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Background: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) generally results inbrain injury, which is primarily caused by inflammation. Ac2-26 protects against multiple organ injury via anti-inflammatory activities. The present study evaluated the effect of Ac2-26 on brain injury in CPB rats. Methods: A total of 40 rats were randomized into sham, CPB, Ac, and Ac/AKT1 groups. The sham group only received anesthesia, intubation and cannulation, and rats in the other groups underwent the standard CPB surgery. Rats in the sham and CPB groups received saline, and rats in the Ac and Ac/AKT1 groups received Ac2-26 immediately after CPB. Rats in the Ac/AKT1 group were injected with shRNA (AKT1) 3 days before CPB. The neurological function score and brain edema were evaluated 12 hours after CPB, and brain pathological injury and hippocampal apoptosis were assessed. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, S100β and NSE were tested. AKT1, eNOS, and phosphorylated NF-κB in the brain were also detected. Results: Compared to the sham group, all indicators were aggravated in rats that underwent CPB. Compared to the CPB group, Ac2-26 significantly improved neurological scores and brain edema and ameliorated pathological injury and hippocampal apoptosis. Ac2-26 also reduced the proinflammatory factorsS100β and NSE but increased IL-10. Ac2-26 decreased phosphorylated NF-κB, Bax and cleaved caspase-3 but increased Bcl-2. AKT1 shRNA significantly reversed the protective effect of Ac2-26. Conclusions: Ac2-26 significantly improved neurological function, reduced brain injury, regulated inflammation, and inhibited apoptosis after CPB. The protective effect of Ac2-26 primarily depended on AKT1.

We present a scheme for implementing deterministic joint remote preparation of the Knill–Laflamme–Milburn state with two GHZ states as the quantum channel. Assuming that four of the six involved qubits collectively suffer the same type of noise, we first investigate the effects of four typical types of noises on the protocol by means of Kraus operators. It is shown that the bit-flip and amplitude damping noise are the severe noises for decoherence rate $$\chi 0.5$$ in bit-flip and phase-flip noise channel. Afterward, we investigate the dynamics of deterministic joint remote state preparation for dissipative environments. Analytical and numerical calculations show that the quality of our scheme can be enhanced by adjusting the system detuning no matter whether the non-Markovian effect is applicable or not.

Significance Corneal biomechanics are becoming increasingly important for clinical evaluation and diagnosis, such as in refractive surgery, glaucoma, and keratoconus. We developed and used a new technique to measure the full-field displacement and strain of the cornea under elevated intraocular pressure in vivo. Purpose In this study, we propose a three-dimensional digital image correlation method for the determination of corneal biomechanical properties. Methods Corneal deformation change on the rabbit eyeball was investigated under different inflation conditions with intraocular pressure levels of 2.3, 3.3, 5.3, and 6.9 kPa in vivo. Results The proposed method was able to measure the displacement of the corneal surface and to construct real-time full-field three-dimensional deformation vector fields and strain mapping. The results show that the strain distribution is not uniform on the corneal surface at each intraocular pressure level. Compression strains, rather than extensile strains, are dominant at the corneal apex region. Conclusions This technique has the potential to be used as an assistive tool for the determination of corneal biomechanical properties in ophthalmologic investigations.

Six cystic metacestodes were found in the abdominal muscles of a wild rabbit, Lepus sinensis, in China. The coenurus contained one or more scolices armed with hooklets. Mitochondrial cox1 (1,623 bp) confirmed 98% homology with cox1 of Taenia serialis. This is the first report of T. serialis infection in an intermediate host in the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau Area, China.

Conduction characteristics of carbon black filled conductive rubber prepared in laboratory were investigated. The relationship of current and frequency under the sinusoidal AC excitation was analyzed and a new conductive chain model and equivalent circuit were established. Influences of the different amount of carbon black filled and pressure on frequency range were also studied. The results showed that the conductive rubber filled by carbon black had complex resistance characteristics. Resistance frequency domain of conductive rubber relatively increased with the increasing of the carbon black filler and pressure; while the capacitive reactance frequency domain of conductive rubber relatively decreased with the increasing of pressure.

As we know that ceria (CeO2), alumina (Al2O3), aluminum (Al) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) can improve the anti-aging properties of the rubber, mixed these materials with carbon black and filling conductive silicone rubber, some samples have been prepared. Have described the anti-aging method of the silicone rubber and discussed the test method of the changes in properties after aging. Have tested the changes of mechanical properties and electrical conductivity before and after the air aging test of the conductive silicone rubber which with or without addition of modified material. Have discussed the reasons why modified materials can improve the anti-aging performance of the conductive silicon rubber. The results show that with the addition of these types of nanomaterials the stability of mechanical and electrical properties of the conductive silicone rubber can be improved before or after aging treatment.

