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Temperature influences the physiological processes and ecology of both hosts and endophytes; however, it remains unclear how long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) modulate the consequences of temperature-dependent changes in host-pathogen interactions. To explore the role of lncRNAs in culm gall formation induced by the smut fungus Ustilago esculenta in Zizania latifolia , we employed RNA sequencing to identify lncRNAs and their potential cis -targets in Z. latifolia and U. esculenta under different temperatures. In Z. latifolia and U. esculenta , we identified 3194 and 173 lncRNAs as well as 126 and four potential target genes for differentially expressed lncRNAs, respectively. Further function and expression analysis revealed that lncRNA ZlMSTRG.11348 regulates amino acid metabolism in Z. latifolia and lncRNA UeMSTRG.02678 regulates amino acid transport in U. esculenta . The plant defence response was also found to be regulated by lncRNAs and suppressed in Z. latifolia infected with U. esculenta grown at 25 °C, which may result from the expression of effector genes in U. esculenta . Moreover, in Z. latifolia infected with U. esculenta , the expression of genes related to phytohormones was altered under different temperatures. Our results demonstrate that lncRNAs are important components of the regulatory networks in plant-microbe-environment interactions, and may play a part in regulating culm swelling in Z. latifolia plants.

Ustilago esculenta, a smut fungus, can induce the formation of culm galls in Zizania latifolia, a vegetable consumed in many Asian countries. Specifically, the mycelia-teliospore (M-T) strain of U. esculenta induces the Jiaobai (JB) type of gall, while the teliospore (T) strain induces the Huijiao (HJ) type. The underlying molecular mechanism responsible for the formation of the two distinct types of gall remains unclear. Our results showed that most differentially expressed genes relevant to effector proteins were up-regulated in the T strain compared to those in the M-T strain during gall formation, and the expression of teliospore formation-related genes was higher in the T strain than the M-T strain. Melanin biosynthesis was also clearly induced in the T strain. The T strain exhibited stronger pathogenicity and greater teliospore production than the M-T strain. We evaluated the implications of the gene regulatory networks in the development of these two type of culm gall in Z. latifolia infected with U. esculenta and suggested potential targets for genetic manipulation to modify the gall type for this crop., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The complete mitochondrial genome of Coregonus cluncaformis was determined in this study. The mitogenome is 16 736 bp in length and contains 1D-loop region, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 13 protein-coding genes. The overall base composition of the heavy strand is 26.79% for A, 29.49% for C, 18.07% for G and 25.66% for T, The percentage of G + C content is 47.56%. This is the first time of the mitochondrial genome sequencing for C. cluncaformis in this study.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Coregonus chadary Dybowski was determined in this study. The mitogenome is 16,739bp in length and contains 1D-loop region, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 13 protein-coding genes. The overall base composition of the heavy strand is 26.82% for A, 29.38% for C, 18.13% for G and 25.68% for T. The percentage of G + C content is 47.51%. This study for the first time presents the mitochondrial genome sequencing for Coregonus chadary Dybowski., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

The complete mitochondrial genome of Coregonus peled is determined in this study. The mitogenome is 16,736 bp in length and contains 1D-loop region, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 13 protein-coding genes. The overall base composition of the heavy strand is 26.76% for A, 29.45% for C, 18.10% for G and 25.67% for T. The percentage of G + C content is 47.55 %. This is the first time of the mitochondrial genome sequencing for Coregonus peled.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Coregonus usssruens is was determined in this study. The mitogenome is 16,738 bp in length and contains 1D-loop region, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 13 protein-coding genes. The overall base composition of the heavy strand is 26.79% for A, 29.45% for C, 18.10% for G and 25.66% for T. The percentage of G+C content is 47.55%. This is the first time of the mitochondrial genome sequencing for C. usssruensis.

