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OBJECTIVE: Wnt-induced signaling protein 1 (WISP1) and Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) are highly expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but no direct connection was identified between them. Phenotypic plasticity is a hallmark of ESCC. This research intended to identify the association between WISP1 and DKK1 and their roles in the phenotypic plasticity of ESCC. METHODS: Genes differentially expressed in esophageal carcinoma were analyzed in the GEO database, followed by analyses of GO and KEGG enrichment to screen the hub gene. WISP1 expression and DKK1 secretion was assessed in ESCC tissues and cells. The tumor xenograft and in vivo metastasis models were established by injecting ESCC cells into nude mice. Functional deficiency and rescue experiments were conducted, followed by assays for cell proliferation, migration/invasion, stemness, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and apoptosis, as well as tumor volume, weight, proliferation, stemness, and lung metastasis. The binding relationship and co-expression of WISP1 and DKK1 were determined. RESULTS: WISP1 and DKK1 were upregulated in ESCC cells and tissues, and WISP1 was enriched in the cell stemness and Wnt pathways. WISP1 knockdown subdued proliferation, migration/invasion, EMT activity, and stemness but enhanced apoptosis in ESCC cells. WISP1 knockdown restrained ESCC growth, proliferation, stemness, and metastasis in vivo. WISP1 bound to DKK1 in ESCC. DKK1 overexpression abolished the repressive impacts of WISP1 knockdown on the malignant behaviors of ESCC cells in vitro and of ESCC tumor in vivo. CONCLUSION: Knockdown of WISP1/DKK1 restrains the phenotypic plasticity in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by suppressing epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stemness.

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INTRODUCCIÓN: La Sociedad Europea de Medicina de Cuidados Intensivos recomienda la presencia de un Kinesiólogo con formación especializada, disponible cada cinco camas de alta complejidad, los 7 días de la semana en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI). En Chile se desconoce la adherencia de las UCI adulto a esta recomendación. OBJETIVO: Describir las características administrativas y de cobertura kinésica en las UCI adulto chilenas, y de acuerdo con la adherencia a las recomendaciones internacionales, informar a los tomadores de decisión en salud. MÉTODOS: Estudio observacional transversal, basado en encuesta telefónica. Se incluyeron las UCI adultos de establecimientos de mayor complejidad, clínicas privadas y centros asociados a universidades (n = 74). La proporción de instituciones con disponibilidad de kinesiólogos las 24 horas del día, los siete días de la semana (kinesiólogo 24/7), con un número máximo de cinco pacientes por kinesiólogo y presencia de un kinesiólogo especialista fueron reportados. RESULTADOS: La tasa de respuesta fue del 86,5% (n = 64), principalmente públicas (59%) y de nivel III (83%). El 70% (n = 45) de las UCI adulto chilenas cuentan con kinesiólogo 24/7; correspondiendo el 87% al sector público y el 46% al privado. El 41% de los centros posee un máximo de 5 pacientes por kinesiólogo en día hábil diurno, disminuyendo en fines de semana y horarios nocturnos. Un 23% de las UCIs cuenta con kinesiólogo especialista en intensivo, siendo mayor en el sector privado (31%). CONCLUSIONES: En UCI adulto chilenas, la disponibilidad de kinesiólogos 24/7 es alta, y la prevalencia de especialistas es baja. Estrategias de creación de programas de formación de especialidad podrían contribuir a disminuir la brecha de especialistas.

INTRODUCTION: The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine recommends the presence of a specialist physiotherapist, available every five beds, seven days a week in the high complexity Intensive Care Unit. However, in Chile the adherence of adult Intensive Care Units to this recommendation is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To describe the organizational characteristics and the physiotherapist availability in adult Intensive Care Units in Chile, and according to the adherence to international recommendations, inform health decision-makers. METHODS: Observational study based on a telephone survey. All adult Intensive Care Units institutions of high complexity, private hospitals and teaching health centers in Chile were eligible (n = 74). The primary outcome measures were the proportion of institutions with physiotherapist availability 24 hours a day and seven days a week (24/7 physiotherapist), a maximum caseload per physiotherapist of five patients and the presence of a specialist physiotherapist. RESULTS: Response rate was 86.5%, with 59% of responding units being public and 83% offering level III care. 70% of the adult Intensive Care Units in Chile have 24/7 physiotherapist (87% of the public and 46% of the private sector). 41% of the centers had a maximum caseload per physiotherapist of five patients during the day on weekdays. This number decreased on weekends and during night shifts. 23% of the Intensive Care Units had a specialist physiotherapist, being more common in the private sector (31%). CONCLUSIONS: In Chilean adult ICU, 24/7 physiotherapist availability is high, the prevalence of physiotherapists with specialist training is low. Future efforts should focus on promoting the uptake of specialist training.

