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Background: This study used network meta-analysis to compare the effects of various exercise interventions, with the aim of identifying the most effective intervention measures., Methods: Data were extracted from 8 databases, comprising of PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Embase. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used to assess the quality of the research. Network meta-analysis and meta-analysis were performed using STATA15.0 and Review Manager 5.4, respectively., Results: This analysis incorporated 58 research papers that had 4998 participants, of which 2480 were assigned to the test group and 2518 to the control group. As revealed by the data, the following is a descending order of the impact of various exercise regimens on the quality of life (QoL) of women who have undergone breast cancer surgery: For the MOS item short form health survey, the recommended sequence was as follows: aerobic + resistance exercise, football, baduanjin, walking, tai chi, yoga, resistance exercise, slow-moving qigong, aerobic exercise, and usual care; for functional assessment of cancer therapy for breast cancer, the sequence was as follows: aerobic + resistance exercise, resistance exercise, relaxation, baduanjin, square dance, aerobic exercise, tai chi, yoga, Pilates, mixer dance, aquatic sports, cycle ergometer, and usual care; and for European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire, the sequence was aerobic + resistance exercise, aerobic + yoga, aerobic exercise, Pilates, yoga, muscle strengthening, resistance exercise, square dance, usual care, walking, and aerobic + edema massage., Conclusion: The majority of exercise interventions demonstrated a discernible impact on the QoL in women following breast cancer surgery. The effects of diverse exercise interventions on the 3 QoL outcome indicators in patients with breast cancer exhibited variability. However, irrespective of the QoL measurement technique used, aerobic and resistance exercise continue to be the most favorable choices., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objectives: Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has clinical relevance in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). We investigated the association between MAFLD and prognosis in patients with ACLF., Methods: We included patients with ACLF with available clinical data who visited our hospital for nearly 9 years. We compared the prognosis of patients in the different subgroups of ACLF and predicted the incidence of adverse outcomes. Moreover, a new model based on MAFLD was established., Results: Among 339 participants, 75 had MAFLD. The prognosis of patients with ACLF was significantly correlated with MAFLD. Patients with ACLF with concomitant MAFLD tended to have a lower cumulative survival rate ( p  = 0.026) and a higher incidence of hepatorenal syndrome (9.33% versus 3.40%, p  = 0.033) than those without MAFLD. We developed an TIM2 model and the area under the ROC curve of the new model for 30-day and 60-day mortality (0.759 and 0.748) was higher than other predictive methods., Conclusion: The presence of MAFLD in patients with HBV-related ACLF was associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality. Moreover, The TIM2 model is a high-performance prognostic score for HBV-related ACLF.

Freshly collected seeds of Amomum tsaoko demonstrate obvious dormancy. Therefore, the selection of stable reference genes during seed dormancy release is very important for the subsequent functional research of related genes. In this study, ten commonly used reference genes(GAPDH, 40S, actin, tubulin, EIF4A-9, EIF2α, UBC, UBCE2, 60S, and UBQ) were selected as candidates for quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR) of the embryo samples of A. tsaoko at different dormancy release stages. Three kinds of software(BestKeeper, geNorm, and Normfinder) and the Delta CT method were used to evaluate the expression stability of the candidate reference genes, and the RefFinder online tool was employed to integrate the results and generate a comprehensive ranking. The results showed that the expression levels of the ten candidate reference genes differed greatly in different embryo samples. GAPDH and UBC had high expression levels, as manifested by the small Ct values. GeNorm identified 40S and UBCE2 as the most stable genes. NormFinder ranked EIF2α as the most stable gene and UBC as the least stable gene. UBCE2 was found to be the most stable gene and actin the least stable one by BestKeeper. Delta CT analysis suggested that the expression of 40S was most stable. UBCE2 was recommended as the most stably expressed gene by RefFinder. Thus, UBCE2 is the ideal reference gene for qRT-PCR analysis of A. tsaoko seeds at different dormancy release stages. The results may lay a foundation for analyzing the expression of related genes during seed dormancy release of A. tsaoko.

