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Migraine is a highly prevalent headache disorder, and intake of various nutrients and special diets may improve migraine symptoms. We aimed to clarify the association between nutritional status and migraine.We collected the data of 1838/8953 (migraineurs/all participants) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004 cycle. We used weighted multivariable linear or logistic regression analyses to study the association between the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and the occurrence of severe headache or migraine.After adjusting for confounding variables, we found that mild (PNI 45-50) or moderate to severe (PNI45) malnutrition were associated with higher prevalence of severe headache or migraine (odds ratio [OR] 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-1.12,The PNI is associated with migraine prevalence, and may thus serve as a predictor of migraine risk and highlights the potential of nutrition-based strategies for migraine prevention and treatment.

Background Right-sided infective endocarditis (RSIE) occurs less commonly but is sometimes difficult to diagnose depending on the developing site and causative organism, especially when differentiated from thrombus. There are few reports describing the diagnostic and analytical ideas of tricuspid valve infective endocarditis and pulmonary artery infective endocarditis. Case presentation We present two cases of RSIE, one in the tricuspid valve and one in the pulmonary artery, which was misdiagnosed as thrombus by computed tomography angiography. Conclusions Vegetation and thrombus can be distinguished according to the nature of the mass, the location of attachment, and the clinical manifestation. Echocardiography enables real-time dynamic observation of the mass, the structural changes of the heart, and cardiac hemodynamic changes caused by various complications and can effectively differentiate vegetation from thrombus.

Although IE incidence has increased due to the gradual increase of survival rate in congenital heart disease (CHD) children, the mitral and aortic valves are the most commonly involved, while tricuspid valve infection is rare, and pulmonary valve involvement is extremely rare. To improve the diagnosis in echocardiography, we described two cases of right-sided infective endocarditis (RSIE), explained the ideas of ultrasonic diagnosis, analyzed the differential diagnosis, and demonstrated the important role of echocardiography in diagnosing and treating children.

Background: The relationship between serum lipids and migraine remains controversial. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the association between serum lipids and severe headache or migraine in the general population. Method: Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2004. Interviewers recorded self-reported severe headaches or migraines and whether pain lasted for more than 24 h in three months. A weighted general linear model was used to estimate the association between serum lipids and severe headache or migraine. Regression analyses were performed after adjusting for age, sex, race, energy intake, sodium intake, etc. Subgroup analyses were performed using the same regression model. Results: We included 5,937 individuals in the study, with a weighted mean age of 45.8 years. Males accounted for 47.6% of the participants. After adjusting for covariates, a non-significant association was found between migraine and total cholesterol (odds ratio=0.96, 95% confidence interval= 0.85, 1.05; P=0.32), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (odds ratio=0.96; 95% confidence interval= 0.75, 1.17, P=0.55), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (odds ratio=0.99; 95% confidence interval=0.49, 1.59, P=0.58) in the continuous form. In subgroup analyses, no significant association was found between total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and self-reported severe headache or migraine. Conclusion: Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were not significantly associated with severe headache or migraine in the general American population after adjusting for covariates. The supporting information for measuring common serum lipids in general headaches and migraines is insufficient.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide and poses a great threat to global health. COVID-19 has also an unneglected effect on migraine patients. Migraine attack frequency is one of the migraine characteristics, and its impact during COVID-19 needs further research. We aimed to evaluate whether migraine attack frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from pre-COVID-19 attack frequency and explore possible influencing factors during the pandemic. Method: This prospective cohort study enrolled 187 migraine patients from the Department of Neurology of West China Hospital from October 2019 to December 2019. After the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 157 patients were included. We collected demographic data, clinical characteristics, and epidemiological contact information and followed up on March 2020. Then, paired-samples T-tests, logistic regression and interaction tests were used to analyze the data. Result: We found that the migraine attack frequency was 2.47 ± 1.12 before and 3.54 ± 1.79 during COVID-19 (P #60;0.0001). Then, we divided patients into two groups based on the difference in migraine attack frequency between the COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 periods and employed logistic regression analysis. In the logistic regression analysis, divorced status (OR = 6.53, P = 0.0453), good sleep pre-COVID-19 and poor sleep during COVID-19 (OR = 3.11, P = 0.0432) had independent effects on migraine attack frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found no interaction in poor sleep during COVID-19 between various subgroups. Conclusion: We found that migraineurs’ headache attacks were more frequent during COVID-19 than pre-COVID-19 and that increased migraine attack frequency was independently related to divorced status and poor sleep during COVID-19.

