Evidence of elevation-dependent warming from the Chinese Tian Shan

The phenomenon in which the warming rate of air temperature is amplified with elevation is termed elevation-dependent warming (EDW). It has been clarified that EDW can accelerate the retreat of glaciers and melting of snow, which can have significant impacts on the regional ecological environment. Owing to the lack of high-density ground observations in high mountains, there is widespread controversy regarding the existence of EDW. Current evidence is mainly derived from typical high-mountain regions such as the Swiss Alps, the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the tropical Andes and the Tibetan Plateau–Himalayas. Rare evidence in other mountain ranges has been reported, especially in arid regions. In this study, EDW features (regional warming amplification and altitude warming amplification) in the Chinese Tian Shan (CTM) were detected using a unique high-resolution (1 km, 6-hourly) air temperature dataset (CTMD) from 1979 to 2016. The results showed that there were significant EDW signals at different altitudes on different timescales. The CTM showed significant regional warming amplification in spring, especially in March, and the warming trends were greater than those of continental China with respect to three temperatures (minimum temperature, mean temperature and maximum temperature). The significance values of EDW above different altitude thresholds are distinct for three temperatures in 12 months. The warming rate of the minimum temperature in winter showed a significant elevation dependence (p<0.01), especially above 3000 m. The greatest altitudinal gradient in the warming rate of the maximum temperature was found above 4000 m in April. For the mean temperature, the warming rates in June and August showed prominent altitude warming amplification but with different significance above 4500 m. Within the CTM, the Tolm Mountains, the eastern part of the Borokoonu Mountains, the Bogda Mountains and the Balikun Mountains are representative regions that showed significant altitude warming amplification on different timescales. This new evidence could partly explain the accelerated melting of snow in the CTM, although the mechanisms remain to be explored

Effect of Dietary Phytase Transgenic Corn on Physiological Characteristics and the Fate of Recombinant Plant DNA in Laying Hens

The study aimed to evaluate the potential effects of feeding with phytase transgenic corn (PTC) on organ weight, serum biochemical parameters and nutrient digestibility, and to determine the fate of the transgenic DNA in laying hens. A total of 144 50-week-old laying hens were grouped randomly into 2 treatments, with 8 replicates per treatment and 9 hens per replicate. Each treatment group of hens was fed with diets containing 62.4% non-transgenic conventional corn (CC) or PTC for 16 weeks. The phytase activity for CC was 37 FTU/kg of DM, whereas the phytase activity for PTC was 8,980 FTU/kg of DM. We observed that feeding PTC to laying hens had no adverse effect on organ weight or serum biochemical parameters (p>0.05). A fragment of a poultry-specific ovalbumin gene (ov) was amplified from all tissues of hens showing that the DNA preparations were amenable to PCR amplification. Neither the corn-specific invertase gene (ivr) nor the transgenic phyA2 gene was detected in the breast muscle, leg muscle, ovary, oviduct and eggs. The digestibility data revealed no significant differences between the hens that received the CC- and PTC-based diets in the digestibility of DM, energy, nitrogen and calcium (p>0.05). Phosphorus digestibility of hens fed the PTC-based diet was greater than that of hens fed the CC-based diet (58.03% vs 47.42%, p<0.01). Based on these results, it was concluded that the PTC had no deleterious effects on the organ weight or serum biochemical parameters of the laying hens. No recombinant phyA2 gene was detected in muscle tissues and reproductive organs of laying hens. The novel plant phytase was efficacious in improving the phosphorus digestibility of laying hens

Response to Pegylated Interferon Plus Ribavirin in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 6a Infection from Guangdong and Guangxi Province of China

Aim. Our aim is to survey the treatment effect of PEG-IFN plus ribavirin in patients infected with HCV genotype 6a in Guangdong and Guangxi province of China and investigate best course of antiviral treatment for patients with HCV-6a infection. Methods. 515 eligible patients received subcutaneous 180 μg PEG-IFNα-2a or 1.5 μg/kg PEG-IFNα-2b once weekly plus oral ribavirin. Primary outcome was SVR by intention-to-treat analysis. Secondary outcome was RVR, cEVR, ETR, and relapse rate. Results. SVR in patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 48 weeks was comparable to that in patients with HCV-2/3 infection (80.9% versus 82.5%, p=0.812) and higher than that in patients with HCV-1b infection (80.9% versus 67.2%, p=0.014). ETR (98.9% versus 90.6%, p=0.016), virological response at month 3 of end-of- treatment (88.8% versus 76.6%, p=0.044), SVR (80.9% versus 65.6%, p=0.032), and virological response at month 12 of end-of-treatment (76.4% versus 60.9%, p=0.04) in patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 48 weeks were higher than those in patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 24 weeks. Conclusion. SVR in patients with HCV-6a treated for 48 weeks was comparable to that in patients with HCV-2/3 infection and higher than that in patients with HCV-1b infection; patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 48 weeks had a superior treatment response than patients treated for 24 weeks

