Screening of specific diagnostic peptides of swine hepatitis E virus

© 2009 Zhao et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Second-Line Combination Chemotherapy with Docetaxel and Nedaplatin for Cisplatin-Pretreated Refractory Metastatic/Recurrent Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background:There is an urgent need for an effective second-line chemotherapy regimen after failure of the standard cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil therapy.Patients and Methods:This study investigated the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of docetaxel (30 mg/m2) during a 1-hour infusion, followed by nedaplatin (50 mg/m2) during a 2-hour infusion (both drugs were administered on day 1 as an outpatient regimen and repeated every 2 weeks) as second-line chemotherapy for patients with cisplatin-pretreated refractory metastatic/recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after surgery.Results:Forty-six of the 48 patients (95.8%) were assessable for response. Partial response was confirmed in 13 of 48 cases yielding a response rate of 27.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.5–39.7%). The median overall time to progression and overall survival was 3.1 months (95% CI, 2.3–3.9 months) and 5.9 months (95% CI, 3.9–7.8 months), respectively. The estimate of overall survival at 12 months was 16.7% (95% CI, 6.1–27.2%). Grade 3 anemia leucopenia, grade 4 anemia leucopenia and neutropenia were detected in only 4 (8.7%), 8 (17.4%), and 9 patients (19.6%), respectively.Conclusions:The combination chemotherapy of docetaxel and nedaplatin in the outpatient setting is well tolerated and useful as second-line chemotherapy for cisplatin-pretreated refractory metastatic/recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Genetic Variations in the Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Pathway May Improve Predictive Power for Overall Survival in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose: Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), a known immune suppressor, plays an important role in tumor progression and overall survival (OS) in many types of cancers. We hypothesized that genetic variations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TGF-β1 pathway can predict survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after radiation therapy. Materials and Methods: Fourteen functional SNPs in the TGF-β1 pathway were measured in 166 patients with NSCLC enrolled in a multi-center clinical trial. Clinical factors, including age, gender, ethnicity, smoking status, stage group, histology, Karnofsky Performance Status, equivalent dose at 2 Gy fractions (EQD2), and the use of chemotherapy, were first tested under the univariate Cox's proportional hazards model. All significant clinical predictors were combined as a group of predictors named "Clinical." The significant SNPs under the Cox proportional hazards model were combined as a group of predictors named "SNP." The predictive powers of models using Clinical and Clinical + SNP were compared with the cross-validation concordance index (C-index) of random forest models. Results: Age, gender, stage group, smoking, histology, and EQD2 were identified as significant clinical predictors: Clinical. Among 14 SNPs, BMP2:rs235756 (HR = 0.63; 95% CI:0.42-0.93; p = 0.022), SMAD9:rs7333607 (HR = 2.79; 95% CI 1.22-6.41; p = 0.015), SMAD3:rs12102171 (HR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.46-1.00; p = 0.050), and SMAD4: rs12456284 (HR = 0.63; 95% CI: 0.43-0.92; p = 0.016) were identified as powerful predictors of SNP. After adding SNP, the C-index of the model increased from 84.1 to 87.6% at 24 months and from 79.4 to 84.4% at 36 months. Conclusion: Genetic variations in the TGF-β1 pathway have the potential to improve the prediction accuracy for OS in patients with NSCLC

Evaluation of Marine Fisheries Vulnerability in China and Its Spatial Effects: Evidence from Coastal Regions

Based on data from 10 coastal regions in China, this study establishes an evaluation index system for marine fisheries using the theoretical framework of the DPSR model. The entropy method is used to calculate the degree of marine fisheries vulnerability in each region of China from 2009 to 2018. The spatial Durbin model (SDM) is also used to analyze the influencing factors and spatial spillover effects of marine fisheries vulnerability from four perspectives of economic efficiency, industrial structure, environmental regulation, and ecological pollution. The results show significant positive direct effects between the economic efficiency, ecological pollution, and vulnerability of marine fisheries. At the same time, there are significant negative effects between the industrial structure, environmental regulation, and vulnerability of marine fisheries. In terms of spatial spillover effects, economic efficiency, environmental regulation, and ecological pollution show positive spatial spillover effects, while the industrial structure shows negative spatial spillover effects. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the sustainable development of marine fisheries in China

Development of red giant embryo rice by molecular marker-assisted selection

In this study,we successfully developed a new rice (Oryza Sativa L.) strain of red giant embryo rice "Shangshida No. 10" by hybridizing a normal embryo red rice "Shangshida No. 6" with a giant embryo white rice "Shangshida No. 5" and backcrossing with "Shangshida No. 5",together by molecular marker-assisted selection. There was no significant difference in the weight per plant between "Shangshida No. 5" and "Shangshida No. 10",but the yield of "Shangshida No. 10" was significantly higher than that of "Shangshida No. 5" as shown in field trials,while growth duration of "Shangshida No. 10" was approximately 4~5 days shorter than that of "Shangshida No. 5". In addition,weight ratio of embryo to brown rice of "Shangshida No. 10" was lower than that of "Shangshida No. 5",while there was no significant difference in the volume ratio of embryo to brown rice between "Shangshida No. 10" and "Shangshida No. 5". The successful development of the new rice strain "Shangshida No. 10" has laid a solid foundation for the further market development and application of red giant embryo rice

