Moxibustion at ST36 activates peritoneal macrophages in CTX-induced immunosuppression in mouse model via IFN-γ

Background:To explored whether moxa cone moxibustion can reduce peritoneal inflammation by increasing the content of peritoneal macrophages and B cells via interferon-gamma.Methods:The mice were randomly divided into three groups with six mice in each group:the control group,model group,and moxibustion group,and the model was established in mice using cyclophosphamide.In the moxibustion group,the mice received moxa cone moxibustion at Zusanli(ST36)for 7 days.Analysis of Peritoneal cell were detected by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence,the protein expression level in the peritoneal fluid were measured with mouse cytokine antibody arrays and verified by enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay test,and RNA-Sequencing was used for peritoneal cell RNA analysis.Results:Our results showed that moxa cone moxibustion could reduce the loss of large peritoneal macrophages and B1 cells(P<0.05).With the cytokine array analysis and enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay test of peritoneal fluid,we found that IFN‐γwas up-regulated in moxibustion group(P<0.05).There were 169 genes were down-regulated in the model group and up-regulated in the moxibustion group while 19 genes that were up-regulated in the model group and down-regulated in the moxibustion group via RNA-sequencing.Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis of 188 intersect differentially expressed genes were found that the top 3 pathways with the highest enrichment of up-regulated genes included Hematopoietic cell lineage,Inflammatory bowel disease and Malaria.The differentially expressed genes visualization protein-protein interaction network shows the top 10 genes including Ifng,Grb2,CCR7,CTLA4,CXCR5,Foxp3,kit,PRF1,CD5 and klrg1.Conclusion:These findings showed that moxa cone moxibustion can alleviate chemotherapy-induced diarrhea by reducing the loss of large peritoneal macrophages and B1 cells in the peritoneal cavity,possibly through up-regulating inflammatory bowel disease signaling pathway via interferon-gamma to regulate the survival and function of large peritoneal macrophages and B1 cells.

Application of curved ablation in liver cancer with special morphology or location: Report of two cases

BACKGROUND Liver cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors with a high incidence and mortality.Hepatitis-liver cirrhosis-liver cancer is known as the trilogy of liver cancer.At present,due to significant development of imaging interventions,they occupy an irreplaceable position in the field of liver cancer treatment,especially ultrasound-guided ablation.Because patients with liver cancer often present with liver cirrhosis,which leads to morphological deformation of the liver,it is difficult to perform a linear ablation of liver cancer in the areas near the phrenic top and within large blood vessels,among others.The present study reports on two cases of liver cancer that have been subjected to curvilinear ablation.After 1 mo,magnetic resonance imaging showed complete ablation,demonstrating that ultrasound-guided curved ablation is feasible and effective in the treatment of liver cancer.CASE SUMMARY Two patients were treated at the Liver Disease Department of the Xixi Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang University of Chinese Medicine in 2019.Because the first liver cancer patient’s tumor was located close to the diaphragm,it was difficult to complete a straight needle ablation procedure in one session.In order to achieve accurate and minimally invasive treatment of this tumor,a curved needle ablation procedure was designed.The second patient presented with a hepatic cyst in front of the tumor.In order not to damage the hepatic cyst,a looper needle ablation technique was used.The procedure was successfully completed in both cases.CONCLUSION Curved ablation is a new technique that can be used to treat tumors situated in a variety of locations,providing new ideas for interventional techniques.Its operation difficulty is higher and further animal experiments are necessary to improve the operation procedure.

