Association Between Climatic Factors and Varicella Incidence in Wuxi, East China, 2010-2019: Surveillance Study.

Background: Varicella is a common infectious disease and a growing public health concern in China, with increasing outbreaks in Wuxi. Analyzing the correlation between climate factors and varicella incidence in Wuxi is crucial for guiding public health prevention efforts.

Objective: This study examines the impact of meteorological variables on varicella incidence in Wuxi, eastern China, from 2010 to 2019, offering insights for public health interventions.

Single-cell transcriptome reveals highly complement activated microglia cells in association with pediatric tuberculous meningitis.

Background: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a devastating form of tuberculosis (TB) causing high mortality and disability. TBM arises due to immune dysregulation, but the underlying immune mechanisms are unclear.

Methods: We performed single-cell RNA sequencing on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells isolated from children (n=6) with TBM using 10 xGenomics platform.

The gut and lung microbiota in pulmonary tuberculosis: susceptibility, function, and new insights into treatment.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that poses a major threat to human health.

Areas Covered: Herein, we aim to review the alteration of the microbiota in gut and respiratory during TB development, the potential function and mechanisms of microbiota in the pathogenesis of Mtb infection, and the impact of antibiotic treatment on the microbiota. In addition, we discuss the potential new paradigm for the use of microbiota-based treatments such as probiotics and prebiotics in the treatment of TB.

Modulation of Inflammation-Related Lipid Mediator Pathways by Celastrol During Human Macrophage Polarization.

Background And Purpose: Celastrol (CS) is a major active ingredient of the Chinese/Asian herb that is frequently used as phytomedicine to treat inflammation and autoimmune diseases. We showed before that short-term exposure to CS (1 µM) favorably impacts the biosynthesis of inflammation-related lipid mediators (LM) in human polarized macrophages by modulating the activities of different lipoxygenases (LOXs). However, whether CS regulates the expression of LOXs and other related LM-biosynthetic enzymes during macrophage polarization is unknown.

-Induced Upregulation of the COX-2/mPGES-1 Pathway in Human Macrophages Is Abrogated by Sulfasalazine.

Macrophages are the primary human host cells of intracellular () infection, where the magnitude of inflammatory reactions is crucial for determining the outcome of infection. Previously, we showed that the anti-inflammatory drug sulfasalazine (SASP) significantly reduced the bactericidal burden and histopathological inflammation in mice. Here, we asked which genes in human inflammatory macrophages are affected upon infection with and how would potential changes impact the functional state of macrophages.

Flunarizine suppresses Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth via calmodulin-dependent phagosome maturation.

Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is a major cause of death worldwide. Multidrug-resistant TB remains a public health crisis and thus novel effective treatments, such as host-directed therapies (HDTs), are urgently required to overcome the challenges of TB infection. In this study, we evaluated 4 calcium modulators for their effects on Mtb growth in macrophages.

Beneficial Modulation of Lipid Mediator Biosynthesis in Innate Immune Cells by Antirheumatic Glycosides.

glycosides (TWG) is a traditional Chinese medicine with effectiveness against rheumatoid arthritis (RA), supported by numerous clinical trials. Lipid mediators (LM) are biomolecules produced from polyunsaturated fatty acids mainly by cyclooxygenases (COX) and lipoxygenases (LOX) in complex networks which regulate inflammation and immune responses and are strongly linked to RA. The mechanism by which TWG affects LM networks in RA treatment remains elusive.

Anti-inflammatory celastrol promotes a switch from leukotriene biosynthesis to formation of specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators.

The pentacyclic triterpenoid quinone methide celastrol (CS) from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F. effectively ameliorates inflammation with potential as therapeutics for inflammatory diseases.

Bazedoxifene Suppresses Intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis Growth by Enhancing Autophagy.

Tuberculosis (TB) is still the leading killer caused by infection. There is a clear need for new treatment strategy against TB. It has been reported that tamoxifen, known as a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), exhibits antimycobacterial activity and inhibits growth in macrophages.

The interplay between depression and tuberculosis.

Depression is a major mental health condition and is expected be the most debilitating and widespread health disorder by 2030. Tuberculosis (TB) is also a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and interestingly, is a common comorbidity of depression. As such, much attention has been paid to the association between these 2 pathologies.

The Polymorphism rs17525495 of LTA4H Is Associated with Susceptibility of Crohn's Disease instead of Intestinal Tuberculosis in a Chinese Han Population.

Background: Because of the similarity of intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn's disease in disease phenotype, differential diagnosis has always been a clinical problem. Arachidonic acid metabolites play an important role in the inflammatory response of intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn's disease. Recent studies have shown that the polymorphism locus in the promoter region of gene affects LTB4 expression level and the susceptibility to extrapulmonary tuberculosis.

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) suppresses penaeidin expression in Marsupenaeus japonicus hemocytes.

