Comparison of the refractive error changes among young children in ten years interval

AIM: To compare the optometric examination results of myopic young children between those diagnosed in the period from 1998 to 2000 and those diagnosed in the period from 2008 to 2010; and to find out the causes of myopia and factors that worsen the condition, and suggest methods of its prevention and treatment.<p>METHODS: This study was a retrospective case study. We randomly selected sample from out-patient department register of cases and divided them into two main groups, ‘ten year before group'(TYBG)(1998/2000 year cases)and ‘ten years later group'(2008/2010 year cases)(TYLG). Each group was further subdivided into three sub-groups by age: under-six years old children group(CG), seven-twelve years old primary-school group(PSG)and thirteen-eighteen years old middle-school group(MSG). The optometric examination results were statistically analyzed.<p>RESULTS: The difference of the mean dioptre between the TYBG and TYLG was strongly statistically significant, also forward-lead trend of age when children suffered from myopia was found(<i>P<</i>0.01). There was a significant increase of dioptre among PSG and MSG in TYLG compared to TYBG(<i>P</i><0.01). After analyzing the relationship between dioptre and age, this study showed an increase of the proportion of myopia patients from 35.2% to 50.0% in PSG in ten years interval. This proportion decreases in MSG and remains stable in CG. All cases had been divided into slight myopia, medium myopia and high myopia, depending on their own myopia dioptre. The biggest difference of myopia dioptre were seen in MSG where the proportion of medium myopia patients increased 11.4% and high myopia patients increased 7.9% in TYLG.<p>CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the age of getting myopia was forward lead, the dioptre increases by 1.00 degree and the prevalence of myopia is increasing gradually. This situation may due to the modern life style and changes of living standard of the population. Therefore, prevention of myopia should concentrate more on younger children at kindergarten and primary school stage students

Genomic Inference of the Metabolism and Evolution of the Archaeal Phylum Aigarchaeota

Microbes of the phylum Aigarchaeota are widely distributed in geothermal environments, but their physiological and ecological roles are poorly understood. Here we analyze six Aigarchaeota metagenomic bins from two circumneutral hot springs in Tengchong, China, to reveal that they are either strict or facultative anaerobes, and most are chemolithotrophs that can perform sulfide oxidation. Applying comparative genomics to the Thaumarchaeota and Aigarchaeota, we find that they both originated from thermal habitats, sharing 1154 genes with their common ancestor. Horizontal gene transfer played a crucial role in shaping genetic diversity of Aigarchaeota and led to functional partitioning and ecological divergence among sympatric microbes, as several key functional innovations were endowed by Bacteria, including dissimilatory sulfite reduction and possibly carbon monoxide oxidation. Our study expands our knowledge of the possible ecological roles of the Aigarchaeota and clarifies their evolutionary relationship to their sister lineage Thaumarchaeota

Electrochemical Monitoring of ROS/RNS Homeostasis Within Individual Phagolysosomes Inside Single Macrophages

International audienceReactive Oxygen/Nitrogen Species (ROS/RNS) produced by macrophages inside their phagolysosomes are closely related to immunity and inflammation by being involved in the removal of pathogens, altered cells, etc. The existence of a homeostatic mechanism regulating the ROS/RNS amounts inside phagolysosomes has been invoked to account for the efficiency of this crucial process but this could never be unambiguously documented. In this work, intracellular electrochemical analysis with platinized nanowires electrodes (Pt-NWEs) allowed monitoring ROS/RNS effluxes with sub-millisecond resolution from individual phagolysosomes randomly impacting onto the electrode inserted inside a living macrophage. This evidenced for the first time that the consumption of ROS/RNS by their oxidation at the nanoelectrode surface stimulates the production of significant ROS/RNS amounts inside phagolysosomes. These results established the existence of the long-time postulated ROS/RNS homeostasis and allowed quantifying its kinetics and efficiency. ROS/RNS concentrations may then be maintained at sufficiently high levels for sustaining proper pathogen digestion rates without endangering the macrophage internal structures

Antibacterial Activity and Mode of Action of Mentha arvensis Ethanol Extract against Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Purpose: To evaluate the antibacterial effect of ethanol extract of Mentha arvensis against multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS).Methods: Disc diffusion and microdilution assays were used to evaluate the antibacterial effect of the extract by measuring the zone of inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and and minimum bacteriocidal concentration (MBC) of the extract against the test bacteria. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to evaluate the morphological changes induced by the extract in cellular membrane of the bacteria. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and protein leakage from the bacterial cells induced by the extract were also evaluated.Results: The extract showed dose-dependent growth inhibitory effects against A. baumannii with MIC and MBC of 23.5 and 72.1 μg/mL, respectively. The extract also induced potent ROS generation and protein leakage in A. baumannii bacterial cells. SEM findings revealed that the extract induced potential cellular damage which increased with increasing extract concentration.Conclusion: The ethanol extract of Mentha arvensis is a potent antibacterial agent against A. baumannii and acts by inducing lethal cellular damage to the bacterium.Keywords: Mentha arvensis, Acinetobacter baumannii, Reactive oxygen species, Antibacterial activity, Cellular membrane damag

ATP synthase ecto-α-subunit: a novel therapeutic target for breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Treatment failure for breast cancer is frequently due to lymph node metastasis and invasion to neighboring organs. The aim of the present study was to investigate invasion- and metastasis-related genes in breast cancer cells <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>. Identification of new targets will facilitate the developmental pace of new techniques in screening and early diagnosis. Improved abilities to predict progression and metastasis, therapeutic response and toxicity will help to increase survival of breast cancer patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Differential protein expression in two breast cancer cell lines, one with high and the other with low metastatic potential, was analyzed using two-dimensional liquid phase chromatographic fractionation (Proteome Lab PF 2D system) followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Up regulation of α-subunit of ATP synthase was identified in high metastatic cells compared with low metastatic cells. Immunohistochemical analysis of 168 human breast cancer specimens on tissue microarrays revealed a high frequency of ATP synthase α-subunit expression in breast cancer (94.6%) compared to normal (21.2%) and atypical hyperplasia (23%) breast tissues. Levels of ATP synthase expression levels strongly correlated with large tumor size, poor tumor differentiation and advanced tumor stages (<it>P </it>< 0.05). ATP synthase α-subunit over-expression was detected on the surface of a highly invasive breast cancer cell line. An antibody against the ATP synthase α-subunit inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion in these breast cancer cells but not that of a non-tumor derived breast cell line.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Over-expression of ATP synthase α-subunit may be involved in the progression and metastasis of breast cancer, perhaps representing a potential biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis and a therapeutic target for breast cancer. This finding of this study will help us to better understand the molecular mechanism of tumor metastasis and to improve the screening, diagnosis, as well as prognosis and/or prediction of responses to therapy for breast cancer.</p

The Genetic Associations and Epistatic Effects of the CCR5 Promoter and CCR2-V64I Polymorphisms on Susceptibility to HIV-1 Infection in a Northern Han Chinese Population

The outcome of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection and course to AIDS are variable among individuals. Both chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) and CCR2 gene polymorphisms play essential roles in the susceptibility of HIV-1 infection. To investigate the main and epistatic effects of the CCR5 promoter and CCR2-V64I polymorphisms on HIV-1 infection in the Northern Han Chinese, subjects of 91 HIV-1-infected patients and 91 health controls were recruited. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CCR5 promoter region and CCR2-V64I variants were genotyped. In the single-locus analysis, CCR5 58755-G and CCR5 59653-T alleles were significantly associated with HIV-1 infection (odds ratio [OR]=0.529, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.295-0.948; OR=1.710, 95% CI: 1.039-2.814). After adjustment with age and gender, subjects with the CCR5 59653-CT genotype showed the increased risk of HIV-1 infection compared with those with the wild-type CC genotype (adjusted OR=2.502; 95% CI: 1.332-4.698). No positive association was observed in other SNPs. Haplotype-based association analysis revealed that the haplotype TATGC was associated with the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection (p=0.003). Besides, we found the significant epistatic effects between the CCR5 58755-A/G and CCR5 59029-A/G polymorphisms associated with the lower risk of HIV-1 infection. In addition, we also identified the best three-factor interaction model, including the CCR5 58755-A/G, 59029-A/G, and CCR2-V64I polymorphisms, indicating that there were also strong gene-gene interactions between the CCR5 promoter and CCR2 polymorphisms on the susceptibility of HIV-1 infection. These findings contribute to understanding the genetic mechanism for the susceptibility of HIV-1 infection in Northern Han Chinese