We proposed a novel method together with system to quantify the corneal biomechanics. The objectives of this study are to develop a method to measure the corneal biomechanical propertiesin vivoand to evaluate the performance of AIOCT system. A novel AIOCT system was established and a mathematical model was built on the basis of the current air-jet indentation method. Experiments were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of eleven custom-made silicone corneal mimicking phantoms by the AIOCT system under different intraocular pressures (IOP). The results were then compared with those measured by the standard mechanical tensile test and indentation test. The phantom’s moduli were ranged from 0.08 to 1.03 MPa according to the tensile and indentation test. The elastic moduli of corneal silicone phantoms (Eairjet) were measured using the AIOCT system with the proposed mathematical model at four IOPs (0.6, 15.3, 29.8, and 44.7 mmHg). TheEairjetwere agreed well with the corresponding moduli (Etensile) measured by the tensile test (Eairjet= 1.188Etensile,R2= 0.925). The preliminary results showed that this technique was capable of measuring corneal biomechanical propertiesin vivoand it may provide a clinical potential non-invasive and non-contact means to the diagnosis of keratoconus suspects in the future.

Automatic on-line signature verification is an intriguing intellectual challenge with wide attention and practical applications. We examined the validation of the new dynamic features for on-line signature verification, which extracted from 3-axis forces of pen-tip to writing tablet with application of discrete wavelet transform (DWT). The force signals were decomposed into sub-band signals by DWT and individual features were extracted as locations of modulus maximum in detail and the values of the wavelet transform at the corresponding location. Verification was achieved by using dynamic time warping (DTW) and total decision was done by combining multiple thresholds. Experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the dynamic features for on-line signature verification described in this paper.

To investigate the role of Brn-3b in differentiation process of stem cells derived from retinal Müller cells into the ganglion cell.The passage culture method of Müller cells from retina of newborn Sprague Dawley rats was carried out by repeated incomplete pancreatic enzyme digestion method. The cells were detected by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), immunohistochemistry technology and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to determine the purity. The third passage of cells was induced in the serum-free dedifferentiation medium. The expression of the specific markers Ki-67 and nestin of retinal stem cells was measured by RT-PCR and Western blot. The cell proliferation of retinal stem cells was detected by 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (Edu) staining. The cells were randomly divided into 5 groups as follows: group A: Brn-3bsiRNA group; group B: Brn-3b control siRNA group; group C: pGC-Brn-3b-green fluorescent protein (GFP) group; group D: pGC-GFP group; group E: control group (without any handling). The purified Müller cells were cultured for 3-7d, then, the percentage of ganglion cells was counted by immunofluorescence staining.FACS demonstrated the purity of retinal Müller cells was more 97.44%. A few spherical cell spheres appeared. Immunofluorescence staining showed that stem cells within the spheres were positive for retinal stem cell-specific markers nestin (red fluorescence, 92.94%±6.48%) and Ki-67 (green fluorescence, 85.96%±6.04%). Meanwhile, RT-PCR analysis showed cell spheres in the culture to have expressed a battery of transcripts characteristic of stem cells such as nestin and Ki-67, which were absent in the Müller cells. Western blot analysis further confirmed the expression of nestin and Ki-67 in the cell spheres but not in the Müller cells. Edu staining showed most of the nuclei within the cell spheres were stained red (82.80%±6.65%), suggesting the new cell spheres had the capacity for effective proliferation. The statistics result showed the difference between Brn-3bsiRNA group and Brn-3b control siRNA group or the control group was significant (F=15, P0.05), while the difference between Brn-3b control siRNA group or the control group was not statistically significant (P0.05).The repeated incomplete pancreatic enzyme digestion method is an efficient and practical method to purify retinal Müller cells. Retinal stem cells were successfully cloned in the dedifferentiational medium. Retinal Müller cells are accessible sources of retinal stem cells. Brn-3b is an important regulatory gene in stem cells differentiated into retinal ganglion cell.

The transmission properties of one-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) consisting of plasma and lossless dielectric have been systematically studied through the transfer matrix method. In this structure, plasma is used as a kind of single-negative (permittivity-negative) material. Because of the coupling between evanescent waves in plasma layers and propagation waves in dielectric layers, comb-like resonant peaks in transmission band are formed without adding any defect layer in plasma PCs. The numbers and positions of peaks can be modulated by the number of the periods, the plasma frequency, the thickness of plasma layers, plasma collision frequency, and the incident angle.

