[Use of indocyanine green fluorescence navigation in laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy].

Objective: To examine the clinical value of fluorescence-guided indocyanine green (ICG) laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy in the treatment of primary hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Data from patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma and who underwent laparoscopic hepatectomy with ICG fluorescence navigation in the Department of Liver Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center of West China Hospital between September 2020 and May 2022 were retrospectively collected. There were 53 males and 19 females, with an age of (55.5±12.9)years(range:42.6 to 68.4 years). Among them, 13 of the cases underwent laparoscopic anatomical liver resection(LALR) guided by tans-arterial ICG,43 of the cases received LAIR guided by portal vein negative ICG, and 16 of the cases received LALR positive by portal vein. Comparison among the three groups was performed by one-way ANOVA; and the rank sum test was used for comparison between groups. The counting data was expressed as percentage,and the χ2 test or Fisher's exact probability method was used for comparison between groups. Results: (1) Postoperative pathology: Resection R0 was achieved in all operations. The maximum tumor diameter of the patients in the arterial staining group, the reverse staining group, and the positive staining group(M (IQR)) was 2.5 (2.4) cm, 3.0 (2.5) cm and 3.0(2.4) cm,respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in the maximum tumor diameter between the three groups (P=0.364). The minimum tumor margin was 1.1 (1.1) cm, 1.0 (1.0) cm, 1.1 (1.6) cm in the the arterial staining group, reverse staining group and the positive staining group, respectively. There was no significant difference in the margin among the three groups (P=0.878). (2) Operation conditions: the operation time of the arterial staining group, the negative staining group, and the positive portal staining group was (348±93)minutes,(277±112)minutes,and (295±116)minutes,respectively. There were no significant differences in operation time among the three groups (P=0.134). The intraoperative blood loss of the three groups was 80(150)ml,200(350)ml,and 100(150)ml,respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in intraoperative bleeding volume between the three groups(P=0.743). All cases were not transfused during the operation and were not converted to laparotomy. ALT in the arterial staining group was higher than in the negative staining group in the first two days after the operation ((559±398)IU/L307(257) IU/L, q=235.5,P=0.004;(611±389)IU/L(331±242) IU/L, q=265.2, P=0.002). There was only one case of a grade III complication (Clavien-Dindo grading system) postoperative complication in the negative and positive staining group of the portal vein, respectively. Tumor markers in all patients decreased to the normal range after 2 months of operation. Conclusion: Laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomy guided by ICG fluorescence through arterial staining and portal vein staining is safe and feasible for primary hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.

Deletion in KRT75L4 linked to frizzle feather in Xiushui Yellow Chickens.

Bird feathers are the product of interactions between natural and artificial selection. Feather-related traits are important for chicken selection and breeding. Frizzle feather is characterized by the abnormally development of feathers in chickens. In the current study, frizzle feather characteristics were observed in a local breed called Xiushui Yellow Chicken in Jiangxi, China. To determine the molecular mechanisms that underlie frizzle feather in Xiushui Yellow Chicken, four populations of three breeds (Xiushui Yellow Chicken with frizzle feathers, Xiushui Yellow Chicken with normal feathers, Guangfeng White-Ear Yellow Chicken, and Ningdu Yellow Chicken) were selected for whole-genome resequencing. Using a comparative genome strategy and genome-wide association study, a missense mutation (g.5281494A>G) and a 15-bp deletion (g.5285437-5285451delGATGCCGGCAGGACG) in KRT75L4 were identified as candidate mutations associated with frizzle feather in Xiushui Yellow Chicken. Based on genotyping performed in a large Xiushui Yellow Chicken population, the g.5285437-5285451delGATGCCGGCAGGACG mutation in KRT75L4 was confirmed as the putative causative mutation of frizzle feather. These results deepen the understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for frizzle feather, as well as facilitating the molecular detection and selection of the feather phenotype in Xiushui Yellow Chickens.

