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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression level of circ-DONSON in glioma and to explore its effect on glioma metastasis and the underlying mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine circ-DONSON expression in 40 paired glioma tumor tissues and adjacent tissues. Meanwhile, the relation between circ-DONSON level and clinical parameters of glioma and the prognosis of patients was analyzed. The expression of circ-DONSON in glioma cell lines was analyzed by qRT-PCR as well. In addition, circs-DONSON silencing model was constructed in glioma cell lines. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), cell scratch, and transwell migration assays were performed to investigate the effect of circ-DONSON on biological functions of glioma cells. Finally, the interplay between FOXO3 and circ-DONSON was explored. RESULTS: QRT-PCR results revealed that the expression level of circ-DONSON in glioma tumor tissues was remarkably higher than that of adjacent tissues, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Compared with patients with low expression of circ-DONSON, significantly higher prevalence of lymph node or distant metastasis and worse prognosis were observed in patients with high expression of circ-DONSON (p<0.05). The proliferation and migration abilities of glioma cells in circ-DONSON silenced group were remarkably suppressed when compared with NC group (p<0.05). Additionally, FOXO3 expression was remarkably down-regulated in glioma cell lines and tissues. FOXO3 expression was negatively correlated with circ-DONSON expression. In addition, cell reverse experiment demonstrated that circ-DONSON and FOXO3 can regulate each other, thereby together affecting the malignant progression of glioma. CONCLUSIONS: Circ-DONSON was remarkably associated with lymph node or distant metastasis, as well as poor prognosis of patients with glioma. Furthermore, it promoted the metastasis of glioma cells via regulating FOXO3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploitation of the full potential of any hybrid requires the possessing of genetically high-purity seeds. Commercial soybean hybrids have been developed using a cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system. In order to avoid reduction in yield caused by using lowpurity seeds, development of a simple, rapid, and accurate method for hybrid purity assessment is of great essence and significance. Therefore, the parental lines of HybSoy 1 to 5 were screened using 160 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) makers, of which 8 markers exhibited polymorphism. A PCR-based assay with these markers detected both alleles of the parental lines in pure hybrids, proving their heterozygosity, whereas impurities were identified by the presence of only one parental allele. The confirmation of hybrid purity indicated that a single polymorphic marker was sufficient for detection of contaminations of these hybrids from their parents. It was also found that if a hybrid seed lot was contaminated by another hybrid or its parental lines, two or more appropriate markers could be used to easily detect such contamination. This method could accurately and effectively identify the hybrid purity in a predetermined sample of soybean hybrids constituted by deliberately mixing seeds of parental lines. This is the first report that demonstrates the utility of SSR markers for assessment of genetic purity of soybean hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The application of fractal geometry to describe soil degradation and dynamics is becoming a useful tool for better understanding of the performance of soil systems. In this study, four different land cover types, which represent a sequence of grass-desert shrub transition and a gradient of desertification, were selected, and soils at depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm were sampled in the Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia, PR China. The fractal theory was used to analyse the soil particle-size distribution (PSD) and its variations. The results showed that (i) vegetation conversion and desertification significantly changed the soil PSD. During the desertification process, soil coarse fractions that ranged from 250 to 100 µm significantly increased, whereas fine fractions lower than 50 µm significantly decreased ( p < 0·01); (ii) fractal model of the accumulative volume particle-size distribution is appropriate, and fractal dimensions ( Dm) of soil PSD significantly decreased along the sequence of grass-desert shrub transition; (iii) Dm is more sensitive to the desertification process, and therefore, we suggest Dm other than soil texture and soil organic carbon as a reliable parameter to reflect the soil environment change induced by desertification. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of West Indian Medical Journal is the property of West Indian Medical Journal (WIMJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Microstructural characteristics and biocompatibility of a Type-B carbonated hydroxyapatite (HA) coating prepared on NiTi SMA by biomimetic deposition were characterized using XRD, SEM, XPS, FTIR and in vitro studies including hemolysis test, MTT cytotoxicity test and fibroblasts cytocompatibility test. It is found CO32- groups were present as substitution of PO43- anions in HA crystal lattice due to Type-B carbonate. The growth of Type-B carbonated HA coating in SBF containing HCO3- ions is stable during all periods of biomimetic deposition. The carbonated HA coating has better blood compatibility than the chemically-polished NiTi SMA. There was a good cell adhesion to this HA coating surface and cell proliferation in the vicinity of the coating was better than that for the chemically-polished NiTi SMA. Thus biomimetic deposition of this carbonated HA coating is a promising way to improve the biocompatibility of NiTi SMA for implant applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of children with Burkitt lymphoma (BL) and to summarize the mid-term efficacy of China Net Childhood Lymphoma-mature B-cell lymphoma 2017 (CNCL-B-NHL-2017) regimen. Methods: Clinical features of 436 BL patients who were ≤18 years old and treated with the CNCL-B-NHL-2017 regimen from May 2017 to April 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Clinical characteristics of patients at disease onset were analyzed and the therapeutic effects of patients with different clinical stages and risk groups were compared. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier method, and Cox regression was used to identify the prognostic factors. Results: Among 436 patients, there were 368 (84.4%) males and 68 (15.6%) females, the age of disease onset was 6.0 (4.0, 9.0) years old. According to the St. Jude staging system, there were 4 patients (0.9%) with stage Ⅰ, 30 patients (6.9%) with stage Ⅱ, 217 patients (49.8%) with stage Ⅲ, and 185 patients (42.4%) with stage Ⅳ. All patients were stratified into following risk groups: group A ( n =1, 0.2%), group B1 ( n =46, 10.6%), group B2 ( n =19, 4.4%), group C1 ( n =285, 65.4%), group C2 ( n =85, 19.5%). Sixty-three patients (14.4%) were treated with chemotherapy only and 373 patients (85.6%) were treated with chemotherapy combined with rituximab. Twenty-one patients (4.8%) suffered from progressive disease, 3 patients (0.7%) relapsed, and 13 patients (3.0%) died of treatment-related complications. The follow-up time of all patients was 24.0 (13.0, 35.0) months, the 2-year event free survival (EFS) rate of all patients was (90.9±1.4) %. The 2-year EFS rates of group A, B1, B2, C1 and C2 were 100.0%, 100.0%, (94.7±5.1) %, (90.7±1.7) % and (85.9±4.0) %, respectively. The 2-year EFS rates was higher in group A, B1, and B2 than those in group C1 (χ 2 =4.16, P =0.041) and group C2 (χ 2 =7.21, P =0.007). The 2-year EFS rates of the patients treated with chemotherapy alone and those treated with chemotherapy combined with rituximab were (79.3±5.1)% and (92.9±1.4)% (χ 2 =14.23, P <0.001) respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that stage Ⅳ (including leukemia stage), serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)>4-fold normal value, and with residual tumor in the mid-term evaluation were risk factors for poor prognosis ( HR =1.38,1.23,8.52,95% CI 1.05-1.82,1.05-1.43,3.96-18.30). Conclusions: The CNCL-B-NHL-2017 regimen show significant effect in the treatment of pediatric BL. The combination of rituximab improve the efficacy further.

