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Background: Four Fanconi anemia (FA) genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2 and RAD51C) are defined as breast cancer (BC) susceptibility genes. Other FA genes have been inconsistently associated with BC. Thus, the role of other FA genes in BC should be explored in specific populations. Methods: Mutations in 16 FA genes were screened with a 98-gene panel sequencing assay in a cohort of 1481 Chinese patients with high-risk hereditary BC. The association between mutations and clinicopathological characteristics as well as prognosis was analyzed. The risk of BC in carriers of FA gene mutations was assessed in the Genome Aggregation Database and the Westlake Biobank for Chinese cohort. Results: A total of 2.57% (38/1481) BC patients were identified who had 12 other FA gene germline mutations. Among them, the most frequently mutated gene was FANCA (8/1481, 0.54%). These 38 patients carried 35 distinct pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants, of which 21 were novel. We found one rare FANCB deleterious variant (c.1327-3dupT) in our cohort. There was a statistically significant difference in lymph node status between FA gene mutation carriers and non-carriers (p = 0.041). We observed a trend that mutation carriers had larger tumor sizes, lower estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) positivity rates, and lower 3.5-year invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) and distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS) rates than non-carriers (tumor size > 2 cm: 51.43% vs. 45.63%; ER positivity rates: 51.43% vs. 60.81%; PR positivity rates: 48.57% vs. 55.16%; 3.5-year iDFS rates: 58.8% vs. 66.7%; 3.5-year DRFS rates: 58.8% vs. 68.8%). The frequency of the mutations in FANCD2, FANCM and BRIP1 trended to be higher among BC cases than that in controls (p = 0.055, 0.08 and 0.08, respectively). Conclusion: This study comprehensively estimated the prevalence, clinicopathological characteristics, prognosis and risk of BC associated with deleterious variants in FA genes in Chinese high-risk hereditary BC patients. It enriches our understanding of the role of FA genes with BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of three-component spin-1 BEC with a moving obstacle in a uniform Zeeman field are numerically investigated. Four vortex patterns are observed in all three components: stable laminar flow, vortex pairs, Kármán vortex street and irregular vortex. We focus on the effect of Zeeman field on vortex street. It is found that enhancement of the quadratic Zeeman effect would lead to decrease in the parameter region generating vortex streets and inhibit the generation of vortex streets. When quadratic Zeeman effect increases, the generation of vortex street requires larger obstacle diameter and velocity. In addition, it is interesting to note that the size of vortex decreases gradually with the increase in quadratic Zeeman effect. The drag force acting on the obstacles is calculated, and the mechanical mechanism for various vortex patterns is analyzed. Finally, an experimental protocol for the above realization and observation is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interface engineering in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is becoming an important and powerful technique to alter their properties, enabling new optoelectronic applications and quantum devices. Interface engineering in a monolayer WSe2 sample via introduction of high-density edges of standing structured graphene nanosheets (GNs) is realized. A strong photoluminescence (PL) emission peak from intravalley and intervalley trions at about 750 nm is observed at the room temperature, which indicated the heavily p-type doping of the monolayer WSe2/thin graphene nanosheet-embedded carbon (TGNEC) film heterostructure. We also successfully triggered the emission of biexcitons (excited state biexciton) in a monolayer WSe2, via the electron trapping centers of edge quantum wells of a TGNEC film. The PL emission of a monolayer WSe2/GNEC film is quenched by capturing the photoexcited electrons to reduce the electron-hole recombination rate. This study can be an important benchmark for the extensive understanding of light—matter interaction in TMDs, and their dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts wavelet analysis to explore the time–frequency comovement and causality between the exchange rates and the interest rate differentials in China (compared to the USA) over the period from February 1999 to March 2018. While the existing literature in general treats the relationship between the two variables as being symmetric, this paper attempts to detect possible asymmetric patterns by extending the standard wavelet analysis to an asymmetric analysis. In addition, given that the relationship might be affected by exchange rate expectations and foreign exchange interventions, we further employ the partial wavelet tools to filter out the effects of the two controlled variables. The results show that the general pattern of the comovement and causality does