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Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is affecting about 1% women of reproductive age. However, current studies have primarily focused on women with the views of male partners greatly absent from the literature. We conduct this research to investigate the psychosocial effect of POI on male partners and their perceptions of the disease.52 male partners of POI patient (experiment group) and 52 controls (control group) were available for analysis. Anxiety, depression, and marital relationship were assessed for male partners in both groups. A questionnaire about perceptions of POI was completed by the experiment group. Male partners of POI patient experienced greater levels of anxiety (10.96 versus 4.88; P < 0.01) and depression (12.23 versus 5.19; P < 0.01) compared with controls. In addition, they experienced worse marital relationship in several aspects than their counterparts. The findings also demonstrate that most POI patient male partners had inadequate and inaccurate knowledge about their partners' disease, which may be the results of insufficient professional counseling from health-care practitioners. Moreover, their understanding level of the disease was correlated to anxiety (r = −0.64; P < 0.01), depression (r = −0.38; P < 0.01), and communication (r = 0.28; P < 0.05). The study highlights the need for health-care services, as well as support and professional information resources aimed at POI patients' male partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to empirically investigate how susceptibility to social influence in new product adoption varies with one's structural location in a social network. Design/methodology/approach: The social network data were collected based on a sociometric network survey with 589 undergraduate students. Social network analysis and ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Findings: This study finds that consumers with high degree centrality (i.e. hubs) who have a large number of connections to others and consumers with high betweenness centrality (i.e. bridges) who connect otherwise distant groups in social networks are both less sensitive to informational influence from others. More importantly, the authors find evidence that consumers with moderate levels of degree/betweenness centrality are more susceptible to normative influence and status competition than those with low or high degree/betweenness centrality. The inverse-U patterns in the above relations are consistent with middle-status conformity and anxiety. Research limitations/implications: This research complements social influence and new product diffusion research by documenting important contingencies (i.e. network locations) in consumer susceptibility to different types of social influence from a social network perspective. Practical implications: The findings will assist marketers to leverage social influence by activating relevant social ties with effective messages in their network marketing strategies. Originality/value: This research provides a better understanding of the mechanisms driving susceptibility to social influence in new product diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amitriptyline (AMI) is a traditional tricyclic antidepressant that has been proven to exhibit neuroprotective effects in various neurological disorders. However, the underlying mechanism by which AMI attenuates lidocaine-induced neurotoxicity remains poorly understood. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an essential neurotrophin to neuronal development and survival in the brain, and recent studies have suggested that BDNF plays an important role in mediating lidocaine-induced neurotoxicity. The present study was performed to evaluate the protective effect of AMI against the neurotoxicity induced by lidocaine and to explore the role of BDNF-dependent autophagy in this process. The data showed that AMI pretreatment alleviated lidocaine-induced neurotoxicity, as evidenced by the restoration of cell viability, normalization of cell morphology, and reduction in the cell apoptosis index. In addition, autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) had a protective effect similar to that of AMI, but autophagy activator rapamycin eliminated the protective effect of AMI by suppressing mTOR activation. Moreover, at the molecular level, we found that AMI-mediated autophagy was involved in the expression of BDNF. The overexpression of BDNF or application of exogenous recombinant BDNF significantly suppressed autophagy and protected SH-SY5Y cells from apoptosis induced by Lido, whereas the neuroprotection of AMI was abolished by either knockdown of BDNF or use of a tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) inhibitor ANA-12 in SH-SY5Y cells. Overall, our findings demonstrated that the protective effect of AMI against lidocaine-induced neurotoxicity correlated with inhibition of autophagy activity through upregulation of BDNF expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the applicability of a-C-based films in aviation bearings, a novel superlattice composite multilayered WC-enhanced a-C (CWCC) film and a traditional nanocomposite WC/a-C (WCC) film were prepared by an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. The microstructures and mechanical properties of films were evaluated, and their friction behaviors under boundary lubrication conditions in aviation lubricant were intensively researched. In comparison to WCC film, the CWCC film showed significantly higher nanohardness and superior toughness attributing to its supperlattice multilayer structure and higher sp3 content. The EDS and Raman analyses indicate that there is only small amount of carbon on the wear scars against CWCC film, while evident tribofilms rich in phosphate and WO 3 formed on the wear scars against WCC film, leading to slightly lower friction coefficients of WCC film. However, CWCC film exhibits more superior wear resistance than WCC film. Especially, at 150 N and 200 N, the wear rate of CWCC film is only about 33.6% and 44.2% of that of WCC film, respectively. It was demonstrated that the novel CWCC film featuring excellent wear resistance in aviation lubricant possesses better potential for the application in aviation bearings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of flight conflict resolution and track recovery of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with complex obstacles in the fusion airspace, a geometric optimization method based on the velocity obstacle method is proposed, and the problem is described in strict mathematics. Firstly, according to the relative position and speed relationship between the UAV and the obstacle, the conflict type is determined based on the track pre-propelling model, and whether the conditions of each resolution strategy are met is also determined. Secondly, the corresponding resolution strategy is selected. After the resolution of the conflict is completed, the UAV will resume the original flight path. Then, geometric analysis and theoretical derivation prove that the model can effectively solve the flight conflict, and give the specific time of conflict resolution and track recovery. Finally, in the simulation, the proposed method chooses the conflict resolution strategy autonomously according to different sceneries, which shows that this method is simple and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pro-apoptotic Bax isoform Bax∆2 was originally discovered in cancer patients with a microsatellite guanine deletion (G8 to G7). This deletion leads to an early stop codon; however, when combined with the alternative splicing of exon 2, the reading frame is restored allowing production of a full-length protein (Bax∆2). Unlike the parental Baxα, Bax∆2 triggers apoptosis through a non-mitochondrial pathway and the expression in human tissues was unknown. Here, we analyzed over 1000 tissue microarray samples from 13 different organs using immunohistochemistry. Bax∆2-positive cells were detected in all examined organs at low rates (1–5%) and mainly scattered throughout the connective tissues. Surprisingly, over 70% of normal colon samples scored high for BaxΔ2-positive staining. Only 7% of malignant colon samples scored high, with most high-grade tumors being negative. A similar pattern was observed in most organs examined. We also showed that both Baxα and Bax∆2 can co-exist in the same cells. Genotyping showed that the majority of Bax∆2-positive normal tissues contain no G7 mutation, but an unexpected high rate of G9 was observed. Although the underlying mechanism remains to be explored, the inverse correlation of Bax∆2 expression with tissue malignancy suggests that it may have a clinical implication in cancer development and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Density functional theory was adopted in this work to reveal the reaction mechanism of CH2SH with HO2. Reaction rate constants were computed from 200 to 2000 K using the transition state theory combined with Wigner and Eckart tunneling correction. Moreover, localized orbital locator, atoms in molecules and Mayer bond order analyses were used to study the essence of chemical bonding evolution. Eleven singlet paths and three triplet ones are located on the potential surface (PES). The results show that the main products on the singlet PES are 1CH2S and H2O2, whereas on the triplet PES they are CH3SH + 3O2, which are coincident with the similar reaction of CH3S and HO2. This conclusion is also supported by rate constant calculation results. Interestingly, all the possible paths are involved in the hydrogen transfer. The results have provided underlying insights to the analogous reactions and further experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood malignancy, is characterized by recurring structural chromosomal alterations and genetic alterations, whose detection is critical in diagnosis, risk stratification and prognostication. However, the genetic mechanisms that give rise to ALL remain poorly understood.Methods: Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) in matched germline and tumor samples from 140 pediatric Chinese patients with ALL, we landscaped the gene mutations and estimated the mutation frequencies in this disease.Results: Our results showed that the top driver oncogenes having a mutation prevalence over 5% in childhood ALL included KRAS (8.76%), NRAS (6.4%), FLT3 (5.7%) and KMT2D (5.0%). While the most frequently mutated genes were KRAS, NRAS and FLT3 in B cell ALL (B-ALL), the most common mutations were enriched in NOTCH1 (23.1%), FBXW7 (23.1%) and PHF6 (11.5%) in T cell ALL (T-ALL). These mutant genes are involved in key molecular processes, including the Ras pathway, the Notch pathway, epigenetic modification, and cell-cycle regulation. Strikingly, more than 50% of mutations occurred in the high-hyperdiploid (HeH) ALL existed in Ras pathway, especially FLT3 (20%). We also found that the epigenetic regulator gene KMT2D, which is frequently mutated in ALL, may be involved in driving leukemia transformation, as evidenced by an in vitro functional assay.Conclusion: Overall, this study provides further insights into the genetic basis of ALL and shows that Ras mutations are predominant in childhood ALL, especially in the high-hyperdiploid subtype in our research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify reasons for nonparticipation by African Americans in cardiovascular pharmacogenomic research.Design: Prospective, open-ended, qualitative survey.Setting: Research staff approached patients eligible for the Discovery Project of The African American Cardiovascular pharmacogenomics CONsorTium in the inpatient or outpatient setting at four different institutions during September and October 2018.Participants: Potential Discovery Project participants self-identified as African American, aged >18 years, were on one of five cardiovascular drugs of interest, and declined enrollment in the Discovery Project.Main Outcome Measures: Reasons for nonparticipation.Methods: After declining participation in the Discovery Project, patients were asked, "What are your reasons for not participating?" We analyzed their responses using a directed content analytic approach. Ultimately, responses were coded into one of nine categories and analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: Of the 194 people approached for the Discovery Project during an eight-week period, 82 declined participation and provided information for this study. The most common reason for refusal was concern about the amount of blood drawn (19.5%). The next most common reasons for refusal to participate included concerns about genetic testing (14.6%) and mistrust of research (12.2%). Across study sites, significantly more patients enrolled in the inpatient than outpatient setting (P<.001). Significantly more women and younger individuals declined participation due to concerns about genetic testing and too little compensation (P<.05).Conclusions: Collection of blood samples and concerns about genetic testing are obstacles for the recruitment of African Americans to pharmacogenomics studies. Efforts to overcome these barriers to participation are needed to improve representation of minorities in pharmacogenomic research. Enrolling participants from inpatient populations may be a solution to bolster recruitment efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]