Primary renal synovial sarcoma: A case report

BACKGROUND Synovial sarcoma,a rare mesenchymal tumor type with unclear histological origin and direction of differentiation,accounts for 6%–10%of soft tissue tumors.It is mainly located near the joints and tendons of the limbs,and occurs primarily in children or young adults.Primary renal synovial sarcoma(PRSS)is very rare,accounting for approximately 1%of synovial sarcomas.It is a spindle cell tumor type affecting mesenchymal tissue,and has morphological,genetic,and clinical characteristics,and a certain degree of epithelial differentiation.It is highly malignant and has the fourth highest incidence among soft tissue sarcomas.Here,we report a case of PRSS and share some valuable information about the disease.CASE SUMMARY A 54-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital for a space-occupying lesion in the right kidney for 2 d upon ultrasound examination.The patient had no cold or fever;no frequency,urgency or pain of urination;and no other discomfort.The results of a hemogram,blood biochemistry,and tumor markers were in the normal range.The patient was examined by computed tomography(CT),which indicated the presence of a soft tissue density shadow with a diameter of approximately 6.8 cm in the right renal pelvis area,showing uneven enhancement.Ultrasound indicated a cystic solid mass of approximately 6.8 cm×6.5 cm in the right kidney,with an unclear boundary and irregular shape.Meanwhile,color Doppler flow imaging showed dotted blood flow signals in the periphery and interior.Contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS)showed"slow in and fast out"hyperenhancement of the right renal mass after contrast agent injection.The postoperative pathological diagnosis was(right kidney)synovial sarcoma.Despite postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy,tumor recurrence was detected two years later.CONCLUSION PRSS is a rare malignant tumor.To date,no characteristic imaging findings have been observed.The diagnosis is confirmed primarily through postoperative pathological immunohistochemistry and SS18(SYT)gene detection.In this case,CEUS was used preoperatively.We found that PRSS has the characteristic of"slow in and fast out"hyperenhancement,and its particular characteristics have diagnostic value.Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy is not very effective.

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome with mesenteric fibromatosis: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND Peutz-Jeghers syndrome(PJS) and mesenteric fibromatosis(MF) are rare diseases,and PJS accompanying MF has not been previously reported. Here, we report a case of a 36-year-old man with both PJS and MF, who underwent total colectomy and MF surgical excision without regular follow-up. Two years later, he sought treatment for recurrent acute abdominal pain. Emergency computed tomography showed multiple soft tissue masses in the abdominal and pelvic cavity, and adhesions in the small bowel and peritoneum. Partial intestinal resection and excision of the recurrent MF were performed to relieve the symptoms.CASE SUMMARY A 36-year-old male patient underwent total colectomy for PJS with MF. No regular reexamination was performed after the operation. Two years later, due to intestinal obstruction caused by MF enveloping part of the small intestine and peritoneum, the patient came to our hospital for treatment. Extensive recurrence was observed in the abdomen and pelvic cavity. The MF had invaded the small intestine and could not be relieved intraoperatively. Finally, partial bowel resection, proximal stoma, and intravenous nutrition were performed to maintain life.CONCLUSION Regular detection is the primary way to prevent deterioration from PJS. Although MF is a benign tumor, it has characteristics of invasive growth and ready recurrence. Therefore, close follow-up of both the history of MF and gastrointestinal surgery are advisable. Early detection and early treatment are the main means of improving patient prognosis.

Dermatofibrosarcoma metastases to the pancreas: A case report

BACKGROUND In general,malignant tumors metastasize to the pancreas in<1%of cases.Most patients miss the opportunity for further surgery due to distant metastases;however,for fibrosarcomas,aggressive surgery may be helpful even if distant metastases occur.Hence,we report such a case and share some valuable information about the disease.CASE SUMMARY A 45-year-old man was admitted with recurrent epigastric pain for 10 days.The abdominal pain was mainly related to bloating with nausea,but no other associated symptoms.No particular signs were found on abdominal examination or laboratory testing.In 2003,a local distal expanded resection of the primary fibrosarcoma in the left chest wall was performed.Then,a left pneumonectomy was performed in 2017 due to diffuse metastases from the fibrosarcoma to the left lung.Enhanced computed tomography(CT)and magnetic resonance imaging of the upper abdomen suggested multiple masses of different sizes involving the head and tail of the pancreas;no local lymph node enlargement was noted.The postoperative pathologic diagnosis revealed a fibrosarcoma of the pancreas.A CT re-examination 6 mo postoperatively showed no local recurrence or distant metastases.CONCLUSION A fibrosarcoma is a rare low-grade malignant tumor,and metastases to the pancreas are even rarer.Patients with a history of a fibrosarcoma should consider the possibility of metastasis when a pancreatic neoplasm is demonstrated.Surgical resection is the preferred treatment.

