ABSTRACT
Objective:To compare the biomechanical characteristics and cognitive task performance of the young and the old adults as ascending and descending staircase. Methods:From March to April, 2018, 25 volunteers, including twelve old persons aged (71.54±3.25) and 13 young persons aged (22.24±1.56), were tested with continuous minus seven as sitting (pre-test), walking up and down stairs, walking up and down stairs with continuous minus seven and continuous minus seven as sitting again (post-test). Results:The performance of continuous minus seven was better as walking up stairs and post-test than pre-test in the old persons, and it was better as both up and down stairs, as well as post-test than pre-test in the young persons. As walking up stairs, the main effects of both age (F > 5.037,P < 0.05) and task (F > 6.122,P < 0.05) were significant in walking time, step length, frequency and speed; while walking down stairs, the main effects of both age (F > 17.252,P < 0.01) and task (F > 6.274,P < 0.05) were significant in walking time, step frequency and speed. Conclusion:People would alter the focus on cognitive tasks according to the difficulty of the action. The old adults would be more conservative in the action as upstair during the dual task, and would pay less attention to cognitive task additionally as downstair.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#to explore the value of capillary electrophoresis in screening β- thalassemia of children, and to establish the cutoff values of HbA2 and HbF in our laboratory.@*METHODS@#The data of hemoglobin capillary electrophoresis and genetic diagnosis of β- thalassemia from 886 examined children were retrospectively analyzed. The cutoff values of HbA2 and HbF were determined by ROC curve.@*RESULTS@#The cutoff value of HbA2 screening minor β- thalassemia was 3.65%, the specificity was 0.996, and the sensitivity was 0.995. The cut-off value of HbF for screening minor β- thalassemia was 1.45%, specificity was 0.751 and sensitivity was 0.675. Thus, 1 case with codon5 (CCT→C) mutation, 1 case with SEA -HPFH β deletion, 1 case with - 28 (A→G) merger IVS-Ι-128 (T→G) double heterozygous mutations yet were found out, 1 case with 47 bp β gene missing has not yet been reported in literature.@*CONCLUSION@#Capillary electrophoresis has more high sensitivity and specificity in the screening of β- thalassemia in children, especially for the detection of rare β- thalassemia.
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, available phosphorus (P) deficiency in soil and weed resistance to herbicides have emerged as two severe limiting factors for sustainable agriculture. Therefore, it is of urgent needs to improve plant absorption/utilization ability of the soil P, seek phosphate (Pi)-alternative P fertilizers, and develop new forms of weed control systems. Phosphite (Phi), as a P resource of relatively high amount only less than Pi in Earth, can be converted to utilizable Pi uniquely in some bacterial species by oxidization via its specific dehydrogenase (PTDH), but inhibits plant growth and development. This implies that Phi might rather become a suitable P fertilizer for plants if introducing a PTDH detoxifier from bacteria. Herein, we created the transgenic tobaccos harboring a Pseudomonas PTDH gene (PsPtx) amplified from the soil metagenome previously. RT-PCR showed that the exotic PsPtx gene could express similarly in root, stem and leaf tissues of all transgenic lines. PsPtx transgenic tobaccos could utilize Phi by oxidization as the sole Pi supply, and also outperformed wild-type tobacco with a remarkably dominant growth under Phi stress conditions. Moreover, the PsPtx gene was preliminarily evaluated with a notable quality as a potential candidate of the selection marker in plant genetic transformation. Conclusively, PsPtx and its encoded phosphite dehydrogenase might be applicable for developing a dual system of plant phosphorus utilization and weed control using Phi as P fertilizer and herbicide, and provide an effectual solution to some obstacles in the current crop transgenic studies.