Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value and the relationship between the clinicopathological features and the levels of total and free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in women with breast cancer.Methods: Using ...Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value and the relationship between the clinicopathological features and the levels of total and free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in women with breast cancer.Methods: Using the microparticle enzyme immunoassay system, we measured the concentrations of these markers in the sera of 85 women with breast cancer and in 30 healthy women.Rseults: The lowest detection level for both markers was 0.01 ng/ml. Free PSA levels were significantly higher in women with breast cancer than that in healthy women (P<0.05). The percentage of free PSA predominant subjects was 37.6% in breast cancer patients and 3.3% in healthy women. Cut-off values were 0.36 ng/ml for total PSA and 0.02 ng/ml for free PSA. In women with breast cancer, total PSA positivity was 23.5% and free PSA positivity was 27.1%. Compared to negatives, total PSA positive patients had a higher percentage of lymph node involvement tumours (P>0.05). However, patients with predominant free PSA had a higher percentage of early stage than patients with predominant PSA-ACT.Conclusion: Although the sensitivity of free PSA predominance is low (37.6%) in distinguishing women with breast cancer from healthy women, its specificity is high (97.0%).Free PSA predominance tends to be present in early stage tumours. These findings may indicate clinical significance of preoperative measurement of serum total and free PSA in women with breast cancer.展开更多
Seashore landfill aquifers are environments of special physicochemical conditions (high organic load and high sa- linity), and microbes in leachate-polluted aquifers play a significant role for intrinsic bioremediatio...Seashore landfill aquifers are environments of special physicochemical conditions (high organic load and high sa- linity), and microbes in leachate-polluted aquifers play a significant role for intrinsic bioremediation. In order to characterize microbial diversity and look for clues on the relationship between microbial community structure and hydrochemistry, a cul- ture-independent examination of a typical groundwater sample obtained from a seashore landfill was conducted by sequence analysis of 16S rDNA clone library. Two sets of universal 16S rDNA primers were used to amplify DNA extracted from the groundwater so that problems arising from primer efficiency and specificity could be reduced. Of 74 clones randomly selected from the libraries, 30 contained unique sequences whose analysis showed that the majority of them belonged to bacteria (95.9%), with Proteobacteria (63.5%) being the dominant division. One archaeal sequence and one eukaryotic sequence were found as well. Bacterial sequences belonging to the following phylogenic groups were identified: Bacteroidetes (20.3%), β, γ, δ and ε-subdivisions of Proteobacteria (47.3%, 9.5%, 5.4% and 1.3%, respectively), Firmicutes (1.4%), Actinobacteria (2.7%), Cyanobacteria (2.7%). The percentages of Proteobacteria and Bacteroides in seawater were greater than those in the groundwater from a non-seashore landfill, indicating a possible influence of seawater. Quite a few sequences had close relatives in marine or hypersaline environments. Many sequences showed affiliations with microbes involved in anaerobic fermentation. The remarkable abundance of sequences related to (per)chlorate-reducing bacteria (ClRB) in the groundwater was significant and worthy of further study.展开更多
Method development has always been and will continue to be a core driving force of microbiome science, In this perspective, we argue that in the next decade, method development in microbiome analysis will be driven by...Method development has always been and will continue to be a core driving force of microbiome science, In this perspective, we argue that in the next decade, method development in microbiome analysis will be driven by three key changes in both ways of thinking and technological platforms： ① a shift from dissecting microbiota structure by sequencing to tracking microbiota state, function, and intercellular interaction via imaging; ② a shift from interrogating a consortium or population of cells to probing individual cells; and ③a shift from microbiome data analysis to microbiome data science. Some of the recent methoddevelopment efforts by Chinese microbiome scientists and their international collaborators that underlie these technological trends are highlighted here. It is our belief that the China Microbiome Initiative has the opportunity to deliver outstanding ＂Made-in-China＂ tools to the international research community, by building an ambitious, competitive, and collaborative program at the forefront of method development for microbiome science.展开更多
High-throughput pyrosequencing,carried out in millions of picoliter-sized reactors on a fiber-optic slide,is known for its longer read length.However,both optical crosstalk(which reduces the signal-to-noise ratio of C...High-throughput pyrosequencing,carried out in millions of picoliter-sized reactors on a fiber-optic slide,is known for its longer read length.However,both optical crosstalk(which reduces the signal-to-noise ratio of CCD images)and chemical retention adversely affect the accuracy of chemiluminescence determination,and ultimately decrease the read length and the accuracy of pyrosequencing results.In this study,both titanium and oxidized aluminum films were deposited on the side walls and upper faces of micro-reactor slides to enhance optical isolation;the films reduced the inter-well crosstalk by one order of magnitude.Subsequently,chemical retention was shown to be caused by the lower diffusion coefficient of the side walls of the picolitersized reactors because of surface roughness and random pores.Optically isolated fiber-optic slides over-coated with silicon oxide showed smoother surface morphology,resulting in little chemical retention;this was further confirmed with theoretical calculations.Picoliter-sized micro-reactors coated with titanium-silicon oxide films showed the least inter-well optical crosstalk and chemical retention;these properties are expected to greatly improve the high-throughput pyrosequencing performance.展开更多
文摘Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value and the relationship between the clinicopathological features and the levels of total and free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in women with breast cancer.Methods: Using the microparticle enzyme immunoassay system, we measured the concentrations of these markers in the sera of 85 women with breast cancer and in 30 healthy women.Rseults: The lowest detection level for both markers was 0.01 ng/ml. Free PSA levels were significantly higher in women with breast cancer than that in healthy women (P<0.05). The percentage of free PSA predominant subjects was 37.6% in breast cancer patients and 3.3% in healthy women. Cut-off values were 0.36 ng/ml for total PSA and 0.02 ng/ml for free PSA. In women with breast cancer, total PSA positivity was 23.5% and free PSA positivity was 27.1%. Compared to negatives, total PSA positive patients had a higher percentage of lymph node involvement tumours (P>0.05). However, patients with predominant free PSA had a higher percentage of early stage than patients with predominant PSA-ACT.Conclusion: Although the sensitivity of free PSA predominance is low (37.6%) in distinguishing women with breast cancer from healthy women, its specificity is high (97.0%).Free PSA predominance tends to be present in early stage tumours. These findings may indicate clinical significance of preoperative measurement of serum total and free PSA in women with breast cancer.
