To investigate the proteome composition and function of human neonatal arterial umbilical cord.
Serum proteomic analyses were performed on samples from both males and females by using a combination ...of techniques: (1) removal of six high-abundance proteins, (2) tryptic digestion of low-abundance proteins, (3) separation of peptide mixtures by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), and (4) peptide identification using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS).
A total of 837 non-redundant proteins were identified, with 213 male-specific and 239 female-specific proteins. Among them, 319 proteins were identified by at least 2 distinct peptides. The subcellular localization, function, and pathway involvement for each of the identified proteins were analyzed. A comparison of this neonatal proteome to that of adult serum proteome revealed novel biomarkers, such as alpha-fetoprotein and periostin that were specific to newborn infants.
These data will contribute to a better understanding of the composition of umbilical cord serum and aid the discovery of novel biomarkers for the prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
In this data, we present the details of the cross-sectional study from Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan that examined the relationship between three-dimensional (3D) peri-aortic root fat ...(PARF) volumes, cardiometabolic risk profiles, carotid artery morphology and remodeling. Our sample is composed of a total 1492 adults who underwent an annual cardiovascular risk survey in Taiwan.
PARF was measured using images of gated non-contrast cardiac computed tomography (CT) and a dedicated workstation (Aquarius 3D Workstation, TeraRecon, San Mateo, CA, USA). The stratified analyses were performed in order to assess the association between carotid morphology, remodeling and PARF by tertile. For further analyses and discussion, please see “The Association among Peri-Aortic Root Adipose Tissue, Metabolic derangements and Burden of Atherosclerosis in Asymptomatic Population” by Yun et al. (2015) 1.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
To evaluate the safety of donors in adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using the right lobe in a single liver transplantation center in China.
We investigated retrospectively 52 living ...donor liver resections performed from October 2003 to July 2006. All patients were evaluated by blood tests and abdominal CT. The mean donor age was 28.2 +/- 7.4 years. Residual liver volume was 42.1% +/- 4.7%. Mean operative time was 420 +/- 76.2 min; mean ICU stay, less than 36 h; mean hospital stay, 16.4 +/- 8.6 d; and mean follow-up period, 6 mo.
There was no mortality. The overall complication rate was 40% (21 donors). Major complications included biliary leak in two, and pneumonia in 2 donors. Minor complications included mild pleural effusion in 12 donors, transient ascites in 6, mild depression in 4, intra-abdominal collections in 2, and wound infections in 1 donor. Residual liver volume did not affect the complication rate. None required re-operation. Return to pre-donation activity occurred within 5-8 wk.
Right hemi-hepatectomy can be performed safely with minimal risk in cases of careful donor selection. Major complications occurred in only 7.7% of our series.
► We examined IFN-γ+874A/T polymorphism and cancer risk by meta-analysis. ► The IFN-γ+874A/T polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. ► This polymorphism was associated ...with cancer among African and European populations. ► Our study suggests that the variant T allele is a risk factor for cancer development.
IFN-γ is a T-helper 1 cytokine and plays important roles in modulating almost all the immune responses, such as hematopoiesis, T-cell differentiation, antiproliferative, antiviral, and antitumor activities. A single nucleotide polymorphism (+874A/T) which is located in the first intron of the human IFN-γ gene can putatively influence the secretion of IFN-γ. Results from previous studies on the association of +874A/T polymorphism with different cancer types remained contradictory. In order to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, a meta-analysis was performed by searching PubMed, Embase, CNKI, and Chinese Biomedicine Database. Thirty two studies including 4524 cases and 5684 controls were collected for IFN-γ+874 A/T polymorphism. Summary odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for IFN-γ polymorphism and cancer were estimated using fixed- and random-effects models when appropriate. Overall, no evidence indicated that individuals carrying TT or AT genotypes had significantly increased cancer risk when compared with AA genotype carriers. However, stratified analysis by cancer types indicated a significantly increased risk of breast cancer (TT vs AA: OR=1.58, 95% CI=1.10–2.27, Pheterogeneity=0.26; TT vs AT/AA: OR=1.53, 95%CI=1.14–2.06, Pheterogeneity=0.19). Moreover, significantly elevated risks were observed in African and European populations when population is concerned. Interestingly, when stratified separately by population-based studies and hospital-based studies, significantly elevated risk was found among population-based studies. This meta-analysis suggests that the IFN-γ+874 T allele is a low-penetrant risk factor for cancer development.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
PM2.5 derived from automobile exhaust can cause reproductive impairment in adult males, but the toxic effects of PM2.5 exposure on reproductive function in juvenile male rats and its relationship ...with ferroptosis have not been reported. In this paper, 30-day-old juvenile male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into four groups (blank control, vitamin control, PM2.5, and PM2.5+Vitamin). The blank control group was fed normally, and the vitamin control group was given intragastric administration of vitamins in addition to normal feeding. PM2.5 was administered via tracheal intubation. When the rats were treated for 4 weeks until reaching the period of sexual maturity. A mating test was performed first, and then their testicular and epididymal tissues were studied. Compared with control rats, juvenile male rats exposed to PM2.5 showed a decreased sperm count and fertility rate, redox imbalance, damaged mitochondria, a metabolic disorder of intracellular iron ions, and a significant rise in ferroptosis during the period of sexual maturity. After antioxidative vitamins intervention, the redox imbalance, metabolic disorder of intracellular iron ions, and ferroptosis were all alleviated, leading to the following conclusions: after being exposed to PM2.5 from automobile exhaust, male juvenile rats during the period of sexual maturity have significantly decreased reproductive function. The reproductive toxicity of PM2.5 is closely related to oxidative stress and ferroptosis. In addition, ferroptosis decreases and reproductive function is recovered to some degree after antioxidative vitamins intervention.