Store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) plays an important role in regulating Ca(2+) influx, which participates in tumor cell survival and motility. We aim to elucidate the role of SOCE in the behavior of C6 glioma cells. Lentiviral vector inserted with the Orai1-targeting shRNA was used to inhibit SOCE in C6 glioma cells. The down-regulation of Orai1 was confirmed by western blot. The ability of shOrai1 or SOCE inhibitor (SKF96365) in regulating SOCE inhibition was evaluated by measuring Ca(2+) concentration. Additionally, its effect on cell behavior was assessed using methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, wound healing assay, transwell assay, and adhesion assay. Focal adhesions were visualized by immunofluorescence assay. Further, the expression of proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) and phosphorylated Pyk2 (p-Pyk2) was analyzed using western blot. Both, SKF96365 treatment and the Orai1 down-regulation inhibited SOCE by perturbing Ca(2+) influx. The inhibitory effects of shOrai1 on C6 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were similar to that of SKF96365. Moreover, Orai1 inhibition enhanced C6 cell adhesion by increasing the size of focal adhesion plaques. The down-regulation of Pyk2 was observed in both SKF96365-treated and Orai1-silenced C6 cells. Additionally, Orai1 inhibition blocked AKT/mTOR, NFAT, and NF-κB pathways. The silencing of Orai1 inhibited the C6 glioma cell migration, invasion and contributed to focal adhesion.

The homeostasis of immune cells during immune response is vital for hosts to defend against invaders. Activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) is an important transcription factor in the unfolded protein response (UPR) to maintaining cellular homeostasis. In the present study, one ATF6 homologue was identified from Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (designated as CgATF6β). The full length cDNA of CgATF6β was of 2645 bp with a 1596 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 531 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of CgATF6β was predicted to contain a transmembrane region, a conserved basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain, a site 1 protease cleavage site, a site 2 protease cleavage site, and a Golgi localization signal. CgATF6β mRNA was constitutively expressed in hemocytes, gill, mantle, gonad, hepatopancreas and labial palp, with a slightly higher expression level in muscle (2.45-fold of that in gill, p 0.05). After oysters were challenged with Vibrio splendidus, the mRNA expression levels of CgATF6β in hemocytes were significantly up-regulated at 3 h (2.68-fold of that in seawater group, p 0.01) and peaked at 12 h (3.14-fold of that in seawater group, p 0.01). The endogenic CgATF6β protein was mainly located in the cytoplasm of oyster hemocytes, and it was significantly transported into the nuclei of hemocytes at 1.5 h after the challenge with V. splendidus. After an injection with CgATF6β dsRNA, the mRNA expression of CgATF6β was knocked down to 0.26-fold of that in dsGFP group (p 0.01). In CgATF6β dsRNA-injected oysters, the mRNA expressions of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), calnexin (CNX) and anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) in hemocytes were significantly decreased at 12 h after V. splendidus challenge, which were 0.65-fold (p 0.01), 0.54-fold (p 0.01) and 0.17-fold (p 0.01) of that in dsGFP-injected oysters, while the apoptotic rate of hemocytes was significantly up-regulated (1.97-fold of that in dsGFP group, p 0.05). Collectively, these results suggested that CgATF6β was involved in apoptosis inhibition of oyster hemocytes upon V. splendidus challenge by regulating the expression of CgGRP78, CgCNX and CgBcl-2.