not change. The comovement is intensified at the low frequency after the exchange rate reform in 2005. Moreover, exchange rates are found to positively comove with interest rate differentials, and the former leads the latter. More importantly, we provide robust evidence of meaningful asymmetry and substantial time and frequency variations in the comovement and causality between the two variables. These findings provide important implications for improving the transmission of monetary policy in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the change in environment and lifestyle, the number of diabetic patients is increasing rapidly. Diabetes has become one of the most important chronic diseases affecting the health of the Chinese people, and complications, disability, death and treatment costs caused by diabetes have placed a heavy burden on families and society. If the high-risk population of diabetes can be identified and the adverse lifestyle can be changed as soon as possible, the incidence of diabetes can be reduced or the onset of diabetes can be slowed down. Risk prediction model can accurately predict the risk of disease and has been widely used in the field of health management and medical care. This study was based on the special occupational group of steel workers, the risk prediction model of type 2 diabetes was established by using convolutional neural network, and the feasibility of the model was discussed. The results showed that the prediction accuracy of the established model in the training set, verification set, and test set is relatively high, which is 94.5%, 91.0%, and 89.0%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.950 (95 CI 0.938–0.962), 0.916 (95 CI 0.888–0.945), and 0.899 (95 CI 0.899–0.939), respectively, indicating that the model can accurately predict the risk of type 2 diabetes among steel workers, provide a basis for self-health management of steel workers, facilitate the rational allocation of medical and health resources and the development of health services, and provide a basis for government departments to make decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Scholarships are a reflection of academic achievement for college students. The traditional scholarship assignment is strictly based on final grades and cannot recognize students whose performance trend improves or declines during the semester. This paper develops the Trajectory Mining on Clustering for Scholarship Assignment and Academic Warning (TMS) approach to identify the factors that affect the academic achievement of college students and to provide decision support to help low-performing students attain better performance. Specifically, we first conduct feature engineering to generate a set of features to characterize the lifestyles patterns, learning patterns, and Internet usage patterns of students. We then apply the objective and subjective combined weighted k-means (Wosk-means) algorithm to perform clustering analysis to identify the characteristics of different student groups. Considering the difficulty in obtaining the real global positioning system (GPS) records of students, we apply manually generated spatiotemporal trajectories data to quantify the direction of trajectory deviation with the assistance of the PrefixSpan algorithm to identify low-performing students. The experimental results show that the silhouette coefficient and Calinski-Harabasz index of the Wosk-means algorithm are both approximately 1.5 times to that of the best baseline algorithm, and the sum of the squared error of the Wosk-means algorithm is only the half of the best baseline algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low density parity check code (LDPC) is a linear block code whose performance is close to Shannon's limit. Compared with other decoding algorithms, it has low decoding complexity and flexible structure. So it becomes people's research hotspots. In recent years, LDPC code codec algorithm has been improved, and is widely used in deep space communications, optical fiber communications, mobile communications and underwater and other fields. Using chaotic sequence single-layer mapping plus pixel scrambling can complete chaotic image encryption, because some chaotic sequence is poor robust, in the process of channel transmission, it is difficult to ensure that the information can be destroyed after the attack In this paper, LDPC codes are introduced, and in the chaotic image encryption, block coding is used to form error protection to improve the stability of the image transmission process and improve the transmission quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic protocol mining is a promising approach for inferring accurate and complete API protocols. However, just as with any data-mining technique, this approach requires sufficient training data (object usage scenarios). Existing approaches resolve the problem by analyzing more programs, which may cause significant runtime overhead. In this paper, we propose an inheritance-based oversampling approach for object usage scenarios (OUSs). Our technique is based on the inheritance