Geometries for Possible Kinematics

The algebras for all possible Lorentzian and Euclidean kinematics with $\frak{so}(3)$ isotropy except static ones are re-classified. The geometries for algebras are presented by contraction approach. The relations among the geometries are revealed. Almost all geometries fall into pairs. There exists $t \leftrightarrow 1/(\nu^2t)$ correspondence in each pair. In the viewpoint of differential geometry, there are only 9 geometries, which have right signature and geometrical spatial isotropy. They are 3 relativistic geometries, 3 absolute-time geometries, and 3 absolute-space geometries.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figure

The evaluation of "Safe Motherhood" program on maternal care utilization in rural western China: a difference in difference approach

BACKGROUND: Maternal care is an important strategy for protection and promotion of maternal and children's health by reducing maternal mortality and improving the quality of birth. However, the status of maternal care is quite weak in the less developed rural areas in western China. It is found that the maternal mortality rates in some western areas of China were 5.8 times higher than those of their eastern costal counterparts. In order to reduce the maternal mortality rates and to improve maternal care in western rural areas of China, the Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) sponsored a program named "Safe Motherhood" in ten western provinces of China from 2001 through 2005. This study mainly aims to evaluate the effects of "Safe Motherhood" program on maternal care utilization. METHODS: 32 counties were included in both surveys conducted in 2001 and 2005, respectively. Ten counties of which implemented comprehensive community-based intervention were used as intervention groups, while 22 counties were used as control groups. Stratified 3-stage probability-proportion-to-size sampling method was used to select participating women. Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted with questionnaires about the prenatal care utilization in 2001 and 2005, respectively. Difference in difference estimation was used to assess the effect of intervention on the maternal care utilization while controlling for socio-economic characteristics of women. RESULTS: After the intervention, the proportion of pregnant women who had their first prenatal visit in the first trimester was increased from 38.9% to 76.1%. The proportion of prenatal visits increased from 82.6% to 98.3%. The proportion of women mobilized to deliver in hospitals increased from 62.7% to 94.5%. Hospital delivery was improved greatly from 31.1% to 87.3%. The maternal mortality rate was lowered by 34.9% from 91.76 to 59.74 per 100,000 live births. The community-based intervention had increased prenatal visits rate by 5.2%, first prenatal visit in first trimester rate by 12.0% and hospital delivery rate by 22.5%, respectively. No effect was found on rate of women being mobilized to hospital delivery compared with that of the control group. CONCLUSION: The intervention program seemed to have improved the prenatal care utilization in rural western China

Villain Stardom in Socialist China: Chen Qiang and the Cultural Politics of Affect

Despite playing various kinds of roles across genres from 1949 to 1965, Chen Qiang acquired stardom mainly due to his remarkable screen performance as villainous landlords in socialist China. His villain stardom is an aberrant case, compared to the majority of film stars in Chinese socialist cinema who encouraged identification and emulation and helped propagate socialist ideology to reform Chinese citizens. Paying special attention to socio-historically specific film exhibition practices and the actor's own reflections on his villain performance, this article argues that Chen's stardom functioned as an important affective technology within a wider and complex Communist propaganda enterprise in that it helped cultivate class hatred necessary for the Communist revolution and socialist land reform campaigns. Through this case study, the article suggests that close engagement with both cultural–historical specificities of cinema and recent critical theories of affect open up a space for researching the diversified star phenomena in contemporary China

Cholesterol Perturbation in Mice Results in p53 Degradation and Axonal Pathology through p38 MAPK and Mdm2 Activation

Perturbation of lipid metabolism, especially of cholesterol homeostasis, can be catastrophic to mammalian brain, as it has the highest level of cholesterol in the body. This notion is best illustrated by the severe progressive neurodegeneration in Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease, one of the lysosomal storage diseases, caused by mutations in the NPC1 or NPC2 gene. In this study, we found that growth cone collapse induced by genetic or pharmacological disruption of cholesterol egress from late endosomes/lysosomes was directly related to a decrease in axonal and growth cone levels of the phosphorylated form of the tumor suppressor factor p53. Cholesterol perturbation-induced growth cone collapse and decrease in phosphorylated p53 were reduced by inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and murine double minute (Mdm2) E3 ligase. Growth cone collapse induced by genetic (npc1−/−) or pharmacological modification of cholesterol metabolism was Rho kinase (ROCK)-dependent and associated with increased RhoA protein synthesis; both processes were significantly reduced by P38 MAPK or Mdm2 inhibition. Finally, in vivo ROCK inhibition significantly increased phosphorylated p53 levels and neurofilaments in axons, and axonal bundle size in npc1−/− mice. These results indicate that NPC-related and cholesterol perturbation-induced axonal pathology is associated with an abnormal signaling pathway consisting in p38 MAPK activation leading to Mdm2-mediated p53 degradation, followed by ROCK activation. These results also suggest new targets for pharmacological treatment of NPC disease and other diseases associated with disruption of cholesterol metabolism

