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To study the genetic polymorphism and population genetic parameters of 16 X-STR loci in Xinjiang Uygur population.The GoldenIn the 16 X-STR loci, a total of 67 alleles were detected in 502 Xinjiang Uygur unrelated individuals. The allele frequencies ranged from 0.001 3 to 0.572 4. PIC ranged from 0.568 8 to 0.855 3. The cumulative discrimination power in females and males were 0.999 999 999 999 999 and 0.999 999 999 743 071, respectively. The cumulative mean paternity exclusion chance in trios and in duos were 0.999 999 997 791 859 and 0.999 998 989 000 730, respectively. The genetic distance between Uygur population and Kazakh population was closer, and the genetic distance between Uygur and Han population was farther.The 16 X-STR loci are highly polymorphic and suitable for identification in Uygur population, which can provide a powerful supplement for the study of individual identification, paternity identification and population genetics.

To estimate the system efficiency of uncle-nephew relationship identification by increasing STR markers and adding reference samples based on the test results of simulated data and real samples, so as to provide references for selecting the appropriate number of STRs and reference samples for uncle-nephew relationship identification.Five common models of uncle-nephew relationship identification were constructed by adding different reference samples. In each model, the likelihood ratio (LR) for 10 000 pairs of uncle-nephew relationships and 10 000 pairs of unrelated individuals were simulated by detecting 19, 39 or 55 STRs, and the system efficiency at different thresholds was simulated. The samples of the Han population in Zhejiang were collected, and 55 autosomal STRs were obtained by using SiFaSTRUnder the same detection system, the calculated results of simulated data and corresponding true samples were basically consistent. In the same model, there was a positive correlation between the system efficiency of uncle-nephew relationship identification and the number of STRs detected. Moreover, the system efficiency of introducing relatives was higher than identifying only two individuals. The order of preference for the introduction of relatives was the full sibling (or mother) of the uncle and the full sibling (or mother) of the nephew.The system efficiency of uncle-nephew relationship identification could be improved by increasing the number of STRs and introducing known relatives, which would provide the basis for selecting the most appropriate detection system and reference individuals in actual cases.

Liqin Chen,1,* Jiankun Chen,1,2,* Yuwan Wu,1 Jinyao Zhong,1 Fuzhen Zhou,1 Yuntao Liu,1,2 Aiting Xu,3 Jiqiang Li,1,2 Huayang Cai1 1The Second Affiliated Hospital (Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Prevention and Treatment of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 3The People’s Hospital of Yangjiang, Yangjiang, 529500, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jiqiang Li; Huayang Cai Email lijiqiangjizhen@163.com ; caihuayang@gzucm.edu.cnBackground: Hypertension has been reported as the most prevalent comorbidity in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This retrospective study aims to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes in COVID-19 patients with or without hypertension.Methods: A total of 944 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were included from January to March 2020. Information from the medical record, including clinical features, radiographic and laboratory results, complications, treatments, and clinical outcomes, were extracted for the analysis.Results: A total of 311 (32.94%) patients had comorbidity with hypertension. In COVID-19 patients with hypertension, the coexistence of type 2 diabetes (56.06% vs 43.94%), coronary heart disease (65.71% vs 34.29%), poststroke syndrome (68.75% vs 31.25%) and chronic kidney diseases (77.78% vs 22.22%) was significantly higher, while the coexistence of hepatitis B infection (13.04% vs 86.96%) was significantly lower than in COVID-19 patients without hypertension. Computed tomography (CT) chest scans show that COVID-19 patients with hypertension have higher rates of pleural effusion than those without hypertension (56.60% vs 43.40%). In addition, the levels of blood glucose [5.80 (IQR, 5.05– 7.50) vs 5.39 (IQR, 4.81– 6.60)], erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) [28 (IQR, 17.1– 55.6) vs 21.8 (IQR, 11.5– 44.1), P=0.008], C-reactive protein (CRP) [17.92 (IQR, 3.11– 46.6) vs 3.15 (IQR, 3.11– 23.4), P=0.013] and serum amyloid A (SAA) [99.28 (IQR, 8.85– 300) vs 15.97 (IQR, 5.97– 236.1), P=0.005] in COVID-19 patients with hypertension were significantly higher than in patients without hypertension.Conclusion: It is common for patients with COVID-19 to have the coexistence of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and so on, which may exacerbate the severity of COVID-19. Therefore, optimal management of hypertension and other comorbidities is essential for better clinical outcomes.Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus disease, hypertension, clinical characteristics, comorbidities