On December 22, 2017, a 35-year-old male hemophilia A patient with a secondary chronic refractory wound after left knee joint surgery was transferred from the Department of Hematology of Maoming People's Hospital to the Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery in the same hospital. The physical examination revealed that the patient's left knee joint was swollen, with a full-thickness skin defect wound of 4 cm×4 cm on the lateral side of the joint and a large number of dark red blood clots at the bottom of the wound. The wound bleeding was controlled by intravenous infusion of plasma, cryoprecipitate, and human coagulation factor Ⅷ. After con- ventional debridement and dressing changes until the wound infection was controlled and necrotic tissue was removed, a subcutaneous cavity wound of 2 cm×2 cm in area and 3 cm in depth remained in the left knee joint and was difficult to heal. Nineteen days after transfer, the patient received autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, and 32 days after PRP treatment, the wound in left knee joint was healed with epithelialization. This case suggests that autologous PRP therapy would be a good option for hemophilia complicated chronic refractory wounds when they could not be repaired by surgery.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of different stents assisted embolization in the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) caused by V4 dissecting aneurysm of vertebral artery. Methods: The clinical data of 39 patients with spontaneous SAH V4 dissecting aneurysm treated at the Department of Neurosurgery, the Northern Theater General Hospital from January 2016 to June 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.There were 21 males and 18 females, aged (48±17) years(range:35 to 68 years).There were 24 cases of HUNT-HESS grade Ⅰ and 15 cases of grade Ⅱ.Among them, 20 cases were treated with single stent-assisted embolization, 9 cases with multi-stent-assisted embolization, 9 cases with semi-dense mesh-assisted embolization, and 1 case with dense-mesh stent-assisted embolization.The perioperative and postoperative complications, postoperative recurrence were collected. Results: Intraoperative complications included 2 cases of aneurysm rupture and 2 cases of acute thrombosis.All aneurysms were densely packed according to the angiography performed immediately after operation.Postoperative complications included 3 cases of long-term responsible vascular ischemia(modified Rankin score<2). The patients were followed up for 15.1 months(range: 12 to 29 months). At the last follow-up, aneurysms recurrence occured in 10 cases, the recurrence rate was 25.6%(10/39). There were 6 cases of recurrence and 2 cases of complications in 20 cases with single stent-assisted embolization, 3 cases of recurrence and 4 cases of complications in 9 cases with multi-stent-assisted embolization, 1 case of recurrence and 1 case of complications in 9 cases with semi-dense mesh stent. Conclusion: Endovascular treatment is feasible for patients with vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm, and the appropriate surgical method should be selected according to the vascular structure and the location of the aneurysm.

