Effects of background colour, polarity, and saturation on digital icon status recognition and visual search performance

Visual design form is an important factor affecting users' cognition of icons, which plays an important role in visual search and the perception of the status shown by icons. In the graphical user interface, the icon colour is regularly used to indicate the running state of a function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of icon colour features on user perception and visual search performance under different background colours. There were three independent variables in the study, including background colour (white and black), icon polarity (positive and negative), and icon saturation (60, 80, and 100%). Thirty-one participants were recruited for the experiment. Task performance and eye movement results indicated that white background as well as positive polarity and 80% saturation icons brought the best performances. The findings of this study provide useful guidelines for designing more efficient and user-friendly icons and interfaces in the future.Practitioner summary: This study was to investigate the effects of icon colour features (polarity and saturation) on user perception and visual search performance under different colour backgrounds. Task performance and eye movement results indicated that white background as well as positive polarity and 80% saturation icons brought the best performances.

Functions of Peroxiredoxins and Their Roles in Autoimmune Diseases

Significance: Oxidative stress is a common feature of autoimmune diseases. Low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation are important for various biological processes. Redox homeostasis can be disrupted when there is an imbalance between the production of ROS and the detoxification effect of antioxidants. Peroxiredoxins (PRDXs) are essential regulators of cellular redox signaling. Recent Advances: PRDXs are widely expressed antioxidant enzymes, and their physiological role is mainly to remove excess ROS in cells and reduce oxidative stress. Recent studies have shown that almost all PRDX subtypes are involved in the development of autoimmune diseases. Critical Issues: The pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases is complex, and effective treatments are lacking. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find new therapeutic targets. In this review, we discuss the functions of PRDXs and their pathophysiological roles in several autoimmune diseases. PRDXs may serve as potential targets for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Future Directions: PRDXs are important in oxidative stress-mediated pathological situations. Future in-depth exploration of the mechanisms involved in regulating PRDXs in autoimmune diseases is needed to develop strategies targeting PRDXs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 40, 329-344.

Targeting regulated chondrocyte death in osteoarthritis therapy

In vivo articular cartilage degeneration is an essential hallmark of osteoarthritis (OA), involving chondrocyte senescence, extracellular matrix degradation, chondrocyte death, cartilage loss, and bone erosion. Among them, chondrocyte death is one of the major factors leading to cartilage degeneration. Many studies have reported that various cell death modes, including apoptosis, ferroptosis, and autophagy, play a key role in OA chondrocyte death. Currently, there is insufficient understanding of OA pathogenesis, and there remains a lack of treatment methods to prevent OA and inhibit its progression. Studies suggest that OA prevention and treatment are mainly directed to arrest premature or excessive chondrocyte death. In this review, we a) discuss the forms of death of chondrocytes and the associations between them, b) summarize the critical factors in chondrocyte death, c) discuss the vital role of chondrocyte death in OA, d) and, explore new approaches for targeting the regulation of chondrocyte death in OA treatment.

Cartilage-Related Collagens in Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis: From Pathogenesis to Therapeutics

Collagens serve essential mechanical functions throughout the body, particularly in the connective tissues. In articular cartilage, collagens provide most of the biomechanical properties of the extracellular matrix essential for its function. Collagen plays a very important role in maintaining the mechanical properties of articular cartilage and the stability of the ECM. Noteworthily, many pathogenic factors in the course of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, such as mechanical injury, inflammation, and senescence, are involved in the irreversible degradation of collagen, leading to the progressive destruction of cartilage. The degradation of collagen can generate new biochemical markers with the ability to monitor disease progression and facilitate drug development. In addition, collagen can also be used as a biomaterial with excellent properties such as low immunogenicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and hydrophilicity. This review not only provides a systematic description of collagen and analyzes the structural characteristics of articular cartilage and the mechanisms of cartilage damage in disease states but also provides a detailed characterization of the biomarkers of collagen production and the role of collagen in cartilage repair, providing ideas and techniques for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Speed determinacy of travelling waves for a three-component lattice Lotka-Volterra competition system

In this paper, the invasive speed selection of the monostable travelling wave for a three-component lattice Lotka-Volterra competition system is studied via the upper and lower solution method, as well as the comparison principle. By constructing several special upper and lower solutions, we establish sufficient conditions such that the linear or nonlinear selection is realized.

Study on Smart Home Interface Design Characteristics Considering the Influence of Age Difference: Focusing on Sliders

Smart homes represent an effective approach to improve one's quality of life. Developing user interfaces that are both comfortable and understandable can assist users, particularly the elderly, embrace smart home technologies. It's critical to concentrate on the characteristics of smart home interface design and their impact on people of various ages. Since sliders are one of the most common components utilized in the smart home user interface, this article aimed to investigate the effects of slider design characteristics (e.g., button size, track color, and sliding orientation) on user performance and preference. Thirty-four participants were recruited for the experiment (16 for the young group, aged between 18 and 44 years; 18 for the middle-aged and elderly group, aged between 45 years and above). Our results revealed that both groups had shorter task completion time, less fixation time, and saccades on horizontal sliding orientation and larger buttons, which means better user performance. For the older group, the slider with color gradient track led to better user performance, while the track color only had less effect on the performance of the younger group. In terms of user preference, the results and performance of the older group were basically consistent, while the younger group had no significant difference in sliding orientation and track color.

