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Limited data are available on long-term outcomes and health status in the treatment of in-stent coronary chronic total occlusion (IS-CTO) and de novo coronary chronic total occlusion (de novo CTO). This study compared the long-term clinical outcomes and health status of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with IS-CTO versus patients with de novo CTO in the drug-eluting stent era. We screened 483 consecutive patients with 1 CTO lesion, including 81 patients with IS-CTO and 402 patients with de novo CTO. Propensity score matching was used to balance baseline characteristics between the 2 groups. The clinical end point was major adverse cardiac events (MACE). The success rates of CTO lesion revascularization were similar in both groups. In the propensity score-matched patients, after a median follow-up of 36 months, MACE was observed in 32.8% of patients with IS-CTO versus 13.5% of the patients with de novo CTO ( P < .001), mainly driven by target-vessel revascularization (21.9% vs 6.7%; P < .01). Moreover, patients with IS-CTO had significantly worse Seattle Angina Questionnaire anginal stability scores than the patients with de novo CTO. In conclusion, patients with IS-CTO after PCI had a worse clinical outcome, mainly MACE, and a poorer anginal stability in the long term than patients with de novo CTO. more...

Introduction To explore the accumulated evidence concerning the effect of intensive blood pressure control on the incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and macular edema (ME). Methods A number of electronic databases were searched including PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, conferences and proceedings. Randomized controlled trials comparing intensive blood pressure targets with conventional blood pressure targets in patients with type 2 diabetes were included. The definition of intensive versus conventional blood pressure targets was from the pertinent original studies. Meta-analyses and trial sequential analyses of randomized trials were analyzed in STATA. Results Eight trials randomizing 6989 patients were assessed and reviewed in full text; 3749 vs. 3240 were in each arm (intensive vs. conventional). All trials had a low risk of bias. Intensive blood pressure control supported a 17% reduction in the incidence of DR (relative risk 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.72–0.95). Trial sequential analyses confirmed that sufficient evidence indicated a relative risk reduction above 17% for the incidence of DR when intensive blood pressure control was targeted. Heterogeneity was absent (I2 = 0%; P = 0.56). No statistically significant effect was found for intensive blood pressure targeting on the progress of DR (relative risk 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.81–1.08). TSA showed that insufficient evidence had been found, although the Z value line appeared to have a tendency of approaching the futility boundaries. There were also no statistically significant effects on the incidence of PDR and ME (TSA-adjusted CI 0.84–1.12). Conclusion Intensive blood pressure control reduced the relative risk of incidence of DR by 17%. The available data were insufficient to prove or refute a relative risk reduction for the progression of DR or incidence of PDR and ME at a magnitude of 15%. more...

Purpose: To investigate whether oxymatrine (OMT) prevents hepatic fibrosis in rats by regulating liver transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) level. Methods: Hepatic fibrosis was induced in rats by thioacetamide (TAA). Blood was collected at the end of week 12 to determine the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and glutathione (GSH). Changes in liver tissue were observed after hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Results: Fibrosis was confirmed by Masson’s collagen staining. Liver TGF-β1 level was determined by ELISA. OMT significantly reduced serum ALT and AST but increased GSH levels in rats with hepatic fibrosis. Moreover, it significantly improved liver histology in rats with TAA-induced hepatic fibrosis. It significantly decreased liver TGF-β1 level compared to that in the untreated group. It also significantly reduced collagen deposition in rats. Conclusion: Oxymatrine is effective in protecting rats from thioacetamide-induced hepatic fibrosis by regulating TGF-β1 expression. more...

Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes are prone to the asymptomatic obstructive coronary artery disease (AO-CAD). The association of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) with AO-CAD is unknown. The aim of the study is to explore the specific relationship of PDR with AO-CAD. Methods: We performed coronary angiography and retinal photographs in 1332 participants with unknown CAD status in a retrospective discovery set and 252 patients with non-CAD enrolled in a prospective validation cohort. Main outcome measures are prediction of PDR to AO-CAD. Results: In the case–control retrospective discovery set, investigation included 211 nondiabetic retinopathy (NDR) and 140 PDR. Individuals with PDR had a 2.16 times higher risk of AO-CAD compared with individuals without diabetic retinopathy (P more...