Based on grid sample method (20 m×20 m), spatial heterogeneity and distribution of soil water physical properties from 0 to 5 cm of the coal gangue pile in arid desert area were explored by using classical statistics and geostatistics methods. The results showed that the variation of soil bulk density, capillary porosity, capillary maximum moisture capacity, total porosity and saturated moisture contents were weak, while water content showed a moderate variation. The best fitting model of soil bulk density was Gaussian model, and exponential model was the best fitting model for other indices. The C 0 /( C 0 + C ) values of soil bulk density and water content were low and had strong spatial autocorrelation. The capillary porosity, capillary maximum moisture capacity, total porosity and soil saturated moisture showed moderate spatial autocorrelation. Soil bulk density was negatively correlated with capillary porosity, capillary maximum moisture capacity, total porosity and water content, whereas there was no significant correlation between soil moisture content and other indices. Soil capillary porosity, capillary maximum moisture capacity, total porosity, and saturated water content showed a significant synergistic effect between each other. On Kriging contour maps, capillary porosity, capillary maximum moisture capacity, total porosity and saturated moisture had a similar spatial pattern, with high values on the middle and the left side of the lower slope, whereas soil bulk density showed an opposite pattern. Soil water content was mainly affected by the slope position and increased from the upper slope to the lower slope. Our results suggested that land preparation measures should be taken to loosen the soil in root area over the coal gangue pile in arid desert area during vegetation restoration. Moreover, irrigation amount should be properly increased on the upper slope during the initial stage of vegetation restoration, which could improve soil moisture status in the overlying soil area of coal gangue and create uniform and suitable soil water physical conditions for vegetation restoration.

Drug safety is a severe clinical pharmacology and toxicology problem that has caused immense medical and social burdens every year. Regretfully, a reproducible method to assess drug safety systematically and quantitatively is still missing. In this study, we developed an advanced machine learning model for de novo drug safety assessment by solving the multilayer drug-gene-adverse drug reaction (ADR) interaction network. For the first time, the drug safety was assessed in a broad landscape of 1,156 distinct ADRs. We also designed a parameter ToxicityScore to quantify the overall drug safety. Moreover, we determined association strength for every 3,807,631 gene-ADR interactions, which clues mechanistic exploration of ADRs. For convenience, we deployed the model as a web service ADRAlert-gene at http://www.bio-add.org/ADRAlert/. In summary, this study offers insights into prioritizing safe drug therapy. It helps reduce the attrition rate of new drug discovery by providing a reliable ADR profile in the early preclinical stage., (© 2019 The Authors. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.)

Objective: To investigate the effects of butylphthalide (NBP) on learning and memory related ability, hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) content in hippocampus and amygdala, cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) expression and mitochondrial ATPase activity in rats with chronic alcoholism. Methods: Ninety SD male rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group (NC), model group (M) and butylphthalide remedy group (BR). Except for the control group, the water solution containing 6% (v/v) alcohol was used as the sole source of drinking water in the other two groups. After 14 days of feeding, the butylphthalide remedy group was injected with NBP intraperitoneally at the dose of 5 mg/kg once a day for 14 consecutive days, and the remaining two groups were injected with the same dose of normal saline. The control group subsequently used the Morris water maze method to observe and record the animals after entering the water. The time required for the underwater platform, their strategies and their swimming trajectories could analyze and infer the animal's ability to learn and remember. H 2 S concentration, CBS expression and mitochondrial ATPase activity in hippocampus and amygdale were dectected. Results: Compared with NC group, the latency period and swimming distance of M group were increased, the content of H 2 S and the mean optical density of CBS in hippocampus and amygdala were increased, and the activity of mitochondrial ATPase in hippocampus and amygdala was decreased significantly ( P ＜0. 01) . Compared with the M group, the latency period and swimming distance of learning and memory performance of BR group were decreased, the content of H 2 S and the mean optical density of CBS in hippocampus and amygdala were decreased, and the activity of mitochondrial ATPase in hippocampus and amygdala was increased significantly ( P ＜0. 01) . Conclusion: NBP can alleviate the effect of ethanol on learning and memory in rats, which may be related to the effect of NBP on the concentration of H 2 S and the expression of CBS in the amygdala of hippocampus and the increase of ATPase activity.

