Cholesterol Levels in Blood and the Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Meta-analysis of 14 Prospective Studies.

Background: As a neutral lipid and prominent component of the Western diet, cholesterol levels might be a risk factor for prostate cancer. However, current evidence has been inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between blood cholesterol levels and the risk of prostate cancer.

Bisphosphonate and risk of cancer recurrence: protocol for a systematic review, meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Introduction: No consensus exists on the associations between adjuvant treatment with bisphosphonates and cancer recurrence risk among patients with primary early-stage cancers. We plan to perform a comprehensive systematic review, study-level meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomised controlled trials to comprehensively summarise evidence of the bisphosphonate treatment for difference cancers.

Methods And Analyses: We will report our results according to the PRISMA guideline.

Genetic association of MiR-146a with multiple sclerosis susceptibility in the Chinese population.

Background: miR-146a polymorphisms have been involved in susceptibility to multiple diseases. The aim of the present study was to analyze the potential association between two functional miR-146a polymorphisms (rs2910164 and rs57095329) and multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Han Chinese population.

Methods: A cohort of 525 patients and 568 healthy controls were genotyped to detect the two polymorphisms by SNaPshot.

Noise evaluation of early images for Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager.

This study performed an on-orbit evaluation of noise level for the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat 8 using early images over ground homogeneous sites. The signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) were higher than 160 of OLI nine bands at typical radiance level, while the noise equivalent radiance difference (NE∆L) and the noise equivalent reflectance difference (NE∆ρ) were respectively lower than 0.8 W/m(2)/µm/sr and 0.

miR-27a suppresses EV71 replication by directly targeting EGFR.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71), a major causative agent of hand, foot, and mouth disease, has broken out several times and was accompanied by neurological disease. microRNAs, a class of small non-coding RNAs that are approximately 20 nucleotides long, play important roles in the regulation of various biological processes, including antiviral defense. However, the roles of miRNAs in EV71 replication and pathogenesis are not well understood.

Breastfeeding and ovarian cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 40 epidemiological studies.

The present systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess any association between breastfeeding and the risk of ovarian cancer. A systematic search of published studies was performed in PUBMED and EMBASE and by reviewing reference lists from retrieved articles through March 2013. Data extraction was conducted independently by two authors.

Prevalence and risk of viral infection in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a meta-analysis.

Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) lead to substantial morbidity and mortality. Viral infections could be an important cause of acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) and only a few studies report the prevalence of respiratory viruses on this disease. We aimed to update the review on the prevalence of respiratory viral infection in patients with AECOPD with a meta-analysis.

Serum albumin and prealbumin predict the poor outcome of traumatic brain injury.

Background: Serum albumin and prealbumin are both negative acute-phase reactants, and usually at low levels in stress. We aim to determine their predictive values for poor outcome of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: A total of 326 patients of TBI were enrolled and followed-up by telephone 6 months after discharge.

Fever burden is an independent predictor for prognosis of traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To evaluate fever burden as an independent predictor for prognosis of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: This retrospective study involved 355 TBI patients with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤14, who presented at the emergency department of our hospital between November 2010 and October 2012. At 6 months follow-up, patients were divided into 5 groups based on Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and dichotomized to GOS score (high (4 to 5) vs.

The winged helix transcription factor Foxa3 regulates adipocyte differentiation and depot-selective fat tissue expansion.

Conversion of mesenchymal stem cells into terminally differentiated adipocytes progresses sequentially through regulated transcriptional steps. While it is clear that the late phases of adipocyte maturation are governed by the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), less is known about the transcriptional control of the initial stages of differentiation. To identify early regulators, we performed a small interfering RNA (siRNA) screen of Forkhead-box genes in adipocytes and show here for the first time that the winged helix factor Foxa3 promotes adipocyte differentiation by cooperating with C/EBPβ and -δ to transcriptionally induce PPARγ expression.

Nitrite-embedded packaging film effects on fresh and frozen beef color development and stability as influenced by meat age and muscle type.

Muscles (Longissimus lumborum, LL; Psoas major, PM, semitendinosus, ST) were aged (2, 9d postmortem), cut into steaks, anaerobically packaged (nitrite-embedded film, NEF), and displayed (fresh, 19d; frozen, 39d). Fresh NEF increased (P<0.05) in redness (first 48h).

[The correlation of serum specific IgE detection and skin prick test in allergic rhinitis].

Objective: To investigate the correlation between serum specific immunoglobin E(sIgE) and skin prick test(SPT) and their differences of the positive rate.

Method: One hundred and nine patients with allergic rhinitis were detected the serum slgE. The patients had positive symptoms and signs, positive SPT results with at least one allergen.

Serum IgG responses against Aspergillus proteins before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or chemotherapy identify patients who develop invasive aspergillosis.

