Identification and expression analysis of the lipid phosphate phosphatases gene family reveal their involvement in abiotic stress response in kiwifruit.

Lipid phosphate phosphatases (LPPs) are a key enzyme in the production and degradation of phosphatidic acid (PA), which plays an important role in plant growth, development, stress resistance and plant hormone response. Thus far, little is known about the LPP family genes in kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.). According to this study, 7 members in the AcLPP family were identified from the whole genome of kiwifruit, the subcellular localization predictions were mainly on the plasma membrane. Chromosomal localization analysis showed that the AcLPP genes were unevenly distributed on 5 chromosomes, it was determined to have undergone strong purifying selection pressure. There were 5 duplicate gene pairs and all underwent segmental duplication events. The LPP genes of kiwifruit were conserved when compared with other plants, especially in terms of evolutionary relationships, conserved motifs, protein sequences, and gene structures. Cis-regulatory elements mainly included hormone response elements and abiotic response elements. Functional annotation of GO revealed that AcLPP genes were closely related to phosphatase/hydrolase activity, phosphorus metabolism and dephosphorylation. AcLPP genes family were predicted to be targets of miRNA. Transcript level analysis revealed that the AcLPP family played diverse functions in different tissues and during growth, development, and postharvest storage stages. qPCR analysis showed that the members of AcLPP gene family might be regulated by ETH, ABA, GA3, and IAA hormone signals. The family members were regulated by the stress of salt stress, osmotic stress, cold stress, and heat stress. These results would provide a basis and reference for studying the agricultural characteristics of kiwifruit and improving its stress resistance.

[Genetic Polymorphisms in Wnt Signaling Pathway and Acute Leukemia].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impacts of Wnt signaling pathway products-polymorphisms of rs4135385, rs11079571 and rs7832767 located in ß-catenin gene (CTNNB1), Axin gene (AXIN2), and secreted frizzled-related protein gene (SFRP1) on the risk and treatment outcomes of acute leukemia. METHODS: Bone marrows (volume 1-1. 5 mL) were collected from 372 untreated patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and peripheral blood samples (2. 0 mL) were obtained from 401 healthy controls for the purpose of total DNA extraction. Polymorphisms of rs4135385, rs11079571 and rs7832767 located in CTNNB1, AXIN2 and SFRP1 were genotyped with high-resolution melting method (HRM). Chi-square analyses were performed to compare the genotype and allele distributions of the three single nucleotides (SNPs) between the leukemia patients and healthy controls. Single factor variance tests were performed to compare the differences in clinical features among different genotype groups. Complete remission (CR) rates after induction chemotherapy were also compared between different genotype groups using Chi-square tests. RESULTS: No significant differences were found beiween the leukemia patients and healthy controls in the frequencies of alleles and genotypes of CTNNB1 rs4135385, SFRP1 rs7832767 polymorphisms. Those with A allele in AXIN2 rs11079571 polymorphism was less likely to have acute myelomonocytic/monocytic leukemia than those with G allele (P = 0. 016, OR=0. 677, 95%CI:0. 439-0. 930). Acute bead monocyte/mononuclear cell leukemia (AML-M4/5)patients with AA genotype presented higher platelet count (P = 0. 040), and higher complete remission rate after chemotherapy (P = 0. 040), compared with the patients with AG and GG genotypes. CONCLUSION: AML-M4/5 patients have less frequency of A allele in AXIN2 rs11079571 polymorphism than healthy controls. Patients carrying A allele have higher platelet counts and higher sensitivity to chemotherapy.

A simple, fast correction method of triglyceride interference in blood hemoglobin automated measurement.

BACKGROUND: To establish a reliable correction method for automated hemoglobin (HGB) measurement by minimizing the interference from blood high triglyceride (TG). METHODS: Fifty whole blood samples and 50 plasma samples containing variable TG concentrations were used to determine the centrifugation speed and time. Complete blood cell counts (CBCs) were performed by an automated hematology analyzer for 102 blood samples, in which high-level TG were artificially added. The same blood samples were centrifuged at low -speed to separate the plasma from blood cells. Then the plasma was analyzed by the same analyzer. By using the two CBC results, a correction formula was established to calculate the corrected HGB, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values. Comparisons were also made of HGB, MCH, and MCHC values before and after correction of in-patient individuals who received intralipid and developed lipemia. RESULTS: The percentage differences between the corrected and true values of HGB, MCH and MCHC were -0.28%, 0.06%, and -0.31%, respectively. The correlation coefficients of corrected values versus true values of HGB, MCH, and MCHC were 0.989, 0.935, and 0.717, respectively. This correction method was also effective for native lipemic samples. CONCLUSION: High blood TG level can cause blood turbidity and erroneously high HGB results by hematology analyzers commonly used in clinical laboratories. Adding a simple step of low-speed centrifugation and measurement of HGB in the plasma fraction allows a quick correction of HGB measurement in lipemic blood samples.

[Clinical application of review criteria for complete blood analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the review criteria for complete blood analysis. METHODS: total of 8820 blood samples taken at our hospital were detected both by the Sysmex XE-2100 automated blood cell analyzer and double-blind method microscopy. The performance of two review criteria were evaluated by statistical analysis. The parameters, such as true and false positive rates, true and false negative rates, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, total effective rate, test effectiveness and re-examination rate were calculated according to the criteria of XE-2100 hematology analyzer re-examination standards coordination group of Society of Laboratory Medicine of Chinese Medical Association. And a study was conducted to determine the improved clinical effectiveness over the criteria. RESULTS: The values of true and false positive rates, true and false negative rates, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values, negative predictive value, total effective rate, test effectiveness and reexamination rate were 13.0%, 27.2%, 55.3%, 4.5%, 74.3%, 67.0%, 32.4%, 92.5%, 68.3%, 21.2%, and 40.2% respectively. The re-examination rate decreased to 33.8% and the total effective rate increased to 74.7% according to our improved review criteria. And there was no missed diagnosis of leukemic cells. It was found that 2069 samples (23.5%) needed manual microscopy for WBC differential analysis, 847 had abnormal cells and no leukemia was missed. CONCLUSIONS: The automatic blood cell analyzer and WBC differential analysis review criteria have great clinical utilities. The review criteria of blood cell analysis may be improved according to patient source and instrument performance so as to better meet the needs of clinical application.

Using spaced retrieval and Montessori-based activities in improving eating ability for residents with dementia.

OBJECTIVES: To construct a training protocol for spaced retrieval (SR) and to investigate the effectiveness of SR and Montessori-based activities in decreasing eating difficulty in older residents with dementia. METHODS: A single evaluator, blind, and randomized control trial was used. Eighty-five residents with dementia were chosen from three special care units for residents with dementia in long-term care facilities in Taiwan. To avoid any confounding of subjects, the three institutions were randomized into three groups: spaced retrieval, Montessori-based activities, and a control group. The invention consisted of three 30-40 min sessions per week, for 8 weeks. RESULTS: After receiving the intervention, the Edinburgh Feeding Evaluation in Dementia (EdFED) scores and assisted feeding scores for the SR and Montessori-based activity groups were significantly lower than that of the control group. However, the frequencies of physical assistance and verbal assistance for the Montessori-based activity group after intervention were significantly higher than that of the control group, which suggests that residents who received Montessori-based activity need more physical and verbal assistance during mealtimes. In terms of the effects of nutritional status after intervention, Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) in the SR group was significantly higher than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the efficacy of SR and Montessori-based activities for eating difficulty and eating ability. A longitudinal study to follow the long-term effects of SR and Montessori-based activities on eating ability and nutritional status is recommended.