Objective: MicroRNA-610 (miR-610) functions as a tumor suppressor in various types of cancers. However, whether miR-610 acted as a functional miRNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is still largely unknown. The current study was designed to explore the expression pattern and function of miR-610 in OSCC and to investigate the possible molecular mechanisms., Patients and Methods: Quantitative Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression of miR-610 in OSCC tissues and cells lines. The associations between miR-610 expression and clinicopathologic features and prognosis were analyzed. Proliferation, migration, and invasion capacities of OSCC cells were assessed after overexpressing miR-610. The regulation of acylglycerol kinase (AGK) by miR-610 was confirmed by Western blotting, Dual-Luciferase reporter assays and rescue experiments., Results: We found that miR-610 expression was significantly down-regulated in both OSCC tissues and cell lines. Low miR-610 expression was associated with advanced T classification, TNM stage and poorer prognosis of OSCC patients. Functionally, the overexpression of miR-610 significantly suppressed OSCC cells proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT process. Mechanistically, AGK was confirmed to be the downstream target of miR-610 in OSCC cells. Furthermore, forced expression of AGK could rescue the inhibiting roles on cell proliferation and metastasis induced by miR-610 in OSCC cells., Conclusions: Our findings highlight the important role of miR-610 in regulating OSCC progression by targeting AGK, indicating that miR-610 may represent a novel potential therapeutic target and prognostic marker for OSCC.

Delivering safe and effective therapeutic treatment to patients is one of the grand challenges in modern medicine. However, drug safety research has been progressing slowly in recent years, compared to other fields such as biotechnologies and precision medicine, due to the mechanistic complexity of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). To fill up this gap, we develop a new database, the Adverse Drug Reaction Classification System-Target Profile (ADReCS-Target, http://bioinf.xmu.edu.cn/ADReCS-Target), which provides comprehensive information about ADRs caused by drug interaction with protein, gene and genetic variation. In total, ADReCS-Target includes 66,573 pairwise relations, among which 1710 are protein-ADR associations, 2613 are genetic variation-ADR associations, and 63,298 are gene-ADR associations. In a case study of exploring the mechanism of rash, we find that HLAs, C1QA and APOA1 are the key gene players and thus can be potential targets (or biomarkers) in monitoring or countermining rashes. In summary, ADReCS-Target can be a useful resource for the biomedical scientific community by serving researchers in the fields of drug development, clinical pharmacology, precision medicine, and from web lab to high-throughput computational platform. Particularly, it helps to identify drug with better ADR profile and design safer drug therapy regimen.

Objective: To explore the clinical efficacy of the modified laparoscopic placement of peritoneal dialysis catheters by nephrologists. Methods: A total of 188 patients diagnosed as end-stage renal disease (ESRD) were enrolled, who received catheter and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) therapy from January 2011 to May 2016 in Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. They were divided into group A (with modified laparoscopic placement of peritoneal dialysis catheters, n =59) and group B (with conventional placement of peritoneal dialysis catheter, n =129). The demographic and clinical characteristics, past abdominal operation history, surgery time, hospital stay after operation, expenses for surgery and hospitalization, early and late complications including bleeding, pain, leakage, peritonitis and catheter displacement were observed. Results: Patients with previous abdominal surgery accounted for 11.9% in group A and 0 in group B(χ 2 =15.897, P <0.001). The duration of the operation was (38.9±12.8)min in group A and (64.1±12.7)min in group B( t =-6.466 6, P =0.000 0). The cost of the operation was (5 488.4±156.1) yuan in group A and (1 602.7±48.92) yuan in group B ( t =257.129, P =0.000 0). Catheter displacement within one month was observed in 0 and 11.6%(χ 2 =7.455 3, P =0.003), pain in 15.3% and 41.9% (χ 2 =12.862 2, P =0.000), and catheter displacement after one month in 0 and in 16.3% (χ 2 =10.812 4, P =0.000) of the patients, respectively in group A and group B. The incidences of peritonitis within one month and beyond one month, leakage, bleeding and so on showed no difference between the two groups( P >0.05). Conclusions: Placement of PD catheter with laparoscope is suitable for renal failure patients with abdominal operation history and replacement PD catheter. It also has the advantages of shorter surgery time, less pain and lower incidences of catheter displacement, expanding the application of PD. However, bleeding, leakage, hernia and other complications are frequently seen.