RPL22 Overexpression Promotes Psoriasis-Like Lesion by Inducing Keratinocytes Abnormal Biological Behavior

BackgroundKeratinocytes of psoriasis have anti-apoptotic properties including delayed apoptosis process, accelerated proliferation metabolism and postponed differentiation process. However, the specific mechanism leading to the abnormal biological behavior of keratinocytes remains unclear.ObjectivesWe investigated the role of increased RPL22 expression in regulating the abnormal biological behavior of keratinocytes and the mechanism of regulation of RPL22 expression in skin lesions of psoriatic patients.MethodsWe examined clinical samples and utilized cytokine-induced cell and IMQ-treated mouse models. We determined the expression and functions of RPL22 in vitro and in vivo.ResultsWe showed that RPL22 expression was significantly increased in the skin lesions of psoriasis patients and IMQ-treated psoriatic-like mice. Such increased expression is attributed to hyperacetylation of histone H3K27 in the promoter region of RPL22. Interestingly, overexpression of RPL22 enhanced keratinocyte proliferation by increasing cyclinD1 expression and accelerated CD4+T cells recruitment via upregulating CXCL10 expression. Finally, we demonstrated that RPL22 overexpression promoted psoriasiform phenotypes in IMQ-induced mouse skins.ConclusionsThese findings suggested that RPL22 regulates keratinocytes abnormal biological behavior and contributes to the development of psoriatic phenotypes. Thus, RPL22 might be a novel potential molecular target for treatment of psoriasis

Repair of concrete existing micro-cracks by use of microbially induced carbonate precipitation

Micro-crack is the start of concrete deterioration and failure, though it does not decrease the bearing capacity in the beginning. In order to prolong the service life of existing concrete structures, it is important to repair the existing micro-cracks before they develop into large cracks, which are much more harmful. Bio-genic CaCO3 from microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) process is proved to be a promising crack repair material due to its environmental friendliness and super compatibility with cementitious matrix. In this study, MICP based repair technology was applied to repair micro-cracks. The influence of crack environment and repair technique on the precipitation of bio-CaCO3 was investigated. Results shown that moderate alkali pH had limited effect on the properties of bio-CaCO3. Bacteria could still induce the CaCO3 precipitation in crack if it was saturated with Ca2+ containing deposition medium. Crack of a width 0.5mm can be fully sealed within 3 days by use of a controlled injection technique

flavonoidbiosynthesisandantioxidantactivitiesinthesuspensioncultureofsaussureamedusacells

对水母雪莲细胞悬浮培养过程中细胞生长、黄酮积累和底物消耗的动力学过程进行了研究。经15d液体培养可获得最大生物量干重和黄酮产量分别为17．2g·L^-1和607．8mg·L^-1，通过调控基本培养基种类和有机添加物可提高雪莲细胞的生长和黄酮积累。获得的水母雪莲细胞培养物具有明显的抗氧化活性，其抗氧化活性与雪莲细胞中的黄酮含量相关

flavonoidbiosynthesisandantioxidantactivitiesinthesuspensioncultureofsaussureamedusacells

对水母雪莲细胞悬浮培养过程中细胞生长、黄酮积累和底物消耗的动力学过程进行了研究。经15d液体培养可获得最大生物量干重和黄酮产量分别为17．2g·L^-1和607．8mg·L^-1，通过调控基本培养基种类和有机添加物可提高雪莲细胞的生长和黄酮积累。获得的水母雪莲细胞培养物具有明显的抗氧化活性，其抗氧化活性与雪莲细胞中的黄酮含量相关

Production and Cultivated Area Variation in Cereal, Rice, Wheat and Maize in China (1998–2016)

The production of cereals, including rice, wheat, and maize has increased in China over the past 20 years. However, variations in the production and cultivated area of cereals remains unclear. In this study, we collected and analyzed the cereal production and cultivated area in China from 1998 to 2016. An 85% increase in cereal production was recorded from 1998 to 2016, due to an increase in the maize production along with the increase in the cultivated area. Meanwhile, rice and wheat production have been stable since 2000. No change occurred in the rice cultivated area through 2016, and a 19% decrease in the wheat cultivated area was observed in 2016 relative to 1998. In addition, a significant positive relationship was observed among cereal production, maize production, and cultivated area (p &lt; 0.0001). Together, the increase in cereal production in China over the past two decades has resulted from the increase in maize cultivated area and the consequent increase in maize production