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Bi2WO6 with double active sites of tunable metallic Bi and oxygen vacancies is constructed to achieve the highly efficient and selective photocatalytic oxidation of cyclohexane with air under solvent-free conditions.

Purpose This study aimed to compare the effects of ground and treadmill running on energy metabolism and muscle contractile properties, providing a basis for the general public to choose running venues. Methods Ten male college students (age, 20.10 ± 1.53 years; height, 176.20 ± 5.49 cm; weight, 72.14 ± 8.25 kg; body fat percent, 12.41% ± 4.65%) were recruited in this study. Energy expenditure (EE) was measured using the accelerometer (GT9X) combined with specific estimation equations. Average heart rate (HR) was measured using a heart rate band (Polar). Muscle contractile properties were assessed by measuring muscle displacement (Dm) and contraction velocity (Vc) using tensiomyography (TMG-S1). Blood glucose (Glu) and lactate (Lac) were measured by portable devices (eB-G and Lactate Scout). The running speed was 9 km/h and the duration was 25 min. Two-way ANOVA (protocol × time) was used to analyze the effect of running protocols on energy metabolism and muscle contractile properties. Results EE of treadmill running was significantly higher than EE of ground running (protocol main effect, P < 0.001), and HR of treadmill running was significantly higher than that of ground running in the first testing time (protocol simple effect, P = 0.026; protocol × time interaction P = 0.043). The decrease in Dm of the rectus femoris after treadmill running was significantly higher than that of ground running (protocol main effect, P = 0.009). The interaction of different running protocols and testing times on Lac was significant (P = 0.025), but all results of the simple effects analysis were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion Our study found a difference in energy expenditure between treadmill and ground running at 9 km/h with duration of 25 min. In addition, treadmills are more likely to cause a decrease in muscle displacement distance of the rectus femoris measured after exercise than ground running. Future studies are needed to further investigate whether the differences are induced by internal metabolism or the environmental conditions of running.

Oxygen-containing organics, which are generated from the selective oxidation of their corresponding hydrocarbons, have high value in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. However, their oxidation reactions are very challenging as the products are more active than the substrates, especially for the oxidation of cyclohexane (CHA). Herein, we focused on the one-step preparation of Bi

Sonographic features are associated with pathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). To predict the biological property of TNBC, the performance using quantitative high-throughput sonographic feature analysis was compared with that using qualitative feature assessment. We retrospectively reviewed ultrasound images, clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical (IHC) data of 252 female TNBC patients. All patients were subgrouped according to the histological grade, Ki67 expression level, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) score. Qualitative sonographic feature assessment included shape, margin, posterior acoustic pattern, and calcification referring to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). Quantitative sonographic features were acquired based on the computer-aided radiomics analysis. Breast cancer masses were manually segmented from the surrounding breast tissues. For each ultrasound image, 1688 radiomics features of 7 feature classes were extracted. The principal component analysis (PCA), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and support vector machine (SVM) were used to determine the high-throughput radiomics features that were highly correlated to biological properties. The performance using both quantitative and qualitative sonographic features to predict biological properties of TNBC was represented by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). In the qualitative assessment, regular tumor shape, no angular or spiculated margin, posterior acoustic enhancement, and no calcification were used as the independent sonographic features for TNBC. Using the combination of these four features to predict the histological grade, Ki67, HER2, axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM), and lymphovascular invasion (LVI), the AUC was 0.673, 0.680, 0.651, 0.587, and 0.566, respectively. The number of high-throughput features that closely correlated with biological properties was 34 for histological grade (AUC 0.942), 27 for Ki67 (AUC 0.732), 25 for HER2 (AUC 0.730), 34 for ALNM (AUC 0.804), and 34 for LVI (AUC 0.795). High-throughput quantitative sonographic features are superior to traditional qualitative ultrasound features in predicting the biological behavior of TNBC. • Sonographic appearances of TNBCs showed a great variety in accordance with its biological and clinical characteristics. • Both qualitative and quantitative sonographic features of TNBCs are associated with tumor biological characteristics. • The quantitative high-throughput feature analysis is superior to two-dimensional sonographic feature assessment in predicting tumor biological property.