Preparation and Evaluation of Poly(Ethylene Glycol)–Poly(Lactide) Micelles as Nanocarriers for Oral Delivery of Cyclosporine A

A series of monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(lactide) (mPEG–PLA) diblock copolymers were designed according to polymer–drug compatibility and synthesized, and mPEG–PLA micelle was fabricated and used as a nanocarrier for solubilization and oral delivery of Cyclosporine A (CyA). CyA was efficiently encapsulated into the micelles with nanoscaled diameter ranged from 60 to 96 nm with a narrow size distribution. The favorable stabilities of CyA-loaded polymeric micelles were observed in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids. The in vitro drug release investigation demonstrated that drug release was retarded by polymeric micelles. The enhanced intestinal absorption of CyA-loaded polymeric micelles, which was comparable to the commercial formulation of CyA (Sandimmun Neoral®), was found. These suggested that polymeric micelles might be an effective nanocarrier for solubilization of poorly soluble CyA and further improving oral absorption of the drug

Enhanced Neointima Formation Following Arterial Injury in Immune Deficient Rag-1−/− Mice Is Attenuated by Adoptive Transfer of CD8+ T cells

T cells modulate neointima formation after arterial injury but the specific T cell population that is activated in response to arterial injury remains unknown. The objective of the study was to identify the T cell populations that are activated and modulate neointimal thickening after arterial injury in mice. Arterial injury in wild type C57Bl6 mice resulted in T cell activation characterized by increased CD4+CD44hi and CD8+CD44hi T cells in the lymph nodes and spleens. Splenic CD8+CD25+ T cells and CD8+CD28+ T cells, but not CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD28+ T cells, were also significantly increased. Adoptive cell transfer of CD4+ or CD8+ T cells from donor CD8−/− or CD4−/− mice, respectively, to immune-deficient Rag-1−/− mice was performed to determine the T cell subtype that inhibits neointima formation after arterial injury. Rag-1−/− mice that received CD8+ T cells had significantly reduced neointima formation compared with Rag-1−/− mice without cell transfer. CD4+ T cell transfer did not reduce neointima formation. CD8+ T cells from CD4−/− mice had cytotoxic activity against syngeneic smooth muscle cells in vitro. The study shows that although both CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells are activated in response to arterial injury, adoptive cell transfer identifies CD8+ T cells as the specific and selective cell type involved in inhibiting neointima formation

Use of MicroRNA Let-7 to Control the Replication Specificity of Oncolytic Adenovirus in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Highly selective therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains an unmet medical need. In present study, we found that the tumor suppressor microRNA, let-7 was significantly downregulated in a proportion of primary HCC tissues (12 of 33, 36.4%) and HCC cell lines. In line with this finding, we have engineered a chimeric Ad5/11 fiber oncolytic adenovirus, SG7011let7T, by introducing eight copies of let-7 target sites (let7T) into the 3′ untranslated region of E1A, a key gene associated with adenoviral replication. The results showed that the E1A expression (both RNA and protein levels) of the SG7011let7T was tightly regulated according to the endogenous expression level of the let-7. As contrasted with the wild-type adenovirus and the control virus, the replication of SG7011let7T was distinctly inhibited in normal liver cells lines (i.e. L-02 and WRL-68) expressing high level of let-7 (>300 folds), whereas was almost not impaired in HCC cells (i.e. Hep3B and PLC/PRF/5) with low level of let-7. Consequently, the cytotoxicity of SG7011let7T to normal liver cells was successfully decreased while was almost not attenuated in HCC cells in vitro. The antitumor ability of SG7011let7T in vivo was maintained in mice with Hep3B xenograft tumor, whereas was greatly decreased against the SMMC-7721 xenograft tumor expressing a high level of let-7 similar with L-02 when compared to the wild-type adenovirus. These results suggested that SG7011let7T may be a promising anticancer agent or vector to mediate the expression of therapeutic gene, broadly applicable in the treatment for HCC and other cancers where the let-7 gene is downregulated