Abstract Background: Mast cells (MCs) have been found to play a critical role during development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that characterized by dysregulation of inflammation and impaired intestinal barrier function. However, the function of MCs in IBD remains to be fully elucidated. Results: In our study, we used exosomes isolated from human mast cells-1 (HMCs-1) to culture with NCM460, HT-29 or CaCO2 of intestinal epithelial cells (lECs) to investigate the communication between MCs and lECs. We found that MCs-derived exosomes significantly increased intestinal epithelial permeability and destroyed intestinal barrier function, which is attributed to exosome-mediated functional miRNAs were transferred from HMCs-1 into lECs, leading to inhibit tight junction-related proteins expression, including tight junction proteins 1 (TJP1, ZO-1), Occludin (OCLN), Claudin 8 (CLDN8). Microarray and bioinformatic analysis have further revealed that a panel of miRNAs target different tight junction-related proteins. Interestingly, miR-223 is enriched in mast cell-derived exosome, which inhibit CLDN8 expression in IECs, while treatment with miR-223 inhibitor in HT-29 cells significantly reversed the inhibitory effect of HMCs-1-derived exosomes on CLDN 8 expression. Most importantly, enrichment of MCs accumulation in intestinal mucosa of patients with IBD compared with those healthy control. Conclusions: These results indicated that enrichment of exosomal miR-223 from HMCs-1 inhibited CLDN8 expression, leading to destroy intestinal barrier function. These finding provided a novel insight of MCs as a new target for therapeutic treatment of IBD.

The South African green building industry is growing towards maturity. Stakeholders need to observe, document, and be informed about trends and development of the industry. This article evaluates whether application trends have emerged of often achieved and seldom achieved Green Star SA credits by all new office buildings that received a Green Star SA rating between 2009 and 2015 in South Africa. Any observed trends are further described by aspects such as the categories of the Green Star SA tool and the Green Star SA rating achieved. The article considers the data of 95 office buildings, made available by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA). A quantatitive research approach is used to investigate the use frequency of every credit in the Green Star SA tool and to identify trends in credit use. The study finds that 21 of the 67 credits are achieved on average by >80% of the certified projects. Another 14 credits have an average achievement rate of <20%. The nine categories of the Green Star SA tool also varies from average achievements of 84% for Water to only 19% for Innovation. The Green Star SA rating level is also found to be positively correlated to often used credits and negatively correlated to seldom used credits. This article observes industry-wide trends with the potential to negatively affect the ability of green buildings to deliver the required sustainability outcomes expected of them. This finding and the potential outcome thereof need to be monitored and managed by stakeholders such as the GBCSA.

Die Suid-Afrikaanse groenbou-industrie groei tot volwassenheid. Dit is belangrik dat belangegroepe ingelig bly oor die verskillende fasette en ontwikkelings van die industrie. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die tendense in die toepassing van die Groenster-krediete van die verskillende nuwe Suid-Afrikaanse kantoorgeboue wat Groenster-gradering verwerf het tussen 2009 en 2015. Die studie soek na die bestaan van tendense in die nastreef van krediete wat verwerf is as deel van die groenbousertifiseringsproses. Enige geïdentifiseerde tendense word verder beskryf deur evaluering van aspekte soos die kategorieë van die Groenster-werksdokument en die Groenster-graderingvlak wat verwerf is. Die artikel oorweeg die data van 95 kantoorgeboue, beskibaar gestel deur die Groenbouraad van Suid-Afrika (GBRSA). 'n Kwantitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is gevolg om die gebruiksfrekwensie van elke krediet in the Groenster-werksdokument te ondersoek en om tendense in die gebruik van krediete te identifiseer. Die studie bevind dat 21 van die 67 krediete gemiddeld deur >80% van gesertifiseerde geboue verwerf is, terwyl 14 ander krediete deur <20% van gesertifiseerde geboue verwerf is. Die nege kategorieë van die Groenster-werksdokument wissel ook van 84% gemiddelde benutting vir Water tot 19% vir Innovasie. Die Groenster-gradering was ook positief gekorreleerd met dikwels benutte krediete en negatief gekorreleerd met selde verwerfde krediete. Die artikel identifiseer tendense met die potensiaal om die vermoë van groengeboue om hul verwagte volhoubare resultate te lewer, negatief te beïnvloed. Hierdie bevindinge en die potensiële effek daarvan behoort gemonitor en bestuur te word deur 'n belangegroep soos die GBRSA.

