Case Study: Monitoring Sleeping Patterns of a Boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and his Caregivers

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Proteome changes of lungs artificially infected with H-PRRSV and N-PRRSV by two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome with PRRS virus (PRRSV) infection, which causes significant economic losses annually, is one of the most economically important diseases affecting swine industry worldwide. In 2006 and 2007, a large-scale outbreak of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) happened in China and Vietnam. However little data is available on global host response to PRRSV infection at the protein level, and similar approaches looking at mRNA is problematic since mRNA levels do not necessarily predict protein levels. In order to improve the knowledge of host response and viral pathogenesis of highly virulent Chinese-type PRRSV (H-PRRSV) and Non-high-pathogenic North American-type PRRSV strains (N-PRRSV), we analyzed the protein expression changes of H-PRRSV and N-PRRSV infected lungs compared with those of uninfected negative control, and identified a series of proteins related to host response and viral pathogenesis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>According to differential proteomes of porcine lungs infected with H-PRRSV, N-PRRSV and uninfected negative control at different time points using two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and mass spectrometry identification, 45 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified. These proteins were mostly related to cytoskeleton, stress response and oxidation reduction or metabolism. In the protein interaction network constructed based on DEPs from lungs infected with H-PRRSV, HSPA8, ARHGAP29 and NDUFS1 belonged to the most central proteins, whereas DDAH2, HSPB1 and FLNA corresponded to the most central proteins in those of N-PRRSV infected.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study is the first attempt to provide the complex picture of pulmonary protein expression during H-PRRSV and N-PRRSV infection under the in vivo environment using 2D-DIGE technology and bioinformatics tools, provides large scale valuable information for better understanding host proteins-virus interactions of these two PRRSV strains.</p

Population pharmacokinetics of Amisulpride in Chinese patients with schizophrenia with external validation: the impact of renal function

Introduction: Amisulpride is primarily eliminated via the kidneys. Given the clear influence of renal clearance on plasma concentration, we aimed to explicitly examine the impact of renal function on amisulpride pharmacokinetics (PK) via population PK modelling and Monte Carlo simulations.Method: Plasma concentrations from 921 patients (776 in development and 145 in validation) were utilized.Results: Amisulpride PK could be described by a one-compartment model with linear elimination where estimated glomerular filtration rate, eGFR, had a significant influence on clearance. All PK parameters (estimate, RSE%) were precisely estimated: apparent volume of distribution (645 L, 18%), apparent clearance (60.5 L/h, 2%), absorption rate constant (0.106 h−1, 12%) and coefficient of renal function on clearance (0.817, 10%). No other significant covariate was found. The predictive performance of the model was externally validated. Covariate analysis showed an inverse relationship between eGFR and exposure, where subjects with eGFR= 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 had more than 2-fold increase in AUC, trough and peak concentration. Simulation results further illustrated that, given a dose of 800 mg, plasma concentrations of all patients with renal impairment would exceed 640 ng/mL.Discussion: Our work demonstrated the importance of renal function in amisulpride dose adjustment and provided a quantitative framework to guide individualized dosing for Chinese patients with schizophrenia

Long-term outcomes of early childhood science education: insight from a cross-national comparative case study on conceptual understanding of science

The purpose of this research was to explore the long term outcomes of either participating or not participating in early childhood science education on Grade 6 students’ conceptual understanding of science. The research is situated in a conceptual framework that evokes Piagetian developmental levels as both potential curriculum constraints and potential models of efficacy. The research design was a multiple case study of Grade 6 children from three schools in China (n=140) who started formal science education in the third grade, and Grade 6 children from three matched schools in Australia (n=105) who started learning science in kindergarten. The students’ understanding was assessed by a science quiz and in-depth interview. The data showed that participating children from the high socio-economic schools in China and Australia had similar understandings of science. Divergence between the medium and low socio-economic schools, however, indicated that the grounding in early childhood science education in Australia may have placed these children at an advantage. Alternative explanations for the divergence including the nature of classroom instruction in the two countries are discussed

The impact of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation on the frequency of spring dust storms over Tarim Basin in northwest China in the past half-century

The relationship between the frequency of spring dust storms over Tarim Basin in northwest China and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is investigated by using the observed dust storm frequency (DSF) and the 10 m wind velocity at 36 stations in Tarim Basin and the National Centers for Environment Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data for the period 1961–2007. The spring DSF (winter NAO) index shows a clear decreasing (increasing) linear trend over 1961–2007. The winter NAO correlates well with the subsequent spring DSF over Tarim Basin on both interannual and interdecadal time scales and its interannual to interdecadal variation plays an important role in the spring DSF. Two possible physical mechanisms are identified. One is related to the large scale anomalous circulations in spring in the middle to high troposphere modulated by the winter NAO, providing the background of dynamical conditions for the dust storm occurrences. The other is related to the shifts in the local horizontal sea level pressure (SLP) gradients and 10 m wind speed, corresponding to changes in the large scale circulations in spring. The decrease in the local 10 m wind speed due to the reduced horizontal SLP gradients over Tarim Basin during the strong winter NAO years contributes to the decline of the DSF in the subsequent spring

Spatiotemporal variation of urban thermal environment and its relationship with urban expansion types from 2000 to 2020: a case of Huai’an central urban area, Huai’an, China

It is critically important to understand the variation of urban thermal environment since urban heat island (UHI) effect is one of the most worrisome urban environment and impedes urban sustainable development. Taking Huai’an central urban area in China as a case, Landsat images from 2000 to 2020 were used, we first estimated land surface temperature (LST) and land covers based on google earth engineer (GEE) platform. Then explored annual variation of SUHI and urban expansion types using statistics method and urban landscape Analysis tools. Finally, discussed the heat effect of urban expansion types and directions. The results showed that (1) SUHI patches gradually concentrated in Phase I, while in Phase II, concentrated SUHIs spread continuously from urban centre to rural area, changing from two centres to a polycentric pattern. (2) Urban expansion was characterized as a diffusion and coalescence process, extension type is the most dominant urban growth mode, second is leapfrog type, and the smallest is infilling type. (3) Annual trend of NLST shows an increasing trend for all three urban expansion types during the last two decades, which of extension mode was biggest, while, that of infilling growth was smallest. This research can attribute a better understanding for the impact of urban expansion on surface heat island effects

No-tillage did not increase organic carbon storage but stimulated N₂O emissions in an intensively cultivated sandy loam soil: A negative climate effect

Although numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of no-tillage on carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural systems, there is still no consensus on the balance between the potential of C sequestration and nitrous oxide (N₂O) or nitric oxide (NO) emissions. A no-tillage field experiment in the North China Plain was established in 2006 and the influence of no-tillage on N₂O and NO emissions was monitored under an annual wheat-maize cropping system. The study included four treatments: no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) soils amended with N fertilizer at a rate of 225 kg N ha ⁻¹for wheat and 195 kg N ha⁻¹ for maize (NTN and CTN) and without N fertilizer (NT0 and CT0). Three years of no-tillage significantly (p < 0.05) increased soil organic C (SOC) content by 12.2% in the 0–5 cm soil layer, possibly due to the surface aggregation of organic C derived from crop roots and exudates, but did not alter SOC pool in the 0–30 cm profile. Annual N₂O emissions in the NT0 and CT0 treatments were 0.53 and 0.57 kg N₂O-N ha⁻¹, respectively, and were significantly (p < 0.05) increased to 0.96 kg N₂O-N ha⁻¹ in CTN and to 1.23 kg N₂O-N ha⁻¹ in NTN. Remarkable differences in N₂O emissions between CTN and NTN were observed during the maize growing season. In contrast, NO emissions were not affected by the tillage regimes regardless of N fertilization. The mean ratios of NO/N₂O fluxes in N-unfertilized plots were 0.26–0.29 and 1.79–2.11 for the maize and wheat season, respectively, indicating that both NO and N₂O were primarily derived from denitrification during the maize growing season and from nitrification under wheat cultivation. Under N-fertilized plots, the ratios increased to 1.44–2.02 and 5.00–6.03 for the maize and wheat season, respectively, with significantly (p < 0.05) lower values in NTN plots than in CTN plots. The N₂O emission factors for N applied in the wheat-maize rotation system were 0.16% and 0.09% for NTN and CTN, respectively, which was far lower than the IPCC Tier 1 default value (1.0%), primarily due to the absence of irrigation after fertilization in maize season and low temperature in wheat season. The results suggest that the 3-year no-tillage regime with residue removal did not substantially increase C storage in the 0–30 cm profile, but stimulated N₂O emissions primarily by increasing denitrification