Aeolian process of the dried-up riverbeds of the Hexi Corridor, China: a wind tunnel experiment

Wind tunnel studies, which remain limited, are an important tool to understand the aeolian processes of dried-up riverbeds. The particle size, chemical composition, and the mineral contents of sediments arising from the dried river beds are poorly understood. Dried-up riverbeds cover a wide area in the Hexi Corridor, China, and comprise a complex synthesis of different land surfaces, including aeolian deposits, pavement surfaces, and Takyr crust. The results of the present wind tunnel experiment suggest that aeolian transport from the dried-up riverbeds of the Hexi Corridor ranges from 0 to 177.04 g/m²/min and that dry riverbeds could be one of the main sources of dust emissions in this region. As soon as the wind velocity reaches 16 m/s and assuming that there are abundant source materials available, aeolian transport intensity increases rapidly. The dried-up riverbed sediment and the associated aeolian transported material were composed mainly of fine and medium sands. However, the transported samples were coarser than the bed samples, because of the sorting effect of the aeolian processes on the sediment. The aeolian processes also led to regional elemental migration and mineral composition variations.

[Prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and influence factors in residents aged 18-65 years in Beijing]

Objective: To understand the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and related risk factors in residents aged 18-65 years in Beijing and provide scientific evidence for the prevention and control of hypercholesterolemia. Methods: The data were collected from Beijing Non-communicable and Chronic Disease Survey and stratified cluster sampling method was used to select study subjects, and questionnaire investigation, physical measurement and laboratory examination were conducted to collect information. Results: The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and borderline hypercholesterolemia was 6.26% and 21.34% respectively in 17 662 residents surveyed, the average total cholesterol level was (4.69±0.95) mmol/L. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 6.33% in men and 6.20% in women, the difference was not significant (Z=1.64, P=0.10). The prevalence was higher inurban area than in suburb (6.73% vs. 5.59%; Z=-7.27, P<0.01). The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia increased with age (trend χ(2)=308.85, P<0.01). The trend was observed in men (trend χ(2)=81.65, P<0.01), in women (trend χ(2)=318.04, P<0.01), in urban area (trend χ(2)=201.77, P<0.01) and in suburb (trend χ(2)=114.65, P<0.01). Multiple logistic regression showed age, being female (OR=1.23, 95%CI: 1.04-1.45), overweight (OR=1.56, 95%CI: 1.34-1.81), obesity (OR=1.82, 95%CI: 1.54-2.16), smoking (OR=1.24, 95%CI: 1.03-1.50), alcohol use (OR=1.40, 95%CI: 1.12-1.75), beef and mutton intake >1 time per week (OR=1.19, 95%CI: 1.02-1.39) were risk factors. Conclusion: The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia in Beijing was lower than national level, and age, gender, location, BMI, smoking, alcohol use, beef and mutton intake were main influencing factors.

[An adolescent with Hashimoto's encephalopathy after surgery and ¹³¹I radiotherapy for papillary thyroid carcinoma: one case report]

Hashimoto's encephalopathy is a rare brain disease. Its etiology is still unknown. In this paper, we reported a 15-year-old female patient underwent total thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection, due to a multifocal papilliferous carcinoma of the right lobus. Forty-two days after surgery, the patient was treated by ¹³¹I radiotherapy in another hospital and begun to have a headache after 48 hours. At last, the patient was diagnosed by HE on the basis of all considerations. She recovered from by i.v. Immunoglobulin. Till now, the patient has not relapsed for more than 4 years follow-up.

c-Jun N-terminal Kinase mediates prostaglandin-induced sympathoexcitation in rats with chronic heart failure by reducing GAD1 and GABRA1 expression

AIM

Prostaglandin E2 mediates sympathoexcitation in chronic heart failure (CHF) through EP3 receptors (PTGER3) in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in expressional regulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid signalling in PVN in CHF rats.

METHODS

Chronic heart failure was induced by left coronary ligation in Wistar rats. Renal sympathetic nerve discharge (RSND) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) responses to the PVN infusion were determined in anaesthetized rats. Osmotic minipumps were used for chronic PVN infusion. PTGER3 expression was examined with immunofluorescence staining, quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot.

