Periodontal conditions in adult Southern Chinese

Periodontal diseases remain a concern in adult populations, but there have been no systematic descriptions of periodontal conditions, which have included periodontal attachment loss, among Southern Chinese. The main aim of this report is to describe the periodontal conditions in adult Chinese and to investigate factors that may have influenced periodontal attachment loss. Subjects were recruited from urban and rural survey sites throughout Guangdong. In total, 1572 35- to 44-year-old subjects and 1286 65- to 74-year-old subjects completed a structured interview and underwent a periodontal examination, which included the Community Periodontal Index (CPI) and periodontal Attachment Loss (ALoss) recordings. Calculus was found as the highest CPI score in 61-68% of the 35- to 44-year-old subjects and in 54-57% of the 65- to 74-year-olds. Shallow pockets were found as the highest CPI score in about one-third of both the urban and the rural subjects in both age groups, and deep pockets in 3-7% of the subjects. ALoss was more prevalent than pockets in both age groups. On the basis of the ALoss recordings, about one-third of the subjects in both age groups were categorized as exhibiting considerable ALoss for their age. In both age groups, logistic regression analysis indicated that being male, wearing partial dentures, and reporting less frequent toothbrushing were found to be associated with considerable ALoss.published_or_final_versio

Relationship between children's oral health-related behaviors and their caregiver's sense of coherence

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Cancer gene therapy targeting angiogenesis: An updated review

Since the relationship between angiogenesis and tumor growth was established by Folkman in 1971, scientists have made efforts exploring the possibilities in treating cancer by targeting angiogenesis. Inhibition of angiogenesis growth factors and administration of angiogenesis inhibitors are the basics of anti-angiogenesis therapy. Transfer of anti-angiogenesis genes has received attention recently not only because of the advancement of recombinant vectors, but also because of the localized and sustained expression of therapeutic gene product inside the tumor after gene transfer. This review provides the up-to-date information about the strategies and the vectors studied in the field of anti-angiogenesis cancer gene therapy. © 2006 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Filtering of false positive microRNA candidates by a clustering-based approach

B M C BioinformaticsBackground: MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA gene products that play diversified roles from species to species. The explosive growth of microRNA researches in recent years proves the importance of microRNAs in the biological system and it is believed that microRNAs have valuable therapeutic potentials in human diseases. Continual efforts are therefore required to locate and verify the unknown microRNAs in various genomes. As many miRNAs are found to be arranged in clusters, meaning that they are in close proximity with their neighboring miRNAs, we are interested in utilizing the concept of microRNA clustering and applying it in microRNA computational prediction. Results: We first validate the microRNA clustering phenomenon in the human, mouse and rat genomes. There are 45.45%, 51.86% and 48.67% of the total miRNAs that are clustered in the three genomes, respectively. We then conduct sequence and secondary structure similarity analyses among clustered miRNAs, non-clustered miRNAs, neighboring sequences of clustered miRNAs and random sequences, and find that clustered miRNAs are structurally more similar to one another, and the RNAdistance score can be used to assess the structural similarity between two sequences. We therefore design a clustering-based approach which utilizes this observation to filter false positives from a list of candidates generated by a selected microRNA prediction program, and successfully raise the positive predictive value by a considerable amount ranging from 15.23% to 23.19% in the human, mouse and rat genomes, while keeping a reasonably high sensitivity. Conclusion: Our clustering-based approach is able to increase the effectiveness of currently available microRNA prediction program by raising the positive predictive value while maintaining a high sensitivity, and hence can serve as a filtering step. We believe that it is worthwhile to carry out further experiments and tests with our approach using data from other genomes and other prediction software tools. Better results may be achieved with fine-tuning of parameters. © 2008 Leung et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.published_or_final_versio

Coronal and root caries in Southern Chinese adults

Southern China is the most prosperous part of China, but information useful for oral care planning is very limited. A large-scale epidemiological survey was conducted in 1996-97. The objectives of this report were to describe the coronal and root caries of the adult Southern Chinese and to analyze the influence of selected demographic and socio-economic factors on the disease pattern. A total sample of 1573 35- to 44-year-olds and 1515 65- to 74-year-olds from 8 urban and 8 rural survey sites in Guangdong Province participated in an oral health interview and underwent clinical examination. World Health Organization examination procedures and diagnostic criteria were used. The weighted mean DMFT scores of the middle-aged and the elderly subjects were 4.8 and 16.1, respectively. People living in rural areas had a higher DMFT score than those living in urban areas (4.9 vs. 4.3 in the 35- to 44-year-olds and 16.5 vs. 14.7 in the 65- to 74-year-olds). In both age groups, MT was the major component of the DMFT score. Analysis of covariance showed that women and those who were economically less well off had higher DMFT scores in both age groups. The weighted prevalence rates of decayed/filled roots were 12% and 37%, with a mean of 0.2 and 0.7 teeth affected, in the middle-aged and the elderly, respectively. In conclusion, socio-economic factors had a considerable effect on the dental caries status of adults in Southern China.published_or_final_versio

Utilization of dental services in Southern China

A population's utilization of dental services is an important parameter in oral health care planning, which has rarely been studied in China. The objectives of this report were to describe the dental service utilization pattern of middle-aged and elderly Chinese and to analyze the influence of selected variables on the use of dental services. A Guangdong Province population of 1573 35- to 44-year-olds and 1515 65- to 74-year-olds recruited from urban and rural communities was interviewed in their local dialect. It was found that 23% of the middle-aged and 24% of the elderly subjects had visited a dentist within the preceding year. The two most commonly cited reasons for not having seen a dentist for at least 3 years were: no perceived need, and no serious dental problems. Among subjects who had visited a dentist within 3 years, the 3 most commonly received treatments were: fillings, extractions, and dental prostheses. Furthermore, a logistic regression analysis showed that women, subjects who lived in urban areas, were better educated, were wealthier, and had better oral health knowledge were more likely to be a recent dental service user. In conclusion, dental service utilization among the adult Southern Chinese was found to be low, problem-driven, and influenced by some socio-economic factors.published_or_final_versio

