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Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is the most toxic and abundant microcystin that produced by cyanobacteria. Previous studies have shown MC-LR had acute toxic to thyroid, however, the mechanism is still unclear, and the effect of long-term, low-dose MC-LR on thyroid remains uncertain. In this study, we investigated the chronic, low-dose effect of MC-LR on mouse thyroid tissues and thyroid hormone metabolism. MC-LR was orally administered to mice at 0, 1, 10, 20 and 40 μg/L for 6 consecutive months for histopathological and immunoblot analysis. Nthy-ori 3-1 cells were cultured in various concentrations of MC-LR (0, 0.5, 5, 50, 500 nmol/L) for indicated time, meanwhile the cell viability and proteins change were tested. From our study, the chronic, low-dose MC-LR exposure can disturb thyroid hormone synthesis and metabolism through activating the p38/MAPK and MEK/ERK signaling pathways, then up-regulating the expression of type 3 deiodinase. These data support the potential toxic effects of MC-LR on thyroid tissue and thyroid hormone metabolism., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Mycoviruses are wide spread throughout almost all groups of fungi but only a small number of mycoviruses can attenuate the growth and virulence of their fungal hosts. Alternaria alternata is an ascomycete fungus that causes leaf spot diseases on various crop plants. In this study, we identified a novel ssRNA mycovirus infecting an A. alternata f. sp. mali strain isolated from an apple orchard in China. Sequence analyses revealed that this virus is related to hypoviruses, in particular to Wuhan insect virus 14, an unclassified hypovirus identified from insect meta-transcriptomics, as well as other hypoviruses belonging to the genus Hypovirus , and therefore this virus is designed as Alternaria alternata hypovirus 1 (AaHV1). The genome of AaHV1 contains a single large open-reading frame encoding a putative polyprotein (∼479 kDa) with a cysteine proteinase-like and replication-associated domains. Curing AaHV1 from the fungal host strain indicated that the virus is responsible for the slow growth and reduced virulence of the host. AaHV1 defective RNA (D-RNA) with internal deletions emerging during fungal subcultures but the presence of D-RNA does not affect AaHV1 accumulation and pathogenicities. Moreover, AaHV1 could replicate and confer hypovirulence in Botryosphaeria dothidea , a fungal pathogen of apple white rot disease. This finding could facilitate better understanding of A. alternata pathogenicity and is relevant for development of biocontrol methods of fungal diseases.

Quite different from the Canadian oil sands, the Indonesian asphalt rocks proved to be carbonate unconventional oil ores. The strong interactions between asphalt and minerals make water-based extraction work poorly in separating this kind of ore. Herein, a reactive extraction process has been proposed to separate asphalt and mineral solids from the ores through dissolving the mineral solids ( i.e. , carbonate minerals, metal oxides, etc. ) by acids (formic acid). It is evidenced that most of the asphalt could be recovered and collected on the top of the solution by generated CO 2 . What's more, the unreacted formic acid could be recycled in this process. The dissolved metal ions could be efficiently recovered to obtain different by-products by chemical settling and crystallization. The amount of residual solids settled at the bottom of the reactor is very small. Further tests show that the reaction efficiency is highly dependent on the operational conditions, including temperature, stirring rate, acid dosage, concentration of acid, etc. It is also found that the reaction could allow minerals to be redistributed in different phases. Although some metal elements could be dissolved into solution, elements such as Fe, Al, S, Si, and Ti are observed to accumulate in asphalt froth. In addition to reacting with minerals, formic acid is also found to reduce asphalt viscosity. This reduction improves the reaction efficiency. Based on primary evaluations, the above findings suggest that the reactive extraction would be a potential process to exploit the Indonesian asphalt rocks (or other similar ores) due to its full recovery to all materials., Competing Interests: The authors are devoted to commercialize the reactive extraction process for the exploitation of Indonesian asphalt rocks or similar unconventional oil ores., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Nanowire (NW) based micropatterns have attracted research interests for their applications in electric microdevices. Particularly, aligning NWs represents an important process due to the as-generated integrated physicochemical advantages. Here, a facile and general strategy is developed to align NWs using fibrous elastocapillary coalescence of carbon nanotube arrays (ACNTs), which enables constructing multidimensional ordered NW micropatterns in one step without any external energy input. It is proposed that the liquid film of NW solution is capable of shrinking unidirectionally on the top of ACNTs, driven by the dewetting-induced elastocapillary coalescence of the ACNTs. Consequently, the randomly distributed NWs individually rotate and move into dense alignment. Meanwhile, the aggregating and bundling of ACNTs is helpful to produce carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns connecting neighboring bundles. Thus, a micropatterned NW network composed of a top-layer of horizontally aligned NWs and an under-layer of vertical ACNT bundles connected by CNT yarns is prepared, showing excellent performance in sensing external pressure with a sensitivity of 0.32 kPa -1 . Moreover, the aligned NWs can be transferred onto various substrates for constructing electronic circuits. The strategy is applicable for aligning various NWs of Ag, ZnO, Al 2 O 3 , and even living microbes. The result may offer new inspiration for fabricating NW-based functional micropatterns., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

While biochar on metal immobilization was well understood, a small pool of dissolvable organic matter (DOM) from biochar was recently recognized as a bioactive agent for plant growth promotion. However, how the molecular composition and plant effects of this fraction and the performance for metal immobilization of the DOM-removed biochar could vary with pyrolysis temperature had been not well addressed. In this study, wheat straw biochar pyrolyzed at a temperature of 350 °C, 450 °C, 550 °C were extracted with hot water to separate the DOM fraction. The obtained biochar extracts (BE350, BE450, and BE550) were tested as foliar amendment to Chinese cabbage while the extracted (DOM-removed) biochars were tested for heavy metal immobilization in a contaminated soil. The results showed that BE350 was higher in organic matter content, abundance of organic molecules and mineral nutrients than BE450 and BE550. Compared to control, foliar application of BE350 significantly enhanced the shoot biomass (by 89%), increased leaf soluble sugar content (by 83%) but reduced leaf content of nitrate (by 34%) and of potential toxic metals (by 49% for Cd and by 30% for Pb). Moreover, BE350 treatment increased gene expression of nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase enzyme activity of the tested plant. Meanwhile, soil amendment of DOM-extracted biochars significantly decreased soil CaCl 2 extractable pool of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn in a range of 27%-78%. Thus, the performance of DOM extract of biochar on plant growth promotion was indeed dependent of pyrolysis temperature, being greater at 350 °C than at higher temperatures. In contrast, metal immobilizing capacity of biochar was regardless of pyrolysis temperature and DOM removal. Therefore, pyrolyzing wheat straw at low temperature could produce a biochar for valorized separation of a significant DOM pool for use in vegetable production, leaving the residual biochar for amendment to metal contaminated soil., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Safe recycling of the growing amounts of municipal sewage sludge containing toxic metals had been critically challenged with the fast urbanization. In this study, we investigated soil amendment of municipal wastewater treatment (MSS) converted biochar for its recycling in agricultural soils. In a field experiment, unpyrolyzed (USS) and pyrolyzed municipal sewage sludge (PSS) was amended at 20 t ha -1 on dry base to a rice paddy before rice plantation, with a control without amendment. Grain yield and emission of non-CO 2 potent greenhouse gases were examined as well as topsoil metal mobility and plant uptake determined throughout a rice-wheat rotation year. Compared to USS treatment, addition of PSS caused a significantly increased grain yield of rice by 35% but no change in grain yield of wheat following the rice season. No distinct difference was observed in grain concentration of major nutrients of N, P, and K between USS and PSS treatments. Compared to USS treatment, PSS treatment reduced CH 4 emissions by 91.6% from soil and by 78.5% from ecosystem during rice-growing season. Whereas, PSS treatment led to a reduction of ecosystem N 2 O emissions by 70.8% relative to USS treatment during wheat-growing season. While both USS and PSS treatments slightly but insignificantly increased soil total content of heavy metals, PSS treatment reduced CaCl 2 -extractable Cd pool by 33~40% over USS treatment. Grain contents of Cd and Pb and Cd/Zn were markedly reduced under PSS over USS, without exceeding the Chinese state guideline limit. Carbon emission intensity was considerably (by over 20%) reduced for soil and ecosystem but unchanged for wheat soil, under PSS over USS. Thus, soil amendment of pyrolyzed sewage sludge could be a measure for climate smart soil and for safe grain production in rice agriculture. It deserves further study if repeated amendment could exert sustainable impacts on soil health and food security in the paddy.

