| 1. |
- Huang, Zi-Gang, et al.
(författare)
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Role of collective influence in promoting cooperation
- 2008
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Ingår i: Europhysics letters. - Les Ulis : European Physical Society. - 0295-5075 .- 1286-4854. ; 84:5, s. 50008-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The collective influence on the individuals' behavior have attracted much attention, and interesting phenomena such as social facilitation and social loafing have been studied. In this paper, we consider how the collective influence affects the evolution of cooperation in a structured population of individuals who nourish and benefit from public goods in groups. Individuals are supposed to distribute endowments to different groups to nourish the corresponding public goods. The collective influence is indicated by a tunable parameter α, with larger α corresponding to the players' higher preference to contribute more to the larger groups, which is similar to the social-facilitation effect in the real world, whereas, with smaller α corresponding to individuals' contrary preference, i.e., the social-loafing effect. Interestingly, we find that the heterogeneity of public-goods setting favors cooperation. Furthermore, the system where social loafing occurs performs better than that with social facilitation, in the case of heterogeneous formation.
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| 2. |
- Lu, Yuan-Yuan, et al.
(författare)
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A clinical study of microcirculatory disturbance in Chinese patients with sudden deafness
- 2008
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Ingår i: Acta Oto-Laryngologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0001-6489 .- 1651-2251. ; 128:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conclusion. Cochlear microcirculation disturbance is closely associated with sudden deafness. Objectives. To investigate the relationship between cochlear microcirculation and sudden deafness. Subjects and methods. Clinical laboratory parameters (clinical chemistry, hemorheology, hematology, and hemostasis determinations) were studied in 86 patients with sudden deafness and 30 healthy control subjects. Results. The levels of total cholesterol (TCH), triglyceride (TG), and lipoprotein A were significantly higher in patients with sudden deafness than in control subjects. Plasma viscosity, ratio viscosity of whole blood, reduced viscosity of whole blood, high and low shear relative viscosity of whole blood, index of red blood cells transmutation, and fibrinogen level in the plasma of patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) were also significantly elevated in comparison with those in control subjects. White-collar workers with psychological and behavioral abnormalities tend to suffer from sudden deafness.
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| 3. |
- Su, Min, et al.
(författare)
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Temporal trends of esophageal cancer during 1995-2004 in Nanao Island, an extremely high-risk area in China
- 2007
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Ingår i: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-7284 .- 0393-2990. ; 22:1, s. 43-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of our study was to investigate the temporal malignant tumor incidence rates among the 70,000 residents at the relatively isolated Nanao Island in South China Sea. The data on all malignant tumor cases from Nanao Cancer Registry during 1995-2004 were coded, computerized, and analyzed using the software SPSS10.0. The tumor incident cases, crude incident rate, age-standardized incidence rate, their sex distribution and temporal trend were assessed. A total of 1450 new cancer cases (990 males and 460 females) were identified. The annual average age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) of malignant tumors was 208.18/100,000. The age-standardized incidence rate of the ten leading cancers in both sexes combined per 100,000 population were 74.47 for esophageal cancer (EC), 34.81 for cardiac cancer (CC), 25.66 for liver cancer, 26.01 for lung cancer, 18.52 for stomach cancer, 4.45 for nasopharyngeal cancer, 3.91 for breast cancer, 2.53 for colon/rectum cancer, 2.45 for bladder cancer and 1.92 for pancreatic cancer. These ten types of cancers make up to 93% of all cancer cases, with EC and CC being the most prevalent and making up 52% of the total cases. The incidence rates of esophagus, liver, lung, breast, nasopharyngeal, and colon/rectum cancers showed increasing trends during the period from 1995 to 2004 in Nanao Island. Astounding the EC ASR were 72-150/100,000 among male and 26-64/100,000 among female in Nanao Island during 1995-2004. The EC incidence rate in Nanao population is among the highest across the world, which suggests that there are potential genetic and/or environmental factors affecting this particular population.
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| 4. |
- Xu, Bing, et al.
