Development and characterization of microsatellite loci in Excentrodendron hsienmu (Chun & How) H.T. Chang& R.H. Miau.

Microsatellite markers were isolated using dual-suppression-PCR for the endangered species Excentrodendron hsienmu (Tiliaceae) to evaluate the genetic diversity and population structure of this species. A total of 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci were characterized in E. hsienmu. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 9, with an average of 5.27. The expected heterozygosity value ranged from 0.053 to 0.780, with an average of 0.568 and the observed heterozygosity value ranged from 0 to 0.595, with an average of 0.268. The polymorphic information content value ranged from 0.051 to 0.740, with an average of 0.521. These newly designed markers will be of great potential significance and profound influence in future research related to the genetic diversity, population structure, and patterns of gene flow of this species, which will contribute to the implementation of conservation and management strategies for this species.

Effects of different targeted therapies associated with adjuvant chemotherapy on clinical remission, survival and safety in patients with triple-negative breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to systematically assess the effects of different targeted therapies associated with adjuvant chemotherapy on clinical remission, survival and safety of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study searched for case-control trials of TNBC patients from January 2010 to May 2022. Two researchers independently extracted data. RevMan 5.3 statistical software was used for analysis. RESULTS: This study included a total of 7 clinical controlled studies, containing 620 samples. The results showed that compared with the control group, the study group showed significant differences in objective response rate [OR = 2.44, 95% CI (1.69, 3.5), p < 0.00001], 1-year survival rate [OR = 3.59, 95% CI (2.01, 6.39), p < 0.0001], progression-free survival (PFS) [MD = 2.04, 95% CI (1.68, 2.41), p < 0.00001], with statistical significance (p < 0.05), while there are no significant differences in overall survival [MD = 6.33, 95% CI (-1.65, 14.30), p = 0.12] and incidence of adverse events [OR = 0.73, 95% CI (0.52, 1.02), p = 0.006] (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Targeted therapy associated with adjuvant chemotherapy can remarkably enhance the outcome of patients with advanced TNBC, prolonging their progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) without increasing adverse effects. The validity of this research, however, will require higher quality studies and longer follow-ups.

Ear fullness characteristics and prognosis in patients with all-frequency sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the characteristics and prognosis of the feeling of ear fullness in patients with unilateral all-frequency sudden sensorineural hearing loss. METHODS: Our study included 56 patients with a diagnosis of unilateral all-frequency sudden sensorineural hearing loss accompanied by a feeling of ear fullness and 48 patients without a feeling of ear fullness. The condition of these patients was prospectively observed. RESULTS: Positive correlations were observed between grading of feeling of ear fullness and hearing loss in patients with a feeling of ear fullness (r = 0.599, p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the total effective rate of hearing recovery between patients with and without a feeling of ear fullness after one month of treatment (Z = -0.641, p = 0.521). Eighty-six per cent of patients (48 out of 56) showed complete recovery from the feeling of ear fullness. There was no correlation between feeling of ear fullness recovery and hearing recovery (r = 0.040, p = 0.769). CONCLUSION: The prognosis of feeling of ear fullness is good. There was no correlation between feeling of ear fullness recovery and hearing recovery for all-frequency sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients.

First Report of Herbaspirillum rubrisubalbicans Causing Mottled Stripe Disease on Sugarcane in China.

Narrow, red stripes were observed on leaves and sheaths of sugarcane in 2007 in DanZhou County of Hainan Province and XuWen County of GuangDong Province, China. Stripes were parallel to the leaf veins. Some stripes were short (2 to 10 cm) and some were >1 m long, extending from the base of leaves. Width of the stripes was 2 to 4 mm. Symptoms varied with the cultivar. Cv. Taiwang 25, which was the most affected, exhibited red stripes and stalk death from the apex. Cvs. Taiwang 26 and Guang Dong 00236 were slightly affected with only red stripes. Symptoms on cv. Taiwang 22 were mottled stripes. Severe losses were observed in the infected fields that were planted with cv. Taiwang 25, but there were no obvious losses in fields planted with the other three cultivars. Isolations were made from 10 individual plants from different cultivars and provinces that had red stripes, two of which also had apex death. Five independent bacterial isolates were obtained from tissue showing the red stripe symptoms on potato dextrose agar medium. The percentage of positive samples was 50%. No bacteria were obtained from necrotic apex tissue. Bacterial cells were 0.92 to 1.55 × 0.20 to 0.22 µm slightly curved rods that were motile with one to two polar flagella. Colonies on nutrient agar were 2 to 3 mm in diameter, circular, smooth, entire, and milky white. Colonies on King's medium B were nonfluorescent under 365-nm UV light. Five bacterial strains were inoculated by injecting bacterial suspensions (1 × 108 CFU/ml) into the base of the leaves of 6-month-old cv. Taiwang 25 plants (1). Red stripes appeared 7 to 10 days after inoculation and bacteria were reisolated. The reisolated bacteria were identical to the original strains in colony morphology and 16S rDNA sequence. A hypersensitive response appeared within 24 h when 1 × 108 CFU/ml bacteria suspensions were infiltrated into tobacco leaves. Approximately 1,000-bp DNA fragments were amplified with universal primers UP1 (5'-TACGTGCCAGCAGCCGCGGTAATA-3') and UP2 (5'-AGTAAGGAGGGTATCCAACCGCA-3') (3). Primers UP1 and UP2 are complementary to nucleotide sequence 509 to 523 and 1541 to 1522, respectively, of the Escherichia coli 16S rDNA gene. The fragment amplified by these primers was approximately 1,032 bp. The 16S rDNA sequences of the five strains were deposited in GenBank as Accession Nos. GQ476791-5. They all shared 99% nucleotide identity with the type strain of Herbaspirillum rubrisubalbicans (GenBank No. AJ238356.1). All five strains were identified as H. rubrisubalbicans on the basis of 16S rDNA sequence and pathogenicity to sugarcane, and the disease was identified as mottled stripe disease (2). Since we were not able to isolate bacteria from necrotic apex tissue, this symptom on cv. Taiwang 25 may not be related to the H. rubrisubalbicans infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report of mottled stripe disease in China. References: (1) H. M. A. EI-Komy et al. Folia Microbiol. 48:787, 2003. (2) A. S. Saumtally et al. A Guide to Sugarcane Diseases. P. Rott et al., eds. CIRAD and ISSCT, Montpellier, France, 2000. (3) Yan Zhi Yong et al. Chin. J. Epidemiol. 24:296, 2003.

[Characteristics and prognosis of ear fullness feeling in patients with all-frequency sudden deafness].

Objective: The characteristics and prognosis of ear fullness feeling in patients with all-frequency sudden deafness were explored. Method: 104 patients (104 ears) with unilateral all-frequency sudden deafness were collected in study from June 2015 to March 2019, including 50 males and 54 females, the mean age ranged from 23-65 years, and the disease duration ranged from 1-9 days. Of those, 56 patients accompanied with the feeling of ear fullness (FEF) were enrolled into'the ear fullness group', and 48 patients without FEF were included in'the without ear fullness group'. Patients' treatment strategy followed the Chinese Medical Association Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of sudden deafness (2015). Moreover, VAS scale scores and subjective grading of FEF were acquired in patients with FEF. We analyzed the clinical characteristics and prognosis of FEF with SPSS 23.0 software. Results: There were no differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, duration of disease, the side of deaf ear, degree of hearing loss, and auditory brainstem evoked potential results (age,t=1.566; gender,χ(2)=0.001; duration, t=0.057; side,χ(2)=0.033; degree of hearing loss Z=-0.180; ABR,χ(2)=0.001;all P>0.05) . There was a positive correlation between the subjective grading of FEF and the degree of hearing loss in patients with FEF (r=0.599, P<0.001) . The total rate of hearing improvement following one month of treatments in patients with FEF vs with no FEF was 35/56(62.5%) vs 28/48(58.3%) (Z=-0.641, P=0.521). After one month of treatment, the total effective rate of FEF was 94.6%(53/56), and the improvement of FEF had nothing to improvement of hearing (r=0.040, P=0.769) . Conclusions: The degree of hearing loss is positively correlated with the degree of FEF in patients with all-frequency sudden deafness. Hearing recovery is not related to FEF. The recovery effect of FEF is good, and has no correlation with hearing recovery.

