[Comparison of the clinical efficacy of all-inside arthroscopic lateral ligament augmentation procedure and Broström procedure for the treatment of chronic lateral rotational ankle instability]

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of patients with chronic lateral rotational ankle instability(CLRAI) after all-inside arthroscopic lateral ligament augmentation procedure and Broström procedure. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. The clinical and imaging data of 106 CLRAI patients were collected at the Xuzhou Central Hospital from January 2021 to December 2022. The patients included 55 males and 51 females with an age of (32.6±8.2) years (range: 16 to 50 years). All patients were treated under all-inside arthroscopic, and were divided into Broström-Gould surgery group (n=54) and Broström surgery group (n=52) according to different ligament repair methods. At 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery, ankle inversion stress tests and anterior drawer tests were used to examine the stability of the ankle joint and observe gait. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle hindfoot scale (AOFAS-AH) and Karlsson ankle function score (KAFS) were used to assess ankle function; Tegner score was used to assess the patient's level of exercise; the foot and ankle outcome score(FAOS)(including score of symptoms,pain,function, daily living,function, sports and recreational activities (sport); quality of life (QOL)) was used to assess the patient's daily activity ability. Comparisons of data were made using independent sample t test, repeated measures analysis of variance, LSD multiple comparison method, χ2 test or Mann-Whitney U test. Results: All operations were successfully accomplished. All incisions healed by first intention, without evidence of postoperative complications of implant rejection, ligation reaction, and nerve and vessel injury. All patients were followed up at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Ankle varus stress test and anterior drawer test were negative. No evidence supporting lateral ankle instability was obtained. All patients eventually regained normal gait. No patients underwent revision surgery. Repeated measurement analysis of variance showed that AOFAS-AH, Tegner, KAFS and FAOS scores in the Brostrom-Gould group and the Brostrom group were significantly higher than those before surgery (P<0.01). The change trends of Tegner score and FAOS-sport score were significantly different between the two groups (F=18.839, P<0.01; F=8.169, P=0.005). Multiple comparisons revealed that at 3-, 6-and 12-month follow-up, the Tegner scores ((3 months: 3.7±0.5 vs. 3.3±0.5, t=-3.980, P<0.01; 6 months: 4.4±0.6 vs. 3.8±0.7, t=-4.792,P<0.01;12 months: 5.8±0.9 vs. 5.1±1.0, t=-3.889,P<0.01)), sport scores ((3 months: 82.5±3.7 vs. 79.3±3.8, LSD-t=-4.316, P<0.01; 6 months: 88.5±4.9 vs. 85.7±3.8, LSD-t=-3.312,P=0.001;12 months: 90.1±4.3 vs. 88.2±5.1, LSD-t=-2.112,P=0.037)) in the Broström-Gould surgery group were higher than those in the Broström surgery group, with statistical significances. Conclusions: Both Broström-Gould and Broström procedures under all-inside arthroscopic can make ankle stability and improve ankle function in the treatment of CLRAI. However, the former maybe shorten the time to return to exercise and achieve higher motor function.

Preoperative CT histogram analysis to predict the expression of Ki-67 in solid pseudopapillary tumours of the pancreas

AIM

To explore the value of preoperative computed tomography (CT) histogram features in predicting the expression status of Ki-67 in patients with solid pseudopapillary pancreatic tumours (SPTP).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective study analysed venous phase CT images of 39 patients with SPTP confirmed at surgery and histopathology and measured using the Ki-67 proliferation index from November 2015 to February 2022. According to the Ki-67 proliferation index, they were divided into high expression (Ki-67 ≥ 4%) and low expression (Ki-67 < 4%) groups. The histogram features of quantitative parameters were extracted using MaZda software, and the quantitative parameters of CT histograms were compared between groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the patients were plotted according to the parameters, with statistically significant differences. The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were calculated, and the effectiveness of the histogram parameters in predicting Ki-67 expression was analysed and evaluated.

RESULTS

In total, 27 SPTP patients were enrolled, including 11 with high expression of Ki-67 and 16 with low expression. Comparative analysis of the Ki-67 high- and low-expression groups revealed a statistically significant in necrosis and variance (p<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of necrosis and variance predicting Ki-67 expression status were 0.753 and 0.841, the sensitivities were 81.8% and 81.3%, and the specificities were 68.7% and 81.8%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative CT histogram features help predict Ki-67 expression status in patients with SPTP.

Dynamic stabilization of ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the presence of a temporally modulated laser pulse

This paper presents a numeric study of the dynamic stabilization of the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability (ARTI) in the presence of a temporally modulated laser pulse. The results show that the specially modulated laser produces a dynamically stabilized configuration near the ablation front. The physical features of the relevant laser-driven parameters in the unperturbed ablative flows have been analyzed to reveal the inherent stability mechanism underlying the dynamically stabilized configuration. A single-mode ARTI for the modulated laser pulse is first compared with that of the unmodulated laser pulse. The results show that the modulated laser stabilizes the surface perturbations and reduces the linear growth rate and enhancement of the cutoff wavelength. For multimode perturbations, the dynamic stabilization effect of the modulated laser pulse contributes to suppress the small-scale structure and reduce the width of the mixing layer. Moreover, the results show that the stabilization effect of the modulated laser pulse decreases as the maximum wavelength increases.

Value of spectral CT parameters in predicting the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer

AIM

To investigate the value of pre-chemotherapy spectral computed tomography (CT) parameters in predicting neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response in gastric cancer (GC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty patients with GC who received NAC and underwent spectral CT examination before chemotherapy were enrolled retrospectively and divided into a responsive group and a non-responsive group according to the postoperative pathological tumour regression grade. Clinical characteristics were collected. The iodine concentration (IC), water concentration (WC), and effective atomic number (Eff-Z) of the portal venous phases were measured before chemotherapy, and IC was normalised to that of the aorta to provide the normalised IC (NIC). An independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, or chi-square test was used to analyse the differences between the two groups, and the receiver operating curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the predictive performance of different variables.

RESULTS

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was lower in the responsive group than in the non-responsive group (p<0.05). IC, NIC, and Eff-Z values were significantly higher in the responsive group than in the non-responsive group (p<0.01). The areas under the ROC curves for the NLR, IC, NIC, and Eff-Z were 0.694, 0.688, 0.799, and 0.690, respectively. The combination of NIC, Eff-Z, and NLR values showed good diagnostic performance in predicting response to NAC in GC, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.857, 76.92% sensitivity, 80% accuracy, and 85.71% specificity.

CONCLUSION

Spectral CT parameters may serve as non-invasive tools for predicting the response to NAC in patients with GC.

Effects of oleanolic acid on acute liver injury triggered by lipopolysaccharide in broiler chickens

1. Infectious injury caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a metabolite of gram-negative bacteria, can induce stress responses in animals and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in young birds. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with oleanolic acid (OA) on acute liver injury in broiler chickens challenged with LPS.2. In total, 120 broiler chickens were randomly divided into six groups and fed a basal diet containing 0, 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg OA or 100 mg/kg aureomycin. On d 15, broiler chickens were injected with either LPS or an equivalent volume of normal saline. Six hours after LPS injection, two broiler chicks were randomly selected for sampling in each replicate.3. The results indicated that dietary aureomycin was ineffective in alleviating LSP-associated liver injury, but protected broiler chickens from LPS-induced liver damage. This promoted a significant reduction in the levels of malondialdehyde and an increase in the levels of superoxide dismutase in liver. In addition, OA was found to cause significant reductions in the relative expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in broiler liver tissues, whereas the relative expression of IL-10 was significantly increased.4. In conclusion, oleanolic acid can alleviate oxidative stress and injury in the livers of broiler chickens induced by lipopolysaccharide. Consequently, oleanolic acid has potential utility as a novel anti-inflammatory and antioxidant feed additive.

