Comparative transcriptome analysis and simple sequence repeat marker development for two closely related Isodon species used as ‘Xihuangcao’ herbs

Purpose: To facilitate the molecular identification of original plants, resolve taxonomic problems and identify standards for ‘Xihuangcao’-based products on the market.Methods: A transcriptomic analysis of two closely related species, i.e., Isodon serra (Maxim.) (IS) and I. lophanthoides (Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don) Hara, was conducted by using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform, and expressed sequence tag-derived simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were developed based on these transcriptomes.Results: In total, 149,650 and 103,221 contigs were obtained, with N50 values of 1,400 and 1,516, from the IS and I. lophanthoides RNA-Seq datasets, respectively. These contigs were clustered into 107,777 and 68,220 unigenes, which were functionally annotated to identify the genes involved in therapeutic components. In total, 14,138 and 11,756 EST-SSR motifs were identified, and of these motifs, 7,453 and 6,428 were used to design primers for IS and I. lophanthoides, respectively. After PCR verification and fluorescence-based genotyping, 24 SSR markers with bright bands, high polymorphism, and single amplification were obtained and used to identify closely related Isodon species/varieties.Conclusion: These data could help herbal scientists identify high-quality herbal plants and provide a reference for genetic improvement and population genetic and phylogenetic studies investigating ‘Xihuangcao’ herbs.Keywords: Xihuangcao, Transcriptome, EST-SSR, Molecular marker

Early-start antiplatelet therapy after operation in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage and high risk of ischemic events (E-start):Protocol for a multi-centered, prospective, open-label, blinded endpoint randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: For severe spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sSICH) patients with high risk of ischemic events, the incidence of postoperative major cardiovascular/cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular events (MACCPE) is notable. Although antiplatelet therapy is a potential way to benefit these patients, the severe hemorrhagic complications, e.g., intracranial re-hemorrhage, is a barrier for early starting antiplatelet therapy. OBJECTIVES: This randomized controlled trial aims to identify the benefit and safety of early starting antiplatelet therapy after operation for sSICH patients with high risk of ischemic events. METHODS: This study is a multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial. We will enroll 250 sSICH patients with a high risk of ischemic events (including cerebral infarcts, transient ischemic attack, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, and deep venous thrombosis). The participants will be randomized in a 1:1 manner to early-start group (start antiplatelet therapy at 3 days after operation) and normal-start group (start antiplatelet therapy at 30 days after operation). The early-start group will receive aspirin 100 mg daily. The control group will not receive antithrombotic therapy until 30 days after operation. The efficacy endpoint is the incidence of MACCPE, and the safety endpoint is the incidence of intracranial re-hemorrhage. DISCUSSION: The Early-Start antiplatelet therapy after operation in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage trial (E-start) is the first randomized trial about early start antiplatelet therapy for operated sSICH patients with a high risk of ischemic events. This study will provide a new strategy and evidence for postoperative management in the future. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT04820972; Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04820972?term=NCT04820972&draw=2&rank=1. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, identifier ChiCTR2100044560; Available at: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=123277

No Association of Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Viruses with Prostate Cancer

BACKGROUND: The association of the xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) with prostate cancer continues to receive heightened attention as studies report discrepant XMRV prevalences ranging from zero up to 23%. It is unclear if differences in the diagnostic testing, disease severity, geography, or other factors account for the discordant results. We report here the prevalence of XMRV in a population with well-defined prostate cancers and RNase L polymorphism. We used broadly reactive PCR and Western blot (WB) assays to detect infection with XMRV and related murine leukemia viruses (MLV). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied specimens from 162 US patients diagnosed with prostate cancer with a intermediate to advanced stage (Gleason Scores of 5-10; moderate (46%) poorly differentiated tumors (54%)). Prostate tissue DNA was tested by PCR assays that detect XMRV and MLV variants. To exclude contamination with mouse DNA, we also designed and used a mouse-specific DNA PCR test. Detailed phylogenetic analysis was used to infer evolutionary relationships. RNase L typing showed that 9.3% were homozygous (QQ) for the R462Q RNase L mutation, while 45.6% and 45.1% were homozygous or heterozygous, respectively. Serologic testing was performed by a WB test. Three of 162 (1.9%) prostate tissue DNA were PCR-positive for XMRV and had undetectable mouse DNA. None was homozygous for the QQ mutation. Plasma from all three persons was negative for viral RNA by RT-PCR. All 162 patients were WB negative. Phylogenetic analysis inferred a distinct XMRV. CONCLUSIONS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE: We found a very low prevalence of XMRV in prostate cancer patients. Infection was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis and absence of contaminating mouse DNA. The finding of undetectable antibodies and viremia in all three patients may reflect latent infection. Our results do not support an association of XMRV or MLV variants with prostate cancer