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Objective To conduct a Meta-analysis of studies that compared the efficacies of mild ovarian stimulation and conventional long GnRH agonist protocol in patients under- going IVF or intracytoplasmic ...sperm injection （ICSI）. Methods Meta-analysis was performed. All studies were published by July 2012 with data related to outcomes following mild ovarian stimulation compared with the conventional protocol. Odds ratios （ORs） and weighted/standardized mean difference （WMD/SMD） from individual study were pooled in fixed and random effect models. Main outcome measure was the efficacy of mild ovarian stimulation. Results Six articles were included in this Meta-analysis. The number of oocytes retrieved was lower, the cycle cancellation rate was higher and the incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome （OHSS） was lower in the mild stimulation group than in conventional ovarian stimulation group. Clinical pregnancy rates were similar in both mild and conventional stimulation groups. Conclusions The level of evidence supporting the use of mild stimulation protocols in IVF is low, considering the fewer oocytes retrieved and the higher rates of cycle cancellation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
A plasma scalpel is one of the few applications of plasma medicine widely used in the clinic, but its ignition mechanism is poorly understood. This paper investigates the ignition phase of a plasma ...scalpel by obtaining the electrical waveforms, vaporization dynamics, plasma production and the plasma spectrum. Additionally, equivalent circuit and physical models are proposed based on the results. Two kinds of vapor layers are formed in plasma production. One is produced by Joule heating, which occurrs at the initial stage and the other is maintained by plasma heating at the stable discharge stage. When the plasma is generated, the vapor layer will become much thinner, leading to a significant increase in the electric field. The waveforms indicate the discharge has two kinds of patterns: asymmetric and symmetric patterns. The plasma intensity in the asymmetric is much stronger than the symmetric pattern. The fitted OH spectrum reveals that the gas temperature of the plasma can reach 2600 K, which can sustain the thin vapor layer. According to the broadening of the Hα line, the electron density is estimated to be about 7.1 × 1015 cm−3. Furthermore, when the stable vapor layer is formed, the impedance of the gap increases from 70 Ω to 2000 Ω when the plasma is established. The electron density is estimated again according to the plasma impedance to be about 1015-1016 cm−3.
A nano-channel array (NCA) structure is applied to realize enhancement-mode (E-mode) AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). The fabricated NCA-HEMT, consisting of 1000 channels ...connected in parallel with a channel width of 64 nm, shows a threshold voltage of 0.15 V and a subthreshold slope of 78mV/dec, compared to -3.92 V and 99mV/dec for a conventional HEMT (C-HEMT), respectively. Both the NCA-HEMT and C-HEMT show similar gate leakage current, indicating no significant degradation in gate leakage characteristics for the NCA-HEMT. The surrounding-field effect and relieved polarization contribute to the very large positive threshold voltage shift, while the work function difference makes it positive.
High-speed counter-current chromatography was successfully applied to separate and purify bioactive ingredients from sweet potato leaves. Four caffeoylquinic acid derivatives and a mixture of two ...flavonoids were successfully obtained in one step. The caffeoylquinic acid derivatives were 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid (1), 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (4), 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (5), and 3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (6). The two-phase solvent system was composed of n-hexane\ethyl acetate\ethanol\water\acetic acid (1:5:2:4:0.1, v/v). The upper layer was used as the stationary phase, and the lower layer was used as the mobile phase. The flow rate was 1.5 mL/min, the revolution speed was 850 rpm, and the injection volume was 280 mg. The mixture of flavonoids was separated by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography into quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (2) and quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside (3). The purities of compounds 1-6 were 95.8% (5.4 mg), 99.5% (6.1 mg), 98.7% (15.1 mg), 97.8% (14.5 mg), 96.2% (10.3 mg), and 96.8% (7.8 mg), respectively, as determined by HPLC with a pulsed amperometric detector. The chemical structures were identified by electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. The results showed the efficiency of the method in purifying bioactive compounds from sweet potato leaves, and compound 2 was separated from sweet potato for the first time.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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•Eight data correction algorithms were evaluated for electrochemical gas sensors of CO, NO2 and O3.•A new scoring approach that integrates a set of evaluation metrics was introduced ...for quantitative performance evaluation.•Bias dependence on temperature, RH, target gas level and cross-sensitivity by eight correction algorithms was investigated.
Electrochemical gas sensors (ECGS) have gained substantial popularity in ambient measurements. Several data correction algorithms had been proposed to tackle the drifting response of ECGS due to environmental factors, but there is a lack of performance evaluation of these data correction schemes. To fill this knowledge gap, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of these data correction algorithms using a large dataset from field comparisons. The dataset covered three commonly used gas pollutants, including CO, NO2 and O3 measured by both ECGS and reference instruments, with a time resolution of 1 min and a duration of 6 months. Taking advantage of this large dataset, the performance of 8 different data correction schemes (2 new algorithms and 6 algorithms from the literature) was benchmarked by a set of evaluation metrics using raw signals from ECGS (nA level currents from the working and auxiliary electrodes). Eight scenarios were considered to examine the robustness of correction algorithms in response to different training and evaluation data period configurations. In addition, the bias dependence on temperature, RH, target gas levels and cross-sensitivity by different correction algorithms was investigated. Recommendations on data correction scheme selection are provided based on the comparison results.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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