Hospital mortality among major trauma victims admitted on weekends and evenings: a cohort study

Article deposited according to publisher policy posted on SHERPA/RoMEO, 14/09/2010.YesFunding provided by the Open Access Authors Fund

Disinfection of Ocular Cells and Tissues by Atmospheric-Pressure Cold Plasma

Background: Low temperature plasmas have been proposed in medicine as agents for tissue disinfection and have received increasing attention due to the frequency of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. This study explored whether atmospheric-pressure cold plasma (APCP) generated by a new portable device that ionizes a flow of helium gas can inactivate ocular pathogens without causing significant tissue damage. Methodology and Principal Findings: We tested the APCP effects on cultured Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus and Herpes simplex virus-1, ocular cells (conjunctival fibroblasts and keratocytes) and ex-vivo corneas. Exposure to APCP for 0.5 to 5 minutes significantly reduced microbial viability (colony-forming units) but not human cell viability (MTT assay, FACS and Tunel analysis) or the number of HSV-1 plaque-forming units. Increased levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in exposed microorganisms and cells were found using a FACS-activated 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate probe. Immunoassays demonstrated no induction of thymine dimers in cell cultures and corneal tissues. A transient increased expression of 8-OHdG, genes and proteins related to oxidative stress (OGG1, GPX, NFE2L2) was determined in ocular cells and corneas by HPLC, qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Conclusions: A short application of APCP appears to be an efficient and rapid ocular disinfectant for bacteria and fungi without significant damage on ocular cells and tissues, although the treatment of conjunctival fibroblasts and keratocytes caused a time-restricted generation of intracellular ROS and oxidative stress-related responses

Macrosomia and large for gestational age in Asia:One size does not fit all

Macrosomia, usually defined as infant birth weight of >= 4000 g, does not consider gestational age, sex, or country/region-specific differences in mean birth weight and maternal body weight. This issue is particularly relevant for Asia, where 60% of the world's population lives, due to variations in maternal size and birth weights across populations. Large for gestational age (LGA), defined as birth weight > 90th centile, is a more sensitive measure as it considers gestational age and sex, though it is dependent on the choice of growth charts. We aimed to review reporting of macrosomia and LGA in Asia. We reviewed the literature on prevalence and risk of macrosomia and LGA in Asia over the last 29 years. Prevalence of macrosomia ranged from 0.5% (India) to 13.9% (China) while prevalence of LGA ranged from 4.3% (Korea) to 22.1% (China), indicating substantial variation in prevalence within and between Asian countries. High pre-pregnancy body mass index, excessive gestational weight gain, and impaired glucose tolerance conferred risk of macrosomia/LGA. Incidence of macrosomia and LGA varies substantially within and between Asian countries, as do the growth charts and definitions. The latter makes it impossible to make comparisons but suggests differences in intrauterine growth between populations. Reporting LGA, using standardized country/regional growth charts, would better capture the incidence of high birth weight and allow for comparison and identification of contributing factors. Better understanding of local drivers of excessive intrauterine growth could enable development of improved strategies for prevention and management of LGA

Proteostasis Dysregulation in Pancreatic Cancer

The most common form of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), has a dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. Radical surgical resection, in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy, provides the best option for long-term patient survival. However, only approximately 20% of patients are resectable at the time of diagnosis, due to locally advanced or metastatic disease. There is an urgent need for the identification of new, specific, and more sensitive biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction to improve the treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients. Dysregulation of proteostasis is linked to many pathophysiological conditions, including various types of cancer. In this review, we report on findings relating to the main cellular protein degradation systems, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy, in pancreatic cancer. The expression of several components of the proteolytic network, including E3 ubiquitinligases and deubiquitinating enzymes, are dysregulated in PDAC, which accounts for approximately 90% of all pancreatic malignancies. In the future, a deeper understanding of the emerging role of proteostasis in pancreatic cancer has the potential to provide clinically relevant biomarkers and new strategies for combinatorial therapeutic options to better help treat the patients.Peer reviewe

Type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody (HX-1162) treatment for liver cancer

Xue-Hui Chen, Zhi-Qiang Li, Hua Peng, Su-Mei Jin, Hui-Qing Fu, Tie-Chui Zhu, Xiao-Gang WengThe First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Weihui, People's Republic of ChinaAbstract: One of the most important molecules mediating the proliferation, growth, and metastasis of cancer cells is insulin-like growth factor (IGF), with its receptor IGF-R1. Here, we describe the potential of an IGF-1R monoclonal antibody, HX-1162, on liver cancer apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. We found that HX-1162 could induce the apoptosis of cultured liver cancer cells. Additionally, HX-1162 treatment inhibited the tumor growth after cancer cell grafting and enhanced the cell apoptosis inside the tumor tissue. We conclude that IGF-R1 targeting therapy provides a new avenue toward treating liver cancer.Keywords: IGF, IGF-R1, apoptosis, hepatocellular carcinom

Effects of starvation on survival, biomass, and lipid composition of newly hatched larvae of the blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Lipids are crucial nutrients for survival and development of crustacean larvae. This study investigated the effects of starvation on survival, body weight, and lipid composition of newly hatched larvae of Portunus pelagicus. The results showed that during starvation, average survival time of newly hatched zoea I larvae was 3.87 days. A significant decreasing trend was detected for individual dry weight (DW) during starvation and was described as DW = 0.2x2 − 1.462x + 15.023, R2 = 0.9985, where x is the starvation duration in days. DW and total lipids decreased by 17.42 and 38.46 % after 3 days of starvation, respectively. For newly hatched larvae, total lipids were dominated by phospholipids (PL) (75.55–93.57 %) and 50.39 % of PL were utilized during the 3-day starvation period. This indicates that membrane structural lipids of newly hatched P. pelagicus larvae were oxidized as an energy source during continuous starvation. There were concurrent increases in free fatty acids and cholesterol that probably resulted from the decomposition of sterol esters to free fatty acids and cholesterol. Newly hatched P. pelagicus larvae contained substantially higher levels of 20:5n3 (18.90 %) and 22:6n3 (18.24 %) than other Portunid crabs. During starvation, the highest fatty acid reduction rates were found for 20:4n6, 20:5n3, and 22:6n3 (P < 0.05), and the preferential depletion of these fatty acids may suggest that the HUFA requirements of early P. pelagicus larvae are lower than those of the other Portunids