Abstract For different populations, the association studies between the beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) Arg16Gly mutation and asthma are conflict. This study was designated to evaluate ADRB2 Arg16Gly polymorphism and asthma in Chinese population. Systemic assessment was performed based on the data from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) up to January 2019. Odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using STATA software. This meta-analysis included 6143 asthma patients and 5919 healthy persons from 34 studies. Overall, ADRB2 Arg16Gly polymorphism showed no significant influence on asthma in China. However, subgroup analyses according to geographic areas, age group and HWE in controls, only found a borderline significant effect for southern Chinese under the homozygotes genetic model (OR = 0.82, 95%CI = 0.68-1.00, P = 0.046). This meta-analysis suggests that ADRB2 Arg16Gly polymorphism is not be related to the development of asthma in China.

ABSTRACT Calligonum is the only C4 genus within Polygonaceae. We applied DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and five plastid genome regions (psbA-trnH, ycf6-psbM, trnL-F, rpl32-trnL and rbcL) to reconstruct the phylogeny of Calligonum. The nrITS and the combined plastid DNA regions were analysed separately. The phylogeny of the five plastid genome regions supports the treatment of the Calligonum mongolicum complex as a single species with intra-specific geographic structure, and suggests independent hybrid origins for the polyploid species C. caput-medusae and C. arborescens through comparisons with the nrITS tree. We detected phylogenetic incongruence between the nrITS and plastid DNA trees and hypothesized reticulate evolution or hybrid speciation in the genus. Divergence time dating based on nrITS determined that the most recent common ancestor of Calligonum species began diversification 3.46 million years ago [mya; 95 % high probability density (HPD): 1.87-5.71 mya], and diversification began in the Central Asia and China clade ca. 2.68 mya (95 % HPD: 1.28-4.59 mya). We expect that future studies employing next generation sequencing methods, such as RAD-seq, coupled with denser inter- and intra- specific taxonomic sampling, may prove to be cost-effective methods for further investigation of the evolutionary history of this genus.

Purposes To examine the factors related to the choice of cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) for patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mCCRCC), and compare the population-based survival rates of patients treated with or without surgery in the modern targeted therapy era. Materials and Methods From 2006 to 2009, patients with mCCRCC were identified from SEER database. The factors that affected patients to be submitted to CN were examined and propensity scores for each patient were calculated. Then patients were matched based upon propensity scores. Univariable and multivariable cox regression models were used to compare survival rates of patients treated with or without surgery. Finally, sensitivity analysis for the cox model on a hazard ratio scale was performed. Results Age, race, tumor size, T stage and N stage were associated with nephrectomy univariablely. After the match based upon propensity scores, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year cancer-specific survival rate estimates were 45.1%, 27.9%, and 21.7% for the no-surgery group vs 70.6%, 52.2%, and 41.7% for the surgery group, respectively (hazard ratio 0.42, 95%CI: 0.35-0.52, log-rank P<0.001). In multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression model, race, T stage, N stage and median household income were significantly associated with survival. Sensitivity analysis on a hazard ratio scale indicated that the hazard ratio might be above 1.00 only when the unknown factor had an opposite effect on survival which was 3-fold than CN. Conclusion The results of our study showed that CN significantly improves the survival of patients with metastatic CCRCC even in the targeted therapy era.

A biological treatment technique for wool textile was carried out by enzymes degradation coupled with H2O2 oxidation. The results demonstrated that the technique had ideal effects on wool textile such as better softness, plump and less loss of bursting stress. Because of mild reaction conditions, less textile damage and less environmental pollution, this technique for wool textile treatment could have promising prospect.