relationship in object-oriented programs. Given an object-oriented program p, generally, the OUSs that can be collected from a run of p are not more than the objects used during the run. With our technique, a maximum of n times more OUSs can be achieved, where n is the average number of super-classes of all general OUSs. To investigate the effect of our technique, we implement it in our previous prototype tool, ISpecMiner, and use the tool to mine protocols from several real-world programs. Experimental results show that our technique can collect 1.95 times more OUSs than general approaches. Additionally, accurate and complete API protocols are more likely to be achieved. Furthermore, our technique can mine API protocols for classes never even used in programs, which are valuable for validating software architectures, program documentation, and understanding. Although our technique will introduce some runtime overhead, it is trivial and acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the effects of C-myc gene silencing on cell proliferation, apoptosis and cytokine expression in interleukin (IL)-1β-induced rat chondrocytes. Primary chondrocytes were obtained from 40 Sprague-Dawley rats. For in vitro C-myc3-shRNA transfection, chondrocytes were assigned to a blank 1, model 1, IL-1β + C-myc3-shRNA, C-myc3-shRNA, (IL-1β + C-myc3-shRNA) + C-myc overexpression, C-myc3-shRNA + C-myc overexpression or IL-1β + C-myc-Con group. Western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were performed to detect C-myc, PCNA and cyclin D1 mRNA and protein expression. Cell proliferation was analyzed via CCK-8 assay and cell cycle while apoptosis was measured through flow cytometry. ELISA was utilized to assess the levels of metallopeptidase 13 (MMP-13), IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Both the qRT-PCR and Western blotting results demonstrated that C-myc3-shRNA transfection inhibits C-myc expression and promotes PCNA and cyclin D1 expression. In comparison to the model 1 group, all groups except the (IL-1β + C-myc3-shRNA) + C-myc overexpression and IL-1β + C-myc-Con groups showed increases in cell proliferation and S phase cell count and decreases in G0/G1 phase cell count, cell apoptosis and MMP-13, IL-6 and TNF-α levels. The model 1, C-myc3-shRNA and C-myc3-shRNA + C-myc overexpression groups displayed higher cell proliferation and S phase cell count and reduced G0/G1 phase cell count, cell apoptosis and MMP-13, IL-6 and TNF-α levels than the IL-1β + C-myc3-shRNA group. In comparison to the model 1 and C-myc3-shRNA + C-myc overexpression groups, the C-myc3-shRNA group promoted cell proliferation and S phase cell counts but suppressed G0/G1 phase cell count, cell apoptosis and MMP-13, IL-6 and TNF-α levels. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that C-myc gene silencing can promote cell proliferation and inhibit cell apoptosis and cytokine expression in IL-1β-induced rat chondrocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study explored the effects of SOST gene silencing on the proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and migration of human osteosarcoma cells through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Fresh tissues were obtained from 108 patients with osteosarcoma and 46 patients with osteochondroma. Human osteosarcoma cells (MG-63, U2-OS, HOS, and Saos-2) and normal osteoblast (hFoB1.19) were selected and cultured. Osteosarcoma cells were grouped randomly into the blank group, the scrambled control group, and the SOST-siRNA group. Cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis were tested by flow cytometry. Transwell and scratch test were performed to determine cell invasion and migration. The qRT-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect mRNA and protein expression level of sclerostin, Wnt1, β-catenin, C-Myc, Cyclin D1, and MMP-7. The activity of caspase-3 was assessed by immunocytochemistry. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was measured using P-nitrophenylphosphate as a substrate. Low SOST mRNA and sclerostin protein expression levels were observed in osteosarcoma tissues and cells. Compared with the blank and scrambled control groups, sclerostin expression, apoptotic cells, ALP activity, and caspase-3 activity were down-regulated, while the proliferation, invasion, and migration abilities of osteosarcoma cells were evidently enhanced in the SOST-siRNA group. After SOST gene silencing, the mRNA and protein expression levels of Wnt1, β-catenin, C-Myc, Cyclin D1, and MMP-7 in osteosarcoma cells and β-catenin protein expression levels in the nucleus and cytoplasm were significantly elevated. SOST gene silencing promotes the proliferation, invasion, and migration, and inhibits apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a bootstrap Granger full-sample causality test and a sub-sample rolling window estimation, this paper examines the causal link between inflation and inflation uncertainty in China. The results show that high inflation leads to high inflation uncertainty, supporting Friedman-Ball's hypothesis (1992) and Holland's theory (J Money Credit