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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been discovered to exert essential roles in human cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma. Although circZFR has been reported to facilitate the growth of papillary thyroid cancer, the role of circZFR in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are largely unknown. In this study, bioinformatics analysis showed that circZFR was closely related with hepatocellular carcinoma. We then detect the expression of circZFR in HCC tissues using qRT-PCR. Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test revealed that high expression of circZFR was associated with the poor prognosis of patients with HCC. Subsequently, loss-of-function assay indicated that circZFR knockdown significantly suppressed cell proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HCC. In addition, microarray analysis was utilized to identify the differentially expressed mRNAs in response to circZFR knockdown. Moreover, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis further showed that circZFR might regulate Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The results were further confirmed by luciferase reporter assay and western blot assays. Then bioinformatics tools predicted that cicrZFR enhanced the CTNNB1 expression via sponging miR-3619-5p. In summary, our findings indicated that circZFR may exert carcinogenic role in HCC through regulating miR-3619-5p/CTNNB1 axis and activating Wnt/β-catenin pathway. These findings may provide a novel perspective for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Insufficient TB knowledge may increase the risk of contracting the disease among medical students. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of TB knowledge and analyse related determinants among medical students. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed among final-year medical students from three main undergraduate medical universities in Hunan Province. TB knowledge, attitude and practice were assessed using a questionnaire. A t-test and multiple linear regression analysis were conducted to explore the association between TB knowledge and influencing factors. Results The total mean percentage of correct answers for TB knowledge was 44.4% (SD 13.5%), including 52.5% (SD 16.8%) for epidemiology and prevention, 35.7% (SD 16.1%) for diagnosis, and 47.5% (SD 22.7%) for treatment. Medical students who reported observing at least one TB case and an X-ray of a TB patient had a higher percentage of correct answers for epidemiology and prevention (54.4% vs 43.9%, p

To report public health practitioners' perceptions of injury prevention in Changsha, China. We undertook a cross-sectional study at Changsha, Hunan, China. An anonymous self-reported survey was conducted to ascertain the proportion of respondents who answered negatively to questions about the value of injury prevention. Over 20% of respondents answered 'unpreventable' or 'don't know' to whether injuries from natural environmental disaster, homicide/assault, poisoning, animal bite, cut/pierce, suffocation and electric current were preventable. More than 40% of respondents answered 'no' or 'don't know' to whether the prevention of injuries from homicide/assault, cut/pierce, fall, suicide/self-harm, drowning, road traffic crash and fire/burn belonged to the job of public health. Only 48% of respondents supported building a division/office within the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions at all levels. Many public health practitioners in Changsha had misperception about injury prevention. Education and training are needed to correct their misperception.

To assess the health-related quality of life (QOL) of doctors and nurses using the recent free-access data.The health-related QOL data of doctors and nurses came from a sub-survey of the Fourth National Health Services Survey (NHSS) of China in 2008, which used the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions 3 level version (EQ-5D-3L) to measure the QOL. We used logistic regression to compare the percentage of respondents reporting any problems for each dimension of the EQ-5D-3L descriptive system between inhabitants aged 15-64 years and doctors and nurses.Fewer doctors and nurses reported problems in mobility (1.9%) than inhabitants aged 15-64 years (2.9%) (odds ratio = 0.65). No difference was detected in self-care problem. Compared with inhabitants aged 15-64 years, a relatively large proportion of doctors and nurses reported problems in usual activities (3.4% vs. 2.7%; odds ratio = 1.27), pain/discomfort (18.1% vs. 6.7%; odds ratio = 3.08), and anxiety/depression (24.6% vs. 5.1%; odds ratio = 6.07). The EQ-VAS score mean of doctors and nurses approached that of inhabitants aged 15-64 years (82 vs. 79).Compared with inhabitants aged 15-64 years, doctors and nurses have relatively poor health in usual activities, self-reporting pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression.

