Expression of FLICE-inhibitory Protein in Synovial Tissue and Its Association with Synovial Inflammation in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Objective To examine the expression of FLICE-inhibitory protein (FLIP) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and analyze its correlation with synovial inflammation. Methods The expression of FLIP was assessed in 11 JIA and 3 normal synovial tissue samples by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. The cell types expressing FLIP were further characterized,and the correlation of FLIP expression with the degree of synovial inflammation,as well as the activity of caspase 8 was then analyzed. Results RT-PCR revealed the expression of FLIP mRNA in all 11 JIA samples,but not in 3 normal synovial tissues. In JIA,FLIP expression could be found in both the lining and sublining layers,mainly in the macrophage-like cells. Moreover,the expression of FLIP in JIA synovial tissues was positively correlated with the degree of synovial inflammation (r=0.563,P<0.05). Conclusion The expression of antiapoptotic FLIP in JIA synovial tissue and its correlation to accumulation of inflammatory cells in synovial tissue suggests that FLIP potentially extends the lifespan of synovial cells and thus contributes to the progression of joint destruction.

A New Many-Body Expansion Scheme for Atomic Clusters:Application to Nitrogen Clusters

Although the many-body expansion(MBE)approach is widely applied to estimate the energy of large systems containing weak interactions,it is inapplicable to calculating the energies of covalent or metal clusters.In this work,we propose an interaction manybody expansion(IMBE)to calculate the energy of atomic clusters containing covalent bonds.In this approach,the energy of a system is expressed as the sum of the energy of atoms and the interaction energy between the atom and its surrounding atoms.The IMBE method is first applied to calculate the energies of nitrogen clusters,in which the interatomic interactions are truncated to four-body terms.The results show that the IMBE approach could significantly reduce the energy error for nitrogen clusters compared with the traditional MBE method.The weak size and structure dependence of the IMBE error with respect to DFT calculations indicates the IMBE method has good potential application in estimating energy of large covalent systems.

Understanding Rotational Mode Specificity in the O（3P）+CHD3→OH+CD3 Reaction by Simple Reactant Alignment Pictures

The mode specificity plays an important role in understanding the fundamental reaction dynamics. This work reports a theoretical study of the rotational mode specificity of the reactant CHD3(JK) in the prototypical hydrocarbon oxidation reaction O(3P)+CHD3→OH+CD3. The time-dependent quantum wave packet method combined with a seven-dimensional reduced model is employed to calculate the reaction probability on an accurate potential energy surface. The obtained reaction probability depends on the values of both K and Ktot with PKtot=K=0>PKtot=K=J>PKtot=J,K=0=PKtot=0,K=J. This observation can be well rationalized by the reactant alignment pictures. Rotational excitations of CHD3 up to the angular momentum quantum number J=4 have a very weak enhancement effect on the reaction except for the state (J=4, K=0). In addition, the rotationally excited states of CHD3 with K=0 promote the reaction more than those with K=J. The quantum dynamics calculations indicate that the K=0 enhancements are mainly caused by the contributions from the components with K=Ktot=0. The components correspond to the tumbling rotation of CHD3, which enlarges the range of the reactive initial attack angles.

Safety of early surgery for geriatric hip fracture patients taking clopidogrel:a retrospective case-control study of 120 patients in China

Background:Geriatric hip fracture patients receiving clopidogrel are a surgical challenge.In China,most of these patients undergo delayed surgical treatment after clopidogrel withdrawal for at least 5 to 7 days.However,delayed surgery is associated with increased complications and mortality in the older adults.This retrospective paralleled comparison study investigated the safety of early surgery for geriatric hip fracture patients within 5 days of clopidogrel withdrawal.Methods:Acute hip fracture patients(≥65 years)who were hospitalized in the orthogeriatric co-management ward of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital between November 2016 and April 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.Sixty patients taking clopidogrel before injury and discontinued<5 days before surgery constituted the clopidogrel group.The control group constituted 60 patients not taking antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs and matched 1:1 with the clopidogrel group for sex,fracture type,operative procedure,and time from injury to operation(±10 h).The primary outcome was perioperative blood loss and the secondary outcomes were transfusion requirement,complications,and mortality.The Student’s t test or Wilcoxon signed rank sum test was used for continuous variables and the Chi-square test was used for categorical variables.Results:Age,body mass index,American Society of Anesthesiologists score,and percentage undergoing general anesthesia were comparable between the groups(P>0.050).The percentages of patients with coronary heart disease(61.7%vs.18.3%;P<0.001)and cerebrovascular disease(45.0%vs.15.0%;P<0.010)were significantly higher in the clopidogrel vs.control groups,respectively.The median clopidogrel discontinuation time before operation was 73.0(range:3.0–120.0)h.There was no significant difference in the estimated perioperative blood loss between the clopidogrel group(median:745 mL)and control group(median:772 mL)(P=0.866).The intra-operative transfusion rate was higher in the clopidogrel group(22/60,36.7%)than that in the control group(12/60,20.0%)(P<0.050).However,there was no significant difference in the blood transfusion rate during the entire perioperative period(26/60,43.3%vs.20/60,33.3%;clopidogrel group vs.control group,respectively;P>0.050).There was no significant difference in perioperative complications,and 30-day and 1-year mortality rates between the groups.Conclusions:Early hip fracture surgery is safe for elderly patients within 5 days of clopidogrel withdrawal,without increased perioperative blood loss,transfusion requirement,complications,and mortality compared with patients not taking antiplatelet drugs.

Increased Macroautophagy in Interferon-Gamma-Producing T Cells from Patients with Newly Diagnosed Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Background： Imbalance of interferon-gamma （IFN-γ）, interleukin （IL）-4, and IL-17 producing by T cells is confirmed to contribute to the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE）. Autophagy is now emerging as a core player in the development and the function of the immune system. Therefore, we investigated the autophagic behavior in I FN-γ, IL-4-, and IL-17-producing T cells from patients with SLE. Methods： Thirty patients with SLE and 25 healthy controls matched for gender and age were recruited between September 2016 and May 2017. The autophagic levels in IFN-γ T cells, IL-4＋ T cells, and IL-17＋ T cells fi＇om patients with newly diagnosed SLE and healthy controls were measured using flow cytometry. The plasma levels of IFN-y were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in SLE patients and healthy controls. Unpaired t-tests and the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-test were used to compare data from patients with SLE and controls. Spearman＇s rank correlation coefficient was applied for calculation of the correlation between parallel variables in single samples. Results： Our results showed increased percentage of atttophagy in IFN-γ＋ T cells from patients with SLE and healthy controls （[8.07 ± 2.72]% vs. [3.76 ± 1.671%, t=5.184, P 〈 0.001）, but not in IL-4 T cells or IL-17＋ T cells （P 〉 0.05） as compared to healthy donors. Moreover, the plasma levels of IFN-γ in SLE patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls （[68.9 ± 29.1] pg/ml vs. [24.7 ± 17.6] pg/ml, t = 5.430, P 〈 0.001 ）. Moreover, in SLE patients, the percentage of autophagy in IFN-γ T cells was positively correlated with the plasma levels of IFN-y （r = 0.344, P = 0.046）, as well as the disease activity of patients with SLE （r = 0.379, P =0.039）. Conclusion： The restllts indicate that autophagy in IFN-γ＋ T cells from SLE patients is activated, which might contribute to the persistence ofT cells producing IFN-y, such as Thl cells, and consequently restly in the high plasma levels of I FN-γ, and then enhance the disease activity of SLE.

边坡中单桩横向受力的试验与理论研究（英文）

目的:研究边坡段基桩的水平承载特性,以期指导工程实践。创新点:提出一种新的p-y曲线,以考虑边坡坡角和桩在边坡中位置的影响。方法:1.针对平地桩基和坡地桩基两种工况开展两组室内模型对比试验;2.采用ABAQUS建立数值模型,并研究桩径、桩长和土体的弹性模量对桩基水平受荷性能的影响;3.对室内模型试验结果和数值模拟结果进行对比分析,并得出坡地桩基的p-y曲线。结论:1.边坡中侧向受力桩的侧向挠度和弯矩沿桩长的分布与水平埋置桩的分布相似;然而,边坡倾角对单桩的侧向荷载特性有着重要的影响;在相同的荷载条件下,较高的倾斜角度会引起较大的桩身变形和弯矩。2.对于埋置长度不变的桩,桩的极限侧向承载力与坡趾距桩截面中心的距离近似呈双线性关系。3.对于埋置长度不同的桩,其极限承载力随坡脚至桩截面中心距离的增加呈线性增加。