Objective: To compare the prognostic prediction between dichotomized and fractionated evaluations of hormone receptor expressions. Methods: Patients with stages I鈥揑II breast cancers, who received adjuvant tamoxifen, were enrolled. The expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). A fractionated score (F score), the percentage of positive-staining nuclei (0=none, 1=1%鈥?0%, 2=11%鈥?0%, 3=31%鈥?0%, 4=51%鈥?0%, and 5=71%鈥?00%), was assigned to each case. The dichotomized scoring method defines an F score >1 as positive. The prognostic values of both scores were compared by multiple Cox鈥檚 proportional hazard models of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: Four hundred and sixteen patients with a median follow-up of 78.0 months were included. F scores for ER and PR correlated directly with DFS and OS. Although both the dichotomized and fractionated ER and PR scores were significantly associated with DFS and OS in univariate analyses, only fractionated ER and PR scores remained as independent prognostic factors of DFS and OS in the final multiple Cox鈥檚 proportional hazard models. Conclusion: Fractionated IHC hormone receptor expression evaluation enhances the prognostic prediction compared with a dichotomized assessment.

Objective: To explore the feasibility of using regenerated silk fibroin membrane to construct artificial skin substitutes for wound healing, it is necessary to evaluate its cytocompatibility. Methods: The effects of regenerated silk fibroin film on cytotoxicity, adhesion, cell cycle, and apoptosis of L929 cells, growth and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression of ECV304 cells, and VEGF, angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) expression of WI-38 cells were assessed by 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay, viable cell counting, flow cytometry (FCM), and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Results: We showed that the regenerated silk fibroin film was not cytotoxic to L929 cells and had no adverse influence on their adhesion, cell cycle or apoptosis; it had no adverse influence on the growth and VEGF secretion of ECV304 cells and no effect on the secretion of VEGF, Ang-1, PDGF and FGF2 by WI-38 cells. Conclusion: The regenerated silk fibroin film should be an excellent biomaterial with good cytocompatibility, providing a framework for reparation after trauma in clinical applications.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a procedure widely used to diagnose and treat conditions of biliary or pancreatic ductal system. The post-ERCP severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) accompanied with duodenum perforation is rare but serious, remaining a challenge in clinic. In this study we report two such cases. Two Chinese women were treated for clinical suspicion of bile duct obstruction and underwent ERCP after admission. Both developed duodenum perforation and SAP after ERCP, and were managed in the intensive care unit (ICU) and required an organ-failure support. The surgical intervention of the peri-pancreatic debridement with lumber-abdominal compound incisions and postoperative washing and drainage was performed, and the two patients recovered well. The therapeutic effect of the peri-pancreatic debridement with lumber-abdominal compound incisions combined with postoperative washing and drainage in the patients of severe post-ERCP-pancreatitis (PEP) and duodenum perforation is satisfactory.

Somatostatinoma is a very rare neuroendocrine tumor that originates from D cells and accounts for less than 1% of all gastrointestinal endocrine tumors. The duodenum is the most frequent site for this tumor, followed by the pancreas. We here describe a 46-year-old Chinese woman who developed pancreatic somatostatinoma presenting with the characteristic “inhibitory” syndrome, but the symptoms were obscure and seemingly uncorrelated. This case is also unique for its large tumor size and mixed pathological pattern. Distal pancreatectomy was performed, and the patient has remained well since operation. As the syndromes of somatostatinoma may be obscure and atypical, clinicians should review all clinical findings to obtain an accurate diagnosis. Aggressive surgery is preferred to improve the survival.

Helicobacter pylori are ubiquitous Gram-negative bacteria with a high estimated level of infection in the world populations, but a majority of the infected persons are asymptomatic. This pathogen has been classified by the World Health Organization as a class I carcinogen and recognized as the causal agent of most peptic ulcers and chronic gastritis that might lead to stomach cancer. Although not all the transmission pathways of these bacteria into humans have been properly identified, enough data have suggested that the oral-oral or fecal-oral ones are the main infection routes. Helicobacter pylori have been detected in non-treated water and in drinking water, which suggested that water might be an important infection source. As childhood is the critical period of infection, the aim of the present work was to examine the presence of Helicobacter pylori in soil samples from public playing areas of Spanish parks.

The ecological effects of plant-virus-vector interactions on invasion of alien plant viral vectors have been rarely investigated. We examined the transmission of Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCNV) by the invasive Q biotype and the indigenous ZHJ2 biotype of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, a plant viral vector, as well as the influence of TYLCCNV-infection of plants on the performance of the two whitefly biotypes. Both whitefly biotypes were able to acquire viruses from infected plants and retained them in their bodies, but were unable to transmit them to either tobacco or tomato plants. However, when the Q biotype fed on tobacco plants infected with TYLCCNV, its fecundity and longevity were increased by 7- and 1-fold, respectively, compared to those of the Q biotype fed on uninfected tobacco plants. When the ZHJ2 biotype fed on virus-infected plants, its fecundity and longevity were increased by only 2- and 0.5-fold, respectively. These data show that the Q biotype acquired higher beneficial effects from TYLCCNV-infection of tobacco plants than the ZHJ2 biotype. Thus, the Q biotype whitefly may have advantages in its invasion and displacement of the indigenous ZHJ2 biotype.

