Because the this website heat transfer occurs essentially by conduction and convection, conventional thermal technologies are not homogeneous, causing the product in direct contact with the hot surfaces to overheat. Therefore, the preservation of the quality and the nutritional parameters of heat-treated fruit represents a major challenge for the traditional processing techniques for fruit pulp and other products. Innovative technologies have been widely research as alternatives to traditional thermal processing.

Among these technologies are high pressure processing (Rawson, Brunton, & Tuohy, 2012; Verbeyst, Crombruggen, Van der Plancken, Hendrickx, & Van Loey, 2011), pulsed electric fields (Charles-Rodríguez, Nevárez-Moorillón, Zhang, & Ortega-Rivas, 2007; Plaza et al., 2011) and ohmic heating. Ohmic heating (OH) appear as

a solution to reduce thermal damage because it heats materials in a rapid and homogeneous manner. This technique may allow improved retention of vitamins, pigments and nutrients because this type of heating is rapid and uniform, resulting in less thermal damage to labile substances (Castro, Teixeira, Salengke, Sastry, & Vicente, 2003, 2004; Eliot-Godéreaux, Zuber, & Goullieux, 2001; Ruan, Ye, Chen, Doona, & Taub, 2002; Sarang, Sastry, & Knipe, 2008). Ohmic heating, also known as electroconductive heating, can be defined as a process in which foods Ipilimumab concentration are heated by passing alternating electrical current (AC) through them. Most food products contain ionic constituents, such as salts and acids, that enable the conduction of electrical current (Palaniappan & Sastry, 1991). This process can be used to generate heat within the product, transforming electrical energy into thermal energy and

thus heating materials at exceptionally rapid rates without the need for a heating medium or surface (Sastry & Barach, 2000). Among ohmic heating applications in the food industry are blanching, evaporation, dehydration, pasteurization and extraction (FDA, 2000). The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of ohmic heating on blueberry pulp anthocyanins Methisazone by applying a rotatable central composite design to identify the optimal processing conditions. A two-variable full factorial central composite and star design was employed to evaluate the influence of the applied voltage and the solids content (SC) on the level of anthocyanin degradation. Finally, the ohmic heating process was compared with conventional heating. Southern Brazil cultivars of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) were used in these experiments. The samples were purchased from Italbraz Company (Vacaria, Brazil) and kept at −18 °C until analysis. The blueberry pulp used in this study was prepared by grinding the fruits and diluting the resulting material to adjust the total solids content to five different values between 4 and 16 g/100 g. To prevent precipitation, 1 g/100 g xanthan gum (Hexus Foods, Portão, Brazil) was added to the mixture.

brasiliensis ( Kim et al., 2009 and Oliveira et al., 2010). The evaluation of extracts by paper chromatography has shown that www.selleckchem.com/products/atezolizumab.html these ninhydrin positive compounds are predominantly, but not exclusively, amino acids and can include polyamines and biogenic amines as already described for other mushrooms ( Nishibori, Fujihara, & Akatuki, 2007). The values obtained for A. brasiliensis extracts indicate that both fruiting body and mycelium are rich in phenolic compounds and its contents are similar or higher than those found in other edible and medicinal mushrooms including Grifola frondosa, Pleurotus ostreatus, Ganoderma lucidum and Lentinula edodes ( Asatiani et al., 2007, Barros et al.,

2008, Jayakumar et al., 2009, Kalyoncu et al.,

2010, Mau et al., 2002, Mau et al., 2002, Tsai et al., 2007 and Wong and Chye, 2009). The evaluation of the amount of total phenolic compounds as well as the identification of the main phenolics in mushrooms, have both great importance in their nutritional and functional characterization. Phenolics are secondary metabolites commonly found in plants, mushrooms and fungi and have been reported to exert multiple biological INK128 effects including antioxidant activity ( Dimitrios, 2006 and Kim et al., 2008). It is well-known that phenolics are antioxidants with redox properties, which allow them to act as reducing agents, hydrogen donors, free radical scavengers, and singlet oxygen quenchers ( Dimitrios, 2006). Unfortunately, only three from ten phenolic detected in HPLC experiments were identified in this work. The flavonoid content,

as indicated by the chemical identification procedure Montelukast Sodium utilized in the present work, is very low. The HPLC analysis failed to identify any of these compounds. Although flavonoids such as quercetin and myricetin have been putatively identified in mushrooms including A. brasiliensis ( Kim et al., 2008), these findings are still demanding confirmation by more sensitive and specific methods. Because different antioxidant compounds may act in vivo through different mechanisms, no single method can fully evaluate the total antioxidant capacity of materials. For this reason, in this work, four complementary test systems were used for evaluating the antioxidant activities of the extracts. Two tests, DPPH scavenging activity and LPO inhibition, indicated stronger antioxidant activity for the fruiting bodies extracts when compared to the mycelial extracts. The other tests, ABTS scavenging activity and ferrous ion chelating activity, indicated the opposite. The cause for these apparently discrepant results could be partly related to the fact that different extracts may contain different types of polyphenolics with quite different reactivities. It should also be pointed out that the antioxidant activity of fungal extracts is not solely given by phenolics.

Finally, the smoke

delivery levels of nickel, chromium and selenium are in most cases below the quantification limits of the protocols commonly used for their determination [29]. Conversely, sizeable amounts of cadmium, lead and arsenic can be found in tobacco smoke [30]. In the light of these observations, the present study focuses on cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As). The cigarette delivery of elements to mainstream smoke can be addressed as a combination of two factors, the amount of these elements present in tobacco and their transfer rate, which is specific to element speciation and is impacted by cigarette design. The transfer of elements during smoking Epacadostat has been the subject of a number of studies over decades. Nevertheless, despite this wealth of information, it is difficult to obtain a clear model of elements transfer to smoke (sidestream or mainstream),

or their retention (in ash or butt). Even for the specific subject of the phase-distribution for each Pexidartinib supplier element in the smoke aerosol, there is a lack of agreement. This point is central to a discussion on transfer since a compound must be at least partly present in the gas-phase to be selectively removed from mainstream smoke by adsorbents. The uncertainty that prevails about the elements transfer or speciation is likely due to the complexity of the quantification of elements yields at trace levels, despite dramatic improvements in instrumentation and analytical methods over the years. Sample contamination

is a constant problem. The small size of the data sets taken into account in many studies is an additional cause for discrepancies among authors’ assessments. Based on data from three worldwide market surveys of commercial cigarettes performed between 2008 and 2012, which included the determination of tobacco and mainstream smoke levels of As, Cd and Pb, we investigated the transfer of each of these elements from tobacco to mainstream smoke generated under both International Organization for Standardization Paclitaxel ic50 (ISO) and Health Canada Intense (HCI) machine-smoking regimes. Of particular interest is the fact that market surveys data can very effectively evidence selective removal of an element by activated carbon through a comparison of its filtration to that of nicotine. Results, including data from specially designed prototypes, are discussed and the conclusions strengthened by a review of the relevant literature on elements specific filtration. In order to best observe the impact of cigarette design and tobacco blend, brands were selected to cover as many cigarette design specificities as possible, rather than sampling based on local market share. 568 samples of commercial brands from 27 different manufacturers were bought in 2008 (205 samples), 2009 (63 samples) and 2012 (300 samples) at the point of sale in 23 countries.

While the inter-assay CVs were acceptable, future improvements in reproducibility may be achieved with the development of rigorous assay-to-assay normalization controls and with better mixing approaches for the large and relatively dense 240 micron glass beads (cylinders), which tend to settle quickly and may result in poor and inconsistent mixing and binding kinetics. Likewise, the VeraCode™ system was also technically validated against ELISA Cytoskeletal Signaling inhibitor for detection of non-antibody circulating protein biomarkers using a sandwich immunoassay format. In this case, the CRC biomarker CEA was used as a model system. Here, 94% hit concordance was seen between the two assay types in 52 CRC samples (and quantitative correlation of

