examination-oral-candida-infection-primary-sjogrens-syndrome

Examination of Oral <i>Candida</i> Infection in Primary Sj&#246;gren&#39;s Syndrome Patients

Primary Sj&#246;gren's syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by symptoms such as dry mouth, dry eyes, and other systematic symptoms. Due ...

The University of Hong Kong

Capital Medical University

This is a systemic review of plants used traditionally for neuroendocrinological diseases related to hypothalamus-pitutary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamus-pitutary-gland (HPG) axis. By searching from PubMed literature search system (1950-2013), Medline (1950-2013) and CNKI (China Journals of Full-text database; 1989-2013), 105 papers met the inclusion criteria were displayed in this review. 96 herbal drugs were classified into two parts which include hormones mainly related to HPA and HPG axis. The full scientific name of each herbal medicine, dose ranges and routes, models or diseases, affect on hormones and pertinent references are presented via synoptic tables. Herbal remedies that have demonstrable the activities of hormones have provided a potential to various diseases related to neunoendocrine and deserve increased attention in future studies. This review provides a basis for herbs use in neuroendocrinological diseases. The data collected here will benefit to further research associated to herbal medicines and hormones.

Therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine against neuroendocrinological diseases especially related to hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be diagnosed by noninvasive approaches with serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels >200 ng/ml and/or a radiological imaging study of tumor mass >2 cm in patients with chronic liver disease. Percutaneous fine needle aspiration (FNA) under ultrasound (US) guidance has a diagnostic specificity of 95% and is superior to radiological imaging studies.

Effectiveness and complications of ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration for primary liver cancer in a Chinese population with serum α-fetoprotein levels ≤200 ng/ml--a study based on 4,312 patients.

Pediatric-onset colitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have significant effects on the growth of infants and children, but the etiopathogenesis underlying disease subtypes remains incompletely understood. Here, we report single-cell clustering, immune phenotyping, and risk gene analysis for children with undifferentiated colitis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. We demonstrate disease-specific characteristics, as well as common pathogenesis marked by impaired cyclic AMP (cAMP)-response signaling. Specifically, infiltration of PDE4B- and TNF-expressing macrophages, decreased abundance of CD39-expressing intraepithelial T cells, and platelet aggregation and release of 5-hydroxytryptamine at the colonic mucosae were common in colitis and IBD patients. Targeting these pathways by using the phosphodiesterase inhibitor dipyridamole restored immune homeostasis and improved colitis symptoms in a pilot study. In summary, comprehensive analysis of the colonic mucosae has uncovered common pathogenesis and therapeutic targets for children with colitis and IBD.

Mucosal Profiling of Pediatric-Onset Colitis and IBD Reveals Common Pathogenics and Therapeutic Pathways.

In this study, we aimed to examine spatial inequalities of COVID-19 mortality rate in relation to spatial inequalities of socioeconomic and environmental factors across England. Specifically, we first explored spatial patterns of COVID-19 mortality rate in comparison to non-COVID-19 mortality rate. Subsequently, we established models to investigate contributions of socioeconomic and environmental factors to spatial variations of COVID-19 mortality rate across England (N = 317). Two newly developed specifications of spatial regression models were established successfully to estimate COVID-19 mortality rate (R = 0.49 and R = 0.793). The level of spatial inequalities of COVID-19 mortality is higher than that of non-COVID-19 mortality in England. Although global spatial association of COVID-19 mortality and non-COVID-19 mortality is positive, local spatial association of COVID-19 mortality and non-COVID-19 mortality is negative in some areas. Expectedly, hospital accessibility is negatively related to COVID-19 mortality rate. Percent of Asians, percent of Blacks, and unemployment rate are positively related to COVID-19 mortality rate. More importantly, relative humidity is negatively related to COVID-19 mortality rate. Moreover, among the spatial models estimated, the 'random effects specification of eigenvector spatial filtering model' outperforms the 'matrix exponential spatial specification of spatial autoregressive model'.

