Effects of different protectants on the IgY content and physico-chemical properties of spray-dried egg yolk powder.

Background: Egg yolk powder (EYP) with high immunoglobulin of yolk (IgY) content and good solubility is in great demand in the market of functional foods. In this article, the properties of spray-dried EYP with the addition of five protectants (maltodextrin, trehalose, mannitol, maltitol and sucrose) were investigated.

Results: All the protectants increased IgY activity and solubility of EYP.

Improving effect of disaccharides and maltodextrin on preparation of egg yolk powder by microwave-assisted freeze-drying: Functional properties, structural properties, and retention rate of active IgY.

The preparation of egg yolk powder (EYP) with excellent solubility and high retention of active IgY is of great significance for increasing the added value and promoting the application of EYP. A new method of preparing EYP by microwave-assisted freeze-drying (MFD) was researched. Confocal laser scanning microscopy results demonstrated that the supplementation of excipients (sucrose, trehalose, and maltodextrin) could inhibit lipoproteins aggregation in egg yolk induced by freezing.

Effects of different proteins and maltodextrin combinations as wall material on the characteristics of flavonoids microcapsules.

The flavonoids in (CO) have various pharmacological activities, however, the flavonoid instability limits its application in food and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, flavonoid (COF) microcapsules were prepared by using a combination of whey isolate protein (WPI), soy isolate protein (SPI), gelatin (GE), and maltodextrin (MD) as wall materials, respectively. Meanwhile, the encapsulation efficiency, solubility, color, particle size, thermal stability and microstructure as well as the antioxidant capacity of microcapsules were assessed.

2-anilino-4-amino-5-aroylthiazole-type compound AS7128 inhibits lung cancer growth through decreased iASPP and p53 interaction.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Thus, developing novel therapeutic agents has become critical for lung cancer treatment. In this study, compound AS7128 was selected from a 2-million entry chemical library screening and identified as a candidate drug against non-small cell lung cancer in vitro and in vivo.

Functional evaluation of therapeutic response of HCC827 lung cancer to bevacizumab and erlotinib targeted therapy using dynamic contrast-enhanced and diffusion-weighted MRI.

This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic responses of lung cancer mice models with adenocarcinoma HCC827 (gefitinib sensitive) and HCC827R (gefitinib resistant) to the epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib alone and in combination with the anti-angiogenesis agent bevacizumab using dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) and diffusion-weighted MRI. In the HCC827 model, temporal changes in DCE-MRI derived parameters (Ktrans, kep, and iAUC90) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were significantly correlated with tumor size. Ktrans and iAUC90 significantly decreased at week 2 in the groups receiving erlotinib alone and in combination with bevacizumab, whereas kep decreased at week 1 and 2 in both treatment groups.

Cancer cells increase endothelial cell tube formation and survival by activating the PI3K/Akt signalling pathway.

Background: Angiogenesis is a hallmark of cancer and plays a critical role in lung cancer progression, which involves interactions between cancer cells, endothelial cells and the surrounding microenvironment. However, the gene expression profiles and the changes in the biological phenotype of vascular endothelial cells after interactions with lung cancer cells remain unclear.

Methods: An indirect transwell co-culture system was used to survey the interaction between human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human lung adenocarcinoma CL1-5 cells, as well as to investigate the morphological and molecular changes of HUVECs.

A Heuristic Framework for Image Filtering and Segmentation: Application to Blood Vessel Immunohistochemistry.

The blood vessel density in a cancerous tissue sample may represent increased levels of tumor growth. However, identifying blood vessels in the histological (tissue) image is difficult and time-consuming and depends heavily on the observer's experience. To overcome this drawback, computer-aided image analysis frameworks have been investigated in order to boost object identification in histological images.

Opposite Effects of M1 and M2 Macrophage Subtypes on Lung Cancer Progression.

Macrophages in a tumor microenvironment have been characterized as M1- and M2-polarized subtypes. Here, we discovered the different macrophages' impacts on lung cancer cell A549. The M2a/M2c subtypes promoted A549 invasion and xenograft tumor growth.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 as molecular therapy for non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Targeting signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a transcription factor that modulates survival-directed transcription, is often persistently activated in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) wild-type non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to determine whether sorafenib and its derivative can inhibit EGFR wild-type NSCLC via STAT3 inactivation.

Methods: EGFR wild-type NSCLC cell lines (A549 H292 H322 H358 and H460) were treated with sorafenib or SC-1, a sorafenib derivative that closely resembled sorafenib structurally but was devoid of kinase inhibitory activity.

Early detection of Lewis lung carcinoma tumor control by irradiation using diffusion-weighted and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) derived parameters and radioresponsiveness of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor.

Materials And Methods: LLC tumor growth in C57BL/6 mouse limb was used for the experiment. The tumors were irradiated with 10 Gy×5, or 30 Gy×2 vs.

Simple aspiration and drainage and intrapleural minocycline pleurodesis versus simple aspiration and drainage for the initial treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: an open-label, parallel-group, prospective, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Simple aspiration and drainage is a standard initial treatment for primary spontaneous pneumothorax, but the rate of pneumothorax recurrence is substantial. We investigated whether additional minocycline pleurodesis after simple aspiration and drainage reduces the rate of recurrence.