Clear‐cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most prevalent renal malignancy. The pathogenesis of the disease is currently poorly understood, and the prognosis is poor. Therefore, in this study, we focused on exploring and identifying genes and signal transduction pathways that are closely related to ccRCC. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed using the renal cell oncogene expression profiles GSE100666 and GSE68417. DAVID evaluation of gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses was used. We constructed a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGS using Cytoscape software and analyzed the submodules with the CytoHubba plugin. Finally, we performed western blot, immunohistochemistry, and PCR validation by collecting tissues, and also utilized cells for in vitro functional analysis of ceruloplasmin (CP). In total, 202 DEGs (52 upregulated and 150 downregulated genes) were identified. Upregulated DEGs are significantly rich in angiogenesis, cell adhesion, and response to hypoxia, whereas downregulated DEGs are involved in intracellular pH regulation, excretion, coagulation, and chloride transmembrane transport. We selected the interactions of the top 20 hub genes provided by the PPI network, all of which are involved in important physiological pathways in vivo, such as complement and coagulation cascades. Tissue protein assays demonstrated that renal cancer highly expressed CP, while in vitro experiments showed that CP could promote the invasion of renal cancer cells. Our study suggests that ALB, C3, LOX, HRG, CXCR4, GPC3, SLC12A3, CP, and CASR may be involved in the development of ccRCC, and is expected to provide theoretical support for future studies on the diagnosis and targeted therapy of ccRCC., DEGs in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) were identified and their expression analyzed in ccRCC patient tissues and an RCC cell line. Tissue protein assays demonstrated that renal cancer highly expressed ceruloplasmin (CP), and in vitro experiments showed that CP could promote the invasion of renal cancer cells. Overall, CP may promote the poor prognosis of renal cancer.

There is a growing interest in the design and construction of artificial photosythetic materials for solar energy utilization and conversion. Inspired by the structure of thylakoid membrane, we present here a hybrid construct for light-harvesting and oxygen releasing. Our design conjugates chlorophyll to TiO2 in a native-like membrane environment. The natural bilayer structure of lipids is utilized to localize the amphiphilic chlorophyll a and hydrophobic tetrabutyl titanate TBOT in the liposomal membrane during hydration process. The coassembled structure, which mimics the essential organization of the thylakoid membrane, is characterized using a combination of field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), Ramam spectra, pressure (π)-area (Α) isotherms, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. Our results demonstrate successful insertation of chlorophyll a in the membrane and confirm the in situ formation of TiO2 nanoshell confined at the lipid bilayer/water interface. We further show that the hybrid liposomes exhibit unambiguous photoactivity in visible light-harvesting and oxygen release, likely resulting from a larger specific surface area of the TiO2 shell, an efficient interfacial conjugation of the chlorophyll molecules with the thin TiO2 layer. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations were in accordance with the eletron injection processes.We expect that the present work will open a new insight into interfacial recombination between light-harvesting pigments and their sensitized photocatalysis, and develop a new kind of artificial photosynthetic materials with zero-cost of environmental degradation and high efficiency for the photocatalytic O2 production.

Dehydrogenation of propane in the presence of CO2 (CO2-ODHP) is an important route for the synthesis of propylene and utilization of the waste CO2. In the present work, diverse GaN supported on NaZ...

Hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived lignin sources is highly important for the conversion of renewable biomass resources to biofuels. However, lots of developed catalysts suffer from the drawbacks of expensive precious metal catalysts and/or operation under harsh conditions. In the present work, Co–Ni bimetallic catalysts were prepared and applied in catalyzing hydrogenolysis of Caryl–O aromatic ethers with high activities under the promotion of Nb2C MXene additive. Especially, the hydrogenolysis of diphenyl ether (DPE), a 4–O–5 model compound, to cyclohexane (cy) and cyclohexyl alcohol (cy-ol) could be achieved over the Co2Ni1Ox–Nb2C MXene catalytic system at 120 °C and under 5 bar of H2, which are mild conditions in comparison with those for the developed heterogeneous precious-metal-free catalysts. The excellent catalytic performances stemmed from the strong interaction between Co and Ni species and the promotion of Lewis acidic sites offered by Nb2C MXene. The proposed reaction pathway involved the direct hydrogenolysis of DPE route, in which DPE was initially hydrogenolyzed to benzene and phenol. They were further hydrogenated to cy and cy-ol. The present work not only develops a noble-metal-free bimetallic catalyst for utilization of biomass-derived lignin sources, but also provides a novel strategy for using the Nb2C MXene material.

