Association of the genetic polymorphisms of the ACE gene and the eNOS gene with lupus nephropathy in northern Chinese population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been reported that some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the angiotensin converting enzyme (<it>ACE</it>) gene and the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (<it>eNOS</it>) gene are associated with the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the progression of nephropathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible association between six SNPs (<it>A-5466C</it>, <it>T-3892C</it>, <it>A-240T</it>, <it>C1237T</it>, <it>G2215A </it>and <it>A2350G</it>) of the <it>ACE </it>gene and two SNPs (<it>T-786C </it>and <it>G894T</it>) of the <it>eNOS </it>gene with lupus nephropathy in a northern Chinese population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, 225 patients with lupus nephropathy were compared to 232 healthy controls, matched by gender, age and ethnicity. Following the extraction of genomic DNA from the leukocytes in the peripheral blood, the genotypes of the eight selected SNPs were determined by the method of PCR-RFLP; the haplotypes were inferred using PHASE 2.1. The associations between the SNPs and the risk of lupus nephropathy were analyzed using Chi-square test and Logistic regression with SPSS13.0 software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Statistically significant differences of the allele frequency distribution of three SNPs (<it>A-5466C</it>, <it>A2350G </it>and <it>G894T</it>) were observed between cases and controls (<it>P </it>< 0.05). Among the 53 haplotypes identified, the frequencies of five haplotypes (CTTCGA, ACTTAA, ACATGG, ACACGG and ATTCGA) were significantly different between cases and controls (<it>P </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study indicated an association between the risk of lupus nephropathy and the sequence variations of both the <it>ACE </it>gene and the <it>eNOS </it>gene, which may play an important role in the pathogenesis of lupus nephropathy in the northern Chinese population. Further studies are warranted to validate our findings.</p

Resonance and frequency-locking phenomena in spatially extended phytoplankton-zooplankton system with additive noise and periodic forces

In this paper, we present a spatial version of phytoplankton-zooplankton model that includes some important factors such as external periodic forces, noise, and diffusion processes. The spatially extended phytoplankton-zooplankton system is from the original study by Scheffer [M Scheffer, Fish and nutrients interplay determines algal biomass: a minimal model, Oikos \textbf{62} (1991) 271-282]. Our results show that the spatially extended system exhibit a resonant patterns and frequency-locking phenomena. The system also shows that the noise and the external periodic forces play a constructive role in the Scheffer's model: first, the noise can enhance the oscillation of phytoplankton species' density and format a large clusters in the space when the noise intensity is within certain interval. Second, the external periodic forces can induce 4:1 and 1:1 frequency-locking and spatially homogeneous oscillation phenomena to appear. Finally, the resonant patterns are observed in the system when the spatial noises and external periodic forces are both turned on. Moreover, we found that the 4:1 frequency-locking transform into 1:1 frequency-locking when the noise intensity increased. In addition to elucidating our results outside the domain of Turing instability, we provide further analysis of Turing linear stability with the help of the numerical calculation by using the Maple software. Significantly, oscillations are enhanced in the system when the noise term presents. These results indicate that the oceanic plankton bloom may partly due to interplay between the stochastic factors and external forces instead of deterministic factors. These results also may help us to understand the effects arising from undeniable subject to random fluctuations in oceanic plankton bloom.Comment: Some typos errors are proof, and some strong relate references are adde

Human ISL1+ ventricular progenitors self-assemble into an in vivo functional heart patch and preserve cardiac function post infarction

The generation of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived ventricular progenitors and their assembly into a 3-dimensional in vivo functional ventricular heart patch has remained an elusive goal. Herein, we report the generation of an enriched pool of hPSC-derived ventricular progenitors (HVPs), which can expand, differentiate, self-assemble, and mature into a functional ventricular patch in vivo without the aid of any gel or matrix. We documented a specific temporal window, in which the HVPs will engraft in vivo. On day 6 of differentiation, HVPs were enriched by depleting cells positive for pluripotency marker TRA-1-60 with magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS), and 3 million sorted cells were sub-capsularly transplanted onto kidneys of NSG mice where, after 2 months, they formed a 7 mm x 3 mm x 4 mm myocardial patch resembling the ventricular wall. The graft acquired several features of maturation: expression of ventricular marker (MLC2v), desmosomes, appearance of T-tubule-like structures, and electrophysiological action potential signature consistent with maturation, all this in a non-cardiac environment. We further demonstrated that HVPs transplanted into un-injured hearts of NSG mice remain viable for up to 8 months. Moreover, transplantation of 2 million HVPs largely preserved myocardial contractile function following myocardial infarction. Taken together, our study reaffirms the promising idea of using progenitor cells for regenerative therapy.ERC AdG743225Swedish Research Council Distinguished Professor Grant Dnr 541-2013-8351The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW Dnr 2013.0028)Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant agreement No 647714Publishe

