Measurement of HbA1c and HbA2 by Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing HbA1c programme for simultaneous management of diabetes and screening for thalassemia

Introduction: Thalassemia could interfere with some assays for haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measurement, therefore, it is useful to be able to screen for thalassemia while measuring HbA1c. We used Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing (Capillarys 2FP) HbA1c programme to simultaneously measure HbA1c and screen for thalassemia. Materials and methods: Samples from 498 normal controls and 175 thalassemia patients were analysed by Capillarys 2FP HbA1c programme (Sebia, France). For method comparison, HbA1c was quantified by Premier Hb9210 (Trinity Biotech, Ireland) in 98 thalassaemia patients samples. For verification, HbA1c from eight thalassaemia patients was confirmed by IFCC reference method. Results: Among 98 thalassaemia samples, Capillarys 2FP did not provide an HbA1c result in three samples with HbH due to the overlapping of HbBart’s with HbA1c fraction; for the remaining 95 thalassaemia samples, Bland-Altman plot showed 0.00 ± 0.35% absolute bias between two systems, and a significant positive bias above 7% was observed only in two HbH samples. The HbA1c values obtained by Capillarys 2FP were consistent with the IFCC targets (relative bias below ± 6%) in all of the eight samples tested by both methods. For screening samples with alpha (α-) thalassaemia silent/trait or beta (β-) thalassemia trait, the optimal HbA2 cut-off values were ≤ 2.2% and > 2.8%, respectively. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated the Capillarys 2FP HbA1c system could report an accurate HbA1c value in thalassemia silent/trait, and HbA2 value (≤ 2.2% for α-thalassaemia silent/trait and > 2.8% for β-thalassemia trait) and abnormal bands (HbH and/or HbBart’s for HbH disease, HbF for β-thalassemia) may provide valuable information for screening

Responses of soil respiration to rainfall pulses in a natural grassland community on the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China

Pulsed rainfall affects both aboveground vegetation dynamics and belowground biogeochemical processes, such as carbon cycling, in semi-arid regions. In order to study carbon released by soil respiration (SR) after rainfall pulses in natural grassland on the Loess Plateau, a rainfall simulation experiment was conducted in a grassland community co-dominated by a C-4 herbaceous grass [Botluiochloa ischaemum (L) Keng] and a C-3 leguminous subshrub [Lespedem davurica (Laxm.) Schindl] in the loess hilly-gully region. Soil respiration rate (R-s), soil temperature (T-s), and soil volumetric water content (S-v) were measured 1 day before and 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 days after four rainfall treatments (ambient rainfall plus a 5 mm, 10 mm, 20 mm, and 30 mm rainfall pulse) and one control treatment (only ambient rainfall) in June and August 2013. Results showed that R-s and S-v largely increased one day after simulated rainfall > 5 mm. In June, the peak R-s under 10, 20, and 30 mm rainfall was 0.80-1.03 mu mol C m(-2) s(-1) in B. ischaemum, with a 25-62% increase compared with the control treatment, and 0.74-1.0 mu mol C m(-2) s(-1) (+51-104%) in L. davurica. In August, the peak R-s was 1.23-1.73 mu mol C m(-2) s(-1) (+23-73%) and 1.52-1.70 mu mol C m(-2) s(-1) (+81-102%) in B. ischaemum and L davurica, respectively. The magnitude and duration of the increase in SR were positively related to the rainfall size, and a more considerable increase was observed in August. There was a threshold rainfall (i.e., 5-10 mm) for triggering SR increases in both months. And different responses were found between the two species, there was more substantial SR increases in L davurica in comparison to B. ischaemum. After rainfall pulses, soil moisture and soil temperature co-regulated SR. During the relatively dry season (i.e., June), SR was negatively correlated with soil temperature and the temperature sensitivity Q(10) value of SR was small (0.5-0.6), while it changed to positively in August and the Q(10) was largely increased (3.2-4.3). Conversely, soil moisture was positively related to SR in both months and explained a large portion of the variation in SR (32-43% and 42-52% in B. ischaemum and L. davurica, respectively). These findings indicated that soil moisture was the major environmental factor in controlling SR in this grassland. Overall, our study suggests that SR response following rainfall pulses is species-specific within the grassland community and tends to be controlled by soil moisture, and these should be considered in the regional carbon budget assessment in the background of vegetation rehabilitation and rainfall pattern changes.National Natural Science Foundation of China [41371509, 41771553]; National Key Research and Development Program of China [2016YFC0501703]24 month embargo; published online: 18 March 2019This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

A Case Study of Leaf Wettability Variability and the Relations with Leaf Traits and Surface Water Storage for Urban Landscape Plants

