Effect of temperature on endogenous hormone levels and opposite phyllotaxy in maize leaf primordial.

Newly identified maize (Zea mays) mutants with opposite leaf phyllotaxy are important in the study of the maize crop. Previous studies have revealed the developmental mechanism of opposite phyllotaxy on the physiological, cellular, and molecular levels. However, there have been few reports regarding the effects of changes in endogenous hormone levels in maize leaf primordia under different conditions. We conducted field studies to examine the influence of different environmental factors on leaf primordia differentiation. Our results indicated that compared with other major environmental factors, temperature was significantly positively correlated with the ratio of maize plants with opposite phyllotaxy. We examined endogenous hormone levels in maize at different temperatures using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results showed that the ratio of maize plants with opposite phyllotaxy was mainly influenced by the cytokinin/auxin ratio. In addition, at the same temperature, the ratio of cytokinin/auxin in maize with opposite phyllotaxy was significantly higher than that near isogenic lines with alternate phyllotaxy.

Combined effect of hyperuricemia and overweight/obesity on the prevalence of hypertension among US adults: result from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Hypertension is a large and growing public health problem worldwide. Hyperuricemia and overweight/obesity are two of the most important risk factors for hypertension. However, their combined effect on the risk of hypertension is not known. Participants aged 20 years and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2012 were used to evaluate the separate and combined effects of hyperuricemia and overweight/obesity on the risk of prevalent hypertension among different race, gender and age groups. Participants (31,473) were used to estimate separate and combined effects on the prevalence of hypertension. The overall prevalence of hypertension among adults with a combination of hyperuricemia and overweight/obesity (50.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 48.3-52.1%) was significantly higher than separate hyperuricemia (41.7%, 95% CI 37.2-46.2%) and overweight/obesity (30.6%, 95% CI 29.5-31.8%). The magnitude of odds ratio (OR) from the combination of hyperuricemia and overweight/obesity (OR=4.53, 95% CI 4.05-5.07) was significantly higher than both hyperuricemia (OR=2.62, 95% CI 2.07-3.32) and overweight/obesity (OR=2.08, 95% CI 1.89-2.30). Combined effect of hyperuricemia and overweight/obesity on the risk of hypertension is much stronger than any separate one. These data can provide important information for identification of target populations for future intervention and patient management.

Local structure of NiAl compounds investigated by extended X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy.

The local structures of pure NiAl and Ti-, Co-doped NiAl compounds have been obtained utilizing extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. The results provide experimental evidence that Ni antisite defects exist in the Ni-rich NiAl compounds. The site preference of Ti and Co has been confirmed. Ti occupies the Al sublattice, while Co occupies the Ni sublattice. The structure parameters obtained by EXAFS were consistent with the X-ray diffraction results. Owing to the precipitation of α-Cr, the local structure of NiAl-Cr has not been obtained, making the site preference of Cr unclear.

Analysis of gene expression profiles in human systemic lupus erythematosus using oligonucleotide microarray.

Epidemiologic studies suggest a strong genetic component for susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). To investigate the genetic mechanism of pathogenesis of SLE, we studied the difference in gene expression of peripheral blood cells between 10 SLE patients and 18 healthy controls using oligonucleotide microarray. When gene expression for patients was compared to the mean of normal controls, among the 3002 target genes, 61 genes were identified with greater than a two-fold change difference in expression level. Of these genes, 24 were upregulated and 37 downregulated in at least half of the patients. By the Welch's ANOVA/Welch's t-test, all these 61 genes were significantly different (P<0.05) between SLE patients and normal controls. Among these genes with differential expression, IFN-omega and Ly6E (TSA-1/Sca-2) may play an important role in the mechanism of SLE pathogenesis. TSA-1 antigens may represent an important alternative pathway for T-cell activation that may be involved in IFN-mediated immunomodulation. Hierarchical clustering showed that patient samples were clearly separated from controls based on their gene expression profile. These results demonstrate that high-density oligonucleotide microarray has the potential to explore the mechanism of pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus.