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Thermokarst terrain is developing at an accelerating pace in the ice‐rich permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), China, and the most dramatic of these terrain‐altering thermokarsts is retrogressive thaw slump (RTS). The freeze–thaw erosion (FTE) impacts are sharply increasing on the Plateau due to RTS, especially as a result of the migration of fine sediments in cold climates, these impacts are still not quantified due to the limitation of hydro‐thermal‐mass transport laws in RTS development. Moreover, it is difficult to assess the impact of RTS on the ecology and environment, especially on soil erosion. This study developed a heat–water‐mass transport coupled model of a RTS in the Beiluhe River Region on the QTP, considering the actual topography, water‐ice phase change, latent heat, and surface heat exchange layer. Based on the observed data of ground temperature, unfrozen water content, and heat flux, the coupled model herein is practicable for presenting the geotemperature regime and groundwater flow in the RTS area, thereby quantifying the ice‐rich permafrost thaw and mass wasting. The results presented indicate that: (1) the seepage velocity of the superficial zone (0–1.5 m depth) is two orders of magnitude higher than that of the permafrost table; (2) the mean ice‐rich permafrost thaw volume was 13.4 m2 from 2016 to 2021; and (3) the cumulative mass transport volume was 22 m2 from July 2020 to September 2021. In addition, the relation between the FTE (shown as the migration of sediments) and the amount of ground ice ablation can be fitted by an exponential equation. This work proposes a reliable method for quantifying the effect of FTE and is helpful to assess the eco‐environmental impacts of RTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice-rich permafrost in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), China, is becoming susceptible to thermokarst landforms, and the most dramatic among these terrain-altering landforms is retrogressive thaw slump (RTS). Concurrently, RTS development can in turn affect the eco-environment, and especially soil erosion and carbon emission, during their evolution. However, there are still a lack of quantitative methods and comprehensive studies on the deformation and volumetric change in RTS. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively assess the RTS evolution through a novel and feasible simulation framework of the GPU-based discrete element method (DEM) coupled with the finite difference method (FDM). Additionally, the simulation results were calibrated using the time series observation results from September 2021 to August 2022, using the combined methods of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The results reveal that, over this time, thaw slump mobilized a total volume of 1335 m3 and approximately 1050 m3 moved to a displaced area. Additionally, the estimated soil erosion was about 211 m3. Meanwhile, the corresponding maximum ground subsidence and headwall retrogression were 1.9 m and 3.2 m, respectively. We also found that the amount of mass wasting in RTS development is highly related to the ground ice content. When the volumetric ice content exceeds 10%, there will be obvious mass wasting in the thaw slump development area. Furthermore, this work proposed that the coupled DEM-FDM method and field survey method of TLS-UAV can provide an effective pathway to simulate thaw-induced slope failure problems and complement the research limitations of small-scale RTSs using remote sensing methods. The results are meaningful for assessing the eco-environmental impacts on the QTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To analyze the diagnostic efficacy of orthostatic X-ray radiography in lumbar spondylolisthesis. Methods Sixty patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis diagnosed by Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University from January to October 2020 were included. The orthostatic X-ray and supine CT sagittal reconstruction imaging data were collected, and the Marique. Taillard method was used to measure the relative spondylolisthesis distance (dd') and the length of the upper edge of the inferior vertebral body (cd) on the X - ray and CT image post - processing workstation. Finally, the degree of spondylolisthesis and the detection rate of lumbar spondylolisthesis based on the subjective readings of doctors in different body positions were calculated. Results Compared with the supine CT sagittal reconstruction parameters, the dd' value (Z = 5.918, P = 0.000), cd value (Z = 4.082, P = 0.000) and spondylolisthesis (Z = 6.064, P = 0.000) were significantly improved. The positive rate of lumbar spondylolisthesis was 95% (57/60), which was higher than 81.67% (49/60, P = 0.039) of the supine CT sagittal reconstruction. Conclusions Orthostatic X-ray radiography can increase the lumbar vertebra stress of patients, which is beneficial to reflect the degree of spondylolisthesis of vertebra under daily stress conditions and improve the positive rate of lumbar spondylolisthesis. If combined with supine CT sagittal reconstruction, it can be used for clinical diagnosis and provide more detailed imaging data to assist in formulating targeted surgical treatment plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To conduct a detailed analysis on the burden of vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy (DR) by year, age and gender in China from 1990 to 2017. Methods: This is a between‐country, retrospective, comparative burden‐of‐disease study. Prevalence and Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) data caused by DR in China and relative territories were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2017 to observe the changing trends of vision loss. Results: Prevalence and YLDs of DR in China increased significantly from 1990 to 2017. The age‐standardized prevalence and YLDs rate witnessed a slowly declining trend recently. Higher prevalence and YLDs were observed in female subjects in the past three decades. Middle‐aged and elderly people suffered from a higher burden of DR‐induced vision loss. The total age‐standardized prevalence rate of China in 1990 (17.68) and 2017 (21.88) was lower than that of other seven neighbouring countries. In 2017, moderate vision loss (MVL) (17.19) accounted for the largest proportion in China. The all‐age YLDs of DR showed the second‐highest increase (150.26%) while the age‐standardized YLDs rate showed the third‐highest increase (14.91%) among fifteen common causes of vision impairment (VI) from 1990 to 2017. China ranked 3rd among G20 countries in terms of all‐age YLDs while ranked 18th in age‐standardized YLDs rate in 2017. Conclusions: In the past three decades, the prevalence and YLDs due to DR in China have improved in both genders. This study highlights the importance of prevention for DR, especially for women and the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies showed that Danggui-Shaoyao-San (DSS), a traditional Chinese medicinal prescription, could alleviate cognitive dysfunction of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. However, the mechanisms remain unclear; we have now examined the effect of DSS on SAMP8 and elucidated the possible mechanism. Animals were treated with DSS for 2 months, and step-down test and Morris water maze (MWM) test were used to evaluated cognitive abilities. The estradiol (E2), NO, and glycine in blood plasma or in hippocampus were detected to explore the possible mechanisms. The latency of SAMP8 in step-down test was shorter than that of age-matched SAMR1, and DSS increased the latency especially in female animals. In MWM test, we got similar results; SAMP8 spent more time to find the platform, and DSS decreased the time before finding the platform, with little effect on swim velocity, during the training sessions. During test session, DSS increased the time spent in target quadrant especially in female SAMP8. In female SAMP8, plasma E2, NO, and glycine were elevated in plasma or hippocampus tissue. In conclusion, DSS could ameliorate deterioration of cognition in SAMP8, especially in female animals. Increasing E2, NO, and glycine might contribute to the cognitive improvement effect of DSS in female SAMP8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on Polypodiaceae from southern China with cytotaxonomic study of its 12 fern species. The study involved the analysis of reproductive biologies and chromosome numbers of species. The basic chromosome number is 36. The type of reproduction found in P. crenatopinnata is apogamous in comparison to other species which is sexual reproduction.