Spatial inequalities of COVID-19 mortality rate in relation to socioeconomic and environmental factors across England.

The identification of seriously infected areas across a city, region, or country can inform policies and assist in resources allocation. Concentration of coronavirus infection can be identified through applying cluster detection methods to coronavirus cases over space. To enhance the identification of seriously infected areas by relevant studies, this study focused on coronavirus infection by small area across a city during the second wave. Specifically, we firstly explored spatiotemporal patterns of new coronavirus cases. Subsequently, we detected spatial clusters of new coronavirus cases by small area. Empirically, we used the London-wide small-area coronavirus infection data aggregately collected. Methodologically, we applied a fast Bayesian model-based detection method newly developed to new coronavirus cases by small area. As empirical evidence on the association of socioeconomic factors and coronavirus spread have been found, spatial patterns of coronavirus infection are arguably associated with socioeconomic and built environmental characteristics. Therefore, we further investigated the socioeconomic and built environmental characteristics of the clusters detected. As a result, the most significant clusters of new cases during the second wave are likely to occur around the airports. And, lower income or lower healthcare accessibility is associated with concentration of coronavirus infection across London.

Detecting Spatial Clusters of Coronavirus Infection Across London During the Second Wave.

R-loops are prevalent in mammalian genomes and involved in many fundamental cellular processes. Depletion of BRCA2 leads to aberrant R-loop accumulation, contributing to genome instability. Here, we show that ZFP281 cooperates with BRCA2 in preventing R-loop accumulation to facilitate DNA replication in embryonic stem cells. ZFP281 depletion reduces PCNA levels on chromatin and impairs DNA replication. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that ZFP281 can interact with BRCA2, and that BRCA2 is enriched at G/C-rich promoters and requires both ZFP281 and PRC2 for its proper recruitment to the bivalent chromatin at the genome-wide scale. Furthermore, depletion of ZFP281 or BRCA2 leads to accumulation of R-loops over the bivalent regions, and compromises activation of the developmental genes by retinoic acid during stem cell differentiation. In summary, our results reveal that ZFP281 recruits BRCA2 to the bivalent chromatin regions to ensure proper progression of DNA replication through preventing persistent R-loops.

ZFP281-BRCA2 prevents R-loop accumulation during DNA replication.

Spatiotemporal monitoring of urban CO emissions is crucial for developing strategies and actions to mitigate climate change. However, most spatiotemporal inventories do not adopt urban form data and have a coarse resolution of over 1 km, which limits their implications in intra-city planning. This study aims to model the spatiotemporal carbon emissions of the two largest mega-urban regions in China, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, using urban form data from the Local Climate Zone scheme and landscape metrics, nighttime light images, and a year-fixed effects model at a fine resolution from 2012 to 2016. The panel data model has an R value of 0.98. This study identifies an overall fall in carbon emissions in both regions since 2012 and a slight elevation of emissions from 2015 to 2016. In addition, urban compaction and integrated natural landscapes are found to be related to low emissions, whereas scattered low-rise buildings are associated with rising carbon emissions. Furthermore, this study more accurately extracts urban areas and can more clearly identify intra-urban variations in carbon emissions than other datasets. The open data supported methodology, regression models, and results can provide accurate and quantifiable evidence at the community level for achieving a carbon-neutral built environment.

Modeling spatiotemporal carbon emissions for two mega-urban regions in China using urban form and panel data analysis.

Editorial: Composites and surface and interface engineering (CSIE): preparation and modification of biomaterials and their anti-biofouling ability and surface wettability.

Jing Xie

School of Chinese Medicine

The University of Hong Kong

Examination of Oral Candida Infection in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Patients

Jing Xie

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}School of Chinese Medicine

The University of Hong Kong

Examination of Oral Candida Infection in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Patients

School of Chinese Medicine