F-wave heavy-light meson spectroscopy in QCD sum rules and heavy quark effective theory

We study the F-wave c_bar s heavy meson doublets (2+,3+) and (3+,4+). They have large orbital excitations L=3, and may be good challenges (tests) for theoretical studies. To study them we use the method of QCD sum rule in the framework of heavy quark effective theory. Their masses are predicted to be m_{(2+,3+)} = (3.45 \pm 0.25, 3.50 \pm 0.26) GeV and m_{(3+,4+)} = (3.20 \pm 0.22, 3.26 \pm 0.23) GeV, with mass splittings Delta m_{(2+,3+)} = m_{3+} - m_{2+} = 0.046 \pm 0.030 GeV and Delta m_{(3+,4+)} = 0.053 \pm 0.044 GeV, respectively. We note that this is a pioneering work and these results are provisional.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted by PR

EFFICACY OF MANUAL ACUPUNCTURE ON FUNCTIONAL DYSPEPSIA: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIALS

Background: This study aimed to systematically review the randomized controlled trials on the efficacy of applying manual acupuncture to functional dyspepsia (FD) compared with conventional gastrointestinal (GI) tract regulator medications. Methods and Materials: Electronic data bases including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Chinese Scientific Journal database (VIP database), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CKNI), Wan-fang Database and Sino-Med were searched for randomized controlled trials. Utilized data included those published before 30th, Jul. 2016. Manual search on conference abstracts and reference lists was further conducted. Risk of bias evaluation, meta-analysis, sensitivity analysis and all extracted information were performed. Results: A total of 31 RCTs studies including 2571 participants were identified that include 1314 participants in the groups of manual acupuncture and 1257 participants in the control groups. The result demonstrated that manual acupuncture is more effective in the total effective rate than GI tract regulator medications (OR=3.00, 95%CI [2.33,3.87],

Genome-wide investigation reveals high evolutionary rates in annual model plants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rates of molecular evolution vary widely among species. While significant deviations from molecular clock have been found in many taxa, effects of life histories on molecular evolution are not fully understood. In plants, annual/perennial life history traits have long been suspected to influence the evolutionary rates at the molecular level. To date, however, the number of genes investigated on this subject is limited and the conclusions are mixed. To evaluate the possible heterogeneity in evolutionary rates between annual and perennial plants at the genomic level, we investigated 85 nuclear housekeeping genes, 10 non-housekeeping families, and 34 chloroplast genes using the genomic data from model plants including <it>Arabidopsis thaliana </it>and <it>Medicago truncatula </it>for annuals and grape (<it>Vitis vinifera</it>) and popular (<it>Populus trichocarpa</it>) for perennials.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>According to the cross-comparisons among the four species, 74-82% of the nuclear genes and 71-97% of the chloroplast genes suggested higher rates of molecular evolution in the two annuals than those in the two perennials. The significant heterogeneity in evolutionary rate between annuals and perennials was consistently found both in nonsynonymous sites and synonymous sites. While a linear correlation of evolutionary rates in orthologous genes between species was observed in nonsynonymous sites, the correlation was weak or invisible in synonymous sites. This tendency was clearer in nuclear genes than in chloroplast genes, in which the overall evolutionary rate was small. The slope of the regression line was consistently lower than unity, further confirming the higher evolutionary rate in annuals at the genomic level.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The higher evolutionary rate in annuals than in perennials appears to be a universal phenomenon both in nuclear and chloroplast genomes in the four dicot model plants we investigated. Therefore, such heterogeneity in evolutionary rate should result from factors that have genome-wide influence, most likely those associated with annual/perennial life history. Although we acknowledge current limitations of this kind of study, mainly due to a small sample size available and a distant taxonomic relationship of the model organisms, our results indicate that the genome-wide survey is a promising approach toward further understanding of the mechanism determining the molecular evolutionary rate at the genomic level.</p

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients From 14 Countries: Estimates of the INTERPRET-DD Study

Aim: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common, severe microvascular complication of diabetes. Our study was to assess prevalence and risk factors for DPN in subjects with type 2 diabetes from 14 different countries. Methods: A total of 2,733 subjects with type 2 diabetes aged 18–65 years (45.3% men, mean duration of diabetes = 8.8 years) were included to perform this International Prevalence and Treatment of Diabetes and Depression (INTERPRET-DD) study in 14 countries. After a structured questionnaire was used in face-to-face interviews to collect sociodemographic characteristics and medical records of the participating subjects, laboratory tests were carried out for clinical measurement. Depressive symptoms were diagnosed and measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The potential risk factors for DPN were determined by multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression, accounting for clustering of participants within the country. Robustness of the estimates was assessed by sensitivity analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of DPN across different countries was 26.71%, whereas country-specific prevalences showed considerable variation. Multivariate analysis revealed that duration of diabetes (OR: 1.08 per 1-year increase, 95% CI: 1.06–1.09), poor glycemic control (OR: 1.11 per 1% increase in HbA1c, 95% CI: 1.05–1.18), and history of hypertension (OR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.18–2.12), cardiovascular disease (OR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.55–2.78) and depressive symptoms (OR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.43–2.58) were independently and positively associated with the risk of DPN. Sensitivity analyses including or excluding patients from countries with extreme low or high prevalence of DPN yielded similar estimates in terms of trend and magnitude. Conclusions: This international study illustrates that more than a quarter of individuals with type 2 diabetes developed DPN. The prevalence was positively associated with the duration of diabetes, poor glycemic control, and history of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and depressive symptoms

The multitasking Fasciola gigantica Cathepsin B interferes with various functions of goat peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro

Cathepsin B, a lysosomal cysteine protease, is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of Fasciola gigantica infection, but its exact role remains unclear. In the present study, a recombinant F. gigantica cathepsin B (rFgCatB) protein was expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. Western blot analysis confirmed the reactivity of the purified rFgCatB protein to serum from F. gigantica-infected goats. The effects of serial concentrations (10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 μg/ml) of rFgCatB on various functions of goat peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were examined. We demonstrated that rFgCatB protein can specifically bind to the surface of PBMCs. In addition, rFgCatB increased the expression of cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, IL-17, TGF-β, and IFN-γ), and increased nitric oxide production and cell apoptosis, but reduced cell viability. These data show that rFgCatB can influence cellular and immunological functions of goat PBMCs. Further characterization of the posttranslational modification and assessment of rFgCatB in immunogenicity studies is warranted