Abstract Coraciiformes contains more than 200 species with great differences on external morphology and life-style. The evolutionary relationships within Coraciiformes and the phylogenetic placement of Coraciiformes in Aves are still questioned. Mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequences are popular markers in molecular phylogenetic studies of birds. This study presented the genome characteristics of three new mitogenomes in Coraciiformes and explored the phylogenetic relationships among Coraciiformes and other five related orders with mitogenome data of 30 species. The sizes of three mitogenomes were 17,383 bp (Alcedo atthis), 17,892 bp (Halcyon smyrnensis) and 17,223 bp (Megaceryle lugubris). Each mitogenome contained one control region and 37 genes that were common in vertebrate mitogenomes. The organization of three mitogenomes was identical to the putative ancestral gene order in Aves. Among 13 available Coraciiform mitogenomes, 12 protein coding genes showed indications of negative selection, while the MT-ND6 presented sign of positive selection or relaxed purifying selection. The phylogenetic results supported that Upupidae and Bucerotidae should be separated from Coraciiformes, and that Coraciiformes is more closely related to Piciformes than to Strigiformes, Trogoniformes and Cuculiformes. Our study provide valuable data for further phylogenetic investigation of Coraciiformes.

Many phylogenetic questions in the Ciconiiformes remain unresolved and complete mitogenome data are urgently needed for further molecular investigation. In this work, we determined the complete mitogenome sequence of the little egret (Egretta garzetta). The genome was 17,361 bp in length and the gene organization was typical of other avian mtDNA. In protein-coding genes (PCGs), a C insertion was found in ND3, and CO III and ND4 terminated with incomplete stop codons (T). tRNA-Val and tRNA-Ser (AGY) were unable to fold into canonical cloverleaf secondary structures because they had lost the DHU arms. Long repetitive sequences consisting of five types of tandem repeats were found at the 3′ end of Domain III in the control region. A phylogenetic analysis of 11 species of Ciconiiformes was done using complete mitogenome data and 12 PCGs. The tree topologies obtained with these two strategies were identical, which strongly confirmed the monophyly of Ardeidae, Threskiorothidae and Ciconiidae. The phylogenetic analysis also revealed that Egretta was more closely related to Ardea than to Nycticorax in the Ardeidae, and Platalea was more closely related to Threskiornis than to Nipponia in the Threskiornithidae. These findings contribute to our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of Ciconiiformes based on complete mitogenome data.

PURPOSE: Mouse kidney transplantation is a challenging technique for novice microsurgeons. Factors that affect transplant outcomes for a clinical surgeon starting microsurgery have not yet been investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 110 consecutive mouse kidney transplants were performed over a 9-month period. Data were recorded, and surgical results and complication were analyzed. RESULTS: Three and thirty day survival rates improved from 0 (0/6) to 92.3% (12/13) between months 1 and 9. Bleeding, arterial thrombosis, kidney failure and hydronephrosis were the most common causes of transplant failure. From month 1 to month 7, using the same surgical technique, practice significantly decreased the incidence of bleeding and increased the 3-day survival rate; however, it didn't significantly decrease the incidence of thrombosis, kidney failure, but improved the 30-day survival rate. From month 8, when surgical technique used on artery anastomosis switched from continuous suture to interrupted suture, surgical survival rate at 3 and 30 days improved significantly. Interestingly, ischemia time was not a significant factor determining the success of transplantation in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Practice is essential for novice microsurgeons, and the choice of surgical techniques significantly affects surgical results. The use of interrupted arterial sutures can significantly improve mouse kidney transplantation outcomes compared with continuous sutures. Ischemic time was not a factor in determining successful of kidney transplantation in mice in this study.

The phylogenetic relationships of primates have been extensively investigated, but key issues remain unresolved. Complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) data have many advantages in phylogenetic analyses, but such data are available for only 46 primate species. In this work, we determined the complete mitogenome sequence of the black-capped capuchin (Cebus apella). The genome was 16,538 bp in size and consisted of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, two rRNAs and a control region. The genome organization, nucleotide composition and codon usage did not differ significantly from those of other primates. The control region contained several distinct repeat motifs, including a putative termination-associated sequence (TAS) and several conserved sequence blocks (CSB-F, E, D, C, B and 1). Among the protein-coding genes, the COII gene had lower nonsynonymous and synonymous substitutions rates while the ATP8 and ND4 genes had higher rates. A phylogenetic analysis using Maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods and the complete mitogenome data for platyrrhine species confirmed the basal position of the Callicebinae and the sister relationship between Atelinae and Cebidae, as well as the sister relationship between Aotinae (Aotus) and Cebinae (Cebus/Saimiri) in Cebidae. These conclusions agreed with the most recent molecular phylogenetic investigations on primates. This work provides a framework for the use of complete mitogenome information in phylogenetic analyses of the Platyrrhini and primates in general.

Various options for surgical treatment of morbid obesity have been developed with varying results: vertical banded gastroplasty with intestinal by-pass, disabsorptive surgeries and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. Although all of them have been effective in weight loss, lower rates of early and late postoperative complications have been described in some procedures. Laparoscopic adjustable silicone gastric banding (LASGB) has a similar principle as vertical banded gastroplasty and it is a minimally invasive procedure, with low systemic and operative problems, but not free of them. We report two rare cases of this complications of LASGB.