Chitosan-collagen porous scaffold and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for ischemic stroke

In this study, we successfully constructed a composite of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and a chitosan-collagen scaffold in vitro, transplanted either the composite or bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells alone into the ischemic area in animal models, and compared their effects. At 14 days after co-transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and the hi- tosan-collagen scaffold, neurological function recovered noticeably. Vascular endothelial growth factor expression and nestin-labeled neural precursor cells were detected in the iscbemic area, surrounding tissue, hippocampal dentate gyrus and subventricular zone. Simultaneously, a high level of expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and a low level of expression of neuron-spe- cific enolase were visible in BrdU-labeled bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. These findings suggest that transplantation of a composite of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and a chi- tosan-collagen scaffold has a neuroprotective effect following ischemic stroke.

Treatment of CD20-directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor-modified T cells in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma:an early phase IIa trial report

Patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma have a dismal prognosis.Chimeric Antigen Receptor(CAR)-modified T cells(CART cells)that targeted CD20 were effective in a phase I clinical trial for patients with advanced B-cell lymphomas.We performed a phase IIa trial to further assess the safety and efficacy of administering autologous anti-CD20 CART(CART-20)cells to patients with refractory or relapsed CD20^(+)B-cell lymphoma.Eleven patients were enrolled,and seven patients underwent cytoreductive chemotherapy to debulk the tumors and deplete the lymphocytes before receiving T-cell infusions.The overall objective response rate was 9 of 11(81.8%),with 6 complete remissions(CRs)and 3 partial remissions;no severe toxicity was observed.The median progression-free survival lasted for 46 months,and 1 patient had a 27-month continuous CR.A significant inverse correlation between the levels of the CAR gene and disease recurrence or progression was observed.Clinically,the lesions in special sites,specifically the spleen and testicle,were refractory to CART-20 treatment.Collectively,these results together with our data from phase I strongly demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of CART-20 treatment in lymphomas and suggest large-scale patient recruitment in a future study.This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.org as NCT01735604.

Mechanical and fatigue properties of self-piercing riveted joints in high-strength steel and aluminium alloy

Static tensile and fatigue tests were performed on shear and tensile self-piercing riveted aluminium-steel structures to evaluate their mechanical and fatigue properties. The influences of the thickness and the strength of the high strength steel on mechanical and fatigue performances were investigated based on the tensile and F-N curves of the joints. The results show that mechanical and fatigue properties of the shear self-piercing riveted joints are much better than those of the tensile self-piercing riveted joints. Mechanical and fatigue performances of the two joints were significantly influenced by the thickness and strength of the steel sheet, and were markedly improved when the thickness of steel sheet increased. The steel strength showed significantly different effects on shear and tensile riveted structures, i. e. , when the steel strength increased, the strength of the shear structure greatly increased while the tensile structure just had a slight increase in the strength. Fatigue failure generally occurred in the sheet materials and the fatigue crack location changed with increasing the sheet thickness and the sheet strength.

Kangfuxin(Periplaneta americana)Lotion for Adjunctive Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective: The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of Kangfuxin lotion as adjunctive therapy for treating ulcerative colitis(UC) through a systematic review and meta?analysis of randomized controlled trials(RCTs). Materials and Methods: RCTs comparing Kangfuxin lotion with no treatment, placebo, western medications or combination therapy for treatment of UC were included in this study. Two English and three Chinese electronic databases were searched. All searches ended in December 2017. Data and quality assessment carried out respectively. Rev Man 5.2 software(Copenhagen, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, 2014) was used to analyze with effect estimate presented as mean difference(MD), risk ratio(RR) and 95% confidence interval(CI). Results: Fifteen trials with 1050 participants were included in this review. Overall, 13 trials were eligible for meta?analysis. Kangfuxin lotion combined with Mesalazine was better than Mesalazine on clinical cure rate(RR 1.45, 95% CI 1.24–1.70, 7 trials), recurrence rate of UC(RR 0.22, 95% CI 0.07–0.72, 2 trials), or endoscopic mucosal recovery(RR 8.05, 95% CI 2.64–24.57, 2 trials). And Kangfuxin lotion combined with triple live bacteria tablets(Bifidobacterium-Lactobacillus? Streptococcus thermophilus)was superior with regard to symptoms remission rate(RR 5.36, 95% CI 1.73–16.60, 3 trials), endoscopic disease activity score(MD-2.30, 95% CI-2.64–-1.96, 1 trial). There were no reports on the serious adverse events of Kangfuxin lotion. Conclusion: Kangfuxin lotion as adjunctive treatment appears more effective than medications alone on clinical cure rate, recurrence rate, endoscopic mucosal recovery and improvement rate of related symptoms.