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Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) contains cytogenetically distinct subtypes that respond differently to cytotoxic drugs. Subtype classification can be also achieved through gene expression profiling. However, how to apply such classifiers to a single patient and correctly diagnose the disease subtype in an independent patient group has not been addressed. Furthermore, the underlying regulatory mechanisms responsible for the subtype-specific gene expression patterns are still largely unknown. Here, by combining 3 published microarray datasets on 535 mostly white children's samples and generating a new dataset on 100 Chinese children's ALL samples, we were able to (1) identify a 62-gene classifier with 97.6% accuracy from the white children's samples and validated it on the completely independent set of 100 Chinese samples, and (2) uncover potential regulatory networks of ALL subtypes. The classifier we identified was, thus far, the only one that could be applied directly to a single sample and that sustained validation in a large independent patient group. Our results also suggest that the etiology of ALL is largely the same among different ethnic groups, and that the transcription factor hubs in the predicted regulatory network might play important roles in regulating gene expression and development of ALL. (Blood. 2009;114: 4486-4493)

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] seed germination is sensitive to salinity, and seed priming is an effective method for alleviating the negative effects of salt stress on seed germination. However, few studies have compared the effects of different priming agents on sorghum germination under salt stress. In this study, we quantified the effects of priming with distilled water (HP), sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium chloride (KCl), calcium chloride (CaCl2), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) on sorghum seed germination under 150 mM NaCl stress. The germination potential, germination rate, germination index, vigor index, root length, shoot length, root fresh weight, shoot fresh weight, root dry weight, and shoot dry weight were significantly reduced by salt stress. Different priming treatments alleviated the germination inhibition caused by salt stress to varying degrees, and 50 mM CaCl2 was the most effective treatment. In addition, the mitigation effect of priming was stronger on root traits than on shoot traits. Mitigation efficacy was closely related to both the type of agent and the concentration of the solution. Principal component analysis showed that all concentrations of CaCl2 had higher scores and were clearly distinguished from other treatments based on their positive effects on all germination traits. The effects of the other agents varied with concentration. The priming treatments were divided into three categories based on their priming efficacy, and the 50, 100, and 150 mM CaCl2 treatments were placed in the first category. The 150 mM KCl, 10% PEG, HP, 150 mM NaCl, 30% PEG, and 50 mM KCl treatments were placed in the second category, and the 100 mM NaCl, 100 mM KCl, 20% PEG, and 50 mM NaCl treatments were least effective and were placed in the third category. Choosing appropriate priming agents and methods for future research and applications can ensure that crop seeds germinate healthily under saline conditions.

To produce organizational memory, knowledge management systems must transform individual knowledge into organizational knowledge, sometimes grudgingly. SYSTEMS REQUIRMENTS FOROrganizational EARNING Organizational learning is as important as positive cash flow for an organizations survival in today's global market. With the range of information technology available today, the potential roles of IT in organizational learning are increasingly evident and important. One defmition [5] says a learning organization is "skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights." Organizational learning has also been identified as one of the key issues in information systems research. Among researchers there seems little doubt that IT has tremendous potential for facilitating and enabling organizational learning. However, not much research has been reported, and available IS support is limited. This follows from the elusive nature of organizational learning.Discussions on organizational learning typically ignore the role of individual learning by either inappropriately anthropomorphizing organizations or by treating organizational learning as a simplistic extension of individual learning. Our objective here is to examine organizational learning from an IT-support perspective, analyze requirements for organizational learning support systems (OLSSs), and discuss current developments and trends in these systems.Analyzing OLSS requirements involves several concepts in organizational learning:Operational vs. conceptual learning. The Lewinian model of experiential learning theory maintains that learning may be broken down into two processes: operational learning and conceptual learning. The former is described in [6] as the acquisition of skill or know-how to perform some action; the latter is the acquisition of know-why.

BACKGROUND Recent upper respiratory tract infection (URI) is a risk factor for the occurrence of peri-operative respiratory adverse events (PRAE). This risk may be higher in children with congenital heart disease (CHD), particularly in those undergoing interventional cardiac catheterisation. It is therefore essential to adapt the anaesthetic strategy in these children to prevent from the occurrence of PRAE. OBJECTIVE To determine whether intranasal dexmedetomidine (DEX) premedication can reduce the incidence of PRAE in children with recent URI undergoing interventional cardiac catheterisation. DESIGN Randomised controlled trial. SETTING Single-centre study based at a tertiary care centre in Shanghai, China. PATIENTS A total of 134 children with CHD aged 0 to 16 years with recent URI undergoing interventional cardiac catheterisation. INTERVENTIONS Children were randomised to receive either intranasal DEX 1.5 μg kg−1 (DEX group) or intranasal saline (Placebo group) 30 to 45 min before anaesthesia induction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The incidence of PRAE. RESULTS Intranasal DEX significantly reduced the incidence of PRAE (P = 0.001), particularly oxygen desaturation (P = 0.012). Most PRAE were observed during the emergence phase. The incidence of PRAE was comparable among the three types of left–right shunt CHD children in both groups. In children aged less than 3 years, the incidence of PRAE was significantly lower in the DEX group (P = 0.003). In contrast, the incidence of PRAE was comparable between the two groups in children aged at least 3 years. No differences in the incidence of emergence agitation, fever and vomiting between the two groups were noted. CONCLUSION Administration of intranasal DEX 1.5 μg kg−1 30 to 45 min before induction led to a reduction in the incidence of PRAE in children aged less than 3 years with recent URI undergoing interventional cardiac catheterisation. TRIAL REGISTRATION chictr.org.cn identifier: ChiCTR-RRC-17012519.

Maintaining genomic stability is vital for cells as well as individual organisms. The meiotic recombination-related gene MRE11 (meiotic recombination 11) is essential for preserving genomic stability through its important roles in the resection of broken DNA ends, DNA damage response (DDR), DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) repair, and telomere maintenance. The post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and methylation, regulate directly the function of MRE11 and endow MRE11 with capabilities to respond to cellular processes in promptly, precisely, and with more diversified manners. Here in this paper, we focus primarily on the PTMs of MRE11 and their roles in DNA response and repair, maintenance of genomic stability, as well as their association with diseases such as cancer.