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Abstract The objective of this work was to establish and validate the dry matter distribution and yield prediction models based on physiological developmental timing, to compare the differences between the dry mass distribution index model and the dry mass distribution coefficient model, for the simulation of ear dry mass and to improve the accuracy of maize growth models for predicting yield. The experiments were conducted in three tropical sites (Longchuan, Mangshi, and Ruili) in the tropical region of Yunnan Province, China. The NRMS of ear dry mass and yield were generally less than 10. The dry mass distribution index method (NRMS = 5.44% and RMSE = 807.22 kg ha-1 for ear dry mass; and NRMS = 7.32% and RMSE = 707.67 kg ha-1 for grain yield) is better than the dry mass distribution coefficient method (NRMS = 7.52% and RMSE = 1115.31 kg ha-1 for ear dry mass; NRMS = 8.6% and RMSE = 830.76 kgha-1 for grain yield) to simulate maize ear dry mass and grain yield. The distribution index model improves the accuracy of the model, which is valuable for future maize production and management in Yunnan.

It is well known that both management control systems (MCSs) and operations management (OM) are related to firm performance; however, an integrated st udy that involves MCS and OM within the context of firm performance is still lacking. This research aimed to examine the relationships among the use of MCSs and OM techniques and firm performance in the Brazilian auto parts industry. Simons’ levers of cont rol framework was used to characterise the uses of MCSs, and OM techniques, such as total quality management (TQM) and continuous improvement programmes, were adopted. The results obtained through the structural equation modelling indicated that the diagno stic use of MCSs is positively associated with the goals of cost reduction. In addition, the interactive use of MCSs is positively associated with the objectives of introducing new products, which is consistent with previous research. Additionally, OM tech niques are positively related to cost reduction but have no direct relationship with the introduction of new products.

A estimativa da idade humana constitui um dos estudos de grande importância nas perícias civis e criminais. No presente trabalho, procuramos estimar a idade pelo desenvolvimento e mineralização dos oito ossos do carpo, em 200 indivíduos brasileiros, leucodermas, de ambos os sexos, nas faixas etárias de 13 a 22 anos, através de radiografias padronizadas. Os resultados demonstram que dos oito ossos estudados, no sexo masculino, o trapézio e o trapezóide foram os que apresentaram um aumento de área mais uniforme, no períoso de 13 a 22 anos. Por outro lado, no sexo feminino, os resultados demonstram não haver diferenças significantes entre as idades e as dimensões das áreas dos ossos estudados. Concluímos que os ossos metacarpianos, no sexo feminino, apresentam um grau mais acelerado de crescimento/calcificação, que no sexo masculino. A análise de variância demonstrou haver diferenças significantes entre as dimensões dos ossos no sexo masculino. Através da análise de regressão linear, foi possível idealizar uma fórmula para a estimativa da idade para cada osso, porém, o trapezóide foi o que apresentou maior segurança para essa estimativa, isto é, de 80,78%.

Los libros-textos afirman que el área de Controladuría es importante para la toma de decisión y gestión, y muy a pesar de que existan argumentos teóricos favorables a considerar el control gerencial como un recurso que influencia el desempeño organizacional (Henri, 2006), todavía hay una gran carencia de estudios empíricos que identifiquen la contribución del área de controladuría para el desempeño de las organizaciones. Este artículo se propuso identificar los relacionamientos entre fuentes de informaciones (Mol & Birknshaw, 2009), desempeño de la Controladuría, desempeño gerencial y desempeño organizacional, con base en 80 respuestas de profesionales de Controladuría y finanzas de empresas brasileñas. Los resultados, analizados por la técnica estadística Modelaje de Ecuaciones Estructurales, indican que existen asociaciones positivas entre grado de obtención de informaciones y desempeño de la Controladuría, y también que este último afecta positivamente al desempeño gerencial, con subsecuente efecto positivo en el desempeño organizacional. Los resultados sugieren que un área de Controladuría, que busca conocimiento en las fuentes internas y externas, consigue generar informaciones con buena calidad y en el tiempo adecuado, a un coste compatible y enfocado en proyectos, y consigue atender a las expectativas de los usuarios. Esos gestores, por su vez, soportados por una Controladuría eficaz y eficiente, planifican, controlan y toman decisiones más asertivas, contribuyendo para que la organización alcance satisfactoriamente el principal objetivo de la organización. El estudio innova al relacionar variables más relacionadas al papel de la Controladuría, además de tornar operativo el constructo desempeño de la Controladuría, con base en la visión de académicos y profesionales, pero tiene como principal limitación el hecho de ser basado en la percepción de los propios profesionales de la Controladuría.

The importance of interaction between Operations Management (OM) and Human Behavior has been recently re-addressed. This paper introduced the Reasoned Action Theory suggested by Froehle and Roth (2004) to analyze Operational Capabilities exploring the suitability of this model in the context of OM. It also seeks to discuss the behavioral aspects of operational capabilities from the perspective of organizational routines. This theory was operationalized using Fishbein and Ajzen (F/A) behavioral model and a multi-case strategy was employed to analyze the Continuous Improvement (CI) capability. The results posit that the model explains partially the CI behavior in an operational context and some contingency variables might influence the general relationsamong the variables involved in the F/A model. Thus intention might not be the determinant variable of behavior in this context.

Stock markets have been rapidly developed around the world during the last 20 years. Accordingly, there is sincere academic interest in understanding the determinants of this phenomenon. Most studies advocate that the development of a stock market is influenced by a few individual country variables such as the origin of its legal system, enforcement of law, accounting patterns, transparency, corporate ownership structure, and the level of creditor and minority investor protection. This paper extends previous empirical literature concerning the determinants of stock market development. We built a unique sample of 50 countries, ranging from those with emerging to developed economies. From a set of 60 potential variables, 12 factors were employed using multiple regression. The research breaks new ground by using different constructs taken from financial literature, such as the Human Development Index (HDI, 2010), Managerial Skills of Entrepreneurs and Democracy of the Country. Results showed that more factors may influence the development of stock markets, such as the adaptability of firms and the openness of a country, helping avoid the multicollinearity effects that may have affected earlier studies.

Textbooks affirm that the Controllership area is important for decision making and management and, despite the existence of favorable theoretical arguments to consider management control as a resource that influences organizational performance (Henri, 2006), there remains a great lack of empirical studies that identify the contribution of the Controllership area to organizational performance. This article aimed to identify the relations between information sources (Mol & Birknshaw, 2009), controllership performance, management performance and organizational performance, based on 80 answers by controllership and finance professionals from Brazilian companies. The results, analyzed by means of the statistical technique Structural Equations Modeling, indicate that there are positive associations between the degree of obtaining information and controllership performance, and also that the latter positively affects the management performance, with a subsequent positive effect on organizational performance. The results suggest that a Controllership area that seeks knowledge in internal and external sources is able to produce good-quality and timely information, at a compatible cost and focused on projects, and is able to attend to the users’ expectation. These managers, in turn, supported by effective and efficient Controllership, control and make more assertive decisions, contributing for the organization to satisfactorily achieve the organization’s main objective. This study innovates by relating variables that are more linked to the role of controllership, besides operating the construct controllership performance, based on the view of academics and professionals. Its main limitation is the fact that it is based on the controllership professionals’ own perception.

A proposta deste artigo é investigar a evolução intelectual da etnografia nas áreas de administração e estudos organizacionais no período de 1995 a 2011, por meio da análise bibliométrica de citação e cocitação em publicações internacionais e, a partir de 2000, em publicações nacionais. Em relação às publicações nacionais, à medida que não é possível empregar a mesma técnica de citação e cocitação, optou-se por uma análise mais contextual do estágio em que se encontra a etnografia no Brasil. A metodologia empregada na condução desta pesquisa foi uma análise documental do estágio da etnografia em publicações internacionais e nacionais. Observou-se que, em estudos internacionais, os trabalhos etnográficos de Geertz (1973), Van Maanen (1988) e Clifford e Marcus (1986) tiveram contribuições importantes e, portanto, influenciaram sobremaneira as pesquisas posteriores. Essas pesquisas mostraram que esses autores tiveram maior proximidade e formaram o principal grupo em relação ao tema central. Também não foram observadas grandes alterações em relação ao cluster central, no período analisado, em periódicos internacionais. No âmbito nacional, pode-se afirmar que os estudos etnográficos ainda apresentam baixa popularidade entre os acadêmicos da área de administração, possivelmente, devido ao próprio método de pesquisa que requer longos períodos de tempo desde a coleta de dados, análise e até a publicação final. Palavras-chaves:

A importância da interação entre as áreas de operações e gestão de pessoas tem sido recentemente ressaltada. Este trabalho adotou a teoria da Ação Racional sugerida por Froelhe and Roth (2004) para analisar as competências operacionais, objetivando explorar a adequação deste modelo no contexto de gestão de operações, e o aspecto comportamental das capacidades operacionais sob a perspectiva de rotinas organizacionais. A teoria foi operacionalizada utilizando o modelo comportamental de Fishbein e Ajzen (F/A) e analisada a competência de Melhoria Contínua. Metodologicamente, foi empregada estratégia multicasos com casos representativos. Os resultados indicam que este modelo explica parcialmente o comportamento da Melhoria Contínua e algumas variáveis contingenciais podem influenciar a relação geral entre as variáveis envolvidas no modelo F/A, assim, intenção pode não ser a variável determinante do comportamento nesse contexto.

Foram testados três métodos de concentração de amostras de fitoplâncton em duas amostras distintas de água, afim de se verificar sua eficiência na realização de exames quantitativos. Para cada amostra forma preparadas 30 sub-amostras de acordo com cada método; através do cálculo da variância dos resultados foi escolhido, por comparação, o melhor método de concentração de fitoplâncton. É discutida a possibilidade de utilização de um método alternativo.

Background: Dexmedetomidine (DEX), a specific α2-adrenergic receptor agonist, is protective against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI). However, the association between DEX preconditioning-induced cardioprotection and mitophagy suppression remains unclear., Objective: Hence, we aimed to investigate whether DEX preconditioning alleviates MIRI by suppressing mitophagy via α2-adrenergic receptor activation., Method: Sixty isolated rat hearts were treated with or without DEX before inducing ischemia and reperfusion; an α2-adrenergic receptor antagonist, yohimbine (YOH), was also administered before ischemia, alone or with DEX. The heart rate (HR), left ventricular diastolic pressure (LVDP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), maximal and minimal rate of left ventricular pressure development (±dp/dtmax), and myocardial infarction size were measured. The mitochondrial ultrastructure and autophagosomes were assessed using transmission electron microscopy. Mitochondrial membrane potential and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using JC-1 and dichloride hydrofluorescein diacetate assays, respectively. The expression levels of the mitophagy-associated proteins Beclin1, LC3II/I ratio, p62, PINK1, and Parkin were detected by western blotting., Results: Compared with the control group, in the ischemia/reperfusion group, the HR, LVDP, and ±dp/dtmax were remarkably decreased (p< 0.05), whereas LVEDP and infarct sizes were significantly increased (p< 0.05). DEX preconditioning significantly improved cardiac dysfunction reduced myocardial infarction size, maintained mitochondrial structural integrity, increased mitochondrial membrane potential, inhibited autophagosomes formation, and decreased ROS production and Beclin1, LC3II/I ratio, PINK1, Parkin, and p62 expression(p< 0.05). When DEX and YOH were combined, YOH canceled the effect of DEX, whereas the use of YOH alone had no effect., Conclusion: Therefore, DEX preconditioning was cardioprotective against MIRI in rats by suppressing mitophagy via α2-adrenergic receptor activation.

Background: The direct relationship between coronary artery disease (CAD) and lung cancer is not well known., Objective: To investigate the association between the anatomical severity of CAD and lung cancer., Methods: Three-hundred study patients, including 75 recently diagnosed lung cancer patients and 225 matched non-cancer patients, underwent coronary angiography during hospitalization without previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The SYNTAX score (SXscore) was used to assess the severity of CAD. A high SXscore (SXhigh) grade was defined as SXscore > 15 (the highest quartile of the SXscore). The Cochran-Armitage test for trend was used to assess the distribution of patients' SXscores. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between the severity of CAD and lung cancer. P-values were set when significance level was 5%., Results: The distribution trend of patients' SXscore by quartiles was different between lung cancer patients and control patients (from the lowest to the highest quartile: 20.0%, 20.0%, 24.0%, 36.0% vs. 26.7%, 26.2%, 25.8%, 21.3%, p=0.022). The SX high rate was higher in lung cancer patients than in control patients (36.0% vs. 21.3%, p=0.011).The highest quartile of the SXscore showed higher risk of lung cancer in comparison to the lowest quartile (OR: 2,250, 95%CI: 1,077 to 4,699 ; P-trend= 0.016). After adjustment, patients in the highest quartile of the SXscore had higher risk of lung cancer (OR: 2,149, 95%CI: 1,008 to 4,584; P-trend= 0.028). Patients with high SXscore (> 15) had 1,985 times more chances of having lung cancer (95%CI: 1,105-3,563, P= 0.022)., Conclusions: The anatomical severity of CAD is associated with the risk of lung cancer, which indicates that a thorough lung cancer screening may be significant among severe CAD patients.

