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Given inevitable age-related decreases in physical or mental capacity, studies on health-related behaviour (HRB) clustering in older people provide an opportunity to reduce health-care costs and promote healthy ageing. This study explores the clustering of HRBs and transition probabilities of cluster memberships over time, and compares sociodemographic characteristics of these clusters among Chinese and Japanese middle-aged and older adults. Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2011 to 2015 (N = 19614) and the Japanese Study of Ageing and Retirement (JSTAR) from 2007 to 2011 (N = 7,080), Latent Transition Analysis was applied to investigate the clustering and change in clustering memberships of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and body mass index. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the sociodemographic characteristics of these longitudinal HRB cluster members. We identified four common clusters in CHARLS and JSTAR: 'smoking', 'overweight or obese', 'healthy lifestyle' and 'current smoking with drinking', and an additional cluster named 'ex-smoking with drinking' in JSTAR. Although HRB cluster members were largely stable in both cohorts, participants in China tended to move towards an unhealthy lifestyle, while participants in Japan did the opposite. We also found that participants who smoked and drank were more likely to be male, younger, less educated and unmarried in both cohorts, but the overweight or obese participants were female, urban and higher income in CHARLS but not JSTAR. Our study not only contributes to the knowledge of longitudinal changes in health-related behavioural clustering patterns in an Asian elderly population, but may also facilitate the design of targeted multi-behavioural interventions to promote healthy lifestyles among older people in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Amelanotic/hypomelanotic melanoma is an extremely rare cancer and accounts for less than 1/10,000 in the population. For losing and hypomelanotic pigment, amelanotic melanoma can lead to misdiagnosis with benign skin lesions. Therefore, early recognition and diagnosis is important to avoid a delay in treatment. Case presentation: A 73-year-old man presented for a gradually enlarged nodule on the surface skin of the left crus, with no color change, ulceration, or bleeding. Malignant lesion was suspected based on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and biopsy was scheduled. Immunohistochemical (IHC) revealed amelanotic melanoma followed by biopsy.18Florine-fluoro-2-deoxy-2-d-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) was employed to explore whether there are metastases or not. 18F-FDG PET-CT showed increased FDG accumulation with standardized uptake value max (SUVmax) of 5.6 of the lesion, and no other lesions were detected. The patient refused to be hospitalized and died 12 months later. Conclusion: This case highlights the need of considering melanoma even if there is no color change. Increased FDG uptake from PET-CT is prone to be consistent with malignant disease as well as whole body scan is crucial in determining the accurate TNM stage. Moreover, prompt treatment according to guidelines is necessary even if the disease is at its early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The population genomic study of seven populations of Bellamya aeruginosa across three river systems in China was conducted by specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq). A clear division was found among populations from the Yellow River basin and the Pearl River basin, as well as population YC from the Yangtze River basin using the SNPs data. However, there existed no distinct population structure using the mitochondrial DNA. Anthropogenic translocation from the Yangtze River to the Pearl River basin and the passive dispersion from the Yangtze River basin to the Yellow River basin by flooding have weakened the phylogeographic pattern of B. aeruginosa. These results provide useful guidance for the effective selective breeding of Bellamya, which is very important for the development of the industry of LZRSRN. Clarifying the genetic structure can facilitate the understanding of a species evolution history. It is crucial for the management of germplasm resources and providing useful guidance for effective selective breeding. Bellamya is an economically and ecologically important freshwater snail for fish, birds and even humans. Population genetic structures of the Bellamya species, however, were unknown in previous studies. Population genomics approaches with tens to hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) make it possible to detect previously unidentified structures. The population genomic study of seven populations of B. aeruginosa across three river systems (Yellow River, Yangtze River and Pearl River) in China was conducted by SLAF-seq. SLAF-seq obtained a total of 4737 polymorphisms SLAF-tags and 25,999 high-consistency genome-wide SNPs. The population genetic structure showed a clear division among populations from the Yellow River basin (YH and WL) and the Pearl River basin (QSH and LB), as well as population YC from the Yangtze River basin using the SNPs data. However, there existed no distinct population structure using the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The anthropogenic translocation from the Yangtze River basin to the Pearl River basin and the passive dispersion from the Yangtze River basin to the Yellow River basin by flooding have weakened the phylogeographic pattern of B. aeruginosa. The divergence of B. aeruginosa in the three river systems suggests that the anthropogenic dispersal for aquaculture and breeding requires serious consideration of the population structure for the preservation of genetic diversity and effective utilization of germplasm resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional molecular markers have been widely used in the study of germ cell development of human and other model organisms, whereas less applications were in fishes. In this study, RNA Pol II CTD (S5) was used as a functional molecular marker for immunofluorescence analysis in germ cell nuclei of common carp, and the related technical parameters were further explored. The results showed that this method could detect the characteristics of mitosis phase and chromosomal immunofluorescence signals, which were related to transcriptional active sites during the development stage of fish germ cells. In addition, the quality of immunofluorescence signals were affected by the critical experimental procedures including chromosome preparation and washing specimens. This study not only provides important molecular markers served as immunoprobe for the study of germ cell development in fishes, but also provides a new detection strategy for fish genetics and breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]