Bankecollier1823

Autoimmune bullous skin diseases, such as pemphigus and pemphigoid, may enable clarification of the mechanisms of immune regulation in the skin. Pemphigus and pemphigoid are mediated by essentially IgG autoantibodies against structural proteins of the desmosomes at cell-cell junctions and hemidesmosomes at epidermal-dermal junctions, respectively, and are characterized by blisters and erosions in the skin and/or mucous membranes. Intensive investigation over the last 3 decades has identified their target antigens and developed serological diagnostic tools as well as mouse models to help us understand their pathophysiology. Based on these advances, several new therapeutic approaches have become available, and more effective and less toxic targeted approaches are under development. MiRNAs play an important role in progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this work, we assessed the function of miR-202 in human HCC and identified BCL2 as its target. We found miR-202 expression was found significantly downregulated, while BCL2 expression was markedly upregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines (HepG2, Hep3B and HCCLM3). Both miR-202 and BCL2 were closely correlated with major vascular invasion and advanced TNM stage as well as overall survival (OS) of HCC patients. Overexpression of miR-202 significantly inhibited cell proliferation, induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, and prevented tumor formation in a xenograft nude mouse model. Further, miR-202 dramatically inhibited migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). MiR-202 bound to the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of BCL2 mRNA, and downregulated the expression level of BCL2 protein. Exogenous BCL2 over-expression weakened the inhibitory effects of miR-202, while inhibition of BCL2 enhanced the inhibitory effects of miR-202. In conclusion, miR-202 serves as a tumor suppressor in HCC progression by downregulating BCL2 expression, indicating miR-202 might be as a potential target for HCC.AIMS Personal agency is a variable which potentially facilitates personal recovery in people with serious mental illness. This study aimed to develop a new brief measure for subjective personal agency that can be completed by people with serious mental illness. METHODS Two focus group interviews were first conducted with 11 people with schizophrenia to understand the fundamental components of subjective personal agency for people with serious mental illness living in the community. One group comprised six people with schizophrenia living in the community, while the other consisted of five people with schizophrenia working as peer-support workers. We then developed scale items through collaboration with people with schizophrenia and qualitative analysis (stage 1). A cross-sectional survey was then conducted to test the psychometric properties of the new scale among service users with schizophrenia in 18 assertive community treatment teams (stage 2). Factor validity was tested via exploratory factor analysis (Ey people with serious mental illness. Further studies are needed to confirm the results outside Japan.BACKGROUND Monogenea van Beneden, 1858 is a group of parasitic flatworms, commonly found infecting bony fish. Several genera, such as Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960, are reported to include potential pathogenic species that can negatively impact aquaculture fish stocks. They can switch from introduced to native fish and vice versa. In Africa (and all over the world), fish species belonging to Cichlidae are often kept in aquaculture and represent a major source of food. Thus, research on the biodiversity and occurrence of monogenean species on these fish is of importance for aquaculture and conservation. The present study is a survey of the diversity of species of Cichlidogyrus in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on three cichlid species Orthochromis sp. 'Lomami', Serranochromis cf. macrocephalus, and Tilapia sparrmanii Smith, 1840. METHODS Specimens of Cichlidogyrus were isolated from the gills and mounted on glass slides with Hoyer's medium. The genital and haptoral hard parts were measurch three are described in the present study. These results highlight the species diversity of this parasite genus in the Congo Basin.BACKGROUND This study was conducted to compare the validity and discriminative power of both the EQ-5D-3 L and EQ-5D-5 L in an elderly Chinese population with multiple chronic and acute conditions. METHODS A total of 648 retired people from China (mean ± standard deviation 73.3 ± 6.4 years; male 55.7%) were recruited and randomized to complete the 3 L or 5 L questionnaire. The 3 L and 5 L were compared in terms of distribution properties, ceiling effects, informativity, validity and discriminatory performance. Convergent validity between the 3 L and 5 L was tested by spearman's rank-order correlation. Discriminatory power was conducted by relative efficiency as assessed by the F statistics. RESULTS Most participants answered to "no problems" on both versions of EQ-5D. The 5 L trended towards a slightly lower ceiling compared with the 3 L. The Shannon index improved with the 5 L while the Shannon's Evenness index tended to be similar. Convergent validity was confirmed by the moderate to strong correlation for both 3 L and 5 L. Relative efficiency suggested that 5 L had a higher absolute discriminatory power than the 3 L version in terms of the presence conditions, especially for osteoporosis and metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS Both the 3 L and 5 L are demonstrated to be valid based HRQoL instruments in Chinese elderly population. The 5 L system may be preferable to the 3 L, as it demonstrated superior performance with respect to lower ceiling effect and better discriminatory power. Further research is needed to examine the responsiveness of the two EQ-5D instruments in this population.BACKGROUND Tendon injury is a significant clinical problem due to poor healing and a high reinjury rate; successful treatment is limited by our poor understanding of endogenous tendon stem cells. Recent evidence suggests that adult stem cells are phenotypically diverse, even when comparing stem cells isolated from the same tissue from the same individual, and may in fact exist on a spectrum of proliferation and differentiation capacities. selleck chemical Additionally, the relationships between and clinical relevance of this phenotypic variation are poorly understood. In particular, tenogenic capacity has not been studied in comparison to tenogenic differentiation and cell proliferation. Toward this end, we performed a comprehensive assessment of cell proliferation and differentiation capacity toward four connective tissue lineages (tendon, cartilage, bone, and adipose) using tendon stem cell lines derived from single cells released directly from tendon tissue to (1) evaluate the differences, if any, in tenogenic potential, and (2) identify the relationships between differentiation phenotypes and proliferation capacity.