To predict the burden caused by fatal road traffic injuries from 2015 to 2030.We searched the websites of United Nations Population Division,United States Department of Agriculture, World Health Organization, China Energy Research Foundation and other agencies to obtain the predictive values of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, urbanization, motorization and education from 2015 to 2030 in China. Predicted values were then applied to log-linear models to estimate the numbers and years of life lost due to road traffic injuries from 2015 to 2030.The mortality rate caused by road traffic injury decreased slightly, from 13.7/100 000 in 2015 to 11.8/100 000 in 2030. 191, 189, 183, 169 thousand persons were estimated to die from road traffic crashes in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030, respectively, showing a declining trend. Years of Life Lost (YLLs) caused by road traffic deaths were predicted to be 6 918, 6 634, 6 189, 5 513 thousand years in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030, respectively, also showing a gradual downward trend. But the YLLs displayed an increase among people at 55 years of age or older, between 2015 and 2030. Results from the sensitivity analysis showed a stable forecasting result.Mortality, number of deaths and YLLs from road traffic crashes were predicted to decrease slightly, between 2015 and 2030 but the number of deaths and YLLs due to road traffic injuries will continue to increase from 2015 to 2030.

To develop the forecasting models for fatal road traffic injuries and to provide evidence for predicting the future trends on road traffic injuries.Data on the mortality of road traffic injury including factors as gender and age in different countries, were obtained from the World Health Organization Mortality Database. Other information on GDP per capita, urbanization, motorization and education were collected from online resources of World Bank, WHO, the United Nations Population Division and other agencies. We fitted logarithmic models of road traffic injury mortality by gender and age group, including predictors of GDP per capita, urbanization, motorization and education. Sex- and age-specific forecasting models developed by WHO that including GDP per capita, education and time etc. were also fitted. Coefficient of determination(R(2)) was used to compare the performance between our modes and WHO models.2 626 sets of data were collected from 153 countries/regions for both genders, between 1965 and 2010. The forecasting models of road traffic injury mortality based on GDP per capita, motorization, urbanization and education appeared to be statistically significant(P0.001), and the coefficients of determination for males at the age groups of 0-4, 5-14, 15-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+ were 22.7% , 31.1%, 51.8%, 52.3%, 44.9%, 41.8%, 40.1%, 25.5%, respectively while the coefficients for these age groups in women were 22.9%, 32.6%, 51.1%, 49.3%, 41.3%, 35.9%, 30.7%, 20.1%, respectively. The WHO models that were based on the GDP per capita, education and time variables were statistically significant (P0.001)and the coefficients of determination were 14.9% , 22.0%, 31.5%, 33.1% , 30.7%, 28.5%, 27.7% and 17.8% for males, but 14.1%, 20.6%, 30.4%, 31.8%, 26.7%, 24.3%, 17.3% and 8.8% for females, respectively.The forecasting models that we developed seemed to be better than those developed by WHO.

To examine the perception of the preventability of injury and needs on injury prevention knowledge among undergraduates.Stratified sampling and cluster sampling were used to select undergraduate students from 12 classes of three specialized fields of Central South University. A survey was carried out to understand beliefs of the preventability of injuries and knowledge needs on injury prevention.Over 80% of students believed that drowning (605/684), road traffic injuries (601/684), burns and suicide/self-harm (591/684) are most preventable, while merely 59.6% (408/684) and 56.4% (386/684) of students considered cut/pierce and homicide/assault most preventable. The beliefs of preventability of common injuries were not statistically significant between non-public-health medical students, public health students, and non-medical students (P0.05), with an exception for poisoning. 18.1% of students (124) reported to received short-term injury training or take lecture for injury prevention, and 27.9% of students (191) had ever read injury-related books. There were 60% (410/684) and 56% (383/684) of students respectively reporting needs for prevention knowledge about poisoning and road traffic injuries.Many undergraduates hold incorrect perception on the preventability of injuries, quite a few report knowledge needs for injury prevention.