To investigate whether resistin is associated with early atherosclerosis in male smokers. The present study consecutively enrolled 50 male smokers. Their serum resistin contents were detected with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and subclinical atherosclerosis indices, including carotid inner middle thickness (IMT) and arterial elasticity indices (C1 and C2), were measured. The association between serum resistin levels and IMT, C1 and C2 were respectively evaluated with the Pearson's correlation coefficient method. The results showed that the serum resistin level had a positive association with IMT (r = 0.307, p = .030), but were both inversely associated with C1 (r = -0.440, p = .001) and C2 (r = -0.381, p = .006). These associations remained significant even after adjustment for cardiovascular confounders. In conclusion, serum resistin concentration was independently associated with early atherosclerosis in male smokers. more...

Objective It has been confirmed that adipokines are associated with atherosclerosis. Cigarette smoking was found to possibly influence adipokine secretion. However, the precise role of smoking in adipokine secretion and the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether nicotine, the principal active ingredient of cigarettes, can influence adipokine secretion and its potential mechanism. Methods The present study consecutively enrolled 96 men, including 50 smokers with early atherosclerosis and 46 nonsmokers. Serum adipokines, including leptin, resistin, and visfatin, were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in all participants. Furthermore, the effect of nicotine on secretion of these adipokines was examined in differentiated 3T3-L1 preadipocytes under the conditions of ATP-dependent potassium (KATP) channel blocked or unblocked. Results Compared with the control group, serum levels of leptin, resistin, and visfatin in smokers were significantly higher. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, nicotine treatment significantly increased the levels of these adipokines ( P = 0.014, 0.001, and 0.029, respectively). When the KATP channel was blocked, secretion of resistin and visfatin was reduced ( P P = 0.522). Conclusions Nicotine may affect the secretion of adipokines leptin, resistin, and visfatin through activation of KATP channel. more...

Background The aim of this study was to examine the associations between the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of interleukin-17 (IL-17), including rs763780 (7488A/G), rs2275913 (–197G/A), and rs8193036 (–737C/T), and asthma susceptibility in an Asian population. Material/Methods From Oct 2013 to Dec 2014, 125 asthma patients enrolled in our hospital were selected as the case group. Another 132 healthy controls undergoing physical examinations in our hospital were enrolled as the control group. The genotype frequencies of IL-17 rs763780, rs2275913 and rs8193036 SNPs were detected using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Comprehensive Meta-analysis 2.0 (CMA 2.0) software was applied for meta-analysis. Results Our results demonstrated that asthma patients presented with higher frequencies of GA genotype in rs2275913 and TT genotype in rs8193036 of IL-17 than healthy controls (both P0.05). The comparisons on the rs2275913 and rs8193036 frequencies between the asthma patients and healthy controls were statistically significant in both allele and addictive models (all P0.05). The overall results of our case-control study were further confirmed by meta-analysis. Conclusions Our results revealed that, in an Asian population, IL-17 rs763780, rs2275913, and rs8193036 SNPs may be associated with asthma susceptibility, and GA genotype in rs2275913 and TT genotype in rs8193036 of IL-17 may contribute to increased risk of asthma in Asians. more...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate clinical implications of changes in red cell distribution width (RDW) and mean plateletvolume (MPV) in patients with acute myocardial infarction. METHODS: A total of 127 patients (90 men and 37 women) were enrolled in this analysis, including 66 with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 61 with unstable angina (UA). The patients'baseline demographic and clinical data were compared between the two groups including age, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, BMI, blood biochemical profiles, cardiac functions and platelet and red blood cell parameters. The patients were further divided into subgroups according to the RDW 50% cumulative frequency, and the MPV, P-LCR, hsCRP, NT-proBNP, RBC, Dimer and MCV were compared. The correlations between platelet and erythrocyte test results were evaluated in both the AMI and UA patients. Regression analysis was performed to identify the factors affecting the RDW in the AMI group and aregression model was established. RESULTS: The platelet and red blood cell test results, P-LCR, MPV, and RDW differed significantly between AMI and UA groups (P < 0.01 or 0.05). Correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between RDW and MPV in AMI group (r=0.34, P < 0.01). Between the subgroups with different RDW 50% cumulative frequencies, MPV, P-LCR, hsCRP, D-Dimer, and NT-proBNP all differed significantly (P < 0.05 or 0.01). In AMI group, with RDW as the dependent variable, we established a multivariate regression model of RDW=0.19MPV+10.83. CONCLUSION: RDW and MPV are closely correlated in patients with AMI. In multiple regression analysis, MPV can explain the changes in RDW in patients with AMI. more...

