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To estimate the prevalence of suicide attempts and explore the shared and unique factors influencing suicide risk in left-behind children (LBC) and non-left-behind children (NLBC) in rural China, this study collected data using a multi-stage cluster random sampling method from 13,952 children including 6,034 LBC and 7,918 NLBC. Sociodemographic characteristics, suicide attempts, neglect and physical abuse, negative life events, and loneliness were measured by self-reported questionnaires. Data were analyzed using logistic regression models. Gender and mother's education level were unique influential factors for NLBC while family structure type was a unique influential factor for LBC. The study provides two novel findings regarding NLBC specifically: 1. Children with optimal family socioeconomic status are more likely to report suicide attempts (odds ratio OR = 1)than are those in the general children population, OR 0.52 (95% CI: 0.39-0.70), and 2. Children with higher mother's education level are subject to higher suicide rates in high school, OR 1.67 (95% CI: 1.13-2.46), and post-secondary education, OR 2.14 (95% CI: 1.37-3.37). The unique characteristics of LBC and NLBC in China suggest that investigating risk factors and determining the factors that might be targeted in intervention programs are urgently needed currently.

Land carrying capacity (LCC) explains whether the local land resources are effectively used to support economic activities and/or human population. LCC can be evaluated commonly with two approaches, namely ecological footprint analysis (EFA) and the index system method (ISM). EFA is helpful to investigate the effects of different land categories whereas ISM can be used to evaluate the contributions of social, environmental, and economic factors. Here we compared the two LCC-evaluation approaches with data collected from Xiamen City, a typical region where rapid economic growth and urbanization are found in China. The results show that LCC assessments with EFA and ISM not only complement each other but also are mutually supportive. Both assessments suggest that decreases in arable land and increasingly high energy consumption have major negative effects on LCC and threaten sustainable development for Xiamen City. It is important for the local policy makers, planners and designers to reduce ecological deficits by controlling fossil energy consumption, protecting arable land and forest land from converting into other land types, and slowing down the speed of urbanization, and to promote sustainability by controlling rural-to-urban immigration, increasing hazard-free treatment rate of household garbage, and raising energy consumption per unit industrial added value. Although EFA seems more appropriate for estimating LCC for a resource-output or self-sufficient region and ISM is more suitable for a resource-input region, both approaches should be employed when perform LCC assessment in any places around the world.

The significance of ezrin immunoexpression and prognosis for osteosarcoma is still controversial. The aim was to provide a meta-analysis for ezrin immunoexpression and prognostic features of osteosarcoma patients.A detailed search was made in MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Web of Knowledge for relevant original articles published in English; methodological quality of the included studies was also assessed. Two reviewers extracted data independently. Studies were pooled and summary hazard ratios (HRs) and odds ratio (ORs) with corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.Final analysis of 318 patients from 5 eligible studies was performed. Combined HR of ezrin immunohistochemical staining suggested that positive immunoexpression had an unfavorable impact on osteosarcoma patients' overall survival (n = 223 in 4 studies; HR = 4.79; 95% CI: 1.50-15.30; P = 0.008) but not on event-free survival (n = 202 in 3 studies; HR = 1.59; 95% CI: 0.61-4.15; P = 0. 0.342). Combined OR of ezrin immunohistochemical staining indicated that positive immunoexpression was associated with recurrence (n = 134 in 2 studies; OR = 3.79; 95% CI: 1.49-9.64; P = 0.005) but not with serum ALP level (n = 160 in 2 studies; OR = 2.16; 95% CI: 0.09-52.50; P = 0.637) and histological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy(n = 260 in 4 studies; OR = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.37-2.03; P = 0.740).The results of this meta-analysis suggest that ezrin positive immunoexpression confers a higher risk of recurrence and a worse survival in osteosarcoma patients. Large prospective studies are needed to provide solid data to investigate the precise prognostic significance of ezrin.

BACKGROUND: One important protein family that functions in nucleotide excision repair (NER) factors is the SNF2 family. A newly identified mouse ERCC6-like gene, Ercc6l (excision repair cross-complementing rodent repair deficiency, complementation group 6-like), has been shown to be another developmentally related member of the SNF2 family. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, Sika deer Ercc6l cDNA was first cloned and then sequenced. The full-length cDNA of the Sika deer Ercc6l gene is 4197 bp and contains a 3732 bp open reading frame that encodes a putative protein of 1243 amino acids. The similarity of Sika deer Ercc6l to Bos taurus Ercc6l is 94.05% at the amino acid sequence level. The similarity, however, is reduced to 68.42-82.21% when compared to Ercc6l orthologs in other mammals and to less than 50% compared to orthologs in Gallus gallus and Xenopus. Additionally, the expression of Ercc6l mRNA was investigated in the organs of fetal and adult Sika deer (FSD and ASD, respectively) by quantitative RT-PCR. The common expression level of Ercc6l mRNA in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, and stomach from six different developmental stages of 18 Sika deer were examined, though the expression levels in each organ varied among individual Sika deer. During development, there was a slight trend toward decreased Ercc61 mRNA expression. The highest Ercc6l expression levels were seen at 3 months old in every organ and showed the highest level of detection in the spleen of FSD. The lowest Ercc6l expression levels were seen at 3 years old. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We are the first to successfully clone Sika deer Ercc6l mRNA. Ercc6l transcript is present in almost every organ. During Sika deer development, there is a slight trend toward decreased Ercc61 mRNA expression. It is possible that Ercc6l has other roles in embryonic development and in maintaining the growth of animals.