Obtaining soluble proteins in sufficient concentrations helps increase the overall success rate in various experimental studies. Protein solubility is an individual trait ultimately determined by its primary protein sequence. Exploring the interconnection between the protein solubility and the compositions of protein sequence is instrumental for setting priorities on targets in large scale proteomics projects. In this paper, amino acid composition (20 dimensions) and the dipeptide composition (400 dimensions) were extracted to form the total candidate feature pool (420 dimensions), and each feature was selected into the feature vectors one by one, which were sorted by the absolute value of the correlation coefficient. Finally, we evaluated and recorded the 420 results of Support Vector Machine (SVM) as the prediction engine. According to the results of SVM, the first 208 features were chosen from the 420 dimensions, which were considered as the efficient ones. By analyzing the composition of the former 208 features, we found that the protein solubility was significantly influenced by the occurrence frequencies of the acidic amino acids, basic amino acids, non-polar hydrophobic amino acids and the two polar neutral amino acids(C, Q) in the protein sequences. Additionally, we detected that the dipeptides composed by the acidic amino acids (D, E) and basic amino acids (K, R and H), especially the dipeptide composed by the acidic amino acids (D, E), had strong interconnection with the protein solubility.
Nonmedical use of cough syrup (NUCS) among secondary vocational school (SVS) students has been an increasing concern for public health in China, but no data were available. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characters of NUCS as well as its risk factors among SVS students in China.From September 2013 to December 2014, a total of 13,614 SVS students were purposively selected through multistage sampling in 6 cities of China. Information on NUCS, demographics, family background, smoking and alcohol consumption, impulsiveness, sensation seeking, and parental monitoring were collected. Logistic regression was used to explore factors related to NUCS.The 12,923 (94.9%) valid responses (16.3 ± 1.0 years old, and 52.6% men) reported 3.47% (95% confidence interval: 3.15-3.79%) lifetime NUCS. Logistic regression indicated that smoking, part-time job experience, high level of impulsiveness, and sensation seeking were risk factors for NUCS, whereas urban living and high parental monitoring were protective ones.NUCS was prevalent among SVS students. Interventions that target on smoking, impulsiveness and sensation seeking control, improvement on parental monitoring may have considerable impact on NUCS among SVS students.
To evaluate the molluscicidal effect of the chlorosalicylicamide sustained-release granules (LDS-SRG) on Oncomelania hupensis.Seven effective concentrations or dosages of LDS-SRG, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3.2 and 6.4 mg/L (for immersion test) or g/m2(for spraying test), were prepared from the original 5% and 10% concentrations or dosages in the laboratory. In the immersion test, each concentration of LDS-SRG was incubated with 3 packs of snails(30 snails in each pack), and each pack was taken for snail counting at 24, 48 and 72 h respectively. In the spraying test, each dosage of LDS-SRG was applied to 200 snails, and the snail mortality was calculated in 50 randmoly collected snails on days 3 and 7, and in the whole on day 14 after administration. In the field immersion test, LDS-SRG at concentrations of 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 g/m3 was incubated with 6 packs of snails (30 snails in each pack), and each 2 packs were taken at 24, 48, and 72 h to calculate the snail mortality. In the field spraying test, 0.8, 1.6 and 3.2 g/m2 LDS-SRG was sprayed in 3 snail-positive ditches (~100 m2), and 10 boxes of snails were selected in each ditch on days 3, 7 and 14 to calculate the snail mortality. The 50% wettable powder of niclosamide ethanolamine salt (WPN) with effective concentrations or dosages of 1.0 mg/L (or g/m2 and g/m3) was used as the positive control. Fresh water served as the blank control.In the labratory immersion test using the original concentration of 5%, both 0.1-6.4 mg/L LDS-SRG for 72 h and 1.6-6.4 mg/L LDS-SRG for 48 h caused 100% mortality; and the concentration lethal to 50% (LC50) at 24, 48 and 72 h was 0.70, 0.01 and 0.01 mg/L respectively. When using the original concentration of 10%, both 0.1-6.4 mg/L LDS-SRG for 72 h and 0.2-6.4 mg/L LDS-SRG for 48 h caused 100% mortality; and the LC50 at 24, 48 and 72 