R2 = 0.9 when a linear regression is performed between the assays). Not surprisingly, the only discordant hits were borderline positive or negative CRC samples that fell extremely close to the cutoffs (see red asterisks in Fig. 3A), as the consistently low background LDE225 in vitro in the normal patients resulted in a very low scoring

cutoff (both assays show 100% specificity against normal samples). Next, by combining the most robust TAA observed in our studies, p53, with sandwich immunoassay based quantification of the well-known CRC biomarker CEA, and the cytokine GDF15 in a hybrid multiplexed assay, we achieved a composite diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 54% and 98%, respectively (186 samples CRC and normal). Thus, we demonstrate the ability to measure, in multiplex, two distinctly different biomarker types using different assay formats, simultaneously, on the VeraCode™ beads. As with the TAAs alone, the additive benefit of combing multiple biomarkers stems from the lack of complete redundancy, with each biomarker detecting several patients (9 to 29) which the others Montelukast Sodium did not, and with no single biomarker exceeding 38% sensitivity (GDF15). It is important to emphasize that while the particular biomarkers used here were chosen to exemplify the immunoassay method, the clinical studies

performed here were only preliminary, retrospective validation studies on a particular cohort of CRC and normal patient samples, and that the results of these studies would need further validation using larger patient cohorts, as well as non-target disease controls (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease and cancers other than CRC) and ultimately, blinded studies and prospective clinical studies. In the future, it is expected that the CRC biomarker panel not only would expand, but also would be refined through elimination of biomarkers as further studies are performed using the VeraCode™ immunoassay methods presented here. For example, GDF15 is a stress-induced cytokine and in addition to CRC has been shown to be a biomarker for a variety of conditions such as heart disease (reviewed in Wollert and Kempf, 2012) and worsening albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes (Hellemons et al., 2012).

In 2000, landings from Tuvalu’s EEZ amounted to just 3% of the maximum catch wrested from its waters as recently as 1991 [6]. Over 1986–1997, a crucial period of tuna depletion, Japan alone caught 16 times as much as Tuvalu did in Tuvalu’s waters [6]. In addition, the illegal, unreported this website and unregulated (IUU) catches in Pacific islands’ EEZs were estimated to be four times as valuable as the island nations’ earnings from access fees [41], despite extensive participation of observers [33]. Recently in a bold move, eight Pacific island nations joined to ban fishing with purse-seine nets, capable of capturing whole schools of tuna, from a 3.2

million square km area of international waters called the Eastern High Seas [42]. In contrast, the catch losses estimated here for Australia and New Zealand have stabilized somewhat since the mid-1990s after periods of stepwise increase. These countries also scored well for their current fishery management practices [28] and [29]. New Zealand, having widely implemented a system of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) that gives fishermen a long-term stake in stewardship, reported recently that only 15% of quota-covered stocks are significantly

below target levels [33]. ITQs have shown promising results in preventing overfishing [43], but Mora et al. note that their success for a country relies on the scientific value of the underlying quotas [29]. Approximately half of selleck products Australia’s stocks are managed, Ipilimumab 40% of which have been deemed overfished [33]—a statistic hidden by the dramatic growth in total landings until the 1990s. By examining catch trends at the

country and species level over a critical period in the history of fishing, it is clear that overall reported landings hide the spread of overfishing throughout the world’s oceans. Early losses appeared for countries exploiting the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans (e.g., Norway, the US, the former USSR). Within decades, however, the technological intensification and southward movement of fishing effort had depleted stocks in the EEZs of South America, Southern and West Africa, and China. Despite increasing catch trends for many countries bordering the Indian Ocean at present, there is no reason to expect that the stocks there will escape a similar fate in a fishing-as-usual scenario. For wild fish to remain an abundant food source, there must be concerted action to significantly curtail fishing effort so that stocks may rebuild to higher biomass levels. The analysis in this article has shown that countries such as Norway, Iceland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand which have implemented sustainable fishery management practices have stabilized or even reversed their losses to overfishing (although in some cases increased imports also helped reduce fishing pressure).

1-c). We then infiltrated PXM69 cells into tobacco leaves to assess their ability to elicit HR in non-host plants. PXM69 had also lost its ability to induce HR in tobacco (Fig. 1-d). The mutant PXM69

was first analyzed by PCR using primers Tn5F and Tn5R (Table 1). An expected 569 bp DNA fragment was amplified from the genomic DNA of PXM69 (Fig. 2-a), confirming the presence of a Tn5-insertion in the genome. In order to determine the copy number of the Tn5-insertion in the genome of PXM69, genomic Southern blotting analysis was conducted. The genomic DNA was digested with Sph I, and a single hybridization band was detected by the Tn5-derived probe, whereas the wild-type PXO99A displayed no hybridization band ( Fig. 2-b), indicating that there was a single Tn5-insertion in the genome of the mutant PXM69. PCR walking [14] was then used to isolate the flanking sequences SAHA HDAC of the Tn5-insertion site

in PXM69. Nested PCR with primer pairs Ap1/TnRP1 and Ap2/TnRP2 was performed to isolate the left flanking sequences (Fig. 3-a). Similarly, nested PCR with primer pairs Ap1/TnFP1 and Ap2/TnFP2 was performed Bafilomycin A1 order to isolate the right flanking sequences (Fig. 3-a). The nested PCR products were sequenced and compared with the genome sequences of Xoo PXO99A, KACC10331 and MAFF311018 by NCBI BLASTN and BLASTX searches. As shown in Fig. 3-b, the Tn5 transposon was inserted at nucleotide position 70192/201 in the genome of PXO99A, disrupting the type III hrc (hrp-conserved) gene hrcQ, the first gene in the D operon of the hrp gene cluster [9]. To confirm whether the loss of pathogenicity in PXM69 was caused by Tn5-disruption of the hrcQ gene, we recreated a disruption mutant ΔhrcQ::KAN of PXO99A by marker exchange mutagenesis at the same site as that of Tn5-insertion in PXM69. As expected, pathogenicity assays showed that ΔhrcQ::KAN also lost the virulence on JG30 and the ability to induce HR in non-host

tobacco ( Fig. 1-a, d). The growth selleck chemicals of ΔhrcQ::KAN in rice tissue was also significantly inhibited compared to wild-type PXO99A ( Fig. 1-c). The hrcQ gene with its promoter region (1326 bp: 69,569–70,894 in GenBank accession no. CP000967.1) was amplified by PCR and cloned into the broad host range plasmid pHM1, resulting in plasmid pHhrcQ, which was then transferred into the Tn5-insertion mutant PXM69 by electroporation, and the complementary strain pH-PhrcQ was obtained. Pathogenicity assays were performed using the leaf-clipping method. Results showed that bacterial growth of pH-PhrcQ in rice tissue was almost fully restored ( Fig. 1-c). However, the lesion length caused by pH-PhrcQ was not as long as that by the wild-type strain PXO99A, indicating that the pathogenicity was not completely recovered, although the pH-PhrcQ caused much longer lesions than PXM69 ( Fig. 1-a). HR assay results also indicated that pH-PhrcQ partially recovered the ability of HR-triggering ( Fig. 1-d).

5 mg/kg) was observed here and by Matos et al. (2001). However, this increase was not observed in Ts-DF venom injected animals. Thus, the inability of the T. serrulatus venom from DF to induce INCB018424 pulmonary edema could be related to the absence of both cardiogenic and non-cardiogenic effects, such as elevated levels of CK and CK-MB, morphological changes in cardiac muscle, or increased pulmonary vascular permeability. We observed the presence of leukocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage of rats injected with Ts-MG venom. However, this response was not observed in animals

injected with Ts-DF venom, just as in previous studies performed by Matos et al. (1999) who suggested that the recruitment of leukocytes do not play an important role in the development of acute pulmonary edema. Otherwise, it was shown that the T. serrulatus venom stimulates the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and KC (keratinocyte-derived chemokine), and the activity of MPO (myeloperoxidase

and nitric oxide) and lung perivascular mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cells infiltration ( Comellas et al., 2003, Andrade et al., 2004, Andrade et al., 2007, Coelho et al., 2007 and Peres et al., 2009). Andrade et al. Cell Cycle inhibitor (2007) showed that scorpion venom not only increases the expression of mRNA pulmonary inflammatory cytokines but also non-inflammatory cytokines, moreover the expression of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA was shown to be higher among the remaining detectable cytokines. Recently, Cepharanthine Filho et al. (2011) demonstrated that the T. serrulatus venom did not cause local inflammation in mice, but it induced an increase of blood neutrophils and serum IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10. In addition, after 360 min of envenomation there was a reduction in the cells number from peritoneum and spleen, but there was an increase in the cell number from lymph nodes ( Filho et al., 2011). It is widely known that different scorpion species have different venom compositions. Interestingly, many studies have reported significant differences in the protein components and venom toxicity within