ᅟ: The present study comprised 17,096 Chinese hypertensive dyslipidemia patients who received lipid-lowering treatment for > 3 months in order to investigate blood pressure (BP) as well as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal attainment rates in Chinese hypertensive dyslipidemia patients on antidyslipidemia drugs. The factors that interfered with BP, or BP and LDL-C goal attainment rates and antihypertensive treatment patterns, were analyzed. In total, 89.9% of the 17,096 hypertensive dyslipidemia patients received antihypertensive medications mainly consisting of a calcium channel blocker (CCB) (48.7%), an angiotensin receptor antagonist (ARB) (25.4%) and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) (15.1%). In cardiology departments, usage rates of β-blockers (19.2%) were unusually high compared to other departments (4.0-8.3%), whereas thiazide diuretics were prescribed at the lowest rate (0.3% vs 1.2-3.6%). The overall goal attainment rates for combined BP and LDL-C as well as BP or LDL-C targets were 22.9, 31.9 and 60.1%, respectively. The lowest BP, LDL-C and BP combined with LDL-C goal attainment rates were achieved in endocrine departments (19.9, 48.9 and 12.4%, respectively). Combination therapies showed no benefit particularly for BP goal achievement. A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age < 65 years, alcohol consumption, diabetes, coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), body mass index (BMI) ≥ 28 kg/m 2 and not achieving total cholesterol goals were independent predictors for achieving BP, LDL-C or combined BP and LDL-C goals. In summary, the BP and LDL-C goal achievement rates in Chinese dyslipidemia outpatients with hypertension were low, especially in endocrine departments. Combination therapies were not associated with improvement of the goal achievement rates. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical trial registration number NCT01732952.

One-dimensional nanomaterials, including both nanowires (NWs) and nanotubes (NTs), have been extensively investigated in the decades because of their unique physicochemical properties. Particularly, aligning NWs/NTs into a network or complex micropatterns has been a key issue for its unique integrated functionalities, which enjoy benefits in versatile applications. So far, solution processes remain the most effective strategy to align NWs/NTs, which also bear advantages of mild operation condition and large-scale production. In this perspective, particular attention is drawn to the currently widely used solution coating approaches for aligning NWs/NTs, including the Langmuir-Blodgett film technique, solution shearing approaches, and methods of tri-phase contact line manipulation. We also proposed several perspectives in this field., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Background: There is no consistent evidence for the relationship between tea-drinking and hyperhomocysteine (hHcy). Because tea-drinking habit and hHcy have prevailed in Chinese hypertensive patients, this study aimed to investigate the association between hHcy and tea consumption in patients with hypertension., Methods: A total of 335 hypertensive participants were recruited from 7 communities. Demographic characteristics of participants were collected through face-to-face interviews using a standard questionnaire, whereas laboratory data were obtained within 1 week after patient recruitment. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between tea consumption and hHcy in hypertensive patients., Results: Of the 335 patients, 245 had a tea-drinking habit, and 252 of them were detected with hHcy. A significant association was found between tea consumption and hHcy in hypertensive patients (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-3.36, P = 0.048). Subgroup analyses showed that black tea drinking group (adjusted OR = 8.81, 95% CI = 2.74-28.33, P < 0.001) was significantly associated with the risk of hHcy, but not oolong and green tea drinking groups (P > 0.05). Furthermore, consuming a small amount (≤1 cup per day) of green tea was negatively associated with hHcy (adjusted OR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.07-0.51, P = 0.001), whereas a large intake (>3 cups per day) of green tea was associated with high odds of hHcy (adjusted OR = 5.00, 95% CI = 1.33-18.79, P = 0.02)., Conclusions: These data suggest a hypothesis that selecting green tea or limiting tea consumption might reduce risk of hHcy in hypertensive patients and that warrants further study.

The setting of cutting variables for precision milling of ceramics is important to both the machined surface quality and material removal rate (MRR). This work specifically aims at the performance of corner radius PCD (polycrystalline diamond) end mill in precision milling of zirconia ceramics with relatively big cutting parameters. The characteristics of the cutting zone in precision milling ceramics with corner radius end mill are analyzed. The relationships between the maximum uncut chip thickness ( h max ) and the milling parameters including feed per tooth ( f z ), axial depth of cut ( a p ) and tool corner radius ( r ε ) are discussed. Precision milling experiments with exploratory milling parameters that cause uncut chip thickness larger than the critical value were carried out. The material removal mechanism was also analyzed. According to the results, it is advisable to increase f z appropriately during precision milling ZrO₂ ceramics with corner radius end mill. There is still a chance to obtain ductile processed surface, as long as the brittle failure area is controlled within a certain range. The appropriate increasing of a p , not only can prevent the brittle damage from affecting the machined surface, but also could increase the MRR. The milling force increases with increasing MRR, but the surface roughness can still be stabilized within a certain range.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood of cancer patients are considered as one of the most promising pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarkers due to its non-invasive property in disease diagnosis and prognosis. However, the detection of extremely low number of CTCs in patient blood requires methods with high sensitivity and accuracy. We fabricated an arrayed geometrically enhanced mixing (GEM) chip with a "dislocation herringbone" layout based on cell immunoaffinity. By optimizing the injection and rinsing flow rate, an average cell capture rate of 87.02% and an average capture purity of 99.58% were achieved using the human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines H1975. In addition, we determined the specificity, precision, accuracy, and detection limit of our chip. The results demonstrated the chip was stable, accurate and reliable for the "liquid biopsy" of lung cancer cells using the peripheral blood of patients. Our chip can also be used to evaluate the potency of different drugs against tumor cells in parallel due to the presence of four independent microchannels., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Key Message: Two QTL with pleiotropic effects on plant height and spike length linked in coupling phase on chromosome 2DS were dissected, and diagnostic marker for each QTL was developed. Plant height (PHT) is a crucial trait related to plant architecture and yield potential, and dissection of its underlying genetic basis would help to improve the efficiency of designed breeding in wheat. Here, two quantitative trait loci (QTL) linked in coupling phase on the short arm of chromosome 2D with pleiotropic effects on PHT and spike length, QPht/Sl.cau-2D.1 and QPht/Sl.cau-2D.2, were separated and characterized. QPht/Sl.cau-2D.1 is a novel QTL located between SNP makers BS00022234&#95;51 and BobWhite&#95;rep&#95;c63957&#95;1472. QPht/Sl.cau-2D.2 is mapped between two SSR markers, SSR-2062 and Xgwm484, which are located on the same genomic interval as Rht8. Moreover, the diagnostic marker tightly linked with each QTL was developed for the haplotype analysis using diverse panels of wheat accessions. The frequency of the height-reduced allele of QPht/Sl.cau-2D.1 is much lower than that of QPht/Sl.cau-2D.2, suggesting that this novel QTL may be an attractive target for genetic improvement. Consistent with a previous study of Rht8, a significant difference in cell length was observed between the NILs of QPht/Sl.cau-2D.2. By contrast, there was no difference in cell length between NILs of QPht/Sl.cau-2D.1, indicating that the underlying molecular mechanism for these two QTL may be different. Collectively, these data provide a new example of QTL dissection, and the developed diagnostic markers will be useful in marker-assisted pyramiding of QPht/Sl.cau-2D.1 and/or QPht/Sl.cau-2D.2 with the other genes in wheat breeding.