Molecularly Imprinted Nanomicrospheres as Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersant Combined with Gas Chromatography for Determination of Four Phosphorothioate Pesticides in Carrot and Yacon

An efficient, rapid, and selective method for sample pretreatment, namely, molecularly imprinted matrix solid-phase dispersion (MI-MSPD) coupled with gas chromatography (GC), was developed for the rapid isolation of four phosphorothioate organophosphorus pesticides (tolclofos-methyl, phoxim, chlorpyrifos, and parathion-methyl) from carrot and yacon samples. New molecularly imprinted polymer nanomicrospheres were synthesized by using typical structural analogue tolclofos-methyl as a dummy template via surface grafting polymerization on nanosilica. Then, these four pesticides in carrot and yacon were extracted and adsorbed using the imprinted nanomicrospheres and further determined by gas chromatography. Under the optimized conditions, a good linearity of four pesticides was obtained in a range of 0.05–17.0 ng·g−1 with R varying from 0.9971 to 0.9996, and the detection limit of the method was 0.012~0.026 ng·g−1 in carrot and yacon samples. The recovery rates at two spiked levels were in the range of 85.4–105.6% with RSD ≤9.6%. The presented MI-MSPD method combined the advantages of MSPD for allowing the extraction, dispersion, and homogenization in two steps and the advantages of MIPs for high affinity and selectivity towards four phosphorothioate pesticides, which could be applied to the determination of pesticide residues in complicated vegetal samples

Blockchain-Powered Service Migration for Uncertainty-Aware Workflows in Edge Computing

In edge computing, the workflow is used to simulate and manage computing tasks as well as information exchange for compute-intensive and data-intensive application, which is convenient for the various complex process to work orderly. However, the resource conflict among cooperative works of multiple mobile edge computing (MEC) nodes by workflow, together with the service failure and the performance degradation, bring about additional uncertainties of scheduling strategies. Consequently, such uncertainties delay the completion of tasks and spoil the user experience. To deal with that issue, we propose a blockchain-powered resource provisioning (BPRP) method to design policies for workflows in the edge computing environment. Technically, we use the directed acyclic graph to indicate workflows of each edge node and regard its scheduling strategy as an individual gene to adapt to the following algorithm. Then, we use the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-III (NSGA-III) to optimize the workflow scheduling strategies on the basis of tasks’ timely completion with good quality. A large number of experiments were carried out to verify the effectiveness of our method

Bioresponsive Materials for Drug Delivery Based on Carboxymethyl Chitosan/Poly(γ-Glutamic Acid) Composite Microparticles

Carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) microparticles are a potential candidate for hemostatic wound dressing. However, its low swelling property limits its hemostatic performance. Poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PGA) is a natural polymer with excellent hydrophilicity. In the current study, a novel CMCS/PGA composite microparticles with a dual-network structure was prepared by the emulsification/internal gelation method. The structure and thermal stability of the composite were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The effects of preparation conditions on the swelling behavior of the composite were investigated. The results indicate that the swelling property of CMCS/PGA composite microparticles is pH sensitive. Levofloxacin (LFX) was immobilized in the composite microparticles as a model drug to evaluate the drug delivery performance of the composite. The release kinetics of LFX from the composite microparticles with different structures was determined. The results suggest that the CMCS/PGA composite microparticles are an excellent candidate carrier for drug delivery