FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WRITING ANXIETY

ABSTRACT: Researchers have attempted to identify and define the construct of anxiety i

Effect of Thiazolidinedione Amide on Insulin Resistance, Creactive Protein and Endothelial Function in Young Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Purpose: To investigate the effect of thiazolidinedione amide (TZDA) treatment on high-sensitivity Creactive protein (hsCRP) levels and endothelial dysfunction in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).Methods: Twenty five women (mean age 24.7 ± 3.9 years; mean body mass index (BMI), 23.2 ± 4.0 kg/m2) with PCOS were treated with 15 μM TZDA daily for 12 months. Serum levels of testosterone, leutenizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), insulin and hsCRP were measured. BMI, hirsutism scores and insulin sensitivity indices were also calculated prior to and after TZDA treatment. Brachial artery responses to stimuli was used to measure arterial endothelium and smooth muscle function prior to and after the treatment.Results: TZDA treatment caused a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in serum testosterone from 93.1 ± 40.3 to 54.8 ± 19.5 ng/dl and fasting insulin concentration from 11.9 ± 6.8 to 9.23 ± 5.13 U/mL. Insulin resistance index significantly (p < 0.05) improved and hirsutism score decreased significantly from 11.6 ± 2.0 to 6.8 ± 2.0. BMI, waist circumference, serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)- cholesterol, FSH and LH levels remained almost unchanged. Twenty-four of the women reverted to regular menstrual cycles. SHBG levels showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase from 24.8 ± 9.5 to 49.1 ± 13.5 nmol/L after TZDA treatment. Serum hsCRP levels decreased (p < 0.05) from 0.25 ± 0.1 to 0.09 ± 0.02 mg/dL while endothelium-dependent vascular responses significantly improved (p < 0.05) following TZDA treatment (9.9 ± 3.9 vs 16.4 ± 5.1%).Conclusion: TZDA treatment improves insulin sensitivity, decreases androgen production and improves endothelial dysfunction in young women with PCOS.Keywords: Thiazolidinedione amide, Insulin sensitivity, Endothelial dysfunction, Polycystic ovary syndrom

Inequalities in Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake Between Chinese Migrant Women and Local Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Uptake of cervical cancer screening services in Chinese migrant workers is unknown and may be lower than non-migrant workers in China. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among migrant and non-migrant women aged 21-65 at 7 provinces across China and administered a questionnaire investigating knowledge and attitudes regarding cervical cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV), and HPV vaccine. We used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate odds of previous cervical cancer screening in migrant workers. Results: 737 women participated in the study. Mean age was 41.9 ± 7.2 years. 50.2% of the participants were migrant workers. 27.6% of the migrant workers reported previous cervical cancer screening compared to 33.2% of local participants. 36.6% migrant workers reported awareness of HPV compared to 40.2% of local participants. In adjusted analysis migrant status was not associated with increased odds of previous cervical cancer screening (aOR = 1.11 95%CI: 0.76-1.60). High school or higher education compared to less than high school education and employer-sponsored insurance compared to uninsured were associated with increased odds of previous cervical cancer screening (aOR = 2.15 95%CI: 1.41-3.27 and aOR = 1.67 95% CI: 1.14-2.45, respectively). Having heard of HPV compared to no awareness of HPV was associated with increased odds of cervical cancer screening (aOR = 2.02 95%CI: 1.41-2.91). Awareness of HPV among migrant workers was associated with increased odds of cervical cancer screening compared to migrant and local participants without awareness (aOR = 2.82 95% CI: 1.70-4.69 and 2.97 95%CI: 1.51-5.83, respectively). Conclusions: Efforts to increase education opportunities, provide insurance, and promote HPV awareness could increase cervical cancer screening uptake in migrant women in China

Gene Clusters Located on Two Large Plasmids Determine Spore Crystal Association (SCA) in Bacillus thuringiensis Subsp. finitimus Strain YBT-020

Crystals in Bacillus thuringiensis are usually formed in the mother cell compartment during sporulation and are separated from the spores after mother cell lysis. In a few strains, crystals are produced inside the exosporium and are associated with the spores after sporulation. This special phenotype, named ‘spore crystal association’ (SCA), typically occurs in B. thuringiensis subsp. finitimus. Our aim was to identify genes determining the SCA phenotype in B. thuringiensis subsp. finitimus strain YBT-020. Plasmid conjugation experiments indicated that the SCA phenotype in this strain was tightly linked with two large plasmids (pBMB26 and pBMB28). A shuttle bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library of strain YBT-020 was constructed. Six fragments from BAC clones were screened from this library and discovered to cover the full length of pBMB26; four others were found to cover pBMB28. Using fragment complementation testing, two fragments, each of approximately 35 kb and located on pBMB26 and pBMB28, were observed to recover the SCA phenotype in an acrystalliferous mutant, B. thuringiensis strain BMB171. Furthermore, deletion analysis indicated that the crystal protein gene cry26Aa from pBMB26, along with five genes from pBMB28, were indispensable to the SCA phenotype. Gene disruption and frame-shift mutation analyses revealed that two of the five genes from pBMB28, which showed low similarity to crystal proteins, determined the location of crystals inside the exosporium. Gene disruption revealed that the three remaining genes, similar to spore germination genes, contributed to the stability of the SCA phenotype in strain YBT-020. Our results thus identified the genes determining the SCA phenotype in B. thuringiensis subsp. finitimus

Human papillomavirus viral load as a useful triage tool for non-16/18 high-risk human papillomavirus positive women: A prospective screening cohort study

