Inhibitory effects of emodin, baicalin, schizandrin and berberine on hef A gene: Treatment of Helicobacter pylori-induced multidrug resistance

AIM: To investigate the inhibitory effects of emodin, baicalin, etc.on the hefA gene of multidrug resistance(MDR) in Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori).METHODS: The double dilution method was used to screen MDR H.pylori strains and determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations(MICs) of emodin, baicalin, schizandrin, berberine, clarithromycin, metronidazole, tetracycline, amoxicillin and levofloxacin against H.pylori strains.After the screened MDR stains were treated with emodin, baicalin, schizandrin or berberine at a 1/2 MIC concentration for 48 h, changes in MICs of amoxicillin, tetracycline, levofloxacin, metronidazole and clarithromycin were determined.MDR strains with reduced MICs of amoxicillin were selected to detect the hefA mR NA expression by realtime quantitative PCR.RESULTS: A total of four MDR H.pylori strains were screened.Treatment with emodin, baicalin, schizandrin and berberine significantly decreased the MICs of amoxicillin and tetracycline against some strains, decreased by 1 to 2 times, but did not significantly change the MICs of clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and metronidazole against MDR strains.In the majority of strains with reduced MICs of amoxicillin, hef A m RNA expression was decreased; one-way ANOVA(SPSS 12.0) used for comparative analysis, P < 0.05.CONCLUSION: Emodin, baicalin, schizandrin and berberine significantly decreased the MICs of amoxicillin and tetracycline against some H.pylori strains, possibly by mechanisms associated with decreasing hefA mR NA expression.

A pixel-level local contrast measure for infrared small target detection

Infrared(IR) small target detection is one of the key technologies of infrared search and track(IRST)systems. Existing methods have some limitations in detection performance, especially when the target size is irregular or the background is complex. In this paper, we propose a pixel-level local contrast measure(PLLCM), which can subdivide small targets and backgrounds at pixel level simultaneously.With pixel-level segmentation, the difference between the target and the background becomes more obvious, which helps to improve the detection performance. First, we design a multiscale sliding window to quickly extract candidate target pixels. Then, a local window based on random walker(RW) is designed for pixel-level target segmentation. After that, PLLCM incorporating probability weights and scale constraints is proposed to accurately measure local contrast and suppress various types of background interference. Finally, an adaptive threshold operation is applied to separate the target from the PLLCM enhanced map. Experimental results show that the proposed method has a higher detection rate and a lower false alarm rate than the baseline algorithms, while achieving a high speed.

Lightweight,Strong and High Heat-Resistant Poly(lactide acid)Foams via Microcellular Injection Molding with Self-Assembly Nucleating Agent

Poly(lactide acid)(PLA)foams have shown considerable promise as eco-friendly alternatives to nondegradable plastic foams,such as polystyrene(PS)foams.Nevertheless,PLA foam typically suffers from low heat-resistance and poor cellular structure stemming from its inherent slow crystallization rate and low melt strength.In this study,a high-performance PLA foam with well-defined cell morphology,exceptional strength and enhanced heat-resistance was successfully fabricated via a core-back microcellular injection molding(MIM)process.Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)results revealed that the added hydrazine-based nucleating agent(HNA)significantly increased the crystallization temperature and accelerated the crystallization process of PLA.Remarkably,the addition of a 1.5 wt%of HNA led to a significant reduction in PLA’s cell size,from 43.5µm to 2.87µm,and a remarkable increase in cell density,from 1.08×10^(7)cells/cm^(3)to 2.15×10^(10)cells/cm^(3).This enhancement resulted in a final crystallinity of approximately 55.7%for the PLA blend foam,a marked improvement compared to the pure PLA foam.Furthermore,at 1.5 wt%HNA concentration,the tensile strength and tensile toughness of PLA blend foams demonstrated remarkable improvements of 136%and 463%,respectively.Additionally,the Vicat softening temperature of PLA blend foam increased significantly to 134.8°C,whereas the pure PLA foam exhibited only about 59.7℃.These findings underscore the potential for the preparation of lightweight injection-molded PLA foam with enhanced toughness and heat-resistance,which offers a viable approach for the production of high-performance PLA foams suitable for large-scale applications.

Population-based Study of Invasive Cervical Cancer Patients in Beijing： 1993-2008

Background： In recent years, the incidence of cervical cancer has been rising, particularly in young adults, as the second most common gynecological cancer in China. The aim of this study was to explore the incidence change and the epidemiological characteristics of cervical cancer in Beijing over the past 16 years. Methods： All the cases of the study were limited to Beijing residents diagnosed with cervical cancer and registered in Beij ing from January 1, 1993, to December 31,2008. A total of4100 patients with cervical cancer were obtained from the Statistics Database of Beijing Cancer Registry （BJCaR）. According to the registered data, we retrospectively reviewed all original cases which we can acquired in reported hospital. Cervical situ cancer, cervical metastatic cancer, non-Beijing residents and repeatedly registered cases were excluded. Totally, 3641 registered cases were verified correctly. Meanwhile, we also collected the following data： Age, occupation, detected methods, histological type, and staging. The trends of incidence and mortality were analyzed by Joinpoint Regression Program 4.1.1.1 produced by National Cancer Institute （NCI, USA）. The annual percent change （APC） was calculated using the Joinpoint regression model. Results： The crude rates of incidence and mortality were 10.4 and 1.0 per 100,000 women, respectively during 1993 to 2008. The average WHO age-standardized incidence rates were 11.5 per 100,000 women. There was a decrease in incidence annually by 8.0% （P = 0.3） during 1993-1906 and a rapid increase annually by 18.9% after 1999 （P 〈 0.01）. The median age was 67 years in 1993, but the median age decreased to 45 years in 2008. The peak of the age-specific incidence curve was at 40 years in the most recent period （2005-2008）, which was 25-30 years earlier than that in previous periods （1993-1996）. In the 2224 cases, the numbers of patients with stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ , Ⅲ and IV were 910 （40.9%）, 601 （27%）, 542 （24.4%）, 171 （7.7%）, respectively. The percentage of patients with stage I was 7.6% （ 13/171 ） in 1993-1996, but the percentage increased to 51.6% （643/1247） in 2005-2008 （P 〈 0.01）. Otherwise the percentage of advanced stage （stage Ill-IV） during the same period was dropped down significantly from 52.0% （89/171） to 22.5% （280/1247） （P 〈 0.01 ）. Unemployed and housewife ranked first accounting for 27.3% of the total （607/2224）. Urban low-income people such as worker ranked the second accounting for 17.0% （377/2224）, the third place was farmer accounting for 14.0% （312/2224）. Only 381 （17.1%, 381/2224） women in 2224 were first detected cervical cancer by routine screenings. Company staff（36.5%, 139/381）, professional and technical personnel （22.6%, 86/381）, national official （22.0%, 84/381） occupied the top three （total 81.1%） in the 381 patients detected cervical cancer by screening. Conclusions： The cervical cancer incidence has showed a continuous rise in Beijing since 1999. Government-led mass screening should target the low socioeconomic population primarily. Meanwhile the government should enhance public health education of cancer screening to increase the rate of screening.

Diagnostic Value of Sensitive Biomarkers for Early Kidney Damage in Diabetic Patients with Normoalbuminuria

To the Editor:Diabetic kidney disease (DKD)is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD);however,the onset of DKD is difficult to detect.[1]When persistent microalbuminuria becomes detectable,DKD has already progressed to the third disease stage,and finding biomarkers that are more sensitive than microalbuminuria is therefore necessary to indicate kidney damage at an earlier stage of DKD.[2]Both glomerular and tubulointerstitial damages have been repeatedly demonstrated to be important factors in the pathophysiology of DKD.[3] Therefore,we investigated the expression levels of six markers closely related to the glomerulus and renal tubule.