Sodium retention in rats with liver cirrhosis is associated with increased renal abundance of NaCl cotransporter (NCC)

Background. Liver cirrhosis is associated with enhanced renal tubular sodium retention, the mechanism of which is still debated. We hypothesized that liver cirrhosis is associated with increased expression of renal epithelial sodium transporter(s). Methods. Liver cirrhosis was induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in rats. Steady state mRNA of ENaC subunits α, β, γ serum and glucocorticoid inducible kinase (Sgk1) were measured by TaqMan PCR in kidney homogenates at week 1, 2, 3 and 4 after BDL. Renal protein content of ENaC subunits, ubiquitin-protein-ligase Nedd4-2 and NaCl cotransporter (NCC) were assessed by western blot. Subcellular localization of ENaC subunits and NCC were analysed by immunohistochemistry. Results. Steady state mRNA of ENaC α, β and γ were unchanged during the 4 weeks investigated, while ENaC protein decreased most prominently at week 2 (control vs BDL; α, −46%; β, −81%; and γ, −63%; n = 6). Subcellular localization of ENaC subunits was not altered at week 2. Sgk1 mRNA did not change, whereas Nedd4-2 protein was reduced by >50% 2-4 weeks after BDL. NCC protein significantly increased at week 1 (control vs BDL: +66%, n = 6, P<0.05) and decreased at week 3 (control vs BDL: −85%, n = 6, P<0.0005). Conclusions. Enhanced abundance of NCC was observed in the initial stage after BDL, followed by a marked decrease. ENaC transcription, translation or cell surface abundance was not increased after BD

Ki67 Index Changes and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Levels Impact the Prognosis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients With Residual Disease After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

PurposeThe aim of this study was to assess the prognostic influence of Ki67 index changes in patients with primary triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), and to evaluate whether the combination of Ki67 index changes and residual disease (RD) tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) provides additional prognostic information for this group.Materials and MethodsData from 109 patients with primary TNBC and RD after NAC were analyzed retrospectively. Ki67 changes and RD TIL levels were investigated for associations with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) using Kaplan–Meier and Cox analyses.ResultsKi67 index decreased after NAC in 53 patients (48.6%) and high RD TIL levels (≥30%) were observed in 54 patients (49.5%). In multivariate Cox analyses, no Ki67 decrease status and low RD TIL levels were significantly associated with reduced RFS (hazard ratio (HR): 2.038, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.135–3.658, P = 0.017; HR: 2.493, 95% CI: 1.335–4.653, P = 0.004), and OS (HR: 2.187, 95% CI: 1.173–4.077, P = 0.014; HR: 2.499, 95% CI: 1.285–4.858, P = 0.007), respectively. Notably, low RD TIL levels were significantly associated with reduced RFS (HR: 3.567, 95% CI: 1.475–8.624, P = 0.005) and reduced OS (HR: 3.873, 95% CI: 1.512–9.918, P = 0.005) in only the no Ki67 decrease group. The differences in 3-year RFS and OS between patients with no Ki67 decrease and low or high RD TIL levels were 24.4% vs 79.1% (P = 0.0001) and 33.1% vs 87.5% (P = 0.0001), respectively.ConclusionKi67 index changes and RD TIL levels were associated with the prognosis of patients with primary TNBC with RD after NAC. RD TIL levels had greater prognostic significance in the no Ki67 decrease group

Prognosis of HIV Patients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy According to CD4 Counts: A Long-term Follow-up study in Yunnan, China

We aim to evaluate the overall survival and associated risk factors for HIV-infected Chinese patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). 2517 patients receiving ART between 2006 and 2016 were prospectively enrolled in Yunnan province. Kaplan-Meier analyses and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed. 216/2517 patients died during a median 17.5 (interquartile range [IQR] 6.8-33.2) months of follow-up. 82/216 occurred within 6 months of starting ART. Adjusted hazard ratios were10.69 (95%CI 2.38-48.02, p = 0.002) for old age, 1.94 (95%CI 1.40-2.69, p < 0.0001) for advanced WHO stage, and 0.42 (95%CI 0.27-0.63, p < 0.0001) for heterosexual transmission compared to injecting drug users. Surprisingly, adjusted hazard ratios comparing low CD4 counts group (<50 cells/μl) with high CD4 counts group (≥500 cells/μl) within six months after starting ART was 20.17 (95%CI 4.62-87.95, p < 0.0001) and it declined to 3.57 (95%CI 1.10-11.58, p = 0.034) afterwards. Age, WHO stage, transmission route are significantly independent risk factors for ART treated HIV patients. Importantly, baseline CD4 counts is strongly inversely associated with survival in the first six months; whereas it becomes a weak prognostic factor after six months of starting ART

Assessing whether peri-urban agricultural land or plantation forest is a better green infrastructure for ground arthropods at local and landscape scales