In this paper we demonstrate a liquid optical switch based on total internal reflection. Two indium tin oxide electrodes are fabricated on the bottom substrate. A conductive liquid (Liquid 1) is placed on one side of the chamber and surrounded by a density-matched silicone oil (Liquid 2). In initial state, when the light beam illuminates the interface of the two liquids, it just meets the conditions of total internal reflection. The light is totally reflected by Liquid 2, and the device shows light-off state. When we apply a voltage to the other side of the indium tin oxide electrode, Liquid 1 stretched towards this side of the substrate and the curvature of the liquid-liquid interface changes. The light beam is refracted by Liquid 1 and the device shows light-on state. So the device can achieve the functions of an optical switch. Because the light beam can be totally reflected by the liquid, the device can attain 100% light intensity attenuation. Our experiments show that the response time from light-on (off) to light-off (on) are 130 and 132 ms, respectively. The proposed optical switch has potential applications in variable optical attenuators, information displays, and light shutters.

Seventy chicken and seventy-six pig feeds were collected from the feed stores in Guangdong province, and the species and concentrations of As, Cu and Zn were determined. We also examined the stability of roxarsone (ROX), one of the most widely used organoarsenical additives, either in the additive or in the feed at room temperature. The results showed that, averagely, the chicken and pig feeds contained 3.6 and 6.5 mg.kg-1 (As), 18.2 and 119.4 mg.kg-1 (Cu),and 124.6 and 486.2 mg.kg-1 (Zn), respectively. The excessive dosages of As, Cu and As in animal feeds will lead to higher residue of As, Cu and Zn in animal manures. Based on the national limit criteria for feed or feed additive, it was supposed that organoarsenicals had been used, only few feed samples exceeded the As limit, however, the excessive Cu and Zn in pig feeds were much more common. Organoarsenicals were found in 25.4% of the total feed samples, and As(Ill) and As(V) were the two most commonly detected As impurities in feeds bearing organoarsenicals. The mean detectable ROX and arsenilic acid were 7.0 and 21.2 mg.kg-1, respectively. Organoarsenicals were detectable in 24. 3% of the chicken feed samples and 26. 3% of the pig feed samples. Moreover, ROX was commonly used in chicken feeds, while p-ASA in pig feeds. ROX and the inorganic As impurities, either in the commercial additive or in the feed, remained stable for at least 30 days at room temperature, indicating the higher As impurities in feeds probably originated from the As impurities in organoarsenical additives. This is a new As exposure pathway for the producer and user of organoarsenicals and feeds amending organoarsenicals.

Roxarsone is an organoarsenic feed additive that can be metabolised to other higher toxic arsenic (As) species in animal manure such as arsenate, arsenite, monomethylarsonic acid, dimethylarsinic acid, 3-amino-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid and other unknown As species. The accumulation, transport and distribution of As species in turnip (Brassica rapa L.) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) amended with roxarsone and its metabolites in chicken manure were investigated. Results showed arsenite was the predominant As form, followed by arsenate in turnip and lettuce plants, and a low content of dimethylarsinic acid was detected only in lettuce roots. Compared with the control plants treated with chicken manure without roxarsone and its metabolites, the treatments containing roxarsone and its metabolites increased arsenite content by 2.0-3.2% in turnip shoots, by 6.6-6.7% in lettuce shoots, by 11-44% in turnip tubers and by 18-20% in lettuce roots at two growth stages. The enhanced proportion of arsenate content in turnip shoots, turnip tubers and lettuce roots was 4.3-14%, 20-35% and 70%, respectively, while dimethylarsinic acid content in lettuce roots increased 2.4 times. Results showed that the occurrence of dimethylarsinic acid in lettuce roots might be converted from the inorganic As species and the uptake of both inorganic and organic As compounds in turnip and lettuce plants would be enhanced by roxarsone and its metabolites in chicken manure. The pathway of roxarsone metabolites introduced into the human body via roxarsone → animal → manure → soil → crop was indicated.

