Search

The composition of wastewater containing heavy metal mixtures is often complex and poses a serious threat to human and environmental health. Effective removal of a variety of heavy metal ions with a single technology is challenging, and the conventional split integrated technologies require multi-step processing and a massive footprint. For the first time, we achieve hierarchically integrating ion exchange and nanofiltration into all-in-one "iNF" membranes. The iNF membrane has a hierarchical structure with an interfacial polymerization layer and an ion exchange layer, which can achieve highly efficient indiscriminate heavy metal ion removal, overcoming the defect that traditional nanofiltration membranes can only remove single metal cations or oxyanions. The ion exchange layer can remove heavy metal ions through sulfonic acid groups and quaternary amine groups. In addition, the ion exchange layer can be regenerated by electro-deionization, which is meaningful for sustainable membrane usage. This facile, scalable, and compact integrated process shows outstanding potential and universal applicability in complex wastewater treatment.

Highly permselective nanostructured membranes are desirable for the energy-efficient molecular sieving on the subnanometer scale. The nanostructure construction and charge functionalization of the membranes are generally carried out step by step through the conventional layer-by-layer coating strategy, which inevitably brings about a demanding contradiction between the permselective performance and process efficiency. For the first time, we report the concurrent construction of the well-defined molecular sieving architectures and tunable surface charges of nanofiltration membranes through precisely controlled release of the nanocapsule decorated polyethyleneimine and carbon dioxide. This novel strategy not only substantially shortens the fabrication process but also leads to impressive performance (permeance up to 37.4 L m-2 h-1 bar-1 together with a rejection 98.7% for Janus Green B-511 Da) that outperforms most state-of-art nanofiltration membranes. This study unlocks new avenues to engineer next-generation molecular sieving materials simply, precisely, and cost efficiently.

Introduction: Anaesthetics can lead to cognitive impairment and partly recover. Whether this process is related to NG2 cells has not been reported. The present study aims to investigate the effects of propofol on the proliferation and differentiation of NG2 cells in the hippocampus of aged rats. Material and Methods: A total of 80 healthy SD rats were used for the investigation. These rats were randomly divided into two groups: control group (group C, n = 20) and anesthetic group (group A, n = 60). Rats in group A were continuously anesthetized by intravenous infusion of propofol for three hours, and underwent shuttle box test at seven days (A7), 14 days (A14) and three months (A3m) after anesthesia. Then, these rats were further divided into two groups: POCD group (three sub-groups: P7 group, P14 group and P3m group) and non-POCD group (three sub-groups: groups NP7, NP14 and NP3m). Results: Compared with group C, NG2 and PCNA cells in group A were upregulated at seven and 14 days after anesthesia. Compared with group C, MAP2 expression was downregulated, and OX42 and GFAP expression was upregulated in the POCD group, while MAP2 expression in the non-POCD group was upregulated. Compared with the non-POCD group, in the NG2 positive cells, MAP2 expression was downregulated, while OX42 and GFAP expression was upregulated in the POCD group, MAP2 expression was urelugated gradually during the 14th days after anesthesia ( P < 0.05 or P <0.01). Conclusions: Propofol induces neuronal apoptosis and the proliferation of NG2 cells. The direction of NG2 cell differentiation may be correlated to the recovery of cognitive dysfunction.

Ya-Nan Jin, Hao Feng, Zhen-Yuan Wang, Jie Li Department of Anesthesiology, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jie LiDepartment of Anesthesiology, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13621288322Fax +86 10 51718475Email lijie1988@email.cnObjective: This study aimed to investigate the risk factors for hypotension in patients undergoing laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair.Methods: The clinical data of patients who underwent laparoscopic repair of a hiatal hernia in the Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital of Capital Medical University between February 2018 and January 2021 were retrospectively collected, and their perioperative data were obtained by querying the electronic medical record system. The patients were divided into two groups—a hypotension group and a normal group—based on the occurrence of intraoperative hypotension, which was defined as a mean arterial pressure < 65 mmHg and lasting ≥ 1 minute during the operation. The variables with a P value ≤ 0.1 in univariate regression analysis and clinically considered relevant variables were included in multivariate regression analysis in order to screen the risk factors for hypotension in these patients.Results: A total of 114 patients were included in the analysis. The incidence of hypotension was 54.4%. Old age was identified as the only risk factor for hypotension during hiatal hernia surgery.Conclusion: Old age is the only risk factor for intraoperative hypotension in patients undergoing laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair.Keywords: hiatal hernia, hypotension, risk factors

