Molecular characterization of Cymbidium kanran cultivars based on extended random amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD) markers

Fifty-four Cymbidium kanran cultivars from China, Japan and Korea were examined and analyzed by using the successive screening of 3'-end extended random primer amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD) markers to determine their molecular diversity and relationships. In ERAPD analyses, the strandspecific DNA sequence of direct oligonucleotide extension sequencing primers was independently read from each of the RAPD fragments without recourse to cloning or strand separation. Eight primers, identified from 80 original RAPD primers, produced strong repetitive polymorphic bands that were used in 3'-end-extended random primer amplified DNA marker analysis. The products of primers ACTGAACGCCCG + ACTGAACGCCGG and ACTGAACGCCC + ACTGAACGCC, linked to the same locus (2.5 - kb), were developed from the original ACTGAACGC RAPD primer; the products of this marker were more stable and specific than the original RAPD marker. Unweighted pair-group mean analysis (UPGMA) grouped them into two clusters based upon geographical traits. We demonstrated that the ERAPD technique is a powerful tool for cultivar identification and establishment of genetic relationships of cultivars in Cymbidium kanran.Key words: Cymbidium kanran; genetic relationship; Extended random amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD

Nanofluids Research: Key Issues

Nanofluids are a new class of fluids engineered by dispersing nanometer-size structures (particles, fibers, tubes, droplets) in base fluids. The very essence of nanofluids research and development is to enhance fluid macroscopic and megascale properties such as thermal conductivity through manipulating microscopic physics (structures, properties and activities). Therefore, the success of nanofluid technology depends very much on how well we can address issues like effective means of microscale manipulation, interplays among physics at different scales and optimization of microscale physics for the optimal megascale properties. In this work, we take heat-conduction nanofluids as examples to review methodologies available to effectively tackle these key but difficult problems and identify the future research needs as well. The reviewed techniques include nanofluids synthesis through liquid-phase chemical reactions in continuous-flow microfluidic microreactors, scaling-up by the volume averaging and constructal design with the constructal theory. The identified areas of future research contain microfluidic nanofluids, thermal waves and constructal nanofluids

Dairy foods and health: an umbrella review of observational studies

Evidence on consumption of dairy foods and human health is contradictory. This study aimed to summarize the level of evidence of dairy consumption on various health outcomes. A systematic search for meta-analyses was performed: study design, dose\u2013response relationship, heterogeneity and agreement of results over time, and identification of potential confounding factors were considered to assess the level of evidence. Convincing and probable evidence of decreased risk of colorectal cancer, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, elevated blood pressure and fatal stroke, respectively, was found for total dairy consumption; possible decreased risk of breast cancer, metabolic syndrome, stroke and type-2 diabetes, and increased risk of prostate cancer and Parkinson\u2019s disease was also found. Similar, yet not entirely consistent evidence for individual dairy products was reported. Among potential confounding factors, geographical localisation and fat content of dairy have been detected. In conclusions, dairy may be part of a healthy diet; however, additional studies exploring confounding factors are needed to ascertain the potential detrimental effects

Increased renal clearance of rocuronium compensates for chronic loss of bile excretion, via upregulation of Oatp2

Requirement for rocuronium upon surgery changes only minimally in patients with end-stage liver diseases. Our study consisted of both human and rat studies to explore the reason. The reduction rate of rocuronium infusion required to maintain neuromuscular blockade during the anhepatic phase (relative to paleohepatic phase) was examined in 16 children with congenital biliary atresia receiving orthotopic liver transplantation. Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of rocuronium were studied based on BDL rats. The role of increased Oatp2 and decrease Oatp1 expressions in renal compensation were explored. The reduction of rocuronium requirements significantly decreased in obstructively jaundiced children (24 +/- 9 vs. 39 +/- 11%). TOF50 in BDL rats was increased by functional removal of the kidneys but not the liver, and the percentage of rocuronium excretion through urine increased (20.3 +/- 6.9 vs. 8.6 +/- 1.8%), while that decreased through bile in 28d-BDL compared with control group. However, this enhanced renal secretion for rocuronium was eliminated by Oatp2 knock-down, rather than Oatp1 overexpression (28-d BDL vs. Oatp1-ShRNA or Oatp2-ShRNA, 20.3 +/- 6.9 vs. 17.0 +/- 6.6 or 9.3 +/- 3.2%). Upon chronic/sub-chronic loss of bile excretion, rocuronium clearance via the kidneys is enhanced, by Oatp2 up-regulation.published_or_final_versio

A pivotal role for starch in the reconfiguration of 14C-partitioning and allocation in Arabidopsis thaliana under short-term abiotic stress.