We present an efficient scheme for five-party quantum state sharing (QSTS) of an arbitrary m-qubit state with multiqubit cluster states. Unlike the three-partite QSTS schemes using the same quantum channel [Phys. Rev. A 78, 062333 (2008)], our scheme for sharing of quantum information among five parties utilizing a cluster state as an entangled resource. It is found that the six-partite cluster state can be used for QSTS of an entangled state, the five-partite cluster state can be used for QSTS of an arbitrary two-qubit state and also can be used for QSTS of an arbitrary m-qubit state. It involves two-qubit Bell-basis or three-qubit GHZ-basis measurements, not multipartite joint measurements, which makes it more convenient than some previous schemes. In addition, the total efficiency really approaches the maximal value.

To verify the genome components of Thinopyrum ponticum Liu alt; Wang and Th. intermedium [Host] Barkworth alt; Dewey, six specific primer pairs were designed according to the sequence of an autonomous centromeric retrotransposon of wheat (CRW) from Triticum boeoticum. Several DNA fragments were amplified by PCR from the genomic DNA of the diploid species Pseudoroegneria spicata A Love. After sequence alignment, a 1.755 kb fragment was obtained and named as pStC1 (St genome centromere associated sequence, GenBank accession No. FJ952565). This fragment contained an 800 bp fragment highly homologous to the LTR region of autonomous CRW, a short fragment partial homology to the gag region of CRW, and an AGCAAC-rich tandem repeat. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) using pStC1 as a probe was carried out on the chromosomes of Th. ponticum, Th. intermedium and Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring. Th. ponticum was proved to have two St and three E genomes (St1St2EeEbEx). In Th. intermedium, strong FISH signals were observed on St genome chromosomes, while faint signals were also found on some E-genome chromosomes at their pericentromeric regions. These results indicated that during speciation of sub-genomes in the allopolyploids of Thinopyrum genus, concerted evolution might have occurred at centromeric and pericentromeric regions.

In this study, 10 near isogenic lines (NILs) of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar, Yanzhan 1, was developed, which differ from alleles at Glu-A1, Glu-B1, and Glu-D1 loci. The effects of various HMW subunit compositions on bread-making quality (BMQ) were evaluated using these NILs in two-year harvests. Bread-making tests indicated that the expression of 1Ax1 at Glu-A1 locus improved BMQ to most of the lines. The allelic contribution to BMQ at Glu-B1 locus was in the order of 7+8 > 14+15 > 6+8 > 7 when Null was expressed at the Glu-A1 locus and subunits 5′+12 expressed at the Glu-D1 locus. However, the order of allelic contribution was 6+8 > 14+15 > 7 when subunit 1 and subunits 5′+12 were expressed at the Glu-A1 and Glu-D1 loci, respectively. Given the Null at Glu-A1 locus, lines with subunit pairs 14+15 and 5+10 were slightly better than those with subunit pairs 14+15 and 5′+12. Interestingly, the NILs possessing subunit pairs 7+8 and 5′+12 showed much better BMQ than the NILs with subunit pairs 7+8 and 5+10. Compared to the 5+10 lines, silencing of 1Dx5 resulted in significant reduction of BMQ. Therefore, there is a complementary effect between x-type and y-type of HMW-GS on BMQ and the absence of either type will degrade BMQ notably.

Besides the natural selection, the crops cultivated today have experienced two episodes of strong artificial selection, domestic and modern breeding. Domestication led to giant genetic structure differentiation between cultivars and their wild species, while modern breeding made further genetic structure differentiation between the modern varieties and the landraces. In a population, diversity of the loci under strong selection is significantly lower than that of other loci. At the same time, diversity in the genomic regions flanking these selected loci also declines in the process of selection. This phenomenon is called hitchhiking effects or selection sweep in genetics. Genomic regions with selection sweep (haplotype block) could be detected after draft genome scanning (genome typing) with molecular markers in a number of released varieties or natural populations. Marker/trait association analysis in these regions would detect the loci (or QTLs) even the favored alleles (genes) in breeding or natural adaptation. Fine scanning of these genomic regions would help to determine the sizes of haplotype blocks and to discover the key genes, thereby providing very valuable information for isolation of the key genes and molecular design of new varieties. Establishment of high density genetic linkage maps in the major crops and availability of high throughput genotyping platform make it possible to discover agronomic important genes through marker/trait association analysis. On the basis of available publications, we give a brief introduction of the hitchhiking effect mapping approach in this paper using plant height, 1000-grain weight, and phosphorus-deficiency tolerance as examples in wheat.