With the rapid development of the social economy, environmental and resource constraints of economic growth are becoming more and more serious. Therefore, for cities, we should take the road of green development and sustainable development. On the one hand, we should fully implement the basic policies issued by the central government. On the other hand, we should fully integrate the actual situation of the city to make it better implemented, which will help to improve the ability of ecological environment governance and consolidate the ecological advantages of the city. With the development of the urban economy and the continuous increase of population, the development pressure faced by cities is also increasing. Innovating urban construction mode has increasingly become the focus of the development of the new era. The main reason is that the continuous growth of the urban population, environmental pollution, traffic congestion, and ecological damage has caused great trouble to urban residents. The traditional public service governance model has been unable to meet the current public service needs of urban residents. Based on this background, major cities around the world have begun to study urban resilience in order to prevent and resist the interference and impact brought by the outside world and maintain the sound development of the urban system. Based on the demand for ecological environment governance, this study analyzes the current situation and causes of urban ecological environment governance in China and the problems existing in urban resilient transportation construction in China, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures for ecological environment governance and the current situation of urban resilient public transportation construction. This study has great theoretical and practical significance to promote the sustainable development of the Chinese ecological environment and the resilience construction of urban transportation.

Background The diagnosis of neurosyphilis is challenging due to the requirement of a lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) laboratory tests. Therefore, a convenient diagnostic nomogram for neurosyphilis is warranted. This study aimed to construct diagnostic models for diagnosing neurosyphilis. Methods This cross-sectional study included data of two patient cohorts from Western China Hospital of Sichuan University between September 2015 and April 2021 and Shangjin Hospital between September 2019 and April 2021 as the development cohort and the external validation cohort, respectively. A diagnostic model using logistic regression analysis was constructed to readily provide the probability of diagnosis at point of care and presented as a nomogram. The clinical usefulness of the diagnostic models was assessed using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Harrell concordance (Harrell C) index for discrimination and calibration plots for accuracy, which adopted bootstrap resampling 500 times. Results One hundred forty-eight and 67 patients were included in the development and validation cohorts, respectively. Of those, 131 were diagnosed as having reactive neurosyphilis under the criteria of positive results in both CSF treponemal and non-treponemal tests. In the development cohort, male, psychiatric behaviour disorders, and serum toluidine red unheated serum test were selected as diagnostic indicators applying a stepwise procedure in multivariable logistic model. The model reached 80% specificity, 79% sensitivity, and 0·85 area under the curves (AUC) (95% confidence interval, 0·76–0·91). In the validation cohorts, the Harrell C index for the diagnostic possibility of reactive neurosyphilis was 0·71. Conclusions A convenient model using gender, presence of psychiatric behaviour disorders, and serum TRUST titre was developed and validated to indicate diagnostic results in patients suspected of neurosyphilis. Checking the model value of factors on nomogram is a feasible way to assist clinicians and primary health servers in updating patients’ medical charts and making a quantitatively informed decision on neurosyphilis diagnosis. Trial registration This research was retrospectively registered in the Ethics committee on biomedical research, West China Hospital of Sichuan University. The research registration and committee’s reference number was 1163 in 2020 approval.

Because of the inherent water saving merit, natural draft dry cooling towers (NDDCTs) were widely used by power units in arid regions. The cooling performance of NDDCT plays an important role in the economic and safe running of power units. Then, the design of NDDCTs should be optimized from the design stage. Considering the following factors, such as the tower shape, the radiator arrangement, the ambient crosswind, and the mass flow ratio of circulating water to exhausting steam (m), an optimization model was put forward based on theoretical analyses. Through orthogonality analysis, two critical tower shape factors were selected, which were the ratio of the tower height to its bottom diameter and the ratio of the tower throat area to its bottom shell area. Combining the number of cooling column and m, the cooling performance of NDDCTs was optimized and relevant strategies were proposed. Meanwhile, the height of tower was optimized and the minimum construction cost of NDDCT was obtained with optimized cooling performance.

