Magmatic record of India-Asia collision

This work was financially co-supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB03010301) and other Chinese funding agencies (Project 973: 2011CB403102 and 2015CB452604; NSFC projects: 41225006, 41273044, and 41472061).New geochronological and geochemical data on magmatic activity from the India-Asia collision zone enables recognition of a distinct magmatic flare-up event that we ascribe to slab breakoff. This tie-point in the collisional record can be used to back-date to the time of initial impingement of the Indian continent with the Asian margin. Continental arc magmatism in southern Tibet during 80-40 Ma migrated from south to north and then back to south with significant mantle input at 70-43 Ma. A pronounced flare up in magmatic intensity (including ignimbrite and mafic rock) at ca. 52-51 Ma corresponds to a sudden decrease in the India-Asia convergence rate. Geological and geochemical data are consistent with mantle input controlled by slab rollback from ca. 70 Ma and slab breakoff at ca. 53 Ma. We propose that the slowdown of the Indian plate at ca. 51 Ma is largely the consequence of slab breakoff of the subducting Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere, rather than the onset of the India-Asia collision as traditionally interpreted, implying that the initial India-Asia collision commenced earlier, likely at ca. 55 Ma.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Dissipation Theory-Based Ecological Protection and Restoration Scheme Construction for Reclamation Projects and Adjacent Marine Ecosystems.

According to the 2017 results of the Special Inspector of Sea Reclamation, a substantial number of idle reclamation zones existed in 11 provinces (cities) along the coast of China. To improve the protection level of coastal wetlands and strictly control reclamation activities, it is necessary to carry out ecological restoration of reclamation projects and adjacent marine ecosystems. The characteristics of Guanghai Bay and its reclamation project are typical in China’s coastal areas, making it an optimal representative site for this study. The dissipative structure and entropy theory was used to analyze ecological problems and environmental threats. The analytic hierarchy process was applied to determine the order of the negative entropy flow importance. The entropy increase and decrease mechanism was used to determine an ecological protection and restoration scheme for the reclamation, including the reclamation of wetland resource restoration, shoreline landscape restoration, environmental pollution control, and marine biological resource restoration. Finally, based on system logic, a typical ecological restoration system was constructed east of Guanghai Bay, with the mangrove wetland area as the model in the north and the artificial sandbeach recreation area as the focus in the south

Short-term prognostic analysis of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus co-infection and comparison of mNGS and conventional microbiological test results

ObjectivesInfection is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and as a new diagnostic technique, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is increasingly used for the pathogenetic detection of co-infected SLE patients. However, conventional microbiological testing (CMT) is still the gold standard for pathogenic diagnosis, and the specific diagnostic efficacy of mNGS versus CMT in such patients is not known. In addition, there are few studies on the short-term prognosis of co-infected SLE patients.MethodsThis study retrospectively included 58 SLE patients with co-infection admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from October 2020 to August 2022. Patients were divided into a survivors (n=27) and a non-survivors (n=31) according to their discharge status. Baseline characteristics and etiological data were collected and statistically analyzed for all patients during their hospitalization. The sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II and systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) were calculated for each patient to assess the predictive ability of the 3 scores on the short-term prognosis of SLE patients. The mNGS and CMT culture results were also compared to clarify the flora characteristics of patients with SLE infection.ResultsMore patients in the non-survivors had renal impairment, neurological manifestations, multiplasmatic cavity effusion and gastrointestinal manifestations compared to the survivors (p < 0.05). The SOFA score, APACHE II and SLEDAI were significantly higher in the non-survivors than in the survivors (p < 0.01). There were also significant differences between the two groups in several tests such as hemoglobin, platelets, albumin, total bilirubin, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and complement C3 (p < 0.05). In addition, the absolute values of T lymphocytes, CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells were smaller in the non-survivors than in the survivors (p < 0.05). The most common type of infection in this study was pulmonary infection, followed by bloodstream infection. mNGS and CMT positivity rates were not significantly different among patients in the non-survivors, but were significantly different among patients in the survivors (p=0.029). In-hospital survival of patients with SLE infection could be predicted based on the SOFA score in relation to 6. For patients with SOFA <6, we recommend earlier mNGS testing to identify the pathogen and improve patient prognosis.ConclusionsFor SLE patients with co-infection, in-hospital survival can be predicted based on SOFA score. For patients with SOFA <6, advising them to complete mNGS testing as early as possible may improve the prognosis to some extent

Epigenetic repression of PDZ-LIM domain-containing protein 2 promotes ovarian cancer via NOS2-derived nitric oxide signaling.

