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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an upper airway disorder occurring during sleep and is associated with atherosclerosis (AS). AS is a cardiovascular disease caused by environmental and genetic factors, with a high global mortality rate. This study investigated common pathways and potential biomarkers of OSA and AS. Microarray data were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and used to screen for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the OSA and AS datasets. A weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify the co-expression modules of OSA and AS. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operators (LASSO) were used to determine critical biomarkers. Immune cell infiltration analysis was used to investigate the correlation between immune cell infiltration and common biomarkers of OSA and AS. Results revealed that differentially expressed genes may be involved in inflammatory processes, chemokine signaling pathways, and molecular changes in cell adhesion. ERBB receptor feedback inhibitor 1 (ERRFI1) was the best-shared biomarker for OSA and AS. Immune infiltration analysis showed that ERRFI1 expression was correlated with immune cell changes. Changes in immune pathways, inflammatory processes, and cell adhesion molecules may underlie the pathogenesis of both diseases, and ERRFI1 may be a potential diagnostic marker for patients with OSA and AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The matching between the guide vane (GV) and runner is essential for the stable and efficient operation of hydraulic turbines. To investigate the compatibility between GV and runner, we have conducted the numerical calculations of a moderate low-specific-speed Francis turbine at 25 operating points within the operating range of 130–190 m head and 3–19° GV outflow angle. The energy characteristics, flow field characteristics, and static pressure variation of turbines with different GV profile types have been comparatively analyzed. The results show that moderate low-specific-speed Francis turbines with symmetrical and negative curvature GV demonstrate higher efficiency under medium to high head, 55–100 % rated output operating conditions. Under small opening and medium head conditions, the static pressure in the blade leading edge is smaller, and the low-pressure area is larger for the Francis turbine with positive curvature GV. When the GV opening increases, the relationship between the comparative values of static-pressure and low-pressure areas reverses. The turbine with positive curvature GV is more favorable for increasing static-pressure and narrow low-pressure areas, which can reduce the cavitation damage. Our study provides guidelines to optimize the design of GVs and runner for hydraulic turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the association of chronic endometritis (CE) with cervical incompetence (CI) in Chinese women with mid-trimester loss, and the impact of the presence of CE on the outcome of laparoscopic cervical cerclage (LCC). Methods: This retrospective cohort study included a study group of 293 women with mid-trimester loss due to CI (group I) and a comparison group of 332 women with recurrent first-trimester miscarriage (group II). Immunohistochemical study using CD138 epitope for the diagnosis of CE was completed in all subjects. Pre-conception LCC was undertaken in 247 women in the study group (group I). The study was approved by Institutional Review Board (IRB) (number 2015FXHEC-KY005). Results: The prevalence of CE in group I was 42%, significantly (P < 0.001) higher than that of 23.5% in group II. Among 247 women in group I, there were no significant difference in mid-trimester loss rate, preterm delivery rate and term delivery rate in women with and without CE (2.2, 12.0, 85.8% vs. 1.8, 10.1, 88.1% respectively) and between women with CE treated and not treated with antibiotics prior to conception (2.3, 9.3, 88.4% vs. 2.0, 14.3, 83.7% respectively). Conclusions: Mid-trimester loss due to cervical incompetence is associated with chronic endometritis; However, the presence or not of CE and whether it was treated with antibiotics prior to conception did not appear to significantly influence the obstetric outcomes of women with CI after LCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we aimed to study the role of miRNAs in intrauterine adhesion (IUA) disease. An IUA cell model was constructed by TGF-β1. Smad3 inhibitor (SIS3) can inhibit the Smad3 signaling pathway and affect the role of TGF-β1; thus, it was used to identify the role of Smad3 and related miRNAs in IUA. Cell number significantly increased in the TGF-β1 group after 72 h and 96 h, respectively, compared with that in the control group (P < 0.05). However, cell proliferation was significantly decreased in the TGF-β1 + SIS3 group (P < 0.0001). Cell apoptosis was increased in the TGF-β1 + SIS3 group compared with that in the TGF-β1 group. Western Blot (WB) analysis suggested that TGF-β1 treatment could effectively increase the expression of α-SMA, COL1, Smad3, and p-Smad3, which could be inhibited by SIS3 treatment. A total of 235 and 530 differentially expressed miRNAs