The Effects of Smart Home Interface Touch Button Design Features on Performance among Young and Senior Users

Touch technology-based smart homes have become increasingly prevalent, as they can help people with independent daily life, especially for the elderly. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of button features (i.e., button size, graphics/text ratio, and icon style) in smart home interfaces on user performance across two age groups. Participants in the young group (n = 15) and senior group (n = 15) completed a clicking task. Button size ranged from 10 mm to 25 mm with 5 mm increments. The three levels of graphics/text ratio were 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3, while icon style was either flat or skeuomorphic. Results showed that button size and graphics/text ratio had significant effects on user performance in both groups, whereas icon style only had an effect in the senior group. It was observed that the elderly were fond of buttons with a larger size of 20 mm with larger texts and skeuomorphic icons, whereas the young preferred a button size of 15 mm with equal-sized graphics and text. These results may help to improve the accessibility and usability of smart home interface design.

Characterizing the impact of high temperature during grain filling on phytohormone levels, enzyme activity and metabolic profiles of an early indica rice variety

Global warming results in high temperature stress (HTS), which presents severe challenges worldwide for modern agricultural production and will have significant impacts on the yield and quality of crops. Accumulation of photosynthetic products, activity of enzymes involved in sucrose-starch metabolism, phytohormone levels and metabolic profiling using LC-MS were analysed in the flag leaves and/or developing grains subjected to HTS during the grain-filling stage of an indica rice. HTS induced significant yield loss and reduced the grain quality, with lower amylose content. HTS reduced photosynthetic product accumulation in flag leaves and reduced starch accumulation in developing grains, compared to growth under normal temperatures. The activity of enzymes related to sucrose-starch metabolism were dis-regulated in developing grains grown under high temperature (HT). Moreover, phytohormone homeostasis in flag leaves and developing grains was also dramatically disturbed by HT. Metabolic profiling detected many metabolites with remarkably different relative fold abundances at different time points in the developing grain at HT versus normal temperatures, these metabolites were enriched in several HTS response pathways. The change in phytohormone ratio and auxin level might be associated with the reduction in photosynthetic products and their translocation, and ultimately with reduced starch accumulation in the developing grain. The detected metabolites might have different roles in response to the HTS in developing grain at different development stages. These results provide a theoretical reference and basis for future rice production towards higher quality and yield when grown under HTS.

MEMS inductor fabrication and emerging applications in power electronics and neurotechnologies

MEMS inductors are used in a wide range of applications in micro- and nanotechnology, including RF MEMS, sensors, power electronics, and Bio-MEMS. Fabrication technologies set the boundary conditions for inductor design and their electrical and mechanical performance. This review provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art MEMS technologies for inductor fabrication, presents recent advances in 3D additive fabrication technologies, and discusses the challenges and opportunities of MEMS inductors for two emerging applications, namely, integrated power electronics and neurotechnologies. Among the four top-down MEMS fabrication approaches, 3D surface micromachining and through-substrate-via (TSV) fabrication technology have been intensively studied to fabricate 3D inductors such as solenoid and toroid in-substrate TSV inductors. While 3D inductors are preferred for their high-quality factor, high power density, and low parasitic capacitance, in-substrate TSV inductors offer an additional unique advantage for 3D system integration and efficient thermal dissipation. These features make in-substrate TSV inductors promising to achieve the ultimate goal of monolithically integrated power converters. From another perspective, 3D bottom-up additive techniques such as ice lithography have great potential for fabricating inductors with geometries and specifications that are very challenging to achieve with established MEMS technologies. Finally, we discuss inspiring and emerging research opportunities for MEMS inductors.

Effects of a high-dose Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculum alone or in combination with Lactobacillus plantarum on the nutritional composition and fermentation traits of maize silage

Context The inoculation of silage with Saccharomyces cerevisiae to deliver viable yeast cells is a novel concept. Aims The effects of a high-dose S. cerevisiae inoculum alone or combined with Lactobacillus plantarum on the nutritional composition, fermentation traits and aerobic stability of maize silage were studied after 30, 60 and 90 days of storage. Methods Whole-crop maize (309.3 g dry matter (DM)/kg as fed) was subjected to one of three treatments: deionised water (untreated control); S. cerevisiae at an estimated concentration of 108 CFU/g fresh forage (S); or S. cerevisiae at an estimated concentration of 108 CFU/g and L. plantarum at an estimated concentration of 105 CFU/g of fresh forage (SL). Key results Compared with the control, the S and SL groups showed increases (P < 0.001) in average pH (3.98 in S and 4.01 in SL vs 3.65 in the control), crude protein (85 g/kg DM in S and 80 g/kg DM in SL vs 63 g/kg DM in the control) and ammonia nitrogen/total nitrogen (122.2 g/kg in S and 163.9 g/kg in SL vs 52.9 g/kg in the control) but a lower (P < 0.001) average concentration of water-soluble carbohydrate (0.9 g/kg DM in S and 0.7 g/kg DM in SL vs 2.3 g/kg DM in the control). The levels of neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre were greater (P < 0.001) in S silage than in the control and SL silages, and the hemicellulose level was lower (P = 0.004) in the SL group than the control and S groups. Starch and aerobic stability were unaffected by treatment, and the average lactate and ethanol concentrations were higher (P < 0.001) in the S (53.7 g lactate/kg DM and 28.7 g ethanol/kg DM) and SL (56.9 g lactate/kg DM and 21.4 g ethanol/kg DM) groups than the control (40.1 g lactate/kg DM and 5.3 g ethanol/kg DM) over 90 days of ensiling. Conclusions Overall, a high-dose inoculum of S. cerevisiae alone or combined with L. plantarum affected the nutritional composition and fermentation traits of maize silage. Implications The inoculation of maize silage with a high dose of S. cerevisiae needs to be performed with caution.