(E)‑phenethyl 3‑(3,5‑dihydroxy‑4‑isopropylphenyl) acrylate gels (THCA354) is a novel polyphenols acrylic acid derivative. To investigate the immunoregulatory mechanisms of THCA354, we established a mouse model of 2,4‑dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Responses of Th1, Th2, Th17 and regulatory T cells (Tregs) were determined by flow cytometry, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Our study found that topical application of THCA354 gel could inhibit ear swelling, reduce inflammatory cell infiltration, down-regulate Th1/Th17 responses and enhance Th2/Treg responses. These findings indicated that THCA354 gel exerted its immunotherapeutic effects by modulating the balance of Th1/Th2/Th17/Treg cell subsets, suggesting that THCA354 gel could be used as a promising drug candidate for intervention of ACD., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Solution processes have been widely used for making polymer films in organic photoelectric devices but suffer from difficulties in controlling the film formation. Here, by in situ characterization triphase contact lines (TCLs) in a brush-coating process, we clarify how TCLs affect the quality of as-prepared films. By fine-tuning the dewetting of a binary polymer solution (P3HT:PCBM) via different directions, TCLs with different patterns lead to films with different morphologies. High-quality nanothin films with larger crystallized sizes and higher orientations were enabled when TCLs were parallel to the brush edge, based on which the polymer solar cell shows higher power conversion efficiency (2.665%) compared with that of the spin-coated film.

While metal immobilization had been increasingly reported with biochar soil amendment (BSA), changes in microbial activity and nitrogen (N) transformation in metal contaminated croplands following biochar addition had been insufficiently addressed. In a field experiment, a Pb/Cd contaminated Inceptisol from North China was amended to topsoil with wheat straw biochar at 0 (CK), 20 (C1) and 40 t ha -1 (C2). The changes within two years following BSA were tested in microbial biomass and respiration, and in abundance of N transforming microbial communities and their activities. Corresponding to the results of decreased soil extractable Cd and Pb, significant reductions in qCO 2 were found in rhizosphere and bulk soil only under C2 in the first year. The potential nitrification activity was significantly increased by 20-71%, along with an increase in ammonium (by 7-21%) and nitrate (by 21%-70%) concentration, with BSA compared to CK. Meanwhile, N 2 O production activity was slightly increased (by up to 20%) but N 2 O reduction activity greatly enhanced (by up to 84%), with a higher ratio of nosZ/(nirS + nirK), under C2 in rhizosphere in both wheat seasons. Whereas, such changes were not remarkable in bulk soil. Moreover, microbial communities were less respondent to biochar in the second year following the addition. Therefore, microbial growth and functioning for N transforming and cycling in metal contaminated soils could be largely improved with BSA at 40 t ha -1 . Of course, studies are still deserved to mimic the long term changes with biochar in N cycling of the metal contaminated dry croplands., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Biochar can be an effective amendment for immobilizing heavy metals in contaminated soils but has variable effects depending on its chemical and physical properties and those of the treated soil. To investigate the range of biochar's effects on heavy metal accumulation in plants in responses to the variation of soil, biochar and plant, we carried out a meta-analysis of the literature that was published before March 2016. A total of 1298 independent observations were collected from 74 published papers. Results showed that across all studies, biochar addition to soils resulted in average decreases of 38, 39, 25 and 17%, respectively, in the accumulation of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn in plant tissues. The effect of biochar on heavy metal concentrations in plants varied depending on soil properties, biochar type, plant species, and metal contaminants. The largest decreases in plant heavy metal concentrations occurred in coarse-textured soils amended with biochar. Biochar had a relatively small effect on plant tissue Pb concentrations, but a large effect on plant Cu concentrations when applied to alkaline soils. Plant uptake of Pb, Cu and Zn was less in soils with higher organic carbon contents. Manure-derived biochar was the most effective for reducing Cd and Pb concentrations in plants as compared to biochars derived from other feedstock. Biochar having a high pH and used at high application rates resulted in greater decreases in plant heavy metal uptake. The meta-analysis provides useful guidelines on the range of effects that can be anticipated for different biochar materials in different plant-soil systems., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Since the discovery of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), the choice of SERS-active materials has been limited mainly to metals, especially gold and silver in the visible spectrum. Although non-metals can also be SERS-active by forming nanostructures or composite structures with SERS-active materials, the mechanism behind it is still unclear and there is no perfect technique to study it. In this work, by constructing a SERS structure on a flexible polydimethylsiloxane film, we provide a way to study the effect of non-metallic nanostructures on Raman enhancement by attaching the above film onto flat and nanostructured surfaces. It was found that a nanoporous silicon surface contributes to an additional, up to five times, Raman enhancement. The pore depth and pore size also influence the observed Raman enhancement. These findings will help us not only to understand the mechanism of SERS involving non-metallic nanostructures, but also to design more efficient SERS structures for various applications.

Fibers exhibit excellent performance in liquid manipulation that is normally aroused by either the structural or the chemical gradient. Here, we developed radially arranged fiber arrays with different fibrous elasticities that exhibited distinctly different performances in liquid manipulation in terms of the fibrous elastocapillary coalescence, the high-efficiency water encapsulation, and the inability to manipulate liquid. It is proposed that the fiber elasticity acts as a driving force when interacting with liquid, equivalent with the structural and chemical gradient. We revealed the fundamental premise of how fiber elasticity affects its dynamic wetting behaviors, which sheds new light on the design of fiber systems with different liquid-manipulation abilities.

