Abstract Introduction: Propofol is a widely used anesthetic and its dose is closely related to aging. Telomere length (TL) is a unique heritable trait, and emerging as a biomarker of aging, health and disease. Telomerase RNA component (TERC) plays an important role in maintaining TL. We proposed a hypothesis that propofol dose in general anesthesia can be predicted by measuring TL before operation, which greatly reduced the risk of anesthesia, especially the elderly. Methods: The association between the propofol dose in anesthesia induction and: TL in the DNA of peripheral blood leukocytes; body weight; sex; difference of the Bispectral Index (BIS) before and after anesthesia induction in patients was evaluated by multivariable linear regression analyses. The mutation at the 5’end or 3’end of TERC was detected. We recruited 100 patients of elective surgery. Results: We found that propofol dose in anesthesia induction was clearly correlated significantly with TL (r = 0.78, p < 0.001), body weight (r = 0.84, p = 0.004), sex (r = 0.83, p= 0.84, p = 0.004), sex (r = 0.83, p = 0.004), and difference of BIS before and after anesthesia induction (r = 0.85, p = 0.029). By comparing the absolute values of standardized regression coefficients (0.58, 0.21, 0.19, and 0.12) of the four variables, it can be seen that TL contributes the most to the propofol dose in anesthesia induction. However, the mutation at the 5’ end or 3’ end of TERC was not found. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence that the propofol dose in anesthesia induction was clearly correlated with genetically determined TL. TL may be a promising predictor of the propofol dose, which is beneficial to improve the safety of anesthesia and reduce perioperative complications.

Abstract The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of swertiamarin (STM) in attenuating paraquat (PQ)-induced human lung alveolar epithelial-like cell (A549) apoptosis and the underlying mechanisms. A549 cells were pretreated with different concentrations of STM for 2 hr and then cultured with or without PQ (700 μM) for 24 hr. Cell survival was determined using the CCK8 assay. Morphological changes, MDA content, inflammatory factors, fibrogenesis parameters, apoptosis rates, redox status and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were evaluated. The expression of several genes involved in the modulation of redox status was measured by Western blotting. Cell viability and MMP were decreased, but the apoptosis rate and DCFH oxidation were elevated by PQ exposure. STM pretreatment notably increased cell viability and MMP and reduced the apoptosis rate and DCFH oxidation. Furthermore, TLR4- NOX4 signaling was significantly inhibited by STM. The downregulation of NOX4 by siRNA exerted the same protective effects as STM. This study provides the first evidence that STM attenuates PQ-induced pulmonary epithelial-like cell apoptosis via NOX4-mediated regulation of redox and mitochondrial function.

ABSTRACT 6-Gingerol is the major active constituent of ginger. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects of 6-Gingerol on hair growth. Mice were randomly divided into five groups; after hair depilation (day 0), mice were treated with saline, or different concentrations of 6-Gingerol for 11 days. The histomorphological characteristics of the growing hair follicles were examined after hematoxylin and eosin staining. The results indicated that 6-Gingerol significantly suppressed hair growth compared with that in the control group. And choose the concentration of 6-Gingerol at 1 mg/mL to treated with mice. Moreover, 6-Gingerol (1 mg/mL) significantly reduced hair re-growth ratio, hair follicle number, and hair follicle length, which were associated with increased expression of MMP2 and MMP9. Furthermore, the growth factors, such as EGF, KGF, VEGF, IGF-1 and TGF-β participate in the hair follicle cycle regulation and regulate hair growth. We then measured the concentrations of them using ELISA assays, and the results showed that 6-Gingerol decreased EGF, KGF, VEGF, and IGF-1 concentrations, and increased TGF-β concentration. Thus, this study showed that 6-Gingerol might act as a hair growth suppressive drug via induction of MMP2 and MMP9 expression, which could interfere with the hair cycle.

