Multiplex PCR System for Rapid Detection of Pathogens in Patients with Presumed Sepsis – A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Blood culture is viewed as the golden standard for the diagnosis of sepsis but suffers from low sensitivity and long turnaround time. LightCycler SeptiFast (LC-SF) is a real-time multiplex polymerase chain reaction test able to detect 25 common pathogens responsible for bloodstream infections within hours. We aim to assess the accuracy of LC-SF by systematically reviewing the published studies. Method Related literature on Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases was searched up to October 2012 for studies utilizing LC-SF to diagnose suspected sepsis and that provided sufficient data to construct two-by-two tables. Results: A total of 34 studies enrolling 6012 patients of suspected sepsis were included. The overall sensitivity and specificity for LC-SF to detect bacteremia or fungemia was 0·75 (95% CI: 0·65–0·83) and 0·92 (95%CI:0·90–0·95), respectively. LC-SF had a high positive likelihood ratio (10·10) and a moderate negative likelihood ratio (0·27). Specifically, LC-SF had a sensitivity of 0·80 (95%CI: 0·70–0·88) and a specificity of 0·95(95%CI: 0·93–0·97) for the bacteremia outcome, and a sensitivity of 0·61 (95%CI: 0·48–0·72) and a specificity of 0·99 (95%CI: 0·99–0·99) for the fungemia outcome. High heterogeneity was found in the bacteremia outcome subgroup but not in the fungemia outcome subgroup. Conclusion: LC-SF is of high rule-in value for early detection of septic patients. In a population with low pretest probability, LC-SF test can still provide valuable information for ruling out bacteremia or fungemia

Proteomic analysis of rhein-induced cyt: ER stress mediates cell death in breast cancer cells

Rhein is a natural product purified from herbal plants such as Rheum palmatum, which has been shown to have anti-angiogenesis and anti-tumor metastasis properties. However, the biological effects of rhein on the behavior of breast cancers are not completely elucidated. To evaluate whether rhein might be useful in the treatment of breast cancer and its cytotoxic mechanism, we analyzed the impact of rhein treatment on differential protein expression as well as redox regulation in a non-invasive breast cancer cell line, MCF-7, and an invasive breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, using lysine- and cysteine-labeling two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) combined with MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. This proteomic study revealed that 73 proteins were significantly changed in protein expression; while 9 proteins were significantly altered in thiol reactivity in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The results also demonstrated that rhein-induced cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells mostly involves dysregulation of cytoskeleton regulation, protein folding, the glycolysis pathway and transcription control. A further study also indicated that rhein promotes misfolding of cellular proteins as well as unbalancing of the cellular redox status leading to ER-stress. Our work shows that the current proteomic strategy offers a high-through-put platform to study the molecular mechanisms of rhein-induced cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells. The identified differentially expressed proteins might be further evaluated as potential targets in breast cancer therapy

The relationship between velocity utilization rate and pole vault performance

In the pole vault event, the velocity of approach is a highly vital factor. As velocity of approach improvements highly impact performance improvements. This study analysed the relationships between sprint running’s speed (SR), pole running (PR, without jump), and the pole vault approach (PVA, with real jump). Analysed too were the relationships between both the approach and performance’s respective running distance, velocity, and velocity utilization rates. Methods: Ten male pole vaulters were recruited. Measured was each 5-meter segment’s average velocity of his respective SR, PR, and PVA, along with the distance to maximum velocity. Results: The maximum average velocity of the PR’s 5m segments altogether was significantly positively correlated with pole vault (PV) performance; The maximum average velocity of the PR’s 5m segments altogether was significantly positively correlated with the last 5m PVA average velocity; The PVA velocity’s utilization rate was significantly negatively correlated with the difference between the distance to the PR’s maximum velocity and the PVA’s distance. Conclusion: The PR segment’s maximum speed capability can evaluate both a pole vaulter’s potential and pole vault-specific abilities. This study’s recruited pole vaulters’ respective approach distances were generally insufficient that resulted in a lower velocity utilization rate. Suggested is that in training, the pole vaulter could first find the distance required to reach the highest velocity upon starting from the PR test. Thus, this subsequently known distance could be applied in tandem with the pole vault’s approach to both improve the PVA’s utilization rate and reach the individual highest speed level

Hypermethylation of the TGF-β target, ABCA1 is associated with poor prognosis in ovarian cancer patients

Background The dysregulation of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling plays a crucial role in ovarian carcinogenesis and in maintaining cancer stem cell properties. Classified as a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family, ABCA1 was previously identified by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation microarray (mDIP-Chip) to be methylated in ovarian cancer cell lines, A2780 and CP70. By microarray, it was also found to be upregulated in immortalized ovarian surface epithelial (IOSE) cells following TGF-β treatment. Thus, we hypothesized that ABCA1 may be involved in ovarian cancer and its initiation. Results We first compared the expression level of ABCA1 in IOSE cells and a panel of ovarian cancer cell lines and found that ABCA1 was expressed in HeyC2, SKOV3, MCP3, and MCP2 ovarian cancer cell lines but downregulated in A2780 and CP70 ovarian cancer cell lines. The reduced expression of ABCA1 in A2780 and CP70 cells was associated with promoter hypermethylation, as demonstrated by bisulfite pyro-sequencing. We also found that knockdown of ABCA1 increased the cholesterol level and promoted cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Further analysis of ABCA1 methylation in 76 ovarian cancer patient samples demonstrated that patients with higher ABCA1 methylation are associated with high stage (P = 0.0131) and grade (P = 0.0137). Kaplan-Meier analysis also found that patients with higher levels of methylation of ABCA1 have shorter overall survival (P = 0.019). Furthermore, tissue microarray using 55 ovarian cancer patient samples revealed that patients with a lower level of ABCA1 expression are associated with shorter progress-free survival (P = 0.038). Conclusions ABCA1 may be a tumor suppressor and is hypermethylated in a subset of ovarian cancer patients. Hypermethylation of ABCA1 is associated with poor prognosis in these patients