Bank 27:827-837, 1995). Furthermore, significant feedback exists from inflation uncertainty to inflation in some periods, supporting Holland's theory (J Money Credit Bank 27:827-837, 1995) that inflation uncertainty has a negative effect on inflation. We find that the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty varies across time. The Chinese monetary authority needs to ensure a quick and effective policy response to inflation development because doing so will help reduce inflation, eliminate many of the costs associated with high inflation and therefore minimize the marginal effect of inflation on inflation uncertainty. However, quantitative tools for China's monetary policy are also warranted. In the long term, the importance of keeping inflation low, stable, and predictable cannot be overemphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruiting bodies (500 g per site) of Tricholoma matsutake and the surface layer of soils collected from 20 spatially distant areas with pristine backgrounds across China were analyzed for potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese and cadmium using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. In terms of the bioconcentration and bioexclusion concept, K, Mg, Zn, and Cu were highly bioconcentrated, and their bioconcentration factor values varied between 75-615, 2-107, 38-603 and 7-76, respectively, across the 20 sites. Fe, Mn and Cd were moderately bioconcentrated and their bioconcentration factors (BCFs) varied between 0.6-34.0, 0.4-37.0 and 0.9-7.0 respectively. However, Ca was excluded (BCF<1). T. matsutake is a species that is harvested in the wild as a valuable food and can contain a wide spectrum of both essential and hazardous mineral compounds that accumulate at elevated concentrations even if grown in pristine areas. The estimated intake rate of Cd in the fruiting bodies indicates cause for concern associated with this metal resulting from the daily consumption of between 200 and 400 g of fruiting bodies on a frequent basis during the mushrooming season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potato white mold caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is an important plant disease occurring in many potato-producing areas worldwide. This disease causes considerable yield losses in a large number of potato fields of Hamedan province, Iran. Although several non-chemical methods have been suggested against the pathogen, application of chemicals is considered a major method employed by the growers in Hamedan fields leading to considerable pollution of underground water. Therefore, it is necessary to find techniques to help growers make a more timely decision for chemical application. In this research, a pair of PCR primers was designed according to the nucleotide sequence of a region of DNA amplified by the primer M13. This primer set amplified a 352-bp fragment from all isolates of S. sclerotiorum collected from Hamedan, Iran, and Hangzhou, China. However, this situation was not observed in other tested fungi. A real-time PCR assay was conducted to detect early infection of the pathogen on potato petals. This real-time PCR assay is suggested for growers to make timely decisions on chemical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of Hedan Tablet (荷丹片) on serum lipid profile, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PSCK9) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractions in patients with hyperlipidemia. Methods: Thirty-seven patients with hyperlipidemia were randomized to treatment with Hedan Tablet 4.38 g/day as Hedan group (18 cases) or placebo (19 cases) as control group for 8 weeks. The lipid profile, PCSK9 and HDL subfractions were determined at day 0 and week 8 in both groups respectively. Results: Hedan treatment for 8 weeks mildly decreased serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, while no changes were found in total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and PCSK9 concentrations. Furthermore, Hedan treatment increased the concentration of large high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and the percentage of large HDL subfraction, while decreased the concentration of small HDL-C and the percentage of small HDL subfraction without changing serum HDL-C levels in patients with hyperlipidemia. Conclusion: Hedan treatment of 4.38 g per day for 8 weeks could confer a favorable effects on serum LDL-C concentration as well as HDL subfractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer often experience disease recurrence after standard therapies, a critical factor in determining their five-year survival rate. Recent reports indicated that long-term or short-term survival is associated with varied gene expression of cancer cells. Thus, identification of novel prognostic biomarkers should be considered. Since the mouse genome is similar to the human genome, we explored potential prognostic biomarkers using two groups of mouse ovarian cancer cell lines (group 1: IG-10, IG-10pw, and IG-10pw/agar; group 2: IG-10 clones 2, 3, and 11) which display highly and moderately aggressive