Background: Ischemic heart disease has attracted much attention due to its high mortality rates, treatment costs and the increasing morbidity in the young population. Strategies for reperfusion have reduced mortality. However, reperfusion can lead to cardiomyocyte death and subsequent irreversible myocardial damage. At present, the timely and targeted treatment of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is often lacking., Objectives: To evaluate if dexmedetomidine (DEX) has a protective effect in myocardiual I/R and explore the possible mechanism behind it., Methods: Rat hearts were perfused with a Langendorff perfusion system, and randomly assigned to five groups: control group, perfused with Krebs-Henseleit (K-H) solution for 205 minutes without ischemia; and four test groups that underwent 40 minutes of global ischemia and 120 min of reperfusion. The DEX group, the yohimbine (YOH) group and the DEX + YOH group were perfused with DEX (10 nM), YOH (1 μM) or the combination of DEX and YOH prior to reperfusion, respectively. Cardiac hemodynamics, myocardial infarct size, and myocardial histology were evaluated. The expression of glucose-related protein 78 (GRP78), protein kinase R-like ER kinase (PERK), phosphorylated PERK, eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), phosphorylated eIF2α, activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP) were assessed. P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference., Results: DEX preconditioning improved the cardiac function of I/R hearts, reduced myocardial infarction, myocardial apoptosis, and the expression of GRP78, p-PERK, eIF2α, p-eIF2α, ATF4 and CHOP., Conclusions: DEX pretreatment reduced myocardial I/R injury by suppressing apoptosis, which was induced by the PERK pathway.

Background: Recent epidemiological studies have shown that alterations in microbiota and its metabolites are associated with systemic arterial hypertension. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most common bacterial pathogens, and the potential association between H. pylori infection and hypertension are controversial., Objective: This study aimed to clarify their association and provide a new theoretical basis for uncovering the pathogenesis of hypertension., Methods: Case-control and cross-sectional studies on the association between H. pylori and hypertension published from 1996 to 2019 indexed in PubMed, Google Scholar, Chinese Wan Fang Data, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). The pooled odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated. I2 was performed to evaluate the statistical heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated using Begg's and Egger's test. The extracted data was analyzed in Stata 12.0. Statistical significance was defined as p-value < 0.05., Results: A total of 17 studies involving 6,376 cases of hypertension and 10,850 controls were enrolled. H. pylori infection rate in hypertension patients and controls were 64.9% and 56.3%, respectively. A significantly positive association was shown between H. pylori infection and hypertension with an overall OR of 2.07 (95% CI: 1.46-2.94; p < 0.05). Subgroup analysis revealed that the prevalence of H. pylori infection was associated with hypertension in the region of Asia and the case-control group, ORs (95% CI) were 2.26 (1.51-3.38) and 2.53 (1.72-3.72), respectively. After stratifying by detection methods, differences still existed in subgroups (all p < 0.05)., Conclusion: This meta-analysis indicated that H. pylori infection is positively associated with hypertension.

Background: Uric acid (UA), the end product of purine nucleotide metabolism, participates in the processes of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Experimental evidence suggests it is an important mediator in the physiological response to blood pressure increase., Objective: To evaluate the association between serum UA levels and pre-hypertension and hypertension in a Chinese population., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to September 2017, and 1,138 participants aged 35 to 75 were enrolled in this study, where 223 normotensive, 316 pre-hypertensive, and 599 hypertensive subjects were selected to evaluate the association between serum UA levels and hypertension. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: Serum UA levels were significantly higher in the pre-hypertension and hypertension group compared to the control group in the entire population (p<0.05 for all). Quantitative trait analysis indicated that serum UA levels were (2.92±0.81, 3.06±0.85, 3.22±0.98 mg/d) linearly increased in normotensive, pre-hypertensive and hypertensive females, with a p value of 0.008. Serum UA levels in the quartiles were positively correlated with DBP (p<0.05), particularly in females. After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), glucose (GLU), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of pre-hypertension from the lowest (referent) to the highest levels of serum UA were 1.718 (1.028-2.872), 1.018 (0.627-1.654) and 1.738 (1.003-3.010). Additionally, the second quartile of serum UA levels were significantly associated with hypertension, with an OR (95% CI) of 2.036 (1.256-3.298)., Conclusions: This study suggests that higher serum UA levels are positively associated with pre-hypertension and hypertension among Chinese adults.

