A Visual Analytic Study of Articles in Entrepreneurship Research

The entrepreneurship research grows continuously in this century; this study utilized the visual analytic method to depict literature characteristics of entrepreneurship research, including publication countries, subject area, most cited references and so on. The analytical data was collected from database of Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) of ISI Web of knowledge. This study provided the several findings to describe the academic trend in entrepreneurship research

Optimizing Human Synovial Fluid Preparation for Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Proteome analysis is frequently applied in identifying the proteins or biomarkers in knee synovial fluids (SF) that are associated with osteoarthritis and other arthritic disorders. The 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) is the technique of choice in these studies. Disease biomarkers usually appear in low concentrations and may be masked by high abundant proteins. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to find the most suitable sample preparation method that can optimize the expression of proteins on 2-DE gels that can be used to develop a reference proteome picture for non-osteoarthritic knee synovial fluid samples. Proteome pictures obtained from osteoarthritic knee synovial fluids can then be compared with the reference proteome pictures obtained in this study to assist us in identifying the disease biomarkers more correctly.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proteomic tool of 2-DE with immobilized pH gradients was applied in this study. A total of 12 2-DE gel images were constructed from SF samples that were free of osteoarthritis. In these samples, 3 were not treated with any sample preparation methods, 3 were treated with acetone, 3 were treated with 2-DE Clean-Up Kit, and 3 were treated with the combination of acetone and 2-D Clean-Up Kit prior to 2-DE analysis. Gel images were analyzed using the PDQuest Basic 8.0.1 Analytical software. Protein spots that were of interest were excised from the gels and sent for identification by mass spectrometry. Total SF total protein concentration was calculated to be 21.98 ± 0.86 mg/mL. The untreated SF samples were detected to have 456 ± 33 protein spots on 2-DE gel images. Acetone treated SF samples were detected to have 320 ± 28 protein spots, 2-D Clean-Up Kit treated SF samples were detected to have 413 ± 31 protein spots, and the combined treatment method of acetone and 2-D Clean-Up Kit was detected to have 278 ± 26 protein spots 2-DE gel images. SF samples treated with 2-D Clean-Up Kit revealed clearer presentation of the isoforms and increased intensities of the less abundant proteins of haptoglobin, apolipoprotein A-IV, prostaglandin-D synthase, alpha-1B-glycoprotein, and alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein on 2-DE gel images as compared with untreated SF samples and SF samples treated with acetone.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The acetone precipitation method and the combined treatment effect of acetone and 2-DE Clean-Up Kit are not preferred in preparing SF samples for 2-DE analysis as both protein intensities and numbers decrease significantly. On the other hand, 2-D Clean-Up Kit treated SF samples revealed clearer isoforms and higher intensities for the less abundant proteins of haptoglobin, apolipoprotein A-IV, prostaglandin-D synthase, alpha-1B-glycoprotein, and alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein on 2-DE gels. As a result, it is recommended that SF samples should be treated with protein clean up products such as 2-D Clean-Up Kit first before conducting proteomic research in searching for the relevant biomarkers associated with knee osteoarthritis.</p

Isolated cerebral post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder in a lymphoma recipient

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) can occur after solid organ transplantation (SOT) or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The majority of PTLDs are related to the reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the lymphoid organs. PLTDs in HSCT recipients tend to present with systemic involvement, and isolated PTLD in these patients is rare. Only 14 isolated cerebral PTLDs have been reported in HSCT recipients, and none have been reported in lymphoma patients. When diagnosing PTLD in a lymphoma patient, it is challenging to discriminate between a PTLD that originated from previous disease and a newly developed clone and to distinguish between donor and recipient origin. In this report, we present the first case of a B-cell lymphoma patient who developed isolated PTLD in the CNS, and we confirmed that the PTLD originated in a distinct clone and from a different origin. Furthermore, the role of EBV-DNA monitoring in such patients is discussed

Complexity of cardiac signals for predicting changes in alpha-waves after stress in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization

The hierarchical interaction between electrical signals of the brain and heart is not fully understood. We hypothesized that the complexity of cardiac electrical activity can be used to predict changes in encephalic electricity after stress. Most methods for analyzing the interaction between the heart rate variability (HRV) and electroencephalography (EEG) require a computation-intensive mathematical model. To overcome these limitations and increase the predictive accuracy of human relaxing states, we developed a method to test our hypothesis. In addition to routine linear analysis, multiscale entropy and detrended fluctuation analysis of the HRV were used to quantify nonstationary and nonlinear dynamic changes in the heart rate time series. Short-time Fourier transform was applied to quantify the power of EEG. The clinical, HRV, and EEG parameters of postcatheterization EEG alpha waves were analyzed using change-score analysis and generalized additive models. In conclusion, the complexity of cardiac electrical signals can be used to predict EEG changes after stress