ASCCP cervical cancer screening guidelines recommend triaging high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) positive women with cytology and genotyping, but cytology is often unavailable in resource-limited areas. We compared the long-term risk of cervical cancer and precancers among type-specific hrHPV-positive women triaged by viral load to cytology and visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA).A cohort of 1742 Chinese women was screened with cytology, VIA, and Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) test and followed for ten years. All HC2-positive samples were genotyped. Viral load was measured by HC2 relative light units/cutoff (RLU/CO). Ten-year cumulative incidence rate (CIR) of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2 +) for type-specific hrHPV viral load was estimated using Kaplan-Meier methods.Baseline hrHPV viral load stratified by specific genotypes was positively correlated with prevalent cytological lesions. Ten-year CIR of CIN2 + was associated with cytological lesions and viral load. Among HPV 16/18-positive women, ten-year CIR of CIN2 + was high, even with normal cytology (15.3%), normal VIA (32.4%), viral load with RLU/CO < 10 (23.6%) or RLU/CO < 100 (33.8%). Among non-16/18 hrHPV positive women, ten-year CIR of CIN2 + was significantly stratified by cytology grade of atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance or higher (2.0% VS. 34.6%), viral load cutoffs at 10 RLU/CO (5.1% VS. 27.2%), at 100 RLU/CO (11.0% VS. 35.5%), but not by VIA (19.1% VS. 19.0%).Our findings support the guidelines in referring all HPV16/18 positive women to colposcopy and suggest triaging non-16/18 hrHPV positive women using viral loads in resource-limited areas where cytology screening was inaccessible

Clinical analysis of 1 case of solitary brain metastases misdiagnosed as cerebral infarction

目的  通过报告1例误诊为脑梗死的单发性脑转移瘤患者的诊断过程，总结单发性脑转移瘤的临床、影像学特征及诊断治疗方法。方法  回顾性分析1例单发性脑转移瘤患者的诊断过程，并复习有关文献。结果  脑转移瘤常多发，单发者仅占25%，发病年龄以40～60岁多见，原发病灶以肺最常见。脑转移瘤常位于脑叶灰白质交界处，不同部位的肿瘤可出现不同的临床表现，影像学上常表现为“小病灶、大水肿”，与颅内原发肿瘤不易区分，头颅CT或 MRI增强检查并查到其他部位的原发肿瘤病灶后可确定诊断。目前主张单发性脑转移瘤应进行手术切除，术后辅以立体定向放射治疗和全脑放射治疗。结论  15%的脑转移瘤患者既往无肿瘤病史，因此诊断脑瘤后须在身体其他部位查找有无原发病灶，避免误诊、漏诊。对于中老年肺癌或其他恶性肿瘤患者，无论有无中枢神经系统症状，均应积极进行头颅CT甚至MRI检查，以发现较小的早期脑转移瘤病灶。对于易患肺癌人群，应该每年体检，进行胸部X线检查或低剂量CT筛查，以便早期发现肺癌病灶，早期治疗，防止肿瘤转移。Objective: To report 1 case was misdiagnosed as cerebral infarction solitary brain metastases (SBM) in patients with diagnosis process, and to summarize the clinical and imaging features of the SBM and its treatment. Methods: To retrospectively analyze the diagnostic process of 1 case of SBM patients, and to have literature review. Results: Patients with solitary and multiple brain metastases accounted for only 25%, the onset age was 40 ~ 60 years old, and the most common primary lesion is in lung. Brain metastases are often on the border, in between lobes grey matter. Different parts of the tumors can present different clinical manifestations. The diagnostic imaging is often shown as "small lesions, large edema", and intracranial primary tumor is not easy to distinguish, Head CT or MRI examination of tumors in other parts could confirm the diagnosis. Now that SBM should undergo surgery resection, postoperative supplemented by stereotactic radiotherapy and whole brain radiotherapy. Conclusions: 15% of the patients with brain metastases haven’t got previous medical history, the doctor is therefore must look for presence of primary lesions in other parts of the body for accurate diagnosis, to avoid the misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. Middle-aged and elderly patients with lung cancer or other malignant tumor, regardless of the presence of the central nervous system symptoms, should carry on the head CT or MRI examination, and find smaller early brain metastatic lesions. People who are susceptible to lung cancer should have annual physical examination, chest X-ray or low dose CT screening for early detection of lung cancer lesions, early treatment and prevention of tumor metastasi

High-Mobility Semiconducting Polymers With Different Spin Ground States

Organic semiconductors with high-spin ground states are fascinating because they could enable fundamental understanding on the spin-related phenomenon in light element and provide opportunities for organic magnetic and quantum materials. Although high-spin ground states have been observed in some quinoidal type small molecules or doped organic semiconductors, semiconducting polymers with high-spin at their neutral ground state are rarely reported. Here we report three high-mobility semiconducting polymers with different spin ground states. We show that polymer building blocks with small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔES-T) could enable small ΔES-T gap and increase the diradical character in copolymers. We demonstrate that the electronic structure, spin density, and solid-state interchain interactions in the high-spin polymers are crucial for their ground states. Polymers with a triplet ground state (S = 1) could exhibit doublet (S = 1/2) behavior due to different spin distributions and solid-state interchain spin-spin interactions. Besides, these polymers showed outstanding charge transport properties with high hole/electron mobilities and can be both n- and p-doped with superior conductivities. Our results demonstrate a rational approach to obtain high-mobility semiconducting polymers with different spin ground states