Protective effect of maternal exposure to α-lipoic acid during pregnancy and lactation on susceptibility to OVAinduced neonatal asthma

Purpose: To investigate the beneficial effect of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) during pregnancy and lactation on susceptibility to ovalbumin (OVA)-induced neonatal asthma, and the mechanism of involved.Methods: Pregnant BALB/c mice were administered ALA (1 % mixed with mouse chow) or standard mouse chow from 6th day of gestation to 21st day of lactation (postnatal). The offspring (neonatal pups) from the OVA and ALA+OVA groups were sensitized on 1st, 7th and 14th postnatal days (PNDs) via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of OVA (0.5 μg). Control mice pups were not exposed to OVA. On PND 21, all pubs were again exposed to 1 % OVA aerosol using a nebulizer.Results: Neonatal mice exposed to ALA showed a significant decline (p < 0.05) in the number of inflammatory cells (eosinophils), levels of inflammatory markers (IL-4, IL-13, IL-5 and TNF-α) as well as OVA-specific IgE and total IgE, when compared to neonatal mice from pregnant mice that did not receive ALA (control). Moreover, the antioxidant profiles of ALA-treated mice offspring were significantly improved (p < 0.05). Marked downregulation (p < 0.05) of the protein expressions of NF-κB p-p65 subunit and TNF-α were observed in ALA-treated mice pups.Conclusion: ALA exposure during pregnancy (maternal exposure) markedly decreases OVA-induced asthmatic airway inflammatory response in pups. Thus, ALA might be beneficial for use along with standard anti-asthmatic drugs in the management of pediatric asthmatic patient

Population Structure and Genetic Diversity in a Rice Core Collection (Oryza sativa L.) Investigated with SSR Markers

The assessment of genetic diversity and population structure of a core collection would benefit to make use of these germplasm as well as applying them in association mapping. The objective of this study were to (1) examine the population structure of a rice core collection; (2) investigate the genetic diversity within and among subgroups of the rice core collection; (3) identify the extent of linkage disequilibrium (LD) of the rice core collection. A rice core collection consisting of 150 varieties which was established from 2260 varieties of Ting's collection of rice germplasm were genotyped with 274 SSR markers and used in this study. Two distinct subgroups (i.e. SG 1 and SG 2) were detected within the entire population by different statistical methods, which is in accordance with the differentiation of indica and japonica rice. MCLUST analysis might be an alternative method to STRUCTURE for population structure analysis. A percentage of 26% of the total markers could detect the population structure as the whole SSR marker set did with similar precision. Gene diversity and MRD between the two subspecies varied considerably across the genome, which might be used to identify candidate genes for the traits under domestication and artificial selection of indica and japonica rice. The percentage of SSR loci pairs in significant (P<0.05) LD is 46.8% in the entire population and the ratio of linked to unlinked loci pairs in LD is 1.06. Across the entire population as well as the subgroups and sub-subgroups, LD decays with genetic distance, indicating that linkage is one main cause of LD. The results of this study would provide valuable information for association mapping using the rice core collection in future

Synergistic Effect of Nanophotocatalysis and Nonthermal Plasma on the Removal of Indoor HCHO

Photocatalysis is an effective method of air purification at the condition of a higher pollutant concentration. However, its wide application in indoor air cleaning is limited due to the low level of indoor air contaminants. Immobilizing the nanosized TiO2 particles on the surface of activated carbon filter (TiO2/AC film) could increase the photocatalytic reaction rate as a local high pollutant concentration can be formed on the surface of TiO2 by the adsorption of AC. However, the pollutant removal still decreased quickly with the increase in flow velocity, which results in a decrease in air treatment capacity. In order to improve the air treatment capacity by the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) method, this paper used formaldehyde (HCHO) as a contaminant to study the effect of combination of PCO with nonthermal plasma technology (NTP) on the removal of HCHO. The experimental results show that HCHO removal is more effective with line-to-plate electrode discharge reactor; the HCHO removal and the reaction rate can be enhanced and the amount of air that needs to be cleaned can be improved. Meanwhile, the results show that there is the synergistic effect on the indoor air purification by the combination of PCO with NTP

Egy 14. századi új Salamon: V. (Bölcs) Károly francia király

The result of in-hospital all mortality (P < 0.001; RR 3.23; 95% CI 2.28–4.57). (DOCX 54 kb

Octreotide Alleviates Autophagy by Up-Regulation of MicroRNA-101 in Intestinal Epithelial Cell Line Caco-2

