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A set of biocompatible, biodegradable, and biofunctionalizable diffractive optical elements (DOEs) using silk proteins as the building materials is reported. The diffraction pattern of a DOE is highly sensitive to the surrounding environment and the structural integrity, offering numerous opportunities for biosensing applications.

Introduction Pre-eclampsia (PE) exerts more intense systemic inflammatory response than normal pregnancy. We have demonstrated that the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway may contribute to the relief of Pre-eclampsia through α 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor ( α 7 nAChR). Furthermore, choline, an essential nutrient that is meanwhile a selective α 7 nAChR agonist, has been proved to prevent LPS-induced preeclampsia symptoms in rats. Objectives The objective of the study was to examine the effects of choline, an essential nutrient that is meanwhile a selective α 7 nAChR agonist, on the prevention of symptoms and inflammatory responses of preeclampsia in rats. Methods Preeclampsia model was induced by lipopolysaccharide (1.0 μ g/kg) via tail vein injection on gestational day (GD) 14. Pregnant SD rats were placed on a supplemented (5.0 g/kg diet) or normal (1.1 g/kg diet) choline diet throughout gestation. All the rats were divided into 4 groups (P = normal pregnant +1.1 g/kg choline diet; P-CHOLINE = normal pregnant +5.0 g/kg choline diet; PE = LPS +1.1 g/kg choline diet; PE-CHOLINE = LPS +5.0 g/kg choline diet). Maternal blood and placentas were collected on GD20 and assayed for pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF- α , IL-1 β , IL-6, IL-2, IL-17, IFN- γ , GM-CSF) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10). Results LPS treatment significantly elevates maternal blood levels of TNF- α , IL-1 β , IL-6, IL-17, IFN- γ , GM-CSF and reduced the levels of IL-4. The blood levels of IL-2 and IL-10 show no significant differences between the P and PE group. Of interest, choline supplementation during pregnancy significantly inhibited LPS-induced release of TNF-a, IL-1 β , IL-6, IL-17, IFN- γ , except for GM-CSF , and increased the level of IL-4. Correspondingly, in placenta, the levels of TNF- α , IL-1 β , IL-6, IL-17, GM-CSF and IL-2 were significantly increased after LPS administration, while the level of IL-4 was significantly decreased. The placenta levels of IFN- γ and IL-10 show no significant differences between the P and PE group. Similarly, choline supplementation during pregnancy significantly attenuated LPS-induced TNF- α , IL-1 β , IL-6 and IL-17 concentrations, except for IL-2, meanwhile, increased the level of IL-4. Conclusions Choline supplementation during pregnancy prevents the LPS-induced symptoms and inflammatory responses of preeclampsia in rats. These observations have important implications for prevention of inflammatory responses in preeclampsia.

Introduction Pre-eclampsia is characterized by new-onset hypertension and proteinuria at ⩾20 weeks of gestation. Our previous study demonstrated that the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway may contribute to the relief of Pre-eclampsia through α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR). Choline, a selective α7 nAChR agonist, has recently been established as a promising treatment for inflammation. Objectives In order to examine the effects of gestational choline supplementation on LPS-induced pre-eclampsia symptoms in rats. Methods Pre-eclampsia model was induced by lipopolysaccharide (1.0 μ g/kg) via tail vein injection on gestational day (GD) 14. Pregnant SD rats were placed on a supplemented (5.0 g/kg diet) or normal (1.1 g/kg diet) choline diet throughout gestation. All the rats were divided into 4 groups (P = normal pregnant + 1.1 g/kg choline diet; P-CHOLINE = normal pregnant + 5.0 g/kg choline diet; LPS = LPS + 1.1 g/kg choline diet; LPS-CHOLINE = LPS +5.0 g/kg choline diet). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured on GD 6,11,14,16 and 18. On GD 7, 12, 17, and 19, urine is collected for 24 h urinary albumin excretion measurements. On GD 20, dams were all sacrificed. Pups were then removed, counted and weighed. Percent of resorbed and malformation fetuses were also counted. Placental weights were measured. Results An injection with LPS on GD 14 resulted in higher blood pressure (GD 14 = 105 ± 1.5 mmHg VS GD 16 = 127 ± 0.9 mmHg; GD 18 = 130 ± 1.1 mmHg, P Conclusions Thus, choline supplementation during pregnancy protects against LPS-induced pre-eclampsia. This may provide a new potential prevention strategy for pre-eclampsia.

Introduction A considerable number of studies have demonstrated that nicotine, a α 7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor ( α 7-nAChR) agonist, can dampen immune response through the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Evidence suggests that inflammation plays a critical role in eclampsia, which contributes to maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Objectives In the present study, possible anti-inflammation and neuro-protective effects of nicotine via α 7-nAChRs have been investigated after inducing eclampsia-like seizures in rats. Methods Rat eclampsia-like models were established by administering lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) in pregnant rats. Rats were given nicotine from gestation day (GD) 14–19. Then, clinical symptoms were detected. Seizure severity was recorded by behavioral tests, serum levels of inflammatory cytokines were measured by Luminex assays, microglia and astrocyte expressions were detected by immunofluorescence, and changes in neuronal number in the hippocampal CA1 region among different groups were detected by Nissl staining. Results Our results revealed that nicotine effectively improved fetal outcomes. Furthermore, it significantly decreased systolic blood pressure, and maternal serum levels of Th1 cytokines (TNF- α , IL-1 β , IL-6 and IL-12P70) and an IL-17 cytokine (IL-17A), dramatically increased Th1 cytokine (IL-4) and eclampsia-like seizure threshold. Moreover, this attenuated neuronal loss and decreased the expression of microglial activation markers of the hippocampal CA1 region in the eclampsia-like group. Additionally, pretreatment with α -bungarotoxin, a selective α 7-nAChR antagonist could prevent the protective effects of nicotine in eclampsia-like model rats. Conclusion Our findings indicate that the administration of nicotine may increase eclampsia-like seizure threshold and attenuate microglial activity in rat hippocampus through the α 7 nicotinic receptor.

To analysis the therapeutic procedure on the recurrent congenital fistula or cyst in lateral cervical part.Thirty-nine cases with recurrent congenital fistula or cyst in lateral cervical part were enrolled in this study including 12 cases from the first branchial cleft, 6 from the second branchial cleft and 21 from the third branchial cleft.All the cases underwent fistula or cyst excision for 2 to 5 times in their whole therapeutic process, not counting the incision and drainage. During 9 months to 17 years follow-up, fistula or cyst in 6 cases relapsed,including 1 fistula from the first branchial cleft,3 fistulae from the second branchial cleft, 1 fistula and 1 cyst from the third branchial cleft, respectively. One case with recurrent fistula from the first branchial cleft was diagnosed temporal verrucous carcinoma six months after the third fistula excision operation and died one year after the forth operation probably due to the intracranial metastasis of temporal bone verrucous carcinoma. In two cases, the fistulae went through the thyroid gland to the piriform fossa and both the fistulae and part of the thyroid glands were resected. In the patients whose inner orificium fistulae were found and ligated effectively,no recurrence occurred during the followed-up period.The key point to cure the recurrent congenital fistula or cyst in lateral cervical part lies in proper occasion of operation, stain tracing in operation and reasonable program of operation.

