Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), also Lateral gene transfer (LGT), is any process in which an organism transfers genetic material to another species that is not its offspring. With the increase of available genomic data, it has become more convenient to study the way to detect the genes, which are products of horizontal transfers among a given genome. There are few data about known horizontal gene transfers in three bacterium genomes under consideration, so the experiments, which simulated gene transfer by artificially inserting phage genes, were carried out. Combining the feature analysis methods of gene sequences with support vector machine (SVM), a novel method was developed for identifying horizontal gene transfers (HGT) in 3 fully sequenced bacterium genomes (Escherichia coli K12, Borrelia burgdorferi, Bacillus cereus ZK). According to our previous work, codon use frequency (FCU) was selected as the sequence feature, in respect that it is inherently the fusion of both codon usage bias and amino acid composition signals. In addition, another computational method was proposed considering strand asymmetry and predicting horizontal gene transfers of leading strand and lagging strand of genomes under consideration, respectively. To avoid the occasionality of simulating gene transfer through artificially inserting phage genes, 100 times of the transfer-and-recover experiment were repeated and arithmetic average of measurement for each genome being considered were reported to evaluate algorithm's performance. Ten-fold cross-validation was used for both parameter and accuracy estimation. The best results were obtained for C-Support Vector Classification (C-SVC) type by using the radial basis function kernel with ?=100, while for one-class SVM type the best performance was obtained using the polynomial kernel of three degree. The performance of the approach was compared with that of Tsirigos' method ,which is one of the best predictive approachs to date in detecting of horizontal transfer genes. Firstly, for the original method that did not consider the strand asymmetry, the C-SVC type has a high relative improvement(RI) of 31.47% on hit ratio for Escherichia coli K12, while the one-class SVM type has RI of 11.61% for Borrelia burgdorferi. Moreover, as theoretically expected, the method considering the strand asymmetry resulted in higher RI than the original method. In order to examine the approach's performance in detecting factual gene transfer events, the approach was applied in genome of Enterococcus faecalis V583. It is not only succeed in recovering all the seven factual horizontally transferred genes, also found that the whole segment from 7 kb upstream of gene EF2293 to 38 kb downstream of gene EF2299 was probably transferred into E. faecalis V583 genome simultaneously with the above seven genes.

Objective To induce experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in female C57BL/6 mice with the extracellular domain of myelin oligedendroglia glycoprotein(MOG~(Igd)). Percentages of CD4~+ CD25~+ T cell (Tr) were tested , and also normalized expressions of Foxp3. Methods Molecular cloning technology was used to produce MOG~(Igd) fusion protein. The MOG~(Igd)-TrxA fusion protein and TrxA protein were purified by metal chelate affinity chromatography (MCAC). Mice were injected s. c. in the flank with 300 μg MOG~(Igd) in complete Frcund's adjuvant (CFA) supplemented with 4 μg/μl Mycobacterium tuberculosis. H37Rv. Mice received 0.4 ml emulsion of spinal cord homogenate of guinea pigs (GPSCH) in positive control group, and the same volume emulsiom of TrxA in negative control group, while mice served as normal control received only saline/adjuvant. Mice were monitored two times a day for continuously 30 days by double bind. Clinical scores and histopathology were evaluated. Then, mice were sacrificed. The spinal cord and brain were removed and fixed in buffered formalin. Horizontal sections taken from the central nervous system(CNS) were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (HE), and Kluver-Barrera staining. Also, immunohistochemistry was performed. Percentages of CD4~+ CD25~+ T cells were tested through flow cytometric analysis, and real-time PCR was performed to test normalized expressions of Foxp3 mRNA. Then, correlations between the two were performanced. Results Mice in both MOG group and GPSCH group shew chronic non-remitting course. The onset of disease, time when the most severe clinical symptoms happened and the clinical score between the two groups shew no significant differnces (P>0.05). However, neither in TrxA treated group nor in normal control group did animals exhibit clinical signs of EAE. Histologic sections of the brain and spinal cord taken from affected animals shew perivascular infiltration of mononuclear cells, gliosis, and multifocal demyelination. Lesions scattered throughout the CNS including brainstem, spinal cord, cerebellum, and penventricular white matter. There were significant differences between MOG group and TrxA group in the level of lesion-ceutric AQP-4 expression showing up by immunohistochemistry (P<0.05). Percentages of CD4~+ CD25~+ T cells in MOG group and GPSCH group were (4.71±1.61) % and (1.44±0.65) %, respectively, both of which were significantly lower than those in the normal control group or TrxA treated group (P<0.01). And the difference between MOG group and GPSCH group also reached statistics meaning (P<0.01). Normalized expression of Foxp3 mRNA in MOG group was 2.26± 1.97, and was not significantly higher than the 1.44±1.20 level in GPSCH group (P>0.05). However, they beth were statistically lower than that in the negative control group, namely 8.58±3.34 (P<0.01). Percentages of CD4~+ CD25~+ T cells was statistically correlated with expressions of Foxp3 mRNA (P< 0.05). Conclusion EAE induced in C57BL/6 mice with MOG~(Igd) is reproduceable. It shares the similar clinial signs and pathologic features with human multiple sclerosis(MS). Thus, we find a good way to further study the immune mechanisms of MS and also to search for the effective treatments.

The influence of exercise at high temperature on adult males' routine blood indexes and biochemical indexes and the expression of HSP72 in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) was studied in order to provide theoretical ground for health supervision of adults receiving exercise at high temperature. 180 adult males were selected and divided into exercise group and control group, in which the exercise group was subdivided into subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 receiving exercise at high temperature in the afternoon and in the morning, respectively. Peripheral venous blood was phlebotomized before and after the exercise to examine routine blood indexes and blood biochemical indexes. The expression levels of HSP72 in PBLs were detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that the routine blood indexes and biochemical indexes in each group were within the range of normal values of male adults. There was no significant difference between each exercise group and control group in indexes before exercise. After exercise, the expression levels of HSP72 in PBLs in exercise groups were higher than those before exercise, and HSP72 expression levels in subgroup 1 were obviously higher than those in subgroup 2 and control group. The contents of ALT, urea, Na+, Cl-, Ca2+ and K+ in subgroups 1 and 2 were lower than those in control group, but CK level was higher than in control group (P<0.05). The contents of Na+ and Cl- in subgroup 1 were relatively lower than those in subgroup 2 (P<0.05). It was concluded that while receiving exercise at high temperature, adult males' HSP72 levels in PBLs could be increased and the biochemical indexes changed. Attention should be paid to health supervision to avoid obvious body injuries at high temperature.
Blood Chemical Analysis/*methods ; Exercise/*physiology ; HSP72 Heat-Shock Proteins/*blood ; HSP72 Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism ; Hot Temperature ; Lymphocytes/*metabolism ; Young Adult

A 58-year-old Chinese woman presented with deranged liver function tests, which was discovered incidentally during surveillance for statins therapy. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a large lipoma originating from the greater omentum, which was treated with surgical resection. This case is reported due to the rare occurrence of omental lipomas.
Abdomen ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Lipoma ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Liver ; physiopathology ; Liver Function Tests ; Middle Aged ; Omentum ; pathology ; surgery ; Peritoneal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Radiography, Abdominal ; methods ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonography

Summary: The influence of exercise at high temperature on adult males' routine blood indexes and biochemical indexes and the expression of HSP72 in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) was studied in order to provide theoretical ground for health supervision of adults receiving exercise at high temperature. 180 adult males were selected and divided into exercise group and control group, in which the exercise group was subdivided into subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 receiving exercise at high temperature in the afternoon and in the morning, respectively. Peripheral venous blood was phlebotomized before and after the exercise to examine routine blood indexes and blood biochemical indexes. The expression levels of HSP72 in PBLs were detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that the routine blood indexes and biochemical indexes in each group were within the range of normal values of male adults. There was no significant difference between each exercise group and control group in indexes before exercise. After exercise, the expression levels of HSP72 in PBLs in exercise groups were higher than those before exercise, and HSP72 expression levels'in subgroup 1 were obviously higher than those in subgroup 2 and control group. The contents of ALT, urea, Na+, Cl-, Ca2+and K+ in subgroups 1 and 2 were lower than those in control group, but CK level was higher than in control group (P<0.05). The contents of Na+ and Cl- in subgroup 1 were relatively lower than those in subgroup 2 (P<0.05). It was concluded that while receiving exercise at high temperature, adult males' HSP72 levels in PBLs could be increased and the biochemical indexes changed. Attention should be paid to health supervision to avoid obvious body injuries at high temperature.

Objective: Bariatric surgery effectively treats non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The glutamate-serine-glycine (GSG) index has emerged as a non-invasive diagnostic marker for NAFLD, but its ability to monitor treatment response remains unclear. This study investigates the GSG index's ability to monitor NAFLD's response to bariatric surgery. Methodology: Ten NAFLD participants were studied at baseline and 6 months post-bariatric surgery. Blood samples were collected for serum biomarkers and metabolomic profiling. Hepatic steatosis [proton density fat fraction (PDFF)] and fibroinflammation (cT1) were quantified with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), and hepatic stiffness with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). Amino acids and acylcarnitines were measured with mass spectrometry. Statistical analyses included paired Student’s t-test, Wilcoxon-signed rank test, and Pearson’s correlation. Results: Eight participants provided complete data. At baseline, all had hepatic steatosis (BMI 39.3 ± 5.6 kg/m2, PDFF ≥ 5%). Post-surgery reductions in PDFF (from 12.4 ± 6.7% to 6.2 ± 2.8%, p = 0.013) and cT1 (from 823.3 ± 85.4ms to 757.5 ± 41.6ms, p = 0.039) were significant, along with the GSG index (from 0.272 ± 0.03 to 0.157 ± 0.05, p = 0.001). Conclusion The GSG index can potentially be developed as a marker for monitoring the response of patients with NAFLD to bariatric surgery.
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Amino Acids ; Metabolomics