The computed tomography angiography (CTA) postprocessing manually recognized by technologists is extremely labor intensive and error prone. We propose an artificial intelligence reconstruction system supported by an optimized physiological anatomical-based 3D convolutional neural network that can automatically achieve CTA reconstruction in healthcare services. This system is trained and tested with 18,766 head and neck CTA scans from 5 tertiary hospitals in China collected between June 2017 and November 2018. The overall reconstruction accuracy of the independent testing dataset is 0.931. It is clinically applicable due to its consistency with manually processed images, which achieves a qualification rate of 92.1%. This system reduces the time consumed from 14.22 ± 3.64 min to 4.94 ± 0.36 min, the number of clicks from 115.87 ± 25.9 to 4 and the labor force from 3 to 1 technologist after five months application. Thus, the system facilitates clinical workflows and provides an opportunity for clinical technologists to improve humanistic patient care. Manual postprocessing of computed tomography angiography (CTA) images is extremely labor intensive and error prone. Here, the authors propose an artificial intelligence reconstruction system that can automatically achieve CTA reconstruction in healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is a risk factor for exacerbating the outcome of critically ill patients. Dysbiosis induced by the exposure to antibiotics reveals the potential therapeutic role of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in these patients. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the safety and potential benefit of rescue FMT for AAD in critically ill patients.Methods: A series of critically ill patients with AAD received rescue FMT from Chinese fmtBank, from September 2015 to February 2019. Adverse events (AEs) and rescue FMT success which focused on the improvement of abdominal symptoms and post-ICU survival rate during a minimum of 12 weeks follow-up were assessed.Results: Twenty critically ill patients with AAD underwent rescue FMT, and 18 of them were included for analysis. The mean of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores at intensive care unit (ICU) admission was 21.7 ± 8.3 (range 11-37). Thirteen patients received FMT through nasojejunal tube, four through gastroscopy, and one through enema. Patients were treated with four (4.2 ± 2.1, range 2-9) types of antibiotics before and during the onset of AAD. 38.9% (7/18) of patients had FMT-related AEs during follow-up, including increased diarrhea frequency, abdominal pain, increased serum amylase, and fever. Eight deaths unrelated to FMT occurred during follow-up. One hundred percent (2/2) of abdominal pain, 86.7% (13/15) of diarrhea, 69.2% (9/13) of abdominal distention, and 50% (1/2) of hematochezia were improved after FMT. 44.4% (8/18) of patients recovered from abdominal symptoms without recurrence and survived for a minimum of 12 weeks after being discharged from ICU.Conclusion: In this case series studying the use of FMT in critically ill patients with AAD, good clinical outcomes without infectious complications were observed. These findings could potentially encourage researchers to set up new clinical trials that will provide more insight into the potential benefit and safety of the procedure in the ICU.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, Number NCT03895593 . Registered 29 March 2019 (retrospectively registered). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Providing people with understandable and actionable health information can considerably promote healthy behaviors and outcomes. To this end, some valid and reliable scales assessing the patient-friendliness of health education materials, like the PEMAT-P (Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for printable materials), have been well developed in English-speaking countries. However, the English version of the PEMAT-P has not been translated and adapted into simplified Chinese and validated in mainland China., Objective: This study sought to translate the PEMAT-P tool into a simplified Chinese (Mandarin) version (C-PEMAT-P, a Chinese version of the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for printable materials) and verify its validity and reliability for assessing the comprehensibility and actionability of health education resources written in simplified Chinese. As a result, the validated C-PEMAT-P could be used to guide health researchers and educators to design more comprehensible and actionable materials for more tailored and targeted health education and interventions., Methods: We translated the PEMAT-P into simplified Chinese in the following three steps: (1) forward-translating the PEMAT-P into simplified Chinese, (2) back-translating the simplified Chinese version into English, and (3) testing translation equivalence linguistically and culturally by examining the original English version of the PEMAT-P and the back-translated English version of the tool. Any discrepancies between the original English tool and the back-translated English tool were resolved through a panel discussion among the research team of all authors to produce a revised forward-translated Chinese version (C-PEMAT-P). We then evaluated the clarity of construction and wording as well as the content relevance of the C-PEMAT-P using a 4-point ordinal scale to determine its content validity. After that, 2 native Chinese speakers (health educators) used the C-PEMAT-P to rate 15 health education handouts concerning air pollution and health to validate their reliability. We calculated the Cohen coefficient and Cronbach α to determine the interrater agreement and internal consistency of the C-PEMAT-P, respectively., Results: We finalized the translated Chinese tool after discussing the differences between the 2 English versions (original and back-translated) of the PEMAT-P, producing the final Chinese version of the PEMAT-P (C-PEMAT-P). The content validity index of the C-PEMAT-P version was 0.969, the Cohen coefficient for the interrater scoring agreement was 0.928, and the Cronbach α for internal consistency was .897. These values indicated the high validity and reliability of the C-PEMAT-P., Conclusions: The C-PEMAT-P has been proven valid and reliable. It is the first Chinese scale for assessing the comprehensibility and actionability of Chinese health education materials. It can be used as an assessment tool to evaluate health education materials currently available and a guide to help health researchers and educators design more comprehensible and actionable materials for more tailored and targeted health education and interventions., (©Yi Shan, Meng Ji, Zhaogang Dong, Zhaoquan Xing, Ding Wang, Xiangting Cao. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 18.05.2023.)