Regulation of IL12B Expression in Human Macrophages by TALEN-mediated Epigenome Editing

Although the exact etiology of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)remains unclear,exaggerated immune response in genetically predisposed individuals has been reported.Th1 and Th17 cells mediate IBD development.Macrophages produce IL-12 and IL-23 that share p40 subunit encoded by IL12B gene as heteromer partner to drive Th1 and Th17 differentiation.The available animal and human data strongly support the pathogenic role of IL-12/IL-23 in IBD development and suggest that blocking p40 might be the potential strategy for IBD treatment.Furthermore,aberrant alteration of some cytokines expression via epigenetic mechanisms is involved in pathogenesis o f IBD.In this study,we analyzed core promoter region of IL12B gene and investigated whether IL12B expression could be regulated through targeted epigenetic modification with gene editing technology.Transcription activator-like effectors(TALEs)are widely used in the field of genome editing and can specifically target DNA sequence in the host genome.We synthesized the TALE DNA-binding domains that target the promoter of human IL12B gene and fused it with the functional catalytic domains of epigenetic enzymes.Transient expression of these engineered enzymes demonstrated that the TALE-DNMT3A targeted the selected IL12B promoter region,induced loci-specific DNA methylation,and down-regulated IL-12B expression in various human cell lines.Collectively,our data suggested that epigenetic editing of IL12B through methylating DNA on its promoter might be developed as a potential therapeutic strategy for IBD treatment.

Calcitonin-negative neuroendocrine tumor of the thyroid with metastasis to liver-rare presentation of an unusual tumor: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND Neuroendocrine tumors mainly occur in the stomach,intestine,pancreas,and lung and are rarely detected in the thyroid.Thyroid neuroendocrine tumors,designated medullary thyroid carcinoma,generally present with elevated calcitonin.Calcitonin-negative neuroendocrine tumors of the thyroid are extremely rare.CASE SUMMARY Here,we present a case report of a 56-year-old female patient with a neck pain complaint.Total thyroidectomy was conducted after comprehensive evaluation,and diagnosis was confirmed as calcitonin-negative neuroendocrine tumor of the thyroid.Two months later,liver metastasis was detected,and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization was subsequently performed to control growth.However,the curative effect was unsatisfactory and multiple intrahepatic metastases occurred after 3 mo.CONCLUSION Owing to the rarity of this disease,no clear guidelines are available for treatment.In addition to reporting this rare case,we have reviewed and summarized associated medical literature with an aim to provide a comprehensive reference platform for subsequent research.

Erratum to:Regulation of IL12B Expression in Human Macrophages by TALEN-mediated Epigenome Editing

Prof.Mei YE works in the Department of Gastroenterology,Zhongnan Hospital,Wuhan University,and Hubei Clinical Center and Key Lab of Intestinal and Colorectal Diseases,as shown above.Her affiliation was incorrectly indicated in the article.

小品类动词结构中不及物动词带宾语现象研究

本文只探讨由不及物动词+小品词构成的复合动词V’带宾语的小品类动词结构,句子层面包括连续性和非连续性两种结构。生成语法内,基于动词选择性特征、投射规则、论旨准则、界面条件、信息结构和话语频率等因素考虑,非连续性结构是由连续性结构派生而成,其生成过程必须解释宾语提升使不及物动词直接带宾语这类特殊句法现象。基于语段理论构想,这类结构的生成涉及小品词的焦点化和宾语的主题化两类操作,目的是表达特定话语义;宾语主题化和小品词焦点化与否受动词语义选择性特性、句子信息结构和重音三种因素制约,其中代词往往被主题化而提升。

Simultaneous quantification of fifty-one odor-causing compounds in drinking water using gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry

A wide range of compounds with various structural features can cause taste and odor(T&O)problems in drinking water. It would be desirable to determine all of these compounds using a simple analytical method. In this paper, a sensitive method combining liquid–liquid extraction(LLE) with gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry(GC–MS/MS)was established to simultaneously analyze 51 odor-causing compounds in drinking water,including organic sulfides, aldehydes, benzenes, phenols, ethers, esters, ketones, nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds, 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin. Three deuterated analogs of target analytes, dimethyl disulfide-d6, benzaldehyde-d6 and o-cresol-3,4,5,6-d4,were used to correct the variations in recovery, and five isotope-labeled internal standards(4-chlorotoluene-d4, 1, 4-dichlorobenzene-d4, naphthalene-d8, acenaphthene-d10, phenanthrene-d10 respectively) were used prior to analysis to correct the variations arising from instrument fluctuations and injection errors. The calibration curves of the target compounds showed good linearity(R2> 0.99, level = 7),and method detection limits(MDLs) below 1/10 of the odor threshold concentrations were achieved for most of the odorants(0.10–20.55 ng/L). The average recoveries of most of the analytes in tap water samples were between 70% and 120%, and the method was reproducible(RSD < 20%, n = 7). Additionally, concentrations of odor-causing compounds in water samples collected from three drinking water treatment plants(DWTPs) were analyzed by this method.According to the results, dimethyl trisulfide, dimethyl disulfide and indole were considered to be the key odorants responsible for the swampy/septic odor. 2-Methylisoborneol and geosmin were detected as the main odor-causing compounds for musty/earthy odor in DWTP B.