h was 0.15, 0.01 and 0.01 mg/L respectively. The labratory spraying test showed that 7-day administration of 1.6 and 6.4 g/m2 LDS-SRG as well as 14-day administration of 3.2 and 6.4 g/m2 LDS-SRG prepared from 5% dosage, resulted in a snail mortality>95%, with the LD50 on days 3, 7 and 14 being 0.06, 0.16, and 0.18 g/m2; 14-day administration of 1.6 g/m2 LDS-SRG as well as 7-day administration of 6.4 g/m2 LDS-SRG prepared from 10% dosage, resulted in a snail mortality>95%, with the LD50 on days 3, 7 and 14 being 3.29, 0.75, and 0.16 g/m2. The mortality by various dosages of LDS-SRG prepared from 5% dosage was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). In the field immersion test, the snail mortality by 1.6 g/m3 LDS-SRG prepared from 5% and 10% concentrations for 72 h was 96.43% and 98.21% respectively (P>0.05 versus the control group). In the field spraying test, the snail mortality by 3.2 g/m2 LDS-SRG prepared from 5% dosage for 3, 7 and 14 days was 93.99%, 91.18% and 86.48% respectively, and that from 10% dosage was 94.95%, 93.50% and 85.43%, all significantly higher than that of the control group (82.83%, 72.38% and 48.38%)(P<0.05); the snail mortality by 0.8 g/m2 LDS-SRG prepared from 5% dosage for 14 days(66.51%) and that by 1.6 g/m2 LDS-SRG prepared from 5% dosage for 3 days(84.61%) were both significantly higher than that by 10% LDS-SRG(20.13% and 43.06%) (P<0.05).The 5% and 10% LDS-SRG used separately in the immersion test and the spraying test both meet the requirements of the national standard of Efficacy Test Methods and Evaluation of Molluscicide for Pesticide Registration.
To study the knowledge, attitude and behavior on drugs abuse among junior middle school students.Junior students of 4 middle schools from 2 cities and 2 small towns were sampled by stratified cluster random sampling method in Xiangfan and Daye respectively, and data was gathered from self-report questionnaires then analyized using SPSS 12.0.Among 1079 junior middle school students, 80.00% of them having good grades for questions about drugs in general while 34.24% ones having poor grades for questions regarding drugs addiction. 54.47% and 41.79% of the students were puzzled on questions related to the harm of drug on brain and body respectively. 30.00% of the students misunderstood the behaviors related to drugs and another 3.20% of them were curious about drugs. 1.58% of the boys and 1.22% of the girls ever having used drugs,with the average age was 9.5 years old when started using drugs. 25.20% of the students ever persuaded their friends to keep away from drugs,while 44.05%-61.29% would refuse the advice from their friends in persuading them to be off from drugs.Junior students had poor knowledge or even wrong ideas about the harm caused by drug, suggesting that it was in urgent need to effectively develop preventive education based on the characteristics of adolescents.
To investigate associations among occupational exposure to coke oven emissions (COEs), oxidative stress, cytogenotoxic effects, change in the metabolizing enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST), and internal levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in coke oven workers, we recruited 47 male coke oven workers and 31 male control subjects from a coke oven plant in northern China. We measured the levels of 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) and 8-hydroxy-2 -deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in urine, micronucleated binucleated cells (BNMNs) in peripheral blood lymphocyte, and GST in serum. Our results showed that the group exposed to COEs had significantly increased levels of 1-OHP [median 5.7; interquartile range (IQR), 1.4-12.0 micromol/mol creatinine] compared with the control group (3; 0.5-6.4 micromol/mol creatinine). In addition, the median levels (IQR) of 8-OHdG, BNMNs, and GST were markedly increased in the exposed [1.9 (1.4-15.4) micromol/mol creatinine; 6 (2-8) per thousand ; 22.1 (14.9-31.2) U/L, respectively] compared with controls [1.3 (1.0-4.0) micromol/mol creatinine, 2 (0-4) per thousand; and 13.1 (9.5-16.7) U/L, respectively]. These results appeared to be modified by smoking. However, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that exposure to COEs had the highest odds ratio among variables analyzed and that smoking was not a significant confounder of the levels of studied biomarkers. Overall, the present findings suggest that COE exposure led to increased internal PAH burden, genetic damage, oxidative stress, and GST activity. The consequences of the changes in these biomarkers, such as risk of cancer, warrant further investigations.