Schizophrenia trials in China: a survey

OBJECTIVE: China's biomedical research activity is increasing and this literature is becoming more accessible online. Our aim was to survey all randomized control schizophrenia trials (RCTs) in one Chinese bibliographic database. METHOD: Chinese Academic Journals was electronically searched for RCTs and all relevant citations were also sought on PubMed to ascertain global accessibility. RESULTS: The search identified 3275 records, of which 982 were RCTs relevant to schizophrenia. A total of 71% (699) could be found by using English phrases. All the main body of text of the 982 papers was in Mandarin. On average, these trials involved about 100 people, with interventions and outcome measures familiar to schizophrenia trialists worldwide. Four of the 982 records (<1%) were identified on PubMed. CONCLUSION: Those undertaking systematic reviews should search the Chinese literature for relevant material. Failing to do this will leave the results of systematic reviews prone to random error or bias, or both

Analysis of factors influencing the outpatient workload at Chinese health centres

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although the community health service system is now established in China, the utilisation of the community health service institutions is low due to the lack of a gate-keeping role of the primary health service providers and referrals among the three-tiered health service institutions. In addition to this, patients who can afford to pay, often seek best services in big hospitals to guarantee the quality of care. Thus, the need of guiding the patients to the community health services and increasing the utilisation of the community health service institutions is becoming an urgent problem, which hinders the future development of community health services. This study focuses on the question of how to increase the utilisation of Chinese community health centres (HCs).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional Base-line Survey of Chinese City Community Health Service System Building using the multi-staged cluster sampling was conducted to collect data from all HCs in 28 key contact cities. Relevant indicators of totally 1790 HCs were analysed. The statistical methods included ANONVA and logistic regression.</p> <p>Results and Conclusions</p> <p>The analysis suggested several key factors for increasing the outpatient workload (OW) at the HCs: establishing an adequate referral system among the different levels of the health system; enhancing the qualification of health personnel and increasing the compensation by the health insurance for services provided at HCs. Other key factors with a positive effect on the OW included: the government ownership of the HCs, the scale of the institutions, the medical equipment used, the mix of health services provided, and the women in childbearing age in the residence.</p

Configuration interaction in valence bond theory

Configuration interaction tenichque is applied to the valence bond theory. Virtual VB orbitals are built, which are localized and orthogonal to their corresponding occupied orbitals and the excited VB structures are defined, which come from their corresponding fundamental VB structures. The testing calculations of H-2, LiH, HF show that the VB results using CI method match those of the molecular orbital based on the coupled cluster CCSD method, and the Cl technique may become a useful tool in VB method

The phylogenetically-related pattern recognition receptors EFR and XA21 recruit similar immune signaling components in monocots and dicots

During plant immunity, surface-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). The transfer of PRRs between plant species is a promising strategy for engineering broad-spectrum disease resistance. Thus, there is a great interest in understanding the mechanisms of PRR-mediated resistance across different plant species. Two well-characterized plant PRRs are the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases (LRR-RKs) EFR and XA21 from Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) and rice, respectively. Interestingly, despite being evolutionary distant, EFR and XA21 are phylogenetically closely related and are both members of the sub-family XII of LRR-RKs that contains numerous potential PRRs. Here, we compared the ability of these related PRRs to engage immune signaling across the monocots-dicots taxonomic divide. Using chimera between Arabidopsis EFR and rice XA21, we show that the kinase domain of the rice XA21 is functional in triggering elf18-induced signaling and quantitative immunity to the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pto) DC3000 and Agrobacterium tumefaciens in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, the EFR:XA21 chimera associates dynamically in a ligand-dependent manner with known components of the EFR complex. Conversely, EFR associates with Arabidopsis orthologues of rice XA21-interacting proteins, which appear to be involved in EFR-mediated signaling and immunity in Arabidopsis. Our work indicates the overall functional conservation of immune components acting downstream of distinct LRR-RK-type PRRs between monocots and dicots

Epidemiology characteristics, methodological assessment and reporting of statistical analysis of network meta-analyses in the field of cancer

Because of the methodological complexity of network meta-analyses (NMAs), NMAs may be more vulnerable to methodological risks than conventional pair-wise meta-analysis. Our study aims to investigate epidemiology characteristics, conduction of literature search, methodological quality and reporting of statistical analysis process in the field of cancer based on PRISMA extension statement and modified AMSTAR checklist. We identified and included 102 NMAs in the field of cancer. 61 NMAs were conducted using a Bayesian framework. Of them, more than half of NMAs did not report assessment of convergence (60.66%). Inconsistency was assessed in 27.87% of NMAs. Assessment of heterogeneity in traditional meta-analyses was more common (42.62%) than in NMAs (6.56%). Most of NMAs did not report assessment of similarity (86.89%) and did not used GRADE tool to assess quality of evidence (95.08%). 43 NMAs were adjusted indirect comparisons, the methods used were described in 53.49% NMAs. Only 4.65% NMAs described the details of handling of multi group trials and 6.98% described the methods of similarity assessment. The median total AMSTAR-score was 8.00 (IQR: 6.00-8.25). Methodological quality and reporting of statistical analysis did not substantially differ by selected general characteristics. Overall, the quality of NMAs in the field of cancer was generally acceptable

Branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase 2 regulates ferroptotic cell death in cancer cells