[Effect of hollow compression screw internal fixation in treating McCrory-Bladin type Ⅱ lateral process fracture of the talus: open versus arthroscopy surgery]

In order to explore the clinical efficacy of hollow compression screw internal fixation in the treatment of lateral process fracture of the talus under open surgery versus arthroscopy procedure, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 33 patients with lateral process fracture of the talus admitted to Xuzhou Central Hospital from January 2019 to December 2021. There were 19 males (19 feet) and 14 females (14 feet), aged 18 to 50 years, with an average age of (32.2±9.3) years. According to the modified McCrory-Bladin classification, all patients were classified as type Ⅱ. Based on the different surgical methods, the patients were divided into the arthroscopy group (21 cases, treated with double-tunnel subtalar arthroscopy combined with hollow compression screw internal fixation) and the open group (12 cases, treated with open reduction and internal fixation with hollow compression screw). The operation time was observed and the surgical effects were evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain, the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score, the Foot Function Index (FFI), and the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM), which includes the FAAM-ADL (activity of daily living subscale) and the FAAM-S (sport subscale). All the patients of the two groups achieved stage Ⅰ wound healing. On the first day after the operation, the mean VAS score of the arthroscopy group was 2.4±0.7, which was significantly lower than that of the open group (3.4±1.6) (P=0.020). No significant difference was observed in terms of the follow-up time, operation time and AOFAS score between the two groups (all P>0.05). The FFI score of the arthroscopy group was significantly lower than that of the open group, and the FAAM-ADL and FAAM-S scores were significantly higher than those in the open group (all P<0.05). Two cases of dorsal foot numbness occurred in the open group after the operation, and the incidence of complications was not significantly different from that of the arthroscopy group (P=0.054). For McCrory-Bladin type Ⅱ lateral process fracture of the talus, the use of compression screw internal fixation could achieve reliable results, however, compared to open surgery, arthroscopy procedure obtained mini trauma and better functions.

A Double-Layer Dual-Polarized Huygens Metasurface and Its Meta-Lens Antenna Applications

In this paper, a dual-polarized Huygens unit is proposed, which has a double-layer metallic pattern etched on both sides of one dielectric substrate. Induced magnetism enables the structure to support Huygens' resonance, thus obtaining nearly complete available transmission phase coverage. By optimizing the structural parameters, a better transmission performance can be achieved. When the Huygens metasurface was used for the design of a meta-lens, good radiation performance was exhibited, with a maximum gain of 31.15 dBi at 28 GHz, an aperture efficiency of 42.7% and a 3 dB gain bandwidth of 26.4 GHz to 30 GHz (12.86%). Due to its excellent radiation performance and very simple fabrication, this Huygens meta-lens has important applications in millimeter-wave communication systems.

[Long-term trend of gastric cancer survival rate in Qidong, 1972-2016]

Objective: The survival rate of gastric cancer cases in the whole population of Qidong City of Jiangsu Province from 1972 to 2016 was analyzed to provide a data basis for prevention and control of gastric cancer. Methods: The observed survival rate (OSR) was calculated by the life table method, the relative survival rate (RSR) was calculated by SURV 3.01 software, and the trend test was performed by Hakulinen's likelihood ratio test. Age-standardized relative survival rate (ARSR) was calculated using the International Cancer Survival Standard (ICSS). The Joinpoint regression model was used to calculate the average annual percentage change (AAPC) of survival rate, and the trend analysis of the overall survival rate of gastric cancer and the survival rates of different sexes and ages was conducted. The ARIMA model was used to predict the survival rate. Results: From 1972 to 2016, there were 18 067 new cases of gastric cancer in Qidong City. The OSRs at 1, 5, and 10 years were 37.12%, 17.16%, and 12.86%, respectively, and the RSRs at 1, 5, and 10 years were 38.83%, 21.73%, and 21.20%. Dividing 1972-2016 into 9 periods at 5-year intervals, compared with 1972-1976, the 5-year RSR in 2012-2016 increased from 12.53% to 36.26%, and the RSR in the 9 periods increased with statistical significance (χ(2)=747.19, P<0.001). Both OSR and RSR were slightly higher in men than in women, and decreased with age. The AAPC results showed that the AAPC of the 5-year RSR of gastric cancer in Qidong was 2.88%, 2.75% in males and 3.05% in females, and the upward trend was statistically significant (P<0.001). From 1972 to 2016, the 5-year RSR of gastric cancer in all age groups showed an upward trend. Except for the 35-44-year-old group (AAPC=1.07%, t=2.16, P=0.067), the age groups had statistical significance ( AAPC=2.59% in the 45-54-year-old group, AAPC=3.19% in the AAPCs of other 55-64-year-old group, AAPC=3.99% in the 65-74-year-old group, and AAPC=2.97% in the 75-year-old group, all P<0.05). The prediction results of the ARIMA model showed that in 2026, the 5-year OSR of gastric cancer in Qidong will increase to 39.82%, and the 5-year RSR will increase to 49.23%. Conclusion: The overall survival rate of registered gastric cancer cases in Qidong has been greatly improved, but there is still large room for improvement. More attention should be paid to the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer.

RRP9 promotes gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer via activating AKT signaling pathway

BACKGROUND

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly lethal malignancy regarding digestive system, which is the fourth leading factor of cancer-related mortalities in the globe. Prognosis is poor due to diagnosis at advanced disease stage, low rates of surgical resection, and resistance to traditional radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In order to develop novel therapeutic strategies, further elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying PC chemoresistance is required. Ribosomal RNA biogenesis has been implicated in tumorigenesis. Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) is responsible for post-transcriptional modifications of ribosomal RNAs during biogenesis, which have been identified as potential markers of various cancers. Here, we investigate the U3 snoRNA-associated protein RRP9/U3-55 K along with its role in the development of PC and gemcitabine resistance.

METHODS

qRT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemical staining assays were employed to detect RRP9 expression in human PC tissue samples and cell lines. RRP9-overexpression and siRNA-RRP9 plasmids were constructed to test the effects of RRP9 overexpression and knockdown on cell viability investigated by MTT assay, colony formation, and apoptosis measured by FACS and western blot assays. Immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence staining were utilized to demonstrate a relationship between RRP9 and IGF2BP1. A subcutaneous xenograft tumor model was elucidated in BALB/c nude mice to examine the RRP9 role in PC in vivo.

RESULTS

Significantly elevated RRP9 expression was observed in PC tissues than normal tissues, which was negatively correlated with patient prognosis. We found that RRP9 promoted gemcitabine resistance in PC in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, RRP9 activated AKT signaling pathway through interacting with DNA binding region of IGF2BP1 in PC cells, thereby promoting PC progression, and inducing gemcitabine resistance through a reduction in DNA damage and inhibition of apoptosis. Treatment with a combination of the AKT inhibitor MK-2206 and gemcitabine significantly inhibited tumor proliferation induced by overexpression of RRP9 in vitro and in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data reveal that RRP9 has a critical function to induce gemcitabine chemoresistance in PC through the IGF2BP1/AKT signaling pathway activation, which might be a candidate to sensitize PC cells to gemcitabine. Video abstract.

Discrimination between microcystic meningioma and atypical meningioma using whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient histogram analysis

AIM

To explore the value of whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis in discriminating microcystic meningioma (MCM) from atypical meningioma (AM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Clinical and preoperative MRI data of 20 patients with MCM and 26 patients with AM were analysed retrospectively. Whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis was performed on each patient's lesion to obtain histogram parameters, including mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis, the 1st (ADCp1), 10th (ADCp10), 50th (ADCp50), 90th (ADCp90), and 99th (ADCp99) percentiles of ADC. The differences between the ADC histogram parameters of the two tumours were compared, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the diagnostic performance of statistically significant parameters in distinguishing the two tumours.

RESULTS

The mean, ADCp1, ADCp10, ADCp50, and ADCp90 of MCM were greater than those of AM, and significant differences were observed in these parameters between MCM and AM (all p<0.05). ROC analysis showed that the mean had the highest area under the curve value (AUC) in distinguishing the two tumours (AUC = 0.852), when using 120.46 × 10^-6 mm²/s as the optimal threshold, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for discriminating the two groups were 84.6%, 75%, 80.4%, 81.5%, and 78.9%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Histogram analysis based on whole-lesion ADC maps was useful for discriminating between MCM from AM preoperatively, with the mean being the most promising potential parameter.

Ultra-wideband linear-to-circular polarizer realized by bi-layer metasurfaces

We propose a bi-layer transmissive metasurface to obtain linear-to-circular polarization conversion in a wideband. The unit cell of each metasurface layer, which has identical configuration, consists of a Jerusalem-cross-like resonator and a metal strip. A universal equivalent circuit model is employed to guide the design of the polarizer. By analyzing the circuit parameters of the equivalent circuit, four metal strips are symmetrically inserted in each unit cell to broaden the bandwidth of linear-to-circular polarization conversion. Numerical and experimental results show that the polarizer can convert a linearly polarized wave into a circularly polarized wave in a wideband from 6.1 GHz to 12.6 GHz. Compared to the reported designs, the proposed polarization converter has advantages of ultrathin thickness and ultrawideband, and hence can be used in many applications, such as antennas and remote sensors.