QUESTION: Graminoid/shrubland communities include groups of forbs (herbaceous dicots) that differ in their traits, and in their direct and indirect responses to dominant neighbours. Although we have a growing knowledge of which traits might influence species’ direct responses to dominant neighbours, and in particular the crucial importance of plant stature over foliage traits, less is known about the relationship between species’ traits and direct responses to dominant neighbours. LOCATION: An alpine graminoid/shrubland co‐dominated by the shrub Dasiphora fruticosa and graminoids such as the sedge Kobresia capillifolia on the Tibetan plateau (China). METHODS: The above‐ and below‐ground effects of the shrub in the absence or presence of graminoids were manipulated to quantify direct and indirect responses of forb species, which were grouped with a PCA. For the forbs, six traits characterizing both plant stature and foliage properties were measured and a redundancy analysis was used to assess their patterns of direct and indirect responses to the dominant neighbours. RESULTS: We found contrasting direct and indirect responses of forb species to the graminoids, and the above‐ and below‐ground effects of the shrubs, separating the forbs into four species‐groups. A significant positive indirect net effect of the shrubs was observed at the community‐level. Traits of forb species were more tightly related to direct than indirect responses to dominant neighbours, while plant stature had a primary influence over foliage traits, which was only very weakly related to indirect responses. CONCLUSIONS: Although plant traits, in particular plant stature, have strong influences on species’ direct responses to dominant neighbours, relationships to indirect interactions are more subtle and variable. This inhibits our prediction of the influence of species’ traits on species composition of the community through indirect interactions.

Background:Migraine is the most common cause of headache patients for medical consultation to emergency department (ED). However, the management and cost of those patients are less known. Our study aimed to survey detailed diagnosis, clinical characteristics, management, and cost of migraine patients in the emergency department in ChinaMethods:We performed a retrospective study from April 1, 2014, and September 31, 2020, at West China Hospital. This study enrolled patients with migraine diagnoses and analyzed their investigations, medical treatment and cost during their stay at ED. Results:Our study included 300 patients, 77.3% were female and the mean age was 38 years. 36% were conducted cranial CT scan. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were the most used at ED. We found that none of the patients received triptans nor prophylaxis medicine. The mean cost of emergency room visits was 57.17USD.Conclusion:Our study found that most migraine patients who came to the ED were not receiving the evidence-based acute treatment. A timely referral system should be established to minimize the disease costs of patients.

Purpose — To discuss the applying effectiveness analysis of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging among stuttering patients. Method — Choose 81 suspected stuttering patients between May, 2018 to May, 2021 as researching objects. All of the patients did the test of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging. And then the testing results was compared with clinical examination results (Gold standard), ROC curve was drawn to analyze the applying effectiveness analysis of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging among stuttering patients. Results — 70 patients were diagnosed as stuttering patients from clinical examination among the 81 suspected stuttering patients. The diagnosis rate is 86.42%. After all of the patients did the test of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging, 68 patients were diagnosed as stuttering patients finally. Diagnosis coincidence rate is 97.14% (P>0.05). The rFA levels of the insula, corpus callosum, and putamen on the side of stuttering lesion are lower than those on the healthy side (P0.05). The ROC curve shows that the AUC data of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging in stuttering patients is 0.834, the diagnostic sensitivity is 84.31%, and the specificity is 71.48%. Conclusion — Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging applying in stuttering patients can gain higher detection rate, which can provide imaging evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment for clinical and is worthy to promoting and applying.

Background: The diagnosis of neurosyphilis (NS) is challenging due to the requirement of a lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests. Methods: This cross-sectional study constructed diagnostic models for diagnosing NS with data gathered from the Western China Hospital of Sichuan University between September 2015 and April 2021 and Shangjin hospital between September 2019 and April 2021, which formed the development and validation cohorts, respectively. A logistic analysis was performed to predict reactive neurosyphilis diagnosis and was presented as a nomogram. Clinical usefulness of the diagnostic models was assessed using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and Harrell C index was used for discrimination and calibration plots for accuracy, adopting bootstrap resampling 500 times. Findings: Overall, 149 and 67 patients were included in development and validation cohorts, respectively. Of those, 131 were diagnosed as having reactive NS with positive results in CSF treponemal and non-treponemal tests. In the development cohort, male sex, psychiatric symptoms, and serum toluidine red unheated serum test were selected as diagnostic indicators. The model reached 80% specificity, 79% sensitivity , and 0·85 area under the curves (AUC) (95% CI, 0·76-0·91). In the validation cohorts, the Harrell C index for the diagnostic possibility of reactive NS was 0·71. Interpretation: Both the nomograms were convenient, could discriminate and calibrate well when applied to the validation cohorts, and aid in NS diagnosis. Funding: The National Key Research and Development Program of China (Nos. 2018YFC1311400, 2018YFC1311401) and Clinical Research Incubation Project of West China Hospital of Sichuan University (Grant 2018HXFH022). Declaration of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. Ethical Approval: The ethics committee on biomedical research, West China Hospital of Sichuan University approved the study and waived informed consent from all subjects. The committee’s reference number was 1163 in 2020 approval.

