BACKGROUND Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex disease which can be caused by both environmental and genetic factors. A functional locus rs143383 of bone morphogenetic protein-14 (BMP-14) has been pointed out to be associated with OA etiology, but conflicting conclusions have been reached. To provide a more comprehensive conclusion about this issue, we performed this meta-analysis. METHODS Relev...

Protective antigen (PA), a subunit of anthrax toxin from Bacillus anthracis, is known as a dominant component in subunit vaccines in protection against anthrax. In order to avoid the side effects of live attenuated and killed organisms, the use of linear neutralizing epitopes of PA is recommended in order to design recombinant vaccines. The present study is aimed at determining the dominant epi...

Self-decontaminating materials are defined as substances or objects designed and fabricated to deactivate pathogenic microorganisms or chemical warfare agents. Self-decontamination makes it possible for continuous protection against toxic materials. In order to develop destructive barriers against biological and chemical air pollutants, protective clothing and membranes using catalytic or enzym...

As shown in article number 2200270 by Xin Ren, Yu Jun Qi, and co-workers, adding two curved ribs to the conventional re-entrant (CRE) honeycomb structure leads formation of a modified auxetic (MRE) structure. During quasi-static compression process, plateau stresses occur load–displacement curves Moreover, energy-absorbing performance MRE is substantially improved with occurrence second stress....

The outer membrane is a continuous structure on the surface of Gram-negative bacteria and has particular significance as one of the potential targets for protective immunity. Recent studies have focused attention on the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) suggesting the existence of protective immunogenic components in Salmonella. Outer membrane protein (OMPs) has been reported to be immunogens for ...

The wheat dehydrin DHN-5 has been previously shown to exhibit heat protecting effect on enzymatic activities. In order to understand the molecular mechanism by which DHN-5 exerts its protective function, we performed an approach to dissect the functional domains of DHN-5 responsible for this feature. In two distinct enzymatic assays, we found that the truncated forms of DHN-5 containing only on...

The current investigation examined the interactive effect of dysfunctional dating attitudes and religiosity on substance use in a large sample of youth (N = 1,357) from the YouthStyles survey. Based on past research, we explored the possibility that religiosity buffered the association between dysfunctional dating attitudes and substance use. Because age was significantly associated with all st...

The purpose of this study was to explore how wearing, or not wearing, protective gloves affects the efficiency of orthodontists in performing certain orthodontic procedures. Thirty-six volunteers were randomly selected from members of the Taiwan Association of Orthodontists. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to determine the degree of convenience subjects felt in performing 11 specified or...

This study provides actionable information about intervening with American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth to prevent suicide. Statewide school survey data were used to model the impact of risk and protective factors on self-reported suicide attempts (both AI/AN and non-AI/AN). The cumulative risk and protective model worked similarly for both groups. AI/AN youth had a higher threshold of ri...