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Aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) and α-adducing (ADD1) are candidate genes that play key roles during essential hypertension (EH) incidence. However, the association between their genetic mutations and the risk of EH is unclear. The present study investigated specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from CYP11B2 and ADD1, and their potential role as risk factors for EH based on 423 Mongolian and 410 Han people in Inner Mongolia province. In the allelic model, people with ADD1 rs2239728-A presented a 0.74-fold risk than rs2239728-C, whereas the ADD1 rs4961-T was associated with a 1.37-fold higher risk than allele G in the Han population. The genetic model reported that the rs2239728-A carrier (AA + AC) was 0.59-fold lower than the CC carrier, whereas the rs4961-G carrier (GG + GT) was 0.59-fold lower than the TT carrier in the dominant model. After gender adjustment, people with rs2239728-A was a 0.63-fold risk than -C in EH, but the rs4961-T carrier was associated with a 1.63-times higher risk than -G in females. Haplotype analysis showed that GCCT was associated with essential hypertension in the Han population, and it was a risk factor for EH. Our identification reported novel SNPs of ADD1 with protective significance for EH among females in the Chinese Han population, together with its haplotype GCCT as a risk factor for EH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant communities of the geologic past can be reconstructed with high fidelity only if they were preserved in place in an instant in time. Here we report such a flora from an early Permian (ca. 298 Ma) ash-fall tuff in Inner Mongolia, a time interval and area where such information is filling a large gap of knowledge. About 1,000 m2 of forest growing on peat could be reconstructed based on the actual location of individual plants. Tree ferns formed a lower canopy and either Cordaites, a coniferophyte, or Sigillaria, a lycopsid, were present as taller trees. Noeggerathiales, an enigmatic and extinct spore-bearing plant group of small trees, is represented by three species that have been found as nearly complete specimens and are presented in reconstructions in their plant community. Landscape heterogenity is apparent, including one site where Noeggerathiales are dominant. This peat-forming flora is also taxonomically distinct from those growing on clastic soils in the same area and during the same time interval. This Permian flora demonstrates both similarities and differences to floras of the same age in Europe and North America and confirms the distinct character of the Cathaysian floral realm. Therefore, this flora will serve as a baseline for the study of other fossil floras in East Asia and the early Permian globally that will be needed for a better understanding of paleoclimate evolution through time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented about the prevalence of human brucellosis in Inner Mongolia, China.