Landslides are one of the most destructive geohazards due to their high mobility and long runout. Numerical prediction of their motion and deposit behavior is an effective method for quantitative hazard assessment. The numerical approaches can get more insight into the landslide dynamics such as displacement, momentum, and impact forces. One of the crucial aspects in the application of continuum models is how to choose an appropriate rheology law for the materials. However, this issue remains poorly addressed in the geo-hazards simulations community. In this study, two constitutive models are applied to interpret landslide materials that integrated within Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) scheme. The elastoplastic Drucker-Prager (DP) model from soil mechanics and its counterpart in fluid mechanics, the non-Newtonian rheological Drucker-Prager (RDP) model. The results indicate that both the soil mechanic model and the fluid model can reproduce key dynamic processes (e.g., acceleration, deceleration, rebound stages) and deposition morphology (e.g., deposit area and height), within different values of input parameters given equivalent burst simulations. There is no order of which is better than another, only the more appropriate model that depends on landslide characteristics.

This study presents a novel angle-based contact detection method to address the concave contact problem of arbitrary polyhedra, including convex and concave polyhedra, those with cavities and/or holes, and likely their unions. First, the most important mathematical concept in this study, the angle, is introduced to represent a general polyhedron. Using angles, the topologies of the polyhedra can be far more complex and universal than those previously studied, allowing for the coplanarity of faces and collinearity of edges, and not limiting the polyhedra to simple homeomorphic to closed three-dimensional (3-D) spheres. Second, all the local entrances of two general angles, which are either vertex angle to half-space or crossing edge angle to edge angle entrances, are identified using the entrance formulas. Third, local convex decomposition (LCD) is proposed to decompose any arbitrarily concave angle into a set of convex subangles, making the method easy to implement and naturally compatible with detection of entrance angles. Fourth, the proposed entrance angle method (EAM) is implemented in 3-D discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) to compute arbitrarily convex/concave contacts. Finally, the EAM-based 3-D DDA method is validated and then employed to investigate the discontinuous mechanical behaviors of complex polyhedral block systems. Overall, the extended 3-D DDA program is sufficiently developed to meet the analysis requirements of complex rock mass projects.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) or “vomitoxin” is a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species. Few food poisoning cases caused by DON have been reported since the 1990s in China. However, on May 16, 2019, the Zh...

In the present study, an overall decomposition mechanism of ammonium dinitramide (ADN) in the gas phase via density functional theory (DFT) calculations was studied. Thermogravimetry-Fourier transform infrared (TG-FTIR) and thermogravimetry-mass spectrometer (TG-MS) techniques were used to verify the calculation results. In the thermal decomposition of gaseous ADN (ADN(g)), ADN(g) first decomposed into dinitraminic acid (HDN) and NH3, followed by HDN decomposition into other products with small molecules. HDN is found to isomerize into five isomers (HDN-1–5) in the gas phase. For the initial decomposition of HDN, the favorable decomposition pathway of HDN-4 (a structure of HON(O)NNO2) is more likely to form HNO3 and N2O with a huge release of energy (approximately 45 kcal mol−1). Moreover, product HNO3 and NH3 can first combine to form NH4NO3. Both calculated and experimental results indicate that the product N2O is first formed in the thermal decomposition of ADN(g). Moreover, the formation mechanism and kinetics of other products (NH3, H2O, NO, N2O, NO2, HONO, HNO3, etc.) were also studied and proposed in the thermal decomposition of gaseous ADN. Overall, the systematic mechanistic investigations have provided new and detailed insights on the mechanism and kinetics of the thermal decomposition of gaseous ADN as well as informative factors to further improve the experimental performances, which can surely be beneficial to other energetic material syntheses.

