Chemical pollution: A growing peril and potential catastrophic risk to humanity.

Wilson's disease: an update.

A nonlinear energy sink (NES) approach is proposed for whole-spacecraft vibration reduction. Frequency sweeping tests are conducted on a scaled whole-spacecraft structure without or with a NES attached. The experimental transmissibility results demonstrate the significant reduction of the whole-spacecraft structure vibration over a broad spectrum of excitation frequency. The NES attachment hardly changes the natural frequencies of the structure. A finite element model is developed, and the model is verified by the experimental results. A two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) equivalent model of the scaled whole-spacecraft is proposed with the two same natural frequencies as those obtained via the finite element model. The experiment, the finite element model, and the equivalent model predict the same trends that the NES vibration reduction performance becomes better for the increasing NES mass, the increasing NES viscous damping, and the decreasing nonlinear stiffness. The energy absorption measure and the energy transition measure calculated based on the equivalent model reveals that an appropriately designed NES can efficiently absorb and dissipate broadband-frequency energy via nonlinear beats, irreversible targeted energy transfer (TET), or both for different parameters. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4035377]

Nonlinear Energy Sink for Whole-Spacecraft Vibration Reduction

Disturbance of trace element and gut microbiota profiles as indicators of autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study of Chinese children.

Toxic metal(loid)-based pollutants and their possible role in autism spectrum disorder

Environmental factors have been implicated in the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, the role of heavy metals has not been fully defined. This study investigated whether blood levels of mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and lead of children with ASD significantly differ from those of age- and sex-matched controls. One hundred eighty unrelated children with ASD and 184 healthy controls were recruited. Data showed that the children with ASD had significantly (p < 0.001) higher levels of mercury and arsenic and a lower level of cadmium. The levels of lead did not differ significantly between the groups. The results of this study are consistent with numerous previous studies, supporting an important role for heavy metal exposure, particularly mercury, in the etiology of ASD. It is desirable to continue future research into the relationship between ASD and heavy metal exposure.

Blood Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Experiments on active precision isolation with a smart conical adapter

Wilson’s disease (WD), also named hepatolenticular degeneration, is an autosomal-recessive disorder in which abnormal copper metabolism leads to copper excretion disorder and deposition in target organs. WD has a high mortality rate and disability rate, however, it is one of the treatable hereditary diseases. Irreversible tissue injury can be prevented if WD was diagnosed and treated before the development of clinical symptoms. Thus it is necessary to screen WD in the family members of the proband. First-degree relatives of a proband with WD should be screened. First-degree relatives should include the previous generation, siblings and the next generation. If available, genetic testing can be used as the primary screening method. Although the relatives of a proband are more likely to be patients with WD, the diagnosis should be based on sufficient evidence to avoid unnecessary lifelong treatment.

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Population screening and diagnostic strategies in screening family members of Wilson's disease patients.

Background Several ARID5B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were confirmed to be significantly associated with the susceptibility of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) based on Caucasian populations in previous studies Similar investigations in Asian populations were less The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between ARID5B SNPs rs7089424, rs10994982, and the risk of ALL in Chinese pediatric population Methods A total of 190 pediatric ALL patients and 270 controls were enrolled in this study PCR amplification combined with mass spectrometry were used to evaluate the genotypes of ARID5B rs7089424 and rs10994982 χ test was used in allele frequencies and genotype distributions of the SNPs for analyzing statistical differences between patients and controls Results There were significant differences in the risk allele frequencies of ARID5B rs7089424 and rs10994982 between B-lineage ALL (B-ALL) patients and controls (rs7089424, G allele: p = 0001; rs10994982, A allele: p = 0000) The genotype distributions of ARID5B rs7089424 and rs10994982 were also statistically different in B-ALL patients compared with controls (rs7089424, p = 0004; rs10994982, p = 0001) Further analyzing the relevance of ARID5B rs7089424 and rs10994982 genotypes to clinical risk classification of ALL showed GG genotype of rs7089424 and AA genotype of rs10994982 were strikingly correlated with the medium-risk and low-risk groups of B-ALL Finally, GG and GT genotypes of rs7089424 and AA genotype of rs10994982 seemed to be responsible for the hyperdiploid subtype susceptibility of childhood B-ALL Conclusion ARID5B rs7089424 and rs10994982 might serve as genetic susceptibility markers for B-ALL in Chinese pediatric population Moreover, the two ARID5B SNPs are associated with the risk of B-hyperdiploid ALL, which had a better therapeutic response than other ALL subtypes

Genetic polymorphisms of ARID5B rs7089424 and rs10994982 are associated with B-lineage ALL susceptibility in Chinese pediatric population.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a common pathogen that causes persistent infections in immune deficient patients and results in significant morbidity and mortality, particularly among transplant recipients and children. Different HCMV glycoprotein H (gH) genotypes may cause different diseases and affect the severity of these diseases. To develop a sensitive quantitative real-time PCR assay that could rapidly distinguish between two HCMV gH genotypes, primers were designed to target the conserved region of the gH gene. gH1 and gH2 probes were designed to target the two variable regions. Standard HCMV strains (AD169 and TOWNE) and 203 clinical urine samples from HCMV infected children were used for the present study. Based on the primer-probe set used to detect the target gH gene segment of HCMV, our quantitative real-time PCR assay specifically discriminated between HCMV gH1 and gH2 with a detection limit of approximately 10(2) viral copies/ml. Among the 203 clinical urine samples tested, 145 were gH1 positive, 56 were gH2 positive, and 2 were positive for both. Thus, we developed a gH gene-based real time-PCR method that could rapidly, stably, and specifically distinguish between two HCMV gH genotypes. We found HCMV gH1 to be common among children examined in Zhejiang, China.

Huamei Li

Papers

Blood Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Experiments on active precision isolation with a smart conical adapter

Population screening and diagnostic strategies in screening family members of Wilson's disease patients.

Genetic polymorphisms of ARID5B rs7089424 and rs10994982 are associated with B-lineage ALL susceptibility in Chinese pediatric population.

Rapid and sensitive identification of glycoprotein H genotypes in clinical human cytomegalovirus samples.