Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Plasma Cytokines, and Heart Rate Variability

Epidemiological studies have suggested associations between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heart rate variability (HRV). However, the roles of plasma cytokines in these associations are limited. In discovery stage of this study, we used Human Cytokine Antibody Arrays to examine differences in the concentrations of 280 plasma cytokines between 8 coke-oven workers and 16 community residents. We identified 19 cytokines with significant different expression (fold change ≥2 or ≤−2, and q-value 16% BDNF decreases. Additionally, OH-PAHs were positively associated with activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (p 20% increases in CRP. We also found significant associations between these cytokines and HRV (p 8% decreases in HRV. Our results indicated PAH exposure was associated with plasma cytokines, and higher cytokines were associated with decreased HRV, but additional human and potential mechanistic studies are needed

Exploring parallelisms on large-scale graph processing frameworks

Large-scale graph-structured computation is becoming increasingly important for various data analysis applications, and has driven the development of various distributed graph processing frameworks. However, existing framework abstractions do not directly support efficient implementation for complex algorithms including graph traversal algorithms. This project leverages the properties of small-world scale-free graphs, which apply to many real-world datasets, and implements an efficient Hybrid BFS algorithm and a Concurrent BFS algorithm on PowerGraph. Hybrid BFS algorithm combines a conventional top-down approach and a novel bottom-up approach to improve the overall performance, while concurrent BFS algorithm runs multiple BFSs on the same graph at the same time and shares explorations across them. Extensive experiments are conducted on two real-world graph datasets to evaluate the performance of Hybrid BFS and concurrent BFS algorithms. The results reveal that Hybrid BFS outperforms traditional top-down approach, and concurrent BFS algorithm has higher resource utilization, efficiency and scalability with respect to the number of concurrent BFSs.Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science

Evaluation of Comprehensive Benefits of Land Consolidation Based on AHP and FUZZY

Based on the modern comprehensive evaluation method, in accordance with the scientific, objective and systematic principles, we select four factors (economic, social, ecological and landscape benefits), to establish the evaluation indicator system of comprehensive benefits of rural land consolidation. Then using the theory of fuzzy mathematics (FUZZY) and fuzzy relationship synthesis theory, we establish the fuzzy evaluation model of comprehensive benefits of land consolidation; using analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we determine the weight of each indicator, and conduct fuzzy comprehensive evaluation from various levels. By the weighted average synthesis algorithm, we calculate the evaluation indicators and finally summarize the overall evaluation results for comprehensive evaluation. Taking the case of land consolidation project in Shangyao Town, Datong District, Huainan City in Anhui Province, we calculate the case data based on Matlab software, and the calculation results and evaluation level are consistent with the project acceptance results, verifying the feasibility of this evaluation method

Series Expansion for Direct and Inverse Solutions of Meridian in Terms of Different Latitude Variables

Formulas for direct solutions of meridian written by the reduced and geocentric latitudes respectively were derived by series expansion. Meanwhile, according to Lagrange inversion theorem, formulas for inverse solutions of the issue were also expressed in terms of the same latitudes. These two formulas were structurally consistent with that expressed by geodetic latitude ones. In these sets of formulas, internal connection between meridian and three different types of latitude were realized. Analysis and numerical calculation showed that the direct and inverse meridional solution with reduced latitude was of higher precision than that with geodetic latitude, and furthermore, there had a unified theory between meridian theory and classical geodetic problems expressed by reduced latitude

Metabolic Transformation of Gentiopicrin, a Liver Protective Active Ingredient, Based on Intestinal Bacteria

Gentiopicrin, the main component of the famous Chinese patent medicine Long Dan Xie Gan Wan, has the characteristics of fast absorption in vivo and low bioavailability. Intestinal bacteria play an important role in the absorption and pharmacokinetics of oral drugs. In this study, the metabolic transformation of gentiopicrin by intestinal bacteria was examined. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/MSn-IT-TOF) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used, and six metabolites were identified, including reduction products (G-M1, G-M2, G-M4, and G-M6), a hydrolytic product (G-M3), and a dehydration product (G-M5) of gentiopicrin aglycone after hydrolysis, reduction, and dehydration reactions were performed by the intestinal flora. This is the first time that chiral metabolites of gentiopicrin (G-M1 and G-M2) were found in this study. In addition, the precursors of glucuronic acid conjugates previously reported in vivo may have come from the intestinal bacterial metabolites G-M1, G-M2, and G-M3. In addition, the metabolic transformation of gentiopicrin in liver microsomes was studied in vitro, and it was found that gentiopicrin did not undergo metabolic transformation under the action of liver microsomes. It is suggested that gentiopicroside may be metabolized in the intestine. This study provides both new insight regarding the investigation of effective substances and an exploration of the pharmacodynamic and toxicological properties of gentiopicrin

Exosomal FMR1-AS1 facilitates maintaining cancer stem-like cell dynamic equilibrium via TLR7/NFκB/c-Myc signaling in female esophageal carcinoma

Abstract Background Though esophageal cancer is three to four times more common among males than females worldwide, this type of cancer still ranks in the top incidence among women, even more than the female specific cancer types. The occurrence is currently attributed to extrinsic factors, including tobacco use and alcohol consumption. However, limited attention has been given to gender-specific intrinsic genetic factors, especially in female. Methods We re-annotated a large cohort of microarrays on 179 ESCC patients and identified female-specific differently expressed lncRNAs. The associations between FMR1-AS1 and the risk and prognosis of ESCC were examined in 206 diagnosed patients from eastern China and validated in 188 additional patients from southern China. The effects of FMR1-AS1 on the malignant phenotypes on female ESCC cells were detected in vitro and in vivo. ChIRP-MS, reporter gene assays and EMSA were conducted to identify the interaction and regulation among FMR1-AS1, TLR7 and NFκB. Results We found FMR1-AS1 expression is exclusively altered and closely associated with the level of sXCI in female ESCC patients, and its overexpression may correlate to poor clinical outcome. ChIRP-MS data indicate that FMR1-AS1 could be packaged into exosomes and released into tumor microenvironment. Functional studies demonstrated that FMR1-AS1 could bind to endosomal toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) and activate downstream TLR7-NFκB signaling, promoting the c-Myc expression, thus inducing ESCC cell proliferation, anti-apoptosis and invasion ability. Exosome incubation and co-xenograft assay indicate that FMR1-AS1 exosomes may secreted from ESCC CSCs, transferring stemness phenotypes to recipient non-CSCs in tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, we also found a correlation between the serum levels of FMR1-AS1 and the overall survival (OS) of the female ESCC patients. Conclusions Our results highlighted exosomal FMR1-AS1 in maintaining CSC dynamic interconversion state through the mechanism of activating TLR7-NFκB signaling, upregulating c-Myc level in recipient cells, which may be taken as an attractive target approach for advancing current precision cancer therapeutics in female patients

Preliminary Evaluation of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Water Vapor Over China Against High-Resolution Radiosonde Measurements

The accuracy of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) water vapor product in China is as yet unknown due to the lack of collocated in situ sounding observations. Based on high-resolution soundings at 1400 Beijing time from 113 radiosonde sites across China, along with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) data sets, a preliminary assessment has been conducted of AIRS water vapor mixing ratio (q) and precipitable water vapor (PWV) products in June 2013 and June 2014. Comparison between AIRS and radiosonde data suggests that the correlation coefficient (R) and mean bias of these two q products in China exhibit a distinct geographical dependence (with the highest R values in northwest China). This suggests that the AIRS q product tends to be underestimated in southeast China where cloud cover prevails, but overestimated in northwest China where cloud cover is sparse. With regard to the height-resolved distribution, the q products from both AIRS and radiosondes tend to decrease with increasing altitude, irrespective of the particular region. The spatial distribution of AIRS PWV is consistent with that from radiosonde-derived PWV, except in south China where the AIRS PWV data set is considerably underestimated. The accuracy of the AIRS water vapor product tends to be impaired under highly cloudy conditions, corroborating the notion of clouds affecting the retrieval of AIRS PWV. Our findings highlight the importance of afternoon sounding measurements in validating AIRS data and call for the improved understanding of the role of water vapor in the context of global climate change