c-Src/Pyk2/EGFR/PI3K/Akt/CREB-activated pathway contributes to human cardiomyocyte hypertrophy: Role of COX-2 induction.

Thrombin and COX-2 regulating cardiac hypertrophy are via various signaling cascades. Several transcriptional factors including CREB involve in COX-2 expression. However, the interplay among thrombin, CREB, and COX-2 in primary human neonatal ventricular cardiomyocytes remains unclear.

Risk factors for pericardial effusion in adult patients receiving allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Pericardial effusion (PE) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication for allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. The risk factors, aetiology, incidence and therapy are largely unclear. To investigate this issue, we reviewed 391 adult patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT between January 2003 and December 2013.

Rituximab induction therapy, survival benefits, and the increasing selection of radiotherapy as the postinduction treatment in patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma.

Background: Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) is a rare malignancy that has been reported in young individuals, especially young women. Patients with PMBCL commonly receive rituximab induction. This single-institution study was designed to analyze the clinical benefits of rituximab induction and its impact on postinduction treatments (PITs), especially radiotherapy.

KIM-1-mediated phagocytosis reduces acute injury to the kidney.

Kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1, also known as TIM-1) is markedly upregulated in the proximal tubule after injury and is maladaptive when chronically expressed. Here, we determined that early in the injury process, however, KIM-1 expression is antiinflammatory due to its mediation of phagocytic processes in tubule cells. Using various models of acute kidney injury (AKI) and mice expressing mutant forms of KIM-1, we demonstrated a mucin domain-dependent protective effect of epithelial KIM-1 expression that involves downregulation of innate immunity.

Incidence and risk factors of probable and proven invasive fungal infection in adult patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: To investigate the incidence and risk factors for the occurrence of proven or probable invasive fungal infection (IFI) in adult patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 421 patients undergoing HSCT between 2002 and 2013 in our hospital. The risk factors for the occurrence of IFI were analyzed using Cox regression models.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate mediates ICAM-1-dependent monocyte adhesion through p38 MAPK and p42/p44 MAPK-dependent Akt activation.

Up-regulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is frequently implicated in lung inflammation. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) has been shown to play a key role in inflammation via adhesion molecules induction, and then causes lung injury. However, the mechanisms underlying S1P-induced ICAM-1 expression in human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells (HPAEpiCs) remain unclear.

TNF-α mediates PKCδ/JNK1/2/c-Jun-dependent monocyte adhesion via ICAM-1 induction in human retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Retinal inflammatory diseases induced by cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are associated with an up-regulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPECs). Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a monolayer of epithelial cells that forms the outer blood-retinal barrier in the posterior segment of the eye, and is also implicated in the pathology of, such as neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, the detailed mechanisms of TNF-α-induced ICAM-1 expression are largely unclear in human RPECs.

Oligosaccharide composition of breast milk influences survival of uninfected children born to HIV-infected mothers in Lusaka, Zambia.

Background: Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have multiple immunomodulatory functions that influence child health.

Objective: In this study we investigated whether HMO composition influences survival to 2 y of age in HIV-infected and HIV-exposed, uninfected (HEU) children during and after breastfeeding.

Methods: In the context of an early weaning trial in 958 HIV-infected women in Lusaka, Zambia, we conducted a nested case-cohort analysis of mortality to 2 y of age among 103 HIV-infected and 143 HEU children.

A "bone marrow score" for predicting hematological disease in immunocompetent patients with fevers of unknown origin.

Delayed diagnosis of hematological malignancies in immunocompetent patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO) remains an exhausting challenge for non-hematologist physicians. This retrospective cohort study aimed to establish a scoring system, "bone marrow (BM) score", to identify FUO patients who require early bone marrow biopsy (BMB) to diagnose hematological disease. Two cohorts, comprising 85 (training) and 20 (validation) eligible immunocompetent patients, with FUOs diagnosed between January 1, 2006 and July 31, 2013, underwent BMBs and were enrolled in the study.

Risk of pneumonia among patients with chronic kidney disease in outpatient and inpatient settings: a nationwide population-based study.

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are more at risk for pneumonia than the general population. Patients with pneumonia are usually treated as outpatients. However, previous studies were conducted on the basis of inpatient pneumonia.

Lymphocyte/monocyte ratio and cycles of rituximab-containing therapy are risk factors for hepatitis B virus reactivation in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and resolved hepatitis B.

Reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) following rituximab (R)-containing chemotherapy for lymphoma is a major concern, and risk factors remain to be defined. We enrolled 190 patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and resolved hepatitis B, receiving first-line R-CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone)-based regimens. Twenty-seven patients (14.

Role of shear-induced dynamical heterogeneity in the nonlinear rheology of colloidal gels.

We report the effect of flow-induced dynamical heterogeneity on the nonlinear elastic modulus of weakly aggregated colloidal gels that have undergone yielding by an imposed step strain deformation. The gels are comprised of sterically stabilized poly(methyl methacrylate) colloids interacting through short-ranged depletion attractions. When a step strain of magnitude varying from γ = 0.