Flame retardant property of flax fabrics coated by extracellular polymeric substances recovered from both activated sludge and aerobic granular sludge

In this research, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), such as EPSflocs and EPSgranules, were successfully extracted from activated and aerobic granular sludge, respectively, and tested as bio-based flame retardant materials. Flax fabric was coated by the biopolymeric substances and its flammability was evaluated based on a vertical burning test defined in US Federal Aviation Regulation. Both EPSflocs and EPSgranules coated flax fabrics achieved the self-extinguishment due to effective char formation. In particular, the result of the EPSgranules coated sample met the aviation requirements for the aircraft interior. Moreover, the presence of carbonated hydroxyapatite was identified in EPSgranules char residue by using FTIR and XRD analysis. It can contribute to the self-extinguishing property of the fabric by enhancing char formation. Thermogravimetric analysis also demonstrated that EPSgranules coated flax was able to produce greater amount of char residue and its decomposition rate was significantly reduced. This research indicates that there is a great potential to use this biopolymer as a resource for developing high performance bio-inspired flame retardant materials and contribute to a circular economy

An oral health survey in Southern China, 1997: Background and methodology

Relatively limited information is available about the oral health in the Guangdong Province of Southern China, the closest neighbor to Hong Kong. The study intended to explore the oral health status, knowledge, attitudes, and dental care utilization in the Guangdong population as a basis for formulating strategies for oral health prevention and treatment. Through multi-stage stratified and quota-sampling, individuals from urban as well as rural communities were selected (5- to 6-; 12-; 35- to 44-; and 65- to 74-year-olds; total N = 6251). Structured interviews and clinical examinations were performed. Inter-examiner reliability was high (K = 0.60-0.96). Samples of community water were taken for fluoride assessment. Overall, the sample surveyed was acceptably representative of the population, with some under-representation of rural residents and agricultural workers. Re-weighting was performed in appropriate analyses. The data analysis model used in the Second International Collaborative Study was used as a guide for the present data analysis. This approach has not previously been used on a Mainland Chinese population.published_or_final_versio

Early growth response protein-1 promoter-mediated synergistic antitumor effect of hTERTC27 gene therapy and 5-flurorouracil on nasopharyngeal carcinoma

hTERTC27 is a newly constructed polypeptide that can induce telomere dysfunction. To study the synergistic antitumor effects of the hTERTC27 polypeptide driven by the early growth response protein-1 (Egr-1) promoter and chemotherapeutic 5-flurorouracil (5-FU) on nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments were performed. The results showed that hTERTC27 expression was significantly increased up to 7.21-folds by the 5-FU-activated Egr-1 promoter in C666-1 cells. Overexpressed hTERTC27 made the cells more sensitive to 5-FU, and additionally, inhibited cell proliferation about 20.41%. Combinational therapy of overexpressed hTERTC27 driven by the 5-FU-activated Egr-1 promoter and 5-FU synergistically inhibited cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis of C666-1 cells for about 4.75-fold and 1.76-fold in comparison with a sole therapy of hTERTC27 or 5-FU in vitro. In vivo experiments showed that overexpressed hTERTC27 driven by 5-FU-activated Egr-1 promoter and 5-FU synergistically reduced tumor volume, tumor weight, and local infiltration, which may be relative to tumor cell apoptosis. These results suggest that combinational therapy of overexpressed hTERTC27, which is driven by the 5-FU-activated Egr-1 promoter, and 5-FU may provide a novel approach to treat nasopharyngeal cancer. © 2012 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.published_or_final_versio

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor stimulated by Helicobacter pylori increases proliferation of gastric epithelial cells

Aim: Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) is associated with increased gastric inflammatory and epithelial expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and gastric epithelial cell proliferation. This study aimed at determining whether H pylori directly stimulates release of MIF in monocytes, whether the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) is involved for this function, and whether MIF stimulated by H pylori increases gastric epithelial cell proliferation in vitro. Methods: A cytotoxic wild-type H pylori strain (TN2), its three isogenic mutants (TN2Δcag, TN2ΔcagA and TN2ΔcagE) were co-cultured with cells of a human monocyte cell line, THP-1, for 24 h at different organism/cell ratios. MIF in the supernatants was measured by an ELISA. Cells of a human gastric cancer cell line, MKN45, were then co-cultured with the supernatants, with and without monoclonal anti-MIF antibody for 24 h. The cells were further incubated for 12 h after addition of 3H-thymidine, and the levels of incorporation of 3H-thymidine were measured with a liquid scintillation counter. Results: The wild-type strain and the isogenic mutants, TN2ΔcagA and TN2ΔcagE, increased MIF release at organism/cell ratios of 200 /1 and 400/1, but not at the ratios of 50/1 and 100/1. However, the mutant TN2Δcag did not increase the release of MIF at any of the four ratios. 3H-thymidine readings for MKN-45 cells were significantly increased with supernatants derived from the wild-type strain and the mutants TN2ΔcagA and TN2ΔcagE, but not from the mutant TN2Δcag. Moreover, in the presence of monoclonal anti-MIF antibody, the stimulatory effects of the wild-type strain on cell proliferation disappeared. Conclusion: H pylori stimulates MIF release in monocytes, likely through its cag PAI, but not related to cagA or cagE. H pylori-stimulated monocyte culture supernatant increases gastric cell proliferation, which is blocked by anti-MIF antibody, suggesting that MIF plays an important role in H pylori-induced gastric epithelial cell proliferation. © 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio