A clinical study of the effects of lead poisoning on the intelligence and neurobehavioral abilities of children

BACKGROUND: Lead is a heavy metal and important environmental toxicant and nerve poison that can destruction many functions of the nervous system. Lead poisoning is a medical condition caused by increased levels of lead in the body. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes and is toxic to many organs and issues, including the central nervous system. It interferes with the development of the nervous system, and is therefore particularly toxic to children, causing potentially permanent neural and cognitive impairments. In this study, we investigated the relationship between lead poisoning and the intellectual and neurobehavioral capabilities of children. METHODS: The background characteristics of the research subjects were collected by questionnaire survey. Blood lead levels were detected by differential potentiometric stripping analysis (DPSA). Intelligence was assessed using the Gesell Developmental Scale. The Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to evaluate each child’s behavior. RESULTS: Blood lead levels were significantly negatively correlated with the developmental quotients of adaptive behavior, gross motor performance, fine motor performance, language development, and individual social behavior (P < 0.01). Compared with healthy children, more children with lead poisoning had abnormal behaviors, especially social withdrawal, depression, and atypical body movements, aggressions and destruction. CONCLUSION: Lead poisoning has adverse effects on the behavior and mental development of 2–4-year-old children, prescribing positive and effective precautionary measures

Lysophosphatidic Acid-Induced Transcriptional Profile Represents Serous Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma and Worsened Prognosis

BACKGROUND:Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) governs a number of physiologic and pathophysiological processes. Malignant ascites fluid is rich in LPA, and LPA receptors are aberrantly expressed by ovarian cancer cells, implicating LPA in the initiation and progression of ovarian cancer. However, there is an absence of systematic data critically analyzing the transcriptional changes induced by LPA in ovarian cancer. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In this study, gene expression profiling was used to examine LPA-mediated transcription by exogenously adding LPA to human epithelial ovarian cancer cells for 24 h to mimic long-term stimulation in the tumor microenvironment. The resultant transcriptional profile comprised a 39-gene signature that closely correlated to serous epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Hierarchical clustering of ovarian cancer patient specimens demonstrated that the signature is associated with worsened prognosis. Patients with LPA-signature-positive ovarian tumors have reduced disease-specific and progression-free survival times. They have a higher frequency of stage IIIc serous carcinoma and a greater proportion is deceased. Among the 39-gene signature, a group of seven genes associated with cell adhesion recapitulated the results. Out of those seven, claudin-1, an adhesion molecule and phenotypic epithelial marker, is the only independent biomarker of serous epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Knockdown of claudin-1 expression in ovarian cancer cells reduces LPA-mediated cellular adhesion, enhances suspended cells and reduces LPA-mediated migration. CONCLUSIONS:The data suggest that transcriptional events mediated by LPA in the tumor microenvironment influence tumor progression through modulation of cell adhesion molecules like claudin-1 and, for the first time, report an LPA-mediated expression signature in ovarian cancer that predicts a worse prognosis

Expression of Autotaxin and Lysophosphatidic Acid Receptors Increases Mammary Tumorigenesis, Invasion, and Metastases

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) acts through high affinity G protein-coupled receptors to mediate a plethora of physiological and pathological activities associated with tumorigenesis. LPA receptors and autotaxin (ATX/LysoPLD), the primary enzyme producing LPA, are aberrantly expressed in multiple cancer lineages. However, the role of ATX and LPA receptors in the initiation and progression of breast cancer has not been evaluated. We demonstrate that expression of ATX or each Edg-family LPA receptor in mammary epithelium of transgenic mice is sufficient to induce a high frequency of late-onset, estrogen receptor (ER) positive, invasive and metastatic mammary cancer. Thus ATX and LPA receptors can contribute to the initiation and progression of breast cancer

Expression of Autotaxin and Lysophosphatidic Acid Receptors Increases Mammary Tumorigenesis, Invasion, and Metastases

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) acts through high affinity G protein-coupled receptors to mediate a plethora of physiological and pathological activities associated with tumorigenesis. LPA receptors and autotaxin (ATX/LysoPLD), the primary enzyme producing LPA, are aberrantly expressed in multiple cancer lineages. However, the role of ATX and LPA receptors in the initiation and progression of breast cancer has not been evaluated. We demonstrate that expression of ATX or each Edg-family LPA receptor in mammary epithelium of transgenic mice is sufficient to induce a high frequency of late-onset, estrogen receptor (ER) positive, invasive and metastatic mammary cancer. Thus ATX and LPA receptors can contribute to the initiation and progression of breast cancer

Whole-exome sequencing combined with functional genomics reveals novel candidate driver cancer genes in endometrial cancer