Purpose: To evaluate the bond strength of a self-adhesive resin cement to dentin by pulse Nd:YAG laser., Methods: Ten freshly extracted non-carious human premolars were cut into nearly equal halves and prepared to expose the dentin,randomly divided into two groups with 10 in each group:laser group and control group.All teeth were bonded using a self-adhesive resin cement to dentin after the teeth in the laser group were processed with pulse Nd:YAG laser(0.8W,10Hz) for 25s.After 24 hours under 37 degrees centigrade water,the shear bond strengths of specimens were measured.Each fractured specimen was examined under dental microscope. All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 17.0 software package.Two new specimens were cut and the cement-dentin interfaces were observed under SEM., Results: The shear bond strength in the control group and laser group was (9.48±1.80)MPa and (11.15±1.71)MPa,respectively,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Most of the fractured adhesive dentin surfaces were adhesive failure modes in the two groups. SEM observation of the cement-dentin interface in the two groups showed good adaptation,but resin tags were not observed., Conclusion: Pulse Nd:YAG laser(0.8W,10Hz) can increase the bond strength of self-adhesive resin cement to dentin.

Litchi is a famous tropical and subtropical fruit originated in South China. Guangdong is one of the most important litchi production areas in China. Two hundred and eight soil samples were collected in litchi orchards after harvesting the fruit, in which nine often-used pesticides including metalaxyl, mancozeb, carbendazim, deltamethrin, cypermethrin, cyhalothrin, dipterex, dimethoate and dichlorvos were detected. The results showed that the detectable rates of various pesticides were ranked cypermethrin (59.1%) > carbendazim (51.0%) > mancozeb (11.1%) > metalaxyl (6.7%) > cyhalothrin (3.4%). Dimethoate and dichlorvos were detectable in few soil samples, and deltamethrin and dipterex were undetectable in all samples. The percentages of soil samples where different pesticides could be detected in one sample followed the order: one pesticide detectable (40.4%) > two pesticides simultaneously detectable (31.3%) > pesticide undetectable (18.8%) > three pesticides simultaneously detectable (8.2%) > four pesticides simultaneously detectable (1.4%). The concentrations of mancozeb in detectable samples averaged 39.05 microg x kg(-1), and that of cypermethrin was 7.83 microg x kg(-1). The mean concentrations of the other five pesticides ranged from 0.19 microg x kg(-1) to 1.65 microg x kg(-1). Totally, the pesticide residue status in litchi orchards in Guangdong was venial.

Objective: To compare the expression of CCL28 in minor and major salivary glands and clarify the role it plays in IgA secreting by minor salivary glands in oral cavity., Methods: Labial gland and parotid samples were analyzed with real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR assay for CCL28 mRNA. Rank-sum test was used for data analysis using SPSS 10.0 software package., Results: CCL28 mRNA was abundantly expressed in labial glands of healthy adults. Its expression was higher than that in parotids (P<0.01)., Conclusion: The results of this article suggest that the expression level of CCL28 in labial glands is remarkably higher than that in parotids, which reminds us that the high concentration of IgA in minor salivary glands may be associated with their high expression of CCL28.

Organoarsenicals are widely used as growth promoters in animal feed, resulting in unabsorbed arsenic (As) left in animal manures. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the growth and As uptake of amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor Linn, a crop with an axial root system) and water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk, a crop with a fibrous root system) grown in a paddy soil (PS) and a lateritic red soil (LRS) amended with 2% and 4% (w/w) As-bearing chicken manure and pig manure, respectively. Soils without any fertilizers were the controls. The biomass, As contents and total As uptake of the shoots, As transfer factors (TFs) from roots to shoots and the root/shoot (R/S) ratios of water spinach were significantly higher than those of amaranth (p<0.0015). The biomass, total As uptake and R/S ratios showed significant difference for soil types (p<0.0031). Manure amendments increased the biomass of both vegetables, reduced the As contents in amaranth but increased those in water spinach. The As contents were negatively correlated with the biomass in amaranth, but positive correlation was observed for water spinach. The total As uptake by amaranth was decreased in PS and insignificantly affected in LRS by manure application, but that by water spinach was significantly increased in both soils. We suggest that the higher As uptake by water spinach might be related to its root structure and R/S ratio. Heavy application of As-bearing animal manures should be avoided in water spinach.

In the postgenomic age, with the avalanche of protein sequences generated and relatively slow progress in determining their structures by experiments, it is important to develop automated methods to predict the structure of a protein from its sequence. The membrane proteins are a special group in the protein family that accounts for approximately 30% of all proteins; however, solved membrane protein structures only represent less than 1% of known protein structures to date. Although a great success has been achieved for developing computational intelligence techniques to predict secondary structures in both globular and membrane proteins, there is still much challenging work in this regard. In this review article, we firstly summarize the recent progress of automation methodology development in predicting protein secondary structures, especially in membrane proteins; we will then give some future directions in this research field.

Animal manures contain higher As, Cu and Zn since organoarsenicals, copper and zinc additives are widely used in modern intensive animal production. A pot experiment in water spinach was conducted to investigate As, Cu and Zn bioavailability in a paddy soil (PS) and a lateritic red soil (LRS) applied with 2% and 4% (mass fraction) chicken manure (CM) and pig manure (PM), respectively. Soils without any fertilizer were included as the checks (CK). The results show that nearly all treatments with manures significantly increase the biomass of the above-ground part of water spinach compared to the CK. The biomass in PS is significantly greater than that in LRS. The As concentrations and uptake rates of water spinach are significantly enhanced by manure application, showing the rule of higher rates > lower rates, PM > CM and in PS> in LRS. Except for the Cu concentrations in PS, manure application significantly increases the Cu, Zn concentrations and uptake rates as well. Soil total As in all treatments slightly reduce, available As and percents of available As over total As (PAs) considerably decrease after the harvest of water spinach, but total Cu, Zn and available Cu, Zn and percents of available Cu and Zn over total Cu and Zn (PCu and PZn) nearly in all manure-amended treatments increase. Soil total As increases by 0.3-3.0 mg x kg(-1), available As by 0.011-0.034 mg x kg(-1), the PAs by 0.033-0.178 percentage points in all treatments with manures, as compared to the CK. Soil total Cu, available Cu and the PCu increases by 3.1-30.4 mg x kg(-1), 5.2-19.4 mg x kg(-1) and 1.2-34.1 percentage points, respectively. Those of Zn increase by--10.6-79.6 mg x kg(-1), 4.0-65.9 mg x kg(-1) and 1.0-64.2 percentage points. We assume that the bioavailability of soil heavy metals be evaluated by the increment of available concentration and percent available concentration over total concentration, higher rate manure application improves the bioavailability of soil As, Cu and Zn than lower rate one and in LRS than in PS.

Objective: To express the soluble recombinant Schistosoma japonicum SjPP proteins in TN5B1-4 cells., Methods: The total RNA was extracted from adult worms of Schistosoma japonicum. The whole coding sequence of SjPP gene was synthesized by RT-PCR and cloned into donor plasmid. The recombinant donor pFastBac-SjPP was transformed into E.coli DH10Bac forming Bacmid-SjPP which was transfected into insect cell with cational lipofectin. The fusion protein SjPP was analyzed with SDS-PAGE and Western blotting., Results: The infective recombinant baculovirus Bacmid-SjPP was obtained and SjPP protein was expressed in insect cells., Conclusion: The recombinant protein SjPP has been expressed in insect TN5B1-4 cells with proper antigenicity.

Wnt proteins together with their downstream effectors forms a set of important signal pathways. The Wnt signal pathway is important in a wide variety of development processes including cell growth, cell differentiation, cell polarity and apoptosis. Wnt4 is a key regulator of gonadal differentiation in humans and mice, playing a pivotal role in early embryogenesis. With RACE technique based on a EST identified in our lab, a novel gene including a complete open reading frame was cloned and named Sjwnt4 (GenBank accession No. DQ643829). Sequence analyses showed that SjWnt4 had a typical characteristics of Wnt family proteins, sharing 43% similarity to Dugesia japonica and 37% to human Wnt4. The ORF of Sjwnt4 contains 1311 nucleotides, encoding 436 amino acid with 49.6 kD molecular weight. Real-time PCR analysis from the worms of various stages of S. japonicum revealed that the mRNA level of Sjwnt4 is highest in the 19 days schistosomula, followed by 44 days female worms, 14 days schistosomula, 31 days adult worms and 44 days male worms, suggesting a stage-and-gender differential express. The Sjwnt4 cDNA fragment was subcloned into a modified expression vector pGEX-4T-2 and transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells, and the production of recombinant Sjwnt4 protein fused to a GST tag was analysed. In the presence of IPTG, the 76kD fusion protein was expressed in included bodies. Western-blotting revealed that the fusion protein could be recognized by the rabbit serum specific to Schistosoma japonicum adult worm antigen preparation. The study provides important basis for investigating the regulation mechanism of the Wnt signaling pathway during the development especially gonadal differentiation processes of Schistosoma japonicum.

High heavy metal content in animal manures commonly occurs in the world since microelement additives are widely used in intensive animal production. Successive field trials in Brassica parachinensis (BP) were conducted to investigate the influence of successive application of chicken manure (at the rate of) on the yield and heavy metal content of BP. The application rate of chicken manure was calculated by its N content and ranged from N 0-450 kg x hm(-2). The results indicate that compared to single application of inorganic fertilizers, chicken manure decreases the yield of BP in the first and the third crop, increases that in the second crop. Combinations of chicken manure and inorganic fertilizers increase the yield in the fourth yield. Mean yields of all treatments in various crops are greatly different. The second crop is significantly higher than all other crops. In terms of mean heavy metal contents of BP of four crops in various treatment, As and Zn contents increase with applying chicken manure, Cr and Cd contents decrease, Pb contents don't change considerably, and Cu contents increase with applying chicken manure and inorganic fertilizers together. Generally, except for the second crop, mean As, Pb, Cr, Cu and Zn contents of BP in various crops increase with the increasing application times of chicken manure, mean Cd contents decrease. Hence, mass application for one crop or repeated application of chicken manure should be avoided in crop production.

Animal manures of intensive livestock and poultry farms are composed of complex materials. Effect of continuous application of chicken manure (CM) and pigeon manure (PM) for six crops on soil nutrients and heavy metals was investigated in a vegetable soil in Guangzhou, south China. Application rates (N 0 - 450 kg x ha(-1)) of CM and PM were calculated considering their N contents. The results indicate that concentrations of soil ammonium N, nitrate N and phosphorous extracted with sodium bicarbonate (P-NaHCO3), potassium extracted with ammonium acetate (K-C2 H3 O2 NH4) increase considerably after continuous application of CM and PM for three crops. Moreover, their concentration increments go up with the rates of CM and PM. Concentrations of soil nitrate N and K-C2 H3 O2 NH4 after the sixth crop reduce compared with those after the third crop, and also decrease compared with their original ones due to the heavy rainfall during the three latter crops. However, concentrations of soil ammonium N and P-NaHCO3 are still higher than their original ones, and their concentration increments increase with the rates of CM and PM, respectively. Two manures contain low Pb, Cd, Cr and pigeon manure contains low As, there is no great influence on soil Pb, Cd, Cr and As by continuous application. Two manures contain higher Zn (172.0 and 299.8 mg x kg(-1), respectively), leading to soil Zn concentration increments from 0.7 to 17.1 mg x kg(-1) after the sixth crop. Meanwhile, CM has relatively high Cu (117.7 mg x kg (-1)) and As (39.6 mg x kg(-1)), indicating the trend to accumulate Cu and Zn in soil after the sixth crop.

It has been demonstrated that numerous proteins interact with drugs or their metabolites. Knowledge of these proteins is necessary to understand the mechanisms of drug action and human response. Progress in modern genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry and pharmacology is generating a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of drug-target interaction on the molecular level. This is valuable for researchers and pharmaceutical companies in their efforts to improve the efficacy of existing drugs and to discover new ones. Most recently, the integration of a systems biology approach into drug discovery processes calls for more holistic knowledge and easily accessible resources of the proteins that are important in drug action and human response. We have reviewed many publicly accessible internet resources of these proteins, according to their roles in drug action and human response, such as therapeutic effect, adverse reaction, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion.

Understanding of cellular processes and underlying molecular events requires knowledge about different aspects of molecular interactions, networks of molecules and pathways in addition to the sequence, structure and function of individual molecules involved. Databases of interacting molecules, pathways and related chemical reaction equations have been developed. The kinetic data for these interactions, which is important for mechanistic investigation, quantitative study and simulation of cellular processes and events, is not provided in the existing databases. We introduce a new database of Kinetic Data of Bio-molecular Interactions (KDBI) aimed at providing experimentally determined kinetic data of protein-protein, protein-RNA, protein-DNA, protein-ligand, RNA-ligand, DNA-ligand binding or reaction events described in the literature. KDBI contains information about binding or reaction event, participating molecules (name, synonyms, molecular formula, classification, SWISS-PROT AC or CAS number), binding or reaction equation, kinetic data and related references. The kinetic data is in terms of one or a combination of the following quantities as given in the literature of a particular event: association/dissociation or on/off rate constant, first/second/third/. order rate constant, equilibrium rate constant, catalytic rate constant, equilibrium association/dissociation constant, inhibition constant and binding affinity constant. Each entry can be retrieved through protein or nucleic acid or ligand name, SWISS-PROT AC number, ligand CAS number and full-text search of a binding or reaction event. KDBI currently contains 8273 entries of biomolecular binding or reaction events involving 1380 proteins, 143 nucleic acids and 1395 small molecules. Hyperlinks are provided for accessing references in Medline and available 3D structures in PDB and NDB. This database can be accessed at http://xin.cz3.nus.edu.sg/group/kdbi/kdbi.asp.

A method for qualitative imaging of ultrasonic backscatter levels has been implemented on a clinical imager. The method is based on comparing echo signal data from a sample or patient to echo data processed in the same way but acquired from a reference phantom. The attenuation coefficient and the backscatter coefficient of the reference phantom are known, permitting these quantities to be estimated for the sample. In the present paper, the spatial location of echo data acquisition is retained in the backscatter data analysis; quantitative "backscatter estimator" images are constructed, from which the backscatter coefficient over a region of interest may be obtained. When applied to human liver images, backscatter coefficients determined in 10 normal subjects were in approximate agreement with in vitro liver backscatter coefficients reported by previous workers.

Uncertainties in measured attenuation and backscatter coefficients due to statistical fluctuations in echo signal data from a randomly scattering medium are estimated. The uncertainties are computed for the special case in which a reference phantom is employed to account for transducer and instrumentation factors when measuring attenuation and backscatter coefficients. The resultant uncertainty in the attenuation is inversely proportional to the 3/2 power of the depth range. The error in the backscatter coefficient arises both from the local fluctuation in the data and from the uncertainty in the attenuation estimate. The first of these is inversely proportional to the square root of the number of independent data points, while the second results in a contribution that is depth dependent. Predicted errors were tested by scanning tissue mimicking phantoms and estimating attenuation and backscatter coefficients for subsets of the digitized echo data. Standard deviations of the experimental results were in agreement with those predicted.

In previous work, we demonstrated that accurate backscatter coefficient measurements are obtained with a data reduction method that explicitly accounts for experimental factors involved in recording echo data. An alternative, relative processing method for determining the backscatter coefficient and the attenuation coefficient is presented here. This method involves comparison of echo data from a sample with data recorded from a reference phantom whose backscatter and attenuation coefficients are known. A time domain processing technique is used to extract depth and frequency dependent signal ratios for the sample and the reference phantom. The attenuation coefficient and backscatter coefficient of the sample are found from these ratios. The method is tested using tissue-mimicking phantoms with known scattering and attenuation properties.

An algorithm for calculating the beam profile for a single-element circular transducer is reported here. It performs well in calculating the pressure everywhere in the field including the near field and points at large distances from the axis of the transducer. The algorithm is much faster than direct numerical methods currently in use. Lateral beam profiles computed using the fast algorithm are nearly identical to profiles computed using a 96-point Gaussian quadrature routine.