BackgroundThe relationship between dietary glycemic index, glycemic load and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and stroke-related mortality is inconsistent.MethodsWe systematically searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Science Citation Index Expanded databases using glycemic index, glycemic load, and cardiovascular disease and reference lists of retrieved articles up to April 30, 2012. We included prospective studies with glycemic index and glycemic load as the exposure and incidence of fatal and nonfatal CHD, stroke, and stroke-related mortality as the outcome variable. Pooled relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effects models.ResultsFifteen prospective studies with a total of 438,073 participants and 9,424 CHD cases, 2,123 stroke cases, and 342 deaths from stroke were included in the meta-analysis. Gender significantly modified the effects of glycemic index and glycemic load on CHD risk, and high glycemic load level was associated with higher risk of CHD in women (RR = 1.49, 95%CI 1.27−1.73), but not in men (RR = 1.08, 95%CI 0.91−1.27). Stratified meta-analysis by body mass index indicated that among overweight and obese subjects, dietary glycemic load level were associated with increased risk of CHD (RR = 1.49, 95%CI 1.27−1.76; P for interaction = 0.003). Higher dietary glycemic load, but not glycemic index, was positively associated with stroke (RR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.00−1.43). There is a linear dose-response relationship between dietary glycemic load and increased risk of CHD, with pooled RR of 1.05 (95%CI 1.02−1.08) per 50-unit increment in glycemic load level.ConclusionHigh dietary glycemic load is associated with a higher risk of CHD and stroke, and there is a linear dose-response relationship between glycemic load and CHD risk. Dietary glycemic index is slightly associated with risk of CHD, but not with stroke and stroke-related death. Further studies are needed to verify the effects of gender and body weight on cardiovascular diseases.

A facile strategy affording high-quality single-crystalline MFI-type nanozeolites (10–55 nm) with hexagonal prism morphology, good monodispersity, high crystallinity, and high product yield (above 97%) has been developed. This is achieved by synergistically using an l-lysine-assisted approach and a two-step crystallization process in a concentrated gel system (H2O/Si = 9). The morphological evolution of nanosized silicalite-1 is monitored by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). In this process, metastable irregular nanoparticles are initially obtained at 80 °C as the first step. Consequently, a rearrangement in morphology toward equilibrium crystal shape and without excessive growth for the metastable nanoparticles occurs at 170 °C as the second step. Throughout the whole process, l-lysine acts as an inhibitor to effectively limit the crystal growth of zeolites. Thanks to the high-quality nanosized crystals, the as-prepared ZSM-5 catalysts exhibit superior performance in methanol-to-propylene (MTP) reactions, which deliver a prolonged lifetime of 54 h with a total light olefin selectivity of 74% and a high propylene selectivity of 49% at 470 °C at a high methanol weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 7.2 h–1. This synthetic route provides a general strategy for preparing other types of zeolites with good monodispersity, nanosize, high yield, and high crystallinity.

Background: The number of studies using third-generation sequencing utilising Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) is rapidly increasing in many different research areas. Among them, plant full-length single-molecule transcriptome studies have mostly used PacBio sequencing, whereas ONT is rarely used. Therefore, in this study, we examined ONT RNA sequencing methods in plants. We performed a detailed evaluation of reads from PacBio, Nanopore direct cDNA (ONT Dc), and Nanopore PCR cDNA (ONT Pc) sequencing including characteristics of raw data and identification of transcripts. In addition, matched Illumina data were generated for comparison. Results: ONT Pc showed overall better raw data quality, whereas PacBio generated longer read lengths. In the transcriptome analysis, PacBio and ONT Pc performed similarly in transcript identification, simple sequence repeat analysis, and long non-coding RNA prediction. PacBio was superior in identifying alternative splicing events, whereas ONT Pc could estimate transcript expression levels. Conclusions: This paper made a comprehensive comparison of PacBio and nanopore-based RNA sequencing of the Arabidopsis transcriptome, the results indicate that ONT Pc is more cost-effective for generating extremely long reads and can characterise the transcriptome as well as quantify transcript expression. Therefore, ONT Pc is a new cost-effective and worthwhile method for full-length single-molecule transcriptome analysis in plants.

Background and Purpose-ANRIL encodes a long antisense noncoding RNA in the INK4 locus. Although ANRIL has been proven to be associated with coronary heart disease, its roles in stroke are inconsistent, and sparse data are available regarding hemorrhagic stroke. Methods-A Chinese case-control study was conducted, comprising 1657 cases (724 atherothrombosis, 466 lacunar infarction, and 462 hemorrhagic strokes) and 1664 controls. Stroke patients were prospectively followed-up for a median of 4.5 (range, 0.1-6.0) years. Expression of ANRIL transcripts was examined in 42 human atherosclerotic plaques. Results-After adjustment for vascular risk factors and correction for multiple comparisons, subjects carrying the GG genotype of rs10757278 had 1.47-fold (95% CI, 1.11-1.89; Pϭ0.05) and 1.60-fold (95% CI, 1.16 -2.15; Pϭ0.04) increased risk for atherothrombotic and hemorrhagic strokes, respectively. During the follow-up, 317 recurrent strokes and 301 deaths from all causes were documented. Subjects carrying rs10757278GG had higher risk for stroke recurrence (relative risk [RR],1.56; 95% CI,1.15-2.12; Pϭ0.005) and cardiovascular mortality (RR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.26 -3.18; Pϭ0.003), respectively. Rs10757274 was also associated with stroke risk and recurrence. Family history of stroke further increased the stroke risk by 2.37-fold (95% CI, 1.38 -4.06; Pϭ0.01) and recurrent stroke risk by 2.45-fold (95% CI, 1.56 -3.86; PϽ0.0001) respectively, when compared with those carrying none of G-alleles and without family history. Finally, rs10757278 was associated with differential expression of the ANRIL transcripts. Conclusions-Our findings indicated that the ANRIL may serve as a novel genetic marker for the risk of atherothrombotic and hemorrhagic stroke and their recurrence. (Stroke. 2012;43:14-21.)Key Words: chromosome 9p21.3 Ⅲ follow-up studies Ⅲ genetics Ⅲ risk factors S troke is a major cause of death and disability worldwide and in China. Survivors are often disabled, require long-term care, and are at high risk of recurrence. Among subtypes of stroke, hemorrhagic stroke accounts for 20% to 40% in the Chinese population; in contrast, the majority (80 -90%) of strokes are cerebral infarctions in most western populations. 1 The reasons for high risk of stroke, especially hemorrhagic stroke, among the Chinese, remain unknown. The contribution of genetic risk to stroke is still not completely understood.It is generally accepted that genetic variants on chromosome 9p21.3 are associated with the risk of coronary artery disease, 2-4 but its roles in stroke are inconsistent. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] A recent meta-analysis 13 showed that the association of 9p21.3 with stroke is only confined to the subtype of large-vessel strokes. However, a recent genome-wide association study showed that the 9p21.3 region is also implicated in risk for intracranial aneurysm, in which atherosclerosis is not thought to play a major role. 14 Therefore, additional studies are needed to determine the mechanisms by which the 9p21.3 region affects vascular...