Bilateral superselective adrenal artery embolization for bilateral primary aldosteronism: a novel approach in an efficacy and safety proof-of-principle trial.

Superselective adrenal artery embolization (SAAE) offers a novel approach for treating primary aldosteronism (PA). In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of SAAE for the treatment of PA based on the lateralization results obtained from adrenal vein sampling (AVS).In this prospective study, we enrolled 40 patients with PA who underwent SAAE.

Convolutional Neural Networks Enable Highly Accurate and Automated Subvisible Particulate Classification of Biopharmaceuticals.

Quantification of subvisible particles, which are generally defined as those ranging in size from 2 to 100 µm, is important as critical characteristics for biopharmaceutical formulation development. Micro Flow Imaging (MFI) provides quantifiable morphological parameters to study both the size and type of subvisible particles, including proteinaceous particles as well as non-proteinaceous features incl. silicone oil droplets, air bubble droplets, etc.

Increased Expression of NXPH4 Correlates with Immune Cell Infiltration and Unfavorable Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading malignant carcinomas. Despite the advancement in the treatment for HCC, such as precise hepatectomy, radiotherapy, transarterial therapies, chemotherapy, targeted treatments, and immunotherapy, the 5-year overall survival rate of HCC is extremely low. Hence, novel biomarkers are urgently needed for advancing the therapy and prognosis of HCC.

Carboxylated fluorescent microsphere based immunochromatographic test strip enabled sensitive and quantitative on-site detection for florfenicol in eggs.

Florfenicol (FF), used popularly in prevention and treatment of virus infections in livestock and poultry, has widely been found in eggs and harmful to human health. In this work, a sensitive and quantitative on-site detecting solution, monoclonal antibody-based carboxylated fluorescent microsphere immunochromatographic test strip assay (FM-ICTS), is design and applied for FF detection. The proposed method can sensitively detect FF in low detection limit of 0.

Autogenous iliotibial band enhancement combined with tendon lengthening plasty to treat patella baja: A case report.

Background: Patella baja is a severe complication after knee injury or surgery, resulting in pain and impaired movement. This disorder is also a substantial challenge for orthopaedic surgeons. Currently, no consensus exists regarding the gold standard management of patella baja.

Wald tests for variance-adjusted equivalence assessment with normal endpoints.

Equivalence tests may be tested with mean difference against a margin adjusted for variance. The justification of using variance adjusted non-inferiority or equivalence margin is for the consideration that a larger margin should be used with large measurement variability. However, under the null hypothesis, the test statistic does not follow a t-distribution or any well-known distribution even when the measurement is normally distributed.

CYP1B1 and MYOC Mutations in Vietnamese Primary Congenital Glaucoma Patients.

Purpose: Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG, OMIM 231300), the most common glaucoma in infancy, is caused by developmental defects in the anterior chamber angle. The 3 implicated genes are cytochrome P450 family I subfamily B polypeptide 1 (CYP1B1), latent transforming growth factor β-binding protein 2 (LTBP2), and myocilin (MYOC). In this study, we sought to determine CYP1B1 and MYOC sequence variations in a Vietnamese cohort of index cases with PCG and their families.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphism in endometrial cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis of case-controlled prospective or retrospective studies to assess the effect of MTHFR polymorphisms on the risk of developing endometrial cancer.

Materials And Methods: PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, and ISI Web of Knowledge were searched (up to March 2014) for prospective or retrospective case-controlled studies that investigated the association of three MTHFR polymorphisms (rs180113 [C677T], rs1801131 [A1289C], and rs2274976 [G1793A]) with endometrial cancer.

Results: The patient population included subjects from three separate countries: China, Spain, and the USA.

Testing for polygenic effects in genome-wide association studies.

