Notes

Detection of a diguanylate cyclase portrayed within the existence of vegetation and its request for discovering applicant gene items linked to place colonization by simply Pantoea sp. YR343.
This study aimed to explore the effects of ceramide (Cer) on NLRP3 inflammasome activation and their underlying mechanisms.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in J774A.1 cells and THP-1 macrophages was used as an in vitro model of inflammation. Western blotting and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) were used to detect the protein and mRNA levels, respectively. IL-1β and IL-18 levels were measured by ELISA. ASM assay kit and immunofluorescence were used to detect ASM activity and Cer content.

Imipramine, a well-known inhibitor of ASM, significantly inhibited LPS/ATP-induced activity of ASM and the consequent accumulation of Cer. Additionally, imipramine suppressed the LPS/ATP-induced expression of thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP), NLRP3, caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18 at the protein and mRNA level. Interestingly verapamil, a TXNIP inhibitor, suppressed LPS/ATP-induced activation of TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome but did not affect LPS/ATP-induced ASM activationway plays an essential role in the Cer-induced activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes in macrophages.
The associating liver partitioning and portal vein occlusion for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) procedure is gaining interest because it brings hope to patients who cannot undergo radical surgical resection due to insufficient remnant liver volume. However, the indications and technical aspects of this procedure are still under debate. This report demonstrates the technical aspects of the first two-stage robotic ALPPS for HCC.

A 55-year-old man with type II portal vein variation was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma. Preoperative 3D reconstruction of the liver based on CT showed a future liver remnant/standard liver volume (FLR/SLV) of 24.45%. The ALPPS procedure was performed using the da Vinci Si system. At the first stage of the operation, we removed the gallbladder and ligated the right anterior branch of the portal vein and the right posterior branch. Following blocking of the hepatic hilum, the liver parenchyma was removed 1 cm away from the right side of the falciform ligament in an incision manner from the top to the bottom and from shallow to deep. The second-stage operation was performed on the 12th postoperative day with a FLR/SLV of 45.13%. During this step, the right hemiliver plus left medial section was separated and removed. Postoperative pathology showed a negative margin. The operative times were 195 and 217 min, respectively. Dubs-IN-1 Estimated blood loss was 250 and 500 ml, respectively. There was no need for transfusion or hospitalization in intensive care. The patient was discharged on the 6th postoperative day. Recovery was uneventful after both stages, and the patient did not present any sign of liver failure. Elevation of liver enzymes was minimal. The patient had no evidence of the disease 14 months after the procedure.

The two-stage robotic ALPPS procedure is a safe and feasible technique for select patients with HCC.
The two-stage robotic ALPPS procedure is a safe and feasible technique for select patients with HCC.
A retrospective study.

To determine whether radiological parameters such as maximal lumbar lordosis-maximal thoracic kyphosis (maxLL-maxTK), sacral slope-pelvic tilt(SS-PT) and sacral slope/pelvic tilt (SS/PT) could be used as indicators for the diagnosis of degenerative disc disease (DDD) in compensatory sagittal balanced patients.

Medical records of sagittal balanced DDD patients and asymptomatic adults within our hospital registry from July 2019 to November 2019 were reviewed. General characteristics and radiological parameters were evaluated between the two groups. Analysis of covariance with age as a covariate was conducted, followed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and areas under the curve (AUC) calculation. The max Youden index was calculated to identify the optimal sensitivity specificity pairs.

A total of 42 DDD patients and 199 asymptomatic adults were included. For those parameters that showed significant differences between the two groups, AUC for SS/PT and SS-PT were the largest, reaching 0.919 and 0.936, respectively. The sensitivity was 0.749, the specificity was 0.952 and the max Youden index was 0.701 when SS/PT = 1.635 was used as threshold. The max Youden index was found for a threshold of SS-PT =8.500, for which the sensitivity increased to 0.854, while the specificity decreased to 0.857.

Both SS/PT and SS-PT were significantly different between sagittal balanced DDD patients and asymptomatic adults. SS/PT < 1.6 and SS-PT < 8.5 could be used as indicators for the diagnosis of DDD patients with compensatory sagittal balance.
Both SS/PT and SS-PT were significantly different between sagittal balanced DDD patients and asymptomatic adults. SS/PT  less then  1.6 and SS-PT  less then  8.5 could be used as indicators for the diagnosis of DDD patients with compensatory sagittal balance.
Poor cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) has been proposed to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, current evidence is inconsistent, especially in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. This meta-analysis aims to identify whether CEC is impaired or altered by drug therapy in RA.

The PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were browsed to identify studies on CEC in RA patients. The searches mainly focused on studies in human subjects that were published before November 14, 2020, without any language restrictions. The effect size was pooled by the standardized mean differences and mean differences (SMD & MD) as well as the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in a random or fixed effect model. Heterogeneity across the studies was tested using Cochran's Q test and I
statistic. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Downs and Black scale (D&B) were applied to evaluate the quality of included studies. The GRADE-system with its 4-grade evidenanti-rheumatic treatment in RA patients, which is independent of the plasma HDL-C levels. However, the results should be interpreted with caution because of low-quality and limited quantity of evidence. Future randomized controlled trials are needed to determine whether therapeutic strategies to enhance CEC in RA patients have beneficial effects for preventing CVD.
The current meta-analysis demonstrated that HDL-mediated CEC can be improved by the early control of inflammation and anti-rheumatic treatment in RA patients, which is independent of the plasma HDL-C levels. However, the results should be interpreted with caution because of low-quality and limited quantity of evidence. Future randomized controlled trials are needed to determine whether therapeutic strategies to enhance CEC in RA patients have beneficial effects for preventing CVD.
The lack of effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) reflects an incomplete understanding of disease mechanisms. Alterations in proteins involved in mitochondrial dynamics, an essential process for mitochondrial integrity and function, have been reported in AD brains. Impaired mitochondrial dynamics causes mitochondrial dysfunction and has been associated with cognitive impairment in AD. Here, we investigated a possible link between pro-inflammatory interleukin-1 (IL-1), mitochondrial dysfunction, and cognitive impairment in AD models.

We exposed primary hippocampal cell cultures to amyloid-β oligomers (AβOs) and carried out AβO infusions into the lateral cerebral ventricle of cynomolgus macaques to assess the impact of AβOs on proteins that regulate mitochondrial dynamics. Where indicated, primary cultures were pre-treated with mitochondrial division inhibitor 1 (mdivi-1), or with anakinra, a recombinant interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) antagonist used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Cog that strategies aimed to prevent pathological alterations in those proteins may counteract synapse loss and cognitive impairment in AD.
These findings indicate that IL-1β mediates the impact of AβOs on proteins involved in mitochondrial dynamics and that strategies aimed to prevent pathological alterations in those proteins may counteract synapse loss and cognitive impairment in AD.Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is an important cause of permanent damage to central nervous system (CNS) that may result in neonatal death or manifest later as mental retardation, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or developmental delay. The primary cause of this condition is systemic hypoxemia and/or reduced cerebral blood flow with long-lasting neurological disabilities and neurodevelopmental impairment in neonates. About 20 to 25% of infants with HIE die in the neonatal period, and 25-30% of survivors are left with permanent neurodevelopmental abnormalities. The mechanisms of hypoxia-ischemia (HI) include activation and/or stimulation of myriad of cascades such as increased excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor hyperexcitability, mitochondrial collapse, inflammation, cell swelling, impaired maturation, and loss of trophic support. Different therapeutic modalities have been implicated in managing neonatal HIE, though translation of most of these regimens into clinical praggered following neonatal brain injury, as well as driving neurogenesis and angiogenesis post-HI insults.
In this study, we investigated whether substance P (SP) or calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) expression is associated with tendon degeneration in patients with lateral epicondylitis.

Twenty-nine patients who underwent surgical treatment for lateral epicondylitis were enrolled in the final analyses. Extensor carpi radialis brevis tendon origins were harvested for histological analysis.

SP and CGRP immunostaining were negative in healthy tendons but positive in degenerative tendons; moreover, their immunoreactivity increased with degeneration severity. Univariate analysis indicated that variables such as the preoperative visual analog scale (VAS) score or SP or CGRP expression levels were significantly associated with the Movin score. However, multivariate analysis revealed that only higher SP and/or CGRP signals were associated with higher Movin scores. Elevations in SP or CGRP expression were also linked with significantly severe preoperative VAS scores.

We demonstrated that tendon degeneration severity is associated with increased SP and CGRP expression in the biopsy samples of lateral epicondylitis.
We demonstrated that tendon degeneration severity is associated with increased SP and CGRP expression in the biopsy samples of lateral epicondylitis.
During clinical practice we have noticed that some patients with hyperthyroidism have finer skin with less wrinkles, pores, and spots after thyroidectomy, and the improvement can be observed within a few weeks after the operation. However, there is no evidence or study in the literature to proof this finding.

This study was designed to evaluate and quantify the skin characters of patients with hyperthyroidism before and after thyroidectomy.

This is a prospective study to include patients with hyperthyroidism who received total thyroidectomy between March 1st, 2018 and February 28th, 2019. The patients received blood test for T4 and TSH analysis and VISIA measurements for skin texture quantification, at the preoperative stage, three, and six months postoperatively. A total of 8 patients were included. Repeated measurement was used to determine the lab data and VISIA measurement changes before and after the operation. Mauchly's sphericity test was performed to determine whether the violation of sphericity occurs, and the Greenhouse-Geisser correction was used when the violation of sphericity occurs.
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