We analyze the asymmetric behavior of fund managers with short-selling constraints under different market conditions to confirm the hypothesis of difference of opinion of fund managers and also investigate determinants in difference of opinions in fund market. This paper examines two issues: whether there exists the difference of opinions of fund managers and whether there is asymmetric volatility under short-sale constraints. Under short-sale constraints, we implement testing the hypothesis of difference of opinion found by Chen, Hong, and Stein (2001) and Hong and Stein (2003). This hypothesis provides a unique opportunity to test directly the differences of opinion among fund managers that operate under short-sale constraints using asset-allocating strategies. The test results provide evidence that there is asymmetric volatility and increased differences of opinion among fund managers. Furthermore, the results of this study are consistent with the model of Hong and Stein (2003), which predicts that negative asymmetries are more likely to occur when there are large differences of opinions among fund managers. Therefore, our results imply that the overvaluation effect is more remarkable in funds for which a wider dispersion of the opinions of fund managers exists. These findings are consistent with Miller’s (1977) intuition and Hong and Stein’s (2003) model. In addition, our results also support the stochastic bubble hypothesis and are consistent with Blanchard and Watson (1982) and Wu (1997), even after controlling for fund characteristic variables.

Este trabajo investiga dos cuestiones: si acaso existe heterogeneidad para los administradores de fondos como inversionistas y si la volatilidad que enfrentan es asimétrica bajo restricciones de ventas cortas. Bajo restricciones de ventas cortos, se testea la hipótesis de diferencia de opiniones de Chen, Hong y Stein (2001) y Hong y Stein (2003). Los resultados son consistentes con el modelo de Hong y Stein (2003), que predice que la existencia de asimetrías negativas tiene mayor probabilidad de ocurrencia mientras mayores sean las diferencias de opinión entre los administradores de fondos. Así entonces, nuestros resultados implican que el efecto de sobrevaloración es más destacado en fondos en que existe una mayor dispersión de las opiniones de los administradores de fondos. Estos resultados son consistentes con la intuición de Miller (1977) y el modelo de Hong y Stein (2003). Además, nuestros resultados también apoyan la hipótesis de burbuja estocástica y son consistentes con Blanchard y Watson (1982) y Wu (1997), incluso después de controlar por las características de los fondos.

Introduction Fibrotic scar formation is a main cause of recurrent urethral stricture after initial management with direct vision internal urethrotomy (DVIU). In the present study, we devised a new technique of combined the transurethral resection of fibrotic scar tissue and temporary urethral stenting, using a thermo-expandable urethral stent (MemokathTM 044TW) in patients with anterior urethral stricture. Materials and Methods As a first step, multiple incisions were made around stricture site with cold-cutting knife and Collins knife electrode to release a stricture band. Fibrotic tissue was then resected with a 13Fr pediatric resectoscope before deployment of a MemokathTM 044TW stent (40 – 60mm) on a pre-mounted sheath using 0° cystoscopy. Stents were removed within 12 months after initial placement. Results We performed this technique on 11 consecutive patients with initial (n = 4) and recurrent (n = 7) anterior urethral stricture (April 2009 – February 2013). At 18.9 months of mean follow-up (12-34 months), mean Qmax (7.8±3.9ml/sec vs 16.8 ± 4.8ml/sec, p < 0.001), IPSS (20.7 vs 12.5, p = 0.001 ), and QoL score (4.7 vs 2.2, p < 0.001) were significantly improved. There were no significant procedure-related complications except two cases of tissue ingrowth at the edge of stent, which were amenable by transurethral resection. In 7 patients, an average 1.4 times (1-5 times) of palliative urethral dilatation was carried out and no patients underwent open surgical urethroplasty during the follow-up period. Conclusion Combined transurethral resection and temporary urethral stenting is a effective therapeutic option for anterior urethral stricture. Further investigations to determine the long-term effects, and safety profile of this new technique are warranted.

Na construção de uma área de influência, o método de dilatação baseada em rasterização inevitavelmente introduz erros, e o método de dupla linha paralela envolve uma série de operações complexas. Neste artigo, propõe-se um algoritmo de armazenamento paralelo baseado na fusão de área e MPI (Interface de transferência de Mensagem) para melhorar o desempenho de análise de armazenamento, no processamento de grandes conjuntos de dados. Os resultados experimentais revelam que há três grandes gargalos de desempenho que impactam significativamente a eficiência de construção de armazenamentos seriais e paralelos, incluindo a estratégia de fusão de área, a tarefa / método do balanceamento de carga e os MPI resultantes da estratégia de fusão. Para superar esses gargalos, são sugeridas abordagens de correspondência de otimização envolvendo a estratégia de fusão em árvore, um método orientado de partição do número de vértices em tarefas paralelas e uma estratégia de fusão dos inter-processos. Os experimentos foram realizados para examinar a eficiência do algoritmo paralelo de otimização. Os resultados estimados sugerem que as abordagens de otimização podem fornecer alto desempenho e capacidade de processamento para a construção de armazenamento em um ambiente paralelo agrupado. Esse método pode fornecer sugestões sobre a paralelização de algoritmos de análise espacial.

