Starch a natural polymer that is characterized by cheap, regenerative, and good biodegradation is generally mixed with low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystryrene to prepare degradable materials. In order to relieve "white pollution" due to undegradability of plastic materials, starch is mixed with polyvinyl alcohol, polylactic acid, poly-hydroxybutyric acid, polycaprolactone, chitosan, derivatives, and other degradable polymers to prepare fully degradable biomaterials. With gradual exhaustion of petroleum and progressive depravation of environmental quality, starch that is regarded as a reinforcing agent is widely used in rubber industry. Starch is characterized by hydrophilicity, difficulty in processing, and poor compatibility to plastic materials, rubber, and other polymers, so starch is firstly modified and then mixed with polymers to make starch. This study was designed to summarize the application of starch in plastic materials, rubber, and other polymer blends and to investigate the latest research progresses of starch in polymer materials.

Foreign Language Department of Kunming Medical University has developed medical English self-access learning platform based on campus network, created medical English online courses and network resource library , established major oriented learning evaluation mechanism . It provides an online teaching, learning, practice, testing and evaluation environment for college teachers and students. The architecture of the platform takes medical specialty into consideration, which focuses on the training of students' English skills. The detailed design of the platform is presented. The platform was launched in September 2014. Performance testing is used to measure the ability of the system. Three methods including students' interview, the interaction between the teaching management staff and quantitative analysis are adopted to evaluate the application results . Finally this paper has preliminarily explored self-access learning modes available for students. According to the related information, the platform runs smoothly after it was put into use and improves students' learning ability of medical English to a certain extent.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the most serious public health problems. HBV infection could lead to hepatitis B, and even further develop into hepatic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Interferon lambda (IFN-λ) is a member of the interferon (IFN) family and an important cytokine for antiviral defense. There are four members in IFN-λ family, including IFN-λ1, IFN-λ2, IFN-λ3, and IFN-λ4. The genetic polymorphisms in the IFN-λ genes are associated with HBV replication and treatment response of HBV patients. In this review, we summarized the roles of genetic polymorphisms of the IFN-λ genes played in HBV infection, disease progression and treatment, with the aim to better understand their function. This review could serve as a reference for the HBV prevention and treatment of HBV patients, as well as for future clinical usage.
Antiviral Agents/pharmacology* ; Hepatitis B/genetics* ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics* ; Humans ; Interferons/pharmacology* ; Liver Neoplasms ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Virus Replication/genetics*

BACKGROUND: The detection of driver oncogenes of lung cancer is of great importance. There are various gene detection techniques nowadays which are different from each other. We carried out this study to investigate the specificity and sensitivity of assay panels based on an Amplification Refractory Mutation System-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) technique of Amplification Mutation Specific System (AMSS) in detection of lung cancer gene mutation. To estimate the applicable value of assay panels in clinical settings. METHODS: We collected cancer tissue specimens or fluid specimens from 309 patients. Mutation results were presented for those samples previously detected by ARMS-PCR. In comparison, we carried out AMSS-PCR using (epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR) assay panel and Six-Alliance assay panel as well as Sanger sequencing. Software SPSS 22.0 (SPSS IBM) was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The rates of consistency between the results by assay panels and Sanger sequencing or ARMS-PCR were 97.41% and 97.73%, respectively. Besides, EGFR assay panel had higher consistency rates with other detection methods than Six-Alliance assay panel. As for consistency test, the Kappa values of assay panels with Sanger sequencing, assay panels with ARMS-PCR, and ARMS-PCR with Sanger sequencing were 0.946, 0.953, and 0.913, respectively. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) area under curve (AUC) of assay panels was 0.976 referring to Sanger sequencing, and 0.975 as ARMS-PCR was referred to. CONCLUSIONS AMSS-PCR can make an optimal cancer gene mutation detection method for clinical settings.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; ROC Curve ; Young Adult