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Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT₃) binds to Janus kinase 2 (JAK₂) to initiate the JAK₂/STAT₃ signal transduction pathway, which plays an important role in cancer cell proliferation, immune regulation, reproduction, lipid metabolism, and other physiological processes of the organism. In this study, the cDNA sequence of the STAT₃ gene from grass carp was cloned using RACE (rapid-amplification of cDNA ends). Twelve characteristics of the STAT₃ gene and its encoded protein sequence were predicted and analyzed using bioinformatics methods; these features included the general physical and chemical properties, the hydrophobicity, the secondary structure and the three-dimensional structure of the protein. Quantitative real-time PCR was employed to detect grass carp STAT₃ expression pattern in different tissues. The results showed that the full-length STAT₃ gene from grass carp is 2739-bp long and contains a 216-bp 5'UTR, a 300-bp 3'UTR, and a 2223-bp open reading frame (ORF) that encodes a 740-amino acid peptide. The deduced protein exhibited 99%∼94% homology to the STAT₃ protein of zebrafish (Danio rerio), medaka (Oryzias latipes), turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), white-spotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis), mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and green pufferfish (Tetraodon fluviatilis). The deduced grass carp STAT₃ protein contains a protein interaction domain, an alpha domain, a DNA binding domain, and an SH2 domain. The STAT₃ protein of grass carp is a hydrophilic and non-secretory protein, and its molecular mass and isoeletronic point were found to be 98,5412.1 Da and 6.39, respectively. The structural elements of STAT₃ included α-helixes, β-sheets, and loops. The grass carp STAT₃ is expressed in all of the six tissues tested, which were the liver, spleen, gill, muscle, heart, and brain. The highest expression level was found in the liver (P < 0.05), whereas a significantly lower expression level was found in the spleen, gills, brain, and muscle (P < 0.05), and the lowest expression level was found in the heart (P < 0.05). This study provides a basis for further structural and functional exploration of the STAT₃ from grass carp, including its deduced protein and its signal transduction function., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Survivin and livin are two members of the inhibitor of apoptosis gene family, which have been found to be expressed in many human cancer tissues. But their expression could not be detected in normal adult tissue. The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic role of survivin and livin mRNA expression in the bronchial aspirates of patients with lung cancer. Seventy lung cancer patients and 26 benign lung disease patients participated in our study. The bronchial aspirates (bronchial wash or bronchoalveolar lavage fluids) obtained during bronchoscopy. Survivin and livin mRNA were determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze diagnostic performance of the two markers. Survivin and livin mRNA levels in patients with lung cancer were significantly higher than in those with benign lung disease (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). In lung cancer patients, specimens taken from cancerous bronchi had significantly higher levels of survivin and livin mRNA than specimens from the mirror side bronchi in the same patients (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). The best cutoff values of survivin and livin were selected according to ROC curves. The survivin mRNA expression in bronchial aspirates had sensitivity and specificity of 83 and 96% for diagnosis of lung cancer. Livin mRNA detection in bronchial aspirates showed 63% sensitivity and 92% specificity. Our findings suggest that survivin and livin mRNA detection in bronchial aspirates may be valuable diagnostic marker for the early diagnosis of lung cancer., (Copyright © 2012 UICC.)

Objective: To understand the schistosomiasis epidemic situation after the attainment of criteria for infection control, and evaluate the effect of control measures in Jinxian County, Jiangxi Province., Methods: The data of schistosomiasis epidemic situation including the infection rates of residents and Oncomelania snails were collected and analyzed statistically in the infection-controlled, transmission-controlled, and transmission-interrupted areas in Jingxian County from 2008 to 2011., Results: The antibody positive rates of population were decreasing year by year from 2008 to 2011 with the rate in the infection-controlled area being higher than the rates in the transmission-controlled and the transmission-interrupted areas. In the infection-controlled area, the stool examination positive cases decreased from 29 cases in 2008 to 1 in 2011. In 2008, the spots with infected snails in the infection-controlled area and the transmission-controlled area were 63 and 5 spots, respectively. The spots with infected snails in the infection-controlled and transmission-controlled areas in 2011 decreased by 95.23% and 80.00%, respectively compared with that in 2008., Conclusion: The schistosomiasis control measures are effective after the attainment of criteria for infection control, and the epidemic situation is stable in Jinxian County.

