The residential coal consumption : disparity in urban-rural China

We appreciate the support of the Program for Major Projects in Philosophy and Social Science Research of the Ministry of Education of China (No. 14JZD031), Key Program of National Social Science Fund of China (No. 15AJY005), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 71473203, 71171001, and 71471001), and New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-12-0595).Peer reviewedPostprin

Estimates of carbon storage in grassland ecosystems on the Loess Plateau

Grassland ecosystems play an important role in the carbon (C) balance of arid and semi-arid regions. These ecosystems provide C for grass growth and soil microbial activities and represent one of the main sources of atmospheric C. In this study, we estimated the C density and storage of 223 sampling sites in grassland ecosystems on the Loess Plateau using elevation, vegetation indexes, precipitation, air temperature, day and night land surface temperature (LSTd and LSTn, respectively), evapotranspiration (ET), percent tree cover and the non-vegetated area to build decision regression tree and generalized linear regression models (GLMs). The results showed that the C density decreased from south to north and ranged from 0.22 to 29.29 kg C/m(2). The average amount of C stored in the ecosystems was 1.46 Pg. The typical steppe and forest steppe stored the most C, and the steppe desert stored the least. The soil (0-1 m) stored most of the organic C, accounting for > 90%, and the belowground biomass (BGB) contained > 3 times the amount of C as the aboveground biomass (AGB). This study provides reference information for the loss of C and associated mitigation strategies on the Loess Plateau

Large-scale soil organic carbon mapping based on multivariate modelling: The case of grasslands on the Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau is considered one of the world's regions with severe soil erosion. Grasslands are widely distributed on the Loess Plateau, accounting for approximately 40% of the total area. Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role in the terrestrial carbon cycle in this region. We compiled more than 1,000 measurements of plant biomass and SOC content derived from 223 field studies of grasslands on the Loess Plateau. Combined with meteorological factors (precipitation and air temperature) and the photosynthetically active radiation factor, the topsoil SOC contents of grasslands were predicted using the random forest (RF) regression algorithm. Predicted grassland SOC content (1.70-40.34gkg(-1)) decreased from the southeast to the northwest of the Loess Plateau, with approximately 1/5 of the grassland exhibiting values lower than 4gkg(-1). Observed SOC content was positively correlated with observed plant biomass, and for predicted values, this correlation was strong in the desert steppe and the steppe desert of rocky mountains. Air temperature was the most important factor affecting SOC contents in the RF model. Moreover, the residual error of observations and predictions increased as the grazing intensity varied from none to very severe in the temperate desert steppe, and this RF model may not perform well in plains. The use of the RF model for SOC prediction in Loess Plateau grasslands provides a reference for C storage studies in arid and semi-arid regions, and aboveground biomass and temperature should receive more attention due to increasing C sequestration

The expression profile analysis of NKX2-5 knock-out embryonic mice to explore the pathogenesis of congenital heart disease

AbstractBackgroundMutation of NKX2-5 could lead to the development of congenital heart disease (CHD) which is a common inherited disease. This study aimed to investigate the pathogenesis of CHD in NKX2-5 knock-out embryonic mice.MethodsThe expression profile in the NKX2-5 knock-out embryonic mice (GSE528) was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. The heart tissues from the null/heterozygous embryonic day 12.5 mice were compared with wild-type mice to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and then DEGs corresponding to the transcriptional factors were filtered out based on the information in the TRANSFAC database. In addition, a transcriptional regulatory network was constructed according to transcription factor binding site information from the University of California Santa Cruz database. A pathway interaction network was constructed by latent pathways identification analysis.ResultsThe 42 DEGs corresponding to transcriptional factors from the null and heterozygous embryos were identified. The transcriptional regulatory networks included five down-regulated DEGs (SP1, SRY, JUND, STAT6, and GATA6), and six up-regulated DEGs [POU2F1, NFY (NFYA/NFYB/NFYC), USF2 and MAX]. Latent pathways analysis demonstrated that ribosome, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and dilated cardiomyopathy pathways significantly interacted.ConclusionThe identified DEGs and latent pathways could provide new comprehensive view for understanding the pathogenesis of CHD

Ultrasound assessment of gastric content in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy after preoperative oral carbohydrates: a prospective, randomized controlled, double-blind study

BackgroundTo evaluate the gastric volume and nature after drinking preoperative oral carbohydrates in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy via ultrasonography.MethodsOne hundred patients who had been scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled and randomized into the traditional fasting group (Control group, n = 50) and the carbohydrate group (CHO group, n = 50). Patients in the Control group fasted solids and drink from midnight, the day before surgery. Patients in the CHO group drank 800 ml and 400 ml of oral carbohydrates 11 and 3 h before surgery, respectively. At 2 h after oral carbohydrates (T1), all patients underwent an ultrasound examination of residual gastric contents; if the patients had a full stomach, the assessment was performed again 1 h later (T2). A stomach containing solid contents or >1.5 ml/kg of liquid was considered “full”. The primary outcome was full stomach incidences at the above time points. The secondary outcomes included gastric antral CSA in the right lateral decubitus (RLD) and semi-sitting positions, as well as gastric volume (GV), GV per weight (GV/kg), and Perla's grade at T1.ResultsCompared with the Control group, the incidence of entire stomach was significantly high in the CHO group 2 h after oral carbohydrates. At the T1 time point, 6 patients (13.3%) in the Control group and 14 patients (30.4%) in the CHO group presented with a full stomach [95% confidence interval (CI), (0.96–5.41), P = 0.049]. At T2, 3 patients (6.7%) in the Control group and 4 patients (8.7%) in the CHO group had a full stomach, with no marked differences between the two groups [95% CI, (0.31–5.50), P = 0.716]. Compared with the Control group, CSA in the semi-sitting and RLD positions, GV and GV/W were significantly high in the CHO group at T1 (P < 0.05). The median (interquartile range) of the Perlas grade was 1 (0–1) in the Control group and 1(1–1.25) in the CHO group (P = 0.004).ConclusionCholecystectomy patients experience a 2 h delay in gastric emptying after receiving preoperative carbohydrates. In LC patients, the fasting window for oral carbohydrates before surgery should be adequately prolonged.Clinical Trail registrationChinese Clinical Trail Registry, No: ChiCTR2200055245

Silencing of rhomboid domain containing 1 to inhibit the metastasis of human breast cancer cells in vitro

Objective(s): A growing body of evidence indicates that rhomboid domain containing 1 (RHBDD1) plays an important role in a variety of physiological and pathological processes, including tumorigenesis. We aimed to determine the function of RHBDD1 in breast cancer cells. Materials and Methods: In this study, we used the Oncomine™ database to determine the expression patterns of RHBDD1 in normal and breast cancer tissues. We performed lentiviral transfection of RHBDD1-specific small interfering RNA into the breast cancer cell lines ZR-75-30 and MDA-MB-231 in order to investigate the effects of RHBDD1 deficiency on breast cancer metastasis. Results: We found that knockdown of RHBDD1 inhibited breast cancer cell migration and invasion in vitro. Moreover, knockdown of RHBDD1 promoted epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) by suppressing the expression of MPP2, MPP9, fibronectin 1, vimentin, SRY-box 2, zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1, and snail family transcriptional repressor 1, and promoting the expression of cadherin 1. Additionally, knockdown of RHBDD1 inhibited the protein expression and phosphorylation of Akt.Conclusion: Our data indicate that RHBDD1 overexpression may promote breast cancer metastasis via the regulation of EMT, suggesting that RHBDD1 may be an important regulator of breast cancer metastasis