Trends of non-union and prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the United States, 1993–2012

<div><p><b>Background and purpose —</b> Surgical care and pain management for patients with fractures have evolved over the years. We wanted to ascertain if there were any changes in the incidence of non-unions and, if so, whether the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including COX-2 selective inhibitors, might have an effect.</p><p><b>Patients and methods —</b> We used the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to estimate the annual number of patients hospitalized for surgical treatment of a non-union between 1993 and 2012, and calculated age-adjusted rates of non-union. We estimated the prevalence of prescriptions for NSAIDs from 1996 through 2012 using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The interrupted time-series analysis was used to relate quarterly rates of non-union to changes in prescriptions for NSAIDs between 1996 and 2009.</p><p><b>Results —</b> The annual estimate of non-unions in the USA declined 30% from 25,634 in 1993 to 17,815 in 2012 (p < 0.001). Specifically, the age-adjusted rate of non-unions decreased by 44% from 8.6 per 10⁵ persons in 1996 to 4.8 per 10⁵ persons in 2012 (p < 0.001). However, there was an 8% increase in the incidence rate of non-unions (p = 0.003) between 2000 and 2004, when certain COX-2 selective inhibitors were on the market and their prescriptions were prevalent at around 6% among those with fractures. A drop in non-union estimates from 22,321 in 2010 to 18,789 in 2011 (p = 0.04) also coincided with a marked decrease in prescriptions for NSAIDs in patients with fractures, from 22% to 14% (p = 0.02).</p><p><b>Interpretation —</b> Non-unions in the USA declined substantially between 1993 and 2012, but this was interrupted by changes in prescriptions for NSAIDs, with sustained increases between 2000 and 2004 followed by transient decreases in 2005 and 2011.</p></div

Identification of Methylation sites on pUC19 using Oxford Nanopore Sequencing

<p>Nanopore sequencing allows direct sequencing of single-stranded DNA molecules in real time. To explore whether Nanopore sequencing can discriminate methylated bases, we sequenced two plasmids with and without methylation at the dam and dcm methylation sites (GmeATC and CmeCWGG motifs respectively). By analyzing the resistance of 5-mers occupying a pore we observed significant differences between methylated and unmethylated sequences at the sites of both types of methylation, presumably due to the difference in the obstruction of current flow across the pore by the methyl groups. This finding indicates that Nanopore sequencing has the potential to robustly detect methylated bases, and that the current basecalling model would be improved by incorporating models of modified bases. Additionally, we observed a large fraction of 5-mers that significantly deviate from the default METRICHOR basecalling models, indicating that re-calibration is necessary to correct systematic biases in those models and improve overall sequencing accuracy.</p

Easy preparation of graphite-containing gel electrolytes using a gelator and characterization of their electrochemical properties

<p>Cyclo(L-β-3,7-dimethyloctylasparaginyl-L-phenylalanyl) was used as a gelator to synthesize gel electrolytes using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, propylene carbonate (PC), and γ-butyrolactone in 1 M LiBF₄. Gel strengths and thermal stabilities were studied with regard to the effect of graphite as a helper additive. Ionic conductivities, activation energies for ionic conductivity, and the electrochemical stabilities of the graphite-containing gel electrolytes were studied.</p

Insulin Therapy and Risk of Prostate Cancer: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

<div><p>Background</p><p>Previous observational studies have shown that insulin therapy may modify the risk of prostate cancer (PCa). However, these studies yielded controversial results. Thus, we performed this meta-analysis to determine whether insulin use was associated with PCa risk in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).</p> <p>Method</p><p>A literature search was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library Central database between January 1966 and January 2013. Fixed-effect and random-effect models were used to estimate pooled relative risks (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were also performed. </p> <p>Result</p><p>A total of 11 (10 cohorts, and one case–control) studies published between 2007 and 2013 were included in the meta-analysis, representing data for 205,523 male subjects and 7,053 PCa cases. There were five studies investigating the influence of insulin and other glucose-lowering agents on the risk of PCa , and six studies investigating the influence of glargine and non-glargine insulin. Insulin use was not associated with PCa risk when compared with other glucose-lowering agents (RR=0.89, 95% CI, 0.72-1.09). Use of insulin glargine did not contribute to susceptibility to PCa as compared with use of non-glargine insulin (RR=1.26, 95% CI, 0.86-1.84). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability of present results, since no individual study affected the pooled result significantly. </p> <p>Conclusions</p><p>Our results suggest that, there may be no significant association between insulin use and risk of PCa as compared with other glucose-lowering agents in patients with DM, and there was no substantial evidence for increase risk of PCa among insulin glargine users as compared to non-glargine insulin users. Further studies are warranted to validate these conclusions.</p> </div

Forest plot: comparison of insulin glargine vs. non-glargine insulins and risk of prostate cancer.

