Rapid Syphilis Testing Uptake for Female Sex Workers at Sex Venues in Southern China: Implications for Expanding Syphilis Screening

: Accessibility of syphilis testing services is critical in syphilis control programs for female sex workers (FSWs), but few FSWs attend public STI clinics or other testing sites. Introduction of free rapid syphilis testing (RST) into outreach programs for FSWs will help improve test uptake. : Commercial sex venues were identified in two cities in South China. In cooperation with health advocacy organizations, health outreach teams from local public health or medical facilities approached all types of sex venues in study areas to offer free RST. Acceptability and uptake of RST among FSWs were evaluated. : A total of 2812 FSWs were offered RST and 2670 (95.0%) accepted syphilis testing. 182 (6.8%) FSWs had a positive RST result among whom 136 (74.7%) were willing to attend an STD clinic for confirmatory testing and treatment. More than half (89, 66.4%) of those with syphilis were not willing to notify their sex partners. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that syphilis test uptake was associated with residing in Jiangmen (AOR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.15-2.77), older age (AOR, 2.11, 95% CI, 1.17-3.79 for age of 31 years or above), and not working at a service venue (AOR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.10-2.34). : RST at sex venues is well accepted by FSWs when it is integrated into ongoing outreach services. Such programs provide excellent opportunities for expanding syphilis screening efforts among specific subgroups of FSW who are difficult to reach through clinic-based programs.<br/

Gene expression and splicing alterations analyzed by high throughput RNA sequencing of chronic lymphocytic leukemia specimens.

BackgroundTo determine differentially expressed and spliced RNA transcripts in chronic lymphocytic leukemia specimens a high throughput RNA-sequencing (HTS RNA-seq) analysis was performed.MethodsTen CLL specimens and five normal peripheral blood CD19+ B cells were analyzed by HTS RNA-seq. The library preparation was performed with Illumina TrueSeq RNA kit and analyzed by Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencing system.ResultsAn average of 48.5 million reads for B cells, and 50.6 million reads for CLL specimens were obtained with 10396 and 10448 assembled transcripts for normal B cells and primary CLL specimens respectively. With the Cuffdiff analysis, 2091 differentially expressed genes (DEG) between B cells and CLL specimens based on FPKM (fragments per kilobase of transcript per million reads and false discovery rate, FDR q &lt; 0.05, fold change &gt;2) were identified. Expression of selected DEGs (n = 32) with up regulated and down regulated expression in CLL from RNA-seq data were also analyzed by qRT-PCR in a test cohort of CLL specimens. Even though there was a variation in fold expression of DEG genes between RNA-seq and qRT-PCR; more than 90 % of analyzed genes were validated by qRT-PCR analysis. Analysis of RNA-seq data for splicing alterations in CLL and B cells was performed by Multivariate Analysis of Transcript Splicing (MATS analysis). Skipped exon was the most frequent splicing alteration in CLL specimens with 128 significant events (P-value &lt;0.05, minimum inclusion level difference &gt;0.1).ConclusionThe RNA-seq analysis of CLL specimens identifies novel DEG and alternatively spliced genes that are potential prognostic markers and therapeutic targets. High level of validation by qRT-PCR for a number of DEG genes supports the accuracy of this analysis. Global comparison of transcriptomes of B cells, IGVH non-mutated CLL (U-CLL) and mutated CLL specimens (M-CLL) with multidimensional scaling analysis was able to segregate CLL and B cell transcriptomes but the M-CLL and U-CLL transcriptomes were indistinguishable. The analysis of HTS RNA-seq data to identify alternative splicing events and other genetic abnormalities specific to CLL is an added advantage of RNA-seq that is not feasible with other genome wide analysis

Initial Growth of Single-Crystalline Nanowires: From 3D Nucleation to 2D Growth

The initial growth stage of the single-crystalline Sb and Co nanowires with preferential orientation was studied, which were synthesized in porous anodic alumina membranes by the pulsed electrodeposition technique. It was revealed that the initial growth of the nanowires is a three-dimensional nucleation process, and then gradually transforms to two-dimensional growth via progressive nucleation mechanism, which resulting in a structure transition from polycrystalline to single crystalline. The competition among the nuclei inside the nanoscaled-confined channel and the growth kinetics is responsible for the structure transition of the initial grown nanowires

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

Policies to Regulate Distributed Data Exchange

This research is partially sponsored by the EPSRC grant EP/P011829/1, funded under the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Council Human Dimensions of Cyber Security call (2016).Postprin

Genome-Wide Profiling of Histone H3 Lysine 4 and Lysine 27 Trimethylation Reveals an Epigenetic Signature in Prostate Carcinogenesis

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence implicates the critical roles of epigenetic regulation in cancer. Very recent reports indicate that global gene silencing in cancer is associated with specific epigenetic modifications. However, the relationship between epigenetic switches and more dynamic patterns of gene activation and repression has remained largely unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Genome-wide profiling of the trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and lysine 27 (H3K27me3) was performed using chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with whole genome promoter microarray (ChIP-chip) techniques. Comparison of the ChIP-chip data and microarray gene expression data revealed that loss and/or gain of H3K4me3 and/or H3K27me3 were strongly associated with differential gene expression, including microRNA expression, between prostate cancer and primary cells. The most common switches were gain or loss of H3K27me3 coupled with low effect on gene expression. The least prevalent switches were between H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 coupled with much higher fractions of activated and silenced genes. Promoter patterns of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 corresponded strongly with coordinated expression changes of regulatory gene modules, such as HOX and microRNA genes, and structural gene modules, such as desmosome and gap junction genes. A number of epigenetically switched oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes were found overexpressed and underexpressed accordingly in prostate cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work offers a dynamic picture of epigenetic switches in carcinogenesis and contributes to an overall understanding of coordinated regulation of gene expression in cancer. Our data indicate an H3K4me3/H3K27me3 epigenetic signature of prostate carcinogenesis

Peer-based behavioral health program for drug users in China: a pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many injection drug users (IDUs) in China have high risk sexual behaviors that contribute to the spread of HIV infection. Although many IDUs in China move through drug rehabilitation centers, this opportunity for sexual health education has largely been overlooked.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A convenience sample of 667 drug users from two rehabilitation centers in South China was recruited in the study. Two hundred and forty seven drug users from a single Guangdong Province rehabilitation center received the peer-based education intervention, while 420 drug users from another rehabilitation center received routine HIV/STI education and was used as the control. One hundred and eighty nine (22.1%) individuals refused to participate in the study. HIV/STI behavioral and knowledge domains were assessed at 3 months in rehabilitation centers after the intervention (first follow-up) and at 2-23 months in the community after release (second follow-up).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Drug users who completed the intervention reported more frequent condom use with casual sex partners (60.0% vs. 12.5% condom use every time, p = 0.011) and less frequent injection (56.7% vs. 26.4% no injection per day, p = 0.008) at the second follow-up compared to those in the routine education group. Loss to follow up was substantial in both control and intervention groups, and was associated with living far from the detention center and having poor HIV knowledge at baseline.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study shows that rehabilitation centers may be a useful location for providing behavioral HIV/STI prevention services and referral of individuals to community-based programs upon release. More research is needed on behalf of detained drug users in China who have complex social, medical, and legal needs.</p