Objective: To evaluate the sodium content and energy of commercial dishes in 4 Chinese restaurants in Beijing., Methods: From June to August of 2011, 4 medium-sized restaurants were selected by convenience sampling method. Overall, 47 commercial dishes (including 9 cold dishes and 38 cooked dishes) consumed at least 6 times by consumers and provided by at least 2 restaurants were selected. One complete serving was selected for each dish to investigate its energy and sodium content, and calculate its sodium density., Results: The median value of sodium content in cold dishes and cooked dishes were 580, 522 mg/100 g (Z = 0.83, P > 0.05) or 1427, 2301 mg/serving (Z = 2.03, P < 0.05); the median sodium density for cold and cooked dishes were 1902 and 670 mg/1000 kJ (Z = 2.81, P < 0.01); the median value of energy in cold dishes and cooked dishes were 514, 717 kJ/100 g (Z = 2.15, P < 0.05) or 1113, 3492 kJ/serving (Z = 4.03, P < 0.05). Of the 47 dishes, 46.8% (22/47) exceeded the daily recommendation of sodium content for Chinese residents (2200 mg)., Conclusion: The commercial dishes in medium-sized Chinese restaurants provide a relatively higher energy and sodium. Cold dishes contain less energy but have high sodium density, so the sodium from these dishes could not be ignored.

Survivin and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) are two inhibitors of apoptosis that are expressed highly in most malignancies and may be diagnostic markers of cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of survivin and XIAP as tumor markers in malignant pleural effusion. Ninety-eight consecutive patients (including 56 malignant effusions and 42 benign effusions) with pleural effusion were enrolled in the study. Levels of survivin and XIAP mRNA in pleural fluid were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was also detected simultaneously. Results showed that levels of survivin and XIAP mRNA were significantly higher in malignant than in benign effusion (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively). In the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion, survivin achieved the highest sensitivity (89.3 %) and specificity (95.2 %), as compared with XIAP (66.1 % sensitivity and 85.7 % specificity), or CEA (71.4 % sensitivity and 80.9 % specificity). The combination of survivin and CEA reached 94.6 % sensitivity, with 90.5 % specificity, whereas the combined analysis of survivin and XIAP yielded the highest specificity (95.2 %) and a very good sensitivity (91.1 %). In conclusion, survivin mRNA assay is a useful tumor marker for discriminating malignant from benign pleural effusion. XIAP may be a good candidate for molecular detection of malignant effusion. The combination of survivin and CEA, or XIAP, can increase diagnostic performance.

Aligning protein sequences using a score matrix has became a routine but valuable method in modern biological research. However, alignment in the 'twilight zone' remains an open issue. It is feasible and necessary to construct a new score matrix as more protein structures are resolved. Three structural class-specific score matrices (all-alpha, all-beta and alpha/beta) were constructed based on the structure alignment of low identity proteins of the corresponding structural classes. The class-specific score matrices were significantly better than a structure-derived matrix (HSDM) and three other generalized matrices (BLOSUM30, BLOSUM60 and Gonnet250) in alignment performance tests. The optimized gap penalties presented here also promote alignment performance. The results indicate that different protein classes have distinct amino acid substitution patterns, and an amino acid score matrix should be constructed based on different structural classes. The class-specific score matrices could also be used in profile construction to improve homology detection.

Background and Objective: Survivin and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) in vitro mediate cancer cell survival and chemoresistance. Second mitochondria-derived activator of caspases (Smac), an antagonist of XIAP, has been shown in vitro to increase chemosensitivity. This study examined the prognostic value of survivin, XIAP and Smac in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with cisplatin-containing chemotherapy., Methods: Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure survivin, XIAP and Smac mRNA expression in transbronchial biopsy tumour specimens from 72 patients with advanced NSCLC before commencing chemotherapy. Outcome measures were response to chemotherapy, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS)., Results: Low expression of survivin was associated with good response to chemotherapy (P = 0.028). No association was found between XIAP and Smac expression levels and response to chemotherapy (P = 0.224 and P = 0.088, respectively). Patients with low survivin expression or high Smac expression had significantly longer PFS (P = 0.012 and P = 0.029, respectively) and OS (P = 0.007 and P = 0.031, respectively) compared with patients with high expression of survivin or low expression of Smac. XIAP expression was not correlated with PFS or OS. Additionally, PFS and OS in patients with performance status of 0 or 1 and stage IIIB were significantly longer than PFS and OS in patients with performance status (PS) of 2 and stage IV disease. Multivariate Cox regression analyses demonstrated that survivin and clinical stage were independent predictors for PFS and OS. Smac was an independent prognostic factor for OS, but not for PFS., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the expression levels of survivin and Smac, but not XIAP, predict the survival of patients with advanced NSCLC treated with chemotherapy.

A rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) method is developed for the qualitative identification of constituents in the flower buds of seven Lonicera species. The optimal condition of separation and detection were achieved on an AcQuity UPLC BEH C18 column with a gradient elution with acetonitrile and 0.1% acetic acid within 17 min. Among the 33 constituents detected, 6 caffeoylquinic acids (including caffeic acid), 8 flavonoids and 8 iridoid glycosides were characterized based on their fragmentation patterns in collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments and/or by comparison with standard compounds. In addition, to statistically establish the correlation and discrimination of the Lonicera species, principle component analysis (PCA) was applied in this study. Lonicera samples were divided into well-defined groups directly related to their species based on PCA in terms of the log transformed relative contents of the major caffeoylquinic acids (including caffeic acid) as the variables. All of results indicated that the method presented here is able to classify the sample species and to reveal characteristic details of the chemical constituents of different Lonicera species.