Background: There is a wide variation in the quality of information available to patients on the treatment of the diseases afflicting them. To help patients find clear and accessible information, many scales have been designed to evaluate the quality of health information, including the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool; the Suitability Assessment of Materials for evaluation of health-related information for adults; and DISCERN, an instrument for judging the quality of written consumer health information on treatment choices. These instruments are primarily in English. Few of them have been translated and adapted into simplified Chinese tools for health information assessment in China., Objective: This study aimed to translate and adapt DISCERN into the first simplified Chinese version and validate the psychometric properties of this newly developed scale for judging the quality of patient-oriented health information on treatment choices., Methods: First, we translated DISCERN into simplified Chinese using rigorous guidelines for translation and validation studies. We tested the translation equivalence and measured the content validity index. We then presented the simplified Chinese instrument to 3 health educators and asked them to use it to assess the quality of 15 lung cancer-related materials. We calculated the Cohen κ coefficient and Cronbach α for all items and for the entire scale to determine the reliability of the new tool., Results: We decided on the simplified Chinese version of the DISCERN instrument (C-DISCERN) after resolving all problems in translation, adaptation, and content validation. The C-DISCERN was valid and reliable: the content validity index was 0.98 (47/48, 98% of the items) for clarity and 0.94 (45/48, 94% of the items) for relevance, the Cronbach α for internal consistency was .93 (95% CI 0.699-1.428) for the whole translated scale, and the Cohen κ coefficient for internal consistency was 0.53 (95% CI 0.417-0.698)., Conclusions: C-DISCERN is the first simplified Chinese version of the DISCERN instrument. Its validity and reliability have been attested to assess the quality of patient-targeted information for treatment choices., (©Yi Shan, Zhaoquan Xing, Zhaogang Dong, Meng Ji, Ding Wang, Xiangting Cao. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 02.02.2023.)