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy, with more than 280,000 cases occurring annually worldwide. Although previous studies have identified important common somatic mutations in endometrial cancer, they have primarily focused on a small set of known cancer genes and have thus provided a limited view of the molecular basis underlying this disease. Here we have developed an integrated systems-biology approach to identifying novel cancer genes contributing to endometrial tumorigenesis. We first performed whole-exome sequencing on 13 endometrial cancers and matched normal samples, systematically identifying somatic alterations with high precision and sensitivity. We then combined bioinformatics prioritization with high-throughput screening (including both shRNA-mediated knockdown and expression of wild-type and mutant constructs) in a highly sensitive cell viability assay. Our results revealed 12 potential driver cancer genes including 10 tumor-suppressor candidates (ARID1A, INHBA, KMO, TTLL5, GRM8, IGFBP3, AKTIP, PHKA2, TRPS1, and WNT11) and two oncogene candidates (ERBB3 and RPS6KC1). The results in the ''sensor'' cell line were recapitulated by siRNA-mediated knockdown in endometrial cancer cell lines. Focusing on ARID1A, we integrated mutation profiles with functional proteomics in 222 endometrial cancer samples, demonstrating that ARID1A mutations frequently co-occur with mutations in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway and are associated with PI3K pathway activation. siRNA knockdown in endometrial cancer cell lines increased AKT phosphorylation supporting ARID1A as a novel regulator of PI3K pathway activity. Our study presents the first unbiased view of somatic coding mutations in endometrial cancer and provides functional evidence for diverse driver genes and mutations in this disease. © 2012, Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Ultra-Low Interfacial Tension Foam System for Enhanced Oil Recovery

The liquid phase of foam systems plays a major role in improving the fluidity of oil, by reducing oil viscosity and stripping oil from rock surfaces during foam-flooding processes. Improving the oil displacement capacity of the foam’s liquid phase could lead to significant improvement in foam-flooding effects. Oil-liquid interfacial tension (IFT) is an important indicator of the oil displacement capacity of a liquid. In this study, several surfactants were used as foaming agents, and polymers were used as foam stabilizers. Foaming was induced using a Waring blender stirring method. Foam with an oil-liquid IFT of less than 10–3 mN/m was prepared after a series of adjustments to the liquid composition. This study verified the possibility of a foam system with both an ultra-low oil-liquid IFT and high foaming properties. Our results provide insight into a means of optimizing foam fluids for enhanced oil recovery

Compact, High Extinction Ratio, and Low-Loss Polarization Beam Splitter on Lithium-Niobate-On-Insulator Using a Silicon Nitride Nanowire Assisted Waveguide and a Grooved Waveguide

We propose a compact, high extinction ratio, and low-loss polarization beam splitter (PBS) on a lithium-niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) platform, based on an asymmetrical directional coupler and using a silicon nitride nanowire assisted waveguide (WG) and a grooved WG. By properly designing Si3N4 nanowires and grooved LN WGs, TE polarization meets the phase matching condition, while significant mismatching exists for TM polarization. Numerical simulations show that the PBS has an ultra-high extinction ratio (ER) of TE0 and TM0 (larger than 40 dB and 50 dB, respectively). The device extinction ratios are larger than 10 dB over 100 nm wavelength ranges. Moreover, the device has an ultra-low insertion loss (IL less than 0.05 dB) at the wavelength of 1550 nm and maintains ILs less than 0.4 dB over 100 nm wavelength ranges

Analysis on Cloning and Expression of Histone Demethylase Gene OsJMJ719 in Rice

【Objective】A novel rice histone demethylase gene OsJMJ719 was cloned. The expression pattern of this gene under abiotic stress was analyzed to provide theoretical basis for exploring the function of OsJMJ719 in response to abiotic stress.【Method】The complete OsJMJ719 gene was obtained by cloning with ZH11 as material. 35S: : OsJMJ719-GFP expression vector integrated with OsJMJ719 and green fluorescent protein was established for subcellular localization. Transient tobacco expression system and rice protoplast transformation method was employed to observe the subcellular localization and real-time PCR was used to analyze the expression profile of OsJMJ719 in different tissues of rice and the expression pattern under abiotic stress treatments.【Result】The coding region of OsJMJ719 gene (LOC_Os02g01940) is 2 994 bp in length, encoding 997 amino acids. The promoter region of OsJMJ719 contains 10 phytohormone response elements and 3 environmental stress regulation related elements. Phylogenetic analysis shows that OsJMJ719 has high homology with JMJ protein in wild Zizania palustris, Aegilops tauschii, Triticum aestivum and Hordeum vulgare. The subcellular localization results reveal that OsJMJ719 protein is localized in the nucleus. Fluorescence quantitative results reveal that OsJMJ719 is highly expressed in seeds, and the expression of this gene is induced by ABA, NaCl and PEG6000, suggesting that it plays an important role in the process of abiotic stress.【Conclusion】The study shows the location of OsJMJ719 in the phylogenetic tree and its homologous species, reveals the localization, structure and characteristics of the protein, and the main external factors responsible for the regulation of this gene. These results provide a fundamental data basis for further research on the function of OsJMJ719 gene

A mini review of Yu-Ping-Feng polysaccharides: Their biological activities and potential applications in aquaculture

Polysaccharides, one of the important active ingredients of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, become a focus of attention in many fields, particularly in medical research industry. Yu-Ping-Feng (YPF) is a primary component of many traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, and it’s proven to be significantly beneficial to human health. In recent years, polysaccharides from YPF have been well documented after successful isolation and purification, but the polysaccharides from YPF post-processing wastes are not studied. Under the guidance of the Pharmacological Efficacy Index, we have extracted Yu-Ping-Feng polysaccharides (YPF-P) from the wastes of YPF in our previous work. Our previous findings showed that YPF-P promote the growth, enhance immunity and organ structure or function of cultured fish northern snakehead fish (Channa argus) and grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), and significantly improve the intestinal microflora of fish. This paper reviews the current status of YPF-P and their application in aquaculture, including the development of green feed for aquatic animals and the re-utilization of the YPF wastes. This series of work is a way to have the best of both worlds, not only to realize the rational treatment of medical wastes, but also to effectively use the wastes, to find a green raw material for aquatic feed