Abstract This study aims to investigate the predictive value of SYNTAX score,SYNTAX score II and coronary artery calcium score on the prognosis of patients after PCI. The SYNTAX score, SYNTAX score II and coronary artery calcium score were calculated. The primary end point was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). 195 patients were included, 182 patients were followed up and the median follow-up time was 34.5 months. The MACCE occurred in 30 patients. The incidence of MACCE of lower risk, medium risk and high risk were: SYNTAX score: 6.7%, 18.3%, 24.2%; coronary artery calcium score: 9.7%, 18.3%, 21.7%; SYNTAX score II: 6.6%, 16.4%, 26.7%; new combined risk score: 7.7%, 8.1%, and 35.8%. ROC analysis showed that SYNTAX score (AUC: 0.641, 95%CI: 0.540-0.743), coronary artery calcium score (AUC: 0.597, 95%CI: 0.490 -0.704), SYNTAX score II (AUC: 0.662, 95%CI: 0.561 - 0.763), new combined risk score (0.711, 95%CI: 0.606 - 0.816). The new combined risk score tended to be superior compared to other risk score (p<0.01). The results suggested that SYNTAX score, SYNTAX score II and new combined risk score can predict the occurrence of MACCE after PCI, new combined risk score provides superior prediction.

Abstract The effect of different concentrations of gelatin (0%, 2.5%, and 5%) and vacuum packaged on the preservation of golden pompano (Trachinotus blochii) fillets stored at 4 °C was studied over 14 days. The results suggested that both the gelatin groups (2.5% and 5%) showed a reduction in deterioration of colour, drip loss and texture compared to the control group (0%). In addition, the gelatin coating caused a slower reduction in the freshness indexes of the fish, such as total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), total viable counts and pH. During a certain storage period, the gelatin notably prevented the deterioration of the golden pompano fillet at 4 °C. The 5% gelatin group showed the best effect on preserving the freshness indexes. Thus, the application of gelatin as a preservative is highly prospective for the preservation of fish fillets.

ABSTRACT Aims: To evaluate the HBeAg seroconversion rate in real clinical setting and explore its predictors in long-term nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) treatment for chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods: 251 patients were recruited from January 2001 to September 2009 in four hospitals in Hebei province, China, for this retrospective study. Clinical and laboratory data before and after treatment with lamivudine (LAM, 100 mg daily), adefovir (ADV, 10 mg daily), telbivudine (LDT, 600 mg daily), entecavir (ETV, 0.5 mg daily), and LAM/ADV combination were compared among three groups according to treatment outcomes: synchronous HBeAg loss and HBeAg seroconversion, anti-HBe development after treatment, and no anti-HBe. Adherence was also evaluated. Results: In real clinical setting, cumulative HBeAg seroconversion rates were 14.3%, 32.7%, 43.0%, 46.9%, and 50.5% after 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 years, respectively. 45 patients (17.9%) were non-adherent. Adherence (p < 0.001, Hazard Ratio (HR) = 2.203), elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels (p < 0.001, HR = 2.049), and non-vertical transmission (p = 0.006, HR = 1.656) were predictors of HBeAg seroconversion. Conclusion: Adherence, elevated ALT, and non-vertical transmission are predictors of HBeAg seroconversion in CHB patients treated with NAs.

Abstract Background Hypertrophic scarring (HS) is a severe disease, and results from unusual wound healing. Col1A1 could promote the hypertrophic scar formation, and the expression of Col1A1 in HS tissue was markedly higher than that in the normal. In present study, we aimed to identify miRNAs as post-transcriptional regulators of Col1A1 in HS. Methods MicroRNA-98 was selected as the key miRNA comprised in HS. The mRNA levels of miR-98 in HS tissues and the matched normal skin tissues were determined by qRT-PCR. MTT and flow cytometry were used to determine the influence of miR-98 on cell proliferation and apoptosis of HSFBs, respectively. Col1A1 was found to be the target gene of miR-98 using luciferase reporter assay. Luciferase assay was performed to determine the relative luciferase activity in mimic NC, miR-98 mimic, inhibitor NC and miR-98 inhibitor with Col1A13′-UTR wt or Col1A13′-UTR mt reporter plasmids. The protein expression of Col1A1 in HSFBs after transfection with mimic NC, miR-98 mimic, inhibitor NC and miR-98 inhibitor were determined by western blotting. Results The mRNA level of miR-98 in HS tissues was much lower than that in the control. Transfection of HSFBs with a miR-98 mimic reduced the cell viability of HSFBs and increased the apoptosis portion of HSFBs, while inhibition of miR-98 increased cell viability and decreased apoptosis portion of HSFBs. miR-98 inhibitor increased the relative luciferase activity significantly when cotransfected with the Col1A1-UTR reporter plasmid, while the mutant reporter plasmid abolished the miR-98 inhibitor-mediated increase in luciferase activity. Western blotting revealed that overex-pression of miR-98 decreased the expression of Col1A1. Conclusions Overexpression of miR-98 repressed the proliferation of HSFBs by targeting Col1A1.