[The expressions and the roles of SDF-1/CXCR-4 and SDF-1/CXCR-4 in human endometriosis]

Objective: To investigate the expressions and significances of SDF-1 and its receptor CXCR-4 in endometriosis. Methods: 50 hysteromyoma patients treated at Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University between 1(st) January 2016 and 31(st) December 2017 were divided into control group, that is, non-endometriosis group, while another 50 endometriosis patients were divided into experimental group.The endometrial tissues, endometriosis lesions, and peritoneal fluid samples of hysteromyoma patients were collected by operation.RT-PCR, ELISA and immunohistochemistry were adopted to detect the expressions of SDF-1 and CXCR-4 in the two groups.Cell count was used to analyze the roles of SDF-1 and CXCR4 in the mitosis and proliferation of endometrial stromal cells. Results: The mean value of SDF-1 and CXCR-4 expressions in ascites or peritoneal fluid of endometriosis patients were (2.56±0.33) mg/L and (4.47±0.32) mg/L, respectively. The mean concentrations in ascites or peritoneal fluid in hysteromyoma patients were (1.39±0.36) mg/L and (3.16±0.32) mg/L, respectively.The expressions of SDF-1 and CXCR-4 in ascites or peritoneal fluid of endometriosis patients were both significantly higher than those of patients in non-endometriosis group (P<0.05). SDF-1 and CXCR-4 were expressed in both endometriosis lesions and the glandular epithelial cells and mesenchymal cells of normal endometrial tissue.Positive staining sites were located in the cytoplasm.A value was used to calculate and analyze the expression of immune staining.The mean A value of SDF-1 and CXCR-4 in endometriosis group were 0.21±0.13 and 0.21±0.13, respectively, and the mean A value in normal endometrial tissues were 0.15±0.13 and 0.14±0.13, respectively.The expressions of these two in endometrial tissues were significantly higher than that in normal endometrial tissues, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The expression of CXCR-4 mRNA was abundant in the mesenchymal cells of endometriosis cultured in vitro.SDF-1 promoted the mitosis and proliferation of endometrial stromal cells cultured in vitro in a dose-dependent manner.The neutralizing antibody against CXCR-4 was obviously inhibited. Conclusion: The high expressions of SDF-1 and CXCR-4 in endometriosis as well as SDF-1 through its specific receptor CXCR-4 promoted the mitosis and proliferation of endometrial stromal cells, suggesting that SDF-1 and CXCR-4 played important roles in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling reveals cancer-associated changes within early colonic neoplasia

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is characterized by genome-wide alterations to DNA methylation that influence gene expression and genomic stability. Less is known about the extent to which methylation is disrupted in the earliest stages of CRC development. In this study we have combined laser-capture microdissection (LCM) with reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) to identify cancer-associated DNA methylation changes in human aberrant crypt foci (ACF), the earliest putative precursor to CRC. Using this approach, methylation profiles have been generated for 10 KRAS-mutant ACF and 10 CRCs harboring a KRAS mutation, as well as matched samples of normal mucosa. Of 811 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) identified in ACF, 537 (66%) were hypermethylated and 274 (34%) were hypomethylated. DMRs located within intergenic regions were heavily enriched for AP-1 transcription factor binding sites and were frequently hypomethylated. Furthermore, gene ontology (GO) analysis demonstrated that DMRs associated with promoters were enriched for genes involved in intestinal development, including homeobox genes and targets of the Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). Consistent with their role in the earliest stages of colonic neoplasia, 75% of the loci harboring methylation changes in ACF were also altered in CRC samples, though the magnitude of change at these sites was lesser in ACF. While aberrant promoter methylation was associated with altered gene expression in CRC, this was not the case in ACF, suggesting the insufficiency of methylation changes to modulate gene expression in early colonic neoplasia. Together, these data demonstrate that DNA methylation changes, including significant hypermethylation, occur more frequently in early colonic neoplasia than previously believed, and identify epigenomic features of ACF that may provide new targets for cancer chemoprevention or lead to the development of new biomarkers for CRC risk.

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

Chemical profiling of cerebrospinal fluid by multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry

We report an accelerated biomarker discovery workflow and results of sample screening by mass spectrometry based on multiple reaction monitoring (MRM).

