiation of human neural precursor cells. FMR5 is a sense-oriented transcript while FMR6 is an antisense lncRNA produced by the 3′ UTR of FMR1. FMR6 is likely to contribute to developing FXPOI, and it overlaps exons 15–17 of FMR1 as well as two microRNA binding sites. Additionally, BC1 can bind FMRP to form an inhibitory complex and lncRNA TUG1 also can control axonal development by directly interacting with FMRP through modulating SnoN–Ccd1 pathway. Therefore, these lncRNAs provide pharmaceutical targets and novel biomarkers. This review will: (1) describe the clinical manifestations and traditional pathogenesis of FXS and FXTAS/FXPOI; (2) summarize what is known about the role of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of FXS and FXTAS/FXPOI; and (3) provide an outlook of potential effects and future directions of lncRNAs in FXS and FXTAS/FXPOI researches

Macrophage Polarization in the Development and Progression of Ovarian Cancers: An Overview

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy worldwide. Most patients are diagnosed at late stages because of atypical symptoms and the lack of effective early diagnostic measures. The mechanisms underlying the oncogenesis and development of ovarian cancer are not clear. Macrophages, immune cells derived from the innate immune system, have two states of polarization (M1 and M2) that develop in response to different stimuli. The polarization and differentiation of macrophages into the cancer-inhibiting M1 and cancer-promoting M2 types represent the two states of macrophages in the tumor microenvironment. The interaction of polarized macrophages with cancer cells plays a crucial role in a variety of cancers. However, the effects of macrophage M1/M2 polarization on ovarian cancer have not yet been systematically and fully discussed. In this review, we discuss not only the occurrence, development and influences of macrophage polarization but also the association between macrophage polarization and ovarian cancer. The polarization of macrophages into the M1 and M2 phenotypes plays a pivotal role in ovarian cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis, and provides targets for macrophage-centered treatment in the cancer microenvironment for ovarian cancer therapy. We also addressed the regulation of macrophage polarization in ovarian cancer via noncoding RNAs, exosomes, and epigenetics

Deviations in palatal region between indirect and direct digital models: an in vivo study

Abstract Background Studies focusing on accuracy of intraoral digital models in the palatal region are scarce. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of different scanning sequences on palatal trueness and to assess deviation and distribution character of trueness in palate. Methods Overall, 35 participants accepted three types of procedures to acquire upper digital models. Indirect models digitalised from plaster models were considered as the reference. Two direct digital models were acquired using TRIOS 3 POD intraoral scanners, namely Groups Tr1 and Tr2, wherein intraoral scanning differed in terms of palatal scanning sequences. Based on a modified dental-level superimposition method, 3D measurements of trueness in palate and palatal vault region (PVR) for palatal stable regional superimposition in Groups Tr1 and Tr2, respectively, were performed. Absolute deviations were measured for trueness, while signed deviations were analysed for shape distortion. Colour-coded maps were used for quantitative analysis of deviation distribution pattern. Paired t test was used to analyse differences in palatal trueness between different scanning sequences. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni test were used to compare trueness measurements among different superimposition methods. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to verify reproducibility of the proposed method. Results Palatal trueness in Group Tr1 (118.59 ± 37.67 μm) was slightly less accurate than that (108.25 ± 33.83 μm) in Group Tr2 (p = 0.012  0.90. Conclusions Scanning sequences can affect palatal trueness. Palatal scanning should be initiated at the palatal side of the posterior teeth where the initial scan begins. For 3D PVR superimposition, distal boundary of the selected region should be adjusted mesially whilst referring to intraoral digital models. Trial registration The trial has been registered (registration No: R000039467, Trial ID: UMIN000034617, date of registration: 2018/10/24‘retrospectively registered’)

Evaluation of root resorption after comprehensive orthodontic treatment using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT): a meta-analysis

