Exploring miR-21 as a key regulator in two distinct approaches of bone marrow stromal cells differentiation into Schwann-like cells.

The differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) into Schwann-like cells (SCLCs) has the potential to promote the structural and functional restoration of injured axons. However, the optimal induction protocol and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of different induction protocols in promoting the differentiation of rat BMSCs into SCLCs and to explore their potential mechanisms.

Replacing permuted block design with big stick design in stratified randomization.

The PBD (Permuted Block Design) is the most widely used randomization method in clinical trials due to its comparatively simplicity. However, greater selection bias may appear, especially in open-labeled trials, because the PBD requires absolute balance at the end of each block . The BSD(Big Stick Design) method is one of the MTI(Maximum Tolerated Imbalance) procedures, which can make the allocation process more unpredictable while maintaining the advantages the PBD.

Expression analysis of , , and genes in year-round estrous and seasonally estrous rams.

The expression characteristics of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis-related candidate genes, , , and , were analyzed in year-round estrous rams (small-tail Han sheep, STH) and seasonally estrous rams (Sunite sheep, SNT) using qPCR. The results were as follows: was mainly expressed in pituitary, and was specifically expressed in hypothalamus in the two groups. However, and were widely expressed in the cerebrum, cerebellum, hypothalamus, pituitary, testis, epididymis, vas deferens and adrenal gland tissues in both breeds, with significant differences in the cerebellum, hypothalamus, pituitary, testis and vas deferens tissues.

The role of the maximal first derivative of the radial pulse wave (Rad dP/dtmax) in monitoring cardiac function.

Background: This study aimed to assess the clinical significance of the maximal first derivative of the radial pulse wave (Rad dP/dtmax) in monitoring cardiac function with different perioperative patients by researching the relationship between Rad dP/dtmax and cardiac output (CO).

Methods: Patients with non-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and open liver tumor resection (OLTR) were enrolled in this study (n=10). CO was measured using the thermodilution Swan-Ganz catheter method and Rad dP/dtmax was acquired by the analysis of patients' left radial artery pressure waveform through the PowerLab data acquisition device.

The effect of Chinese wild blueberry fractions on the growth and membrane integrity of various foodborne pathogens.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of Chinese wild blueberry extract and its fractions against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Enteritidis, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Chinese wild blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) crude extract (BBE) was obtained using methanol extraction, and sugars plus organic acids (F1), phenolics fraction (F2), and anthocyanins plus proanthocyanidins (F3) fractions were separated using C-18 Sep-Pak columns. The minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration of each fractional component were determined using a two-fold-serial dilution method.

Locus coeruleus-CA1 projections are involved in chronic depressive stress-induced hippocampal vulnerability to transient global ischaemia.

Depression and transient ischaemic attack represent the common psychological and neurological diseases, respectively, and are tightly associated. However, studies of depression-affected ischaemic attack have been limited to epidemiological evidences, and the neural circuits underlying depression-modulated ischaemic injury remain unknown. Here, we find that chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) and chronic footshock stress (CFS) exacerbate CA1 neuron loss and spatial learning/memory impairment after a short transient global ischaemia (TGI) attack in mice.

Sweet Sorghum Originated through Selection of , a Plant-Specific NAC Transcription Factor Gene.

Sorghum () is the fifth most popular crop worldwide and a C model plant. Domesticated sorghum comes in many forms, including sweet cultivars with juicy stems and grain sorghum with dry, pithy stems at maturity. The locus, which controls the pithy/juicy stem trait, was discovered over a century ago.

Cdk5 suppression blocks SIRT1 degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in Parkinson's disease models.

The NAD-dependent protein deacetylase sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a member of the sirtuin family, may have a neuroprotective effect in multiple neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Many studies have suggested that overexpression-induced or resveratrol-treated activation of SIRT1 could significantly ameliorate several neurodegenerative diseases in mouse models. However, the type of SIRT1, protein expression levels and underlying mechanisms remain unclear, especially in PD.

CDK5-mediated phosphorylation of Sirt2 contributes to depressive-like behavior induced by social defeat stress.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common, severe and recurrent psychiatric disorder worldwide; however, the underlying neuropathological mechanisms remain elusive. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) appear to play an essential role in depression. As the class III HDACs, Sirt1 and Sirt2 have attracted the most interest in the nervous system.

CDK5-mediated phosphorylation of XBP1s contributes to its nuclear translocation and activation in MPP-induced Parkinson's disease model.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an irreversible and progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta. Growing evidence indicates that endoplasmic reticulum stress is a hallmark of PD; however, its exact contribution to the disease process remains poorly understood. Here, we used molecular biology methods and RNA-Seq analysis to explored an unexpected role of spliced X-Box binding protein 1 (XBP1s) in the nervous system.

Impact of different analgesic depths and abdominal trauma of different severities on stress and recovery of rats undergoing total intravenous anesthesia.

