A genetic variation map for chicken with 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms

We describe a genetic variation map for the chicken genome containing 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs). This map is based on a comparison of the sequences of three domestic chicken breeds ( a broiler, a layer and a Chinese silkie) with that of their wild ancestor, red jungle fowl. Subsequent experiments indicate that at least 90% of the variant sites are true SNPs, and at least 70% are common SNPs that segregate in many domestic breeds. Mean nucleotide diversity is about five SNPs per kilobase for almost every possible comparison between red jungle fowl and domestic lines, between two different domestic lines, and within domestic lines - in contrast to the notion that domestic animals are highly inbred relative to their wild ancestors. In fact, most of the SNPs originated before domestication, and there is little evidence of selective sweeps for adaptive alleles on length scales greater than 100 kilobases

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Predictors of hospital mortality in adult trauma patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for advanced life support: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background Using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to provide advanced life support in adult trauma patients remains a controversial issue now. The study was aimed at identifying the independent predictors of hospital mortality in adult trauma patients receiving ECMO for advanced cardiopulmonary dysfunctions. Methods This retrospective study enrolled 36 adult trauma patients receiving ECMO due to advanced shock or respiratory failure in a level I trauma center between August 2006 and October 2014. Variables collected for analysis were demographics, serum biomarkers, characteristics of trauma, injury severity score (ISS), damage-control interventions, indications of ECMO, and associated complications. The outcomes were hospital mortality and hemorrhage on ECMO. The multivariate logistic regression method was used to identify the independent prognostic predictors for the outcomes. Results The medians of age and ISS were 36 (27–49) years and 29 (19–45). Twenty-three patients received damage-control interventions before ECMO. Among the 36 trauma patients, 14 received ECMO due to shock and 22 for respiratory failure. The complications of ECMO are major hemorrhages (n = 12), acute renal failure requiring hemodialysis (n = 10), and major brain events (n = 7). There were 15 patients died in hospital, and 9 of them were in the shock group. Conclusions The severity of trauma and the type of cardiopulmonary dysfunction significantly affected the outcomes of ECMO used for sustaining patients with post-traumatic cardiopulmonary dysfunction. Hemorrhage on ECMO remained a concern while the device was required soon after trauma, although a heparin-minimized protocol was adopted. Trial registration This study reported a health care intervention on human participants and was retrospectively registered. The Chang Gung Medical Foundation Institutional Review Board approved the study (no. 201601610B0) on December 12, 2016. All of the data were extracted from December 14, 2016, to March 31, 2017

Sutureless aortic bioprosthesis replacement in elderly Asian patients with aortic stenosis: Experience in a single institution

Background: Sutureless aortic valve replacement (SU-AVR) has emerged as a promising alternative for the treatment of patients with aortic valve stenosis. This study aims to assess the safety and efficacy of SU-AVR in an elderly Asian population. Methods: From June 2015 to May 2016, 15 adults with severe aortic stenosis (9 females) with a median age of 79 years underwent Perceval sutureless bioprosthesis (LivaNova, UK) implantation in a single Taiwanese institution; peri-operative recovery, clinical improvement, and valve performance were analyzed. Results: Three (20%) patients underwent concomitant procedures (coronary artery bypass grafting, 1 patient; maze, 2 patients) and 6/12 (50%) patients underwent J-ministernotomy for isolated SU-AVR. Median cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp time were 105 min and 69 min, respectively. All sutureless bioprosthesis were implanted successfully without conversion to a traditional valve, but 2 patients (13.3%) need intraoperative valve repositioning because of paravalvular leakage. Median extubation time and intensive care unit stay were 5 h and 2 days, respectively. One patient experienced in-hospital mortality due to sudden collapse thought secondary to high degree atrioventricular block. Serial echocardiographic evaluations were performed preoperatively and at 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively. The final echocardiographic exams showed nothing greater than mild aortic insufficiency and the median mean trans-valvular gradient was 13.2 (range, 6.0–26.3) mmHg. Conclusions: By simplified procedure and improved hemodynamics, SU-AVR can be implanted safely in elderly Asian population with excellent valvular performance. Keywords: Aortic valve replacement, Sutureless bioprosthesis, Minimally invasive cardiac surger