Landfills are considered important sources of mercury for surrounding ecosystems. Methylmercury (MeHg) levels in waste layers have been studied extensively; however, the levels of MeHg in cover soils remain undefined. Here, total mercury (THg) and MeHg concentrations in surface cover soils and soil cores from two landfills in China and possible factors affecting Hg methylation were studied. The mean MeHg concentration in surface cover soils from both landfills was 0.048 ng g -1 , suggesting that cover soil layers are not active sites of MeHg production. Soil MeHg concentrations in both landfills were affected little by closure time. In the Jiangcungou landfill, no correlations between MeHg concentration and the measured environmental factors (e.g., THg, soil pH, organic matter (OM), and S) were observed that indicated that these parameters might have indirect effects on MeHg concentration. However, in the Laogang landfill, significant correlations were found between MeHg concentration and the measured environmental factors. The results showed that MeHg concentration in the surface cover soil from area D of the Laogang landfill is regulated mainly by soil pH, OM, and S, and that its vertical distribution in areas C and D is regulated mainly by soil pH and soil OM, respectively. These findings fill a knowledge gap regarding MeHg levels in cover soils and they advance our understanding of Hg cycling in landfills, presenting positive implications for landfill management and risk assessment of MeHg., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fabrication of a high quality quantum dot (QD) film is essentially important for a high-performance QD light emitting diode display (QLED) device. It is normally a high-cost and multiple-step solution-transfer process where large amounts of QDs were needed but with only limited usefulness. Thus, developing a simple, efficient, and low-cost approach to fabricate high-quality micropatterned QD film is urgently needed. Here, we proposed that the Chinese brush enables the controllable transfer of a QD solution directly onto a homogeneous and ultrasmooth micropatterned film in one step. It is proposed that the dynamic balance of QDs was enabled during the entire solution transfer process under the cooperative effect of Marangoni flow aroused by the asymmetric solvent evaporation and the Laplace pressure different by conical fibers. By this approach, QD nanoparticles were homogeneously transferred onto the desired area on the substrate. The as-prepared QLED devices show rather high performances with the current efficiencies of 72.38, 26.03, and 4.26 cd/A and external quantum efficiencies of 17.40, 18.96, and 6.20% for the green, red, and blue QLED devices, respectively. We envision that the result offers a low-cost, facile, and practically applicable solution-processing approach that works even in air for fabricating high-performance QLED devices.

Quantification of methane (CH 4 ) oxidation and emission from landfill cover soils is important for evaluating measures to mitigate anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, a model that combines the multicomponent diffusive equation and Darcy's law, coupled with the dual Monod kinetic equation, was established to simulate CH 4 transport, oxidation and emission in landfill cover soils. Sensitivity analysis was performed to illustrate the influence of model parameters on CH 4 transport, oxidation and emission. The model was then applied to predict CH 4 emissions from several column experiments. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that a high CH 4 oxidation rate can be obtained with a high V max of cover soil, even for a low cover soil thickness, and that oxidation efficiency is constant when the thickness of the cover soil becomes greater than a threshold value. The simulated results fitted well with the measured values, confirming that the new model provides a reliable method for estimating CH 4 emissions from landfills., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Recent years have witnessed the booming development of transparent flexible electrodes (TFEs) for their applications in electronics and optoelectronic devices. Various strategies have thus been developed for preparing TFEs with higher flexibility and conductivity. However, little work has focused on TFEs with anisotropic conductivity. Here, a facile strategy of directional liquid transfer is proposed, guided by a conical fibers array (CFA), based on which silver nanowires (AgNWs) are aligned on a soft poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate in large scale. After further coating a second thin layer of the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate), a TFE with notable anisotropic conductivity and excellent optical transmittance of 95.2% is prepared. It is proposed that the CFA enables fine control over the receding of the three-phase contact line during the dewetting process, where AgNWs are guided and aligned by the as-generated directional stress. Moreover, anisotropic electrochemical deposition is enabled where the Cu nanoparticles deposit only on the oriented AgNWs, leading to a surface with anisotropic wetting behavior. Importantly, the approach enables alignment of AgNWs via multiple directions at one step. It is envisioned that the as-developed approach will provide an optional approach for simple and low-cost preparation of TFE with various functions., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Background: Treatment with basal insulin in Chinese populations is currently sub-optimal, with delayed initiation of insulin treatment and inadequate dose titration. Increasing the initial dose of insulin may be a practicable and effective solution to the problem of titration. A higher initial dose will be helpful for patients to achieve the blood glucose target and improve treatment satisfaction and compliance as well require fewer steps to titrate. Considering that overweight and obese patients usually require higher insulin doses because of insulin resistance, a higher initial dose of the basal insulin is feasible in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes. However, safety is an important issue needing to be considered for higher initial dose treatment. The aim of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of higher (0.3 U/kg) compared with standard (0.2 U/kg) starting doses of basal insulin in overweight and obese Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes who have failed to achieve glycaemic control using oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs)., Methods: This is a phase IV, randomized, non-inferiority, open-label trial that will be conducted at approximately 50 centers in China. Eight hundred eighty overweight and obese adult Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes will be randomized to receive higher (0.3 U/kg) or standard (0.2 U/kg) starting doses of basal insulin glargine (100 U/ml) during a 16-week period. The primary endpoint is whether a higher initial dose of basal insulin (0.3 U/kg) is non-inferior to a standard initial dose (0.2 U/kg) based on the percentage of patients with at least one episode of hypoglycaemia (≤ 3.9 mmol/l or severe) over 16 weeks. Secondary endpoints include evaluation of glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, postprandial blood glucose, insulin dose and safety., Discussion: This study is the first randomized-controlled study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of basal insulin treatment with a higher starting dose versus standard starting dose in overweight and obese Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes. Results of this study could generate evidence to support the feasibility of a higher starting dose of basal insulin in diabetes management of overweight and obese Chinese patients, therefore providing an easy approach to improve diabetes management., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT02836704. Registered on July 7th 2016., Funding: Sanofi China.

Background: Asthma is a chronic disease appeared to be associated with depression. But the underpinnings of depression in asthma remain unknown. In order to understand the neural mechanisms of depression in asthma, we used cerebral blood flow (CBF) to probe the difference between depressed asthmatic (DA) and non-depressed asthmatic (NDA) patients. Methods: Eighteen DA patients, 24 NDA patients and 57 healthy controls (HC) received pulsed arterial spin labeling (pASL) scan for measuring CBF, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scan, severity of depression and asthma control assessment, respectively. Results: Compared to NDA, DA patients showed increased regional CBF (rCBF) in the right cerebellum posterior lobe. Compared to HC, DA, and NDA patients all showed significantly decreased rCBF in the right cerebellum posterior lobe. Conclusions: We showed the first evidence of altered rCBF in the right cerebellum posterior lobe in asthma using pASL, which appeared to be involved in the neuropathology in asthma. Clinical Trial Registration: An investigation of therapeutic mechanism in asthmatic patients: based on the results of Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Registration number: ChiCTR-COC-15007442) (http://www.chictr.org.cn/usercenter.aspx).

