SOCIAL-DEMOGRAPHICS, HEALTH BEHAVIORS, TELOMERE LENGTH IN MEXICAN-AMERICAN COHORT AND CIRCULATING DNA METHYLATION IN BLADDER CANCER

I. SOCIAL-DEMOGRAPHICS, HEALTH BEHAVIORS, AND TELOMERE LENGTH IN MEXICAN AMERICANS: A COHORT STUDY Recent studies using a prospective cohort design have suggested that telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes is not only a potential indicator of cellular aging that has been linked to stressful life experience and health behaviors, but also a prognostic marker for major chronic diseases; however, such study has never been done among adult Mexican Americans. In this current study, we examined cross-sectional associations among social-demographics, lifestyle behaviors, and relative telomere length (RTL) in peripheral blood leukocytes, as well as longitudinal relationships among major chronic diseases, weight gain, and RTL, among 12,792 Mexican Americans aged 20 to 85 years in the Mano-A-Mano, a Mexican American Cohort. As expected, RTL was inversely correlated with age (r=-0.15, p II. METHYLATION IN SERUM CELL-FREE DNA AND CPG-SNP WITH BLADDER CANCER RISK Epigenetic alterations are early events of cancers, including bladder cancer. In the present study, we aimed to examine methylation profiles of circulating DNA in serum of bladder cancer patients, in an effort to develop reliable DNA methylation signatures to diagnose the disease. Firstly, we performed whole genome DNA methylation profiling with Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 beadchip in 23 participants in a bladder cancer case control study. 396 target cytosine-phosphate- guanine (CpG) sites were identified as hypermethylated in cases compared with the controls. The top 5 candidate CpG sites hypermethylated in cases during the screening phase were further validated by pyrosequencing, in 100 bladder cancer patients (including 50 non-muscle invasive and 50 muscle invasive bladder cancers) and 50 healthy controls. Successful methylation data were obtained for 4 of the selected CpG sites, located in genes of TTC23, WWOX, ZNF624 and LOC2211122, respectively. Unfortunately, none of these 4 sites exhibited differential methylation between cases and controls in this validation. Interestingly, there was a SNP rs8038732 (G\u3eA) in the methylation site of gene TTC23. The GG genotype showed near complete methylation, G/A heterozygotes half methylation, and AA complete loss of methylation. This SNP is clearly a functional SNP because the G\u3eA transition almost completely knocks out methylation at this site. It would be interesting to see whether this SNP affect bladder cancer risk. However, this SNP was not genotyped in our previously published genome-wide association study (GWAS). But, we found that another SNP, rs1377267 (A\u3eC), on the GWAS chip is in strong linkage disequilibrium (r2=0.85) with rs8038732. Moreover, the SNP rs1377267 significantly associated with the risk of bladder cancer in our GWAS study. Specifically, the heterozygous alleles (AC) was associated with higher bladder cancer risk (OR=1.34, 95% CI=1.09-1.65), whereas the homozygous alleles (CC) were marginally associated with lower risk of bladder cancer (OR=0.78, 95% CI= 0.59-1.03). From this result, we could infer that rs8038732 has similar association with the risk of bladder cancer. Our study suggests that rs8038732 affects the risk of bladder cancer by removing a cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) dinucleotide and knocking out DNA methylation at this site. Loss of methylation may increase the expression of TTC23, which is a potential oncogene

Value of Autonomous Last-mile Delivery: Evidence from Alibaba

This paper provides the first empirical evidence of consumer responses to autonomous last-mile delivery using Alibaba\u27s recent implementation in Chinese university campuses as a case study. The study leverages customer-level data from three universities over three years, employing a difference-in-differences (DID) approach combined with dynamic matching to estimate the impact of autonomous delivery adoption on order quantities. The results reveal a significant increase in the number of orders following autonomous delivery adoption with a 21% growth. The efficiency and flexibility of autonomous vehicles reduce consumers\u27 travel costs, driving long-term usage and increased sales. However, the value of autonomous delivery diminishes when a fee is charged. The study contributes to our understanding of the value of autonomous last-mile delivery and its potential advantages over traditional courier delivery