Background Mutations in SLC26A4, which encodes pendrin, are a common cause of deafness. SLC26A4 mutations are responsible for Pendred syndrome and non-syndromic enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA). The mutation spectrum of SLC26A4 varies widely among ethnic groups. To investigate the incidence of EVA in Chinese population and to provide appropriate genetic testing and counseling to patients with SLC26A4 variants, we conducted a large-scale molecular epidemiological survey of SLC26A4. Methods A total of 2352 unrelated non-syndromic hearing loss patients from 27 different regions of China were included. Hot spot regions of SLC26A4, exons 8, 10 and 19 were sequenced. For patients with one allelic variant in the hot spot regions, the other exons were sequenced one by one until two mutant alleles had been identified. Patients with SLC26A4 variants were then examined by temporal bone computed tomography scan for radiological diagnosis of EVA. Ten SLC26A4 variants were cloned for functional study. Confocal microscopy and radioisotope techniques were used to examine the membrane expression of pendrin and transporter function. Results Of the 86 types of variants found, 47 have never been reported. The ratio of EVA in the Chinese deaf population was at least 11%, and that in patients of Han ethnicity reached at least 13%. The mutational spectrum and mutation detection rate of SLC26A4 are distinct among both ethnicities and regions of Mainland China. Most of the variants caused retention of pendrin in the intracellular region. All the mutant pendrins showed significantly reduced transport capability. Conclusion An overall description of the molecular epidemiological findings of SLC26A4 in China is provided. The functional assessment procedure can be applied to identification of pathogenicity of variants. These findings are valuable for genetic diagnosis, genetic counseling, prenatal testing and pre-implantation diagnosis in EVA families.

Objectives Eclampsia is defined as the development of seizure during pregnancy or postpartum in patients with signs and symptoms of preeclampsia. In general, the hypothesis that inflammation contributes to seizures is supported by some studies. In this study we will observe the effects of Cyclosporin A (CsA) in an eclampsia-like rat model. Methods Rats were administered lipopolysaccharide (1.0 mg/kg) by tail vein injection on gestational day 14 to establish preeclampsia (PE). PE and control rats (non-pregnant, NP; normal-pregnant, P) were injected intraperitoneally with PTZ (40 mg/kg) to induce seizures. CsA (5 mg/kg) was injected in advance of PTZ into PE rats to observe its effect on PTZ-induced seizures. Results PTZ successfully induced seizure activity in all groups. Latency to seizure was significantly ( P P P α and IL-17 in the PE-PTZ groups, and decreased ( P Conclusions Cyclosporin A may act as immune-modulators and anti-inflammatory therapies to attenuate seizure on an eclampsia-like rat model. Disclosures B. Hu: None. H. Liu: None. Y. Liu: None. J. Bao: None. J. Yang: None. G. Zhang: None. S.P. Brennecke: None.

Background Thirty thousand infants are born every year with congenital hearing impairment in mainland China. Racial and regional factors are important in clinical diagnosis of genetic deafness. However, molecular etiology of hearing impairment in the Tibetan Chinese population living in the Tibetan Plateau has not been investigated. To provide appropriate genetic testing and counseling to Tibetan families, we investigated molecular etiology of nonsyndromic deafness in this population. Methods A total of 114 unrelated deaf Tibetan children from the Tibet Autonomous Region were enrolled. Five prominent deafness-related genes, GJB2, SLC26A4, GJB6, POU3F4, and mtDNA 12S rRNA, were analyzed. Inner ear development was evaluated by temporal CT. A total of 106 Tibetan hearing normal individuals were included as genetic controls. For radiological comparison, 120 patients, mainly of Han ethnicity, with sensorineural hearing loss were analyzed by temporal CT. Results None of the Tibetan patients carried diallelic GJB2 or SLC26A4 mutations. Two patients with a history of aminoglycoside usage carried homogeneous mtDNA 12S rRNA A1555G mutation. Two controls were homozygous for 12S rRNA A1555G. There were no mutations in GJB6 or POU3F4. A diagnosis of inner ear malformation was made in 20.18% of the Tibetan patients and 21.67% of the Han deaf group. Enlarged vestibular aqueduct, the most common inner ear deformity, was not found in theTibetan patients, but was seen in 18.33% of the Han patients. Common molecular etiologies, GJB2 and SLC26A4 mutations, were rare in the Tibetan Chinese deaf population. Conclusion The mutation spectrum of hearing loss differs significantly between Chinese Tibetan patients and Han patients. The incidence of inner ear malformation in Tibetans is almost as high as that in Han deaf patients, but the types of malformation vary greatly. Hypoxia and special environment in plateau may be one cause of developmental inner ear deformity in this population.