RESULTS

Chronic heart failure rats had increased JNK activation and decreased glutamate decarboxylase 1 (GAD1) and GABA_A receptor alpha 1 subunit (GABRA1) expression in the PVN. PVN infusion of the PTGER3 agonist SC-46275 caused sympathoexcitation in sham-operated control (Sham) rats and increased it further in CHF. The PTGER3 antagonist L798106 reduced sympathoexcitation and cardiac dysfunction in CHF. PVN infusion of EP1 receptor antagonist SC-19220, EP2 receptor antagonist AH6809 or EP4 receptor antagonist L-161982 had no effect on sympathoexcitation. The JNK inhibitor SP600125 normalized sympathoexcitation and GAD1 and GABRA1 expression in PVN in CHF rats. Both the p44/42 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors PD98059 and SB203580 could not prevent the downregulation of GAD1 and GABRA1 expression in PVN in CHF. PTGER3 agonist activated JNK but downregulated GAD1 and GABRA1 expression in NG108 neuronal cells.

CONCLUSION

Prostaglandin signalling through upregulated PTGER3 activates JNK which reduces GAD1 and GABRA1 expression in the PVN, and contributes to sympathoexcitation in CHF.

Observation of clinical efficacy of rt-PA intravenous thrombolytic treatment for patients combined with grade 0-1 diabetic foot by Wagner classification and acute ischemic stroke

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of rt-PA intravenous thrombolytic treatment for patients with diabetic foot (DF) and acute ischemic stroke.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed on 76 patients admitted between June 2012 to December 2015 presenting with acute ischemic stroke and Grade 0-1 DF a (Wagner classification). The treatment group consisted of 44 patients who received rt-PA intravenous thrombolytic treatment, while 32 cases in the control group did not. Both groups received monitored dietary therapy and hypoglycemic drugs to control their blood glucose levels. In the treatment group, patients received rt-PA intravenous thrombolytic treatment 4.5h after the onset of ischemic stroke. Physical parameters like color change of sick-foot skin, conditions of ulcer concrescence, changes of skin temperature, and promotion of pain scores were observed in both the groups.

RESULTS

The improvement in the rt-PA intravenous thrombolytic treatment group was higher than that in general treatment group, and the difference between them had statistical significance (p<0.01). Though the improvement of foot symptoms of patients who received rt-PA intravenous thrombolytic was better than that of the control group; there was no obvious statistical difference in the incidence of adverse events between the treatment group and the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

rt-PA can reduce the level serum fibrinogen, promotes local microcirculation and nutrition metabolism of diabetic foot, and improve the clinical prognosis of patients with diabetic foot, but will not increase the incidence of adverse events at the same time.

Phosphorylation of NFAT3 by CDK3 induces cell transformation and promotes tumor growth in skin cancer

The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) family proteins are transcription factors that regulate the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other genes during the immune response. Although the NFAT proteins have been extensively investigated in the immune system, their role in cancer progression remains controversial. Here, we report that NFAT3 is highly expressed in various skin cancer cell lines and tumor tissues. Knockdown of endogenous NFAT3 expression by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) significantly inhibited tumor cell proliferation, colony formation and anchorage-independent cell growth. Furthermore, results of the mammalian two-hybrid assay showed that cyclin-dependent kinase 3 (CDK3) directly interacted with NFAT3 and phosphorylated NFAT3 at serine 259 (Ser259), which enhanced the transactivation and transcriptional activity of NFAT3. The phosphorylation site of NFAT3 was critical for epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated cell transformation of the HaCaT immortalized skin cell line and mutation of NFAT3 at Ser259 led to a reduction of colony formation in soft agar. We also found that overexpressing wildtype NFAT3, but not mutant NFAT3-S259A, promoted A431 xenograft tumor growth. Importantly, we showed that CDK3, NFAT3 and phosphorylated NFAT3-Ser259 were highly expressed in skin cancer compared with normal skin tissues. These results provided evidence supporting the oncogenic potential of NFAT3 and suggested that CDK3-mediated phosphorylation of NFAT3 has an important role in skin tumorigenesis.

