Estimating soil salinity in different landscapes of the Yellow River Delta through Landsat OLI/TIRS and ETM plus Data

Soil salinization has increasingly become a serious issue in coastal zone due to global climate changes and human disturbances. Assessment of soil salinity, especially at the landscape scale, is critical to coastal management and restoration. Two data from OLI/TIRS and ETM+ sensors of Landsat satellite were used to compare their ability to invert the spatial pattern of soil salinity in both farmland and salt marsh landscapes in the Yellow River Delta, China, respectively. The results showed that the in situ electrical conductivity (EC (a) ) of soil, representing soil salinity, were closely related with spectral parameters and salinity indices calculated by the remote sensing data. The results of multiple regression models have showed that nearly all the spectral parameters and salinity indices calculated by OLI/TRIS data were more sensitive to soil salinity than those by ETM+ data. Therefore, the models based on OLI/TIRS data are superior to those on ETM+ data in estimating the spatial pattern of soil salinity in farmland and salt marsh landscapes. Our results were very helpful to evaluate the levels of soil salinization in the Yellow River Delta

Malignant B Cells Induce the Conversion of CD4+CD25− T Cells to Regulatory T Cells in B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Recent evidence has demonstrated that regulatory T cells (Treg) were enriched in the tumor sites of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). However, the causes of enrichment and suppressive mechanisms need to be further elucidated. Here we demonstrated that CD4+CD25+FoxP3+CD127lo Treg were markedly increased and their phenotypes were different in peripheral blood (PB) as well as bone marrow (BM) from newly diagnosed patients with B-cell NHL compared with those from healthy volunteers (HVs). Involved lymphatic tissues also showed higher frequencies of Treg than benign lymph nodes. Moreover, the frequencies of Treg were significantly higher in involved lymphatic tissues than those from PB as well as BM in the same patients. Suppression mediated by CD4+CD25+ Treg co-cultured with allogeneic CFSE-labeled CD4+CD25− responder cells was also higher in involved lymphatic tissues from B-cell NHL than that mediated by Treg from HVs. In addition, we found that malignant B cells significantly induced FoxP3 expression and regulatory function in CD4+CD25− T cells in vitro. In contrast, normal B cells could not induce the conversion of CD4+CD25− T cells to Treg. We also showed that the PD-1/B7-H1 pathway might play an important role in Treg induction. Taken together, our results suggest that malignant B cells induce the conversion of CD4+CD25− T cells to Treg, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of B-cell NHL and represent a promising therapeutic target

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations at large transverse momenta in p+pp+p and Au+Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}= 200 GeV

Results on high transverse momentum charged particle emission with respect to the reaction plane are presented for Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$= 200 GeV. Two- and four-particle correlations results are presented as well as a comparison of azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions to those in $p+p$ at the same energy. Elliptic anisotropy, $v_2$, is found to reach its maximum at $p_t \sim 3$ GeV/c, then decrease slowly and remain significant up to $p_t\approx 7$ -- 10 GeV/c. Stronger suppression is found in the back-to-back high-$p_t$ particle correlations for particles emitted out-of-plane compared to those emitted in-plane. The centrality dependence of $v_2$ at intermediate $p_t$ is compared to simple models based on jet quenching.Comment: 4 figures. Published version as PRL 93, 252301 (2004

Circadian Rhythm-Dependent Alterations of Gene Expression in Drosophila Brain Lacking Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein

Fragile X syndrome is caused by the loss of the FMR1 gene product, fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). The loss of FMRP leads to altered circadian rhythm behaviors in both mouse and Drosophila; however, the molecular mechanism behind this phenomenon remains elusive. Here we performed a series of gene expression analyses, including of both mRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs), and identified a number of mRNAs and miRNAs (miRNA-1 and miRNA-281) with circadian rhythm-dependent altered expression in dfmr1 mutant flies. Identification of these RNAs lays the foundation for future investigations of the molecular pathway(s) underlying the altered circadian rhythms associated with loss of dFmr1

Azimuthal anisotropy in Au+Au collisions at sqrtsNN = 200 GeV

The results from the STAR Collaboration on directed flow (v_1), elliptic flow (v_2), and the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the anisotropic azimuthal distribution of particles from Au+Au collisions at sqrtsNN = 200 GeV are summarized and compared with results from other experiments and theoretical models. Results for identified particles are presented and fit with a Blast Wave model. Different anisotropic flow analysis methods are compared and nonflow effects are extracted from the data. For v_2, scaling with the number of constituent quarks and parton coalescence is discussed. For v_4, scaling with v_2^2 and quark coalescence is discussed.Comment: 26 pages. As accepted by Phys. Rev. C. Text rearranged, figures modified, but data the same. However, in Fig. 35 the hydro calculations are corrected in this version. The data tables are available at http://www.star.bnl.gov/central/publications/ by searching for "flow" and then this pape

Rapidity and Centrality Dependence of Proton and Anti-proton Production from Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 130GeV

We report on the rapidity and centrality dependence of proton and anti-proton transverse mass distributions from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 130GeV as measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. Our results are from the rapidity and transverse momentum range of |y|<0.5 and 0.35 <p_t<1.00GeV/c. For both protons and anti-protons, transverse mass distributions become more convex from peripheral to central collisions demonstrating characteristics of collective expansion. The measured rapidity distributions and the mean transverse momenta versus rapidity are flat within |y|<0.5. Comparisons of our data with results from model calculations indicate that in order to obtain a consistent picture of the proton(anti-proton) yields and transverse mass distributions the possibility of pre-hadronic collective expansion may have to be taken into account.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, submitted to PR

Continuous Regional Arterial Infusion with Fluorouracil and Octreotide Attenuates Severe Acute Pancreatitis in a Canine Model

Aim: To investigate the therapeutic effects of fluorouracil (5-Fu) and octreotide (Oct) continuous regional arterial infusion (CRAI,) alone or in combination, was administered in a canine model of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Materials and Methods: The animals were divided into five groups; group A (Sham), group B (SAP), group C (SAP and 5-Fu), group D (SAP and Oct), and group E (SAP and 5-Fu + Oct). Levels of amylase, alpha-tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, thromboxane B2 and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha were measured both before and after the induction of SAP. Pathologic examination of the pancreas and kidneys was performed after termination of the study. Results: Pathologic changes noted in the pancreas in SAP significantly improved following CRAI with either single or combined administration of 5-Fu and Oct, where combination therapy demonstrated the lowest injury score. All treatment groups had significantly lower levels of serum TNF-alpha and amylase activity (P<0.05), though only groups D and E had a lower BUN level as compared to group B. The plasma thromboxane B-2 level increased in SAP, but the ratio of thromboxane B-2/6-keto-prostaglandin F-1 alpha decreased in the treatment groups, with the combination therapy (group E) demonstrating the lowest ratio as compared to the other 3 experimental groups (P<0.05). Conclusions: The findings in the present study demonstrate an attenuation of SAP in a canine model following CRAI administration with 5-Fu or Oct, alone or in combination