Neural architecture search via progressive partial connection with attention mechanism.

Differentiable architecture search requires a larger computational consumption during architecture search, and there exists the depth gap problem under deeper network architecture. In this paper, we propose an attention-based progressive partially connected neural architecture search method (PPCAtt-NAS) to address these two issues. First, we introduce a progressive search strategy in the architecture search phase, build up the sophistication of the architecture gradually and perform path-level pruning in stages to bridge the depth gap. Second, we adopt a partial search scheme that performs channel-level partial sampling of the network architecture to further reduce the computational complexity of the architecture search. In addition, an attention mechanism is devised to improve the architecture search capability by enhancing the relevance between the feature channels. Finally, we conduct extensive comparison experiments with state-of-the-art methods on several public datasets, and our method is able to present higher architecture performance.

Finite-element-analysis of connection strength of assembled camshafts with different cam-bore profiles using tube hydroforming technology.

The assembled camshaft is a novel manufacturing product which connects the cam and the mandrel by tube hydroforming (THF) technology after they are processed separately. However, in the process of THF, the structure of the cam-bores has a crucial influence on the connection strength of the assembled camshafts. Therefore, three kinds of cam-bores with circular structure, isometric-trilateral profile and logarithmic spiral profile are selected for hydroforming with a hollow mandrel (tube) in this study. The finite-element-analysis is carried out by ABAQUS software, the variations of (residual) contact pressure and contact area under different structures are obtained, and the torsional angle variations after assembly are measured. Further, the connection strength of the assembled camshaft under three structures is discussed. The results show that the evaluation of connection strength of the assembled camshaft is affected by many factors, including contact pressure, maximum residual contact pressure, axial and circular residual contact pressure, contact area and its rate, residual contact area percentage and torsional angle. Through the comprehensive analysis of various factors, the torsional angle of the camshaft with circular structure is the largest, i.e. poor connection strength. By contrast, the torsional strength of the camshaft with isometric-trilateral profile is the largest, namely, the best connection strength.

Zero-shot learning via visual-semantic aligned autoencoder.

Zero-shot learning recognizes the unseen samples via the model learned from the seen class samples and semantic features. Due to the lack of information of unseen class samples in the training set, some researchers have proposed the method of generating unseen class samples by using generative models. However, the generated model is trained with the training set samples first, and then the unseen class samples are generated, which results in the features of the unseen class samples tending to be biased toward the seen class and may produce large deviations from the real unseen class samples. To tackle this problem, we use the autoencoder method to generate the unseen class samples and combine the semantic features of the unseen classes with the proposed new sample features to construct the loss function. The proposed method is validated on three datasets and showed good results.

Neural architecture search based on dual attention mechanism for image classification.

Deep learning neural networks based on the manual design for image classification tasks usually require a large amount of a priori knowledge and experience from experts; thus, research on designing neural network architectures automatically has been widely performed. The neural architecture search (NAS) method based on the differentiable architecture search (DARTS) ignores the interrelationships within the searched network architecture cells. The optional operations in the architecture search space lack diversity, and the large parametric and non-parametric operations in the search space make the search process inefficient. We propose a NAS method based on a dual attention mechanism (DAM-DARTS). An improved attention mechanism module is introduced to the cell of the network architecture to deepen the interrelationships between the important layers within the architecture by enhancing the attention between them, which improves the accuracy of the architecture and reduces the architecture search time. We also propose a more efficient architecture search space by adding attention operations to increase the complex diversity of the searched network architectures and reduce the computational cost consumed in the search process by reducing non-parametric operations. Based on this, we further analyze the impact of changing some operations in the architecture search space on the accuracy of the architectures. Through extensive experiments on several open datasets, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed search strategy, which is highly competitive with other existing neural network architecture search methods.

Self-floating capsule of algicidal bacteria Bacillus sp. HL and its performance in the dissolution of Microcystis aeruginosa.

Algicidal bacteria is considered as an efficient and environmentally friendly approach to suppress Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa). However, algicidal bacteria in natural water is limited during the practical application due to the interference of external factors and the low reuse capability. In this study, a bio-degradation capsule for M. aeruginosa is prepared by bio-compatible sodium alginate (SA) compositing with eco-friendly ethyl cellulose (EC) to improve the property and reuse capability of algicidal bacteria. Bacterial strain HL was well immobilized and the capsule was obtained with 2% of SA, 3% of calcium chloride (CaCl2) and 3% of EC. It has been proved that capsules immobilizing bacteria HL shows considerable advantage over traditional bio-treatment systems (free-living bacteria) and good reusable performance. A better algicidal rate of 77.67% ± 1.14% at 7th day was obtained with the use of capsule embedding 50 mL of algicidal bacteria, enhanced by 11.05% comparing with same amount of free-living bacteria. Moreover, the algicidal rate of M. aeruginosa still reached 68.57% ± 2.88% after three times repetitive use. The effect of capsules on the fluorescence and antioxidant system of M. aeruginosa indicated that the photosystems were irreversibly damaged and the antioxidant response of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) were significantly induced. Overall, capsules prepared in this study can provide a desirable environment for algicidal bacteria HL and ensure algicidal bacteria to in-situ work well in inhibiting booms of algae.

A novel algicidal bacteria isolated from native snail lived in Taihu Lake against algal blooms: identification, degradation kinetic, and algicidal mechanism.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) impacted negatively the water ecosystem, and produced toxic microcystins that poses toxic effect on liver, nervous, and genital system. The introduction of useful and adaptive algae-degrading microbes or bio-augmentation can be regarded as an efficient way to inhibit the outbreak of HABs. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the application potential of algicidal bacteria named XMC, which is isolated from native snails. Response surface methodology (RSM) experiments showed that self-characteristic and various external conditions affected the actual algae inhibition ability of XMC. In particular, actual algicidal efficiency was strongly depend on the temperature and growth stage of XMC, and the maximum algicidal rate could reach 93.95% within 7 days. The degradation curve of Microcystis aeruginosa was compliant with the first-order kinetic model, which could be used to predict the degradation effect of Microcystis aeruginosa in engineering applications. The analysis results of algae dissolution products showed that algicidal bacteria XMC had both direct and indirect algicidal capacity. In addition, XMC had strong algicidal ability and greater environmental adaptability, and its algae dissolution products were environmentally friendly. All results indicated that XMC had the potential to be used in the bio-degradation of cyanobacteria bloom.

qFC6, a major gene for crude fat content and quality in rice.

KEY MESSAGE: qFC6, a major quantitative trait locus for rice crude fat content, was fine mapped to be identical with Wx. FC6 negatively regulates crude fat content and rice quality. Starch, protein and lipids are the three major components in rice endosperm. The lipids content in rice influences both storage and quality. In this study, we identified a quantitative trait locus (QTL), qFC6, for crude fat (free lipids) content through association analysis and linkage analysis. Gene-based association analysis revealed that LOC_Os06g04200, also known as Wx, was the candidate gene for qFC6. Complementation and knockout transgenic lines revealed that Wx negatively regulates crude fat content. Lipid composition and content analysis by gas chromatography and taste evaluation analysis showed that FC6 positively influenced bound lipids content and negatively affected both free lipids content and taste. Besides, higher free lipids content rice varieties exhibit more lustrous appearance after cooking and by adding extra oil during cooking could improve rice luster and taste score, indicating that higher free lipids content may make rice more lustrous and delicious. Together, we cloned a QTL coordinating rice crude fat content and eating quality and assisted in uncovering the genetic basis of rice lipid content and in the improvement of rice eating quality.

AL-Net: Attention Learning Network Based on Multi-Task Learning for Cervical Nucleus Segmentation.

Cervical nucleus segmentation is a crucial and challenging issue in automatic pathological diagnosis due to uneven staining, blurry boundaries, and adherent or overlapping nuclei in nucleus images. To overcome the limitation of current methods, we propose a multi-task network based on U-Net for cervical nucleus segmentation. This network consists of a primary task and an auxiliary task. The primary task is employed to predict nuclei regions. The auxiliary task, which predicts the boundaries of nuclei, is designed to improve the feature extraction of the main task. Furthermore, a context encoding layer is added behind each encoding layer of the U-Net. The output of each context encoding layer is processed by an attention learning module and then fused with the features of the decoding layer. In addition, a codec block is used in the attention learning module to obtain saliency-based attention and focused attention simultaneously. Experiment results show that the proposed network performs better than the state-of-the-art methods on the 2014 ISBI dataset, BNS, MoNuSeg, and our nucluesSeg dataset.

Longitudinal Study of Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity and Change in Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate among Chinese Adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Studies on the association between arterial stiffness and kidney function have generated inconsistent results. Whether arterial stiffness is linked to decline in renal function warrants further study. This study aimed to investigate the association between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and longitudinal change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) among Chinese adults. METHODS: In this longitudinal study, 8,264 participants in a community-based cohort had baPWV measured in 2010-2011 and were followed in subsequent surveys through to 2016. During each survey visit, fasting blood samples were collected for serum creatinine and eGFR was calculated. Participants were divided into 5 groups (Q1-Q5) by baPWV quintile. The association between baPWV and longitudinal changes in eGFR was assessed using generalized estimating equation models. RESULTS: A total of 8,045 participants were included in the final analysis. The average age was 54 ± 12 years (age range 24-97 years), and mean eGFR was 93.0 ± 18.6 mL/min/1.73 m2. There was an inverse linear association between baseline baPWV and eGFR change rate (p < 0.001). Compared with Q1 (lowest) group, the mean differences and 95% CI in eGFR decrease rate among Q2-Q5 groups were -0.23 (-0.62, 0.16), -0.67 (-1.06, -0.28), -1.11 (-1.50, -0.72), and -1.30 (-1.69, -0.92) mL/min/1.73 m2 per year, respectively, after adjustment for age, gender, and other potential confounders (p trend < 0.0001). For each 100 cm/s increase in baPWV at baseline, the fully adjusted mean difference in eGFR decrease rate was -0.14 mL/min/1.73 m2 per year (95% CI -0.18, -0.10; p < 0.0001). Compared with participants with baPWV < 1,400 cm/s, the fully adjusted mean difference in eGFR decrease rate was -0.92 mL/min/1.73 m2 per year (95% CI -1.18, -0.66) for those with baPWV ≥ 1,400 cm/s (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Participants with a higher baPWV at baseline had a greater decrease in eGFR over time. Future studies could examine the relationship between baPWV and decline in renal function in higher risk cohorts, and its potential role in targeting reno-protective interventions to those who may benefit from them most.

Mechanisms of hyperventilation-induced lung injuries in neonatal rats.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of early inflammatory injury in neonatal ventilator-induced lung injuries (VILI). METHODS: Newborn rats were randomly assigned to groups and administrated mechanical ventilation with different tidal volumes. Morphological changes in lung tissues were observed, and the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), cysteinyl leukotriene mRNA (CysLT1 mRNA), and nuclear factor-κB mRNA (NF-κBp65 mRNA) in lung tissues were analyzed. RESULTS: The ventilation groups exhibited different degrees of inflammatory cell infiltration, which was aggravated as the tidal volume and ventilation time increased. The IL-6 levels of the hyperventilation 5H, conventional ventilation 5H, hyperventilation 3H, control, and normal lung-tissue group were 785.33±39.06, 701.6±33.65, 686.65±46.85, 637.63±40.55, and 635.02±65.78 pg/g, respectively. Hyperventilation increased the levels of IL-6 and NF-κBp65 mRNA as the ventilation time increased, and IL-6 was positively correlated with NF-κBp65 mRNA levels (r=0.72, P<0.01). Longer hyperventilation periods upregulate the level of CysLT1 mRNA. CysLT1 mRNA/GAPDH of the hyperventilation 5H group was 2.14±1.45 (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical ventilation with a large tidal volume can cause VILI, characterized at an early stage by inflammatory responses and particularly by the increased secretion and invasion of inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory cells. The activation of the NF-κB-IL-6 signaling pathway was an important mechanism for the initiation of VILI. Additionally, CysLT1 was involved in the inflammatory VILI damage, and its upregulation occurred later than that of IL-6.

Mucins and Tight Junctions are Severely Altered in Necrotizing Enterocolitis Neonates.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the expression levels of mucin 1 (MUC1), MUC2, occludin, and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). STUDY DESIGN: Intestinal specimens of surgical patients suffering from NEC (the NEC group) and intestinal specimens of patients with congenital intestinal atresia (the control group) were collected. Immunohistochemical changes in MUC1, MUC2, occludin, and ZO-1 were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Our study showed a significant decrease in the expression levels of MUC1 (p = 0.004), MUC2 (p = 0.001), occludin (p = 0.004), and ZO-1 (p = 0.013) in neonates suffering from NEC as compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: Mucins and tight junctions are severely altered in NEC neonates. This finding might provide clues for rupture of the intestinal barrier. Further research is needed to investigate the gene expression as well as the exact mechanisms behind these changes. This will help us better understand the role of the intestinal barrier in NEC. KEY POINTS: · Mucins and tight junctions are severely altered in NEC neonates.. · We first demonstrate that the expression levels of MUC1are obviously reduced in neonates suffering from NEC.. · Expression levels of MUC2, occludin, and ZO-1, are also significantly decreased in neonates suffering from NEC..

