Background: Echocardiography is a primary tool used by veterinarians to evaluate heart diseases. In recent years, various studies have targeted standard echocardiographic values for different breeds. Reference data are currently lacking in Maltese dogs and it is important to fill this gap as this breed is predisposed to myxomatous mitral valve disease, which is a volume overload disease. Objectives: To establish the normal echocardiographic parameters for Maltese dogs. Methods: In total, 23 healthy Maltese dogs were involved in this study. Blood pressure measurements, thoracic radiography, and complete transthoracic echocardiography were performed. The effects of body weight, age and sex were evaluated, and the correlations between weight and linear and volumetric dimensions were calculated by regression analysis. Results: The mean vertebral heart size was 9.1 ± 0.4. Aside from the ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and the left atrial to aorta root ratio, all the other echocardiographic parameters were significantly correlated with weight. Conclusion This study describes normal echocardiographic parameters that may be useful in the echocardiographic evaluation of Maltese dogs.

Background: Echocardiography is a primary tool used by veterinarians to evaluate heart diseases. In recent years, various studies have targeted standard echocardiographic values for different breeds. Reference data are currently lacking in Maltese dogs and it is important to fill this gap as this breed is predisposed to myxomatous mitral valve disease, which is a volume overload disease. Objectives: To establish the normal echocardiographic parameters for Maltese dogs. Methods: In total, 23 healthy Maltese dogs were involved in this study. Blood pressure measurements, thoracic radiography, and complete transthoracic echocardiography were performed. The effects of body weight, age and sex were evaluated, and the correlations between weight and linear and volumetric dimensions were calculated by regression analysis. Results: The mean vertebral heart size was 9.1 ± 0.4. Aside from the ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and the left atrial to aorta root ratio, all the other echocardiographic parameters were significantly correlated with weight. Conclusion This study describes normal echocardiographic parameters that may be useful in the echocardiographic evaluation of Maltese dogs.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to identify risk factors that were associated with the progression from endometriosis to ovarian cancer based on medical insurance data. METHODS: The study was performed on a dataset obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database, which covered all the inpatient claim data from 2000 to 2013 in Taiwan. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code 617 was used to screen the dataset for the patients who were admitted to hospital due to endometriosis. They were then tracked for subsequent diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and available biological, socioeconomic and clinical information was also collected. Univariate and multivariate analyses were then performed based on the Cox regression model to identify risk factors. C-index was calculated and cross validated. RESULTS: A total of 229,617 patients who were admitted to hospital due to endometriosis from 2000 to 2013 were included in the study, out of whom 1,473 developed ovarian cancer by the end of 2013. A variety of factors, including age, residence, hospital stratification, premium range, and various comorbidities had significant impact on the progression (p < 0.05). Among them, age, urbanization of residence, hospital stratification, premium range, post-endometriosis childbearing, pelvic inflammation, and depression all had independent, significant impact (p < 0.05). The validated C-index was 0.69. CONCLUSION: For a woman diagnosed with endometriosis, increased age, residing in a highly urbanized area, low or high income, depression, pelvic inflammation, and absence of childbearing post-endometriosis all put her at high-risk to develop ovarian cancer. The findings may be of help to gynecologists to identify high-risk patients.
Cohort Studies* ; Comorbidity ; Dataset ; Depression ; Diagnosis ; Endometriosis* ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Inpatients ; Insurance* ; International Classification of Diseases ; Multivariate Analysis ; National Health Programs ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Risk Factors* ; Taiwan ; Urbanization

OBJECTIVETo compare therapeutic effects of acupuncture combined with TDP radiation and western medicine on restless legs syndrome.

METHODSOne hundred and fifty-eight cases of restless legs syndrome were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 79 cases in each group. The treatment group were treated with acupuncture at Shenshu (BL 23), Dachangshu (BL 25), Guanyuanshu (BL 26), Zhibian (BL 54), Taixi (KI 3), etc., and TDP radiation. The control group were treated with L-Dopa. Clinical observation was made for 30 days.