The Effect of Brain–Computer Interface Training on Rehabilitation of Upper Limb Dysfunction After Stroke: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background

Upper limb motor dysfunction caused by stroke greatly affects the daily life of patients, significantly reduces their quality of life, and places serious burdens on society. As an emerging rehabilitation training method, brain–computer interface (BCI)–based training can provide closed-loop rehabilitation and is currently being applied to the restoration of upper limb function following stroke. However, because of the differences in the type of experimental clinical research, the quality of the literature varies greatly, and debate around the efficacy of BCI for the rehabilitation of upper limb dysfunction after stroke has continued.

Objective

We aimed to provide medical evidence-based support for BCI in the treatment of upper limb dysfunction after stroke by conducting a meta-analysis of relevant clinical studies.

Methods

The search terms used to retrieve related articles included “brain-computer interface,” “stroke,” and “upper extremity.” A total of 13 randomized controlled trials involving 258 participants were retrieved from five databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, MEDLINE, and Web of Science), and RevMan 5.3 was used for data analysis.

Results

The total effect size for BCI training on upper limb motor function of post-stroke patients was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.29–0.83). Subgroup analysis indicated that the standard mean differences of BCI training on upper limb motor function of subacute stroke patients and chronic stroke patients were 1.10 (95% CI: 0.20–2.01) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.09–0.92), respectively (p = 0.24).

Conclusion

Brain–computer interface training was shown to be effective in promoting upper limb motor function recovery in post-stroke patients, and the effect size was moderate.

[Validation of a hyperkalemia prediction model in chronic kidney disease]

Objective: To validate the accuracy and consistency of a previously established prediction model for the occurrence of hyperkalemia in non-dialytic chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Methods: All patients diagnosed with CKD from Outpatient Department of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital during the 4th quarter of 2020 were recruited. Demographic data, clinical characteristics and prediction model-related parameters of the patients were collected and analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the effectiveness of the model, and the specificity and sensitivity were calculated based on the cut-off value of 4 obtained from the previous model. The improved Hanley method was used to compare the area under the curve (AUC) between the previously established model and current validation dataset. The calibration curve was drawn to verify the model calibration degree. Results: A total of 434 patients diagnosed with non-dialytic CKD were enrolled, among whom 233 were males and 201 were females, with an average age of (55±16) years. According to the measured serum potassium values, the prevalence of hyperkalemia was 7.6%. And 33 patients were allocated to the hyperkalemia group and 401 patients were to the normal potassium group. There was no significant difference in age and sex between the two groups (both P>0.05). A combination of hyperkalemia and heart failure (27.3% vs 3.7%, P<0.001), diabetes (42.4% vs 19.7%, P=0.002), and acidosis (51.5% vs 7.0%, P<0.001) were more frequently in the hyperkalemia group, compared with the normal serum potassium group. Patients in the hyperkalemia group were more likely to have a past history of serum potassium ≥5.0 mmol/L (48.5% vs 2.5%, P<0.001). For the drugs that could increase serum potassium levels, there was a significant correlation between Chinese herbal medicine and the occurrence of hyperkalemia, while renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitor (RAASi) and potassium supplementation showed no significant difference between the two groups. The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC was 0.914, with the sensitivity of 84.8% and the specificity of 79.8% with the cut-off value of 4. The difference of AUC between the previously established risk assessment model of hyperkalemia in patients with non-dialytic CKD and current validation dataset was not statistically significant (Z=1.924, P=0.054), indicating the good accuracy and consistency of the prediction model. In the calibration curve, when the predicted risk of patients was below 0.4 or above 0.6, the prediction effect of the model was better. Conclusion: The previously-constructed hyperkalemia prediction model in non-dialytic CKD patients had good accuracy and consistency, and could be used to evaluate the risk of hyperkalemia in all stages of non-dialytic CKD patients.

AKT1/FOXP3 axis-mediated expression of CerS6 promotes p53 mutant pancreatic tumorigenesis

Ceramide synthases (CerSs) catalyze the formation of ceramides from sphingoid bases and acyl-CoA substrates. Increasing evidence suggests that cancer cells generally exhibit altered sphingolipid metabolism in the tumorigenesis of multiple cancers. However, there is no evidence that CerSs are associated with pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC). In the present study, we examined CerS expression in clinical tissue and conducted data mining to investigate the clinical significance of CerSs in the TCGA-PAAD database. We found that high CerS6 expression positively correlated with progression and predicted worse prognosis in PDAC patients, establishing CerS6 as a potential biomarker for PDAC. Furthermore, CerS6 promoted cell proliferation, colony formation and invasion by producing C16-ceramide and was required for tumor formation. Mechanistically, AKT1 interacted with and phosphorylated FOXP3 at S418, which decreased the binding of FOXP3 to the CERS6 promoter and in turn induced CerS6 expression by reconstituting an activated state on the CERS6 promoter. The AKT1/FOXP3 axis mediated the CerS6 expression and promoted p53 mutant pancreatic tumorigenesis by producing excessive C16-ceramide, which induced the accumulation of mutant p53. Thus, our study explores the relationship between PI3K/AKT signaling and sphingolipid metabolism, revealing an oncogenic role for CerS6, which may represent a potential target for PDAC treatment.

[Establishment of animal models of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor-related rashes]

OBJECTIVE

To establish animal models epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor-related skin rashes using cetuximab, gefitinib or erlotinib.

OBJECTIVE

Female SCID mice were randomly divided into blank control group and high-, moderate-, and low-dose cetuximab groups. The mice in control group received intraperitoneal injection of saline, and those in the 3 cetuximab groups were injected with 80, 40, and 20 mg/kg cetuximab (3 times a week for 4 weeks), respectively. The general skin appearance and skin pathologies of the mice were observed. Female BN rats were randomly divided into blank group, ovalbumin group, gefitinib group and erlotinib group, and in the latter 3 groups, the rats were given ovalbumin (1 mg), gefitinib (37.5 mg/kg), and erlotinib (23.5 mg/kg) by lavage once daily for 45 days, respectively. Skin pathologies of the rats were observed, and serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and other inflammatory factors were detected using ELISA.

OBJECTIVE

Intraperitoneal injection of cetuximab did not induce typical skin rashes, scabs or obvious skin inflammation in the mice. In female BN rats, lavage of gefitinib caused obvious skin rashes, scabs and exudation, and obvious inflammatory cell infiltration, keratinosis, spinous layer release and epidermal thickening were observed in the skin. No obvious skin inflammation were observed in the rats in the control, ovalbumin or erlotinib groups. While IgE (P=0.061) and TNF-α concentrations (P=0.057) did not differ significantly among the groups, serum levels of IL-6 was significantly higher in gefitinib group than in the blank control group (P=0.016) but similar between erlotinib group and the blank group (P=0.910).

OBJECTIVE

Intraperitoneal injection of cetuximab can not induce epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor-related skin rashes in SCID mice. Lavage of gefitinib, but not erlotinib, can be used to establish models of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor-related rashes in BN rats.

[Cost-effectiveness of primary prophylaxis with PEG-rhG-CSF in early-stage breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in China]

Objective: To evaluate the cost effectiveness of primary prophylaxis (PP) with pegylated recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (PEG-rhG-CSF), PP with recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) and no prophylaxis in women with early-stage breast cancer in China. Methods: Two phase Markov models were constructed for a hypothetical cohort of patients aged 45 with stage Ⅱ breast cancer. The first phase modelled costs and outcomes of 4 cycles docetaxel combined with cyclophosphamide [TC×4, febrile neutropenia (FN) risk>20%] chemotherapy, which assumptions based on literature reviews, including FN rates [base-case (deterministic sensitivity analysis range), 0.29 (0.24-0.35)] and related events [FN case-fatality, 3.4 (2.7-4.1)]. Second phase modelled the long term survival which was link with the relative dose intensity (RDI) [mortality hazard ratio (HR) of RDI < 85% vs ≥85%, 1.45 (1.00-2.32)]. Clinical effectiveness, therapeutic costs, and economic utilities were estimated from peer-reviewed publications and expert opinions in case of unavailability of published evidences. Results: Compared to rhG-CSF PP and no prophylaxis, the cost of PEG-rhG-CSF PP increased to 5 208.19 RMB and 5 222.73 RMB, respectively. The quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) enhanced to 0.066 and 0.297, respectively. Accordingly, the incremental cost effectiveness ratios (ICERs) are 79 146.3 RMB and 17 558.77 RMB per QALY, which were both below the willingness to pay (WTP) threshold of three times GDP per capita (18, 000 RMB) recommended by the WHO. Sensitivity analysis suggested that the more clinically effective the primary prophylaxis with PEG-rhG-CSF is, the more cost-effective primary prophylaxis with PEG-rhG-CSF will be. And the lower the mortality HR of RDI<85% vs ≥85% is, the more cost-effective primary prophylaxis with PEG-rhG-CSF will be. Conclusion: Although the cost of PP PEG-rhG-CSF is higher, considering the additional benefits, the administrating of PP PEG-rhG-CSF is likely to be a cost-effective alternative to PP rhG-CSF and no prophylaxis in patients with early stage breast cancer whose FN risks are more than 20% in China.

Association of Dysplastic Coronoid Process with Long-Face Morphology

Vertical malocclusion is a developmental condition, resulting from complex interactions among multiple etiological factors during the growth period. As a tricky dentofacial deformity clinically, long-face (LF) morphology is characterized by excessive vertical facial growth with severe disarrangement of jaws and teeth. Since the improvement of LF patients on facial profile and occlusion is often difficult and lacks long-term stability, it becomes important to unravel the etiology of LF pattern formation for early prevention and treatment. In the current studies, we identified a transgenic mouse model that exhibited a dysplastic coronoid process and LF morphology. Although the mutant mice exhibited jaw structures and occlusion comparable to controls at birth, they all acquired typical LF morphology with anterior open bite during postnatal growth, resembling clinical features of the selected skeletal class III patients. Since the coronoid process provides an insertion site for the temporalis attachment, we examined the initial development and differentiation of the temporalis and found identical results in both control and mutant mice before E17.5 when the temporal muscle makes attachment to the coronoid process. However, thereafter, we observed altered orientation and reduced size of the cross-sectional area of the temporalis in mutant mice, which persisted to the weaning stage. Biomechanical analysis and simulation modeling further support the idea that altered morphology of the coronoid process may impair the efficiency of the vertical temporalis contraction and appears to correlate with LF formation. Consistently, we present evidence that a dysplastic mandibular coronoid process was also seen in some human patients with skeletal III LF morphology. Taken together, the results presented in this study establish an association of the craniofacial bony structures with vertical patterning, which will have implications in earlier prediction for clinical precaution and intervention.

[Epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly in urban and rural areas in Shanghai]

Objective: To understand the epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly in Shanghai, as well as the differences between urban and rural areas, and provide evidence for targeted fall prevention and intervention. Methods: From January to March in 2017, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the elderly aged 60 or above selected from 7 urban communities and 6 rural communities in Shanghai to understand the epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly and analyze the gender and urban-rural differences. Results: In urban area, a total of 3 386 elderly people were surveyed, in whom 441 (13.0%) had fall and 261 (7.7%) were injured after fall. In rural area, a total of 2 826 elderly people were surveyed, in whom 320 (11.3%) had fall and 169 (6.0%) were injured after fall. Fall risk in women were higher than that in men in both urban and rural areas with OR of 1.62 (95%CI: 1.42-1.86) and 1.16 (95%CI: 1.38-1.98) respectively, but the differences of fall related injury were not significant. Compared with urban areas, fall risk and fall related injury risk were both lower in rural areas with OR of 0.86 (95%CI: 0.73-0.99) and 0.74 (95%CI: 0.56-0.99). Compared with urban areas, men had lower risk for fall, and women had lower risk for fall related injury with OR of 0.68 (95%CI: 0.51-0.90) and 0.66 (95%CI: 0.47-0.93) respectively. Fall mainly occurred at home. Fall in urban area more frequently occurred on stairs, and fall in rural area more frequently occurred during farming. More than 60% of the falls had environmental risk factors. Slippery ground and uneven ground were main reasons. The incidence of fracture resulted from fall was high indicated by 89 fracture cases in urban areas (28.2%) and 64 fracture cases in rural areas (36.1%). Conclusions: The risk for fall in Shanghai had gender and urban-rural differences. Targeted intervention should be conducted according to the characteristics of fall in the elderly.

Wide-angle ultrasensitive biosensors based on edge states in heterostructures containing hyperbolic metamaterials

Edge states in photonic heterostructures composed of metal layers and all-dielectric one-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPCs) will shift toward short wavelengths (blueshift) with the increase in the incident angle for both transverses magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) polarizations. However, we achieve redshift edge states for TM polarization and blueshift edge states for TE polarization in heterostructures composed of metal layers and 1DPCs containing layered hyperbolic metamaterials. Owing to the opposite wavelength shift of the edge states for two orthogonal polarizations, the ellipsometric phase will change dramatically around the edge state wavelength in a broad angle range. Based on this wide-angle phase singularity property, we propose a biosensor which can work with high refractive index resolution in a broad angle range.

A heterologous 'prime-boost' anti-PEDV immunization for pregnant sows protects neonatal piglets through lactogenic immunity against PEDV

Abstract

Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) causes severe diarrhoea in neonatal suckling piglets with a high mortality. Maternal vaccines that can induce lactogenic immunity to protect suckling piglets via colostrums and milk are pivotal for the prevention and control of PEDV infection in neonatal suckling piglets. In this study, a group of pregnant sows were first orally immunized with coated PEDV‐loaded microspheres and boosted with killed PEDV vaccines (heterologous prime‐boost). It has been detected that the levels of PEDV‐specific antibodies (IgG and IgA) in their sera and milks were higher than other negative groups (P < 0·001 or P < 0·05). Furthermore, it has been proved by the neutralization assay that the induced antibodies could significantly inhibit virus infection as compared to other negative groups (P < 0·01 or P < 0·05). Importantly, after PEDV challenge, more than 90% of the suckling piglets delivered by the sows in the heterologous prime‐boost group were completely protected. Overall, the results show that ‘heterologous prime‐boost’ form is an efficient and effective way to provide protection for suckling piglets against PEDV through lactogenic immunity.

Significance and Impact of the Study

As a widespread swine pathogen, PEDV affects the swine industry enormously. It causes enteritis in swine of all ages and is often fatal in neonatal piglets. Our data show that pregnant sows were immunized with ‘coated PEDV‐loaded microspheres + killed PEDV vaccines’ (heterologous prime‐boost immunization) could protect more than 90% suckling piglets delivered by the sows against the virus. These findings provide a new model of developing safe and effective immunizations for newborn animals against established and emerging enteric infections.

[Effects of parthenolide on estradiol-synthesizing enzyme, ER isoforms and VEGF in human endometriotic stromal cells]

Objective: To evaluate the effects of parthenolide on estradiol-synthesizing enzyme, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), and ER isoforms,VEGF in human endometriotic stromal cells. Methods: Primary endometriotic stromal cells were treated with different concentrations (1, 5, 10 and 20 μmol/L) of parthenolide. The mRNA of StAR, ER isoforms (ERα and ERβ), PR, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα), tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) 1, TNFR2 were measured by real-time PCR. The levels of estradiol and progesterone in the cell supernatant were measured by ELISA. Results: Different concentrations of parthenolide could up-regulate the mRNA of StAR in primary endometriotic stromal cells (F=5.722, P<0.05); the mRNA of StAR in the group of 20 μmol/L was significantly higher than that of the control group [2.6±0.3 versus 1.0, P<0.01]. Different concentrations of parthenolide could down-regulate the mRNA of ERα (F=6.921, P<0.01); the mRNA of ERα in the group of 20 μmol/L and 10 μmol/L were significantly lower than those of the control group [0.2±0.3 versus 0.3±0.3 versus 1.0, all P<0.05]. Different concentrations of parthenolide could down-regulate the ratios of ERα/ERβ mRNA levels (F=4.209, P<0.05). Different concentrations of parthenolide could up-regulate the mRNA of VEGF and TNFR1 (F=10.964, P<0.01; F=7.286, P<0.01). There were no statiscal significances with different concentrations of parthenolide on the mRNA of ERβ, PR, IL-6, TNFα and TNFR2, and the levels of estradiol and progesterone in the cell supernatant (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Parthenolide may regulate the expression of estradiol-synthesizing enzyme, ER isoforms and angiogenesis in endometriotic stromal cells. Parthenolide may promote the development of endometriosis.

