Influence of the structure and physicochemical properties of OSA modified highland barley starch based on ball milling assisted treatment.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of ball milling assisted treatment on the degree of substitution of octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) modified highland barley starch (HBS) and on the physicochemical properties and structure of HBS. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) findings showed that with the increasing of ball milling time, the surface morphology of OSA modified HBS became rougher and rougher and the particle morphology and crystal structure were damaged. When the pretreatment time of ball milling was 40 min, the degree of substitution of OSA modified HBS was 1.32 times higher than that of the conventional modification method. In addition, the longer the ball milling assistant, the longer the short-range ordering of the OSA modified HBS significantly decreased, and the relative crystallinity decreased (from 16.68 % to 7.93 %), leading to a decrease in thermal stability too. However, it greatly enhanced the aging resistance and flowability. In terms of emulsification properties, the emulsification properties of OSA modified HBS increased from 60.67 % to 75.67 %. Therefore, the HBS with better freeze-thaw stability and higher degree of substitution can be prepared by ball milling pretreatment and OSA modification, which provides technical support for further development of starch resources.

FTO-mediated ZNF687 accelerates tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer through the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and lethal cancer. ZNF687 has been disclosed to take part in diversified cancers' progression by serving as a facilitator. However, the detailed regulatory functions of ZNF687 in the CRC have not been investigated. This work is planned to probe the impacts of ZNF687 on CRC progression. The IHC, RT-qPCR, and western blot assays were used to examine mRNA and protein gene expressions. The cell proliferation measurement was accompanied by a CCK-8 assay. The Transwell assay was performed to evaluate cell invasion and migration. The angiogenesis ability was evaluated by a tube formation experiment. The m6A level was evaluated through MeRIP and m6A dot blot assays. The binding ability between ZNF687 and FTO (fat mass and obesity associated protein) was tested through an RIP assay. The ß-catenin nuclear translocation was assessed through an immunofluorescence assay. The tumor growth was evaluated through an in vivo assay. ZNF687 exhibited higher expression in CRC cells and resulted in a poor prognosis. Additionally, ZNF687 inhibition suppressed CRC cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. Furthermore, the suppression of ZNF687 retarded the Wnt pathway. Through rescue assays, the reduced cell migration, proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis mediated by ZNF687 knockdown could be reversed after BML-284 (the activator of the Wnt pathway) treatment. Finally, it was explained that ZNF687 knockdown inhibited in vivo tumor growth. This study manifested that FTO-mediated ZNF687 aggravated tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis of CRC through Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. This finding may provide a hopeful molecular target for CRC treatment.

Comparison of pharmacokinetics and safety between CE-fosphenytoin sodium, fosphenytoin sodium, and phenytoin sodium after intravenous and intramuscular administration in healthy volunteers.

Background: Captisol®-enabled-fosphenytoin sodium (CE-fosphenytoin sodium) injection is a modified formulation of fosphenytoin sodium. Objective: We aim to compare the intravenous and intramuscular bioavailability and safety between CE-fosphenytoin sodium, fosphenytoin sodium (Cerebyx®), and phenytoin sodium (intravenous injection only). Methods: In pivotal study 1, 54 subjects were divided into three sequence groups that receive intravenous injection of 250 mg of phenytoin sodium equivalent (PE), CE-fosphenytoin sodium (T), or fosphenytoin sodium (R1) and 250 mg of phenytoin sodium (R2) in period 1. After a 14-day washout period, 36 subjects were randomized to two treatment sequence groups (T-R1 or R1-T, n = 18 per group) in period 2, in which the subjects who received R2 in period 1 were removed, those who received T in period 1 used R1 (T-R1), while those who previously received R1 used T (R1-T). In pivotal study 2, a single intramuscular dose of T (400 mg PE) or R1 (400 mg PE) was administered according to the individual sequential treatment assignment in each period. There was a washout (14 days) period before receiving the next period study drug. Results: T and R1 have similar pharmacokinetic characteristics regarding total and free phenytoin, showing bioequivalence of both drugs in the intravenous and intramuscular administration. The geometric mean ratio was close to 1 (0.98-1.06). The AUC of total and free phenytoin in subjects who intravenously received T and R1 was very similar to those who received R2, although their Cmax was lower than that of the subjects who received R2. Overall, treatment with T and R1 was safe and well-tolerated, without serious adverse events (SAEs) or grade III adverse events (AEs). With intravenous (i.v.) or intramuscular (i.m.) treatment, the incidence of drug-related AEs using T was similar to that using R1. Treatment with T and R1 had clearly superior tolerability than that with R2. Conclusion: CE-fosphenytoin sodium is a promising substitute for fosphenytoin sodium. Clinical Trial Registration: http://www.chinadrugtrials.org.cn/, CTR20202154 (11 November 2020).

Robust Shoeprint Retrieval Method Based on Local-to-Global Feature Matching for Real Crime Scenes.