Over-utilization of germplasms that are resistant to the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) in soybean breeding programs can lead to genetic vulnerability in resistant cultivars. Resistant wild soybean (Glycine soja) is considered an invaluable gene source for increasing the genetic diversity of SCN resistance. In this study, we genotyped 23 G. soja accessions that are resistant to SCN race 3 for polymorphisms in the resistance genes, rhg1, Rhg4, and SHMT, and investigated their genetic relationship with eight Glycine max resistant cultivars. We identified 89 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 11 DNA insertion-deletions (InDels), of which 70 SNPs and 8 InDels were found in rhg1, 9 SNPs were found in Rhg4, and 10 SNPs and 3 InDels were found in SHMT. Nucleotide diversity was π = 0.00238 and θ = 0.00235, and haplotype diversity was 1.000. A phylogenetic tree comprising four clusters was constructed using sequence variations of the 23 G. soja and 8 G. max resistant accessions. Five G. soja accessions in subcluster A2, and four G. soja accessions in cluster B were genetically distant from G. max genotypes. Eight resistance-associated SNPs in the three resistance genes formed nine haplotypes in total. G. soja resistant accessions had different haplotypes (H2, H4, H5, H6, H7, and H8) compared with those of G. max (H1, H3, and H9). These results provide vital information on the use of wild soybeans for broadening the genetic base of SCN resistance.

Cysteine-rich polycomb-like protein (CPP-like) genes are a group of transcription factors with highly conserved cysteine-rich domains and are widely distributed in animals and plants, but do not present in yeast. Previous studies have shown that members of this family play important roles in the development of reproductive tissue and in the control of cell division in plants. In this study, whole genome identification of soybean CPP transcription factors was performed using bioinformatic methods. The results showed that there were 20 CPP transcription factors in the soybean genome, which encoded for 28 distinct CPP proteins. These transcription factors were distributed on 16 of 20 chromosomes. Phylogenetic relationship analysis showed that expression of CPP gene family members occurred before the differentiation of monocotyledons and dicotyledons. RNA-Seq analysis showed that 5 genes were highly expressed in all tissues, including Glyma10g39080, Glyma01g44670, Glyma101g66920, Glyma02g01540, and Glyma20g28740. One gene (Glyma14g14750) was specifically expressed in young leaves, while 2 genes (Glyma02g01540 and Glyma10g01580) were highly expressed in root nodules. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that the expression levels of most genes increased in the roots under high temperature stress. Our findings indicate that these genes are not only involved in growth and development, but also in the responses to high temperature stress in soybean roots.

A new surface modification protocol encompassing an electropolishing pretreatment (EP) and subsequent photoelectrocatalytic oxidation (PEO) has been developed to improve the surface properties of biomedical nickel titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy (SMA). Electropolishing is a good way to improve the resistance to localized breakdown of NiTi SMA whereas PEO offers the synergistic effects of advanced oxidation and electrochemical oxidation. Our results indicate that PEO leads to the formation of a sturdy titania film on the EP NiTi substrate. There is an Ni-free zone near the top surface and a graded interface between the titania layer and NiTi substrate, which bodes well for both biocompatibility and mechanical stability. In addition, Ni ion release from the NiTi substrate is suppressed, as confirmed by the 10-week immersion test. The modulus and hardness of the modified NiTi surface increase with larger indentation depths, finally reaching plateau values of about 69 and 3.1GPa, respectively, which are slightly higher than those of the NiTi substrate but much lower than those of a dense amorphous titania film. In comparison, after undergoing only EP, the mechanical properties of NiTi exhibit an inverse change with depth. The deformation mechanism is proposed and discussed. Our results indicate that surface modification by dual EP and PEO can notably suppress Ni ion release and improve the biocompatibility of NiTi SMA while the surface mechanical properties are not compromised, making the treated materials suitable for hard tissue replacements.