[Diagnostic value of serum miRNA let-7a for laryngeal carcinoma and effects of let-7a on proliferation and apoptosis of laryngeal carcinoma cells].

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of serum miRNAlet-7a in laryngeal carcinoma and the effect of let-7a on proliferation and apoptosis of laryngeal carcinoma cells. Methods: Real-time quantitative PCR was used to determine the expression level of serum miRNAlet-7a. The miRNA let-7a mimetic was synthesized and transiently transfected into the laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 cell line by cationic liposome method. The effects of up-regulation of let-7a expression on laryngeal cancer Hep-2 cells were detected by FCM and MTT assays,respectively. The association of let-7a levels with laryngeal cancer and the diagnostic value for laryngeal cancer were analyzed. Measurement data were taken by t test or analysis of variance; Counting data were analyzed by χ(2) test and Fisher exact probability method. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to analyze the diagnostic value of let-7a for laryngeal cancer. Results: The relative expression of serum let-7a in healthy subjects was significantly higher than that in patients with laryngeal cancer (0.931±0.094) vs (0.380±0.113) (t=26.507,P<0.01). The relative expressions of serum let-7a in patients with laryngeal cancer before and after surgery were (0.380±0.113) vs(0.493±0.164),with significant difference (t=3.848,P<0.01).The relative expression of serum let-7a was related to lymph node metastasis (t=2.946, P<0.01). There was a positive correlation between the relative expression of let-7a in laryngeal carcinoma and that in serum (r=0.466,P=0.003). After transfection of let-7a mimics, Hep-2 cells showed an increased significant increase in the expression of let-7a (P<0.01), proliferation (P<0.01) and apoptosis (P<0.01). ROC curve analysis showed that the best critical value for relative expression of let-7a in the diagnosis of laryngeal carcinoma was 0.557 with a sensitivity of 0.794,a specificity of 0.727,an area under curve(AUC) of 0.859,and a 95%CI of 0.773-0.926. Conclusions: miRNA let-7a can inhibit the proliferation of laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 cells and promote apoptosis. Serum let-7a is down-regulated in patients with laryngeal cancer and the level of let-7a is related to lymph node metastasis,which would help early diagnosis and postoperative disease monitoring of laryngeal cancer,but further research is needed.

Influence of disordered packing pattern on elastic modulus of single-stranded DNA film on substrate.

Determining mechanical properties of single-stranded DNA film grafted on gold surface is critical for analysis and design of DNA-microcantilever biosensors. However, it remains an open issue to quantify the relations among the disordered packing patterns of DNA chains, the mechanical properties of DNA film and the resultant biodetection signals. In this paper, first, the bending experiment of microcantilever is carried out to provide the basic data for a refined multi-scale model of microcantilever deflection induced by ssDNA immobilization. In the model, the complicated interactions in DNA film (consisting of DNA, water molecules and salt ions) are simplified as effective interactions among coarse-grained soft cylinders, which can reveal the varieties of DNA structure in the circumstances of different lengths and salt concentrations; Ohshima's distribution of net charge density is employed to incorporate compositional variations of salt ions along the thickness direction into the Strey's mesoscopic empirical potential on molecular interactions in DNA solutions, and the related model parameters for ssDNA film on substrate are obtained from the curve fitting with our microcantilever bending experiment. Second, the effect of nanoscopic distribution of DNA chains on elastic modulus of ssDNA film is studied by a thought experiment of uniaxial compression, and the disordered patterns of DNA chains are generated by Monte Carlo method. Simulation results point out that nanoscale ssDNA film shows size effect, gradient and diversity in elastic modulus and can achieve maximum stiffness by preferring a disordered and energetically favorable packing pattern collectively induced by electrostatic force, hydration force and configurational entropy.