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Introduction This study aimed to analyze the diversity of intestinal flora in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and investigate the effect of entecavir on the intestinal flora in these patients. Methods Thirty patients with CHB and 30 healthy controls were recruited from the Department of Infectious Diseases and Department of Gastroenterology of Shanghai Tongji Hospital between January 2017 and December 2018. Stool samples were collected for the detection of intestinal flora by high-throughput sequencing. Patients with CHB received antivirus therapy with entecavir for 8 weeks. The biochemical and virological responses were assessed and the intestinal flora were compared. Results After entecavir treatment, the blood levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA reduced significantly in patients with CHB and the species abundance of intestinal flora increased markedly. In patients with CHB, the unique genera included Butyrivibrio, Phaseolus acutifolius, and Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group before treatment and Howardella, Candidatus Stoquefichus, Citrobacter, Dysgonomonas, Faecalicoccus, Methanobrevibacter, Mitsuokella, Mobilitalea, Succinivibrio, Gluconobacter, and Plesiomonas after treatment. The abundance of the following genera increased significantly after entecavir treatment in patients with CHB: Clostridium sensu stricto 1, Erysipelotrichaceae UCG-007, and Intestinibacter. The abundance of Streptococcus, Atopobium, and Murdochiella reduced markedly after entecavir treatment in patients with CHB. Conclusion After 8-week entecavir treatment, the blood biochemical, immunological, and virological responses improved significantly, the species abundance of intestinal flora increased markedly, and there were unique genera in patients with CHB before and after treatment. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s40121-020-00355-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives Peptest is a new non-invasive reflux diagnostic test based on lateral flow technology that containing two highly specific human pepsin monoclonal antibodies for detecting pepsin, a biomarker for reflux disease. The primary aim of this multicenter clinical study was to validate the efficacy of Peptest in patients diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux and healthy controls in China. Methods Patients with suspected gastroesophageal reflux underwent an endoscopy and were classified into non-erosive reflux disease and erosive esophagitis subgroups. A healthy control group was also recruited. All participants were given a reflux disease questionnaire-patients scoring greater than 12 and controls scoring zero. All participants provided a postprandial saliva sample and most patients gave an additional post-symptom sample for pepsin analysis. Results Altogether 1032 participants aged between 19 and 78 years were recruited. They consisted of 488 patients with non-erosive reflux disease, 221 with erosive esophagitis and 323 healthy controls. The number of postprandial and post-symptom samples analyzed totaled 1031 and 692, respectively. The results across all centers showed an overall pepsin-positive sensitivity of 85%, a specificity of 60%, a positive predictive value of 82%, a negative predictive value of 65% and a positive likelihood ratio of 2.12. Conclusion The sensitivity of Peptest was high, but the specificity achieved in some centers was low, resulting overall in only a moderate specificity. Further diagnostic investigative studies are warranted.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the topical pharmacodynamics behavior of different lipophilic model drugs after treatment with essential oil from Zanthoxyli Pericarpium by using the cutaneous microdialysis technique, and then evaluate its in vivo transdermal penetration enhancing properties. Two traditional Chinese medicine active components, namely tetramethylpyrazine and puerarin, were chosen as lipophilic and hydrophilic model drugs, respectively. Firstly, the concentration difference method was employed to measure the in vitro recovery rate and loss of the microdialysis probe, and the in vivo recoveries of two model drugs were determined by using the retrodialysis method. Secondly, the skin pharmacodynamics behaviors of two model drugs were studied after treatment with different concentrations of the essential oil, and the well-established and standard penetration enhancer Azone was selected as a positive control. It was found that the recovery of microdialysis probe was equal to its loss for two model drugs, with no interaction between drugs in dialysis membranes. The retrodialysis studies revealed that the in vivo recovery of tetramethylpyrazine and puerarin were 59.17%, 19.85%, respectively. The skin pharmacodynamics studies showed that the essential oil could facilitate the transdermal absorption of tetramethylpyrazine in a concentration-dependent manner, and the enhancement ratio (ER) for 5% essential oil was 98.64, which was higher than that of the optimum concentration of Azone (3% Azone, ER=89.11). Meanwhile, the Zanthoxyli Pericarpium could effectively promote the transdermal permeation of the puerarin in a concentration-dependent manner. Hence, this study further confirmed that the Zanthoxyli Pericarpium had excellent penetration-enhancing activity as a natural transdermal penetration enhancer, providing data support for its application in traditional Chinese medicine external preparations.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a kind of autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), as an endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, can cause or contribute to the inflammatory syndrome and endothelial dysfunction. Recently, increased ADMA levels have been demonstrated in SSc, revealing that ADMA might play an important role for the associated manifestations of SSc. Besides, ADMA may play a significant role in the level of NO, which is produced by arginine. In the review, we discuss the role of arginine and ADMA in patients with SSc.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the knowledge of risk factors and warning symptoms and attitude towards gastric cancer screening among the general population in China.SettingHunan province, ChinaParticipantsIndividuals aged older than 18 years were recruited using a cluster sampling method.DesignA cross-sectional study, and a pretested structured questionnaire was used to assess participants’ awareness of gastric cancer.Primary and secondary outcome measuresKnowledge level of risk factors and warning symptoms of gastric cancer, gastric cancer screening attitude, sociodemographic factors associated with gastric cancer knowledge and screening behaviour.ResultsThis study comprised 1200 participants with a mean age of 40.31 (SD 16.73) years, of whom 622 (51.8%) were women. The mean score for gastric cancer knowledge was 8.85/22 (SD 6.48). There were 47.0% of the participants who had a low knowledge level about the risk factors and warning symptoms of gastric cancer. In total, 83.8% believed screening is helpful for early detection of gastric cancer, and 15.2% had undergone gastric cancer screening. The most common reason for not undergoing screening was having ‘no symptoms’ (63.0%), followed by ‘fear of undergoing gastroscopy’ (38.1%). Independent factors related to lower knowledge levels included male sex, living in rural areas, lower educational level, working as a farmer and without a family history of gastric cancer (pConclusionsIn China, people have poor knowledge about risk factors and warning symptoms of gastric cancer, but a majority have a positive attitude towards the benefits of gastric cancer screening. Being asymptomatic and having a fear of gastroscopy were the main self-reported reasons for not undergoing screening. These results highlight the urgent need for educational campaigns to improve gastric cancer awareness.

