Characterization of ESTs from black locust for gene discovery and marker development.

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is an ecologically and economically important species. However, it has relatively underdeveloped genomic resources, and this limits gene discovery and marker-assisted selective breeding. In the present study, we obtained large-scale transcriptome data using a next-generation sequencing platform to compensate for the lack of black locust genomic information. Increasing the amount of transcriptome data for black locust will provide a valuable resource for multi-gene phylogenetic analyses and will facilitate research on the mechanisms whereby conserved genes and functions are maintained in the face of species divergence. We sequenced the black locust transcriptome from a cDNA library of multiple tissues and individuals on an Illumina platform, and this produced 108,229,352 clean sequence reads. The high-quality overlapping expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were assembled into 36,533 unigenes, and 4781 simple sequence repeats were characterized. A large collection of high-quality ESTs was obtained, de novo assembled, and characterized. Our results markedly expand the previous transcript catalogues of black locust and can gradually be applied to black locust breeding programs. Furthermore, our data will facilitate future research on the comparative genomics of black locust and related species.

Randomized comparison of two rescue therapies for Helicobacter pylori infection.

BACKGROUND: Bismuth salts are not available worldwide. It remains unknown whether clarithromycin can replace bismuth salts as an adjuvant agent in the rescue regimens for Helicobacter pylori infection. We therefore designed the prospective study to compare the efficacies of two rescue therapies for H. pylori infection after standard triple therapies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-three patients who failed H. pylori eradication using proton pump inhibitor plus clarithromycin and amoxicillin were randomly assigned to undergo rescue therapy with esomeprazole, clarithromycin, tetracycline and metronidazole (ECTM group, n = 46) or esomeprazole, bismuth subcitrate, tetracycline and metronidazole (EBTM group, n = 47). Follow-up endoscopy was performed at 8 weeks after the end of treatment to assess the treatment response. RESULTS: Intention-to-treat analysis demonstrated both groups had similar eradication rates (ECTM 74% vs. EBTM 77%; P = 0.76) and drug compliance (ECTM 94% vs. EBTM 96%; P = 0.68). However, the frequency of adverse events in the ECTM group was higher than that in EBTM group (ECTM 57% vs. EBTM 36%, P = 0.05). In the EBTM group, eradication rate of metronidazole-resistant strains was lower than that of metronidazole-susceptible strains (67%[8/12] vs. 100%[9/9], P = 0.05). However, eradication rates were similar between metronidazole-susceptible and metronidazole-resistant strains in ECTM group (69%[9/13] vs. 70%[7/10], P = 1.00). CONCLUSIONS: The new ECTM second-line therapy can achieve similar eradication rate as standard EBTM therapy. It may be very useful in countries where bismuth salts are not available.

Risk of betel chewing for oesophageal cancer in Taiwan.

Among 104 cases of squamous-cell oesophageal carcinoma patients and 277 controls in Taiwan, after adjusting for cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and other confounders, we found that subjects who chewed from 1 to 495 betel-year and more than 495 betel-years (about 20 betel quid per day for 20 years) had 3.6-fold (95% Cl = 1.3-10.1) and 9.2-fold risk (95% Cl = 1.8-46.7), respectively, of developing oesophageal cancer, compared to those who did not chew betel.

Intraocular pressure and the rate of visual field loss in chronic open-angle glaucoma.

We measured the rate of change of visual field threshold values over time (mean follow-up, 44.9 +/- 17.4 months) by trend analysis in 40 eyes of 40 patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma. Twenty-eight eyes had stable visual fields, and two eyes had significant visual field improvement. Ten eyes had significant visual field deterioration and showed a correlation between indices of intraocular pressure (standard error of the mean, P = .02; standard deviation, P = .04; and range, P = .05) and the rate of visual field loss in the superonasal region of the visual field, such that the greater the variation of intraocular pressure the greater the rate of loss. The group losing visual fields had a higher mean visual field threshold value and significantly less optic disk pallor and cupping at the start of the study than the stable visual field group. Thus, a significant rate of visual field loss occurred at an earlier stage of the disease and showed a correlation with intraocular pressure in this stage.

Optic disk cupping and pallor measurements of patients with a disk hemorrhage.

We evaluated whether the rate of occurrence of glaucomatous disk damage in eyes with an optic disk hemorrhage differed from the rate of occurrence in control eyes. We compared 24 patients with a disk hemorrhage to 24 control patients, who had been matched for diagnosis, disk appearance, and visual fields. Cup volume and cup-to-disk area ratio of the optic disk were measured using the stereophotogrammetric technique, and area of pallor was measured using computerized image analysis. We found that diabetes increased the probability that a patient would have a disk hemorrhage, and that a hemorrhage was associated with progression of glaucomatous disk changes in half of the cases during the mean 3.1-year follow-up period. However, the mean rate of glaucomatous disk damage in patients with a hemorrhage was not different from matched control patients. A disk hemorrhage is a sign of later disk damage, but it does not alter the rate of glaucomatous disk progression.

Current surgical interests in China.

Until recently, China had been isolated from Western countries for almost 30 years. Surgeons of Western countries, perhaps, are interested to know what is happening in surgery in China. This communication reviews the current interests in Chinese surgery. It is by no means complete, nor is that the intention. The intention is to introduce to our foreign colleagues a general overview of some highlights in Chinese surgery.