The ability to identify patients at particularly low risk for invasive aspergillosis (IA) would facilitate more efficient targeting of antifungal prophylaxis. We measured baseline serum immunoglobulin responses against 6 purified recombinant Aspergillus fumigatus proteins before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) or chemotherapy in 73 subjects, including 19 patients who subsequently developed proven or probable IA and 54 uninfected controls. We also assessed responses at the time of IA diagnosis and 4 weeks later (acute and convalescent sera, respectively).

The presence of an FKS mutation rather than MIC is an independent risk factor for failure of echinocandin therapy among patients with invasive candidiasis due to Candida glabrata.

Echinocandins are frontline agents against invasive candidiasis (IC), but predictors for echinocandin therapeutic failure have not been well defined. Mutations in Candida FKS genes, which encode the enzyme targeted by echinocandins, result in elevated MICs and have been linked to therapeutic failures. In this study, echinocandin MICs by broth microdilution and FKS1 and FKS2 mutations among C.

The N-terminal region of acyl-CoA synthetase 3 is essential for both the localization on lipid droplets and the function in fatty acid uptake.

Cytosolic lipid droplets (LDs) are storage organelles for neutral lipids derived from endogenous metabolism. Acyl-CoA synthetase family proteins are essential enzymes in this biosynthetic pathway, contributing activated fatty acids. Fluorescence microscopy showed that ACSL3 is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and LDs, with the distribution dependent on the cell type and the supply of fatty acids.

Paradoxical effect of caspofungin against Candida bloodstream isolates is mediated by multiple pathways but eliminated in human serum.

Paradoxical growth of Candida in vitro at echinocandin concentrations exceeding the MIC is well described, but the clinical relevance is unknown. We assessed echinocandin paradoxical effects against Candida bloodstream isolates (BSI) in the presence or absence of human serum and investigated regulatory mechanisms. As determined by broth microdilution, a paradoxical effect was evident for 60% (18/30), 23% (7/30), and 13% (4/30) of Candida albicans BSI exposed to caspofungin, anidulafungin, and micafungin, respectively, at achievable human serum concentrations (≤8 μg/ml).

Phagocytosis and killing assays for Candida species.

Both innate resistance and acquired cell-mediated immunity are involved in an anti-Candida response. Essential components of both the arms of the immune defense against infections by Candida spp. include phagocytic cells, i.

Differential susceptibility of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway mutants to oxidative-mediated killing by phagocytes in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans.

The role of four mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways in the survival of Candida albicans following infection of human phagocytes has been addressed through the analysis of mutants defective in their respective MAP kinase. While the contribution of the cell integrity (Mkc1-mediated) or mating (Cek2-mediated) pathways is relatively minor to survival, clear and opposite effects were observed for cek1 and hog1 mutants, despite the fact that these two MAP kinases are important virulence determinants in the mouse model of experimental infection. The Cek1-mediated pathway is involved in sensitivity to phagocyte-mediated killing, while the HOG pathway contributes to the survival of the fungal cells in this interaction.

Characterization of the SKN7 ortholog of Aspergillus fumigatus.

Reactive oxidant intermediates play a major role in the killing of Aspergillus fumigatus by phagocytes. In yeasts, SKN7 is a transcription factor contributing to the oxidative stress response. We investigated here the role of afSkn7p in the adaptation of A.

A bio-amplifier with pulse output.

A low-power fully integrated bioamplifier is presented that can amplify signals in the range from mHz to kHz while rejecting large DC offsets generated at the electrode-tissue interface. The novel aspect of this amplifier is that its analog output is represented by a series of pulses which provide a low-power, noise-resistant means for coding and transmission. The original analog signal can be reconstructed from the resulting pulse train with 13 bit precision at a remote site where power consumption is not so crucial.

Diaquabis[2'-(4,5-diazafluoren-9-ylidene)picolinohydrazidato-kappa2N,O]zinc(II) tetrahydrate: a metal-water chain complex containing cyclic water hexamers.

In the title compound, [Zn(C17H10N5O)2(H2O)2].4H2O, cyclic water hexamers forming one-dimensional metal-water chains are observed. The water clusters are trapped by the co-operative association of coordination interactions and hydrogen bonds.

The role of the sakA (Hog1) and tcsB (sln1) genes in the oxidant adaptation of Aspergillus fumigatus.

The Hog1 MAP kinase pathway regulates stress adaptation in several fungi. To assess its role in stress adaptation in Aspergillus fumigatus, we constructed mutants in genes encoding the sensor histidine kinase (HK) tcsB as well as sakA, which are homologues of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae sln1 and Hog1, respectively. Compared to the wild type strain (Wt), growth of sakA (sakAtriangle up) mutant was reduced, and growth inhibition was increased when H(2)O(2), menadione, or SDS was added to the media.

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored Ecm33p influences conidial cell wall biosynthesis in Aspergillus fumigatus.

ECM33 encodes a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein whose orthologs in yeast are essential for sporulation. Aspergillus fumigatus Ecm33p is unique and has an apparent mass of 55 kDa. Disruption of A.