Ferroptosis, a form of iron-dependent cell death driven by cellular metabolism and iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, has been implicated as a tumor-suppressor function for cancer therapy. Recent advance revealed that the sensitivity to ferroptosis is tightly linked to numerous biological processes, including metabolism of amino acid and the biosynthesis of glutathione. Here, by using a high-throughput CRISPR/Cas9-based genetic screen in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells to search for metabolic proteins inhibiting ferroptosis, we identified a branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase 2 (BCAT2) as a novel suppressor of ferroptosis. Mechanistically, ferroptosis inducers (erastin, sorafenib, and sulfasalazine) activated AMPK/SREBP1 signaling pathway through iron-dependent ferritinophagy, which in turn inhibited BCAT2 transcription. We further confirmed that BCAT2 as the key enzyme mediating the metabolism of sulfur amino acid, regulated intracellular glutamate level, whose activation by ectopic expression specifically antagonize system Xc(-) inhibition and protected liver and pancreatic cancer cells from ferroptosis in vitro and in vivo. On the contrary, direct inhibition of BCAT2 by RNA interference, or indirect inhibition by blocking system Xc(-) activity, triggers ferroptosis. Finally, our results demonstrate the synergistic effect of sorafenib and sulfasalazine in downregulating BCAT2 expression and dictating ferroptotic death, where BCAT2 can also be used to predict the responsiveness of cancer cells to ferroptosis-inducing therapies. Collectively, these findings identify a novel role of BCAT2 in ferroptosis, suggesting a potential therapeutic strategy for overcoming sorafenib resistance

Down-Regulation of EBV-LMP1 Radio-Sensitizes Nasal Pharyngeal Carcinoma Cells via NF-κB Regulated ATM Expression

BACKGROUND:The latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) encoded by EBV is expressed in the majority of EBV-associated human malignancies and has been suggested to be one of the major oncogenic factors in EBV-mediated carcinogenesis. In previous studies we experimentally demonstrated that down-regulation of LMP1 expression by DNAzymes could increase radiosensitivity both in cells and in a xenograft NPC model in mice. RESULTS:In this study we explored the molecular mechanisms underlying the radiosensitization caused by the down-regulation of LMP1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It was confirmed that LMP1 could up-regulate ATM expression in NPCs. Bioinformatic analysis of the ATM ptomoter region revealed three tentative binding sites for NF-κB. By using a specific inhibitor of NF-κB signaling and the dominant negative mutant of IkappaB, it was shown that the ATM expression in CNE1-LMP1 cells could be efficiently suppressed. Inhibition of LMP1 expression by the DNAzyme led to attenuation of the NF-κB DNA binding activity. We further showed that the silence of ATM expression by ATM-targeted siRNA could enhance the radiosensitivity in LMP1 positive NPC cells. CONCLUSIONS:Together, our results indicate that ATM expression can be regulated by LMP1 via the NF-κB pathways through direct promoter binding, which resulted in the change of radiosensitivity in NPCs

Phylogeography of the South China Field Mouse (Apodemus draco) on the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau Reveals High Genetic Diversity and Glacial Refugia

The southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau (SEMTP) is a particularly interesting region due to its topographic complexity and unique geologic history, but phylogeographic studies that focus on this region are rare. In this study, we investigated the phylogeography of the South China field mouse, Apodemus draco, in order to assess the role of geologic and climatic events on the Tibetan Plateau in shaping its genetic structure. We sequenced mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) sequences in 103 individuals from 47 sampling sites. In addition, 23 cyt b sequences were collected from GenBank for analyses. Phylogenetic, demographic and landscape genetic methods were conducted. Seventy-six cyt b haplotypes were found and the genetic diversity was extremely high (π = 0.0368; h = 0.989). Five major evolutionary clades, based on geographic locations, were identified. Demographic analyses implied subclade 1A and subclade 1B experienced population expansions at about 0.052-0.013 Mya and 0.014-0.004 Mya, respectively. The divergence time analysis showed that the split between clade 1 and clade 2 occurred 0.26 Mya, which fell into the extensive glacial period (EGP, 0.5-0.17 Mya). The divergence times of other main clades (2.20-0.55 Mya) were congruent with the periods of the Qingzang Movement (3.6-1.7 Mya) and the Kun-Huang Movement (1.2-0.6 Mya), which were known as the most intense uplift events in the Tibetan Plateau. Our study supported the hypothesis that the SEMTP was a large late Pleistocene refugium, and further inferred that the Gongga Mountain Region and Hongya County were glacial refugia for A. draco in clade 1. We hypothesize that the evolutionary history of A. draco in the SEMTP primarily occurred in two stages. First, an initial divergence would have been shaped by uplift events of the Tibetan Plateau. Then, major glaciations in the Pleistocene added complexity to its demographic history and genetic structure

The sudden change phenomenon of quantum discord

Even if the parameters determining a system's state are varied smoothly, the behavior of quantum correlations alike to quantum discord, and of its classical counterparts, can be very peculiar, with the appearance of non-analyticities in its rate of change. Here we review this sudden change phenomenon (SCP) discussing some important points related to it: Its uncovering, interpretations, and experimental verifications, its use in the context of the emergence of the pointer basis in a quantum measurement process, its appearance and universality under Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics, its theoretical and experimental investigation in some other physical scenarios, and the related phenomenon of double sudden change of trace distance discord. Several open questions are identified, and we envisage that in answering them we will gain significant further insight about the relation between the SCP and the symmetry-geometric aspects of the quantum state space.Comment: Lectures on General Quantum Correlations and their Applications, F. F. Fanchini, D. O. Soares Pinto, and G. Adesso (Eds.), Springer (2017), pp 309-33