Penaeidins are a unique family of antimicrobial peptides specific to penaeid shrimp and have been reported mainly function as anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. In order to investigate whether penaeidins could also respond to virus or not, we examined the effect of WSSV on MjPen-II (penaeidin in kuruma shrimp, Marsupenaeus japonicus) expression. In the control group, MjPen-II transcript level can be detected in almost all test tissues but was expressed most strongly in hemocytes.

A novel white spot syndrome virus-induced gene (MjVIG1) from Marsupenaeus japonicus hemocytes.

cDNA of a newly recognized white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)-induced gene (MjVIG1) was characterized from Marsupenaeus japonicus hemocytes; this gene encodes a protein that lack similarity to any known characterized protein. To identify this novel gene, we mainly conducted transcript level analysis, immunostaining and flow cytometry after WSSV infection. MjV1G1 transcript levels were also measured after Yellow head virus (YHV) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection tests.

Polymer translocation into a confined space: influence of the chain stiffness and the shape of the confinement.

Using two-dimensional Langevin dynamics simulations, we investigate the dynamics of polymer translocation into a confined space under a driving force through a nanopore, with particular emphasis on the chain stiffness and the shape of the confinement. We observe that with increasing the chain stiffness κ, the translocation time τ always increases for different shapes of confinements. For an ellipse, τ is different for the translocation through its minor and major axis directions.

Dynamics of polymer translocation into a circular nanocontainer through a nanopore.

Using Langevin dynamics simulations, we investigate the dynamics of polymer translocation into a circular nanocontainer through a nanopore under a driving force F. We observe that the translocation probability initially increases and then saturates with increasing F, independent of φ, which is the average density of the whole chain in the nanocontainer. The translocation time distribution undergoes a transition from a Gaussian distribution to an asymmetric distribution with increasing φ.

Single dose of morphine produced a prolonged effect on dopamine neuron activities.

Background: Clinical observation and experimental studies have indicated that a single exposure to morphine could induce tolerance and dependence. It has become a concern in clinical antinociceptive practice. However, the underling mechanism remains unknown.

Sensitivity of the five-choice serial reaction time task to the effects of various psychotropic drugs in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Background: Attentional deficits accompany many psychiatric disorders, underscoring the need for rodent models of attention to screen novel therapeutic agents and characterize the biological basis of attention. The five-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT) is one such model. Here, we characterized the effects of four standard psychotropic agents on performance in the 5CSRTT.

[The recognition of breast tumor based on ultrasonic image contour features].

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the role of quantitative margin features in the computer-aided diagnosis of malignant and benign solid breast masses using sonographic imaging. The tumour was seperated by the expert. Three contour features circurity (C), area ratio (A) and length width ratio (LWR) was caculated from the tumour contour.

Synthesis and dopamine receptor binding of sulfur-containing aporphines.

We investigated acid-catalyzed rearrangement of thebaine 14 and its N-propyl analog 15 with methanesulfonic acid in the presence of the nucleophiles methanethiol and hydrogen sulfide. R(-)-2-methylthioapocodeine 16, R(-)-2-methylthioapomorphine 18, and their N-n-propyl analogs 17, 19 were obtained by rearrangement in the presence of methanethiol. However, with hydrogen sulfide, rearrangement of thebaine 14 and its N-n-propyl analog 15 produced sulfide-linked bis-aporphines 21-24 instead of expected R(-)-2-mercaptoapocodeines 12, 13 and R(-)-2-mercaptoapomorphines 10, 11.

Repeated antipsychotic drug exposure in developing rats: dopamine receptor effects.

Antipsychotic drugs are often prescribed to juvenile psychiatric patients, though their cerebral effects during development are incompletely described. Accordingly, we studied the effects of repeated treatment with dissimilar antipsychotic drugs on dopamine (DA) receptors in juvenile vs. adult rats.

Diminished serotonergic innervation of adult medial prefrontal cortex after 6-OHDA lesions in the newborn rat.

The development of the serotonergic (5HT) and dopaminergic (DA) systems may contribute to the onset of psychotic disorders during late adolescence and early adulthood. Previous studies in our laboratory have suggested that these systems may compete for functional territory on neurons during development, as lesions of the serotonergic system at postnatal day 5 (P5) result in an increase in the density of dopaminergic fibers in rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In the present study, the dopaminergic system of P5 rats was lesioned with intracisternal injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA).

Atomoxetine blocks motor hyperactivity in neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats: implications for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

We recently reported that selective inhibitors of neuronal transport of norepinephrine (NE), desipramine and nisoxetine, reversed motor hyperactivity in an animal model of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study, we examined behavioural effects of atomoxetine, a potent new NE reuptake blocker, in juvenile male rats with neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of dopamine projections to the forebrain. 6-OHDA (100 microg) was administered intracisternally on postnatal day (PD) 5 following desipramine (25 mg/kg s.