On buffer zone construction, the rasterization-based dilation method inevitably introduces errors, and the double-sided parallel line method involves a series of complex operations. In this paper, we proposed a parallel buffer algorithm based on area merging and MPI (Message Passing Interface) to improve the performances of buffer analyses on processing large datasets. Experimental results reveal that there are three major performance bottlenecks which significantly impact the serial and parallel buffer construction efficiencies, including the area merging strategy, the task load balance method and the MPI inter-process results merging strategy. Corresponding optimization approaches involving tree-like area merging strategy, the vertex number oriented parallel task partition method and the inter-process results merging strategy were suggested to overcome these bottlenecks. Experiments were carried out to examine the performance efficiency of the optimized parallel algorithm. The estimation results suggested that the optimization approaches could provide high performance and processing ability for buffer construction in a cluster parallel environment. Our method could provide insights into the parallelization of spatial analysis algorithm.

The JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway is an important component of survivor activating factor enhancement (SAFE) pathway. The objective of the present study was to determine whether the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway participates in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) postconditioning, protecting isolated rat hearts from ischemic-reperfusion injury. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (230-270 g) were divided into 6 groups (N = 14 per group): time-matched perfusion (Sham) group, ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) group, NaHS postconditioning group, NaHS with AG-490 group, AG-490 (5 µM) group, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO; <0.2%) group. Langendorff-perfused rat hearts, with the exception of the Sham group, were subjected to 30 min of ischemia followed by 90 min of reperfusion after 20 min of equilibrium. Heart rate, left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), and the maximum rate of increase or decrease of left ventricular pressure (± dp/dt max) were recorded. Infarct size was determined using triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Myocardial TUNEL staining was used as the in situ cell death detection method and the percentage of TUNEL-positive nuclei to all nuclei counted was used as the apoptotic index. The expression of STAT3, bcl-2 and bax was determined by Western blotting. After reperfusion, compared to the I/R group, H2S significantly improved functional recovery and decreased infarct size (23.3 ± 3.8 vs 41.2 ± 4.7%, P < 0.05) and apoptotic index (22.1 ± 3.6 vs 43.0 ± 4.8%, P < 0.05). However, H2S-mediated protection was abolished by AG-490, the JAK2 inhibitor. In conclusion, H2S postconditioning effectively protects isolated I/R rat hearts via activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

INTRODUCTION: We reviewed our experience with the use of gabapentin to treat symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB) and nocturia in patients who have failed conventional anticholinergic therapy. METHODS: Thirty-one patients referred to us with refractory (OAB) and/or nocturia were treated with oral gabapentin. All the patients had tried or remained on antimuscarinic drugs during treatment. Twenty-four of 31 complained of bothersome symptoms during day and night and the other seven had primary complaints of nocturia. Initial gabapentin doses ranged from 100-300 mg at bedtime. Dose was slowly titrated up to 3,000 mg based on patients' symptomatology and tolerability. RESULTS:The mean age was 51 years old (range 27-78). There were 13 men and 18 women. The median steady state dose chosen by the patient after initial titration was 600 mg/day. Fourteen of 31 patients reported subjective improvement of their frequency and 8 have been on the medication for over 12 months with persistent efficacy. For the 14 improved patients, mean frequency/24 hours decreased from 14.1 ± 2.2 to10.0 + 2.1. Three patients with primary nocturia reported improvement from a mean of 4.0 ± 1.3 to 1.0 ± 0.3 episodes/night. Six patients stopped taking the drug within one month due to side effects mostly described as drowsiness or lethargy. CONCLUSION: Fourteen of 31 patients with refractory (OAB) and nocturia improved with oral gabapentin. Gabapentin was generally well tolerated and can be considered in selective patients when conventional modalities have failed.