Mutational analysis of AGXT in two Chinese families with primary hyperoxaluria type 1.

Background: Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 is a rare autosomal recessive disease of glyoxylate metabolism caused by a defect in the liver-specific peroxisomal enzyme alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT) that leads to hyperoxaluria, recurrent urolithiasis, and nephrocalcinosis.

Methods: Two unrelated patients with recurrent urolithiasis, along with members of their families, exhibited mutations in the AGXT gene by PCR direct sequencing.

Results: Two heterozygous mutations that predict truncated proteins, p.

Visual rating and volumetric measurement of medial temporal atrophy in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort: baseline diagnosis and the prediction of MCI outcome.

Objective: This study aims to determine the clinical utility of visual ratings and volumetric measurements of medial temporal atrophy among subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neurorimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort.

Methods: A sample of 189 subjects from the ADNI, Phase 1 (ADNI-1), was chosen as follows: 49 cognitively normal (CN), 89 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 50 with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Structural MRI images were downloaded from the ADNI website, and a visual rating system (VRS) was used to obtain semi-quantitative ratings of the hippocampus (HPC) and entorhinal cortex (ERC).

[Advances of the relationship between leptin system and non-small cell lung cancer].

Leptin system plays an important role in lung inflammation and tumorigenesis, but the precise function in the tumormicrovironment and the prognosis value of the leptin system in lung cancer have not been fully elucidated. This review will focus on the relationship between leptin system and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in which special attentions will be paid on the expression of leption and its receptor (LepR) in peripheral blood and tumor tissues, leptin-related signal transduction pathways, the interaction between leption and regulatory T cells (Treg) and the gene polymorphisms of leptin and leptin receptor, and possibly provide new strategies for diagnosis and treatment of NSCLC.

Renal histological features of school-age children with asymptomatic haematuria and/or proteinuria: a multicenter study.

Aim: The risk of asymptomatic haematuria and/or proteinuria development into chronic progressive glomerulonephritis (CPG) is unclear. The indications for renal biopsy and follow-up on these asymptomatic children remain controversial.

Methods: A multicenter, retrospective study was performed to investigate the renal histological features of school-age children with asymptomatic urine abnormalities.

Atmospheric correction of HJ-1 CCD imagery over turbid lake waters.

We have presented an atmospheric correction algorithm for HJ-1 CCD imagery over Lakes Taihu and Chaohu with highly turbid waters. The Rayleigh scattering radiance (Lr) is calculated using the hyperspectral Lr with a wavelength interval 1nm. The hyperspectral Lr is interpolated from Lr in the central wavelengths of MODIS bands, which are converted from the band response-averaged Lr calculated using the Rayleigh look up tables (LUTs) in SeaDAS6.

Overexpression of allene oxide cyclase improves the biosynthesis of artemisinin in Artemisia annua L.

Jasmonates (JAs) are important signaling molecules in plants and play crucial roles in stress responses, secondary metabolites' regulation, plant growth and development. In this study, the promoter of AaAOC, which was the key gene of jasmonate biosynthetic pathway, had been cloned. GUS staining showed that AaAOC was expressed ubiquitiously in A.

Access to paediatric essential medicines: a survey of prices, availability, affordability and price components in Shaanxi Province, China.

Objective: To evaluate the prices and availability of paediatric essential medicines in Shaanxi Province, China.

Methods: Price and availability data for 28 paediatric essential medicines were collected from 60 public hospitals and 60 retail pharmacies in six areas of Shaanxi Province using a standardised methodology developed by the World Health Organization and Health Action International, during November to December 2012. Affordability was measured as the number of days' wages required for the lowest-paid unskilled government worker to purchase standard treatments for common conditions.

Extracellular high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 promotes drug resistance by increasing the expression of P‑glycoprotein expression in gastric adenocarcinoma cells.