Software reliability is one of the most important quality indices in software quality evaluation. Reliability analysis based on software architecture has become a researching hotspot. This paper makes a review on existed architecture-based reliability evaluation models, and puts forward the shortage of these models. As petri net has a good ability of description for concurrency and asynchronism, this paper focuses on the research of petri net model. Transitions are divided into time transitions and instantaneous transitions. Time-related reliability, including time-delay reliability and temporal reliability, are added. Then the reachable state transition matrix is set up and system reliability evaluation proceeds. The method above is used into a avionics embedded software. At last we accomplish the architecture modeling, reliability evaluation, proving the effectiveness and feasibility of this method. more...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a gemcitabine plus platinum (GP) regimen combined with dendritic cell-cytokine induced killer (DC-CIK) immunotherapy on the recurrence and survival rate in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients (n=157) with stage III NSCLC that had received surgery were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group. The control group was administered with a GP regimen and the observation group received GP chemotherapy that was based on DC-CIK cell immunotherapy in addition to SC-CIK cell immunotherapy here. The two groups were followed up for 36 months and their postoperative cellular immune function, disease-free survival time, cumulative recurrence rate and cumulative survival rate was analyzed. The percentages of CD3+CD4+ T lymphocytes, natural killer cells and the CD4/CD8 ratio were identified to be significantly increased following treatment compared with those observed prior to treatment in the control and observation groups; conversely, the CD3+CD8+ T lymphocyte percentage decreased significantly (P more...

Asthma is a common chronic airway disorder associated with significant morbidity and mortality.Current study aims at investigating the correlation between four vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility by conducting a meta-analysis.PubMed, EBSCO, Ovid, Wiley, Web of Science, Wanfang, CNKI and VIP databases were searched using combinations of keywords relating to VDR and asthma. The published studies were filtered using our stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the resultant high-quality data from final selected studies were analyzed using Stata 12.0 software.A total of 77 studies were initially retrieved, and after further selection, 9 studies were eligible in current analysis. The selected studies contained 2,116 patients with asthma and 1,884 healthy controls. Our results demonstrated that rs2228570, rs7975232 and rs731236 in both allele models and dominant models, and rs3782905 in allele model in the VDR gene were linked with a high risk of asthma. No significant association between VDR gene rs3782905 in dominant model and risk of asthma was detected.This meta-analysis provides convincing evidence that rs2228570, rs7975232, rs731236 and rs3782905 gene polymorphisms in VDR are associated with increased susceptibility to asthma, indicating VDR polymorphisms could be developed as biomarkers for asthma susceptibility. more...

The received echo signals from different targets are considered as coherent in the MIMO radar. In order to improve the performance of direction estimation of multiple targets in lower SNR for MIMO radar, a new algorithm termed Transmission and Receiver Double Smoothing (TRDS) is proposed. Compared with the Transmission Diversity Smoothing algorithm, TRDS can deal with more targets in lower SNR with higher resolution. The theoretical analysis and simulation results show the proposed method is effective. more...

A novel method employing Multi-Stage Wiener Filter (MSWF) and polynomial rooting is proposed for the one-dimensional angle estimation of MIMO radar. In this algorithm, the signal subspace is obtained using MSWF, which avoids the known expected signal, the estimation of the virtual data autocorrelation matrix and eigen-decomposition. Then, a polynomial rooting is adopted to realize angle estimation. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical examples. more...

Design and implement an energy-efficient smart camera mote architecture to be used as surveillance device for assisted living. Add the Passive Infrared Sensor (PIR) to WVSN, PIR detect the human or animal’s moving, then it triggers the camera to wake up. The image captured will be grayscale processing by the central processing unit. Camera sensor nodes transmit a grayscale image over wireless channel to master control station. It offers reduced complexity, response time, and power consumption over conventional solutions. By experimental results from the test illustrate that performance of the designed wireless image sensor is better than the exiting ones in the market in terms of received signal strength intensity (RSSI) and packet rate ratio (PRR) with respect to the distance. This scheme is less complicated than other wireless video sensor surveillance techniques, allowing resource-constrained video sensors to operate more reliably and longer. more...

