Three-particle coincidence of the long range pseudorapidity correlation in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions

We report the first three-particle coincidence measurement in pseudorapidity (Δη) between a high transverse momentum (p⊥) trigger particle and two lower p⊥ associated particles within azimuth |Δϕ|<0.7 in square root of s(NN)=200 GeV d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Charge ordering properties are exploited to separate the jetlike component and the ridge (long range Δη correlation). The results indicate that the correlation of ridge particles are uniform not only with respect to the trigger particle but also between themselves event by event in our measured Δη. In addition, the production of the ridge appears to be uncorrelated to the presence of the narrow jetlike component.

Establishment and evaluation of a model of a community health service in an underdeveloped area of China

OBJECTIVES

To develop and evaluate an applicable model for a community health service (CHS) in an underdeveloped area of China that ensures efficient, convenient and affordable primary healthcare access for all residents.

STUDY DESIGN

The current study was carried out in Puyang, a typical medium-sized city in central-eastern China. Based on the healthcare requirements of the residents in Puyang, a CHS network was set up and its operation was evaluated from 1999 to 2006. The system is characterized by its focus on community health education (CHE).

METHODS

Firstly, 8231 residents, selected at random, were surveyed to investigate the healthcare requirements of the local residents. Meanwhile, the operation of the pre-existing healthcare resources was investigated in Puyang. Based on the information gained, a network-based CHS system was proposed and established, with CHE as the major focus. This study compared CHS operation prior to and after establishment of the network. Finally, an analytic hierarchy process based evaluation model was applied to evaluate the operation of the CHS network.

RESULTS

There was a high prevalence (86.98 per thousand) of chronic diseases among the residents who participated in this investigation. The majority (84.39%) of the residents who had healthcare requirements resorted to professional health care; the other residents did not have access to health services. Among those residents who sought professional treatment, 71.3% visited primary healthcare institutions. This information reflects the enormous requirement for a CHS in primary health care but the lack of accessibility among the residents; this motivated the authors to establish a system to solve the problem. The improvement in CHS operation after the network was established suggests the importance of a network for optimizing the primary healthcare system. The improvement was indicated by better understanding of the residents regarding the CHS, and enhanced capability of self-monitoring for chronic diseases such as hypertension after the network was established. Moreover, the residents' knowledge of health care was significantly increased and, accordingly, the incidence of health risk behaviour was reduced after the network was established. Furthermore, the CHE index between 1999 and 2006 showed good correlation (r=0.988, p<0.005) with the CHS index, suggesting the important role of CHE in CHS development.

CONCLUSIONS

A network-characterized CHS system was established in Puyang, and improved the primary healthcare situation. This study provides a feasible model for the development of a CHS in medium and small cities in underdeveloped parts of China.

Establishment and biological characterization of fibroblast cell line from the Langshan chicken

OBJECTIVE

We needed to establish an embryonic fibroblast cell line from the Langshan chicken (LSCEF61) to preserve their important genetic resources at the cellular level.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The cell line was established from 9-day-old embryos by direct explant culture and cryopreservation techniques. Cell morphology, dynamic proliferation and any contamination present were tested, and the karyotype and levels of isoenzymes of lactic dehydrogenase and malic dehydrogenase were analysed. Four types of fluorescent protein exogenous genes for pEGFP-C(1), pEGFP-N(3), pEYFP-N(1) and pDsRed1-N(1) were transfected into the cells.

RESULTS

Showed that the cells were healthy and were of spindle shaped structure, without change in morphology. Cell growth curves were of typical S-shape. Assays for microbial contamination were negative. The LSCEF61 line showed no cross-contamination when assessed by isoenzyme analysis. Chromosome number (2n) = 78 on more than 90% of occasions. The four types of fluorescent protein extro-genes appeared to be expressed effectively with high transfection efficiency between 15.6% and 38.6%.

CONCLUSION

The cell line met each of the quality control standards required for the American Type Culture Collection. It had not only preserved the genetic resources of the important Langshan chicken at the cellular level, but also provided valuable material for genomic, post-genomic and somatic cell cloning research and other applications.

Search for Randall-Sundrum gravitons in the dielectron and diphoton final states with 5.4 fb(-1) of data from pp collisions at square root(s) = 1.96 TeV

Using 5.4  fb(-1) of integrated luminosity from pp collisions at square root(s)=1.96  TeV collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, we search for decays of the lightest Kaluza-Klein mode of the graviton in the Randall-Sundrum model to ee and γγ. We set 95% C.L. lower limits on the mass of the lightest graviton between 560 and 1050 GeV for values of the coupling k/M(Pl) between 0.01 and 0.1.

