CONTEXT The geographical distributions of hemoglobin S (HbS), hemoglobin C (HbC), and alpha+-thalassemia (-alpha) strongly suggest balancing selection with malaria. However, whereas several studies indicate that the HbS carrier state protects against all major forms of clinical malaria, malaria protection on clinical grounds has been more difficult to confirm for HbC and -alpha, and questions r...

A case of fulminant viral hepatitis type B in the late stage of pregnancy was successfully treated with glucagon-insulin therapy, corticosteroids and other drugs. A 26-year-old female (housewife and primipara) suddenly developed severe hepatic dysfunction and disturbance of consciousness at the 36th week of pregnancy. Sequential blood examinations revealed early response to HBs antibody and del...

Fuzheng-Huayu (FZHY) tablet was formulated based on Chinese medicine theory in treating liver fibrosis. A clinical trial has indicated that FZHY can against hepatitis B-caused liver cirrhosis (HBC), but the underlying mechanism of FZHY efficacy is unclear. Here, we report that miRNA expression levels are remarkably changed when FZHY formula was used in HBC patient's treatment as a paradigm of t...

9 Five to ten per cent of all breast carcinomas are of hereditary origin. Many of them have been associated to 10 mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 susceptibility genes. No ‘‘BRCA3’’ gene has been found to account for 11 the non-BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer (BRCAx) families, and BRCAx tumors are increasingly believed to 12 originate from multiple distinct genetic events. Phenotype studies have ques...

To determine the current incidence of hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) in a healthy blood donor population, 1,893 donors were screened for anti-HBc. Forty-one (2.16%) were found to be initially positive and 35 (1.85%) repeatably positive. Sera from the repeatably positive donors were further screened for hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs), and hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA) by dot hyb...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) expresses two structural forms of the nucleoprotein, the intracellular nucleocapsid (hepatitis core antigen [HBcAg]) and the secreted nonparticulate form (hepatitis e antigen [HBeAg]). The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of HBcAg- and HBeAg-specific genetic immunogens to induce HBc/HBeAg-specific CD4(+)/CD8(+) T-cell immune responses and the potential to in...

Chitosan, a polysaccharide isolated from shrimp and other crustacean shells, has been widely investigated for DNA and siRNA delivery. Despite substantial effort having been made to improve chitosan as a non‑viral gene delivery vector, the application is severely limited by its poor solubility under physiological conditions. Hydroxybutyl chitosan (HBC), a modified chitosan, is soluble under neut...

Haemoglobin C (HbC) is one of the commonest structural haemoglobin variants in human populations. Although HbC causes mild clinical complications, its diagnosis and genetic counselling are important to prevent inheritance with other haemoglobinopathies. Little is known about its contemporary distribution and the number of newborns affected. We assembled a global database of population surveys. ...

Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronides (HBC) was successfully used as a model system for investigating the complex mechanism of the reductive functionalization of graphene. The well-defined molecular HBC system enabled deeper insights into the mechanism of the alkylation of reductively activated nanographenes. The separation and complete characterization of alkylation products clearly demonstrate that na...