The impacts of baseline ventilator parameters on hospital mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) is a valuable life support in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adult patients. However, the success of VV-ECMO is known to be influenced by the baseline settings of mechanical ventilation (MV) before its institution. This study was aimed at identifying the baseline ventilator parameters which were independently associated with hospital mortality in non-trauma patients receiving VV-ECMO for severe ARDS. Methods This retrospective study included 106 non-trauma patients (mean age: 53 years) who received VV-ECMO for ARDS in a single medical center from 2007 to 2016. The indication of VV-ECMO was severe hypoxemia (PaO2/ FiO2 ratio  35 cmH2O, positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) > 5 cmH2O, and FiO2 > 0.8. Important demographic and clinical data before and during VV-ECMO were collected for analysis of hospital mortality. Results The causes of ARDS were bacterial pneumonia (n = 41), viral pneumonia (n = 24), aspiration pneumonitis (n = 3), and others (n = 38). The median duration of MV before ECMO institution was 3 days and the overall hospital mortality was 53% (n = 56). The medians of PaO2/ FiO2 ratio, PIP, PEEP, and dynamic pulmonary compliance (PCdyn) at the beginning of MV were 84 mmHg, 32 cmH2O, 10 cmH2O, and 21 mL/cmH2O, respectively. However, before the beginning of VV-ECMO, the medians of PaO2/ FiO2 ratio, PIP, PEEP, and PCdyn became 69 mmHg, 36 cmH2O, 14 cmH2O, and 19 mL/cmH2O, respectively. The escalation of PIP and the declines in PaO2/ FiO2 ratio and PCdyn were significantly correlated with the duration of MV before ECMO institution. Finally, the duration of MV (OR: 1.184, 95% CI: 1.079–1.565, p < 0.001) was found to be the only baseline ventilator parameter that independently affected the hospital mortality in these ECMO-treated patients. Conclusion Since the duration of MV before ECMO institution was strongly correlated to the outcome of adult respiratory ECMO, medical centers are suggested to find a suitable prognosticating tool to determine the starting point of respiratory ECMO among their candidates with different duration of MV. Trial registration This study reported a health care intervention on human participants and was retrospectively registered. The Chang Gung Medical Foundation Institutional Review Board approved the study (no. 201601483B0 ) on November 23, 2016. All of the data were extracted from December 1, 2016, to January 31, 2017

The Prognostic Scoring System Establishment and Validation for Chronic Atrial Fibrillation Patients Receiving Modified Cox-Maze IV and Concomitant Cardiac Surgery.

Traditional Cox maze III is the gold standard for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). Because of its invasiveness, it has been replaced by a simplified procedure involving radiofrequency ablation of modified Cox maze IV. Although the modified Cox maze IV has the advantages of simplicity and less morbidity, a lower rate of sinus rhythm conversion has been reported. We try to establish a scoring system to predict the outcome of this procedure.The derivation group consisted of 287 patients with structural heart disease and chronic AF who underwent cardiac surgery and modified Cox-maze IV procedure between August 2005 and March 2013. Demographics, clinical and laboratory variables were retrospectively collected as sinus conversional predictors. Overall sinus conversion rate was 75.8%. The parameters of the Soft Markers Scoring system included AF duration, preoperative left atrial (LA) size, rheumatic pathology and postoperative LA remodeling. We compared 80 patients from another hospital between January 2004 and December 2011 as a validation group to evaluate the power of the scoring system. Soft Markers Score indicated a good discriminative power by using the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC: 0.759 ± 0.032). The score was further divided into three groups: low (0-2), intermediate (3-5), and high (6-10), with predicted sinus conversion rates of 92.4%, 74.2%, and 47.8%, respectively.In patients with chronic AF receiving modified Cox-maze IV procedure, the Soft Markers Score demonstrated good discriminative power of predicting sinus recovery in our patients and applied well to the other validation populations