Background: Gliomas are the most common type of primary brain tumor in adults, and the X-ray repair complementing group 1 gene (XRCC1) is an important candidate gene influencing its risk. The objective of this study was to detect the influence of XRCC1 genetic polymorphisms on glioma risk. Materials and Methods: A total of 629 glioma patients and 641 cancer-free subjects were enrolled in this case-control study. The genotypes of the c.1471G>A genetic polymorphism were determined by created restriction site-polymerase chain reaction (CRS-PCR) and DNA sequencing methods. The influence of the XRCC1 genetic polymorphism on glioma risk was evaluated by association analysis. Results: Our data indicated that the alleles/genotype of this genetic variant was statistically associated with glioma risk. The AA genotype was statistically associated with the increased risk of glioma compared to the GG wild genotype (odds ratios (OR) = 1.89, 95% CI 1.25-2.87, P = 0.003). The allele-A may contribute to increased the susceptibility to glioma (OR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.04-1.46, P = 0.017). Conclusions: These preliminary findings indicate that the c.1471G>A genetic polymorphism of XRCC1 has the potential to influence glioma susceptibility, and might be used as molecular marker for assessing glioma risk.

Many case-control studies have investigated the role of TGF-β1 gene +869C/T promoter polymorphism in autoimmune diseases, but the results are inconsistent. To clarify this point, we performed a meta-analysis based on all available studies in Pubmed, Elsevier Science Direct, Google Searching, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to estimate the strength of the association. A fixed or random effects model was used on the basis of heterogeneity. A total of 21 papers including 2,693 cases and 3,036 controls were considered in the current meta-analysis. These studies encompass two ankylosing spondylitis (AS), eight rheumatoid arthritis (RA), four systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and seven systemic sclerosis (SSc). The results showed that TGF-β1 +869C/T promoter polymorphism were associated with susceptibility to RA (CC vs. TT: OR=0.65, 95% CI=0.48-0.88, P=0.005; CC vs. CT+TT: OR=0.56, 95% CI=0.45-0.69, P=0.000; C vs. T: OR=0.81, 95% CI=0.71-0.93, P=0.003). When stratified by race, significant association was observed only in Asian population. However, we failed to reveal the association between this gene promoter polymorphism and AS, SLE, and SSc. Therefore, this meta-analysis suggests a possible association between TGF-β1 +869C/T promoter polymorphism and RA, especially in Asian population.