Abstract Background Orthodontic treatment can result in root resorption (RR). Traditional two-dimensional (2D) data exhibit magnification, deformation and positioning problems. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) contains more accurate three-dimensional (3D) information. This study identified and qualified the extent and location of root resorption using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) after comprehensive orthodontic treatment. Methods Studies comparing the RR before and after comprehensive orthodontic treatment using CBCT were identified using electronic searches of databases, including Cochrane, PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science, and manual searches in relevant journals and the reference lists of the included studies until Oct 25, 2017. The extraction of data and the risk of bias evaluation were conducted by two investigators independently. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS). Studies that reported the length and volume of teeth were used for quantitative analyses. Results Twelve studies were included in the meta-analysis. The length of all teeth after intervention was significantly shorter than that before treatment (MD = 0.80, 95% CI 0.56, 1.03, P < 0.00001). The sequence of RR from heaviest to lightest was maxillary lateral incisors, maxillary central incisors, mandibular anterior teeth, and maxillary canines. Studies were divided into two subgroups based on the use of tooth extraction. Root shortening after treatment was observed in both groups, and extraction caused more root resorption than was observed in the non-extraction group. Conclusions There were different degrees of root resorption after orthodontics, but it was clinically acceptable. Root resorption established in CBCT research was less serious and more accurate than that observed in the two-dimensional research. Current evidence suggests that root length and volume were reduced after orthodontic treatment. The order of the amount of RR was maxillary lateral incisors, maxillary central incisors and mandibular anterior teeth. Most of the articles were complicated by different confounding factors. Therefore, more high-quality clinical trials are needed to determine the risk factors of root resorption and optimal protocols for treatment and to draw more reliable conclusions

Multi-Scale Stress Wave Simulation for Aggregates Segregation Detection of Concrete Core in Circular CFST Coupled with PZT Patches

In this study, the numerical investigation of the detectability of concrete aggregate segregation in circular concrete-filled steel tubulars (CCFST) based on piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) measurement is performed. The stress wave propagation in the concrete core of circular CCFST excited with a surface-mounted PZT actuator is studied with multi-scale and multi-physical field coupling analysis. The piezoelectric effect of PZT patches and its coupling effect with CFSTs are considered. Numerical concrete modeling technology is employed to construct the concrete core composed of randomly distributed aggregates with and without aggregate segregation at different levels, mortar, and an interfacial transition zone (ITZ). The effects of the random distribution of elliptical aggregates, aggregate segregation, and the existence of ITZ in the concrete core on the wave fields in the cross-section and the corresponding voltage response of the embedded PZT sensor are discussed. An evaluation index based on wavelet packet analysis on the output voltage response is defined, and its sensitivity to concrete aggregate segregation is systematically investigated. The multi-scale and multi-physics coupling simulation results indicate that concrete aggregate segregation in the concrete core of CFST members can be efficiently detected based on the stress wave measurement with a PZT sensor

Manipulating coupling state and magnetism of Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals by changing the coordination environment of Mn via hydrogen annealing

Mn-doped ZnO nanocrystals are synthesized by a wet chemical route and treated in H2/Ar atmosphere with different H2/Ar ratios. It is found that hydrogen annealing could change the coordination environment of Mn in ZnO lattice and manipulate the magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnO. Mn ions initially enter into interstitial sites and a Mn3+O6 octahedral coordination is produced in the prepared Mn-doped ZnO sample, in which the nearest neighbor Mn3+ and O2 ions could form a Mn3+-O2--Mn3+ complex. After H2 annealing, interstitial Mn ions can substitute for Zn to generate the Mn2+O4 tetrahedral coordination in the nanocrystals, in which neighboring Mn2+ ions and H atoms could form a Mn2+-O2--Mn2+ complex and Mn-H-Mn bridge structure. The magnetic measurement of the as-prepared sample shows room temperature paramagnetic behavior due to the Mn3+-O2--Mn3+ complex, while the annealed samples exhibit their ferromagnetism, which originates from the Mn-H-Mn bridge structure and the Mn-Mn exchange interaction in the Mn2+-O2--Mn2+ complex