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To adapt to the evolving business needs and various detecting and testing tasks of disease prevention and control institutions in the new period, following up the CNAS-CL01 "The Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories Accreditation Criteria" and "The Assessment Criteria for Laboratory Accreditation" and other related regulations and the requirement of laboratory management, and based on C/S structure the paper designs and develops Sanitary Inspection Information Management System. The functions of the system contain sample receipt, work allocation, results entry and report creation. It also provides all kinds of query and statistical functions for management analysis and assistant in making decision. The system achieves mutual communications of each inspection department node, the resource sharing, data exchange, business collaborative work mechanism and mode. It completely changes the backward situation of the manual results report, regulates the laboratory testing process, increases efficiency and ensures the quality of the inspection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telomere extension by telomerase is essential for chromosome stability and cell vitality. Here, we report the identification of a splice variant of mammalian heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2 (hnRNP A2), hnRNP A2", which binds telomeric DNA and telomerase in vitro. hnRNP A2" colocalizes with telomerase in Cajal bodies and at telomeres. In vitro assays show that hnRNP A2" actively unfolds telomeric G-quadruplex DNA, exposes 5 nt of the 3' telomere tail and substantially enhances the catalytic activity and processivity of telomerase. The expression level of hnRNP A2" in tissues positively correlates with telomerase activity, and overexpression of hnRNP A2" leads to telomere elongation in vivo. Thus, hnRNP A2" plays a positive role in unfolding telomere G-quadruplexes and in enhancing telomere extension by telomerase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of cadmium (Cd2+) on the transient outward potassium current ( I A) and delayed rectifier potassium current ( I K) were investigated in acutely dissociated rat hippocampal CA1 neurons using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. The results showed that Cd2+ inhibited the amplitudes of I A and I K in a reversible and concentration-dependent manner, with half-maximal inhibitive concentration (IC50) values of 546 ± 59 and 749 ± 53 μM, and the inhibitory effect of Cd2+ was voltage dependent. Cd2+ significantly shifted the steady-state activation and inactivation curve of I A to more positive potentials. In contrast, Cd2+ caused a relatively less but still significant positive shift in the activation of I K without effect on the inactivation curve. Cd2+ significantly slowed the recovery from inactivation of I K but had no effect on the recovery time course of I A. The results suggest that the modulation of I A and I K was most likely mediated by the interaction of Cd2+ with a specific site on the potassium-channel protein rather than by screening of bulk surface-negative charge. The effects of Cd2+ on the voltage-gated potassium currents may be a possible contributing mechanism for the Cd2+-induced neurotoxic damage. In addition, the effects of Cd2+ on the potassium currents at concentrations that overlap with its effects on calcium currents raise concerns about its use in pharmacological or physiological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P. R. C commenced to issue lottery in 1984. In the past two decades, the lottery industry achieved greatly and has earned itself the reputation of being "a form of painless taxation". However, serious problems also exist in the lottery industry of this country, such as the lottery buyers' rights being seriously infringed upon, the lottery market being run disorderedly, public welfare fund being distributed unfairly, etc. These problems have resulted from such systematic defects as the supervision system being incapable in the long run, the supervisors being placed in an awkward position, the issuing of lottery depending heavily on the government (lottery is issued by the Civil Administration Department and National Sports Bureau in China) and the regulations being too weak (most of them are rules carrying inadequate legal power). Under the guidance of the idea of establishing a harmonious society, the reform of regulations in the lottery industry should take both justness and efficiency into account in formulating the lottery regulations. In practice, we should reform the issuing system in line with market orientation by bringing in business mechanism. It is necessary to form independent new supervision bodies, increase regulations in the lottery industry at all levels and introduce public participation procedure during the course of regulation. Such an important public issue like the lottery regulation calls for multi-disciplinary research in order to strengthen knowledge accumulation and improve system construction. Meanwhile, the research on similar topics will undoubtedly promote the transformation of research styles in the administrative law and the enlargement of its research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the correlation between schistosomiasis endemic situation and Oncomelania snail status, and discuss the control strategy and measures., Methods: With a retrospective research method, the data were collected and analyzed including the snail area, infected snail area, snail density, density of infected snails, the infection rate of snails, the positive rates of blood tests and stool examinations for schistosomiasis in residents and domestic animals, and the incidence of acute schistosome infection in Yizheng City from 2002 to 2011. The correlation between the infected snails and schistosomiasis was analyzed., Results: There were decline trends in snail area, infected snail area, and schistosomiasis situation. There were positive correlations between the infected snail area and snail area (r = 0.732, P < 0.05), the occurrence of acute schistosomiasis patients and infected snail area (r = 0.678, P < 0.05), and the snail area and schistosome infection rate of residents (r = 0.774, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: In order to control schistosomiasis, we need to control infected snails, reduce snail areas, and implement comprehensive control measures.

Background: Recent studies have shown that the biological actions and toxicity of the water-soluble compound, polyhydroxyfullerene (fullerenol), are related to the concentrations present at a particular site of action. This study investigated the effects of different concentrations of fullerenol on cultured rat hippocampal neurons., Methods and Results: Fullerenol at low concentrations significantly enhanced hippocampal neuron viability as tested by MTT assay and Hoechst 33342/propidium iodide double stain detection. At high concentrations, fullerenol induced apoptosis confirmed by Comet assay and assessment of caspase proteins., Conclusion: These findings suggest that fullerenol promotes cell death and protects against cell damage, depending on the concentration present. The concentration-dependent effects of fullerenol were mainly due to its influence on the reduction-oxidation pathway.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as flame-retardant additives. But the application of PBDEs has been challenged due to their toxicity, especially neurotoxicity. In this study, we investigated the effects of decabrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE 209), the major PBDEs product, on voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) in primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Employing the whole-cell patch-clamp technique, we found that PBDE 209 could irreversibly decrease voltage-gated sodium channel currents (I(Na)) in a very low dose and in a concentration-dependent manner. We had systematically explored the effects of PBDE 209 on I(Na) and found that PBDE 209 could shift the activation and inactivation of I(Na) toward hyperpolarizing direction, slow down the recovery from inactivation of I(Na), and decrease the fraction of activated sodium channels. These results suggested that PBDE 209 could affect VGSCs, which may lead to changes in electrical activities and contribute to neurotoxicological damages. We also showed that ascorbic acid, as an antioxidant, was able to mitigate the inhibitory effects of PBDE 209 on VGSCs, which suggested that PBDE 209 might inhibit I(Na) through peroxidation. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanism for the neurological symptoms caused by PBDE 209.