The relationship between probiotics and retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants: A population-based retrospective study in China.

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a retinal vascular disease with a high incidence in premature infants and is a leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide. The purpose of our study was to analyze the association between the use of probiotics and retinopathy of prematurity.

Methods: This study retrospectively collected clinical data of premature infants with gestational age <32 weeks and birth weight <1500 g admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021 in Suzhou Municipal Hospital, China.

Coupling surfactants with ISCO for remediating of NAPLs: Recent progress and application challenges.

Non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) pose a serious risk to the soil-groundwater environment. Coupling surfactants with in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) technology is a promising strategy, which is attributed to the enhanced desorption and solubilization efficiency of NAPL contaminants. However, the complex interactions among surfactants, oxidation systems, and NAPL contaminants have not been fully revealed.

The combined effect of Diversispora versiformis and sodium bentonite contributes on the colonization of Phragmites in cadmium-contaminated soil.

To promote the colonization of Phragmites in Cd polluted, nutrient deprived and structural damaged soil, the combined remediation using chemical and microbial modifiers were carried out in potting experiments. The co-application of Diversispora versiformis and sodium bentonite significantly improved the soil structure and phosphorus utilization of the plant, while decreasing the content of cadmium bound by diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid by 77.72%.

Machine Learning-Based Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging Radiomic Model for Discrimination of Pathological Subtypes of Craniopharyngioma.

Background: Preoperative, noninvasive discrimination of the craniopharyngioma subtypes is important because it influences the treatment strategy.

Purpose: To develop a radiomic model based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging for noninvasive discrimination of pathological subtypes of craniopharyngioma.

Study Type: Retrospective.

An alternative splicing signature model for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma-specific survival.

Background: Alternative splicing (AS) is a transcriptional regulation mechanism, which can expand the coding ability of genome and contribute to the occurrence and development of cancer. A systematic analysis of AS in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is lacking and urgently needed.

Methods: Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to distinguish survival-related AS events and to calculate the risk score.

The effects of biochar and dredged sediments on soil structure and fertility promote the growth, photosynthetic and rhizosphere microbial diversity of Phragmites communis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.

The improvement of urban river revetment soil is conducive to promote the growth of pioneer plants which can accelerate the restoration of ecosystems. How to effectively amend soil structure and composition to provide a suitable soil rhizosphere for rapid plant expansion is essential to be solved in the study. Biochar and lake dredged sediments were used to amend an urban river bank soil, where compaction and lack of mineral nutrition hindered the growth of Phragmites.

Using non-ionic surfactant as an accelerator to increase extracellular lipid production by oleaginous yeast Cryptococcus curvatus MUCL 29819.

The aim of this work was to study the effects of non-ionic surfactant on the accumulation of total microbial lipids and extracellular lipid by Cryptococcus curvatus MUCL 29819 with acetic acid as carbon source. Compared with Brij 58 and Triton X-100, Brij 58 most increased the total lipids, with a yield up to 2.84 g/L (extracellular lipid up to 47%).

[Kinetic cluster and α-divergence-based dynamic myocardial factorial analysis of positron-emission computed tomography images].

Objective: We purpose a novel factor analysis method based on kinetic cluster and α-divergence measure for extracting the blood input function and the time-activity curve of the regional tissue from dynamic myocardial positron emission computed tomography(PET) images.

Methods: Dynamic PET images were decomposed into initial factors and factor images by minimizing the α-divergence between the factor model and actual image data. The kinetic clustering as a priori constraint was then incorporated into the model to solve the nonuniqueness problem, and the tissue time-activity curves and the tissue space distributions with physiological significance were generated.

Regulatory T cell activity in immunosuppresive mice model of pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) pneumonia is a refractory, even lethal complication in immunosuppressive individuals and immune disturbances may promote the pathological process. We aimed to investigate the regulatory T (Treg) cell activity in an immunosuppressive mice model of PA pneumonia by estimating levels of main transcription factor and the main effector of Treg cells, i.e.

Early-life gut microbial colonization shapes Th1/Th2 balance in asthma model in BALB/c mice.

Background: We aimed to investigate the effect of early-life diverse microbial exposures on gut microbial colonization in an OVA-induced asthma model in BALB/c mice.

Methods: BALB/c mice were divided into 4 groups: A, offsprings were kept in a SPF environment during fetal, lactation, and childhood periods; B, offsprings were kept in the SPF environment during fetal and lactation periods, and kept in the general environment during childhood; C, offsprings were kept in the SPF environment only during fetal period, and then kept in the general environment; and D, offsprings were kept in the general environment during whole periods. The diversity of intestinal flora was analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.

Microbial conversion of mixed volatile fatty acids into microbial lipids by sequencing batch culture strategy.

Four mixed volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were used as sole carbon source to culture oleaginous yeast Cryptococcus curvatus by sequencing batch culture strategy. The highest lipid content (42.7%) and concentration (1.

Bioconversion of volatile fatty acids derived from waste activated sludge into lipids by Cryptococcus curvatus.

Pure volatile fatty acid (VFA) solution derived from waste activated sludge (WAS) was used to produce microbial lipids as culture medium in this study, which aimed to realize the resource recovery of WAS and provide low-cost feedstock for biodiesel production simultaneously. Cryptococcus curvatus was selected among three oleaginous yeast to produce lipids with VFAs derived from WAS. In batch cultivation, lipid contents increased from 10.