Ovarian cancer constitutes one of the most lethal gynaecological malignancies worldwide and currently no satisfactory therapeutic approaches have been established. Therefore, elucidation of molecular mechanisms to develop targeted therapy of ovarian cancer is crucial. PDLIM2 is critical to promote ubiquitination of nuclear p65 and thus its role in inflammation has been highlighted recently. We demonstrate that PDLIM2 is decreased in both ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma and in various human ovarian cancer cell lines compared with normal ovary tissues and human ovarian surface epithelial cells (HOSE). Further functional analysis revealed that PDLIM2 is epigenetically repressed in ovarian cancer development and inhibition of PDLIM2 promoted ovarian cancer growth both in vivo and in vitro via NOS2-derived nitric oxide signaling, leading to recruitment of M2 type macrophages. These results suggest that PDLIM2 might be involved in ovarian cancer pathogenesis, which could serve as a promising therapeutic target for ovarian cancer patients

Comparative proteomics study on liver mitochondria of primary biliary cirrhosis mouse model

BACKGROUND: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a liver specific chronic disease with unclear pathogenesis, especially for the early stage molecular events. The mitochondrion is a multi-functional organelle associated with various diseases including PBC. The purpose of this study was to discover the alterations in the mitochondria proteome using an early stage PBC mouse model for revealing the possible pathogenesis mechanisms in the early stages of PBC. METHODS: Mouse model of early stage of PBC was constructed by consecutive administration of poly I:C. Mitochondria of mouse models and controls were purified and comparative proteomics was performed by iTRAQ technology. Then, differentially expressed proteins were validated by western blotting. RESULTS: In total 354 proteins that satisfied the criteria for comparative proteomics study were identified. Of them, nine proteins were downregulated and 20 were up-regulated in liver mitochondria of PBC mouse model. Most differentially expressed proteins are associated with oxidation-reduction and lipid metabolism, and some are involved in the biosynthesis of steroid hormone and primary bile acid. Interestingly, four proteins (HCDH, CPT I, DECR, ECHDC2) involved in the fatty acid beta-oxidation were all upregulated. CONCLUSIONS: iTRAQ is a powerful tool for comparative proteomics study of PBC mouse model and differentially expressed proteins in mitochondria proteome of PBC mouse model provide insights for the pathogenesis mechanism at early stage of PBC

Are CD4+CD25-Foxp3+ cells in untreated new-onset lupus patients regulatory T cells?

Introduction: Our previous study has reported that, in patients with untreated new-onset lupus (UNOL), there was an abnormal increase in the number of CD4CD25Foxp3T cells that correlated with disease activity and significantly decreased after treatment. However, little is known about the nature of this cell entity. The aim of this study was to explore the nature of abnormally increased CD4CD25Foxp3T cells in UNOL patients.Methods: The expressions of surface (CD4, CD25, CD127, chemokine receptor 4 [CCR4], glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor [GITR], and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 [CTLA-4]) and intracellular (Foxp3) molecules as well as cytokine synthesis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 22 UNOL patients were analyzed by flow cytometry. The proliferative and suppressive capacities of different T-cell subgroups from UNOL patients were also assessed.Results: In UNOL patients, the percentages of CD127in CD25, CD25, and CD25subpopulations of CD4Foxp3T cells were 93.79% ± 3.48%, 93.66% ± 2.31%, and 91.98% ± 2.14%, respectively (P > 0.05), whereas the expressions of Foxp3 showed significant differences in CD25(91.38% ± 2.57%), CD25(71.89% ± 3.31%), and CD25(9.02% ± 2.21%) subpopulations of CD4CD127T cells (P < 0.01). The expressions of surface CCR4, GITR, and CTLA-4 on CD4CD25Foxp3T cells were significantly less than CD4CD25Foxp3T cells (P < 0.05). Moreover, unlike CD4CD25Foxp3T cells, CD4CD25Foxp3T cells also synthesized interferon-gamma, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-2, and IL-17 (P < 0.05), though less than CD4CD25Foxp3T cells. The suppressive capacity was most prominent in CD4CD25CD127, followed by CD4CD25CD127. CD4CD25CD127T cells showed the least suppressive capacity, which was similar to the effector T cells.Conclusions: CD4CD25Foxp3T cells in UNOL patients are different from regulatory T cells, both phenotypically and functionally. CD127 is not an appropriate surface marker for intracellular Foxp3 in CD4CD25T cells