Rapid diagnosis of childhood pulmonary tuberculosis by Xpert MTB/RIF assay using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.

In order to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay on childhood pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), we evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of Xpert MTB/RIF assay using BALF in comparison with acid-fast bacilli (AFB) microscopy and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) culture for diagnosing childhood PTB using Chinese "composite clinical reference standard" (CCRS) as reference standard. Two hundred fifty-five children with suspected PTB were enrolled at Beijing Children's Hospital from September 2010 to July 2013. Compared with Chinese CCRS, the sensitivity of AFB microscopy, MTB culture, and Xpert MTB/RIF assay was 8.

Analysis of the differences of serum protein mass spectrometry in patients with triple negative breast cancer and non-triple negative breast cancer.

The objective of the present study was to investigate differences of serum protein mass spectrometry in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and non-TNBC and thus to search for candidate serum protein biomarkers for identification and diagnosis of TNBC. Thirty serum samples from patients with TNBC without any treatment and 30 serum samples from patients with non-TNBC without any treatment were detected by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser dissociation tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). PDQest 7.

Capillary force lithography for cardiac tissue engineering.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide(1). Cardiac tissue engineering holds much promise to deliver groundbreaking medical discoveries with the aims of developing functional tissues for cardiac regeneration as well as in vitro screening assays. However, the ability to create high-fidelity models of heart tissue has proven difficult.

Fabrication of poly(ethylene glycol): gelatin methacrylate composite nanostructures with tunable stiffness and degradation for vascular tissue engineering.

Although synthetic polymers are desirable in tissue engineering applications for the reproducibility and tunability of their properties, synthetic small diameter vascular grafts lack the capability to endothelialize in vivo. Thus, synthetically fabricated biodegradable tissue scaffolds that reproduce important aspects of the extracellular environment are required to meet the urgent need for improved vascular grafting materials. In this study, we have successfully fabricated well-defined nanopatterned cell culture substrates made of a biodegradable composite hydrogel consisting of poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) and gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) by using UV-assisted capillary force lithography.

Fast conversion of digital Fresnel hologram to phase-only hologram based on localized error diffusion and redistribution.

Past research has demonstrated that a digital, complex Fresnel hologram can be converted into a phase-only hologram with the use of the bi-direction error diffusion (BERD) algorithm. However, the recursive nature error diffusion process is lengthy and increases monotonically with hologram size. In this paper, we propose a method to overcome this problem.

Thermoresponsive nanofabricated substratum for the engineering of three-dimensional tissues with layer-by-layer architectural control.

Current tissue engineering methods lack the ability to properly recreate scaffold-free, cell-dense tissues with physiological structures. Recent studies have shown that the use of nanoscale cues allows for precise control over large-area 2D tissue structures without restricting cell growth or cell density. In this study, we developed a simple and versatile platform combining a thermoresponsive nanofabricated substratum (TNFS) incorporating nanotopographical cues and the gel casting method for the fabrication of scaffold-free 3D tissues.

A new cesium pentaborate with new B10O19 building blocks.

A new polymorph of CsB5O8 has been synthesized. Its crystal structure was determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The new polymorph of CsB5O8 with new B10O19 building blocks containing helical chains has been synthesized.

New type of complex alkali and alkaline earth metal borates with isolated (B12O24)12) anionic group.

Compounds with isolated anionic groups often exhibit special linear and nonlinear optical properties and possess potential applications such as birefringence, second harmonic generation and stimulated Raman scattering crystals. In this paper, two new alkali and alkaline earth mixed-metal borates, Li3KB4O8 and LiNa2Sr8B12O24F6Cl, with isolated (B12O24)(12-) anionic groups have been successfully synthesized by spontaneous crystallization. Their structures were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction and they both crystallize in the same space group, R3[combining macron].

Autoregulation of lin-4 microRNA transcription by RNA activation (RNAa) in C. elegans.

