Composite Indices of the Color-Picture Version of Boston Naming Test Have Better Discriminatory Power: Reliability and Validity in a Chinese Sample with Diverse Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Background: The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is the most widely used measure to assess anomia. However, it has been criticized for failing to differentiate the underlying cognitive process of anomia.

Objective: We validated the color-picture version of BNT (CP-BNT) in a sample with diverse neurodegenerative dementia diseases (NDDs).

A Color-Picture Version of Boston Naming Test Outperformed the Black-and-White Version in Discriminating Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer's Disease.

Despite the ubiquity of the Boston naming test (BNT) in clinical practice and research, concerns have been expressed about its poor quality pictures, insufficient psychometric properties, and cultural bias in non-English language backgrounds. We modified the black-and-white BNT with a set of color pictures since color effects have been suggested to improve naming accuracy in the visual naming test. This study aimed to examine and compare the reliability and validity of the color-picture version of BNT (CP-BNT) and the black-and-white version of BNT (BW-BNT) to differentiate amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) or mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) from the cognitive normals.

Erratum: Role of ursolic acid chalcone, a synthetic analogue of ursolic acid, in inhibiting the properties of CD133(+) sphere-forming cells in liver stem cells.

[This corrects the article on p. 1427 in vol. 8, PMID: 25973027.

Long noncoding RNA H19 regulates HIF-1α/AXL signaling through inhibiting miR-20b-5p in endometrial cancer.

In a variety of cancers, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were believed to play important roles. Nevertheless, possible molecular mechanism related to miR-20b-5p has not yet been explored in endometrial cancer. Differential lncRNAs in endometrial cancer were identified based on microarray analysis (GSE23339).

Analysis of the effect of rutin on GSK-3β and TNF-α expression in lung cancer.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of rutin treatment on the expression of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in A549 human lung carcinoma cells. The A549 cells were divided into control, cisplatin and rutin (low, middle and high) groups. ELISA and western blot analysis of TNF-α expression, 4',6-diamino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and GSK-3β immunofluorescence staining were used to investigate the effect of rutin in the human lung carcinoma cells, using cisplatin as a positive control.

Plasma levels of lysophosphatidic acid in ovarian cancer versus controls: a meta-analysis.

Background: In this study, using a meta-analysis approach, we examined the correlation between serum levels of lysophosphastidic acid (LPA) and ovarian cancer (OC).

Methods: Relevant published studies were identified from multiple scientific literature databases by using a pre-determined electronic and manual search strategy. The search results were screened through a multi-step process to select high-quality case-control studies suitable for the present meta-analysis.

Role of ursolic acid chalcone, a synthetic analogue of ursolic acid, in inhibiting the properties of CD133(+) sphere-forming cells in liver stem cells.

The expression of CD133 decreases with differentiation of tumor cell, indicating that CD133 is a specific marker for isolation and identification of CSCs. In the present study the effect of Ursolic acid chalcone (UAC) on CD133(+) hepatocellular carcinoma cell (HCC CSCs) differentiation, their self-renewal, tumorigenic capacity and sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs was studied. The results demonstrated that UAC inhibits the expression of CD133(+) in a dose and time-dependent manner in PLC/PRF/5 and Huh7 HCC cells.

[Expression of neural salient serine/arginine-rich protein 1 (NSSR1) in the development of mouse brain].

Objective: To investigate the expression of neural salient serine/arginine-rich protein 1 (NSSR1) in the development of mouse brain.

Methods: Brain samples were collected from mice with different developmental stages: 9, 12, 14 d before birth (E9, E12, E14) and 1 d, 3 weeks and 3 months after birth. The expression of NSSR1 in mouse brain at different developmental stages was detected by Western blot and the distribution of NSSR1 was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining.

[Temperature characteristics of huang-Ryes factor of all-trans-beta-carotene].

A visible absorption and Raman spectra of all-trans-beta-beta-carotene was measured in cyclohexanol solution in the temperature range from 68 degrees C to 26 degrees C. The results indicated that the visible absorption spectra are red-shifted, Raman scattering cross section increases, Huang-Ryes factor and electron-phonon coupling constants of CC bond vibration modes decreases with the temperature decreasing. The changes are interpreted using the theory of "coherent weakly damped electronic-lattice vibration model" and "effective conjugation length model".

[Temperature effect on the hydrogen bonding behavior between DMSO and water in aqueous DMSO solutions studied by raman spectroscopy].

In the present paper, DMSO/H2O mixture with the ratio of volume 1:1 was measured in the cooling process by Raman spectroscopy, and the Raman assignments was made to the DMSO molecular and water molecular. The results showed that the behavior between intra-molecular hydrogen bonds and inter-molecular hydrogen bonds of DMSO and water leads to the change in the Raman spectra of the S==O stretching vibration of DMSO and the O--H stretching vibration of water. Further analysis showed that the hydrogen bond between DMSO and water was enhanced in the course of temperature decreasing process (27 to -30 degrees C), and the intramolecular hydrogen bonds between water and water replaced the intermolecular hydrogen bonds of DMSO and water in the course of temperature decreasing process (-30 to -60 degrees C).

[Inhibition of GRP78 expression reverses cisplatin resistance in human ovarian cancer].

Objective: To explore the effects of GRP78 suppression on the sensitivity to cisplatin and elucidate the role and mechanism of GRP78 in ovarian cancer cisplatin resistance.

Methods: The GRP78 siRNA expression plasmid was constructed to suppress GRP78 expression. Cell viability was detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay.

[Expression and role of glucose-regulated protein 78 in ovarian serous adenocarcinoma].

Objective: To explore the expression and role of glucose-regulated protein 78 in ovarian serous adenocarcinoma.

Methods: The surgical specimens were collected from 126 cases of serous ovarian tumors and 30 cases of normal ovarian tissue. And the mRNA and protein expressions of GRP78 were detected by immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot.

[G6PD deficiency among children under 7 years old from Yunnan with unique ethnic minority origin].

Objective: To investigate the epidemiological status of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency among children from Yunnan with unique ethnic origins.

Methods: DNA samples from 11759 children were tested with fluorescent spot test, G6PD/6PGD quantitative ratio assay and hemoglobin electrophoresis.

Results: The detection rate of G6PD deficiency was 2.

[Efficient expression and purification of human beta-defensin-2 in E.coli].

Objective: To demonstrate the possibility of high-level expression of bioactive human beta-defensin-2 (hBD2) in E.coli, and to purify the recombinant hBD2.

Methods: DNA fragment containing mature hBD2 coding region (smhBD2-cDNA) was amplified by PCR, multiple copies of smhBD2-cDNA were linked using Bgl II and BamH I enzymes, pET32-nsmHBD2-cDNA with 1, 2, 4, or 8 copies of smhBD2-cDNA was constructed.

[Study on single nucleotide polymorphism of beta2 adrenoceptor gene in patients with pregnancy induced hypertension of northern China].

Objective: To study the association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at locus +46 of human beta(2)-adrenoceptor (beta(2)-AR) gene with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) in women from northern China.

Method: One hundred and eight women with PIH (PIH group) and ninety seven normal pregnant women (control group) were selected. SNP at locus +46 of human beta(2)-AR was genotyped using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method.