Ultrasound-Guided Miniscalpel-Needle Release versus Dry Needling for Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective. To compare ultrasound-guided miniscalpel-needle (UG-MSN) release versus ultrasound-guided dry needling (UG-DN) for chronic neck pain. Methods. A total of 169 patients with chronic neck pain were randomized to receive either UG-MSN release or UG-DN. Before treatment and at 3 and 6 months posttreatment, pain was measured using a 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS). Neck function was examined using the neck disability index. Health-related quality of life was examined using the physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS) of the SF-36 health status scale. Results. Patients in the UG-MSN release had greater improvement on the VAS (by 2 points at 3 months and 0.9 points at 6 months) versus in the UG-DN arm; (both P<0.0001). Patients receiving UG-MSN release also showed significantly lower scores on the adjusted neck disability index, as well as significantly lower PCS. No severe complications were observed. Conclusion. UG-MSN release was superior to UG-DN in reducing pain intensity and neck disability in patients with chronic neck pain and was not associated with severe complications. The procedural aspects in the two arms were identical; however, we did not verify the blinding success. As such, the results need to be interpreted with caution

A genetic linkage map of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L) combining SRAP and ISSR markers

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) and Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers are both simple and efficient maker systems adapted to many crops and for multiple purposes. In this study a genetic map based on SRAP and ISSR markers was constructed for cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) based on the segregations of SRAP and ISSR markers in 112 plants of F 2 population derived from a cross between two cucumber inbred lines PW0832 and PW0801. In the investigation of polymorphisms with 50 ISSR primers and 132 SRAP primer combinations, 13 (26%) ISSR primers and 26 (20%) SRAP primer pairs were polymorphic generating a total of 109 polymorphic markers of which 48 were ISSR and 61 were SRAP. The average polymorphic bands were four for ISSR and two for SRAP. All the 109 polymorphic markers were scored for segregation of which 86 satisfied the Mandelian segregation ratio of 3:1. These data were used to construct an integrated linkage map for cucumber consisting of 62 loci, distributed in seven linkage groups (LGs) spanning a total of 992.2 cM, with an average distance of 16.0 cM between two adjacent loci. These markers would be very useful tool for marker assisted selection in cucumber breeding as well as for studies in quantitative traits

Rice Soluble Starch Synthase I: Allelic Variation, Expression, Function, and Interaction With Waxy

Starch, which is composed of amylose and amylopectin, is the key determinant of rice quality. Amylose is regulated by the Waxy (Wx) gene, whereas amylopectin is coordinated by various enzymes including eight soluble starch synthases (SSSs), of which SSSI accounts for ∼70% of the total SSS activity in cereal endosperm. Although great progress has been made in understanding SSSI gene expression and function, allelic variation and its effects on gene expression, rice physicochemical properties and qualities, and interactions with the Wx gene remain unclear. Herein, SSSI nucleotide polymorphisms were analyzed in 165 rice varieties using five distinct molecular markers, three of which reside in an SSSI promoter and might account for a higher expression of the SSSIi allele in indica ssp. than of the SSSIj allele in japonica ssp. The results of SSSI promoter-Beta-Glucuronidase (β-GUS) analysis were consistent with the expression results. Moreover, analysis of near isogenic lines (NILs) in the Nipponbare (Nip) background showed that Nip (SSSIi) and Nip (SSSIj) differed in their thermal properties, gel consistency (GC), and granule crystal structure. Knockdown of SSSI expression using the SSSI-RNA interference (RNAi) construct in both japonica and indica backgrounds caused consistent changes in most tested physicochemical characteristics except GC. Moreover, taste value analysis (TVA) showed that introduction of the SSSI allele in indica or knockdown of SSSI expression in japonica cultivars significantly reduced the comprehensive taste value, which was consistent with the superior taste of japonica against indica. Furthermore, to test the potential interaction between SSSI and different Wx alleles, three NILs within the Wx locus were generated in the indica cv. Longtefu (LTF) background, which were designated as LTF (Wxa), LTF (Wxb), and LTF (wx). The SSSI-RNAi construct was also introduced into these three NILs, and physiochemical analysis confirmed that the knockdown of SSSI significantly increased the rice apparent amylose content (AAC) only in the Wxa and Wxb background and caused different changes in GC in the NILs. Therefore, the effect of SSSI variation on rice quality also depends on its crosstalk with other factors, especially the Wx gene. These findings provide fundamental knowledge for future breeding of rice with premium eating and cooking qualities

DEP and AFO Regulate Reproductive Habit in Rice

Sexual reproduction is essential for the life cycle of most angiosperms. However, pseudovivipary is an important reproductive strategy in some grasses. In this mode of reproduction, asexual propagules are produced in place of sexual reproductive structures. However, the molecular mechanism of pseudovivipary still remains a mystery. In this work, we found three naturally occurring mutants in rice, namely, phoenix (pho), degenerative palea (dep), and abnormal floral organs (afo). Genetic analysis of them indicated that the stable pseudovivipary mutant pho was a double mutant containing both a Mendelian mutation in DEP and a non-Mendelian mutation in AFO. Further map-based cloning and microarray analysis revealed that dep mutant was caused by a genetic alteration in OsMADS15 while afo was caused by an epigenetic mutation in OsMADS1. Thus, OsMADS1 and OsMADS15 are both required to ensure sexual reproduction in rice and mutations of them lead to the switch of reproductive habit from sexual to asexual in rice. For the first time, our results reveal two regulators for sexual and asexual reproduction modes in flowering plants. In addition, our findings also make it possible to manipulate the reproductive strategy of plants, at least in rice

The NO2 sensing ITO thin films prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

In this paper ITO thin films were deposited on alumina substrates by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. The NO2 sensing properties of ITO thin films were investigated. The results show ITO thin films have good sensitivity to nitrogen dioxide

Toward a Cytological Characterization of the Rice Genome

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) will be the first major crop, as well as the first monocot plant species, to be completely sequenced. Integration of DNA sequence-based maps with cytological maps will be essential to fully characterize the rice genome. We have isolated a set of 24 chromosomal arm-specific bacterial artificial chromosomes to facilitate rice chromosome identification. A standardized rice karyotype was constructed using meiotic pachytene chromosomes of O. sativa spp. japonica rice var. Nipponbare. This karyotype is anchored by centromere-specific and chromosomal arm-specific cytological landmarks and is fully integrated with the most saturated rice genetic linkage maps in which Nipponbare was used as one of the mapping parents. An ideogram depicting the distribution of heterochromatin in the rice genome was developed based on the patterns of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining of the Nipponbare pachytene chromosomes. The majority of the heterochromatin is distributed in the pericentric regions with some rice chromosomes containing a significantly higher proportion of heterochromatin than other chromosomes. We showed that pachytene chromosome-based fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis is the most effective approach to integrate DNA sequences with euchromatic and heterochromatic features