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Diabetic nephropathy (DN) seriously affects the people's life and health in China. This study aimed to investigate the effect of circRNA circ-ITCH on improving DN by regulating the miR-33a-5p/SIRT6 axis and the possible mechanism of action. High glucose (HG)-induced rat mesangial cells (RMCs) were used to simulate the DN in vitro. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis were conducted to detect the gene or protein expression. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and wound healing assays were performed to estimate the cell viability and migration capability. Immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to detect the α-Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA) expression and levels of inflammatory factors. The potential associations between circ-ITCH and miR-33a-5p, miR-33a-5p and SIRT6 in RMCs were measured via dual-luciferase reporter assay. Streptozotocin (STZ) was used to induce the diabetic mice. Blood glucose and serum insulin of mice were determined by corresponding kits, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) were measured using an automatic biochemical analyzer. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining were applied to observe the degree of pathological injury and fibrosis of renal tissues. The results of the present study revealed that circ-ITCH expression was obviously decreased in HG-induced RMCs. In addition, circ-ITCH overexpression inhibited the viability, migration, fibrosis and inflammatory response of HG-induced RMCs. Further experiments confirmed that miR-33a-5p may be a direct target of circ-ITCH and SIRT6 may be a direct target of miR-33a-5p. Notably, the miR-33a-5p mimic or shRNA-SIRT6 were discovered to reverse the inhibitory effects of circ-ITCH on the proliferation, migration, fibrosis and inflammatory response of HG-induced RMCs. Furthermore, circ-ITCH overexpression ameliorated renal inflammation and fibrosis in STZ-induced diabetic mice. In conclusion, circ-ITCH alleviated renal inflammation and fibrosis in STZ-induced diabetic mice by regulating the miR-33a-5p/SIRT6 axis.Author names: Please confirm if the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence (given name, middle name/initial, family name). Author 1 Given name: [ChunYang] Last name [Xu]. Author 2 Given name: [DingBo] Last name [Xu]. Author 3 Given name: [YongHua] Last name [Liu]. Author 4 Given name: [Juanjuan] Last name [Jiang]. Also, kindly confirm the details in the metadata are correct.ok [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Zhou, C.Y.; Xu, C.Y.; Zhang, J.S.; Fu, X.Y., and Yin, Y., 2018. Coastal hazards caused by different extreme storms in the Bohai Sea, China. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 816–820. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The Bohai Sea, a semi-enclosed epicontinental sea, suffers different storms frequently, mainly tropical cyclones in summer/autumn and cold waves in winter/spring. The extreme storms can cause severe coastal hazards such as flooding, coastal structures and ocean platforms failures. A numerical model is set up for the Bohai Sea using MIKE21 with coupled hydrodynamic and wave modules. Observed data of water levels, velocities and wave are used to make model calibration. Based on this model, three typical tropical cyclones and cold waves are simulated. Then the major characteristics of summer tropical cyclones and winter cold waves are discussed. Affected by the tropical cyclone, the water levels of Laizhou Bay and Bohai Bay increase and that of Liaodong Bay decreases. Influenced by the cold wave coupled with an extratropical cyclone, the water levels of Laizhou Bay and Bohai Bay decrease firstly and then increase, which is contrary to the variation trend of water level at Liaodong Bay. Under the single cold wave weather, the water level increases at Laizhou Bay, decreases at Liaodong Bay, and firstly increases then decreases at Bohai Bay. The maximum of surge level caused by cold wave coupled with extratropical cyclone is smaller than that induced by tropical cyclone and single cold wave weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the alterations in regional homogeneity assessed by fMRI in patients with migraine without aura (MWoA). Fifty-six eligible MWoA patients and 32 matched healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. MWoA patients were divided into three groups according to the headache days per month within 3 months: infrequent episodic migraine (IEM) group, frequent episodic migraine (FEM) group, and chronic migraine (CM) group. Data collection and rest-state fMRI examination were performed in all cases. The ReHo method was used to analyze the blood oxygen level dependent (BLOD) signals of the adjacent voxels in the brain regions of each patient, and the consistency of their fluctuations in the sequences of same time. Compared with normal controls, ReHo values of bilateral thalami, right insula and right middle temporal gyrus increased and both precentral gyri decreased in the IEM group; ReHo values of bilateral thalami and the right middle temporal gyrus increased; ReHo values of both anterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyri and putamen decreased in the FEM group. Compared with control group, ReHo values of left olfactory cortex, right hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, suboccipital gyrus and precuneus increased, both precentral gyri, precuneus, putamen and anterior cingulate cortex decreased in the CM group. Compared with IEM group, ReHo values of both putamen, left middle frontal gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus increased, and the left precuneus decreased in the FEM group. Compared with FEM group, ReHo values of left olfactory and left precuneus increased, and the right superior frontal gyrus, insula, middle temporal gyrus, thalami, both superior temporal gyri decreased in the CM group. In the IEM group, the changes of function focus on the regions associated with coding, conduction and regulation of pain signals. In the FEM group, functional alterations mainly concentrated on the regions associated with pain regulation and emotion cognition. In the CM group, the changes focus on the regions related to spatial attention and cognition, affective disorders and pain feedback, which may be associated with migraine production, development and chronification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigated whether the CYP11B2 -344T/C polymorphism is correlated with transient ischemic attack (TIA) susceptibility., Methods: We recruited 100 TIA patients and 100 control subjects and analyzed the CYP11B2 -344T/C polymorphism using restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)., Results: The frequency in TIA patients and controls was 42% compared with 48% for TT genotypes, 51% compared with 45% for TC genotypes, and 7% compared with 7% for CC genotype, respectively. Allele frequencies in TIA patients and controls were 67.5% compared with 70.5% for T-allele and 32.5% compared with 29.5% for C-allele, respectively. No association between the CYP11B2 -344T/C polymorphism and TIA was observed in all comparisons., Conclusion: Our data suggest that there was no association between the CYP11B2 -344T/C polymorphism and TIA in a Chinese population.

Aims: To investigate the impact of sortilin-related receptor 1 gene 1 (SORL1) and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR G) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), gene- gene and gene- environment interactions and haplotype on late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) risk., Methods: Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), haplotype analysis and pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis were investigated by using SNPStats (available online at http://bioinfo.iconcologia.net/SNPstats). Logistic regression was performed to investigate association between SNPs and LOAD. Generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) was used to investigate the interaction among gene- gene and gene- environment interaction., Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that LOAD risk was significantly higher in carriers of the A allele of rs1784933 polymorphism than those with GG (GA+ AA versus GG), adjusted OR (95%CI) = 1.63(1.27-1.98), and higher in carriers of G allele of the rs1805192 polymorphism than those with CC (CG+ GG versus CC), adjusted OR (95%CI) = 1.70 (1.25-2.27). GMDR analysis suggested a significant two-locus model (p = 0.0010) involving rs1784933 and rs1805192, and a significant two-locus model (p = 0.0100) involving rs1784933 and alcohol drinking. Haplotype containing the rs1784933- A and rs689021- C alleles were associated with a statistically increased LOAD risk (OR = 1.86, 95%CI = 1.37- 2.52, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: We conclude that rs1784933 and rs1805192 minor alleles, gene- gene interaction between rs1784933 and rs1805192, gene- environment interaction between rs1784933 and alcohol drinking, and haplotype containing the rs1784933- A and rs689021- C alleles are all associated with increased LOAD risk.