A highly efficient new fluoride absorbent was prepared by modification of sepiolite with an iron chloride. The effects of absorbent size, duration, pH, raw concentration, co-existing anions on removal efficiency of fluoride were investigated. The experiments indicated that Fe-Type Sepiolite is an effective fluoride absorbent with the removal efficiency above 95% by dosage of 2 g/100ml and duration of 40 min. The optimum range size of the absorbent is between the range of 0.–1.25 mm, and pH is partially sub acidity or neutral. Co-existing anions such as NO 3 − and SO 4 2− has a little Influence on adsorption of Fluoride. According to the analysis of adsorption isotherm and regeneration of Fe-Type Sepiolite, the mechanism of adsorbed fluoride is mainly by chemical adsorption.

microRNAs (miRNAs) are 20–24 nucleotide (nt) RNAs that regulate eukaryotic gene expression post-transcriptionally by the degradation or translational inhibition of their target messenger RNAs (mRNAs). To identify miRNA target genes will help a lot by understanding their biological functions. Sophisticated computational approaches for miRNA target prediction, and effective biological techniques for validating these targets now play a central role in elucidating their functions. Owing to the imperfect complementarity of animal miRNAs with their targets, it is difficult to judge the accuracy of the prediction. Complexity of regulation by miRNA-mediated targets at protein and mRNAs levels has made it more challenging to identify the targets. To date, only a few miRNAs targets are confirmed. In this article, we review the methods of miRNA target prediction and the experimental validation for their corresponding mRNA targets in animals.

BackgroundCoat protein complex I (COPI) vesicles, coated by seven coatomer subunits, are mainly responsible for Golgi-to-ER transport. Silkworm posterior silkgland (PSG), a highly differentiated secretory tissue, secretes fibroin for silk production, but many physiological processes in the PSG cells await further investigation.Methodology/principal findingsHere, to investigate the role of silkworm COPI, we cloned six silkworm COPI subunits (α, β, β', δ, ε, and ζ-COP), determined their peak expression in day 2 in fifth-instar PSG, and visualized the localization of COPI, as a coat complex, with cis-Golgi. By dsRNA injection into silkworm larvae, we suppressed the expression of α-, β'- and γ-COP, and demonstrated that COPI subunits were required for PSG tube expansion. Knockdown of α-COP disrupted the integrity of Golgi apparatus and led to a narrower glandular lumen of the PSG, suggesting that silkworm COPI is essential for PSG tube expansion.Conclusions/significanceThe initial characterization reveals the essential roles of silkworm COPI in PSG. Although silkworm COPI resembles the previously characterized coatomers in other organisms, some surprising findings require further investigation. Therefore, our results suggest the silkworm as a model for studying intracellular transport, and would facilitate the establishment of silkworm PSG as an efficient bioreactor.

Lines of waiting customers are always very long in most of banks. The essence of this phenomenon is the low efficiency of queuing system. In this paper, the queuing number, the service windows number and the optimal service rate are investigated by means of the queuing theory. In technology, the optimal problem of the bank queuing is solved. The time of customer queuing is reduced. The customer satisfaction is increased. It was proved that this optimal model of the queuing is feasible. By the example, the results are effective and practical.

The Internet represents a fundamentally different environment for businesses. It opens up the industry to increased competition and, as a result, reduces the likelihood of businesses retaining customers in the long run. So, it is important to analyze the relationship between customer values and customer retention in order to provide a guideline of successful e-business. The purpose of this paper is to answer the following questions. First, what are key components of customer value in e-business? Second, what influences the relationship between customer value and customer retention? Data collected from 520 effective respondents who made purchases through Internet shop were used to test a research model. Several managerial implications were derived from the analysis and further studies were suggested.

Agro-food Marketing is a complex task involving various stack-holders, products and business scenarios. In a developing country like china, this activity is influenced by local, socio-economic and cultural characteristics. While other complex but well-defined business processes are experiencing benefits of services driven e-business; 'marketing of agro-food' has remained untouched by this revolution. Unavailability of proper underlying IT infrastructure will continue to inhibit the implementation and penetration of such technological advancements amongst the users. In absence of such capability, the informal transactions provide meager benefits to a farmer who looses a better price in other potential market, or a wholesaler, who might have got the desired quality product at a lower cost directly from the farm. There is a need to develop affordable and reliable solution that links all the actors involved in the system and provide an environment for a competitive business. This research paper demonstrates Agro-food E- Marketing Framework, developed to aid marketing of agro-food. With the help of the Agro-food E-Marketing Framework, a trader can execute a complete trading business process. This paper also demonstrates a complete business process that is initiated by a farmer with a mobile PDA involving trade of an agro-food in the market place. buyers and sellers perspectives, conventional markets are not flexible enough to provide business of choice. (2) provides effective case study explaining how a traveler can select services from a large pool of options to integrate appropriate business functions in planning a travel. It typically reveals the concept of integrating Business Processes to achieve a desired functionality. A business process typically involves user preference collection, product suggestion, price negotiation, trade agreement, authentication, fee calculation and collection, transaction management and other required tasks. Coming back to agriculture marketing scenario, if agriculture markets also follow standard business conventions all over the nation, then agro-food marketing can also be covered in integrated business services. Web Service Orchestration is an active area of research, involving the efforts to improve Web Services composition for business quality performance, quality of service and security in business services. Our objective is to test these technological advancements in a fairly complex, real life problem. This paper argues that if existing penetration of mobile communication amongst the farmers is harnessed properly, they also can be covered in the process of successful implementation of e-business. This paper proposes an effective Agro-food E-Marketing Framework to realize the expected outcomes.

An increasing number of people are processing transactions online and the numbers are likely to increase rapidly in the near future. It is important to analyze the relationship between customer values of Electronic Commerce (E-customer value) and Repurchase Intention in order to provide a guideline of successful e-business. The purpose of this paper is to answer the following questions. First, what are key components of customer value in e-business? Second, what influences the relationship between customer value and Repurchase Intention? Data collected from 350 respondents who made purchases through Internet shop were used to test a research model. Managerial implications were derived from the analysis and further studies were suggested.

An increasing number of people are processing transactions online and the numbers are likely to increase rapidly in the near future. This research focuses on the major considerations interacting with online bank and systematically measures factors affecting customer's interactions with online bank services. The results showed that trusting beliefs had the strongest relationship for users' intention to process transaction online. The second important affecting factor of interaction intention is perceived usefulness, following by ease of use and perceived Security. The findings in this study are useful for online bank vendors to understand what factors affect customer's interactions with online bank so as to acquire and retain customers.

One of the most important benefits of ANN (artificial neural networks) is the free of the restrictions of the classic statistical techniques. Some literatures points to several limitations in multiple regressions that are overcome by ANN. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of ANN in customer satisfaction analysis and compares ANN and regression, based on data from a China company customer satisfaction survey. Based on the results of this study, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the application of ANN in customer satisfaction analysis is useful in identifying existing patterns in the data, and synergies between the drivers of satisfaction. The advantages of using ANN are highlighted and the managerial implications of ANN to identify the key drivers and set priorities for improvements are demonstrated.

Survival in a knowledge-based economy is derived from the ability to convert information to knowledge. To do so, researchers and managers are increasingly relying on the field of data mining. Data mining identifies and confirms relationships between explanatory and criterion variables. Data mining are increasingly popular because of the substantial contributions they can make in converting information to knowledge. Marketing is among the most frequent applications of the techniques, and whether you think about product development, advertising, distribution and retailing, or marketing research and business intelligence, data mining increasingly are being applied. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of data mining, summarize how it impact on knowledge creation in marketing, and suggest future developments in marketing and data mining for both organizations and researchers.