Background: Despite reports on neuroprotective effects of dietary theobromine intake, whether dietary theobromine can exert beneficial effects on cognitive function is unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between dietary theobromine and cognitive function in old American population.Methods: We collected data from the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional survey. Daily dietary theobromine was treated as a continuous variable and a log transform. Cognitive function was measured by four tests: Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) Word Learning tests, CERAD delayed recall test, animal fluency test, and digit symbol substitution test (DSST). We conducted linear regression analyses and subgroup analyses to study the association between theobromine intake and cognitive performance. Basic characteristics, lifestyle factors, disease history, and nutritional intake were adjusted in these models.Results: A total of 2,845 participants were included in this study. Daily theobromine intake was not significantly different between the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 cycles. The CERAD-immediate and delayed recall scores were significantly different between these two cycles, but not the animal fluency score or digital symbol score. The daily dietary theobromine intake in log form was positively associated with immediate recall score (β, 95% CI, P: 0.661, 0.222-1.101, P: 0.232, 0.016-0.449, 0.04), and DSST score (β, 95% CI, P: 1.395, 0.140-2.649, 0.03) in the fully adjusted model, but not with the animal fluency score (β, 95% CI: 0.001, -0.122-0.907, 0.13). Sensitive analyses showed that L-theobromine intake was linearly associated with cognitive performance.Conclusions: Daily theobromine intake was associated with cognitive performance in a large national representative population. However, further research is needed in order to corroborate our findings.

Seed reserves play vital roles in seed germination and seedling growth and their variation may be related to various environment factors, plant traits and phylogenetic history. Here, the evolutionary correlation associated with seed mass and altitude and carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) allocation of seeds among 253 alpine herbaceous plants was tested. In this study, phylogeny had strong limitations on nutrient allocation of seeds across species, and species from younger phylogenetic groups tended to have higher N and P contents, which might be considered as the evolutionary selection of seed plants. Higher seed N and P content would help seedlings to gain more survival chance and stronger competitive capacity, and their progeny would be more likely to be preserved. When phylogeny was considered, altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content, but the negative effects on seed mass were all expressed. The independent effects of altitude and seed mass suggest that the nutrient allocation of seeds might be affected by both environment and plant traits. In addition, altitude and seed mass displayed partial overlapping effects on nutrient allocation of seeds. The negative effects of seed mass were affected slightly by altitude, whereas altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content when seed mass was controlled. Above all, seed P content showed obvious and general correlations with seed mass, altitude and age of clade, which indicated that higher seed P content might be an adaptive selection of species associated with growth and survival of progeny.

Dopamine (DA), a significant member of catecholamines, is reported to induce biomineralization of calcium carbonate vaterite microspheres via dopamine receptor (DR) in bivalves, implying the modulation of dopaminergic system on shell formation during larval development. In this research, a homologue of D1 type DR (CgD1DR-1) was identified from oyster Crassostrea gigas, whose full length cDNA was 1197 bp. It was widely expressed in various tissues of C. gigas, with the significantly higher levels in hepatopancreas, mantle, muscle and gill. During developmental stages, the mRNA transcripts of CgD1DR-1 in D-shape larvae were obviously higher (p