Ili marinka (Schizothorax pseudoaksaiensis) belongs to the family Cyprinidae, which is found only in Ili River in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In this study, we reported the complete sequence of mitochondrial genome of S. pseudoaksaiensis. The genome is 16,586 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and the non-coding control regions (D-loop). The complete mitochondrial genome base composition is 29.80% for A, 17.85% for G, 25.31% for T, and 27.04% for C, with a slight A+T bias of 55.11%. The mitochondrial genome can contribute to the studies on genetic diversity and conservation of S. pseudoaksaiensis.

This study is designed to compare the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with western medicine (WM) in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This is a 24-week, randomized, multicenter, single-blind study comparing TCM with WM (as used in China) carried out between June 2002 and December 2004 in nine research centers in China, involving 489 patients. Patients were randomized to receive TCM (n = 247), MTX and SSZ (n = 242). MTX was started at a dose of 5 mg to a final dose of 7.5-15 mg weekly. The maintenance dose was 2.5-7.5 mg weekly. The starting dose of SSZ was 0.25 g bid, increasing by 0.25 g a day once a week to a final dose of 0.5-1 g qid. The maintenance dose was 0.5 g tid to qid. Primary end point was the proportion of patients with response according to the American College of Rheumatology 20 % improvement criteria (ACR20) at weeks 24. At 24 weeks, ACR20 responses were 53.0 % in TCM group and 66.5 % in WM group, (P < 0.001) at 24 weeks. ACR 50 responses were 31.6 % of TCM group and 42.6 % in WM group, (P = 0.01). ACR70 responses were 12.6 % in TCM group and 17.4 % in WM group, (P = 0.14). Side effects were observed more frequently in WM group. In this study, ACR20, ACR50 responses at 24 weeks were significantly better in the WM treated group, by intention to treat (ITT) and per protocol analysis. The ACR 70 response showed no significant difference between the two groups. TCM, while effective in treating RA, appears to be less effective than WM in controlling symptoms, but TCM is associated with fewer side effects.

Objective: To investigate Chinese medicine (CM) patterns and epidemiological characters of patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) syndromes in clinics in China., Methods: A prospective multi-center observational epidemiology survey on the clinical CM patterns of ILI and its prevalence was conducted from September 2009 to April 2010. A unified survey questionnaire was developed for data collection of ILI symptoms and CM patterns. Totally 45 hospitals from 22 provinces, municipality cities and autonomous regions of China participated this study. The collected data were input by EPI-data v3.1 and analyzed by SPSS 18.0, which included descriptive analysis and Chi-square test for group comparison., Results: A total of 5,967 ILI patients were included in the study. The proportion of the 18-34 aged group (56.2%) was the largest; students (41.0%) were more than other occupations. Majority of the patients had the wind-heat invading Lung (Fei) syndrome (76%), while in Southwest China mainly wind-heat invading Lung syndrome and wind-cold tightening the exterior syndrome occurred. The typical symptoms of ILI were ranked as fatigue (80.9%), cough (72.2%), sore throat (67.2%), muscular soreness (67.1%), headache (65.4%), aversion to cold (60.1%), thirst (55.1%) and nasal obstruction (48.1%)., Conclusions: The ILI patients in clinics were mainly teenagers and young adults. In regard to CM syndrome, wind-heat invading Lung syndrome prevailed in all regions except the Southwest China. The characteristics of CM syndrome of ILI patients may be relevant to age and region distribution.

