The aim of this study was to investigate the activity of apoptosis and autophagy in animals (cows, horses, donkeys, dogs and cats) naturally infected with rabies by using immunohistochemistry, ...immunofluorescence, and qPCR. The mRNA transcript levels of caspase-3, Bax, Bcl2 and LC3B were determined with qPCR. Caspase-3 and AIF immunopositivity were not observed in the immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining, whereas LC3B immunopositivity was determined intensively in the infected animals compared to the control groups. LC3B immunopositivity was detected in the cytoplasm of the Purkinje cells in the cerebellum of the cows, horses and donkeys, and also in the cytoplasm of the neurons in the cornu ammonis of the dogs and cats. While the expression levels of caspase-3 and Bax were downregulated, the Bcl2 expression was up-regulated in the infected animals compared to the uninfected animals. In addition, the LC3B levels were found to be significantly higher in the infected animals. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first report of neuronal death in the central nervous system by autophagy, rather than by caspase-dependent or AIF-containing caspase-independent apoptosis.
The sorption of cadmium (Cd) is one of the most important chemical processes in soil, affecting its fate and mobility in both soil and water and ultimately controlling its bioavailability. In order ...to fundamentally understand the sorption/desorption of Cd in soil systems, X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) has been applied in numerous studies to provide molecular-level information that can be used to characterize the surface adsorption and precipitation reactions that Cd can undergo. This information greatly improves our current knowledge of the possible chemical reactions of Cd in soil. This paper critically reviews the mechanisms of Cd sorption/desorption at the mineral-water interface based on XAFS studies performed over the past twenty years. An introduction to the basic concepts of sorption processes is provided, followed by a detailed interpretation of XAFS theory and experimental data collection and processing, ending finally with a discussion of the atomic/molecular-scale Cd sorption mechanisms that occur at the soil mineral-water interface. Particular emphasis is placed on literature that discusses Cd adsorption and speciation when associated with iron, manganese, and aluminum oxides and aluminosilicate minerals. Multiple sorption mechanisms by which Cd is sorbed by these minerals have been found, spanning from outer-sphere to inner-sphere to surface precipitation, depending on mineral type, surface loading, and pH. In addition, the application of complementary techniques (e.g.,113Cd nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular dynamics simulation) for probing Cd sorption mechanisms is discussed. This review can help to develop appropriate strategies for the environmental remediation of Cd-contaminated soils.
The aim of this systematic review was to appraise the current literature on the use of percutaneous endoscopic colostomy (PEC) as an alternative to major surgery and endoscopic decompression alone ...for treating sigmoid volvulus in frail, comorbid patients.
A systematic literature search of literature published between April 2000 and January 2017 was carried out using the MEDLINE
, Embase™ and CINAHL
(Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) databases. The search terms were "percutaneous endoscopic colostomy", "PEC", "sigmoidopexy", "sigmoidostomy" and "sigmoid volvulus". The studies identified were screened and those that did not fulfil the inclusion criteria were excluded.
Seven observational studies and seven case reports (comprising eighty-one patients) were found to match our inclusion criteria. All patients had recurrent sigmoid volvulus and were treated with PEC either with a single PEC tube or with two PEC tubes inserted. Sigmoid volvulus recurred in 10 of the 81 patients; 3 of these individuals developed recurrence with PEC tubes in situ and 7 following tube removal. There were seven deaths after the procedure. The most frequent morbidity associated with PEC tube insertion was site infection (
=6).
Our systematic review highlights the use of PEC as an alternative in managing recurrent sigmoid volvulus in frail, comorbid patients unfit for or refusing surgery, with the best outcomes seen in those patients where two PEC tubes were inserted and remained in situ indefinitely. Further studies are needed to improve the safety and efficacy of the procedure as well as post-procedure care.
Previous studies have shown that industry funded trials are associated with pro-industry conclusions and publication bias. Less is known about the role of industry funders and their influence on ...trial conclusions and time to publication.
We identified all industry funded RCTs published in six high-impact clinical journals between 2014 and 2016 to estimate the prevalence of the role of industry funders in trial design, data collection, data analyses, data interpretation and manuscript writing. Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess the association between the role of industry funders and trial conclusions, which was classified on a five-point scale. Cox proportional-hazards were used to examine the effect of role of funder on time to publication.
