Construction of a rapid microfluidic-based SNP genotyping (MSG) chip for ancestry inference.

In forensics, ancestry inference can provide leads for criminal investigation. Therefore, the time needed to generate results is the first priority. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are widely used genetic markers for ancestry inference. In this study, a rapid microfluidic-based SNP genotyping (MSG) chip was established to detect 72 autosomal SNPs for ancestry inference of East Asian populations. The DNA template was infused into the chip and distributed into reaction chambers with pre-spotted primer pairs under centrifugation. After sealing the inlets/outlets and the connections among adjacent reaction chambers, the chip was placed onto a plate thermocycler for competitive allele-specific PCR. The SNP genotyping results were generated by analyzing the extracted fluorescence signal of each reaction chamber after PCR was completed. The detection process took less time (2.5 h) and was simpler than other SNP genotyping methods, such as SNaPshot and MassArray. To assess the performance of the chip, its accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity were evaluated. A total of 50 samples were genotyped using the chip, and the consistency of all of the typing and sequencing results was 100%. For ancestry inference of unknown individuals, a reference database of 3628 individuals from 57 populations was employed, and the ancestry origin of 110 test samples was inferred, demonstrating that the differentiation of East Asian subpopulations can be achieved through the MSG chip method. Overall, the MSG chip method established in this study can effectively be used for rapid and accurate ancestry inference.

Comparative Study of Three Regimens of Bowel Preparation Before Transabdominal Ultrasonography of the Colon.

The objective of the study was to compare the efficacy of three bowel preparation regimens for transabdominal colon ultrasonography. A total of 192 consecutive patients were given one of three regimens (senna, magnesium sulfate or polyethylene glycol electrolyte powder) before ultrasonographic examinations. The cleaning grade (I = emptying; II = filled or filled + empty; III = I or II with some retention; and IV = retention [grades I and II were termed "qualified"]) and cleaning range (A = all seven colon sections were qualified; B = four to six sections were qualified; C = three or less sections were qualified) were evaluated retrospectively. Senna was found more effective than polyethylene glycol in terms of cleaning grade (p < 0.001), qualified rate (p < 0.001) and cleaning range (p = 0.003). Senna was better than magnesium sulfate in cleaning grade (p < 0.001). Our results suggest that senna seems to be the preferred regimen for bowel preparation before transabdominal colonic ultrasonography.

Sonographic evaluation of proximal gastric accommodation in patients with functional dyspepsia.

AIM: To assess the value of ultrasonography (US) in evaluation of proximal gastric accommodation disorder in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). METHODS: Between April 2011 and March 2012, 45 patients with FD and 27 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. Two-dimensional ultrasound (2DUS) and 3-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) were performed sequentially to measure proximal gastric area (PGA), maximal proximal gastric diameter (MPGD), and proximal gastric volume (PGV). These values were measured separately in the two groups every other 5 min for a duration of 25 min after the beginning of ingestion of a test meal. Air pocket grading was done separately for images of 2DUS and blocks of 3DUS obtained at five scanning time points. RESULTS: Both PGA and PGV of patients were significantly smaller than healthy controls (P = 0.000 and 0.002, respectively). Comparing the two parameters between the groups at each time point, the differences were also statistically significant (P = 0.000-0.013), except at 10 min for the PGV (P = 0.077). However, no overall difference was found between the groups in the MPGD measurements (P = 0.114), though it was statistically significant at a 20-minute examination point (P = 0.026). A total of 360 sets or blocks of images were obtained for both 2DUS and 3DUS. For the images analyzed by 2DUS, none were excluded because of gastric gas, and 50 (13.9%) and 310 (86.1%) sets were determined as air pockets grades 1 and 2, respectively. For the images analyzed by 3DUS, 23 (6.4%) blocks were excluded from the measurement due to presence of a large fundus air pocket (grade 3); fifty (13.9%) and 287 (79.7%) blocks were also graded as 1 and 2, respectively. CONCLUSION: Measurement of both PGA and PGV by 2DUS and 3DUS could be useful for assessment of the proximal gastric accommodation.

[Immunoloregulation effect of polysaccharide isolated from octopus dollfusi on mouse].

OBJECTIVE: To study the immunoloregulation effect of three polysaccharides OGI, OG2and OG3 extracted from Octopus dollfusi muscle, gonad, digestive gland, respectively. METHODS: Spleen cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay and index of immune organs were weighed and calculated. RESULTS: OGI and OG2 could increase the proliferation of mouse spleen cell of normal mice, and significantly increased the proliferation of the spleen of immunosuppression mice caused by sccyclophosphamide, while showed no cooperation with ConA; OG3 appeared suppression for the two spleens. The three polysaccharides could increase index of immune organs of normal mice and remarkably increased the indexof immunosuppression mice caused by sccyclophosphamide ; while showed obvious function on thymus index. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that OG1 and OG2 have enhancement immunity for normal and immunosuppression mice, and have better effect for the latter;OG3 has suppression proliferation the spleen cell in vitro, however it has better effect for increase index of immune organs in vivo.