Household air pollution and personal exposure to nitrated and oxygenated polycyclic aromatics (PAHs) in rural households: Influence of household cooking energies

Residential solid fuels are widely consumed in rural China, contributing to severe household air pollution for many products of incomplete combustion, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their polar derivatives. In this study, concentrations of nitrated and oxygenated PAH derivatives (nPAHs and oPAHs) for household and personal air were measured and analyzed for influencing factors like smoking and cooking energy type. Concentrations of nPAHs and oPAHs in kitchens were higher than those in living rooms and in outdoor air. Exposure levels measured by personal samplers were lower than levels in indoor air, but higher than outdoor air levels. With increasing molecular weight, individual compounds tended to be more commonly partitioned to particulate matter (PM); moreover, higher molecular weight nPAHs and oPAHs were preferentially found in finer particles, suggesting a potential for increased health risks. Smoking behavior raised the concentrations of nPAHs and oPAHs in personal air significantly. People who cooked food also had higher personal exposures. Cooking and smoking have a significant interaction effect on personal exposure. Concentrations in kitchens and personal exposure to nPAHs and oPAHs for households using wood and peat were significantly higher than for those using electricity and liquid petroleum gas (LPG).

A Prediction Model of the Capillary Pressure J-Function

The capillary pressure J-function is a dimensionless measure of the capillary pressure of a fluid in a porous medium. The function was derived based on a capillary bundle model. However, the dependence of the J-function on the saturation Sw is not well understood. A prediction model for it is presented based on capillary pressure model, and the J-function prediction model is a power function instead of an exponential or polynomial function. Relative permeability is calculated with the J-function prediction model, resulting in an easier calculation and results that are more representative.

[Cross-sectional study of family drug stockpile and children medication in China]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the current situation of family medicine stockpile and children medication in China, analyze the existing problems and provide the rationalized suggestions.

METHODS

The questionnaire was designed and convenient sampling survey was performed in 20 children hospitals in China. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the survey results.

RESULTS

A total of 13 940 completed questionnaires were returned, 98.33% of the families had medicine stockpile, the top three types of the medicine for children were cold medicine(73.95%), oral paregoric/febrifuge(48.01%)and external used drugs for skin disease(wound)(41.10%). The medicine was bought according to physician's prescription and guide(71.18%). Drug poisoning occurred in children of 238 families(1.71%), overdose use was the first cause(44.96%). 22.33% of the parents didn't read the specification carefully before medicine use. The non-appropriate medication for children were mainly the use of adult medicine(32.70%), untimely medication(30.90%), non-rational or unneeded use of febrifuge(26.35%).

CONCLUSIONS

In China, the families mainly store common medicine for their children. The parents bought medicine mainly according to physician' s prescription and paid attention to the safety and efficiency of the medicine, but non-appropriate use of medicine was still common. It is necessary to improve the rational use of medicine for children through expert counsel and guidance.

[Prenatal diagnosis of Thailand deletion of α-thalassemia 1 families]

OBJECTIVE

To conduct analysis and prenatal diagnosis on 11 couples carrying Thailand deletion (--(THΑI)) α-thalassemia 1, so as to provide information for clinical genetic counseling on α-thalassemia 1.

METHODS

Altogether 11 Thailand deletion (--(THΑI)) α-thalassemia 1 families were collected from Fujian Maternal and Children Health Hospital from May 2009 to September 2015. Gap-polymerase chain reaction (gap-PCR) and reverse dot blot (RDB) technology were used to detect the thalassemia mutations in the couples and fetuses.

RESULTS

In one family, Thailand deletion α-thalassemia 1 was detected in both the pregnant woman and her husband. In 10 families, Thailand deletion α-thalassemia 1 was detected in either the pregnant women or the husband, while the spouses had α-thalassemia heterozygote (1 combined with β thalassemia heterozygote). Thailand deletion α-thalassemia 1 family members all had lower mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH). In prenatal diagnosis of the 12 fetuses, 4 fetuses were found with hemoglobin(Hb) Bart's hydrops fetalis syndrome, 5 were with α-thalassemia heterozygote, and 3 were normal.

CONCLUSIONS

For couples with positive hematological phenotype but normal results in routine genetic examination of α-thalassemia, attention should be paid especially for with a history of having babies of hydrops fetalis syndrome or hemoglobin H disease. It is necessary to consider the possibility of the rare Thailand deletion (--(THΑI)) α-thalassemia 1. Prenatal diagnosis for high-risk families plays an important role.

Osteopontin and Integrin αvβ3 Expression during the Implantation Window in IVF Patients with Elevated Serum Progesterone and Oestradiol Level

Background: To explore whether endometrial receptivity is determined by osteopontin (OPN) and integrin αvβ3 expression in women with elevated serum progesterone (P) and/or oestradiol (E₂) who are undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Methods: According to serum hormone levels on the day of HCG administration, 33 infertile women were divided into 3 groups: the high E₂, high P, and high E₂ and P groups. The control group included 11 fertile, healthy women. Endometrial biopsy was performed on ovulation day + 7 to + 8 for all study participants, and the mRNA and protein expression levels of OPN and integrin αvβ3 were analyzed. Result: No statistically significant differences regarding OPN and integrin αvβ3 expression were found between infertile patients in the high P, high E₂, high E₂ and P and control groups. There was no significant correlation between OPN and integrin αvβ3 staining intensity during the implantation window biopsy in any of the groups studied. Conclusion: Endometrial OPN and integrant αvβ3 expression/co-expression is not impaired during the window of implantation in patients with high P, high E₂, or high E₂ and P levels. The clinical value of assessing endometrial receptivity with OPN and integrin αvβ3 seems to be uncertain.

