A method for analyzing programmed cell death in xylem development by flow cytometry.

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a genetically regulated developmental process leading to the death of specific types of plant cells, which plays important roles in plant development and growth such as wood formation. However, an efficient method needs to be established to study PCD in woody plants. Flow cytometry is widely utilized to evaluate apoptosis in mammalian cells, while it is rarely used to detect PCD in plants, especially in woody plants.

An Efficient -Mediated Transformation Method for Hybrid Poplar 84K ( × ) Using Calli as Explants.

A highly efficient -mediated transformation method is needed for the molecular study of model tree species such as hybrid poplar 84K ( × cv. '84K'). In this study, we report a callus-based transformation method that exhibits high efficiency and reproducibility.

A Small Guanosine Triphosphate Binding Protein Promotes Xylem Development in Poplar.

Rab GTPases are the subfamily of the small guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins which participated in the regulation of various biological processes. Recent studies have found that plant Rabs play some specific functions. However, the functions of in xylem development in trees remain unclear.

A Potential Predictive Biomarker for Miller/Payne Grading: PD-L1 Expression before Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer.

Background And Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the value of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression as a predictive biomarker for Miller/Payne grading before neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: The expression of PD-L1 in pretreatment biopsies of breast cancer was assessed by immunohistochemistry in tissue microarrays. The results were analyzed using SPSS 22.

A propensity-matched analysis of surgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy for early stage non-small cell lung cancer in the elderly.

Elderly patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who undergo surgical resection are at a high risk of treatment-related complications. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is considered an alternative treatment option with a favorable safety profile. Given that prospective comparative data on SBRT and surgical treatments are limited, we compared the 2 treatments for early stage NSCLC in the elderly.

Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Mature Pollen in Triploid and Diploid Populus deltoides.

Ploidy affects plant growth vigor and cell size, but the relative effects of pollen fertility and allergenicity between triploid and diploid have not been systematically examined. Here we performed comparative analyses of fertility, proteome, and abundances of putative allergenic proteins of pollen in triploid poplar 'ZhongHuai1' ('ZH1', triploid) and 'ZhongHuai2' ('ZH2', diploid) generated from the same parents. The mature pollen was sterile in triploid poplar 'ZH1'.

[Current situation of awareness and use of banned pesticides among vegetable greenhouse farmers in a town of Ledu County, China].

Objective: To investigate the awareness and use of banned pesticides among vegetable greenhouse farmers in a town of Ledu County, Qinghai Province, China and to provide a basis for the management and control of banned pesticides.

Methods: Local residents who lived in a town of Ledu County for more than 5 years were selected as subjects in August 2012. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 267 vegetable greenhouse farmers who were selected from five villages of the town by cluster random sampling.

[Protective effects of hepatocyte growth factor on hypoxic human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells].

Objective: To investigate the protective effects of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on hypoxic human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs).

Methods: HPMECs were cultured in vitro, and the hypoxic model was established by the physical method. Cells were divided into 4 groups: the control group, the hypoxic group, HGF group, and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) group.

Effect of simulated microgravity and its associated mechanism on pulmonary circulation in rats.

Objective: To study the effect of Simulated Microgravity and its Associated Mechanism on Pulmonary Circulation in Rats).

Methods: Rat tail-suspension model was used to simulate the physiological effects of microgravity and changes in pulmonary blood vessel morphology, pulmonary arterial and venous blood pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, pulmonary vasomotoricity, as well as the regulation of pulmonary circulation by cytokines produced and released by the lung of rats were measured.

Results: The walls of pulmonary blood vessels of rats were thickened, and the pulmonary artery was reconstructed with increased pulmonary vascular resistance.

Research advance in effects of weightlessness or simulated weightlessness on tumor cells.

Weightless environment is a rare phenomenon on the ground where the interactions among cells and internal cellular structures disappear or become weakened. Studies on the biological features and molecular expression of tumors cells in weightlessness condition may provide new clues to the tumor initiation, process, diagnosis, and therapy.

[Salidroside inhibits clinorotation-induced apoptosis in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells].

Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effect of salidroside (Sal) on pulmonary microvascular endothelial cell (HPMEC) apoptosis induced by simulated microgravity and its mechanism.

Methods: Human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells cultured in vitro were divided into control group, clinorotation group and clinorotation+Sal pretreatment groups. Microgravity was simulated by clinorotation.

C-reactive protein and atrial fibrillation in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Previous studies have found elevated plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Most of these studies included AF patients with various heart diseases, but few studies were designed to investigate CRP in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) patients with AF.

Method And Results: CRP levels in 242 IDCM patients with AF were compared with CRP levels in 280 control IDCM patients.

Hepatocyte growth factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor form a combined neovasculogenic therapy for ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) is a significant cause of heart failure. Current therapies are limited and, therefore, the development of novel revascularization methods is potentially important. We investigated whether hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), expressed by genetically modified mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), in combination with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), exhibited a synergistic therapeutic benefit, as measured 8 weeks after MI induction in a rat model.

Cyclosporin A suppresses proliferation of endothelial progenitor cells: involvement of nitric oxide synthase inhibition.

Objective: To investigate the effects of the potent immunosuppressive agent cyclosporin A (CsA) on the proliferation of human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression in EPCs.

Methods And Results: The EPCs were obtained from cultured mononuclear cells, which were isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy adults, and stimulated with CsA (10 microg/mL) in the presence or absence of either vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF; 50 ng/mL) or L-arginine (1 mM). To explore the effect of different concentrations of CsA alone on EPC proliferation, some cells were treated with CsA in a series of final concentrations ranging from 0 to 10 microg/mL.

[Analysis on inpatient pulmonary hypertension surveillance in Fuwai Cardiovascular Hospital from 1996 to 2005].

Objective: To investigate the inpatient pulmonary hypertension (PH) surveillance in a single center of cardiovascular hospital during last ten years.

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, data from patients with discharge diagnosis as PH from Jan. 1996 to Dec.

Blockade of renin-angiotensin system: a supplementary treatment for circumferential pulmonary vein isolation in treating persistent atrial fibrillation.

The development of atrial fibrillation ablation has revolutionized the field of antiarrhythmic treatment by reducing the recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) significantly in patients with paroxysmal atrium fibrillation (PAF). However, the effect of ablation on the patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (PeAF) is not as good as it on PAF. Although doctors have created a series of ablation strategy, they still cannot treat PeAF effectively.