Plant carbon status is optimized for normal growth but is affected by abiotic stress. Here, we used 14C-labeling to provide the first holistic picture of carbon use changes during short-term osmotic, salinity, and cold stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. This could inform on the early mechanisms plants use to survive adverse environment, which is important for efficient agricultural production. We found that carbon allocation from source to sinks, and partitioning into major metabolite pools in the source leaf, sink leaves and roots showed both conserved and divergent responses to the stresses examined. Carbohydrates changed under all abiotic stresses applied; plants re-partitioned 14C to maintain sugar levels under stress, primarily by reducing 14C into the storage compounds in the source leaf, and decreasing 14C into the pools used for growth processes in the roots. Salinity and cold increased 14C-flux into protein, but as the stress progressed, protein degradation increased to produce amino acids, presumably for osmoprotection. Our work also emphasized that stress regulated the carbon channeled into starch, and its metabolic turnover. These stress-induced changes in starch metabolism and sugar export in the source were partly accompanied by transcriptional alteration in the T6P/SnRK1 regulatory pathway that are normally activated by carbon starvation

Toward nanofluids of ultra-high thermal conductivity

The assessment of proposed origins for thermal conductivity enhancement in nanofluids signifies the importance of particle morphology and coupled transport in determining nanofluid heat conduction and thermal conductivity. The success of developing nanofluids of superior conductivity depends thus very much on our understanding and manipulation of the morphology and the coupled transport. Nanofluids with conductivity of upper Hashin-Shtrikman (H-S) bound can be obtained by manipulating particles into an interconnected configuration that disperses the base fluid and thus significantly enhancing the particle-fluid interfacial energy transport. Nanofluids with conductivity higher than the upper H-S bound could also be developed by manipulating the coupled transport among various transport processes, and thus the nature of heat conduction in nanofluids. While the direct contributions of ordered liquid layer and particle Brownian motion to the nanofluid conductivity are negligible, their indirect effects can be significant via their influence on the particle morphology and/or the coupled transport

Dairy consumption and cardiometabolic diseases: systematic review and updated meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies

Purpose of Review Dairy products contain both beneficial and harmful nutrients in relation to cardiometabolic diseases. Here, we provide the latest scientific evidence regarding the relationship between dairy products and cardiometabolic diseases by reviewing the literature and updating meta-analyses of observational studies. Recent Findings We updated our previous meta-analyses of cohort studies on type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke with nine studies and confirmed previous results. Total dairy and low-fat dairy (per 200 g/d) were inversely associated with a 3–4% lower risk of diabetes. Yogurt was non-linearly inversely associatedwith diabetes (RR = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.83–0.90 at 80 g/ d). Total dairy and milk were not associated with CHD (RR~1.0). An increment of 200 g of daily milk intake was associated with an 8% lower risk of stroke. Summary The latest scientific evidence confirmed neutral or beneficial associations between dairy products and risk of cardiometabolic diseases

Prescriptions of Traditional Chinese Medicine Are Specific to Cancer Types and Adjustable to Temperature Changes

Targeted cancer therapies, with specific molecular targets, ameliorate the side effect issue of radiation and chemotherapy and also point to the development of personalized medicine. Combination of drugs targeting multiple pathways of carcinogenesis is potentially more fruitful. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been tailoring herbal mixtures for individualized healthcare for two thousand years. A systematic study of the patterns of TCM formulas and herbs prescribed to cancers is valuable. We analysed a total of 187,230 TCM prescriptions to 30 types of cancer in Taiwan in 2007, a year's worth of collection from the National Health Insurance reimbursement database (Taiwan). We found that a TCM cancer prescription consists on average of two formulas and four herbs. We show that the percentage weights of TCM formulas and herbs in a TCM prescription follow Zipf's law with an exponent around 0.6. TCM prescriptions to benign neoplasms have a larger Zipf's exponent than those to malignant cancers. Furthermore, we show that TCM prescriptions, via weighted combination of formulas and herbs, are specific to not only the malignancy of neoplasms but also the sites of origins of malignant cancers. From the effects of formulas and natures of herbs that were heavily prescribed to cancers, that cancers are a ‘warm and stagnant’ syndrome in TCM can be proposed, suggesting anti-inflammatory regimens for better prevention and treatment of cancers. We show that TCM incorporated relevant formulas to the prescriptions to cancer patients with a secondary morbidity. We compared TCM prescriptions made in different seasons and identified temperatures as the environmental factor that correlates with changes in TCM prescriptions in Taiwan. Lung cancer patients were among the patients whose prescriptions were adjusted when temperatures drop. The findings of our study provide insight to TCM cancer treatment, helping dialogue between modern western medicine and TCM for better cancer care