To confirm associations with a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), each with only a small effect size, as hypothesized in the polygenic theory for schizophrenia, the International Schizophrenia Consortium (2009, Nature 460:748-752) proposed a polygenic risk score (PRS) test and demonstrated its effectiveness when applied to psychiatric disorders. The basic idea of the PRS test is to use a half of the sample to select and up-weight those more likely to be associated SNPs, and then use the other half of the sample to test for aggregated effects of the selected SNPs. Intrigued by the novelty and increasing use of the PRS test, we aimed to evaluate and improve its performance for GWAS data.

[Aging affects early stage direction selectivity of MT cells in rhesus monkeys].

The middle temporal area (MT/V5) plays an important role in motion processing. Neurons in this area have a strongly selective response to the moving direction of objects and as such, the selectivity of MT neurons was proposed to be a neural mechanism for the perception of motion. Our previous studies have found degradation in direction selectivity of MT neurons in old monkeys, but this direction selectivity was calculated during the whole response time and the results were not able to uncover the mechanism of motion perception over a time course.

Adsorption of Cu(II) from aqueous solution by wine processing waste sludge.

Wine processing waste sludge (WPWS) has been shown to be an effective sorbent for sorption of nickel, lead, and chromium, but the sorption of copper (Cu) in aqueous solution by WPWS has not been conducted. The objective of this study was to explore the sorption mechanism of WPWS for copper. Infrared analysis revealed carboxyl was the major functional group in WPWS.

Removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution using wine-processing waste sludge.

Dye wastewaters usually contain toxins and high chroma, making them difficult to treat with biological methods. The adsorption process plays an important role in removing dyes from wastewaters. This study aimed to explore the methylene blue (MB) adsorption mechanism by wine-processing waste sludge (WPWS).

Establishing consistency across all regions in a multi-regional clinical trial.

In recent years, global collaboration has become a conventional strategy for new drug development. To accelerate the development process and shorten approval time, the design of multi-regional clinical trials (MRCTs) incorporates subjects from many countries/regions around the world under the same protocol. After showing the overall efficacy of a drug in a global trial, one can also simultaneously evaluate the possibility of applying the overall trial results to all regions and subsequently support drug registration in each region.

The effects of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system gene polymorphisms on insulin resistance in hypertensive families.

Introduction: The hereditability of insulin resistance has been demonstrated in both familial and twin studies. The effects of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system gene polymorphisms on insulin resistance remain inconclusive.

Methods: This is a sibling-based association study.

Aluminium and nutrients induce changes in the profiles of phenolic substances in tea plants (Camellia sinensis CV TTES, No. 12 (TTE)).

Background: Tea plants are always cultivated in acid soils in hilly regions and their growth can be dependent on to soluble aluminium (Al). The mechanism of Al detoxification and the influence of Al on phenolic compounds (i.e.

Serum N-glycome biomarker for monitoring development of DENA-induced hepatocellular carcinoma in rat.

Background: There is a demand for serum markers for the routine assessment of the progression of liver cancer. We previously found that serum N-linked sugar chains are altered in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we studied glycomic alterations during development of HCC in a rat model.

No association of EGF 5'UTR variant A61G and hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Objective: Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has many biological functions, including mitogenesis, tumorigenesis, and proliferation of epidermal tissues. Previous studies have reported that the EGF +61 (A/G) single nucleotide polymorphism in the 5'-untranslated region of the EGF gene is functional, and is associated with development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in liver cirrhosis and various malignancy. Our aim was to investigate whether EGF gene A61G polymorphism could be implicated in susceptibility to and/or clinicopathological characteristics of HCC in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

-509C>T polymorphism in the TGF-beta1 gene promoter, impact on the hepatocellular carcinoma risk in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. The risk for developing HCC increases with severity of inflammation and fibrosis. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is most frequently upregulated in tumor cells.

Catechin transformation as influenced by aluminum.

Polyphenols (catechins) are vital biomolecules in tea plants (Camellia sinensis), which are well-known as typical Al accumulators. However, the interaction between Al and catechin remains obscured. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of Al on the transformation of (+)-catechin.