Assessing the causal role of immune traits in rheumatoid arthritis by bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune joint disorders that leads to cartilage degradation. However, its specific correlation with immune cells has not been thoroughly clarified. Based on the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, the association between RA and 731 immune phenotypes which include morphological parameters (MP), relative cell (RC), median fluorescence intensities (MFI), and absolute cells (AC) was comprehensively determined.

Social trust and the location choices of foreign firms in China-The moderating role of formal institution and cultural distance.

The institutional environment has a significant impact on the location of overseas investments by multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, there remain two research gaps. First, fewer studies focused on the impact of subnational regional institutions on the location choices of MNEs.

How Does Social Support Affect the Retention Willingness of Cross-Border E-Commerce Sellers?

E-commerce research usually focuses more on how to protect consumers' rights and increase their purchase intention from the perspective of consumers. However, we still lack understanding of e-commerce sellers, especially cross-border e-commerce sellers. Based on the stimulus-body-response theory, this paper built a moderated mediation model to test the relationships among social support, perceived benefits, perceived usefulness and sellers' willingness to retain.

Sirtuin-3 mediates sex differences in kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Studies suggest that biological sex influences susceptibility to kidney diseases with males demonstrating greater risk for developing ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI). Sex-related differences in mitochondrial function and homeostasis exist, likely contributing to sexual dimorphism in kidney injury, but the mechanisms are not well characterized. Our observations reveal lower baseline expression of Sirtuin-3 (Sirt3, a major mitochondrial acetyltransferase) in the kidneys of male mice versus females.

A Comparison of Hydroxyl Radical and Hydrogen Peroxide Generation in Ambient Particle Extracts and Laboratory Metal Solutions.

Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) - including superoxide ((•)O(2) (-)), hydrogen peroxide (HOOH), and hydroxyl radical ((•)OH) - has been suggested as one mechanism underlying the adverse health effects caused by ambient particulate matter (PM). In this study we compare HOOH and (•)OH production from fine and coarse PM collected at an urban (Fresno) and rural (Westside) site in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) of California, as well as from laboratory solutions containing dissolved copper or iron. Samples were extracted in a cell-free, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution containing 50 μM ascorbate (Asc).

Some views about the high cost of medical care in China.

Since China began its reform and opened up to the outside world, medical technology and treatment have improved greatly, but the cost of medical care has increased, causing an increasing burden on the Chinese people. We attempted to find reasons for the high cost medical treatment. These included: 1.

Zinc nutritional status modulates expression of ahr-responsive p450 enzymes in vascular endothelial cells.

Zinc has anti-inflammatory properties and is crucial for the integrity of vascular endothelial cells, and the development and homeostasis of the cardiovascular system. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) which is expressed in the vascular endothelium also plays an important role in responses to xenobiotic exposure and cardiovascular development. We hypothesize that cellular zinc can modulate induction of AhR responsive genes in endothelial cells.

Zinc deficiency induces vascular pro-inflammatory parameters associated with NF-kappaB and PPAR signaling.

Objectives: Marginal intake of dietary zinc can be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. In the current study we hypothesized that vascular dysfunction and associated inflammatory events are activated during a zinc deficient state.

Design: We tested this hypothesis using both vascular endothelial cells and mice lacking the functional LDL-receptor gene.

Zinc deficiency alters lipid metabolism in LDL receptor deficient mice treated with rosiglitazone.

Zinc is a structural and functional component of PPAR and zinc deficiency may be associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. We tested the hypothesis that zinc deficiency compromises lipid metabolism in rosiglitazone (RSG)-treated mice lacking the LDL-receptor (LDL-R) gene. LDL-R-deficient mice were maintained for 3 wk on low-fat (7 g/100 g) diets that were either zinc deficient or zinc adequate.

The p-benzoquinone DNA adducts derived from benzene are highly mutagenic.

Benzene is a human leukemia carcinogen, resulting from its cellular metabolism. A major benzene metabolite is p-benzoquinone (pBQ), which can damage DNA by forming the exocyclic base adducts pBQ-dC, pBQ-dA, and pBQ-dG in vitro. To gain insights into the role of pBQ in benzene genotoxicity, we examined in vitro translesion synthesis and in vivo mutagenesis of these pBQ adducts.

Role of DNA polymerase eta in the bypass of abasic sites in yeast cells.

Abasic (AP) sites are major DNA lesions and are highly mutagenic. AP site-induced mutagenesis largely depends on translesion synthesis. We have examined the role of DNA polymerase eta (Poleta) in translesion synthesis of AP sites by replicating a plasmid containing a site-specific AP site in yeast cells.

Translesion synthesis of acetylaminofluorene-dG adducts by DNA polymerase zeta is stimulated by yeast Rev1 protein.

Translesion synthesis is an important mechanism in response to unrepaired DNA lesions during replication. The DNA polymerase zeta (Polzeta) mutagenesis pathway is a major error-prone translesion synthesis mechanism requiring Polzeta and Rev1. In addition to its dCMP transferase, a non-catalytic function of Rev1 is suspected in cellular response to certain types of DNA lesions.

[Effects of p-nonylphenol on expression of ER protein and ER alpha mRNA of MCF-7 cells].

Objective: To investigate the estrogenicity of p-nonylphenol (p-NP) through observation of its effects on expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and ER alpha mRNA of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

Methods: MCF-7 cells were maintained in RPMI-1640 medium containing 10% bovine serum. Before addition of p-NP, the cells were washed by phenol red-free DMEM medium and then maintained in phenol red-free DMEM medium containing 3% charcoal/dextran treated fetal bovine serum for 3 days.