10-Year Overview of the Hospital-Based Prevalence and Treatment of Congenital Cataracts: The CCPMOH Experience

A review of 6 years of hospitalization charts from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (ZOC) revealed that congenital cataracts (CC) accounted for 2.39% of all cataract in-patient cases and that the age at surgery was decreasing before the establishment of the Childhood Cataract Program of the Chinese Ministry of Health (CCPMOH) in December 2010. We aimed to investigate data from the 4 years (January 2011 to December 2014) following the establishment of the CCPMOH, compared, and combined with data from the previous study period (January 2005 to December 2010) to generate a 10-year overview of the hospital-based prevalence and treatment of CC. In the 4-year period after CCPMOH establishment, the prevalence of CC was 2.01% in all hospitalizations, and was 2.78% in all cataract in-patients. Most of the eligible CC in-patients (71%) lived in south China. The ratio of boys to girls was 1.42:1. Nearly 2/3 of the patients underwent cataract extraction with primary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation at a mean age of 78.40±51.45 months, and cataract extraction surgeries without IOL implantation were performed in the remaining 1/3 of patients at a mean age of 10.03±15.92 months. After CCPMOH establishment, an increased incidence of CC was revealed, and the CC in-patients were younger than the patients in the previous period. The 10-year overview (2421 CC in-patients from 206630 hospitalizations) revealed upward trends in both the number and the prevalence of CC and a further reduction in age at surgery. In conclusion, the data from 4-year period after CCPMOH establishment and the 10-year overview showed upward trends in the hospital-based prevalence of CC cases and a further reduction in age at surgery, likely reflecting the effects of the CCPMOH establishment and providing useful information for further CC studies and a valuable foundation for the prevention and treatment of this cause of childhood blindness.     

Reduction of In-Stent Restenosis Risk on Nickel-Free Stainless Steel by Regulating Cell Apoptosis and Cell Cycle

High nitrogen nickel-free austenitic stainless steel (HNNF SS) is one of the biomaterials developed recently for circumventing the in-stent restenosis (ISR) in coronary stent applications. To understand the ISR-resistance mechanism, we have conducted a comparative study of cellular and molecular responses of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to HNNF SS and 316L SS (nickel-containing austenitic 316L stainless steel) which is the stent material used currently. CCK-8 analysis and flow cytometric analysis were used to assess the cellular responses (proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle), and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to analyze the gene expression profile of HUVECs exposed to HNNF SS and 316L SS, respectively. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that 316L SS could activate the cellular apoptosis more efficiently and initiate an earlier entry into the S-phase of cell cycle than HNNF SS. At the molecular level, qRT-PCR results showed that the genes regulating cell apoptosis and autophagy were overexpressed on 316L SS. Further examination indicated that nickel released from 316L SS triggered the cell apoptosis via Fas-Caspase8-Caspase3 exogenous pathway. These molecular mechanisms of HUVECs present a good model for elucidating the observed cellular responses. The findings in this study furnish valuable information for understanding the mechanism of ISR-resistance on the cellular and molecular basis as well as for developing new biomedical materials for stent applications.     

种植盐地碱蓬改良滨海盐渍土对土壤微生物区系的影响

利用盐生植物盐地碱蓬对天津河口滨海盐碱地进行生物修复,研究了其对土壤微生物区系的影响.结果表明,种植区碱蓬根系土壤的可溶性盐分与对照土壤相比下降了41%（重量法）和37%（电导法）;根系土壤的微生物数量明显增加,其中细菌、放线菌和真菌分别较对照增加了2.3倍、4.3倍和71倍,与对照相比均为显著性差异.根系微生物的耐盐性结果显示,随着土壤盐分的降低,根系微生物生长的最适盐度也随之降低,耐盐性较低的微生物种群已逐渐成为优势种群.系统发育分析表明,枯草杆菌属成为植物修复后土壤中的优势种群.     

Characterization of VAMP-2 gene from marine teleostean, Lateolabrax japonicus

The whole length SPV2 gene of 715 bp, encoding VAMP-2 protein of 110 amino acids from Japanese sea perch, Lateolabrax japonicus, was obtained by using both RT-PCR and anchored PCR strategies while we initiated the structural and functional study on SNARE proteins in marine teleostean. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence indicated that SPV2 has its core arginine residue, a potential N-linked glycosylation site near its N-terminal, and one transmembrane domain in its C-terminal. Advanced structural analysis of bioinformatics approach predicts a coiled-coil α-helix backbone as the characteristic of SPV2 main conformational structure, identical to the structure of rat VAMP-2 obtained by crystallography. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed that SPV2 was generally expressed in 10 neural and non-neural tissues, with the highest concentration in brain and the least in muscle.     

Oncogenic GBX2 promotes the malignant behaviors of bladder cancer cells by binding to the ITGA5 promoter and activating its transcription

Functional & Integrative Genomics - In bladder cancer patients, metastasis after surgical resection and serious adverse reactions brought by cisplatin-based systemic chemotherapy make it urgent...     