in the TGF-β1 + SIS3 group were significantly up- and downregulated compared with those in the TGF-β1 group, respectively. These differentially expressed miRNAs were enriched in the MAPK and PI3K-AKT pathways. The ten most differentially expressed miRNAs were selected to verify their expressions using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Furthermore, overexpression of rno-miR-3586-3p and rno-miR-455-5p can promote cell proliferation and exacerbate the IUA pathogenic process. However, overexpression of rno-miR-204-3p and rno-miR-3578 can inhibit cell behavior and IUA progression. The above results can provide detailed information for the understanding of IUA molecular mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamical patterns in complex networks of coupled oscillators are of both theoretical and practical interest, yet to fully reveal and understand the interplay between pattern emergence and network structure remains to be an open problem. Among the many outstanding issues, a fundamental one is how the network structure affects the stability of dynamical patterns. To address this issue, we focus on the spiral wave patterns and investigate the effects of systematically added random links on their stability and dynamical evolutions. We find that, as the network structure deviates more from the regular topology and thus becomes increasingly more complex, an originally stable spiral wave pattern can disappear but different types of patterns can emerge. In addition, short-distance links added to a small region containing the spiral tip can have a more significant effect on the wave pattern than long-distance connections. As more random links are introduced into the network, distinct pattern transitions can occur, such as the transition of the spiral wave pattern to a global synchronization state, to a chimera-like state, or to a pinned spiral wave. About the transition points, the network dynamics are highly sensitive to small structural perturbations in that the addition of even a single link can change the pattern from one type to another. These findings provide additional insights into the pattern dynamics in complex networks, a problem that is relevant to many physical, chemical, and biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent in the USA and is recognized as an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Identification of atherosclerosis risk factor attributable to OSA may provide opportunity to develop preventive measures for cardiovascular risk reduction. Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) is a prominent feature of OSA pathophysiology and may be a major mechanism linking OSA to arteriosclerosis. Animal studies demonstrated that CIH exposure facilitated high-cholesterol diet (HCD)-induced atherosclerosis, accelerated the progression of existing atherosclerosis, and induced atherosclerotic lesions in the absence of other atherosclerosis risk factors, demonstrating that CIH is an independent causal factor of atherosclerosis. Comparative studies revealed major differences between CIH-induced and the classic HCD-induced atherosclerosis. Systemically, CIH was a much weaker inducer of atherosclerosis. CIH and HCD differentially activated inflammatory pathways. Histologically, CIH-induced atherosclerotic plaques had no clear necrotic core, contained a large number of CD31+ endothelial cells, and had mainly elastin deposition, whereas HCD-induced plaques had typical necrotic cores and fibrous caps, contained few endothelial cells, and had mainly collagen deposition. Metabolically, CIH caused mild, but HCD caused more severe dyslipidemia. Mechanistically, CIH did not, but HCD did, cause macrophage foam cell formation. NF-κB p50 gene deletion augmented CIH-induced, but not HCD-induced atherosclerosis. These differences reflect the intrinsic differences between the two types of atherosclerosis in terms of pathological nature and underlying mechanisms and support the notion that CIH-induced atherosclerosis is a new paradigm that differs from the classic HCD-induced atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the affecting of Rg3 to secreted VEGF of human laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 cells and its mechanism of inhibition to tumor angiogenesis. Methods: Cultured human laryngeal cancer cell line Hep-2 and human vascular endothelial cells in vitro, cells got into the period of exponential phase of growth, was diviced into 3 groups: group I (control group), group II (DDP group), group III (Rg3 group). Added to the Hep-2 cells Rg3 and DDP, made Rg3 final concentration was 300 μg/mL, and DDP was 3 μg/mL. 48 h later, specimens from sample to be done immunocytochemistry, and the protein of VEGF in Hep-2 cells to be detected. Collecting Hep-2 cells supernatant, some was used to measure the protein level of VEGF in Hep-2 cells supernatant by ELISA. Some was used to culture HVEC. 24 h later, cell growth inhibition rate of human vascular endothelial was determined by MTT. Results: The protein level of VEGF was evidently higher in group I compared to group II and group III, it was not only in Hep-2 cells, but also in supernatant of Hep-2 cells. There was no significantly different between group II and