Environmental Regulation, Technological Innovation and Development of Marine Fisheries—Evidence from Ten Coastal Regions in China

This study aims to examine the relationship between environmental regulation, technological innovation and the development of China’s marine fisheries. We make a theoretical overview of the relationship between environmental regulation, technological innovation and the development of marine fisheries. Using data from 10 coastal regions of China, we calculate the comprehensive development level of China’s marine fisheries in each region from 2009 to 2018 through the entropy method. Then, we use a double logit model to analyze the effects of environmental regulation and technological innovation on the development level of China’s marine fisheries, and further test the mediating effect of technological innovation. The results show that environmental regulations have a “U-shaped” effect on the development of China’s marine fisheries. Moreover, technological innovation is crucial in promoting the development of China’s marine fisheries. Further, we identify the mediating role of technological innovation, that is, environmental regulation affects the development of China’s marine fisheries by influencing technological innovation. These findings offer theoretical support for the development of China’s marine fisheries

Improving tasting quality of the main parent line ″93-11″ of <i>Indica</i> hybrid rice

The Indica rice ″93-11″,widely applied in two-line hybrid rice,and the rice ″B3″,homozygous transgenic line having double anti-Waxy genes,and having not any resistance gene and a reporter gene,were used as hybrid parents in this study.By crossing and backcrossing two elite of the improved ″93-11″ line were obtained,which has double anti-Waxy genes.The analyses of main agronomic traits,yield traits ,and the weight and volume of the brown rice shows that the 1 000-grain weight ,the weight and volume of the brown rice exist significant difference between the two elite improved ″93-11″ lines and ″93-11″ rice,but the agronomic traits such as plant height,effective panicles,filled grains per panicleandrate of setting seeds do not change significantly(P＞0.05).The two elites of the improved ″93-11″ line possesses low amylose content (5.39% and 5.01%),which is significantly lower than that of ″93-11″(14.06%),and the gel consistency(93 mm and 101 mm) is extremelyhigher than that of ″93-11″ rice (48 mm).This study laid a foundation for improving eating quality of the two-line hybrid rice derived from the ″93-11″ rice as the parent

Environmental Regulation, Technological Innovation and Development of Marine Fisheries—Evidence from Ten Coastal Regions in China

This study aims to examine the relationship between environmental regulation, technological innovation and the development of China’s marine fisheries. We make a theoretical overview of the relationship between environmental regulation, technological innovation and the development of marine fisheries. Using data from 10 coastal regions of China, we calculate the comprehensive development level of China’s marine fisheries in each region from 2009 to 2018 through the entropy method. Then, we use a double logit model to analyze the effects of environmental regulation and technological innovation on the development level of China’s marine fisheries, and further test the mediating effect of technological innovation. The results show that environmental regulations have a “U-shaped” effect on the development of China’s marine fisheries. Moreover, technological innovation is crucial in promoting the development of China’s marine fisheries. Further, we identify the mediating role of technological innovation, that is, environmental regulation affects the development of China’s marine fisheries by influencing technological innovation. These findings offer theoretical support for the development of China’s marine fisheries

Antihypertensive effect of giant embryo brown rice and pre‐germinated giant embryo brown rice on spontaneously hypertensive rats

“Shangshida NO.5” is a giant embryo mutant resulting from giant embryo gene (GE) dysfunction in “Chao2‐10” rice. Here, we compared the antihypertensive effects of “Chao2‐10” brown rice (C2‐10), “Shangshida NO.5” brown rice (GER), and pre‐germinated “Shangshida NO.5” brown rice (PGER) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Male SHR at 6 weeks of age were divided into four groups and were fed with (a) a control diet (control), (b) a 40% C2‐10‐supplemented diet (C2‐10), (c) a 40% GER‐supplemented diet (GER), or (d) a 40% PGER‐supplemented diet (PGER) for 8 weeks, and their physiological and biochemical parameters were measured. The results showed that the C2‐10‐, GER‐, and PGER‐supplemented diets significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) during the experiment. At the end of the experimental period, the SBP and DBP of the C2‐10, GER, and PGER groups were 7.6, 23.3, and 31.1 mmHg and 9.8, 21.1, and 29 mmHg lower than those in the control group, respectively, suggesting the GER and PGER diets were better able to inhibit blood pressure elevation than the C2‐10 diet. The serum creatinine levels in the C2‐10, GER, and PGER groups and the blood urea nitrogen content in the PGER group were significantly lower than those of the control group, indicating that C2‐10‐, GER‐, and especially PGER‐supplemented diets improved renal function. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the C2‐10 group and especially of the GER and PGER groups also improved. The above results suggest that “Shangshida NO.5” rice, particularly pre‐germinated rice, is a good dietary supplement for preventing the development of hypertension