[Effects of lead exposure on acid-sensing ion channel in hippocampus of baby-rats].

Objective: To observe the effects of chronic lead exposure on mRNA and protein expression of ASIC1a, ASIC2a, ASIC2b in hippocampus of baby-rats.

Methods: The Wistar pregnant rats were randomly divided into 3 groups fed with distilled water or lead contained water (0.2% and 1.

[Taking ilium inner table to repair the articular surface defects of complex fracture of tibial plateau].

Objective: To study the feasibility of application of ilium inner table to repair the articular surface defects of tibial plateau complex fractures.

Methods: Twenty-three patients with tibial plateau complex fractures included 17 males and 6 females with an average age of 28.3 years old ranging from 18 to 51 years.

Structural selection of graphene supramolecular assembly oriented by molecular conformation and alkyl chain.

Graphene molecules, hexafluorotribenzo[a,g,m]coronene with n-carbon alkyl chains (FTBC-Cn, n = 4, 6, 8, 12) and Janus-type "double-concave" conformation, are used to fabricate self-assembly on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface. The structural dependence of the self-assemblies with molecular conformation and alkyl chain is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculation. An interesting reverse face "up-down" way is observed in FTBC-C4 assembly due to the existence of hydrogen bonds.

Radon survey in dwellings of Gansu, China: the influence of thoron and an attempt for correction.

Alpha track detectors used in a previous investigation of the US National Cancer Institute and the China Ministry of Health on indoor radon ((222)Rn) in Gansu, China, proved to be influenced by (220)Rn (thoron), thus overestimating the (222)Rn level. Therefore, the detector was improved used in the previous survey. The new detectors allow discrimination between the two isotopes without any disturbance of the (222)Rn measurement.

Molecular dynamics simulation of interactions between a sodium dodecyl sulfate micelle and a poly(ethylene oxide) polymer.

We have performed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of an anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelle and a nonionic poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymer in aqueous solution. The micelle consisted of 60 surfactant molecules, and the polymer chain lengths varied from 20 to 40 monomers. The force field parameters for PEO were adjusted by using 1,2-dimethoxymethane (DME) as a model compound and matching its hydration enthalpy and conformational behavior to experiment.

[Investigation of key indoor air pollutants in residence in part of the cities in China].

Objective: To investigate indoor air pollution levels of total volatile organic compound (TVOC), benzene, toluene, xylene, formaldehyde, ammonia and radon in residence houses in part of the cities in China.

Method: The residence houses decorated within 12 months were selected simple randomly. Indoor air pollutants monitoring and epidemiology investigation were carried out from May 2002 to November 2004.

Does age or life expectancy better predict health care expenditures?

It is an unresolved issue whether age or (expected) remaining life years better predicts health care expenditures. We first estimate a set of hazard models to predict life expectancy based on individual demographic characteristics and health conditions, and then use regression analyses to compare the predictive power of age and life expectancy in explaining health care expenditures. This paper differs from previous studies in that it uses predicted life expectancy to address the censoring of death; as a result, this paper goes beyond the large health care expenditures at the end of life and the results apply to both deceased and survivors.

Electron impact ionization of water-doped superfluid helium nanodroplets: observation of He(H(2)O)(n)(+) clusters.

Electron impact mass spectra have been recorded for helium nanodroplets containing water clusters. In addition to identification of both H(+)(H(2)O)(n) and (H(2)O)(n)(+) ions in the gas phase, additional peaks are observed which are assigned to He(H(2)O)(n)(+) clusters for up to n=27. No clusters are detected with more than one helium atom attached.

[Antitumor activities of various immunoconjugates composed of lidamycin and anti-type IV collagenase monoclonal antibody].

This study is to investigate the antitumor activities of the immunoconjugates composed of anti-type IV collagenase monoclonal antibody 3G11 and lidamycin (LDM) prepared by different methods. The immunoconjugates were prepared by linking 2-iminothiolane modified 3G11 to lysine-69 of LDM apoprotein by SPDP and SMBS as the intermediate drug linker. Immunoreactivity of the conjugates was determined by ELISA.

Generation and antitumor effects of an engineered and energized fusion protein VL-LDP-AE composed of single-domain antibody and lidamycin.

Type IV collagenase plays a pivotal role in invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis of tumor. Single domain antibodies are attractive as tumor-targeting vehicle because of their much smaller size compared with antibody molecules produced by conventional methods. Lidamycin (LDM) is a potent enediyne-containing antitumor antibiotic.

An enediyne-energized single-domain antibody-containing fusion protein shows potent antitumor activity.