scorpions of the same species (Kalapothakis and Chávez-Olórtegui, 1997, Pimenta et al., 2003a, Newton et al., 2007, Abdel-Rahman et al., 2009 and Abdel-Rahman et al., 2010). The present work shows that Ts-MG venom is slightly more complex than the Ts-DF and posses a higher number of compounds eluting between 0–25 and 36–40% acetonitrile than Ts-DF. On the other hand, Ts-DF has a higher number of compounds elution between 51 and 60% acetonitrile than Ts-MG venom. The venom of several scorpions of the Tityus genus has been submitted to proteomic analysis ( Pimenta et al., 2001, Diego-García et al., 2005, Nascimento et al., 2006, Batista et al., 2006, Batista et al., 2007, Barona et al., 2006 and Rates et al., 2008). According to Pimenta et al. (2001), T.

Adverse events included mild pancreatitis in 3 patients (5%, ASGE threshold 7%), and 1 episode of moderate bleeding http://www.selleckchem.com/products/Gefitinib.html (ASGE threshold 2%). In addition there was 1 episode of sphincterotomy clot adherence leading to biliary obstruction requiring repeat ERCP within 1 week. Overall, 5 (8%) patients

experienced a complication. Interestingly, 3 (60%) of these 5 had sickle cell disease. This study demonstrates that pediatric gastroenterologists can perform ERCP for choledocholithiasis, a grade 2 ERCP, with acceptable cannulation and stone extraction rates and acceptable adverse event rates as defined by ASGE. The same is likely true for more complex procedures given appropriate experience, but additional research is needed. “
“There is no standardized method for teaching endoscopy in pediatric gastroenterology. Acquisition of skills may vary widely among institutions, depending on the instruction styles of attending endoscopists, amount of endoscopy exposure for fellows, and availability of additional training tools (i.e. simulators). To validate a part-task training box for the objective assessment of endoscopic proficiency in pediatric gastroenterology providers. The training box was developed based on our prior selleck kinase inhibitor work in kinematic analysis of maneuvers and deconstruction of the colonoscopic examination. The training box contains 5 tasks: polypectomy,

retroflexion, torque, tip deflection, and navigation/loop reduction. Each task was scored using a system previously developed from repeated trials with a 5 minute time limit per task. Training levels included novices, pediatric gastroenterology fellows, and pediatric gastroenterology attendings from 2 academic institutions. No participant had prior experience with the training box beforehand. Data was collected on years of experience and total number of procedures however performed. Several subjects of different experience levels participated

in multiple sessions with the training box to assess the learning curve on this particular mode of training. A total of 36 subjects were enrolled in the study: 10 novices, 12 fellows (2-1st years, 5-2nd years, and 5-3rd years), and 14 attendings. Novices (including 1st year fellows) had a mean total score of 52.5 ± 10.2. Senior fellows (2nd and 3rd year) had a mean score of 248.5 ± 32.0. Attendings had a mean score of 212.1 ± 20.2. Senior fellows scored significantly higher than novices (p<0.001). Senior fellows’ scores were not significantly different from attendings (p=0.97). Score results are shown in Table 1. Individual scores were highest on the polypectomy task. However, this study was not powered to detect differences in performance on individual tasks. Several participants repeated the box trainer more than once, most of whom demonstrated improvement in scores, suggesting that there is a learning curve for this training modality.

21(0.79 – 1.59); calculation of this ratio using the data from the floating spectroradiometer for the same stations gave a value of 1.04(0.77 – 1.51). More data from simultaneous field and satellite measurements are needed to refine these algorithms.

The MODIS-Aqua data used in this study were obtained from the Goddard Distributed Active Archive Centre. The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. “
“Phytoplankton communities are the basis of many marine and freshwater food webs (Huertas et al. 2011). Their composition fluctuates depending on hydrological conditions, such as light, temperature, salinity, pH, nutrients and turbulence (Legendre & Demers 1984, Smayda 1990, Leterme et al. 2005, 2006). Neratinib in vitro Typically, diatoms dominate coastal marine communities. However, other groups of phytoplankton can dominate depending on the combination of hydrological conditions and climatic variability (Margalef 1975, Leterme et al. 2006). Changes in dominant base groups/species often propagate up the food chain, impacting on fish, marine mammals and birds (Donnelly et al. 2007). Phytoplankton are known to exhibit rapid responses to changes in environmental conditions (Furnas 1990) and are therefore commonly acknowledged as excellent bio-indicators of the impact of

