The role of gibberellin synthase gene GhGA2ox1 in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) responses to drought and salt stress.

Gibberellins (GAs) is one kind of important endogenous hormone in plants that regulates vegetative and reproductive growth of plants. GA2ox is a class of oxidase that plays a regulatory role in the third stage of GAs synthesis. In this paper, we cloned the GhGA2ox1 gene from an upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. var. CCRI49). The results showed that the CDS of GhGA2ox1 is 996 bp, which encode 331 amino acids, which has high homology with GhGA2ox2 and NtGA2ox1. The quantitative real-time PCR showed that under the conditions of salt and drought stress, the expression of GhGA2ox1 had a higher upregulation in root, stem, and leaf of transgenic plant, compared with non-transgenic plant. Cotton plant that overexpressed the GhGA2ox1 gene showed higher drought and salt tolerance than non-transgenic cotton plant, and these results were supported by data of higher free proline, chlorophyll, and relative water content in transgenic plant compared with control plant. The expression level of antiretroviral genes, including GhEREB2, GhDREB1, GhWRKY5, and GhP5CS, was upregulated to varying degrees in transgenic plant. The above results indicate that overexpressed GhGA2ox1 gene can increases the tolerance to respond to drought and salt stress in upland cotton.

Comparison of core decompression and conservative treatment for avascular necrosis of femoral head at early stage: a meta-analysis.

The purpose of the current meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of core decompression (CD) and conservative treatment (CT) for saving femoral heads in patients with avascular necrosis of femoral head (ANFH). Four RCTs and two CCTs involving 323 hips with 24- to 48-months follow-up were included in this review. Our results suggested CD had a trend of favorable results in contrast to other CT (OR 3.28; 95% CI 0.77-14.02; P = 0.11) but saved much less hips compared to biophysical treatments [odds ratio (OR) 0.37; 95% CI 0.18-0.74; P = 0.005]. In the stratified survival rate analysis by ANFH stage, interestingly, CD group got a significantly higher successful rate of hip joint conservation than other CT group in both stage I and stage II-III (stage I: OR 4.43; 95% CI 1.34-14.65; P = 0.01; stage II-III: OR 6.75; 95% CI 2.18-20.90; P = 0.0009). In the biophysical stimulation subgroup, however, an even higher frequency of survived hips were observed compared to CD group at stage II-III (CD vs. biophysical stimulation: OR 0.34; 95% CI 0.17-0.67; P = 0.002). In conclusion, performing CD for ANFH is effective for preventing femoral collapse within a short-term follow-up, but an even higher successful rate were expected by biophysical stimulations. Nevertheless, the short-term follow-up, the small sample size of the current meta-analysis only provide limited quality of evidence, which required confirmation from further large-scale, well-designed RCT with longer follow-up.

Efficacy of alendronate for preventing collapse of femoral head in adult patients with nontraumatic osteonecrosis.

The purpose of the current review was to determine the efficacy of alendronate for preventing collapse of femoral head in adult patients with nontraumatic avascular osteonecrosis of femoral head (ANFH). Five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 305 hips were included in this review, of which 3 studies investigated alendronate versus control/placebo and the other 2 studies compared the combination of alendronate and extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) with ESWT alone. Our results suggested that even the patients with extensive necrosis encountered much less collapse in the alendronate group than control group. In these RCTs, their data also indicated a positive short- and middle-term efficacy of alendronate treatment in joint function improvement and hip pain diminishment. With the presence of the outlier study, only insignificant overall efficacy of alendronate could be observed with substantial heterogeneities. In addition, we did not find any additive benefits of alendronate in combination with ESWT for preventing collapse compared to ESWT alone. In conclusion, there is still lack of strong evidence for supporting application of alendronate in adult patients with nontraumatic ANFH, which justified that large scale, randomized, and double-blind studies should be developed to demonstrate the confirmed efficacies, detailed indication, and optimized strategy of alendronate treatment.