A number of animal models have been developed to examine the pathophysiological consequences of surgical procedures, but anesthetic methods, monitoring, and management measures in these models are very different from those used in humans. This study was designed to create a rat model of abdominal surgery using anesthetic methods and perioperative treatment similar to those used in the clinic and to investigate the effects of different injury severities and depths of anesthesia and analgesia on surgical stress and postoperative recovery. Abdominal skin/muscle incision was compared with exploratory laparotomy in rats under propofol intravenous anesthesia, accompanied by perioperative measures such as oxygen inhalation, fluid infusion, warmth, blood gas analysis, and infection prevention.

[The significance, development and prospects of healthcare data integration in new drug clinical trials].

With the deployment of electronic medical records systems, more and more routine clinical data are recorded electronically, which become a potential data source for new drug clinical trials. In this paper, we summarized the opportunities, challenges, obstacles and the latest development in this field.

A meta-analysis: neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus primary surgery in ovarian carcinoma FIGO stageIII and IV.

Background: The purpose of the current study is to analyze the existing data comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy with primary debulking surgery (PDS) in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma.

Methods: Patients with stage IIIC and IV ovarian cancer were identified from articles in Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE database (1989 to February 2013). Two authors independently extracted the data.

[Efficacy of modified Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in the treatment of non-obese type 2 diabetes mellitus:one year follow-up].

Objective: To evaluate the one year effect of modified Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGP) in the treatment of non-obese type 2 diabetes and to investigate the reasonable indications for surgery.

Methods: Totally 72 patients diagnosed as type 2 diabetes underwent RYGP from May 2009 to June 2010. There were 45 male and 27 female patients, with an average age of (47 ± 10) years.

[Animal gene pyramiding in cross populations].

Gene pyramiding aims at producing individuals with one superior economic trait according to the optimal breeding scheme involving selection of favorable target alleles or linked markers after crossing basal populations and pyramiding them into a single individual. In consideration of animal traditional cross program along with the features of animal segregating population, four types of cross programs and two types of selection strategies for gene pyramiding are performed from practice perspective of view, two population cross for pyramiding two genes (denoted II), three populations cascading cross for pyramiding three genes (denoted III), four population symmetrical (denoted IV-S) and cascading cross for pyramiding four genes (denoted IV-C), and various schemes (denoted cross program-A-E) were designed for each cross program with different levels of initial favorable allele frequencies, basal population sizes, and trait heritabilities. The process of gene pyramiding for various schemes were simulated and compared based on the population hamming distance, average superior genotype frequencies, and average phenotypic values.

[Differential expression analysis of proteins in neutrophils between clinical mastitis and healthy dairy cows].

Neutrophils provide the first line of defense against invading pathogens and have been reported to play a key role in bovine mammary immune. To examine the differential expression of proteins in neutrophils between clinical mastitis and healthy dairy cows, a 2-dimensional electrophoresis gel map with high repeatability was constructed for bovine neutrophils. From this map, seven differentially expressed proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF MS which are believed to be involved in pathways such as cell metabolism, oxidative stress, and inflammatory reaction.

[Inhibitory effect of toll-like receptor 7 agonist on K562 cells].

The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist gardiquimod on K562 cells. Human γδT cells from peripheral blood cells were amplified by isopentenyl pyrophosphate. The proliferation capacity of γδT cells and K562 cells were measured with MTT assay after treatment with different concentrations of gardiquimod.

[Effect of intravenous lornoxicam at different doses on the immune function in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy].

Objective: To investigate the effect of intravenous lornoxicam (LOR) at different doses given preoperatively on the immune function of patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH).

Methods: Forty-five patients undergoing TAH were randomly divided into 3 groups, namely NS group, L8 group and L16 group with intravenous injection of 4 ml saline, 8 mg LOR, and 16 mg LOR before the induction of anesthesia respectively. Venous blood samples were taken before anesthesia (T0), at 30 min during the operation (T1), at the end of the operation (T2), and at 24 h and 48 h after the operation (T3 and T4, respectively) to determine the serum levels of regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), and stromal cell-derived factor 1 alpha (SDF-1alpha) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Implementation and experience of a web-based allocation system with Pocock and Simon's minimization methods.

Minimization is a type of dynamic randomization method that is recommended for use in clinical trials. However, partly due to its organizational complexity in implementation, the utilization of minimization is seldom reported. We developed a centralized random allocation system named "MagMin" using Pocock and Simon's minimization methods, which has been in use since 2006.

[Cloning and characterization of CAST transcript 2 and 4 in sheep].

As an endogenous inhibitor of the calpain system activated by Ca2+, calpastatin (CAST) plays a regulatory role in muscle proteolysis. Based on the bovine mRNA sequences, part of cDNA fragments of sheep CAST transcript 2 and 4 were obtained by RT-PCR. Bioinformatic analysis showed that sheep CAST transcript 2 was 4 358 bp in length with an open reading frame (ORF) 2 361 bp long and encoded 786 amino acids, while sheep CAST transcript 4 was 1 467 bp in length with 1 317 bp ORF encoding 438 amino acids.