Functional network connectivity (FNC)-based generative adversarial network (GAN) and its applications in classification of mental disorders.

As a popular deep learning method, generative adversarial networks (GAN) have achieved outstanding performance in multiple classifications and segmentation tasks. However, the application of GANs to fMRI data is relatively rare. In this work, we proposed a functional network connectivity (FNC) based GAN for classifying psychotic disorders from healthy controls (HCs), in which FNC matrices were calculated by correlation of time courses derived from non-artefactual fMRI independent components (ICs). The proposed GAN model consisted of one discriminator (real FNCs) and one generator (fake FNCs), each has four fully-connected layers. The generator was trained to match the discriminator in the intermediate layers while simultaneously a new objective loss was determined for the generator to improve the whole classification performance. In a case for classifying 269 major depressive disorder (MDD) patients from 286 HCs, an average accuracy of 70.1% was achieved in 10-fold cross-validation, with at least 6% higher compared to the other 6 popular classification approaches (54.5-64.2%). In another application to discriminating 558 schizophrenia patients from 542 HCs from 7 sites, the proposed GAN model achieved 80.7% accuracy in leave-one-site-out prediction, outperforming support vector machine (SVM) and deep neural net (DNN) by 3%-6%. More importantly, we are able to identify the most contributing FNC nodes and edges with the strategy of leave-one-FNC-out recursively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to apply the GAN model on the FNC-based classification of mental disorders. Such a framework promises wide utility and great potential in neuroimaging biomarker identification.

Nucleus segmentation of cervical cytology images based on multi-scale fuzzy clustering algorithm.

In the screening of cervical cancer cells, accurate identification and segmentation of nucleus in cell images is a key part in the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. Overlapping, uneven staining, poor contrast, and other reasons present challenges to cervical nucleus segmentation. We propose a segmentation method for cervical nuclei based on a multi-scale fuzzy clustering algorithm, which segments cervical cell clump images at different scales. We adopt a novel interesting degree based on area prior to measure the interesting degree of the node. The application of these two methods not only solves the problem of selecting the categories number of the clustering algorithm but also greatly improves the nucleus recognition performance. The method is evaluated by the IBSI2014 and IBSI2015 public datasets. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm has greater advantages than the state-of-the-art cervical nucleus segmentation algorithms and accomplishes high accuracy nucleus segmentation results.

Erythropoietin Gene Polymorphism rs551238 is Associated with a Reduced Susceptibility to Brain Injury in Preterm Infants.

BACKGROUND: Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Erythropoietin (EPO) promoter region have been shown to influence EPO protein expression, and high blood levels of EPO are associated with an increased risk of brain injury in very preterm infants. Here, we investigated the genotype distributions and association of three EPO gene polymorphisms (rs1617640, rs551238, and rs507392) with the risk of brain injury in preterm infants. METHODS: 304 preterm infants with a gestational age of 28 to 34 weeks were enrolled in this study. Brain injury was evaluated by brain ultrasound and MRI examination. EPO gene Single- Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped by the Agena MassARRAY system, and their association with brain injury susceptibility in preterm infants was analyzed. RESULTS: EPO polymorphism rs551238 showed a significant difference in the genotypic distributions between the brain injury group and the control group, and was significantly correlated with reduced susceptibility to brain injury in preterm infants according to the results obtained from both the additive model (OR = 0.520, 95% CI: 0.339-0.799, P = 0.003) and the dominant model (OR = 0.523, 95% CI: 0.332-0.853, P = 0.009). EPO polymorphisms rs1617640 and rs507392 did not meet the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the study population (P < 0.05) and were, thus, not subjected to further analysis for their impacts on brain injuries. CONCLUSION: The "C" allele of rs551238 was correlated with a reduced risk of brain injury in preterm infants which may serve as a potential marker for brain injury prediction in preterm infants.

Relationship between the exposure to cumulative cardiovascular health behaviors and factors and chronic kidney disease-The Kailuan study.

