The social structure and physical form of the state-owned farm in north-east China

[EN] The northeastern state farms, as the state farm group with the biggest size and the largest number in China, play an important role in cultivation and guarding the frontiers. As a special enterprise with the nature of socialist ownership by the entire people, state farm has been influenced greatly by national policies in spatial form evolution and has formed a special evolution mechanism. In this study, 290 Farm was taken as the example, with policies and system at different historical periods as the clue, to discuss farm spatial form of residental area and division of farmland by influencing population quantity and distribution, land usage right affiliation, land use and allocation of the farmFu, H.; Li, X.; Yang, M. (2018). The social structure and physical form of the state-owned farm in north-east China. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 395-402. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.6039OCS39540

Overexpression of notch1 ectodomain in macrophages induces vascular defects and promotes tumor progression

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Importance of macrophage inflammatory protein-1α and splenic macrophages in neurodegeneration induced by PVC-211 murine leukemia virus

AbstractWe recently reported that infection of rats with the neurodegenerative disease-causing retrovirus PVC-211 MuLV results in elevated levels of the chemokine MIP-1α followed by the accumulation of activated microglia in the brain. To investigate the importance of MIP-1α in recruitment of microglia to the brain, we treated rats with MIP-1α antibodies before and after PVC-211 MuLV infection. This caused a delay in the development of paralysis which was associated with a decrease in activated microglia without affecting virus expression. To determine the source of activated microglia, rats were splenectomized 4days after virus infection. Splenectomized rats showed a delay in disease development that was associated with decreased numbers of activated microglia without affecting virus expression. Together, these results suggest that MIP-1α is directly involved in the neurodegeneration induced in rats by PVC-211 MuLV by recruiting macrophages/microglia from the periphery into regions of the brain that eventually become diseased

Four-year analysis of high-risk human papillomavirus infection among women in rural areas of Nyingchi City, Tibet

PurposeThis study aims to address the existing data gap regarding the status of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection and the distribution of HR-HPV subtypes among women in rural areas of Nyingchi City, Tibet. The research objectives include providing insights for HPV vaccine development.MethodsThe research collected data from two rounds of cancer screening conducted among rural women in Nyingchi City, Tibet, from 2019 to 2022. HR-HPV subtype gene detection was performed using the PCR fluorescence method on the collected samples. And then analyzed the HR-HPV infection rate among rural women in Nyingchi City, Tibet, as well as the infection rate of different HR-HPV subtypes and their distribution across different age groups. A comparison was made between the infection rates of women in rural areas outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and those in Nyingchi City.ResultsA total of 15,687 cases included. The overall HR-HPV infection rate among women in rural areas of Nyingchi City, Tibet, was 13.00% (2040/15,687), which was significantly higher than the rate among women in rural areas outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (7.82% (9,249/118,237); χ2 = 635.7, p < 0.001). The highest HPV infection rate was observed in the 35–39 age group, with a rate of 15.31% (499/3260), which was significantly higher than the rate of 7.22% (1827/25,322) among women in the same age group in rural areas outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (χ2 = 253.00, p < 0.001). The lowest HPV infection rate was found in the 50–54 age group, with a rate of 9.69% (246/2540), which was statistically different from the rate of 8.14% (1,604/19,698) among women in the same age group outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (χ2 = 17.68, p < 0.001). The top three HR-HPV subtypes among women in rural areas of Nyingchi City, Tibet, were HPV52 (20.15%, 411/2040), HPV16 (12.45%, 254/2040), and HPV58 (11.96%, 244/2040). These findings align with the top three HR-HPV subtypes among women in rural areas outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Furthermore, the top three HR-HPV subtypes among women aged 35–39, 40–44, and 45–49 in rural areas of Nyingchi City, Tibet, were HPV52, HPV16, and HPV58. In conclusion, the HR-HPV infection rate among women in rural areas of Nyingchi City, Tibet, is significantly higher compared to women in rural areas outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with consistent patterns observed in the distribution of the top three HR-HPV subtypes between the two regions

Warranty service contracts design for deteriorating products with maintenance duration commitments

With the increasing diversification of customers’ demand and purchasing behaviors, more and more manufacturers have focused their attention on the warranty service contracts design. The maintenance duration of the sold product, which plays an important role in the normal production and operation process of the user, is frequently taken into consideration in warranty contracts. In this study, we design different warranty contracts with various combinations of maintenance duration and availability requirements. The manufacturer commits to compensate for each overdue repair or failing to satisfy the availability target. The customers’ choice behavior is described by the multinomial logit (MNL) model, and customers often form their own minimum acceptable levels (also referred to as reference points) of maintenance duration and availability when making purchasing decisions, which have an impact on the contract choice. The expected warranty servicing profit is maximized to determine the optimal price, maintenance duration and availability. Finally, the proposed warranty contracts are demonstrated by numerical examples. We find that the maintenance duration affects not only the warranty cost but also the customer choice, which further affects the optimal contract pricing and profits

Unraveling the Global Warming Mitigation Potential from Recycling Subway‐Related Excavated Soil and Rock in China Via Life Cycle Assessment

Many cities across China are investing in subway projects, resulting in much subway construction activity, which has experienced a surge over the past decade. The construction activities inevitably cause a dramatic quantity of subway-related excavated soil and rock (ESR). How to manage it with minimal environmental impact on our urban ecosystem remains an open question. This present study evaluates global warming potential (GWP, expressed by CO eq.) from different ESR recycling and landfilling scenarios via a life cycle assessment model based on primary field investigation combined with the LCA software database. The study results illustrate that recycling ESR can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In comparison with traditional construction materials, the scenarios found that a cumulative amount of 1.1-1.5 Mt (Million tonnes) of CO eq. emissions could have been mitigated by using ESR generated between 2010 and 2018 to produce baking-free bricks and recycled baked brick. Using cost-benefit analysis, potential economic benefits from recycled sand and baking-free bricks are found to reach 9 million USD annually. The findings of this study could provide better recycling options for ESR-related stakeholders. It is important to mention is that there still much work to be done before this recycling work can be popularized in China. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. [Abstract copyright: This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Upregulated antimicrobial immune response mediated by neutrophils in the development from allergic rhinitis to asthma

BackgroundAllergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma are closely related, and AR is regarded as an important risk factor for the onset of asthma. However, the pathogenesis of the development of asthma from AR is still undefined.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying the development of asthma from AR by comparing the transcriptome features of patients with AR with and without asthma.MethodsPatients with AR with or without asthma caused by weed pollen who presented to the Allergy Clinic of Peking Union Medical College Hospital were recruited for this study. Peripheral blood samples of all the patients were collected during the weed pollen season (September) when the patients had allergic symptoms and outside the pollen season (November) when the patients had no symptoms. Transcriptomic analysis was conducted, and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and enriched immune pathways between the patients with AR with asthma (AR-asthma group) and those without asthma (AR group) were identified. In addition, the expression levels of some pivotal differentially expressed RNAs were quantified using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).ResultsDuring the weed pollen season, the immune-related Gene Ontology (GO) terms with P value < 0.05, enriched by the upregulated genes in the AR-asthma group compared to the AR group included antifungal humoral response, neutrophil-mediated killing of bacterium, antibacterial humoral response, antimicrobial humoral immune response mediated by antimicrobial peptides, and regulation of the T cell receptor signaling pathway. The immune-related GO terms with P values <0.05 enriched by downregulated genes were positive regulation of natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, microglial cell activation, natural killer cell activation, and leukocyte-mediated cytotoxicity. The GO term of antimicrobial humoral immune response mediated by antimicrobial peptides was upregulated both during and outside the pollen season, and the upregulated expression of three DEGs (LTF, PF4, and ELANE) included in this term was verified through quantitative PCR.ConclusionsThe activation of the antimicrobial immune response mediated by neutrophils and the depression of cytotoxicity mediated by natural killer cells may play roles in the progression from AR to asthma

TriCurin, a novel formulation of curcumin, epicatechin gallate, and resveratrol, inhibits the tumorigenicity of human papillomaviruspositive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most prevalent cancer worldwide with about 600,000 new cases diagnosed in the last year. The incidence of human papillomavirus-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HPV-positive HNSCC) has rapidly increased over the past 30 years prompting the suggestion that an epidemic may be on the horizon. Therefore, there is a clinical need to develop alternate therapeutic strategies to manage the growing number of HPV-positive HNSCC patients. TriCurin is a composition of three food-derived polyphenols in unique stoichiometric proportions consisting of curcumin from the spice turmeric, resveratrol from red grapes, and epicatechin gallate from green tea. Cell viability, clonogenic survival, and tumorsphere formation were inhibited and significant apoptosis was induced by TriCurin in UMSCC47 and UPCI:SCC090 HPV-positive HNSCC cells. Moreover, TriCurin decreased HPV16E6 and HPV16E7 and increased p53 levels. In a pre-clinical animal model of HPV-positive HNSCC, intratumoral injection of TriCurin significantly inhibited tumor growth by 85.5% compared to vehicle group (P \u3c 0.05, n = 7). Our results demonstrate that TriCurin is a potent anti-tumor agent for HPV-positive HNSCC. Further development of TriCurin as a novel anti-cancer therapeutic to manage the HPV-positive HNSCC population is warranted

Characterizing corn-straw-degrading actinomycetes and evaluating application efficiency in straw-returning experiments

Corn straw is an abundant lignocellulose resource and by-product of agricultural production. With the continuous increase in agricultural development, the output of corn straw is also increasing significantly. However, the inappropriate disposal of straw results in wasting of resources, and also causes a serious ecological crisis. Screening microorganisms with the capacity to degrade straw and understanding their mechanism of action is an efficient approach to solve such problems. For this purpose, our research group isolated three actinomycete strains with efficient lignocellulose degradation ability from soil in the cold region of China: Streptomyces sp. G1T, Streptomyces sp. G2T and Streptomyces sp. G3T. Their microbial properties and taxonomic status were assessed to improve our understanding of these strains. The three strains showed typical characteristics of the genus Streptomyces, and likely represent three different species. Genome functional annotation indicated that most of their genes were related to functions like carbohydrate transport and metabolism. In addition, a similar phenomenon also appeared in the COG and CAZyme analyses, with a large number of genes encoding carbohydrate-related hydrolases, such as cellulase, glycosidase and endoglucanase, which could effectively destroy the structure of lignocellulose in corn straw. This unambiguously demonstrated the potential of the three microorganisms to hydrolyze macromolecular polysaccharides at the molecular level. In addition, in the straw-returning test, the decomposing consortium composed of the three Streptomyces isolates (G123) effectively destroyed the recalcitrant bonds between the various components of straw, and significantly reduced the content of active components in corn straw. Furthermore, microbial diversity analysis indicated that the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, reportedly associated with soil antibiotic resistance and antibiotic degradation, was significantly improved with straw returning at both tested time points. The microbial diversity of each treatment was also dramatically changed by supplementing with G123. Taken together, G123 has important biological potential and should be further studied, which will provide new insights and strategies for appropriate treatment of corn straw

Oxysophocarpine Retards the Growth and Metastasis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Targeting the Nrf2/HO-1 Axis

Background/Aims: Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is an oncogene in various types of cancers, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Oxysophocarpine (OSC) is a natural alkaloid that has multiple pharmacological activities. However, the biological functions and molecular mechanism underlying the effects of OSC on the growth and metastasis of OSCC are unclear. Methods: Nrf2 levels were determined in OSCC tissues and non-cancerous specimens by quantitative real-time PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays. The effects of OSC on OSCC cell growth and metastasis were explored (1) using 5-ethynyl-20-deoxyuridine staining and Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, flow cytometry, wound-healing, Transwell, and tube formation assays in vitro; and (2) by establishing a xenograft nude mouse model in vivo. The molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of OSC on the growth and metastasis of OSCC were investigated in vitro by western blotting, caspase-3 activity, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and in vivo by western blotting and IHC assays. Results: The expression levels of Nrf2 in OSCC tissues and in cell lines were much higher than in non-cancerous tissues and normal oral keratinocytes. The upregulation of Nrf2 was positively correlated with a high incidence of lymph node metastasis and advanced histological grade and TNM stage, but inversely associated with differentiation and survival of OSCC patients. OSC reduced the expression of Nrf2 and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) in OSCC cells. OSC also inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion, and pro-angiogenesis of OSCC cells. Moreover, OSC induced cell cycle arrest, enhanced apoptosis of OSCC cells in vitro, and decreased OSCC tumor growth in vivo. Mechanically, OSC reduced the aggressive behavior of OSCC cells by inactivation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence that OSC inhibits the growth and metastasis of OSCC by targeting the Nrf2/ HO-1 axis, suggesting that OSC may be a potential therapeutic agent for OSCC