To search effective technical solutions to control fire risk of wind turbines, based on the risk system composed of “Human- Equipment - Environment – Management” in safety systems engineering theory, the four main aspects of wind turbines fire risk, i.e., lightning strikes and bad weather, mechanical and electrical equipment failure, human errors and poor management and fire protection systems missing, were pointed out. The fire risk and fire risk control measures of wind turbines were analyzed, the progress of fire detection technology and fire protection solutions of wind turbines were reviewed. The results show that, to develop and equip with high-performance automatic fire detection, alarm and extinguishing systems is the inevitable choice to effectively control the fire risk of wind turbines.

To understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the salt response and to isolate differentially expressed genes, we constructed a forward subtractive cDNA library from Salsola ferganica treated with 600 mM NaCl for different lengths of time (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 36 h) using the suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) technique. This SSH library contained approximately 2,200 positive clones, with the insert size ranging from 250 to 700 bp. Eighty clones were selected for further study based on results from reverse Northern blotting and sequencing and, these cDNAs are the first reported expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of Salsola ferganica listed in GenBank. Among these 80 differentially expressed genes, 32 are genes with known function that display a high homology (between 68 and 100% identity) to known sequences, 47 have an unknown function, showing no homology with known sequences, and one is a novel gene that does not match any previously reported genes. Five cDNA fragments, sf3d8, sf6d8, sf4a8, sf8d6, and sf6c7, were randomly chosen from the 80 differentially expressed genes for reverse transcription-PCR analysis. The expression of sf8d6 was entirely induced by salt stress and that of sf3d8, sf6d8, sf4a8, and sf6c7 was increased from a relatively lower level. The isolated ESTs reported here may enable us to find new genes involved in salt tolerance in Salsola ferganica.

Uniaxial hot compression tests were performed at constant temperature (T) and strain rate (ε& ) in the ranges of 200-500 °C at an interval of 50 °C and 0.001-20 s-1. The flow stress data were used to develop the extrusion limit diagram for AZ31 and AM30 magnesium tubes. The extrusion limit diagram shows a wide region available for extruding AZ31 and AM30 seamless tubes, and comparison of the two extrusion limit diagrams shows that, the extrudability of AM30 alloy is better than that of AZ31 alloy. Actual extrusion trials validated the predicted temperature rise limit curve corresponding to the occurrence of surface cracking during the extrusion process. Magnesium tubes were successfully extruded according to the safe regions identified by the extrusion limit diagram.

Background: MicroRNA-106b (miR-106b) is thought to be an oncogenic microRNA that promotes tumor growth and metastasis. The potential predictive value of miR-106b was studied in colonic cancer patients. Methods: The expression of miR-106b was examined in 180 colonic cancer cases using in situ hybridization (ISH) technique and was evaluated semi-quantitatively by examining the staining index. The Correlation of miR-106b expression and clinic-pathological features was analyzed by Spearman Rank Correlation. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for assessing the expression difference of miRNA-106b between colonic cancerous and para-cancerous ones, and their effects on patient survival were analyzed by a log-rank test and the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: MiR-106b was higher expressed in para-cancerous tissues, compared with colonic cancerous ones (P < 0.001). A positive correlation of miR-106b levels between colonic and para-cancerous tissues was also observed (CC = 0.523, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the expression of miR-106b was not significantly correlated with clinic-pathological parameters, including gender, age, histological grade, tumor size, pT stage, pN stage, pM stage and pTNM stage of the patients. Histological grade was positively correlated with pT stage (P = 0.011), pN stage (P = 0.036) and pTNM stage (P = 0.009). Patients expressing high levels of miR-106b both in colonic cancer tissues and para-cancerous ones have a relatively longer survival time but the difference is not statistically significant (P = 0.16). Conclusions: The expression difference of miR-106b levels between colonic tissues and para-cancerous tissues is statistically significant, but the miR-106b levels were not quite correlated with clinic-pathological characteristics and overall survival times of patients with colonic cancer. Lower levels of miR-106b may be connected with neoplastic effects due to interference with TGF-β signaling, providing evidence that down-regulation of miR-106b might also play an important role in the progression of the disease. The study results are consistent with the literature and support the notion that miR-106b is an oncogenic microRNA.

