Deciphering the Prognostic Efficacy of MRI Radiomics in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis.

This meta-analysis investigates the prognostic value of MRI-based radiomics in nasopharyngeal carcinoma treatment outcomes, specifically focusing on overall survival (OS) variability. The study protocol was registered with INPLASY (INPLASY202420101). Initially, a systematic review identified 15 relevant studies involving 6243 patients through a comprehensive search across PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, adhering to PRISMA guidelines. The methodological quality was assessed using the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool and the Radiomics Quality Score (RQS), highlighting a low risk of bias in most domains. Our analysis revealed a significant average concordance index (c-index) of 72% across studies, indicating the potential of radiomics in clinical prognostication. However, moderate heterogeneity was observed, particularly in OS predictions. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression identified validation methods and radiomics software as significant heterogeneity moderators. Notably, the number of features in the prognosis model correlated positively with its performance. These findings suggest radiomics' promising role in enhancing cancer treatment strategies, though the observed heterogeneity and potential biases call for cautious interpretation and standardization in future research.

Fertility preservation in hematological cancer patients.

Among adolescents and young adults, hematological malignancies are the most common malignancies. Although the survival rate of hematological malignancies in young patients has been dramatically improved, due to the continuous improvement and development of tumor diagnosis and treatment options, cytotoxic therapies can significantly reduce a patient's reproductive capacity and cause irreversible infertility. The most two established solutions are embryo cryopreservation and oocyte cryopreservation which can be considered in single female. Sperm or testicular tissue cryopreservation in adult male are feasible approaches that must be considered before gonadotoxic therapy. A comprehensive consultation with reproductive specialists when once diagnosed is a significantly issue which would help those survivors who want to have children. In this article, we review germ cell toxicity, which happens during the treatment of hematological malignancies, and aims to propose safety, efficacy fertility preservation methods in younger patients with hematological malignancies.

Research on Residual-Current Measurement System of Substation Considering Magnetic Shielding Effect.

Residual current is an important monitoring quantity of a power system, and a current sensor plays an important role in detecting current. The substation environment is complex. In addition to the power frequency signal, residual current also has AC and DC components. But it is also affected by the stray magnetic field of the substation. Therefore, the accuracy of the current sensor demands higher requirements. The tunnel magnetoresistive sensor has the advantages of a stable operation, high efficiency, and energy saving, but it is easily affected by the external stray magnetic field during measurements, resulting in a large error. Therefore, this paper proposes a residual-current sensing monitoring system considering the magnetic shielding effect. The root mean square error of the magnetic shielding structure is only 0.572 mA, which can effectively reduce the influence of the external magnetic field and improve the detection accuracy. At the same time, the DC measurement error is less than 1%, the AC measurement error is less than 5%, and the hybrid AC/DC error is less than 8%. It has good response ability and can accurately detect residual current.

Long-term humoral and cellular immunity after primary SARS-CoV-2 infection: a 20-month longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 remains a world-wide health issue. SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity is induced upon both infection and vaccination. However, defining the long-term immune trajectory, especially after infection, is limited. In this study, we aimed to further the understanding of long-term SARS-CoV-2-specific immune response after infection. RESULTS: We conducted a longitudinal cohort study among 93 SARS-CoV-2 recovered individuals. Immune responses were continuously monitored for up to 20 months after infection. The humoral responses were quantified by Spike- and Nucleocapsid-specific IgG levels. T cell responses to Spike- and non-Spike epitopes were examined using both intercellular cytokine staining (ICS) assay and Activation-Induced marker (AIM) assay with quantification of antigen-specific IFNγ production. During the 20 months follow-up period, Nucleocapsid-specific antibody levels and non-Spike-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cell frequencies decreased in the blood. However, a majority of participants maintained a durable immune responses 20 months after infection: 59% of the participants were seropositive for Nucleocapsid-specific IgG, and more than 70% had persisting non-Spike-specific T cells. The Spike-specific response initially decreased but as participants were vaccinated against COVID-19, Spike-specific IgG levels and T cell frequencies were boosted reaching similar or higher levels compared to 1 month post-infection. The trajectory of infection-induced SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity decreases, but for the majority of participants it persists beyond 20 months. The T cell response displays a greater durability. Vaccination boosts Spike-specific immune responses to similar or higher levels as seen after primary infection. CONCLUSIONS: For most participants, the response persists 20 months after infection, and the cellular response appears to be more long-lived compared to the circulating antibody levels. Vaccination boosts the S-specific response but does not affect the non-S-specific response. Together, these findings support the understanding of immune contraction, and with studies showing the immune levels required for protection, adds to the knowledge of durability of protection against future SARS-CoV-2.