RESULTSIn the observation group, 42 cases were cured, 30 cases were effective and 7 cases were ineffective with a total effective rate of 91.1%; in the control group no case was cured, 24 cases were effective and 55 cases were ineffective with a total effective rate of 30.4%, with a significant difference between the two groups in the total effective rate.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture combined with TDP radiation has a better therapeutic effect on restless legs syndrome.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Restless Legs Syndrome ; etiology ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of partial splenic embolization (PSE) in prevention of gastroesophageal variceal rebleeding.

METHODSSixty-two patients with recent gastroesophageal variceal bleeding were treated by PSE with Seldinger technique. All the patients were followed-up for 12 months. The data including peripheral blood cell count, liver function, plasma prothrombin time (PT), portal vein diameter, and appearance of gastroesophageal varices under gastroscopy were collected before and after embolization for statistical analysis.

RESULTSFive days after the operation, the numbers of leucocytes and platelets were significantly increased (P<0.05), and PT was significantly shortened (P<0.05). All the patients showed a good response after PSE with reduced internal diameter of the portal vein and blood flow (P<0.05). Gastroesophageal varices were relieved in all the patients. Rebleeding occurred in 11 patients during the follow-up.

CONCLUSIONPSE can be effective in preventing gastroesophageal variceal rebleeding.

Adult ; Aged ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; methods ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; etiology ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Gastroscopy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Splenic Artery

Background: Compared with the Western population, central demyelinating disorders are relatively rare while the data on the prognostic value of autoantibodies together with clinical characteristics and cognitive dysfunction has rarely been explored in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Nineteen patients with MS and 14 with NMO underwent clinical profiling and cognitive assessment. According to serology tests, they are divided into four subgroups for further analysis. Results: There was higher frequency of aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G. sero-positivity (64.3% vs. 10.5%; p=0.003) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and/or antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens (anti-ENA) in NMO compared to MS (42.9% vs. 5.2%; p=0.026). The presence of anti-ENA represented a unique clinical phenotype, with longer segment of myelitis (p=0.049), female preponderance, and an inverse correlation between age-of-onset and annual relapse rate (ρ= -0.88, p=0.021). Among patients with anti-ENA positivity, comprehensive serology panels revealed Sjögren’s syndrome A antibodies as the most common (83%), in contrast to limited clinical documentation of Sjögren’s syndrome (16%). There was no significant difference in cognitive assessment by anti-ENA status. MS and NMO represent two different serologic entities. Conclusions: Anti-ENA may have prognostic value for its linkage to a unique clinical phenotype, which has longer initial segment of myelitis, female preponderance, and higher annual relapse rate on earlier age-of-onset, but has limited clinical impact on cognition. Further studies are warranted to investigate whether anti-ENA represents an epiphenomenon of myelitis or simply a systemic inflammatory state.

Background:Reports on the aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG) status for cognitive performance and neuroimaging correlations are limited in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS) literature. Methods: Cognitive results of 19 MS and 15 NMO patients were compared with 47 agematched controls. Apparent diffusion coeffi cient (ADC) values were used to delineate gray matter and white matter damages and correlate with neuropsychological results. Results: Verbal memory test showed signifi cant differences between MS and NMO in the late registration, early and delay recall (p<0.05), while their retention rates were even. In MS, ADC values were signifi cantly elevated in the dorsolateral prefrontal and occipital gray matter which was in contrast with NMO group that showed elevation in the dorsolateral prefrontal gray matter and parieto-occcipital white matter. AQP4-IgG status exerted a limited effect on ADC values and neuropsychological results. Conclusions: Verbal memory test might be helpful in differentiating NMO and MS. ADC values can be used as a surrogate marker for tissue injury in NMO and MS since they were in line with the cognition scores. Anatomical regions with elevated ADC values were different in NMO and MS.

Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is an important viral pathogen that causes anemia and severe immunodeficiency syndrome in chickens worldwide. In this study, a potential diagnostic monoclonal antibody against the CAV VP1 protein was developed which can precisely recognize the CAV antigen for diagnostic and virus recovery purposes. The VP1 gene of CAV encoding the N-terminus-deleted VP1 protein, VP1Nd129, was cloned into an Escherichia (E.) coli expression vector. After isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyronoside induction, VP1Nd129 protein was shown to be successfully expressed in the E. coli. By performing an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay using two coating antigens, purified VP1Nd129 and CAV-infected liver tissue lysate, E3 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was found to have higher reactivity against VP1 protein than the other positive clones according to the result of limiting dilution method from 64 clones. Using immunohistochemistry, the presence of the VP1-specific mAb, E3, was confirmed using CAV-infected liver and thymus tissues as positive-infected samples. Additionally, CAV particle purification was also performed using an immunoaffinity column containing E3 mAb. The monoclonal E3 mAb developed in this study will not only be very useful for detecting CAV infection and performing histopathology studies of infected chickens, but may also be used to purify CAV particles in the future.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/biosynthesis/genetics/*immunology ; Antigens, Viral/analysis ; Capsid Proteins/genetics/*immunology ; Chicken anemia virus/genetics/*immunology ; *Chickens ; Circoviridae Infections/blood/immunology/*veterinary/virology ; Escherichia coli/genetics ; Immunohistochemistry/veterinary ; Liver/virology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Microscopy, Fluorescence/veterinary ; Poultry Diseases/blood/immunology/*virology ; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms ; Thymus Gland/virology

D-psicose 3-epimerase (DPEase) is demonstrated to be useful in the bioproduction of D-psicose, a rare hexose sugar, from D-fructose, found plenty in nature. Clostridium cellulolyticum H10 has recently been identified as a DPEase that can epimerize D-fructose to yield D-psicose with a much higher conversion rate when compared with the conventionally used DTEase. In this study, the crystal structure of the C. cellulolyticum DPEase was determined. The enzyme assembles into a tetramer and each subunit shows a (β/α)(8) TIM barrel fold with a Mn(2+) metal ion in the active site. Additional crystal structures of the enzyme in complex with substrates/products (D-psicose, D-fructose, D-tagatose and D-sorbose) were also determined. From the complex structures of C. cellulolyticum DPEase with D-psicose and D-fructose, the enzyme has much more interactions with D-psicose than D-fructose by forming more hydrogen bonds between the substrate and the active site residues. Accordingly, based on these ketohexose-bound complex structures, a C3-O3 proton-exchange mechanism for the conversion between D-psicose and D-fructose is proposed here. These results provide a clear idea for the deprotonation/protonation roles of E150 and E244 in catalysis.
Binding Sites ; Biocatalysis ; Catalytic Domain ; Clostridium cellulolyticum ; enzymology ; Hexoses ; chemistry ; Manganese ; chemistry ; Protein Structure, Quaternary ; Racemases and Epimerases ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Substrate Specificity

Purpose: To investigate the effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Asian men with all stages of prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: READT (real-life evaluation of the effect of ADT in prostate cancer patients in Asia) was a multi-center, prospective observational study involving six sites across four Asian populations. We enrolled eligible prostate cancer patients, who opted for ADT alone or in combination without prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant ADT within 12 months. The EuroQoL-5 dimensions, 5 level scale (EQ-5D-5L) utility index scores and visual analog scale (VAS) were evaluated at baseline, month 6 and month 12. Results: A total of 504 patients were recruited into READT between September 2016 and May 2020 with 52.9% diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. The EQ-5D-5L was evaluable in 442/504 (87.7%) of patients. Overall baseline EQ-5D-5L utility index score was 0.924 (interquartile range [IQR] 0.876–1.000). We observed a statistically significant difference in baseline EQ-5D-5L utility index score among different populations with a median EQ-5D-5L utility index score of 1 for Taiwan & Hong Kong, 0.897 for China and 0.838 for Malaysia. Similar trend was observed throughout multiple treatment time-points. Stage IV prostate cancer were significantly associated with a lower baseline EQ-5D-5L utility index score compared to stage I–III prostate cancer, producing a median disutility value of -0.080. Participants had a high median VAS (80, IQR 70–90), indicating good overall health on average during ADT initiation. Conclusions The study highlights the differences in health state utility index scores among various Asian prostate cancer patients receiving ADT at real-world setting. Our findings will be informative and useful in cost-effectiveness evaluation and policy decision making.