During the application of spontaneous or genetically engineered mouse models for retinal diseases,some phenotypes of the models might not be related to the gene (s) of interest or intentional manipulation.This problem often arises from founder effect of inbreed mouse strains.The most impact experiences in vision research community are mouse models incorporated with mutations in Crb1 (rd8),phosphodiesterase 6 beta (Pde6b) (rd1),Gnat2 and RPE65 genes.This paper reviewed the most relevant articles on this matter.We encourage that vision researchers who apply or develop mouse lines to study retinal diseases should carefully track and check the genetic background of their stains and/or choose proper controls in the study design.

Many species of animals contain antimicrobial peptides as components of their immune systems. Many antimicrobial peptides have a broad spectrum of activity not only against gram negative and gram positive bacteria but also against antibiotic resistant bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Such peptides can act in synergy with other host molecules to kill pathogens. It has been found that certain peptides have a high affinity for bacterial products, allowing them to modulate the host inflammatory response to sepsis. They have also been found that they have the ability to recruit inflammatory cells. These properties as well as some other functions of antimicrobial peptides enable them to have an important impact in innate immunity.

Objective:To observe the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Telephone In-terview for Cognitive Status-Modified (TICS-m). Methods:62 dementia patients and 63 community-dwelling healthy eldly individuals were assessed. TICS-m was examined by telephone and face-to-face. Results:The correlation between face-to-face and telephone interview was 0.79~0.97.The spearman correlation coefficient of inter-rater reliability were 0.89-0.97 and intra-rater reliability 0.91-0.98. The sensitivities of TICS-m and the memory factor score were both high. The TICS-m and three parts were all significantly correlated with MMSE and CDR. Conclusion:Face-to-face and telephone interview of TICS-m was highly correlated. In-ter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability were good. The TICS-m is valid and reliable when used to screen dementia, especially mild dementia.

Objective To investigate the clinical pathologic significance of lymphangiogenesis in in colorectal cancer. Methods New lymphatic-specific markers D2-40 was used immunohistochemically to detect the lymphatic vessel density(LVD) in the intratumoural and peritumoral areas, and in normal tissue from 96 cases of colorectal cancer, which were analyzed with clinical pathologic parameters of those colorectal cancer. Results Significandy higher LVD was found in the intratumoural area(14.5±2.4), when compared with normal(5.9±1.1)and peritumoural areas(6.7±1.2) (P<0.01). LVD of the peritumoural area was higher than normal area (P< 0.01). However, peritumoural LVD was associated with both depth of invasion and liver metastasis (r=0.71,0.78 P<0.05), but not associated with tumour size, macroscopic type and lymph-node metastasis (P>0.05). Intratu-moural LVD was not correlated with tumour size, macroscopic type, the depth of invasion,lymph-node metastasis, and liver metastasis(P>0.05). Conclusion Lymphangiogenesis in the peritumoural area may be helpful in evalution of liver metastasis and prognosis.