BACKGROUND: Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by the pineal gland in the brain. In addition to modulating circadian rhythms, it has pleiotropic biological effects including antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-cancer effects. Herein, we report that melatonin has the ability to decrease the growth and metastasis of androgen-dependent prostate cancer. METHODS: To evaluate the anti-cancer effect of melatonin on androgen-sensitive prostate cancer in vitro or in vivo, the effects of cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion were analyzed by using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), colony formation, flow cytometry, Transwell assay, and immunohistochemistry (IHC), respectively. Next, the interaction between androgen receptor (AR) and SUMO specific protease 1 (SENP1) was detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting, and confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, the Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO) proteins are a group of small proteins that are covalently attached to and detached from other proteins in cells to modify their function. (SUMOylation) of histone deacetylases 1 (HDAC1) was measured by proximity ligation assay (PLA). RESULTS: The treatment of melatonin cripples the transcriptional activity of AR, which is essential for the growth of the androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell, LNCaP. The lower activity of AR was dependent on melatonin induced SUMOylation of HDAC1, which has been established as a key factor for the transcriptional activity of AR. Mechanistically, the effect of melatonin on AR was due to the decreased SENP1 protein level and the subsequent increased HDAC1 SUMOylation level. The overexpression of SENP1 abrogated the anti-cancer ability of melatonin on LNCaP cells. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that melatonin is a suppressor of androgen-dependent prostate cancer tumorigenesis.

COCO

There is a growing interest in the use of hybrid liposomes for various biochemical and biomedical applications. In this study, we report the first preparation and characterization of a class of TiO2-reinforced liposomes by a one-step assembly approach. The amphiphilic natural structure of lipids is exploited to localize a hydrophobic molecule, namely, precursor tetrabutyl titanate (TBOT), in the mid-plane of the liposomal bilayer assemblies in the aqueous phase. In situ TiO2 nanoshell formation is driven by subsequent interfacial hydrolysis of TBOT and the ensuing condensation within the hydrophobic interstices of the lipid bilayer. The core–shell structure, like cell and wall, is demonstrated by means of scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images, and the formation of the TiO2 shell is confirmed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. To study the structural evolution of the hybrid liposomes during titani...

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have attracted considerable attention due to their unique properties. In recent years, novel deep eutectic solvents based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been proposed, which are called PEGylated DESs. Owing to their excellent properties, PEGylated DESs have been applied in many fields, such as extraction, biomass dissolution and material preparation. For better application of PEGylated DESs in various fields, the solid understanding of their fundamental properties is indispensable. In this work, nine PEGylated DESs based on carboxylic acids, amides and ammonium salts were prepared and characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR and DSC analysis. The physicochemical properties including pH values, polarity, density, viscosity, conductivity, and thermal stability were investigated. Walden plot analysis was also conducted in order to evaluate the ionicity of the PEGylated DESs. The nature of the components plays a vital role in the properties of the PEG based DESs. There is a negative correlation between the pH values and polarity of the PEGylated DESs, which can be applied to infer the polarity via pH measurement. The density and viscosity gradually decrease with increasing temperature due to thermal expansion. Except for the ammonium salt based DESs, the PEGylated DESs exhibit a “poor ionic” nature and have a negligible conductivity owing to the lack of ionic species. According to the above research, PEGylated DESs with specific properties could be elaborately designed via choosing appropriate components, thus facilitating their application.

There is a growing interest in the design and construction of artificial photosythetic materials for solar energy utilization and conversion. Inspired by the structure of thylakoid membrane, we present here a hybrid construct for light-harvesting and oxygen releasing. Our design conjugates chlorophyll to TiO

The intrinsic effect of the support microstructure on the catalytic function of VOx/Al2O3 in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) was studied. The results of characterization indicate that similar vanadia species are supported on Al2O3 with different microstructures, but that the interactions between VOx and alumina are slightly modified. In this case, the microstructure-dependent catalytic function in the ODHP reaction is rigorously revealed. The flower-like morphology with non-compact and non-monolithic particles assembled as nanoribbons exhibits inter-particle stacking pores, which contribute to a severe extra-granular diffusion limitation (EGDL). The sphere-like morphology with compact and monolithic particles assembled as nanosheets possesses both inter-particle and intra-particle pores, which lead to a moderate EGDL. However, neither catalyst exhibits an intra-granular diffusion limitation (IGDL). Conversely, the bulk-like morphology with monolithic particles and without the assembly of secondary granules only exhibits intra-particle pores, which results in a slight EGDL and IGDL. Moreover, these two disturbances of diffusion can be excluded by means of controlling the reaction parameters. A comparison of the apparent and intrinsic kinetics, together with the structure–function relationship, determines that the EGDL might play an important role in influencing the ODHP efficiency. An in situ FT-IR study shows that the adsorption-activation of propane and that of propylene proceed via different initial intermediates and transformation processes. The former initially involves surface propoxide species that will be transformed into aldehydic and ketonic intermediates at the reaction temperature. The latter directly involves π-allyl alkoxidic and σ-allyl aldehydic species, as well as vanadia-carboxylate species with a quasi-anhydride structure at ambient temperatures, at which these intermediates are prone to catalytic combustion.

