An analysis of intraoperative blood transfusion of cardiac surgery in one hospital from 2014 to 2016

To investigate the usage of blood componentsfor cardiac surgery inthe First Hospital of Lanzhou University, data from January 2014 to December 2016 were collected for analysis, including the number of cardiac surgeries and blood transfusions. There were 1 589 males and 1 076 females, aged from 1 to 73 years, with an average age of (53.97 ± 11.33) years, in this study. The results showed that the rate of blood-free surgery in the hospital increased year by year,while the proportion of blood-used operation to total operations decreased every year. The ratio of plasma and platelets used in cardiac surgery decreased, while the cryoprecipitate ratio used in cardiac surgery increased. This study indicates that the transfusion medical level in cardiac surgery is improved continuously, and that the infusion of blood components has become more secure, efficient and rational.     

Transient expression of a TaGRF4-TaGIF1 complex stimulates wheat regeneration and improves genome editing

Science China Life Sciences - Genome editing is an unprecedented technological breakthrough but low plant regeneration frequencies and genotype dependence hinder its implementation for crop...     

TGF-beta mediated Msx2 expression controls occipital somites-derived caudal region of skull development

Craniofacial development involves cranial neural crest (CNC) and mesoderm-derived cells. TGF-beta signaling plays a critical role in instructing CNC cells to form the craniofacial skeleton. However, it is not known how TGF-beta signaling regulates the fate of mesoderm-derived cells during craniofacial development. In this study, we show that occipital somites contribute to the caudal region of mammalian skull development. Conditional inactivation of Tgfbr2 in mesoderm-derived cells results in defects of the supraoccipital bone with meningoencephalocele and discontinuity of the neural arch of the C1 vertebra. At the cellular level, loss of TGF-beta signaling causes decreased chondrocyte proliferation and premature differentiation of cartilage to bone. Expression of Msx2, a critical factor in the formation of the dorsoventral axis, is diminished in the Tgfbr2 mutant. Significantly, overexpression of Msx2 in Myf5-Cre;Tgfbr2flox/flox mice partially rescues supraoccipital bone development. These results suggest that the TGF-beta/Msx2 signaling cascade is critical for development of the caudal region of the skull.     

The role of TGF-beta signaling in regulating chondrogenesis and osteogenesis during mandibular development

During craniofacial development, Meckel's cartilage and the mandible bone derive from the first branchial arch, and their development depends upon the contribution of cranial neural crest (CNC) cells. We previously demonstrated that conditional inactivation of Tgfbr2 in the neural crest of mice (Tgfbr2^fl/fl;Wnt1-Cre) results in severe defects in mandibular development, although the specific cellular and molecular mechanisms by which TGF-β signaling regulates the fate of CNC cells during mandibular development remain unknown. We show here that loss of Tgfbr2 does not affect the migration of CNC cells during mandibular development. TGF-β signaling is specifically required for cell proliferation in Meckel's cartilage and the mandibular anlagen and for the formation of the coronoid, condyle and angular processes. TGF-β-mediated connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) signaling is critical for CNC cell proliferation. Exogenous CTGF rescues the cell proliferation defect in Meckel's cartilage of Tgfbr2^fl/fl;Wnt1-Cre mutants, demonstrating the biological significance of this signaling cascade in chondrogenesis during mandibular development. Furthermore, TGF-β signaling controls Msx1 expression to regulate mandibular osteogenesis as Msx1 expression is significantly reduced in Tgfbr2^fl/fl;Wnt1-Cre mutants. Collectively, our data suggest that there are differential signal cascades in response to TGF-β to control chondrogenesis and osteogenesis during mandibular development.     

PCR-DGGE detection of the bacterial community structure in the Inner Mongolia steppe with two different DNA extraction methods

Compared with conventional methods, molecular biological technique, such as PCR-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), is informative in examining the structure of the soil bacterial community through the extraction of microbial DNA from soil and generation of bacterial community profiles by PCR amplification of 16S rRNA genes. Extraction efficiency of soil microbial DNA is the most important step in these methods. At present, the frozen-thawing method and bead-beating method are most widely used in genomic extraction. Nevertheless, comparison of these two methods has not been conducted in different soil types, especially in humus-rich soil. In this study, extraction efficiencies of the two methods were compared in humus-rich steppe soil in Inner Mongolia based on the PCR-DGGE analysis of bacterial community structure. The results indicated that the bead-beating method is better than the frozen-thawing method in genomic DNA extraction efficiency. In addition, 21 bands in the DGGE pattern with the bead-beating method were further selected, cloned and sequenced. Based on similarity matching, all the sequences formed five major clusters: Actinobacteria; α-, β-, γ-, Proteobacteria ; Bacteriodetes ; Gemmatimonadetes and Acidobacteria . Of the 21 clones obtained from DGGE patterns, YC4 showed 99.7% similarity to Pseudomonas sp. (DQ339153); YC5, YC18 and YC19 showed 99.9 % similarity to Gram-positive bacterium (AB008510), Virgisporangium ochraceum (AB006162) and Micromonospora chalcea (X92613), respectively.     

LINC01579 promotes cell proliferation by acting as a ceRNA of miR-139-5p to upregulate EIF4G2 expression in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM), a malignant and lethal tumor, remains a big threat to human health and life. Increasing explorations have confirmed that long noncoding RNAs are involved in the tumorigenesis and development of multiple cancers. Nevertheless, the regulatory mechanism of (long intergenic nonprotein coding RNA 1579 LINC01579) in GBM remains to be investigated. In this study, the expression of LINC01579 was upregulated in GBM cells and LINC01579 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation as well as promoted cell apoptosis. Additionally, LINC01579 acted as a sponge for miR-139-5p in GBM and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4 gamma 2 (EIF4G2) was found to be a downstream target of miR-139-5p. Furthermore, the positive correlation of LINC01579 and EIF4G2 as well as the converse correlation between miR-139-5p and LINC01579 (or EIF4G2) were revealed by the experiments. Based on rescue assays, EIF4G2 overexpression or miR-139-5p inhibitor partially recovered the function of LINC01579 knockdown on cell proliferation and apoptosis. In summary, the results of this study verified that LINC01579 modulated cell proliferation and cell apoptosis in GBM by competitively binding with miR-139-5p to regulate EIF4G2, which provided a new clue to figure out potential therapy for patients suffered from GBM.     

Calculation of an Adequate Intake (AI) Value and Safe Range of Selenium (Se) for Chinese Infants 0–3 Months Old Based on Se Concentration in the Milk of Lactating Chinese Women with Optimal Se Intake

Biological Trace Element Research - The required selenium intake for optimal health in Chinese residents was published in 2014. However, the adequate intake (AI) value for Chinese infants...