phenotypes in vivo. Mice injected with these cell lines have different survival time and rates, capacities of tumor, and ascites formations, reflecting different prognostic potentials. Using an Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Array, a total of 181 genes were differentially expressed ( P < 0.01) by at least twofold between two groups of the cell lines. Of the 181 genes, 109 and 72 genes were overexpressed in highly and moderately aggressive cell lines, respectively. Analysis of the 109 and 72 genes using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) tool revealed two cancer-related gene networks. One was associated with the highly aggressive cell lines and affiliated with MYC gene, and another was associated with the moderately aggressive cell lines and affiliated with the androgen receptor (AR). Finally, the gene enrichment analysis indicated that the overexpressed 89 genes (out of 109 genes) in highly aggressive cell lines had a function annotation in the David database. The cancer-relevant significant gene ontology (GO) terms included Cell cycle, DNA metabolic process, and Programmed cell death. None of the genes from a set of the 72 genes overexpressed in the moderately aggressive cell lines had a function annotation in the David database. Our results suggested that the overexpressed MYC and 109 gene set represented highly aggressive ovarian cancer potential biomarkers while overexpressed AR and 72 gene set represented moderately aggressive ovarian cancer potential biomarkers. Based on our knowledge, the current study is first time to report the potential biomarkers relevant to different aggressive ovarian cancer. These potential biomarkers provide important information for investigating human ovarian cancer prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VEGF-C is a newly identified proangiogenic protein playing an important role in vascular disease and angiogenesis. However, its role in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the role and mechanism of VEGF-C in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Rat left ventricle myocardium was injected with recombinant human VEGF-C protein (0.1 or 1.0 µg/kg b.w.) 1 h prior to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. 24 h later, the myocardial infarction size, the number of TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes, the levels of creatine kinase (CK), CK-MB, cardiac troponin, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and apoptosis protein Bax expression were decreased, while Bcl2 and pAkt expression were increased in VEGF-C-treated myocardium as compared to the saline-treated I/R hearts. VEGF-C also improved the function of I/R-injured hearts. In the HO-induced H9c2 cardiomyocytes, which mimicked the I/R injury in vivo, VEGF-C pre-treatment decreased the LDH release and MDA content, blocked HO-induced apoptosis by inhibiting the pro-apoptotic protein Bax expression and its translocation to the mitochondrial membrane, and consequently attenuated HO-induced decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential and increase of cytochrome c release from mitochondria. Mechanistically, VEGF-C activated Akt signaling pathway via VEGF receptor 2, leading to a blockade of Bax expression and mitochondrial membrane translocation and thus protected cardiomyocyte from HO-induced activation of intrinsic apoptotic pathway. VEGF-C exerts its cardiac protection following I/R injury via its anti-apoptotic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin (IL)-27 is an IL-12 family cytokine and exerts a critical role in immune regulation in the context of infection, autoimmunity, and angiogenesis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible pathophysiological role of IL-27 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). One hundred and forty AS patients and 90 healthy controls were included in the current study. The levels of IL-27 and VEGF in serum and synovial fluid (SF) samples were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 were measured by standard laboratory techniques. Disease activity in AS was scored with Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI). Hip involvement, peripheral arthritis, and eye involvement were also recorded. The serum levels of IL-27 were remarkably higher in AS patients than healthy groups and significantly correlated with serum levels of VEGF. Furthermore, the serum levels of IL-27 were correlated with BASDAI independent of other markers of inflammation. Elevated serum levels of IL-27 and VEGF were detected in AS patients with peripheral arthritis and HLA-B27 positive. The SF levels of IL-27 and VEGF were significantly higher than serum levels in AS patients with peripheral arthritis. By contrast, levels of IL-27 and VEGF were not increased in AS patients with hip involvement and eye involvement. IL-27 may regulate the immunological or inflammatory process of AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lentivirus vectors encoding Wnt10b gene (LV-Wnt10b) or luciferase gene (LV-luc) were constructed to determine whether Wnt10b overexpression improved fracture