The off-line coupling of polymer microfluidics to MALDI-MS is presented using electrospray deposition. Using polycarbonate microfluidic chips with integrated hydrophobic membrane electrospray tips, peptides and proteins are deposited onto a stainless steel target followed by MALDI-MS analysis. Microchip electrospray deposition is found to yield excellent spatial control and homogeneity of deposited peptide spots, and significantly improved MALDI-MS spectral reproducibility compared to traditional target preparation methods. A detection limit of 3.5 fmol is demonstrated for angiotensin. Furthermore, multiple electrospray tips on a single chip provide the ability to simultaneously elute parallel sample streams onto a MALDI target for high-throughput multiplexed analysis. Using a three-element electrospray tip array with 150 microm spacing, the simultaneous deposition of bradykinin, fibrinopeptide, and angiotensin is achieved with no cross talk between deposited samples. In addition, in-line proteolytic digestion of intact proteins is successfully achieved during the electrospray process by binding trypsin within the electrospray membrane, eliminating the need for on-probe digestion prior to MALDI-MS. The technology offers promise for a range of microfluidic platforms designed for high-throughput multiplexed proteomic analyses in which simultaneous on-chip separations require an effective interface to MS.

Fluid flow and heat transfer in thin porous layers are of fundamental importance in numerous applications, including the development of high power-density electronics cooling devices, loop heat pipes, aerospace radiators, as well as micro fuel cells. A two-dimensional analytical model has been developed to evaluate the pressure distribution and capillary evaporation limitation in a uniformly heated thin porous layer and the effects of the porous structure and properties of the working fluid on the capillary evaporation process. Two types of porous materials, sintered powder and layers of screen mesh, with different characteristics were investigated. The results indicated that the maximum capillary evaporation-heat transfer is proportional to the thickness and the permeability of the thin porous layer, but that increasing the thickness of the porous layer can result in higher superheat. Higher Bond numbers were shown to correspond to higher capillary evaporation heat-transfer limitations. By comparison, the sintered wick structure had a significantly higher effective conductivity and a higher capillary pumping pressure than the mesh screen. As a result, the maximum evaporation heat-transfer rate for the sintered powder layer was much higher than for any of the mesh screen layers evaluated.

Microgravity experiments on a constrained vapor bubble heat exchanger (CVB) are being developed for the space station. Results are presented of precursory experiments and modeling on microscale transport processes in the evaporator of the vertical constrained vapor bubble in the Earth's environment. A nonisothermal experimental setup was designed and built to study heat transfer and fluid flow in an ethanol/quartz vertical CVB system. Temperature profiles were measured using an in situ Labview® data acquisition system via thermocouples. Film thickness profiles were measured using image analyzing interferometry. A mathematical model was developed to yield the liquid film curvature profile in the evaporator. Experimentally measured curvature profiles were in good agreement with modeling results. A theoretical relation between the curvature and temperature profiles in the Earth's environment was developed. Under microgravity conditions, an analytical expression that reveals an inherent relation between temperature and liquid film curvature profiles was derived for the first time.

Cellular interface in diamond grown from Fe–Ni–C system under high-pressure has been elucidated. The diamond growth stability is broken and planar growth front interface transforms into cellular interface due to the existence of a narrow constitutional supercooling zone in front of diamond–solution boundary layer. Under growth parameters fluctuating, the solution in channels of cellular interface with high-solute concentration is trapped in diamond and crawls along direction of temperature gradient. In the presence of cellular interface, the grown diamond is always inhomogeneous in inclusion distribution and imperfect with structural defects. The lineally distributed inclusions closely associated with the cellular interface were clearly observed.