Objective: To investigate the clinical features of Han Chinese patients with anti-neurofascin-155 (NF155) antibody-positive neuropathy., Methods: We screened 194 patients with peripheral neuropathy for NF155 antibodies using a cell-based assay (CBA) and teased-fiber immunofluorescence assay. We summarized the clinical findings of seropositive patients., Results: The sera from 17 patients reacted to human embryonic kidney 293 cells transfected with NF155. Eleven of these patients had the immunoglobulin G (IgG) 4 isotype, a younger onset age, tremor, higher levels of cerebrospinal fluid protein, a larger diameter of the lumbosacral nerve root on magnetic resonance imaging, and the distal demyelinating symmetric phenotype. Most patients responded to steroids and rituximab. For the remaining six seropositive patients in CBA, the predominant antibody isotype was IgG3, IgG1, or undetectable, and only one patient with IgG3 showed a positive result in the teased-fiber immunofluorescence assay. These patients did not share the typical features displayed by patients with the IgG4 isotype., Interpretation: In the Han Chinese population, a significant proportion of patients who fulfilled the criteria for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy diagnosis had anti-NF155 IgG4 antibody-positive neuropathy and displayed specific phenotypes. Ambiguous staining patterns may appear, and the potential for false positivity should be considered. For patients who presented with specific phenotypes, identifying antibodies and subtypes involved a significant laboratory workup., (© 2022 The Authors. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Neurological Association.)

This retrospective cross-sectional single-center study included patients with category III exposure to rabies virus between January and December 2019. Exposure characteristics and clinical data were compared and statistically analyzed between groups who were willing and unwilling to receive the rabies immunoglobin (RIG) injection, and the determinants of its administration were identified by stepwise multivariate logistic regression analyses. In total, 1,757 patients with category III exposure were enrolled: 845 men (48.1%) and 912 women (51.9%; median age: 28 [9-50] years). Among them, 1,297 (73.8%) received the RIG injection (median age: 28 [8-50] years) and 460 (26.2%) refused to receive the injection (median age: 25 [15-48] years). Patients aged 16-25 years (odds ratio [OR] = 3.006, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.957-4.619), 26-45 years (OR = 2.940, 95% CI = 2.011-4.298), 46-55 years (OR = 3.647, 95% CI = 2.233-5.959), and above 56 years (OR = 6.660, 95% CI = 4.009-11.062); those with injuries caused by cats (OR = 1.937, 95% CI = 1.476-2.542); and people with scratch (OR = 3.319, 95% CI = 2.510-4.390) and minor (OR = 35.281, 95% CI = 18.524-64.198), and moderate (OR = 12.711, 95% CI = 7.221-22.375) injuries were more likely to refuse injection. The RIG administration level in the settings studied herein was found to be insufficient. Educational and awareness programs on rabies prevention, especially those targeted at people not injured by dogs, people with minor injuries, and the elderly should be considered.