Protocol for the Electroencephalography Guidance of Anesthesia to Alleviate Geriatric Syndromes (ENGAGES) study: a pragmatic, randomised clinical trial

INTRODUCTION

Postoperative delirium, arbitrarily defined as occurring within 5 days of surgery, affects up to 50% of patients older than 60 after a major operation. This geriatric syndrome is associated with longer intensive care unit and hospital stay, readmission, persistent cognitive deterioration and mortality. No effective preventive methods have been identified, but preliminary evidence suggests that EEG monitoring during general anaesthesia, by facilitating reduced anaesthetic exposure and EEG suppression, might decrease incident postoperative delirium. This study hypothesises that EEG-guidance of anaesthetic administration prevents postoperative delirium and downstream sequelae, including falls and decreased quality of life.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is a 1232 patient, block-randomised, double-blinded, comparative effectiveness trial. Patients older than 60, undergoing volatile agent-based general anaesthesia for major surgery, are eligible. Patients are randomised to 1 of 2 anaesthetic approaches. One group receives general anaesthesia with clinicians blinded to EEG monitoring. The other group receives EEG-guidance of anaesthetic agent administration. The outcomes of postoperative delirium (≤5 days), falls at 1 and 12 months and health-related quality of life at 1 and 12 months will be compared between groups. Postoperative delirium is assessed with the confusion assessment method, falls with ProFaNE consensus questions and quality of life with the Veteran's RAND 12-item Health Survey. The intention-to-treat principle will be followed for all analyses. Differences between groups will be presented with 95% CIs and will be considered statistically significant at a two-sided p<0.05.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Electroencephalography Guidance of Anesthesia to Alleviate Geriatric Syndromes (ENGAGES) is approved by the ethics board at Washington University. Recruitment began in January 2015. Dissemination plans include presentations at scientific conferences, scientific publications, internet-based educational materials and mass media.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT02241655; Pre-results.

[Blood 7-ketocholesterol level, clinical features and gene mutation analysis of 18 children with Niemann-Pick disease type C]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate 7-ketocholesterol (7-KC) level in the blood, clinical features and gene mutation of Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC).

METHOD

Eighteen patients diagnosed as NPC in Shanghai Xinhua Hospital seen from February 2013 to October 2014 were enrolled in this study. They included 13 males and 5 females and aged from 5 months to 21 years. The plasma 7-KC concentrations, clinical features and gene mutations of NPC patients were reviewed retrospectively.

RESULT

Fourteen NPC patients had neurological symptoms with the age of neurological onset from 1 year to 16 years. In seven cases the disease was early-infantile subtype, in 1 late-infantile subtype, in five juvenile subtype and in one adult subtype. The 7-KC value in the plasma of NPC patients was higher than the normal range, (348.5±168.7) μg/L in the early-infantile subtype, 150.6 μg/L in the late-infantile subtype, (145.0±46.3) μg/L in the juvenile subtype, and 32.0 μg/L in the adult subtype, respectively, additionally, four NPC patients had no observable neuropsychiatric disability when confirmed to be NPC by genetic testing, with the plasma 7-KC value (345.6±134.2) μg/L; 16 of 18 patients had splenomegaly or hepatosplenomegaly. Among 18 patients, 34 different mutations in the NPC1 gene were identified including 27 reported mutations, 1 novel small deletion 3609_3610delAC, five novel exonic point mutations, c. 3683T>C(M1228T), c. 3679A>T(R1227W), c. 1070C>T(S357L), c. 1456A>C(N486H) and c. 1142G>A(W381X) and 1 novel intronic mutation c. 881+ 3A>G.

CONCLUSION

The 7-KC levels in the blood of patient was remarkably increased, and there was a tendency that 7-KC levels inversely correlated with the age of neurological onset. Most NPC patient had splenomegaly or hepatosplenomegaly. Among 18 patients, 34 different mutations in the NPC1 gene were identified including seven novel mutations, which enriched the gene mutation spectrum.

London Trauma Conference 2015

I1: Trauma, Pre-hospital and Cardiac Arrest Care 2015

Pascale Avery, Leopold Salm, Flora Bird

A1: Retrospective evaluation of HEMS ‘Direct to CT’ protocol

Anja Hutchinson, Ashley Matthies, Anthony Hudson, Heather Jarman

A2 Rush hour – Crush hour: temporal relationship of cyclist vs. HGV trauma admissions. A single site observational study

Maria Bergman Nilsson, Tom Konig, Nigel Tai

A3 Semiprone position endotracheal intubation during continuous cardiopulmonary resuscitation in drowned children with regurgitation: a case report and experimental manikin study

Espen Fevang, Børge Hognestad, Håkon B. Abrahamsen

A4 An audit of CO2 A-a gradient in non-trauma patients receiving pre-hospital anaesthesia

Olivia V Cheetham, Matthew JC Thomas, Kieron D Rooney

A5 Can the use of c-spine immobilisation collars be avoided in non-trauma patients presenting to the Emergency Department?

Josephine Murray, Malcolm Tunnicliff

A6 Curriculum mapping in ED point of care simulation

Joseph W Collinson, Thomas Brown, Christopher Pritchett

A7 Point of care multidisciplinary trauma team simulation & participant satisfaction in a geographically remote trauma unit in Cornwall

Christopher SA Pritchett, Mark Jadav, Gareth Meredith, Jamie Plumb, Steve Harris, Roger Langford

A8 Conservative management of head injury inpatients - the challenge of simplifying injury management in a non-neurosurgical hospital

JG Hunter, A Sage, R Madden, O Flamank, B Broadbent, S Marsh, H Lewis, E Daniels, N Roberts

A9 Improving the care of traumatic brain injury at non-neurosurgical hospitals: Introducing a head injury pathway and single place of care is associated with significant improvements in neurological observation

JG Hunter, A Sage, R Madden, O Flamank, B Broadbent, S Marsh, H Lewis, E Daniels, N Lin, N Roberts

A10 The experience of inter-disciplinary students undertaking cardiac arrest moulage training

Samuel Bulford, Silas Houghton-Budd, Sam Pearson, Megan Clear-Hill

A11 Impact brain apnoea – nine cases

David J Menzies, James P Leonard, Conor Keogh, Ray Quinn, John D Hinds

A12 Time well spent? Improving the performance improvement programme in a busy Trauma Unit

N Roberts, D Ashton-Cleary, M Jadav

A14 Clinical significant and outcome of pulmonary contusions in patients with blunt chest trauma

Ismail Mahmood, Ayman El-Menyar, Basil Younis, Ahmed Khalid, Syed Nabir, Mohamed Nadeem Ahmed, Omer Al-Yahri, Hassan Al-Thani

A15 Plastics operative workload in major trauma centres: a national prospective survey

Katie Young, Susan A. Hendrickson, Georgina Phillips, Matthew D. Gardiner, Shehan Hettiaratchy

A16 A survey to assess the accuracy of estimating height by pre-hospital clinicians: can we reliably predict those most at risk of serious injury?

Alexandra Alice Crossland, Anthony Hudson

A17 An audit of the cause, outcome and adherence to treatment Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all traumatic cardiac arrests at a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service over a 12-month period

Nicholas C Brassington, Anthony Hudson, Emily McWhirter

A18 Should we “stay-and-play? A study of patient physiology in Norwegian Helicopter Emergency Services

Bjørn O Reid, Marius Rehn, Oddvar Uleberg, Andreas J Krüger

A19 Training in resuscitative thoracotomy: have we cracked it? A survey of higher Emergency Medicine trainees in London

Cara Jennings, Yasmin Kapadia, Duncan Bew

A20 London’s Air Ambulance (LAA): 25-years of drownings in an urban environment

Jenny Townsend, Tom P Hurst, Elizabeth A Foster

A21 Live patients in trauma simulation – more than just simulation on a shoestring?

Thomas B Brown, Joseph Collinson, Christopher Pritchett, Toby Slade

A22 Collecting core data in pre-hospital critical care using a consensus based template

Kristin Tønsager, Marius Rehn, Kjetil G.Ringdal, Andreas J.Krüger

A23 Prehospital interventions before and after implementation of a physician staffed helicopter

Rasmus Hesselfeldt, Sandra Wulffeld, Asger Sonne, Lars S. Rasmussen, Jacob Steinmetz

A24 Duration of ventilation following prehospital drug assisted intubation; a retrospective review

Thomas J Renninson, Nadine Thomson, Harvey Pynn, Timothy J Hooper

A25 Non-haemorrhagic shock in trauma: a novel guideline for management in ED

Anthony Hudson, Jacinta Dawson, Ashley Matthies

A26 Patient-tailored triage decisions by anaesthetist-staffed pre-hospital critical care teams

Morten Langfeldt Friberg, Leif Rognås

A27 Anatomical accuracy and appropriate sizing of pre-hospital thoracostomies

Jessica FG Wills, Anthony Hudson

A28 Pre-hospital management of mass casualty civilian shootings

Conor DA Turner, Marius Rehn

A30 The prevalence of alcohol-related trauma recidivism: a systematic review

James Nunn, Mete Erdogan, Robert S. Green

A31 Development of a hospital-wide program for simulation-based training in trauma care and management

Samuel Minor, Mete Erdogan, Kathy Hartlen, Robert S. Green

A32 Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OOHCA); lessons from Hollywood

Ruth Bird, Rachael L. Grupping

A33 Mechanism of injury as a predictor of severity of injury in road traffic collisions: a literature review

Amelia M. Stacey, Marius Rehn, David J. Lockey

A34 Lessons to be learned from prehospital airway intervention documentation? Are airway intervention documentation templates as successful in-hospital as prehospitally?

S. Abiks, L. Cutler, K. Monaghan, A. Al-Rais, C. Hymers, R. Bloomer, Y. Kapadia

A35 Novel biomarkers in prehospital management of traumatic brain injury (the PreTBI study protocol)

Sophie-Charlott Seidenfaden, Ingunn S. Riddervold, Hans Kirkegaard, Niels Juul, Morten T. Bøtker

A36 Hospital outcomes of traumatic railway incidents: a seven-year observational retrospective study of a major trauma centre

Alice Gao, Zane Perkins; Gareth Grier, Alex Tzannes

A37 Does taking a third crew member affect the on-scene time of HEMS jobs?

Nathan Hudson-Peacock, Quentin Otto, Laurie Phillipson, Rik Thomas, Ainsley Heyworth

A38 Does pre-hospital rapid sequence induction affect on-scene time of HEMS jobs?

Quentin Otto, Nathan Hudson-Peacock, Laurie Phillipson, Ainsley Heyworth, Erica Ley

A39 Code red: shock index as a prehospital indicator of massive haemorrhage

Daniel Banner, Ainsley Heyworth, Erica Ley

A40 Air ambulance tasking: how accurate are our current methods?

Madeleine Benson, Nathan Hudson-Peacock, Tony Stone, Erica Ley, Louise Rousson, Ainsley Heyworth

A41 Modern trauma burden in a district general hospital

Beth A Lineham, Matthew J Lee, Martin Gough

A42 Establishing a legal service for major trauma patients in two UK major trauma centres

William H Seligman, Hannah E Thould, Andrew Dinsmore, Charlotte Tan, Julian Thompson, C Andy Eynon, David J Lockey

A43 Prehospital assessment and care of patients – a study of the use of guidelines when assessing head trauma

Rebecka M Rubenson Wahlin, Veronica Lindström, Sari Ponzer, Veronica Vicente

A44 An audit of pre-hospital blood pressure management resulting from head injury

Pamela Eligio, Anthony Hudson

A45 The surgical contribution of surface shading volumetric rendering techniques in rib fracture management

Robert Young, Dimitri Amiras, Ian Sinha

Correction: Osteopontin and Integrin αvβ3 Expression during the Implantation Window in IVF Patients with Elevated Serum Progesterone and Oestradiol Level

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-111697.].

Human genome meeting 2016 : Houston, TX, USA. 28 February - 2 March 2016

O1 The metabolomics approach to autism: identification of biomarkers for early detection of autism spectrum disorder A. K. Srivastava, Y. Wang, R. Huang, C. Skinner, T. Thompson, L. Pollard, T. Wood, F. Luo, R. Stevenson O2 Phenome-wide association study for smoking- and drinking-associated genes in 26,394 American women with African, Asian, European, and Hispanic descents R. Polimanti, J. Gelernter O3 Effects of prenatal environment, genotype and DNA methylation on birth weight and subsequent postnatal outcomes: findings from GUSTO, an Asian birth cohort X. Lin, I. Y. Lim, Y. Wu, A. L. Teh, L. Chen, I. M. Aris, S. E. Soh, M. T. Tint, J. L. MacIsaac, F. Yap, K. Kwek, S. M. Saw, M. S. Kobor, M. J. Meaney, K. M. Godfrey, Y. S. Chong, J. D. Holbrook, Y. S. Lee, P. D. Gluckman, N. Karnani, GUSTO study group O4 High-throughput identification of specific qt interval modulating enhancers at the SCN5A locus A. Kapoor, D. Lee, A. Chakravarti O5 Identification of extracellular matrix components inducing cancer cell migration in the supernatant of cultivated mesenchymal stem cells C. Maercker, F. Graf, M. Boutros O6 Single cell allele specific expression (ASE) IN T21 and common trisomies: a novel approach to understand DOWN syndrome and other aneuploidies G. Stamoulis, F. Santoni, P. Makrythanasis, A. Letourneau, M. Guipponi, N. Panousis, M. Garieri, P. Ribaux, E. Falconnet, C. Borel, S. E. Antonarakis O7 Role of microRNA in LCL to IPSC reprogramming S. Kumar, J. Curran, J. Blangero O8 Multiple enhancer variants disrupt gene regulatory network in Hirschsprung disease S. Chatterjee, A. Kapoor, J. Akiyama, D. Auer, C. Berrios, L. Pennacchio, A. Chakravarti O9 Metabolomic profiling for the diagnosis of neurometabolic disorders T. R. Donti, G. Cappuccio, M. Miller, P. Atwal, A. Kennedy, A. Cardon, C. Bacino, L. Emrick, J. Hertecant, F. Baumer, B. Porter, M. Bainbridge, P. Bonnen, B. Graham, R. Sutton, Q. Sun, S. Elsea O10 A novel causal methylation network approach to Alzheimer’s disease Z. Hu, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, M. Xiong, David A Bennett O11 A microRNA signature identifies subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer and reveals MIR-342-3P as regulator of a lactate metabolic pathway A. Hidalgo-Miranda, S. Romero-Cordoba, S. Rodriguez-Cuevas, R. Rebollar-Vega, E. Tagliabue, M. Iorio, E. D’Ippolito, S. Baroni O12 Transcriptome analysis identifies genes, enhancer RNAs and repetitive elements that are recurrently deregulated across multiple cancer types B. Kaczkowski, Y. Tanaka, H. Kawaji, A. Sandelin, R. Andersson, M. Itoh, T. Lassmann, the FANTOM5 consortium, Y. Hayashizaki, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest O13 Elevated mutation and widespread loss of constraint at regulatory and architectural binding sites across 11 tumour types C. A. Semple O14 Exome sequencing provides evidence of pathogenicity for genes implicated in colorectal cancer E. A. Rosenthal, B. Shirts, L. Amendola, C. Gallego, M. Horike-Pyne, A. Burt, P. Robertson, P. Beyers, C. Nefcy, D. Veenstra, F. Hisama, R. Bennett, M. Dorschner, D. Nickerson, J. Smith, K. Patterson, D. Crosslin, R. Nassir, N. Zubair, T. Harrison, U. Peters, G. Jarvik, NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project O15 The tandem duplicator phenotype as a distinct genomic configuration in cancer F. Menghi, K. Inaki, X. Woo, P. Kumar, K. Grzeda, A. Malhotra, H. Kim, D. Ucar, P. Shreckengast, K. Karuturi, J. Keck, J. Chuang, E. T. Liu O16 Modeling genetic interactions associated with molecular subtypes of breast cancer B. Ji, A. Tyler, G. Ananda, G. Carter O17 Recurrent somatic mutation in the MYC associated factor X in brain tumors H. Nikbakht, M. Montagne, M. Zeinieh, A. Harutyunyan, M. Mcconechy, N. Jabado, P. Lavigne, J. Majewski O18 Predictive biomarkers to metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment J. B. Goldstein, M. Overman, G. Varadhachary, R. Shroff, R. Wolff, M. Javle, A. Futreal, D. Fogelman O19 DDIT4 gene expression as a prognostic marker in several malignant tumors L. Bravo, W. Fajardo, H. Gomez, C. Castaneda, C. Rolfo, J. A. Pinto O20 Spatial organization of the genome and genomic alterations in human cancers K. C. Akdemir, L. Chin, A. Futreal, ICGC PCAWG Structural Alterations Group O21 Landscape of targeted therapies in solid tumors S. Patterson, C. Statz, S. Mockus O22 Genomic analysis reveals novel drivers and progression pathways in skin basal cell carcinoma S. N. Nikolaev, X. I. Bonilla, L. Parmentier, B. King, F. Bezrukov, G. Kaya, V. Zoete, V. Seplyarskiy, H. Sharpe, T. McKee, A. Letourneau, P. Ribaux, K. Popadin, N. Basset-Seguin, R. Ben Chaabene, F. Santoni, M. Andrianova, M. Guipponi, M. Garieri, C. Verdan, K. Grosdemange, O. Sumara, M. Eilers, I. Aifantis, O. Michielin, F. de Sauvage, S. Antonarakis O23 Identification of differential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma via transcriptome microarray meta-analysis S. Likhitrattanapisal O24 Clinical validity and actionability of multigene tests for hereditary cancers in a large multi-center study S. Lincoln, A. Kurian, A. Desmond, S. Yang, Y. Kobayashi, J. Ford, L. Ellisen O25 Correlation with tumor ploidy status is essential for correct determination of genome-wide copy number changes by SNP array T. L. Peters, K. R. Alvarez, E. F. Hollingsworth, D. H. Lopez-Terrada O26 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for interrogation of clinically relevant structural variation A. Hastie, Z. Dzakula, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Anantharaman, M. Saghbini, H. Cao, BioNano Genomics O27 Mutation spectrum in a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cohort and identification of associated truncating mutations in TBX4 C. Gonzaga-Jauregui, L. Ma, A. King, E. Berman Rosenzweig, U. Krishnan, J. G. Reid, J. D. Overton, F. Dewey, W. K. Chung O28 NORTH CAROLINA macular dystrophy (MCDR1): mutations found affecting PRDM13 K. Small, A. DeLuca, F. Cremers, R. A. Lewis, V. Puech, B. Bakall, R. Silva-Garcia, K. Rohrschneider, M. Leys, F. S. Shaya, E. Stone O29 PhenoDB and genematcher, solving unsolved whole exome sequencing data N. L. Sobreira, F. Schiettecatte, H. Ling, E. Pugh, D. Witmer, K. Hetrick, P. Zhang, K. Doheny, D. Valle, A. Hamosh O30 Baylor-Johns Hopkins Center for Mendelian genomics: a four year review S. N. Jhangiani, Z. Coban Akdemir, M. N. Bainbridge, W. Charng, W. Wiszniewski, T. Gambin, E. Karaca, Y. Bayram, M. K. Eldomery, J. Posey, H. Doddapaneni, J. Hu, V. R. Sutton, D. M. Muzny, E. A. Boerwinkle, D. Valle, J. R. Lupski, R. A. Gibbs O31 Using read overlap assembly to accurately identify structural genetic differences in an ashkenazi jewish trio S. Shekar, W. Salerno, A. English, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle O32 Legal interoperability: a sine qua non for international data sharing A. Thorogood, B. M. Knoppers, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health - Regulatory and Ethics Working Group O33 High throughput