Dynamic evolution of brain structural patterns in liver transplantation recipients: a longitudinal study based on 3D convolutional neuronal network model.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the dynamic evolution process of overall brain health in liver transplantation (LT) recipients, we employed a deep learning-based neuroanatomic biomarker to measure longitudinal changes of brain structural patterns before and 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. METHODS: Because of the ability to capture patterns across all voxels from a brain scan, the brain age prediction method was adopted. We constructed a 3D-CNN model through T1-weighted MRI of 3609 healthy individuals from 8 public datasets and further applied it to a local dataset of 60 LT recipients and 134 controls. The predicted age difference (PAD) was calculated to estimate brain changes before and after LT, and the network occlusion sensitivity analysis was used to determine the importance of each network in age prediction. RESULTS: The PAD of patients with cirrhosis increased markedly at baseline (+ 5.74 years) and continued to increase within one month after LT (+ 9.18 years). After that, the brain age began to decrease gradually, but it was still higher than the chronological age. The PAD values of the OHE subgroup were higher than those of the no-OHE, and the discrepancy was more obvious at 1-month post-LT. High-level cognition-related networks were more important in predicting the brain age of patients with cirrhosis at baseline, while the importance of primary sensory networks increased temporarily within 6-month post-LT. CONCLUSIONS: The brain structural patterns of LT recipients showed inverted U-shaped dynamic change in the early stage after transplantation, and the change in primary sensory networks may be the main contributor. KEY POINTS: • The recipients' brain structural pattern showed an inverted U-shaped dynamic change after LT. • The patients' brain aging aggravated within 1 month after surgery, and the subset of patients with a history of OHE was particularly affected. • The change of primary sensory networks is the main contributor to the change in brain structural patterns.

Zinc-finger protein GmZF351 improves both salt and drought stress tolerance in soybean.

Abiotic stress is one of the most important factors reducing soybean yield. It is essential to identify regulatory factors contributing to stress responses. A previous study found that the tandem CCCH zinc-finger protein GmZF351 is an oil level regulator. In this study, we discovered that the GmZF351 gene is induced by stress and that the overexpression of GmZF351 confers stress tolerance to transgenic soybean. GmZF351 directly regulates the expression of GmCIPK9 and GmSnRK, leading to stomata closing, by binding to their promoter regions, which carry two CT(G/C)(T/A)AA elements. Stress induction of GmZF351 is mediated through reduction in the H3K27me3 level at the GmZF351 locus. Two JMJ30-demethylase-like genes, GmJMJ30-1 and GmJMJ30-2, are involved in this demethylation process. Overexpression of GmJMJ30-1/2 in transgenic hairy roots enhances GmZF351 expression mediated by histone demethylation and confers stress tolerance to soybean. Yield-related agronomic traits were evaluated in stable GmZF351-transgenic plants under mild drought stress conditions. Our study reveals a new mode of GmJMJ30-GmZF351 action in stress tolerance, in addition to that of GmZF351 in oil accumulation. Manipulation of the components in this pathway is expected to improve soybean traits and adaptation under unfavorable environments.

Impact of the first COVID-19 outbreak on mental health service utilisation at a Dutch mental health centre: retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies into mental health service utilisation during the COVID-19 pandemic are limited to a few countries or specific type of service. In addition, data on changes in telepsychiatry are currently lacking. AIMS: We aimed to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with changes in mental health service utilisation, including telepsychiatry, and how these changes were distributed among patients with mental illness during the first COVID-19 outbreak. METHOD: This retrospective study obtained routinely assessed healthcare data from a large Dutch mental healthcare institute. Data from the second quarter of 2020 (the first COVID-19 outbreak period) were compared with the pre-pandemic period between January 2018 and March 2020. Time-series analyses were performed with the quasi-Poisson generalised linear model, to examine the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown and the overall trend of mental health service utilisation per communication modality and diagnostic category. RESULTS: We analysed 204 808 care contacts of 28 038 patients. The overall number of care contacts in the second quarter of 2020 remained the same as in the previous 2 years, because the number of video consultations significantly increased (B = 2.17, P = 0.488 × 10-3) as the number of face-to-face out-patient contacts significantly decreased (B = -0.98, P = 0.011). This was true for all different diagnostic categories, although this change was less pronounced in patients with psychotic disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Diminished face-to-face out-patient contacts were well-compensated by the substantial increase of video consultations during the first COVID-19 outbreak in The Netherlands. This increase was less pronounced for psychotic disorders. Further research should elucidate the need for disorder-specific digital mental healthcare delivery.