Single-domain antibodies are attractive as tumor-targeting vehicles because of their much smaller size than intact antibody molecules. Lidamycin is a macromolecular antitumor antibiotic, which consists of a labile enediyne chromophore (AE) and a noncovalently bound apoprotein (LDP). An enediyne-energized fusion protein VH-LDP-AE composed of single-domain antibody directed against type IV collagenase and lidamycin was prepared by a novel two-step method including DNA recombination and molecular reconstitution.

The Value of Elderly Disease Prevention.

Approximately 100 million elderly will enter Medicare over the next 25 years. We consider the potential benefits of interventions that would reduce or eliminate the most important risk factors for disease and spending. Effective control of hypertension could reduce health care spending $890 billion for these cohorts while adding 75 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

Thoron levels in traditional Chinese residential dwellings.

A survey on radon (222Rn), thoron (220Rn) and its decay products (220RnD) was conducted in Chinese traditional residential dwellings constructed with loam bricks or soil wall. The activity concentrations in 164 dwellings under investigation were 72.4+/-59.

Technological advances in cancer and future spending by the elderly.

This paper forecasts the consequences of scientific progress in cancer for total Medicare spending between 2005 and 2030. Because technological advance is uncertain, widely varying scenarios are modeled. A baseline scenario assumes that year 2000 technology stays frozen.

Disability and health care spending among medicare beneficiaries.

This paper forecasts the impact of changing disability rates on spending by Medicare beneficiaries. We adjust for differential changes in spending by the disabled because the composition of the disabled population and the intensity of their treatment are changing. Among community-dwelling elderly, spending growth among the least disabled grew more quickly than among the most disabled, which offsets some of the cost savings associated with declining disability rates.

The health and cost consequences of obesity among the future elderly.

Obesity could have serious consequences for older cohorts. We used a microsimulation to estimate lifetime costs, life expectancy, disease, and disability for seventy-year-olds based on body mass. Obese seventy-year-olds will live about as long as those of normal weight but will spend more than 39,000 dollars more on health care.

The lifetime burden of chronic disease among the elderly.

The high costs of treating chronic diseases suggest that reducing their prevalence would improve Medicare's financial stability. In this paper we examine the impact of selected chronic diseases on the distribution of health spending and its variation over the course of disease. We also use a microsimulation model to estimate these conditions' impact on life expectancy and health spending from age sixty-five to death.

Consequences of health trends and medical innovation for the future elderly.

Recent innovations in biomedicine seem poised to revolutionize medical practice. At the same time, disease and disability are increasing among younger populations. This paper considers how these confluent trends will affect the elderly's health status and health care spending over the next thirty years.

Characterization and application of monoclonal antibodies against N protein of SARS-coronavirus.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) causes an infectious disease through respiratory route. Diagnosing the disease effectively and accurately at early stage is essential for preventing the disease transmission and performing antiviral treatment. In this study, we raised monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV and mapped epitopes by using different truncated N protein fragments.

Antitumor activity of anti-type IV collagenase monoclonal antibody and its lidamycin conjugate against colon carcinoma.

Aim: Type IV collagenase including MMP-2 and -9 plays an important role in cancer cell invasion and metastasis and is an attractive target for mAb-directed therapy. The immunoreactivity of mAb 3G11, a mAb directed against type IV collagenase in human colorectal carcinomas, was studied by immuno-histochemical (IHC) staining. mAb 3G11 was conjugated to an antitumor antibiotic lidamycin (LDM).

Antitumor efficacy of lidamycin on hepatoma and active moiety of its molecule.

Aim: To study the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effect of lidamycin (LDM) on hepatoma and the active moiety of its molecule.

Methods: MTT assay was used to determine the growth inhibition of human hepatoma BEL-7402 cells, SMMC-7721 cells and mouse hepatoma H22 cells. The in vivo therapeutic effects of lidamycin and mitomycin C were determined by transplantable hepatoma 22 (H22) in mice and human hepatoma BEL-7402 xenografts in athymic mice.

Adjusting lung cancer risks for temporal and spatial variations in radon concentration in dwellings in Gansu Province, China.

Our recent study in Gansu Province, China reported an increasing risk of lung cancer with increasing residential radon concentration that was consistent with previous pooled analyses and with meta-analyses of other residential studies (Wang et al., Am. J.

Disability forecasts and future Medicare costs.

The traditional focus of disability research has been on the elderly, with good reason. Chronic disability is much more prevalent among the elderly, and it has a more direct impact on the demand for medical care. It is also important to understand trends in disability among the young, however, particularly if these trends diverge from those among the elderly.

The spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is cleaved in virus infected Vero-E6 cells.

Spike protein is one of the major structural proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus. It is essential for the interaction of the virons with host cell receptors and subsequent fusion of the viral envelop with host cell membrane to allow infection. Some spike proteins of coronavirus, such as MHV, HCoV-OC43, AIBV and BcoV, are proteolytically cleaved into two subunits, S1 and S2.