基金Project (No. 20377030) supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China
文摘Seashore landfill aquifers are environments of special physicochemical conditions (high organic load and high sa- linity), and microbes in leachate-polluted aquifers play a significant role for intrinsic bioremediation. In order to characterize microbial diversity and look for clues on the relationship between microbial community structure and hydrochemistry, a cul- ture-independent examination of a typical groundwater sample obtained from a seashore landfill was conducted by sequence analysis of 16S rDNA clone library. Two sets of universal 16S rDNA primers were used to amplify DNA extracted from the groundwater so that problems arising from primer efficiency and specificity could be reduced. Of 74 clones randomly selected from the libraries, 30 contained unique sequences whose analysis showed that the majority of them belonged to bacteria (95.9%), with Proteobacteria (63.5%) being the dominant division. One archaeal sequence and one eukaryotic sequence were found as well. Bacterial sequences belonging to the following phylogenic groups were identified: Bacteroidetes (20.3%), β, γ, δ and ε-subdivisions of Proteobacteria (47.3%, 9.5%, 5.4% and 1.3%, respectively), Firmicutes (1.4%), Actinobacteria (2.7%), Cyanobacteria (2.7%). The percentages of Proteobacteria and Bacteroides in seawater were greater than those in the groundwater from a non-seashore landfill, indicating a possible influence of seawater. Quite a few sequences had close relatives in marine or hypersaline environments. Many sequences showed affiliations with microbes involved in anaerobic fermentation. The remarkable abundance of sequences related to (per)chlorate-reducing bacteria (ClRB) in the groundwater was significant and worthy of further study.
基金We are grateful to the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China （NSFC） （31425002, 91231205, 81430011, 61303161, 31470220, and 31327001）, and the Frontier Science Research Program, the Soil-Microbe System Function and Regulation Program, and the Science and Technology Service Network Initiative （STS） from the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）.
文摘Method development has always been and will continue to be a core driving force of microbiome science, In this perspective, we argue that in the next decade, method development in microbiome analysis will be driven by three key changes in both ways of thinking and technological platforms： ① a shift from dissecting microbiota structure by sequencing to tracking microbiota state, function, and intercellular interaction via imaging; ② a shift from interrogating a consortium or population of cells to probing individual cells; and ③a shift from microbiome data analysis to microbiome data science. Some of the recent methoddevelopment efforts by Chinese microbiome scientists and their international collaborators that underlie these technological trends are highlighted here. It is our belief that the China Microbiome Initiative has the opportunity to deliver outstanding ＂Made-in-China＂ tools to the international research community, by building an ambitious, competitive, and collaborative program at the forefront of method development for microbiome science.
基金supported by the Scientific Equipment Research Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences(YZ200823)
文摘High-throughput pyrosequencing,carried out in millions of picoliter-sized reactors on a fiber-optic slide,is known for its longer read length.However,both optical crosstalk(which reduces the signal-to-noise ratio of CCD images)and chemical retention adversely affect the accuracy of chemiluminescence determination,and ultimately decrease the read length and the accuracy of pyrosequencing results.In this study,both titanium and oxidized aluminum films were deposited on the side walls and upper faces of micro-reactor slides to enhance optical isolation;the films reduced the inter-well crosstalk by one order of magnitude.Subsequently,chemical retention was shown to be caused by the lower diffusion coefficient of the side walls of the picolitersized reactors because of surface roughness and random pores.Optically isolated fiber-optic slides over-coated with silicon oxide showed smoother surface morphology,resulting in little chemical retention;this was further confirmed with theoretical calculations.Picoliter-sized micro-reactors coated with titanium-silicon oxide films showed the least inter-well optical crosstalk and chemical retention;these properties are expected to greatly improve the high-throughput pyrosequencing performance.
