Mushroom cultivation has gained increased attention in recent years. Currently, only four types of spawn, including sawdust spawn, grain spawn, liquid spawn, and stick spawn, are commonly available for mushroom cultivation. This limited spawn diversity has led to difficulty in selecting suitable inoculum materials in some cultivation. In this study, three small blocks of lignocellulosic agro-wastes and one block of a synthetic matrix were prepared as support for growing Pleurotus ostreatus in liquid medium. Mycelium-adsorbed blocks were then evaluated for their potential as block spawn for fructification. Our results indicated that the edible fungus was adsorbed and abundantly grew internally and externally on loofah sponge and synthetic polyurethane foam (PUF) supports and also has the ability to attach and grow on the surface of sugarcane bagasse and corncob supports. The mycelia of P. ostreatus adhered on corncob exhibited the highest metabolic activity, while those on the PUF showed the least activity. Mycelial extension rates of block spawns made of agro-waste materials were comparable to that of sawdust spawn, but the block spawn of PUF showed a significantly lower rate. No significant differences in cropping time and yield were observed among cultivations between experimental block spawns and sawdust spawns. Moreover, the corncob block spawn maintained its fruiting potential during an examined period of 6-month storage. The developed block spawn could be practically applied in mushroom cultivation.
Agaricales ; Fruit ; Fungi ; Luffa ; Pleurotus ; Polyurethanes ; Porifera ; Saccharum

Purpose To discuss the clinical,histopathological characteristics,diagnosis,differential diagnosis and prognosis of hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disorder in children.Methods 6 cases of hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disorder were analyzed by molecular,histopathological and immunohistochemical testing.Clinical and follow-up information was obtained.The published relevant literatures were reviewed.Results 4 cases were boys,2 case were girls.All the patients presented with erythema and blisters with fever for 1 month to 4 years.Histopathologic examination showed an mild or moderate atypical lymphocytic infiltrate with angiotropism and angiocentricity,and scattered or dense lymphoid infiltration throughout the dermis and subcutaneous tissue.Blisters or necrosis could be seen in the epidermis.The atypical lymphocytes were positive for CD2,CD3,CDS,CD7,CD43,TIA-1,CD4 or CD8,and negative for CD20,Pax-5.Only one case showed positive stain for CD56.The average positive rate of Ki67 in tumor cells was 42.3％.Tumor cells positive for EBV encoded RNA (EBER) were detected in cutaneous infiltrates in 5 cases.Gene rearrangement of TCR was detected in 2 cases.5 patients were available for follow-up examination and 1 patient was dead.Conclusion Hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disorder is a rare disease mainly occuring in children.Chronic active EBV infection has been associated with this disease.It may be a spectrum in terms of its clinical course,and may be benign,borderline and malignant.Pathological diagnosis should be closely combined with clinical data.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the modulatory effect of acupuncture treatment on the resting-state functional connectivity of brain regions in migraine without aura (MWoA) patients.

METHODSTwelve MWoA patients were treated with standard acupuncture treatment for 4 weeks. All MWoA patients received resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning before and after acupuncture treatment. Another 12 normal subjects matched in age and gender were recruited to serve as healthy controls. The changes of restingstate functional connectivity in MWoA patients before and after the acupuncture treatment and those with the healthy controls were compared.

RESULTSBefore acupuncture treatment, the MWoA patients had significantly decreased functional connectivity in certain brain regions within the frontal and temporal lobe when compared with the healthy controls. After acupuncture treatment, brain regions showing decreased functional connectivity revealed significant reduction in MWoA patients compared with before acupuncture treatment.

CONCLUSIONSAcupuncture treatment could increase the functional connectivity of brain regions in the intrinsic decreased brain networks in MWoA patients. The results provided further insights into the interpretation of neural mechanisms of acupuncture treatment for migraine.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Brain ; physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Demography ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Migraine without Aura ; physiopathology ; Nerve Net ; physiopathology ; Rest ; Treatment Outcome