It is unclear whether ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) behaviors and factors, particularly cumulative exposure to ideal CVH (cumCVH), is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The aim of the study was to examine the effect of cumCVH on CKD using the data from the Kailuan study. The study included the 27,970 (21,199 males) of the Kailuan community (China). The participants were 19 to 98 years of age. They were followed in 2008-2009, 2010-2011, and 2012-2013 by the same medical staff that did the initial physical examinations in 2006-2007. Participants were censored on the visit reporting CKD. A CVH score was created based on the seven AHA health metrics. The cumCVH score was CVH1×timev1-v2+CVH2×timev2-v3+CVH3×timev3-v4. In the fully adjusted model, compared with the lowest quintile of cumCVH, individuals in the highest quintile had a 75% lower risk of CKD (95% confidence interval (CI): 66-82%). Every additional year lived with a 1-unit increase in ideal CVH was associated with an 11% (95% CI: 9-13%) reduction in the incidence of CKD. Furthermore, when we excluded each of the six metrics from the cumCVH score in turn, the association was unaffected after the exclusion of individual risk factors. Ideal CVH is associated with a reduced incidence of CKD. Measurements of cumCVH are more likely to reflect the lifetime risk of CKD and possibly of other health outcomes.

Assessment of reimbursement in a community hospital-based pharmacist-managed outpatient transition clinic.

PURPOSE: The assessment of reimbursement for and time spent on patient visits in a newly implemented, outpatient pharmacist-managed transition clinic (TC) was studied. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted on clinic visits that occurred during January 1 to December 31, 2015. Patients who had at least one TC visit during the study period were included. Any visit with no response from insurance by March 31, 2016, was excluded. Services provided by the TC were billed using a facility fee billing model. The following data were collected: number of visits, time length of individual visits, billed amount, level of service, type of insurance, and amount reimbursed (from primary insurance, secondary insurance, and total amount). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: One hundred eight patients were eligible for inclusion in the study, with a total of 306 eligible visits. Each patient had a mean of 2.82 visits. The mean ± S.D. time spent per visit was 55 minutes. Visits were billed at level 2 (2%), level 3 (36%), and level 4 (62%). Two hundred seventy-two visits (89%) were partially or completely reimbursed by insurance, whereas 34 visits (11%) provided no reimbursement. The mean ± S.D. reimbursement was $99 ± $51.88 per visit. CONCLUSION: A pharmacist-managed TC service based in a community hospital achieved a positive return on investment through insurer reimbursement over a 12-month period.

Effects of different types of biochar on methane and ammonia mitigation during layer manure composting.

Biochar, because of its unique physiochemical properties and sorption capacity, may be an ideal amendment in reducing gaseous emissions during composting process but there has been little information on the potential effects of different types of biochar on undesired gaseous emissions. The objective of this study was to examine the ability and mechanism of different types of biochar, as co-substrate, in mitigating gaseous emission from composting of layer hen manure. The study was conducted in small-scale laboratory composters with the addition of 10% of one of the following biochars: cornstalk biochar, bamboo biochar, woody biochar, layer manure biochar and coir biochar. The results showed that the cumulative NH3 production was significantly reduced by 24.8±2.9, 9.2±1.3, 20.1±2.6, 14.2±1.6, 11.8±1.7% (corrected for initial total N) in the cornstalk biochar, bamboo biochar, woody biochar, layer manure biochar and coir biochar treatments, respectively, compared to the control. Total CH4 emissions was significantly reduced by 26.1±2.3, 15.5±2.1, 22.4±3.1, 17.1±2.1% (corrected for the initial total carbon) for cornstalk biochar, bamboo biochar, woody biochar and coir biochar treatments than the control. Moreover, addition of cornstalk biochar increased the temperature and NO3--N concentration and decreased the pH, NH4+-N and organic matter content throughout the composting process. The results suggested that total volatilization of NH3 and CH4 in cornstalk biochar treatment was lower than the other treatments; which could be due to (i) decrease of pH and higher nitrification, (ii) high sorption capacity for gases and their precursors, such as ammonium nitrogen from composting mixtures, because of the higher surface area, pore volumes, total acidic functional groups and CEC of cornstalk biochar.