Highly permselective nanostructured membranes are desirable for the energy-efficient molecular sieving on the subnanometer scale. The nanostructure construction and charge functionalization of the membranes are generally carried out step by step through the conventional layer-by-layer coating strategy, which inevitably brings about a demanding contradiction between the permselective performance and process efficiency. For the first time, we report the concurrent construction of the well-defined molecular sieving architectures and tunable surface charges of nanofiltration membranes through precisely controlled release of the nanocapsule decorated polyethyleneimine and carbon dioxide. This novel strategy not only substantially shortens the fabrication process but also leads to impressive performance (permeance up to 37.4 L m

Performance declination of nanofiltration (NF) membranes caused by concentration polarization (CP) and membrane fouling has severely restricted their practical application in many fields. This work reports the construction of a novel interlayer between the substrate and the selective layer of conventional composite membranes by coordinating regulation of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and polydopamine (PDA). Unlike traditional methods that treat CP and fouling separately, the new strategy grants the membrane with dual functions at one time. First, the insertion of the PDA-CQDs layer reformulates the interfacial polymerization process that reduces the solute transport resistance and mitigates the CP issue. Second, the sandwiched photoactive CQDs can degrade organic molecules adsorbed on the membrane surface under visible light, which is promising for low-cost fouling remediation. This study may offer valuable insights into the preparation of durable self-cleaning NF membranes for the effective treatment of complex wastewater in various industries.

Traditional income distribution theories are always limited in tax related theories. Basing on Motivation Theory and Conformity Theory, an Innovative Income Distribution Theory was built on changing from passive ‘Taxing me’ to positive ‘I want to donate’. Afterwards several politics suggestions were proposed.

The treatment of industrial wastewater containing complex foulants demands high efficiency yet cost-effective separation process. The composite hollow fiber nanofiltration membranes suffer from tedious fabrication procedures, impeding the large volume fabrication and application. Herein, we reveal a very simplified designing strategy by polyelectrolyte modification of the co-extruded polyimide/polyethersulphone dual-layer hollow fibers with hierarchical structure and chemistry. The active layer's thickness of the dual-layer hollow fiber substrate is only 800 nm, the thinnest in literature. Compared to integral active single layer hollow fiber, the ultrathin active layer not only leads to over 4 times increase in mechanical flexibility and tenfold reduction in material cost but also enables fully chemical transition from imide to cross-linked polyamide, minimizing the intrinsic hydrolysis tendency of active material. The optimized membranes with a well-defined pore radius of 0.23 nm have 93–95% rejection to Mg2+ and Ca2+ and PWP of 9.1 LMH/bar. Moreover, the composite membranes exhibit backwash ability and stability in the heated feed solutions, which meets the demand for direct treatment of industrial effluents. This work paves the way for the large volume fabrication and application of hollow fiber nanofiltration membranes for treating municipal water, industrial wastewater, and other applications.

Highly permeable two-dimensional membranes are desirable for efficient molecular sieving and resource recovery through confined-space mass transfer via nanosheets restacking. However, their application requires addressing the swelling issue of 2D nanosheets in solvents, weak interfacial interaction between the adjacent nanosheets, and performance declination caused by over-restacking. This study reports an interfacial adhesion enhanced MXene membrane via pillaring carbon nanotubes (CNTs) combined with an upgraded post-treatment method consisting of fan-drying and air-drying. The combined drying method induces the nanosheets stacking to a partial-dehydration membrane structure, granting the neat MXene membrane with stable anti-swelling property. The strong π-π interactions and van der Waals forces of CNTs impel the close-fitting of MXene nanosheets for enhanced anti-swelling property and interfacial bonding force. The CNTs with confined-space mass transfer effect and high mechanical strength elevate the pillared MXene/CNTs-CTAB membrane performance for 5 times (the pure water permeance was enhanced from 20.09 L·m-2·h-1·bar-1 to 100.89 L·m-2·h-1·bar-1), endowing the membrane with high anti-pressure property. The membrane with precise molecular sieving property exhibits great potential in resource recovery and energy-saving.

The hollow fiber organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes have drawn increasing interest for the refining of high value-added products such as nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. The hollow fiber OSN membranes with defined pore size, reliable stability and durability in various harsh solvents are in urgent demand. Herein, for the first time, braid reinforced hollow fiber (BRHF) OSN membranes with defined pore size, robust mechanical strength, and excellent solvent stability were fabricated and used for the recovery of pharmaceuticals. The BRHF nanofiltration membranes can endure an operation pressure over 3 times larger than that of the cross-linked polyimide hollow fiber OSN membranes in aprotic solvents with a DMF flux of 37.9 LMH and a methanol flux of 70.3 LMH at 15 ​bar. The membranes show over 98.8% rejection to the Tetracycline, Chlortetracycline hydrochloride and Vitamin B12. After immersion in DMF for 360 ​h, the membranes maintain over 98% rejection to Chlortetracycline hydrochloride. Moreover, the BRHFs eliminate the risk of module leakage caused by breakage of hollow fibers and surmount the swelling tendency of polymeric OSN membranes in harsh solvents which enables the scaling-up of high-performance hollow fiber OSN membrane modules. The BRHF OSN membranes with robust stability and durability exhibit very promising application prospects in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry.

This research was aimed at discovering the serological and histological changes in cardiac and hepatic tissue after electric shock. The CK-MB, ALT, and AMS indexes were tested with serological methods. Moreover, the Bcl-2, Bax, and Hsp-60 expression levels were carefully measured. An electrical injury model was established by giving rats electric shocks at 110 V with alternating electric current. Blood samples from the rats were analyzed for the biochemical indexes. The degrees of pathological changes in the heart and liver were evaluated using IHC staining for Bcl-2, Bax, and Hsp-60. The levels of CK-MB in the electrical injury group rapidly peaked at 0.5 hours after the electric shock. Additionally, the levels of Bcl-2, Bax, and Hsp-60 in the cardiac and hepatic tissues changed regularly after the electrical injury and exhibited apparent differences from the levels in the control group. CK-MB, ALT, and AMS were altered regularly after electric shock, and these results provide significant information for clinical and medicolegal practice. This research has shed light on the assessment of electrical injury without obvious electrical burns. Furthermore, the findings obtained for Bcl-2/Bax and Hsp-60 can also facilitate pathological diagnosis and the identification of antemortem and postmortem electrical injury.

Blunt cardiac rupture is a characteristic of high death rates and rapid death process. But sometimes it is hard to find out the cause of cardiac rupture of traumatized patients, especially when it relates the relationship between injury and disease. In the 2 cases reported herein, both of the 2 patients had pre-existent cardiac pathological changes when suffered from traumatic injury. Our aim is to evaluate autopsy findings from a medicolegal point of view, and offer our proposals on how to deal with this sort of cases.

Delamination of the dual-layer membrane fabricated from immiscible polymers is recognized as the main obstacle to advance the technology. The current work discloses an innovative approach to address the delamination issue by incorporating specific functional groups on the polymer chains. Delamination-free P84®/Ultem® dual-layer hollow fiber nanofiltration membranes were obtained by incorporating 4-Fluoro-2-(trifluoromethyl) benzylamine (FTB) in P84® polyimide. The progressively incorporated FTB on P84® decreases solubility parameter difference and establishes specific intermolecular interactions between the polymer pair which contributes to the interpenetration of molecules at the interfacial region of the dual layers. The interpenetrated network structure at the interfacial region renders the robust integrity of the dual-layer membranes. The one-step fabricated membranes had an over 99% rejection of tetracycline (MW: 444.4 Da) in methanol with pure methanol permeance of 3.7 LMH/bar. The elaborated mechanism may potentially enlarge the scope of selecting immiscible polymers for fabricating dual-layer membranes by molecular designing.

Separation of similar ions through nanofiltration (NF) is advantageous for many different applications such as, resource recovery and the reduction of waste discharge. The production of pigments generates a solution comprising of acetate (Ac−) chloride (Cl−) ions, in which the Ac− can be profit as recovered chemical. To recover these ions in this work we propose the use of a hybrid zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system. The ions rejections in this work reached 81.8% and −7.6%, for Ac− and Cl− ions respectively. This selectivity was achieved using NF with a separation ratio of 5.9. The recovery of these chemicals is highly advantageous as it can not only significantly reduce the waste discharge for the pigment industry, but also offset the cost of water treatment. When using mechanical vapor recompression (MVR), a cost is incurred (−0.04 $·t−1) and without the use of MVR a profit is made (2.73 $·t−1). The proposed strategy in this work may shed light on the heavily polluting industry towards environmentally friendly and economical wastewater treatments.

In this study, a novel series of 4-(2-(alkylthio)benzo[d]oxazol-5-yl)-2,4-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazol-3-ones (4a–m) was designed and synthesized. The anticonvulsant activities of these compounds were evaluated by using the maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) seizure models in mice. The neurotoxicity of these compounds was evaluated using the rotarod neurotoxicity test. The majority of compounds showed anti-MES activities at 100 or 300 mg/kg. Compound 4g was considered to be the most promising, based on its potency against MES- and PTZ-induced seizures with ED50 values of 23.7 and 18.9 mg/kg, respectively. The TD50 value of 4g was 284.0 mg/kg, which resulted in a higher protective index (PI = TD50/ED50) value than that of carbamazepine and valproate. In an ELISA test, compound 4g significantly increased the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content in mouse brain. In addition, pretreatment with thiosemicarbazide (an inhibitor of the GABA synthesizing enzyme) significantly decreased the activity of 4g in the MES model, which suggests that the mechanism through which compound 4g elicits its anticonvulsive action is at least in part through increasing the GABA level in the brain.

The objective of this study was to develop a novel and effective method for the evaluation of the postmortem interval using infrared microspectroscopy. Postmortem rat liver samples were investigated at 10, 20, and 30°C. Time-dependent changes in the images were observed from variations in the spatial distribution in the liver tissue that were correlated with the postmortem interval. This relationship, which has not been reported previously, offers a novel approach to supplement conventional forensic methods.

This study uses data from 173 respondents in 29 groups to provide evidence that when members locate in peripheral position in intragroup network, leader-member-tie is more positively associated with job performance. The relationship is even stronger for peripheral members in advice network.

To analyze postmortem chemical changes in Landrace costal cartilages and ribs using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, and to provide a novel technique for estimation of postmortem interval (PMI).The swines were sacrificed by hemorrhage and their costal cartilages and ribs were kept in 20 degrees C. The chemical analysis of the costal cartilages and ribs were performed using ATR-FTIR every 72 h. The correlation between the certain spectral parameters and PMI was also analyzed. The time-dependent changes of costal cartilages were more significant than ribs.There were no obvious changes for the main absorbance bands position, and some absorbance band ratios showed time-dependent changes and significant correlations with the PMI.ATR-FTIR has the ability to analyze postmortem chemical changes of the swine costal cartilages and ribs, and it can be a new method to estimate PMI based on spectroscopy.

Objective: To investigate the distributions of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A and -B alleles and HLA-A-B haplotypes in the Yi ethnic minority of the Yunnan Province, situated in southwestern China. Methods: DNA typing for HLA-A and -B loci was performed using the polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT) method on 114 randomly selected healthy individuals of the Yi population. The allelic frequencies of HLA-A and -B loci were calculated by direct counting and HLA-A-B haplotypes were estimated using the expectation maximization algorithm. Results: A total of 17 HLA-A and 38 HLA-B alleles were found in the Yi population. The most frequent alleles were A*2402 (32.46%), A*1101 (26.32%), and A*0203 (10.09%) at the HLA-A locus and B*4601 (12.28%), B*1525 (10.09%), B*4001 (8.77%), and B*3802 (7.89%) at the HLA-B locus. The predominant HLA-A-B haplotypes were A*2402-B*1525 (7.86%) and A*0203-B*3802 (5.64%), followed by A*1101-B*4001 (4.69%). Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the Yi population in the Honghe, Yunnan Province of China basically belongs to groups of southeastern Asian origin, but shares some characteristics with northeastern Asian groups. Conclusion: The present study may add to the understanding of HLA polymorphism in the Yi ethnic group that was poorly defined previously, and provide useful information for bone marrow transplantation, anthropological research, and forensic sciences as well as for disease-association studies.

To observe the chemical groups changing in rat kidney with regard to fatal hyperthermia by Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR-MSP) and to provide a new method to diagnose fatal hyperthermia.Rats were sacrificed by hyperthermia, brainstem injury, massive hemorrhage and asphyxiation and divided into groups. The renal samples were dissected immediately after death. The data of infrared spectroscopy in glomerulus were measured by FTIR-MSP.The absorbances of 3290, 3070, 2850, 1540 and 1396 cm(-1) significantly increased (P0.05), and the ratios of Al650/A3290 and A1650/A1540 significantly decreased (P0.05) in group of hyperthermia.FTIR-MSP can analyze the changes of chemical groups of kidney as an auxiliary diagnosis for discriminating hyperthermia with other causes of death.

We have already coamplified minimal haplotypes (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385I/II), two additional loci, namely, DYS438, DYS439, and Amelogenin, in a single PCR using the Y-PLEX 12 kit. We investigated 107 unrelated male individuals from the Uigur ethnic group and studied the allelic frequency distribution and haplotype diversity of 11 Y-chromosomal STRs. A number of 43 alleles (nine STR loci) and 27 phenotypes (including DYS385) were detected, with frequencies ranging from 0.0092 to 0.6296. A total of 103 haplotypes were identified, among which 99 were individual-specific and four haplotypes were found twice. The haplotype diversity for these 12 Y-STR loci was 0.9993.

Invasive cervical carcinomas almost invariably carry extra copies of chromosome arm 3q, resulting in a gain of the human telomerase gene (TERC). This provided the rationale for the development of a multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probe set as a diagnostic tool for the direct detection of TERC gains in Pap smears. We previously used this probe set to show that cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2 and CIN3 lesions could be distinguished from normal samples, atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance (ASCUS) and CIN1, with a sensitivity and specificity exceeding 90%, independent of the cytomorphological assessment. In the current study, we explored whether gain of 3q and amplification of TERC could predict progression from CIN1/CIN2 to CIN3 and invasive carcinoma. We applied our probe set to a series of 59 previously stained Pap smears for which repeat Pap smears and clinical follow-up were available. The samples included CIN1/CIN2 lesions that progressed to CIN3 (progressors), CIN1/CIN2 lesions that regressed spontaneously (regressors), and normal Pap smears from women who subsequently developed CIN3 or cervical cancer. Here, we show that progressors displayed a gain of 3q whereas none of the regressors showed this genetic aberration. These data suggest that 3q gain is required for the transition from CIN1/CIN2 to CIN3 and that it predicts progression. Of note, 3q gain was found in 33% of cytologically normal Pap smears from women who were diagnosed with CIN3 or invasive cervical carcinoma after a short latency. The sensitivity of our test for predicting progression from CIN1/CIN2 to CIN3 was 100% and the specificity, ie, the prediction of regression, was 70%. We conclude that the detection of 3q gain and amplification of TERC in routinely collected Pap smears can assist in identifying low-grade lesions with a high progression risk and in decreasing false-negative cytological screenings.

Motivation: The identification of orthologous gene pairs is generally based on sequence similarity. Gene pairs that are mutually ‘best hits’ between the genomes being compared are asserted to be orthologs. Although this method identifies most orthologous gene pairs with high confidence, it will miss a fraction of them, especially genes in duplicated gene families. In addition, the approach depends heavily on the completeness and quality of gene annotation. When the gene sequences are not correctly represented the approach is unlikely to find the correct ortholog. To overcome these limitations, we have developed an approach to identify orthologous gene pairs using shared chromosomal synteny and the annotation of protein function. Results: Assembled mouse and human genomes were used to identify the regions of conserved synteny between these genomes. ‘Syntenic anchors’ are conserved non-repetitive locations between mouse and human genomes. Using these anchors, we identified blocks of sequences that contain consistently ordered anchors between the two genomes (syntenic blocks). The synteny information has been used to help us identify orthologous gene pairs between mouse and human genomes. The approach combines the mutual selection of the best tBlastX hits between human and mouse transcripts, and inferring gene orthologous relationships based on sharing syntenic anchors, collocating in the same syntenic blocks and sharing the same annotated protein function. Using this approach, we were able to find 19 357 orthologous gene pairs between human and mouse genomes, a 20% increase in the number of orthologs identified by conventional approaches. Contact: richard.mural@celera.com

The amino acid sequence of the light chain of Acanthamoebamyosin IC deduced from the cDNA sequence comprises 149 aminoacids with a calculated molecular weight of 16739. All but the 3N-terminal residues were also determined by amino acid sequencingof the purified protein, which also showed the N-terminus to beblocked. Phylogenetic analysis shows Acanthamoeba myosin IC lightchain to be more similar to the calmodulin subfamily of EF-handcalcium-modulated proteins than to the myosin II essential lightchain or regulatory light chain subfamilies. In pairwisecomparisons, the myosin IC light chain sequence is most similarto sequences of calmodulins (∼50% identical) and a squidcalcium-binding protein (∼43% identical); the sequence is∼37% identical to the calcium-binding essential light chainof Physarum myosin II and ∼30% identical to the essentiallight chain of Acanthamoeba myosin II, and the essential lightchain and regulatory light chain of Dictyostelium myosin II. Thesequence predicts four helix-loop-helix domains with possiblecalcium-binding sites in domains I and III, suggesting thatcalcium may affect the activity of this unconventional myosin.This is the first report of the sequence of an unconventionalmyosin light chain other than calmodulin

To investigate the influence of such individual factors as gender, age and tissues in vitro to the postmortem interval (PMI) by the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer in animal experiments. SD rats were classified into male and female groups, different age groups (21-day, 42-day and 63-day group), and tissues in vitro and in vivo groups. The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation, whose bodies were kept in a controlled environmental chamber set at (20+/-2) degrees C and 50% humidity. The liver, kidney, spleen, myocardium, brain, lung and skeletal muscle tissues were collected for measurement from time zero to 48 h postmortem. With the change of PMI, no obvious changes were found in the main FTIR absorbance peaks and their ratios at different time points. All the experimental groups showed no significant changes when compared with the controls. The gender, age and tissues in vitro were not found to be contributing factors in the estimation of PMI via FTIR spectroscopy.

A 2.91-billion base pair (bp) consensus sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome was generated by the whole-genome shotgun sequencing method. The 14.8-billion bp DNA sequence was generated over 9 months from 27,271,853 high-quality sequence reads (5.11-fold coverage of the genome) from both ends of plasmid clones made from the DNA of five individuals. Two assembly strategies—a whole-genome assembly and a regional chromosome assembly—were used, each combining sequence data from Celera and the publicly funded genome effort. The public data were shredded into 550-bp segments to create a 2.9-fold coverage of those genome regions that had been sequenced, without including biases inherent in the cloning and assembly procedure used by the publicly funded group. This brought the effective coverage in the assemblies to eightfold, reducing the number and size of gaps in the final assembly over what would be obtained with 5.11-fold coverage. The two assembly strategies yielded very similar results that largely agree with independent mapping data. The assemblies effectively cover the euchromatic regions of the human chromosomes. More than 90% of the genome is in scaffold assemblies of 100,000 bp or more, and 25% of the genome is in scaffolds of 10 million bp or larger. Analysis of the genome sequence revealed 26,588 protein-encoding transcripts for which there was strong corroborating evidence and an additional ∼12,000 computationally derived genes with mouse matches or other weak supporting evidence. Although gene-dense clusters are obvious, almost half the genes are dispersed in low G+C sequence separated by large tracts of apparently noncoding sequence. Only 1.1% of the genome is spanned by exons, whereas 24% is in introns, with 75% of the genome being intergenic DNA. Duplications of segmental blocks, ranging in size up to chromosomal lengths, are abundant throughout the genome and reveal a complex evolutionary history. Comparative genomic analysis indicates vertebrate expansions of genes associated with neuronal function, with tissue-specific developmental regulation, and with the hemostasis and immune systems. DNA sequence comparisons between the consensus sequence and publicly funded genome data provided locations of 2.1 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A random pair of human haploid genomes differed at a rate of 1 bp per 1250 on average, but there was marked heterogeneity in the level of polymorphism across the genome. Less than 1% of all SNPs resulted in variation in proteins, but the task of determining which SNPs have functional consequences remains an open challenge.

To investigate the changes of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and heat shock protein 60 (HSP 60) in rats without electric marks after electric injury, to identify the relationship of the CK-MB, HSP 60 and the time of electric injuries, and to evaluate the damage to cells after electric injury.The animal model of electric injury without electric marks was established by alternating current (voltage 110 V). Automatic biochemistry analyzer was used to detect the serum CK-MB and immunohistochemical staining technology was used to analyze the tissues of myocardium and left lobe of liver.The amount of serum CK-MB was increased when the rats were injuried, and reached the peak at 30min. Then the amount of CK-MB began to decrease and showed a slight downward trend in 3-5 h after electric injury, and leveled off at 6 h. Immunohistochemistry staining also showed the changes of HSP 60 of rats' myocardial cells and hepatic cells regularly after electric injury.The regular changes of serum CK-MB and tissular HSP 60 in rats can be used to diagnosis electric injury and assess the injury of internal organs after the electric injury without electric marks.

To explore medico-legal characteristics of sudden death caused by coronary heart disease combined with coronary thrombosis.Ninety-six cases of sudden death caused by coronary heart disease were collected and divided into two groups: thrombus positive and thrombus negative groups. The time onset, induction and pathological features of coronary artery disease were analyzed.Two groups showed man-dominant population. There were no statistical significant differences in season, circadian rhythm and induction factor. The thrombus positive group (age40) showed a higher disease incidence. Heart weight and degree of coronary stenosis were lower in thrombus positive group. However, there was no statistical difference in the number of atherosclerotic coronary arteries (or = 2), the length of coronary lesions and myocardial infarct. But thrombosis positive group showed lower tendency.Two groups are man-dominant population and similar induction factor, lesion position, mechanism of death. But thrombus positive group appeared more in a younger population and the degree of coronary stenosis is milder than thrombus negative group. Forensic pathologists should pay more attention to these characteristics in death investigation.