[Treatment efficacy of dietary supplement Licofor for dry eye associated with meibomian gland dysfunction].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of dietary supplement Licofor in the treatment of dry eye associated with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Methods: This was a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial. Sixty patients [25 males, 35 females, aged (42±13) years] who had dry eye associated with MGD were recruited in Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from December 2018 to October 2019. The patients were equally divided into two groups: 30 cases (60 eyes) in the experimental group and 30 cases (60 eyes) in the control group. All subjects were treated with eye hot compress, artificial tears and antibiotic ointment. After that, the experimental group and control group were received dietary supplementary Licofor or placebo daily for 12 weeks. The symptoms and signs of dry eye, morphology and function of meibomian gland, and inflammatory response were assessed at the beginning, 4th, 8th and 12th week of treatment. Results: After 12 weeks of treatment, statistically significant improvements in ocular surface disease index (OSDI) scores, tear break-up time (TBUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), the morphology of eyelid margin, meibomian gland orifice, meibomian gland expressibility, meibum quality, and periglandular inflammatory cell density were determined in both groups (all P<0.05). In the Licofor group, the improvement of OSDI scores [16.7 (12.5, 20.8) vs 20.8 (18.8, 22.9), P<0.001], the morphology of eyelid margin, meibomian gland orifice and periglandular inflammatory cell density [443 (318, 513) vs 553 (415, 676)/mm2, P=0.002] were more significant (all P<0.05). Conclusion: The combined treatment of licofor and conventional treatment can significantly improve symptoms of dry eye, the morphology of eyelid margin, meibomian gland orifice, meibum quality, and eyelid inflammation response of dry eye associated with MGD.

[Application of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis for cervical liquid-based thin-layer cytology].

Objective: To explore the application value of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system for TBS report in cervical cancer screening. Methods: A total of 16 317 clinical samples and related data of cervical liquid-based thin-layer cell smears, which were obtained from July 2020 to September 2020, were collected from Southern Hospital, Guangzhou Huayin Medical Inspection Center, Shenzhen Bao'an People's Hospital(Group) and Changsha Yuan'an Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The TBS report artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system of cervical liquid-based thin-layer cytology jointly developed by Southern Medical University and Guangzhou F. Q. PATHOTECH Co., Ltd. based on deep learning convolution neural network was used to diagnose all clinical samples. The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of both artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system and cytologists using artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system were analyzed based on the evaluation standard(2014 TBS). The time spent by the two methods was also compared. Results: The sensitivity of artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system in predicting cervical intraepithelial lesions and other lesions (including endometrial cells detected in women over 45 years old and infectious lesions) under different production methods, different cytoplasmic staining and different scanning instruments was 92.90% and 83.55% respectively, and the specificity of negative samples was 87.02%, while that of cytologists using artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system was 99.34%, 97.79% and 99.10%, respectively. Moreover, cytologists using artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system could save about 6 times of reading time than manual. Conclusions: Artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system for TBS report of cervical liquid-based thin-layer cytology has the advantages of high sensitivity, high specificity and strong generalization. Cytologists can significantly improve the accuracy and work efficiency of reading smears by using artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis system.

Application of Sarcosaprophagous Insects to Estimate the Postmortem Interval in 11 Cases.

ABSTRACT: Objective To test the feasibility and accuracy of with sarcosaprophagous insects postmortem interval （PMI） estimation with sarcosaprophagous insects and provide references for estimation practice. Methods Eleven cases confirmed by the detection results, with complete entomological evidence were selected. The insect species, estimation results and true results involved in the cases were statistically analyzed and compared. Results Thirteen species of insects were found at the criminal scene, including Chrysomya megacephala （Fabricius）, Chrysomya rufifacies （Macquart）, Chrysomya nigripes （Aubertin）, Lucilia sericata （Meigen）, Hydrotaea spinigera Stein, Muscina stabulans （Fallén）, Sarcophagid （species were not identified）, Megaselia scalaris （Loew）, Hermetia illucens （Linnaeus）, Saprinus splendens （Paykull）, Creophilus maxillosus （Linnaeus）, Dermestes maculatus （De Geer） and Necrobia ruficollis （Fabricius）. The PMI of all eleven cases was within the range of estimated PMI. The estimated results of 72.73% cases were on the same day of the true results. Conclusion Sarcosaprophagous insects can estimate the PMI simply and conveniently. In cases where the PMI is within the time range of one generation of flies or beetles, the estimation results are relatively accurate. However, the estimation is less accurate when the PMI is beyond the time range.

[Correlation between swallowing function and pulmonary ventilation function and respiratory muscles strength in patients with dysphagia after stroke].

