Oscillospira is a common yet rarely cultivated gut bacterial genus. Recently human gut microbiota studies have demonstrated its underlying significance for host health. However, little is known about Oscillospira-related host information and the links between Oscillospira and other members of the gut microbial community. To study the ecology of Oscillospira and gain insights into Oscillospira-related host physiological conditions, we analyzed data from the Guangdong Gut Microbiome Project, one of the largest gut microbiota database currently. Data of 6376 participants were analyzed. We studied the prevalence and relative abundance of Oscillospira as well as the profiles of associated microbial communities. We found that Oscillospira is closely related to human health because its abundance was positively correlated with microbial diversity, high density lipoprotein, and sleep time, and was inversely correlated with diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglyceride, uric acid and Bristol stool type. Moreover, random forest analysis with five-fold cross validation showed Oscillospira could be a predictor of low BMI and constipation in the subset. Overall, in this study, we provide a basic understanding of Oscillospira-related microbiota profile and physiological parameters of the host. Our results indicate Oscillospira may play a role in aggravating constipation.

The rapid and nondestructive determination of active compositions in Chrysanthemum morifolium (Hangbaiju) is of great value for producers and consumers. Hyperspectral imaging as a rapid and nondestructive technique was used to determine total polysaccharides and total flavonoids content in Chrysanthemum morifolium. Hyperspectral images of different sizes of Chrysanthemum morifolium flowers were acquired. Pixel-wise spectra within all samples were preprocessed by wavelet transform (WT) followed by standard normal variate (SNV). Partial least squares (PLS) and least squares-support vector machine (LS-SVM) were used to build prediction models using sample average spectra calculated by preprocessed pixel-wise spectra. The LS-SVM model performed better than the PLS models, with the determination of the coefficient of calibration (R2c) and prediction (R2p) being over 0.90 and the residual predictive deviation (RPD) being over 3 for total polysaccharides and total flavonoids content prediction. Prediction maps of total polysaccharides and total flavonoids content in Chrysanthemum morifolium flowers were successfully obtained by LS-SVM models, which exhibited the best performances. The overall results showed that hyperspectral imaging was a promising technique for the rapid and accurate determination of active ingredients in Chrysanthemum morifolium, indicating the great potential to develop an online system for the quality determination of Chrysanthemum morifolium.

Background We discuss the presentation and management of extracranial carotid artery aneurysms (ECAAs) and to develop a new type of classification. Material/Methods A retrospective review of 35 ECAAs patients who were admitted in our institution from January 2010 to June 2016 was conducted. The mean follow-up period was 25.58±22.13 months. Results During the study period, 35 aneurysms were diagnosed and treated (mean age, 50.8±15.6 years; 15 men). There were 28 true aneurysms, 5 false aneurysms, and 2 dissecting aneurysms. A total of 16 patients with true aneurysms underwent open surgical treatment (group 1), whereas 15 received endovascular management, including all false and dissecting aneurysms (group 2). The remaining 4 true aneurysms were treated with hybrid operation (group 3). The patency rates of groups 1, 2, and 3 were 100%, 93.3%, and 100%, respectively. According to the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) Classification, all 24 cases of type Ia aneurysms were treated by either open surgery and/or endovascular treatment, whereas all 3 type Ib cases were treated solely by open surgery. All 5 type IIa patients were treated by endovascular treatment, with the exception of 1 failure that was transferred to hybrid operation. All 3 type IIb patients were treated by hybrid operation. Conclusions Open surgery was more frequently feasible in true aneurysms, and endovascular surgery was the first choice for false and dissecting aneurysms. Hybrid operation was available for complicated cases. The PUMCH classification may be helpful for selection of management strategies for ECAAs.

Proliferation of HPSCs in vitro can promote its broad clinical therapeutic use. For in vitro co-culture, interaction between the stem cell and feeder cell as well as their spatial position are essential. To imitate the natural microenvironment, a 3D engineered scaffold for CD34 + cells co-culture was established via 3D bioprinting. Herein, the concentration of hydrogel and the ratio of two kinds of cells were optimized. Flow cytometry, real time PCR and RNA-seq technology were applied to analyze the effect of the engineered scaffold on expanded cells. After 10 days co-culture with the engineered scaffold, the expansion of CD34 + CD38 − cells can reach 33.57-folds and the expansion of CD34 + CD184 + cells can reach 16.66-folds. Result of PCR and RNA-seq indicates that the CD34 + cells in 3D group exhibited a tendency of interaction with the engineered scaffold. Compared to 2D co-culture, this customizable 3D engineered scaffold can provide an original and integrated environment for HPSCs growth. Additionally, this scaffold can be modified for different cell co-culture or cell behavior study. Umbilical cord blood (UC) is considered to be an alternative hematopoietic stem cell source for curing patients with hematologic diseases by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation 1. However, the limited number of transplantable hematopoietic progenitor or stem cells (HPSCs) is the major obstacle to broad clinical application 2,3. To date, human HPSCs expansion in vitro is still a challenge because of their easy differentiation during culture 4. In nature, HPSCs reside in a complex microenvironment, known as niche, containing multiple components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and various stromal cells including mesenchymal stem cells, adipocytes, osteoblasts, endothelial cells 5,6. In order to achieve HPSCs expansion in vitro, several strategies, including adding soluble cytokines 7-9 , culturing with stromal cells 10,11 and structuring the 3D environment with different materials 12-15 were utilized. All the strategies mentioned above were attempts to mimic the natural conditions for HPSC growth. In recent years, several studies had been processed to prove the superiority of threedimensional (3D) culture systems in HPSCs proliferation and stemness maintenance 10,13,14,16-19. Although these studies made certain achievements, they also had limitations to achieve the natural niche construction due to the multi-cellular composition and complex structure. For instance, in Raic's study, a porous polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel scaffold was fabricated for 3D co-culture of HPSCs and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), but the cells were seeded on the surface of scaffold with a top-down strategy 16. Moreover, the expansion of stromal cells in the co-culture system may causes the nutrient competition of cells against the expansion of HPSCs. To restrain the growth of stromal cells, methods like mitomycin C treatment 20 and irradiation 21 have been developed for the pre-treatment of feeder cells to restrain their growth. However, ...