Searching for Associations Between Short Gamma-ray Bursts and Fast Radio Burst

The physical origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs) is still unclear. However, young magnetars associated with short-duration gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) have been thought to be possible central engines for some FRBs. In this paper, we perform a systematic search for SGRBs that are associated with FRBs in a sample including 623 FRBs (601 one-off bursts and 22 repeaters) and 168 SGRBs with precise localizations. We find that FRB 190309A is spatially associated with GRB 060502B, with a chance probability of 0.05 when temporal and redshift information is taken into account. Considering the high chance probability (the statistical significance is < 3{\sigma}), we examine other observational properties such as the host galaxy, the dispersion measure, and the energy budget of the central engine to check the possibility of their association. Although the available observational information is insufficient to determine whether they are physically associated, it does not rule out such a possibility. As the only pair of FRB and GRB that are spatially associated, it remains an interesting case worthy of further attentionComment: 19 pages, 4 figures, accepted to Ap

Promoting Cardiac Repair through Simple Engineering of Nanoparticles with Exclusive Targeting Capability toward Myocardial Reperfusion Injury by Thermal Resistant Microfluidic Platform

Nanoparticle (NP)-based intravenous administration represents the most convenient cardiac targeting delivery routine, yet, there are still therapeutic issues due to the lack of targeting efficiency and specificity. Active targeting methods using functionalization of ligands onto the NPs' surface may be limited by trivial modification procedures and reduced targeting yield in vivo. Here, a microfluidics assisted single step, green synthesis method is introduced for producing targeting ligands free heart homing NPs in a tailored manner. The generated beta-glucan-based NPs exhibit precise and efficient targeting capability toward Dectin-1(+) monocytes/macrophages, which are confirmed as main pathogenesis mediators for cardiac ischemic/reperfusion (I/R) injury, with a sequentially enhanced cardiac NP accumulation, and this targeting strategy is exclusively suitable for cardiac I/R but not for other cardiovascular diseases, as confirmed both in murine and human model. Comparing to FDA-approved nano-micelles formulation, beta-glucan NPs loaded with NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome inhibitor (CY-09) exhibit better efficiency in ameliorating myocardial injury and heart failure induced by surgically induced I/R. These findings indicate a simple production of targeting-ligand free NPs, and demonstrate their potential therapeutic applications for preclinical I/R-induced cardiac injury amelioration.Peer reviewe

Promoting Cardiac Repair through Simple Engineering of Nanoparticles with Exclusive Targeting Capability toward Myocardial Reperfusion Injury by Thermal Resistant Microfluidic Platform

Nanoparticle (NP)-based intravenous administration represents the most convenient cardiac targeting delivery routine, yet, there are still therapeutic issues due to the lack of targeting efficiency and specificity. Active targeting methods using functionalization of ligands onto the NPs' surface may be limited by trivial modification procedures and reduced targeting yield in vivo. Here, a microfluidics assisted single step, green synthesis method is introduced for producing targeting ligands free heart homing NPs in a tailored manner. The generated beta-glucan-based NPs exhibit precise and efficient targeting capability toward Dectin-1(+) monocytes/macrophages, which are confirmed as main pathogenesis mediators for cardiac ischemic/reperfusion (I/R) injury, with a sequentially enhanced cardiac NP accumulation, and this targeting strategy is exclusively suitable for cardiac I/R but not for other cardiovascular diseases, as confirmed both in murine and human model. Comparing to FDA-approved nano-micelles formulation, beta-glucan NPs loaded with NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome inhibitor (CY-09) exhibit better efficiency in ameliorating myocardial injury and heart failure induced by surgically induced I/R. These findings indicate a simple production of targeting-ligand free NPs, and demonstrate their potential therapeutic applications for preclinical I/R-induced cardiac injury amelioration.Peer reviewe

A Catalog of Luminous Infrared Galaxies in the IRAS Survey and the Second Data Release of the SDSS

