Association of methylenetetrahytrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T and A1298C polymorphisms with the susceptibility of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in Chinese population

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the polymorphisms of the methylenetetrahytrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene and susceptibility to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). METHODS: A case–control study was conducted among 98 children with ALL and 93 age- and sex- matched non-ALL controls. Genotyping of MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The odds ratios (ORs) of MTHFR genotypes were used to assess the associations of these polymorphisms with childhood ALL susceptibility. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed for frequencies of the 677CC, 677CT and 677TT genotypes between patients and controls. Frequencies of the 1298AA, 1298 AC and 1298CC genotypes between the two groups were significantly different. The risk of ALL with the 1298C allele carriers (AC + CC) was elevated by 1.1 times compared with the AA genotype [OR = 2.100; 95% CI (1.149; 3.837); P = 0.015]. CONCLUSIONS: The MTHFR A1298C polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to childhood ALL in the Chinese population

TNF-α-1031T/C gene polymorphism as a predictor of malnutrition in patients with gastric cancer

IntroductionMalnutrition is a complex clinical syndrome, the exact mechanism of which is yet not fully understood. Studies have found that malnutrition is associated with anorexia and inadequate intake, tumor depletion, leptin, tumor-induced metabolic abnormalities in the body, and catabolic factors produced by the tumor in the circulation and cytokines produced by the host immune system. Among these, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are present in the gene encoding the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α.AimThe objective of this study was to investigate TNF-α -1,031 T/C gene polymorphism as an unfavorable predictor of malnutrition in patients with gastric cancer.MethodsThe study group consisted of 220 gastric cancer patients treated at Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Malnutrition was mainly assessed by the Global Consensus on Malnutrition Diagnostic Criteria (GLIM). DNA was extracted from peripheral leukocytes of whole blood samples using an animal DNA extraction kit. DNA was amplified using a 1.1× T3 Super PCR mixture and genotyped using SNP1 software.ResultsThere are three major genetic polymorphisms in TNF-α. Among the 220 patients with gastric cancer, there were 7 patients with the CC genotype, 61 with the CT genotype and 152 with the TT genotype. Compared to patients with the TT genotype, patients with the C allele had an approximately 2.5-fold higher risk of developing malnutrition (p = 0.003; OR = 0.406). On the basis of multivariate analysis, patients with the CC genotype had an approximately 20.1-fold higher risk of developing malnutrition (p = 0.013; OR = 20.114), while those with the CT genotype had an almost 3.7-fold higher risk of malnutrition (p = 0.002; OR = 3.218).ConclusionSNP (−1,031 T/C) of the TNF-α may be a useful marker in the assessment of the risk of nutritional deficiencies in gastric cancer patients. Patients with gastric cancer carrying the C allele should be supported by early nutritional intervention, but more research is still needed to explore confirmation

Fenton reagent reduces the level of arsenic in paddy rice grain

Hydroponic and pot experiments were conducted to examine the effects of Fenton reagent on paddy rice plant growing in arsenic-contaminated soils. Fenton reagent significantly reduced arsenic phytotoxicity, uptake by the plants and accumulation in rice grain. This is attributed to oxidation of As3+ to As5+ by hydroxyl radicals and immobilization of arsenate by reacting with precipitating Fe3+ to form practically insoluble compounds. Although this process enhanced the formation of Fe-enriched coatings on root surface, it appears that root plaque had limited effects on inhibiting As uptake since most of the young roots were not covered by iron plaque. It is more likely that As immobilization in the bulk soils play a major role in reducing As flux towards rhizosphere. The findings have implications for understanding As behavior in paddy field receiving rainwater-borne hydrogen peroxide and developing cost-effective techniques for reducing As level in rice grain produced from As-contaminated soil

Research on the Application of CGAN in the Design of Historic Building Facades in Urban Renewal—Taking Fujian Putian Historic Districts as an Example

In recent years, artificial intelligence technology has widely influenced the design field, introducing new ideas to efficiently and systematically solve urban renewal design problems. The purpose of this study is to create a stylized generation technology for building facade decoration in historic districts, which will aid in the design and control of district style and form. The goal is to use the technical advantages of the conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) in image generation and style transfer to create a method for independently designing a specific facade decoration style by interpreting image data of historical district facades. The research in this paper is based on the historical district of Putian in Fujian Province and facilitates an experiment of image data acquisition, image processing and screening, model training, image generation, and style matching of the target area. The research found the following: (1) CGAN technology can better identify and generate the decorative style of historical districts. It can realize the overall or partial scheme design of the facade. (2) In terms of adaptability, this method can provide a better scheme reference for historical district reconstruction, facade renovation, and renovation design projects. Especially for districts with obvious decorative styles, the visualization effect is better. In addition, it also has certain reference significance for the determination and design of the facade decoration style of a specific historical building. (3) Lastly, this method can better learn the internal laws of the complex district style and form to generate a new design with a clear decoration style attribute. It can be extended to other fields of historical heritage protection to enhance practitioners’ stylized control of the heritage environment and improve the efficiency and capability of professional design

Radial point interpolation collocation method based approximation for 2D fractional equation models

In this work, we studied the radial point interpolation collocation method (RIPCM) for the solution of the partial differential models with fractional derivatives. In the present meshless method, polynomial basis function and two novel types local support fields were considered. The (time-)space fractional differential equations with single-term or multi-term time derivatives in irregular domain were well simulated numerically by the proposed RIPCM method. Numerical tests were carried out to verify the accuracy and demonstrate the strength of the RIPCM in solving fractional derivative models in irregular domain.</p

Genome-Wide Characterization of PIN Auxin Efflux Carrier Gene Family in <i>Mikania mi</i><i>crantha</i>

Mikania micrantha, recognized as one of the world’s top 10 pernicious weeds, is a rapidly spreading tropical vine that has invaded the coastal areas of South China, causing serious economic losses and environmental damage. Rapid stem growth is an important feature of M. micrantha which may be related to its greater number of genes involved in auxin signaling and transport pathways and its ability to synthesize more auxin under adverse conditions to promote or maintain stem growth. Plant growth and development is closely connected to the regulation of endogenous hormones, especially the polar transport and asymmetric distribution of auxin. The PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin efflux carrier gene family plays a key role in the polar transport of auxin and then regulates the growth of different plant tissues, which could indicate that the rapid growth of M. micrantha is closely related to this PIN-dependent auxin regulation. In this study, 11 PIN genes were identified and the phylogenetic relationship and structural compositions of the gene family in M. micrantha were analyzed by employing multiple bioinformatic methods. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that the PIN proteins could be divided into five distinct clades. The structural analysis revealed that three putative types of PIN (canonical, noncanonical and semi-canonical) exist among the proteins according to the length and the composition of the hydrophilic domain. The majority of the PINs were involved in the process of axillary bud differentiation and stem response under abiotic stress, indicating that M. micrantha may regulate its growth, development and stress response by regulating PIN expression in the axillary bud and stem, which may help explain its strong growth ability and environmental adaptability. Our study emphasized the structural features and stress response patterns of the PIN gene family and provided useful insights for further study into the molecular mechanism of auxin-regulated growth and control in M. micrantha