Background: This study was to collect clinical features and computed tomography (CT) findings of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) cases, and to evaluate the correlation between clinical data and the abnormal chest CT in patients with the Influenza-Like Illness symptoms. Methods: Patients with the Influenza-Like Illness symptoms who attended the emergency department of The Six Medical Center of The PLA General Hospital from February 10 to April 1, 2020 were enrolled. Clinical and imaging data of the enrolled patients were collected and analyzed. The association between clinical characteristics and abnormal chest CT was also analyzed. Results: A total of 148 cases were enrolled in this study. Abnormalities on chest CT were detected in 61/148 (41.2%) patients. The most common abnormal CT features were as follows: patchy consolidation 22/61(36.1%), ground-glass opacities 21/61(34.4%), multifocal consolidations 17/61(27.9%). The advanced age and underlying diseases were significantly associated with abnormal chest CT. Conclusions: Abnormal chest CT is a common condition in Influenza-Like Illness cases. The presence of advanced age and concurrent underlying diseases is significantly associated with abnormal chest CT findings in patients with ILI symptoms. The chest CT characteristic of ILI is different from the manifestation of COVID-19 infection, which is helpful for differential diagnosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Shuai, Chen, Shan, Li, Ma, Lu and Li.)

Objectives: To describe the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with eyelid tumours and tumour-like lesions in South China, investigate possible factors affecting tumour constitution., Design: Retrospective cohort study., Setting: All patients diagnosed with eyelid tumours were included from a high-volume tertiary eye care centre from South China which caring for over 2000 patients per day. All biopsied specimens were reviewed by two senior pathologists and were classified according to the fourth edition of the WHO Classification of Skin Tumours., Participant: A total of 5146 cases of eyelid lesions were reviewed from 2000 to 2018, being classified by histogenesis and pathologic diagnosis, being compared with data from previous literature containing different races., Main Outcome Measures: Age-specific and gender-specific incidence constitutions, time trends, tumour location, distribution in different age groups and relationship with Sociodmographic Index (SDI) were calculated., Results: Benign tumours accounted for 85.08% (4378) of all cases, among which, nevus was most common (33.07%). Eight of top 10 benign lesions had higher occurrence in upper eyelids. The R² value of linear regression in patient annual number of benign lesions were 0.946 (p<0.01) for male and 0.914 (p<0.01) for female. More than 33.60% (1471/4378) were made up by patients younger than 40 years. The number of patients undergoing removal of benign lesions decreased with age. Among the malignant lesions, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) was most prevalent (48.70%), followed by sebaceous gland carcinoma (34.24%) and majority (81.8%) occurred in patients above 60 years., Conclusions: Over the past 19 years, most eyelid tumours occurred at our centre were benign lesions. The number of patients presenting with benign lesions increased in both genders, especially among young females who were more likely to request surgeries. Among malignant lesions, BCC remains the most common type, appears a higher incidence in countries with higher SDI., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

An endophytic member of the genus Trichoderma was isolated from the root of a healthy 3-year-old Panax notoginseng in Yunnan province, PR China. The results of phylogenetic analyses based on a combined of ITS, tef 1 and rpb 2 indicated that this isolate was distinct from other species of the genus Trichoderma and closely related to Trichoderma songyi . It can be distinguished from T. songyi by its slower growth rates on PDA and colony morphology. The novel isolate formed conidia in thick white pustules scattered mostly at the margin. Its conidiophores tended to be regularly verticillium -like, little branched, sometimes substituted by phialides singly or in whorls. Conidia are smooth, mostly broadly subglobose to ellipsoidal. In combination with the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, all data demonstrated that the fungus studied represented a unique and distinguishable novel species of the genus Trichoderma , for which the name Trichoderma panacis sp. nov. is proposed.

Casuarina trees are planted along the coast from Hainan province in South China to the Zhoushan Islands of Zhejiang province in Southeastern China. Three key species, Casuarina equisetifolia, Casuarina cunninghamiana and Casuarina glauca, are used as windbreaks, in agroforestry systems, and for the production of timber and fuel wood. Frankia have been studied in China since 1984. Today, Frankia research fields are very wide, and cover morphology, physiology and genetic diversity, and the application of inocula for specific purposes on poor quality sites. In this paper, we review the role of Frankia inoculations in nurseries and casuarina plantations in China and discuss the benefits of inoculation.