Distinct patterns of responses in endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells following vascular injury

Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are heterogeneous, and their differential responses to vascular injury are not well understood. To address this question, we performed single-cell analysis of vascular cells to a ligation injury in mouse carotid arteries after 3 days. While endothelial cells had a homogeneous activation of mesenchymal genes, less than 30% of SMCs responded to the injury and generated 2 distinct clusters - i.e., proinflammatory SMCs and stress-responsive SMCs. Proinflammatory SMCs were enriched with high levels of inflammatory markers such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 while stress-responsive SMCs overexpressed heat shock proteins. Trajectory analysis suggested that proinflammatory SMCs were potentially derived from a specific subpopulation of SMCs. Ligand-receptor pair analysis showed that the interaction between macrophages and proinflammatory SMCs was the major cell-cell communication among all cell types in the injured arteries. In vitro coculture demonstrated that VCAM1+ SMCs had a stronger chemotactic effect on macrophage recruitment than VCAM1- SMCs. Consistently, the number of VCAM1+ SMCs significantly increased in injured arteries and atherosclerotic lesions of ApoE-/- mice and human arteries. These findings provide insights at the single-cell level on the distinct patterns of endothelial cells and SMC responses to vascular injury

The Association of Uric Acid Calculi with Obesity, Prediabetes, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and Hypertension

Objectives. To disclose the link between the composition of urolithiasis, especially that of uric acid calculi, and obesity, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Materials and Methods. Patients who had urinary calculi and underwent surgical treatment were registered in the study. The composition of urinary calculi was analyzed and correlated with clinical features and biomedical profiles of the patients before surgical intervention. Results. A total of 666 patients with urolithiasis who underwent surgical management were registered and analyzed. In those who had uric acid calculi, there was a significant association with prediabetic (OR: 20.11, 95% CI: 7.40–54.63, P<0.001) and diabetic states (OR: 11.55, 95% CI: 4.41–29.97, P<0.001). It also seemed that uric acid calculi were related to obesity but there was no statistical significance (OR: 2.45, 95% CI: 0.91–6.62, P=0.078). There was no association of uric acid calculi with hypertension (OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.54–2.17, P=0.822) and concurrent urinary tract infection (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.44–1.96, P=0.841). Conclusion. There was a remarkable association of uric acid calculi with prediabetic and diabetic states. The uric acid calculi were also seemingly associated with obesity in patients with urolithiasis undergoing surgical management

Primary breast lymphoma: A single-institute experience in Taiwan

Background: Breast is an uncommon location of lymphoma involvement. The most common type of primary breast lymphoma (PBL) is diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Rituximab is the widely used monoclonal antibody against CD20+ B-cell lymphoma, especially DLBCL. We aimed to analyze the clinical features, prognostic factors, and treatment outcome with or without rituximab in primary breast DLBCL. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients diagnosed with PBL from October 1987 to March 2012 in our hospital, excluding metastasis by whole-body computed tomography and bone marrow study. Results: Twenty-three patients were diagnosed with PBL. All were females. Eighteen patients were stage IE and five were stage IIE according to the Ann Arbor staging system. Two patients had lymphoma other than DLBCL. The median age of primary breast DLBCL patients was 48 years (range 27-79). Two were excluded from the analysis due to refusal or ineligibility for chemotherapy. No significant prognostic factor was found. Patients receiving chemotherapy with (RC) or without (C) rituximab were not significantly different in the 5-year overall survival (RC: 57.1%; C: 58.3%; p = 0.457) or progression-free survival (RC: 57.1%; C: 50.0%; p = 0.456). A high incidence of relapse in the central nervous system (CNS) (17.6%) was observed. Conclusions: In accordance with prior literature reports, our Taiwanese cohort of primary breast DLBCL seemed younger than those reported in Japan, Korea, and Western societies. Relapse in the CNS was not uncommon. The benefit of rituximab in addition to chemotherapy was not statistically significant. Treatment modality remained to be defined by further large-scale studies