Biochar soil amendment had been increasingly advocated for improving crop productivity and reducing carbon footprint in agriculture worldwide. However, the long-term benefits of biochar application with farming systems had not been thoroughly understood. This study quantified and assessed emergy, energy, and economic benefits of rice and wheat production throughout 6 rotation years following a single biochar amendment in a rice paddy from Southeastern China. Using the data from farm inventory, the quantified emergy indices included grain outputs, unit emergy value, and relative percentage of free renewable resources, environmental loading ratio, emergy yield ratio, and emergy sustainability index (ESI). The results indicated contrasting differences in these emergy values between biochar-amended and unamended production systems over the 6 years. The overall emergy efficiency of rice and wheat productions in biochar-amended system were higher by 11-28 and 15-47%, respectively, than that of unamended one of which the production being highly resource intensive. Moreover, ESI on average was 0.46 for rice and 0.63 for wheat in amended system, compared to 0.35 for rice and 0.39 for wheat in unamended one. Furthermore, over the 6 years following a single application, the ESI values showed considerable variation in the unamended system but consistently increasing in the amended system. Again, the biochar-amended system exerted significantly higher energy and economic return than the unamended one. Nonetheless, there was a tradeoff between rice and wheat in grain yield and net economic gain. Overall, biochar amendment could be a viable measure to improve the resilience of grain production while to reduce resource intensity and environment impacts in paddy soil from China.

ZrO₂ ceramics are currently used in a broad range of industrial applications. However, the machining of post-sintered ZrO₂ ceramic is a difficult task, due to its high hardness and brittleness. In this study, micro-milling of ZrO₂ with two kinds of diamond-coated end mills has been conducted on a Kern MMP 2522 micro-milling center (Kern Microtechnik GmbH, Eschenlohe, Germany). To achieve a ductile mode machining of ZrO₂, the feed per tooth and depth of cut was set in the range of a few micrometers. Cutting force and machined surface roughness have been measured by a Kistler MiniDynamometer (Kistler Group, Winterthur, Switzerland) and a Talysurf 120 L profilometer (Taylor Hobson Ltd., Leicester, UK), respectively. Machined surface topography and tool wear have been examined under SEM. Experiment results show that the material can be removed in ductile mode, and mirror quality surface with Ra low as 0.02 μm can be achieved. Curled and smooth chips have been collected and observed. The axial cutting force F z is always bigger than F x and F y , and presents a rising trend with increasing of milling length. Tool wear includes delamination of diamond coating and wear of tungsten carbide substrate. Without the protection of diamond coating, the tungsten carbide substrate was worn out quickly, resulting a change of tool tip geometry., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

MXene is an emerging class of 2D materials exfoliated from ternary carbide and nitride ceramics. The exfoliation process, which is an acid etching approach, functionalizes the MXene surface with -OH, -O and -F groups. These functional groups offer significant opportunities for tuning the colloidal properties of the MXene nanoblocks; importantly, this tunability points the way towards a facile route for assembling these nanoblocks into 3D architectures that are in demand for many applications. This route, presented for the first time here, uses water/oil interfaces for assembling Ti 3 C 2 -MXene in 3D architectures. It shows that cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) can be used to tune the hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance of Ti 3 C 2 -MXene via the interaction of positively charged -N(CH 3 ) 3 and -O groups on the MXene surface. Crucially, it is found that this interaction can be controlled via the hydrogen ion concentration in the aqueous phase. Stable oil-in-water emulsions are the only product when the aqueous phase is neutral or basic. This understanding led us to fabricate a high internal phase Pickering emulsion with more than 70 vol% oil droplets and also a solid porous monolith based on this emulsion template.

Background: Cognitive impairments are common in asthma, which is a serious global health problem characterized by chronic airway inflammation. However, the underlying neuromechanism is still unclear., Purpose/hypothesis: To investigate the neuromechanism underlying cognitive impairments of asthma. We hypothesized that asthma patients exhibit altered white matter (WM) microstructures, which may contribute to their cognitive impairments., Study Type: Case-control study., Subjects: 37 patients with asthma (14 male) and 31 healthy controls (10 male)., Field Strength/sequence: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) covering the whole brain was acquired on a 3.0T scanner using a single-shot echo planar imaging sequence., Assessment: A DTI with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) approach was used to investigate the whole-brain differences in the WM fractional anisotropy (FA) values., Statistical Tests: Demographic and neuropsychological data were performed using two independent sample t-test or chi-square test or Mann-Whitney rank test. The relationship between cognitive impairments and WM abnormalities was studied using correlation analyses., Results: Impairments of language ability, executive function, and visual-spatial processing and widespread WM disruptions reflected by FA reduction were found in asthma patients. The executive function was related to left forceps major, cingulum, and right uncinate fasciculus, ILF (inferior longitudinal fasciculus) positively (P < 0.05). FA abnormalities were positively correlated with duration of asthma and asthma control test (ACT) scores., Data Conclusion: Asthma patients display multiple cognitive impairments and universally WM integrity disruptions, among which executive dysfunction closely correlates with WM abnormalities., Level of Evidence: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 5 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018., (© 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

This report demonstrated the first study on the use of a new 2D nanomaterial (Mxene) for enhancing membrane performance of intermediate temperature (>100 °C) polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (ITPEMFCs). In this study, a typical Ti 3 C 2 T x -MXene was synthesized and incorporated into polybenzimidazole (PBI)-based membranes by using a solution blending method. The composite membrane with 3 wt% Ti 3 C 2 T x -MXene showed the proton conductivity more than 2 times higher than that of pristine PBI membrane at the temperature range of 100 °C-170 °C, and led to substantial increase in maximum power density of fuel cells by ∼30% tested at 150 °C. The addition of Ti 3 C 2 T x -MXene also improved the mechanical properties and thermal stability of PBI membranes. At 3 wt% Ti 3 C 2 T x -MXene, the elongation at break of phosphoric acid doped PBI remained unaffected at 150 °C, and the tensile strength and Young's modulus was increased by ∼150% and ∼160%, respectively. This study pointed out promising application of MXene in ITPEMFCs.

