Acquired factor V deficiency in a patient with a urinary tract infection presenting with haematuria followed by multiple haemorrhages with an extremely low level of factor V inhibitor: a case report and review of the literature.

: Acquired factor V deficiency (AFVD) is a rare haemostatic disorder that is primarily because of the development of factor V inhibitors. Approximately, 200 cases have been reported and the greatest portion of these cases was because of bovine thrombin exposure. We report a case of a man who presented with haematuria followed by multiple haemorrhages associated with an elevated prothrombin time and an activated partial thromboplastin time.

Flat-top bandpass microwave photonic filter with tunable bandwidth and center frequency based on a Fabry-Pérot semiconductor optical amplifier.

We propose a flat-top bandpass microwave photonic filter (MPF) with flexible tunability of the bandwidth and center frequency based on optical nonlinearities in a Fabry-Pérot semiconductor optical amplifier (FP-SOA). Phase-inverted modulation induced by cross-gain modulation (XGM) and optical spectral broadening induced by self-phase modulation (SPM) are exploited to achieve flat-top and bandwidth tuning, respectively. Wideband and continuous tuning of the center frequency is achieved by altering the bias current of the FP-SOA.

Reconfigurable photonic temporal differentiator based on a dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator.

We propose and demonstrate a reconfigurable photonic temporal differentiator based on a dual drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (DDMZM). The differentiator can be reconfigured to different differentiation types by simply adjusting the bias voltage of DDMZM. Both simulations and experiments are carried out to verify the proposed scheme.

Codelivery of salinomycin and chloroquine by liposomes enables synergistic antitumor activity in vitro.

Aim: To improve the suboptimal therapeutic efficacy of salinomycin (SAL) toward liver cancer cells using chloroquine (CQ) combination by the liposomes co-delivering SAL and CQ (SCNL).

Materials & Methods: The synergy of these two drugs was evaluated in liver cancer cells (HepG2) and liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) by median-effect analysis. SCNL with optimized ratio were developed.

Iridium(iii)-catalyzed regioselective direct arylation of sp(2) C-H bonds with diaryliodonium salts.

A regioselective direct arylation of arenes and olefins at the ortho position is reported. The key to the high selectivity is the appropriate choice of diaryliodonium salts as the arylating reagent in the presence of a cationic iridium(iii) catalyst. The coordination of the metal with an oxygen atom or a nitrogen atom and subsequent C-H activation allows for direct arylation with coupling partners.

Progranulin protects against endotoxin-induced acute kidney injury by downregulating renal cell death and inflammatory responses in mice.

Progranulin (PGRN), a pluripotent secreted growth factor, is involved in various physiologic and disease processes. However, the role of PGRN in endotoxin-induced septic acute kidney injury (AKI) remains unknown. The objective of this study is to investigate the protective effects of PGRN on an endotoxin-induced AKI mouse model by using PGRN-deficient mice and recombinant PGRN (rPGRN) pretreatment.

Iodine-125 implantation plus transarterial chemoembolization for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma of 3-5cm: A propensity score matching study.

Background: Both iodine-125 implantation and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) are feasible options for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of the research is to investigate whether iodine-125 implantation combined with TACE could improve the overall survival of patients with HCC of 3-5cm.

Methods: 144 patients with HCC of 3-5cm who underwent iodine-125 implantation plus TACE and TACE alone were retrospectively enrolled in this study.

Simultaneous Targeting of Differentiated Breast Cancer Cells and Breast Cancer Stem Cells by Combination of Docetaxel- and Sulforaphane-Loaded Self-Assembled Poly(D, L-lactide-co-glycolide)/Hyaluronic Acid Block Copolymer-Based Nanoparticles.

Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are implicated in the initiation and progression of breast cancer and are responsible for metastasis and recurrence. In this study, we attempted to simultaneously target differentiated breast cancer cells (DBCCs) and BCSCs by using a combination of docetaxel (DTX)- and sulforaphane (SFN)-loaded poly(D, L-lactide-coglycolide)/hyaluronic acid (PLGA-b-HA)-based nanoparticles. BCSCs were identified as having an ESA+CD44+CD24– phenotype, which exhibited docetaxel resistance.

The effects of different intensities of exercise and active vitamin D on mouse bone mass and bone strength.