Background Chemotherapy-related coronary artery disease (CAD) is becoming an emerging issue in clinic. However, the underlying mechanism of chemotherapy-related CAD remains unclear. Objective The study investigated the association between chemotherapy and atherosclerotic anatomical abnormalities of coronary arteries among lung cancer patients. Methods Patients undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) between 2010 and 2017, who previously had lung cancer, were examined. Risk factors associated with CAD and information about lung cancer were evaluated. We assessed coronary-artery abnormalities by SYNTAX score (SXscore) based on CAG. In logistic-regression analysis, we defined high SXscore (SXhigh) grade as positive if ≥22. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Results A total of 94 patients were included in the study. The SXscore was higher in the chemotherapy group than in the non-chemotherapy group (25.25, IQR [4.50-30.00] vs. 16.50, IQR [ 5.00-22.00], p = 0.0195). The SXhigh rate was greater in the chemotherapy group than in the non-chemotherapy group (58.33% vs. 25.86; p = 0.0016). Both univariate (OR:4.013; 95% CI:1.655-9.731) and multivariate (OR:5.868; 95% CI:1.778-19.367) logistic-regression analysis revealed that chemotherapy increased the risk of greater SXhigh rates. Multivariate stepwise logistic-regression analysis showed the risk of more severe anatomical CAD is increased by chemotherapy as a whole by 5.323 times (95% CI: 2.002-14.152), and by platinum-based regimens by 5.850 times (95% CI: 2.027-16.879). Conclusions Chemotherapy is associated with anatomical complexity and severity of CAD, which might partly account for the higher risk of chemotherapy-related CAD among lung cancer patients. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0).

Background: Congenital heart defects (CHD), as the most common congenital anomaly, have been reported to be associated with chromosomal abnormalities. Currently, patients with CHD are routinely offered karyotyping and chromosomal microarray (CMA) testing, but the genotype-phenotype relationship has not yet been fully established., Objective: To determine the type and frequency of chromosomal abnormalities in fetuses with CHD and to analyze pregnancy outcomes of fetuses with heart abnormalities caused by different genetic factors., Methods: A total of 362 cases of CHD were enrolled from 2009 to 2016. Detailed ultrasound and laboratory examinations, including karyotyping and CMA, were performed. Outcome was obtained from discharge summaries., Results: Of the 362 fetuses, 220 were found with an isolated CHD, and 142 had CHD with extracardiac anomaly. Among these 362 fetuses, 140 were identified with a genetic cause, including 111 cases with aneuploidy, 10 cases with abnormality of chromosomal structure by karyotyping and 19 cases with pathogenic or likely pathogenic copy-number variations (CNVs) by CMA. The detection rate is close to 38.7%. Only one (identified as trisomy 18 syndrome) in 140 positive cases resulted in perinatal death, with the others being induced. The remaining 222 cases had negative results for both genetic testing and of these cases, 56 resulted in induced labor, and 77 had natural childbirth or caesarean births. The pregnancy outcome of the remaining 89 cases was uncertain., Conclusions: Karyotyping and CMA are effective and accurate prenatal genetic techniques for identifying fetal chromosomal abnormalities associated with cardiac defects, and this can assist clinical doctors to perform appropriate genetic counselling with regard to the etiology and outcome of CHD.

Background: Melatonin is a neuroendocrine hormone synthesized primarily by the pineal gland that is indicated to effectively prevent myocardial reperfusion injury. It is unclear whether melatonin protects cardiac function from reperfusion injury by modulating intracellular calcium homeostasis., Objective: Demonstrate that melatonin protect against myocardial reperfusion injury through modulating IP3R and SERCA2a to maintain calcium homeostasis via activation of ERK1 in cardiomyocytes., Methods: In vitro experiments were performed using H9C2 cells undergoing simulative hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) induction. Expression level of ERK1, IP3R and SERCA2a were assessed by Western Blots. Cardiomyocytes apoptosis was detected by TUNEL. Phalloidin-staining was used to assess alteration of actin filament organization of cardiomyocytes. Fura-2 /AM was used to measure intracellular Ca2+ concentration. Performing in vivo experiments, myocardial expression of IP3R and SERCA2a were detected by immunofluorescence staining using myocardial ischemia/ reperfusion (I/R) model in rats., Results: In vitro results showed that melatonin induces ERK1 activation in cardiomyocytes against H/R which was inhibited by PD98059 (ERK1 inhibitor). The results showed melatonin inhibit apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and improve actin filament organization in cardiomyocytes against H/R, because both could be reversed by PD98059. Melatonin was showed to reduce calcium overload, further to inhibit IP3R expression and promote SERCA2a expression via ERK1 pathway in cardiomyocytes against H/R. Melatonin induced lower IP3R and higher SERCA2a expression in myocardium that were reversed by PD98059., Conclusion: melatonin-induced cardioprotection against reperfusion injury is at least partly through modulation of IP3R and SERCA2a to maintain intracellular calcium homeostasis via activation of ERK1.