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The aim of the present study is to explore the effect of IL-6 gene polymorphisms on the development of keloid scar (KS) in the Chinese Han population. Genotyping of IL-6 was performed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism assays (PCR-RFLP). Serum level of IL-6 was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results indicated that when the IL-6 -572 CC homozygote genotype was used as the reference group, the GG genotype was found to be associated with a significantly increased risk of KS (GG vs CC: OR = 2.097, 95%CI  = 1.100-3.995, P  =  0.025). When the IL-6 -572 C allele was used as the reference group, the G allele was found to be associated with significantly increased risk of KS (G vs C: OR =  1.317, 95%CI  = 1.002-1.730, P = 0.048). Furthermore, we observed a marked increase in serum IL-6 levels in KS patients with GG genotypes when compared to KS patients harboring the CC genotype. In conclusion, our results suggest that IL-6 gene polymorphism was associated with keloid scars in the southeastern Chinese Han population.

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A 55-year-old male presented with fever, stupor, aphasia, and left hemiparesis. A history of head trauma 3 months before was also reported. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed slight contrast enhancement of lesions under the right frontal skull plate and right frontal lobe. Because of deterioration in nutritional status and intracranial hypertension, the patient was prepared for burr hole surgery. A subdural empyema (SDE) recurred after simple drainage. After detection of Brucella species in SDE, craniotomy combined with antibiotic treatment was undertaken. The patient received antibiotic therapy for 6 months (two doses of 2 g ceftriaxone, two doses of 100 mg doxycycline, and 700 mg rifapentine for 6 months) that resulted in complete cure of the infection. Thus, it was speculated that the preexisting subdural hematoma was formed after head trauma, which was followed by a hematogenous infection caused by Brucella species.

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A 55-year-old male presented with fever, stupor, aphasia, and left hemiparesis. A history of head trauma 3 months before was also reported. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed slight contrast enhancement of lesions under the right frontal skull plate and right frontal lobe. Because of deterioration in nutritional status and intracranial hypertension, the patient was prepared for burr hole surgery. A subdural empyema (SDE) recurred after simple drainage. After detection of Brucella species in SDE, craniotomy combined with antibiotic treatment was undertaken. The patient received antibiotic therapy for 6 months (two doses of 2 g ceftriaxone, two doses of 100 mg doxycycline, and 700 mg rifapentine for 6 months) that resulted in complete cure of the infection. Thus, it was speculated that the preexisting subdural hematoma was formed after head trauma, which was followed by a hematogenous infection caused by Brucella species.

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In this study, a software tool (IFGFA) for identification of featured genes from gene expression data based on latent factor analysis was developed. Despite the availability of computational methods and statistical models appropriate for analyzing special genomic data, IFGFA provides a platform for predicting colon cancer-related genes and can be applied to other cancer types. The computational framework behind IFGFA is based on the well-established Bayesian factor and regression model and prior knowledge about the gene from OMIM. We validated the predicted genes by analyzing somatic mutations in patients. An interface was developed to enable users to run the computational framework efficiently through visual programming. IFGFA is executable in a Windows system and does not require other dependent software packages. This program can be freely downloaded at http://www.fupage.org/downloads/ifgfa.zip.

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The accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) causes ER stress and activates the unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathway. The UPR signaling pathway is associated with plant responses to adverse environmental conditions. Thus, changes in the UPR signaling pathway might affect plant abiotic tolerance. Here, the role of ER small heat-shock protein (ER-sHSP) in improving plant resistance to salt stress was explored. Under salt stress conditions, ER-sHSP transgenic plants were found to have more vigorous roots, maintain a higher relative water content, absorb less Na(+), accumulate more osmolytes and Ca(2+), and sustain less damage to the photosystem, compared to wild-type non-transgenic plants. Furthermore, we found that the constitutive expression of ER-sHSP under salt stress depressed the expression of other ER molecular chaperones. These results indicate that the constitutive expression of ER-sHSP enhanced salinity tolerance of tomato plants significantly, and alleviated the ER stress caused by the salt stress in plant cells.