group III. MTT results showed that, the human vascular endothelial cell growth inhibition rate of group I was significantly lower than that of group II and group III ( P < 0.05). At the same time the HVEC growth inhibition rate of group II was significantly lower than that of group III ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: The inhibition to tumor angiogenesis of Rg3 is stronger than traditional chemotherapy drug cisplatin. It worke by reducing the biological effects of secreted VEGF, But the effecting worke by reducing the activity of secreted VEGF itself or affecting endothelial function of VEGF receptor or some other ways to be further studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of 60Co γ-ray on apoptosis, cell cycles and the expression of protein hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) to Hep-2 cell line in the conditions of normoxia and hypoxia. Hep-2 cell were divided into 2 groups: group A (normoxia) and group B (hypoxia). All of the cells were exposed to γ-ray with dosage being 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, and 40 Gy. Flow cytometry was used to measure the protein level of HIF-1α and to detect apoptosis and cell cycles. The protein level of HIF-1α was also determined by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The protein level of HIF-1α in group B was significantly higher than that in group A. In group A, low doses (1–5 Gy) of γ-ray had caused G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and high doses (10–40 Gy) had caused G2/M cell cycle arrest. In group B, without exposure of γ-ray (0 Gy) had caused G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, all of the different dosage of γ-ray could cause G2/M cell cycle arrest. The curve of apoptosis rate in group A was a parabola, the apoptotic rate was related to the dosage of γ-ray in a dosage dependent manner. The peak was at the point of 5 Gy. The apoptosis rate in group A was significantly higher than that in group B. Different doses of γ-ray could cause different cell cycles arrest then make different impact on apoptosis to Hep-2 cell. The lower apoptosis rate in condition of hypoxia maybe has a relationship with G2/M cell cycle arrest. Up-regulated HIF-1α protein may be one of the reasons for G2/M cell cycle arrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and utilization of water and land resources in the Shiyang River basin are the highest among the inland rivers in northwestern China. Using GIS and the landscape structure analysis program FRAGSTATS, landscape metrics of a study area in the lake-district in Minqin Oasis in the lower reaches of Shiyang River basin were calculated and analyzed based on TM images from 1987 to 2001 at class level and landscape level, respectively. Transformation matrix of the landscape mosaics was also examined. The driving forces of landscape changes were analyzed, including the dynamics of runoff and groundwater resources and their exploitation, and influences of policies and market economy. The results showed that: (1) Patch number of farmland and desert decreased, but their mean patch area increased, indicating that reclamation and desertification was very serious in the study area. Contagion index for oasis increased and edge density and landscape diversity were reduced. (2) Farmland and desert areas have enlarged by 1,520.46 and 4,941.27 hm2, respectively. This increase was at the cost of woodland and grassland, which shrank by 1,520.46 and 4,941.27 hm2, respectively. (3) The net utilization of surface water decreased by 50% in the last 10 years, and dropped to 22.3 × 106 m3 in the later 1990s. Exploitation of groundwater increased remarkably, up to 80 × 106 m3 per year in the last 5 years. (4) The capability of the economic structure to withstand pressures of the market economy has depressed distinctly because of the simplified planting pattern, which is dominated by salinity-enduring cash crops, such as cotton. Based on the above analysis, strategies of ecological reconstruction in the lake-district were suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application scope of geostatistics has been gradually extended from original geologic field to soil science and ecological field, etc. and its successful application results have been widely demonstrated. But little information is reported as to the direct use of geostatistical method to work out the distribution map of groundwater characteristics. In this paper the semivariogram of geostatistics, in combination with GIS, was used to quantitatively study the spatial variation characteristics of groundwater table depth and mineralization degree and their relation to the landuse changes. F test of the used spherical model reached a very significant level, and the theoretical model can well reflect the spatial structural characteristics of groundwater table depth and mineralization degree and achieve an ideal result. This shows that the application of the method in the dynamical simulation of groundwater is feasible. And this paper also provides useful reference for the application of geostatistics in the study of the dynamical variations of groundwater resources in the oasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]