Possible Causes for Spatial and Temporal Variation of Warm Season Precipitation in Xinjiang from 1960–2014

In this work, rain totals from 1960–2014, obtained during the warm season (May to October) from 52 meteorological stations, over Xinjiang, China were classified as either light, moderate, or heavy rain in two sub-regions (northern and southern). Spatial and temporal trends for rain amounts and days for the three rain classes were determined. All light, moderate, and heavy rain amounts displayed increasing trends over the two sub-regions. Furthermore, heavy rain amounts contributed the most to changes in total rain amounts. Light rain days in northern Xinjiang significantly decreased, in contrast to increasing light rain days in southern Xinjiang and moderate and heavy rain days within two sub-regions. Results obtained from correlation and relative weights analyses implied that lower-tropospheric specific humidity was the main factor responsible for light rain day trends in Xinjiang. Increasing temperatures were not found to have a significant effect

Effects and Mechanisms of Cutting Upper Thoracic Sympathetic Trunk on Ventricular Rate in Ambulatory Canines with Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Objective. The purpose is to observe the effects and neural mechanism of cutting upper thoracic sympathetic trunk (TST) on the ventricular rate (VR) during persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods. Twelve beagle dogs were halving to the control group and experimental group, 6 dogs for each group. Both groups were performed with left atrial rapid pacing (600 beats/min) to induce sustained AF. The experimental group underwent cutting upper TST  after a sustained AF model was established, while the control group received thoracotomy without cutting TST. Bilateral stellate ganglion (SG) and left atrial myocardium were harvested for tyrosine-hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemical staining. Results. After cutting upper TST for 30 minutes, the average VR was 121.5 ± 8.7 bpm (95% CI, 114.8 to 128.0) in the experimental group, which was significantly slower than that of the control group (144.5 ± 4.2 bpm (95% CI, 141.5 to 148.0)) (P<0.001). After cutting upper TST for 1 month, the average VR of the experimental group (106.5 ± 4.9 bpm (95% CI, 102.0 to 110.0)) was also significantly slower versus that of the control group (139.2 ± 5.6 bpm (95% CI, 135.0 to 143.8)) (P<0.001). Compared with the control group, both left stellate ganglion (LSG) and right stellate ganglion (RSG) of the experimental group caused neural remodeling characterized by decreased ganglionic cell density and reduced TH staining. TH-positive component was significantly decreased in the left atrium of the experimental group compared with the control group. Conclusions. Cutting upper TST could reduce fast VR during persistent AF. Cutting upper TST induced bilateral SG neural remodeling and reduced sympathetic nerve density in the left atrium, which could contribute to the underlying mechanism of VR control during AF

Activation of Bcl-2-Caspase-9 Apoptosis Pathway in the Testis of Asthmatic Mice

<div><p>Background</p><p>Apoptosis plays a critical role in controlling the proliferation and differentiation of germ cells during spermatogenesis. Dysregulation of the fine-tuned balance may lead to the onset of testicular diseases. In this study, we investigated the activation status of apoptosis pathways in the testicular tissues under the background of an asthmatic mouse model.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Ten BALB/c mice were divided into two groups: the acute asthma group and the control group. In the acute asthma group, ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice were challenged with aerosolized OVA for 7 days, while the control group was treated with physiological saline. After that, both epididymis and testis were collected to determine the sperm count and motility. Apoptosis in the testis was evaluated by DNA ladder, immunochemistry and further by PCR array of apoptosis-related genes. Finally, the cleavage of caspase-3 and poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) was determined by western blot and the enzymatic activities of caspase-9 and 3/7 were assessed using Caspase-Glo kits.</p><p>Results</p><p>Compared with control mice, significant decreases in the body weight, testis weight, sperm count and motility were seen in the experimental group. DNA ladder and immunochemistry showed significant increase in apoptotic index of the asthmatic testis, whereas a decrease in mRNA expression of Bcl-2 and increases in Bax, BNIP3, caspase-9, and AIF were observed in the asthma group. Furthermore, protein levels of AIF were significantly upregulated, while the translational expression of Bcl-2 was downregulated markedly. Consistently, caspase-9 activity in the testis of asthma mice was significantly higher than that of the control group.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Collectively, these results showed that Bcl-2-caspase-9 apoptosis pathway was clearly activated in the testis of asthmatic mice with the increased expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that asthma could lead to the activation of the mitochondrial apoptosis signaling pathway in the mouse testis.</p></div

Immunohistochemisty assay for the testis. The transverse sections of the testis were stained for cleaved caspase-3.

<p>(A) Control group; (B) Asthma group.</p

Asthma activates the proteinase caspase-9 and enhances the cleavage of PARP in the mouse testis.

<p>(A) Enzymatic activity of caspase-9 in the testis homogenates was measured by Caspase-Glo-9 assay kit, and the relative ratio was expressed in the bar graph. (B) Western blot analysis of the PARP (full-length and cleaved isoform). The relative level of cleaved PARP was determined using Image J software as demonstrated in the middle panel. In the right panel, the ratio of cleaved PARP to full-length PARP was shown based on the intensity calculated by Image J software. Data were expressed as means ± SD. ** indicates a very significant difference (P<0.01), compared with the control group.</p

Comparison of sperm count and motility between the control and asthmatic mice.

<p>*indicates a significant difference (P<0.05), compared with the control group. **indicates a very significant difference (P<0.01), compared with the control group.</p

Real-time PCR primers used in the real-time qPCR assays.

<p>The forward and reverse primer sequences were listed in this form. HIF-1α, hypoxia inducible factor-1α; AIF, apoptosis-inducing factor.</p

Apoptosis is enhanced in the asthmatic mouse testis.

<p>(A) A DNA ladder assay was conducted for the 10 testis samples from control and asthma group (left panel). Quantification of the bands with lower molecular weight (about 150bp) in the left panel was done by using Image J software (right panel). (B) Enzymatic activity of caspase-3/7 was measured for the testis homogenates using Caspase-Glo-3/7 assay kit, and the relative ratio was expressed in the bar graph. *indicates a significant difference (P<0.05), compared with the control group. **indicates a very significant difference (P<0.01), compared with the control group.</p

Western blot analysis of the apoptosis related proteins.

<p>(A) Equal amounts of the protein homogenate from the testis tissue were immunoblotted with the indicated antibodies. (B) Quantification of the protein expression level in (A) was performed using Image J software.</p