In-depth analysis of music structure as a self-organized network

Words in a natural language not only transmit information but also evolve with the development of civilization and human migration. The same is true for music. To understand the complex structure behind the music, we introduced an algorithm called the Essential Element Network (EEN) to encode the audio into text. The network is obtained by calculating the correlations between scales, time, and volume. Optimizing EEN to generate Zipfs law for the frequency and rank of the clustering coefficient enables us to generate and regard the semantic relationships as words. We map these encoded words into the scale-temporal space, which helps us organize systematically the syntax in the deep structure of music. Our algorithm provides precise descriptions of the complex network behind the music, as opposed to the black-box nature of other deep learning approaches. As a result, the experience and properties accumulated through these processes can offer not only a new approach to the applications of Natural Language Processing (NLP) but also an easier and more objective way to analyze the evolution and development of music.Comment: 5 page

Multidetector CT Findings of a Congenital Coronary Sinus Anomaly: a Report of Two Cases

Congenital coronary sinus anomalies are extremely rare, and they have received relatively little attention. This is probably due to the lack of both clinical symptoms and significant cardiac functional disturbance. We present two cases of a coronary sinus anomaly and briefly review the literature. Recognizing and being familiar with the variations of a congenital coronary sinus anomaly in congenital heart disease may avoid a misinterpretation of cardiac catheterization findings and the troublesome disruption of coronary sinus blood return during the surgical management of cardiac lesions

Exploration of anti-cancer effects and mechanisms of Zuo-Jin-Wan and its alkaloid components in vitro and in orthotopic HepG2 xenograft immunocompetent mice

BACKGROUND: Zuo-Jin-Wan (ZJW), a two-herb formula consisting of Coptis chinensis (CC) and Evodia rutaecarpa (ER), is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of cancers. However, the efficacies and mechanisms of ZJW and its alkaloid components on cancers are still unclear. METHODS: Here we investigated the anti-cancer effects and mechanisms of ZJW, CC, ER, berberine, and evodiamine in cells and in intrahepatic xenograft mice. RESULTS: Treatment of HepG2 cells with ZJW, CC, ER, berberine, and evodiamine significantly displayed cytotoxic effects in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Hierarchical cluster analysis of gene expression profiles showed that CC and ZJW shared a similar mechanism for the cytotoxic effects, suggesting that CC was the active ingredient of ZJW for anti-cancer activity. Network analysis further showed that c-myc was the likely key molecule involved in the regulation of ZJW-affected gene expression. A human hepatoma xenograft model was established by intrahepatic injection of HepG2 cells containing nuclear factor-κB-driven luciferase genes in immunocompetent mice. In vivo bioluminescence imaging showed that cells had been successfully transplanted in mouse liver. Oral administration of ZJW for 28 consecutive days led to a significant decrease in the accumulation of ascites, the ratio of tumor-to-liver, and the number of transplanted cells in livers. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our findings suggested for the first time that ZJW significantly suppressed human cancer cell growth in orthotopic HepG2 xenograft-bearing immunocompetent mice. Moreover, c-myc might play a potent role in the cytotoxic mechanisms of ZJW, CC, ER, berberine, and evodiamine

The Observation for Ocular Surface Diseases in Respiratory Care Center in One Regional Teaching Hospital in Southern Taiwan

Abstract: Purpose: To discover the incidence of ocular surface diseases in the RCC in one region hospital in southern Taiwan. Methods: A prospective study was performed from January 2014 to May 2014. We recorded the causes of admission, eyelid position, abnormal findings of the conjunctiva and cornea. Besides, we also collected data about age, sex, sedation score, the intubation or not, the ventilator setting, date of admission, endotracheal tube or tracheostomy used et al. Results: Total 30 patients were examined in RCC. The mean age of the patients was 60.5 years (range 32-82). 18 patients were male and 12 were female. 24 patients had been sedated or non-sedated with various ventilators. 6 patients were in T-piece trial. 22 patients had tube intubation and 8 patients had received tracheostomy. Mean stay time was 20.5 days. The percent of ocular surface diseases were 33.3% (10/30), and lagophthalmos was observed about 33.3% due to sedation. 23.3% (7/30) patients had conjunctival problems and 26.6% (8/30) had keratopathy. We found that 80% (8/10) patients with lagophthalmos had eye disorders. The endotracheal tube intubation group had a relatively higher incidence of ocular surface diseases (7/22；32%). If the sedation score lower than 8, 26 % patients may have eye diseases. Conclusion: The incidence of ocular surface diseases is closely related to heavy sedation or muscle relaxants. The assessment of eyelid position in relation to the ocular surface disease is the most important observation required in RCC. How to set up the routine protocol for eye care for the staff in ICU becomes valuable and serious today. We must keep in mind that prevention is always better than cure