[Studies on the role of chromobox protein homolog 2 in the inhibition of progression of hepatoma]

Objective: To explore chromobox protein homolog 2 (CBX2) expressions in relation to clinical features of patients and elucidate its role in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, R language was used to analyze the distribution of differentially expressed mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma. The different expression of CBX2 in HCC and adjacent tissues and its relationship with survival and clinical characteristics of patients were further analyzed. The expression of CBX2 in liver tissues, liver cancer tissue, and L02, HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cell lines was detected by real time-PCR and western blot. The expression of CBX2 was interfered by siRNA in hepatoma cell line. MTT, colony formation, transwell assays, and flow cytometry were used to identify the proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and clone-formation ability of HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells after CBX2 down-regulation. According to the different data, t-test, ANOVA, chi-square test, and COX regression model were used for statistical analysis. Survival curve was plotted through Kaplan-Meier method. Results: TCGA public database analysis showed that the expression of CBX2 mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues (7.296 ± 1.6115) was significantly higher than normal liver tissues (4.706 ± 0.940) (P = 0.000). In addition, the overall survival time of patients with low CBX2 mRNA expression was significantly longer than that of patients with high CBX2 mRNA expression [(5.971 ± 0.411) years vs. (4.650 ± 0.503) years, P = 0.001]. The expression level of CBX2 mRNA was correlated with the pathological TNM stage (P = 0.025) and differentiation degree (P < 0.001) of liver cancer. COX regression analysis showed that CBX2 mRNA expression was an independent predictor of patient survival (P = 0.013). siRNA was transfected and compared with the blank control group. The transgenic ability of HepG2 and SMMC-77221 cells decreased significantly at 72h (P < 0.05) and 96h (P < 0.05), and the apoptosis rate (11.430% ± 0.215%) was higher than blank control group (6.6 00% ± 0.170%) (P = 0.003). The number of invasive cells ((both P < 0.05) and relative colony forming cells ((both P < 0.001) were significantly decreased. In 20 cases of tissue samples, the expression of CBX2 protein (relative expression level 3.020 ± 0.269) in liver cancer was higher than that in adjacent tissues (relative expression level 0.886±0.065) (P < 0.001). The overall survival time of patients with low CBX2 expression in liver cancer was longer than that of patients with high expression [(3.670 + 0.576) years vs. (0.834 + 0.153) years, P = 0.004]. Conclusion: An evident high expression of CBX2 is an independent poor prognostic factor in hepatoma. Down-regulation of CBX2 expression can inhibit the progression of liver cancer. Therefore, CBX2 may be a prognostic biomarker and a new target for HCC treatment.

Perfect optical absorbers in a wide range of incidence by photonic heterostructures containing layered hyperbolic metamaterials

We theoretically and experimentally investigate the wide-angle perfect absorptance in a photonic heterostructure composed of a metal film and a truncated photonic crystal (PC) with layered hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) in the near ultraviolet and visible regions. The wide-angle perfect optical absorption depends on the dispersionless Tamm plasmon polarition (TPP) under TM polarization, which originates from reflection phase compensation condition between the metal and the truncated PC with HMMs. Our experimental results show nearly perfect absorptance over 0.91 in an angle range of 0-45 degree, which facilitates the design of perfect optical absorbers working in a wide angle range.

Multiple eigenmodes of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability observed for a fluid interface with smoothly varying density

In this article, multiple eigen-systems including linear growth rates and eigen-functions have been discovered for the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) by numerically solving the Sturm-Liouville eigen-value problem in the case of two-dimensional plane geometry. The system called the first mode has the maximal linear growth rate and is just extensively studied in literature. Higher modes have smaller eigen-values, but possess multi-peak eigen-functions which bring on multiple pairs of vortices in the vorticity field. A general fitting expression for the first four eigen-modes is presented. Direct numerical simulations show that high modes lead to appearances of multi-layered spike-bubble pairs, and lots of secondary spikes and bubbles are also generated due to the interactions between internal spikes and bubbles. The present work has potential applications in many research and engineering areas, e.g., in reducing the RTI growth during capsule implosions in inertial confinement fusion.

Altered White Matter Microstructure in the Corpus Callosum and Its Cerebral Interhemispheric Tracts in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Diffusion Tensor Imaging Analysis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Neural system was one of the important contributors to the etiopathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis; additionally, the morphology of corpus callosum interconnecting both hemispheres of the brain was found to be altered morphologically. Our aim was to evaluate and compare the microstructural changes of the corpus callosum and its interhemispheric white matter fiber tracts interconnecting both cerebral hemispheres in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and matched controls using diffusion tensor imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Brain DTI was performed in 69 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (female, right thoracic/thoracolumbar curve) and 40 age-matched controls without adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (female). 2D and 3D segmentation of the corpus callosum were performed using a region-growing method, and the corpus callosum was further divided into 6 regions, including the rostrum, genu, anterior and posterior midbodies, isthmus, and splenium. The laterality index was calculated to quantify the asymmetry of the corpus callosum. Interhemispheric fiber tractography were performed using the Brodmann atlas.

RESULTS

2D ROI analysis revealed reduced fractional anisotropy in the genu and splenium (P = .075 and P = .024, respectively). Consistently reduced fractional anisotropy on the left sides of the genu and splenium was also found in 3D ROI analysis (P = .03 and P = .012, respectively). The laterality index analysis revealed a pseudo-right lateralization of the corpus callosum in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Interhemispheric fibers via the splenium interconnecting Brodmann 3, 1, and 2; Brodmann 17; and Brodmann 18 (corresponding to the primary somatosensory cortex and primary and secondary visual cortices) were also found to have reduced fractional anisotropy (P ≤ .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Reduced fractional anisotropy was found in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum and corresponding interhemispheric fiber tracts interconnecting the somatosensory and visual cortices via the splenium. Our results are suggestive of altered white matter microstructure within the brain of those with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, which could be related to abnormal brain maturation during adolescence in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and could possibly explain the previously documented somatosensory function impairment and visuo-oculomotor dysfunction in this condition.

Genetic epidemiology of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus circulating in China in 2012-2017 based on spike gene

A porcine epidemic diarrhoea outbreak first occurred in southern China at the end of 2010 and afterwards the disease spread throughout the country. Spike gene is divergent and important for understanding the genetic relations of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus field strains, the epidemiological status of the virus and vaccine development. In this study, S1 regions of spike gene of 1,235 selected strains collected from 2012 to 2017 in China were clustered along with 25 references of spike sequences mainly from China. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that these sequences of S1 regions were genetically more diverse with time. In all strains, G1a, G1b, G2a and G2b clusters accounted for 1.9%, 9.6%, 32.2% and 56.3%, respectively, namely G2a and G2b were the two most prevalent clusters in China. Furthermore, we made a more detailed classification for G2 group based on phylogenetic tree, in which G2a was divided into two subgroups, and G2b was separated into four subgroups.

Attenuated heart rate recovery predicts risk of incident diabetes: insights from a meta-analysis

AIMS

To assess the association between attenuated heart rate recovery, a non-invasive measure of autonomic dysfunction, and risk of diabetes in the general population.

METHODS

Databases were searched for cohort studies up to May 2017 that reported the association of heart rate recovery with the risk of diabetes. The overall hazard ratios for slowest vs fastest heart rate recovery (the referent) and for every 10-beats-per-min decrement in heart rate recovery were calculated using a random effects meta-analysis model.

RESULTS

Four cohort studies with 430 incident cases of diabetes among a total of 9113 participants during a mean follow-up period of 8.1 years were included. Results showed that the slowest heart rate recovery was associated with a higher risk of diabetes (hazard ratio 1.66, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.38) vs the fastest heart rate recovery, and the hazard ratio of risk of diabetes for every 10-beats-per-min decrement in heart rate recovery was 1.29 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.48). No significant interaction effect was observed regarding the efficacy of 1-min and 2-min heart rate recovery in predicting risk of diabetes (both P_{for interaction} >0.60); however, a linear dose-response relationship existed for overall studies and for studies using 1-min heart rate recovery as the exposure (both P >0.60 for non-linearity).