screening platform of competent sineups: that can enhance translation activities of therapeutic target H. Takahashi, K. R. Nitta, A. Kozhuharova, A. M. Suzuki, H. Sharma, D. Cotella, C. Santoro, S. Zucchelli, S. Gustincich, P. Carninci O34 The undiagnosed diseases network international (UDNI): clinical and laboratory research to meet patient needs J. J. Mulvihill, G. Baynam, W. Gahl, S. C. Groft, K. Kosaki, P. Lasko, B. Melegh, D. Taruscio O36 Performance of computational algorithms in pathogenicity predictions for activating variants in oncogenes versus loss of function mutations in tumor suppressor genes R. Ghosh, S. Plon O37 Identification and electronic health record incorporation of clinically actionable pharmacogenomic variants using prospective targeted sequencing S. Scherer, X. Qin, R. Sanghvi, K. Walker, T. Chiang, D. Muzny, L. Wang, J. Black, E. Boerwinkle, R. Weinshilboum, R. Gibbs O38 Melanoma reprogramming state correlates with response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma T. Karpinets, T. Calderone, K. Wani, X. Yu, C. Creasy, C. Haymaker, M. Forget, V. Nanda, J. Roszik, J. Wargo, L. Haydu, X. Song, A. Lazar, J. Gershenwald, M. Davies, C. Bernatchez, J. Zhang, A. Futreal, S. Woodman O39 Data-driven refinement of complex disease classification from integration of heterogeneous functional genomics data in GeneWeaver E. J. Chesler, T. Reynolds, J. A. Bubier, C. Phillips, M. A. Langston, E. J. Baker O40 A general statistic framework for genome-based disease risk prediction M. Xiong, L. Ma, N. Lin, C. Amos O41 Integrative large-scale causal network analysis of imaging and genomic data and its application in schizophrenia studies N. Lin, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, V. Calhoun, M. Xiong O42 Big data and NGS data analysis: the cloud to the rescue O. Dobretsberger, M. Egger, F. Leimgruber O43 Cpipe: a convergent clinical exome pipeline specialised for targeted sequencing S. Sadedin, A. Oshlack, Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance O44 A Bayesian classification of biomedical images using feature extraction from deep neural networks implemented on lung cancer data V. A. A. Antonio, N. Ono, Clark Kendrick C. Go O45 MAV-SEQ: an interactive platform for the Management, Analysis, and Visualization of sequence data Z. Ahmed, M. Bolisetty, S. Zeeshan, E. Anguiano, D. Ucar O47 Allele specific enhancer in EPAS1 intronic regions may contribute to high altitude adaptation of Tibetans C. Zeng, J. Shao O48 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for structural variation detection and comparison in trios and populations H. Cao, A. Hastie, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Liang, K. Pham, M. Saghbini, Z. Dzakula O49 Archaic introgression in indigenous populations of Malaysia revealed by whole genome sequencing Y. Chee-Wei, L. Dongsheng, W. Lai-Ping, D. Lian, R. O. Twee Hee, Y. Yunus, F. Aghakhanian, S. S. Mokhtar, C. V. Lok-Yung, J. Bhak, M. Phipps, X. Shuhua, T. Yik-Ying, V. Kumar, H. Boon-Peng O50 Breast and ovarian cancer prevention: is it time for population-based mutation screening of high risk genes? I. Campbell, M.-A. Young, P. James, Lifepool O53 Comprehensive coverage from low DNA input using novel NGS library preparation methods for WGS and WGBS C. Schumacher, S. Sandhu, T. Harkins, V. Makarov O54 Methods for large scale construction of robust PCR-free libraries for sequencing on Illumina HiSeqX platform H. DoddapaneniR. Glenn, Z. Momin, B. Dilrukshi, H. Chao, Q. Meng, B. Gudenkauf, R. Kshitij, J. Jayaseelan, C. Nessner, S. Lee, K. Blankenberg, L. Lewis, J. Hu, Y. Han, H. Dinh, S. Jireh, K. Walker, E. Boerwinkle, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O55 Rapid capture methods for clinical sequencing J. Hu, K. Walker, C. Buhay, X. Liu, Q. Wang, R. Sanghvi, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Ding, N. Veeraraghavan, Y. Yang, E. Boerwinkle, A. L. Beaudet, C. M. Eng, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O56 A diploid personal human genome model for better genomes from diverse sequence data K. C. C. Worley, Y. Liu, D. S. T. Hughes, S. C. Murali, R. A. Harris, A. C. English, X. Qin, O. A. Hampton, P. Larsen, C. Beck, Y. Han, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, C. L. Kovar, W. J. Salerno, A. Yoder, S. Richards, J. Rogers, J. R. Lupski, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O57 Development of PacBio long range capture for detection of pathogenic structural variants Q. Meng, M. Bainbridge, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Han, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O58 Rhesus macaques exhibit more non-synonymous variation but greater impact of purifying selection than humans R. A. Harris, M. Raveenedran, C. Xue, M. Dahdouli, L. Cox, G. Fan, B. Ferguson, J. Hovarth, Z. Johnson, S. Kanthaswamy, M. Kubisch, M. Platt, D. Smith, E. Vallender, R. Wiseman, X. Liu, J. Below, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs, F. Yu, J. Rogers O59 Assessing RNA structure disruption induced by single-nucleotide variation J. Lin, Y. Zhang, Z. Ouyang P1 A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of mitochondrial dna copy number A. Moore, Z. Wang, J. Hofmann, M. Purdue, R. Stolzenberg-Solomon, S. Weinstein, D. Albanes, C.-S. Liu, W.-L. Cheng, T.-T. Lin, Q. Lan, N. Rothman, S. Berndt P2 Missense polymorphic genetic combinations underlying down syndrome susceptibility E. S. Chen P4 The evaluation of alteration of ELAM-1 expression in the endometriosis patients H. Bahrami, A. Khoshzaban, S. Heidari Keshal P5 Obesity and the incidence of apolipoprotein E polymorphisms in an assorted population from Saudi Arabia population K. K. R. Alharbi P6 Genome-associated personalized antithrombotical therapy for patients with high risk of thrombosis and bleeding M. Zhalbinova, A. Akilzhanova, S. Rakhimova, M. Bekbosynova, S. Myrzakhmetova P7 Frequency of Xmn1 polymorphism among sickle cell carrier cases in UAE population M. Matar P8 Differentiating inflammatory bowel diseases by using genomic data: dimension of the problem and network organization N. Mili, R. Molinari, Y. Ma, S. Guerrier P9 Vulnerability of genetic variants to the risk of autism among Saudi children N. Elhawary, M. Tayeb, N. Bogari, N. Qotb P10 Chromatin profiles from ex vivo purified dopaminergic neurons establish a promising model to support studies of neurological function and dysfunction S. A. McClymont, P. W. Hook, L. A. Goff, A. McCallion P11 Utilization of a sensitized chemical mutagenesis screen to identify genetic modifiers of retinal dysplasia in homozygous Nr2e3^rd7 mice Y. Kong, J. R. Charette, W. L. Hicks, J. K. Naggert, L. Zhao, P. M. Nishina P12 Ion torrent next generation sequencing of recessive polycystic kidney disease in Saudi patients B. M. Edrees, M. Athar, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. M. Taher, W. Khan, A. Bouazzaoui, N. A. Harbi, R. Safar, H. Al-Edressi, A. Anazi, N. Altayeb, M. A. Ahmed, K. Alansary, Z. Abduljaleel P13 Digital expression profiling of Purkinje neurons and dendrites