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Chinese horse bean-chili-paste (CHCP) is a very popular semi-solid condiment with centuries of history in southwestern China. The consumption and international trade have ascended sharply in the past few years; CHCP industry, however, is facing the challenges of modernization and standardization for the product quality and safety. In the current review, an overview of the traditional fermentation procedures and characteristics, together with the present research progress on flavor chemistry, microbial diversity and succession, and mycotoxin detection and control methods of CHCP is presented. Furthermore, application techniques and requirements for future study needs and industrial improvement are proposed. Here, the detailed and systematic review could lay a foundation for conferring enhanced organoleptic attributes, improving food safety, and also achieving intelligent production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reveal the residual distribution pattern and obtain a wide range of high-accurate vertical movement field, we systematically analyzed the joint geodetic adjustment with vertical rate parameters (denoted as joint adjustment) issues based on the simulated and actual multi-source vertical data. First of all, 1000 sets of simulated leveling data containing rand noise were constructed and processed. The corresponding adjustment results show that network shape and observation interval are two main factors affecting the reliability of the vertical rates. Particularly, vertical rates of the small loops, internal points and loops with longer intervals are prior to those of large loops, edge points and loops with short intervals, respectively. Subsequently, we developed a Helmert adjustment program, which can jointly process leveling data and space geodetic data. Compared with the single leveling data adjustment (SLDA), the joint adjustment results of leveling data and 500 geodetic observations (including 2–4 mm/yr errors) demonstrate that the Helmert adjustment can reduce the residual distribution range by roughly 46%. Finally, both SLDA and Helmert methods are applied to actual survey data in eastern China. We find that the error of the latter approach is decreased by about 48% compared with the former. In summary, the Helmert adjustment method can significantly improve the reliability and accuracy of vertical movement in large area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From my eighteen years of work at China' s Ministry of Commerce, of which over a dozen years on China WTO cases, from the first-ever U.S.-Steel Safeguards to most of the important cases, I try to provide in this article a general understanding in China: WTO dispute settlement system is a peaceful and an effective way to solve trade issues between China and other WTO members, and China is becoming more and more confident in this system as it is experiencing more and more cases. The 'evidence' is found in training courses and seminars on the WTO in the early days, its first 'exciting' case, the first five 'quiet' years, the second five 'noisy' years, and the subsequent 'normal' years. It concludes by introducing the group of people working in this area, pointing out the significance of these cases, i.e., the rule of law in China, and expecting a better future for both China and the WTO with academic research and school teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the GNSS data processing results from the Sichuan area, following conclusions are obtained : ➀ Before the Ms 8. 0 earthquake in Wenchuan, there was almost no dextral strike-slip ac tivity distinguished or compressional deformation on the Longmenshan fault zone and nearly 150 km north of it, and was deformation distinguished in the area of 100 kms west of Sichuan Basin--the Xianshuihe Anninghe Fault. ➁ Between the Ms 8. 0 earthquake in Wenchuan and Ms 7. 0 earthquake in Lushan, there was about a 5 mm/a dextral strike-slip activity in the middle and northern sections of the Longmenshan fault zone, with no 3D deformation distinguished in and near the seismic source region. Meanwhile the sinistral deformation increased on the Xianshuihe Anninghe fault and east of the zone. ➂ The co-seismic deformation field of the Lushan earthquake was basically distributed for 10 kilometers around the seismic source region, with an epicenter bounded,on the east side as a dextral deformation, on the west side with a sinistral deformation. ➃ LS05 was about 12 km to the epicenter; the permanent vertical displacement momentum was around 7 cm, with a horizontal thrust momentum of about 4 cm, the horizontal strike-slip was about 5 cm from the station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese horse bean-chili-paste (CHCP), a fermented condiment in China, is traditionally manufactured through naturally spontaneous semi-solid fermentation procedures without intentionally inoculated microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect on microbiota and quality variations during CHCP fermentation by inoculation of selected autochthonous microorganisms Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Candida versatilis. The results showed that relative abundance of Bacillus in the samples inoculated with B. amyloliquefaciens were increased from about 0.6% to almost 25%, and the batches bio-augmented with C. versatilis exhibited clearly 0.7 Lg copies/g higher biomass than that of the other samples. By bio-augmentation, six enzyme activities, namely acid protease, leucine aminopeptidase, α -amylase, cellulose, β -glucosidase and esterase, were considerably enhanced. As a result, inoculation of these two strains exhibited significant effect on the volatile profiles of CHCP. B. amyloliquefaciens herein was found to contribute mainly to the accumulation of acids, sulfur-containing compounds and pyrazines, whereas C. versatilis was considerably associated with the formation of alcohols, esters and phenols. This study proved that combination of B. amyloliquefaciens and C. versatilis could obtain more extensive aroma profiles, especially for the enrichment of miso -like and fruity flavors, which could provide a guideline for the tailored control of CHCP fermentation process. • B. amyloliquefaciens and C. versatilis could produce miso - and fruity-like aroma. • Microbial community dynamics were surveyed by qPCR and high-throughput sequencing. • B. amyloliquefaciens and C. versatilis remarkably enhanced six enzyme activities. • Combination of the two strains could complement each other for aroma formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Both thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulins immunoassay (TSI IA) and thyrotrophin receptor antibody immunoassay (TRAb IA) are commonly used for the diagnosis of Graves' disease (GD). The aim of the present study was to compare the clinical diagnostic performance of these two methods., Methods: Sera were obtained from 1103 subjects presenting a variety of clinical conditions from three centers: 100 subjects with untreated GD, 200 with treated GD, 62 with autoimmune thyroid disease(AIT), 216 with other thyroid diseases (OTHER-T), 214 with non-thyroid autoimmune diseases (NTAD), 191 with other diseases (OD), and 120 healthy subjects (HS). Both TSI and TRAb IAs were performed for all 1013 serum samples. Bioassay was performed for 86 samples whose TSI results were inconsistent the TRAb assay results., Results: Comparing untreated GD patients with the control groups (AIT, NTAD, OTHER-T, OD, and HS) resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.992 for the TSI IA and 0.989 for the TRAb IA with no statistically significant difference observed between these AUC values (P = 0.2733). The best TSI CDP (clinical decision point) value was 0.42 IU/L. The differences in sensitivity (100% vs. 95%, P = 0.7991) and specificity (97.1% vs. 97.6%, P = 0.9426) between the TSI and TRAb IA were not statistically significant. TSI IA had a higher agreement with the TSI bioassay than TRAb IA., Conclusion: The clinical diagnostic performance of the TSI IA for diagnosing Graves' disease was very similar to that of the TRAb IA. TSI IA can be used to diagnose GD in the Chinese.