BACKGROUND Chronic microinflammatory state is common in the patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD), which seriously affects the long-term survival rate of MHD patients. It is important to improve the microinflammatory state in MHD patients. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of oxymatrine on microinflammatory state in patients undergoing continuous hemodialysis. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS Sixty MHD patients in Blood Purification Center, Wuhan No.1 Hospital, from June to September 2008, were randomized into treatment group (30 cases) and control group (30 cases). Oxymatrine Capsule was orally administered to the patients in the treatment group 0.4 g once a day for 3 months, while the patients in the control group were not given oxymatrine. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The serum concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), albumin (Alb), pre-albumin (PAB), total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) were detected before and after 3-month treatment. RESULTS Three patients in the treatment group had a stomachache on the first day of treatment, and two out of the three quitted the trial. The stomachache disappeared in one patient after stopping taking the drug, and did not recur after continuing to receive the intervention. Two patients in the treatment group had skin rash with pruritus on the second day of treatment. The rash disappeared after the patients stopped taking the drug, and did not recur after continuing to receive the intervention. A total of 58 cases accessed to the statistical analysis, while 2 cases were excluded. In the treatment group, the concentrations of hs-CRP, IL-1beta and TNF-alpha significantly decreased (P more...

A metaanalysis was performed to investigate the association between serum osteopontin (OPN) levels and the clinical pathological features in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.A systematic literature search was performed to identify relevant studies published prior to September 2014 using PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Data extracted from the selected studies were analyzed using statistical software.Based on our stringent selection criteria only 10 studies contained a combined total of 1,135 NSCLC patients. Our metaanalysis results clearly showed a strong correlation between serum OPN levels and multiple tumor parameters, such as TNM stage, histologic grade, and lymph node metastasis in NSCLC (TNM stage: RR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.62-0.77, p0.001; histologic grade: RR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.04-1.48, p = 0.016; lymph node metastasis: RR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.48 - 1.93, p0.001).Our findings revealed that serum OPN levels strongly correlate with clinical and pathological features in NSCLC patients. more...

In this study, we analyzed the association between serum leptin levels and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). By examining English and Chinese databases, we identified potential relevant studies for statistical analysis. Human-associated case-control studies evaluating the association between serum leptin levels and NSCLC according to the random-effect model were retrieved and extracted data were statistically analyzed. We identified 7 case-control studies evaluating the correlation between serum leptin levels and NSCLC, which included 705 subjects (390 NSCLC patients and 315 healthy participants). Negative associations were investigated between serum leptin levels and NSCLC [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.13-1.79, P = 0.023). Ethnicity-stratified analysis revealed there was no elevated leptin serum levels in NSCLC development in both Asians (SMD = 0.34, 95%CI = -0.10-0.79, P = 0.132) and Caucasians (SMD = 1.42, 95%CI = -0.09-2.93, P = 0.064). Sample size-stratified analysis of the association between serum leptin levels and NSCLC were found in studies of small sample size (SMD = 0.73, 95%CI = 0.04-1.41, P = 0.038), but not in studies of large sample size (SMD = 1.24, 95%CI = -0.52-3.01, P = 0.166). In the method-stratified subgroup analysis, serum leptin level was not correlated with NSCLC using a immunoradiometric assay method (SMD = 0.82, 95%CI = -1.38-3.03, P = 0.465). Determining the levels of the blood-based marker leptin may provide predictive information for NSCLC diagnosis. more...

A new type of thermal stabilizer, antimony pent(isooctyl thioglycollate) (Sb(SCH2COOC8H17)5), was synthesized by using antimony trioxide, isooctanol and thioglycolic acid in 2 steps. Firstly, antimony trioxide was oxidized into colloidal antimony peroxide. Then antimony peroxide and isooctyl thioglycollate reacted stoichiometrically for 2 h with the yield of 87%. This compound was used as thermal stabilizer for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The results show that the thermal stability time is 52 min at 200 °C by heat-ageing oven test when adding 2.5% thermal stabilizer to PVC resin. Compared with antimony tris(isooctyl thiolycollate), the initial thermal stability of antimony pent(isooctyl thioglycollate) is better than that of antimony tris(isooctyl thioglycollate), while the long-term thermal stability time is shorter than that of antimony tris(isooctyl thioglycollate). Meanwhile, the synergism of antimony pent(isooctyl thioglycollate) with calcium stearate was studied, indicating that when the mass ratio of antimony pent(isooctyl thioglycollate) to calcium stearate is 2:1, the thermal stability time of PVC is 58 min. more...