We select the Luminous Infrared Galaxies by cross-correlating the Faint Source Catalogue (FSC) and Point Source Catalogue (PSC) of the IRAS Survey with the Second Data Release of the SDSS for studying their infrared and optical properties. The total number of our sample is 1267 for FSC and 427 for PSC by using 2$\sigma$ significance level cross-section. The "likelihood ratio" method is used to estimate the sample's reliability and for a more reliable subsample (908 for FSC and 356 for PSC) selection. Then a Catalog with both the infrared, optical and radio informations is presented and will be used in further works. Some statistical results show that the Luminous Infrared Galaxies are quite different from the Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies. The AGN fractions of galaxies with different infrared luminosities and the radio to infrared correlations are consist with previous studies.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Accepted by ChJAA. Reference adde

Microsurgical vasovasostomy for the treatment of intractable chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy

Dear Editor, We present herein two rare cases of intractable chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy. The patients were effectively treated with microsurgical vasovasostomy (MVV). We also discuss the possible aetiologies of the pain and other surgical options. Vasectomy was once the most common method of permanent contraception for men in both China and worldwide. One particularly distressing complication after vasectomy is chronic scrotal pain, which is defined as intermittent or constant, unilateral or bilateral scrotal pain for o3 months. The pain is intense enough to interfere with the patient&apos;s daily activities and prompts him to seek medical attention. 1 Although its aetiology remains unclear, epididymal congestion, painful sperm granulomas, vascular stasis and nerve impingement have been postulated as possible aetiologic factors. 2 Non-surgical options have been used successfully to treat chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy, including scrotal support, thermal therapy, limiting activity, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, narcotic analgesics, antibiotics, neuroleptics, spermatic cord nerve block, biofeedback and psychiatric evaluation. Surgical options include reversal of the vasectomy, microsurgical spermatic cord denervation, granuloma excision, epididymectomy and orchidectomy. The microsurgical techniques used for vasectomy reversal have changed significantly in the past decade, culminating in the standard surgical procedures used today, and its indications include a desire to have more children (remarriage or after the death of a child), treatment of post-vasectomy pain and treatment of obstructive azoospermia due to traumatic or iatrogenic injury of vas deferens. 3 To our knowledge, we report the first cases of the use of MVV for the treatment of intractable chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy in a Chinese hospital. The 72-year-old and 49-year-old men presented with a more than 20-year history of intractable, chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy. They had consulted various urologists and had undergone numerous attempted therapies in other hospitals. They reported a history of vasectomy more than 30 years and 20 years previously, respectively. They did not have any histories of haematuria, haematospermia, lower urinary tract symptoms, epididymitis, prostatitis or testicular trauma. Their physical examination was unremarkable, and both the secondary sexual characteristics and genital examination were normal. The testes were descended bilaterally and normal in size and consistency. The caput epididymides exhibited dilatation and tenderness. The vasa deferentia were palpated for painful lumps at the vasectomy sites. Digital rectal examination was unremarkable for prostatic abnormalities. Each patient underwent Doppler ultrasonography of the testes and urinary tract, urinalysis, urine culture and spermiogram to exclude primary or secondary causes of pain, including intratesticular infection, tumours and ureteral lithiasis. At our initial consultation, the patients were asked to complete a pain and psychological questionnaire, which included pain, depression and anxiety scores. The pain score (Visual Analogue Scale) was in the form of an 11-point numerical rating score with 0 representing &apos;no pain&apos; and 10 representing the &apos;worst possible pain&apos;. The patients&apos; preoperative pain scores were 5 and 6 points, respectively. The depression scores (Self-rating Depression Scale) were in the form of an 80-point numerical rating score; a score less than 50 indicated &apos;normal&apos;, and a score greater than 50 indicated &apos;depression&apos;. The depression scores of the two patients were 35 and 38 points, respectively. The anxiety scores (Self-rating Anxiety Scale) were in the form of an 80-point numerical rating score; scores less than 50 were considered to indicate &apos;normal&apos;, whereas scores greater than 50 indicated &apos;anxiety&apos;. The anxiety scores of the two patients were 33 and 32 points, respectively. Spermatic cord block was performed once for each patient with 6 ml of 1% lidocaine and 1 ml of methylprednisolone (40 mg). The patients had 3 and 7 days of complete pain relief after the blockade, respectively. The study protocol was approved by the Ethical Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, and informed consent was signed by the patients. The patients were offered MVV as a more permanent solution in March and July 2012, respectively. Scrotal exploration was performed with the patients under combined spinal-epidural anaesthesia. The left-side incision (3 cm) of the scrotum through the tunica vaginalis was made, and the left vas deferens was delivered through this incision. The painful lumps and nerveimpinging tissue at the vasectomy site were thoroughly resected by electrocautery. Distal patency was confirmed by infusing diluted methylene blue through the abdominal side of the vas deferens, resulting in blue colouring of the urine. A 123 to 153 operating microscope (Leica Microsystems (Schweiz) AG, Heerbrugg, Switzerland) was use