[Current smoking status and awareness of tobacco hazard in adults in Beijing, 2014]

Objective: To understand the status of current smoking and awareness of hazard in adults in Beijing, 2014. Methods: A total of 19 815 subjects were randomly selected with stratified multi-stage cluster sampling from 180 communities of 36 townships of 16 districts in Beijing. Each subject received a standardized questionnaire interview. Results: The current smoking rate of the adults was 26.6% (5 253/19 738), which was higher in men (52.2%) than in women (3.6%) and higher in suburb area (28.9%) than in urban area (25.0%). The adults aged 50-59 had higher rate of current smoking. The daily smoking rate was 23.7% (4 677/19 738). The average age when smoking started was 19.2 years. On average, one smoker consumed 15.2 cigarettes per day. The average score for smoking hazard awareness was 5.8, which was higher in smokers than in non-smokers (5.5 vs. 6.0) (t=-9.854, P=0.000). In the smokers, 5.7% (298/5 213) intended to give up smoking within one month. Doctors gave advice to stop smoking for 66.0% of current smokers. The current smoking rate of patients with chronic disease was 31.8% (3 703/11 628), and 5.5% (202/3 686) of them intended to stop smoking within one month. Conclusions: The smoking rate was still high in men in Beijing. The age of starting smoking every day decreased among younger people. The levels of awareness of tobacco hazard and passive smoking were still low. The willingness of smoking cessation was low. The rate of doctor giving smoking cessation advice was low.

Population dynamics of Agriophyllum squarrosum, a pioneer annual plant endemic to mobile sand dunes, in response to global climate change

Climate change plays an important role in the transition of ecosystems. Stratigraphic investigations have suggested that the Asian interior experienced frequent transitions between grassland and desert ecosystems as a consequence of global climate change. Using maternally and bi-parentally inherited markers, we investigated the population dynamics of Agriophyllum squarrosum (Chenopodiaceae), an annual pioneer plant endemic to mobile sand dunes. Phylogeographic analysis revealed that A. squarrosum could originate from Gurbantunggut desert since ~1.6 Ma, and subsequently underwent three waves of colonisation into other deserts and sandy lands corresponding to several glaciations. The rapid population expansion and distribution range shifts of A. squarrosum from monsoonal climate zones suggested that the development of the monsoonal climate significantly enhanced the population growth and gene flow of A. squarrosum. These data also suggested that desertification of the fragile grassland ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was more ancient than previously suggested and will be aggravated under global warming in the future. This study provides new molecular phylogeographic insights into how pioneer annual plant species in desert ecosystems respond to global climate change, and facilitates evaluation of the ecological potential and genetic resources of future crops for non-arable dry lands to mitigate climate change.

Focused screening of mitochondrial metabolism reveals a crucial role for a tumor suppressor Hbp1 in ovarian reserve

Granulosa cells (GCs) are tightly associated with fertility and the fate of ovarian follicles. Mitochondria are the central executers of apoptosis. However, the genetic basis underlying mitochondrial modulation in GCs during the ovarian development is poorly understood. Here, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genetic screening was used to identify genes conferring mitochondrial metabolism in human GCs. The results uncovered roles for several tumor suppressors, including HBP1, in the augmentation of mitochondrial function. Focused analysis revealed that high-mobility group (HMG)-box transcription factor 1 (Hbp1) levels regulate mitochondrial biogenesis, which is associated with global changes in transcription including Tfam. The systemic or granulosa-specific but not oocyte-specific ablation of Hbp1 promoted follicle growth and oocyte production, and is associated with the reduced apoptotic signals in mouse GCs. Consistent with increased mitochondrial function and attenuated GC apoptosis, the regulation of Hbp1 conferred substantial protection of ovarian reserve. Thus, the results of the present study provide a critical target to understand the control of the reproductive lifespan.

[Influences of genetic and environmental factors on smoking related behaviors among male twin adults in China]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the influences of genetic and environmental factors on smoking behavior, smoking cessation and onset age of smoking less than 20 years in male twin adults.

METHODS

A face-to-face questionnaire was conducted to collect data from 6 458 pair male twins aged ≥25 years registered in 9 provinces(municipality)in China. The heritability of three smoking related behaviors were calculated by using structural equation models.

RESULTS

The ACE models were the best models of the three dimensions of smoking, i.e. smoking behavior, smoking cessation and onset age of smoking less than 20 years for male twins, and the corresponding heritability of these behaviors were 0.26(0.19-0.34), 0.27(0.19-0.37)and 0.05(0.00-0.14), respectively. When adjusted for area and age, the heritability of these three behaviors were 0.26(0.19-0.34), 0.31(0.00-0.74)and 0.05(0.00-0.14), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

All the three smoking related behaviors were affected by genetic factors, but environment factors had more effect on them. For smoking cessation, the heritability was highest, but the influence of environmental factors was lowest. Meanwhile, for onset age of smoking, the influence of environmental factors was highest.