(författare)
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Clinicopathological significance of caspase-8 and caspase-10 expression in rectal cancer
- 2008
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Ingår i: Oncology. - : S. Karger AG. - 0890-9091 .- 0030-2414 .- 1423-0232. ; 74:3-4, s. 229-236
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To investigate the expression of caspase-8 and -10 in rectal adenoma, adenocarcinoma and the corresponding normal mucosa tissue, and to clarify the relationship between their expression and clinicopathological parameters of rectal cancer. Methods: The expression of caspase-8 and -10 was determined by real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in 36 rectal adenomas, 93 rectal cancers and 93 corresponding normal rectal mucosa samples. Results: Compared with normal mucosa, the mRNA expression of caspase-8 was higher in adenomas (p = 0.003), while that of caspase-10 was lower in adenomas (p = 0.035) and cancers (p = 0.001). Immunohistochemical results showed caspase-8 up-regulation in adenomas (p = 0.014), and caspase-10 down-regulation in adenomas (p = 0.034) and cancers (p < 0.001) compared with normal mucosa samples. Cancers with poor differentiation had lower caspase-10 mRNA and protein levels than those with better differentiation (p = 0.041 and p = 0.046, respectively). The protein expression of caspase-8 and -10 was in accordance with the mRNA expression (p = 0.043 and p = 0.018, respectively). Conclusions: Caspase-8 expression was up-regulated in rectal adenomas. Caspase-10 expression was down-regulated in both rectal adenomas and cancers, and was further related to differentiation. Caspase-8 and -10 may be involved in the pathogenesis of rectal cancer. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG.
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| 5. |
- Yang, Hai-Ling, et al.
(författare)
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The ligand Jelly Belly (Jeb) activates the Drosophila Alk RTK to drive PC12 cell differentiation, but is unable to activate the mouse ALK RTK
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of experimental zoology, part B Molecular and developmental evolution. - : Wiley. - 1552-5007 .- 1552-5015. ; 308:3, s. 269-282
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Drosophila Alk receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) drives founder cell specification in the developing visceral mesoderm and is crucial for the formation of the fly gut. Activation of Alk occurs in response to the secreted ligand Jelly Belly. No homologues of Jelly Belly are described in vertebrates, therefore we have approached the question of the evolutionary conservation of the Jeb-Alk interaction by asking whether vertebrate ALK is able to function in Drosophila. Here we show that the mouse ALK RTK is unable to rescue a Drosophila Alk mutant, indicating that mouse ALK is unable to recognise and respond to the Drosophila Jeb molecule. Furthermore, the overexpression of a dominant-negative Drosophila Alk transgene is able to block the visceral muscle fusion event, which an identically designed dominant-negative construct for the mouse ALK is not. Using PC12 cells as a model for neurite outgrowth, we show here for the first time that activation of dAlk by Jeb results in neurite extension. However, the mouse Alk receptor is unable to respond in any way to the Drosophila Jeb protein in the PC12 system. In conclusion, we find that the mammalian ALK receptor is unable to respond to the Jeb ligand in vivo or in vitro. These results suggest that either (i) mouse ALK and mouse Jeb have co-evolved to the extent that mALK can no longer recognise the Drosophila Jeb ligand or (ii) that the mALK RTK has evolved such that it is no longer activated by a Jeb-like molecule in vertebrates.
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| 6. |
- Yang, Rui, et al.
(författare)
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Antigen and epitope specificity of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in patients with Goodpasture disease with or without anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. - 1046-6673. ; 18:4, s. 1338-1343
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Goodpasture disease (GP) is defined by the presence of anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibodies and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. Besides anti-GBM, many patients with GP produce anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). For elucidation of the pathophysiologic significance of ANCA in this setting, epitope and antigen specificity of the anti-GBM antibodies and antigen specificity of ANCA were studied. Bovine testis a(IV)NC1 (tNC1); recombinant human alpha 1, alpha 3, alpha 4, and alpha 5(IV)NC1 (r alpha 1 through r alpha 5); and three chimeric proteins that contain previously defined epitope regions designated E-A, E-B, and S2 were used to examine the anti-GBM antibodies by ELISA in 205 Chinese patients with GP with or without ANCA. In the 205 anti-GBM antibody-positive sera, 63 (30.7%) were also ANCA positive (61 myeloperoxidase-ANCA and six proteinase 3-ANCA, four being triple positive). All 205 sera recognized tNC1 and r alpha 3(IV)NC1. In the double-positive group, 54.0, 66.7, 71.4% of the sera could recognize r alpha 1, r alpha 4, and r alpha 5, respectively, compared with 49.3, 60.6, and 55.6% for patients with anti-GBM antibodies alone. The levels of the antibodies to r alpha 3, tNC1, and the alpha 3/alpha 1 ratio were lower in the double-positive group than that in patients with anti-GBM antibody alone (P < 0.05). Most of the sera could recognize the epitope regions E-A,E-B, and S2, but the absorbance values to EA, EB, and S2 were lower in double-positive group (P < 0.05). Double-positive patients had a broader spectrum of anti-GBM antibodies and lower levels of antibodies against alpha 3(IV)NC1 compared with that of patients with anti-GBM antibodies alone.
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| 7. |
- Yang, Rui, et al.
(författare)
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Levels of epitope-specific autoantibodies correlate with renal damage in anti-GBM disease
- 2009
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Ingår i: Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. - Oxford, UK : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1460-2385 .- 0931-0509. ; 24:6, s. 1838-1844
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background. Although the clinical importance of demonstrating the presence of anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibodies is well established, less is known concerning the clinical utility of measuring the levels of autoantibodies. Two conformational epitopes of anti-GBM antibodies have been defined at residues 17-31 and 127-141 of the alpha 3(IV)NC1 domain of type IV collagen [alpha 3(IV)NC1], which were named as EA and EB, respectively. In order to elucidate the importance of such antibodies, we studied the levels and the epitope specificities of anti-GBM antibodies in a large cohort of Chinese patients with anti-GBM disease. Methods. All patients, with anti-GBM disease and available clinical data, diagnosed at Peking University First Hospital from 1996 to 2005 were included in the present study. Recombinant chimeric proteins containing previously defined epitope regions designated as EA and EB were used to detect anti-GBM antibodies by ELISA. Results were compared and correlated with clinical data collected at the time of diagnosis, biopsy findings and outcome after 1 year of follow-up. Results. A retrospective diagnosis of anti-GBM disease was made in 147 patients. Haemoptysis was recorded for 47% of these cases while 53.5% cases had oliguria or anuria at the time of diagnosis. Among these patients, the levels of anti-GBM antibodies correlated with serum creatinine at diagnosis (P < 0.05 for anti EA, EB and alpha 3(IV)NC1). Oliguric patients had higher levels of autoantibodies than non-oliguric patients, however, the difference being statistically significant only for EB (P < 0.05). Renal biopsies were performed in 66 patients, and it was found that 50 (75.8%) had cresent formation in > 85% of the glomeruli. There was a correlation between the percentage of crescents and levels of antibodies, but it was significant only for anti-EA antibodies (P < 0.05). Clinical data regarding the follow-up were available for 102 patients; at the end of 1 year, 88 (86.3%) were either dead or dialysis dependent. The absorbance values of anti-GBM antibodies against both EA and EB were also associated with the subsequent development, death or terminal renal insufficiency (P < 0.05). Conclusion. In this study, patients with high levels of circulating antibodies against the specific epitopes EA and EB had a more severe renal disease at diagnosis as well as a worse prognosis.
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| 8. |
- Yang, Rui, et al.
(författare)
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Natural anti-GBM antibodies from normal human sera recognize alpha 3(IV)NC1 restrictively and recognize the same epitopes as anti-GBM antibodies from patients with anti-GBM disease
- 2007
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Ingår i: Clinical Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1521-6616. ; 124:2, s. 207-212
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Anti-GBM disease is a rare autoimmune condition characterized by autoantibodies targeting the alpha 3 chain non-collagen 1 domain of type IV collagen (alpha 3(IV)NC1). Recently, we isolated IgG reacting with alpha 3(IV)NC1 from normal healthy human sera. The current study examined the antigen and epitope specificity of these natural autoantibodies (NAA) using recombinant human alpha 1, 3, 5(IV)NC1 and three constructs expressing, previously defined epitope regions designated E-A, E-B and S2, in the alpha 1(IV)NC1 background. The NAA preparations reacted with recombinant human alpha 3(IV) NC1 to the same extent as with purified bovine alpha(IV)NC1, but not with recombinant human alpha 1 and alpha 5 (IV)NC1. NAA preparations recognized the three chimeric proteins (E-A, E-B and S2) yielding similar absorbance values. We conclude that anti-GBM NAA recognize the same major epitopes as anti-GBM antibodies from patients with Goodpasture's disease.
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