Aims: To ascertain which impaired glucose homeostasis at baseline is predictive of conversion to type 2 diabetes in both men and women in a high-risk non-diabetic population. Methods: The screening survey for type 2 diabetes was conducted in 1994, and a follow-up study of 627 high-risk non-diabetic individuals at baseline was carried out in 1999 in Beijing area. A total of 70 men and 76 women developed diabetes during the 5-year follow-up. Results : After adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking, systolic blood pressure, family history of diabetes, total cholesterol, triglycerides, antihypertensive medication, occupation, education, urine albumin excretion rate, and fasting insulin, the odds ratios for incidence of diabetes were 1.00, 2.04 (95% CI 0.84–4.97), 7.82 (2.66–23.00), 9.38 (3.30–26.69) in men with normal glucose, isolated IFG, isolated IGT, and both IFG and IGT, respectively. In women, the corresponding odds ratios were 1.00, 2.19 (0.91–5.30), 1.62 (0.72–3.67), and 8.79 (2.98–25.93), respectively. Conclusions : This study shows that combined IFG and IGT at baseline is a strong risk predictor for the development of diabetes in both men and women. Isolated IGT is also a predictor of diabetes in Chinese men. more...

Reliable estimates of the anelastic attenuation factor, Q, are desirable to improve resolution through inversing Q filter and to facilitate amplitude analysis. This paper derives an energy attenuation formula of seismic waves in the wavelet-scale domain from the wavelet theory and seismic wave propagation equations in anelastic media. The energy attenuation formula has the following features: (1) The larger Q is, the more slowly the energy attenuates; the smaller Q is, the faster the energy attenuates. (2) The smaller the scale, the less the energy involving in signal. (3) The energy of a signal on different scales is equal while impulse source propagates in an ideal elastic medium (i.e., Q = ∞). The energy attenuation formula can be used to estimate the quality factor Q from surface seismic data and to extract any scale energy attenuation section as an attribute parameter for discriminating fluid contents and lithology. It avoids window problems that classic spectral ratios encounter. Theoretical modeling experiments demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of this method. more...

To study the feasibility of using attenuated Salmonella typhimurium as carrier for oral immunization of Eg95 antigen of Echinococcus granulosus.The recombinant plasmid pYA3341-Eg95 was constructed by inserting the Eg95 gene into expression vector pYA3341, and identified by the methods of PCR and enzyme digestion. The recombinant plasmid pYA3341-Eg95 was electro-transformed into attenuated S. typhimurium strains X3730 and X4550 one by one to construct the recombinant strain St-Eg95. The expression of recombinant Eg95 protein in the recombinant strains St-Eg95 was analyzed by Western blotting. The strains of St-Eg95 were passaged 10 times in vitro and the recombinant plasmids were extracted at one generation interval. The genetic stability of recombinant plasmids was identified by PCR. BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six groups (five mice per group) and inoculated orally with St-Eg95, 100 µl/mouse, at dosage of 1 x 10(9), 1 x 10(10), 1 x 10(11), and 1 x 10(12) cfu/ml, wild-type S. typhimurium strain(l x l0(7)cfu/ml), and PBS, respectively. The survival rate was monitored daily for 30 days. Another 15 mice were divided into three groups and inoculated orally with St-Eg95(5 x 10(5) cfu/ml), X4550(pYA3341)(5 x 10(5) cfu/ml), and PBS, respectively, for 2 times, 0.5 ml/mouse/time, at biweekly intervals. On weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6 after the second immunization, sera were collected and tested for the presence of Eg95 antibody titers using commercially Eg antibody detection ELISA kit. The splenic lymphocyte proliferation was detected by MTT assay at 6 weeks after the second immunization.The constructed recombinant plasmid pYA3341-Eg95 was identified by enzyme digestion and PCR identification. The Eg95 protein (M, 18000) was expressed in the recombinant strains St-Eg95. After the recombinant strains St-Eg95 were passaged 10 times, the Eg95 gene (about 486 bp) was still amplified from St-Eg95. Safety results showed that mice inoculated orally with the St-Eg95 or PBS were all survival on the 30th day after immunization. However, all mice taking wild virulent S. typhimurium strain diedr within 4 days. The Eg95-specific antibodies examined by indirect ELISA were significantly higher in mice immunized with St-Eg95 than that of mice immunized with X4550 (pYA3341) or PBS at 2 weeks after the second immunization (P0.05). The average Eg95-specific antibody titers reached up to the highest value of 1:1700 in mice immunized with St-Eg95 at 4 weeks after the second immunization. The lymphocyte proliferation test showed that the stimulation index value was significantly higher(P0.05) in mice immunized with the St-Eg95(reached up to 1.94±0.15) than that in mice immunized with X4550 (pYA3341) or PBS at 6 weeks after the second immunization.The recombinant oral attenuated S. typhimurium St-Eg95 was successfully constructed, and has a good safety and immunogenicity profile in mouse. more...