"Customer retention" is an increasingly pressing issue in today's ever-competitive commercial arena. This is especially relevant and important for sales and services related industries. This paper focus on constructing a new customer retention framework based on BP ANN (artificial neural network) and survival analysis. The new customer retention framework constituted of two parts, one is the BP ANN survival analysis model which integrates ANN technology and survival analysis to predict customer likelihood of defection and estimating customer value, the other is CLV (customer lifetime value) & CSP (customer survival phase) segment model which segment customer into different cluster to target high value, retainable customer. Effective actions triggered by these models could be the key to eventual customer retention. The empirical analysis is based on 23560 customers selected from the data warehouse of a large Chinese telecommunications company. This paper also suggests some propositions for further research.

"Customer Segmentation" is an increasingly pressing issue in today's over-competitive commercial arena. More and more literatures have researched the application of data mining technology in customer segmentation, and achieved sound effectives. But most of them segment customer only by single data mining technology from a special point, rather than from a systematical framework. Furthermore, one of the key purposes of customer segmentation is customer retention. Although previous segment methods may identify which group needs more care, it is unable to identify customer churn trend for adopting different action. This paper focus on proposing a customer segmentation framework based on data mining and constructs a new customer segmentation method based on customer survival character. The new customer segmentation method constituted of two steps. Firstly, using K-means clustering arithmetic cluster customer into different segments which has the similar survival function (churn trend) inside. Secondly, the method uses survival analysis to predict each cluster's survival/hazard function to test the validity of clustering and identify customer churn trend. The method mentioned above was applied in a dataset from China Telecommunications Company, which result proposes some useful management measures and suggestions. This paper also suggests some propositions for further research.

A number of hospitals in Shanghai are piloting the development of an EHR solution based on a grid concept with a service-oriented architecture (SOA). The first phase of the project targets the Diagnostic Imaging domain and allows seamless sharing of images and reports across the multiple hospitals. The EHR solution is fully aligned with the IHE XDS-I integration profile and consists of the components of the XDS-I Registry, Repository, Source and Consumer actors. By using SOA, the solution uses ebXML over secured http for all transactions with in the grid. However, communication with the PACS and RIS is DICOM and HL7 v3.x. The solution was installed in three hospitals and one date center in Shanghai and tested for performance of data publication, user query and image retrieval. The results are extremely positive and demonstrate that the EHR solution based on SOA with grid concept can scale effectively to server a regional implementation.

Previous studies have focused on a lot of aspects of CRM (Customer Relationship Management). However, there is a severe lack of research that takes a focus on the relationship between competitive advantage and CRM, especially current CRM involving more and more data mining technology to enhance its function. CRM competence is very important source for enterprises to build and sustain competitive advantage. With the extensive application CRM, enterprises have accumulated plenty of customer data. DM (Data Mining), a useful technology extracting knowledge from complicated customer data, is helpful to identify customer demand accurately and promote customer value effectively. This paper explains how CRM competence can help enterprises gaining and sustaining competitive advantage from three different views, and discuses that DM is kernel function in CRM to help enterprises understand and insight their customers. The relationship between competitive advantage and CRM based on DM proposed by this paper is able to instruct management decision-making and help business enterprises obtaining and maintaining competitive advantage.

Objectives To investigate the clinical significance of TFPI-I and other coagulation factor (FII:C, FV:C, FVII:C, FVIII:C, FIX:C, FX:C, FXI:C, FXII:C) in women with placental abruption. Methods We used ELISA and clotting assays to examine the changes of TFPI-I and coagulation factors (FII:C, FV:C, FVII:C, FVIII:C, FIX:C, FX:C, FXI:C, FXII:C) in 5 women with placental abruption compared to 5 age-matched, healthy controls with normal vaginal deliveries. Results The levels of TFPI-1 (18.37 ± 2.61 ng/ml), FV:C (126.63 ± 36.27) and FX:C (117.11 ± 38.75) in placental abruption group were significantly lower than those in the control group (34.63 ± 2.09 ng/ml) (246.41 ± 93.02) (191.73 ± 47.36) ( P Conclusions Reduced activities of TFPI-1, FV:C, and FX:C in placental abruption may play an important role in the coagulation dysfunction of placental abruption. Disclosures J. Yang: None. Y. Gao: None. Y. Jiang: None. G. Zhang: None. H. Liu: None.

