Chemical constituents from Canarium album Raeusch and their anti-influenza A virus activities

Journal of Natural Medicines - Two new dyhydrophaseic acid glucoside isomers, (1′S, 3′R, 5′S, 8′R, 2Z, 4E)-dihydrophaseic acid-3′-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (2) and...     

Two new secoiridoid glucosides and a new lignan from the roots of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ilex pubescens</Emphasis>

Two new secoiridoid glucosides, ilexpublignoside (1), pubzenoside (2), and a new lignan, ilexlignan B (3), along with seven known compounds (4–10) were isolated from the roots of Ilex pubescens for the first time. Their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods, including IR, UV, HR-ESI–MS, CD, NMR experiments, as well as comparison with the reported data.     

百草枯对A549细胞中解整合素-金属蛋白酶17表达的影响

目的构建体外百草枯（paraquat,PQ）细胞纤维化模型,观察PQ对A549细胞中解整合素-金属蛋白酶17（ADAM17）表达的影响,探讨ADAM17在PQ中毒致肺纤维化中的作用。方法体外培养A549细胞,分为正常对照组、不同浓度PQ组,应用CCK-8检测细胞活力,筛选PQ浓度和时间,显微镜下观察细胞形态,ELISA测定各组纤维化标志物I型胶原（type I collagen,Col I）和纤连蛋白（fibronectin,FN）的表达,建立细胞纤维化模型;免疫细胞化学检测A549细胞中ADAM17的分布情况,RT-PCR和Western blot分别半定量检测ADAM17 mRNA及蛋白水平的表达情况。结果（1）随着PQ浓度增加及作用时间延长,A549细胞活力呈下降趋势,差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,呈剂量依赖性和时间依赖性。（2）正常的A549细胞融合呈铺路石样生长,排列比较紧密,经PQ诱导后细胞排列较松散,细胞间连接变疏松,部分细胞溶解、死亡。（3）ELISA显示,随PQ浓度增加,Col I和FN表达增强,差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）;随PQ时间延长,Col I和FN表达也逐渐增强,差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,成功建立PQ细胞纤维化模型。（4）免疫细胞化学显示,ADAM17在A549细胞胞浆表达。（5）RT-PCR和Western blot表明,随着PQ浓度增加,ADAM17 mRNA及蛋白水平表达明显增加,差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,以PQ 200 umol/L时最为明显。随着PQ作用时间延长,ADAM17 mRNA及蛋白表达水平也明显增加,差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,在24 h达到高峰。结论百草枯可引起肺泡上皮细胞形态学改变,导致细胞损伤,成功建立细胞的纤维化模型,对A549细胞的毒性作用具有剂量和时间依赖性。ADAM17在PQ诱导的A549细胞中过表达,可能参与了百草枯诱导的肺纤维化过程。     

广西糖厂放射源应用辐射环境影响监测与评价

目的 掌握广西辖区内糖厂密封放射源的使用分布情况,评价密封放射源对周围环境、职业人员、公众成员产生的辐射影响,为今后糖厂放射源的使用管理提供科学依据。方法 按监测规范合理布点,利用γ辐射剂量率仪对广西区内所有使用密封放射源的糖厂开展辐射环境现场测量,根据监测结果进行估算,并结合个人剂量监测结果进行分析。结果 密封放射源使用场所周围辐射剂量率高于环境本底水平,职业人员、公众成员会受到一定的辐射剂量。结论 职业人员及公众成员年有效剂量结果符合相关要求。     

Enhanced terminal room disinfection and acquisition and infection caused by multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium diffcile(the Benefits of Enhanced Terminal Room Disinfection study):a cluster-randomised,multicentre,crossover study