It has previously been reported that high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1) is overexpressed in the majority of gastric adenocarcinoma cell types, and that HMGB1 can be released into the extracellular matrix from stressed or necrotic cancer cells. HMGB1 is considered to promote cell proliferation and invasion in gastric adenocarcinoma cells. Furthermore, in a number of cancer cell types, HMGB1 has been reported to promote autophagy and inhibit anticancer drug‑induced apoptosis, which has been identified as an important mechanism in the development of multidrug resistance (MDR).

Comparative studies of macrophage-biased responses in mice to infection with Toxoplasma gondii ToxoDB #9 strains of different virulence isolated from China.

Background: Different from three clonal lineages of Toxoplasma gondii in North America and Europe, the genotype China 1 is predominantly prevalent in China. However, there are different virulent isolates within China 1, such as virulent TgCtwh3 and avirulent TgCtwh6, and little is known about differences in macrophage activation between them. The objective of this study focused on cytokine production, phenotype and markers of activated macrophages, and correlated signaling pathway induced by the two isolates.

A new dicoumarinyl ether from the roots of Stellera chamaejasme L.

A new dicoumarinyl ether, 3-hydroxy-6-methoxy-7,7'-dicoumarinyl ether (1), was isolated from the roots of Stellera chamaejasme L, together with the known compound umbelliferone (2). Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic techniques, including IR, NMR, and HR-ESI-MS.

Efficacy of rituximab therapy in children with refractory nephrotic syndrome: a prospective observational study in Shanghai.

Background: Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is the most common glomerular disease in children. This study was undertaken to observe the efficacy and side-effects of rituximab (RTX) in treating children with different types of refractory primary nephrotic syndrome.

Methods: Twelve patients with steroid dependent nephrotic syndrome (SDNS), frequently relapsing nephritic syndrome (FRNS), and steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) were enrolled in our study.

Transgenic approach to increase artemisinin content in Artemisia annua L.

Artemisinin, the endoperoxide sesquiterpene lactone, is an effective antimalarial drug isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua L. Due to its effectiveness against multi-drug-resistant cerebral malaria, it becomes the essential components of the artemisinin-based combination therapies which are recommended by the World Health Organization as the preferred choice for malaria tropica treatments. To date, plant A.

Thoracic empyema caused by Prevotella spp. diagnosed using 16S rDNA sequence analysis.

We describe a case of thoracic empyema in a 76-year-old male with complication of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. His chief complaints were fever and chest pain. The patient was diagnosed as pleural infection according to the pulmonary computed tomography (CT) scan and laboratory results.

[Analysis of directional reflectance properties of Lake Taihu using multi-angle measurements].

The optical field above water is not isotropic. It is important to study the directional reflectance properties of the optical field above water, which is useful for building water quality parameters retrieving models by remote sensing. The bidirectional reflectance distribution function above oceanic waters has been well studied.

Accuracy of early DMSA scan for VUR in young children with febrile UTI.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of an acute (99m)Tc-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scan in predicting dilating vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) among young children with a febrile urinary tract infection (UTI).

Methods: The medical records of children (≤ 2 years of age), presenting with febrile UTI between January 2000 and December 2011, were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: A total of 523 children were included in this study, of whom 397 children (75.

Evaluation of plasma endothelial microparticles in pre-eclampsia.

Objective: To compare the antepartum and postpartum plasma concentrations of endothelial microparticles (EMPs) in patients with pre-eclampsia with those of healthy control subjects with normal pregnancies.

Methods: Plasma concentrations of EMPs were measured using specific antibody labelling and flow cytometry prior to delivery by caesarean section (antepartum), and again at 24 h and 72 h postpartum. The correlations between EMP concentration and mean arterial pressure (MAP), and between EMP concentration and 24-h urine protein were analysed.

HMGB1 acts in synergy with lipopolysaccharide in activating rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts via p38 MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways.

Synovial fibroblasts (SF) play a central role in the inflammatory and destructive process in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). High-mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alone failed to induce significant changes in proliferation of cultured SF from RA patients, but premixed HMGB1 with LPS (HMGB1-LPS) significantly facilitated SF proliferation. HMGB1 alone failed to induce IL-6, MMP-3, and MMP-13 production in cultured SF but greatly enhanced LPS-induced expression of IL-6, MMP-3, and MMP-13 at both mRNA and protein levels.