A transcriptional regulatory module controls lipid accumulation in soybean.

Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important oilseed crops. However, the regulatory mechanism that governs the process of oil accumulation in soybean remains poorly understood. In this study, GmZF392, a tandem CCCH zinc finger (TZF) protein which was identified in our previous RNA-seq analysis of seed-preferred transcription factors, was found to function as a positive regulator of lipid production. GmZF392 promotes seed oil accumulation in both transgenic Arabidopsis and stable transgenic soybean plants by binding to a bipartite cis-element, containing TG- and TA-rich sequences, in promoter regions, activating the expression of genes in the lipid biosynthesis pathway. GmZF392 physically interacts with GmZF351, our previously identified transcriptional regulator of lipid biosynthesis, to synergistically promote downstream gene expression. Both GmZF392 and GmZF351 are further upregulated by GmNFYA, another transcription factor involved in lipid biosynthesis, directly (in the former case) and indirectly (in the latter case). Promoter sequence diversity analysis showed that the GmZF392 promoter may have been selected at the origin of the Glycine genus and further mildly selected during domestication from wild soybeans to cultivated soybeans. Our study reveals a regulatory module containing three transcription factors in the lipid biosynthesis pathway, and manipulation of the module may improve oil production in soybean and other oilseed crops.

Altered Regional Homogeneity in Patients With Corneal Ulcer: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential regional homogeneity (ReHo) brain activity changes in patients with corneal ulcer (CU) and their possible relationship with clinical symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with CU (26 men and 14 women), and 40 healthy controls (HCs) (26 men and 14 women) closely matched in age, sex, and weight underwent resting-state functional MRI scans, respectively. The ReHo method was applied to evaluate synchronous neural activity changes. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was used to show high test-retest stability and high degree of sensitivity and specificity. We utilized the correlation analysis to calculate the relationship between the average ReHo signal values in different brain areas and the clinical symptoms in CU patients. RESULTS: Compared with the HCs, CU patients had significantly increased ReHo values in right cerebellum posterior lobe, left cerebellum posterior lobe, left inferior temporal gyrus, right lingual gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, left angular gyrus, left cingulate gyrus, right angular gyrus and bilateral superior frontal gyrus, and decreased ReHo values in right anterior cingulate and left precentral gyrus. ROC curve analysis of each brain regions showed the accuracy of AUC was perfect except the right cerebellum posterior lobe. Nevertheless, there was no clear evidence of prominent relevance between the average ReHo values in brain areas and the clinical symptoms. CONCLUSION: Corneal ulcer caused dysfunctional adaption in different brain areas, which including relatively increased values and decreased values. This finding may help us take a further step in exploring the underlying pathologic mechanisms of CU.

Reasons and countermeasures for medical disputes under the role of medical staff as "economic person" / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Traditional medicine endows medical staff with the role of "moral person";however,with the development of market economy,the role of medical staff has gradually changed to "economic person" in medical activities.Under the role of "economic person",there is an increasing number of medical disputes and injuries of medical staff,with more and more serious consequences.This article analyzes the behavior characteristics of the rights and obligations of "moral person" and "economic person" and the causes of medical disputes under the role of "economic person".Since the lack of honesty has become the product of the new role of medical staff,patients have a doubtful attitude towards medical staff,and the defects in system guidance and management system make it more difficult to settle medical disputes.This article provides a new perspective for building a harmonious doctor-patient relationship and puts forward the hypothesis of "honest economic person",so as to achieve the dialectical unity of the dual identities of "moral person" and "economic person".Under the role of "honest economic person",adherence to honesty and trustworthiness,pursuit of maximum medical benefits,emphasis on the social benefits of medical treatment,and material and spiritual incentives for medical staff can help to alleviate the conflict of interests between doctors and patients and reduce medical disputes.

Relationship between the abnormal diastolic vortex structure and impaired left ventricle filling in patients with hyperthyroidism.

