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To study how water quality responds to land use types is of great significance in realizing effective control of non-point source pollution. This study built a response model of water quality to land use. The research results are as follows. First, the proportion of farmland is positively correlated to the total phosphorus (TP) value and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) value, which indicates that the water quality deteriorates as the area of farmland increases. Second, the proportion of woodland is negatively correlated to the permanganate index, the trophic state index, total nitrogen (TN) value, TP value and BOD value, which means the water quality improves as the area of woodland increases. Third, the proportion of grassland is negatively correlated to the water quality indices and the correlation coefficient is large, which indicates that the water quality improves as the area of grassland increases. Fourth, the proportion of land used for buildings is positively correlated to the trophic state index and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) value at the 0.05 significance level, which means that the water quality deteriorates as the area of land for buildings increases. This study is expected to provide a basis for optimization of the land use and effective pollution control in the nine plateau lake watersheds.

Background Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have elevated nasopharyngeal resistances due to increased turbulent airflow. The study aims to investigate the effect of oropharyngeal surgery on nasal resistance in patients with various severity levels of OSA. Methodology Patients with greater or equal to 5 events hourly on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) were enrolled. Patients with retropalatal obstruction underwent uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, while patients with concurrent retrolingual obstruction under- went uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) plus tongue base suspension. Before surgery and after surgery, subjective outcomes were assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS), and objective outcomes were assessed using overnight polysomnography and rhinomanometry. The limitation of the study was that UPPP instead of expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty was performed in this study. Results Sixty-two patients were enrolled, while 30 patients were diagnosed as mild OSA (group Mild) and 32 patients were mo- derate-severe OSA (group MS). The preoperative VAS of nasal obstruction in recumbency during sleep was significantly reduced after surgery in group MS. However, no significant differences between preoperative and postoperative VAS were found in group Mild. The postoperative anterior and posterior total nasal resistances (TNR) in sitting and supine positions were not significantly different from those before surgery in group. In contrast, the postoperative posterior TNR in supine position was 0.292±0.301(Pa/ cm3/s), compared with 0.425±0.343(Pa/cm3/s) preoperatively. Conclusions Oropharyngeal surgery improves nasal obstruction during sleep and lowers the supine TNR measured in poste- rior rhinomanometry in patients with moderate-severe OSA. Oropharyngeal surgery is a possible treatment for postural nasal obstruction in patients with moderate-severe OSA.

In this study, the toll-like receptor 1 (tlr1) and toll-like receptor 2 (tlr2) genes of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella were cloned and characterized. tlr1 and tlr2 were found to be highly expressed in immune system organs such as spleen, middle kidney and heart kidney. The expression level of tlr1 and tlr2 was found to be up-regulated at the later stage of viral challenge process. Moreover, subcellular localization indicated that Tlr1 and Tlr2 shared similar localization pattern and both of them may locate in the plasma membrane of transfected cells.

The cDNAs of two C-type lectins in grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, galactose-binding lectin (galbl) and mannose-binding lectin (mbl), were cloned and analysed in this study. Both of them exhibited the highest expression level in liver, whereas their expression pattern differed in early phase of embryonic development. Following exposure to grass carp reovirus (GCRV), the mRNA expression level of galbl and mbl was significantly up-regulated in liver and intestine.

In this study, the subcellular localization, tissue distribution and response to grass carp reovirus (GCRV) infection and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation of four grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idellus toll-like receptor 4 (tlr4) genes were investigated. All four genes were constitutively expressed in all tissues studied, but the subcellular localization and tissue exhibiting the highest expression differed for each protein. Following GCRV infection, all the four tlr4s were upregulated in all tissues examined, and stimulation of C. idellus kidney (CIK) cells with LPS resulted in downregulation of all four tlr4s. These results provide a foundation for further investigation of tlr4 genes in bony fishes.