Epidemiology of Functional Abdominal Bloating and Its Impact on Health Related Quality of Life: Male-Female Stratified Propensity Score Analysis in a Population Based Survey in Mainland China

Background

The epidemiology of Functional abdominal bloating (FAB) and its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Chinese people remains unclear.

Methods

Randomised, stratified, multi-stage sampling methodology was used to select a representative sample of the general population from five cities in China (n = 16,078). All respondents completed the modified Rome II questionnaire; 20% were asked to complete the 36-item Short Form (SF-36). The associated factors of FAB were analyzed. The effects of FAB on HRQoL were estimated with gender stratification using propensity score techniques in 20% subsample.

Results

Overall, 643 individuals (4.00%) had FAB and it was more prevalent in males than in females (4.87% vs. 3.04%, P<0.001). For males, self-reported history of dyspepsia was most strongly associated with FAB (OR = 2.78; 95% CI: 1.59, 4.72). However, the most strongly associated factor was self-reported health status for females (moderate health vs. good health: OR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.07, 3.96. P = 0.030; poor health vs. good health: OR = 5.71, 95% CI: 2.06, 15.09). Concerning HRQoL, FAB was found to be related to two domains: role limitation due to physical problems (P = 0.030) and bodily pain (P<0.001) in females. While, in males, there were significant differences in multiple domains between those with and without FAB.

Conclusion

The prevalence of FAB in China was lower than previous reports. Males who had ever been diagnosed with dyspepsia and females who were in a poor self-reported health status were correlated with a higher prevalence of FAB. FAB affected only physical health in females, but impaired both physical and mental health in males.     

Mutations in lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) gene change the susceptibility to clinical mastitis in Chinese Holstein

Mastitis is an unsolved human challenge all dairy farms facing with, which leads to immeasurable economic loss to the farmers. LBP gene plays a vital role in the innate immune recognition of Gram-negative bacterium that is a major cause of bovine clinical mastitis, but little is known about LBP mutations and their effects on cows' susceptibility to clinical mastitis. In this study, PCR-SSCP method was adopted to analyze SNPs of LBP gene in Chinese Holstein for the first time. 17 SNPs were found in the promoter core region, exon1, exon2, exon3, exon4 and exon8. The mutation g.-81C?→?T in promoter leads to an AP-2 binding site lost. Two mutations, g.11T?→?C (4 Leu?→?Ser) and g.68G?→?C (23Gly?→?Ala) in signal peptide brought about molecular secondary structural change, meanwhile, g.11T?→?C made a Big-1 domain lost, and there was an N-myristoylation site at the g.68G/C locus. The three mutations above were in complete linkage disequilibrium in allele A. In mature LBP protein, five mutations were found: g.3034G?→?A(36Asp?→?Asn), g.3040A?→?G(38Asn?→?Asp), g.3056T?→?C(43Ile?→?Thr) in allele D; g.4619G?→?A(67Ala?→?Thr) in allele F; 19975G?→?A (282Val?→?Met) in allele J. And SNPs in allele D and F were in complete linkage disequilibrium, also in which 38Asn?→?Asp and 67Ala?→?Thr influenced the protein secondary structure. Prediction of the 3-D structure shows mutations 36Asp?→?Asn, 38Asn?→?Asp and 43 Ile?→?Thr were on the concave surface of LBP protein at barrel-N, 67Ala?→?Thr was in the apolar pocket at barrel-N. Motif analysis shows 36Asp?→?Asn causes loss of a CK2 phosphorylation site, 67 Ala?→?Thr forms a new PKC phosphorylation site. And 43Ile?→?Thr, 67Ala?→?Thr made hydrophobic amino acids to be hydrophilic amino acids. Interestingly, the morbidity of AB (mixed type g.-81C/T, g.11T/C, g.68G/C), CD (mixed type g.3034G/A, g.3040A/G, g.3056T/C) and EF (mixed type g.4619G/A) genotype cows are significant higher than others in this study (P?相似文献   

Formation of aerobic granules by Mg2+ and Al3+ augmentation in sequencing batch airlift reactor at low temperature

Aerobic granules technology (AGS) was difficult to cultivate at low temperature, and the treatment efficiency of domestic sewage was remarkably low because of low temperature, which greatly limits its development and application. AGS formation time significantly decreased for 43 days by adding 19.0 mg/L Mg(2+) and 21.0 mg/L Al(3+), moreover, AGS possessed better simultaneously chemical oxygen demand, NH(4) (+)-N, TP removal efficiencies at low temperature, which the respective removal efficiencies were 85.6, 88.8, and 91.9%. The content of total polysaccharides was 8.23 mg/gMLSS as well as the content of total protein was 8.52 mg/gMLSS, consequently, the total proteins/total polysaccharides ratio was 1.04, which the relatively high protein content induced by Mg(2+) and Al(3+) presented an essential feature for AGS formation. In addition, the affinity among Mg(2+), Al(3+) and -OH may drive the stretching vibration of -OH band which led to the infrared motion of functional groups in AGS and accelerate AGS formation as well.     

