[Relations between self-discrimination of MSM and sexual behavior and psychological factors].

Objective: To understand the self-discrimination experience of MSM and its relationship with sexual behavior and psychological factors.

Methods: By respondent-driven sampling (RDS) method, a call-for action and anonymous self-administration questionnaire investigation was carried out in Mianyang city on experience of self-discriminations, sexual partners and behaviors and depression symptom, etc. The first 12 qualified people were designated as the "root" in the whole investigation from different MSM subgroups.

Photoelectrocatalytic degradation of 4,4'-dibromobiphenyl in aqueous solution on TiOâ‚‚ and doped TiOâ‚‚ nanotube arrays.

Polybrominated biphenyls have been widely used as flameretardants in textile and electronic industries, and additives in plastics. Over the past few decades, much attention has been given to polybrominated biphenyls in the environment and their effects on humans. In this paper, we studied on the degradation of 4,4'-dibromobiphenyl, a typical one of polybrominated biphenyls, through photoelectrocatalytic process with TiOâ‚‚, Zr/TiOâ‚‚ and Zr, N/TiOâ‚‚ nanotube arrays.

Characterization of three terpenoid glycosyltransferase genes in 'Valencia' sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck).

Three putative terpenoid UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes, designated CsUGT1, CsUGT2, and CsUGT3, were isolated and characterized in 'Valencia' sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck). CsUGT1 consisted of 1493 nucleotides with an open reading frame encoding 492 amino acids, CsUGT2 consisted of 1727 nucleotides encoding 504 amino acids, and CsUGT3 consisted of 1705 nucleotides encoding 468 amino acids.

A theoretical study on the exciton circular dichroism of propeller-like metal complexes of bipyridine and tripodal tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine derivatives.

Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) has been employed to simulate the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of bipyridyl ruthenium(II) complexes as well as zinc(II) and copper(II) complexes containing tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPA) derivatives. A qualitative model is used to account for the mechanism by which the bis- and tris-bipyridine complexes (or analogous systems) exhibit exciton CD. The model is further used to predict the sign of the exciton CD bands.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit- and neuronal-type dependence of excitotoxic signaling through post-synaptic density 95.

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) mediate excitatory synaptic transmission during repetitive or prolonged glutamate release, playing a critical role in synaptic plasticity or cell death, respectively. Evidence indicates that a major pathway of NMDAR signaling to cell death in cortical and hippocampal neurons requires the scaffolding protein post-synaptic density 95 (PSD-95) and activation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase. However, it is not known if this PSD-95-dependent pathway contributes to excitotoxicity in other brain regions.

Quantifying the magnitude of the impact of climate change and human activity on runoff decline in Mian River Basin, China.

Runoff in North China has been dramatically declining in recent decades. Although climate change and human activity have been recognized as the primary driving factors, the magnitude of impact of each of the above factors on runoff decline is still not entirely clear. In this study, Mian River Basin (a watershed that is heavily influenced by human activity) was used as a proxy to quantify the contributions of human and climate to runoff decline in North China.

Nanofluids research: key issues.

Nanofluids are a new class of fluids engineered by dispersing nanometer-size structures (particles, fibers, tubes, droplets) in base fluids. The very essence of nanofluids research and development is to enhance fluid macroscopic and megascale properties such as thermal conductivity through manipulating microscopic physics (structures, properties and activities). Therefore, the success of nanofluid technology depends very much on how well we can address issues like effective means of microscale manipulation, interplays among physics at different scales and optimization of microscale physics for the optimal megascale properties.

Inhibition of transglutaminase 2 mitigates transcriptional dysregulation in models of Huntington disease.

Caused by a polyglutamine expansion in the huntingtin protein, Huntington's disease leads to striatal degeneration via the transcriptional dysregulation of a number of genes, including those involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. Here we show that transglutaminase 2, which is upregulated in HD, exacerbates transcriptional dysregulation by acting as a selective corepressor of nuclear genes; transglutaminase 2 interacts directly with histone H3 in the nucleus. In a cellular model of HD, transglutaminase inhibition de-repressed two established regulators of mitochondrial function, PGC-1alpha and cytochrome c and reversed susceptibility of human HD cells to the mitochondrial toxin, 3-nitroproprionic acid; however, protection mediated by transglutaminase inhibition was not associated with improved mitochondrial bioenergetics.

Quantitative analysis of miRNA expression in several developmental stages of human livers.

Aim: miRNAs have been found to regulate gene expression at a posttranscriptional level in cells. Studies have shown that expression of miRNAs is tissue-specific and developmental stage-specific. The mechanism behind this could be explained by miRNA pathways.

Rapid mycoplasma culture for the early diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.

Early diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) plays a pivotal role in its management. We evaluated the role of rapid culture method in early diagnosis of Mp infection and discussed the potential impact factors. A total of 2,600 patients with acute respiratory infection were included, and their pharyngeal swab samples were prepared for Mp rapid culture based on selective Mp fluid culture medium.

Systems-level metabolic flux profiling elucidates a complete, bifurcated tricarboxylic acid cycle in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Obligatory anaerobic bacteria are major contributors to the overall metabolism of soil and the human gut. The metabolic pathways of these bacteria remain, however, poorly understood. Using isotope tracers, mass spectrometry, and quantitative flux modeling, here we directly map the metabolic pathways of Clostridium acetobutylicum, a soil bacterium whose major fermentation products include the biofuels butanol and hydrogen.

Loose and strict repeats in weighted sequences of proteins.