The conserved lin-4 microRNA (miRNA) regulates the proper timing of stem cell fate decisions in C. elegans by regulating stemness genes such as lin-14 and lin-28. (1)(-) (3) While lin-4 is upregulated toward the end of the first larval stage and functions as an essential developmental timing "switch", little is known about how lin-4 expression is regulated.

RNA-mediated gene activation.

The regulation of gene expression by non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has become a new paradigm in biology. RNA-mediated gene silencing pathways have been studied extensively, revealing diverse epigenetic and posttranscriptional mechanisms. In contrast, the roles of ncRNAs in activating gene expression remains poorly understood.

[Determination of organochlorine pesticide residues in the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum by GC-MS].

Objective: To determine the contents of organochlorine pesticide residues in the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum and provide scientific foundation for the quality control and standard establishment.

Methods: GC-MS method with selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode was used to analyze the contents of organochlorine pesticide residues in the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum. The samples were extracted with acetone and ultrasonic vibrations, and the analytical samples were purified by anhydrous sodium sulfate-anhydrous magnesium sulfate -PSA -C18-PestiCarb -phase extraction (SPE) cartridge.

Proteomic analysis of meningiomas.

Meningiomas represent one-third of all primary brain tumors and cause 35,000 new cases each year. Because of this high incidence, we sought to determine if there are proteomic differences between meningiomas and neighboring tissues. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry were used to detect differentially expressed proteins in tumor samples, using arachnoid tissue as a control.

Pathways to psychiatric care in urban north China: a general hospital based study.

Background: Pathway studies highlight the help-seeking behaviors of patients with physical and mental illnesses. A number of studies in this field have been completed in various parts of the world. The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of the help-seeking pathways of patients with mental illness from urban north China at Mental Health Professional (MHP).

[Characteristics and influence factors of the energy consumption and pollutant discharge of municipal solid waste transfer stations in Beijing].

In this study, we investigated characteristics and influence factors of energy consumption and pollutant discharge (ECPD) of municipal solid waste transfer stations (MSW TSs) in Beijing by assessing four parameters including the amount of waste recycled, leachate production, water consumption and electricity consumption, based on three years' average data of MSW TSs in Beijing obtained through field investigations from 2009 to 2011. Meanwhile, integral performances of the stations with and without garbage sorting capacities (Sorting TS and Compressing TS) were also analyzed. Results showed that MSW TSs in Beijing differ greatly.

Microwave sensing and heating of individual droplets in microfluidic devices.

Droplet-based microfluidics is an emerging high-throughput screening technology finding applications in a variety of areas such as life science research, drug discovery and material synthesis. In this paper we present a cost-effective, scalable microwave system that can be integrated with microfluidic devices enabling remote, simultaneous sensing and heating of individual nanoliter-sized droplets generated in microchannels. The key component of this microwave system is an electrically small resonator that is able to distinguish between materials with different electrical properties (i.

Porous starch extracted from Chinese rice wine vinasse: characterization and adsorption properties.

Chinese rice wine vinasse (the fermentation residue after removal of the crude wine or beer) contains 20-30% residual native starch. These starches are partly hydrolyzed by amylase and glucoamylase during rice wine fermentation, indicating that it is a potential source of porous starch, which is a value-added material. In the present study, morphological, short-range order, crystalline, and thermal studies were determined to characterize the structural and chemical properties of vinasse starch.

Initiated chemical vapor deposition of thermoresponsive poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) thin films for cell sheet engineering.

Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PNVCL) is a thermoresponsive polymer known to be nontoxic, water soluble and biocompatible. Here, PNVCL homopolymer was successfully synthesized for the first time by use of a one-step vapor-phase process, termed initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results showed that radical polymerization took place from N-vinylcaprolactam monomers without damaging the functional caprolactam ring.

Optimization for municipal solid waste treatment based on energy consumption and contaminant emission.

