Genetic Polymorphisms of CYP2E1, GSTP1, NQO1 and MPO and the Risk of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in a Han Chinese Population of Southern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Southern China is a major area for endemic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Genetic factors as well as environmental factors play a role in development of NPC. To investigate the roles of previously described carcinogen metabolism gene variants for NPC susceptibility in a Han Chinese population, we conducted a case-control study in two independent study population groups afflicted with NPC in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces of southern China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of <it>CYP2E1</it>-rs2031920, <it>CYP2E1</it>-rs6413432, <it>GSTP1</it>-rs947894, <it>MPO</it>-rs2333227 and <it>NQO1</it>-rs1800566 were genotyped by PCR-based RFLP, sequencing and TaqMan assay in 358 NPC cases and 629 controls (phase I cohort). Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). To confirm our results, sixteen tag SNPs for <it>GSTP1</it>, <it>MPO</it>, <it>NQO1 </it>(which 100% covered these genes), and 4 functional SNPs of <it>CYP2E1 </it>were genotyped in another cohort of 213 NPC cases and 230 controls (phase II cohort).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No significant associations in NPC risk were observed for the five polymorphisms tested in the phase I cohort. In an additional stratified analysis for phase I, there was no significant association between cases and controls in NPC high risk population (EBV/IgA/VCA positive population). Analysis of 14 tagging SNPs within the same genes in an independent phase II cohort were in agreement with no SNPs significantly associated with NPC.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that polymorphism of <it>CYP2E1</it>, <it>GSTP1</it>, <it>MPO </it>and <it>NQO1 </it>genes does not contribute to overall NPC risk in a Han Chinese in southern China.</p

Evidence for the Emergence of New Rice Types of Interspecific Hybrid Origin in West African Farmers' Fields

In West Africa two rice species (Oryza glaberrima Steud. and Oryza sativa L.) co-exist. Although originally it was thought that interspecific hybridization is impossible without biotechnological methods, progenies of hybridization appear to occur in farmer fields

Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection

Background End colostomy rates following colorectal resection vary across institutions in high-income settings, being influenced by patient, disease, surgeon and system factors. This study aimed to assess global variation in end colostomy rates after left-sided colorectal resection. Methods This study comprised an analysis of GlobalSurg-1 and -2 international, prospective, observational cohort studies (2014, 2016), including consecutive adult patients undergoing elective or emergency left-sided colorectal resection within discrete 2-week windows. Countries were grouped into high-, middle- and low-income tertiles according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Factors associated with colostomy formation versus primary anastomosis were explored using a multilevel, multivariable logistic regression model. Results In total, 1635 patients from 242 hospitals in 57 countries undergoing left-sided colorectal resection were included: 113 (6·9 per cent) from low-HDI, 254 (15·5 per cent) from middle-HDI and 1268 (77·6 per cent) from high-HDI countries. There was a higher proportion of patients with perforated disease (57·5, 40·9 and 35·4 per cent; P < 0·001) and subsequent use of end colostomy (52·2, 24·8 and 18·9 per cent; P < 0·001) in low- compared with middle- and high-HDI settings. The association with colostomy use in low-HDI settings persisted (odds ratio (OR) 3·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·35 to 7·57; P = 0·008) after risk adjustment for malignant disease (OR 2·34, 1·65 to 3·32; P < 0·001), emergency surgery (OR 4·08, 2·73 to 6·10; P < 0·001), time to operation at least 48 h (OR 1·99, 1·28 to 3·09; P = 0·002) and disease perforation (OR 4·00, 2·81 to 5·69; P < 0·001). Conclusion Global differences existed in the proportion of patients receiving end stomas after left-sided colorectal resection based on income, which went beyond case mix alone

Tetrachlorophthalic anhydride asthma: evidence for specific IgE antibody.

We describe seven women with asthma induced by occupational exposure to an acid anhydride, tetrachlorophthalic anhydride (TCPA), an epoxy resin hardening agent. Inhalation tests with TCPA at atmospheric concentrations of less than one tenth of a manufacturer's recommended exposure limit provoked asthmatic reactions in the four women tested. None had evidence of pretest bronchial hyperreactivity. Immediate skin prick test reactions were elicited in the seven subjects by a conjugate of TCPA with human serum albumin (TCPA-HSA) but not in others tested. Specific IgE antibody levels to TCPA-HSA, measured by radioallergosorbent test scores, were significantly elevated in the seven, but not in TCPA-exposed and unexposed comparison groups. These results imply that occupational asthma caused by TCPA is an allergic reaction mediated by specific IgE antibody

Transport triggered array processor for vision applications

Abstract Low-level sensory data processing in many Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices pursue energy efficiency by utilizing sleep modes or slowing the clocking to the minimum. To curb the share of stand-by power dissipation in those designs, ultra-low-leakage processes are employed in fabrication. Those limit the clocking rates significantly, reducing the computing throughputs of individual cores. In this contribution we explore compensating for the substantial computing power needs of a vision application using massive parallelism. The Processing Elements (PE) of the design are based on Transport Triggered Architecture. The fine grained programmable parallel solution allows for fast and efficient computation of learnable low-level features (e.g. local binary descriptors and convolutions). Other operations, including Max-pooling have also been implemented. The programmable design achieves excellent energy efficiency for Local Binary Patterns computations