In this study, an automatic and robust crime scene shoeprint retrieval method is proposed. As most shoeprints left at crime scenes are randomly partial and noisy, crime scene shoeprint retrieval is a challenging task. To handle partial, noisy shoeprint images, we employ denoising deep belief network (DBN) to extract local features and use spatial pyramid matching (SPM) to obtain a local-to-global matching score. In this study, 536 query shoeprint images from crime scenes and a large scale database containing 34,768 shoeprint images are used to evaluate the retrieval performance. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in terms of retrieval accuracy, feature dimension, and retrieval speed. The proposed method achieves a cumulative match score (CMS) of 65.67% at top 10 which is 5.60% higher than the second best performing method.

Gap Between Clinical Practice and Guidelines: A National Survey of the Knowledge of Recommended Heart Failure Guidelines Among Chinese Physicians.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the current level of knowledge of Chinese heart failure (HF) guidelines among physicians, as a reference for the promotion and transformation of HF knowledge. METHODS AND RESULTS: Physicians from 88 hospitals in 27 provinces of China completed our survey between July and December 2014. The questions covered the main points included in the Chinese HF diagnosis and treatment guidelines (2014). A total of 2146 physicians, aged 20 to 62 years (35.6 ± 7.6 years), completed the survey. The correctness rate of their answers to the 15 multiple-choice questions in the HF questionnaire was generally low (mean 32.6%). The mean correctness rate for 10 blank-filling questions about the target doses of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists, and ß-blockers was 42.5%. On the basis of their responses, physicians whose knowledge of the guidelines was "excellent," "good," "medium," and "bad" accounted for 1.1%, 11.4%, 14.2%, and 73.4%, respectively. Physicians who possessed a higher level of qualifications had significantly greater awareness of HF guidelines than those with relatively low qualifications (P < .001). A statistically significant association was found between hospital level and adherence to treatment guidelines (P < .001). A significant difference was also observed among physicians in different practice scopes (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The survey found an obvious deficiency in physicians' mastery of fundamental knowledge about HF. There is a need to improve physicians' education about HF in China.

ErbB4 Gene Polymorphism Is Associated With the Risk and Prognosis of Congestive Heart Failure in a Northern Han Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND: There has been no research evaluating the association between human Neuregulin (NRG) 1/ErbB2/ErbB4 gene polymorphisms and heart failure risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: Genotyping of 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the NRG-1/ErbB2/ErbB4 genes was performed in 569 unrelated heart failure patients and 682 healthy controls from a Northern Han Chinese population with the use of iPlex SNP Genotyping analysis on a Sequenom Massarray System. In the ErbB4 gene, the variants rs10932374 and rs1595064 were associated with reduced risk of heart failure under allelic, recessive and additive genetic models, and the variants rs13003941 and rs1595065 were associated with increased risk of heart failure under allelic, dominant, and additive models. The G-G-C-C-T haplotype of rs10932374-rs13003941-rs1595064-rs1595065-rs3748960 in the ErbB4 gene increased the risk of heart failure (odd ratio 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.70; P = .014). The T variant of rs13003941 was associated with larger left ventricle (dominant model, P = .014; additive model, P = .048), and increased risk of overall death (relative risk [RR] 1.48, 95% CI 1.01-2.18; P = .045) and cardiovascular death (RR 1.56, 95% CI 1.04-2.33; P = .03) after adjusting for age and sex. NRG-1/ErbB2 gene polymorphisms were not associated with heart failure risk or prognosis. CONCLUSION: ErbB4 gene polymorphisms were associated with the risk, severity, and prognosis of heart failure in a Northern Han Chinese population.

[Reference value and clinical correlates of soluble ST2 in healthy community-based Chinese population].

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the plasma level of soluble ST2 (sST2) and related influencing factors, and establish its reference value in the healthy community-based population in Beijing area of China. METHODS: We measured plasma sST2 level by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay between March 2012 and August 2012 in 1 334 healthy subjects in communities, including 597 males and 737 females. Empiric and quantile regression methods were used to determine the reference range of plasma sST2. A multiple linear regression model was established to analyze the factors that might affect the level of plasma sST2. RESULTS: Gender is the most important factor affecting the plasma level of sST2 in healthy people. Plasma level of sST2 is significantly higher in men than in women (P < 0.01). Within each age strata, i.e. < 45, 45-54, 55-64, ≥ 65 years old, the plasma levels of sST2 were significantly higher in men than age-matched female (all P < 0.01). Age, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and smoking did not affect plasma sST2 level. Reference range of sST2 was 5.7-53.5 µg/L for men and 4.4-42.4 µg/L for women (95% nonparametric reference interval). The one-side upper 95th percentile value of sST2 to discriminate the cardiovascular disease from healthy state was 47.2 µg/L for men and 37.2 µg/L for women. CONCLUSIONS: This study established the normal reference range of plasma sST2 in healthy community-based population. The major influencing factor of sST2 level in healthy population is gender.

[Plasma amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide level and affecting factors in a community-based healthy Chinese population].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the plasma level of amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and related influencing factors in a community-based healthy population in Beijing area. METHODS: We measured plasma NT-proBNP level by fluoroimmunoassay between March 2012 and July 2012 from 1 034 healthy subjects (including 486 men and 548 women). Empiric method was used to determine the reference value and influencing factors were analyzed. RESULTS: Age and gender are important factors affecting the level of NT-proBNP in healthy subjects. NT-proBNP plasma level is significantly higher in women than in men within each age strata below 75 years old, i.e. < 45, 45-54, 55-64 and 65-74 years old (P = 0.005, 0.001, 0.001, 0.011 respectively), but NT-proBNP plasma level is similar between male and female older than 75 years (P = 0.504). NT-proBNP level also increases with age irrespective of gender. Body mass index (BMI) is another independent influencing factor of NT-proBNP (P < 0.001), while estimated glomerular filtration rate is not influencing factor. The reference range of NT-proBNP is < 133 ng/L for men and < 289 ng/L for women aged < 55 years old, < 185 ng/L for men and < 333 ng/L for women aged between 55 and 64 years old, and < 465 ng/L for men and < 378 ng/L for women aged ≥ 75 years old. CONCLUSION: The major influencing factors of NT-proBNP level in the healthy population are age, gender and BMI. It essential to establish normal reference range of NT-proBNP according to these factors for Chinese population.

C4: a real-time object detection framework.

A real-time and accurate object detection framework, C(4), is proposed in this paper. C(4) achieves 20 fps speed and the state-of-the-art detection accuracy, using only one processing thread without resorting to special hardware such as GPU. The real-time accurate object detection is made possible by two contributions. First, we conjecture (with supporting experiments) that contour is what we should capture and signs of comparisons among neighboring pixels are the key information to capture contour cues. Second, we show that the CENTRIST visual descriptor is suitable for contour based object detection, because it encodes the sign information and can implicitly represent the global contour. When CENTRIST and linear classifier are used, we propose a computational method that does not need to explicitly generate feature vectors. It involves no image preprocessing or feature vector normalization, and only requires O(1) steps to test an image patch. C(4) is also friendly to further hardware acceleration. It has been applied to detect objects such as pedestrians, faces, and cars on benchmark data sets. It has comparable detection accuracy with state-of-the-art methods, and has a clear advantage in detection speed.

BrFLC2 (FLOWERING LOCUS C) as a candidate gene for a vernalization response QTL in Brassica rapa.

Flowering time is an important agronomic trait, and wide variation exists among Brassica rapa. In Arabidopsis, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) plays an important role in modulating flowering time and the response to vernalization. Brassica rapa contains several paralogues of FLC at syntenic regions. BrFLC2 maps under a major flowering time and vernalization response quantitative trait locus (QTL) at the top of A02. Here the effects of vernalization on flowering time in a double haploid (DH) population and on BrFLC2 expression in selected lines of a DH population in B. rapa are descibed. The effect of the major flowering time QTL on the top of A02 where BrFLC2 maps clearly decreases upon vernalization, which points to a role for BrFLC2 underlying the QTL. In all developmental stages and tissues (seedlings, cotyledons, and leaves), BrFLC2 transcript levels are higher in late flowering pools of DH lines than in pools of early flowering DH lines. BrFLC2 expression diminished after different durations of seedling vernalization in both early and late DH lines. The reduction of BrFLC2 expression upon seedling vernalization of both early and late flowering DH lines was strongest at the seedling stage and diminished in subsequent growth stages, which suggests that the commitment to flowering is already set at very early developmental stages. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that BrFLC2 is a candidate gene for the flowering time and vernalization response QTL in B. rapa.

[A novel GJA8 mutation in a Chinese family with autosomal dominant congenital cataract].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the mutations in the gap junction protein alpha3/alpha8 gene (GJA3 or GJA8) in the Chinese family with autosomal dominant congenital cataract (ADCC). METHODS: All subjects(5 family members and 100 unrelated control individuals)were undergone comprehensive ophthalmic examination, and genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood (5 mL). The exons and flanking introns of GJA3/GJA8 genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Purified PCR products were then sequenced directly for screening disease-causing mutations. RESULTS: Upon bidirectional sequence analysis, a G-->A transition at nucleotide 138 (c.138G>A)in exon 2 of GJA8 was found, resulting in synonymous mutation of glycine (GGG) to glycine (GGA). An additional G-->T transvertion at nucleotide 139 (c.139G>T) in exon 2 of GJA8, resulting in a missense mutation of asparagines (GAU) to tyrosine (UAU) at codon 47 (D47Y). These two alterations were not seen in all unaffected members and 100 unrelated control individuals. Bioinformatic analyses also showed that a highly conserved region was located at Asp47. Meanwhile no sequence variations for GJA3 were detected from the 3 affected members. CONCLUSION: A novel disease-causing mutation (D47Y) of GJA8 gene in a Chinese family with ADCC is reported.