Zerovalent iron (nZVI) nanoparticles have long been used in the electronic and chemical industries due to their magnetic and catalytic properties. Increasingly, applications of nZVI have also been reported in environmental engineering because of their ability to degrade a wide variety of toxic pollutants in soil and water. It is generally assumed that nZVI has a core-shell morphology with zerovalent iron as the core and iron oxide/hydroxide in the shell. This study presents a detailed characterization of the nZVI shell thickness using three independent methods. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis provides direct evidence of the core-shell structure and indicates that the shell thickness of fresh nZVI was predominantly in the range of 2-4 nm. The shell thickness was also determined from high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HR-XPS) analysis through comparison of the relative integrated intensities of metallic and oxidized iron with a geometric correction applied to account for the curved overlayer. The XPS analysis yielded an average shell thickness in the range of 2.3-2.8 nm. Finally, complete oxidation reaction of the nZVI particles by Cu(II) was used as an indication of the zerovalent iron content of the particles, and these observations further correlate the chemical reactivity of the particles and their shell thicknesses. The three methods yielded remarkably similar results, providing a reliable determination of the shell thickness, which fills an essential gap in our knowledge about the nZVI structure. The methods presented in this work can also be applied to the study of the aging process of nZVI and may also prove useful for the measurement and characterization of other metallic nanoparticles.

Objective: To investigate the myocardial protective effect of Shenfu injection in patients undergoing valve replacement., Methods: Forty patients undergoing valve replacement surgery under cardio-pulmonary bypass (CPB) were randomly divided into two equal groups: group C (control group, given with 4:1 blood containing cardioplegic liquid during the CPB) and group SF (Shenfu injection, receiving the blood containing cardioplegic liquid with 20 ml/L of Shenfu injection additionally). Blood samples were withdrawn from the central vein before operation, 30 minutes after aorta declamping, and 4, 12, and 24 hours after CPB, to test the serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI), creatine phosphokinase (CK), and creatine phosphokinase isoenzyme (CK-MB)., Results: The CK, CK-MB, and cTnI level were normal before operation and there were no significant differences in these indexes between the two groups. 30 minutes after aorta declamping, the CK, CK-MB, and cTnI levels were higher than those before operation in both groups (P < 0.05, P < 0. 01), and the higher levels remained to 24 hours after CPB. 24 hours after CPB, the CK level of the group SF was significantly lower than that of the group C (P < 0.05), and 30 minutes after aorta declamping to 24 h after CPB, the CK-MB and cTnI levels were lower in the group SF compared with the group C (all P < 0. 05)., Conclusion: Shenfu injection decreases the level of CK, CK-MB and cTnI, and reduces the myocardial injury.

It is demonstrated that iron nanoparticles function as a sorbent and a reductant for the sequestration of Ni(II) in water. A relatively high capacity of nickel removal is observed (0.13 g Ni/g Fe, or 4.43 mequiv Ni(II)/g), which is over 100% higher than the best inorganic sorbents available. High-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HR-XPS) confirms that the zerovalent iron nanoparticles have a core-shell structure and exhibit characteristics of both hydrous iron oxides (i.e., as a sorbent) and metallic iron (i.e., as a reductant). Ni(II) quickly forms a surface complex and is then reduced to metallic nickel on the nanoparticle surface. The dual properties of iron nanoparticles may offer efficient and unique solutions for the separation and transformation of metal ions and other environmental contaminants.

Based on the statistical analysis of 119 human and 92 E. coli proteins it was found that for both human and E. coli, the mRNA sequences consisting of tri-codon and tetra-codon with high translation speed preferably code for alpha helices more than for coils. For beta strand, the preference/avoidance oscillates with the translation speed. Moreover, the non-homogeneous usages of tri-codon and tetra-codon with different translation speeds in a given secondary structure have also been found. These results cannot be simply explained by the effect of stochastic fluctuation.

Objective: To study the antiinflammatory effect of a compound TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) agent on animal models. The agent contains ant extractive and a blent of three herbal products, herba epimedii, fructus cnidii, and fructus lycii., Method: Three animal models to induce experimental inflammation in rats, including carrageenin--induced paw edema, cotton-ball granuloma and adjuvant induced arthritis, were chosen to study the antiinflammatory effect of the TCM agent., Result: The TCM agent showed a marked inhibitory effect on edema induced by all three types of inflammation in rats, the inhibitory rate of the TCM agent at the dose of 0.20, 0.40 and 0.80 g.kg-1 in granuloma model bing over 25% at 1 hour post oral administration, and being 23.8%, 22.7%, 39.7% at 6 hour. In addition, the TCM agent also showed a significant preventive as well as therapeutic effect on adjuvant induced arthritis in rats, and improved the pathological changes of the animal joints with the induced arthritis., Conclusion: TCM agent has significant antiinflammatory effects on the three above mentioned animal models.