A severe respiratory ongoing outbreak of pneumonia associated with 2019 novel coronavirus was recently emerged in China. Here, we reported the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics of 19 suspect cases. We compared J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f

The long-term prophylactic effects of acupuncture for migraine are uncertain.OBJECTIVE To investigate the long-term effects of true acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture and being placed in a waiting-list control group for migraine prophylaxis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis was a 24-week randomized clinical trial (4 weeks of treatment followed by 20 weeks of follow-up). Participants were randomly assigned to true acupuncture, sham acupuncture, or a waiting-list control group. The trial was conducted from October 2012 to September 2014 in outpatient settings at 3 clinical sites in China. A total of 249 participants 18 to 65 years old with migraine without aura based on the criteria of the International Headache Society, with migraine occurring 2 to 8 times per month.INTERVENTIONS Participants in the true acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups received treatment 5 days per week for 4 weeks for a total of 20 sessions. Participants in the waiting-list group did not receive acupuncture but were informed that 20 sessions of acupuncture would be provided free of charge at the end of the trial. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESParticipants used diaries to record migraine attacks. The primary outcome was the change in the frequency of migraine attacks from baseline to week 16. Secondary outcome measures included the migraine days, average headache severity, and medication intake every 4 weeks within 24 weeks.RESULTS A total of 249 participants 18 to 65 years old were enrolled, and 245 were included in the intention-to-treat analyses. One hundred eighty-nine (77.1%) were women. Baseline characteristics were comparable across the 3 groups. The mean (SD) change in frequency of migraine attacks differed significantly among the 3 groups at 16 weeks after randomization (P < .001); the mean (SD) frequency of attacks decreased in the true acupuncture group by 3.2 (2.1), in the sham acupuncture group by 2.1 (2.5), and the waiting-list group by 1.4 (2.5); a greater reduction was observed in the true acupuncture than in the sham acupuncture group (difference of 1.1 attacks; 95% CI, 0.4-1.9; P = .002) and in the true acupuncture vs waiting-list group (difference of 1.8 attacks; 95% CI, 1.1-2.5; P < .001). Sham acupuncture was not statistically different from the waiting-list group (difference of 0.7 attacks; 95% CI, −0.1 to 1.4; P = .07).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among patients with migraine without aura, true acupuncture may be associated with long-term reduction in migraine recurrence compared with sham acupuncture or assigned to a waiting list.TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01687660

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness, but presents differently in Europeans and Asians. Here, we perform a genome-wide and exome-wide association study on 2,119 patients with exudative AMD and 5,691 controls, with independent replication in 4,226 patients and 10,289 controls, all of East Asian descent, as part of The Genetics of AMD in Asians (GAMA) Consortium. We find a strong association between CETP Asp442Gly (rs2303790), an East Asian-specific mutation, and increased risk of AMD (odds ratio (OR)=1.70, P=5.60 × 10−22). The AMD risk allele (442Gly), known to protect from coronary heart disease, increases HDL cholesterol levels by 0.17 mmol l−1 (P=5.82 × 10−21) in East Asians (n=7,102). We also identify three novel AMD loci: C6orf223 Ala231Ala (OR=0.78, P=6.19 × 10−18), SLC44A4 Asp47Val (OR=1.27, P=1.08 × 10−11) and FGD6 Gln257Arg (OR=0.87, P=2.85 × 10−8). Our findings suggest that some of the genetic loci conferring AMD susceptibility in East Asians are shared with Europeans, yet AMD in East Asians may also have a distinct genetic signature.

We performed a genome-wide association study for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in 1,007 cases with high-pressure glaucoma (HPG) and 1,009 controls from southern China. We observed genome-wide significant association at multiple SNPs near ABCA1 at 9q31.1 (rs2487032; P = 1.66 × 10(-8)) and suggestive evidence of association in PMM2 at 16p13.2 (rs3785176; P = 3.18 × 10(-6)). We replicated these findings in a set of 525 HPG cases and 912 controls from Singapore and a further set of 1,374 POAG cases and 4,053 controls from China. We observed genome-wide significant association with more than one SNP at the two loci (P = 2.79 × 10(-19) for rs2487032 representing ABCA1 and P = 5.77 × 10(-10) for rs3785176 representing PMM2). Both ABCA1 and PMM2 are expressed in the trabecular meshwork, optic nerve and other ocular tissues. In addition, ABCA1 is highly expressed in the ganglion cell layer of the retina, a finding consistent with it having a role in the development of glaucoma.

Myopia is the most common ocular disorder worldwide, and high myopia in particular is one of the leading causes of blindness. Genetic factors play a critical role in the development of myopia, especially high myopia. Recently, the exome sequencing approach has been successfully used for the disease gene identification of Mendelian disorders. Here we show a successful application of exome sequencing to identify a gene for an autosomal dominant disorder, and we have identified a gene potentially responsible for high myopia in a monogenic form. We captured exomes of two affected individuals from a Han Chinese family with high myopia and performed sequencing analysis by a second-generation sequencer with a mean coverage of 30× and sufficient depth to call variants at ∼97% of each targeted exome. The shared genetic variants of these two affected individuals in the family being studied were filtered against the 1000 Genomes Project and the dbSNP131 database. A mutation A672G in zinc finger protein 644 isoform 1 (ZNF644) was identified as being related to the phenotype of this family. After we performed sequencing analysis of the exons in the ZNF644 gene in 300 sporadic cases of high myopia, we identified an additional five mutations (I587V, R680G, C699Y, 3′UTR+12 C>G, and 3′UTR+592 G>A) in 11 different patients. All these mutations were absent in 600 normal controls. The ZNF644 gene was expressed in human retinal and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Given that ZNF644 is predicted to be a transcription factor that may regulate genes involved in eye development, mutation may cause the axial elongation of eyeball found in high myopia patients. Our results suggest that ZNF644 might be a causal gene for high myopia in a monogenic form.

Melatonin (MT) plays integral roles in regulating several biological processes including plant growth, seed germination, flowering, senescence, and stress responses. This study investigated the effects of MT on adventitious root formation (ARF) of de-rooted tomato seedlings. Exogenous MT positively or negatively influenced ARF, which was dependent on the concentration of MT application. In the present experiment, 50 μM MT showed the best effect on inducing ARF. Interestingly, exogenous MT promoted the accumulation of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) by down-regulating the expression of S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR). To determine the interaction of MT and NO in ARF, MT synthesis inhibitor p-chlorophenylalanine, NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide potassium salt as well as GSNOR-overexpression plants with low NO levels were used. The function of MT was removed by NO scavenger or GSNOR-overexpression plants. However, application of MT synthesis inhibitor did little to abolish the function of NO. These results indicate that NO, as a downstream signal, was involved in the MT-induced ARF. Concentrations of indole-3-acetic acid and indole-3-butyric acid, as well as the expression of several genes related to the auxin signaling pathway (PIN1, PIN3, PIN7, IAA19, and IAA24), showed that MT influenced auxin transport and signal transduction as well as auxin accumulation through the NO signaling pathway. Collectively, these strongly suggest that elevated NO levels resulting from inhibited GSNOR activity and auxin signaling were involved in the MT-induced ARF in tomato plants. This can be applied in basic research and breeding.

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SummaryS-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) synthetase is the key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of SAM, which serves as a common precursor for polyamines (PAs) and ethylene. A SAM synthetase cDNA (SlSAMS1) was introduced into the tomato genome using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation method. Transgenic plants overexpressing SlSAMS1 exhibited a significant increase in tolerance to alkali stress and maintained nutrient balance, higher photosynthetic capacity and lower oxidative stress compared with WT lines. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments indicated that the function of SlSAMS1 mainly depended on the accumulation of Spd and Spm in the transgenic lines. A grafting experiment showed that rootstocks from SlSAMS1-overexpressing plants provided a stronger root system, increased PAs accumulation, essential elements absorption, and decreased Na + absorption in the scions under alkali stress. As a result, fruit set and yield were significantly enhanced. To our knowledge, this is the first report to provide evidence that SlSAMS1 positively regulates tomato tolerance to alkali stress and plays a major role in modulating polyamine metabolism, resulting in maintainability of nutrient and ROS balance.