Lack of association between the GRP78 polymorphisms in the promoter and 3' UTR and susceptibility to chronic HBV infection in a Chinese Han population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection causes large amount of unfolding or false-folding protein accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which in turn induces the expression of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78). The aim in the present study was to analyse the potential association between GRP78 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the risk of HBV infection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The associations between seven common <it>GRP78 </it>polymorphisms in the promoter (rs391957, rs17840762, rs17840761, rs11355458) and in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) (rs16927997, rs1140763, rs12009) and possible risk of chronic HBV infection were assessed in a case-control study. 496 cases and 539 individually matched healthy controls were genotyped.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, no associations were observed in genotypic analyses. In addition, haplotypes and diplotypes combining those SNPs in the promoter or in the 3' UTR in high linkage disequilibrium (LD) were also not associated with HBV risk.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These observations do not support a role for <it>GRP78 </it>polymorphisms in HBV infection in a predominantly Chinese Han population.</p

EMMNet: Sensor Networking for Electricity Meter Monitoring

Smart sensors are emerging as a promising technology for a large number of application domains. This paper presents a collection of requirements and guidelines that serve as a basis for a general smart sensor architecture to monitor electricity meters. It also presents an electricity meter monitoring network, named EMMNet, comprised of data collectors, data concentrators, hand-held devices, a centralized server, and clients. EMMNet provides long-distance communication capabilities, which make it suitable suitable for complex urban environments. In addition, the operational cost of EMMNet is low, compared with other existing remote meter monitoring systems based on GPRS. A new dynamic tree protocol based on the application requirements which can significantly improve the reliability of the network is also proposed. We are currently conducting tests on five networks and investigating network problems for further improvements. Evaluation results indicate that EMMNet enhances the efficiency and accuracy in the reading, recording, and calibration of electricity meters

Concomitant SK current activation and sodium current inhibition cause J wave syndrome

The mechanisms of J wave syndrome (JWS) are incompletely understood. Here, we showed that the concomitant activation of small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) current (IKAS) and inhibition of sodium current by cyclohexyl-[2-(3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-1-yl)-6-methyl-pyrimidin-4-yl]-amine (CyPPA) recapitulate the phenotypes of JWS in Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts. CyPPA induced significant J wave elevation and frequent spontaneous ventricular fibrillation (SVF), as well as sinus bradycardia, atrioventricular block, and intraventricular conduction delay. IKAS activation by CyPPA resulted in heterogeneous shortening of action potential (AP) duration (APD) and repolarization alternans. CyPPA inhibited cardiac sodium current (INa) and decelerated AP upstroke and intracellular calcium transient. SVFs were typically triggered by short-coupled premature ventricular contractions, initiated with phase 2 reentry and originated more frequently from the right than the left ventricles. Subsequent IKAS blockade by apamin reduced J wave elevation and eliminated SVF. β-Adrenergic stimulation was antiarrhythmic in CyPPA-induced electrical storm. Like CyPPA, hypothermia (32.0°C) also induced J wave elevation and SVF. It facilitated negative calcium-voltage coupling and phase 2 repolarization alternans with spatial and electromechanical discordance, which were ameliorated by apamin. These findings suggest that IKAS activation contributes to the development of JWS in rabbit ventricles

Mechano-chemical selections of two competitive unfolding pathways of a single DNA i-motif

The DNA i-motif is a quadruplex structure formed in tandem cytosine-rich sequences in slightly acidic conditions. Besides being considered as a building block of DNA nano-devices, it may also play potential roles in regulating chromosome stability and gene transcriptions. The stability of i-motif is crucial for these functions. In this work, we investigated the mechanical stability of a single i-motif formed in the human telomeric sequence 5′-(CCCTAA)3CCC, which revealed a novel pH and loading rate-dependent bimodal unfolding force distribution. Although the cause of the bimodal unfolding force species is not clear, we proposed a phenomenological model involving a direct unfolding favored at lower loading rate or higher pH value, which is subject to competition with another unfolding pathway through a mechanically stable intermediate state whose nature is yet to be determined. Overall, the unique mechano - chemical responses of i-motif-provide a new perspective to its stability, which may be useful to guide designing new i-motif-based DNA mechanical nano-devices. ? 2014 Chinese Physical Society and IOP Publishing Ltd

Overexpression and Small Molecule-Triggered Downregulation of CIP2A in Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with a five-year overall survival rate of only 15%. Cancerous inhibitor of PP2A (CIP2A) is a human oncoprotein inhibiting PP2A in many human malignancies. However, whether CIP2A can be a new drug target for lung cancer is largely unclear.Normal and malignant lung tissues were derived from 60 lung cancer patients from southern China. RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate the expression of CIP2A. We found that among the 60 patients, CIP2A was undetectable or very low in paratumor normal tissues, but was dramatically elevated in tumor samples in 38 (63.3%) patients. CIP2A overexpression was associated with cigarette smoking. Silencing CIP2A by siRNA inhibited the proliferation and clonogenic activity of lung cancer cells. Intriguingly, we found a natural compound, rabdocoetsin B which is extracted from a Traditional Chinese Medicinal herb Rabdosia coetsa, could induce down-regulation of CIP2A and inactivation of Akt pathway, and inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in a variety of lung cancer cells.Our findings strongly indicate that CIP2A could be an effective target for lung cancer drug development, and the therapeutic potentials of CIP2A-targeting agents warrant further investigation

Measurement of the Inclusive Charm Cross Section at 4.03 GeV and 4.14 GeV

The cross section for charmed meson production at $\sqrt{s} = 4.03$ and 4.14 GeV has been measured with the Beijing Spectrometer. The measurement was made using 22.3 $pb^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ data collected at 4.03 GeV and 1.5 $pb^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ data collected at 4.14 GeV. Inclusive observed cross sections for the production of charged and neutral D mesons and momentum spectra are presented. Observed cross sections were radiatively corrected to obtain tree level cross sections. Measurements of the total hadronic cross section are obtained from the charmed meson cross section and an extrapolation of results from below the charm threshold.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures. The top level tex file is paper.tex. It builds the paper from other tex files in this .tar and the .eps file

Measurement of the Total Cross Section for Hadronic Production by e+e- Annihilation at Energies between 2.6-5 Gev

Using the upgraded Beijing Spectrometer (BESII), we have measured the total cross section for $e^+e^-$ annihilation into hadronic final states at center-of-mass energies of 2.6, 3.2, 3.4, 3.55, 4.6 and 5.0 GeV. Values of $R$, $\sigma(e^+e^-\to {hadrons})/\sigma(e^+e^-\to\mu^+\mu^-)$, are determined.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Study of the P-wave charmonium state \chi_{cJ} in \psi(2S) decays

The processes $\psi(2S)\to \gamma \pi^+ \pi^-$, $\gamma K^+ K^-$ and $\gamma p \bar{p}$ have been studied using a sample of $3.7 \times 10^6$ produced $\psi(2S)$ decays. We determine the total width of the $\chi_{c0}$ to be $\Gamma^{tot}_{\chi_{c0}} = 14.3\pm 2.0\pm 3.0$ MeV. We present the first measurement of the branching fraction $B(\chi_{c0} \to p \bar{p}) = (16.3 \pm 4.4 \pm 5.4)\times 10^{-5}$, where the first error is statistical and the second one systematic. Branching fractions of $\chi_{c0,2} \to \pi^+ \pi^-$ and $K^+ K^-$ are also reported.Comment: 10 pages, revtex, 3 figures, 2 table