Objective: Frequent readmissions for acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) are an independent risk factor for increased mortality and use of health-care resources. Disease severity and C-reactive protein (CRP) level are validated predictors of long-term prognosis in such patients. This study investigated the utility of combining serum CRP level with the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) exacerbation risk classification for predicting readmission for AECOPD., Methods: This was a prospective observational study of consecutive patients hospitalized for AECOPD at Peking University Third Hospital, in Beijing, China. We assessed patient age; gender; smoking status and history (pack-years); lung function; AECOPD frequency during the last year; quality of life; GOLD risk category (A-D; D indicating the greatest risk); and serum level of high-sensitivity CRP at discharge (hsCRP-D)., Results: The final sample comprised 135 patients. Of those, 71 (52.6%) were readmitted at least once during the 12-month follow-up period. The median (interquartile) time to readmission was 78 days (42-178 days). Multivariate analysis revealed that serum hsCRP-D ≥ 3 mg/L and GOLD category D were independent predictors of readmission (hazard ratio = 3.486; 95% CI: 1.968-6.175; p < 0.001 and hazard ratio = 2.201; 95% CI: 1.342-3.610; p = 0.002, respectively). The ordering of the factor combinations by cumulative readmission risk, from highest to lowest, was as follows: hsCRP-D ≥ 3 mg/L and GOLD category D; hsCRP-D ≥ 3 mg/L and GOLD categories A-C; hsCRP-D < 3 mg/L and GOLD category D; hsCRP-D < 3 mg/L and GOLD categories A-C., Conclusions: Serum hsCRP-D and GOLD classification are independent predictors of readmission for AECOPD, and their predictive value increases when they are used in combination.

Introduction: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is an IgE-mediated non-infectious disease of the nasal mucosa following contact with allergens., Objective: To investigate the peripheral Th17 cells and CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 + regulatory T (Treg) cells and the expression of cytokines in the serum of AR patients., Methods: The peripheral blood of 14 patients with AR (AR group) and six healthy subjects (control group) was collected from March to May of 2012. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the Th17 cells and Treg cells, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the serum levels of IL-17 and TGF-β1., Results: The proportion of Th17 cells in the AR group was markedly higher than that in the control group (p < 0.01). The proportion of Treg cells in the AR group was also dramatically reduced when compared with the control group (p < 0.01). In the AR group, serum IL-17 levels were markedly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.01). In the AR group, serum TGF-β1 levels were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.01)., Conclusion: The imbalance of peripheral Th17/Treg cells plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AR.

Background: Activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7) is a type I receptor for the TGF-β superfamily and has recently been demonstrated to play an important role in the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis., Objective: To investigate the association of the ALK7 gene polymorphism with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular remodeling in MetS patients., Methods: The single nucleotide polymorphism rs13010956 in the ALK7 gene was genotyped in 351 Chinese subjects undergoing carotid and cardiac ultrasonography. The associations of the ALK7 gene polymorphism with the MetS phenotype, MetS parameters, and cardiovascular ultrasonic features were analyzed., Results: The rs13010956 polymorphism in the ALK7 gene was found to be significantly associated with the MetS phenotype in females (p < 0.05) and was also significantly associated with blood pressure in the total (p < 0.05) and female populations (p < 0.01). Further analysis revealed that rs13010956 was associated with mean intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries in females (p < 0.05). After control for body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and triglycerides, rs13010956 was also found to be significantly associated with left ventricular mass index in the total (p < 0.05) and female populations (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Our findings suggested that the ALK7 gene polymorphism rs13010956 was significantly associated with MetS risk in females and may be involved in cardiovascular remodeling in MetS patients.