Background Thyroid hormone levels are essential for diagnosing and monitoring thyroid diseases. However, their reference intervals (RIs) in elderly Chinese individuals remain unclear. We aimed to identify factors affecting thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxine (FT4) levels using clinical "big data" to establish hormone level RIs for elderly Chinese individuals. Methods We examined 6781, 6772, and 6524 subjects aged ≥65 years who underwent FT3, FT4, and TSH tests, respectively, at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital between September 1, 2013, and August 31, 2016. Hormones were measured using an automated immunoassay analyzer (ADVIA Centaur XP). RIs were established using the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute document C28-A3 guidelines. Results The median TSH was significantly higher in women than in men; the opposite was true for median FT3 and FT4 levels. No differences were observed in TSH or FT4 by age in either sex or overall; FT3 levels significantly decreased with age. Seasonal differences were observed in TSH and FT3 levels but not FT4 levels; the median TSH was the highest in winter and lowest in summer, whereas the median FT3 was the lowest in summer (albeit not significantly). RIs for TSH were 0.53-5.24 and 0.335-5.73 mIU/L for men and women, respectively; those for FT3 were 3.76-5.71, 3.60-5.42, and 3.36-5.27 pmol/L in 64- to 74-, 75- to 84-, and 85- to 96-year-old subjects, respectively. The RI for FT4 was 11.70-20.28 pmol/L. Conclusions RIs for TSH in elderly individuals were sex specific, whereas those for FT3 were age specific.