Analyzing endodontic infections by deep coverage pyrosequencing

Bacterial diversity in endodontic infections has not been sufficiently studied. The use of modern pyrosequencing technology should allow for more comprehensive analysis than traditional Sanger sequencing. This study investigated bacterial diversity in endodontic infections through taxonomic classification based on 16S rRNA gene sequences generated by 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing and conventional Sanger capillary sequencing technologies. Sequencings were performed on 7 specimens from endodontic infections. On average, 47 vs. 28,590 sequences were obtained per sample for Sanger sequencing vs. pyrosequencing, representing a 600-fold difference in "depth-of-coverage". Based on Ribosomal Database Project (RDP II) Classifier analysis, pyrosequencing identified 179 bacterial genera in 13 phyla, which was significantly more than Sanger sequencing. The phylum Bacteroidetes was the most prevalent bacterial phylum. These results indicate that bacterial communities in endodontic infections are more diverse than previously demonstrated. In addition, deep-coverage pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed low-abundance micro-organisms with potential clinical implications.

Molecular cloning of the duck MyoG and MRF4 genes coding region sequence and their differential expression patterns in the breast and leg muscle during fetal development

The MyoG and MRF4 genes encode for transcription factors that play key roles in muscle formation during embryonic and fetal development. Due to the unique functions of these two genes, they have a specific expression pattern in the same muscle tissues. In order to investigate the different developmental expression patterns of the two genes, the coding region sequences of duck MyoG and MRF4 were cloned and their mRNA expression patterns in the duck breast and leg muscles were measured using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The duck MyoG and MRF4 both have a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) domain with high homology to several other species. In addition, there is a low homology region at the carboxy-terminus of these two proteins. The mRNA expression of MyoG reaches a peak at embryonic day 14 (E14d) in both the breast muscle and the leg muscle of duck. The peak mRNA expression of MRF4 appears at E14d in the breast muscle and at E18d in the leg muscle. The expression patterns of MyoG and MRF4 were different between the breast muscle and the leg muscle of duck. In the fetal duck, the leg muscle develops earlier than the breast muscle, which may better accommodate the newborn duck to a new environment postnatally.Key words: Duck, MyoG and MRF4, expression pattern, fetal development

Prevalence, pattern and determinants of radiographic hand osteoarthritis in five Russian community-based samples

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and pattern of radiographic hand osteoarthritis (OA) and its association with age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and place of residence in five Russian community-based samples.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional observational study: The study population comprised ethnic Russians [821 males and 1076 females, aged 18-90 (mean 46.2+/-15.3)], living in five different geographic areas. OA was evaluated for 14 joints of the left hand according to the Kellgren and Lawrence grading scheme. Statistical analyses included prevalence estimation, logistic and generalized model regressions, and chi(2) tests.

RESULTS

We present extensive data on the prevalence of radiographic hand OA in a total Russian sample. After the age of 65, 98.5% of males and 96.8% of females had at least one affected joint. In individuals younger than 50, OA was most prevalent in the metacarpophalangeal joints, and after age 50, was most prevalent in the distal interphalangeal joints. Prevalence of hand OA was significantly higher in males than in females in ages 35-50. After adjustment for age, age(2) and place of residence, there were no associations between prevalence or severity of hand OA and BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Significant differences in prevalence and severity of hand OA were found between the Russian samples living in different geographic areas. Additional studies are needed to discover the mechanism defining the association between places of residence and development of hand OA.

Urodynamic Study of Bladder Function for Patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Treated by Surgical Decompression

Lumbar spinal stenosis usually leads to different degrees of nerve damage, presenting with back and leg pain, and/or neurogenic bladder symptoms. To determine whether lumbar decompression improved urological function, bladder dysfunction was evaluated in this retrospective study of 26 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis who had undergone lumbar decompression surgery. Urodynamic study procedures were performed pre-operatively and 6 months post-operatively. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association score rating system and Oswestry Disability Index were employed for clinical evaluation. Following surgery, post-voiding residual urine, maximum cystometric capacity and maximum flow rate improved significantly. There was no statistically significant improvement in voided volume, bladder compliance, maximum detrusor pressure or upper urinary tract damage. Urodynamic study was important in the diagnosis of neurogenic bladder dysfunction, prevention of renal deterioration and assessment of post-operative effects after surgical decompression for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Oxidative LDL modification is increased in vascular dementia and is inversely associated with cognitive performance