Front view and panoramic side view videoscope lens system design.

A novel structure of a rigid panoramic endoscope is designed and presented. The inspected target field is imaged on the sensor by an optical lens with a dynamic mechanical module. A microgear and motor are used to drive the dynamic lens components, and a compensation element is used in the system to correct the aberrations due to the protective cylindrical endoscope cover.

Laser speckle reduction by phase range limited computer generated hologram in laser projection display system.

The speckle phenomenon is an annoyance in laser projection display systems. We propose a novel speckle suppression method that utilizes the interference concept on a pixel point, which reduces the speckle contrast (SC) of the project image by limiting the phase distribution range in the optical field. The SC formula is derived in the uniform interval phase range for partially developed speckle conditions, showing that the SC can be lowered by lessening the phase range limitation.

ABO blood group and the risk of cancer among middle-aged people in Taiwan.

Aim: The relationship between ABO blood group and cancer was observed in many epidemiological researches. Our aim is to study the relationship between ABO blood group and the risk of cancer in the Taiwanese population.

Methods: We followed 3180 men and 3124 women with baseline ages ranging from 20 to 65 years for 27 years.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate mediates COX-2 expression and PGE2 /IL-6 secretion via c-Src-dependent AP-1 activation.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) has been shown to regulate cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) expression and IL-6 secretion in various respiratory diseases. However, the mechanisms underlying S1P-induced COX-2 expression and PGE2 production in human tracheal smooth muscle cells (HTSMCs) remain unclear. Here we demonstrated that S1P markedly induced COX-2 expression.

CO Induces Nrf2-Dependent Heme Oxygenase-1 Transcription by Cooperating with Sp1 and c-Jun in Rat Brain Astrocytes.

Upregulation of heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) by carbon monoxide (CO) delivered by CO-releasing molecules (CORMs) may be utilized as a therapeutic intervention for neurodegenerative diseases. This study was to delineate the two putative anti-oxidant response elements (AREs) in modulating HO-1 gene by participating with its promoter elements in rat brain astrocytes (RBA-1). CORM-2-induced HO-1 expression was mediated through superoxide, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (Erk1/2), protein tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), and phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K/Akt), revealed by the pharmacological inhibitors or knockdown of these signaling molecules.

Increased risk of coronary heart disease in patients with chronic osteomyelitis: a population-based study in a cohort of 23 million.

Objectives: Chronic inflammatory disease may trigger vascular atherosclerosis. This study aimed to determine whether chronic osteomyelitis (COM) is linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Methods: A national insurance claim dataset of more than 23 million enrolees was used to identify 15 054 patients with newly diagnosed COM and 60 216 randomly selected age-matched and gender-matched controls between 2001 and 2009 for comparing the risk and incidence of CHD.

Pharmacokinetic profile and first preliminary clinical evaluation of bendamustine in Taiwanese patients with heavily pretreated indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma.

Prior studies found bendamustine is efficacious in patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). To date, no studies have reported the efficacy of bendamustine in a Chinese population. This multicentre phase II trial evaluated the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and efficacy of bendamustine monotherapy in Chinese patients in Taiwan with pretreated indolent B-cell NHL or mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

Mast cell leukemia: an extremely rare disease.

Systemic mastocytosis is characterized by pathologic proliferation and accumulation of mast cells in at least one extracutaneous organ such as liver, spleen, bone marrow, or lymph nodes. The clinical features are highly variable depending on impairment of the involved organ systems. It often raises diagnostic challenges.

BK Induces cPLA2 Expression via an Autocrine Loop Involving COX-2-Derived PGE2 in Rat Brain Astrocytes.

Bradykinin (BK) is a proinflammatory mediator and elevated in several brain injury and inflammatory diseases. The deleterious effects of BK on brain astrocytes may aggravate brain inflammation mediated through the upregulation of cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2)/cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. However, the signaling mechanisms underlying BK-induced cPLA2 expression in brain astrocytes remain unclear.

The Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (KDSAP): a novel translatable model for increasing interest in nephrology careers.

Despite the increasing prevalence of CKD in the United States, there is a declining interest among United States medical graduates in nephrology as a career choice. Effective programs are needed to generate interest at early educational stages when career choices can be influenced. The Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (KDSAP) is a novel program initiated at Harvard College that increases student knowledge of and interest in kidney health and disease, interest in nephrology career paths, and participation in kidney disease research.

The CO donor CORM-2 inhibits LPS-induced vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression and leukocyte adhesion in human rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts.

Background And Purpose: Infection with Gram-negative bacteria has been recognized as an initiator of rheumatoid arthritis, which is characterized by chronic inflammation and infiltration of immune cells. Carbon monoxide (CO) exhibits anti-inflammatory properties. Here we have investigated the detailed mechanisms of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) expression induced by LPS and if CO inhibited LPS-induced leukocyte adhesion to synovial fibroblasts by suppressing VCAM-1 expression.