Evidence indicated a positive association between subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and cardiovascular diseases. But the relationship between SCH and chronic kidney diseases (CKD) remains unclear. A case-control study was performed to ascertain this relationship followed by a meta-analysis. I more...

Based on the banded symmetric and Toeplitz matrix model for the mutual coupling of uniformly linear array (ULA), a reduced dimensional angle estimation and mutual coupling self-calibaration algorithm is proposed for bistatic MIMO radar. The new algorithm combines the angles with mutual coupling parameters but decouples them, which can provide accurate angle estimation without the knowledge of mutual coupling. In addition, the mutual coupling coefficients for array self-calibration can be achieved simultaneously. Instead of multidimensional search or iterative computation, the algorithm just uses a one-dimensional search, so it can reduce the computational cost. The correction and efficiency of the proposed method are verified by the computer simulation results. more...

Aim: Individual differences in chemosensitivity and clinical outcome of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients may be induced by host inherited factors. We investigated the impact of XPD Arg156Arg, XPD Asp312Asn, XPD Asp711Asp and XPD Lys751Gln gene polymorphisms on the efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy in NSCLC patients. Methods: A total of 496 were consecutively selected from the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University between Jan. 2003 and Nov. 2006, and all patients were followed-up until Nov. 2011. The genotyping of XPD Arg156Arg, XPD Asp312Asn, XPD Asp711Asp and XPD Lys751Gln was conducted by duplex polymerase-chain-reaction with the confronting-two-pair primer methods. Results: Individuals with XPD 312 C/T+T/T and XPD 711 C/T+T/T exhibited poor responses to chemotherapy when compared with the wildtype genotype, with adjusted ORs(95% CI) of 0.67(0.38-0.97) and 0.54(0.35-0.96), respectively. Cox regression showed the median PFS and OS of patients of XPD 312 C/T+T/T genotype and XPD 711 C/T+T/T genotype to be significantly lower than those with wild-type homozygous genotype. Conclusion: We found polymorphisms in XPD to be associated with response to platinum-based chemotherapy in NSCLC, and our findings provide information for therapeutic decisions for individualized therapy. more...

Calmodulin (CaM) was detected in culture medium containing the cells of Angelica dahurica by the methods of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) kinase enzymatic assay. The level of CaM showed a close relationship to the cell growth cycle. CaM antagonists strongly inhibited cell proliferation and the addition of purified CaM could reverse this inhibitory effect. Anti-CaM serum also inhibited cell proliferation significantly. Exogenously applied CaM in the culture medium could accelerate the cell proliferation rate, and the lower the density of the initial cell culture, the more obvious was the acceleration effect. Addition of the same amount of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as that of CaM had no effect on cell proliferation, indicating that the effect of CaM was not due to a nutritional effect of protein. These results suggest that extracellular CaM can have an effect on plant cell proliferation. more...

Various electronic equipments and control devices being used in the vehicle, the communication in network of different bus protocols becomes more important. This paper introduces a new method of conversion to achieve the ZigBee communication with CAN bus, realizing the link of CAN bus and wireless network. In order to conquer the illogicalities or conflictions brought from bus configuration and protocol of various controllers, Philips SJA1040A CAN transceiver and 32 bit MCU are used to constitute a CAN brainpower node, Freescale MC13202 ZigBee transceiver is integrated to manage the ZigBee wireless network, identifying the network topology and adding/removing the nodes. The system could realize data communication between the distributed ZigBee points and CAN bus fleetly and exactly, as well as simple configuration. This converter has certain applied value in intelligent control and user friendly design of car wireless. more...