1998-2013年新疆艾比湖湖面时空动态变化及其驱动机制

采用1998年9月,2002年9月,2007年9月,2011年9月以及2013年9月多期Landsat数据,利用归一化水体指数模型(NDWI)和修正归一化水体指数模型(MNDWI)提取新疆艾比湖水域面积,研究近年来艾比湖湖面的动态变化。以最大似然分类结果作为标准,验证了用NDWI和MNDWI模型提取面积的精度,得出NDWI模型所提取的湖泊面积更符合实际情况,湖泊总面积从1998年的519.26km²减少到2013年的422.73km²,缩小了18.59%,表明目前艾比湖正在退化,从而促使生态环境受到影响。对5期影像中的艾比湖湖面进行了边界的提取和叠加,利用湖泊面积动态模型研究艾比湖湖面积的动态变化,在此基础上分析了影响艾比湖湖面积变化的驱动机制,近年来随着温度的逐渐升高,降水量呈下降的趋势,加上大量的蒸发作用、径流量变化及沙尘日数等综合作用的结果,导致了艾比湖面积的缩小。多年来艾比湖流域内随着人口数量的增加、耕地面积的不断扩张、牲畜的大量增长,导致需水量逐渐增大,因此也是导致湖面面积减少的主要原因之一。开展艾比湖湖面时空动态变化及其驱动机制研究,对于干旱区湖泊来说具有重要的理论和实际意义。     

Regulation of Pattern Formation and Gene Amplification During Drosophila Oogenesis by the miR-318 microRNA

Pattern formation during epithelial development requires the coordination of multiple signaling pathways. Here, we investigate the functions of an ovary-enriched miRNA, miR-318, in epithelial development during Drosophila oogenesis. mir-318 maternal loss-of-function mutants were female-sterile and laid eggs with abnormal morphology. Removal of mir-318 disrupted the dorsal–anterior follicle cell patterning, resulting in abnormal dorsal appendages. mir-318 mutant females also produced thin and fragile eggshells due to impaired chorion gene amplification. We provide evidence that the ecdysone signaling pathway activates expression of miR-318 and that miR-318 cooperates with Tramtrack69 to control the switch from endocycling to chorion gene amplification during differentiation of the follicular epithelium. The multiple functions of miR-318 in oogenesis illustrate the importance of miRNAs in maintaining cell fate and in promoting the developmental transition in the female follicular epithelium.     

艾比湖区域景观格局空间特征与地表水质的关联分析

为进一步明确区域土地利用/覆被—景观格局对河流水质影响的空间尺度。选择新疆艾比湖区域为研究对象,以25个水质采样点为中心,建立5种尺度的河流缓冲区并提取不同尺度下的土地利用/覆被-景观格局数据。首先,通过主成分分析获得水环境的主要水质变量。其次,利用冗余分析(RDA)方法探讨研究区不同宽度缓冲区土地利用/覆被—景观格局对河流水质的影响,获得水质管理的有效缓冲区。最后,引入突变点分析方法进一步寻找导致水质变量沿景观梯度突变的特定位置。结果表明:(1)土地利用/覆被—景观格局在不同宽度缓冲区内对河流水质的影响不同。4 km缓冲区土地利用/覆被—景观格局对区域水质有较强的分异解释能力,因此4 km缓冲区的景观格局合理配置对河流水质管理尤为重要。(2)通过偏RDA分析发现4 km缓冲区中,影响区域水质的主要环境变量为景观水平斑块密度、类型水平耕地斑块密度和森林聚集度。(3)在偏RDA分析的基础上,对4 km缓冲区内的景观指数进行突变点分析研究,发现区域景观水平斑块密度为90—105 m/hm~2,类型水平耕地的斑块密度ED值在90—110 m/hm~2、林草地的AI值在70%—90%,是艾比湖区域水质保护的最佳突变值,该值为艾比湖区域水质保护的阈值。本研究从多个角度对新疆艾比区域的土地利用/覆被—景观格局对区域水质的影响进行定量分析,揭示该地区景观生态变化的规律,为区域景观格局优化和土地合理规划提供理论依据,并对改善"丝绸之路经济带"生态环境、实现资源可持续利用具有重要的现实意义和理论价值。     

Intervention Strategies for Improving Patient Adherence to Follow-Up in the Era of Mobile Information Technology: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Patient adherence to follow-up plays a key role in the medical surveillance of chronic diseases and affects the implementation of clinical research by influencing cost and validity. We previously reported a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on short message service (SMS) reminders, which significantly improved follow-up adherence in pediatric cataract treatment.

Methods

RCTs published in English that reported the impact of SMS or telephone reminders on increasing or decreasing the follow-up rate (FUR) were selected from Medline, EMBASE, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library through February 2014. The impacts of SMS and telephone reminders on the FUR of patients were systematically evaluated by meta-analysis and bias was assessed.

Results

We identified 13 RCTs reporting on 3276 patients with and 3402 patients without SMS reminders and 8 RCTs reporting on 2666 patients with and 3439 patients without telephone reminders. For the SMS reminders, the majority of the studies (>50%) were at low risk of bias, considering adequate sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, evaluation of incomplete outcome data, and lack of selective reporting. For the studies on the telephone reminders, only the evaluation of incomplete outcome data accounted for more than 50% of studies being at low risk of bias. The pooled odds ratio (OR) for the improvement of follow-up adherence in the SMS group compared with the control group was 1.76 (95% CI [1.37, 2.26]; P<0.01), and the pooled OR for the improvement of follow-up adherence in the telephone group compared with the control group was 2.09 (95% CI [1.85, 2.36]; P<0.01); both sets showed no evidence of publication bias.

Conclusions

SMS and telephone reminders could both significantly improve the FUR. Telephone reminders were more effective but had a higher risk of bias than SMS reminders.