Intraventricular hydrodynamics plays an important role in evaluating cardiac function. Relationship between diastolic vortex and left ventricular (LV) filling is still rarely elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the evolution of vortex during diastole in hyperthyroidism (HT) and explore the alteration of hydromechanics characteristics with sensitive indexes.Forty-three patients diagnosed with HT were classified into 2 groups according to whether myocardial damage existed: simple hyperthyroid group (HT1, n = 21) and thyrotoxic cardiomyopathy (HT2, n = 22). Twenty-seven age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers were enrolled as the control group. Offline vector flow mapping (VFM model) was used to analyze the LV diastolic blood flow patterns and fluid dynamics. Hemodynamic parameters, vortex area (A), circulation (C), and intraventricular pressure gradient (ΔP), in different diastolic phases (early, mid, and late) were calculated and analyzed.HT2, with a lower E/A ratio and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), had a larger left atrium diameter (LAD) compared with those of the control group and HT1 (P < .05). Compared with the control group, the vortex size and strength, intraventricular pressure gradient during early and mid-diastole were higher in HT1 and lower in HT2 (P < .05). And in late diastole, the vortex size and strength, intraventricular pressure gradient of HT2 became higher than those of the control group (P < .05). Good correlation could be found between CE and E/A (P < .05), CM and ΔPM (P < .01), CL and FT3 (P < .05).VFM is proven practical for detecting the relationship between the changes of left ventricular diastolic vortex and the abnormal left ventricular filling.

A PP2C-1 Allele Underlying a Quantitative Trait Locus Enhances Soybean 100-Seed Weight.

Cultivated soybeans may lose some useful genetic loci during domestication. Introgression of genes from wild soybeans could broaden the genetic background and improve soybean agronomic traits. In this study, through whole-genome sequencing of a recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between a wild soybean ZYD7 and a cultivated soybean HN44, and mapping of quantitative trait loci for seed weight, we discovered that a phosphatase 2C-1 (PP2C-1) allele from wild soybean ZYD7 contributes to the increase in seed weight/size. PP2C-1 may achieve this function by enhancing cell size of integument and activating a subset of seed trait-related genes. We found that PP2C-1 is associated with GmBZR1, a soybean ortholog of Arabidopsis BZR1, one of key transcription factors in brassinosteroid (BR) signaling, and facilitate accumulation of dephosphorylated GmBZR1. In contrast, the PP2C-2 allele with variations of a few amino acids at the N-terminus did not exhibit this function. Moreover, we showed that GmBZR1 could promote seed weight/size in transgenic plants. Through analysis of cultivated soybean accessions, we found that 40% of the examined accessions do not have the PP2C-1 allele, suggesting that these accessions can be improved by introduction of this allele. Taken together, our study identifies an elite allele PP2C-1, which can enhance seed weight and/or size in soybean, and pinpoints that manipulation of this allele by molecular-assisted breeding may increase production in soybean and other legumes/crops.

[Dynamics of habitat suitability for waterfowls from 1990 to 2015 in the ecological function zone of Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China]. / 1990­2015å¹´ä¸‰æ±Ÿå¹³åŽŸç”Ÿæ€åŠŸèƒ½åŒºæ°´ç¦½æ –æ¯åœ°é€‚å®œæ€§åŠ¨æ€.

As a wetland of international importance, the ecological function zone of the Sanjiang Plain (EFZSP) plays an important role in maintaining waterfowl habitat. With the increasing disturbance of human beings, land use and climate changes, habitat suitability for waterfowls (HSW) has drawn greater attention of ecologists. In this study, Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI and HJ-1B images in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2015 were used to obtain land cover classification by object-based image analysis, and the entropy and analytic hierarchy process methods were adopted to determine the factors and their weights, the factors selected in this study included water condition (lake and river density), disturbance factor (residence and road density), shelter condition (land cover type and slope), and food abundance (NDVI). Finally, the evaluation results of habitat suitability of year 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2015 were achieved based on the habitat suitability index (HSI) system, and the spatio-temporal dynamics and driving forces causing the changes were analyzed. The results showed that the excellent level of HSW mainly distributed in abundant water areas, especially along the riparian zone of the Heilongjiang River, Naoli River, Ussuri River, Muling River and Xingkai Lake. Its area decreased by 3.2% from 1990 to 2015 because of wetland reclamation. The good level of HSW concentrated in Raohe County over the past 25 years, the condition of Hulin County and Fuyuan County were improved to a good level from 2010 to 2015 due to the substantial increase of paddy field areas. The fair level of HSW distributed dispersedly, and the areas first increased from 1990 to 2000 and then decreased during 2000-2010 and 2010-2015 periods. The areas of poor le-vel increased by 6.7% from 1990 to 2000 and decreased by 3.1% from 2000 to 2015. The change of HSW level in this study area was dominated by land cover change, and both of the increasing population and economy and the drying and worming climate resulted in the decline of the HSW level, whereas the establishment of nature reserves is crucial to protect habitat for waterfowls.