Glaucoma is one of the leading eye diseases resulting in blindness due to the death of retinal ganglion cells. This study aimed to develop novel protocol to promote the differentiation of retinal Müller cells into ganglion cells in vivo in a rat model of glaucoma. The stem cells dedifferentiated from rat retinal Müller cells were randomized to receive transfection with empty lentivirus PGC-FU-GFP or lentivirus PGC-FU-Atoh7-GFP, or no transfection. The stem cells were induced further to differentiate. Ocular hypertension was induced using laser photocoagulation. The eyes were injected with Atoh7 expression vector lentivirus PGC-FU-Atoh7-GFP. Eyeball frozen sections, immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR, Western bolt, and apoptosis assay were performed. We found that the proportion of ganglion cells differentiated from Atoh7-tranfected stem cells was significantly higher than that of the other two groups. The mean intraocular pressure of glaucomatous eyes was elevated significantly compared with those of contralateral eyes. Some retinal Müller cells in the inner nuclear layer entered the mitotic cell cycle in rat chronic ocular hypertension glaucoma model. Atoh7 contributes to the differentiation of retinal Müller cells into retinal ganglion cells in rat model of glaucoma. In conclusion, Atoh7 promotes the differentiation of Müller cells-derived retinal stem cells into retinal ganglion cells in a rat model of glaucoma, thus opening up a new avenue for gene therapy and optic nerve regeneration in glaucoma.

Aim To investigate clinical features of optic nerve sheath meningioma (ONSM) that was misdiagnosed, and to find methods to reduce the misdiagnoses. Methods Retrospective series study. Twenty-five misdisgnosed patients with unilateral ONSM were collected from Jan. 2008 to Jan. 2015 and the clinical records reviewed. Results Patients were misdiagnosed with acute papillitis most frequently (n=17), immediately followed by optic atrophy (n=8), ischemic optic neuropathy (n=5), acute retrobulbar optic neuritis (n=5), optic disc vasculitis (n=3). For each patient, the minimum frequency of misdiagnoses was once and the maximum was 4 times. As for the lasting time of being misdiagnosed, the shortest was 1.5mo and the longest was 45mo. Twenty-one cases (84%) were once treated with glucocorticoids, and its side effects was found in seventeen patients. Twenty patients (80%) complained with varying degree of vision loss. When a definite diagnosis was made, sixteen cases (64%) showed slight exophthalmos and eighteen cases (72%) had the tubular ONSM. Conclusion ONSM without loss obvious exophthalmos is easily misdiagnosed in clinic, and for most of these ONSMs are tubular.

High-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GSs), one class of seed storage proteins in wheat, play an important role in determining bread-making quality of flour. More and more proves support that HMW-GS-1Bx14 and -1Bx15 subunits are strongly positively associated with good bread-making and excellent noodle-making quality. The two subunit are encoded by two genes, Glu-1Bx14 and Glu-1Bx15, which are tightly linked and located on the 1BL. Protein assay by SDS-PAGE indicated that the expression of Glu-1Bx14 gene was always much stronger than that of Glu-1By15 in the same variety. But, variation of expression level for Glu-1By15 gene existed among varieties, such as in Xiaoyan 54, Xiaoyan 6, Yanzhan I and Shanyou 225. We also investigated the transcription difference of Glu-1By14 and Glu-1By15 genes in Xiaoyan 54 and Shanyou 225 by semi-quantitative RT-PCR method. The Glu-1By14 always transcripts much more than the Glu-1By15. This was basically consistent with the translation difference between the two genes. Promoters of 1Bx14, 1By15, 1By8, 1Dx2 and 1Dy12 were cloned from Xiaoyan 54, Chinese Spring and Aegi1ops tauschii. Sequence analysis indicated that the HMW-GS genes had high homology at their promoter regions. However, significant difference existed between sequence of 1Bx14 promoter and those of other HMW-GS genes. The transient expression experiment showed that the promoter of 1By15 has lower activity than that of 1Bx14, which was consistent with their transcription level of the two genes in varieties. In addition, transient expression of the gus driven by the promoter (P2) of HMW-GS 1Dx2 gene was higher than by other HMW-GS promoters. Therefore, we constructed 1By15 gene expression vector driven by the 1Dx2 promoter, and transformed the 1By15 gene into wheat commercial variety, Jimai 20 by pollen tube method. Of 45 independent transgenic lines identified by PCR, 3 were confirmed to contain the HMW-GS 1By15 gene via Southern hybridization. The delivered 1By15 gene expressed the expected HMW-GS protein in the seeds of transgenic plants.

Loss of variety resistance to stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis Westend f. sp.tritici) is an important factor causing massive periodical epidemic of rust in wheat production. Creation and development of new races of rust pathogen have led to serious crisis of resistance loss in widely planted varieties. This has quickened the search for new resistance resources. Molecular marker could facilitate the identification of the location of novel genes. A line A-3 with high resistance (immune) to currently epidemic yellow rust races (CY29, 31, 32) was screened out in offspring of Triticum aestivum × Thinopyrum ponticum. Segregation in F2 and BC1 populations indicated that the resistance was controlled by two independent genes: one dominant and one recessive. SSR markers were employed to map the two resistant genes in the F2 and BC1 populations. A marker WMC477-167bp located on 2BS was linked to the dominant gene with genetic distance of 0.4 cM. Another marker WMC364-208 bp located on 7BS was linked to the recessive-resistant gene with genetic distance of 5.8 cM. The two genes identified in this paper might be two novel stripe rust resistant genes, which were temporarily designated as YrTp1 and YrTp2, respectively. The tightly linking markers facilitate transfer of the two resistant genes into the new varieties to control epidemic of yellow rust.