The aim of this work was to construct a novel food-grade industrial arming yeast displaying β-1,3-1,4-glucanase and to evaluate the thermal stability of the glucanase for practical application. For this purpose, a bi-directional vector containing galactokinase (GAL1) and phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) promoters in different orientations was constructed. The β-1,3-1,4-glucanase gene from Bacillus subtilis was fused to α-agglutinin and expressed under the control of the GAL1 promoter. α-galactosidase induced by the constitutive PGK1 promoter was used as a food-grade selection marker. The feasibility of the α-galactosidase marker was confirmed by the growth of transformants harboring the constructed vector on a medium containing melibiose as a sole carbon source, and by the clear halo around the transformants in Congo-red plates owing to the expression of β-1,3-1,4-glucanase. The analysis of β-1,3-1,4-glucanase activity in cell pellets and in the supernatant of the recombinant yeast strain revealed that β-1,3-1,4-glucanase was successfully displayed on the cell surface of the yeast. The displayed β-1,3-1,4-glucanase activity in the recombinant yeast cells increased immediately after the addition of galactose and reached 45.1 U/ml after 32-h induction. The thermal stability of β-1,3-1,4-glucanase displayed in the recombinant yeast cells was enhanced compared with the free enzyme. These results suggest that the constructed food-grade yeast has the potential to improve the brewing properties of beer.

A protein conjugate of streptomycin (streptomycin-bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugate) was prepared and used as immunogen to produce monoclonal antibodies (MAb). One hybridoma secreting anti-streptomycin MAb was obtained and then used to produce MAb. The MAb named 13H5 showed the 50% maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value of 4.65 ng/ml and the IC₂₀ value of 0.21 ng/ml in phosphate buffered saline (PBS). At optimum conditions, an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic assay (CGIA) were developed and applied to detect streptomycin residues in milk and swine urine samples. The developed ELISA showed that the minimum detection limit was 2.0 and 1.9 ng/ml for milk and swine urine samples, respectively, without obvious cross-reactivity to other tested antibiotics except dihydrostreptomycin which gave a 118.32% cross reaction value. Milk and swine urine samples spiked with streptomycin at 10, 50, 100 and 200 ng/ml were analyzed by the established ELISA. The mean recovery of streptomycin was from 81.9% to 105.5% and from 84.3% to 92.2% for milk and swine urine, respectively. The optimized CGIA showed that the minimum detection limit was 20.0 ng/ml for milk and swine urine samples. The results of spiked analysis and specific analysis demonstrate that the CGIA could be applicable for screening milk and swine urine samples for the presence of streptomycin residues on-site. The established ELISA and CGIA allow the rapid, low-cost, and sensitive determination of streptomycin residues in food samples.

Strawberry anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum spp., is a major disease of cultivated strawberry. This study identifies 31 isolates of Colletotrichum spp. which cause strawberry anthracnose in Zhejiang Province and Shanghai City, China. Eleven isolates were identified as C. acutatum, 10 as C. gloeosporioides and 10 as C. fragariae based on morphological characteristics, phylogenetic and sequence analyses. Species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme digestion further confirmed the identification of the Colletotrichum spp., demonstrating that these three species are currently the causal agents of strawberry anthracnose in the studied regions. Based on analysis of rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS) sequences, sequences of all C. acutatum were identical, and little genetic variability was observed between C. fragariae and C. gloeosporioides. However, the conservative nature of the MvnI specific site from isolates of C. gloeosporioides was confirmed, and this site could be used to differentiate C. gloeosporioides from C. fragariae.

Detection of crop health conditions plays an important role in making control strategies of crop disease and insect damage and gaining high-quality production at late growth stages. In this study, hyperspectral reflectance of rice panicles was measured at the visible and near-infrared regions. The panicles were divided into three groups according to health conditions: healthy panicles, empty panicles caused by Nilaparvata lugens Stål, and panicles infected with Ustilaginoidea virens. Low order derivative spectra, namely, the first and second orders, were obtained using different techniques. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to obtain the principal component spectra (PCS) of the foregoing derivative and raw spectra to reduce the reflectance spectral dimension. Support vector classification (SVC) was employed to discriminate the healthy, empty, and infected panicles, with the front three PCS as the independent variables. The overall accuracy and kappa coefficient were used to assess the classification accuracy of SVC. The overall accuracies of SVC with PCS derived from the raw, first, and second reflectance spectra for the testing dataset were 96.55%, 99.14%, and 96.55%, and the kappa coefficients were 94.81%, 98.71%, and 94.82%, respectively. Our results demonstrated that it is feasible to use visible and near-infrared spectroscopy to discriminate health conditions of rice panicles.