Intracellular microcystin-LR (MC-LR) concentrations of the toxigenic strain decreased after pyrogallol addition in both mono- and co-culture systems, whereas extracellular MC-LR concentrations increased. This finding may reflect the cell damage of M. aeruginosa because of the pyrogallol. At the same initial number of cells, the extracellular MC-LR concentration released from the same amount of TS2 cells in mono-culture was slightly higher than that in dialysis co-culture conditions. Overall, this study shows that plant allelochemicals may have the potential to reduce bloom toxicity by reducing the proportion of toxigenic cyanobacterial strains, and the effects of co-existing strains must be considered when assessing the effects of plant allelochemicals on target strains. Botulinum toxin (BoNT) has become a therapeutic agent for a large variety of medical conditions. It is a symptomatic treatment and in most cases requires repeat injections at regular intervals. The first session is crucial in establishing rapport between the physician and the patient to ensure a continuity of treatment on a long term basis. Since the clinical practice varies widely across different therapeutic indications and in different clinical settings around the world, a general set of strategic approach is difficult to be formulated. This article will focus on the important issues when starting BoNT treatment in patients with cervical dystonia (CD). T-2 toxin is considered an unavoidable pollutant, which contaminates food crops and stockpiled cereals, impairing the health of humans and animals due to its multi-organ toxicity. Studies have shown that T-2 toxin can cause articular cartilage damage; however, the underlying molecular mechanism is still unclear. Here, we investigated the possible mechanism of the following inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) family members NAIP, cIAP1, cIAP2, XIAP, and Survivin, and their involvement in T-2 toxin-induced mouse chondrocyte damage. In this study, mouse articular chondrocytes were isolated and cultured in vitro, and the chondrocytes were then treated with 0, 5, 10, and 20 ng/mL T-2 toxin. Firstly, the toxic effect of T-2 toxin on chondrocytes was determined. Selleckchem ABTL-0812 CCK-8 assay results showed that T-2 toxin induced a dose-dependent inhibition of chondrocyte viability. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that T-2 toxin caused morphological changes in chondrocyte endoplasmic reticulum and an increase in mitochondrial swelling. In addition, Annexin-V-FITC/PI staining and caspase 3 protein expression showed that T-2 toxin induced an increase in the apoptotic rate of chondrocytes. Secondly, it was found that T-2 toxin cause decreased expression of cellular and secreted Collagen II. Finally, we examined the expression of NAIP, cIAP1, cIAP2, XIAP, and Survivin in chondrocytes in the presence of T-2 toxin and their relationship with decreased Collagen II. The decrease in Collagen II was negatively correlated with the expression of cIAP1, cIAP2 and positively correlated with NAIP and Survivin mRNA level. Survivin mRNA level had a positive correlation with Collagen II as shown by partial correlation analysis. This study revealed the new role of IAPs in chondrocyte injury and provides new insights and clues into the mechanism of T-2 toxin-induced chondrocyte damage. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence and outcomes of minimally invasive surgery for stage I high grade endometrial cancer. We hypothesized that route of surgery is not associated with survival. MATERIALS Patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2014, with stage I grade 3 endometrioid, serous, clear cell and carcinosarcoma endometrial carcinoma, who underwent hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy were drawn from the National Cancer Database. Patients converted to open surgery were excluded. Overall survival was assessed with Kaplan-Meier curves and compared with the log-rank test. A Cox model was constructed to control for confounders. RESULTS A total of 12852 patients were identified. The rate of minimally invasive surgery was 62.2%. An increase in the use between 2010 and 2014 was noted (p  less then  0.001). Open surgery was associated with longer hospital stay (median 3 vs 1 day, p  less then  0.001), higher 30-day unplanned re-admission rate (4.5% vs 2.4%, p  less then  0.001) and 30-day mortality (0.6% vs 0.3%, p = 0.008). There was no difference in overall survival between patients who had open or minimally invasive surgery, p = 0.22; 3-yr overall survival rates were 83.7% and 84.4% respectively. After controlling for patient age, tumor histology, substage, type of insurance, type of reporting facility, receipt of radiation therapy and chemotherapy, extent of lymphadenectomy, the presence of comorbidities and personal history of another tumor, minimally invasive surgery was not associated with a worse survival (hazard ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 0.97, 1.15). CONCLUSIONS Minimally invasive surgery for patients with stage I high grade endometrial cancer, was associated with superior short-term outcomes with no difference in overall survival noted. CONTEXT Reliable long-term central venous access device (CVAD) is essential for the management of pediatric patients with cancer or chronic diseases. However, there is no general consensus for optimal catheter tip location and vessel insertion site in children. OBJECTIVE This single center study analyzes the risk of complications associated with long-term upper body CVAD and evaluates them with respect to catheter tip location as well as vessel insertion site. DESIGN Pediatric patients who received long-term upper body CVAD from January 2008 through April 2017 and underwent radiographic documentation of the tip location were retrospectively included in the study. Data on demographics, catheter tip location on chest x-ray, intraoperative vessel insertion sites and postoperative complications were analyzed. Catheter tip location was categorized as “high” (above the right mainstem bronchus), “medium” (at the level of the bronchus), and “low” (below the right mainstem bronchus). Distance to the carina was measured as well.