A compact, all-optical, THz wave generator based on self-modulation in a slab photonic crystal waveguide with a single sub-nanometer graphene layer

We design a compact, all-optical THz wave generator based on self-modulation in a 1-D slab photonic crystal (PhC) waveguide with a single sub-nanometer graphene layer by using enhanced nonlinearity of graphene. It has been shown that at the bandgap edge of higher bands of a 1-D slab PhC, through only one sub-nanometer graphene layer we can obtain a compact, high modulation factor (about 0.98 percent), self-intensity modulator at a high frequency (about 0.6 THz) and low threshold intensity (about 15 MW per square centimeter), and further a compact, all-optical THz wave generator by integrating the self-modulator with a THz photodiode or photonic mixer. Such a THz source is expected to have a relatively high efficiency compared with conventional sources based on optical methods. The proposed THz source can find wide applications in THz science and technology, e.g., in THz imaging, THz sensors and detectors, THz communication systems, and THz optical integrated logic circuits.

Identification and characterization of a novel lymphocystis disease virus isolate from cultured grouper in China

Grouper Epinephelus spp. is one of the most important mariculture fish species in China and South-East Asian countries. The emerging viral diseases, evoked by iridovirus which belongs to genus Megalocytivirus and Ranavirus, have been well characterized in recent years. To date, few data on lymphocystis disease in grouper which caused by lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) were described. Here, a novel LCDV isolate was identified and characterized. Based on the sequence of LCDV major capsid protein (MCP) and DNA polymerase gene, we found that the causative agents from different species of diseased groupers were the same one and herein were uniformly defined as grouper LCDV (GLCDV). Furthermore, H&E staining revealed that the nodules on the skin were composed of giant cells that contained inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm. Numerous virus particles with >210 nm in diameter and with hexagonal profiles were observed in the cytoplasm. In addition, phylogenetic analysis based on four iridovirus core genes, MCP, DNA polymerase, myristoylated membrane protein (MMP) and ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), consistently showed that GLCDV was mostly related to LCDV-C, followed by LCDV-1. Taken together, our data firstly provided the molecular evidence that GLCDV was a novel emerging iridovirus pathogen in grouper culture.

Association between loop diuretic use and fracture risk

SUMMARY

Loop diuretic use has been shown to be associated with an increased fracture risk, but the findings have been inconsistent. The present meta-analysis suggests that loop diuretics show a significant positive association with the overall risk of total fractures and, specifically, hip fractures.

INTRODUCTION

Despite being widely used, there is limited, prospective randomized trial evidence regarding the skeletal effects of loop diuretics. Previous observational studies have reported conflicting findings regarding the association between loop diuretic use and the risk of fractures.

METHODS

This meta-analysis of observational studies assessed the association between loop diuretic use and the risk of fractures. The PubMed, EMBASE, and OVID databases were searched for prospective cohort and case-control studies. Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were derived using random-effects models throughout the analysis.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies (4 cohort studies and 9 case-control studies) were included, involving 842,644 participants and 108,247 fracture cases. Compared with non-users, people who had taken loop diuretics had an approximately 15% higher risk of total fractures (95% CI, 1.04-1.26; p<0.01), with high heterogeneity between studies (I2=80.5%; p<0.01). The RR was 1.14 (95% CI, 1.08-1.19) for hip fractures and 0.99 (95% CI, 0.93-1.05) for lower arm or wrist fractures. The RR was 1.05 (95% CI, 1.00-1.11) in prospective cohort studies and 1.22 (95% CI, 1.00-1.44) in case-control studies. There was no evidence of publication bias.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that loop diuretics show a significant positive association with the overall risk of total fractures and hip fractures.

Establishment and characterization of a new cell line derived from kidney of grouper, Epinephelus akaara (Temminck & Schlegel), susceptible to Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV)

A marine fish cell line derived from the kidney of red-spotted grouper, Epinephelus akaara, designated as EAGK was established and characterized. The EAGK cells multiplied well in Leibovitz's L-15 medium containing 10% foetal bovine serum at 25 °C and have been subcultured for more than 90 passages. Karyotyping, chromosomal typing and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genotyping analysis revealed that EAGK had a modal diploid chromosome number of 82 and was a fibroblast cell line originated from grouper. A severe cytopathic effect was observed in EAGK cells incubated with Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV), but not with soft-shelled turtle iridovirus, viral nervous necrosis virus or spring viraemia of carp virus. SGIV replication was further confirmed by immunofluorescence, electron microscopy and virus titre determination. Bright fluorescence was observed after transfection with fluorescent protein reporter plasmids, indicating that EAGK cells can be used to identify gene functions in vitro. In addition, the cell organelles including mitochondria and endoplasm reticulum changed and aggregated around virus factories after SGIV infection, suggested that the EAGK cell line could be an important tool for investigation of iridovirus-host interactions.

Discrete dynamical system modelling for gene regulatory networks of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural tolerance for ethanologenic yeast

Composed of linear difference equations, a discrete dynamical system (DDS) model was designed to reconstruct transcriptional regulations in gene regulatory networks (GRNs) for ethanologenic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in response to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a bioethanol conversion inhibitor. The modelling aims at identification of a system of linear difference equations to represent temporal interactions among significantly expressed genes. Power stability is imposed on a system model under the normal condition in the absence of the inhibitor. Non-uniform sampling, typical in a time-course experimental design, is addressed by a log-time domain interpolation. A statistically significant DDS model of the yeast GRN derived from time-course gene expression measurements by exposure to HMF, revealed several verified transcriptional regulation events. These events implicate Yap1 and Pdr3, transcription factors consistently known for their regulatory roles by other studies or postulated by independent sequence motif analysis, suggesting their involvement in yeast tolerance and detoxification of the inhibitor.

Topography-guided treatment of decentered laser ablation using LaserSight's excimer laser

PURPOSE

To assess the efficacy of topography-guided laser ablation for correction of previously decentered laser ablation using LaserSight's excimer laser.

METHODS

Re-treatment was performed to correct decentered ablation using LaserSight's excimer laser for 18 patients who previously underwent LASIK surgery for myopia correction in both eyes. For each patient, only the decentered eye was re-treated while the other asymptomatic eye forms a control group for this study. Measurements were conducted on ablation center, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), contrast sensitivity and corneal aberrations pre- and post-operatively.

RESULTS

For the retreated 18 eyes, the mean decentration was significantly reduced from 1.32+/-0.28mm to 0.61+/-0.23mm post-operatively (t=16.24, p<0.001), and with a significant improvement in mean BSCVA from 0.08+/-0.09 logMAR to 0.01+/-0.11 logMAR (t=4.58, p<0.001). The post-operative contrast sensitivity at the spatial frequencies (SF) of 1.00 and 0.70 was significantly improved (p<0.05 for both SFs). Corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs), including the coma-like aberrations and spherical aberration, were decreased. In comparing the measurements for the retreated group to those for the control group, no significant differencewas found either in decentration or in BSCVA, but the contrast sensitivity at 0.70 was lower and the level of corneal aberrations was higher.

CONCLUSIONS

Topography-guided ablation with LaserSight excimer laser is effective to correct decentered ablation. However, the re-treated eye is still inferior to the eye with originally centered ablation in corneal optical quality or visual performance.

Quadrupole ion traps and trap arrays: geometry, material, scale, performance

Quadrupole ion traps are reviewed, emphasizing recent developments, especially the investigation of new geometries, guided by multiple particle simulations such as the ITSIM program. These geometries include linear ion traps (LITs) and the simplified rectilinear ion trap (RIT). Various methods of fabrication are described, including the use of rapid prototyping apparatus (RPA), in which 3D objects are generated through point-by-point laser polymerization. Fabrication in silicon using multilayer semi-conductor fabrication techniques has been used to construct arrays of micro-traps. The performance of instruments containing individual traps as well as arrays of traps of various sizes and geometries is reviewed. Two types of array are differentiated. In the first type, trap arrays constitute fully multiplexed mass spectrometers in which multiple samples are examined using multiple sources, analyzers and detectors, to achieve high throughput analysis. In the second, an array of individual traps acts collectively as a composite trap to increase trapping capacity and performance for a single sample. Much progress has been made in building miniaturized mass spectrometers; a specific example is a 10 kg hand-held tandem mass spectrometer based on the RIT mass analyzer. The performance of this instrument in air and water analysis, using membrane sampling, is described.

[Application of DNDC model in estimation of CH4 and N2O emissions in agricultural ecosystems in Yangtze River Delta]

It was paid attention that CH4 and N2O emission from agricultural soil in Yangtze River Delta where there is most advanced agricultural region in China. In this paper, a regional-scale biogeochemical model DNDC was validated on available field measurement. Then it was used to estimate CH4 and N2O emission in Yangtze River Delta to be 1.69 (1.29-2.09) Tg.a-1 and 0.019 (0.014-0.024) Tg.a-1, respectively. They are about 16.7% and 6.1% of the national total CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural ecosystems, respectively.

Ecological degradation in protected areas: the case of Wolong Nature Reserve for giant pandas

It is generally perceived that biodiversity is better protected from human activities after an area is designated as a protected area. However, we found that this common perception was not true in Wolong Nature Reserve (southwestern China), which was established in 1975 as a "flagship" protected area for the world-renowned endangered giant pandas. Analyses of remote sensing data from pre- and post-establishment periods indicate that the reserve has become more fragmented and less suitable for giant panda habitation. The rate of loss of high-quality habitat after the reserve's establishment was much higher than before the reserve was created, and the fragmentation of high-quality habitat became far more severe. After the creation of the reserve, rates of habitat loss and fragmentation inside the reserve unexpectedly increased to levels that were similar to or higher than those outside the reserve, in contrast to the situation before the reserve was created.

[Vegetation carbon storage and density of forest ecosystems in China]

To improve the estimation of carbon pool of forest ecosystems is very important in studying their CO2 emission and uptake. The estimation of vegetation carbon pool in China has just begun. There is a significant difference among estimates from different methods applied. Based on forest inventory recorded by age class, the vegetation carbon storage of forest ecosystems in China was estimated to be 3.26-3.73 Pg, accounting for 0.6-0.7% of the global pool. The carbon densities were difference among forest types and provinces, in range of 6.47-118.14 Mg.hm-2. There is an incremental tendency from southeast to north and west. This trend is negatively related with the change in population density in logarithmic mode, which indicates that the actual forest carbon density is prominently determined by human activities.

Direct-injection LC-MS-MS method for high-throughput simultaneous quantitation of simvastatin and simvastatin acid in human plasma

A direct-injection liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous quantitation in human plasma of the widely used cholesterol-lowering prodrug simvastatin and its in vivo generated active drug, simvastatin acid. The plasma samples were injected into the LC-MS-MS system after simply adding the internal standard solution in an aqueous buffer and centrifuging. The analytes in the buffered plasma samples were found to be stable for at least 24 h at 4 degrees C. The method was successfully validated under the challenging condition of using a large number of quality control (QC) samples including those in which the ratio of the simvastatin concentration to the simvastatin acid concentration was different from the concentration ratio in the calibration curve standards. Under the dual stabilizing conditions of lower temperature (4 degrees C) and lower plasma pH of 4.9, the in-process hydrolysis of simvastatin to simvastatin acid or the lactonization of simvastatin acid to simvastatin was minimized to < or = 1.0%. Although the entire run time for on-line cleanup and analysis was only 2.5 min, chromatographic base-line separation of simvastatin from simvastatin acid, which was required to avoid the interference by simvastatin acid with the simvastatin selected reaction monitoring channel, was achieved. The desired lower limit of quantitation of 0.5 ng/ml was achieved by injecting only an equivalent of 8.0 microl of the plasma sample. The extraction column lasted for at least 500 injections.

[Forest ecosystem services and their ecological valuation--a case study of tropical forest in Jianfengling of Hainan Island]

This paper attempts to present forest ecosystem services and their indirect economic value of Jianfengling tropical forest in Hainan Island. The results show that average annual integrated ecosystem service value of Jianfengling tropical forest, which covers 44667.00 hm2, adds up to 664.38 million yuan(Chinese RMB), of which, about 71.64 million yuan is of the output of standing trees and other forest products, about 394.29 million yuan of water-holding, about 2.47 million yuan of soil conservation against erosion, about 13.16 million yuan of carbon fixation for reducing green house effect, about 4.29 million yuan of nutrient retention for N, P, K, Ca and Mg, about 178.53 million yuan of air purification.

The need for chromatographic and mass resolution in liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric methods used for quantitation of lactones and corresponding hydroxy acids in biological samples

Because of the potential in-source conversion between a lactone and the corresponding hydroxy acid, it has been recognized that a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) method developed for quantitation of a lactone drug in the presence of its hydroxy acid metabolite (or vice versa) must incorporate chromatographic separation between the two compounds, unless in-source conversion between the two compounds has been eliminated by the appropriate selection of the LC/MS/MS parameters. We now report that chromatographic separation between a lactone and its hydroxy acid will be required under certain LC/MS/MS conditions used even in the absence of in-source conversion. This is due to the fact that the 18-mass-unit difference between a lactone and its hydroxy acid is, by coincidence, different by only one mass unit from the 17-mass-unit difference between the [M + H](+) and [M + NH(4)](+) ions of the lactone or the hydroxy acid. Thus, the [M + H](+) ion of a hydroxy acid is higher than the [M + NH(4)](+) ion of its lactone by only one mass unit. Therefore, in a method developed for quantitation of a hydroxy acid drug utilizing a selected-ion-monitoring (SRM) scheme that incorporates its [M + H](+) ion as the precursor ion, the quantitation would be inaccurate due to the interference by the contribution of the A + 1 isotope response from the [M + NH(4)](+) ion of the lactone metabolite present in the sample, unless there is a chromatographic separation between the two compounds. This is true even if Q1 is operated under a unit-mass resolution. The implication of this type of interference, arising from the presence of both the [M + H](+) and [M + NH(4)](+) ions of a drug and its metabolite, to the selection of LC and MS conditions (including mass resolution) will be discussed using the data obtained with a model lactone drug and its hydroxy acid metabolite.

Comparison of plasma sample purification by manual liquid-liquid extraction, automated 96-well liquid-liquid extraction and automated 96-well solid-phase extraction for analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

Three extraction procedures were developed for the quantitative determination of a carboxylic acid containing analyte (I) in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with negative ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS). The first procedure was based on the manual liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) of the acidified plasma samples with methyl tert.-butyl ether. The second procedure was based on the automation of the manual LLE procedure using 96-well collection plates and a robotic liquid handling system. The third approach was based on automated solid-phase extraction (SPE) using 96-well SPE plates and a robotic liquid handling system. A lower limit of quantitation of 50 pg/ml was achieved using all three extraction procedures. The total time required to prepare calibration curve standards, aliquot the standards and plasma samples, and process a total of 96 standards and samples by manual LLE was three-times longer than the time required for 96-well SPE or 96-well LLE (4 h, 50 min vs. 1 h, 43 min). Even more importantly, the time the bioanalyst physically spent on the 96-well LLE or 96-well SPE procedure was only a small fraction of the time spent on the manual LLE procedure (<10 min vs. 4 h, 10 min). It should be noted that the 96-well SPE procedure incorporated the two steps of evaporation of the eluates to dryness and subsequent reconstitution of the dried extract. The total time required for the 96-well SPE could be reduced by 50% if the eluates were injected directly, eliminating the drying and reconstitution steps, which is achievable when sensitivity is less of an issue.

