ObjectiveThe literature shows that bone mineral density (BMD) and the geometric architecture of trabecular bone in the femur may be affected by inadequate dietary intake of Mg. In this study, we used microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) to characterize and quantify the impact of a low-Mg diet on femoral trabecular bones in mice.Materials and methodsFour-week-old C57BL/6J male mice were randomly assigned to 2 groups and supplied either a normal or low-Mg diet for 8weeks. Samples of plasma and urine were collected for biochemical analysis, and femur tissues were removed for micro-CT imaging. In addition to considering standard parameters, we regarded trabecular bone as a cylindrical rod and used computational algorithms for a technical assessment of the morphological characteristics of the bones. BMD (mg-HA/cm3) was obtained using a standard phantom.ResultsWe observed a decline in the total tissue volume, bone volume, percent bone volume, fractal dimension, number of trabecular segments, number of connecting nodes, bone mineral content (mg-HA), and BMD, as well as an increase in the structural model index and surface-area-to-volume ratio in low-Mg mice. Subsequently, we examined the distributions of the trabecular segment length and radius, and a series of specific local maximums were identified. The biochemical analysis revealed a 43% (96%) decrease in Mg and a 40% (71%) decrease in Ca in plasma (urine excretion).ConclusionsThis technical assessment performed using micro-CT revealed a lower population of femoral trabecular bones and a decrease in BMD at the distal metaphysis in the low-Mg mice. Examining the distributions of the length and radius of trabecular segments showed that the average length and radius of the trabecular segments in low-Mg mice are similar to those in normal mice.

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Patent analysis has become important for management as it offers timely and valuable information to evaluate R&D performance and identify the prospects of patents. This study explores the scattering patterns of patent impact based on citations in 3 distinct technological areas, the liquid crystal, semiconductor, and drug technological areas, to identify the core patents in each area. The research follows the approach from Bradford's law, which equally divides total citations into 3 zones. While the result suggests that the scattering of patent citations corresponded with features of Bradford's law, the proportion of patents in the 3 zones did not match the proportion as proposed by the law. As a result, the study shows that the distributions of citations in all 3 areas were more concentrated than what Bradford's law proposed. The Groos (1967) droop was also presented by the scattering of patent citations, and the growth rate of cumulative citation decreased in the third zone.

The methylation status of O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is associated with the prognosis in gliomas and in other cancers. Recent studies showed that rs16906252, an SNP in the MGMT promoter, is associated with promoter methylation and is a predictor of the overall survival time (OST) and the response to temozolomide (TMZ) treatment. However, these findings haven’t been systematically investigated in the Han-Chinese population. We analyzed the relevance between rs16906252 polymorphisms, the MGMT methylation status, and the OST in 72 Han-Chinese gliomas patients. The MGMT promoter methylation was measured by bisulfite conversion followed by pyro-sequencing, while rs16906252 was measured by restriction endonuclease digestion. Contrary to the previous findings, we found no association between rs16906252 genotypes and promoter methylation on MGMT. The lower-grade glioma (LGGs) patients carrying the C allele with rs16906252 showed a surprisingly better OST (P = 0.04). Furthermore, the LGG patients carrying hypo-methylated MGMT promoter and rs16906252 T allele showed significantly poorer prognosis. The prognostic benefit of MGMT promoter methylation and genotypes on gliomas patients is marginal. A new molecular stratified patient grouping of LGGs is potentially associated with poorer OST. Active MGMT might have a protective role in LGG tumors, enabling evolution to severe malignancy.