[Relationship between serum erythropoietin levels and brain injury in preterm infants].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between the levels of erythropoietin (EPO) in serum and brain injury in preterm infants. METHODS: Three hundred and four preterm infants (gestational age: 28-34 weeks) born between October 2014 and September 2015 were enrolled in this study. Brain injury was diagnosed using cerebral ultrasound and MRI. The levels of EPO, S100 protein, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and myelin basic protein (MBP) in serum were detected using ELISA. To compare the incidence of brain injury in different serum EPO levels in preterm infants, and the relationship between brain injury and serum EPO levels was analyzed. RESULTS: The incidence rate of brain injury in preterm infants was 41.1% (125/304). The incidence rate of brain injury in the low EPO level group was significantly higher than that in the middle-high EPO level groups (P<0.01). The serum levels of S100 protein, NSE, and MBP in the brain injury groups were significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.01). The serum EPO levels were negatively correlated with serum S100 protein concentration and NSE levels (P<0.05). According to the multiple logistic regression analysis, low gestational age, low birth weight, asphyxia, prolonged mechanical ventilation, anemia and low serum EPO levels were the risk factor for brain injury in preterm infants. CONCLUSIONS: There is a higher incidence rate of brain injury in preterm infants with lower serum EPO levels. The serum EPO levels may be correlated with brain injury in preterm infants.

[The prediction of high-sensitivity C reactive protein for peripheral arterial sclerosis in middle-aged population].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the predictive value of high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) in middle-aged population during the peripheral arteriosclerosis. METHODS: Random sampling method was used in the study. In 2006-2007 Kailuan Group health examination of 101,510 employees, using stratified random sampling method to select 5,852 as observational cohort included, in the final with a standard queue 5,440 in December 2009. This study selected to participate in the 2012-2013 health examination cohort as the research object, in accordance with the inclusion criteria ultimately selected survey 3,978, select the epidemiological investigation, physical examination, laboratory testing data analysis. Of the 3 978 subjects, 2,282 were male and 1,696 were female, and the baseline age was (53.80±11.14) years. According to the baseline hsCRP quartile level was divided into four groups for comparison of baseline data, using multiple linear regression analysis between hsCRP and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the prediction of hsCRP levels in peripheral arteriosclerosis. RESULTS: With increase of hsCRP levels, the survey of baseline levels of baPWV showed increasing trend, (1,445.49±300.55), (1,494.46±307.94), (1,547.67±320.34), (1,621.32±342.53) cm/s, respectively. Multiple linear regression results showed that age, by logarithmic transformation of hsCRP (lghsCRP) level, systolic blood pressure and fasting blood glucose for each additional unit, baPWV levels were increased 266.47, 58.00, 5.02, 39.79 cm/s (P<0.001), and BMI for each additional unit, baPWV level decreased 9.52 cm/s (P=0.030). The prediction of hsCRP in peripheral artery showed that lghsCRP level of AUC to 0.59 (95% CI: 0.57-0.61), lower than the age and systolic blood pressure predicted value AUC (95% CI) of 0.69 (0.67-0.71), 0.75 (0.73-0.77), respectively. CONCLUSION: The hsCRP level could not predict the peripheral arteriosclerosis alone, and the combined age and systolic blood pressure level could have better predictive value.

[Analysis of CYP21A2 gene mutation in one case of congenital adrenal hyperplasia].

CYP21A2 gene mutations in a child with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), and the child's parents, were detected in the study. The clinical features, treatment monitoring and molecular genetic mechanism of CAH are reviewed. In the study, DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples using the QIAGEN Blood DNA Mini Kit; a highly specific PCR primer for CYP21A2 gene was designed according to the sequence difference between CYP2lA2 gene and its pseudogene; the whole CYP2lA2 gene was amplified with PrimeSTAR DNA polymerase (Takara), and the amplification product was directly sequenced to detect and analyze CYP2lA2 gene mutation. The child was clinically diagnosed with CAH (21-hydroxylase deficiency, 21-OHD) at the age of 36 days, and the case was confirmed by genetic diagnosis at the age of 1.5 years. The proband had a homozygous mutation at c.293-13C in the second intron of CYP21 gene, while the parents had heterozygous mutations. Early diagnosis and standard treatment of CAH (21-OHD) should be performed to prevent salt-wasting crisis and reduce mortality; bone aging should be avoided to increase final adult height (FAH), and reproductive dysfunction due to oligospermia in adulthood should be avoided. These factors are helpful for improving prognosis and increasing FAH. Investigating the molecular genetic mechanism of CAH can improve recognition and optimize diagnosis of this disease. In addition, carrier diagnosis and genetic counseling for the proband family are of great significance.