Seed reserves are very important to the earlier growth and survival of plants, and its variation in nutrient contents might make species to form different germination or seedlings growth strategies. Here, 203 species collected from an alpine meadow on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet plateau were used to test the effects of phylogenetic groups, life-history traits, and altitude on carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents of seeds across species. The results showed that (1) seeds of Brassicaceae had the highest C content, those of Fabaceae had the highest N content, and Asteraceae had the highest P content, and family explained independently 32.7%, 46.4%, and 17.9% of the variation in C, N, and P contents of seeds, respectively; (2) the smaller seeds tended to have higher C and P contents, and seed mass explained independently 2.5% of variation in C, 4.3% in N, and 8.1% in P contents; (3) N content was explained 1% independently by life form, seeds N content of perennials was significantly higher than that of annals, but seeds C and P contents had non-significant difference between them; (4) seeds of wind-adapted species had higher N and P contents, and dispersal mode explained independently 1.7% of variation in C, 1.6% in N, and 5.6% in P contents; (5) seeds from high altitude had the highest N and P contents, and altitude explained independently 4.3% of the variation in N and 4% in P contents.

The discovery of acrylamide in various carbohydrate-rich foods cooked at high temperatures has attracted public health concerns. This study aimed to elucidate the effects and mechanisms additional with acrylamide exposure on the luteal function in vivo during early- and mid-pregnancy. Mice were fed with different dosages of acrylamide (0, 10 and 50 mg/kg/day) by gavage from gestational days (GD) 3 to GD 8 or GD 13. The results indicated that acrylamide exposure significantly decreased levels of serum progesterone and estradiol, and the numbers and relative areas of ovarian corpora lutea. The expression levels of Hsd3b1, Cyp11a1 and Star mRNA markedly reduced in acrylamide-treated ovaries. Furthermore, acrylamide exposure obviously suppressed the activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase, but increased the levels of H

Adiponectin receptors (AdipoRs) comprise a seven-transmembrane domain-containing protein family, which specifically recognize adiponectin (APN) and play critical roles in the immunological and physiological processes in vertebrates. In the present study, a novel AdipoR is identified from oyster Crassostrea gigas (designated as CgAdipoR). The full-length cDNA of CgAdipoR is of 1209 bp encoding a polypeptide of 343 amino acids. There is an N-terminal domain, a Hly III domain, and a C-terminal domain in CgAdipoR. After the transfection of CgAdipoR, the level of intracellular Ca2+ into HEK293T cells increases significantly (1.36-fold, p

Smaller seeds might encounter more severe selective pressure than larger ones because they have fewer food reserves and are more easily buried; thus, seed mass can be considered to be directly related to the effect of light on germination. To investigate the effect of light on seed germination and associated seed mass variation within a whole plant community, we compiled germination data for common herbaceous species from an alpine meadow on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The results showed the following. (i) Light had a general positive effect on seed germination. Under light, the proportion of species with lower germinability was decreased, mean germination percentage was increased by 20% and the speed of germination was doubled. (ii) Irrespective of light environment, species with medium-sized seeds (seed mass ranging from 0.11 to 0.5 mg) had higher germination percentage and speed when compared with species within the largest seed mass group. (iii) The germination of smaller-seeded species was more dependent on light stimulation than larger-seeded ones. In darkness, the species within the smallest seed mass group had the lowest percentage and speed of germination; however, under light, the species within the largest seed mass group had the lowest percentage and speed of germination. Our results suggested that the germination characteristics and especially seeds’ response to light among species in the alpine meadow might be an adaptation to natural selective pressure.

Natural draft dry cooling tower is attractive in recent decades with its superiority of zero water loss. Some old thermal power plants are under high pressure of waste water reducing emission, thus the natural draft wet cooling tower is obsoleted. Reconstructing natural draft wet cooling tower into natural draft dry cooling tower is attractive for the saving of capital expenditure. But it has not been researched before, this study aims to fill this gap. Based on an actual reconstruction case, the operation mode of reconstructed dry cooling system is established and relevant MATLAB programming is realized, which is validated by literature data. The reconstructed system consists of two reconstructed natural draft dry cooling towers, a usual natural draft dry cooling tower and two 660 MW power units. The cooling capacity of reconstructed natural draft dry cooling tower is lower through thermal characteristic comparison with the usual natural draft dry cooling tower. In order to realize the optimal operation, different water distribution schemes are presented and several operation parameters are analyzed. Under the optimized reconstruction design, the annual water saving and annual cost are discussed. The annual water saving is about14.49 million metric tons that is about 8.86 million dollars and the minimum annual cost is about 181.47 million dollars, which brings great economic and environmental benefits.