Quantitative method to determine the regional drinking water odorant regulation goals based on odor sensitivity distribution:Illustrated using 2-MIB

Taste and odor(T/O) in drinking water often cause consumer complaints and are thus regulated in many countries. However, people in different regions may exhibit different sensitivities toward T/O. This study proposed a method to determine the regional drinking water odorant regulation goals(ORGs) based on the odor sensitivity distribution of the local population. The distribution of odor sensitivity to 2-methylisoborneol(2-MIB) by the local population in Beijing, China was revealed by using a normal distribution function/model to describe the odor complaint response to a 2-MIB episode in 2005, and a 2-MIB concentration of12.9 ng/L and FPA(flavor profile analysis) intensity of 2.5 was found to be the critical point to cause odor complaints. Thus the Beijing ORG for 2-MIB was determined to be 12.9 ng/L. Based on the assumption that the local FPA panel can represent the local population in terms of sensitivity to odor, and that the critical FPA intensity causing odor complaints was 2.5, this study tried to determine the ORGs for seven other cities of China by performing FPA tests using an FPA panel from the corresponding city. ORG values between 12.9 and 31.6 ng/L were determined, showing that a unified ORG may not be suitable for drinking water odor regulations. This study presents a novel approach for setting drinking water odor regulations.

Effect of rotor-mounted protrusion on sealing performance and flow structure in rotor-stator cavity

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the effect of protrusion radial position and height on the sealing performance and flow structure in the rotor-stator cavity. The rotormounted protrusions are assembled at three radial positions and are set to three heights. The cavity is equipped with three rim seals: a radial seal, an axial seal and a seal with double fins on the stator.The annulus Reynolds number is set at 4:39 ×10~5 and the rotational Reynolds number ranges from 7:51×10~5 to 1:20×10~6. Heat and mass transfer analogy is applied. Pressure and CO_2 concentration are measured. The experimental results show that in cavities with different rim seals, radial distributions of the sealing efficiency, pressure and swirl ratio are basically the same. The sealing performance is improved by protrusions compared with the cavity without protrusion and improves with the increase of protrusion radial position and height. The effect of protrusion increases with the increase of the rotational Reynolds number. The windage loss and the flow resistance introduced by protrusions are investigated. It is found that induced windage loss and flow resistance decrease with the increase of protrusion radial position but increase with the protrusion height.

Effect of protrusion amount on gas ingestion of radial rim seal

In this paper, the effect of different amount of protrusion on various parameters in rotor–stator system was experimentally studied by measuring CO_2 concentration and pressure, in order to obtain the optimal protrusion amount.The parameters of different dimensionless sealing flow were measured under the condition that the annulus Reynolds number was 4.39 × 10~5 and the rotating Reynolds number was 1.05 × 10~6.The results show that the change of the amount of protrusions has little effect on the static pressure in the cavity, and the static pressure change near the sealing ring is almost negligible.But the total pressure and sealing efficiency increase first and then decrease with the increase of the amount of protrusion.The variation of power consumption is the same.A complex vortex structure will appear at the high radius region when the protrusion is installed.On the other hand, the protrusion can effectively reduce the minimum sealing flow of the rotor–stator cavity.Furthermore, considering the sealing efficiency and power consumption,the best range of the protrusion amount is about 36.The ratio near this range can optimally balance the alleviation of the gas ingestion and the reduction of the power consumption.

Steering data quality with visual analytics:The complexity challenge

Data quality management,especially data cleansing,has been extensively studied for many years in the areas of data management and visual analytics.In the paper,we first review and explore the relevant work from the research areas of data management,visual analytics and human-computer interaction.Then for different types of data such as multimedia data,textual data,trajectory data,and graph data,we summarize the common methods for improving data quality by leveraging data cleansing techniques at different analysis stages.Based on a thorough analysis,we propose a general visual analytics framework for interactively cleansing data.Finally,the challenges and opportunities are analyzed and discussed in the context of data and humans.