Flat micro heat pipes utilizing arrays of parallel metal wires sandwiched between two thin metal sheets were conceptualized, modeled, and analyzed. An experimental facility was fabricated and experimental tests were conductedtoverifytheconcept,aswellastovalidatetheproposedmodel.Themodeling resultswerethencompared with the results of the experimental investigation. In the analytical portion of the investigation, a one-dimensional steady-stateanalyticalmodel,whichincorporatedtheeffectsoftheliquid ‐vaporphaseinteractionandthevariation inthecross-sectionalarea,wasdevelopedtopredicttheheattransferperformanceandoptimumdesignparameters. The mass distribution, optimum charge, and maximum heat transport capacity were all obtained by solving the one-dimensionalgoverningequationsnumerically.Theresultsindicatedthatthemaximumheattransportcapacity increased with increases in wire diameter and that the overall value was proportional to the square of the wire diameter. The wire diameter was also found to affect the optimum operating temperature within the overall operating temperature range of the working e uid. In addition to determining the effect of the wire diameter, the numerical model provided a mechanism by which the effects of the wire spacing and evaporator heat e ux could be determined. The results indicated that the maximum heat transport capacity increased with increases in the wire spacing and that there exists an optimal cone guration that yields the maximum heat transport capacity. The optimum charge volume was shown to decrease rapidly with increases in the evaporator heat e ux. The results of the analytical model were compared with experimental results available in the literature and indicated good agreement between the predicted and measured maximum heat transport capacity for these types of wire-bonded e at heat pipes. Nomenclature Ac;l = liquid-phase cross-sectional area, m 2 Ac;v = vapor-phase cross-sectional area, m 2 Ai = liquid‐vapor interface cross-sectional area, m 2 Al;w = liquid‐wall contact area, m 2 Av;w = vapor‐wall contact area, m 2 Cp = specie c heat capacity, J/kg K Dh;l = hydraulic diameter of liquid, m Dh;v = hydraulic diameter of vapor, m dw = wire diameter, m fl = liquid friction factor fv = vapor friction factor g = gravity acceleration, m/s 2 H = height of the triangle, m h fg = latent heat of vaporization, J/kg kl = thermal conductivity of liquid, W/K ¢m kv = thermal conductivity of vapor, W/K ¢m Lc = length of condenser section, m Le = length of evaporator section, m Lt = total length of the micro heat pipe, m M = mass, kg ml = liquid mass e ow rate, kg/s mv = vapor mass e ow rate, kg/s P = pressure, Pa Pc = capillary pressure, Pa Pl = liquid pressure, Pa Pv = vapor pressure, Pa

The slow growth characteristics of a condensing ethanol sessile drop on a quartz substrate were studied experimentally. Using interference microscopy measurements of the transient liquid film profile (curvature) to obtain the pressure field and a Kelvin−Clapeyron model of interfacial mass flux to obtain the interfacial temperature difference, changes in the apparent contact angle were related to interfacial subcooling and, therefore, adsorption. We found that while the radius of curvature of the growing drop increased linearly with time, the apparent contact angle remained the same during slow growth at a constant condensation heat flux. The radii of curvature and the apparent contact angles at different axial locations were measured and compared. The results demonstrated that the curvature, the contact angle, the interfacial subcooling, the interfacial mass flux, the spreading velocity, and adsorption are coupled at the moving contact line. Motion and the apparent contact angle are governed by the conden...

Improved experimental and analytical techniques were developed to measure the liquid pressure field in a meniscus formed in the right angled corner of a Constrained Vapor Bubble (CVB) heat exchanger. Based on the definition of the curvature, an analytical expression for the curvature as a function of the film thickness profile and the apparent contact angle was obtained. The error associated with the resolution of the image processing system was defined and several imaging factors affecting the error are discussed. The error associated with the system resolution, Er, increases as the curvature increases; the apparent contact angle increases; the wavelength decreases; and the number of dark fringes used for the data fitting decreases. The accuracy of the data fitting can be used to also determine the region where the disjoining pressure and viscous stresses affect the results. Examples using pentane data are presented. The relatively large experimental cell size with regions of low capillary pressure was dictated by future use in microgravity. � 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The efficacy of chronic selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on depression is paralleled by the recovery of deficits in hippocampal neurogenesis related to sustained stress and elevated glucocorticoids. Previous studies have shown that atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) is implicated in the regulation of neurogenesis and the antidepressant response. Whether the specific aPKC isoforms (PKCζ, PKMζ and PKCι) are involved in SSRI-induced hippocampal neurogenesis and the underlying mechanisms is unknown. The present study shows that PKMζ and PKCι but not PKCζ are expressed in rat embryonic hippocampal neural stem cells (NSCs), whereas PKMζ but not PKCι expression is increased by the SSRI fluoxetine both in the absence and presence of the glucocorticoid receptor agonist dexamethasone. PKMζ shRNA significantly decreased neuronal proliferation and neuron-oriented differentiation, increased NSC apoptosis, and blocked the stimulatory effect of fluoxetine on NSC neurogenesis. Fluoxetine significantly increased PKMζ expression in hippocampal NSCs in a 5-hydroxytryptamine-1A (5-HT1A) receptor-dependent manner in both the absence and presence of dexamethasone. The PKMζ peptide blocker ZIP and MEK inhibitor U0126 significantly inhibited the increase in extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein phosphorylation in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and hippocampal NSC neurogenesis in response to fluoxetine and the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-OH DPAT. Collectively, our results suggest that the SSRI fluoxetine increases hippocampal NSC neurogenesis via a PKMζ-mediated mechanism that links 5-HT1A receptor activation with the phosphorylation of the downstream MAPK signaling pathway.