En bloc kidneys transplanted from infant donors less than 5 kg into pediatric recipients.

Background: Given the shortage of donor kidneys, the use of grafts from deceased infant donors is a potential approach to expand the donor pool. Four infant en bloc kidney transplants in pediatric recipients were reported, performed between 2012 and 2013 in the center.

Methods: The en bloc graft was implanted extraperitoneally in the right iliac fossa.

Influence of temperature on acid-stress adaptation in Listeria monocytogenes.

Our findings show that temperature plays a significant role in the induction of acid-stress adaptation in Listeria monocytogenes, and two distinct patterns were observed: (1) Presence of sublethal acid at 37°C or 22°C significantly induced acid-stress adaptation; and (2) Presence of sublethal acid at 4°C did not induce any acid-stress adaptation. Both patterns were confirmed by two experimental models: (1) L. monocytogenes cells were first grown at 37°C and then exposed to sublethal acid at 37°C, 22°C, and 4°C prior to lethal acid challenge; (2) Alternatively, L.

The utility of age-specific cut-offs for visual rating of medial temporal atrophy in classifying Alzheimer's disease, MCI and cognitively normal elderly subjects.

Background: New research criteria for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the mild cognitive impairment stage (MCI-AD) incorporate biomarkers to assign a level of certainty to the diagnosis. Structural MRI is widely available but greatly under-utilized for assessing atrophy of structures affected in early AD, such as the hippocampus (HP), because the quantification of HP volumes (HP-v) requires special expertise, and normative values have not been established.

Methods: Elderly subjects (n =273) from the Florida ADRC were classified as having no cognitive impairment (cognitively normal, CN), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) or AD.

Phagocytic receptor signaling regulates clathrin and epsin-mediated cytoskeletal remodeling during apoptotic cell engulfment in C. elegans.

The engulfment and subsequent degradation of apoptotic cells by phagocytes is an evolutionarily conserved process that efficiently removes dying cells from animal bodies during development. Here, we report that clathrin heavy chain (CHC-1), a membrane coat protein well known for its role in receptor-mediated endocytosis, and its adaptor epsin (EPN-1) play crucial roles in removing apoptotic cells in Caenorhabditis elegans. Inactivating epn-1 or chc-1 disrupts engulfment by impairing actin polymerization.

Molecular analysis of the hepatitis B virus presurface and surface gene in patients from eastern China with occult hepatitis B.

This study was designed to detect and analyze mutations that occur within the presurface and surface (pre-S/S) gene of HBV in patients with occult hepatitis B, and determine their relationship to that disorder. Among 254 HBsAg negative samples of blood collected in eastern China, 183 were positive for anti-HBc alone, 61 were positive for anti-HBe alone, and 10 samples were positive for HBeAg. Within this group, 15 samples were found to be HBV DNA positive by real-time PCR and were designated Group I.

B and T lymphocyte attenuator is highly expressed on intrahepatic T cells during chronic HBV infection and regulates their function.

Background: T cell antiviral function is impaired during chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Programmed death-1 (PD-1) impairs antiviral T cell responses, but dysfunction is not always reversed by blockade of PD-1 pathway. Whether distinct T cell populations expressing different sets of inhibitory molecules exist has not been determined.

A case of bilateral pleural effusion as the first sign of multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a type of hematological malignancy that can affect all types of tissues in human. However, it is extremely rare that pleural effusion presents as the first sign in MM patients. A 54-year-old male patient attended our department of respiratory medicine complaining of shortness of breath for the past 3 months.

AaERF1 positively regulates the resistance to Botrytis cinerea in Artemisia annua.

Plants are sessile organisms, and they can not move away under abiotic or biotic stresses. Thus plants have evolved a set of genes that response to adverse environment to modulate gene expression. In this study, we characterized and functionally studied an ERF transcription factor from Artemisia annua, AaERF1, which plays an important role in biotic stress responses.