Fenton's oxidation is traditionally used to remove inorganic and organic pollutants from water in waster water treatment. It is an advanced oxidation process in which H2O2 is catalytically decomposed by ferrous irons into hydroxyl radicals (*OH) which have a higher oxidation potential (2.8V) than H2O2. In the work reported here, we for the first time use Fenton's oxidation to modify the surface of biomedical NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA). The influences of Fenton's oxidation on the surface microstructure, blood compatibility, leaching of harmful Ni ions and corrosion resistance in simulated body fluids is assessed using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, electrochemical tests, hemolysis analysis and the blood platelet adhesion test. The mechanical stability of the surface titania film produced by Fenton's oxidation as well as their effects on the shape memory behavior of the SMA are studied by bending tests. Our results show that Fenton's oxidation produces a novel nanostructured titania gel film with a graded structure on the NiTi substrate without an intermediate Ni-rich layer that is typical of high-temperature oxidation. Moreover, there is a clear Ni-free zone near the top surface of the titania film. The surface structural changes introduced by Fenton's oxidation improve the electrochemical corrosion resistance and mitigate Ni release. The latter effects are comparable to those observed after oxygen plasma immersion ion implantation reported previously and better than those of high-temperature oxidation. Aging in boiling water improves the crystallinity of the titania film and further reduces Ni leaching. Blood platelet adhesion is remarkably reduced after Fenton's oxidation, suggesting that the treated SMA has improved thrombo resistance. Enhancement of blood compatibility is believed to stem from the improved hemolysis resistance, the surface wettability and the intrinsic electrical characteristics of the titania film. The titania film produced by Fenton's oxidation has good mechanical stability and does not adversely impact the shape memory behavior of NiTi. Our work suggests that Fenton's oxidation is a promising low-temperature, low-cost surface modification method for improving the surface properties of biomedical NiTi SMA.

The genetic relationships of 43 wheat varieties were analyzed with SSR markers. The materials employed included 14 cornerstone breeding parents used before 1980 and another 29 other large-scale planted varieties currently in use in China. A total of 501 different alleles were amplified, including 166 alleles of the A genome, 174 of the B genome and 161 of the D genome. Data obtained were used to estimate genetic similarity using the DICE coefficient, and dendrograms were constructed using the UPGMA method. The dendrogram with 501 alleles successfully differentiated all the cornerstone breeding parents and the large-scale planted varieties, and the dendogram tree was basically consistent with the pedigrees of these varieties. The correlation coefficient between the genetic distance matrix of 501 alleles and that of 450 was 0.99. Correlation coefficients among random samples of alleles suggested that 350 to 400 alleles were needed to detect genetic relationships among common wheat varieties. Correlation coefficients of a genetic similarity matrix based on 580, and those of 501 and 400, random alleles were 0.96 and 0.94, respectively. However, there were marked differences between the matrix based on the 501 alleles and those based on markers located on the A-, B- or D-genome independently. The correlation coefficients between the genetic distance matrix of 501 alleles and alleles within A, B or D genomes were 0.77, 0.76 and 0.67. The estimation of genetic similarity should be based on data from all genomes rather than any one genome.

The reverse phase suspension and embedment technique were adopted to prepare magnetic dextran microsphere (MDMS). The dispersion medium was mixture of some organic solvents. Span-80 was used as stabilizer. The aqueous dextran with magnetic fluid was suspended in dispersion medium with epichlorohydrin as cross-linking reagent. The mixture was stirred for 30 minutes at room temperature and then heated at 70 degrees C for 4 hours, MDMS was thus obtained. MDMS was activated by epichlorohydrin on which 6-aminohexanoic acid, glycine or ethylene diamine was bonded as spacers. Then it was coupled with p-aminobenzamide, L-arginine methyl ester or guanidohexanoic acid and five magnetic affinity adsorbents were prepared. The MDMS was polydisperse particles with the size of 50-300 meshes and the content of Fe3O4 was about 6.2 per cent in the MDMS. Influence of some parameters such as viscosity and density of organic phase, the volume ratio of organic and aqueous phase, the quantity of surfactant and stirring speed on preparing MDMS was studied. Magnetic affinity adsorbents were used to purify crude urokinase in a bath mode and the effect of coupling reagents and ligands on results of purification was discussed. The bioactivity recovery was 40.0 to 60.7 per cent, the purification-fold was between 14.9 and 32.8, and the adsorptive capacity varies from 89 mg to 121 mg per milliliter of adsorbent.

Two E genome--(including Ee and Eb) and two St-genome-specific RAPD markers were successfully cloned. Sequencing data indicated that the four DNA fragments were reported for the first time. Chromosome fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) showed that OPD-12(444) (E-specific) was a highly tandem repeat. OPF-03(1296) (Eb-specific), OPB-08(525) (St-specific), and OPN-01(817) (St-specific) were highly dispersed repetitive sequences. The FISH and Southern hybridization of genomic DNA also revealed that all of the four highly repetitive sequences were shared among relatively closer genomes of triticeae. The difference was mainly in the fragment length and the copy number. Whether a genome can amplify a specific sequence via RAPD is mainly dependent on if there are primering sites at both ends of this sequence in the genome. We also discussed the potentiality of these highly repetitive DNA fragments in detection of alien chromatin in wheat and determination of genome constitution of polyploid triticeae species.