Purpose: To identify the potential candidate genes for a large Chinese family with autosomal dominant congenital cataract (ADCC) and nystagmus, and investigate the possible molecular mechanism underlying the role of the candidate genes in cataractogenesis., Methods: We combined the linkage analysis and direct sequencing for the candidate genes in the linkage regions to identify the causative mutation. The molecular and bio-functional properties of the proteins encoded by the candidate genes was further explored with biophysical and biochemical studies of the recombinant wild-type and mutant proteins., Results: We identified a c. C749T (p.Q227X) transversion in exon 6 of CRYBB1 , a cataract-causative gene. This nonsense mutation changes a phylogenetically conserved glutamine to a stop codon and is predicted to truncate the C-terminus of the wild-type protein by 26 amino acids. Comparison of the biophysical and biochemical properties of the recombinant full-length and truncated βB1-crystallins revealed that the mutation led to the insolubility and the phase separation phenomenon of the truncated protein with a changed conformation. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of the truncated βB1-crystallin was significantly decreased, and the mutation diminished the chaperoning ability of αA-crystallin with the mutant under heating stress., Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of the C-terminus in βB1-crystallin in maintaining the crystalline function and stability, and provide a novel insight into the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of human autosomal dominant congenital cataract.

Purpose: Two genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified several new acute leukemia susceptibility loci in populations of European descent. However, the roles of these loci in the development of acute leukemia in other populations are largely unknown., Methods: We genotyped 16 single-nucleotide polymorphisms selected from published GWASs in an independent case-control study with a total of 545 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases and 1034 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between these variants and AML risk., Results: We found that with the similar effect to GWASs, risk alleles of rs2191566, rs9290663, rs11155133, rs2239633, rs10821936, and rs2242041 significantly increased the risk of AML in at least one genetic model [odds ratios (ORs) range from 1.26 to 4.34, P values range from <0.001 to 0.043]. However, the variant T allele of rs10873876 decreased the AML risk, which was in the opposite effect direction (OR 0.62, P < 0.001 in additive model). Besides, we found significant multiplicative interaction between rs9290663 and age (≤45 years old and >45 years old; P = 0.009)., Conclusion: Our results indicated that genetic variants associated with acute leukemia risk in European populations may also play important roles in AML development in Chinese population.

An avian-like H3N2 influenza A virus (IAV) has recently caused sporadic canine influenza outbreaks in China and Korea, but the molecular mechanisms involved in the interspecies transmission of H3N2 IAV from avian to canine species are not well understood. Sequence analysis showed that residue 222 in haemagglutinin (HA) is predominantly tryptophan (W) in the closely related avian H3N2 IAV, but was leucine (L) in canine H3N2 IAV. In this study, reassortant viruses rH3N2-222L (canine-like) and rH3N2-222W (avian-like) with HA mutation L222W were generated using reverse genetics to evaluate the significance of the L222W mutation on receptor binding and host tropism of H3N2 IAV. Compared with rH3N2-222W, rH3N2-222L grew more rapidly in MDCK cells and had significantly higher infectivity in primary canine tracheal epithelial cells. Tissue-binding assays demonstrated that rH3N2-222L had a preference for canine tracheal tissues rather avian tracheal tissues, whereas rH3N2-222W favoured slightly avian rather canine tracheal tissues. Glycan microarray analysis suggested both rH3N2-222L and rH3N2-222W bound preferentially to α2,3-linked sialic acids. However, the rH3N2-222W had more than twofold less binding affinity than rH3N2-222L to a set of glycans with Neu5Aca2-3Galb1-4(Fuca-)-like or Neu5Aca2-3Galb1-3(Fuca-)-like structures. These data suggest the W to L mutation at position 222 of the HA could facilitate infection of H3N2 IAV in dogs, possibly by increasing the binding affinities of the HA to specific receptors with Neu5Aca2-3Galb1-4(Fuca-) or Neu5Aca2-3Galb1-3(Fuca-)-like structures that are present in dogs.