Quantitation of the acid and lactone forms of atorvastatin and its biotransformation products in human serum by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

A method for simultaneous quantitation of both the acid and lactone forms of atorvastatin, a new synthetic inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase that is being marketed for the treatment of high serum cholesterol, and both the acid and lactone forms of its two biotransformation products, 2-hydroxyatorvastatin and 4-hydroxyatorvastatin, in human serum (a total of six analytes) by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry was developed and validated. A deuterium labeled analog was used as internal standard for each of the six analytes. Each point of the calibration standard curve, which ranged from 0.5 to 200 ng/mL, contained the six analytes at equal concentrations. Three groups of quality control (QC) samples were used. In the first group, combination QC samples contained all six analytes at equal concentrations. In the second group, acid-only QC samples contained only the acid forms (i.e. three analytes) at equal concentrations. In the third group, lactone-only QC samples contained only the lactone forms (i.e. three analytes) at equal concentrations. After adding the internal standard to 0.5 mL of each standard and the QC sample kept at 4 degrees C, the samples were acidified with sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.0) and then extracted with methyl tert-butyl ether. Detection was by positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry using eight selected reaction monitoring channels. The acid compounds were stable in human serum at room temperature but the lactone compounds were unstable as they hydrolyzed rapidly to their respective acid forms. The conversion of the lactone compounds in both QC and post-dose human serum samples was nearly complete after 24 h at room temperature. The lactone compounds in serum could be stabilized by lowering the working temperature to 4 degrees C or lowering the serum pH to 6.0. The acid-only and the lactone-only QC samples showed that, under the sample processing conditions used, the degree of the hydrolysis of the lactone compounds or the lactonization of the acid compounds during the assay procedure was minimal (< 5%). The intra-day C.V., inter-day C.V. and the deviations from the nominal concentrations for all six analytes were within 15%, demonstrating good precision and accuracy. The required lower limit of quantitation (LLQ) of 0.5 ng/mL was achieved for each analyte.

A versatile system of high-flow high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry for rapid direct-injection analysis of plasma samples for quantitation of a beta-lactam drug candidate and its open-ring biotransformation product

A bioanalytical method has been developed and validated for quantitation of a beta-lactam drug candidate and its open-ring biotransformation product utilizing high-flow high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for on-line purification of plasma samples and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for detection and quantitation. The HPLC system used two columns: an Oasis column (1 x 50 mm, 30 microm) as the on-line extraction column and a conventional C18 column (2 x 50 mm, 5 microm) as the analytical column. Each plasma standard or quality control (QC) sample (50 microL) was mixed with 50 microL of a working solution of the internal standard in aqueous 0.5 M ammonium acetate (pH 4.0). Portions (10 microL) of these samples were then injected into an Oasis column with a mobile phase consisting of 100% aqueous 1 mM formic acid at a high flow rate (4.0 mL/min), with the effluent from the Oasis column directed to waste and not to the mass spectrometer. After the purification step, the Oasis column effluent was directed to the analytical column and the mass spectrometer and the analytes were eluted with methanol/aqueous 1 mM formic acid (70:30) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The total analysis time was 1.6 min per sample. The standard curve range was 0.980 to 250 ng/mL. The accuracy, inter-day precision and intra-day precision were within 10% for both compounds.

Characterization of a serial array of miniature cylindrical ion trap mass analyzers

Two small (5 mm internal radius) cylindrical ion traps (CITs) are arranged in series and operated using a single ion source, detector and radio frequency (rf) trapping signal. Ions are trapped in the first CIT and later transferred to the second by applying a direct current (dc) pulse to the endcap electrode of the first trap. This process is facilitated if a second, appropriately timed, retarding dc pulse is applied to the exit endcap electrode of the second trap. Mesh endcaps are used for the CITs to increase the number of ionizing electrons entering the trap and to maximize the transfer efficiency and detected signal. The transfer efficiency is dependent on the amplitude of the dc potential applied to eject the ions from the first trap, the amplitude of the dc potential applied to retain the ions in the second trap, and the period during which the retarding potential is applied. The amplitude and phase of the rf also affect the transfer process. Ions that readily dissociate upon collision have low transfer efficiencies; more stable ions can be transferred with up to 50% efficiency. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[Internalization and replication of Edwardsiella tarda in HEp-2 cells]

It is demonstrated that Edwardsiella tarda possesses the ability to invade cultured epithelial HEp-2 cells by both lysis-counting assay and thin-section electron microscopy. Among fifteen strains of E. tarda, 6 strains internalized into HEp-2 cells and located mainly in vesicles. After internalization, the bacteria replicated in the host cells and then released into medium. Pretreatment of the HEp-2 cells with various concentration of cytochalasin D (0.1-5.0 micrograms/ml) or cytochalasin B (2.5-10.0 micrograms/ml) significantly reduced the amount of internalized bacteria in a dose-dependent manner. While pretreatment of HEp-2 cells with 0.25-100 mumol/L colchicine did not show any effect on the invasiveness of E. tarda. This strongly indicates that microfilaments are required for the internalization of E. tarda into HEp-2 cells and that microtubules are not involved in the entrance of E. tarda into HEp-2 cells.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method for quantitative determination in human urine of dicarboxylic (dioic) acids produced in the body as a consequence of cholesterol biosynthesis inhibition

A capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) method in human urine has been developed and validated for the quantitative determination of dicarboxylic acids (dioic acids) which are produced in the body as a consequence of the administration of an inhibitor of the enzyme squalene synthase, which is involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. The standards and quality control (QC) samples were prepared by adding dioic acids into human urine. Internal standard (sebacic acid) was added to each urine sample (0.1 ml) and then dried by evaporation under nitrogen. The dried sample was reacted with pentafluorobenzyl (PFB) bromide under conditions that maximized the formation of the di-PFB ester (at the expense of the mono-PFB ester) of the dioic acids. After drying by evaporation, each sample residue was reconstituted in mesitylene and injected into a capillary GC-MS system via a splitless injection. The detection was by negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring (SIM) of the [M-PFB]- of the analytes and the internal standard.