CONCLUSIONS

Attenuated heart rate recovery is associated with an increased risk of diabetes in a dose-dependent manner, and measurement of heart rate recovery is worth recommending as part of diabetes risk assessment in clinical routines.

Photonic Spin Hall Effect in Waveguides Composed of Two Types of Single-Negative Metamaterials

The polarization controlled optical signal routing has many important applications in photonics such as polarization beam splitter. By using two-dimensional transmission lines with lumped elements, we experimentally demonstrate the selective excitation of guided modes in waveguides composed of two kinds of single-negative metamaterials. A localized, circularly polarized emitter placed near the interface of the two kinds of single-negative metamaterials only couples with one guided mode with a specific propagating direction determined by the polarization handedness of the source. Moreover, this optical spin-orbit locking phenomenon, also called the photonic spin Hall effect, is robust against interface fluctuations, which may be very useful in the manipulation of electromagnetic signals.

Topological description for gaps of one-dimensional symmetric all-dielectric photonic crystals

We propose a topological description for gaps of one-dimensional symmetric all-dielectric photonic crystals (PCs). It is shown that, in the propagating direction, the effective electromagnetic parameters of PCs can be derived from one unit cell with mirror symmetry. Besides, at the frequencies of gaps, these symmetric PCs can be described as photonic insulators with effective negative permittivity or negative permeability. Moreover, based on the mapping of Maxwell's equations to the Dirac equation and the band inversion achieved by tuning the material and structural parameters, we demonstrate that the gaps of PCs with effective negative permittivity or negative permeability possess different topological orders. Lastly, we show that a bound state is robust against the disorder under a zero-average-effective-mass condition in a heterostructure made of two PCs with different topological orders.

