Genetic polymorphism of caspase-7 isoform β in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

AIM: To investigate the association between the rs2227309 polymorphism of cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease-7 (caspase-7) isoform β and the genetic susceptibility in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in Taizhou of China. METHODS: Genotyping of rs2227309 of caspase-7 isoform β gene was performed in 204 RA patients and 203 matched healthy controls using TaqMan single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assays. RESULTS: The genotype frequencies of GG, AG and AA of caspase-7 polymorphism in the RA patients were 33.3%, 53.4% and 13.2%, respectively, and 33.0%, 44.3% and 22.7% in the healthy individuals,respectively. There was a significant difference in caspase-7 genotype frequencies between the RA patients and healthy controls (P<0.05). The frequency of GG+AG genotype in RA patients was higher than that in healthy controls with significant difference (P<0.05, OR=1.921, 95%CI: 1.140~3.236). The frequencies of the G allele were 60.0% and 55.2% in the RA patients and the healthy individuals,respectively. No significant difference was observed in allele frequency between the RA patients and healthy controls (P>0.05, OR=1.221, 95%CI: 0.924~1.613). CONCLUSION: The rs2227309 polymorphism of caspase-7 isoform β gene is associated with the susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. The high production of the non-functional variant of caspase-7 may reduce the apoptosis of rheumatoid synovial cells, indicating the mechanism of this association.     

Changes of somatotropin axis in catch-up growth rats born small for gestational age

AIM: To evaluate the changes of somatotropin axis in pre-pubertal rats with catch-up growth born small for gestational age (CUG-SGA). METHODS: The SGA rat model was prepared by diet restriction in pregnant rats.Growth hormone (GH) excretion in 24-h urine, serum level of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), the expression of IGF-l and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) in the tibial growth plate and the mRNA expression of IGF-1 in liver were measured in infant rats at the end of week 4. RESULTS: The level of 24-h urinary GH excretion in CUG-SGA group were significantly higher than that in the rats of non-catch-up growth born small for gestational age (NCUG-SGA) group and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) group (both P<0.01). The serum level of IGF-1 and the mRNA expression of IGF-1 in liver in CUG-SGA group were similar to those in AGA group, but significantly higher than those in NCUG-SGA group. The thickness of the tibial growth plate in NCUG-SGA group was significantly lower than that in CUG-SGA group and AGA group. No difference of the growth plate thickness between CUG-SGA group and AGA group was observed, but the thickness of hypertrophy zone of the growth plate in CUG-SGA group were significantly higher than that in NCUG-SGA group and AGA group (both P<0.01). The expression of IGF-1 in the growth plate in CUG-SGA group was similar to that in AGA group but significantly higher than that in NCUG-SGA group (P<0.01). No difference of the IGF-1R expression in the growth plate among these 3 groups was found (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: GH/IGF-1 resistance exists in SGA rats with and without catch-up growth.     

Pivotal role of microRNAs in cardiac development and heart diseases

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding small RNAs, which bind to the 3'-UTR of target mRNAs and negatively regulate the gene expression. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that miRNAs are involved in many biological processes such as embryo development, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and tumorigenesis. Heart development and heart diseases are complex processes controlled by various signaling pathways. Recent researches indicate the importance of miRNAs in the process of cardiac development and heart diseases. In this review, the role of miRNAs in cardiac development and the pathogenesis of heart diseases are overviewed. The insight into the regulating miRNAs will significantly expand the cardiovascular therapeutic strategies beyond classical pharmacology.     

Construction of a lentiviral RNA interference vector targeting rat myocardin and its effect on vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation

AIM: To construct a lentiviral RNA interference(RNAi)vector targeting rat myocardin mRNA and to investigate its effect on the differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs).METHODS: Three pairs of dsDNA targeting rat myocardin mRNA were designed, synthesized and cloned into lentiviral vector pGCSIL-GFP to generate pGCSIL-GFP-shMyocd lentvirus. A Flag-tagged myocardin-overexpression vector pEGFP-N1-Myocd was constructed with pEGFP-N1/X124G. After these two vectors were cotransfected into 293T cells, the flag protein was assessed by Western blotting to analyze the knockdown effect of pGCSIL-GFP-shMyocd. The expression of myocardin and SM22α was also detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting after the pGCSIL-GFP-shMyocd viruses were transfected into primary cultured rat aortal VSMCs.RESULTS: The rat myocardin lentviral RNAi vector pGCSIL-GFP-shMyocd and myocardin-overexpression vector pEGFP-N1-Myocd were successfully constructed. After these two kinds of vectors were cotransfected into 293T cells,the No.1 interfering vector displayed the highest inhibitory effect on flag expression.After the No.1 lentvirus at the titer of 1×10¹² TU/L was transfected into VSMCs, the myocardin and SM22α expression was significantly attenuated. CONCLUSION: The lentiviral pGCSIL-GFP-shMyocd RNAi vector is successfully constructed, which is useful for further study regarding the molecular mechanism of the phenotypic switching in VSMCs under special pathological conditions such as atherosclerosis. Inhibition of myocardin expression in VSMCs leads to the decrease in the expression of differentiation marker, and implies a crucial role of myocardin in VSMCs differentiation.     

大白菜根肿病抗性与橘红心性状的遗传关系

以育成的黄心抗根肿病直筒叠抱型大白菜CR9112A和CR9112B为母本,直筒舒心橘红心大白菜龙园红1号JH-1自交系为父本,分别完成F1、F2及BC1F1各世代。验证龙园红1号橘红心性状的遗传规律,探究根肿病抗性与橘红心性状之间的遗传关系。抗性和花色鉴定结果表明：根肿病抗性与橘红心性状之间无连锁关系,二者表现为独立遗传。龙园红1号JH-1的基因型为msmsrrhh。提出了转育抗根肿病橘红心大白菜的遗传模式,以期获得经济性状优良的抗根肿病橘红心材料。     

蔬菜高效施药装置药量专家系统测试

为了满足蔬菜高效施药的精确性和便捷性,借助信息技术手段将专家知识库存贮在单片机芯片中,通过快捷的选择调用达到蔬菜高效施药的目的。本文介绍了高效施药装置专家系统的工作原理,并通过试验验证了其理论施药量和实际控制值具有较好的一致性。     

灰色系统理论和可公度性理论在大连市涝灾预测中的应用

采用大连市1951-2006年的降水资料,应用Z指标法得出大连市1951-2006年的涝灾年份.在这些数据分析的基础上,应用了三元、四元、五元可公度法分别预测了大连市的下一次可能发生的涝灾的年份.同时根据灰色系统理论建立灰色GM(1,1)模型对大连市未来的涝灾年份做出预测.结果表明:两种方法都能较好的应用于大连市涝灾研...     

基于遗传算法的投影寻踪回归模型在参考作物滕发量预测中的应用

根据朝阳气象站的实测气象数据(降水量、温度、湿度、风速、蒸发量、日照时数),提出基于加速遗传算法的投影寻踪回归模型用于预测朝阳地区参考作物滕发量.用自相关分析技术确定预测因子(气象数据),构造出新的投影指标,采用可变阶的正交Hermite多项式拟合岭函数,并用基于实数编码的加速遗传算法优化投影指标函数,进而构建投影寻踪...     

钉齿式轴流装置脱粒过程高速摄像分析

以自行研制的钉齿式轴流脱粒与分离装置为研究对象,借助高速摄像设备对脱分空间内稻谷的整体运动过程、断穗的运动和脱粒过程以及自由籽粒的运动过程进行了在线拍摄。通过高速摄像图像慢放分析得出：稻谷进入脱分空间后,错综复杂地交织在一起,在旋转钉齿和导向板的共同作用下,稻谷流沿滚筒轴向螺旋向前涌动。脱分空间内断穗的运动轨迹是抛物线,其运动不平稳,速度容易出现波动。单个自由籽粒在无外界干扰时近似作匀速直线运动,运动方向与滚筒轴线方向呈一定夹角。     

高效稳定沼液营养液对冬小麦产量及土壤养分的影响

在大田栽培条件下,研究了冬小麦返青期施用稳定沼液营养液对冬小麦产量、品质以及土壤营养成分的影响。结果表明,与传统施用尿素相比,稳定沼液营养液可以明显促进冬小麦株高的增长和干物质的积累,并显著提高产量,增产可达23.3%;与施用原沼液相比,施加稳定沼液营养液对冬小麦增产可达10.3%。施用稳定沼液营养液与施用尿素及原沼液相比,冬小麦籽粒中粗纤维含量分别下降20.9%和1.4%,淀粉含量分别上升4.8%和4.0%。同时对土壤养分的测定结果表明,施加稳定沼液营养液可以显著增加土壤速效磷,速效钾和有机质的含量,增加幅度分别为49.1%,24.5%和18.7%。因此,稳定沼液营养液的使用可以更为有效的促进冬小麦产量的增加,同时改变土壤养分状况。