D609 protects retinal pigmented epithelium as a potential therapy for age-related macular degeneration

Accumulated oxidative damage may lead to irreversible retinal pigmented epithelium(RPE)cell death,which is considered to be the primary cause of dry age-related macular degeneration(AMD),leading to blindness in the elderly.However,an effective therapy for this disease is lacking.Here,we described a robust high-content screening procedure with a library of 814 protective compounds and found that D609 strongly protected RPE cells from sodium iodate(SI)-induced oxidative cell death and prolonged their healthy survival.D609 effectively attenuated excessive reactive oxygen species(ROS)and prevented severe mitochondrial loss due to oxidative stress in the RPE cells.Surprisingly,the potent antioxidative effects of D609 were not achieved through its own reducibility but were primarily dependent on its ability to increase the expression of metallothionein.The injection of this small water-soluble molecule also showed an explicit protective effect of the RPE layer in an SI-induced AMD mouse model.These findings suggested that D609 could serve as a novel antioxidative protector of RPE cells both in vitro and in vivo and unveiled a novel antioxidative mechanism of D609,which may ultimately have clinical applications for the treatment of AMD.

Conversion of mouse fibroblasts into oligodendrocyte progenitor-like cells through a chemical approach

Transplantation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) is a promising way for treating demyelinating diseases. However, generation of scalable and autologous sources of OPCs has proven difficult. We previously established a chemical condition M9 that could specifically initiate neural program in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Here we found that M9 could induce the formation of colonies that undergo mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition at the early stage of reprogramming. These colonies may represent unstable and neural lineage-restricted intermediates that have not established a neural stem cell identity. By modulating the culture signaling recapitulating the principle of OPC development, these intermediate cells could be reprogrammed towards OPC fate. The chemical-induced OPC-like cells (ciOPLCs) resemble primary neural stem cell-derived OPCs in terms of their morphology, gene expression, and the ability of self-renewal. Upon differentiation, ciOPLCs could produce functional oligodendrocytes and myelinate the neuron axons in vitro, validating their OPC identity molecularly and functionally. Therefore, our study provides a non-integrating approach to OPC reprogramming that may ultimately provide an avenue to patient-specific cell-based or in situ regenerative therapy.

An outbreak of Mycobacterium marinum infection associated with handling seabass in China

To the Editor:Mycobacterium marinum is a nontuberculous mycobacterium that can cause opportunistic infections in humans,ranging from a single cutaneous lesion to disseminated disease.[1]It was first isolated from a fish in 1926 and identified as a cause of human infection in 1951.[1]The estimated annual incidence ranges from 0.04 to 0.27 per 100,000 persons in different countries.Outbreaks of M.marinum infections related to handling fish are not common,but have also been reported.

RCAnalyzer:visual analytics of rare categories in dynamic networks

A dynamic network refers to a graph structure whose nodes and/or links dynamically change over time.Existing visualization and analysis techniques focus mainly on summarizing and revealing the primary evolution patterns of the network structure.Little work focuses on detecting anomalous changing patterns in the dynamic network,the rare occurrence of which could damage the development of the entire structure.In this study,we introduce the first visual analysis system RCAnalyzer designed for detecting rare changes of sub-structures in a dynamic network.The proposed system employs a rare category detection algorithm to identify anomalous changing structures and visualize them in the context to help oracles examine the analysis results and label the data.In particular,a novel visualization is introduced,which represents the snapshots of a dynamic network in a series of connected triangular matrices.Hierarchical clustering and optimal tree cut are performed on each matrix to illustrate the detected rare change of nodes and links in the context of their surrounding structures.We evaluate our technique via a case study and a user study.The evaluation results verify the effectiveness of our system.

iNet:visual analysis of irregular transition in multivariate dynamic networks

Multivariate dynamic networks indicate networks whose topology structure and vertex attributes are evolving along time.They are common in multimedia applications.Anomaly detection is one of the essential tasks in analyzing these networks though it is not well addressed.In this paper,we combine a rare category detection method and visualization techniques to help users to identify and analyze anomalies in multivariate dynamic networks.We conclude features of rare categories and two types of anomalies of rare categories.Then we present a novel rare category detection method,called DIRAD,to detect rare category candidates with anomalies.We develop a prototype system called iNet,which integrates two major visualization components,including a glyph-based rare category identifier,which helps users to identify rare categories among detected substructures,a major view,which assists users to analyze and interpret the anomalies of rare categories in network topology and vertex attributes.Evaluations,including an algorithm performance evaluation,a case study,and a user study,are conducted to test the effectiveness of proposed methods.