natural and seasonal changes in coastal ecosystems (Harris 1986, Rimet & Bouchez 2012). Their susceptibility to environmental change is usually expressed by morphological and/or behavioural changes as well as by persistent or seasonally Selleckchem VE-821 atypical differences in abundance and distribution (Margalef 1975, Leterme et al. 2010, 2013). Where mono- or class-specific blooms are

observed on an annual basis, they often vary significantly in magnitude and/or duration between years (Ji et al. 2006). These seasonal fluctuations in biomass can be explained by (i) a generally positive correlation between phytoplankton biomass, day length and temperature, (ii) the patterns of upwelling/downwelling-favourable conditions impacting on nutrient ratios and (iii) the ability of phytoplankton to rapidly metabolise nutrients (Lips & Lips 2010). In coastal ecosystems, the capacity of phytoplankton populations and biomass to fluctuate in response to changing environmental conditions is often highly amplified when compared to the open ocean (Cloern Exoribonuclease 1996, Carter et al. 2005). These changes range from temperature changes, over naturally occurring nutrient fluctuations caused by upwelling/downwelling-favourable conditions, to biochemical input from natural and anthropogenic land run-off (Justic et al. 1995). The oceanography of Gulf St Vincent (GSV) has recently been described by Pattiaratchi et al. (2006) and Bye & Kämpf (2008). They showed that the key processes affecting the currents and mixing of the GSV are (1) astronomical tides with a strong spring neap cycle, (2) wind-driven flows (i.e.

In this study, we demonstrated that patients with DHF had reduced SOCS1 expression and elevated miR-150 levels. The miR-155 AZD4547 expression was observed in patients with DF, but not in patients with DHF (Fig. 3(b)). MicroRNAs are an abundant class of highly conserved small non-coding RNAs. They primarily function through suppressing the expression of target genes by binding to their 3′-UTRs of target mRNAs inducing mRNA degradation or suppressed translation. MicroRNAs have been shown to regulate a variety of biological processes including development, cell proliferation, differentiation,

apoptosis,36 and 37 and viral infections.38 and 39 The role of miRNAs in the regulation of innate immunity was first reported by Taganov et al.,40 who showed that miR-146 is a negative feedback regulator of TLR signalling. We have previously reported that low innate miR-21 expression, resulting in high TGF-β receptor 2 expression, correlates to antenatal IgE production and development of allergic rhinitis.22 In this study, we found that miR-21 was not associated with dengue infections, but miR-150 was significantly

associated with DHF. miR-150 has been found to be highly expressed in immune cells, and has a permissive function in the maturation, proliferation and differentiation of myeloid and lymphoid cells.41 Many of the miR-150 target transcripts identified so far are pro-apoptotic and differentiation proteins, such as early growth response 2 (EGR2), c-myb, and notch homologue 3 (NOTCH3).42, 43 and 44 Aberrant methylation of the SOCS-1 occurs in hepatocellular carcinoma45 and Gfi-1, a transcription repressor, was also approved binding on SOCS1 gene promoter EPZ015666 and regulated SOCS1 expression.11 Here, we identified SOCS1 as a possible target of miR-150 in human CD14+ cells and confirmed that miR-150 down-regulates

SOCS1 expression levels in DENV-2-infected cells (Fig. 4(c)). SOCS1 expression levels are reported to increase rapidly following macrophage exposure to inflammatory cytokines and TLR ligands.46 and 47 We showed that SOCS1 mRNA expression increased in CD14+ CYTH4 cells in response to DENV-2 infection (Fig. 4(b)). SOCS1 protein level is more critical than mRNA expression; however, we were unable to determine the protein level from the DENV-2 cohort due to the limitations of remnant specimens. Further studies are required to determine whether other miRNAs or SOCS family proteins are involved in the pathogenesis of DHF. In summary, we found that patients with DHF had elevated miR-150 expression, which was associated with the suppression of SOCS1 expression. The overexpression of miR-150 suppressed SOCS1 expression, confirming that SOCS1 expression is regulated by miR-150. These data highlight that abnormal immune responses in patients with DHF can be potentially controlled by modulating miRNA expression. We thank Dr. Eng-Yen Huang for his advice on the statistical analyses. For technical assistance, we would like to thank Ms.