Objective: To observe the difference of pulmonary function among patients with dysphagia after stroke, patients without dysphagia and normal people, and to explore the correlation between swallowing function and pulmonary function. Methods: From September 2018 to April 2019, 310 stroke patients were enrolled from the rehabilitation department and neurology department of sun yat-sen memorial hospital, sun yat-sen university, of which 60 were selected as standard stroke patients. Pulmonary function of the three groups was assessed by pulmonary function detector and further compared. The swallowing function of the dysphagia group after stroke was examined by using videofluroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). The swallowing function was quantitatively assessed by Rosenbek penetration-aspiration scale (PAS), dysphagia outcome and severity scale (DOSS) and videofluoroscopy dysphagia scale (VDS), and the correlation between swallowing function and respiratory function was analyzed. Results: There were significant differences in pulmonary function among three groups (P<0.05). Besides the FEF25,FVC, FIVC between patients with dysphagia after stroke and patients without dysphagia, the FEF75 between patients without dysphagia and normal people (all P>0.05), there were significant differences in the pairwise comparison of other indicators (all P<0.05). There were correlations between PAS and MIP (r=-0.618, P=0.001),PAS and MEP (r=-0.410, P=0.038), PAS and PEF (r=-0.443, P=0.024), DOSS and MIP (r=0.602, P=0.000),DOSS and MEP (r=0.496, P=0.005), DOSS and PEF (r=0.553, P=0.002), VDS and MEP (r=-0.483, P=0.012),VDS and PEF (r=-0.494, P=0.010), respectively. Conclusion: The pulmonary function of dysphagia patients after stroke decrease significantly, and the severity of dysphagia is correlated with the decrease of pulmonary function.

[Analysis of rush poppers use and related factors in men who have sex with men in Jinan and Qingdao, 2016].

Objective: To understand the use of drug and its related factors among men who have sex with men, and to provide reference for the development of reasonable intervention measures. Methods: MSM was recruited from Jinan and Qingdao by means of on-site and internet recruiting from March to June in 2016. Anonymous questionnaires were conducted and HIV and syphilis serological tests were performed. The questionnaire included the general situation, sexual behavior, HIV related services and so on. Multi-factor unconditioned logistic regression model was used to explore related factors about rush poppers use. Results: The rush poppers use rate of 901 MSM was 30.1%（271/901）, the age was (29.3±8.1) years, the HIV infection rate was 4.6% (41/901) and the syphilis infection rate was 8.7% (78/901). Multivariate analysis showed that compared with those who were>25 years old, the OR (95%CI) of those who were ≤ 25 years old was 1.571 (1.110-2.224); compared with the number of anal sexual behavior was<2 times in the last week, the OR (95%CI) of those whose number of anal sexual behavior was ≥2 times was 2.991 (1.100-8.132); compared with those who had not received peer education services in the last year, the OR (95%CI) of those who received peer education services was 13.651 (7.239-25.742). Conclusion: Rush poppers are very popular in the MSM crowd, and those who aged less than 25 years old, who had anal sex more than twice in the past week, and who had received peer education services were more likely to use rush poppers. We should carry out targeted interventions according to the characteristics.

Cardiac MRI for detecting left atrial/left atrial appendage thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation : Meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the accuracy of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in detecting left atrial/left atrial appendage (LA/LAA) thrombus and to analyze the difference between the diagnostic accuracy of various imaging sequences. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for studies from 2000 to 2017 that compared CMR with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in detecting LA/LAA thrombus. The CMR images were analyzed in four categories: (1) cine-CMR; (2) first-pass contrast-enhanced 3D CMR angiography (CE-MRA); (3) delayed-enhancement CMR (DE-CMR); and (4) CMR, regardless of the magnetic resonance sequences used. Descriptive and quantitative information was extracted and Meta-DiSc 1.4 was used to perform the analysis. RESULTS: The analysis included 582 patients from seven publications. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and summary receiver operating characteristic of cine-CMR were 91.00%, 93.00%, 50.43, 10.04, 0.24, and 93.93%, respectively; for CE-MRA, the values were 77.00%, 97.00%, 179.21, 51.77, 0.30, and 97.63%, respectively; for DE-CMR, 100.00%, 99.00%, 849.70, 77.62, 0.09, and 99.38%, respectively; and for CMR, 80.00%, 99.00%, 187.54, 24.21, 0.17, and 97.71%, respectively. CONCLUSION: In patients with atrial fibrillation, CMR has been proven to be a favorable diagnostic technique for the detection and assessment of LA/LAA thrombus. Among the imaging sequences evaluated, DE-CMR had the highest sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy.

Lung radiodensity along the needle passage is a quantitative predictor of pneumothorax after CT-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy.