The role of extractable pool of biochar in crop productivity and soil greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission is not yet clear. In this study, two biochars with and without extraction was added to a paddy before rice transplantation at 20 t·ha -1 . Crop yield, plant traits and greenhouse gas emission monitored throughout a rice-wheat rotation. Between the biochar treatments, changes in bulk density and microbial biomass carbon were insignificant. However, the increase in organic carbon was similar between maize and wheat biochars while higher under bulk wheat biochar than extracted one. The increase in available P and K was higher under wheat than maize biochar regardless of extraction. Moreover, the increase in plant traits and grain yield, in rice season only, was higher under bulk than extracted biochars. Yet, there was no difference in changes in GHGs emission between bulk and extracted biochars regardless of feedstock. Nevertheless, increased methane emission for rice season was lower under extracted biochars than bulk ones. Overall, crop productivity rather than GHGs emission was affected by treatment of extraction of biochars. Thus, use of unextracted biochar is recommended for improving soil crop productivity in the paddy soils.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia (Hhcy) and its major determinants in Chinese urban population with new-onset hypertension., Methods: A total of 574 adults (404 men and 170 women) with newly diagnosed primary hypertension were recruited from seven communities in Nanjing, China. Data on lifestyle factors, such as physical activities, current smoking and drinking status, dietary habits, and familial factors were collected in interviews, and laboratory examinations were performed by well-trained personnel. Potential factors related to the prevalence of Hhcy in this population were analyzed using a logistic regression model., Results: Of the 574 participants, 421 (73.3%) were diagnosed with Hhcy whereas the remainder were only hypertensive. The study highlighted a number of factors that were significantly correlated (p < 0.001) with the prevalence of Hhcy. Subjects with Hhcy were more likely to be male (odds ratio [OR] 3.007, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.781-5.079), have a smoking history (OR 1.052, 95% CI 1.031-1.074), older (OR 1.052, 95% CI 1.031-1.074), have an elevated Body Mass Index BMI (OR 1.160, 95% CI 1.080-1.246) and higher levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) (OR 1.590, 95% CI 1.226-2.063). Regular and adequate physical activity was associated with normal homocysteine levels in both male and female groups (p < 0.05). For males only, having a higher BMI, higher LDL-c or being older significantly (p < 0.05) affected the chances of Hhcy. Whereas for females, lower levels of eGFR could be related to Hhcy (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Our present study reported a high prevalence of Hhcy in the Nanjing population with new-onset hypertension. Associated factors like physical activity, gender, smoking history, age, BMI, and LDL-c were important modifiers of plasma homocysteine concentration. Management and intervention of the above associated factors should be implicated to improve H type hypertension control.

Global climate change and ecological problems brought about by greenhouse gas effect have become a severe threat to humanity in the 21st century. Vegetation plays an important role in methane (CH 4 ) transport, oxidation and emissions from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills as it modifies the physical and chemical properties of the cover soil, and transports CH 4 to the atmosphere directly via their conduits, which are mainly aerenchymatous structures. In this study, a novel 2-D simulation CH 4 emission model was established, based on an interactive mechanism of cover soil and vegetation, to model CH 4 transport, oxidation and emissions in landfill cover soil. Results of the simulation model showed that the distribution of CH 4 concentration and emission fluxes displayed a significant difference between vegetated and non-vegetated areas. CH 4 emission flux was 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than bare areas in simulation conditions. Vegetation play a negative role in CH 4 emissions from landfill cover soil due to the strong CH 4 transport capacity even though vegetation also promotes CH 4 oxidation via changing properties of cover soil and emitting O 2 via root system. The model will be proposed to allow decision makers to reconsider the actual CH 4 emission from vegetated and non-vegetated covered landfills., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background/aims: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited kidney disorder with mutations in PKD1 or PKD2. This study aimed to identify novel PKD1 and PKD2 mutations in Chinese patients with ADPKD., Methods: Mutational analyses of both PKD genes were performed in 120 Chinese families with inherited ADPKD using long-range PCR and targeted next-generation sequencing approaches. Sanger sequencing was performed to check the positive mutations, while multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification was adopted to examine those without mutations for the presence of large deletions., Results: A total of 93 mutations in PKD1 and PKD2 were identified in 98 Chinese families with ADPKD inheritance and the detection rate was 81.7% (98/120). The mutation rates of PKD1 and PKD2 were 91.4% (85/93) and 8.6% (85/93), respectively. Among the 93 mutations, 59.1% (55/93) were reported for the first time. A total of 65 mutations (26 nonsense, 33 frameshift, 2 large deletion, and 4 typical splicing mutations) were identified as definite pathogenic mutations. The remaining 28 mutations (21 missense, 3 in-frame deletion, and 4 atypical splicing mutations) were determined as probable pathogenic mutations. In addition, 9 de novo mutations were found by pedigree analysis. Correlation analysis between genotype and phenotype revealed that patients with PKD1 mutations or truncating mutations exhibited the most severe clinical outcome., Conclusion: The newly identified sites for known mutations will facilitate the early diagnosis and prediction of prognosis in patients with ADPKD, and provide fundamental genetic information for clinical intervention to prevent the inheritance of this disease in affected families., (© 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Superhydrophobic carbon nanotube (CNT) films have demonstrated many fascinating performances in versatile applications, especially for those involving solid/liquid interfacial processes, because of their ability to affect the material/energy transfer at interfaces. Thus, developing superhydrophobic CNTs has attracted extensive research interests in the past decades, and it could be achieved either by surface coating of low-free energy materials or by constructing micro/nanohierarchical structures via various complicated processes. So far, developing a simple approach to fabricate stable superhydrophobic CNTs remains a challenge because the capillary force induced coalescence frequently happens when interacting with liquid. Herein, drawing inspirations from the lotus leaf, we proposed a simple one-step chemical vapor deposition approach with programmable controlled gas flow to directly fabricate a CNT film with rather stable superhydrophobicity, which can effectively prevent even small water droplets from permeating into the film. The robust superhydrophobicity was attributable to typical lotus-leaf-like micro/nanoscale hierarchical surface structures of the CNT film, where many microscale clusters composed of entangled nanotubes randomly protrude out of the under-layer aligned nanotubes. Consequently, dual-scale air pockets were trapped within each microscale CNT cluster and between, which could largely reduce the liquid/solid interface, leading to a Cassie state. Moreover, the superhydrophobicity of the CNT film showed excellent durability after long time exposure to air and even to corrosive liquids with a wide range of pH values. We envision that the approach developed is advantageous for versatile physicochemical interfacial processes, such as drag reduction, electrochemical catalysis, anti-icing, and biosensors.

Aerobic composting is an alternative measure to the disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW). However, it produces nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a highly potent greenhouse via microbial nitrification and denitrification. In this study, the effects of matured sewage sludge (MSS) amendment on N 2 O emissions and the inter-relationships between N 2 O emissions and the abundance of denitrifying bacteria were investigated during aerobic composting of MSW. The results demonstrated that MSW composting with MSS amendments (C1, and C2, with a MSW to MSS ratio of 2:1 and 4:1, (v/v), respectively) significantly increased N 2 O emissions during the initial stage, yet contributed to the mitigation of N 2 O emissions during the cooling and maturation stage. MSS amended composting emitted a total of 18.4%-25.7% less N 2 O than the control treatment without MSS amendment (CK). Matured sewage sludge amendment also significantly altered the abundance of denitrifying bacteria. The quantification of denitrifying functional genes revealed that the N 2 O emission rate had a significant positive correlation with the abundance of the nirS, nirK genes in both treatments with MSS amendment. The nosZ/(nirS + nirK) ratio could be a good indicator for predicting N 2 O emissions. The higher N 2 O emission rate during the initial stage of composting mixed with MSS was characterized by lower nosZ/(nirS + nirK) ratios, compared to CK treatment. Higher ratios of nosZ/(nirS + nirK) were measured during the cooling and maturation stage in treatments with MSS which resulted in a reduction of the N 2 O emissions. These results demonstrated that MSS amendment could be a valid strategy for mitigating N 2 O emissions during MSW composting., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Natural fibers have versatile strategies for interacting with water media and better adapting to the local environment, and these strategies offer inspiration for the development of artificial functional fibers with diverse applications. Wetting on fibers is a dynamic liquid-moving process on/in fibrous systems with various patterns, and the process is normally driven by the structural gradient, chemical gradient, elasticity of a single fiber, or the synergistic effect of these factors in multiple fibers in an integrated system in which the spatial geometry of the fibers is involved. Compared with the directional liquid movement on a single fiber, wetting on multiple fibers in both the micro- and macroscales is particularly fascinating, with various performances, including directional liquid transport, controllable liquid transfer, efficient liquid encapsulation, and capillary-induced fibrous coalescence. Based on these properties, fibrous materials offer an alternative open system for liquid manipulation that is applicable to various functional liquid materials. Here, recent achievements in bioinspired dynamic wetting on multiple fibers are highlighted, and perspectives on future directions are presented., (© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The carbon-nitrogen ratio (COD/NH 4 + -N) is an important factor affecting nitrification and denitrification in wastewater treatment; this factor also influences nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. This study investigated two simulated intermittently aerated semi-aerobic aged refuse bioreactors (SAARB) filled with 8-year old aged refuse (AR). The research analyzed how differences in and the combination of influent COD and NH 4 + -N impact N 2 O emissions in leachate treatment. Experimental results showed that N 2 O emissions increased as the influent COD/NH 4 + -N decreased. The influent COD had a greater effect on N 2 O emissions than NH 4 + -N at the same influent ratios of COD/NH 4 + -N (2.7 and 8.0, respectively). The maximum N 2 O emission accounted for 8.82±2.65% of the total nitrogen removed from the influent leachate; the maximum level occurred when the COD was 2000mg/L. An analysis of differences in influent carbon sources at the same COD/NH 4 + -N ratios concluded that the availability of biodegradable carbon substrates (i.e. glucose) is an important factor affecting N 2 O emissions. At a low influent COD/NH 4 + -N ratio (2.7), the N 2 O conversion rate was greater when there were more biodegradable carbon substrates. Although the SAARB included the N 2 O generation and reduction processes, N 2 O reduction mainly occurred later in the process, after leachate recirculation. The maximum N 2 O emission rate occurred in the first hour of single-period (24h) experiments, as leachate contacted the surface AR. In practical SAARB applications, N 2 O emissions may be reduced by measures such as reducing the initial recirculation loading of NH 4 + -N substrates, adding a later supplement of biodegradable carbon substrates, and/or prolonging hydraulic retention time (HRT) of influent leachate., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Methanogenic treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration leachate can be hindered by high concentrations of refractory organic matter and humification of compounds in the leachate. In an attempt to overcome some of these impediments, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) were incorporated into anaerobic digesters (ADMECs). COD removal efficiencies and methane production were 8.7% and 44.3% higher in ADMECs than in controls, and ADMEC reactors recovered more readily from souring caused by high organic loading rates. The degradation rate of large macromolecules was substantially higher (96% vs 81%) in ADMEC than control effluent, suggesting that MECs stimulated degradation of refractory organic matter and reduced humification. Exoelectrogenic bacteria and microorganisms known to form syntrophic partnerships were enriched in ADMECs. These results show that ADMECs were more effective at treatment of MSW incineration leachate, and should be taken into consideration when designing future treatment facilities., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Serum uric acid has shown to be a predictor of renal disease progression in most but not all studies. This study aims to test whether renal function-normalized serum uric acid is superior to serum uric acid as the predictor of incident chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients., Methods: In this study, 1339 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate ⩾60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 and normouricemia were included. Renal function-normalized serum uric acid was calculated using serum uric acid/creatinine. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate the association between serum uric acid, renal function-normalized serum uric acid and incident chronic kidney disease., Results: In total, 74 (5.53%) patients developed to chronic kidney disease 3 or greater during a median follow-up of 4 years, with older ages, longer diabetes duration and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate at baseline. The decline rate of estimated glomerular filtration rate was positively correlated with serum uric acid/creatinine ( r = 0.219, p < 0.001), but not serum uric acid ( r = 0.005, p = 0.858). Moreover, multivariate analysis revealed that serum uric acid was not an independent risk factor for incident chronic kidney disease ( p = 0.055), whereas serum uric acid to creatinine ratio was significantly associated with incident chronic kidney disease independently of potential confounders including baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate., Conclusion: serum uric acid to creatinine ratio might be a better predictor of incident chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Background: Group cognitive behavior therapy (GCBT) is an effective treatment in improving self-management behaviors and quality of life for asthmatic patients. However, the mechanisms by which GCBT improves asthma-related clinical symptoms remain unknown. Previous studies have indicated that insula is an important region involved in the neuropathology of asthma. Therefore, we examined the possible alteration of functional connectivity (FC) in insula subregions after GCBT in asthmatic patients. Methods: Forty-two asthmatic patients and 60 healthy controls (HCs) received resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scan and clinical assessments, 17 asthmatic patients completed GCBT treatment consisting of 8 sessions, and then received rs-fMRI scan and clinical assessments. Results: Asthmatic patients had greater left ventral anterior insula (vAI) FC with the left cerebellum posterior lobe, right middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), but less FC with bilateral postcentral gyrus, bilateral occipital lobe, and left precentral gyrus compared with HCs. FC between left posterior insula and left medial frontal gyrus also increased in the patients. In addition, right vAI showed increased FC with right caudate and left putamen. FC between right dorsal anterior insula (dAI) and left calcarine however decreased. The increase in FC in insula subregions were significantly improved following GCBT. FC between the left vAI connectivity and left postcentral gyrus was positively correlated with the percentage of improvement in 17-items Hamilton depression rating scale scores, and FC between the right dAI and left calcarine was negatively associated with the improvement percentage in asthma control test scores. Conclusions: This study in the first time demonstrated that GCBT led to significant improvement of FC between insula subregions and other brain regions. Clinical Trial Registration: An investigation of therapeutic mechanism in asthmatic patients: based on the results of Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Registration number: ChiCTR-COC-15007442) (http://www.chictr.org.cn/usercenter.aspx).

It is generally acknowledged that people adopt different resolution strategies when facing conflicts with others. However, the mechanisms of conflict resolution are still unclear and under researched, in particular within the context of Chinese adolescents' same-sex friendship relations. Thus, the present study investigated the mediator role of conflict resolution strategies in the relationship between regulatory foci and friendship satisfaction for the first time. 653 Chinese adolescents completed the regulatory foci, conflict resolution style, and friendship satisfaction measures. The results of the structure equation modeling showed that while promotion focus was positively associated with problem-solving and compliance, prevention focus was positively associated with withdrawal and conflict engagement. In addition, problem-solving mediated the relationship between promotion focus and friendship satisfaction, and conflict engagement mediated the relationship between prevention focus and friendship satisfaction. These findings contribute to understanding Chinese adolescents' use of conflict resolution strategies as well as the relationship between regulatory foci and behavioral strategies in negative situations.

