Whole genomic prediction of growth and carcass traits in a Chinese quality chicken population.

By incorporating high-density markers into breeding value prediction models, the whole genomic prediction (WGP) method can effectively accelerate genetic improvement in livestock breeding. However, the performance of WGP varies across species and populations and is affected by the underlying genetic architecture. In particular, very little is known about the performance of WGP for many chicken breeds. Here we estimate the genetic parameters and evaluate the performance of WGP for 18 growth and carcass traits in a Chinese quality chicken population. In total, 435 chickens were systematically phenotyped and genotyped using a 600K genotyping array. Two variance component estimation scenarios, 3 breeding value prediction methods, and 2 validation procedures were compared. The results showed that the heritability of these 18 traits was medium to high (ranging from 0.28 to 0.60) and that deviations existed between the heritability estimated from pedigrees and markers. Compared with conventional breeding methods, WGP could potentially increase the selection accuracy by 20% or more depending on the prediction model used, the trait under consideration, and the genetic connectedness between the training and validation individuals. Our results showed the potential of implementing genomic selection in small breeding herds.

Risk of hip fracture following stroke, a meta-analysis of 13 cohort studies.

This study systematically reviews prospective and retrospective cohort studies evaluating the risk of hip fracture following stroke. Stroke survivors are at high risk of hip fracture and had a 1.5-fold increased risk compared to stroke-free men and women of the same age. Hip fracture often occurs in ageing and female stroke patients. We performed a meta-analysis to summarize evidence from prospective and retrospective cohort studies about the risk of hip fracture following stroke. We identified English and non-English publications in MEDLINE and EMBASE using stroke and fracture as keywords to 31 December 2015. The data of the incidence of hip fracture were extracted to calculate raw incident rate in stroke survivors as well as risk of hip fractures in strokes comparing populations using a random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed to identify the potential influence of some factors. Six prospective and seven retrospective cohort studies were included, involving 512,214 stroke patients with 22,559 hip fractures. The pooled prevalence of hip fractures was 4.87 % (95 % CI, 4.05 to 5.68 %) in stoke patients. We conducted subgroup analysis according to sex, age, duration of follow-up, study design, and region, which showed that female (vs. male) stroke patients older than 70 years (vs. those less than 70 years) and duration of follow-up more than 2 years (vs. those less than 2 years) have higher proportions of hip fractures. Four studies showed that stroke patients had a significantly higher risk of hip fracture compared with the general population, while the other study had a non-significant higher risk. The overall prevalence of hip fracture was 3.28 % (3431 of 104,646) in stroke patients and 2.83 % (36,493 of 1,287,726) in general population, respectively, and the unadjusted combined relative risk of hip fracture was 1.54 (95 % CI, 1.06-2.25). Hip fractures often occur in ageing and female stroke patients.

The Elimination Rate after Clozapine Overdose in Chinese Schizophrenia Patients: A Population Pharmacokinetics Model Study.

INTRODUCTION: The prescribing of clozapine in China is common because of its outstanding efficacy and low price. There have been many cases of clozapine overdose in China. However, studies about the pharmacokinetics after overdose in the Chinese have rarely been reported. Population pharmacokinetics (PopPK) can analyze sparse data, and it is appropriate to compute clozapine pharmacokinetics after overdose. METHODS: There were 47 clozapine overdose cases. We constructed a single-compartment first-order elimination PopPK model. We also considered some covariates that can influence the pharmacokinetics parameters. RESULTS: 21 cases were included in the analysis. When the reported toxic dosage was 3,740 mg, the elimination rate constant of the population was 0.0258(h(-1)). The elimination half-life was 26.9 h. The coefficient of random variation was 17%. DISCUSSION: PopPK can solve the problem of sparse data after overdose. The area under the concentration-time curve after clozapine overdose exhibited the "two peaks phenomenon." The reported toxic dosage could impact clozapine elimination after overdose. Delayed absorption of clozapine is the best explanation for this finding.

A case of bone marrow infection by Staphylococcus saccharolyticus.

We report a case of fatal bone marrow infection caused by Staphylococcus saccharolyticus in a 26 year old female. The causative organism was isolated by anaerobic culture on blood agar, and was identified by PCR amplification of the gap gene and genotyping of the resultant sequence.

C-reactive protein and risk of fracture: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