AIM: To analyse whether the lowest value of lung radiodensity along the passage of the biopsy needle is a quantitative predictor of pneumothorax. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy (PCNB) procedures performed at Zhongnan Hospital were analysed retrospectively. Age, gender, lesion size, lesion depth, lesion location, patient position, number of passages, needle pleural angle, pulmonary bleeding, and lung radiodensity along the needle passage were collected and classified by the extent of pneumothorax. Univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were assessed to explore the independent risk factors for pneumothorax. RESULTS: Six hundred and seventy-seven cases were included in the study, including 456 males and 221 females. Pneumothorax occurred in 40.18% of cases, of which 82.4% were mild, 14% were moderate, and 3.7% were severe. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that lesion size ≤2 cm (p=0.002), two or more passages (p=0.033), and lung radiodensity of -850 HU or less (p≤0.001) were independent risk factors for pneumothorax; bleeding (p<0.001) was a protective factor for pneumothorax. CONCLUSIONS: The lowest value of lung radiodensity along the needle passage was a quantitative predictor of pneumothorax. A value of -850 HU or less was an independent risk factor for pneumothorax. As the value decreased, there was a higher risk of occurrence of more severe pneumothorax.

Diagnostic accuracy of dual-energy CT and ultrasound in gouty arthritis : A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to compare the overall accuracy of ultrasonography (US), with at least one sign positive (double contour, tophus, aggregates), and dual-energy CT in the diagnosis of gouty arthritis. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, EI, Elsevier, Wiley Online Library and Cochrane library were systematically searched for studies on the diagnostic performance of dual-energy CT (DECT) and ultrasound (US) from 2005 to February 2016. After study selection, data and quality assessment, the sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), diagnostic odds rate (DOR), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and summary receiver operating contraction racteristic (SROC) curves were calculated. RESULTS: Eleven publications met our inclusion criteria. Of these, six studies were included in the dual-energy CT group, six studies in the US group, and one study compared dual-energy CT and US. The pooled SEN, SPE, DOR, PLR, NLR and SROC of US with at least one sign positive, were 93%, 73%, 37.94, 3.39, 0.11 and 92%, respectively; and of DECT the values were 88%, 85%, 38.70, 5.12, 0.16, 93% and respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on current evidence, both US and DECT can be used for diagnosis of gouty arthritis, but there are some differences between them regarding diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.

Epidemiology and characteristics of the dengue outbreak in Guangdong, Southern China, in 2014.

Dengue is a rapidly spreading mosquito-borne disease caused by the dengue virus (DENV) and has emerged as a severe public health problem around the world. Guangdong, one of the southern Chinese provinces, experienced a serious outbreak of dengue in 2014, which was believed to be the worst dengue epidemic in China over the last 20 years. To better understand the epidemic, we collected the epidemiological data of the outbreak and analyzed 14,594 clinically suspected dengue patients from 25 hospitals in Guangdong. Dengue cases were then laboratory-confirmed by the detection of DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) antigen and/or DENV RNA. Afterwards, clinical manifestations of dengue patients were analyzed and 93 laboratory-positive serum specimens were chosen for the DENV serotyping and molecular analysis. Our data showed that the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong had spread to 20 cities and more than 45 thousand people suffered from dengue fever. Of 14,594 participants, 11,387 were definitively diagnosed. Most manifested with a typical non-severe clinical course, and 1.96 % developed to severe dengue. The strains isolated successfully from the serum samples were identified as DENV-1. Genetic analyses revealed that the strains were classified into genotypes I and V of DENV-1, and the dengue epidemic of Guangdong in 2014 was caused by indigenous cases and imported cases from the neighboring Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia and Singapore. Overall, our study is informative and significant to the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong and will provide crucial implications for dengue prevention and control in China and elsewhere.

Prevalence and molecular characterization of Salmonella enterica isolates throughout an integrated broiler supply chain in China.