β-根瘤菌及特殊α-根瘤菌的研究概况

隶属于β-变形杆菌纲(proteobacteria)的根瘤菌,人们简称为β-根瘤菌.本文通过对分离自含羞草根瘤隶属于Burkhloderia和Cupriavidus的β-根瘤菌及归于Blastobacter、Ochrobactrum和Phyllobacterium等特殊α-根瘤菌的研究总结,介绍了根瘤菌生物多样性研究的新进展.同时,简述了根瘤菌共生基因的进化研究,并对该研究领域存在的问题进行了分析,对未来相关研究方向做了展望.     

The pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase regulatory proteins of Arabidopsis possess a novel, unprecedented Ser/Thr protein kinase primary structure

Pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) is a ubiquitous, low-abundance metabolic enzyme of undetermined function in C3 plants. Its activity in C3 chloroplasts is light-regulated via reversible phosphorylation of an active-site Thr residue by the PPDK regulatory protein (RP), a most unusual bifunctional protein kinase (PK)/protein phosphatase (PP). In this paper we document the molecular cloning and functional analysis of the two unique C3 RPs in Arabidopsis thaliana . The first of these, AtRP1 , encodes a typical chloroplast-targeted, bifunctional C4-like RP. The second RP gene, AtRP2 , encodes a monofunctional polypeptide that possesses in vitro RP-like PK activity but lacks PP activity, and is localized in the cytosol. Notably, the deduced primary structures of these two highly homologous polypeptides are devoid of any canonical subdomain structure that unifies all known eukaryotic and prokaryotic Ser/Thr PKs into one of three superfamilies, despite the direct demonstration that AtRP1 is functionally a member of this group. Instead, these C3 RPs and the related C4 plant homologues encode a conserved, centrally positioned, approximately 260-residue sequence currently described as the ' d omain of u nknown f unction 299' (DUF 299). We propose that vascular plant RPs form a unique protein kinase family now designated as the DUF 299 gene family.     

An update: Epstein-Barr virus and immune evasion <Emphasis Type="Italic">via</Emphasis> microRNA regulation

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic virus that ubiquitously establishes life-long persistence in humans. To ensure its survival and maintain its B cell transformation function, EBV has developed powerful strategies to evade host immune responses. Emerging evidence has shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are powerful regulators of the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. In this review, we summarize current progress on how EBV utilizes miRNAs for immune evasion. EBV encodes miRNAs targeting both viral and host genes involved in the immune response. The miRNAs are found in two gene clusters, and recent studies have demonstrated that lack of these clusters increases the CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell response of infected cells. These reports strongly indicate that EBV miRNAs are critical for immune evasion. In addition, EBV is able to dysregulate the expression of a variety of host miRNAs, which influence multiple immune-related molecules and signaling pathways. The transport via exosomes of EBV-regulated miRNAs and viral proteins contributes to the construction and modification of the inflammatory tumor microenvironment. During EBV immune evasion, viral proteins, immune cells, chemokines, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and pro-apoptosis molecules are involved. Our increasing knowledge of the role of miRNAs in immune evasion will improve the understanding of EBV persistence and help to develop new treatments for EBV-associated cancers and other diseases.

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Adsorption and desorption of Hg(II) by three typical soils around the chlor-alkali industry

A series of batch experiments were conducted to assess the adsorption/desorption of Hg(II) within meadow soil, fluvo-aquic soil, and gray desert soil around the chlor-alkali industry in China. Results demonstrated that the descending order of the adsorptive capacity of Hg(II) to the three typical soils around a chlor-alkali plant, i.e., meadow soil (4536.24 mg/kg), fluvo-aquic soil (1598.62 mg/kg), gray desert soil (1272.51 mg/kg), and the soil organic matter, had a significant role in Hg(II) adsorption. Kinetic studies revealed that the Hg adsorption in the three soils was characterized with a fast stage and a slow stage. The Hg(II) adsorption rates are the highest for the fluvo-aquic soil, followed by the meadow soil, and then the gray desert soil. The results will play a guiding role in arid-zone soil pollution control and treatment, which will be a reference for the Northwest Oasis Environmental mercury pollution studies and integrated control in China.     

鹅喉羚线粒体D-loop和Cytb序列遗传多样性分析

[目的]为了探讨新疆天山野生动物园17只鹅喉羚的遗传多样性、亲缘关系和群体来源。[方法]对这些鹅喉羚线粒体控制区(D-loop)和细胞色素b(Cytb)基因序列进行了PCR扩增和测序,分别计算了群体单倍型多样度(H)和核苷酸多样性(Pi)以及个体间的遗传距离,并构建了单倍型NJ(Neighbor-Joining)聚类图。[结果]D-loop区和Cytb分别获得了978bp和543bp的基因片段,D-loop区识别出11个单倍型,Cytb区识别出3个单倍型;D-loop和Cytb的单倍型多样度(H)和核苷酸多样性(Pi)分别为0.863、0.01028和0.330、0.00077;个体之间最大遗传距离为0.024,最小遗传距离为0.001;17只鹅喉羚分别聚为2个分支。[结论]该鹅喉羚群体D-loop区多态性较丰富,在野外可能来自两个不同的群体。