Preliminary Trial to Establish Artificial Grassland in Tibet, China

Tibet Autonomous Region with an average altitude of more than 4,000 m above sea level, altogether cover an area of 1.22 million km2, equivalent to one-eight of the total area of China. High mountains along with forests and rivers in Tibet consist of an important ecological barrier for protecting parts of inland ecosystems. Tibet is also one of the five major pastoral areas in China. The grassland in Tibet covers 0.83 million km2, but the grass is sparse and low, and with low yield in this area. There are nearly 2.8 million people in this region, while the area of arable land is less than 2.533 thousand km2. Nearly 40.5 million tons of hay are needed for about 45 million sheep units in Tibet (Yu et al., 2010), while the actual amount is less than 20 million tons (including 15 million tons per year from natural grassland, and 2～3 million tons per year from the straw of naked barley). It exacerbating the degradation of natural grassland for the contradiction between livestock and grass. Research shows that the most effective measure to maintain local economic growth, coordinated development of ecological security and curb the further degradation of the grassland in Tibet is by planting high yielding and high quality forage crops, changing the traditional way of free grazing and implementing captive feeding gradually

SUPRASPECIFIC TAXA OF THE BIVALVIA FIRST NAMED, DESCRIBED, AND PUBLISHED IN CHINA (1927–2007)

A total of 209 bivalve generic (subgeneric) and 19 familial (subfamilial) names first proposed by Chinese palaeontologists and published in China are treated herein as an annotated database. The present paper is designed especially for the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Bivalvia revision project, because access to bivalve taxa published by Chinese authors in China has been difficult for non-Chinese researchers. The original diagnoses of these taxa, including the original descriptions and explanation of figures of all the type species, have been translated from Chinese into English, so that non-Chinese colleagues can more easily have access to them

Astragaloside IV Downregulates β-Catenin in Rat Keratinocytes to Counter LiCl-Induced Inhibition of Proliferation and Migration

Re-epithelialization is a crucial step towards wound healing. The traditional Chinese medicine, Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch) Bge, has been used for hundreds of years for many kinds of ulcerated wounds. Recent research has identified the active compound in this drug as astragaloside IV (AS-IV), but the underlying molecular mechanisms of its therapeutic action on keratinocytes remain poorly understood. In this study, we used an in vitro model of ulcer-like wound processes, lithium chloride (LiCl)-induced cultured mouse keratinocytes, to investigate the effects of AS-IV treatment. The effects on cell proliferation were evaluated by the MTS/PMS colorimetric assay, effects on cell migration were determined by a wound-healing scratch experiment, effects on the cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry, and effects on protein expression were analyzed by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. LiCl strongly inhibited cell proliferation and migration, up-regulated β-catenin expression, and down-regulated proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression. AS-IV treatment attenuat the inhibition of proliferation and migration, significantly reducing the enhanced β-catenin expression, and recovering PCNA and β-tubulin expression. Thus, AS-IV mediates mouse keratinocyte proliferation and migration via regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Down-regulating β-catenin to increase keratinocyte migration and proliferation is one mechanism by which AS-IV can promote ulcerated wound healing

Advances in Nutrition and Health Function of β-glucan

In recent years, β-glucan has been widely researched in various related fields due to its significant physiological activity and health characteristics. β-glucan exists in highland barley, barley, oats, and microorganisms such as yeast, bacteria fungi and other natural plants, and is a kind of renewable polysaccharide with high nutritional values. Different physical properties due to its extensive sources also affect the development and application of β-glucan in various bioactive functional fields. We have reviewed different sources of β-glucan and its structure-activity relationship, and summarized its research status in digestive system, nervous system, immune system and other aspects, indicating that β-glucan has special physiological activities such as regulating glucose and lipid metabolism disorders, improving immunity and brain function, regulating intestinal microenvironment. It can be used as a dietary supplement and functional factor to intervene and regulate body health, and also has broad application value and prospects in the field of health product research and development. This review will provide theoretical reference and scientific basis for the further development and utilization of β-glucan

Deep Sequencing of Plasma Exosomal microRNA Level in Psoriasis Vulgaris Patients

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease affecting 1% to 3% of the world population. Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) is the most common form of psoriasis. PV patients suffer from inflamed, pruritic and painful lesions for years (even a lifetime). However, conventional drugs for PV are costly. Considering the need for long-term treatment of PV, it is urgent to discover novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Plasma exosomal miRNAs have been identified as the reliable biomarkers and therapy targets of human diseases. Here, we described the levels of plasma exosomal miRNAs in PV patients and analyzed the functional features of differently expressed miRNAs and their potential target genes for the first time. We identified 1,182 miRNAs including 336 novel miRNAs and 246 differently expressed miRNAs in plasma exosomes of healthy people and PV patients. Furthermore, the functional analysis found differently expressed miRNA-regulated target genes enriched for specific GO terms including primary metabolic process, cellular metabolic process, metabolic process, organic substance metabolic process, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway containing cellular processes, human diseases, metabolic pathways, metabolism and organismal systems. In addition, we found that some predicted target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs, such as CREB1, RUNX2, EGFR, are both involved in inflammatory response and metabolism. In summary, our study identifies many candidate miRNAs involved in PV, which could provide potential biomarkers for diagnosis of PV and targets for clinical therapies against PV

Serum γ-glutamyltransferase and uric acid levels are associated with impaired fasting glucose in adults from Inner Mongolia, China

BACKGROUND: Serum γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and uric acid (UA) levels are elevated in patients with diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Prediabetes, characterized by impaired glucose tolerance, is an important risk factor for overt diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between GGT, UA and prediabetes in a Chinese population, and provide a scientific basis for the early prevention and treatment of diabetes. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional population-based study in a cohort of 2694 subjects (1211 men and 1483 women, aged 35–86 years). Questionnaires and physical examinations were performed using standardized procedures. Fasting blood was collected to measure glucose and other biochemical parameters. The subjects were divided into two groups with either normal fasting glucose (NFG) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), according to international diagnostic criteria. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Compared with the NFG group, the IFG group had significantly higher blood pressure but lower high-density lipoprotein–cholesterol in women. Body mass index, waist circumference, triglyceride, glucose, GGT, and UA levels were significantly higher in males and females in the IFG group than those in the NFG group. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the OR for prediabetes increased with increasing serum GGT quartiles and UA quartiles. GGT and UA were positively associated with prediabetes in men and women, independent of age, ethnicity, smoking, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, physical labor, and other confounders. CONCLUSIONS: We found that serum GGT and UA levels were positively associated with prediabetes in men and women living in areas inhabited by Chinese ethnic minorities. As elevated GGT and UA levels were associated with significantly increased risk of prediabetes, they may be used as sensitive biological markers of prediabetes