This paper analyzes the characterization of energy consumption and contaminant emissions from a municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment system that comprises transfer station, landfill site, combustion plant, composting plant, dejecta treatment station, and an integrated MSW treatment plant. The consumed energy and energy medium materials were integrated under comprehensive energy consumption (CEC) for comparison. Among typical MSW disposal methods such as combustion, composting, and landfilling, landfilling has the minimum CEC value.

Impact of α-amylase combined with hydrochloric acid hydrolysis on structure and digestion of waxy rice starch.

The structure and in vitro digestibility of native waxy rice starch by the combined hydrolysis of α-amylase and hydrochloric acid were investigated in this study. The combined hydrolysis technique generated higher hydrolysis rate and extent than the enzymatic hydrolysis. The granular appearance and chromatograph profile demonstrated that α-amylase and hydrochloric acid exhibited different patterns of hydrolysis.

Does melanoma begin in a melanocyte stem cell?

What is the cellular origin of melanoma? What role do melanocyte stem cells (MSC) and other melanocyte precursors play in the development of melanoma? Are MSCs and other latent melanocyte precursors more susceptible to solar radiation? These and many other questions can be very effectively addressed using the zebrafish model. Zebrafish have a robust regenerative capability, permitting the study of how MSCs are regulated and recruited at specific times and places to generate the pigment pattern following fin amputation or melanocyte ablation. They can be used to determine the effects of environmental radiation on the proliferation, survival, repair, and differentiation of MSCs.

Study on the intermediate ions formed by glutathione peroxidase mimic 2,2'-ditellurobis(2-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin) by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Rationale: 2,2'-Ditellurobis(2-deoxy-β-cyclodextrin) (2-TeCD) is one of the most well-known glutathione peroxidase (GPx) mimics. However, because the critical reaction intermediates had not previously been isolated or directly detected due to its short lifetime, the catalytic mechanism of 2-TeCD is not very clear and further experiments are needed to characterize each of the intermediates in the catalytic cycle.

Methods: Using electrospray ionization mass (and tandem) spectrometry (ESI-MS and ESI-MS/MS) experiments, the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide at the expense of glutathione (GSH) catalyzed by 2-TeCD was monitored on-line.

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of broken rice: an enzymatic extrusion liquefaction pretreatment for Chinese rice wine production.

Broken rice, pretreated by enzymatic extrusion liquefaction, was used to produce Chinese rice wine by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process in this study. The study compared the novel process and traditional process for Chinese rice wine fermentation utilizing broken rice and head rice, respectively. With the optimum extrusion parameters (barrel temperature, 98 °C; moisture content, 42% and amylase concentration, 1‰), 18% (v/v at 20 °C) alcoholic degree, 37.

Fabricating a reversible and regenerable Raman-active substrate with a biomolecule-controlled DNA nanomachine.

A DNA configuration switch is designed to fabricate a reversible and regenerable Raman-active substrate. The substrate is composed of a Au film and a hairpin-shaped DNA strand (hot-spot-generation probes, HSGPs) labeled with dye-functionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Another ssDNA that recognizes a specific trigger is used as an antenna.

Pediatric tuberculosis at Beijing Children's Hospital: 2002-2010.

Objective: Our aim was to describe the patient characteristics, clinical-epidemiological profile, and treatment outcome of childhood tuberculosis (TB).

Methods: A retrospective, descriptive study was undertaken of 1212 children aged 0 to 18 years admitted to Beijing Children's Hospital for the treatment of TB from January 2002 to December 2010. Statistical significance of category variables was evaluated by using Fisher's exact test.

MicroRNAs micromanage themselves.

Since their discovery not long ago, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been extensively studied in hundreds of laboratories around the world. Initially thought of as merely cytoplasmic repressors of mRNA expression, it has since become more apparent that they also play regulatory roles in the nucleus. A recent study published in Nature introduces novel concepts in both miRNA regulation and function by showing that the let-7 miRNA regulates its own expression.