Despite the ubiquity and carcinogenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), their dermal absorption for the general population has not been adequately addressed. Aiming to verify the importance of dermal absorption of PAHs, barbecue (BBQ) in Guangzhou, China was chosen as a case study. Urine samples were collected and analyzed for nine hydroxyl (OH)-PAHs. Air, food, and cotton clothing samples were analyzed for 16 PAHs. Dietary exposure was the dominant exposure route with the greatest amounts of OH-PAH excretion and PAH intake. Dermal intake of low molecular-weight PAHs was greater than inhalation intake from the occurrence of atmospheric PAHs. In addition, the net excreted amounts of OH-naphthalene, OH-fluorene, OH-phenanthrene, and OH-pyrene via dermal absorption were 367, 63, 98, and 28 ng, respectively, upon 2.5-h exposure, comparable to those via combined dermal and inhalation exposure, which were 453, 98, 126, and 38 ng. The ratios of excretion to intake via dermal absorption were 0.11, 0.036, and 0.043 for fluorene, phenanthrene, and pyrene, respectively, lower than the ratios from dietary exposure (0.38, 0.14, and 0.060) but higher than the ratios from inhalation (0.097, 0.016, and 0.025). In the case of BBQ fumes, dermal absorption was a more important pathway for intake of low molecular-weight PAHs than inhalation.

The early inflammatory lesions of morphea may present with erythema or violaceous patches and plaques before evolving into areas of sclerosis. They have been misdiagnosed as acquired port-wine stains (PWSs). We report a previously well 7-year-old Chinese girl presenting with early facial morphea mimicking an acquired PWS with unusual histologic features of perineural inflammation. The presence of cutaneous perineural inflammation may be seen in a small percentage of cases of morphea and appears to be a feature of early inflammatory morphea. We report this case to highlight the importance in recognizing this entity and summarize the reported cases of inflammatory morphea mimicking acquired PWSs.

So far, only two mutations in the CHRNA4 gene (in three studies) and one mutation in the CHRNB2 gene had been identified in the patients with sporadic nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (NFLE). The absence of mutations in the candidate genes in the majority of sporadic NFLE patients suggest that they are rare loci for the disease, but the necessity of performing genetic testing for sporadic cases should not be neglected. We designed mutation screening of exon 5 of CHRNA4, exon 5 of CHRNB2, and exon 6 of CHRNA2 in a group of 56 Chinese sporadic NFLE cases. A de novo missense mutation in the transmembrane domain M2 segment of the α4 subunit of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, c.823A>T, was found in a 15 year-old right-handed male, but was not observed in his parents and 400 control chromosomes. The mutation decreased the surrounding hydrophobicity and slightly altered secondary structure of the protein. No mutations were found in CHRNB2 and CHRNA2., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The chromatographic fingerprint was established by eluting with the mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and 0.2% formic acid water on an Agilent TC-C18 (2) column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm). Six chromatographic peaks were identified by HPLC-MS/MS method. Ten batches of Glycyrrhizea Radix et Rhizoma Praeparata Cum Melle were determined, and the similarity was arranged from 0.72 to 0.99. Good precision, stability and repeatability were obtained, and this study provides a reference for the quality control of Glycyrrhizea Radix et Rhizoma Praeparata Cum Melle.

In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of Teinopalpus aureus guangxiensis (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), which is considered as an endemic species in China. It is listed as a vulnerable species by International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List and also a first class endangered species in China. The complete mtDNA from T. aureus guangxiensis was 15,235 base pairs in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. The T. aureus guangxiensis genes were in the same order and orientation as the completely sequenced mitogenomes of other lepidopteran species. All PCGs of T. aureus guangxiensis mitogenome start with a typical ATN codon and terminate in the common stop codon TAA, except that ND1 gene uses TTA, ND3 gene uses ATT, and ND4 and ND4L gene use TAA. The phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed with the concatenated sequences of the 13 PCGs of the mitochondrial genome, and phylogenetic results confirmed that Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae are monophyletic clades.

Analysis of the 367 mtDNA D-loop sequences (of which 241 sequences were collected from literature) of 399 bp in 13 Chinese domestic donkey breeds revealed 96 different haplotypes with 57 polymorphic sites. The haplotype diversity and the nucleotide diversity were 0.767-0.967 and 0.014-0.032, respectively, indicating abundant genetic diversity in Chinese domestic donkeys. The Neighbor-joining tree of Chinese domestic donkey sequences was constructed with 3 Nubian wild ass sequences, 3 Somali wild ass sequences and 6 Asian wild ass sequences. Our results suggest that the maternal ancestor of Chinese domestic donkeys is highly likely to be Somali and Nubian of African wild ass instead of Asian wild ass.