Study on Multi-step Forming Paths for Double Curved Parts of 1561 Aluminium Alloy

Recently, corrosion-resistant 1561 aluminium alloy has been widely applied to the production of curved parts. However, the sheets of this material will generate a high amount of springback during multi-point forming, which means that a large amount of springback compensation is required. In this paper, four multi-step forming paths are designed to study the effect of forming paths on the multi-point forming results of double curved parts for 1561 aluminium alloy. Numerical simulation of the multi-step forming of curved sheets is carried out by ABAQUS finite element simulation software. The simulation results indicate that the 1561 aluminium alloy double curved parts produce poor situations such as wrinkling and low forming accuracy in single-step forming, while the accuracy improves significantly and the forming quality increases after four-step forming. Therefore, a four-step forming path was adopted for stamping tests on double curved parts. The results of the accuracy inspection of the formed parts by Gom-inspect demonstrate that the quality of the curved parts can be effectively improved by four-step forming, which has a certain significance in guiding the forming preparation of parts for engineering applications

Clinical Characteristics and Risk Factors of Recurrent Mooren’s Ulcer

Purpose. To investigate the clinical characteristics of Mooren’s ulcer in East China and to identify the potential risk factors that affect the recurrence of Mooren’s ulcer. Methods. We reviewed the medical records of 95 patients (100 eyes) diagnosed with Mooren’s ulcer from May 2005 to December 2014. The patients were classified into recurrent and nonrecurrent groups and followed up for 18 months. The difference between two groups was estimated. The patients in the recurrent group were subdivided according to the history of corneal infection and corneal perforation, respectively. The recurrent time in the subgroups was analyzed. Results. Patients in the recurrent group were more likely to have a history of corneal infection and corneal perforation than that in the nonrecurrent groups. In patients with recurrent Mooren’s ulcer, the median time to first recurrence was 130 days in the infection group, 480 days in noninfection group, and 195 days in the perforation group versus 480 days in nonperforation group. Conclusion. Corneal infection and corneal perforation were associated with early recurrence of Mooren’s ulcer. The tailored follow-up schedule should be used for patients with corneal infection and corneal perforation due to the high risk of recurrence

The Late Paleocene–Eocene Extension and Differential Denudation in the Eastern Daqingshan Mountains Around the Northeastern Margin of the Ordos Block, Western North China Craton, Constrained by Apatite (U-Th)/He Thermochronology

The initial timing of extension during the Cenozoic around the northeastern margin of the Ordos Block, western North China Craton (NCC), is still poorly constrained. Apatite (U-Th)/He low-temperature thermochronology was thus applied on eight pre-Cenozoic granitic and gneissic samples transecting the eastern Daqingshan Mountains, northeastern margin of the Ordos Block, to investigate the denudation and cooling event related to the onset of extension therein. Four mean corrected AHe ages in the southern part are overlapped within the standard deviations of 50.0 ± 0.4 to 45.0 ± 8.0 Ma. However, three mean corrected AHe ages in the northern part are prominently older of 99.2 ± 11.0 to 86.6 ± 17.1 Ma, with the rest one of 56.1 ± 8.6 Ma. Altogether, they show a younger-older-younger-older pattern along the transect correlated with the normal faults. AHe thermal history modeling results further demonstrate extensive cooling during the Late Cretaceous but differential cooling during the Late Paleocene–Eocene. The Late Cretaceous extensive cooling in the eastern Daqingshan Mountains, as well as the contemporaneous deposition hiatus in both the eastern Daqingshan Mountains and the Hohhot Depression, together indicates overall denudation in the northeastern margin of the Ordos Block at that time. The Late Paleocene–Eocene differential cooling is probably induced by the tilting of the eastern Daqingshan Mountains as a result of the extension suggested by the distribution of AHe ages. It corresponds to the syn-tectonic subsidence in the Hohhot Depression, indicating a basin-mountain coupling. Regional comparative analysis manifests similar extension around the Ordos Block and more widely across the NCC during the Late Paleocene–Eocene. Temporally, kinematically, and dynamically coupled with this regional extension event, the subduction of the Izanagi-Pacific plate probably plays a major role. However, the contribution of the India-Asia collision could not be ignored

Grazing Alters Ecosystem Functioning and C:N:P Stoichiometry of Grasslands along a Regional Precipitation

Grasslands have experienced dramatic shifts in structure and functioning driven primarily by human disturbances and global climate change. The long-term grazing has resulted in widespread declines in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services. This is triggered by the direct and indirect effects of grazing and often mediated by the complex interactions between vegetation and environmental. Thus, it is critical to obtain a better understanding of how grazing, abiotic factors and biotic–abiotic interactions influence key properties of ecosystem functioning and sustainability and thereby provide guideline for improving grassland management practices in the Eurasian steppe. While abundant evidence demonstrates that heavy grazing alters the ecosystem structure and function of grass- lands, research on how grazing specifically affects ecosystem functioning and stoichiometry on broad scales is scarce because of a lack of adequate ungrazed reference sites. We examined the effects of grazing on ecosystem functioning and C:N:P stoichiometry along the 700 km China–Mongolia transect (CMT) using consistent methods. The CMT, which covers a wide range of biotic and abiotic conditions, enables us to observe the total effects of multiple mechanisms that probably operate simultaneously but vary in their relative strengths across regions. The key research questions we are trying to address are: 1) How has grazing affected ecosystem functioning (i.e. species richness, above- and below-ground biomass and litter biomass) and C:N:P stoichiometry of grasslands along the regional precipitation gradient during the last 50 years? 2) How do the responses of plant and soil C, N and P pools and stoichiometry to grazing differ among community types? 3) What is the relative importance of plant functional group (PFG) composition and species plasticity in influencing ecosystem functioning and stoichiometry

Clinical effects of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of endometriosis and endometriosis-fertility: A retrospective study of 226 cases

IntroductionTo determine the clinical effects of laparoscopic surgery (LS) in the treatment of endometriosis and endometriosis-fertility.MethodsTwo hundred twenty-six patients with endometriosis who underwent LS (LS group, n = 176) or laparotomy (LT group, n = 50) at the Third Hospital of Shijiazhuang City from June 2011 to June 2013 were included in this study, and their clinical outcomes for endometriosis and infertility were compared. All patients were followed up for 1 year after surgery to determine postoperative pregnancies in patients with endometriosis.ResultsThe operative times between the LS and LT groups were not significantly different (P > 0.05); however, the length of stay in the hospital and blood loss in the LS group were significantly different from the LT group (P < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative symptoms were lower in the LS group than the LT group (P < 0.05). The postoperative pregnancy rates in the two groups were significantly different, including the infertility patients (P < 0.05).ConclusionsCompared with LT, LS significantly reduced pain and improved the quality of life in women with endometriosis. These results can provide a reference for the clinical treatment of endometriosis

Nitrogen addition mediates the response of foliar stoichiometry to phosphorus addition: a meta-analysis

Background Changes in foliar nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry play important roles in predicting the effects of global change on ecosystem structure and function. However, there is substantial debate on the effects of P addition on foliar N and P stoichiometry, particularly under different levels of N addition. Thus, we conducted a global meta-analysis to investigate how N addition alters the effects of P addition on foliar N and P stoichiometry across different rates and durations of P addition and plant growth types based on more than 1150 observations. Results We found that P addition without N addition increased foliar N concentrations, whereas P addition with N addition had no effect. The positive effects of P addition on foliar P concentrations were greater without N addition than with N addition. Additionally, the effects of P addition on foliar N, P and N:P ratios varied with the rate and duration of P addition. In particular, short-term or low-dose P addition with and without N addition increased foliar N concentration, and the positive effects of short-term or low-dose P addition on foliar P concentrations were greater without N addition than with N addition. The responses of foliar N and P stoichiometry of evergreen plants to P addition were greater without N addition than with N addition. Moreover, regardless of N addition, soil P availability was more effective than P resorption efficiency in predicting the changes in foliar N and P stoichiometry in response to P addition. Conclusions Our results highlight that increasing N deposition might alter the response of foliar N and P stoichiometry to P addition and demonstrate the important effect of the experimental environment on the results. These results advance our understanding of the response of plant nutrient use efficiency to P addition with increasing N deposition