Physical exercise is beneficial to bone health. However, little is known how different intensities of exercise affect bone mass and strength. In the present study, we used young mice to study the effects of different intensities of exercise on bone mass and bone strength in comparison to pharmacological doses of active vitamin D (calcitriol).

Enhanced performance of immobilized laccase in electrospun fibrous membranes by carbon nanotubes modification and its application for bisphenol A removal from water.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as modified materials to improve the performance of laccase-carrying electrospun fibrous membranes (LCEFMs). The MWCNTs modified LCEFMs (MWCNTs-LCEFMs) were successfully fabricated via emulsion electrospinning, with active laccase and MWCNTs encapsulated inside the fibers. After modified by an optimal amount (1.

The Role of MGAT5 in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.

Preeclampsia (PE) is associated with shallow invasion of the trophoblast and insufficient remodeling of the uterine spiral artery. Glycosylation reactions are catalyzed by glycosyltransferases including N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (MGAT5) and accumulating evidence suggests that MGAT5 is correlated with the migration, proliferation, and survival of various cell types. Our previous study confirmed that MGAT5 is a negative regulator of trophoblast migration and invasion via the direct or indirect inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase 2/9 activity.

Glutathione-Responsive Multilayer Coated Gold Nanoparticles for Targeted Gene Delivery.

Efficient gene release after intracellular uptake is very important for non-viral gene delivery systems. To construct a glutathione-responsive gene delivery system, we developed gold-cysteamine (AuCM)/plasmid DNA (pDNA)/poly TAT (pTAT)/hyaluronic acid (HA) nanocomplexes (AuCM/pDNA/pTAT/HA) in this study. The AuCM/pDNA/pTAT/HA nanocomplexes possessed a small size less than 200 nm and negative zeta potential of -17 ± 4 mV.

The Rho GTPase Rif signals through IRTKS, Eps8 and WAVE2 to generate dorsal membrane ruffles and filopodia.

Rif induces dorsal filopodia but the signaling pathway responsible for this has not been identified. We show here that Rif interacts with the I-BAR family protein IRTKS (also known as BAIAP2L1) through its I-BAR domain. Rif also interacts with Pinkbar (also known as BAIAP2L2) in N1E-115 mouse neuroblastoma cells.

A Highly Sensitive Fiber-Optic Fabry-Perot Interferometer Based on Internal Reflection Mirrors for Refractive Index Measurement.

In this study, a new type of highly sensitive fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) is proposed with a high sensitivity on a wide refractive index (RI) measurement range based on internal reflection mirrors of micro-cavity. The sensor head consists of a single-mode fiber (SMF) with an open micro-cavity. Since light reflections of gold thin films are not affected by the RI of different measuring mediums, the sensor is designed to improve the fringe visibility of optical interference through sputtering the gold films of various thicknesses on the inner surfaces of the micro-cavity, as a semi-transparent mirror (STM) and a total-reflection mirror (TRM).

Pure Red Cell Aplasia and Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia Sequentially Occurring in a Patient with Large Granular T-lymphocytic Leukemia.

Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA), a type of anemia, occurred in a 50-year-old man six weeks after a splenectomy. It was successfully controlled by ciclosporin A (CsA) treatment. However, the onset of acute autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) developed one week after the CsA had been tapered off.

Protective effects of maternal methyl donor supplementation on adult offspring of high fat diet-fed dams.

Obesity has become a global public health problem associated with metabolic dysfunction and chronic disorders. It has been shown that the risk of obesity and the DNA methylation profiles of the offspring can be affected by maternal nutrition, such as high-fat diet (HFD) consumption. The aim of this study was to investigate whether metabolic dysregulation and physiological abnormalities in offspring caused by maternal HFD can be alleviated by the treatment of methyl donors during pregnancy and lactation of dams.

Development of a mediated whole cell-based electrochemical biosensor for joint toxicity assessment of multi-pollutants using a mixed microbial consortium.

Since most risk assessment for toxicants is based on individual single-species test, the deduction of such results to ecosystem evaluation is afflicted with uncertainties. Herein, we successfully developed a p-benzoquinone mediated whole-cell electrochemical biosensor for multi-pollutants toxicological analysis by co-immobilizing mixed strains of microorganism, including Escherichia coli (gram-negative bacteria), Bacillus subtilis (gram-positive bacteria) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (fungus). The individual and combined toxicities of heavy metal ions (Cu(2+), Cd(2+)), phenol (3,5-dichlorophenol) and pesticides (Ametryn, Acephate) were examined.