Clinical experience of 3T intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging integrated neurosurgical suite in Shanghai Huashan Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) dates back to the 1990s and has been successfully applied in neurosurgery but they were low-field iMRI (< 1.0T). This paper reports the clinical experience with a 3T iMRI-integrated neurosurgical suite in Huashan Hospital, Shanghai, China. METHODS: From September 2010 through March 2012, 373 consecutive patients underwent neurological surgery under guidance with 3T iMRI. A retrospective analysis was conducted regarding clinical efficiency. RESULTS: All surgery in the 373 patients was safe. The ratio of gross total resection for cerebral gliomas (n = 161) was increased from 55.90% to 87.58%. The ratio of benefit in extent of resection was 39.13%. One hundred and fifty eight of the 161 glioma patients accomplished follow-up at 3 months postoperatively. Twenty of 161 patients (12.42%) suffered from early motor deficit after surgery. Late motor deficit was however observed in five of 158 patients (3.16%). Twenty-one of 161 patients (13.04%) had early speech deficit and late speech deficit was only observed in six of 158 patients (3.80%). The ratio of gross total resection for pituitary adenomas (n = 49) was increased from 77.55% to 85.71%. The ratio of benefit in extent of resection was 10.2%. There were no iMRI-related adverse events even for patients who underwent awake craniotomy. CONCLUSION: The 3T iMRI integrated neurosurgical suite provides high-quality intraoperative structural and functional imaging for real-time tumor resection control and accurate functional preservation, resulting in an improvement in maximal safe brain surgery.

The structural changes of the bagasse hemicelluloses during the cooking process involving active oxygen and solid alkali.

This work describes the structural changes of bagasse hemicelluloses during the cooking process involving active oxygen (O(2) and H(2)O(2)) and solid alkali (MgO). The hemicelluloses obtained from the bagasse raw material, pulp, and yellow liquor were analyzed by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and (1)H-(13)C 2D hetero-nuclear single quantum coherence spectroscopy (HSQC). The results revealed that the structure of the bagasse hemicelluloses was L-arabino-(4-O-methylglucurono)-D-xylan. Some sugar units in hemicelluloses were oxidized under the cooking conditions. Additionally, the backbones and the ester linkages of hemicelluloses were heavily cleaved during the cooking process.

[Preliminary application of 3.0 T intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging neuronavigation system in China].

OBJECTIVE: To report the preliminary experience in clinical application of 3.0 T intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) neuronavigation system in China. METHODS: From September 2010 to March 2011, a consecutive series of 122 patients with intracranial lesions underwent operations in guidance with 3.0 T iMRI. A retrospective analysis was conducted regarding clinical efficiency. RESULTS: Among 122 procedures, the numbers of intraoperative scanning were 2 - 4 times with an average of 2.6. The qualities of images were excellent. Due to the discovery and further possibility of resection of residual tumors, the ratio of gross total resection was increased from 71.7% to 90.0% in cerebral gliomas (n = 60), while from 75.9% to 93.1% in macroadenomas (n = 29). There were 6.7% of all patients occurred postoperative paralysis, but only 3.3% of patients had persistent paralysis at 1 - 2 months follow-up. There was no iMRI-related adverse event occurred. During the same period, more than 2500 patients underwent diagnostic MRI scanning. CONCLUSIONS: 3.0 T iMRI neuronavigation system provides high-quality intraoperative structural, functional and metabolic images for real time tumor resection control and accurate functional preservation, resulting in an improvement in maximal safe brain surgery. The system is cost-effective.

[Sternum-hyoid muscle transposition and arytenoid adduction for unilateral vocal cord paralysis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the therapeutic effect of sternum-hyoid muscle transposition and arytenoid adduction for unilateral vocal cord paralysis (UVCP). METHODS: Included in this study were 19 patients with UVCP lasted for 12 months to 15 years. The surgical technique was as follows. The thyroid cartilage was engaged with a skin hook and gently rotated anteriorly. The lateral-inferior corner of the thyroid cartilage was exposed and the muscular process of the arytenoid was identified. Then, the thyroid lamina on the involved side was parasagittally separated 5 mm off the midline. The inner perichondrium was carefully freed from the overlying thyroid cartilage. The lamina was retracted laterally, and a 3-0 prolene suture was placed through the muscular process and tied to the cricoid cartilage at the origin of the lateral cricoarytenoid muscle. A bipedicled strap muscle flap was then transposed into the space between the lamina and the inner perichondrium. Pre- and postoperative voice evaluations measured mean fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, harmonic ratio and maximal phonation time, as well as assessments of voice quality. RESULTS: Vocal improvement was obtained in 100% (19 of 19) of patients. Immediately after the operation, the ingression could be observed in vocal cord membrane and vocal process, vocal cord volume was amplified. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in all parameters (fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, harmonic ratio and maximal phonation time) between pre- and postoperative voice evaluations measured mean. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in voice evaluations measured mean between 2 months and 12 months after operation in all patients. No major complications were noted in any patient. CONCLUSION: Sternum-hyoid muscle transposition and arytenoid adduction for unilateral vocal cord paralysis is simple and convenient, no immune rejection, and the long-term result is stable.