Estimation of the time since death (postmortem interval [PMI]) is one of the most difficult problems in forensic investigations, and many methods currently are utilized to estimate the PMI. The goal of this study was to investigate the changes of attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra of rat brain from postmortem time 0-144 h. The intensity ratios of major absorbance bands were examined (I(1066)/I(1392), I(1168)/I(1392), I(1234)/I(1454), I(1301)/I(1392), I(1647)/I(2956), I(2921)/I(2850), and I(1647)/I(1539)). The spectra of rat brain displayed prominent changes with increasing PMI. The band at 2871 and 1737 per cm became weak with the time increasing and even disappeared at postmortem 96 and 72 h, respectively. A close linear correlation was shown between the relative absorption intensity and the PMI, and the I(1234) /I(1454) offered a stronger correlation (r = 0.973). Our results indicate that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy may be a useful technique for estimating the PMI.

Estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is a practical task in daily forensic casework. Researches on PMI is an important practical project in forensic field. Estimation of the time since death is influenced by internal and external, antemortem and postmortem factors, thus the old methods have limitations. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been applied to study the pure protein, nucleic acid and carbohydrate and to detect the changes in complex cells and tissues. At present because the powerful software has could be used to achieve the spectrum transformation, smoothing, baseline correction and normalization, it is possible to analyze the samples quantitatively with the FTIR which has been applied in the biology and clinical medicine. This paper has reviewed the mechanism of FTIR and its application in biomedicine. The postmortem FTIR spectral changes were also discussed, which showed its potential for estimating PMI.

The aim of this study was to analyze killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) gene polymorphisms in the Tibetan ethnic minority of China. To that purpose, we have studied KIR gene frequencies and genotype diversities of 16 KIR genes and three pseudogenes (2DL1, 2DL2, 2DL3, 2DL4, 2DL5A, 2DL5B, 2DS1, 2DS2, 2DS3, 2DS4*001/002, 2DS4*003-007, 2DS5, 3DL1, 3DL2, 3DL3, 3DS1, 2DP1, 3DP1*001/002/004, and 3DP1*003) in a population sample of 102 unrelated healthy individuals of the Tibetan population living in Lhasa city, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Tibetans mainly live in “the roof of the world,” the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of China and surrounding areas stretching from central Asia in the North and West to Myanmar and mainland China in the East, and India, Nepal, and Bhutan to the south. KIR gene frequencies and statistical parameters of Tibetan ethnic minority were calculated. Fifteen KIR genes were observed in the 102 tested Tibetan individuals with different frequencies. The allelic frequencies of the 15 KIR genes ranged from 0.06 to 0.86. In addition, KIR 2DL1, 2DL4, 3DL2, and 3DL3 were found to be present in every individual. Variable gene content, together with allelic polymorphisms, can result in individualized human KIR genotypes and haplotypes, with the A haplotypes being predominantly observed. The results of tested linkage disequilibrium (LD) among KIR genes demonstrated that KIR genes present a wide range of linkage disequilibrium. Moreover, a comparison of the population data of our study with previously published population data of other ethnic groups or areas was performed. The differences of allelic frequency distribution in KIR2DL2, 2DL3, 2DL5, 3DL1, 2DS1, 2DS2, 2DS3, 3DS1, and 2DP1 were statistically significant among different populations using the statistical method of the standard χ 2 test. In conclusion, the results of the present study can be valuable for enriching the Chinese ethnical gene information resources of the KIR gene pool and for anthological studies, as well as for KIR-related disease research.

FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy was applied to observe the process of postmortem degradation in rats' cardiac muscle and provided a new method for the estimation of post-mortem interval (PMI).The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and the bodies were kept in a controlled environmental chamber set at (20 +/- 2) degrees C. The FTIR spectra was applied to measure the changes of different chemical group from rats' left ventricle muscle at the different time point postmortem.There were not obvious changes for the main FTIR absorbance peaks. But the different FTIR absorbance at the wave-number (cm(-1)) indicated the three types: increase, decrease, stable. The various absorbance ratios also demonstrated the similar changes.FTIR spectroscopy may be potentially used as an effective method for estimating PMI in forensic practice using cardiac muscle tissue.