Methods: In our open-label, parallel-group, prospective, randomised, controlled trial at two hospitals in Taiwan, patients were aged 15-40 years and had a first episode of primary spontaneous pneumothorax with a rim of air greater than 2 cm on chest radiographs, complete lung expansion without air leakage after pigtail catheter drainage, adequate haematological function, and normal renal and hepatic function.

Recombinant factor VIIa use in refractory ulcer bleeding in uremic patient.

Peptic ulcer bleeding is thought to be a major cause of bleeding in patients with end-stage renal disease and is more complicated in uremic patients. We described a 41-year-old man with end-stage renal disease who underwent hemodialysis with refractory ulcer bleeding, failure to all traditional peptic ulcer treatments, and correction of uremic component, who has been successfully treated by using recombinant factor VIIa. There have been few case reports in dealing refractory upper gastrointestinal bleeding in uremic patients in the literature; and in this case report, we demonstrates that recombinant factor VIIa could be used as a rescue therapy in these high–surgical risk patients when medical therapy fails.

Functional and structural characteristics of tumor angiogenesis in lung cancers overexpressing different VEGF isoforms assessed by DCE- and SSCE-MRI.

The expressions of different vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) isoforms are associated with the degree of tumor invasiveness and the patient's prognosis in human cancers. We hypothesized that different VEGF isoforms can exert different effects on the functional and structural characteristics of tumor angiogenesis. We used dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and steady-state contrast-enhanced MRI (SSCE-MRI) to evaluate in vivo vascular functions (e.

Automatic immunostaining vessel image filtering for visual search efficiency.

Blood vessel abstraction is an important procedure for quantitative analysis of blood vessel densities determined by immunostaining the tumor cells. Due to the weak contrast of object boundaries and background clutter, it is difficult to identify the vessel and non-vessel region clearly. In this paper we present a novel algorithm to automatically abstract salient regions in blood vessel images using Gaussian perceptually color space for producing the detail and large-scale layer.

p53 controls cancer cell invasion by inducing the MDM2-mediated degradation of Slug.

The tumour suppressor p53 is known to prevent cancer progression by inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis of tumour cells. Slug, an invasion promoter, exerts its effects by repressing E-cadherin transcription. Here we show that wild-type p53 (wtp53) suppresses cancer invasion by inducing Slug degradation, whereas mutant p53 may stabilize Slug protein.

Salvage for unsuccessful aspiration of primary pneumothorax: thoracoscopic surgery or chest tube drainage?

Background: Simple aspiration is recommended as first-line treatment for all primary spontaneous pneumothoraces requiring intervention. However, the optimal salvage treatment remains unclear when simple aspiration is unsuccessful for controlling symptoms. In this study, the safety, efficacy, and estimated costs of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and chest tube drainage (CTD) were compared.

Intrapleural minocycline following simple aspiration for initial treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Background: The optimal initial management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) remains controversial. This study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intrapleural minocycline following aspiration for initial treatment of PSP.

Methods: Between January 2004 and November 2006, 64 patients with a first episode of PSP were successfully treated by simple aspiration using pigtail or intravenous needle catheter.

Pathophysiology of tumor-associated macrophages.

The macrophage is an important component of the human immune defense mechanism. Cancer cells secrete a variety of chemoattractants that attract macrophages and cause them to accumulate in the tumor tissue, wherein the macrophage becomes a tumor-associated macrophage (TAM). Recent evidence has shown that the function of tumor stromal TAMs can be modified by cancer cells and the factors they secrete.

Targeting neuropilin 1 as an antitumor strategy in lung cancer.

Purpose: Neuropilin 1 (NRP1) is a mediator of lung branching and angiogenesis in embryonic development and angiogenesis in cancer. The role of NRP1 in cancer progression is not fully elucidated. We investigated the role of NRP1 in cancer invasion and tumor angiogenesis, its signaling pathways, prognostic significance, and therapeutic implications.

A five-gene signature and clinical outcome in non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Current staging methods are inadequate for predicting the outcome of treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We developed a five-gene signature that is closely associated with survival of patients with NSCLC.

Methods: We used computer-generated random numbers to assign 185 frozen specimens for microarray analysis, real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, or both.

Successful treatment of intractable hemothorax with recombinant factor VIIa in a nonhemophilic patient.

Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) was developed for the treatment of bleeding in hemophilic patients with inhibitors. It has also been used to stop bleeding in nonhemophilic patients who fail to respond to conventional treatment. We report a case of catastrophic hemothorax in which bleeding was stopped by administration of rFVIIa.

Transcription repressor slug promotes carcinoma invasion and predicts outcome of patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: In a previous genome-wide gene expression profiling analysis using an invasion cancer cell lines model, we have identified Slug as selectively overexpressed in the highly invasive cancer cells. Here, we investigated the clinical significance of Slug in lung adenocarcinoma and the role of Slug in the process of cancer cell invasion and metastasis.

Experimental Design: Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR was used to investigate Slug mRNA in surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma of 54 patients and its correlation with survival.