To determine the prevalence and incidence of illness of two-week duration, and the factors influencing these, among residents 15 years and older in four counties of Hunan Province.Data were sampled from four counties of Hunan Province for the Fourth National Health Service Survey. Incidence and two-week prevalence of disease were used to assess the health service needs of residents. A non-conditional, stepwise logistic regression was employed to explore the influencing factors.The two-week prevalence and incidence were 11.5% and 3.9%, respectively, in four counties of Hunan. The three leading diseases of two-week prevalence were: respiratory diseases, digestive diseases, and musculoskeletal diseases. Non-conditional stepwise logistic regression showed that urban residents had 0.64 times the risk of two-week illness compared with the rural residents (P0.05); residents in the 45-59 year age group and the 60+ year age group had 1.69 and 2.62 times the risk of two-week illness compared with residents in the 15-44 year age group, respectively (P0.05). The widowed had 1.91 times the risk of prevalence of two-week illness contrasted to singles (P0.05); the students had 0.29 times the risk of two-week illness contrasted to the workers (P0.05); urban residents had 0.63 times the risk of two-week illness compared with the rural (P0.05); the widowed had 2.37 times the risk of incidence of two-week illness compared with singles (P0.05).The majority of health service needs of residents of four counties is generated by three diseases: respiratory diseases, digestive diseases, and musculoskeletal diseases. Relatively, rural residents, the elderly, employed persons and the widowed have higher health service needs than others and deserve specific attention.

To determine the incidence of traffic law violations among middle school students of Hunan province and to identify the influencing factors.Stratified sampling and cluster sampling were used to randomly select students from 96 classes of 16 middle schools. Road traffic law violations were measured through recalling the occurrence of 5 common violations in the prior year. Most of influencing factors were collected by self-designed questionnaire except for family support function and parenting that were measured by the family assessment device (FAD) and the parenting locus of control scale (PLOC), respectively. Kruskal Wallis H test and multinomial logistic regression were used to analyze the data.The overall incidence rate of five common traffic law violations among middle school students in Hunan province fell between 16.6%-43.3%. Except for running against traffic light or not using pedestrian crossings (8.2%), students with the other 4 traffic law violations merely accounted for less 4%. The rates of students with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kinds of traffic law violations were 25.3%, 17.8%, 10.2%, 6.2% and 3.4%, respectively. Logistic regression showed that there were 3 factors (area, junior or senior high school, and single child or not), 5 factors (area, junior or senior high school, sex, single child or not, and class leader or not) and 6 factors (type of school, junior or senior high school, sex, class leader or not, family support function, and type of family education) significantly associating with the occurrence of 1, 2, and 3 or more traffic law violations, respectively.Only a small proportion of students often or almost always break traffic law or break several traffic laws at the same time. Students with serious traffic law violations should be targeted by school safety education and intervention.

Single crystal Naβ″-Al 2 O 3 films have been prepared by a vapour reaction technique. The formation of Naβ″ -Al 2 O 3 phase is initiated by introducing Li + into the furnace atmosphere. Laue back-reflection X-ray photographs and SEM observation show perfect Naβ″-Al 2 O 3 single crystal film grows in the (001) direction under properly controlled conditions. SEM indicates the thickness of the film ≥40 μm. The formation mechanism of the single crystal Naβ″-Al 2 O 3 film has been studied and the microstructure, conductivity and luminescence observed.

The conductivity of hydronium-β″'Al 2 O 3 ceramics was determined between room temperature and 300 °C in humid atmospheres with P H2O between 0.03 and 0.93 atm. Conductivity was found to vary with H 2 O pressure and tended to steady values at given temperatures and H 2 O pressures. A novel resistive humidity sensor is proposed using hydronium-β″Al 2 O 3 .

The rate of electrical-field-assisted, hydronium-ion-exchange of K + -β″-Al 2 O 3 ceramics was investigated. A model based on ion migration from a decreasing source was proposed to interpret the kinetics of the exchange process. Results of the ion exchange experiment with ultrasonic field superimposition plus a cycling dc field are also reported.