City agencies across multiple continents have invested millions of funds in ambitious afforestation projects in urban and peri-urban areas to enhance the city green infrastructure. One example is the Beijing One Million Mu Plain Afforestation Project, which has established 146,000 ha of plantation forests, mainly on arable lands. This contradicts the national arable land conserving policies and has dramatically changed local habitat types and landscape context. However, the impact of these processes on biodiversity is not well understood. To investigate this impact at local and landscape scales, we explored a space-for-time approach. We selected 12 plantation forests and their nearby arable lands along a gradient of plantation forest cover in the surrounding landscapes. We surveyed ground spiders and carabids and analyzed their responses to local habitat type, landscape context, and their interaction. In the sampled landscapes, plantation forest cover increased (12.0%–35.9%), while arable land cover decreased (58.3%–31.8%). 96.3% of the new plantation forests were established on arable lands. Intensive afforestation on arable lands did not increase local ground arthropod diversity. In fact, ground arthropod abundance and species richness in plantation forests were significantly lower than in arable lands when the surrounding arable land cover was relatively high. With surrounding arable land cover decreasing, ground arthropod abundance and species richness in plantation forests increased but did not exceed those in nearby arable lands. Hence, the overall ground arthropod diversity at landscape scale was not improved. These findings suggest that, from a biodiversity conservation perspective, plantation forests did not surpass peri-urban agricultural lands as a better green infrastructure . However, ground arthropods benefit from rich local non-crop herb communities. Conserving peri-urban agricultural lands and implementing extensive management regimes for agricultural lands and existing plantation forests are more effective tools than ambitious afforestation of agricultural land in peri-urban areas of Beijing and other metropolises

The Impact of Anthropogenic Activities and Natural Factors on the Grassland over the Agro-Pastoral Ecotone of Inner Mongolia

The agro-pastoral ecotone serves as an important ecological transition zone between grassland and cropland. It plays a crucial role in providing forage and maintaining the ecological security of Northern China. China has initiated many ecological restoration projects in the agro-pastoral ecotone. Separating the affecting factors of anthropogenic activities and natural factors change on grassland may help guide future ecological restoration projects. This study investigated the grassland change over the agro-pastoral ecotone in Inner Mongolia (APEI) using land use data, vegetation index, and monthly climate data, social and economic data from 2010 to 2020. Two indicators were introduced to evaluate the grassland change in quality and quantity. The average annual maximum NDVI of grassland within each sample was used as a proxy for grassland quality, and the proportion of grassland within each sample was used as a proxy for grassland quantity. The driving mechanisms of grassland quality were examined on different types of grassland. The results showed that (1) from 2010 to 2020, the quantity of grassland in APEI slightly decreased while the quality of the grassland significantly improved; (2) the change in grassland quality was jointly caused by natural factors and human activities, with 66.77% being attributed to natural factors and 33.23% to human activities. In some areas, the alteration in grassland quality was solely determined by either the impacts of natural factors or human-induced disturbances; and (3) temperature and precipitation played different roles in affecting grassland quality among different types of grassland. In some areas, anthropogenic activities, such as farmland and population, would affect grassland quality. The findings of this study would contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of ecological environmental changes in the agro-pastoral ecotone and guide the planning and implementation of future ecological restoration projects in agro-pastoral areas

Using multi-agent modeling technique to regionalize key processes and patterns of sustainable agricultural cropping systems in the North China Plain

The North China Plain (NCP) covers an area of around 328,000 km2 and is one of the most important regions of cereal crop production in China. Wheat and maize rotations and one season cotton are the most common cropping systems. The region contributes at an amount of about 50% to the countries wheat production and about one third of maize yields. Crop production in the NCP was focused in the last decades on increasing yields to meet the growing food demand accompanied by the limitation of arable land as a result of urbanization rate i.e. of the Beijing District. Food production needs can nowadays only be achieved by the optimization of agricultural management, i.e. fertilizer input, irrigation, improved crop rotations. The focus on increasing yields raised serious environmental problems, like water shortage and pollution, air pollution and soil contamination. Hence the development of future land use system approaches improving these conditions is essentially. This may provide both a high production level as well as a protection of resources. The multidisciplinary collaborative International Research Training Group project (IRTG) “Modelling Material Flows and Production Systems for Sustainable Resource Use in Intensified Crop Production in the North China Plain”, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Chinese Ministry of Education, was launched to detect the potential of adjustments in cropping systems and to further develop management practices for sustainable resource use and protection of environmental conditions while assuring a high yield level. The here presented research concentrates on the construction of a modelling framework of different spatial-temporal scales in order to regionalize the detected key features and the effects of changing land use patterns. In order to investigate our research objective, the regionalisation of key features towards sustainable agricultural and to improve productivity in the NCP (North China Plain) we primarily have to identify these core features. On the economic site we determine “farmer income” to be an appropriate factor. The ecological site is served by the determination of “water use efficiency” (WUE) and yield. Both factors have to be further verified on their plausibility for our research aim by project member discussion. Next an evaluation of multiple computational approaches towards their practicability was investigated. Relay on both existing GIS data in the projects AIES data base and additional data provided by our Chinese Agricultural University (CAU) colleagues. Primarily the Cellular Automata (CA) concept based on previous work as well as statistical analyses, Data mining and cell neighbourhood relations was investigated. This approach has to be denied due to insignificant neighbourhood relations and the fact that no appropriate computing environment was found. Secondly a model combination of Markov Chain and Cellular Automata as it is proposed by remote sensing software techniques (IDRISI 15.0) has been evaluated. This approach combines stochastic probabilities for cell transitions with classical GIS facilities. Again no statistic significance of spatial transitions due to farmer decisions is found. The 3rd actual approach Multi Agent System (MAS) is believed to be the most promising for several reasons. We chose NetLogo 4.0.3 as appropriate computing environment. First it includes GIS data extensions, above this it is a powerful free designable and Java programmable cross-platform user interface. The hypothesis is the following, Multi-Agents (farmers) acting in space, interfere and interact in spatial scales corrupting their entities (arable land) and thus their income. We have parameterised soil and defined agricultural activity zones. Agents now are aware of their own productivity value and compete with direct neighbours. For future purposes the ecological key features WUE and yield will be investigate by the use of the DSSAT crop model. As a group of scientist actually use the DSSAT crop model in varying plant sciences, certain expertises are generated in our project. This and the author personal expertise will help for a sudden parameterisation and integration of AEIS GIS dataset parameters