In the present study, we investigated the genetic polymorphisms of 15 autosomal STR loci in the Russian population of northeastern Inner-Mongolia, China as well as its genetic relationships with other populations. DNA typing for 15 autosomal STR loci was performed on 148 randomly selected healthy individuals from the Russian population living in Eerguna, northeastern Inner-Mongolia. Allelic frequencies of these loci were calculated by direct counting. The genotype data of this Russian population was moreover compared to other populations using neighbor-joining method, as such constructing a phylogenic tree. A total of 143 alleles were found in the Russian population with corresponding allele frequencies in the range from 0.0034 to 0.5372. Among all the 15 loci, D18S51 had the highest polymorphism (PIC = 0.8632), whereas TPOX had the lowest (PIC = 0.5179). In the phylogenic tree, this Russian population has a close relationship with the populations of South Siberia and northeastern Asia. This study may increase our understanding of the genetic background of the Russian population in Eerguna, China as such providing useful information for anthropological research, forensic sciences as well as disease-association studies.

Purified spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activase supported 50 to 100% activation of substrate-bound Rubisco from spinach, barley, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), soybean (Glycine max L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), Arabidopsis thaliana, maize (Zea mays L.), and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii but supported only 10 to 35% activation of Rubisco from three Solanaceae species, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), petunia (Petunia hybrida L.), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.). Conversely, purified tobacco and petunia Rubisco activase catalyzed 75 to 100% activation of substrate-bound Rubisco from the three Solanacee species but only 10 to 25% activation of substrate-bound Rubisco from the other species. Thus, the interaction between substrate-bound Rubisco and Rubisco activase is species dependent. The species dependence observed is consistent with phylogenetic relationships previously derived from plant morphological characteristics and from nucleotide and amino acid sequence comparisons of the two Rubisco subunits. Species dependence in the Rubisco-Rubisco activase interaction and the absence of major anomalies in the deduced amino acid sequence of tobacco Rubisco activase compared to sequences in non-Solanaceae species suggest that Rubisco and Rubisco activase may have coevolved such that amino acid changes that have arisen by evolutionary divergence in one of these enzymes through spontaneous mutation or selection pressure have led to compensatory changes in the other enzyme.

To establish a database of high-fall death cases for future forensic study and practice, based on the scene investigation, injury characteristics and other informations.Five hundred and four cases of high-fall death from 5 provinces and cities were included in the study. Data including personal information of the deceased, scene investigation, autopsy findings, history of mental illness and the results of toxicology were collected and analyzed.The male accidental death rate was significantly higher than that of female. No case of suicide was found in the 0-10 age group, while the suicide rate was apparently higher in the 60 years or over age group than that of accident. Most of the accident cases occurred at workplace, with head landing first and foot or lower-extremity landing first observed from height below 10 m and between 10-25 m, respectively.The majority of cases have obvious conclusions. A substantial set of the cases, however, is still difficult to determine the mechanism of injury and the manner of death. So further study should be performed.

In the present study, FTIR spectroscopy was applied to observe the process of postmortem degradation in rat's brain and a lot of useful data for the estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) were provided. Sprague-Dawley male rats (weight 240 +/- 10 g) were chosen and sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The bodies were kept in a controlled environmental chamber set at (20 +/- 2) degrees C, and their brain cortex as the measuring sample which was extracted at 0, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 and 168 h from the 8 rats. The tissues were freeze dried in a vacuum at -50 degrees C overnight in order to dehydrate them. About 2 mg freeze dried tissues were mixed with 200 mg KBr and then ground in an agate mortar for 5 min. The mixture then was pressed into a pellet with a thickness of 0. 4 mm and a diameter of 12 mm. The FTIR spectra were quantitatively recorded at room temperature in the range 4 000-400 cm(-1) on a Shimadzu 8400S spectrometer (Shimadzu, Japan). IR solution 1.10 software (Shimadzu, Japan) was used for the analysis of the FTIR spectra and for recording the data from the spectra. With the PMI increasing, the peak position of main absorbance bands in the FTIR spectra showed no significant difference, but there was a dramatic variance in the intensity: (1) The relative intensity at 1 080 and 1 238 cm(-1) (I1 080/I1 398 and I1 238/I 398) related with nucleic acid tended to decrease obviously. (2) The intensity ratio at amide II and I (I1 541/I1 647) increased with the PMI increasing. The intensity at 1 338 and 1 313 cm(-1) varied slightly, but their intensity ratio to 1 398 cm(-1) decreased. (3) The intensity at 1 456 and 1 398 cm(-1) showed a trend of decreasing and increasing respectively. (4) Compared with the intensity at 2 871 cm(-1), the intensity at 2 852, 2 871, 2 923 and 2 958 cm(-1) tended to increase, but the increasing tendency at 2 871 cm(-1) was slight. It is concluded that FTIR spectroscopy is going to be an effective method for estimating the PMI in medicolegal practice and the brain tissue may be a suitable marker as a potential sample.