Congenital cataract is a highly heterogeneous disorder at both the genetic and the clinical-phenotypic levels. A unique cataract was observed in a 4-generation Chinese family, which was characterized by autosomal dominant inheritance and late-onset. Mutations in the 13 known genes (CRYAA, CRYAB, CRYBB1, CRYBB2, CRYGC, CRYBA1/A3, CRYGD, Connexin50, Connexin46, intrinsic membrane protein LIM2, cytoskeletal protein BFSP2, the major intrinsic protein-MIP and the heat shock factor HSF4) have previously been demonstrated to be the frequent reason for isolated congenital cataracts, but the exact molecular basis and underlying mechanisms of congenital cataract still remain unclear. This study was designed to find whether these 13 genes developed any mutation in the family members and to identify the disease-causing gene. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct DNA sequence analysis were carried out to detect the 13 genes. The results showed that no mutation causing amino acid alternations was found in these potential candidate genes among all patients in the family, and only several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. A transitional mutation in the fourth intron of CRYBB2 and some silent mutations in the first exon of BFSP2 and CRYGD were found in the cataract family, but further study showed that these mutations could also be found in normal controls. It was concluded that some unidentified genes may underlie the occurrence of late-onset cataract in this family. A genome-wide screening will be carried out in the next study.

Background: Retinitis pigmentosa is the most important hereditary retinal degenerative disease, which has a high degree of clinical and genetic heterogeneity. More than half of all cases of retinitis pigmentosa are autosomal recessive (arRP), but the gene(s) causing arRP in most families has yet to be identified. The purpose of this study is to identify the genetic basis of severe arRP in a consanguineous Chinese family., Methods: Linkage and haplotype analyses were used to define the chromosomal location of the pathogenic gene in the Chinese arRP family. Direct DNA sequence analysis of the entire coding region and exon-intron boundaries of EYS was used to determine the disease-causing mutation, and to demonstrate that the mutation co-segregates with the disease in the family., Results: A single nucleotide substitution of G to T at nucleotide 5506 of EYS was identified in the Chinese arRP family. This change caused a substitution of a glutamic acid residue at codon 1,836 by a stop codon TAA (p.E1836X), and resulted in a premature truncated EYS protein with 1,835 amino acids. Three affected siblings in the family were homozygous for the p.E1836X mutation, while the other unaffected family members carried one mutant allele and one normal EYS allele. The nonsense mutation p.E1836X was not detected in 200 unrelated normal controls., Conclusions: The EYS gene is a recently identified disease-causing gene for retinitis pigmentosa, and encodes the orthologue of Drosophila spacemaker. To date, there are only eight mutations in EYS that have been identified to cause arRP. Here we report one novel homozygous nonsense mutation of EYS in a consanguineous Chinese arRP family. Our study represents the first independent confirmation that mutations in EYS cause arRP. Additionally, this is the first EYS mutation identified in the Chinese population.

Bortezomib has proven to be active in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), including elderly patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of bortezomib in combination with intermediate-dose dexamethasone (Dex) and thalidomide in untreated MM patients aged > or =65 years in a Chinese single center. In this study, 18 patients were treated with bortezomib at 1.3 mg/m(2) IV on Days 1, 4, 8, and 11 and Dex at 20 mg/day IV on Days 1-4 and 8-11 simultaneously. Thalidomide at dose of 100 mg/day was given everyday. The mean number of cycles of bortezomib treatment was 2.06. Three patients (17%) achieved a complete response (CR), four (22%) a very good partial response (VGPR), and nine (50%) a PR, resulting in an overall response rate of 89%. The median time to response was 22 days (range 14-50 days). The duration of response was significantly longer in patients achieving a CR/VGPR with respect to those achieving only a PR (8.5 vs. 4.2 months, P = 0.03). Grade 3-4 toxicities occurring in patients comprised weakness, thrombocytopenia, diarrhea, infection, and neuropathy. Only one patient suffered from deep vein thrombosis. This preliminary experience in Chinese patients indicated that bortezomib-Dex-thalidomide is highly effective in elderly untreated patients with MM, even in patients with poor prognostic features., ((c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Using next-generation sequencing technology alone, we have successfully generated and assembled a draft sequence of the giant panda genome. The assembled contigs (2.25 gigabases (Gb)) cover approximately 94% of the whole genome, and the remaining gaps (0.05 Gb) seem to contain carnivore-specific repeats and tandem repeats. Comparisons with the dog and human showed that the panda genome has a lower divergence rate. The assessment of panda genes potentially underlying some of its unique traits indicated that its bamboo diet might be more dependent on its gut microbiome than its own genetic composition. We also identified more than 2.7 million heterozygous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the diploid genome. Our data and analyses provide a foundation for promoting mammalian genetic research, and demonstrate the feasibility for using next-generation sequencing technologies for accurate, cost-effective and rapid de novo assembly of large eukaryotic genomes.