Of the 255 eligible RCTs, industry funders had a role in trial design in 179 (70.2%) trials, data collection in 160 (62.7%) trials, data analyses in 173 (67.8%) trials, data interpretation in 135 (52.9%) trials and manuscript writing in 168 (65.9%) trials. Trials with any role of industry funders had 3.6 times (95% CI 2.0–6.6) higher odds of having positive conclusions compared with those without role of industry funders. In trials with any role of industry funders, positive trials were published more rapidly than negative trials (hazard ratio=4.3; 95% CI 2.7–6.7, P<0.001), while for trials without role of industry funders, there was no association (hazard ratio=1.07; 95% CI 0.57–1.99, P=0.84)
The involvement of industry funders is common in all stages of clinical trials and was associated with more positive conclusions and more rapid publication of RCTs with positive results.
AIMS: To characterize the nematicidal endophytic bacteria (NEB) of Wasabia japonica (wasabi) and evaluated the control efficacies of promising NEB as well as fresh wasabi residue (FWR) against ...Meloidogyne incognita on tomato. METHODS AND RESULTS: By in vitro bioassay, 53 NEB strains showing nematicidal efficacies of >50% against J2 of M. incognita were isolated from wasabi. Basing on 16S rRNA gene sequences, these NEB were identified into 18 species of 11 genera. In greenhouse, incorporation of selected NEB culture or FWR into potted soil significantly reduced infection of M. incognita on tomato. Treating tomatoes with either FWR or NEB of Raoultella terrigena RN16 and Pseudomonas reinekei SN21 in the field yielded excellent control efficacies against M. incognita, especially the combinations of FWR with either R. terrigena RN16 or Ps. reinekei SN21 at doses of 50 g plus 100 ml per plant or more. CONCLUSIONS: The results established that R. terrigena RN16 and Ps. reinekei SN21 applied separately or combined with FWR have the potential to provide bioprotection agents against M. incognita. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study provides novel way for disease management using combination of endophyte and host residue.
The present study was designed to explore expression and prognostic value of miR-485-5p in patients with gastric cancer.
We determined the expression level of miR-485-5p in 132 cases of paired GC and ...adjacent non-tumor tissues by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The relevance of miR-485-5p expression to the clinicopathological factors was assessed. Overall survival (OS) was examined using Kaplan-Meier curves and the Cox proportional hazards regression model.
The expression of miR-485-5p was significantly down-regulated in GC tissues compared with adja-cent normal tissues (p < 0.01). MiR-485-5p expression was positively correlated with larger tumor size (p = 0.003), deeper invasion depth, (p = 0.005), positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.039), advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (p = 0.017). Patients survival analysis showed that a clear positive correlation between miR-485-5p expression level and survival time of gastric cancer patients (p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses confirmed that a low level of miR-485-5p expression was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in GC patients.
Expression level of miR-485-5p serves as a novel biomarker for the overall survival of patients with gastric cancer.
•Ischemic preconditioning protected the brain against focal ischemia.•Ischemic preconditioning enhanced the activities of antioxidant systems.•Ischemic preconditioning before cerebral ischemia ...reduced infarction size.•Increased adropin inside the tissue after ischemia could provide neuroprotection.•Increased adropin could be a novel biomarker to rule out ischemic stroke insult.
Ischemic preconditioning (IPreC) can render the brain more tolerant to a subsequent potential lethal ischemic injury. Hyperglycemia has been shown to increase the size of ischemic stroke and worsen the clinical outcome following a stroke, thus exacerbating oxidative stress. Adropin has a significant association with cardiovascular disease, especially with diabetes. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the role of the IPreC due to modulating the expression of adropin and oxidative damage markers against stroke by induced transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.
72 male Spraque Dawley rats were allocated to 8 groups. In order to evaluate alterations of anti/oxidative status and adropin level, we induced transient MCAo seven days after STZ-induced diabetes. Also we performed IPreC 72h before transient MCAo to assess whether IPreC could have a neuroprotective effect against ischemia-reperfusion injury.
The general characteristics of STZ-treated rats (STZ) included reduced body weight and elevated blood glucose levels compared to non-diabetic ones. Ischemic preconditioning before cerebral ischemia significantly reduced infarction size compared with the other groups IPreC+MCAo (27±11mm3) vs. MCAo (109±17mm3) p<0.001; STZ+IPreC+MCAo (38±10mm3) vs. STZ+MCAo (165±45mm3) p<0.001, respectively. The mean total antioxidant status level in IPreC groups was higher than other groups (p≤0.05). Moreover, IPreC considerably decreased mean adropin levels compared with other groups (p≤0.05).
The study results supported the neuroprotective effects of ischemic preconditioning in MCA infarcts correlated with the level of oxidative damage markers and adropin.
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