Novel CD7-specific nanobody-based immunotoxins potently enhanced apoptosis of CD7-positive malignant cells.

Various CD7-targeting immunotoxins have been tested for its potential in treating CD7+ malignant patients but none of those immunotoxins was approved clinically because of lacking enough efficacy and safety. Here we successfully constructed the monovalent and bivalent CD7 nanobody-based immunotoxins PG001 and PG002, both conjugated with a truncated derivative of Pseudomonas exotoxin A respectively. The prokaryotic system expressed immunotoxins not only maintained their binding specificity for CD7-positive cells with a Kd of 16.

Adaptive use of a personal glucose meter (PGM) for acute biotoxicity assessment based on the glucose consumption of microbes.

In this study, a new method for acute biotoxicity assessment was proposed by measuring the glucose consumption of microbes with a personal glucose meter (PGM). To obtain an ideal biotoxicity assessment performance, an appropriate microbe was selected first, and then the relevant parameters, such as temperature and microbial concentration were optimized. Under the optimized parameters, the acute biotoxicity of four environmental pollutants (As(3+), Ni(2+), 4-chlorophenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol), three wastewater samples and three soil samples were evaluated.

Spirocyclic chromanes exhibit antiplasmodial activities and inhibit all intraerythrocytic life cycle stages.

We screened a collection of synthetic compounds consisting of natural-product-like substructural motifs to identify a spirocyclic chromane as a novel antiplasmodial pharmacophore using an unbiased cell-based assay. The most active spirocyclic compound UCF 201 exhibits a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 350 nM against the chloroquine-resistant Dd2 strain and a selectivity over 50 using human liver HepG2 cells. Our analyses of physicochemical properties of UCF 201 showed that it is in compliance with Lipinski's parameters and has an acceptable physicochemical profile.

RBP2 Promotes Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia by Upregulating BCL2.

Despite recent increases in the cure rate of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), adult ALL remains a high-risk disease that exhibits a high relapse rate. In this study, we found that the histone demethylase retinoblastoma binding protein-2 (RBP2) was overexpressed in both on-going and relapse cases of adult ALL, which revealed that RBP2 overexpression was not only involved in the pathogenesis of ALL but that its overexpression might also be related to relapse of the disease. RBP2 knockdown induced apoptosis and attenuated leukemic cell viability.

Transition-metal-catalyzed Chelation-assisted C-H Functionalization of Aromatic Substrates.

In the past decade, transition-metal-catalyzed C-H activations have been very popular in the research field of organometallic chemistry, and have been considered as efficient and convenient strategies to afford complex natural products, functional advanced materials, fluorescent compounds, and pharmaceutical compounds. In this account, we begin with a brief introduction to the development of transition-metal-catalyzed C-H activation, especially the development of transition-metal-catalyzed chelation-assisted C-H activation. Then, a more detailed discussion is directed towards our recent studies on the transition-metal-catalyzed chelation-assisted oxidative C-H/C-H functionalization of aromatic substrates bearing directing functional groups.

Elevated serum gamma-glutamyltransferase predicts advanced histological liver damage in chronic hepatitis B.

Recently, several studies have demonstrated that serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) is associated with some diseases, such as chronic hepatitis B (CHB). This study investigates the association between GGT levels and liver pathological grading in patients with CHB. 300 patients with CHB who underwent liver biopsy were enrolled.

Interleukin-6-stimulated progranulin expression contributes to the malignancy of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by activating mTOR signaling.

This study aimed to determine the expression of progranulin (PGRN) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in response to interleukin 6 (IL-6), a non-cellular component of the tumor microenvironment, and the molecular mechanism of PGRN oncogenic activity in hepatocarcinogenesis. Levels of IL-6 and PGRN were increased and positively correlated in HCC tissues. IL-6 dose- and time-dependently increased PGRN level in HCC cells.

Generation of transgenic cattle expressing human β-defensin 3 as an approach to reducing susceptibility to Mycobacterium bovis infection.

Bovine tuberculosis results from infection with Mycobacterium bovis, a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis family. Worldwide, M. bovis infections result in economic losses in the livestock industry; cattle production is especially hard-hit by this disease.