Determination of Entrapment Efficiency of Levodopa-loaded PEGylated-Solid Lipid Nanoparticles by Mini-Column Centrifugation-HPLC / 医药导报

Objective To establish a mini-column centrifugation-HPLC method to determine the entrapment efficiency of levodopa-loaded PEGylated-solid lipid nanoparticles.Methods A dextran gel(Sephadex G-50) mini-column centrifugation was employed to separate the free drug from solid lipid nanoparticles.The content of levodopa was qualified by HPLC.Results Under the applied chromatographic condition,the excipients had no influence on the determination of levodopa.A calibrated linear of levodopa concentration was within 10.54-527.00 μg·mL-1.The recoveries of high,medium and low concentrations of levodopa were 99.13%,99.51% and 99.04%(RSD were 1.25%,1.91% and 1.71%), respectively.The free levodopa was well separated from solid lipid nanoparticles by using mini-column centrifugation.The addition of blank solid lipid nanoparticles recovery was 98.84% with RSD of 0.80%(n=3).The average adsorption rates of the three concentrations of free levodopa were 100.00%,98.75% and 98.56%(RSD were 0.00%,0.19% and 0.18%,n=3),respectively.The adsorption rate of the physical mixtures of three different concentrations of drugs and empty PEGylated solid lipid nanoparticles were 99.68%,98.46% and 99.21%(RSD were 1.52%,0.23% and 0.21%),respectively.Conclusion The method was simple,accurate and reproducible,which can be used for determination of the entrapment efficiency of levodopa-loaded PEGylated-solid lipid nanoparticles.

The transcriptomic signature of developing soybean seeds reveals the genetic basis of seed trait adaptation during domestication.

Cultivated soybean has undergone many transformations during domestication. In this paper we report a comprehensive assessment of the evolution of gene co-expression networks based on the analysis of 40 transcriptomes from developing soybean seeds in cultivated and wild soybean accessions. We identified 2680 genes that are differentially expressed during seed maturation and established two cultivar-specific gene co-expression networks. Through analysis of the two networks and integration with quantitative trait locus data we identified two potential key drivers for seed trait formation, GA20OX and NFYA. GA20OX encodes an enzyme in a rate-limiting step of gibberellin biosynthesis, and NFYA encodes a transcription factor. Overexpression of GA20OX and NFYA enhanced seed size/weight and oil content, respectively, in seeds of transgenic plants. The two genes showed significantly higher expression in cultivated than in wild soybean, and the increases in expression were associated with genetic variations in the promoter region of each gene. Moreover, the expression of GA20OX and NFYA in seeds of soybean accessions correlated with seed weight and oil content, respectively. Our study reveals transcriptional adaptation during soybean domestication and may identify a mechanism of selection by expression for seed trait formation, providing strategies for future breeding practice.

[The Effect of Plasma Spatially Resolved During Diamond Film Deposited with HFCVD].

Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to detect the plasma distribution during the depositing process of diamond films with hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) method using acetone as carbon source. The surface and cross section of deposited diamond films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and their quality was tested with Raman spectroscopy. OES results showed that the intensity of active species near the center is higher than that in marginal area in the case of linear array of hot filament. It is because of the higher temperature and stronger cracking ability near the filament. The variety of the characteristic peak intensity in central region is more gently than that of the plasma ball. Thermal radiation decreased when the distance from the hot filament increases, which results in less CH，CO groups cracked from acetone, lower intensity of Hα，Hß excited by hydrogen and higher concentration of C2 group produced by reaction. SEM and Raman results showed that the quality of deposited diamond films deteriorated when the distance between hot filament and substrate varies from 4.5, 5.5 to 6.5 mm, which matches well with OES results.

Left ventricular systolic intraventricular flow field assessment in hyperthyroidism patients using vector flow mapping.