A total of 1145 samples were collected from chicken breeder farms, hatcheries, broiler farms, a slaughterhouse and retail refrigerated chicken stores in an integrated broiler supply chain in Guangdong Province, China, in 2013. One-hundred and two Salmonella enterica strains were isolated and subjected to serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, virulence profile determination and molecular subtyping by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The contamination rates in samples from breeder farms, hatcheries, broiler farms, the slaughterhouse and retail stores were 1·46%, 4·31%, 7·00%, 62·86% and 54·67%, respectively. The isolated strains of S. enterica belonged to 10 serotypes; most of them were S. Weltevreden (46·08%, 47/102) and S. Agona (18·63%, 19/102). Isolates were frequently resistant to streptomycin (38·2%), tetracycline (36·3%), sulfisoxazole (35·3%) and gentamicin (34·3%); 31·4% of isolates were multidrug resistant. The isolates were screened for 10 virulence factors. The Salmonella pathogenicity island genes avrA, ssaQ, mgtC, siiD, and sopB and the fimbrial gene bcfC were present in 100% of the strains. PFGE genotyping of the 102 S. enterica isolates yielded 24 PFGE types at an 85% similarity threshold. The PFGE patterns show that the genotypes of S. enterica in the production chain are very diverse, but some strains have 100% similarity in different parts of the production chain, which indicates that some S. enterica persist throughout the broiler supply chain.

The diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy and fine needle aspiration in pulmonary lesions: a meta-analysis.

AIM: To determine and compare the diagnostic value of computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy (PCNB) and percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy (PNAB) in pulmonary lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Web of Science were systematically searched for relevant studies that investigated the diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided PCNB and/or PNAB for pulmonary lesions up to December 2014. After study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment, the sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), diagnostic odds rate (DOR), positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratios (NLR), and summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were calculated using the Meta-Disc 1.4 software. RESULTS: Nineteen publications, including 21 independent studies, met the inclusion criteria. Of them, 15 studies were included in the PCNB group and six studies in the PNAB group. The pooled SEN, SPE, DOR, PLR, NLR, and SROC were 0.95, 0.99, 54.72, 0.06, 821.90, and 0.98 in the PCNB group and 0.90, 0.99, 24.71, 0.14, 210.72, and 0.98 in the PNAB group, respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on current evidence, both PCNB and PNAB can be used as diagnostic methods to distinguish benign and malignant pulmonary lesions; the difference between PCNB and PNAB regarding diagnostic accuracy of benign or malignant pulmonary lesions is not obvious.

[Factors related to syphilis and other infections among female drug users in Shandong women's compulsory drug rehabilitation center in 2015].

Objective: To analyze the prevalence of HIV, syphilis and related factors among female drug users in Shandong women's compulsory drug rehabilitation center(SWCDRC). Methods: During May 2015, we used a cluster sampling method for drug users in SWCDRC, with a questionnaire and serological testing. We included respondents who volunteered to take part in this study, had clear histories of drug abuse, and had no symptoms of psychosis or current drug use; 451 women participated. The questionnaire addressed socio-demographic information and the participants' health knowledge, including AIDS knowledge, behavioral information, drug use, and STD treatment. We also drew 5 ml blood from each subject for serological tests of HIV and syphilis. Chi-square test was used to compare syphilis antibody positive rate among drug users who had different characteristics. Multi-factor unconditioned logistic regression model was used to explore related factors about syphilis infection of women drug users. Results: Subjects' mean age was(27.25±7.06)years. Of the 451 women, 33.5%(151/451)tested positive for syphilis and 2.2%(10/451)for HIV. The rate of syphilis antibody(SAb)positive whether providing commercial server, providing: 47.2%(25/53); no providing: 31.6%(125/396); χ2=5.12, P=0.024. The SAb + rate from whether having temporary sexual behavior, having: 47.4%(91/192); no having: 23.6%(60/254); χ2=27.6, P<0.001. The SAb+ rate of subjects who tested positive for herpes simplex virus-2(HSV-2)was 39.4%(128/325); for those who tested negative it was 18.3%(23/126); χ2=18.2, P<0.001. The SAb+ rate by frequency of drug use was ≥3 times a week: 36.9%(106/287);<3 times per week: 27.3%(42/154); χ2=4.20, P=0.041. Compared with subjects who were unmarried, divorced, or widowed drug users, the OR(95% CI)for SAb+ among subjects who cohabited with a partner was 2.19(1.36- 3.51). Compared with subjects who had not been having temporary sexual behavior, the OR(95%CI)for SAb+ among subjects who had been having temporary sexual behavior was 2.59(1.65-4.05). Compared with HSV-2- subjects, the OR(95%CI)for SAb+ among subjects who were HSV-2+ was 2.69(1.57-4.59). Conclusion: HIV and syphilis infection rate among female drug users in SWCDRC were significantly higher than in the general population. Subjects who had provided commercial server in the previous 12 months, had temporary sexual behavior in the previous 12 months, were HSV-2+, used drugs ≥3 times per week or cohabitated with a partner had higher syphilis prevalence.

Quantifying midbrain serotonin transporter in depression: a preliminary study of diagnosis and naturalistic treatment outcome.

INTRODUCTION: Serotonin may play an important role in the pathology of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the relationship between serotonin transporter (SERT) availability and the medical outcome of antidepressant treatment is uncertain. METHODS: In this naturalistic study, SERT availability (expressed as the specific uptake ratio, SUR) in the midbrain of 17 drug-free patients with MDD and 17 controls matched for age and gender was measured using SPECT with [(123)I]ADAM. The severity of MDD was measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale before, and after 6 weeks of non-standardized antidepressant treatment. RESULTS: A total of 12 patients completed the study. The SUR of the patients with MDD was significantly lower than that of the healthy controls. The SUR of SERT was not found to have a linear relationship with the treatment outcome; however, supplemental analysis found a curvilinear relationship between treatment outcome and the SUR of SERT. DISCUSSION: The findings indicate that the SUR of SERT is lower in patients with MDD; however it did not predict treatment outcome in a linear fashion. Studies with larger sample sizes are required.

Analysis of alterations to the transcriptome of Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) under low temperature stress via de novo sequencing.

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.), which originates from the cooler hill regions of southwestern China, is a typical subtropical evergreen tree. Loquat is one of the most important economic crops in China, but the available genomic information is very limited. Here, we present the first deep transcriptomic analysis of loquat. De novo assembly generated 116,723 contigs and 64,814 unigenes using Illumina sequencing technology. A total of 45,739 unigenes were annotated by Nr, GO, and COG datasets. In addition, we analyzed the gene expression profiles of loquat fruit under low temperature stress and 4017 differential expressed genes were identified. We found that the unigenes involved in the brassinosteroid biosynthesis and phosphatidylinositol signaling systems were upregulated, indicating that they have an important role in the resistance of plants to low temperature. Our results provide an invaluable resource for identification of specific genes and proteins involved in loquat development and response to low temperatures.

Conventional and contrast-enhanced ultrasound assessment of craniocerebral gunshot wounds.

This study aimed to investigate the characteristic features of craniocerebral gunshot wounds by conventional ultrasound (CUS) and evaluate the efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in differentiation of tissue condition in wounds. Twenty crossbreed dogs (treatment: N = 15; control: N = 5) were used in the study. Pipe-shaped hyperechoes of varying size were found by CUS in most of the treated animals. The echoic areas were distinct from the neighboring brain tissue and did not change with time. CEUS revealed that the pipe-shaped echo was unenhanced in majority of the injured brains and the surrounding tissue was either heterogeneously enhanced or unenhanced. Pathological analysis confirmed that the contrast-filling-defect area indicated necrotic tissue and the heterogeneous minimally enhanced areas indicated degenerative tissue. CUS imaging enabled detection of hematomas and CEUS indicated that the filling defect was in the center of the hematoma, with enhancement gradually increasing towards the periphery. CUS could effectively detect a wound tract, hematoma, and the craniocerebral area injured by a gunshot, while CEUS could accurately reveal necrotic tissue in the injured area and differentiate the degenerative from normal tissue.

Identification of differentially expressed genes in a pistillody common wheat mutant using an annealing control primer system.

HTS-1 is a new kind of pistillody wheat. All or parts of its stamen are transformed into pistils or pistil-like structures, and it has more seed sets per floret than normal wheat under normal cultivation conditions. To investigate the expression divergence in this mutant, an annealing control primer system was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the young spikelets. As a result, three DEGs, including HDB2, HGF2, and HCG4, were detected, with variable expression in HTS-1 and the control. After further confirmation using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis, these genes were overexpressed in HTS-1 wheat. NGF2 was identified in the double ridge to floret differentiation stages; HDB2 and HCG4 were identified in the stage of pistil and stamen-differentiating. Therefore, we inferred that the homeotic transformation of stamens into pistil-like structures occurred during the early stage of stamen development. Sequence alignment analysis revealed that HDB2 encodes a putative protein of 189 amino acids, with high homology to the DEAD-box ATP-dependent RNA helicase, and HCG4 was identical to the Chinese spring wheat cDNA clone predicted protein according to GenBank. However, NGF2 was not found to have significant similarity to any reported proteins, suggesting it is a new functional gene in wheat. The results suggest that HDB2, HCG4, and HGF2 are minor genes contributing to pistillody trait formation in HTS-1.