Wide cross and molecular cytogenetic methods were used to transfer the powdery mildew resistance gene from Thinopyron intermedium(Host) Barkworth & DR Dewey to wheat. Among the progeny of crossing common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Yannong 15 with Th. intermedium, a partial amphiploid E990256, with resistance to powdery mildew, was developed. It had 56 chromosomes and could form 28 bivalents in pollen mother cells at metaphase I of meiosis. Resistance verification by race 15 at the seedling stage and by mixed strains of Erysiphales gramnis DC. f. sp. tritici Em. Marchal at the adult stage showed it was immune to powdery mildew at both stages. Gene postulation via 21 isolates of E. gramnis f. sp. tritici and 29 differential hosts showed it was nearly immune to all the isolates used, and its resistance pattern was different from all the mildew resistance genes used, which indicated it probably contained a new resistance gene to powdery mildew. Biochemical verification showed it might convey different Th. intermedium chromosomes from those of the wheat- Th. intermedium partial amphiploids Zhong 1–5. Genomic in situ hybridization analysis by using St genomic DNA as the probe showed E990256 contained a recombination genome of St and E. (Managing editor: Wei WANG)

This paper provides a bird's-eye view of our 25-year research work on gastric cancer, including both exploration of pathogenesis and preclinical or clinical applications of diagnosis and treatment. Although there have been achievements and reasons for applause, there are, nonetheless, more failings and teachings. Some problems that we experienced 25 years ago are still problems we have to face today. We are absolutely not singing the same old tune. Looking back makes us wiser and our way smoother. Although it is a long and arduous way to further study gastric cancer, we are willing to devote ourselves to it.

To study two methods for culturing and purifying Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat retinal Müller cells and determine which one is better.The passage culture method of Müller cells was respectively carried out by complete pancreatic enzyme digestion method and repeated incomplete pancreatic enzyme digestion method. After culturing retinal cells for one month through these two methods, fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), RT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry technology were performed to examine the enrichment and purity of Müller glial cells, and carried out two-sample approximate t test using SSPS 13.0 to further compare the Müller cell positive rate in both methods.The statistical results showed that the purity of Müller cells was 83.2%±5.16% in group A, and the purity was 98.5%±1.08% in group B. The two-sample approximate t test analysis demonstrated that the difference between group A and group B was statistically significant (t=-9.178, P0.005). The results clearly exhibited a difference between the purity of Müller cells cultured by the complete pancreatic enzyme digestion method (group A) and the repeated incomplete pancreatic enzyme digestion method (group B).Compared with the complete pancreatic enzyme digestion method, this novel method was more efficient and a higher purity of Müller cells could be obtained using this approach.