Human genome meeting 2016 : Houston, TX, USA. 28 February - 2 March 2016

O1 The metabolomics approach to autism: identification of biomarkers for early detection of autism spectrum disorder A. K. Srivastava, Y. Wang, R. Huang, C. Skinner, T. Thompson, L. Pollard, T. Wood, F. Luo, R. Stevenson O2 Phenome-wide association study for smoking- and drinking-associated genes in 26,394 American women with African, Asian, European, and Hispanic descents R. Polimanti, J. Gelernter O3 Effects of prenatal environment, genotype and DNA methylation on birth weight and subsequent postnatal outcomes: findings from GUSTO, an Asian birth cohort X. Lin, I. Y. Lim, Y. Wu, A. L. Teh, L. Chen, I. M. Aris, S. E. Soh, M. T. Tint, J. L. MacIsaac, F. Yap, K. Kwek, S. M. Saw, M. S. Kobor, M. J. Meaney, K. M. Godfrey, Y. S. Chong, J. D. Holbrook, Y. S. Lee, P. D. Gluckman, N. Karnani, GUSTO study group O4 High-throughput identification of specific qt interval modulating enhancers at the SCN5A locus A. Kapoor, D. Lee, A. Chakravarti O5 Identification of extracellular matrix components inducing cancer cell migration in the supernatant of cultivated mesenchymal stem cells C. Maercker, F. Graf, M. Boutros O6 Single cell allele specific expression (ASE) IN T21 and common trisomies: a novel approach to understand DOWN syndrome and other aneuploidies G. Stamoulis, F. Santoni, P. Makrythanasis, A. Letourneau, M. Guipponi, N. Panousis, M. Garieri, P. Ribaux, E. Falconnet, C. Borel, S. E. Antonarakis O7 Role of microRNA in LCL to IPSC reprogramming S. Kumar, J. Curran, J. Blangero O8 Multiple enhancer variants disrupt gene regulatory network in Hirschsprung disease S. Chatterjee, A. Kapoor, J. Akiyama, D. Auer, C. Berrios, L. Pennacchio, A. Chakravarti O9 Metabolomic profiling for the diagnosis of neurometabolic disorders T. R. Donti, G. Cappuccio, M. Miller, P. Atwal, A. Kennedy, A. Cardon, C. Bacino, L. Emrick, J. Hertecant, F. Baumer, B. Porter, M. Bainbridge, P. Bonnen, B. Graham, R. Sutton, Q. Sun, S. Elsea O10 A novel causal methylation network approach to Alzheimer’s disease Z. Hu, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, M. Xiong, David A Bennett O11 A microRNA signature identifies subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer and reveals MIR-342-3P as regulator of a lactate metabolic pathway A. Hidalgo-Miranda, S. Romero-Cordoba, S. Rodriguez-Cuevas, R. Rebollar-Vega, E. Tagliabue, M. Iorio, E. D’Ippolito, S. Baroni O12 Transcriptome analysis identifies genes, enhancer RNAs and repetitive elements that are recurrently deregulated across multiple cancer types B. Kaczkowski, Y. Tanaka, H. Kawaji, A. Sandelin, R. Andersson, M. Itoh, T. Lassmann, the FANTOM5 consortium, Y. Hayashizaki, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest O13 Elevated mutation and widespread loss of constraint at regulatory and architectural binding sites across 11 tumour types C. A. Semple O14 Exome sequencing provides evidence of pathogenicity for genes implicated in colorectal cancer E. A. Rosenthal, B. Shirts, L. Amendola, C. Gallego, M. Horike-Pyne, A. Burt, P. Robertson, P. Beyers, C. Nefcy, D. Veenstra, F. Hisama, R. Bennett, M. Dorschner, D. Nickerson, J. Smith, K. Patterson, D. Crosslin, R. Nassir, N. Zubair, T. Harrison, U. Peters, G. Jarvik, NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project O15 The tandem duplicator phenotype as a distinct genomic configuration in cancer F. Menghi, K. Inaki, X. Woo, P. Kumar, K. Grzeda, A. Malhotra, H. Kim, D. Ucar, P. Shreckengast, K. Karuturi, J. Keck, J. Chuang, E. T. Liu O16 Modeling genetic interactions associated with molecular subtypes of breast cancer B. Ji, A. Tyler, G. Ananda, G. Carter O17 Recurrent somatic mutation in the MYC associated factor X in brain tumors H. Nikbakht, M. Montagne, M. Zeinieh, A. Harutyunyan, M. Mcconechy, N. Jabado, P. Lavigne, J. Majewski O18 Predictive biomarkers to metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment J. B. Goldstein, M. Overman, G. Varadhachary, R. Shroff, R. Wolff, M. Javle, A. Futreal, D. Fogelman O19 DDIT4 gene expression as a prognostic marker in several malignant tumors L. Bravo, W. Fajardo, H. Gomez, C. Castaneda, C. Rolfo, J. A. Pinto O20 Spatial organization of the genome and genomic alterations in human cancers K. C. Akdemir, L. Chin, A. Futreal, ICGC PCAWG Structural Alterations Group O21 Landscape of targeted therapies in solid tumors S. Patterson, C. Statz, S. Mockus O22 Genomic analysis reveals novel drivers and progression pathways in skin basal cell carcinoma S. N. Nikolaev, X. I. Bonilla, L. Parmentier, B. King, F. Bezrukov, G. Kaya, V. Zoete, V. Seplyarskiy, H. Sharpe, T. McKee, A. Letourneau, P. Ribaux, K. Popadin, N. Basset-Seguin, R. Ben Chaabene, F. Santoni, M. Andrianova, M. Guipponi, M. Garieri, C. Verdan, K. Grosdemange, O. Sumara, M. Eilers, I. Aifantis, O. Michielin, F. de Sauvage, S. Antonarakis O23 Identification of differential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma via transcriptome microarray meta-analysis S. Likhitrattanapisal O24 Clinical validity and actionability of multigene tests for hereditary cancers in a large multi-center study S. Lincoln, A. Kurian, A. Desmond, S. Yang, Y. Kobayashi, J. Ford, L. Ellisen O25 Correlation with tumor ploidy status is essential for correct determination of genome-wide copy number changes by SNP array T. L. Peters, K. R. Alvarez, E. F. Hollingsworth, D. H. Lopez-Terrada O26 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for interrogation of clinically relevant structural variation A. Hastie, Z. Dzakula, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Anantharaman, M. Saghbini, H. Cao, BioNano Genomics O27 Mutation spectrum in a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cohort and identification of associated truncating mutations in TBX4 C. Gonzaga-Jauregui, L. Ma, A. King, E. Berman Rosenzweig, U. Krishnan, J. G. Reid, J. D. Overton, F. Dewey, W. K. Chung O28 NORTH CAROLINA macular dystrophy (MCDR1): mutations found affecting PRDM13 K. Small, A. DeLuca, F. Cremers, R. A. Lewis, V. Puech, B. Bakall, R. Silva-Garcia, K. Rohrschneider, M. Leys, F. S. Shaya, E. Stone O29 PhenoDB and genematcher, solving unsolved whole exome sequencing data N. L. Sobreira, F. Schiettecatte, H. Ling, E. Pugh, D. Witmer, K. Hetrick, P. Zhang, K. Doheny, D. Valle, A. Hamosh O30 Baylor-Johns Hopkins Center for Mendelian genomics: a four year review S. N. Jhangiani, Z. Coban Akdemir, M. N. Bainbridge, W. Charng, W. Wiszniewski, T. Gambin, E. Karaca, Y. Bayram, M. K. Eldomery, J. Posey, H. Doddapaneni, J. Hu, V. R. Sutton, D. M. Muzny, E. A. Boerwinkle, D. Valle, J. R. Lupski, R. A. Gibbs O31 Using read overlap assembly to accurately identify structural genetic differences in an ashkenazi jewish trio S. Shekar, W. Salerno, A. English, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle O32 Legal interoperability: a sine qua non for international data sharing A. Thorogood, B. M. Knoppers, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health - Regulatory and Ethics Working Group O33 High throughput screening platform of competent sineups: that can enhance translation activities of therapeutic target H. Takahashi, K. R. Nitta, A. Kozhuharova, A. M. Suzuki, H. Sharma, D. Cotella, C. Santoro, S. Zucchelli, S. Gustincich, P. Carninci O34 The undiagnosed diseases network international (UDNI): clinical and laboratory research to meet patient needs J. J. Mulvihill, G. Baynam, W. Gahl, S. C. Groft, K. Kosaki, P. Lasko, B. Melegh, D. Taruscio O36 Performance of computational algorithms in pathogenicity predictions for activating variants in oncogenes versus loss of function mutations in tumor suppressor genes R. Ghosh, S. Plon O37 Identification and electronic health record incorporation of clinically actionable pharmacogenomic variants using prospective targeted sequencing S. Scherer, X. Qin, R. Sanghvi, K. Walker, T. Chiang, D. Muzny, L. Wang, J. Black, E. Boerwinkle, R. Weinshilboum, R. Gibbs O38 Melanoma reprogramming state correlates with response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma T. Karpinets, T. Calderone, K. Wani, X. Yu, C. Creasy, C. Haymaker, M. Forget, V. Nanda, J. Roszik, J. Wargo, L. Haydu, X. Song, A. Lazar, J. Gershenwald, M. Davies, C. Bernatchez, J. Zhang, A. Futreal, S. Woodman O39 Data-driven refinement of complex disease classification from integration of heterogeneous functional genomics data in GeneWeaver E. J. Chesler, T. Reynolds, J. A. Bubier, C. Phillips, M. A. Langston, E. J. Baker O40 A general statistic framework for genome-based disease risk prediction M. Xiong, L. Ma, N. Lin, C. Amos O41 Integrative large-scale causal network analysis of imaging and genomic data and its application in schizophrenia studies N. Lin, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, V. Calhoun, M. Xiong O42 Big data and NGS data analysis: the cloud to the rescue O. Dobretsberger, M. Egger, F. Leimgruber O43 Cpipe: a convergent clinical exome pipeline specialised for targeted sequencing S. Sadedin, A. Oshlack, Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance O44 A Bayesian classification of biomedical images using feature extraction from deep neural networks implemented on lung cancer data V. A. A. Antonio, N. Ono, Clark Kendrick C. Go O45 MAV-SEQ: an interactive platform for the Management, Analysis, and Visualization of sequence data Z. Ahmed, M. Bolisetty, S. Zeeshan, E. Anguiano, D. Ucar O47 Allele specific enhancer in EPAS1 intronic regions may contribute to high altitude adaptation of Tibetans C. Zeng, J. Shao O48 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for structural variation detection and comparison in trios and populations H. Cao, A. Hastie, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Liang, K. Pham, M. Saghbini, Z. Dzakula O49 Archaic introgression in indigenous populations of Malaysia revealed by whole genome sequencing Y. Chee-Wei, L. Dongsheng, W. Lai-Ping, D. Lian, R. O. Twee Hee, Y. Yunus, F. Aghakhanian, S. S. Mokhtar, C. V. Lok-Yung, J. Bhak, M. Phipps, X. Shuhua, T. Yik-Ying, V. Kumar, H. Boon-Peng O50 Breast and ovarian cancer prevention: is it time for population-based mutation screening of high risk genes? I. Campbell, M.