Epistasis analysis of gid1 single and double mutants revealed that GID1c is a key positive regulator of seed germination, whereas the GID1b receptor can negatively regulate germination in dormant seeds and in the dark. The GID1 GA receptors were expected to positively regulate germination because the plant hormone gibberellin (GA) is required for seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana. The three GA hormone receptors, GID1a, GID1b, and GID1c, positively regulate GA responses via GA/GID1‐stimulated destruction of DELLA (Asp‐Glu‐Leu‐Leu‐Ala) repressors of GA responses. The fact that the gid1abc triple mutant but not gid1 double mutants fail to germinate indicates that all three GA receptors can positively regulate non‐dormant seed germination in the light. It was known that the gid1abc triple mutant fails to lose dormancy through the dormancy breaking treatments of cold stratification (moist chilling of seeds) and dry after‐ripening (a period of dry storage). Previous work suggested that there may be some specialization of GID1 gene function during germination because GID1b mRNA expression was more highly induced by after‐ripening, whereas GID1a and GID1c mRNA levels were more highly induced by cold stratification. In light‐germinated dormant seeds, the gid1b mutation can partly rescue the germination efficiency of gid1a but not of gid1c seeds. Thus, GID1b can function as an upstream negative regulator GID1c, a positive regulator of dormant seed germination. Further experiments showed that GID1b can negatively regulate dark germination. Wild‐type Arabidopsis seeds do not germinate well in the dark. The gid1b and gid1ab double mutants germinated much more efficiently than wild type, gid1c, or gid1ac mutants in the dark. The observation that the gid1ab double mutant also shows increased dark germination suggests that GID1b, and to some extent GID1a, can act as upstream negative regulators of GID1c. Since the gid1abc triple mutant failed to germinate in the dark, it appears that GID1c is a key downstream positive regulator of dark germination. This genetic analysis indicates that the three GID1 receptors have partially specialized functions in GA signaling.

Acrylamide, a carcinogen and neurotoxic substance, recently has been discovered in various heat-treated carbohydrate-rich foods. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of acrylamide exposure on placental development. Pregnant mice received acrylamide by gavage at dosages of 0, 10, and 50 mg/kg/day from gestational days (GD) 3 until GD 8 or GD 13. The results showed that acrylamide feeding significantly decreased the numbers of viable embryos and increased the numbers of resorbed embryos on GD 13. Acrylamide exposure reduced the absolute and relative weight of placentas and embryos, and inhibited the development of ectoplacental cone (EPC) and placenta, as shown by the atrophy of EPC and reduced placental area. Acrylamide markedly reduced the numbers of labyrinth vessels. Expression levels of most placental key genes such as Esx1, Hand1, and Hand2 mRNA dramatically decreased in acrylamide-treated placentas. Furthermore, acrylamide treatment inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of placentas, as shown by decreased Ki67-positive cells and Bcl-2 protein, and increased the expression of Bax, cleaved-caspase-3, and cleaved-caspase-8 proteins. In conclusion, our results indicated that gestational exposure to acrylamide inhibits placental development through dysregulation of placental key gene expression and labyrinth vessels, suppression of proliferation, and apoptosis induction in mice.

The longitudinal vortex at the inner periphery of high-level water collecting natural draft wet cooling tower (HNDWCT) has been proved a critical factor to reduce its cooling efficiency, whose impacts on the tower aerodynamic fields and heat and mass transfer processes have been analyzed under various crosswind speeds. It has been observed that the vortex around the critical heat and mass transfer zones of HNDWCT causes the inner hot humid air recirculation (IHHAR), which is harmful to the heat dissipation there. To cope with the adverse impacts of the vortex, then, several optimization guidelines have been presented. To describe the evolution of the vortex and evaluate the results of optimization strategies, the concept and formula of IHHAR rate have been put forward. Moreover, the expression of IHHAR rate based on the air temperature has been deduced, which is convenient for the field test. With full consideration of the guidelines, a new natural draft wet cooling tower (NNDWCT) with different water collecting modes at its periphery and center has been proposed, which shows the elimination of vortex and the improvement of its peripheral heat dissipation capacity. Therefore, the guidelines are effective to enhance the cooling efficiency of HNDWCT under crosswind impacts.