BACKGROUND In 1994, a novel sensitive method termed immuno-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of the gastric carcinoma-associated antigen MG7-Ag in the gastric carcinoma cell line KATO III was reported. Compared with the enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay, the single determinant immuno-PCR technique could allow for as few as 20 cells to be detected and was found to show an approximately 10,000-fold enhancement in sensitivity of the detection limit. The current study clinically evaluated the significance of serum MG7-Ag detection in gastric carcinoma patients. METHODS The sera of patients were immobilized on wells and a specific DNA molecule, which could be amplified by PCR, was employed as a marker. The biotinylated monoclonal antibody against gastric carcinoma was added to bind the antigen immobilized on the wells. After the biotinylated antibody was bound to the antigen, free avidin was used to attach a biotinylated monoclonal antibody and biotinylated DNA molecule. The biotinylated DNA complexed with antigen-antibody-avidin was amplified by PCR and the PCR products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. In the current study this method was used to detect circulating MG7-Ag in the sera of patients with gastric carcinoma and other various malignancies. For comparison, carcinoembryonic antigen, CA 50, CA 19-9, and TAG-72 were quantitated by radioimmunoassay and immunoradiometric assay using the relevant commercial kits in the same sera samples from 86 patients with pathologically confirmed gastric carcinoma and 83 patients with relevant benign diseases of the stomach. In addition, the semiquantitative analysis of PCR products among gastric carcinoma patients with or without metastasis was performed to compare the intensity of DNA band amplification. RESULTS Using the immuno-PCR assay, positive results were obtained in 164 of 198 patients with gastric carcinoma (82.8%). The rates of positivity in other malignancies were 17.4% for esophageal carcinoma (15 of 86 patients), 44.4% for colonic carcinoma (40 of 90 patients), 0% for liver carcinoma (none of 84 patients), 2.2% for ovarian carcinoma (1 of 45 patients), 0% for uterine carcinoma (none of 27 patients), and 6.1% for lung carcinoma (4 of 66 patients). The positive results obtained from those patients with benign diseases were: 7.7% for peptic ulcer (6 of 78 patients), 5.9% for chronic gastritis (7 of 118 patients), 3.3% for chronic colitis (2 of 60 patients), and 0.8% for healthy blood donors (2 of 236 patients). In addition, the semiquantitative analysis of PCR products showed that the intensity of DNA band amplified from the PCR products of those patients with metastasis was much higher than that of patients without metastasis or those with early stage tumors (1.94 ± 0.03 vs. 1.28 ± 0.02). In comparative studies of immuno-PCR and commercial assays for tumor-associated antigens the sensitivity of immuno-PCR was 81.4% and pseudopositivity was lower (8.4% vs. 7.2–12.0% with radioimmunoassay or immunoradiometric assay). CONCLUSIONS The results of the current study demonstrate that introducing PCR into the indirect determination of tumor-associated antigen in the serum can improve the sensitivity of detection greatly. This novel assay also might be used to monitor the circulating amount of tumor-associated antigen after gastrectomy and provide information regarding recurrence or metastasis, as well as for screening elderly patients who have no indications for endoscopy and those with precancerous conditions. The application of immuno-PCR in the serologic diagnosis of carcinoma has significant advantages including ready application in the clinical setting as well as use as a potential screening tool in mass surveys of high risk populations with gastric carcinoma. Cancer 2000;88:280–5. © 2000 American Cancer Society.

Determining losses through piping systems involves the selection of the appropriate friction factor and minor loss coefficient (K factor). The widely-used constant K values are applicable only for fully-developed turbulent flows. For laminar flows, the K factors must be corrected based onthe Reynolds number because K factors start to increase when the Reynolds number falls to within the laminar flow regime. This paper reviews Hooper's 2-K method and Darby's 3-K method for determining K factors over a wide range of Reynolds numbers for both turbulent and laminar flows, and introduces an Excel-based tool for engineers to calculate K factors using the 2-K method and 3-K methods. One limitation in using the 2-K and 3-K methods is that both methods are based on available literature data, which are applicable only to commonly-used pipe fittings. For fittings not included in this list, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modeling becomes very useful to determine the dependency of the K factor on Reynolds number because of its flexibility and lower cost than experimental studies. CFD models described in this paper are examples of using this powerful tool.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) plays a key role in the growth, nitrogen (N) use and yield potential of cereal crops. Investigating the haplotype variation of GS genes and its association with agronomic traits may provide useful information for improving wheat N-use efficiency and yield. We isolated the promoter and coding region sequences of the plastic glutamine synthetase isoform (GS2) genes located on chromosomes 2A, 2B and 2D in bread wheat. By analyzing nucleotide sequence variations of the coding region, two, six and two haplotypes were distinguished for TaGS2-A1 (a and b), TaGS2-B1 (a-f) and TaGS2-D1 (a and b), respectively. By analyzing the frequency data of different haplotypes and their association with N use and agronomic traits, four major and favorable TaGS2 haplotypes (A1b, B1a, B1b, D1a) were revealed. These favorable haplotypes may confer better seedling growth, better agronomic performance, and improved N uptake during vegetative growth or grain N concentration. Our data suggest that certain TaGS2 haplotypes may be valuable in breeding wheat varieties with improved agronomic performance and N-use efficiency.

A single layer, single-feed circularly polarized(CP) microstrip antenna designed with four slits equally spaced and inset at the boundary of the circular patch for Beidou (COMPASS) Navigation System is proposed. The experimental results shown that by simply tuning the lengths of the slotted pairs, two orthogonal near-degenerate resonant modes for CP radiation can be excited. The measured impedance bandwidth corresponding to return loss less than −10dB of 0.09GHz and the 3dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 0.033GHz have been achieved for the antenna which is designed at 2.492GHz. Details of the experimental results are presented and analyzed.

A cylindrical plasma waveguide, taking no account of the effect of collisions in the plasma, is derived to describe narrow channel generated by ultraintense laser pulse. Theory analysis shows that TE 0m and TM 0m and hybrid modes can be emerged in plasma waveguide, but they are also different from the conventional dielectric waveguide. The propagation of waveguide modes near cutoff and far from cutoff are considered, which is influenced by is the normalized frequency parameter B and numerical aperture NA.

