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Additional file 2: Table S1. Physical and chemical properties of B3 genes predictions. Table S2. Ka/Ks calculation of the duplicated pineapple B3 gene pairs. Table S3. One-to-one orthologous relationships between pineapple and Arabidopsis, pineapple and rice. Table S3. One-to-one orthologous relationships between pineapple and Arabidopsis, pineapple and rice. Table S4. Seauence and characteristics of conserved motifs identified in pineapple. Table S5. The cis-element sites of 57 B3 promoters. Table S6. The prediction of ERF binding site. Table S7. GO ID in transcriptome data. Table S8. The primers of qRT-PCR.

Objective To analyze the influencing factors of the functional significance determined by fractional flow reserve (FFR) in intermediate coronary artery stenosis. Methods The study enrolled 143 patients with 203 intermediate coronary lesions. Pressure-derived FFR of these lesions was gained at maximal hyperemia induced by intravenous adenosine infusion. An FFR < 0.80 was considered as abnormal functional significance. Anatomic parameters at the lesion sites were obtained by off-line quantitative coronary angiography analysis (QCA). The predictive value of the demographic characteristics and anatomic parameters for FFR in these intermediate lesions was assessed using multiple linear and binary logistic regression analysis. Results Overall, FFR < 0.8 was found in 70 (34%) of the total 203 intermediate coronary lesions. FFR values were positively correlated with QCA-measured minimum lumen diameters (MLD, r = 0.372, P = 0.000) and the reference vessel diameters (RVD, r = 0.217, P = 0.002) were negatively correlated with percent area stenosis (AS, r = −0.251, P = 0.000) and percent diameter stenosis (DS, r = −0.210, P = 0.000). Age, MLD and the lesion location in different coronary arteries were the independent determinants of FFR < 0.8. Conclusions MLD can predict the functional significance of intermediate coronary stenosis, while age and the lesion location in different coronary arteries should be taken into account as important influencing factors of FFR values.

Background There are patients who underwent emergency coronary angiography (CAG) but did not receive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The aim of this study was to analyze these reasons. Methods This is a single-center retrospective study. We recruited 201 consecutive patients who received emergency CAG but did not receive PCI. To investigate the value of the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score in predicting PCI possibilities in non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) patients, we recruited 80 consecutive patients who presented with NSTE-ACS and received emergency CAG as well as emergency PCI. Results Among the 201 patients who received emergency CAG but did not receive PCI, 26% patients had final diagnosis other than coronary heart disease. In the patients with significant coronary artery stenosis, 23 patients (11.5%) were recommended to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), one patient (0.5%) refused PCI; 13 patients (6.5%) with significant thrombus burden were treated with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist; 74 patients (36.8%) were treated with drug therapy because no severe stenosis (> 70%) was present in the crime vessel. Moreover, 80 of the 201 patients were presented with NSTE-ACS (excluding those patients with final diagnosis other than coronary heart disease, excluding those patients planned for CABG treatment), referred as non PCI NSTE-ACS. When comparing their GRACE scores with 80 consecutive patients presented with NSTE-ACS who received emergency CAG as well as emergency PCI (referred as PCI NSTE-ACS), we found that PCI NSTE-ACS patients had significantly higher GRACE scores compared with non PCI NSTE-ACS patients. We then used Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve (ROC) to test whether the GRACE score is good at evaluating the possibilities of PCI in NSTE-ACS patients. The area under the curve was 0.854 ± 0.030 (P < 0.001), indicating good predictive value. Furthermore, we analyzed results derived from ROC statistics, and found that a GRACE score of 125.5, as a cut-off, has high sensitivity and specificity in evaluating PCI possibilities in NSTE-ACS patients. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the GRACE score has predictive value in determining whether NSTE-ACS patients would receive PCI.

Vasospastic angina is caused by sudden occlusive vasoconstriction of a segment of an epicardial artery, which can present with a wide spectrum of clinical scenario. We report the cases of two patients diagnosed with vasospastic angina, with one of which presenting with sudden cardiac arrest, while the other presenting with a relatively benign syncope. But both of them have J waves formation on ECG during active ischemia. The diagnosis and management of vasospastic angina, as well as the proposed clinical significance of J waves during coronary spasm are discussed.

Objectives To evaluate the prognostic value of the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score in patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods A total of 334 consecutive patients with SAP who underwent first PCI following multi-slice computer tomography (MSCT) were enrolled from our institution between January 2007 and June 2012. The CAC score was calculated according to the standard Agatston calcium scoring algorithm. Complex PCI was defined as use of high pressure balloon, kissing balloon and/or rotablator. Procedure-related complications included dissection, occlusion, perforation, no/slow flow and emergency coronary artery bypass grafting. Main adverse cardiac events (MACE) were defined as a combined end point of death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization and rehospitalization for cardiac ischemic events. Results Patients with a CAC score > 300 (n = 145) had significantly higher PCI complexity (13.1% vs. 5.8%, P = 0.017) and rate of procedure-related complications (17.2% vs. 7.4%, P = 0.005) than patients with a CAC score ≤ 300 (n = 189). After a median follow-up of 22.5 months (4–72 months), patients with a CAC score ≤ 300 differ greatly than those patients with CAC score > 300 in cumulative non-events survival rates (88.9 vs. 79.0%, Log rank 4.577, P = 0.032). After adjusted for other factors, the risk of MACE was significantly higher [hazard ratio (HR): 4.3, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 2.4–8.2, P = 0.038] in patients with a CAC score > 300 compared to patients with a lower CAC score. Conclusions The CAC score is an independent predictor for MACE in SAP patients who underwent PCI and indicates complexity of PCI and procedure-related complications.

Objective: The aim of this study was to use fractal dimension (FD) analysis on multidetector CT (MDCT) images for quantifying the morphological changes of the pulmonary artery tree in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). Materials and Methods: Fourteen patients with PH and 17 patients without PH as controls were studied. All of the patients underwent contrast-enhanced helical CT and transthoracic echocardiography. The pulmonary artery trees were generated using post-processing software, and the FD and projected image area of the pulmonary artery trees were determined with ImageJ software in a personal computer. The FD, the projected image area and the pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) were statistically evaluated in the two groups. Results: The FD, the projected image area and the PAP of the patients with PH were higher than those values of the patients without PH (p < 0.05, t-test). There was a high correlation of FD with the PAP (r = 0.82, p < 0.05, partial correlation analysis). There was a moderate correlation of FD with the projected image area (r = 0.49, p < 0.05, partial correlation analysis). There was a correlation of the PAP with the projected image area (r = 0.65, p < 0.05, Pearson correlation analysis). Conclusion: The FD of the pulmonary arteries in the PH patients was significantly higher than that of the controls. There is a high correlation of FD with the PAP. Index terms: Computed tomography (CT); Pulmonary hypertension; Fractal dimension