To solve the misjudgment of noise and vein information in features extraction from low quality images, a novel method based on LWF (Linear weighting function) immune-clone algorithm is proposed in this paper. The method can produce initial antibody by using adaptive threshold method, obtain weighting function by curve fitting, and denoise and enhance border by linear weighting of the vein area. The function of affinity and concentration of antibodies helps to boost the growth of the vein information and suppress the interference of noise. Simulation results show that compared to other algorithms, finger vein pattern extracted by the algorithm proposed in this paper is more distinct and accurate. In addition, this algorithm, which can effectively retain the details of information, is especially suitable for features extraction from low quality finger vein images. more...

It is of crucial importance for any construction company to be able to deal successfully with various bidding situations. This paper offers a multi-criterion evaluation approach for contractors to selecting which contracts to bid for. As is generally accepted, bidding decisions can be divided into two consequent stages as bid/no bid and mark-up decisions, and the paper is of no exception. In bid/no bid analysis, a set of criterion is established considering the short-term and long-term effects brought by the project. The criteria include expected profit, productivity enhancement and long-time growth, which are further divided respectively. A fuzzy set approach is adopted to deal with imprecision or vagueness. Through a case study, the approach proves to be practical and can serve as a basis for determination of appropriate mark-up level. more...

The losses of power transmission and distribution reach up to 7% of electric power output in our country, which decrease the electric utilization ratio and cause enormous waste of electrical power. As a great energy consumer in transmission and distribution industry, it has been urgent affairs to reduce transformer losses for our energy-saving work. With the development of transformer manufacturing technology, amorphous core transformers have replaced present massively-used SII and the under series of transformers, which have become a hot subject discussed in the field. This paper, based on theoretical analysis and TOC, systematically and thoroughly diagnoses the energy saving potential of Nanning transformers through investigating the transformer service conditions in 6 counties and 6 districts in Nanning and offers data support and decision basis for the government's large scale extension of amorphous core transformers. more...

Chinese government has been propagandizing energy- efficient residential buildings for more than 20 years, but the progress is unfortunately not satisfactorily smooth. One and most important reason is the lack of incentives to energy-efficient residence for both consumers and developers. This paper discusses the features of the residence market at present in China, analyzes variables influencing consumers' and developers' decision-making on energy-efficient residence, puts forward measures the government can take to tackle market failures. Considering the complex interactions among consumers' choices, developers' choices and government-issued policies, a system dynamics model is established to explore the mechanism of the market. This model could be used to simulate the growth of the energy-efficient residence market and predict the responses of consumers and developers to certain economic policies, so as to enhance the policies' reasonability and practicability. more...

Objection: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between promoter methylation of RASSF1A and p16 and the clinicopathological features in lung cancers. Materials and Methods: PubMed, EBSCO, Ovid, Wiley, Web of Science, Wanfang, and VIP databases were searched using combinations of keywords related to RASSF1A, p16, methylation, and lung cancers. After screening for relevant studies, following a strict inclusion and exclusion criteria; the selected studies were incorporated into the present meta.analysis conducted using Comprehensive Meta Analysis 2.0. (CMA 2.0). Results: We initially retrieved 402 studies, out which 13 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this meta.analysis, and contained a total of 1,259. patients with lung cancers. The results of this meta.analysis showed that the differences in promoter methylation ratio between the lung cancer patients in tumor, node, metastasis. (TNM) I.II and III.IV were not statistically significant. Based on histological types, patients with adenocarcinoma. (AC) and squamous cell carcinoma. (SCC) showed no significant differences in the promoter methylation ratios of RASSF1A, while the promoter methylation ratio of p16 was significantly higher in SCC patients compared to AC patients. Based on smoking status, the promoter methylation ratios of both RASSF1A and p16 was significantly higher in lung cancer patients with smoking history compared to nonsmokers. Conclusion: The present meta.analysis provides convincing evidence that the promoter methylation ratio of RASSF1A and p16 is associated with clinicopathological features in lung cancers, and could be used as effective biomarkers in early diagnosis in lung cancers. more...

