正常人左心室功能指标的参考值及其预计公式的初步研究报告*

目的: 当前评估左心室容量和功能仍常用正常值范围,个体化分析也仅使用体表面积进行校正。尚缺少个体化因素相关的大样本参考值和预计公式。方法: 本研究纳入美国加州洛杉矶县南湾地区1200名健康志愿者,其中男807女393,年龄20岁-94岁,心脏CT造影（CTA）,经过高精度三维成像技术处理,计算左心室容积在收缩和舒张过程中的连续动态变化,测定左心室（LV）容量和功能指标：舒张末期容积（EDV)、收缩末期容积(ESV)、每搏输出量(SV)、射血分数(EF)和心输出量(CO)。将以上指标与一般特征指标进行多因素相关分析,以探索正常人预计值计算公式。结果: 男性除LVEF小于女性外（P<0.001）,其余各指标均大于女性（P<0.001）。多元线性回归分析提示, 性别、年龄、身高和体质量均为EDV、ESV、SV的独立影响因子(P<0.001); 而CO仅受年龄、性别、体质量显著影响(P<0.001),但与身高无关(P>0.05)。CO的预测公式CO (L·min^-1)= 6.963+0.446(Male) -0.037×年龄(yr)+0.013×体质量(kg)。结论: 性别、年龄、身高、体质量均影响左心室容量和功能,建立预测值计算公式,对心血管疾病的无创评估和个体化精准医疗具有重要参考价值。     

Longitudinal proxy measurements in multiple sclerosis: patient-proxy agreement on the impact of MS on daily life over a period of two years

Background  

The use of self-report measurements in clinical settings is increasing. However, in patients with limitations that interfere with reliable self-assessment such as cognitive impairment or mood disturbances, as may be the case in multiple sclerosis (MS), data collection might be problematic. In these situations, information obtained from proxy respondents (e.g. partners) may replace self-ratings. The aim of this study was to examine the value of proxy ratings at separate points in time and to assess patient-proxy agreement on possible changes in disease impact of MS.     

Towards a reporter system to identify regulators of cross-talk between salicylate and jasmonate signaling pathways in Arabidopsis

The plant signaling hormones salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) are regulators of inducible defenses that are activated upon pathogen or insect attack. Cross-talk between SA- and JA-dependent signaling pathways allows a plant to finely tune its response to the attacker encountered. In Arabidopsis, pharmacological experiments revealed that SA exerts a strong antagonistic effect on JA-responsive genes, such as PDF1.2, indicating that the SA pathway can be prioritized over the JA pathway. SA-mediated suppression of the JA-responsive PDF1.2 promoter was exploited for setting up a genetic screen aiming at the isolation of signal transduction mutants that are impaired in this cross-talk mechanism. The PDF1.2 promoter was fused to the herbicide resistance gene BAR to allow for life/death screening of a population of mutagenized transgenic plants. Non-mutant plants should survive herbicide treatment when methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is applied, but suppression of the JA response by SA should be lethal in combination with the herbicide. Conversely, crucial SA/JA cross-talk mutants should survive the combination treatment. SA effectively suppressed the expression of the PDF1.2::BAR transgene. However, suppression of the BAR gene did not result in suppression of herbicide resistance. Hence, a screening method based on quantitative differences in the expression of a reporter gene may be better suited to identify SA/JA cross-talk mutants. Here, we demonstrate that the PDF1.2::GUS reporter will be excellently suited in this respect.Key words: plant defense, salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, cross-talk, mutant screen, Arabidopsis     

Comparative morphology of the sagittal otolith in Serranus spp.

Variations in the morphology of saccular otoliths (sagittae) among three sympatric species of the genus Serranus ( S. atricauda , S. cabrilla and S. scriba ) from the Canary Islands were investigated. Although the otolith gross morphology was similar among species, S. scriba was distinct in having a rostrum which had a slight turning at the tip and a more funnel‐like ostium. The shallower water species ( S. scriba ) had otolith and sulcus areas which were smaller than the deeper water species ( S. cabrilla and S. atricauda ). The sulcus acusticus and ostium size were correlated with the habit depth of the species, with the highest values in the deepest species, S. cabrilla . The otolith outline shape indices changed with size (total length) of the species, and allowed the separation of the species by means of a discriminate function.     

OXBench: A benchmark for evaluation of protein multiple sequence alignment accuracy

Background  

The alignment of two or more protein sequences provides a powerful guide in the prediction of the protein structure and in identifying key functional residues, however, the utility of any prediction is completely dependent on the accuracy of the alignment. In this paper we describe a suite of reference alignments derived from the comparison of protein three-dimensional structures together with evaluation measures and software that allow automatically generated alignments to be benchmarked. We test the OXBench benchmark suite on alignments generated by the AMPS multiple alignment method, then apply the suite to compare eight different multiple alignment algorithms. The benchmark shows the current state-of-the art for alignment accuracy and provides a baseline against which new alignment algorithms may be judged.     

Consistency of side choice in the milking parlour by Holstein-Friesian cows and its relationship with their reactivity and milk yield

Dairy cows often have to choose which of two sides to enter in the milking parlour. Some cows are very consistent in this choice, and it is common to assume that when these cows are more disturbed are being milked in their non-preferred side. Such disturbance might involve significantly poor welfare. In order to assess this assumption, we decided to study the behaviour and milk yield of dairy cows and their relationships with side preference in the milking parlour. The study was carried out at Cambridge University Farm, in a two-sided tandem milking parlour. The data collection followed the daily management routine. We recorded the side chosen by each cow (left or right) during 40 milking sessions. Data from 70 cows, which were present in at least 25 milking sessions (mode=36), were included in the statistical analysis. Cows' reactivity (CR) during premilking udder preparation, time spent fitting the milking cluster (FT), milk yield (MY) and duration of milking (DM) were measured. There was evident individual variation in the consistency of side choice. Individual differences (ANOVA, P<0.001) were also found in CR, FT, MY and DM; although these variables were not significantly affected by the side or the interaction animalxside (ANOVA, P>0.05). The comparison between left and right side means (paired t-test) of these variables did not show significant differences (P>0.05). We concluded that there is no evidence that the cows were discomforted or stressed when milked in the non-preferred side of the milking parlour.     

OCP3 is an important modulator of NPR1-mediated jasmonic acid-dependent induced defenses in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis</Emphasis>

Background  

Upon appropriate stimulation, plants increase their level of resistance against future pathogen attack. This phenomenon, known as induced resistance, presents an adaptive advantage due to its reduced fitness costs and its systemic and broad-spectrum nature. In Arabidopsis, different types of induced resistance have been defined based on the signaling pathways involved, particularly those dependent on salicylic acid (SA) and/or jasmonic acid (JA).