Objective: To find out a set of practical,objective, and quantitative laboratory indices of climacteric syndrome (CS) patients of Shen deficiency syndrome (SDS), thus studying the essence of SDS from the perspective of laboratory medicine., Methods: Recruited were 40 CS patients of SDS (or of SDS as main syndrome) as the SDS group, while another 40 healthy subjects were recruited as the control group. Their serum samples were collected. Serum levels of total triiodothyronine (TT3), total thyroxine (TT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (TESTO), estradiol (E2), prolactin (PRL), progesterone (PROG), cortisol (CORT), immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin G (lgG), Complement 3 (C3), complement hemolysis 50% (CH50), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), aldosterone (ALD), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and bone Gla-protein (BGP) were measured by automatic electrochemical luminescence assay analyzer, automatic chemiluminescence assay analyzer, automatic biochemistry analyzer, and automatic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analyzer. The correlation between syndrome types and laboratory indices were judged by gradual discriminant analyses., Results: (1) Compared with the control group,serum levels of CORT, TESTO, E2, TT3, FT3, FT4, TSH, C3, CH50, ALP, and BGP significantly decreased in the SDS group (P < 0.01, P < 0. 05), while FSH, LH, and ACE significantly increased (P < 0.05). (2) The index with stronger capacity for diagnosing CS patients of SDS was ranked from high to low as CH50, PROG, TSH, TESTO, BGP, CORT, and C3, with their contribution rate of the discriminant function being 95.9%. (3) Discriminant analysis equation of CS patients of SDS was Y = -25.904 - 0.468CH50 + 0.002PROG + 0.182TSH + 9.690TESTO + 1.015BGP + 0.016CORT + 33.581 C3., Conclusions: (1) CS patients of SDS were closely correlated with thyroid hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, renin-renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system,the immune function, and bone formation, and etc. (2) CH50 might be of a high sensibility marker for diagnosing CS patients of SDS. (3) Discriminant analysis equations of laboratory medicine index may be used in preliminary diagnosis and auxiliary certificate of CS patients of SDS.

Background: There are racial differences in the prevalence and types of androgenetic alopecia (AGA). The prevalence of AGA has been studied in Caucasians and in some Asian people. In China, although there have been some epidemiological studies carried out in single cities or regions, no multicentre population-based study has been reported., Objectives: To study the prevalence and types of AGA in China and to compare the results with those previously reported in Caucasians and in other Asian people., Methods: A community-based study was carried out in six cities of China. Subjects were interviewed face-to-face and completed questionnaires. The degree of AGA was classified according to the Norwood and Ludwig classifications., Results: In total 17 886 subjects were interviewed and 15 257 completed the questionnaires. In men, the overall prevalence of AGA was 21.3%, with 2.8% in men aged 18-29 years, 13.3% in those aged 30-39 years, 21.4% in those aged 40-49 years, 31.9% in those aged 50-59 years, 36.2% in those aged 60-69 years and 41.4% in those aged 70 years and over. The most common type was frontal and vertex hair loss. A small number of subjects (3.7%) showed 'female pattern' hair loss. In women, the prevalence of AGA was 6.0%, with 1.3% in women aged 18-29 years, 2.3% in those aged 30-39 years, 5.4% in those aged 40-49 years, 7.5% in those aged 50-59 years, 10.3% in those aged 60-69 years and 11.8% in those aged 70 years and over. Ludwig grade I was the most common type. The prevalence of AGA varied between cities. A positive family history was present in 29.7% of men and 19.2% of women with AGA., Conclusions: The prevalence of AGA in Chinese men and women was lower than in Caucasians and similar to that in Koreans.

Objective: To explore the significance of pelvic hemodynamics as an index in evaluating efficacy of TCM treatment for chronic pelvic inflammation (CPI)., Methods: Sixty patients with CPI received treatment with Penyanping, a self-formulated TCM recipe, for 30 days, and the changes of pelvic hemodynamic indexes in them were measured before and after treatment within the 3 - 7 days after menstruation using color Doppler., Results: Improvement of pelvic hemodynamics indexes were shown after treatment in ovarian left arteriopalmus index, bilateral resistance index, maximal speed of left arterial blood flow and score of time-velocity, as compared with those before treatment, the difference was significant respectively (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Pelvic hemodynamic indexes could be taken as one of the objective parameters for evaluating efficacy of TCM treatment of CPI according to principle of activating blood circulation to remove stasis, clearing heat and detoxifying.