Copeptin is a stable by-product of arginine-vasopressin synthesis and reflects its secretion. The objective of the study was to evaluate the predictive value of copeptine on functional outcome at 90-day follow-up from stroke onset. We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study in the emergency department of two hospitals and enrolled 125 patients with acute ischemic stroke. Plasma copeptin concentrations, determined by a CT-proAVP-luminescence-immunoassay, were measured. There was a good correlation between levels of plasma copeptin and NIHSS score (r = 0.733, P < 0.01). In the 41 patients (32.8 %) with a poor functional outcome, copeptin levels were higher compared with those in patients with a favorable outcome (27.3; IQR, 14.9–34.8 pmol/L vs. 12.9; IQR, 9.4–21.6 pmol/L; P < 0.0001). Copeptin levels in 18 patients who died were more than two times greater as compared to patients who survived (32.4; IQR, 18.7–38.5 pmol/L vs. 15.1; IQR, 12.4–24.6 pmol/L; P < 0.0001). After adjusting for all other significant outcome predictors, copeptin level remained an independent predictor for poor functional outcome and mortality with an odds ratio of 3.12 (95 % CI 1.54–6.46), 3.16 (95 % CI 0.92–6.15), respectively. Our study suggests that copeptin levels are a useful tool to predict outcome and mortality 3 months after acute ischemic stroke and have a potential to assist clinicians

Antipsychotic-induced sexual dysfunction is a common and serious clinical side effect. It has been demonstrated that both neuronal nitric oxide (nNOS) and dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus have important roles in the regulation of sexual behaviour. We investigated the influences of 21 days’ antipsychotic drug administration on expression of nNOS and DRD2 in the rat hypothalamus. Haloperidol (0.5 mg/kg/day i.p.) significantly decreased nNOS integrated optical density in a sub-nucleus of the MPOA, medial preoptic nucleus (MPN), and decreased the nNOS integrated optical density and cell density in another sub-nucleus of the MPOA, anterodorsal preoptic nucleus (ADP). Risperidone (0.25 mg/kg) inhibited the nNOS integrated optical density in the ADP. nNOS mRNA and protein in the MPOA but not the PVN was also significantly decreased by haloperidol. Haloperidol and risperidone increased DRD2 mRNA and protein expression in both the MPOA and the PVN. Quetiapine (20 mg/kg/day i.p.) did not influence the expression of nNOS and DRD2 in either the MPOA or the PVN. These findings indicate that hypothalamic nNOS and DRD2 are affected to different extents by chronic administration of risperidone and haloperidol, but are unaffected by quetiapine. These central effects might play a role in sexual dysfunction induced by certain antipsychotic drugs.