An evaluation of canonical forms for non-rigid 3D shape retrieval

Canonical forms attempt to factor out a non-rigid shape’s pose, giving a pose-neutral shape. This opens up the possibility of using methods originally designed for rigid shape retrieval for the task of non-rigid shape retrieval. We extend our recent benchmark for testing canonical form algorithms. Our new benchmark is used to evaluate a greater number of state-of-the-art canonical forms, on five recent non-rigid retrieval datasets, within two different retrieval frameworks. A total of fifteen different canonical form methods are compared. We find that the difference in retrieval accuracy between different canonical form methods is small, but varies significantly across different datasets. We also find that efficiency is the main difference between the methods

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism in patients with lung cancer in a Korean population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study was designed to investigate an association between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a large-scale, case-control study involving 3938 patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer and 1700 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed with peripheral blood DNA for MTHFR C677T polymorphisms. Statistical significance was estimated by logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The MTHFR C677T frequencies of CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 34.5%, 48.5%, and 17% among lung cancer patients, and 31.8%, 50.7%, and 17.5% in the controls, respectively. The MTHFR 677CT and TT genotype showed a weak protection against lung cancer compared with the homozygous CC genotype, although the results did not reach statistical significance. The age- and gender-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of overall lung cancer was 0.90 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.77-1.04) for MTHFR 677 CT and 0.88 (95% CI, 0.71-1.07) for MTHFR 677TT. However, after stratification analysis by histological type, the MTHFR 677CT genotype showed a significantly decreased risk for squamous cell carcinoma (age- and gender-adjusted OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.64-0.96). The combination of 677 TT homozygous with 677 CT heterozygous also appeared to have a protection effect on the risk of squamous cell carcinoma. We observed no significant interaction between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and age and gender or smoking habit.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first reported study focusing on the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphisms and the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population. The T allele was found to provide a weak protective association with lung squamous cell carcinoma.</p

Multidrug-Resistant and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Multi-Ethnic Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) has emerged as a global threat. Xinjiang is a multi-ethnic region and suffered second highest incidence of TB in China. However, epidemiological information on MDR and XDR TB is scarcely investigated.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>A prospective study was conducted to analyze the prevalence of MDR and XDR TB and the differences of drug resistance TB between Chinese Han and other nationalities population at Chest Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. We performed in vitro drug susceptibility testing of <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</em> to first- and second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs for all 1893 culture confirmed positive TB cases that were diagnosed between June 2009 and June 2011. Totally 1117 (59.0%, 95% CI, 56.8%–61.2%) clinical isolates were resistant to ≥1 first-line drugs; the prevalence of MDR TB was 13.2% (95% CI, 11.7%–14.7%), of which, 77 (30.8%; 95% CI, 25.0%–36.6%) and 31 (12.8%; 95% CI, 8.6%–17.0%) isolates were pre-XDR and XDR TB respectively. Among the MDR/XDR TB, Chinese Han patients were significantly less likely to be younger with an odds ratio 0.42 for age 20–29 years and 0.52 for age 40–49 years; <em>P</em>_trend = 0.004), and Chinese Han patients has a lower prevalence of XDR TB (9.6%) than all the other nationality (14.9%).</p> <h3>Conclusions/Significance</h3><p>The burden of drug resistance TB cases is sizeable, which highlights an urgent need to reinforce the control, detection and treatment strategies for drug resistance TB. However, the difference of MDR and XDR TB between Chinese Han and other nationalities was not observed.</p> </div

Analysis of the Maize dicer-like1 Mutant, fuzzy tassel, Implicates MicroRNAs in Anther Maturation and Dehiscence

Sexual reproduction in plants requires development of haploid gametophytes from somatic tissues. Pollen is the male gametophyte and develops within the stamen; defects in the somatic tissues of the stamen and in the male gametophyte itself can result in male sterility. The maize fuzzy tassel (fzt) mutant has a mutation in dicer-like1 (dcl1), which encodes a key enzyme required for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. Many miRNAs are reduced in fzt, and fzt mutants exhibit a broad range of developmental defects, including male sterility. To gain further insight into the roles of miRNAs in maize stamen development, we conducted a detailed analysis of the male sterility defects in fzt mutants. Early development was normal in fzt mutant anthers, however fzt anthers arrested in late stages of anther maturation and did not dehisce. A minority of locules in fzt anthers also exhibited anther wall defects. At maturity, very little pollen in fzt anthers was viable or able to germinate. Normal pollen is tricellular at maturity; pollen from fzt anthers included a mixture of unicellular, bicellular, and tricellular pollen. Pollen from normal anthers is loaded with starch before dehiscence, however pollen from fzt anthers failed to accumulate starch. Our results indicate an absolute requirement for miRNAs in the final stages of anther and pollen maturation in maize. Anther wall defects also suggest that miRNAs have key roles earlier in anther development. We discuss candidate miRNAs and pathways that might underlie fzt anther defects, and also note that male sterility in fzt resembles water deficit-induced male sterility, highlighting a possible link between development and stress responses in plants.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun