[Study and analysis of national current status and problems of anticoagulant proteins assay].

Objective: To investigate current status and problems of anticoagulant proteins assay in domestic laboratories so as to provide suggestions for implementing the standardization and quality improvement. Methods: Two hundred and seventy-four laboratories those had developed or prepared to do anticoagulant proteins assay were selected from one thousand and five hundred participants in the national coagulation screening External Quality Assessment(EQA) program by an internet survey and then a questionnaire and quality control materials were sent to them to carry out a further survey. The questionnaire information was analyzed statistically. The results of quality control materials were grouped by the reagents and the average, median, standard deviation(s), coefficient variation(CV) of each group were calculated. The deviations or percentage deviations were determined by comparing the results of each laboratory to the target defined as the peer-group median after exclusion of outliers, and then the pass rates were calculated based on the criterion of RCPA, DGKL and the allowable total error based on biological variation. Results: Two hundred and thirty-five questionnaires were collected. The number of laboratories testing antithrombin(AT), protein C(PC) and protein S(PS) activity were 194, 63 and 50 respectively. The instruments and reagents were mainly from abroad (more than 96%), the matching rate of which were above 94%. For AT, PC and PS activity testing, there were 30.4%, 33.3%, 34.0% of laboratories did not perform verification assays respectively, and 8.8%, 7.9%, 14.0% of laboratories did not renew calibration curve when the reagent lots were changed. 11.3%, 17.5%, 16.0% of laboratories didn't run internal quality control, and 34.9%, 26.9%, 21.4% of laboratories only performed a single level of quality control. 4.1% of laboratories set the reference intervals of AT activity according to different age groups, and the percentage of that of PC and PS activity were 1.6% and 2.0%. 16.0% of laboratories set the reference interval of PS activity by sex. For normal control materials, the CV of AT, PC and PS activity results were 5.7%-12.9%, 4.2%-7.7% and 18.4%-33.1% while the CV for abnormal level were 13.3%-38.3%, 6.1%-14.4% and 31.5%-34.5% respectively. The pass rate was different when it was judged by different criteria. A suitable criterion for each item should be selected according to the concentration level of quality control materials. Conclusion: The comparability between laboratory results are not satisfactory and in order to promote quality improvement, it is necessary to develop guidelines, organize trainings and establish a national EQA scheme.

[Evaluation of endobronchial ultrasound in the diagnosis of respiratory mucosal protrusions].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the white light bronchoscopic signs and ultrasound features of respiratory mucosal protrusions and to investigate the practical application value of endobronchial ultrasound. METHODS: This study was a prospective observation. Endobronchial ultrasound was performed in 30 patients with respiratory mucosal protrusions, which were discovered by white light bronchoscopic examination in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University on October 2013 to November 2014.The 43 lesions found in 30 patients were grouped into submucosal vascular lesions, mucosal thickening, and submucosal cysts based on the result of EBUS. Following white light bronchoscopy, signs such as respiratory mucosal protrusion location, shape, color and lustre, mucosal surface expansion and ultrasonic bronchoscopic image were recorded. We analyzed the results to explore the bronchoscopic signs and ultrasound features of different respiratory mucosal protrusions. RESULTS: Of the 43 respiratory mucosal protrusions by endobronchial ultrasound examination, 21 were submucosal vascular lesions, 19 showed mucosal thickening, and 3 were submucosal cysts. Morphologically, zoster protrusions, flat protrusions and semicircle protrusions were found in the submucosal vessel group, mucosal thickening group and cyst group. One nodular protrusion, 1 surface capillary expansion, and 2 mucosal surface pulsations were found in cases with submucosal vascular lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Submucosal vascular lesions were common causes of respiratory mucosal protrusions, for which biopsy should be cautious. White light bronchoscopy has limited value for diagnosing respiratory mucosal protrusions, while endobronchial ultrasound could be an important diagnostic tool for these lesions.

Characterization of a novel anther-specific gene encoding a leucine-rich repeat protein in petunia.

In Petunia x hybrida 'Fantasy Red', a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) gene referred to as PhLRR, was identified in a flower bud cDNA library. The open reading frame sequence of PhLRR was 1251 bp, encoding a putative 46.2-kDa protein of 416 amino acids. The PhLRR protein showed high similarity to members of polygalacturonase inhibitor proteins (PGIPs), contained 11 conserved LRR domains, and was an extracellular localization protein. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PhLRR belonged to the same PGIPs subfamily as SHY, indicating that PhLRR may be involved in the development of pollen-like SHY. Expression analysis revealed that PhLRR was abundantly expressed during early stages of flower bud and anther development, while it was not detected in any other examined organs, such as sepals, petals, pistils, roots, stems, leaves, or open flowers. Furthermore, many cis-acting elements (such as AGAAA and GTGA) related to anther-specific gene expression were identified in the PhLRR gene promoter region, indicating that the promoter is also anther-specific. These results suggested that PhLRR is a novel anther-specific gene that may be essential for the early development of anthers.

Identification and pathogenicity analysis of a novel non-tuberculous mycobacterium clinical isolate with nine-antibiotic resistance.

With mycobacteriosis increasing, the study of non-tuberculous mycobacteria is imperative for clinical therapy and management. Non-tuberculous mycobacteria are naturally resistant to most anti-tuberculosis drugs. Accordingly, it is important to decipher the biology of the novel non-tuberculous mycobacteria through complete genomic analysis of novel pathogenic mycobacteria. We describe Mycobacterium sinense JDM601, a novel, slow-growing mycobacterium of the Mycobacterium terrae complex resistant to nine antibiotics, by clinical presentation, cultural and biochemical characteristics, minimal inhibitory concentrations, and genome-sequencing analysis. JDM601 is closest to Mycobacterium nonchromogenicum according to mycolic acid composition, but closest to Mycobacterium algericum sp. nov according to 16S rDNA. JDM601 is resistant to isoniazid, streptomycin, rifampin, euteropas, protionamide, capromycin, ciprofloxacin, amikacin and levofloxacin but not ethambutol. The clinical information, mycolic acid composition, and virulence genes indicate that JDM601 is an opportunistic pathogen.