This study was to investigate the condom use and its factors on sex workers in Shandong province, and to provide effective suggestions for AIDS prevention strategies and interventions.From April to July in 2009, 4732 female sex workers were investigated through anonymous questionnaires from 11 cities which were selected based on the AIDS epidemic, geographic location, economic conditions in Shandong province. Serum samples were collected and antibodies were tested by ELISA and TPPA from 4641 people.4732 female sex workers who were 15 - 58 years old were investigated and the majority belonged to the low age group (≤ 24 years old) which accounted for 61.5% (2912/4732). Among the 4732 female sex workers, the unmarried, the divorced, or the widowed females accounted for 72.8% (3441/4725) and 72.0% (3403/4726) of them were poorly educated.42.3% (1994/4719) of them were found from other provinces. The right answers for knowledge of AIDS accounted for 45.7% (2164/4732). 80.6% (3416/4236) of these females were found to used condoms in the most recent commercial sex activity. The rate of consistently using condoms in sex activity during the last month was 58.4% (2467/4221). In this survey, 7.3% (337/4637) of investigated females had been diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases, 30.7% (1449/4726) of them had received HIV antibody test, 70.4% (3323/4732) of these people had received the AIDS intervention services, and 3.6% (167/4668) of them had ever used drug. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that high education level (junior high school or lower vs senior high school or higher, adjusted OR = 0.77, 95%CI: 0.67 - 0.90), having received the HIV intervention (received vs unreceived, adjusted OR = 1.36, 95%CI: 1.17 - 1.58), antibody detection (done vs not done, adjusted OR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.15 - 1.55), and good knowledge about AIDS (low score group vs high score group, adjusted OR = 0.37, 95%CI: 0.32 - 0.44) were independent factors that increased safe sex behavior; while using drug (drug vs not drug, adjusted OR = 0.22, 95%CI: 0.15 - 0.31) was a negative factor.The prevalence rate of HIV infection among female sex workers was low in Shandong province. However, the low rate of condom use and the high prevalence of self-reported STD-related symptoms suggested that more attentions should be paid to the factors of risk behaviors, and more targeted interventions are critically needed.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the difference of microRNA expression profiles between colonic cancer without lymph node metastasis and the para-cancerous control, to identify the specific microRNA associated with the cancer and to predict the carcinogenetic mechanism of microRNA on the basis of these results. METHODS: The microRNA (miRNA) were extracted and isolated from six specimens, including colonic cancerous and para-cancerous ones, all of which were confirmed to be without lymph node metastasis. Agilent microRNA microarrays consisting of 723 probes were used for screening the expression differences of microRNA. Data were analyzed using feature extraction software. The expression level of differentially expressed microRNA using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was validated. RESULTS: A total of 14 miRNAs were found to be associated with colonic cancer, in which the expression of miR-106b, miR-135b, miR-18a, miR-18b, miR-196b, miR-19a, miR-224, miR-335, miR-424, miR-20a*, miR-301b and miR-374a were up-regulated and the expression of miR-378 and miR-378* were downregulated in colonic cancer tissues, compared with the para-cancerous control. The expression level of miR-18a and miR-135b were validated in accordance with the results of RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: The miRNAs are differentially expressed between colonic tumor tissues and para-cancerous tissues. Many of these miRNAs are expected to participate in the process of multiple tumorigenesis. These miRNAs could play an important role in the carcinogenesis of colon. These results provide new insights in human colorectal cancer genesis.

The bounds on the rate of uniform convergence of learning processes play an important role in the Statistical Learning Theory. They provide theoretical bases for the application of support vector machine and reflect the generalization ability of the learning machines. This paper mainly deals with the bounds on the rate of uniform convergence of learning processes when samples are corrupted by equality-expect noise on quasi-probability space.

A simple process for realizing stable and reliable electrospray ionization (ESI) tips in polymer microfluidic systems is described. The process is based on the addition of a thin hydrophobic membrane at the microchannel exit to constrain lateral dispersion of the Taylor cone formed during ESI. Using this approach, ESI chips are shown to exhibit well-defined Taylor cones at flow rates as low as 80 nL min(-1) through optical imaging. Furthermore, stable electrospray current has been measured for flow rates as low as 10 nL min(-1) over several hours of continuous operation. Characterization of the electrospray process by optical and electrical monitoring of fabricated ESI chips is reported, together with mass spectrometry validation using myoglobin as a model protein. The novel process offers the potential for low-cost, direct interfacing of disposable polymer microfluidic separation platforms to mass spectrometry.

Microgravity experiments on the constrained vapor bubble heat exchanger (CVB) are being developed for the space station. Herein, ground-based experimental studies on condensate removal in the condenser region of the vertical CVB were conducted and the mechanism of condensate removal in microgravity was found to be the capillary force. The effects of curvature and contact angle on the driving forces for condensate removal is studied. The Nusselt correlations are derived for the film condensation and the flow from the drop to the meniscus at the moment of merging. These new correlations scale as forced convection with h proportional to L(1/2) or h proportional to L(1/2)(cd). For the partially wetting ethanol system studied, the heat transfer coefficient for film condensation was found to be 4.25 x 10(4) W/m(2)K; for dropwise condensation at moment of merging it was found to be 9.64 x 10(4) W/m(2)K; and for single drops it was found to be 1.33 x 10(5) W/m(2)K.