Objective To study the etiology and relative factors of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Methods A total of 233 DCM patients were enrolled and conducted epidemiological survey. Stable angina patients in the same region were collected as control group. The epidemiological investigation included: life styles and history of diseases; blood pressure, electrocardiogram and echocardiography; serum lipids, glucose, hs-CRP, cTNI and NT-proBNP. Results The prevalence rate of DCM was 29.1 per 100 000 population, the male being almost 2-fold more involved than female, and farmers accounted for 77.7%. Familial clustering was not obvious. There were low level of history of hypertension (12.4%), ischemic heart disease (2.1%), myocarditis (5.2%) and diabetes (3.4%). Compared with control group, DCM patients had higher proportion of farmer (60.0% vs 77.7%, P

Objective To investigate the etiology and relative factors of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in Chinese patients. Methods A case-control study was conducted to compare 233 patients with DCM in high-incidence areas (case group) and 150 patients with stable angina pectoris (control group). Life styles and history of diseases information was collected by questionaire; human anti-myocardial antibody IgG (AMA- IgG), human Coxsackie B virus IgG (CBV- IgG) and human adenovirus antibody IgG (ADV- lgG) were measured with ELISA. General chemical and toxicological indicators in drink water from high and low prevalence areas and serum trace elements also were compared. Results 1 ) Compared with the control group, the case group had more farmers (P < 0.01), with low average incomes (P < 0.01), higher alcohol consumption (P < 0.01) and higher incidence of the history of myocarditis (P < 0.01 ). 2) AMA-IgG, CBV-IgG and ADV-IgG levels were low and the positive rates ofAMA-IgG, CBV-IgG and ADV-IgG of patients with DCM were respectively 7.78%, 6.67% and 6.67%, no statistical significance comparing with those in the control group. 3) The content of iron (1.36±2.18 vs 0.39±0.67 mg/L, P<0.05) and manganese (0.384±0.35 vs 0.15±0.14, P<0.01 ) in drinking water of high-incidence areas was significantly higher than that in low-incidence areas. 4) The content of serum iron (69.14±57.8 vs 20.04±17.5 μ mol/L, P<0.01 ) and copper (25.74±4.2 vs 19.7±4.5 μmol/L, P<0.01) in the case group evidently exceeded the normal range and obviously higher than that in the control group. Conclusions 1) The incidence of some DCM is related with low incomes, high alcohol consumption and myocarditis. 2) These data do not support that DCM is related with persistent virus infection and autoimmunization; 3) Iron and manganese contents exceeding standards in drinking water and the high content of serum iron and copper is comparatively related with the incidence of DCM.

The large amount of repeats, especially high copy repeats, in the genomes of higher animals and plants makes whole genome assembly (WGA) quite difficult. In order to solve this problem, we tried to identify repeats and mask them prior to assembly even at the stage of genome survey. It is known that repeats of different copy number have different probabilities of appearance in shotgun data, so based on this principle, we constructed a statistical model and inferred criteria for mathematically defined repeats (MDRs) at different shotgun coverages. According to these criteria, we developed software MDRmasker to identify and mask MDRs in shotgun data. With repeats masked prior to assembly, the speed of assembly was increased with lower error probability. In addition, clone-insert size affect the accuracy of repeat assembly and scaffold construction, we also designed length distribution of clone-inserts using our model. In our simulated genomes of human and rice, the length distribution of repeats is different, so their optimal length distributions of clone-inserts were not the same. Thus with optimal length distribution of clone-inserts, a given genome could be assembled better at lower coverage.
Animals ; Cloning, Molecular ; Genome ; Genome, Human ; Genomics ; methods ; Humans ; Models, Genetic ; Models, Statistical ; Models, Theoretical ; Oryza ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

Objective To observe the effect and mechanism of curcumin on helper T cells 17 (Th17) and regulatory T cells (Treg)in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)rats.Methods A total 30 rats were randomly divided into normal group,model group and curcumin group at dose of 200 mg/kg (each n =10).COPD rat model was induced by intratracheal injection of lipopolysaccha-ride combined with smoke exposure.After removing rats’blocks of organs,the pathological changes of lung tissue were observed under microscope,the content of CD4,CD25 and Foxp3 in lung tissue were detected by using enzyme linked immunosorbent test (ELISA),IL-10 and IL-17 in peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)were measured,and the expression of CD4,CD25 and Foxp3 were measured using immunohistochemistrical method.Results Compared with the normal group,the levels of CD4,CD25 and Foxp3 regulatory T cells in lung tissue of COPD rats increased significantly (P <0.05),and curcu-min reduced CD4,CD25,Foxp3 regulatory T cells level significantly (P <0.05 ),increased IL-10 in BALF(P <0.05 )and decreased IL-17 levels both in BALF and serum significantly (P <0.05 ). Conclusion The protective and therapeutic effect of curcumin on COPD rats may via the way of regula-ting the balance of Th17 and Treg,increasing content of IL-10 and decreasing content of IL-17,as well as downregulating CD4,CD25 and Foxp3.

The field of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial-based cancer immunotherapy combines research from multiple subdisciplines of material science, nano-chemistry, in particular nano-biological interactions, immunology, and medicinal chemistry. Most importantly, the "biological identity" of nanomaterials governed by bio-molecular corona in terms of bimolecular types, relative abundance, and conformation at the nanomaterial surface is now believed to influence blood circulation time, bio-distribution, immune response, cellular uptake, and intracellular trafficking. A better understanding of nano-bio interactions can improve utilization of 2D nano-architectures for cancer immunotherapy and immunotheranostics, allowing them to be adapted or modified to treat other immune dysregulation syndromes including autoimmune diseases or inflammation, infection, tissue regeneration, and transplantation. The manuscript reviews the biological interactions and immunotherapeutic applications of 2D nanomaterials, including understanding their interactions with biological molecules of the immune system, summarizes and prospects the applications of 2D nanomaterials in cancer immunotherapy.