Increasing concerns about the potentially negative impacts of chemical production on sustainable development of the overall environment have spurred numerous attempts to seek greener reaction mediums, recyclable catalysts, and high-efficiency procedures. Herein, a cyclometalated Ir complex with a pyrene tag was successfully immobilized onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes via π–π stacking interactions, through which an easily reusable Ir catalyst was constructed. The immobilization process was effectively monitored by using a fluorescence spectroscopy technique, and the immobilized Ir catalyst was well characterized and evaluated. It is found that the immobilized Ir catalyst exerts activity comparable to that of the corresponding homogeneous Ir catalyst for the dehydrogenation of indolines in an aqueous solution. More importantly, the catalyst could be recycled seven times without obvious loss of the Ir-active center and noticeable decrease in the yield of the targeted product. Additionally, the observed sli...

// Yao-Shun Liu 1, 2, 3, 4, * , Jian-Gang Chen 1, 6, * , Ting Mei 1, 2, 3 , Yu-Xin Guo 2, 3 , Hao-Tian Meng 2, 3 , Jian-Fei Li 5 , Yuan-Yuan Wei 2, 3 , Xiao-Ye Jin 2, 3 , Bo-Feng Zhu 2, 3, 4, ** and Li-Ping Zhang 1, ** 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Basic Medicine College of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, P. R. China 2 Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research, College of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P. R. China 3 Clinical Research Center of Shaanxi Province for Dental and Maxillofacial Diseases, College of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710004, P. R. China 4 Department of Forensic Genetics, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P. R. China 5 School of Marxism, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710049, P.R. China 6 Science and Technology Institute, Xinjiang Public Security Department, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830006, P.R. China * The first two authors were equal to this article ** These authors have contributed equally to this work and were co-corresponding authors Correspondance to: Li-Ping Zhang, email: zhangliping806@163.com Keywords: genetic polymorphisms, Southern Shaanxi Han population, forensic characteristic analysis, autosomal STR, Y-STR Received: April 15, 2017 Accepted: June 05, 2017 Published: July 18, 2017 ABSTRACT We analyzed the genetic polymorphisms of 15 autosomal and 10 Y-chromosomal STR loci in 214 individuals of Han population from Southern Shaanxi of China and studied the genetic relationships between Southern Shaanxi Han and other populations. We observed a total of 150 alleles at 15 autosomal STR loci with the corresponding allelic frequencies ranging from 0.0023 to 0.5210, and the combined power of discrimination and exclusion for the 15 autosomal STR loci were 0.99999999999999998866 and 0.999998491, respectively. For the 10 Y-STR loci, totally 100 different haplotypes were obtained, of which 94 were unique. The discriminatory capacity and haplotype diversity values of the 10 Y-STR loci were 0.9259 and 0.998269, respectively. The results demonstrated high genetic diversities of the 25 STR loci in the population for forensic applications. We constructed neighbor-joining tree and conducted principal component analysis based on 15 autosomal STR loci and conducted multidimensional scaling analysis and constructed neighbor-joining tree based on 10 Y-STR loci. The results of population genetic analyses based on both autosomal and Y-chromosome STRs indicated that the studied Southern Shaanxi Han population had relatively closer genetic relationship with Eastern Han population, and distant relationships with Croatian, Serbian and Moroccan populations.