Culture strategies for lipid production using acetic acid as sole carbon source by Rhodosporidium toruloides.

Rhodosporidium toruloides AS 2.1389 was tested using different concentrations of acetic acid as a low-cost carbon source for the production of microbial lipids, which are good raw materials for biodiesel production. It grew and had higher lipid contents in media containing 4-20 g/L acetic acid as the sole carbon source, compared with that in glucose-containing media under the same culture conditions.

[Reconstruction of dynamic positron emission tomographic images by exploiting low rank and sparse penalty].

Objective: To propose a new method for dynamic positron emission tomographic (PET) image reconstruction using low rank and sparse penalty (L&S).

Methods: The L&S reconstruction model was established and the split Bregman method was used to solve the optimal cost function. The one-tissue compartment model was used to simulate a set of PET 82Rb myocardial perfusion image.

[Identification of A Novel HLA Allele DRB1 * 16:36 by Sequencing-Based Typing].

Objective: To identify a novel HLA allele DRB1 * 16:36 from a Uygur woman.

Methods: PCR-SBT technology was applied to the extracted DNA for genotyping, and a possible new gene was sequenced by using sequence specific primers and single stranded SBT. This novel allele was compared with known most homologous gene sequences and their difference was analyzed.

[Incorporation of TV regularization in deconvolution for partial volume correction in PET imaging].

We propose a method using total variation (TV) regularization in deconvolution for partial volume correction in PET imaging. In the degraded image model, we used TV regularization procedure in Van Cittert (VC) and Richardson-Lucy (RL) deconvolution algorithms. These methods were tested in simulated NCAT images and images of NEMA NU4-2008 IQ phantom and tumor-bearing mouse scanned by Simens Invoen microPET.

[Laser Raman spectra study on Co-Mo/Al2O3 hydrodesulphurization catalysts].

Due to the implementation of more stringent specifications in sulfur content for gasoline , a deep understanding of the active phase of Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalysts is necessary to the development of hydrodesulphurization (HDS) catalysts. A series of Co-Mo/Al2O3 HDS catalysts with different metal loading were studied by laser Raman spectra. The existence form and the content of the active component of the catalyst were obtained by Raman spectra.

[Extraction of surface active substance and analysis of demulsifying characteristics for the demulsifying strain Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1].

Extraction and identification of surface active substance of Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1, as well as description of its emulsion breaking process were conducted to reveal the demulsifying characteristics of this demulsifying strain. Alkali solvent was adopted in the extraction process with conditions optimized as 35 degrees C, 0.

[Influence of yeast extract on the fermentation of glucose by the demulsifying strain Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1].

The demulsifying strain Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1, isolated from oil contaminated soil, was cultivated with glucose as the carbon source. The influences of yeast extract on the growth, demulsifying ability and the element composition of the strain were investigated.

Pretreatment methods for aquatic plant biomass as carbon sources for potential use in treating eutrophic water in subsurface-flow constructed wetlands.

Plant biomass is usually added to constructed wetlands (CW) to enhance denitrification. In this study, we investigated effects of different pretreatments on two common external plant carbon sources, cattail and reed litter. We determined the average ratio of chemical oxygen demand (COD) to total nitrogen (TN), designated as C/N, in water samples after addition of litter subjected to various pretreatments.

[Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia: a clinicopathologic study of twenty cases].

Objective: To investigate the clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical features of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN).

Methods: According to the 2004 modified terminology of International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Diseases (ISSVD), the cases were diagnosed as VIN from patients who had performed vulvar biopsy in Beijing Wuzhou Women's Hospital from February 2009 to December 2011, which were reclassified as usual VIN and differentiated VIN. The clinical and pathological studies were conducted respectively.

Optimization method for ultra-wide-angle and panoramic optical systems.

To an ultra-wide-angle and panoramic optical system, the aberrations of point object at any field angle are separated into two types: the aperture-ray aberrations of off-axis point object and the chief-ray aberrations. A simple form of the triangular formulae of tracing an oblique-incidence ray is derived to calculate the chief-ray parameters and their aberrations; moreover, the aperture-ray aberrations of an off-axis point object are analyzed with the plane-symmetric aberration theory. Based on the two types of aberrations, we present a merit function for ultra-wide-angle and panoramic optical systems; the optimization program with the differential-evolution algorithm is then developed.

Relationship of cell-wall bound fatty acids and the demulsification efficiency of demulsifying bacteria Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1 cultured with vegetable oils.

Considering that the surface properties of demulsifying cells correlate with their demulsification efficiency, the demulsifying bacteria Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1 with various surface properties were obtained using different vegetable oils as carbon sources. The results show that better performance was achieved with demulsifying bacteria S-XJ-1 possessing a relatively high cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) and total unsaturated degree for the cell-wall bound fatty acids.

Turbiscan Lab ® Expert analysis of the biological demulsification of a water-in-oil emulsion by two biodemulsifiers.

The long-term destabilization process of a water-in-oil emulsion was investigated with two different biodemulsifiers produced under different culture conditions by Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1. Biodemulsifier I was obtained by using paraffin as substrate at initial culture pH of 10 and biodemulsifier II was produced with waste frying oils at pH of 7.

[Production of biodemulsifier by Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1 using waste diesel oil].

Biodemulsifier is a new type of demulsifiers for breaking oil-water emulsion. One demulsifier-producing strain, Alcaligenes sp. S-XJ-1 could grow on waste diesel oil (WDO), dry weight of the strain was up to 2.