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Previous studies have shown that the cell death-inducing DFF45-like effector-C (CIDEC) gene is involved in lipid storage and energy metabolism, suggesting that it is a potential candidate gene that affects body measurement traits (BMTs) and meat quality traits (MQTs). The aim of this study was to identify polymorphisms of the bovine CIDEC gene and analyze their possible associations with BMTs and MQTs in 531 randomly selected Qinchuan cattle aged between 18 and 24 months. DNA sequencing and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism were employed to detect CIDEC single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We found five SNPs: two in exon 5 (SNP1, g.9815G>A and SNP2, g.9924C>T) and three in the 3'-untranslated region (SNP3, g.13281C>T; SNP4, g.13297A>G; and SNP5, g.13307G>A). SNP1 was a missense mutation that resulted in an arginine to glutamine amino acid change, and exhibited two genotypes (GG and AG). SNP2 was a synonymous mutation that exhibited three genotypes (CC, CT, and TT). SNP3, 4, and 5 were completely linked, and only exhibited two genotypes (CC-AA-GG and CT-AG-GA). We found significant associations between these polymorphisms and BMTs and MQTs (P < 0.05); GG, CT, and CT-AG-GA appeared to be the most beneficial genotypes. Therefore, CIDEC may affect BMTs and MQTs in Qinchuan cattle, and could be used in marker-assisted selection.

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In this study, we cloned the coding DNA sequence (CDS) region of Qinchuan cattle LYR motif-containing 1 (LYRM1) and constructed a recombinant adenovirus expression vector to examine the function of LYRM1 on the cellular level. Total RNA was extracted from the adipose tissue of Qinchuan cattle, cDNA was obtained by reverse transcription, and polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify the CDS region of the LYRM1 gene. The CDS-containing fragment was inserted into the shuttle vector pAdTrack-CMV to construct pAdTrack-CMV-LYRM1 vector. After linearization of pAdTrack-CMV-LYRM1 and the negative control vector pAdTrack-CMV by restriction endonuclease PmeI, the vectors were transformed into Escherichia coli BJ5183 containing pAdEasy-1 to obtain the recombinant adenovirus vector pAd-LYRM1 and pAd-CMV through homologous recombination. pAd-LYRM1 and pAd-CMV were then digested by PacI and transfected into the 293A cell line. The recombinant adenovirus Ad-LYRM1 and Ad-CMV was obtained at a concentration of 7 x 108 and 1.3 x 109 green fluorescent units/mL, respectively. Preadipocytes derived from Qinchuan cattle were separately infected with Ad-LYRM1 and Ad- CMV. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that the expression of LYRM1 was increased by approximate 28,000-folds after the infection with recombinant adenovirus for 48 h. In conclusion, we successfully cloned the CDS region of the Qinchuan cattle LYRM1 gene, constructed the recombinant adenovirus expression vector, and obtained the adenovirus with high titer, providing valuable materials for studying the function of LYRM1 at the cellular level.

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The objective of this study was to compare 12 bp-duplication polymorphisms in exon 4 of the κ-casein gene among 3 breeds/populations of yak (Bos grunniens). Genomic DNA was extracted from yak blood or muscle samples (N = 211) and a partial sequence of exon 4 of κ-casein gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. A polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay of the products (169 bp) revealed 2 variants. These variants differed in a 12-bp duplication of the nucleotide sequence corresponding to amino acids 147-150 (Glu-Ala-Ser-Pro) or 148-151 (Ala-Ser-Pro-Glu). The genotype frequency and gene frequency of the 2 κ-casein variants differed among the 3 yak breeds/populations. The long form of the κ-casein gene was the predominant allele, and the Jiulong yak showed the highest frequency of the short form variant of the κ-casein gene. In addition, 2 nucleotide differences resulting in amino acid substitutions were also identified in yaks. These results are significant for designing a breeding strategy to improve the genetic makeup of yak herds.

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