Developing a Novel Gene-Delivery Vector System Using the Recombinant Fusion Protein of Pseudomonas Exotoxin A and Hyperthermophilic Archaeal Histone HPhA.

Non-viral gene delivery system with many advantages has a great potential for the future of gene therapy. One inherent obstacle of such approach is the uptake by endocytosis into vesicular compartments. Receptor-mediated gene delivery method holds promise to overcome this obstacle.

Interferon alpha (IFNα)-induced TRIM22 interrupts HCV replication by ubiquitinating NS5A.

TRIM22, a tripartite-motif (TRIM) protein, is upregulated upon interferon alpha (IFNα) administration to hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. However, the physiological role of TRIM22 upregulation remains unclear. Here, we describe a potential antiviral function of TRIM22's targeting of the HCV NS5A protein.

Is acupuncture a placebo therapy?

Complementary therapies such as acupuncture are suggested to have enhanced placebo effects. Numerous high quality randomized controlled trials found that acupuncture is no better than its placebo control; however, patients in both real and sham acupuncture groups report clinically meaningful symptom improvements. A possible interpretation of these trials is that acupuncture acts entirely by engaging placebo mechanisms.

An upconversion nanoparticle--Zinc phthalocyanine based nanophotosensitizer for photodynamic therapy.

Recent advances in NIR triggering upconversion-based photodynamic therapy have led to substantial improvements in upconversion-based nanophotosensitizers. How to obtain the high efficiency of singlet oxygen generation under low 980 nm radiation dosage still remains a challenge. A highly efficient nanophotosensitizer, denoted as UCNPs-ZnPc, was constructed for photodynamic therapy, which is based on near infrared (NIR) light upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP) and Zn(II)-phthalocyanine (ZnPc) photosensitizer (PS).

The relationship between insulin-sensitive obesity and cardiovascular diseases in a Chinese population: results of the REACTION study.

Objective: Obesity and insulin resistance are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Whether insulin-sensitive obese individuals are at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases is still debated. We aim to investigate whether insulin-sensitive obesity associates with prevalent cardiovascular diseases and 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD) risk.

Two-year results of a randomized, phase III comparative trial of telbivudine versus lamivudine in Chinese patients.

Purpose: The burden of chronic hepatitis B infection is high in China, where prevalence exceeds 7 %. This was a randomized, double-blinded, phase III study of the efficacy and safety of telbivudine and lamivudine treatment at 104 weeks in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Methods: Hepatitis B e antigen-positive (n = 290) and -negative (n = 42) adults with nucleoside analog-naïve compensated chronic hepatitis B were randomized to receive telbivudine 600 mg/day or lamivudine 100 mg/day for 104 weeks.

Comparative analysis of portal cell infiltrates in antimitochondrial autoantibody-positive versus antimitochondrial autoantibody-negative primary biliary cirrhosis.

Unlabelled: Substantial evidence supports dysregulated B-cell immune responses in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), including the presence of serum antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs). However, recent reports from murine models of PBC suggest that B cells may also provide regulatory function, and indeed the absence of B cells in such models leads to exacerbation of disease. The vast majority of patients with PBC have readily detectable AMAs, but a minority (<5%) are AMA negative (AMA(-)), even with recombinant diagnostic technology.

Placebo analgesia, acupuncture and sham surgery.

Invasive procedures, such as surgery and acupuncture, are likely better than the others in terms of eliciting placebo analgesia. Understanding how invasive procedures can elicit enhanced placebo responses may provide new insights into mechanisms underlying placebo analgesia. In this essay, it is argued that sensory, cognitive and emotional factors are major determinants of the magnitude of placebo analgesia.

Anatomic localization of motor entry points and accurate regions for botulinum toxin injection in the flexor digitorum superficialis.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the motor entry points (MEPs) and the precise intramuscular nerve distribution of the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) and to provide accurate injection regions for botulinum toxin.

Methods: This study was performed on 46 fresh cadaveric arms with exposed intramuscular innervation of the FDS. For each main motor branch of the FDS, MEPs, where the nerve branch first pierced the muscle belly, and the proximal and distal limit points (PLPs and DLPs, respectively) of the terminal intramuscular nerve endings were located.

Prospective memory across adolescence: the effects of age and cue focality.

The present study examined the role of controlled attention in age differences in event-based prospective memory performance across adolescence. The researchers tested whether presenting the prospective memory cue in or out of focal awareness of the ongoing task (resulting in low versus high demands for controlled attention, respectively) might affect age-related prospective memory performance. In total, 119 Chinese participants ages 13 to 20 took part in this study (60 adolescents: age M = 13.

Prospective memory performance across adolescence.

In the present study, the authors explored age differences in event-based prospective memory (PM) across adolescence. The tasks consisted of an ongoing task (OT; i.e.

Innervated reverse island flap based on the end dorsal branch of the digital artery: surgical technique.

Fingertip or pulp loss of the fingers is observed frequently in unskilled workers. To reconstruct a sensate fingertip or pulp we designed the innervated reverse island flap based on the end dorsal branch of the digital artery, which was harvested from the dorsum of the middle phalanx. The sensation of the fingertip or pulp was re-established through coaptation of the proper branches of the digital dorsal nerves to the digital nerves.