Background: Intestinal mucositis is a common side-effect after anti-cancer therapy, which may greatly restrict the therapeutic effects. We aimed to explore the functional role of octreotide (OCT) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced autophagy of human intestinal epithelial cells as well as the underlying mechanisms. Methods: Cell viability and expression of proteins related to autophagy, AMPK and the mTOR pathway in LPS-treated Caco-2 cells were determined by CCK-8 assay and Western blot analysis, respectively. Effects of OCT on LPS-induced alterations as well as miR-101 expression were measured. Then, miR-101 was aberrantly expressed, and whether OCT alleviated LPS-induced autophagy through miR-101 was tested. Next, whether TGF-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) was involved in the regulation of miR-101 in LPS-induced autophagy was studied. Effects of OCT on monolayer permeability and tight junction level were analyzed via measuring transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and expression of tight junction proteins. Results: LPS reduced cell viability and increased autophagy through activating AMPK and inhibiting the mTOR pathway in Caco-2 cells. OCT alleviated LPS-induced alterations and repressed degradation of autophagosome. Then, we found that OCT affected autophagy through up-regulating miR-101 in LPS-treated cells. Moreover, miR-101-induced inactivation of AMPK and activation of the mTOR pathway in LPS-treated cells were reversed by inhibition of TAK1 phosphorylation. Finally, we found miR-101 was up-regulated in differentiated cells, and OCT protected the monolayer permeability and tight junction level. Conclusion: OCT repressed autophagy through miR-101-mediated inactivation of TAK1, along with inactivation of AMPK and activation of the mTOR pathway in LPS-treated Caco-2 cells

Case report: Effectiveness of sirolimus in treating partial DiGeorge Syndrome with Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS)-like features

BackgroundDiGeorge Syndrome (DGS) is a rare disease associated with 22q11.2 chromosomal microdeletion, also known as a velocardiofacial syndrome, based on the frequent involvements of the palate, facial, and heart problems. Hematologic autoimmunity is rare in DGS but presents with a refractory course and poor prognosis. Herein, we report a case of partial DGS in a patient with refractory immune cytopenia and autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS)-like manifestations.Case descriptionA 10-year-old boy with growth retardation presented initially with a ventricular septal defect at 7 months old, which had been repaired soon after. The patient suffered from thrombocytopenia and progressed into chronic refractory immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) at 30 months old. One year later, the patient developed multilineage cytopenias including thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, and anemia. First-line treatment of ITP, like high-dose dexamethasone and intravenous immunoglobulin, had little or short-term effect on controlling symptoms. Whole-exome sequencing revealed the presence of a de novo heterozygous 2.520 Mb deletion on chromosome 22q11.21. Moreover, decreased proportion of naive T cells and elevated double-negative T cells were found. The patient was given sirolimus therapy (1.5 mg/m2, actual blood concentration range: 4.0–5.2 ng/ml) without adding other immunosuppressive agents. The whole blood cell count was gradually restored after a month, and the disease severity was soothed with less frequency of infections and bleeding events. Decreased spleen size and restrained lymph node expansion were achieved after 3-month sirolimus monotherapy.ConclusionsThis case is the first description on the efficacy of sirolimus monotherapy to treat refractory multilineage cytopenias of DGS presented with ALPS-like features

Nurse-led virtual interventions in managing chronic diseases: a protocol for a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Introduction Technological advances are changing nursing practice; however, nurse-led virtual care for chronic disease management has not yet been adequately explored and described. This study will review and analyse the effects of nurse-led virtual services and describe the virtual intervention characteristics relevant to the scope of nursing practice in chronic disease management.Methods and analysis This study will systematically review randomised controlled trials evaluating the effects of nurse-led virtual care interventions on patients with chronic conditions. Databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang (Chinese) and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals will be searched. All studies will be screened and selected using the criteria described in ‘population, intervention, comparison, outcome and study design’ format. Relevant studies will be searched using the reference lists of eligible studies and review articles. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Quality Appraisal Form. Two reviewers will independently extract data from all the included studies using a standardised data extraction form on the Covidence platform. RevMan V.5.3 software will be used to perform the meta-analysis. Data synthesis will be conducted with descriptive synthesis by summarising and tabulating the data and presenting them according to the research questions.Ethics and dissemination Formal ethical approval is not required as the data used in this systematic review are abstracted from the pre-existing literature. The results of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.PROSPERO registration number CRD42022361260

ANALYSIS ON AIR-SIDE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONDENSER AT LOW AMBIENT PRESSURE CONDITIONS

ABSTRACT The vapor cycle refrigeration system is used in aircraft cooling. The changes of the ambient air properties will affect the condenser performance of the vapor cycle refrigeration system. The air-side characteristics between the flow and pressure drop at low pressure conditions must be taken into account, especially when it is used in the aircraft. Through the three tests of the condenser fan, the condenser, and the condenser module, the common property model of the air-side flow and pressure head/drop for each part is established and experimentally verified. The results show that the flow and pressure head or drop relationship of each unit under different pressures of 101.3kPa, 79.5kPa, 61.7kPa, and 47.2kPa is simply deduced by means of the ground test. From this study, the operation points of the condenser module under low ambient pressure conditions can be derived as well