It is not known whether the association between increased plasma homocysteine (Hcy) associated with LDL modification and propensity for LDL uptake by macrophages in cardiovascular disease patients holds true in vascular dementia (VaD). Plasma from 83 subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD), VaD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and from controls was analysed to examine (1) whether LDL isolated from the plasma of VaD is biochemically and functionally distinct from that isolated from AD, MCI or controls; and (2) whether such biomarkers of LDL phenotype are related to plasma folate levels, Hcy levels and/or to disease severity. Folate and vitamin B6 levels were significantly lower in VaD subjects than in controls. VaD-LDL showed increased protein carbonyl content (p < 0.05) and was more susceptible to scavenging by macrophages (p < 0.05) than AD- or control-LDL. Patients from the VaD cohort were more prevalent in the lowest tertile for HDL:LDL and the upper tertile for LDL oxidation; the combined parameters of HDL cholesterol, LDL oxidation and scavenging by macrophages show 87% sensitivity towards VaD detection. The association between folate deficiency, LDL modification and dysfunction in VaD but not in AD may provide a novel biomarker assessment to discriminate between the diseases.

Morphine preconditioning reduces lipopolysaccharide and interferon-gamma-induced mouse microglial cell injury via delta 1 opioid receptor activation

Microglial cells play an important role in the inflammatory response of a broad range of brain diseases including stroke, brain infection and neurodegenerative diseases. However, there is very little information regarding how to protect microglial cells. Here, we showed that incubation of the C8-B4 mouse microglial cells with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus interferon-gamma (IFN gamma) induced cytotoxicity as assessed by the amount of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released from the cells. Preconditioning the cells with morphine for 30 min concentration-dependently reduced LPS plus IFN gamma-induced cell injury. This morphine preconditioning effect was abolished by naloxone, a general opioid receptor antagonist, by naltrindole, a selective delta opioid receptor antagonist and by 7-benzylidenenaltrexone maleate, a selective delta(1) opioid receptor antagonist. However, this protective effect was not affected by beta-funaltrexamine, a selective mu opioid receptor antagonist, nor-binaltorphimine, a selective kappa opioid receptor antagonist or naltriben, a selective delta(2) opioid receptor antagonist. LPS plus IFN gamma induced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which was not affected by morphine preconditioning. Our results suggest that morphine induced a preconditioning effect in microglial cells. This effect may be mediated by delta 1 opioid receptors and may not be through inhibiting the expression of iNOS, a potentially harmful protein.

Texture classification using refined histogram

In this correspondence, we propose a novel, efficient, and effective Refined Histogram (RH) for modeling the wavelet subband detail coefficients and present a new image signature based on the RH model for supervised texture classification. Our RH makes use of a step function with exponentially increasing intervals to model the histogram of detail coefficients, and the concatenation of the RH model parameters for all wavelet subbands forms the so-called RH signature. To justify the usefulness of the RH signature, we discuss and investigate some of its statistical properties. These properties would clarify the sufficiency of the signature to characterize the wavelet subband information. In addition, we shall also present an efficient RH signature extraction algorithm based on the coefficient-counting technique, which helps to speed up the overall classification system performance. We apply the RH signature to texture classification using the well-known databases. Experimental results show that our proposed RH signature in conjunction with the use of symmetrized Kullback-Leibler divergence gives a satisfactory classification performance compared with the current state-of-the-art methods.

Quantitative diffusion tensor imaging for evaluation of motor function in patients with brain infarcts

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the quantitative diffusion value in ipsilateral cerebral peduncle of patients with differing motor function abilities and analyse the thresholds discriminating the poor motor function disability.

METHOD

Twenty-nine patients who previously suffered stroke underwent diffusion tensor imaging examinations. Motor function was evaluated 8 months after the event. The ipsilateral apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of cerebral peduncle and ADC ratio and FA ratio of patients with different motor function scales were analysed.

RESULTS

The ipsilateral FA value and FA ratio were distinctly different in patients with different motor function scales, and significantly correlated with the motor function scales. There was no significant difference of ipsilateral ADC and ADC ratio, and neither had correlation with motor function scale. The patients with poor motor function scale could be discriminated by the cutoff value of ipsilateral FA of 0.453 and FA ratio of 0.623 with sensitivity of 90%, 75% and specificity of 88.9%, 88.9% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The ipsilateral FA value and FA ratio were feasible and better imaging indices in discriminating patients with poor motor function ability.