UNLABELLED: This study systematically reviews prospective cohort studies evaluating the relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations and subsequent fracture risk. The positive association cannot completely explain the existing evidence, and further studies are needed to demonstrate the shape of the association. INTRODUCTION: We aimed to perform a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of published prospective studies evaluating associations of high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) levels with fracture risk in general populations. METHODS: We identified relevant studies by searching MEDLINE and EMBASE databases from their inception to May 20, 2014. We included published prospective studies evaluating the associations of hs-CRP levels with risk of fracture in general populations. Two reviewers working independently abstracted the data. RESULTS: Eight prospective cohort studies involving 34,840 participants and 3,407 incident fracture events were eligible for the present analyses. A meta-analysis of six prospective studies showed that the overall risk for incident fracture in a comparison of individuals in the top tertile with those in the bottom tertile of baseline hs-CRP levels was 2.14 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.51-3.05, I(2) = 62.3%]. The moderate heterogeneous disappeared when one study was excluded. However, the remaining two studies reported inconsistent results. One study with the biggest sample size showed a U-shaped association for CRP and fracture risk (the association was positive when CRP > 1 mg/L). Similarly, another study reported that per doubling of CRP was positive only when CRP > 3 mg/L. CONCLUSION: In summary, the present analysis showed that the relationship between CRP concentrations and subsequent fracture risk is still inconsistent. The positive association cannot completely explain the existing evidence, and further larger prospective cohorts with more power are needed to demonstrate the shape of the association, especially for the relatively low CRP concentrations, such as less than 3 mg/L.

A simple gold plate electrode modified with Gd-doped TiO2 nanoparticles used for determination of trace nitrite in cured food.

A simple gold plate electrode (GPE) based on a gadolinium-doped titanium dioxide (Gd/TiO2) ultrathin film was successfully constructed by using a surface sol-gel technique, and used for the detection of trace amounts of nitrite in cured foods. The Gd/TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesised and characterised via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), indicating that the Gd-doped TiO2 formed an anatase phase through roasting at 450°C, generating actively interstitial oxygen at the interface of the surface of TiO2 lattice surrounded by Gd³âº. The electro-catalytic effect for oxidation of nitrite on the modified electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry in 0.10 mol l⁻¹ sulfuric acid media solution, showing that the modified electrode exhibited excellent response performance to nitrite with good reproducibility, selectivity and stability. The catalytic peak current was found to be linear with nitrite concentrations in the range of 8.0 × 10⁻7 to 4.0 × 10⁻4) mol l⁻¹, with a detection limit of 5.0 × 10⁻7 mol l⁻¹ (S/N = 3). The modified electrode could be used for the determination of nitrite in the cured sausage samples with a satisfactory recovery in the range of 95.5-104%, showing its promising application for food safety monitoring.

Inhibition effect produced by dominant negative mutant fusion protein PreS2-TLM-ScFv-HBcDN on HBV replication in vitro.

A mammalian expression vector comprised of the PreS2-TLM (translocation motif), a single-chain variable fragment (ScFv) that binds to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and the EGFP gene was constructed. A stably transformed cell line that could express and secrete the fusion protein (PreS2-TLM-ScFv-EGFP) was established. HBsAg-positive HepG2.2.15 cells and HepG2 and HeLa cells were incubated with the supernatant of the transformed cell line cultures for evaluating the cellular permeability of PreS2-TLM-ScFv-EGFP. The location of the fusion protein PreS2-TLM-ScFv-EGFP in HepG2.2.15 cells was observed with immunofluorescence staining. EGFP was next replaced by a dominant negative mutant of the hepatitis B virus core gene (HBcDN) for producing fusion protein PreS2-TLM-ScFv-HBcDN, which was detected by western blot. The supernatant containing fusion protein PreS2-TLM-ScFv-HBcDN was added to the cultures of HepG2.2.15 cells, and the packaged hepatitis B virus (HBV) pregenomic RNA expression levels in the cells were measured using qRT-PCR. The results of the in vitro study indicated that the packaged HBV pregenomic RNA expression levels in HepG2.2.15 cells significantly decreased when these cells were exposed to the supernatant at the dose of 25% for 24, 48 and 72 h, or at the dose of 12.5% for 72 h.

Comparative study on the intracavity frequency-doubling 532 nm laser based on gray-tracking-resistant KTP and conventional KTP.

A comparative study of a frequency-doubling 532 nm laser based on gray-tracking-resistant KTP (GTR-KTP) and conventional KTP is presented. The intracavity GTR-KTP was proved to have better temperature characteristics than that of conventional KTP. Within the normalized output power variation range of 0.8-1.0, GTR-KTP has a temperature tolerance of 35 degrees C, broader than the 21 degrees C obtained with conventional KTP. Under the laser diode (LD) pump power of 180 W, the maximum average output power at 532 nm was 40.6 W for GTR-KTP at a repetition frequency of 10 kHz. In the case of conventional KTP, the maximum available LD pump power was limited to 150 W, with the corresponding maximum green average output power of 27.2 W.

Atmospheric mercury deposition in Guizhou, China

The atmospheric deposition of mercury including total gas phase mercury (TGM), gas phase divalent mercury (Hg2+), and gas phase monomethyl mercury (MMHg) was investigated. Samples were collected from central cities and nature reserve areas across the province. Techniques and equipment including moss bags, KCl-coated denuder and GARDIS-1A portable mercury vapor analyzer were employed for sample collection and analysis. The reliability of techniques and analytical methods used for the project was evaluated. The deposition of atmospheric mercury was reported in species in this important mercury polluted province for the first time. The spatial and temporal variability of mercury emissions were investigated and reported. Contribution of coal mercury emissions to the atmosphere mercury deposition of the province was also investigated.