Leaf wettability, the affinity of a leaf surface to water droplets, affects the interactions between leaves and external environments. This study aimed to determine the interspecific and seasonal variabilities of leaf wettability across 30 common landscape plants, and their relationships with leaf functional traits, surface micromorphology and rainfall interception in Hefei city, China. Results indicated that leaf wettability was species-specific, and the adaxial and abaxial contact angles ranged from 63° to 134° and 66° to 134°, respectively, with the adaxial surface proving more wettable. Leaf wettability gradually increased from spring to winter. Classification of life forms revealed that there were no significant wettability differences among trees, shrubs and herbs, and between evergreen and deciduous plants, but deciduous plants’ wettability increased more significantly in winter. Leaf wettability was not significantly correlated with any leaf functional traits. Single surface microscopic parameters also had low correlations with leaf wettability. Instead, the low-wettability species were found to possess more prominent epidermis cells, dense waxy layers or trichomes on leaf surfaces. Leaf wettability was the best predictor of surface rainwater storage within all functional traits. Our results highlighted that leaf wettability was variable between different species and growth periods due to micromorphological differences, and significantly affected rainfall interception at the leaf scale, which may have great significance for evaluating plant hydrological function in urban areas

Responses of soil respiration to rainfall depth and frequency in semiarid grassland communities

Climate change is increasing the extreme precipitation depth and frequency, which may cause a strong response of ecological processes in drought regions. To investigate how rainfall depth and frequency alter soil respiration (SR), a rainfall simulation experiment was conducted in grassland communities dominated by Artemisia gmelinii and Lespedeza davurica in Loess Plateau of China. SR rate (Rs), soil temperature (Ts) and soil volumetric water content (Sv) were monitored before and after the rainfall treatments, that is, four depths (5, 10, 20 and 40 mm) and three frequencies (40 mm × 1, 20 mm × 2 and 10 mm × 4) during the growing season (June to September). Results indicated that the response magnitude of Rs increased with rainfall depths, reaching the maximum under 40 mm, and the increments were tightly related to rainfall frequency and community type. The increase and mean value of Rs in A. gmelinii community were significantly higher than those in L. davurica and bare land under same rainfall depth. L. davurica community was more sensitive to rainfall lower than 10 mm, whereas it had weaker but longer response under rainfall larger than 10 mm compared with A. gmelinii community. Successive rainfall events dampened the pulse effect of Rs but generated more cumulative CO2 emission in vegetation communities. Ts and Sv varied significantly with rainfall depth and co-regulated SR. These findings implied more CO2 will be released from soil in the semiarid grasslands under extreme and successive rainfalls and emphasized the importance of species impact on SR for soil carbon evaluation under future rainfall regimes. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.National Key Research and Development Program of China12 month embargo; first published: 06 July 2021This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

A novel c.2179T>C mutation blocked the intracellular transport of PHEX

Abstract Background X‐linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLH) is a heterogeneous genetic phosphate wasting disorder that occupies the majority of inheritable hypophosphatemic rickets (HR). XLH is caused by loss‐of‐function mutations in the phosphate‐regulating endopeptidase gene (PHEX) located on the X chromosome. Method In this study, we performed whole‐exome sequencing (WES) on the proband to identify the causative gene. The mutations were analyzed by predictive online software, such as PolyPhen‐2. Plasmids containing the wild‐type (WT) and mutant cDNA of the candidate gene were transfected into HEK293, then, the expression, cellular localization, and glycosylation state of the candidate proteins were detected by western blot, immunostaining, and endoglycosidase H digestion. The expression and concentration of related factor were measured by RT‐PCR and ELISA. Results We identified a novel missense mutation c.2179T>C in the PHEX that results in the substitution of p.Phe727Leu (F727L). This mutation was predicted to be disease‐causing by all four predictive online software. In vitro studies demonstrated that the F727L substitution hindered the intracellular trafficking of the mutant PHEX, with ~59% of mutant PHEX protein retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and only ~16% of the mutant protein localized on the cell surface. Endoglycosidase H digestion assay showed that the mutant F727L PHEX protein was not fully glycosylated. The concentration of intact FGF23 in hFOB1.19 cell culture medium collected from the mutant PHEX group was the highest (62.9 pg/ml) compared to the WT group (32.1 pg/ml) and control group (23.5 pg/ml). Conclusion Our results confirmed that the mutant PHEX protein was lowly glycosylated and retarded within the ER, the intact FGF23 level in cell culture media caused by the mutant PHEX protein was significantly elevated compared to that of the WT group, which may explain why the single base mutation in the PHEX led to XLH syndrome in this family