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From September 2014 to March 2015, 23 outbreaks of norovirus (NoV) acute gastroenteritis occurred in Jiangsu, China. Partial sequencing of the NoV capsid gene suggested that 16 of the 23 outbreaks were related to a new GII.17 variant. This variant was first detected in sporadic specimens in October 2014, and became predominant in February 2015. Analysis of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and complete capsid including the protruding domain P2 sequences confirmed this GII.17 variant as distinct from previously identified GII variants.

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Objective: To compare and analyze the clinical outcomes of the proximal humeral internal locking system (PHILOS) alone and the PHILOS combined with fibular allograft in the treatment of Neer three-and four-part proximal humerus fractures (PHF) in the elderly. , a total of 42 elderly patients with Neer three-or four-part PHF admitted to our hospital were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 21 patients in each group. The observation group was treated with the PHILOS combined with fibular allograft. The control group was treated with the PHILOS alone. Perioperative parameters and fracture classification were recorded in the two groups. Function results were assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Constant-Murley score (CMS), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, and the Disability of Arm-Shoulder-Hand (DASH) score. Radiological results were evaluated using the neck-shaft angle (NSA) and humeral head height (HHH), and complications were also recorded in each group.Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of preoperative status, age, gender, cause of trauma, fracture site, and fracture classification. The average follow-up time was 12 months. At the last follow-up, the VAS and DASH observation groups were lower than the control group, and there was significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The CMS and ASES were higher in the observation group than the control group, and there was significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The mean difference in the NSA and HHH were lower in the observation group than the control group, and there was a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). There was one postoperative complication in the observation group, which was humeral head avascular necrosis (AVN). There were seven postoperative complications in the control group, including three cases of humeral head collapse and three cases of screw cutout and one case of humeral head AVN. The incidence of postoperative complications in the observation group was significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.05), there was a significant difference between the two groups.Conclusions: For Neer three-or four-part PHF in the elderly patients, PHILOS fixation with fibular allograft shows satisfactory short-term results with respect to humeral head support and maintenance of reduction, and may reduce the incidence of complications associated with fixation using a PHILOS alone.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the key long non-coding (lnc)RNAs in the occurrence and development of osteoporosis (OP) and to explore the associated molecular mechanism. First, the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets, with key words ‘osteoporosis’ and ‘HG-133A’, were screened. RankProd R package was used to calculate the dysregulated lncRNAs in OP. Following this, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) harvested from 3-week-old Sprague Dawley rats were employed for detection of osteoblast differentiation. Following overexpression or interference with X-inactive specific transcript (XIST), osteogenesis-associated genes and proteins in BM-MSCs were detected using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Alizarin Red S staining were also performed to measure the osteogenic ability of BM-MSCs. Results from the two datasets indicated that 6 lncRNAs were dysregulated in OP. Notably, XIST is key lncRNA in diverse diseases, and was subsequently selected for analysis. It was revealed that XIST was significantly upregulated in plasma and monocytes from patients with OP compared with the normal controls. Furthermore, results indicated that overexpression of XIST significantly inhibited osteoblast differentiation in BM-MSCs, as evidenced by the decreased expression of ALP, bone γ-carboxyglutamic acid-containing protein and runt related transcription factor 2, reduced ALP activity and a decreased number of calcium deposits. However, interference of XIST exhibited the opposite biological effects in BM-MSCs. Taken together, XIST was highly expressed in the serum and monocytes of patients with OP. In addition, the findings suggested that XIST could inhibit osteogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs.

Background/Aims: To explore the potential role of miR-544a in spinal cord injury and the possible mechanism involved. Methods: We established a mouse model with spinal cord injury to examine the changes in grip force recovery of the forelimb or the posterior limb of the mouse. Microarray was performed to achieve differentiated miRNAs in the mice. The expressions of miR-544a, MCP-1, IL36B and IL17B after spinal cord injury were detected by qRT-PCR. Subsequently, miR-544a was overexpressed to observe changes in inflammation and grip strength after spinal cord injury. Target gene of miR-544a was then predicted using bioinformatics technology. Finally, dual luciferase reporter gene assay was used to verify the binding of miR-544a to its target gene. Results: Using mice models with spinal cord injury, we found that the strength of their four limbs began to recover 7 days after injury. The results of microarray and qRT-PCR confirmed that mir-544a level in mice with spinal cord injury decreased with increase of injury time, while the levels of inflammatory genes MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1), IL1 (interleukin-1) and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) IL36B (interleukin-36 beta) and IL17B (interleukin-17 beta) were significantly increased. However, overexpression of miR-544a in the mice significantly reduced the level of inflammation and restored their grip strength in their four limbs. Finally, we found that miR-544a can bind to the NEUROD4 (Neurogenic differentiation 4) 3’UTR (Untranslated Region) region through bioinformatics website prediction, which was further confirmed by dual luciferase reporter assay. NEUROD4 level was significantly reduced following the overexpression of miR-544a. Conclusion: The expression of miR-544a was significantly decreased after spinal cord injury. High expression of miR-544a could alleviate the inflammation caused by spinal cord injury and promote the recovery of spinal cord via the inhibition of NEUROD4.

In the present study, CD34(+) human umbilical cord blood stem cells (UCBSCs) were engineered to express interleukin-21 (IL-21) and then were transplanted into A2780 ovarian cancer xenograft-bearing Balb/c nude mice. The therapeutic efficacy of this procedure on ovarian cancer was evaluated. The findings from the study indicated that UCBSCs did not form gross or histological teratomas until up to 70 days postinjection. The CD34(+) UCBSC-IL-21 therapy showed a consistent effect in the ovarian cancer of the treated mice, delaying the tumor appearance, reducing the tumor sizes, and extending life expectancy. The efficacy was attributable to keeping CD34(+) UCBSC-IL-21 in the neoplastic tissues for more than 21 days. The secreted IL-21 not only increased the quantity of CD11a(+) and CD56(+) NK cells but also increased NK cell cytotoxicities to YAC-1 cells and A2780 cells, respectively. The efficacy was also associated with enhancing the levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, and TNF-α in the mice as well as the high expressions of the NKG2D and MIC A/B molecules in the tumor tissues. This study suggested that transferring CD34(+) UCBSC-IL-21 into the nude mice was safe and feasible in ovarian cancer therapy, and that the method would be a promising new strategy for clinical treatment of ovarian cancer.

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