To verify the genome components of Thinopyrum ponticum Liu alt; Wang and Th. intermedium [Host] Barkworth alt; Dewey, six specific primer pairs were designed according to the sequence of an autonomous centromeric retrotransposon of wheat (CRW) from Triticum boeoticum. Several DNA fragments were amplified by PCR from the genomic DNA of the diploid species Pseudoroegneria spicata A Löve. After sequence alignment, a 1.755 kb fragment was obtained and named as pStC1 (St genome centromere associated sequence, GenBank accession No. FJ952565). This fragment contained an 800 bp fragment highly homologous to the LTR region of autonomous CRW, a short fragment partial homology to the gag region of CRW, and an AGCAAC-rich tandem repeat. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) using pStC1 as a probe was carried out on the chromosomes of Th. ponticum, Th. intermedium and Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring. Th. ponticum was proved to have two St and three E genomes (St1St2EeEbEx). In Th. intermedium, strong FISH signals were observed on St genome chromosomes, while faint signals were also found on some E-genome chromosomes at their pericentromeric regions. These results indicated that during speciation of sub-genomes in the allopolyploids of Thinopyrum genus, concerted evolution might have occurred at centromeric and pericentromeric regions.

Deficiency of micronutrients, especially iron and zinc, has been a serious malnutrition problem worldwide in human health. Increasing Fe and Zn concentrations in grains by means of plant breeding is a sustainable, effective and important way to improve human mineral nutrition and health. However, little information on grain Fe and Zn concentrations in Chinese wheat genotypes is available. Therefore, to determine the nutrients status especially these of micronutrients in wheat grain is necessary and very useful. Two hundred sixty two genotypes were selected from the wheat mini-core collections, which contained 23090 wheat genotypes in China and represented 72.2% of total genetic variation. All 262 genotypes were grown in soils of similar geographical and climate location in order to minimize the environmental effect. After harvesting, the grains were washed with deionized water and dried (around 70 degrees C), then digested in HNO3 solution using a microwave accelerating reaction system (MARS). Nutrient concentrations in stock solution were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Remarkable genetic variations among grain nutrient concentrations (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Mg, Ca, K and P ) in the tested genotypes were detected. The concentrations of Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Ca, Mg, K and P in wheat grain were in the ranges of 34.2-61.2, 26.3-76.0, 20.9-56.7, 3.4-9.8, 290-976, 1129-2210 mg x kg(-1); 0.34%-0.85% and 0.296%-0.580%, respectively. The corresponding average values were 45.1, 50.2, 37.9, 6.5, 515, 1772 mg x kg(-1), 0.55% and 0.451%, respectively. Significant positive correlations between micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu) in wheat grains were detected, and the correlation coefficients were 0.395** (Fe and Mn), 0.424** (Fe and Zn), 0.574** (Fe and Cu), and 0.474** (Mn and Cu), respectively. However, no significant difference was found in grain nutrient concentrations between spring-wheat and winter-wheat genotypes. This study provides valuable and important information for breeding wheat genotypes which are enriched with minerals in grains, especially Fe and Zn

The high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) pair 1Bx13 + 1By16are recognized to positively correlate with bread-making quality; however, their molecular data remain unknown. In order to reveal the mechanism by which 1By16 and 1Bx13 creates high quality, their open reading frames (ORFs) were amplified from common wheat Atlas66 and Jimai 20 using primers that were designed based on published sequences of HMW glutenin genes. The ORF of 1By16 was 2,220 bp, deduced into 738 amino acid residues with seven cysteines including 59 hexapeptides and 22 nanopeptides motifs. The ORF of 1Bx13 was 2,385 bp, deduced into 795 amino acid residues with four cysteines including 68 hexapeptides, 25 nanopeptides and six tripeptides motifs. We found that 1By16 was the largest y-type HMW glutenin gene described to date in common wheat. The 1By16 had 36 amino acid residues inserted in the central repetitive domain compared with 1By15. Expression in bacteria and western-blot tests confirmed that the sequence cloned was the ORF of HMW-GS 1By16, and that 1Bx13 was one of the largest 1Bx genes that have been described so far in common wheat, exhibiting a hexapeptide (PGQGQQ) insertion in the end of central repetitive domain compared with 1Bx7. A phylogenetic tree based on the deduced full-length amino acid sequence alignment of the published HMW-GS genes showed that the 1By16 was clustered with Glu-1B-2, and that the 1Bx13 was clustered with Glu-1B-1 alleles.