A new and straightforward method has been developed to synthesize polysubstituted benzo[g]chrysene (BgCh) according to controlling the exact stoichiometry of FeCl3 from diphenylacetypene and phenylacetaldehyde derivatives under mild conditions. The BgCh derivatives can also be functionalized by halogenation with Cl, Br and I on the newly built aromatic ring. All the compounds have been fully characterized as well as their photophysical properties, and some of them demonstrated extraordinary liquid crystallinity. The compounds 4e, 4h, 5e and 5h exhibited hexagonal columnar mesophases (Colh). In particular, 5h showed a rectangular columnar plastic phase (Colrp) under 35 °C on cooling. The fluorescence spectra of BgCh revealed a strong emission peak at 405 nm and a shoulder peak near 424 nm in DCM in the range of blue light.

Two series 3-armed dendritic molecules with their 1,3,5-tris(4-methyloxyphenyl) benzene or 2,4,6-tris(4- hydroxylphenyl)-1,3,5-s-triazine core and triphenylene derivative shells connected by soft hydrocarbon chains have been synthesised and fully characterised. Whether liquid crystal (LC) or photoluminescence materials have been tuned by changing the length of the soft chain and they have been studied by POM, DSC, XRD, UV-Vis and PL. The results show that all the new dendritic compounds display UV to blue fluorescence in solvents such as DCM, THF and acetone. The TC3 compound bearing 1,3,5-tris(4-hydroxylphenyl) benzene core exhibits LC property with rectangular columnar phase (Colr) on cooling.

Background Recent studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency in children is widespread. But the vitamin D status of Chinese children is seldom investigated. The objective of the present study was to survey the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in more than 6,000 children aged 1 month to 16 years in Hangzhou (latitude: 30°N), the capital of Zhejiang Province, southeast China. Methods The children aged 1 month to 16 years who came to the child health care department of our hospital, the children's hospital affiliated to Zhejiang university school of medicine, for health examination were taken blood for 25(OH) D measurement. Serum 25(OH) D levels were determined by direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and categorized as < 25, < 50, and < 75 nmol/L. Results A total of 6,008 children aged 1 month to 16 years participated in this cross-sectional study. All the subjects were divided into subgroups according to their age: 0-1y, 2-5y, 6-11y and 12-16y representing infancy, preschool, school age and adolescence stages respectively. The highest mean level of serum 25(OH)D was found in the 0-1y stage (99 nmol/L) and the lowest one was found in 12-16y stage (52 nmol/L). Accordingly, the prevalence of serum 25(OH)D levels of < 75 nmol/L and < 50 nmol/L were at the lowest among infants (33.6% and 5.4% respectively) and rose to the highest among adolescents (89.6% and 46.4% respectively). The mean levels of serum 25(OH)D and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency changed according to seasons. In winter and spring, more than 50% of school age children and adolescents had a 25(OH)D level at < 50 nmol/L. If the threshold is changed to < 75 nmol/L, all of the adolescents (100%) had low 25(OH)D levels in winter and 93.7% school age children as well. Conclusions The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among children in Hangzhou Zhejiang province is high, especially among children aged 6-16 years. We suggest that the recommendation for vitamin D supplementation in Chinese children should be extended to adolescence.

Abnormal hyperphosphorylation of the cytoskeletal protein tau is a characteristic feature of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. Okadaic acid (OA), a protein phosphatase inhibitor, induces neuronal death and hyperphosphorylation of tau. In the present study using a model of microinjection of OA into rat frontal cortex, we aimed to investigate if OA-induced hyperphosphorylation of tau and neuronal death are related to the expression of Bcl-2, an apoptosis inhibitor, or Bax, an apoptosis inducer. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis showed that OA injection dose- and time-dependently induced the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax protein in the surrounding of OA injection areas, which were similar with that of AT8 immunostaining, a marker of hyperphosphorylated tau. However, the ratios of Bcl-2 over Bax had a negative relationship to the expression of AT8. Furthermore, double fluorescent staining showed that AT8-positive neurons mainly costained with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridinetriphosphate nick-end labeling, a marker of DNA damage, indicating that tau hyperphosphorylation may be associated with DNA damage in the neurons of rat brain. In the areas more adjacent to the OA injection site, most neurons with AT8-positive staining showed vulnerability to OA toxicity and could be triple-stained with Bcl-2 and Bax or double-stained with Bcl-2. However, in the areas further from the OA injection site, neurons with few AT8-positive staining showed resistance to OA toxicity and only stained with Bcl-2, but not Bax. The results suggest that the ratios of Bcl-2 over Bax expression may have an effect on tau hyperphosphorylation and neuronal death following OA injection. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.