ABSTRACT Objective Pendred syndrome (PS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by sensorineural hearing loss and thyroid dyshormonogenesis. It is caused by biallelic mutations in the SLC26A4 gene encoding for pendrin. Hypothyroidism in PS can be present from birth and therefore diagnosed by neonatal screening. The aim of this study was to examine the SLC26A4 mutation spectrum and prevalence among congenital hypothyroidism (CH) patients in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China and to establish how frequently PS causes hearing impairment in our patients with CH. Subjects and methods Blood samples were collected from 192 CH patients in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, and genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. All exons of the SLC26A4 gene together with their exon-intron boundaries were screened by next-generation sequencing. Patients with SLC26A4 mutations underwent a complete audiological evaluation including otoscopic examination, audiometry and morphological evaluation of the inner ear. Results Next generation sequencing analysis of SLC26A4 in 192 CH patients revealed five different heterozygous variations in eight individuals (8/192, 4%). The prevalence of SLC26A4 mutations was 4% among studied Chinese CH. Three of the eight were diagnosed as enlargement of the vestibular aqueduct (EVA), no PS were found in our 192 CH patients. The mutations included one novel missense variant p.P469S, as well as four known missense variants, namely p.V233L, p.M147I, p.V609G and p.D661E. Of the eight patients identified with SLC26A4 variations in our study, seven patients showed normal size/location of thyroid gland, and one patients showed a decreased size one. Conclusions The prevalence of SLC26A4 pathogenic variants was 4% among studied Chinese patients with CH. Our study expanded the SLC26A4 mutation spectrum, provided the best estimation of SLC26A4 mutation rate for Chinese CH patients and indicated the rarity of PS as a cause of CH.

A series of hydrazone compounds, 4-methyl-N'-(4-nitrobenzylidene)benzohydrazide methanol solvate (1), N'-(4-hydroxy-3-nitrobenzylidene)-4-methylbenzohydrazide dimethanol solvate (2), and N'-(3,5-dibromobenzylidene)-4-methylbenzohydrazide (3), derived from 4-methylbenzohydrazide with different benzaldehydes, were synthesized and characterized by physico-chemical methods and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Crystals of the compounds are stabilized by intermolecular hydrogen bonds, as well as π···π stacking interactions. Antibacterial activity of the compounds against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Klebsielle pneumoniae strains was studied. Compounds 1 and 2 have moderate minimum inhibition concentration values on the tested bacteria strains. Compound 3, with the Br-substituent groups, showed the highest activity on the bacterial strains.

Objetivo O hipotireoidismo congênito disormonogenético (CH) foi relatado como associado a uma mutação no gene simportador sódio/iodeto (NIS). O presente estudo foi feito na região autônoma de Guangxi Zhuang na China para se determinar a natureza e a frequência das mutações no gene NIS entre pacientes com CH causado por disormonogênese. Sujeitos e métodos: Amostras de sangue foram coletadas de 105 pacientes com CH disormonogenéticos e o DNA genômico foi extraído de leucócitos do sangue periférico. Todos os éxons do gene NIS, junto com seus limites éxon-íntron, foram analisados por sequenciamento de nova geração. Resultados Foram encontradas duas variações silenciosas (T221T e T557T) e uma variação missense (M435L), assim como dois polimorfismos (rs200587561 e rs117626343). Conclusões Nossos resultados indicam que a taxa de mutação em NIS é muito baixa na região de Guangxi Zhuang. É necessário estudar mutações de outros genes que tenham efeitos maiores na disormonogênese da tiroide e que ainda não tenham sido estudados nesta população.

Objective Dyshormonogenetic congenital hypothyroidism (CH) was reported to be associated with a mutation in the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) gene. The present study was undertaken in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, to determine the nature and frequency of NIS gene mutations among patients with CH due to dyshormonogenesis. Subjects and methods: Blood samples were collected from 105 dyshormonogenetic CH patients in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, and genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. All exons of the NIS gene together with their exon-intron boundaries were screened by next-generation sequencing. Results Two silent variations (T221T and T557T) and one missense variation (M435L), as well as two polymorphisms (rs200587561 and rs117626343) were found. Conclusions Our results indicate that the NIS mutation rate is very low in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, and it is necessary to study mutations of other genes that have major effects on thyroid dyshormonogenesis and have not as yet been studied in this population.

Screening of peanut seeds resulting from 0.39% sodium azide treatment with NIRS calibration equation for bulk seed samples identified a plant with more than 60% oleate. Oleate content in individual seeds of the plant, as predicted by NIRS calibration equation for intact single peanut seeds, ranged from 50.05% ~ 68.69%. Three seeds with >60% oleate thus identified were further confirmed by gas chromatography. Multiple sequence alignments of the FAD2B gene from Huayu 22 (wild type) and peanut seeds with elevated oleate (mutant type) revealed a C281T transition in the coding region causing an I94T substitution in the oleoyl-PC desaturase, which may be responsible for reduction in the enzyme activity.