in different subcellular compartments A. Kratz, P. Beguin, S. Poulain, M. Kaneko, C. Takahiko, A. Matsunaga, S. Kato, A. M. Suzuki, N. Bertin, T. Lassmann, R. Vigot, P. Carninci, C. Plessy, T. Launey P14 The evolution of imperfection and imperfection of evolution: the functional and functionless fractions of the human genome D. Graur P16 Species-independent identification of known and novel recurrent genomic entities in multiple cancer patients J. Friis-Nielsen, J. M. Izarzugaza, S. Brunak P18 Discovery of active gene modules which are densely conserved across multiple cancer types reveal their prognostic power and mutually exclusive mutation patterns B. S. Soibam P19 Whole exome sequencing of dysplastic leukoplakia tissue indicates sequential accumulation of somatic mutations from oral precancer to cancer D. Das, N. Biswas, S. Das, S. Sarkar, A. Maitra, C. Panda, P. Majumder P21 Epigenetic mechanisms of carcinogensis by hereditary breast cancer genes J. J. Gruber, N. Jaeger, M. Snyder P22 RNA direct: a novel RNA enrichment strategy applied to transcripts associated with solid tumors K. Patel, S. Bowman, T. Davis, D. Kraushaar, A. Emerman, S. Russello, N. Henig, C. Hendrickson P23 RNA sequencing identifies gene mutations for neuroblastoma K. Zhang P24 Participation of SFRP1 in the modulation of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene in prostate cancer cell lines M. Rodriguez-Dorantes, C. D. Cruz-Hernandez, C. D. P. Garcia-Tobilla, S. Solorzano-Rosales P25 Targeted Methylation Sequencing of Prostate Cancer N. Jäger, J. Chen, R. Haile, M. Hitchins, J. D. Brooks, M. Snyder P26 Mutant TPMT alleles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia from México City and Yucatán, Mexico S. Jiménez-Morales, M. Ramírez, J. Nuñez, V. Bekker, Y. Leal, E. Jiménez, A. Medina, A. Hidalgo, J. Mejía P28 Genetic modifiers of Alström syndrome J. Naggert, G. B. Collin, K. DeMauro, R. Hanusek, P. M. Nishina P31 Association of genomic variants with the occurrence of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-induced coughing among Filipinos E. M. Cutiongco De La Paz, R. Sy, J. Nevado, P. Reganit, L. Santos, J. D. Magno, F. E. Punzalan , D. Ona , E. Llanes, R. L. Santos-Cortes , R. Tiongco, J. Aherrera, L. Abrahan, P. Pagauitan-Alan; Philippine Cardiogenomics Study Group P32 The use of “humanized” mouse models to validate disease association of a de novo GARS variant and to test a novel gene therapy strategy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D K. H. Morelli, J. S. Domire, N. Pyne, S. Harper, R. Burgess P34 Molecular regulation of chondrogenic human induced pluripotent stem cells M. A. Gari, A. Dallol, H. Alsehli, A. Gari, M. Gari, A. Abuzenadah P35 Molecular profiling of hematologic malignancies: implementation of a variant assessment algorithm for next generation sequencing data analysis and clinical reporting M. Thomas, M. Sukhai, S. Garg, M. Misyura, T. Zhang, A. Schuh, T. Stockley, S. Kamel-Reid P36 Accessing genomic evidence for clinical variants at NCBI S. Sherry, C. Xiao, D. Slotta, K. Rodarmer, M. Feolo, M. Kimelman, G. Godynskiy, C. O’Sullivan, E. Yaschenko P37 NGS-SWIFT: a cloud-based variant analysis framework using control-accessed sequencing data from DBGAP/SRA C. Xiao, E. Yaschenko, S. Sherry P38 Computational assessment of drug induced hepatotoxicity through gene expression profiling C. Rangel-Escareño, H. Rueda-Zarate P40 Flowr: robust and efficient pipelines using a simple language-agnostic approach;ultraseq; fast modular pipeline for somatic variation calling using flowr S. Seth, S. Amin, X. Song, X. Mao, H. Sun, R. G. Verhaak, A. Futreal, J. Zhang P41 Applying “Big data” technologies to the rapid analysis of heterogenous large cohort data S. J. Whiite, T. Chiang, A. English, J. Farek, Z. Kahn, W. Salerno, N. Veeraraghavan, E. Boerwinkle, R. Gibbs P42 FANTOM5 web resource for the large-scale genome-wide transcription start site activity profiles of wide-range of mammalian cells T. Kasukawa, M. Lizio, J. Harshbarger, S. Hisashi, J. Severin, A. Imad, S. Sahin, T. C. Freeman, K. Baillie, A. Sandelin, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest, H. Kawaji, The FANTOM Consortium P43 Rapid and scalable typing of structural variants for disease cohorts W. Salerno, A. English, S. N. Shekar, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle, E. Boerwinkle, R. A. Gibbs P44 Polymorphism of glutathione S-transferases and sulphotransferases genes in an Arab population A. H. Salem, M. Ali, A. Ibrahim, M. Ibrahim P46 Genetic divergence of CYP3A5*3 pharmacogenomic marker for native and admixed Mexican populations J. C. Fernandez-Lopez, V. Bonifaz-Peña, C. Rangel-Escareño, A. Hidalgo-Miranda, A. V. Contreras P47 Whole exome sequence meta-analysis of 13 white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet traits L. Polfus, CHARGE and NHLBI Exome Sequence Project Working Groups P48 Association of adipoq gene with type 2 diabetes and related phenotypes in african american men and women: The jackson heart study S. Davis, R. Xu, S. Gebeab, P Riestra, A Gaye, R. Khan, J. Wilson, A. Bidulescu P49 Common variants in casr gene are associated with serum calcium levels in koreans S. H. Jung, N. Vinayagamoorthy, S. H. Yim, Y. J. Chung P50 Inference of multiple-wave population admixture by modeling decay of linkage disequilibrium with multiple exponential functions Y. Zhou, S. Xu P51 A Bayesian framework for generalized linear mixed models in genome-wide association studies X. Wang, V. Philip, G. Carter P52 Targeted sequencing approach for the identification of the genetic causes of hereditary hearing impairment A. A. Abuzenadah, M. Gari, R. Turki, A. Dallol P53 Identification of enhancer sequences by ATAC-seq open chromatin profiling A. Uyar, A. Kaygun, S. Zaman, E. Marquez, J. George, D. Ucar P54 Direct enrichment for the rapid preparation of targeted NGS libraries C. L. Hendrickson, A. Emerman, D. Kraushaar, S. Bowman, N. Henig, T. Davis, S. Russello, K. Patel P56 Performance of the Agilent D5000 and High Sensitivity D5000 ScreenTape assays for the Agilent 4200 Tapestation System R. Nitsche, L. Prieto-Lafuente P57 ClinVar: a multi-source archive for variant interpretation M. Landrum, J. Lee, W. Rubinstein, D. Maglott P59 Association of functional variants and protein physical interactions of human MUTY homolog linked with familial adenomatous polyposis and colorectal cancer syndrome Z. Abduljaleel, W. Khan, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. Athar , M. M. Taher, N. Shahzad P60 Modification of the microbiom constitution in the gut using chicken IgY antibodies resulted in a reduction of acute graft-versus-host disease after experimental bone marrow transplantation A. Bouazzaoui, E. Huber, A. Dan, F. A. Al-Allaf, W. Herr, G. Sprotte, J. Köstler, A. Hiergeist, A. Gessner, R. Andreesen, E. Holler P61 Compound heterozygous mutation in the LDLR gene in Saudi patients suffering severe hypercholesterolemia F. Al-Allaf, A. Alashwal, Z. Abduljaleel, M. Taher, A. Bouazzaoui, H. Abalkhail, A. Al-Allaf, R. Bamardadh, M. Athar

Household air pollution and personal exposure risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among rural residents in Shanxi, China

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of pollutants of widespread concerns. Gaseous and size-segregated particulate-phase PAHs were collected in indoor and outdoor air in rural households. Personal exposure was measured and compared to the ingestion exposure. The average concentrations of 28 parent PAHs and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) were 9000 ± 8390 and 131 ± 236 ng/m(3) for kitchen, 2590 ± 2270 and 43 ± 95 ng/m(3) for living room, and 2800 ± 3890 and 1.6 ± 0.7 ng/m(3) for outdoor air, respectively. The mass percent of high molecular weight (HMW) compounds with 5-6 rings contributed 1.3% to total 28 parent PAHs. Relatively higher fractions of HMW PAHs were found in indoor air compared to outdoor air. Majorities of particle-bound PAHs were found in the finest PM0.25 , and the highest levels of fine PM0.25 -bound PAHs were in the kitchen using peat and wood as energy sources. The 24-h personal PAH exposure concentration was 2100 ± 1300 ng/m(3) . Considering energies, exposures to those using wood were the highest. The PAH inhalation exposure comprised up to about 30% in total PAH exposure through food ingestion and inhalation, and the population attributable fraction (PAF) for lung cancer in the region was 0.85%. The risks for inhaled and ingested intakes of PAHs were 1.0 × 10(-5) and 1.1 × 10(-5) , respectively.

Abstract P1-12-08: Factors associated with delays in chemotherapy initiation among patients with breast cancer

Background: National guidelines endorse time-dependent quality metrics for breast cancer care. We examined factors associated with delays in chemotherapy initiation at an NCI designated comprehensive cancer center.

Methods: We identified 523 patients who received post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy between January 2011 and December 2013 at our center. We defined 28 days from last definitive surgery (LDS) to chemotherapy as the target timeframe, and unacceptable delay in chemotherapy initiation (UCD) as more than 42 days from LDS. Multivariate regression models were used to identify factors associated with UCD and the impact of Oncotype testing in HR+ patients.

Results: Median days between LDS and chemotherapy initiation was 34 (IQR 15), with 30% of patients starting within 28 days of LDS and 23% having UCD (Table 1). Tumor characteristics such as subtype and stage affected UCD; patients with HR+ or HER2+ tumors were more likely to be delayed compared to those with TNBC. Patients with stage I disease were more likely to be delayed as well as patients undergoing mastectomy or mastectomy with reconstruction. Patients whose pathology sign-out was more than 10 days post-operatively were more likely to be delayed. A higher proportion of UCD was found in HR+ patients (31%) who received an Oncotype recurrence score compared to those who did not (20%).

Table 1: Factors associated with delays in chemotherapy initiation N% DelayOdds Ratio95% CITotal52323  Age&lt;4068191.00.5-2.340 to 49165161.0--50 to 59150252.01.1-3.660 to 69113282.51.3-5.070+27374.11.4-12.3RaceWhite424221.0--Non-White79271.50.8-2.7Missing20251.10.4-3.3InsurancePrivate419211.0--Public104321.60.8-2.9StageI208211.0--II243281.30.8-2.1III72110.30.1-0.7Tumor SubtypeHER2-/HR-105151.0--HR+HER2-264242.11.1-4.2HER2+154272.01.0-3.9Surgery TypeLumpectomy265161.0--Mastectomy89292.51.3-4.5Mastectomy with Immediate Reconstruction169313.31.9-5.6Pathology Sign-Out (&gt;10 days)No331191.0--Yes192322.01.3-3.2Post-Op ComplicationsNo506221.0--Yes17412.20.7-6.6Clinical trial considerationNo435231.0--Yes88240.90.5-17

Conclusions: This study provides insight into populations that may be at risk to experience delays in chemotherapy initiation, directing interventions to improve the timeliness of care.

Citation Format: Losk K, Vaz Duarte Luis I, Camuso K, Lloyd M, Kadish S, Hirshfield-Bartek J, Cutone L, Golshan M, Lin N, Bunnell C. Factors associated with delays in chemotherapy initiation among patients with breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-12-08.

Abstract P2-13-12: Implementation of a breast/reconstructive surgery coordinator to reduce preoperative delays for patients undergoing mastectomy with immediate reconstruction

Background

The scheduling of mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (M-IR) procedures requires coordination between breast and plastic surgical teams that can contribute to delays in breast cancer treatment and subsequently impact patient outcomes and satisfaction. The breast center leadership at our comprehensive cancer center established a time-to-treatment target of 28 days from initial consultation with a breast surgical oncologist to M-IR. We sought to determine if a centralized breast surgical coordinator (BC) could reduce preoperative delays.

Methods

We initiated a 60-day pilot program to evaluate the impact of a BC on the workflow, efficiency, and timeliness for patients seen at our breast center. All reconstructive surgery candidates were referred to the BC, who had access to the clinic and operating room schedules of the breast and plastic surgeons. The BC worked with patients and both surgical services to identify the earliest consult and surgery dates and facilitated case booking. Interval days between initial surgical consult and M-IR were calculated. The median time to M-IR and the proportion of M-IR cases that met the time-to-treatment goal was determined. These results were compared to a reference cohort of breast cancer patients undergoing M-IR during the same time period (January-March) in 2013 and 2014, who had their consults and surgeries scheduled independently by breast surgery administrative staff. Patients who received neoadjuvant therapy or did not have a definitive cancer diagnosis at initial consultation were excluded from the time-to-treatment calculation.

Results

A total of 99 patients were referred to the BC (62% cancer, 21% neoadjuvant, and 17% prophylactic) during the pilot period. Focusing exclusively on patients with a definitive breast cancer diagnosis at initial consultation, an 18.5% increase in the percentage of cases that met the target (p=0.04), and a 7 day decrease in the median number of days to M-IR (p=0.02) was observed with the implementation of the BC (Table 1).

Table 1: Days to M-IR Pre and Post Implementation of BCPatients (N)Median Days to M-IR (IQR)% M-IR within 28 daysBaseline (59)40.0 (17.0)23.7%BC (45)33.0 (20.0)42.2%p-value0.020.04

Conclusion

The coordination of care between breast surgical and reconstructive services presents timeliness challenges which may be partially alleviated through the implementation of a BC role. Establishing a centralized position to coordinate co-surgeon cases has improved time-to-treatment for M-IR at our cancer center. Further research is warranted to validate these preliminary findings, and determine the impact the BC has on operational efficiency and workflows.

Citation Format: Losk K, Mallory M, Caterson S, Camuso K, Cutone L, Roberts P, Lin N, Bunnell C, Golshan M. Implementation of a breast/reconstructive surgery coordinator to reduce preoperative delays for patients undergoing mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-13-12.

MicroRNA-26b inhibits osteosarcoma cell migration and invasion by down-regulating PFKFB3 expression

MicroRNAs regulate target gene expression and are involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, tumor invasion, and cancer stem cell regulation, among other processes. MicroRNA-26b (miR-26b) is closely related to tumor occurrence and development. In this study, we analyzed miR-26b expression in osteosarcoma tissue, its effect on Saos-2 osteosarcoma cell proliferation and invasion, and its relationship with 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3) expression. Osteosarcoma tissue was obtained from surgical patients and normal tissue adjacent to the tumor was used as a control. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was applied to detect miR-26b expression in cancer tissue and normal tissue. A vector expressing miR-26b was constructed and transfected into Saos-2. An MTT assay, cell invasion assay, and scratch experiment were used to analyze the effect of miR-26b on Saos-2 cell proliferation, invasion, and migration abilities. Western blotting analysis was performed to investigate the role of miR-26b on PFKFB3 expression. miR-26b expression in normal tissue was 7.55-fold higher than in osteosarcoma tissue (t = 10.20, P = 0.006). Compared with control tissue, miR-26b significantly inhibited osteosarcoma proliferation, migration, and invasion (P < 0.05). Western blotting results revealed that PFKFB3 protein expression decreased in Saos-2 cells after transfection with miR-26b. miR-26b was down-regulated in osteosarcoma tissue. miR- 26b may inhibit osteosarcoma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by regulating PFKFB3 protein expression. miR-26b may have a tumor suppressor role in tumor occurrence and development.

Expression of microRNA-106b and its clinical significance in cutaneous melanoma

MicroRNA-106b (miR-106b) is overexpressed in various types of cancers and is associated with the regulation of carcinogenic processes. However, its clinical significance in cutaneous melanoma has not been reported. qRT-PCR was performed to examine the expression of miR-106b in 15 cases of dysplastic nevi, 17 cases of melanoma metastases, and 97 cases of primary cutaneous melanoma tissue samples. Survival rate was determined with Kaplan-Meier and statistically analyzed with the log-rank method between groups. Survival data were evaluated through multivariate Cox regression analysis. Significant differences in miR-106b expression were shown between dysplastic nevi and primary cutaneous melanomas (P < 0.01), between primary melanomas and metastatic cutaneous melanomas (P < 0.01), and between primary cutaneous melanomas and metastatic cutaneous melanomas (P < 0.001). We found that high miR-106b expression was correlated with Breslow thickness (P = 0.002), tumor ulceration (P = 0.002), and advanced clinical stage (P < 0.001). The patients with high miR-106b expression showed shorter 5-year overall survival than those with low miR-106b expression (P = 0.02; log-rank test). Multivariate regression analysis showed that the status of miR-106b expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (HR = 2.09, 95%CI: 1.11-10.26, P = 0.02). This study showed that miR-106b may contribute to the progression of cutaneous melanoma and its up-regulation may be independently associated with poor prognosis of cutaneous melanoma. This suggests that miR-106b might serve as a promising biological marker for further risk stratification in the management of cutaneous melanoma.

Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic Properties of Lithium Titanate Nanorods

Lithium titanate nanorods have been synthesized via the hydrothermal process using lithium acetate, titanium butoxide and ethylenediamine as raw materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that lithium titanate nanorods are composed of orthorhombic Li 2 Ti 3 O 7 phase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the diameter and the length of lithium titanate nanorods are about 40–150 nm and 1 μm, respectively. UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum indicates that the bandgap of the lithium titanate nanorods is 3.63 eV. Ethylenediamine plays an essential role in the formation of lithium titanate nanorods. Ethylenediamine-assisted nucleation and crystalline growth process have been proposed to explain the formation and growth of lithium titanate nanorods. Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye over the lithium titanate nanorods has been investigated under UV-Vis light irradiation. MB solution with the initial concentration of 2.5 mgL-1 can be degraded totally using 10 mg lithium titanate nanorods in 10 mL MB solution.