[Human facial shape related SNP analysis in Han Chinese populations].

Human facial morphology is one of the important visible biological characteristics. Understanding the genetic basis underlying facial shape traits has important implications in population genetics, developmental biology, and forensic science. This study extracted 136 Euclidean distance phenotypes from 17 facial features of high-resolution 3D facial images in 1177 Chinese Han adult males. Based on 3× low-depth sequencing data, linear regression was used to analyze the correlation between 125 reported SNPs significantly associated with facial morphology and 136 facial phenotypes. As a result, a total of twelve SNPs from ten genes demonstrated significant association with one or more facial shape traits after adjusting for multiple testing (significance threshold P < 1.35 × 10 -3 ), together explaining up to 3.89% of age-, and BMI-adjusted facial phenotype variance. These included TEX41 rs17479393, PAX3 rs974448, RAB7A/ACAD9 rs2977562, DCHS2 rs9995821, DCHS2 rs2045323, C5orf50 rs6555969, SUPT3H/RUNX2 rs1852985, MSRA rs11782517, EYA1 rs10504499, GSC rs2224309, DICER1 rs7161418 and DHX35 rs2206437.These results revealed the genetics basis of facial morphology of Han Chinese population, and provided reference data for DNA-based face prediction.

Heterogeneous Aging Effects on Functional Connectivity in Different Cortical Regions: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study Using Functional Data Analysis.

Brain aging is a complex and heterogeneous process characterized by the selective loss and preservation of brain functions. This study examines the normal aging effects on the cerebral cortex by characterizing changes in functional connectivity using resting-state fMRI data. Previous resting-state fMRI studies on normal aging have examined specific networks of the brain, whereas few studies have examined cortical-cortical connectivities across the entire brain. To characterize the effects of normal aging on the cerebral cortex, we proposed the Pearson functional product-moment correlation coefficient for measuring functional connectivity, which has advantages over the traditional correlation coefficient. The distinct patterns of changes in functional connectivity within and among the four cerebral lobes clarified the effects of normal aging on cortical function. Besides, the advantages of the proposed approach over other methods considered were demonstrated through simulation comparisons. The results showed heterogeneous changes in functional connectivity in normal aging. Specifically, the elderly group exhibited enhanced inter-lobe connectivity between the frontal lobe and the other lobes. Inter-lobe connectivity decreased between the temporal and parietal lobes. The results support the frontal aging hypothesis proposed in behavioral and structural MRI studies. In conclusion, functional correlation analysis enables differentiation of changes in functional connectivities and characterizes the heterogeneous aging effects in different cortical regions.

[Application value of multiple phase subtraction imaging of dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in common breast tumor].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application value of multiple phase subtraction imaging of dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in common breast tumor. METHODS: All radiographic and MRI data of 72 patients with histological proved common breast tumor were analyzed retrospectively. Prior to an injection of gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (GD-DTPA), 3D mask scans were performed. Then 9 consecutive phases of imaging were acquired. After the drawing of time-signal intensity curve, he first and second phases were selected to perform subtraction with the mask, rebuild 3D maximum intensity projection and analyze the application value of subtracted and 3D maximum intensity projection (MIP) reformation images. Chi-square test was used for the analyses of benign and malignant breast tumors. RESULTS: There were 83 lesions in 72 patients. Among 18 cases of fibro adenoma, 23 lesions had no tumor vessel. For the detecting ratio of lesions, the first and second phase subtraction imaging had no statistics difference. Only one intraductal papilloma with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) had tumor vessel in 4 intraductal papilloma patients. Among 5 DCIS cases, one of them had small curved tumor vessel. And 51 lesions were found in 45 infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) cases. Tumor vessels could be seen in all IDC cases. And 37 cases had multiple tumor vessels while 8 cases had single tumor vessel. When the first phase was used for subtraction, 36 lesions were found. On the other hand, 51 lesions were found in the second phase subtraction. There were significant differences between them. CONCLUSION: No significant differences exist in benign breast tumor on differential phase subtraction images of DCE-MRI, but there are significant differences in malignant breast tumor. It is very important to detect the lesions and show the tumor vessels by rebuilding multiple phase subtraction.

Asthma drugs counter-regulate interleukin-8 release stimulated by sodium sulfite in an A549 cell line.

BACKGROUND: Clinical manifestations suggest that air pollution may induce deterioration of respiratory health. Some air pollutants, including sulfite, may play a role in the exacerbation of asthma. Sulfites are formed at bronchial mucosa from inhaled sulfur dioxide. It has been previously reported that sodium sulfite (Na(2)SO(3)) has pro-inflammatory properties and enhances neutrophil adhesion to A549 cells. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) plays a critical role in attracting inflammatory cells and is an excellent marker of pulmonary cell activation. To date, there have not been any reports on the effect of asthma drugs on the suppression of IL-8 production induced by sulfite in A549 cells or the involvement of specific signal transduction pathways. Thus, our study assessed the effects of salmeterol, fluticasone, and montelukast on human epithelial lung cell inflammation as well as the inhibitors in different signal transduction pathways. METHODS: A549 human lung epithelial cells were cultured under the following conditions: (1) treated with sodium sulfite (0, 100, 500, 1000, 2500 uM) for 16 hours; (2) cultured for 1 hour in the presence of SB203580, PD98059, SP600125, or wedeloactone, then co-incubated with sodium sulfite for another 16 hours; (3) cultured for 4 hours in the presence of salmeterol, fluticasone, or montelukast, then stimulated with sodium sulfite at a concentration of 1000 uM for 16 hours. We collected the supernatants from the above conditions and performed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the IL-8 concentration. RESULTS: IL-8 production increased after treatment with sodium sulfite at 1000 to 2500 uM (p