The application of radiomics in esophageal cancer: Predicting the response after neoadjuvant therapy

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the fatal malignant neoplasms worldwide. Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) combined with surgery has become the standard treatment for locally advanced EC. However, the treatment efficacy for patients with EC who received NAT varies from patient to patient. Currently, the evaluation of efficacy after NAT for EC lacks accurate and uniform criteria. Radiomics is a multi-parameter quantitative approach for developing medical imaging in the era of precision medicine and has provided a novel view of medical images. As a non-invasive image analysis method, radiomics is an inevitable trend in NAT efficacy prediction and prognosis classification of EC by analyzing the high-throughput imaging features of lesions extracted from medical images. In this literature review, we discuss the definition and workflow of radiomics, the advances in efficacy prediction after NAT, and the current application of radiomics for predicting efficacy after NAT

Whole-genome resequencing of wild and domestic sheep identifies genes associated with morphological and agronomic traits

Understanding the genetic changes underlying phenotypic variation in sheep (Ovis aries) may facilitate our efforts towards further improvement. Here, we report the deep resequencing of 248 sheep including the wild ancestor (O. orientalis), landraces, and improved breeds. We explored the sheep variome and selection signatures. We detected genomic regions harboring genes associated with distinct morphological and agronomic traits, which may be past and potential future targets of domestication, breeding, and selection. Furthermore, we found non-synonymous mutations in a set of plausible candidate genes and significant differences in their allele frequency distributions across breeds. We identified PDGFD as a likely causal gene for fat deposition in the tails of sheep through transcriptome, RT-PCR, qPCR, and Western blot analyses. Our results provide insights into the demographic history of sheep and a valuable genomic resource for future genetic studies and improved genome-assisted breeding of sheep and other domestic animals

SUMOylation and calcium signalling: potential roles in the brain and beyond

Small ubiquitin-like modi er (SUMO) conjugation (or SUMOylation) is a post-translational protein modi cation implicated in alterations to protein expression, localization and func- tion. Despite a number of nuclear roles for SUMO being well characterized, this process has only started to be explored in relation to membrane proteins, such as ion channels. Cal- cium ion (Ca2+) signalling is crucial for the normal functioning of cells and is also involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying relevant neurological and cardiovascu- lar diseases. Intracellular Ca2+ levels are tightly regulated; at rest, most Ca2+ is retained in organelles, such as the sarcoplasmic reticulum, or in the extracellular space, whereas depolarization triggers a series of events leading to Ca2+ entry, followed by extrusion and reuptake. The mechanisms that maintain Ca2+ homoeostasis are candidates for modulation at the post-translational level. Here, we review the effects of protein SUMOylation, including Ca2+ channels, their proteome and other proteins associated with Ca2+ signalling, on vital cellular functions, such as neurotransmission within the central nervous system (CNS) and in additional systems, most prominently here, in the cardiac system