Changes in telomere length and serum neurofilament light chain levels in female patients with chronic insomnia disorder.

Study Objectives: The aims of this study were to explore changes in the telomere length (relative telomere repeat copy/single-copy gene [T/S ratio]) and serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels in female patients with chronic insomnia disorder (CID), examine their relationships with emotional abnormalities and cognitive impairment, and determine whether these 2 indicators were independently associated with sleep quality.

Methods: The CID group contained 80 patients diagnosed with CID, and 51 individuals constituted a healthy control group. Participants completed sleep, emotion, and cognition assessments.

RNAi as a tool to control the sex ratio of mouse offspring by interrupting Zfx/Zfy genes in the testis.

The objective of this study was to explore a novel method to alter the sex-ratio balance of mouse offspring by silencing the paralogous genes Zfx/Zfy (Zinc finger X/Y-chromosomal transcription factor gene) during spermatogenesis. Four recombined vectors PRZ1, PRZ2, PRZ3, and PRZ4 (RNAi-Ready-pSIREN-RetroQ-ZsGreen) were constructed for interrupting the Zfx gene. Additionally, a recombined vector Psilencer/Zfy-shRNA was constructed for interrupting the Zfy gene.

Global reduction of the epigenetic H3K79 methylation mark and increased chromosomal instability in CALM-AF10-positive leukemias.

Chromosomal translocations generating fusion proteins are frequently found in human leukemias. The fusion proteins play an important role in leukemogenesis by subverting the function of one or both partner proteins. The leukemogenic CALM-AF10 fusion protein is capable of interacting with the histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79)-specific methyltransferase hDOT1L through the fused AF10 moiety.

[Causes of benign central airway stenoses and the efficacy of interventional treatments through flexible bronchoscopy].

Objective: To analyze the causes of benign central airway stenoses and to evaluate the efficacy of interventional treatments through flexible bronchoscopy.

Methods: Three hundred and eighty-six outpatients and inpatients with benign central airway stenoses in our hospital from January 1999 to December 2006 were retrospectively analyzed. Interventional treatments through flexible bronchoscopy were used to treat the benign central airway stenoses.

[Preparation of a composite coagulant from fly ash and its application in domestic wastewater treatment].

Fly ash was investigated as a raw material for the preparation of a composite coagulant with sulfuric acid. Types of acid solution, H2SO4 concentration, ratio of H2SO4 to fly ash and stirring time were respectively examined as factors that influenced the efficiency of converting the iron and aluminum components into a composite coagulant and coagulation performance on domestic wastewater. The coagulant was attained at the condition of H2SO4-fly ash ratio of 5 mL/g, H2SO4 of 2 mol/L, stirring time of 4h and stabling time of 30 min, and contained Fe3+ of 0.

Association of Dnmt3a and thymine DNA glycosylase links DNA methylation with base-excision repair.

While methylcytosines serve as the fifth base encoding epigenetic information, they are also a dangerous endogenous mutagen due to their intrinsic instability. Methylcytosine undergoes spontaneous deamination, at a rate much higher than cytosine, to generate thymine. In mammals, two repair enzymes, thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) and methyl-CpG binding domain 4 (MBD4), have evolved to counteract the mutagenic effect of methylcytosines.