A weighted sequence is a string in which a set of characters may appear at each position with respective probabilities of occurrence. Weighted sequences are able to summarize poorly defined short sequences, as well as the profiles of protein families and complete chromosome sequences. Thus it is of biological and theoretical significance to design powerful algorithms on weighted sequences.

Effects of STAT3 silencing on fate of chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a transcription factor, is constitutively activated in various types of cancers. Previous investigations have demonstrated that this overexpression of STAT3 in human malignancies plays important roles in maintaining the characteristics of malignant tumors by having an effect on proliferation, differentiation, and/or immortalization. Thus, inhibition of STAT3 expression could be a potent therapeutic approach in cancer treatment.

Decompressive craniectomy in addition to hematoma evacuation improves mortality of patients with spontaneous basal ganglia hemorrhage.

We conducted a retrospective study to assess the effect of decompressive craniectomy on outcome of patients with spontaneous basal ganglia hemorrhage (SBH). A review of a hospital database was performed to search for patients with a diagnosis of SBH who received hematoma evacuation with (N=38) or without (N=46) decompressive craniectomy in our institute from January 2005 to January 2008. Descriptive statistics revealed that patients in the decompressive craniectomy group were in poorer clinical condition before surgery.

Magnesium sulphate in the management of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: a meta-analysis of prospective controlled trials.

Primary Objective: Experimental and clinical studies have suggested that magnesium has neuroprotective and vasodilatation properties. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effectiveness and safety of intravenous magnesium therapy in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH).

Research Design: Meta-analysis.

Effects of chlorimuron-ethyl and cadimum on biomass growth and cadimum accumulation of wheat in the phaiozem area, Northeast China.

The joint effect of chlorimuron-ethyl and cadmium (Cd) on biomass growth and cadmium accumulation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was investigated and compared with single-factor effect of soil cadmium pollution. The results showed that dry biomass of wheat had significantly (p < 0.

Treatment of primary CNS germinomatous germ cell tumors with chemotherapy prior to reduced dose whole ventricular and local boost irradiation.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a reduced irradiation dose strategy for newly diagnosed primary central nervous system (CNS) germinomas.

Methods: Twenty patients with histologically diagnosed localized pure germinoma (n = 19) or germinoma with a mature teratoma component (n = 1) received four cycles of carboplatin and etoposide at 3-week intervals. In 18 patients, chemotherapy was followed by whole ventricular irradiation to 21.

Electronic structure and circular dichroism of tris(bipyridyl) metal complexes within density functional theory.

Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) has been employed to calculate the electronic circular dichroism (CD) spectra of tris-bidentate iron group complexes [M(L-L)(3)](2+) (M = Fe, Ru, Os; L-L = 2,2'-bipyridine). The simulated CD spectra are compared with the experiment, and reasonably good agreement is obtained. In this study, much effort has been made to interpret the exciton CD arising from the long-axis-polarized pi --> pi* excitations in the ligands of the complexes.

Hydrophilic biopolymer grafted on poly(dimethylsiloxane) surface for microchip electrophoresis.

A novel covalent strategy was developed to modify the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) surface. Briefly, dextran was selectively oxidized to aldehyde groups with sodium periodate and subsequently grafted onto amine-functionalized PDMS surface via Schiff base reaction. As expected, the coated PDMS surface efficiently prevented the biomolecules from adsorption.

[A comparative cytogenetic analysis in large scale between adult and childhood patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia].

This study was purposed to comparatively analyze the cytogenetic characteristics between 566 cases of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (aALL) and 586 cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL). The cytogenetic analysis of all the patients was performed, and the FISH detection for partial patients was carried out. The result showed that the difference of chromosome abnormality between cALL and aALL was statistically significant.

Evaluation of photodynamic therapy using topical aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride in the treatment of condylomata acuminata: a comparative, randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: To determine the safety and efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with topical application of 20% wt/vol aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride (ALA) in the treatment of condylomata acuminata (CA).

Study Design: Patients with CA were randomly allocated into the ALA-PDT group and the CO(2) laser group in an allocation ratio of 3 : 1. The treatment was repeated weekly if necessary, but no more than 3 times.

Identification of miRNAs in a liver of a human fetus by a modified method.

Background: miRNAs are 17-25 nucleotides long RNA molecules that have been found to regulate gene expression in human cells. There are studies showing that different groups of miRNAs are involved in development of different tissues. In hepatocytes there are reported particular types of miRNAs that regulate gene expression.

Interaction of postsynaptic density protein-95 with NMDA receptors influences excitotoxicity in the yeast artificial chromosome mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Evidence suggests that NMDA-type glutamate receptors contribute to degeneration of striatal medium-sized spiny neurons (MSNs) in Huntington's disease (HD). Previously, we demonstrated that NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated current and/or toxicity is increased in MSNs from the yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) transgenic mouse model expressing polyglutamine (polyQ)-expanded (mutant) full-length human huntingtin (htt). Others have shown that membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs), such as PSD-95 and SAP102, modulate NMDAR surface expression and excitotoxicity in hippocampal and cortical neurons and that htt interacts with PSD-95.

Monte Carlo simulation of thermal fluctuations below the onset of Rayleigh-Bénard convection.

The density fluctuations below the onset of convection in the Rayleigh-Bénard problem are studied with the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. The particle simulation results clearly show the connection between the static correlation functions of fluctuations below the critical Rayleigh number and the flow patterns above the onset of convection for small Knudsen number flows (Kn=0.01 and Kn=0.