The EMF generated by an NH 4 -β″-Al 2 O 3 solid-electrolyte, H 2 /air cell, has been measured for 5%, 20% and 100%H 2 anodes at 375–480 K. The hydrogen sensing efficiency of the cell was determined, suggesting application of the electrolyte for hydrogen detection. Preliminary results for H 3 O-β″ -Al 2 O 3 sensors are also described and compared with the NH 4 -β″ -Al 2 O 3 devices

The ion conduction behavior of microstructurally designed β″-Al 2 O 3 ceramics was studied by ac impedance spectroscopy. The experimental results for textured alkali and ammonium β″-aluminas are presented. Impedance spectra characteristics and microstructures are related

The hydronium-exchange process of bulk polycrystalline β″/β-Al2O3 has been investigated under different conditions. Diffusion was found to be extremely difficult because the highly resistant grain boundary network blocks passage of hydronium ions. Field-assistance accelerates the ion-exchange rate and the acid concentration-polarization can be diminished by reversing the applied field polarity with time. Increasing the acetic acid ion-exchange temperature and pressure also accelerated the exchange process. The process mechanisms of ion exchange are discussed.

Optimum composition and preparation conditions have been determined for improved proton-conductive β″/β alumina precursors. The K+ content was decreased from 0.4 to 0.2 mole fraction, reducing the β-alumina phase fraction to

The conductivity of K + /Rb + -s″-Al 2 O 3 ceramics with Rb mole fraction 0,0.07, 0.08, 0.12, 0.17, 0.21, 0.35, 0.60 and 1 has bee measured from 0–300°C. The influence of the mixed alkali effect on the conductivity and activation energy for conduction was determined and found significant in both grain boundaries and grains at the low temperatures. Temperature increase led to the grain mixed alkali effect vanishing and subsequent grain conductivity varied monotonically with ion substitution. The conductivity decreased steeply at low Rb concetrations in the binary system. The mixed alkali effect behavior is discussed.

The grain and grain-boundary electrical conductivities of polycrystalline β″ -aluminas were measured. It was found that grain-boundaries decrease the material conductivity substantially, especially when large ions are involved. The NH + 4 and H 3 O + ion-exchange rates are decreased significantly by grain-boundary effects. These observations are discussed in terms of grain-boundary structure and the degree of disorder thereat. Techniques for improvement of grain-boundary conductivity have been investigated.

Thermodynamic equilibria and equilibrium species distribution were calculated for the systems NH 3 -H 2 , NH 3 -H 2 O and NH 3 -H 2 -H 2 O. The simulation calculation suggested that if NH 3 -gas mixtures were used for NH + 4 -H 3 O + -β″ /β-Al 2 O 3 solid electrolyte fuel cells operated > 100°C, the EMF would be comparable with that of H 2 -O 2 fuel cells.

Polycrystalline samples of Na, K-β″ β -aluminas with a c0-textured microstructure have been successfully produced. Very fine, high-aspect-ratio, freeze-dried powder was pressed into thin disks and sintered. The high degree of preferential orientation in the resultant ceramics was revealed by XRD and SEM examination. A significant difference of electric conductivity between directions perpendicular and parallel to the pressing direction was determined by ac impedance spectroscopy, i.e., 2.7×10−6Ω−1 cm−1 and 2.2×10−4Ω−1 cm−1 respectively at 25°C for K-β″ β -aluminas.

The ac impedance conductivity of H 3 O + -β''/β-Al 2 O 3 ceramic electrolytes has been determined from 20 to 240°C in saturated steam and air. Conductivity equations describing the grain and grain boundary contributions to the total conductivity are: grain: (82.04/ T ) exp (− E a / kT ), E a =0.71 exp(−1.80× x −3 T ) eV, E a ≥0.228 eV ( T =297–411 K ), E a =0.228 eV , E a T =411–513 K ); and grain boundary: (2.108/ T ) exp(−0.22 eV/ kT ). Heating the ceramic electrolyte in air decreases the conductivity and simulation calculations suggest a diffusion-controlled dehydration process is responsible. The partial loss of the conductivity encountered in air ≈ 180°C is recovered on steam annealing.

The impedance spectra of (Na + -K + )-β′'/β-Al 2 O 3 ceramics have been measured between -100°C and 300°C. The total conductivity of the ceramics can be described in terms of conductivity of the β″- and β-Al 2 O 3 grains and their boundaries. The ionic conduction mechanism in the mixed-alkali/mixed-phase β″/β-alumina electrolytes is discussed.

The ionic transference number and electronic conductivity of H3O+-β″/β-Al2O3 ceramic electrolytes were measured at 293–429 K using the electrochemical cells: Pt, H2, HCl (0.1 m) ∣H3O+-β″/β-Al2O3∣ HCl (0.01 m), H2, Pt; Pt, H2+H2O(g) ∣H3O+- β″/β-Al2O3∣Pt; Pt, H2, H2O∣H3O+-β″/β-Al2O3∣O2, H2O, Pt. The ionic transference number is 0.99 0.02. The electron conductivity is described by 3.9×10-3 exp(-0.38 eV/kT), confirming the ionic transport nature of H3O+-β″ /gb-Al2O3.

Background Few published studies describe the complete injury profile of recruits in the basic military training in China. Aims/Objectives/Purpose To estimate the incidence rate of injuries among recruits in the basic military training (including training and non-training injuries) and to identify risk factors related to the occurrence of injuries. Methods A total of 1389 recruits were selected at random using two-stage sampling at six army camps and were prospectively followed from December 2010 to February 2011. Injury information was collected by the physicians. Incidence rate ratio (IRR) was used to measure the impact of factors based on two-level Poisson regression. Results/Outcomes In total, 130 injuries, 121 injured recruits were registered. The injury incidence rate was 9.4%, consisting of 20% non-training injuries. Injuries highly occurred at the fifth, sixth and ninth week. The most common injuries were sprain/strain/rub, accounting for 65.4% of all injuries. The majority of injury body was lower extremity, constituting 61.5% of all injuries. Fifty-three percent of training injuries occurred at physical training. Recruits from urban areas and who self-reported intolerable training intensity had high injury risk (IRR=1.51, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.22; IRR=2.32, 95% CI 1.46 to 3.70) compared to those from rural areas and who reported tolerable training intensity. Significance/Contribution to the Field In addition to training injuries, non-training injuries also cannot be neglected for injury prevention among recruits in the basic military training in China. Attention should be paid to recruits from urban areas and who reported intolerable training intensity, so as to prevent injuries among recruits in China.

The solid-melt equilibria curve between Na β″-Al 2 O 3 powder and Na-K chloride melts at 810°C has been obtained together with an accurate determination of the β″-Al 2 O 3 cell parameters for the entire Na-K composition range. The activities and their coefficients, chemical potentials and free energies for the different Na-K compositions have been calculated. Analysis of these thermodynamic properties indicates that K + strongly prefers the β″-Al 2 O 3 phase and K β- and β″-Al 2 O 3 are thermodynamically more stable than the Na analogs. The Na + and K + ions repulsively interact for 0 + ] + ]>0.93. These interactions are reflected by increases and decreases of the a 0 lattice parameter.

The structural determination of polycrystalline Na-K-β-and β″-aluminas with f ( β )=0.25∼0.35 by X-ray diffraction is described. It is shown that some characteristic peaks of the β-Al 2 O 3 and β″-Al 2 O 3 phases could be influenced by the possible existence of spinel (MgAl 2 O 4 ) in the MgO-stabilized polycrystals. The influence of the overlapping XRD peaks of the β- and β″-Al 2 O 3 phases on the determination of their lattice parameters is discussed.

Na + K + ion-echange at 810°C and 1200°C between high density β, β″-Al 2 O 3 multiphase specimens and KClNaCl melts has been investigated. It was found that the equilibrium conditions are affected significantly by the developed stresses. Microstresses are caused by the thermal expansion anisotropy of both phases and by the difference of alkali ion diffusion rates in the two phases. Macrostresses are introduced by compositional differences between the surface and interior of the specimens. The critical condition for the appearance of microfractures has been estimated using a simplified model. Based on the determination of the distribution gradient of the two kinds of ions, the residual macrostresses have also been calculated. Analysis of these two kinds of stress suggests failure of the material when conditions are such that they act concurrently.

Studies were undertaken on the synthesis of (Na, K)-s″/s-Al 2 O 3 . It was found that the β- and s″-Al 2 O 3 phase transformations are strongly influenced by the total content of alkali ions, the Na + /K + ratio and the dissolution of Mg 2+ in the β- and s″-Al 2 O 3 phases. Microstructural development during the sintering process is discussed.