Nasal Sinus Mucoceles Manifesting Ocular Symptoms.

INTRODUCTION: To describe the ocular symptoms in a series of patients with nasal sinus mucoceles of different locations. METHODS: The authors analyzed the diagnosis and treatment of patients with sinus mucoceles and ocular symptoms who presented to the hospital from February 2010 to April 2020. A total of 61 patients were included in the study. The locations of the mucoceles were the frontal sinus (8 patients), ethmoid sinus (25 patients), and sphenoid sinus (28 patients). The authors selected 1 typical mucocele case from each of the sinuses, including the frontal, ethmoid, and sphenoid sinuses, and analyzed the history, diagnosis, and treatment of mucoceles in each location. RESULTS: The main clinical manifestations were ophthalmic symptoms, such as exophthalmos or displacement, eye pain, blindness or decreased vision, blepharoptosis, and diplopia; no obvious nasal symptoms were noted. Most patients with these symptoms went to an ophthalmologist first. All lesions in this study were found through imaging examinations. Most symptoms improved after surgical interventions. Only 2 of the 61 patients had no improvement in vision because of the long period of vision loss. CONCLUSIONS: Although sinus mucoceles are located in the sinuses, ocular symptoms are more prevalent than nasal symptoms. The earlier the imaging examinations are performed; the sooner lesions are detected, and the patients can be treated.

Relationship of trehalose accumulation with ethanol fermentation in industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains.

The protective effect and the mechanisms of trehalose accumulation in industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were investigated during ethanol fermentation. The engineered strains with more intercellular trehalose achieved significantly higher fermentation rates and ethanol yields than their wild strain ZS during very high gravity (VHG) fermentation, while their performances were not different during regular fermentation. The VHG fermentation performances of these strains were consistent with their growth capacity under osmotic stress and ethanol stress, the key stress factors during VHG fermentation. These results suggest that trehalose accumulation is more important for VHG fermentation of industrial yeast strains than regular one. The differences in membrane integrity and antioxidative capacity of these strains indicated the possible mechanisms of trehalose as a protectant under VHG condition. Therefore, trehalose metabolic engineering may be a useful strategy for improving the VHG fermentation performance of industrial yeast strains.

Genomic structural variations contribute to trait improvement during whole-genome shuffling of yeast.

Whole-genome shuffling (WGS) is a powerful technology of improving the complex traits of many microorganisms. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the altered phenotypes in isolates were less clarified. Isolates with significantly enhanced stress tolerance and ethanol titer under very-high-gravity conditions were obtained after WGS of the bioethanol Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain ZTW1. Karyotype analysis and RT-qPCR showed that chromosomal rearrangement occurred frequently in genome shuffling. Thus, the phenotypic effects of genomic structural variations were determined in this study. RNA-Seq and physiological analyses revealed the diverse transcription pattern and physiological status of the isolate S3-110 and ZTW1. Our observations suggest that the improved stress tolerance of S3-110 can be largely attributed to the copy number variations in large DNA regions, which would adjust the ploidy of yeast cells and expression levels of certain genes involved in stress response. Overall, this work not only constructed shuffled S. cerevisiae strains that have potential industrial applications but also provided novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of WGS and enhanced our knowledge on this useful breeding strategy.

[Analysis of allergen variation for 3292 patients with allergic rhinitis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the variation of common allergens in patients with allergic rhinitis in recent 4 years in Tianjin First Center Hospital. METHODS: The medical records of skin prick test on 3292 patients with allergic rhinitis between 2009 and 2012 were restrospectively analyzed. The changing trend of various allergens in 4 years and distribution differences were compared. The differences of the top 5 allergens in under age group, adult group and different gender group were further analyzed by SPSS 19.0 software. RESULTS: The positive rate of dermatophagoides farinae was increasing year by year, from 45.1% in 2009 to 66.3% in 2012, and the positive rate of dermatophagoides pteronyssinus increased from 42.0% in 2009 to 58.6% in 2012, the difference was statistically significant (χ(2) value was 68.70, 41.55, all P < 0.01). The positive rate of dermatophagoides farinae and dermatophagoides pteronyssinus in adult group and male group showed significant upward trend year by year (χ(2) value was 75.85, 69.93, 274.25, 42.62, all P < 0.01), but not in adult group and female group. The positive rate of quinoa, mugwort and humulus scandens decreased year by year between 2009 and 2011(χ(2) value was 22.08, 11.64, 203.19, all P < 0.01), but increased again in 2012(χ(2) value was 21.55, 29.38, 12.40, all P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: There is a tendency of change of allergens in patients with AR. This phenominon may be helpful for doctors to choose the type of skin prick liquid.