Intraventricular hydrodynamics is considered an important component of cardiac function assessment. Vector flow mapping (VFM) is a novel flow visualization method to describe cardiac pathophysiological condition. This study examined use of new VFM and flow field for assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic hemodynamics in patients with simple hyperthyroidism (HT). Thirty-seven simple HT patients were enrolled as HT group, and 38 gender- and age-matched healthy volunteers as control group. VFM model was used to analyze LV flow field at LV apical long-axis view. The following flow parameters were measured, including peak systolic velocity (Vs), peak systolic flow (Fs), total systolic negative flow (SQ) in LV basal, middle and apical level, velocity gradient from the apex to the aortic valve (ΔV), and velocity according to half distance (V1/2). The velocity vector in the LV cavity, stream line and vortex distribution in the two groups were observed. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the conventional parameters such as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and left atrium diameter (LAD) between HT group and control group (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, a brighter flow and more vortexes were detected in HT group. Non-uniform distribution occurred in the LV flow field, and the stream lines were discontinuous in HT group. The values of Vs and Fs in three levels, SQ in middle and basal levels, ΔV and V1/2 were higher in HT group than in control group (P<0.01). ΔV was positively correlated with serum free thyroxin (FT4) (r=0.48, P<0.01). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that LVEDD, FT4, and body surface area (BSA) were the influence factors of ΔV. The unstable left ventricular systolic hydrodynamics increased in a compensatory manner in simple HT patients. The present study indicated that VFM may be used for early detection of abnormal ventricle contraction in clinical settings.

GmWRKY27 interacts with GmMYB174 to reduce expression of GmNAC29 for stress tolerance in soybean plants.

Soybean (Glycine max) is an important crop for oil and protein resources worldwide. The molecular mechanism of the abiotic stress response in soybean is largely unclear. We previously identified multiple stress-responsive WRKY genes from soybean. Here, we further characterized the roles of one of these genes, GmWRKY27, in abiotic stress tolerance using a transgenic hairy root assay. GmWRKY27 expression was increased by various abiotic stresses. Over-expression and RNAi analysis demonstrated that GmWRKY27 improves salt and drought tolerance in transgenic soybean hairy roots. Measurement of physiological parameters, including reactive oxygen species and proline contents, supported this conclusion. GmWRKY27 inhibits expression of a downstream gene GmNAC29 by binding to the W-boxes in its promoter region. The GmNAC29 is a negative factor of stress tolerance as indicated by the performance of transgenic hairy roots under stress. GmWRKY27 interacts with GmMYB174, which also suppresses GmNAC29 expression and enhances drought stress tolerance. The GmWRKY27 and GmMYB174 may have evolved to bind to neighbouring cis elements in the GmNAC29 promoter to co-reduce promoter activity and gene expression. Our study discloses a valuable mechanism in soybean for regulation of the stress response by two associated transcription factors. Manipulation of these genes should facilitate improvements in stress tolerance in soybean and other crops.

ERG11 mutations associated with azole resistance in Candida albicans isolates from vulvovaginal candidosis patients

Objective: To investigate the azole susceptibility of Candida albicans ( C. albicans) from vulvovaginal candidosis patients and to analyze the relationship between ERG11 gene mutations in these isolates and azole resistance. Methods: Three hundred and two clinical isolates of Candida species were collected. Azole susceptibility was tested in vitro in microdilution studies. The ERG11 genes of 17 isolates of C. albicans (2 susceptibles, 5 dose-dependent resistants and 10 resistants) were amplified and sequenced. Results: Of the 302 isolates collected, 70.2% were C. albicans, of which 8.5%, 3.8% and 4.2% were resistant to fluconazole, itraconazole and voriconazole, respectively. In total, 27 missense mutations were detected in ERG11 genes from resistant/susceptible dose-dependent isolates. Among them, Y132H, A114S, and Y257H substitutions were most prevalent and were known to cause fluconazole resistance. G464S and F72S also have been proved to cause fluconazole resistance. Two novel substitutions (T285A, S457P) in hotspot regions were identified. Conclusions: Twenty seven mutations in the ERG11 gene were identified in azole-resistant C. albicans isolates, which indicated a possible relation with the increase in resistance to azole drugs and the recurrence of vulvovaginal candidosis. The relationship of two novel substitutions (T285A, S457P) with fluconazole resistance needs to be further verified by site-directed mutagenesis.