healing in a rat atrophic non-union model. After fracture, rats were injected with LV-Wnt10b or LV-luc. Luciferase signals were clearly detected. At 2 and 4 weeks, LV-Wnt10b group had 107 and 98 % more proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) positive cells, respectively, and promoted expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in the callus compared with controls. LV-Wnt10b injection significantly increased bone mass density and bone mineral content: 46-84 and 96-193 %, respectively, at the site of fracturein the LV-Wnt10b group compared with controls. At 8 weeks, fractured femora were healed in the LV-Wnt10b group compared with atrophic non-unions formed in controls. Thus, Wnt10b overexpression associated with lentiviral gene therapy is effective in healing atrophic non-unions in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungal infection remains a major problem worldwide, yet treatment options are limited owing to the lack of effective drugs, the significant toxicity of available compounds, and the emergence of drug resistance. The low toxicity of calcofluor white (CFW) is an attractive antifungal compound for its known inhibitive effects on trichophyton rubrum and candida albicans growth. However, the efficacy of CFW is limited in most cases. In order to search for effective means to improve its efficacy, using saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model, we have used microarrays to examine the cell's response when treated with CFW on the genome scale. We found that both the PKC-SLT2 (i.e, protein kinase C-mitogen activated protein kinase) and the glycogen metabolic pathways are activated upon CFW treatment. These results suggest that the key components in these pathways could be targeted by other drugs to counter the cell's compensative response, thus to further substantiate the inhibitive effect of CFW on fungal growth, which may lead to treatment regimens with improved efficacy of this compound in clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing longevity and the growing size of the aging population, China is among the developing countries with the greatest burden of osteoporotic fractures (OFs). Identification of individuals at high fracture risk to provide early treatment in developing countries with limited resources remains a challenge. Our aim was to calculate the FRAX® values in a selected mainland Chinese population the day before the occurrence of an OF and to compare the results with the Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) thresholds. To define a population at high fracture risk, we selected patients in the orthopedic emergency cohort from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, China. To calculate the FRAX® the day before the actual OF, the actual fracture was not considered as a previous fracture. Subjects with a FRAX® value lower than the NOF thresholds were not considered at high risk. One-hundred ninety-eight patients were included with a mean age of 69.9 ± 10.1 years old, and 78.8 % were female. Major fracture sites included hip (41.9 %), proximal humerus (22.2 %), forearm (27.8 %), spine (6.6 %), and pelvis (1.5 %). Overall, only two (1.0 %) patients had a 10-year major fracture probability ≥20 %, and 84 (42.4 %) patients had a 10-year hip fracture probability ≥3 %. More than half of the population was not identified to be at high risk by the FRAX® BMI (body mass index). For age groups 55-59, 60-69, 70-79, and 80-90 years old, respectively, the mean FRAX® BMI values (major OF/hip fracture) were 3.5/0.7, 5.7/1.8, 8.2/4.7, and 8.6/4.8 %. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was available for 58 patients, and 41.2 % had a T-score ≤ −2.5 standard deviation (lumbar spine and/or femoral neck and/or total hip). Only six (17.6 %) patients with a normal or osteopenic BMD were classified at high risk by the FRAX® BMD (bone mineral density). The NOF thresholds could only identify fewer than half of the studied population to be at high risk the day before an actual OF, and the 10-year hip fracture probability seemed to perform better than the 10-year major fracture probability. Prospective population-based studies are needed to validate the prediction of Chinese FRAX® model and to establish ideal thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An isolate of hippeastrum chlorotic ringspot virus (HCRV) named HLS1-2, causing necrotic spots on leaves of spider lily, was obtained and characterized in China. The complete S RNA and M RNAs of the HLS1-2 isolate are 2724 nt and 4741 nt in length, respectively. The HLS1-2 S RNA sequence is most closely related to that of HCRV, with 99 % identity. Viral proteins encoded by the M RNA are closely related to those of tomato yellow ring virus (TYRV), polygonum ringspot virus (PolRSV) and iris yellow spot virus (IYSV). Phylogenetic trees for the four viral proteins encoded by the S and M RNAs placed HCRV-HLS1-2 in a distinct cluster with IYSV, TYRV and PolRSV and provided further support for the subdivision of tospoviruses into American and Eurasian groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Busulfan/cyclophosphamide (Bu/Cy) conditioning regimen has been widely used to treat cancer patients, while their effects on major internal organs in females are not fully understood. We treated female mice with Bu/Cy, and examined the histopathology of major internal organs on Day 30 after the treatment. The results show that Bu/Cy treatment affected the ovaries most extensively, while it had less effect on the spleen, lungs, and kidneys, and no effect on the heart, liver, stomach, and pancreas. To better understand the effect of Bu/Cy on the ovaries, we counted follicles, and determined the levels of ovarian steroids. The Bu/Cy-treated mice showed a reduction of primordial and primary follicles ( P<0.01) on Day 30 and a marked loss of follicles at all developmental stages ( P<0.01) on Day 60. Plasma levels of estradiol and progesterone in Bu/Cy-treated mice decreased by 43.9% and 61.4%, respectively. Thus, there was a gradual process of follicle loss and low estradiol in Bu/Cy-treated mice; this is a profile similar to what is found in women with premature ovarian failure (POF). The Bu/Cy-treated mice may serve as a useful animal model to study the dynamics of follicle loss in women undergoing POF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the self-polymerization and strong adhesion characteristics of dopamine in aqueous conditions, a novel hydrophilic nanofiltration (NF) membrane was fabricated by simply dipping polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration (UF) substrate in dopamine solution. The changes in surface chemical composition and morphology of membranes were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The experimental results indicated that the self-polymerized dopamine formed an ultrathin and defect-free barrier layer on the PSf UF membrane. The surface hydrophilicity of membranes was evaluated through water contact angle measurements. It was found that membrane hydrophilicity was significantly improved after coating a polydopamine (pDA) layer, especially after double coating. The dyes filtration experiments showed that the double-coated membranes were able to reject completely the dyes of brilliant blue, congo red and methyl orange with a pure water flux of 83.7 L/(m·h) under 0.6 MPa. The zeta potential determination revealed the positively-charged characteristics of PSf/pDA composite membrane in NF process. The salt rejection of the membranes was characterized by 0.01 mmol/L of salts filtration experiment. It was demonstrated that the salts rejections followed the sequence: NaCl < NaSO < MgSO < MgCl < CaCl, and the rejection to CaCl reached 68.7%. Moreover, the composite NF membranes showed a good stability in water-phase filtration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in women. Due to a lack of appropriate animal models, studies involving tumorigenicity, tumor progression and immune response at the molecular level are limited. We isolated many clones derived from thesurvivors of a transformed mouse ovarian epithelial cell line IG-10 in immune- competent mice and found that the clones displayed diverse phenotypes. Most clones were deficient in components of the MHC-I antigen presentation pathway. Soft-agarose colony assays showed different growth rates among clones. However, this did not completely correlate with each clone’s in vivo tumorigenicity regarding growth, tumor mass and ascites formation, suggesting the possibility that the clones may display contrasting intrinsic gene expression. We therefore performed two types of arrays to evaluate gene expression at transcriptional and translational levels. The results showed differences in expression of COL4α5, NOS-2, and SOCS-1 genes at the transcriptional level, MIP-2 gene at the protein level and CCL5, CXCL-10, IL-1α genes at both transcriptional and protein levels between low and high tumorigenic clones. Thus, our animal cell model together with the identified genes may provide a useful tool to study ovarian cancer immune response, tumorigenicity and tumor-host cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temporal development of a single mode Rayleigh-Taylor instability consists of three stages: the linear, free fall and terminal velocity regimens. The purpose of this paper is to report on new phenomena observed in the approach to terminal velocity. Our numerical study shows an unexpected nonuniform approach to terminal velocity. The nonuniformity applies especially to the spikes, which are fingers of heavy fluid falling into the light fluid, but it also applies to the rising bubblesof light fluid. For spikes especially, our results call into question the meaningfulness of a terminal velocity for moderate values of the Atwood number A. After a short time period of pseudo-terminal plateau, the spike velocity increases to a significantly higher maximum, followed by a decrease. This phenomena appears to be due to a slow evolution in the shape of the spike and bubble. We find a relation between the spike (bubble) acceleartion and the tip curvature. In correlation with an increase in the spike velocity, the main body of the spike becomes narrower