Several studies have demonstrated that increased apoptosis plays an essential role in neurodegenerative disorders. It has been demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces apoptosis largely through the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory mediators. In this study, we investigated the potential protective mechanisms of naringin (Nar), a pummelo peel extract, on LPS-induced PC12 cell apoptosis. Nar pre-conditioning prior to stimulation with LPS for 18 h was a prerequisite for evaluating PC12 cell viability and the protective mechanisms of Nar. Nar significantly improved cell survival in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. On the one hand, Nar downregulated cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), inhibited the release of ROS, mitigated the stimulation of oxidative stress, and rectified the antioxidant protein contents of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), superoxide dismutase (SOD)2 and glutathione synthetase (GSS). On the other hand, Nar downregulated inflammatory gene and protein expression, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, HMGB1, high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)-TNF receptor‑associated factor 6 (TRAF6) path-way and downstream mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation, activator protein transcription factor-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB. Moroever, Nar markedly attenuated the cytochrome c shift from the mitochondria to the cytosol and regulated caspase-3-related protein expression. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of Nar in neuronal-like PC12 cells. These results suggest that Nar can be utilized as a potential drug for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

Aims: Cyclosporin A (CsA) is considered as an effective treatment option for steroid-resistant or-dependent patients with adult-onset minimal change disease (MCD). However, CsA resistance or dependence is also observed in these patients. Tacrolimus (TAC) is a calcineurin inhibitor that is potent in cytokine suppression. The authors aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TAC therapy in CsA-resistant and-dependent adult-onset MCD patients., Methods: Patients with adult-onset MCD were enrolled in our department from 2008 to 2012. All patients were demonstrated to be resistant to or dependent on CsA therapy. Prednisone (0.5 mg/kg per day) combined with TAC (0.05-0.1 mg/kg per day) were prescribed to these patients for at least 6 months. The primary outcome was complete or partial remission of proteinuria. Secondary outcomes included time required for complete or partial remission, adverse events, number of relapses, and TAC dosages., Results: A total of 11 MCD patients were enrolled in this observational study. The numbers of patients who presented with resistance to or dependence on CsA were 7 and 4, respectively. The total remission rate was 90.9% (10/11) with the complete remission rate 72.7% (8/11). Most remission patients achieved remission during the first 2 months of TAC therapy. Patients who presented with dependence on CsA had achieved complete remission with TAC therapy, while outcomes for CsA-resistant patients were four complete remissions, two partial remissions and one resistance. The adverse events were observed in this study included infection, diarrhoea, and worsened hypertension. Five patients who had remission experienced relapse., Conclusions: Tacrolimus improves proteinuria remission in adults with CsA-resistant or -dependent MCD., (© 2016 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.)

This study aimed to evaluate the glycemic levels in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to explore the factors related to the results of glycemic control. A total of 2454 T2DM patients from 11 communities were examined for glycosylated hemoglobin levels and glycemic control options. Potential factors related to the results of glycemic control were analyzed using logistic regression. Of all the patients, 55.3 % achieved the glycemic control target of HbA1c < 7 %. Multivariate analysis showed that male sex (OR 1.345, 95 % CI 1.022-1.769; P = 0.034), higher levels of fasting blood glucose (OR 1.954, 95 % CI 1.778-2.147; P < 0.001), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR 1.181, 95 % CI 1.020-1.367; P = 0.026) were significantly associated with poor glycemic control. The complexity of antidiabetics was also associated with poor glycemic control (P < 0.05). Compared to diet and exercise, insulin injection was most strongly associated with poor glycemic control (OR 6.210, 95 % CI 4.054-9.514; P < 0.001). Male patients with higher levels of total cholesterol, lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or longer diabetic durations showed poor glycemic control, which was not found in female patients. Glycemic control was not satisfactory in T2DM patients of Nanjing communities. Various factors are associated with poor results of glycemic control.

Objective: To probe into the characteristics and influencing factors of ADR cases induced by Esophageal stents, so as to provide effective resolutions for safety use. Methods, Methods: By retrieving published MDR cases induced by Esophageal stents in FDA MAUDE database and CNKI database, 153 cases of adverse events in MAUDE database from 2012 to 2015 and 96 valid documents between 1994 and 2015 were obtained, screened and analyzed retrospectively., Results: The main MDR performance were gastrointestinal bleeding, chest pain, foreign body sensation, etc, due to the risk inherent in the product or risk during use., Conclusion: The public safety of Esophageal stents use can be ensued according to perfecting related laws, establishing and regulating the MDR monitor system and strengthening the responsibility of authority, manufacturers, suppliers and medical institutions.

Background/aims: In this retrospective study we aimed to compare the effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) vs etamsylate, two hemostatic agents, on hematuria duration in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) patients with persistent gross hematuria., Methods: This is a retrospective study of 40 patients with ADPKD and macroscopic hematuria. 20 patients receiving TXA and snake venom blood clotting enzyme injection were compared with 20 matched patients receiving etamsylate and snake venom blood clotting enzyme injection. The primary outcome was hematuria duration and the secondary outcomes were blood transfusion requirements and adverse events., Results: The hematuria duration was shorter in the TXA group compared with the etamsylate group (4[3-5] d vs 7[6-10] d, P<0.001). The volume of blood transfusion tended to be less in the TXA group than in the etamsylate group (300±115 ml vs 486±195 ml, P=0.12), and the number of patients needing a blood transfusion also tended to be lower [20% (4/20) vs 35% (7/20), P=0.29]. TXA and etamsylate were equally well tolerated and no serious adverse events were observed in both groups., Conclusions: Our study indicates that TXA treatment was more effective than etamsylate in stopping bleeding in ADPKD patients with persistent gross hematuria., (© 2017 The Author(s)Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Objective: To explore the underlying mechanism of depression in asthmatic patients, the ReHo in the insula and its FC was used to probe the differences between depressed asthmatic (DA) and nondepressed asthmatic (NDA) patients., Methods: 18 DA patients, 24 NDA patients, and 60 healthy controls (HCs) received resting-state fMRI scan, severity of depression, and asthma control assessment., Results: DA patients showed increased FC between the left ventral anterior insula (vAI) and the left middle temporal gyrus compared with both NDA and HC groups. In addition, compared with HCs, the DA and NDA patients both exhibited increased FC between the left vAI and the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), decreased FC between the left vAI and the bilateral parietal lobe, and increased FC between the right vAI and the left putamen and the right caudate, respectively. Furthermore, the increased FC between the left vAI and the right ACC could differentiate HCs from both DA and NDA patients, and the increased FC between the right vAI and both the left putamen and the right caudate could separate NDA patients from HCs., Conclusions: This study confirmed that abnormal vAI FC may be involved in the neuropathology of depression in asthma. The increased FC between the left vAI and the left MTG could distinguish DA from the NDA and HC groups.