-A. Young, P. James, Lifepool O53 Comprehensive coverage from low DNA input using novel NGS library preparation methods for WGS and WGBS C. Schumacher, S. Sandhu, T. Harkins, V. Makarov O54 Methods for large scale construction of robust PCR-free libraries for sequencing on Illumina HiSeqX platform H. DoddapaneniR. Glenn, Z. Momin, B. Dilrukshi, H. Chao, Q. Meng, B. Gudenkauf, R. Kshitij, J. Jayaseelan, C. Nessner, S. Lee, K. Blankenberg, L. Lewis, J. Hu, Y. Han, H. Dinh, S. Jireh, K. Walker, E. Boerwinkle, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O55 Rapid capture methods for clinical sequencing J. Hu, K. Walker, C. Buhay, X. Liu, Q. Wang, R. Sanghvi, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Ding, N. Veeraraghavan, Y. Yang, E. Boerwinkle, A. L. Beaudet, C. M. Eng, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O56 A diploid personal human genome model for better genomes from diverse sequence data K. C. C. Worley, Y. Liu, D. S. T. Hughes, S. C. Murali, R. A. Harris, A. C. English, X. Qin, O. A. Hampton, P. Larsen, C. Beck, Y. Han, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, C. L. Kovar, W. J. Salerno, A. Yoder, S. Richards, J. Rogers, J. R. Lupski, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O57 Development of PacBio long range capture for detection of pathogenic structural variants Q. Meng, M. Bainbridge, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Han, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O58 Rhesus macaques exhibit more non-synonymous variation but greater impact of purifying selection than humans R. A. Harris, M. Raveenedran, C. Xue, M. Dahdouli, L. Cox, G. Fan, B. Ferguson, J. Hovarth, Z. Johnson, S. Kanthaswamy, M. Kubisch, M. Platt, D. Smith, E. Vallender, R. Wiseman, X. Liu, J. Below, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs, F. Yu, J. Rogers O59 Assessing RNA structure disruption induced by single-nucleotide variation J. Lin, Y. Zhang, Z. Ouyang P1 A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of mitochondrial dna copy number A. Moore, Z. Wang, J. Hofmann, M. Purdue, R. Stolzenberg-Solomon, S. Weinstein, D. Albanes, C.-S. Liu, W.-L. Cheng, T.-T. Lin, Q. Lan, N. Rothman, S. Berndt P2 Missense polymorphic genetic combinations underlying down syndrome susceptibility E. S. Chen P4 The evaluation of alteration of ELAM-1 expression in the endometriosis patients H. Bahrami, A. Khoshzaban, S. Heidari Keshal P5 Obesity and the incidence of apolipoprotein E polymorphisms in an assorted population from Saudi Arabia population K. K. R. Alharbi P6 Genome-associated personalized antithrombotical therapy for patients with high risk of thrombosis and bleeding M. Zhalbinova, A. Akilzhanova, S. Rakhimova, M. Bekbosynova, S. Myrzakhmetova P7 Frequency of Xmn1 polymorphism among sickle cell carrier cases in UAE population M. Matar P8 Differentiating inflammatory bowel diseases by using genomic data: dimension of the problem and network organization N. Mili, R. Molinari, Y. Ma, S. Guerrier P9 Vulnerability of genetic variants to the risk of autism among Saudi children N. Elhawary, M. Tayeb, N. Bogari, N. Qotb P10 Chromatin profiles from ex vivo purified dopaminergic neurons establish a promising model to support studies of neurological function and dysfunction S. A. McClymont, P. W. Hook, L. A. Goff, A. McCallion P11 Utilization of a sensitized chemical mutagenesis screen to identify genetic modifiers of retinal dysplasia in homozygous Nr2e3^rd7 mice Y. Kong, J. R. Charette, W. L. Hicks, J. K. Naggert, L. Zhao, P. M. Nishina P12 Ion torrent next generation sequencing of recessive polycystic kidney disease in Saudi patients B. M. Edrees, M. Athar, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. M. Taher, W. Khan, A. Bouazzaoui, N. A. Harbi, R. Safar, H. Al-Edressi, A. Anazi, N. Altayeb, M. A. Ahmed, K. Alansary, Z. Abduljaleel P13 Digital expression profiling of Purkinje neurons and dendrites in different subcellular compartments A. Kratz, P. Beguin, S. Poulain, M. Kaneko, C. Takahiko, A. Matsunaga, S. Kato, A. M. Suzuki, N. Bertin, T. Lassmann, R. Vigot, P. Carninci, C. Plessy, T. Launey P14 The evolution of imperfection and imperfection of evolution: the functional and functionless fractions of the human genome D. Graur P16 Species-independent identification of known and novel recurrent genomic entities in multiple cancer patients J. Friis-Nielsen, J. M. Izarzugaza, S. Brunak P18 Discovery of active gene modules which are densely conserved across multiple cancer types reveal their prognostic power and mutually exclusive mutation patterns B. S. Soibam P19 Whole exome sequencing of dysplastic leukoplakia tissue indicates sequential accumulation of somatic mutations from oral precancer to cancer D. Das, N. Biswas, S. Das, S. Sarkar, A. Maitra, C. Panda, P. Majumder P21 Epigenetic mechanisms of carcinogensis by hereditary breast cancer genes J. J. Gruber, N. Jaeger, M. Snyder P22 RNA direct: a novel RNA enrichment strategy applied to transcripts associated with solid tumors K. Patel, S. Bowman, T. Davis, D. Kraushaar, A. Emerman, S. Russello, N. Henig, C. Hendrickson P23 RNA sequencing identifies gene mutations for neuroblastoma K. Zhang P24 Participation of SFRP1 in the modulation of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene in prostate cancer cell lines M. Rodriguez-Dorantes, C. D. Cruz-Hernandez, C. D. P. Garcia-Tobilla, S. Solorzano-Rosales P25 Targeted Methylation Sequencing of Prostate Cancer N. Jäger, J. Chen, R. Haile, M. Hitchins, J. D. Brooks, M. Snyder P26 Mutant TPMT alleles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia from México City and Yucatán, Mexico S. Jiménez-Morales, M. Ramírez, J. Nuñez, V. Bekker, Y. Leal, E. Jiménez, A. Medina, A. Hidalgo, J. Mejía P28 Genetic modifiers of Alström syndrome J. Naggert, G. B. Collin, K. DeMauro, R. Hanusek, P. M. Nishina P31 Association of genomic variants with the occurrence of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-induced coughing among Filipinos E. M. Cutiongco De La Paz, R. Sy, J. Nevado, P. Reganit, L. Santos, J. D. Magno, F. E. Punzalan , D. Ona , E. Llanes, R. L. Santos-Cortes , R. Tiongco, J. Aherrera, L. Abrahan, P. Pagauitan-Alan; Philippine Cardiogenomics Study Group P32 The use of “humanized” mouse models to validate disease association of a de novo GARS variant and to test a novel gene therapy strategy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D K. H. Morelli, J. S. Domire, N. Pyne, S. Harper, R. Burgess P34 Molecular regulation of chondrogenic human induced pluripotent stem cells M. A. Gari, A. Dallol, H. Alsehli, A. Gari, M. Gari, A. Abuzenadah P35 Molecular profiling of hematologic malignancies: implementation of a variant assessment algorithm for next generation sequencing data analysis and clinical reporting M. Thomas, M. Sukhai, S. Garg, M. Misyura, T. Zhang, A. Schuh, T. Stockley, S. Kamel-Reid P36 Accessing genomic evidence for clinical variants at NCBI S. Sherry, C. Xiao, D. Slotta, K. Rodarmer, M. Feolo, M. Kimelman, G. Godynskiy, C. O’Sullivan, E. Yaschenko P37 NGS-SWIFT: a cloud-based variant analysis framework using control-accessed sequencing data from DBGAP/SRA C. Xiao, E. Yaschenko, S. Sherry P38 Computational assessment of drug induced hepatotoxicity through gene expression profiling C. Rangel-Escareño, H. Rueda-Zarate P40 Flowr: robust and efficient pipelines using a simple language-agnostic approach;ultraseq; fast modular pipeline for somatic variation calling using flowr S. Seth, S. Amin, X. Song, X. Mao, H. Sun, R. G. Verhaak, A. Futreal, J. Zhang P41 Applying “Big data” technologies to the rapid analysis of heterogenous large cohort data S. J. Whiite, T. Chiang, A. English, J. Farek, Z. Kahn, W. Salerno, N. Veeraraghavan, E. Boerwinkle, R. Gibbs P42 FANTOM5 web resource for the large-scale genome-wide transcription start site activity profiles of wide-range of mammalian cells T. Kasukawa, M. Lizio, J. Harshbarger, S. Hisashi, J. Severin, A. Imad, S. Sahin, T. C. Freeman, K. Baillie, A. Sandelin, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest, H. Kawaji, The FANTOM Consortium P43 Rapid and scalable typing of structural variants for disease cohorts W. Salerno, A. English, S. N. Shekar, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle, E. Boerwinkle, R. A. Gibbs P44 Polymorphism of glutathione S-transferases and sulphotransferases genes in an Arab population A. H. Salem, M. Ali, A. Ibrahim, M. Ibrahim P46 Genetic divergence of CYP3A5*3 pharmacogenomic marker for native and admixed Mexican populations J. C. Fernandez-Lopez, V. Bonifaz-Peña, C. Rangel-Escareño, A. Hidalgo-Miranda, A. V. Contreras P47 Whole exome sequence meta-analysis of 13 white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet traits L. Polfus, CHARGE and NHLBI Exome Sequence Project Working Groups P48 Association of adipoq gene with type 2 diabetes and related phenotypes in african american men and women: The jackson heart study S. Davis, R. Xu, S. Gebeab, P Riestra, A Gaye, R. Khan, J. Wilson, A. Bidulescu P49 Common variants in casr gene are associated with serum calcium levels in koreans S. H. Jung, N. Vinayagamoorthy, S. H. Yim, Y. J. Chung P50 Inference of multiple-wave population admixture by modeling decay of linkage disequilibrium with multiple exponential functions Y. Zhou, S. Xu P51 A Bayesian framework for generalized linear mixed models in genome-wide association studies X. Wang, V. Philip, G. Carter P52 Targeted sequencing approach for the identification of the genetic causes of hereditary hearing impairment A. A. Abuzenadah, M. Gari, R. Turki, A. Dallol P53 Identification of enhancer sequences by ATAC-seq open chromatin profiling A. Uyar, A. Kaygun, S. Zaman, E. Marquez, J. George, D. Ucar P54 Direct enrichment for the rapid preparation of targeted NGS libraries C. L. Hendrickson, A. Emerman, D. Kraushaar, S. Bowman, N. Henig, T. Davis, S. Russello, K. Patel P56 Performance of the Agilent D5000 and High Sensitivity D5000 ScreenTape assays for the Agilent 4200 Tapestation System R. Nitsche, L. Prieto-Lafuente P57 ClinVar: a multi-source archive for variant interpretation M. Landrum, J. Lee, W. Rubinstein, D. Maglott P59 Association of functional variants and protein physical interactions of human MUTY homolog linked with familial adenomatous polyposis and colorectal cancer syndrome Z. Abduljaleel, W. Khan, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. Athar , M. M. Taher, N. Shahzad P60 Modification of the microbiom constitution in the gut using chicken IgY antibodies resulted in a reduction of acute graft-versus-host disease after experimental bone marrow transplantation A. Bouazzaoui, E. Huber, A. Dan, F. A. Al-Allaf, W. Herr, G. Sprotte, J. Köstler, A. Hiergeist, A. Gessner, R. Andreesen, E. Holler P61 Compound heterozygous mutation in the LDLR gene in Saudi patients suffering severe hypercholesterolemia F. Al-Allaf, A. Alashwal, Z. Abduljaleel, M. Taher, A. Bouazzaoui, H. Abalkhail, A. Al-Allaf, R. Bamardadh, M. Athar