Microsatellites, or simple sequence repeats (SSRs), in expressed sequence tags (ESTs) provide an opportunity for low cost SSR development. We looked for EST-SSRs in 403,511 ESTs (generated by 454 sequencing and representing 70,654 contigs and 52,082 singletons) from soybean globular stage embryos. Among 122,736 unique ESTs, 3,729 contained one or more SSRs. In total, 3,989 SSRs were identified including 304 mono, 1,374 di, 2,208 tri, 70 tetra, 13 penta and 20 hexanucleotide SSRs. Thirty three EST-SSRs were selected for primer design and polymorphism analysis using twenty soybean cultivars and one wild-type soybean. Successful amplification was obtained using 21 of these primer pairs, 11 of which detected polymorphisms in these soybean cultivars. These results demonstrated that 454 high throughput sequencing is a powerful tool for molecular marker development. From the 3,989 identified SSRs we expect to obtain a large number of makers with polymorphism among different soybean cultivars, which would be useful for analysis of genetic diversity and maker assisted selection in the soybean breeding programs.

Making use of the gene resources of wild type peanuts is a way to increase the genetic diversity of the cultivars. Marker assisted selection (MAS) could shorten the process of inter-specific hybridization and provide a possible way to remove the undesirable traits. However, the limited number of molecular markers available in peanut retarded its MAS process. We started a peanut ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) project aiming at cloning genes with agronomic importance and developing molecular markers. In this study we found 610 ESTs that contained one or more SSRs from 12,000 peanut ESTs. The most abundant SSRs in peanut are trinucleotides (66.3%) SSRs and followed by dinucleotide (28.8%) SSRs. AG/TC (10.7%) repeat was the most abundant and followed by CT/GA (9.0%), CTT/GAA (7.4%), and AAG/TTC (7.3%) repeats. Ninety-four SSR containing ESTs were randomly selected for primer design and synthesis, of which 33 pairs could generate good amplification and were used for polymorphism assessment. Results showed that polymorphism was very low in cultivars, while high level of polymorphism was revealed in wild type peanuts.

AIM: This study examined the correlation between P53 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression together with tumour vascularity and investigated their clinical significance in the prognosis of gastric carcinoma. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ninety-five patients with gastric carcinoma who underwent curative surgical resection were studied using immunohistochemical staining. Correlation between the expression of p53, VEGF, microvessel count (MVC) and various clinicopathologic factors were studied. RESULTS: No significant correlation was found between p53 expression and clinicopathologic factors. The rate of VEGF positivity was significantly higher in patients with haematogenous metastasis than in those without haematogenous metastasis. Both p53 and VEGF expression were associated with MVC. The MVC in p53 positive tumours was significantly higher than that in p53 negative tumours. Similarly, the same trend was seen between VEGF expression and MVC. The p53 and VEGF were co-expressed in 61 of 95 tumours (64.2%), and a significant (p < 0.01) association between p53 and VEGF expressions was demonstrated. The rate of VEGF positivity was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the patients with disease recurrence than in those without recurrence, whereas no significant correlation was found between disease recurrence and the expression of p53. CONCLUSIONS: The p53 expression may play an important role in controlling angiogenesis by regulating VEGF expression and VEGF expression is associated closely with disease recurrence. In addition, both p53 and VEGF expression might be useful in indicating the prognosis in patients with gastric carcinoma.

OBJETIVO: Este estudio examinó la correlación entre el P53 y la expresión del factor de crecimiento del endotelio vascular (VEGF) junto con las vascularidad del tumor, e investigó su importancia clínica en la prognosis del carcinoma gástrico. SUJETOS Y MÉTODOS: Noventa y nueve pacientes con carcinoma gástrico que fueron sometidos a resección quirúrgica curativa, fueron estudiados usando teñido inmunohistoquímico. Se estudió la correlación entre la expresión de p53, VEGF, el conteo de microvasos (MVC) y varios factores clínico-patológicos. RESULTADOS: No se halló una correlación significativa entre la expresión de p53 y los factores clínico-patológicos. La tasa de positividad de VEGF, fue significativamente más alta en pacientes con metástasis hematogénica que en pacientes sin metástasis hematogénica. Tanto la expresión de p53 como la de VEGF estuvieron asociadas con el conteo MVC. El MVC en tumores p53 positivos fue significativamente más alto que en tumores p53 negativos. De manera similar, la misma tendencia se observó entre la expresión de VEGF y MVC. El p53 y el VEGA fueron co-expresados en 61 de 95 tumores (64.2%), y se demostró una asociación significativa (p < 0.01) entre las expresiones de p53 y VEGA. La tasa de positividad VEGA fue significativamente más alta (p < 0.01) en los pacientes con recurrencia de la enfermedad que en aquellos sin recurrencia, en tanto que no se halló una correlación significativa entre la recurrencia de la enfermedad y la expresión de p53. CONCLUSIONES: La expresión p53 puede desempeñar un importante papel en el control de la angiogénesis mediante la regulación de la expresión de VEGF y la expresión de VEGF está estrechamente asociada con la recurrencia de la enfermedad. Además, tanto la expresión de p53 como la de VEGF podrían ser útiles para indicar la prognosis de pacientes con carcinoma gástrico.