We report a hybrid bioactive system inspired by the biosilicification of diatoms. Monodisperse chloroplast/silica hybrid microspheres with core–shell structure were designed and prepared. Natural fresh chloroplasts, the photosynthetic plant organelle, were surfacely covered with silica shell by mild sol–gel process. The charge of chloroplast surface attracts negatively charged silica particles in the sol generated from subsequent hydrolysis and condensation of the tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), which benefits single-chloroplast encapsulation. SEM images confirm the closed topologies, sizes, and dispersions of hybrid microspheres comparable to those of parent chloroplasts. The elemental analysis using EDX, the particle size distribution analyses using DLS, the thermochemical analyses using TGA measurements and structural characterization using XRD provide evidence for the formation of silica coating. Monitoring declines in the visible light absorption production yields information regarding the declines in the light-harvesting ability of chlorophyll, which confirmed that the silica shell in the present work extends the photochemical vitality of chloroplasts. Results from oxygen production measurements also demonstrate the existence of silica shell confers real protection on the bioactivity of chloroplasts. We envisage that the stand-alone chloroplast encapsulation enables preparation of living-cell-templated microspheres exhibiting capacity for photosynthetic bioreactors, sensors, green coatings, catalysts, more generally opening a window for construction of stable, environment friendly, functional hybrid materials.

// Xiaoye Jin 1, 2, 3, * , Yuanyuan Wei 1, 2 , Jiangang Chen 4 , Tingting Kong 1, 2 , Yuling Mu 1, 2, 3 , Yuxin Guo 1, 2, 3 , Qian Dong 1, 2, 3 , Tong Xie 5 , Haotian Meng 1, 2 , Meng Zhang 6 , Jianfei Li 7 , Xiaopeng Li 8 and Bofeng Zhu 1, 2, 5, * 1 Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research, College of Stomatology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710004, Shaanxi, PR China 2 Clinical Research Center of Shaanxi Province for Dental and Maxillofacial Diseases, College of Stomatology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710004, Shaanxi, PR China 3 College of Medicine and Forensics, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, 710061, Shaanxi, PR China 4 Department of Biochemistry, Preclinical Medicine College, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830011, Xinjiang, PR China 5 Department of Forensic Genetics, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, PR China 6 Department of Orthopaedics, Ankang City Central Hospital, Ankang, 725000, Shaanxi, PR China 7 Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, Shaanxi, PR China 8 Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710004, Shaanxi, PR China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Xiaopeng Li, email: lixpxjtu@163.com Keywords: short tandem repeats (STRs), inter-population differentiation, Uyghur ethnic group, phylogenic analysis, PCA Received: March 28, 2017 Accepted: May 06, 2017 Published: May 18, 2017 ABSTRACT We investigated the allelic frequencies and forensic descriptive parameters of 23 autosomal short tandem repeat loci in a randomly selected sample of 1218 unrelated healthy Uyghur individuals residing in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwest China. A total of 281 alleles at these loci were identified and their corresponding allelic frequencies ranged from 0.0004 to 0.5390. The combined match probability and combined probability of exclusion of all loci were 5.192 × 10 –29 and 0.9999999996594, respectively. The results of population genetic study manifested that Uyghur had close relationships with those contiguous populations, such as Xibe and Hui groups. In a word, these autosomal short tandem repeat loci were highly informative in Uyghur group and the multiplex PCR system could be used as a valuable tool for forensic caseworks and population genetic analysis.

X-chromosomal short tandem repeats (X-STRs) have been widely used in forensic practices involving complicated ties of kinship over the past years, and also play an increasingly important role in population genetics. To study the genetic polymorphisms of 19 STR loci on X chromosome in Chinese Kazak ethnic group, we investigated the allelic and haplotypic frequencies of the 19 loci in 300 (149 males and 151 females) unrelated healthy individuals from Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region of China after having evaluated the forensic application value of these loci in forensic sciences, and then compared the population distinctions between the Kazak group and other reference groups. We observed a total of 240 alleles at these X-STR loci with the corresponding allelic frequencies ranging from 0.0017 to 0.5917. In the study, the highest polymorphism was found at DXS10135 locus. The combined power of discrimination in females was 0.999999999999999999999985 and in males 0.999999999999968. The present study indicates that the 19 X-STR loci are very useful for both forensic identification cases and kinship analyses involving a female offspring.