Low-mass dark matter search results from full exposure of PandaX-I experiment

We report the results of a weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter search using the full 80.1\;live-day exposure of the first stage of the PandaX experiment (PandaX-I) located in the China Jin-Ping Underground Laboratory. The PandaX-I detector has been optimized for detecting low-mass WIMPs, achieving a photon detection efficiency of 9.6\%. With a fiducial liquid xenon target mass of 54.0\,kg, no significant excess event were found above the expected background. A profile likelihood analysis confirms our earlier finding that the PandaX-I data disfavor all positive low-mass WIMP signals reported in the literature under standard assumptions. A stringent bound on the low mass WIMP is set at WIMP mass below 10\,GeV/c$^2$, demonstrating that liquid xenon detectors can be competitive for low-mass WIMP searches.Comment: v3 as accepted by PRD. Minor update in the text in response to referee comments. Separating Fig. 11(a) and (b) into Fig. 11 and Fig. 12. Legend tweak in Fig. 9(b) and 9(c) as suggested by referee, as well as a missing legend for CRESST-II legend in Fig. 12 (now Fig. 13). Same version as submitted to PR

Blood pressure and noncommunicable diseases in middle-aged and older adults in China.

BACKGROUND:There are few studies examining the association between blood pressure (BP) and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in consideration of the new hypertension guidelines in China. METHODS:Data were drawn from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. 14 390 eligible participants (aged 45 years and older) were selected through four-stage, stratified, and cluster sampling. Hypertension was considered as a mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 130 mm Hg (old definition: 140 mm Hg) or higher, a mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 80 mm Hg (old definition: 90 mm Hg) or higher or taking anti-hypertensive medication. Cochran-Armitage trend test and logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the association between BP level and NCDs. RESULTS:The prevalence of hypertension based on the latest definition was 56.35% (while by old definition: 42.75%). The awareness, treatment, and control among hypertensive participants were 38.62% (51.18%), 43.10% (56.81%), and 9.91% (13.06%), respectively. An increasing rate of NCDs (diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and memory-related disease) among participants were found with the ascending of BP level. After adjusted for demographics and behavioral risks, the following 3 NCDs had been shown to correlate with hypertension: diabetes (adjusted OR 1.15, 0.91-1.45 for elevated BP; 1.20, 0.97-1.49 for hypertension stage 1; 1.55, 1.28-1.86 hypertension stage 2), heart disease (0.94, 0.79-1.12; 1.05, 0.90-1.22; 1.28, 1.12-1.47), and stroke (1.77, 1.25-2.51; 1.32, 0.93-1.87; 1.85, 1.37-2.49). CONCLUSIONS:The association between hypertension and the risk of NCDs is of concern in China. The combined efforts on NCDs prevention and lowered blood pressure should be made by nationally integrated strategies, especially in middle-aged and older adults

Evaluation of cyclooxygenase-2 fluctuation via a near-infrared fluorescent probe in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cell and mice models

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating and fatal interstitial lung disease due to various challenges in diagnosis and treatment. Due to its complicated pathogenesis and difficulty in early diagnosis, there is no effective cure. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is inextricably associated with pulmonary fibrosis. The abnormal level of COX-2 leads to extremely exacerbated pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, we reported a near-infrared fluorescent probe Cy-COX to detect the fluctuation of COX-2 levels during pulmonary fibrosis and explain its important protective effect. The probe Cy-COX showed a significant enhancement of fluorescence signal to COX-2 with excellent selectivity and sensitivity. In order to clarify the relationship between COX-2 and pulmonary fibrosis, we used the probe Cy-COX to detect COX-2 fluctuation in organisms with pulmonary fibrosis. The results showed that the COX-2 level increased in the early stage and decreased in the late stage with the aggravation of pulmonary fibrosis. Furthermore, up-regulation of COX-2 levels can effectively alleviate the severity of pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, Cy-COX is a fast and convenient imaging tool with great potential to predict the early stage of pulmonary fibrosis and evaluate the therapeutic effects

Over-Expressing TaSPA-B Reduces Prolamin and Starch Accumulation in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grains

Starch and prolamin composition and content are important indexes for determining the processing and nutritional quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grains. Several transcription factors (TFs) regulate gene expression during starch and protein biosynthesis in wheat. Storage protein activator (TaSPA), a member of the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) family, has been reported to activate glutenin genes and is correlated to starch synthesis related genes. In this study, we generated TaSPA-B overexpressing (OE) transgenic wheat lines. Compared with wild-type (WT) plants, the starch content was slightly reduced and starch granules exhibited a more polarized distribution in the TaSPA-B OE lines. Moreover, glutenin and ω- gliadin contents were significantly reduced, with lower expression levels of related genes (e.g., By15, Dx2, and ω-1,2 gliadin gene). RNA-seq analysis identified 2023 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The low expression of some DEGs (e.g., SUSase, ADPase, Pho1, Waxy, SBE, SSI, and SS II a) might explain the reduction of starch contents. Some TFs involved in glutenin and starch synthesis might be regulated by TaSPA-B, for example, TaPBF was reduced in TaSPA-B OE-3 lines. In addition, dual-luciferase reporter assay indicated that both TaSPA-B and TaPBF could transactivate the promoter of ω-1,2 gliadin gene. These results suggest that TaSPA-B regulates a complex gene network and plays an important role in starch and protein biosynthesis in wheat