Differential GFP Expression Patterns Induced by Different Heavy Metals in Tg(hsp70:gfp) Transgenic Medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is one of the most widely used biomarker for monitoring environment perturbations in biological systems. To facilitate the analysis of hsp70 expression as a biomarker, we generated a Tg(hsp70:gfp) transgenic medaka line in which green fluorescence protein (GFP) reporter gene was driven by the medaka hsp70 promoter. Here, we characterized Tg(hsp70:gfp) medaka for inducible GFP expression by seven environment-relevant heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium, copper, chromium, and zinc. We found that four of them (mercury, arsenic, lead, and cadmium) induced GFP expression in multiple and different organs. In general, the liver, kidney, gut, and skin are among the most frequent organs to show induced GFP expression. In contrast, no detectable GFP induction was observed to copper, chromium, or zinc, indicating that the transgenic line was not responsive to all heavy metals. RT-qPCR determination of hsp70 mRNA showed similar induction and non-induction by these metals, which also correlated with the levels of metal uptake in medaka exposed to these metals. Our observations suggested that these heavy metals have different mechanisms of toxicity and/or differential bioaccumulation in various organs; different patterns of GFP expression induced by different metals may be used to determine or exclude metals in water samples tested. Furthermore, we also tested several non-metal toxicants such as bisphenol A, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, 4-introphenol, and lindane; none of them induced significant GFP expression in Tg(hsp70:gfp) medaka, further suggesting that the inducibility of Tg(hsp70:gfp) for GFP expression is specific to a subset of heavy metals

DIACHRONOUS EVOLUTION OF BACK-ARC BASINS IN THE SOUTH TIANSHAN: INSIGHTS FROM STRUCTURAL, GEOCHRONOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE WUWAMEN OPHIOLITE MÉLANGE

The South Tianshan is located to the north of the Tarim block and defines the southern margin of the Paleozoic Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This study presents new structural data, geochronological and geochemical results for the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange in the Chinese segment of the South Tianshan. In the south, the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange shows typical block-in-matrix fabrics and occurs in the footwall of a south-dipping thrust fault, hanging wall of which is composed of weakly metamorphosed and deformed Lower Paleozoic marine to deep marine sequences from the South Tianshan. In the north, a southdipping thrust fault juxtaposes the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange in its hanging wall against the high-grade and strongly deformed metasedimentary rocks from the Central Tianshan in its footwall.The South Tianshan is located to the north of the Tarim block and defines the southern margin of the Paleozoic Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This study presents new structural data, geochronological and geochemical results for the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange in the Chinese segment of the South Tianshan. In the south, the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange shows typical block-in-matrix fabrics and occurs in the footwall of a south-dipping thrust fault, hanging wall of which is composed of weakly metamorphosed and deformed Lower Paleozoic marine to deep marine sequences from the South Tianshan. In the north, a southdipping thrust fault juxtaposes the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange in its hanging wall against the high-grade and strongly deformed metasedimentary rocks from the Central Tianshan in its footwall

Magnetic vortex and unsaturated magnetization components in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Observation of ferromagnetic and granular superconductive features in highly-oriented-pyrolytic-graphite (HOPG) has recently attracted an important attention. We report a novel temperature dependent XRD and SQUID investigation of HOPG in the temperature range from 300.15 to 77.15 K. Unusual hysteresis features indicate the possible presence of vortex states in conditions of magnetic field approximately perpendicular to the HOPG layers. This interpretation is further supported by additional measurements performed on intermediate lamellae extracted by exfoliation. Evidence of a possible structural-transition in the c-axis of HOPG in the temperature range between 77 K and 100K is also provided by using the Rietveld refinement method. ZFC and FC measurements performed at high field values of 5000-10000 Oe, together with mFC-mZFC subtraction, highlight absence of a sharp depletion of the difference between magnetization signals towards zero. These observations may indicate the possible presence of additional unsaturated weak features, which are ascribed to superconductive signals as previously predicted by Scheike et al. [8]

Brain grey matter volume alterations associated with antidepressant response in major depressive disorder

Not all patients with major depressive disorder respond to adequate pharmacological therapy. Psychoradiological studies have reported that antidepressant responders and nonresponders show different alterations in brain grey matter, but the findings are inconsistent. The present study reports a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometric studies of patients with major depressive disorder, both antidepressant responders and nonresponders, using the anisotropic effect size version of Seed-based D Mapping to identify brain regions correlated to clinical response. A systematic search was conducted up to June 2016 to identify studies focussing on antidepressant response. In responders across 9 datasets grey matter volume (GMV) was significantly higher in the left inferior frontal gyrus and insula, while GMV was significantly lower in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG). In nonresponders across 5 datasets GMV was significantly lower in the bilateral ACC, median cingulate cortex (MCC) and right SFG. Conjunction analysis confirmed significant differences in the bilateral ACC and right SFG, where GMV was significantly lower in nonresponders but higher in responders. The current study adds to psychoradiology, an evolving subspecialty of radiology mainly for psychiatry and clinical psychology

Factors contributing to rapid decline of Arctic sea ice in autumn

Autumn Arctic sea ice has been declining since the beginning of the era of satellite sea ice observations. In this study, we examined the factors contributing to the decline of autumn sea ice concentration. From the Beaufort Sea to the Barents Sea, autumn sea ice concentration has decreased considerably between 1982 and 2020, and the rates of decline were the highest around the Beaufort Sea. We calculated the correlation coefficients between sea ice extent (SIE) anomalies and anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST), surface air temperature (SAT) and specific humidity (SH). Among these coefficients, the largest absolute value was found in the coefficient between SIE and SAT anomalies for August to October, which has a value of −0.9446. The second largest absolute value was found in the coefficient between SIE and SH anomalies for September to November, which has a value of −0.9436. Among the correlation coefficients between SIE and SST anomalies, the largest absolute value was found in the coefficient for August to October, which has a value of −0.9410. We conducted empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analyses of sea ice, SST, SAT, SH, sea level pressure (SLP) and the wind field for the months where the absolute values of the correlation coefficient were the largest. The first EOFs of SST, SAT and SH account for 39.07%, 63.54% and 47.60% of the total variances, respectively, and are mainly concentrated in the area between the Beaufort Sea and the East Siberian Sea. The corresponding principal component time series also indicate positive trends. The first EOF of SLP explains 41.57% of the total variance. It is mostly negative in the central Arctic. Over the Beaufort, Chukchi and East Siberian seas, the zonal wind weakened while the meridional wind strengthened. Results from the correlation and EOF analyses further verified the effects of the ice–temperature, ice–SH and ice–SLP feedback mechanisms in the Arctic. These mechanisms accelerate melting and decrease the rate of formation of sea ice. In addition, stronger meridional winds favor the flow of warm air from lower latitudes towards the polar region, further promoting Arctic sea ice decline

Role of nuclear pregnane X receptor in Cu-induced lipid metabolism and xenobiotic responses in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)

The pregnane X receptor (PXR) is a master xenobiotic-sensing receptor in response to toxic byproducts, as well as a key regulator in intermediary lipid metabolism. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the potential role of PXR in mediating the lipid dysregulation and xenobiotic responses under Cu-induced stress in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Four groups of largemouth bass (52.66 ± 0.03 g) were treated with control, Cu waterborne (9.44 μmol/L), Cu+RIF (Rifampicin, 100 mg/kg, PXR activator), and Cu+KET (Ketoconazole, 20 mg/kg, PXR inhibitor) for 48 h. Results showed that Cu exposure significantly elevated the plasma stress indicators and triggered antioxidant systems to counteract Cu-induced oxidative stress. Acute Cu exposure caused liver steatosis, as indicated by the significantly higher levels of plasma triglycerides (TG), lipid droplets, and mRNA levels of lipogenesis genes in the liver. Liver injuries were detected, as shown by hepatocyte vacuolization and severe apoptotic signals after Cu exposure. Importantly, Cu exposure significantly stimulated mRNA levels of PXR, suggesting the response of this regulator in the xenobiotic response. The pharmacological intervention of PXR by the agonist and antagonist significantly altered hepatic mRNA levels of PXR, implying that RIF and KET were effective agents of PXR in largemouth bass. Administration of RIF significantly exacerbated liver steatosis, and such alterations were dependent on the regulations on pparγ and cd36 rather than srebp1 signaling, which suggested that PXR-PPARγ might be another pathway for Cu-induced lipid deposition in fish. Whereas, KET administration showed reverse effects on lipid metabolism as indicated by the lower hepatic TG levels, suppressed mRNA levels of pparγ and cd36. Activation of PXR stimulated autophagy and inhibited apoptosis, leading to lower hepatic vacuolization; while inhibition of PXR showed higher apoptotic signals, inhibition of autophagic genes and stimulation of apoptotic genes. Taken together, PXR played a cytoprotective role in Cu-induced hepatotoxicity through regulations on autophagy and apoptosis. Overall, our data has demonstrated for the first time on the dual roles of PXR as a co-regulator in mediating xenobiotic responses and lipid metabolism in fish, which implying the potential of PXR as a therapy target for xenobiotics-induced lipid dysregulation and hepatotoxicity

Nitrification and denitrification processes in a zero-water exchange aquaculture system: characteristics of the microbial community and potential rates

​The zero-water exchange aquaculture has been identified as a promising method of farming to decrease the environment pressure of aquaculture and to increase profits. However, the ecological functions (e.g., nitrogen removal) and microbial biodiversity of the zero-water exchange pond aquaculture system are relatively understudied. In the present study, the zero-water exchange pond aquaculture system were constructed to investigated the microbial communities, sediment potential nitrification and denitrification production rates. And five functional genes (AOA amoA, AOB amoA, nirS, nosZ, and hzsB) were used to quantify the abundance of nitrifying and denitrifying microorganisms. The results showed that the sediment of the system had excellent potential nitrification-denitrification performance, with potential nitrification and denitrification rate were 149.77-1024.44 ng N g−1 h−1 and 48.32-145.01 ng N g−1 h−1, respectively. The absolute copy numbers of nitrogen functional genes and total bacterial 16S rRNA were 1.59×105-1.39×109 and 1.55×1010-2.55×1010copies g−1, respectively, with the dominant phyla, i.e., Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, and Firmicutes. The relative abundances of the genera related to nitrification and denitrification, varied from 0.01% to 0.79% and from 0.01% to 15.54%, respectively. The potential nitrification rate was positively related to the sediment TOC concentration; and the potential denitrification rate had a positive correlation with sediment nitrate concentration. The genera Bacillus positively correlated with sediment NO3‐-N concentration, whereas Flavobacterium and Shewanella positively correlated with sediment NH4+-N concentration, which could be the functional bacteria for nitrogen removal. These findings may shed light on quantitative molecular mechanisms for nitrogen removal in zero-water exchange ponds, providing a sustainable solution to nitrogen pollution problem in the freshwater aquaculture ecosystems

Autoimmune nodopathy with anti-contactin 1 antibody characterized by cerebellar dysarthria: a case report and literature review

BackgroundAutoimmune nodopathy (AN) has emerged as a novel diagnostic category that is pathologically different from classic chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Clinical manifestations of AN include sensory or motor neuropathies, sensory ataxia, tremor, and cranial nerve involvement. AN with a serum-positive contactin-1 (CNTN1) antibody usually results in peripheral nerve demyelination. In this study, we reported a rare case of AN with CNTN1 antibodies characterized by the presence of CNTN1 antibodies in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid, which is associated with cerebellar dysarthria.MethodsA 25-year-old man was admitted to our hospital due to progressive dysarthria with limb tremors. The patient was initially diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy at a local hospital. Three years after onset, he was admitted to our hospital due to dysarthria, apparent limb tremor, and limb weakness. At that time, he was diagnosed with spinocerebellar ataxia. Eight years post-onset, during his second admission, his condition had notably deteriorated. His dysarthria had evolved to typical distinctive cerebellar characteristics, such as tremor, loud voice, stress, and interrupted articulation. Additionally, he experienced further progression in limb weakness and developed muscle atrophy in the distal limbs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nerve conduction studies (NCS), and autoimmune antibody tests were performed.ResultsThe results of the NCS suggested severe demyelination and even axonal damage to the peripheral nerves. MRI scans revealed diffuse thickening of bilateral cervical nerve roots, lumbosacral nerve roots, cauda equina nerve, and multiple intercostal nerve root sheath cysts. Furthermore, anti-CNTN1 antibody titers were 1:10 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and 1:100 in the serum. After one round of rituximab treatment, the patient showed significant improvement in limb weakness and dysarthria, and the CSF antibodies turned negative.ConclusionApart from peripheral neuropathies, cerebellar dysarthria (central nervous system involvement) should not be ignored in AN patients with CNTN1 antibodies