and the tip curvature increases. Our numerical results are by the Front Tracking method. The very late time simulations considered here required stabilization by a small value for the viscosity, so that the compressible Navier-Stokes equations govern the dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solitary waves propagating in a one dimensional charged granular chain has been investigated numerically. Electrically long-range interaction is introduced into such a nonlinear system for the first time. The propagating characteristics of the waves due to physical parameters of materials are studied systematically. It is found that both single solitary wave and multi-solitary wave can be excited in the granular chain. Numerical results show that the amplitude of the solitary wave decays exponentially because of damping as time increases even if the Coulomb's force is taken into account. Specifically, Young's modulus and charge quantity have slightly effect on the amplitude attenuation rate. However, the damping coefficient and the density of particles have significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular and metabolic disease (CMD) remains a main cause of premature death worldwide. Berberine (BBR), a lipid-lowering botanic compound with diversified potency against metabolic disorders, is a promising candidate for ameliorating CMD. The liver is the target of BBR so that liver-site accumulation could be important for fulfilling its therapeutic effect. In this study a rational designed micelle (CTA-Mic) consisting of α-tocopheryl hydrophobic core and on-site detachable polyethylene glycol-thiol shell is developed for effective liver deposition of BBR. The bio-distribution analysis proves that the accumulation of BBR in liver is increased by 248.8% assisted by micelles. Up-regulation of a range of energy-related genes is detectable in the HepG2 cells and in vivo. In the high fat diet-fed mice, BBR-CTA-Mic intervention remarkably improves metabolic profiles and reduces the formation of aortic arch plaque. Our results provide proof-of-concept for a liver-targeting strategy to ameliorate CMD using natural medicines facilitated by Nano-technology. Berberine has lipid-lowering effects and other metabolic benefits, but it presents with poor bioavailability. Here the authors conjugate berberine to liver-targeting nanoparticles, and show increased accumulation of berberine in the liver, improved metabolic profiles and reduced atherosclerotic plaques in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate numerical solution of a class of multi-order fractional differential equations with error correction and convergence analysis. According to fractional differential definition in Caputo’s sense, fractional differential operator matrix is deduced. The problem is reduced to a set of algebraic equations, and we apply MATLAB to solve the equation. In order to improve the precision of numerical solution, the process of error correction for multi-order fractional differential equation is introduced. By constructing the multi-order fractional differential equation of the error function, the approximate error function is obtained so that the numerical solution is corrected. Then, we analyze the convergence of the shifted Chebyshev polynomials approximation function. Numerical experiments are given to demonstrate the applicability of the method and the validity of error correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bone remodeling, osteogenesis is closely coupled to angiogenesis. Bone tissue engineering using multifunctional bioactive materials is a promising technique which has the ability to simultaneously stimulate osteogenesis and angiogenesis for repair of bone defects. We developed mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG)-doped poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) composite scaffolds as delivery vehicle. Two bioactive molecules, dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG), a small-molecule angiogenic drug, and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2), an osteoinductive growth factor, were co-incorporated into the scaffold. The synergistic effects of DMOG and rhBMP-2 released in the composite scaffolds on osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation of hBMSCs were investigated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Moreover, in vivo studies were conducted to observe bone regeneration and vascular formation of critical-sized bone defects in rats using micro-computed tomography, histological analyses, Microfil® perfusion, fluorescence labeling, and immunohistochemical analysis. The results showed that DMOG and rhBMP-2 released in the MBG-PHBHHx scaffolds did exert synergistic effects on the osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. Moreover, DMOG and rhBMP-2 produced significant increases in newly-formed bone and neovascularization of calvarial bone defects in rats. It is concluded that the co-delivery strategy of both rhBMP-2 and DMOG can significantly improve the critical-sized bone regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]