High performance liquid chromatography mobile phase composition optimization for the quantitative determination of a carboxylic acid compound in human plasma by negative ion electrospray high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A systematic investigation was undertaken to study the effects of varying concentrations of additives in the acetonitrile/water high performance liquid chromatography mobile phase, especially formic acid and ammonium formate, on the negative ion electrospray response of a carboxylic acid compound. The study showed that the response progressively decreased with increase in the formic acid concentration. While such a decrease in the response could be qualitatively explained by the decrease in the concentration of the ionized form of the carboxylic acid compound due to the lower pH of the mobile phase, the change in response was not as large as expected from the change of the concentration of the ionized form. The response also progressively decreased with increase in the ammonium formate concentration but the decrease cannot be explained by the change in the pH of the mobile phase. Although the best negative ion electrospray response was obtained with a water/acetonitrile mobile phase that contained no additives at all, the retention time of the analyte was not found to be adequately reproducible on repeated injections. Thus, this mobile phase was deemed unacceptable for practical, routine use. Comparing formic acid against ammonium formate, the former was preferable since it caused a smaller attenuation of the negative ion response. Equally important was the fact that addition of formic acid had the desirable effect of maintaining a reasonably high capacity factor (k') for the analyte even at a relatively high acetonitrile concentration. A concentration of 1 mM formic acid in the mobile phase was large enough to achieve the reproducible elongated retention time for the analyte, with a loss in the analyte response of about 60% only. It should be noted that the sensitivity achieved with the 1 mM formic acid mobile phase, in which the carboxylic acid is expected to be about 10% in the ionized form, is about 9 times better than the sensitivity achieved in the 1 mM ammonium formate mobile phase, in which the carboxylic acid is expected to be about 99% in the ionized form.

Negative ion electrospray high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method development for determination of a highly polar phosphonic acid/sulfonic acid compound in plasma. Optimization of ammonium acetate concentration and in-source collision-induced dissociation

A method, based on negative ion electrospray ionization (ESI) single-stage mass spectrometry coupled with HPLC, was developed for the determination of a squalene synthase inhibitor, BMS-187745, in human plasma. BMS-187745, a highly polar compound with both phosphonic acid and sulfonic acid groups, presented difficulties in developing plasma extraction and HPLC procedures. Precipitation of the plasma protein with methanol was finally chosen as the basis for sample preparation since extraction with water-immiscible solvents or with solid-phase extraction columns failed. It was essential to add ammonium acetate to the HPLC mobile phase, not only to enhance the retention of BMS-187745 but also to ensure a well-shaped chromatographic peak. While the use of ammonium acetate had the desired chromatographic effects, it had the undesirable consequence of suppressing the negative ion ESI signal. With the plasma extracts, the [M-H2O-H]- ion (m/z 367) showed significantly lower chemical noise than the [M-H]- ion (m/z 385), and was thus chosen as the analytical ion for the selected ion monitoring. The signal of the m/z 367 ion was significantly enhanced by the optimization of the in-source collision-induced dissociation (CID) of m/z 385 to m/z 367.

An assessment of a urinary biomarker for total human environmental exposure to benzo[a]pyrene

Urinary banzo[a]pyrene (BaP) metabolite levels were compared to human environmental exposure to BaP through inhalation and dietary ingestion to assess the predictive validity of the exposure biomarker. These measurements were made for 14 adult volunteers over 14 consecutive days, once during summer/fall, again during winter periods. Based on personal air monitoring, median potential inhalation doses of 11.0 and 2.3 ng/day were estimated for the winter and summer/fall studies, respectively. A median potential ingested dose of 176 ng/day, estimated from "duplicate plate" sampling, exceeded inhalation by 6- and 122-fold for the winter and summer/fall studies, respectively. "Total" urinary BaP metabolites were measured using a published "reverse metabolism" (BaP) method of analysis. Median rates of urinary BaP metabolite elimination for the winter and summer/fall studies were 121 and 129 ng/day, respectively. The changes in inhaled and ingested potential doses were regressed on the change in urinary metabolite elimination from week 1 to week 2 to test the predictive validity of the biomarker measurement. The regression was statistically significant (r = 0.620, p = 0.015, n = 25) when body weight was included and two extreme values were removed. Consistent with the exposure measurements showing diet as the dominant route of exposure, most of the variation in urinary metabolite elimination was explained by the ingested dose. It is concluded that the measurement of urinary BaP by "reverse metabolism" is qualitative and of marginal predictive validity as an exposure biomarker due to the method's low recoveries and the large unexplained variance.