<p>Forest plot: comparison of insulin glargine vs. non-glargine insulins and risk of prostate cancer.</p

PIWI-deficient iPSCs form teratomas normally.

<p>Hematoxylin and eosin staining of teratoma sections showed differentiation of TKO iPS cells to tissues derived from all three germ layers, including the gut (endoderm), cartilage (mesoderm), and neural epithelium (ectoderm).</p

Piwi-deficiency does not affect reprogramming of MEFs.

<p>(A) iPS colonies exhibited typical ES cell morphology and expressed Oct4-GFP homogeneously. (B) Representative figure showing TKO iPS cells expressed comparable level of Oct4-GFP as Ctrl cells. (<i>n</i> = 20). Relative expression levels of (C) Oct4-GFP and (D) SOX2 proteins, as denoted by quantitative mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) shown by FACS analysis (<i>n</i> = 3 and 8, respectively). (E) Both TKO and Ctrl cells remained pluripotent and express Oct4-GFP⁺ SSEA1⁺ (>99%) over 30 passages. (F) A competition strategy was designed to determine if Piwi depletion compromises iPSC self-renewal. GFP+ cells (marked the iPSCs) were mixed in a 1-to-1 ratio with normal mouse ESCs (GFP-) cells, and cultured in the presence of LIF. With each passage the ratio of GFP/total cells was measured by FACS. The proportion of GFP+ cells with TKO were indiscernible from Ctrl cells over five passages (n = 3). Ctrl, wildtype or heterozygous littermate controls; TKO, triple knockout of piwi.</p

Reprogramming efficiency in PIWI-deficient MEFs is not compromised.

<p>(A) Correlation between GFP+ colony number and percentage 12 days post transduction. Each dot represents a single well of the reprogramming experiments. (B) Representative FACS plot for SSEA1/Oct4-GFP at 12 days post-viral transduction. (C, D) Relative reprogramming efficiencies are shown, with the fold changes indicated. (C) Fully reprogrammed efficiency, assessed by the percentage of SSEA1+Oct4-GFP+ cells; (D) Intermediately reprogrammed efficiency, assessed by percentage of SSEA1+Oct4-GFP- cells; Student's t-test (two-tailed) is used for statistics. Error bars, standard error. n = experiments with independent MEFs. Ctrl, wild type or heterozygous littermate controls; TKO, triple knockout of piwi.</p

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of ‘Quanhong poplar’ (<i>Populus deltoides</i> W. Bartram ex Humphry Marshall, 2011)

The color of the leaves is one of the most important factors for horticultural crops that are considered by breeders, and is also attracting more and more attention from economists and academics. 'Quanhong poplar’ (QHP), a rare, bright reddish-purple color-leaf cultivar that has been widely cultivated in China as a landscape tree, is a very precious color-leaf cultivar. In the present study, a reference-based assembly was performed using whole-genome sequencing data to characterize the chloroplast genome of 'QHP'. The total chloroplast genome size of ‘QHP’ is 156,950 bp, which is divided into two inverted repeat structures of 27,649 bp each, a small single-copy region of 16,563 bp, and a large single-copy region (LSC) of 85,089 bp. From the chloroplast genome, 130 genes have been predicted, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. A chloroplast genome containing 36.68% GC content was detected in 'QHP'. Three SNP sites have been developed between 'QHP' and Populus deltoides Zhonglin 2025. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of chloroplast genomes reported for Populus, the chloroplast of 'QHP' is closest to several strains of Populus deltoides.</p

Some Soybean Cultivars Have Ability to Induce Germination of Sunflower Broomrape

<div><p>Sunflower broomrape is a noxious parasitic weed which has caused severe damage to crop ecosystems. Trap crops can release a mixture of allelochemicals to induce the germination of sunflower broomrape. We studied the allelopathic effects of soybean on sunflower broomrape. Fourteen common soybean cultivars were grown in pots. Samples were collected from soybean plants and rhizosphere soil at five growth stages (V1, V3, V5, R2, and R4). The allelopathic effects of soybean reached highest at the V3 stage. Methanolic extracts of soybean roots induced higher broomrape germination than methanolic extracts of stems or leaves. The germination rates induced by root extracts (10-fold dilution) were positively correlated with germination rates induced by stem (10-fold dilution) and leaf extracts (10-fold dilution). The broomrape germination rates induced by root extracts were also positively correlated with soybean nodule diameter and dry weight. The results indicated that soybeans could induce sunflower broomrape germination. We conclude that soybean has the potential to be used as a trap crop for sunflower broomrape.</p> </div