To establish an accurate and efficient method for detecting recent thymic output function and analyze the content of T-cell receptor (TCR) rearrangement excision circles (TRECs) within peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).According to the specific sequence of TCRdelta, the primers and the fluorescent probe (TaqMan) were designed and synthesized. The standard quantitative template was constructed by T/A cloning. The method for detecting TRECs was established after optimization of reaction condition, then its specificity, sensitivity and stability were tested. Quantitative detection of TRECs in DNA of PBMCs from normal individuals and patients of chronic hepatitis B were preformed by real-time PCR using TaqMan technique.Detection of TRECs was quick and accurate by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. The CV value of Ct was 1.06%, the product was specific which was confirmed by electrophoresis and sequencing and the method showed high sensitivity. The mean value of TRECs from normal individuals was (7767.4 +/- 2369.5) copies/10(6)PBMCs in healthy controls at age 21.45 but (28,374.4 +/- 7820.4) copies/10(6)PBMCs in those at age 16.20 (P0.05). The mean value of TRECs from patients with chronic hepatitis B was (6480.9 +/- 2031.2) copies/10(6) PBMCs in those at age 21.45, which was statistically significant as compared with normal individuals at age 21.45.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR for detecting the TRECs is an accurate, efficient and stable method and the recent thymic output function might decrease in patients with chronic hepatitis B. more...

We evaluate the ability of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) defined by five definitions for predicting both incident CHD and diabetes combined, diabetes alone, and CHD alone in a Chinese population. The screening survey for type 2 diabetes was conducted in 1994. A follow-up study of 541 high-risk non-diabetic individuals who were free of CHD at baseline was carried out in 1999 in Beijing area. The MetS was defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR), American College of Endocrinology (ACE), the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and the National Cholesterol Education Program and the American Heart Association (AHA) (updated NCEP) criteria. From a multiple logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, education, occupation, smoking, family history of diabetes, and total cholesterol, the relative risk of the ACE-defined MetS for incident diabetes alone (67 cases) was 2.29 (95% CI, 1.20-4.34). The MetS defined by the five definitions was associated with a 1.8-3.9 times increased risk for both incident CHD and diabetes combined (59 cases), and with a 1.9-3.0 times for total incident diabetes (126 cases). None of the five definitions predicted either incident CHD alone (177 cases) or total incident CHD (236 cases). In conclusion, the MetS defined by the current definitions appears to be more effective at predicting incident diabetes. more...

Proteins accumulated in dry, stratified Arabidopsis seeds or young seedlings, totaled 1100 to 1300 depending on the time of sampling, were analyzed by using immobilized pH gradient 2-DE gel electrophoresis. The molecular identities of 437 polypeptides, encoded by 355 independent genes, were determined by MALDI-TOF or TOF-TOF mass spectrometry. In the sum, 293 were present at all stages and 95 were accumulated during the time of radicle protrusion while another 18 appeared in later stages. Further analysis showed that 226 of the identified polypeptides could be located in different metabolic pathways. Proteins involved in carbohydrate, energy and amino acid metabolism constituted to about 1/4, and those involved in metabolism of vitamins and cofactors constituted for about 3 % of the total signal intensity in gels prepared from 72 h seedlings. Enzymes related to genetic information processing increased very quickly during early imbibition and reached highest level around 30 h of germination. more...

To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of a slow-released-gliclazide (Diamicron MR) in type 2 diabetes patients.159 patients with type 2 diabetes were parallelly assigned to a slow-released-gliclazide or gliclazide group in a randomized, open, multi-center phase III study to compare the efficacy of slow-released-gliclazide and gliclazide on overall diabetes control through HbA1c and the adverse events including hypoglycemic episodes and change of vital signs, electrocardiogram and clinical laboratory parameters after a 12-week treatment period.No statistically significant difference was found in HbA1c levels between the slow-released-gliclazide and the gliclazide group (P = 0.66) after 12 weeks of treatment. HbA1c levels in the slow-released-gliclazide group were extremely close to those in the gliclazide group after 12 weeks of treatment (95% CI -0.15; +0.24%). Furthermore, plasma glucose area under curve/24 hours, mean daily plasma glucose and fasting serum insulin levels between these two groups were also not statistically different, indicating that the efficacy of treatment was similar. The number of patients reported to experience at least one episode of hypoglycemia, which was confirmed by capillary or venous glucose assessment, but by no means severe, was similar in both the treatment groups. The main reason for the hypoglycemic episodes was related to good plasma glucose control. No adverse event led to withdrawal of the medication. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and body weight did not change during the study. There was also no noticeable change in electrocardiogram, lipid profile, and parameters in blood biochemistry and hematologic testing during the study.Slow-released-gliclazide and gliclazide had a similar efficacy and safety profile. more...