中文:背景患者入院后可从不当消毒的环境表面获得多药耐药菌和艰难梭菌。本文确定了3种强化的终末消毒(入住同一病房的两名患者之间的消毒)策略,对感染耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)、耐万古霉素肠球菌(VRE)、艰难梭菌(CD)和多重耐药不动杆菌的影响。方法本文在美国东南部的9家医院开展了一项务实的、集群-随机、交叉研究。凡曾有感染或定植目标细菌感染患者居住过的病房,患者出院后随机采取4种消毒策略中的一种方法进行终末消毒:对照(季胺盐类消毒剂消毒,但凡遇到CD采用含氯消毒剂);UV(季胺盐类+UV-C消毒,但凡遇到CD采用含氯消毒剂+UV-C);含氯消毒剂;含氯消毒剂+UV-C。凡入住目标病房的患者被列为暴露人群。这4种终末消毒方法分别在每家医院连续实施7个月的周期。本文随机设计这几种消毒策略在每家医院内的实施顺序(1:1:1:1)。主要产出的结果是,观察暴露患者中目标细菌的感染的发生或定植情况,以及ITT人群中暴露患者CD感染发生率。本研究ClinicalTrials.gov注册编号:NCT01579370。结果共有31 226名患者暴露,其中21 395(69%)符合标准,包括4 916名对照组,5 178名UV组,5 438名含氯消毒剂组,以及5 863名含氯消毒剂+UV组。在对照组中,22 426个暴露日中有115名患者发生目标细菌的感染(51.3/10000暴露日)。在标准清洁策略的基础上增加UV消毒的暴露患者,其目标细菌感染的发生率明显较低(n=76;33.9/10 000暴露日;RR:0.70,95%CI:0.50～0.988;P=0.036)。含氯消毒剂组(n=101;41.6/10 000暴露日;RR:0.85,95%CI:0.69～1.04;P=0.116),或含氯消毒剂+UV组患者(n=131;45.6/10 000暴露日;RR:0.91,95%CI:0.76～1.09;P=0.303)的目标细菌的感染率,其差异无统计学意义。同样,在含氯消毒剂的基础上增加UV消毒,暴露患者中CD感染率也没有发生改变((n=38 vs 36;30.4 vs 31.6/10 000暴露日;RR:1.0,95%CI:0.57-1.75;P=0.997)。解释污染的医疗机构环境是获得病原微生物的重要来源;强化终末消毒可以降低这一风险。     

SimPEL: Simulation‐based power estimation for sequencing studies of low‐prevalence conditions

Power estimations are important for optimizing genotype‐phenotype association study designs. However, existing frameworks are designed for common disorders, and thus ill‐suited for the inherent challenges of studies for low‐prevalence conditions such as rare diseases and infrequent adverse drug reactions. These challenges include small sample sizes and the need to leverage genetic annotation resources in association analyses for the purpose of ranking potential causal genes. We present SimPEL, a simulation‐based program providing power estimations for the design of low‐prevalence condition studies. SimPEL integrates the usage of gene annotation resources for association analyses. Customizable parameters, including the penetrance of the putative causal allele and the employed pathogenic scoring system, allow SimPEL to realistically model a large range of study designs. To demonstrate the effects of various parameters on power, we estimated the power of several simulated designs using SimPEL and captured power trends in agreement with observations from current literature on low‐frequency condition studies. SimPEL, as a tool, provides researchers studying low‐frequency conditions with an intuitive and highly flexible avenue for statistical power estimation. The platform‐independent “batteries included” executable and default input files are available at https://github.com/precisionomics/SimPEL .     

Psychometric validation of the SF-36<Superscript>®</Superscript> Health Survey in ulcerative colitis: results from a systematic literature review

Purpose

To conduct a systematic literature review of the reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness of the SF-36^® Health Survey (SF-36) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).

Methods

We performed a systematic search of electronic medical databases to identify published peer-reviewed studies which reported scores from the eight scales and/or two summary measures of the SF-36 collected from adult patients with UC. Study findings relevant to reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness were reviewed.

Results

Data were extracted and summarized from 43 articles meeting inclusion criteria. Convergent validity was supported by findings that 83% (197/236) of correlations between SF-36 scales and measures of disease symptoms, disease activity, and functioning exceeded the prespecified threshold (r ≥ |0.40|). Known-groups validity was supported by findings of clinically meaningful differences in SF-36 scores between subgroups of patients when classified by disease activity (i.e., active versus inactive), symptom status, and comorbidity status. Responsiveness was supported by findings of clinically meaningful changes in SF-36 scores following treatment in non-comparative trials, and by meaningfully larger improvements in SF-36 scores in treatment arms relative to controls in randomized controlled trials. The sole study of SF-36 reliability found evidence supporting internal consistency (Cronbach’s α ≥ 0.70) for all SF-36 scales and test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient ≥0.70) for six of eight scales.

Conclusions

Evidence from this systematic literature review indicates that the SF-36 is reliable, valid, and responsive when used with UC patients, supporting the inclusion of the SF-36 as an endpoint in clinical trials for this patient population.

     

Pulmonary delivery of polyplexes for combined PAI-1 gene silencing and CXCR4 inhibition to treat lung fibrosis

This report describes the development of polyplexes based on CXCR4-inhibiting poly(ethylenimine) derivative (PEI-C) for pulmonary delivery of siRNA to silence plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (siPAI-1) as a new combination treatment of pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Safety and delivery efficacy of the PEI-C/siPAI-1 polyplexes was investigated in vitro in primary lung fibroblasts isolated from mice with bleomycin-induced PF. Biodistribution analysis following intratracheal administration of fluorescently labeled polyplexes showed prolonged retention in the lungs. Treatment of mice with bleomycin-induced PF using the PEI-C/siPAI-1 polyplexes resulted in a significant down-regulation of the PAI-1 expression and decreased collagen deposition in the lung. The results of this study provide first evidence of the potential benefits of combined inhibition of CXCR4 and PAI-1 in the pulmonary treatment of PF.