The aerodynamic field around high-level water collecting natural draft wet cooling tower (HNDWCT), especially that below its special high-level water collecting devices (HWCDs), strongly affects the tower efficiency. Therefore, the aerodynamic fields below HWCDs and its evolution characteristics have been studied, then the corresponding impact on the performance of HNDWCT has been clarified in detail. The results demonstrate that the incidence angle and speed of crosswind have great influence on the air flow state below HWCDs, thus the air distribution in heat and mass transfer zones and air mass flow rate through tower, resulting in the degradation of tower cooling performance. To mitigate the adverse effect of crosswind on tower cooling performance, cross wall has been investigated as a means to improve tower air flow structure. It has been found that the cross wall with appropriate porosity is beneficial to increase the tower efficiency. While, the optimum porosity depends on the crosswind speed and its incidence angle, which ranges from approximately 0.33–0.53. Furthermore, the structure of heat and mass transfer zones of HNDWCT, especially the rain zone, are different with that of usual natural draft wet cooling tower (UNDWCT), which causes the different effect of impermeable cross wall.

Aims: Variation in genes encoding GABAA receptor subunits has been implicated in the risk of alcohol dependence (AD). We sought to replicate and extend previous findings of a moderating effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GABRA2 (which encodes the GABAA α-2 subunit) on the subjective effects of alcohol by examining SNPs in this and the adjacent GABRG1 gene on chromosome 4. Methods: Fifty-two European-Americans (22 males, 28 light drinkers and 24 heavy drinkers) completed 3 laboratory sessions, during which they drank low-dose, high-dose, or placebo alcohol prior to undergoing periodic assessments of stimulation, sedation and drug enjoyment. We genotyped subjects for three SNPs previously associated with AD: rs279858 in GABRA2, and rs7654165 and rs6447493 in GABRG1 . Results: Two SNPs were associated with altered stimulatory effects of alcohol as measured on the Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale, (rs279858: P = 0.0046; rs6447493: P = 0.0023); both effects were in the opposite direction of previous findings. Carriers of the rs279858 C allele experienced greater stimulation from alcohol. Further inspection of the rs6447493 interaction did not support a pharmacogenetic effect. The effects of rs279858 (but not the other two SNPs) on items from a secondary outcome measure, the Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ), were significant. Higher ratings by individuals with the C allele were observed on the DEQ items ‘feel the alcohol effect’ ( P < 0.001), ‘like the alcohol effect’ ( P < 0.001) and feel ‘high’ ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: We did not find that the GABRG1 SNPs rs7654165 and rs6447493 moderated the effects of alcohol. Greater stimulatory and euphoric effects of alcohol in carriers of the rs279858 C allele may, in part, explain the previously reported association of this allele with AD.

Background Child abuse is highly prevalent and associated with increased risk for a range of health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, psychiatric disorders, and other health problems. Little is currently known about the mechanism by which early adversity confers risk for health problems later in life. Purpose To determine if there are epigenetic differences associated with child maltreatment that may help explain association between adverse childhood experiences and later health problems. Methods As part of a study examining genetic and environmental factors associated with depression, saliva DNA specimens were collected on 96 maltreated children removed from their parents due to abuse or neglect and 96 demographically matched control children between 2003 and 2010. In 2011, the Illumina 450K BeadChip was used on stored DNA specimens and analyzed to examine whole-genome methylation differences between maltreated and control children. Results After controlling for multiple comparisons, maltreated and control children had significantly different methylation values at 2868 CpG sites ( p –7 , all sites; average methylation difference per site=17%; range=1%–62%). The gene set contained numerous markers of diseases and biological processes related to the health problems associated with early childhood adversity. Conclusions Although replication is required, this study suggests that epigenetic mechanisms may be associated with risk for health problems later in life in maltreated children. This study lays the groundwork for future studies examining health and methylation measures to further characterize the role of epigenetic mechanisms in conferring risk for medical problems in individuals with histories of early adversity.