Aim: Thalassaemia is a good candidate disease for control by preventive genetic programmes in developing countries. Accurate population frequency data are needed for planning the control of ...thalassaemia in the high risk Guangdong Province of southern China. Methods: In total, 13 397 consecutive samples from five geographical areas of Guangdong Province were analysed for both haematological and molecular parameters. Results: There was a high prevalence of carriers of α thalassaemia (8.53%), β thalassaemia (2.54%), and both α and β thalassaemia (0.26%). Overall, 11.07% of the population in this area were heterozygous carriers of α and β thalassaemia. The mutation spectrum of α and β thalassaemia and its constitution were fully described in this area. This study reports the true prevalence of silent α thalassaemia in the southern China population for the first time. In addition, two novel mutations that give rise to α thalassaemia, one deletion resulting in β thalassaemia, and a rare deletion (−−THAI allele) previously unreported in mainland China were detected. The frequency of the most common mutation, the Southeast Asian type of deletion (−−SEA, accounting for 48.54% of all α thalassaemias) was similar to the total of two α+ thalassaemia deletions (−α3.7 and −α4.2, accounting for 47.49% of α thalassaemia). Conclusion: Both α and β thalassaemia are widely distributed in Guangdong Province of China. The knowledge gained in this study will enable the projected number of pregnancies at risk to be estimated and a screening strategy for control of thalassaemia to be designed in this area.
Cell invasion and migration significantly contribute to tumor metastasis. Microtubule-associated protein 4 (MAP4) protein is one member of microtubule-associate proteins family. It is responsible for ...stabilization of microtubules by modulation of microtubule dynamics. However, there is little information about the involvement of MAP4 in human cancer. Here we show that MAP4 serves as a regulator of invasion and migration in esophageal squamous cancer cells. By activating the ERK-c-Jun-vascular endothelial growth factor A signaling pathway, MAP4 promotes cell invasion and migration in vitro, tumor growth and metastasis in mouse models. Immunohistochemical staining of operative tissues indicated that MAP4 expression was associated with tumor stage, lymph node metastasis and shorter survival of the patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that MAP4 is an independent prognostic indicator. In the serial sections of ESCC tissues, there was a positive correlation between MAP4 and vascular endothelial growth factor A expression. Notably, an intratumoral injection of MAP4-small interfering RNA (siRNA) remarkably inhibited the growth of the tumors that formed by the MAP4-expressing ESCC cells in nude mice, and a combination of MAP4-siRNA and Bevacizumab significantly enhanced the inhibition effect. Our data suggest that MAP4 is probably a useful prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for the disease.
Patterns of suicide rates in China differ in many ways from those in the West. This study aimed to identify the risk factors characteristic for young rural Chinese suicides.
This was a case-control ...psychological autopsy (PA) study. The samples were suicides and living controls (both aged 15-34 years) from 16 rural counties of China. We interviewed two informants for each suicide and each control with pretested and validated instruments to estimate psychosocial, psychiatric and other risk factors for suicides.
The prevalence of mental disorders was higher among the young Chinese who died by suicide than among the living controls, but was lower than among suicides in the West. Marriage was not a protecting factor for suicide among young rural Chinese women, and never-married women who were involved in relationships were about three times more likely to commit suicide than single women who were unattached. Religion/religiosity was not a protecting factor in Chinese suicide, as it tended to be stronger for suicides than for controls. Impulsivity was significantly higher for suicides than for controls. Psychological strain, resulting from conflicting social values between communist gender equalitarianism and Confucian gender discrimination, was associated significantly with suicide in young rural Chinese women, even after accounting for the role of psychiatric illness.
Risk factors for suicide in rural China are different from those in the West. Psychological strain plays a role in suicide. Suicide prevention programs in China should incorporate culture-specific considerations.
Highlights • Sevoflurane-induced neuronal apoptosis could be attenuated by mGluR7 activator LAP4 or AMN082. • β-Arr2-dependent Phospho-ERK1/2 reduces sevoflurane neurotoxicity by inhibiting ...Phospho-Bad. • β-Arr1 modulates mGluR7 signaling by interacting with CBP and p300 in sevoflurane neurotoxicity. • LAP4 or AMN082 improves postnatal sevoflurane-induced emotional and spatial cognitive deficits.
Ti–6Al–4V (wt%) bar and disk with a density close to 100%, a lamellar structure and oxygen content of 0.44 and 0.51wt%, respectively, have been made by powder compact extrusion and powder compact ...forging of HDH Ti–6Al–4V powder respectively. Their microstructure, tensile mechanical properties at different strain rates in the range of 10−4–10−1s−1 and the fracture surfaces and longitudinal sections of the tensile test specimens have been studied. It was found that the level of consolidation of the PE/Ti–6Al–4V bar and PF/Ti–6Al–4V disk was very high, as reflected by their high strength and good ductility, small untransformed interparticle boundaries (smaller than 3μm in sizes), and low volume fraction of cavities (<1.5%) formed by separation of powder particles at the untransformed interparticle boundaries in the specimens tensile tested at a high strain rate of 10−2s−1. The high level of consolidation achieved within a short time through induction heating and extrusion/forging of the Ti–6Al–4V powder compacts suggests that the rate of transforming interparticle boundaries to grain boundaries is very high, and the reasons for this might be formation of new powder particle surfaces through plastic deformation and rapid dissolution of the powder particle surface oxide films. The formation of cavities from the untransformed interparticle boundaries in the PE/Ti–6Al–4V bar and PF/Ti–6Al–4V disk is highly strain rate sensitive with the number and volume fraction of the cavities formed increases significantly with increasing the strain rate.
We present the first measurements of the electric and magnetic form factors of the neutron in the timelike (positive q^{2}) region as function of four-momentum transfer. We explored the differential ...cross sections of the reaction e^{+}e^{-}→nover ¯n with data collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII accelerator, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 354.6 pb^{-1} in total at twelve center-of-mass energies between sqrts=2.0-2.95 GeV. A relative uncertainty of 18% and 12% for the electric and magnetic form factors, respectively, is achieved at sqrts=2.3935 GeV. Our results are comparable in accuracy to those from electron scattering in the comparable spacelike region of four-momentum transfer. The electromagnetic form factor ratio R_{em}≡|G_{E}|/|G_{M}| is within the uncertainties close to unity. We compare our result on |G_{E}| and |G_{M}| to recent model predictions, and the measurements in the spacelike region to test the analyticity of electromagnetic form factors.
Using (10 087±44)×10^{6} J/ψ events collected with the BESIII detector, the radiative hyperon decay Σ^{+}→pγ is studied at an electron-positron collider experiment for the first time. The absolute ...branching fraction is measured to be (0.996±0.021_{stat}±0.018_{syst})×10^{-3}, which is lower than its world average value by 4.2 standard deviations. Its decay asymmetry parameter is determined to be -0.652±0.056_{stat}±0.020_{syst}. The branching fraction and decay asymmetry parameter are the most precise to date, and the accuracies are improved by 78% and 34%, respectively.
PDF