Objectives The aim of this study was to establish the physiologic changes of coagulation factors (FII:C, FV:C, FVII:C, FVIII:C, FIX:C, FX:C, FXI:C, FXII:C) during pregnancy and delivery period. Methods We investigated the blood samples of 100 pregnant women during each trimester of pregnancy and different delivery periods (before placental separation, during placental separation, 2 h after placental separation, and 24 h after placental separation). We measured serum concentrations of factors FII:C, FV:C, FVII:C, FVIII:C, FIX:C, FX:C, FXI:C and FXII:C. Results The FVII:C and FIX:C showed downward trends in the early stages of pregnancy ( P P P P P P Conclusions The marked change of FVII:C during and after placental separation is essential for the rapid hemostasis during delivery, which supports the coagulation factor FVII:C as an effective agent for intractable postpartum hemorrhage. Disclosures Y. Gao: None. J. Yang: None. G. Zhang: None. Y. Jiang: None. H. Liu: None.

Objectives Eclampsia is an acute and life threatening multisystem disorder, which may predisposes the brain to edema formation and increase the electric activity of neurons. Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) can function as water-channels and aquaporin 9 (AQP9) as neutral channel. We hypothesized that these AQPs in brain are associated with the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Methods To test this hypothesis, we used our previous eclampsia-like model and compared localization (immunohistochemistry, IHC), mRNA (QRT-PCR), and protein levels (Western analysis) of AQP4 and AQP9 in hippocampus from Sprague Dawley rats that were non-pregnant (NP), normal pregnant rats (P); preeclampsia rats (PE) and eclampsia-like rats (E). Results IHC confirmed the presence of these proteins in the hippocampus. Western analysis revealed that the major AQP4 band at 32 kDa and AQP9 band at 33 kDa. AQPs were significantly elevated in PE and E group compared with NP and P rats. Both AQP4 and AQP9 mRNA were detected in the tissue of all the animals. AQPs mRNA increased in PE rats and got even higher after seizure. Conclusions This study suggests that the higher levels of AQPs in the brain during preeclampsia may predispose the brain to edema formation and increase the electric activity of neurons. These changes during preeclampsia may result in eclampsia. The AQPs expression is higher in preeclampsia rats and further increasing in eclampsia model, suggesting that AQPs may play a role in the pathological of preeclamsia. Disclosures Q. Huang: None. H. Liu: None. J. Bao: None. G. Zhang: None. B. Hu: None. S.P. Brennecke: None.

AIM: To analyze risk factors for refractoriness to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in patients with non-erosive reflux disease (NERD). METHODS: A total of 256 NERD patients treated with the PPI esomeprazole were enrolled. They were classified into symptom-free and residual symptoms groups according to Quality of Life in Reflux and Dyspepsia (QolRad) scale. All subjects completed questionnaires on psychological status (self-rating anxiety scale; self-rating depression scale) and quality of life scale (Short Form 36). Multivariate analysis was used to determine the predictive factors for PPI responses. RESULTS: According to QolRad, 97 patients were confirmed to have residual reflux symptoms, and the remaining 159 patients were considered symptom free. There were no significant differences between the two groups in lifestyle factors (smoking and alcohol consumption), age, Helicobacter pylori infection, and hiatal hernia. There were significant differences between the two groups in relation to sex, psychological distress including anxiety and depression, body mass index (BMI), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis found that BMI < 23, comorbid IBS, anxiety, and depression were major risk factors for PPI resistance. Symptomatic patients had a lower quality of life compared with symptom-free patients. CONCLUSION: Some NERD patients are refractory to PPIs and have lower quality of life. Residual symptoms are associated with psychological distress, intestinal disorders, and low BMI.