In the present study, an antigastric cancer monoclonal antibody, MGb2, was chosen to prepare antibody-mitomycin C conjugate with dextran T-40 as intermediary. Up to 20 molecules of mitomycin C were specifically bound per molecule of antibody, without significantly impairing the antigen-binding capacity of the antibody and the pharmacological activity of mitomycin C. The conjugate showed selective cytotoxicity upon human gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 in vitro. Radioimmunoimaging and biodistribution studies indicated that, after conjugation with mitomycin C via dextran T-40 as intermediary, the tumor localization capacity of the antibody was well-retained. When tested in nude mice inoculated with human gastric carcinoma GAII in bilateral subrenal capsules, intraperitoneal injection of the conjugate twice a week for 3 weeks at the dose of 1 mg/kg of drug gave a tumor inhibitory rate of 152.29%, the result being far better than that of free mitomycin C or an irrelevant conjugate. A similar result was found in another nude mouse model of human gastric carcinoma SGC-7901. Meanwhile, after conjugation with antibody, the toxicity of mitomycin C on tested animals was significantly reduced.

Most agronomic traits such as yield, quality and stress-tolerance of crops are quantitative traits. It is not easy to dissect genetic basis of these traits because they are controlled by multi-genes that are affected by environmental factors. Hitchhiking mapping offers a new method for identifying of loci controlling those traits and assessing their allelic variations. Marker-trait association analysis based on the hitchhiking effects will play an important role in dissection of complex traits. Combination of quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping with marker-trait association analysis will facilitate dissection of complex traits, resulting in important information and markers for molecular breeding by design in crops. In this review, we presented a brief introduction of hitchhiking effects, marker-trait association analysis and practical considerations.

Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is involved in many biological processes in eukaryotes. SCF complex is a very important ubiquitin E3 ligase which has been exploited very well in plants. F-box protein characterized by an F-box motif is a subunit of SCF complex, which works as determinant in substrate recognition. Currently, many F-box proteins have been identified in plants which are involving in hormone (e.g., ethylene, auxin, gibberellin and jasmonate ) signal transduction and biological processes, such as self-incompatibility and floral development. F-box proteins may also participate stress response in plants. Recent study suggested that the Arabidopsis F-box protein TIR1 is an auxin receptor. Therefore, F-box protein mediated proteolysis may be an important gene expression mechanism in plants.

Genetic diversity of 1680 modern varieties in Chinese candidate core collections was analyzed at 78 SSR loci by fluorescence detection system. A total of 1336 alleles were detected, of which 1253 alleles could be annotated into 71 loci. For these 71 loci, the alleles ranged from 4 to 44 with an average of 17.6, and the PIC values changed from 0.19 to 0.89 with an average of 0.69. (1) In the three genomes of wheat, the average genetic richness was B>A>D, and the genetic diversity indexes were B>D>A. (2) Among the seven homoeologous groups, the average genetic richness was 2=7>3>4>6>5>1, and the genetic diversity indexes were 7>3>2>4>6>5>1. As a whole, group 7 possessed the highest genetic diversity, while groups 1 and 5 were the lowest. (3) In the 21 wheat chromosomes, 7A, 3B and 2D possessed much higher genetic diversity, while 2A, 1B, 4D, 5D and 1D were the lowest. (4) The highest average genetic diversity index existed in varieties bred in the 1950s, and then it declined continually. However, the change tendency of genetic diversity among decades was not greatly sharp. This was further illustrated by changes of the average genetic distance between varieties. In the 1950s it was the largest (0.731). Since the 1960s, it has decreased gradually (0.711, 0.706, 0.696, 0.695). The genetic base of modern varieties is becoming narrower and narrower. This should be given enough attention by breeders and policy makers.

To study the expressions and activities of Rho GTPases in hypoxia and its relationship with tumor angiogenesis.Three tumor cell lines were used in this study: gastric cancer cell lines AGS, SGC7901 and hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2. Expression level of Rac1 mRNA was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Activity of Rac1 was determined by pull-down assay and expression of HIF-1alpha, VEGF, p53 and PTEN protein was detected by Westernblot.The expression level of Rac1 mRNA was significantly increased in hypoxia compared to normoxia. Pull-down assay showed that hypoxia-induced activity of Rac1 was elevated in a time-dependent manner and climaxed at 3 hours. The expressions of HIF-1alpha and VEGF protein were up-regulated, while those of PTEN and p53 protein were down-regulated.These results indicate that hypoxia enhances Rac1 expression which might be involved in tumor angiogenesis by reacting with hypoxia-responsive genes.

To screen bioactive peptides that mimic the epitope of gastric cancer associated antigen.Anti-gastric cancer monoclonal antibody (mAb) MG7 was purified by ion chromatography, and then coated on ELISA plate. By using the mAb as selective molecular, a 12-meres phage displaying peptide library was biopanned, and the positive clones were selected.12 positive phage clones were selected.A candidate mimic epitope of gastric cancer associated antigen was identified, which provided the foundation for developing tumor peptide vaccine.