Search

Inflammatory cytokines contribute to the development of osteoporosis with sophisticated mechanisms. Globally alteration of long-chain non-coding RNA was screened in osteoporosis, while we still know little about their functional role in the inflammatory cytokine secretion. In this study, we collected the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from post-menopausal osteoporosis patients to measure lncRNA MIAT (lncMIAT) expression levels, and explored the molecular mechanism of lncMIAT induced inflammatory cytokine secretion. We identified increased lncMIAT expression in the PBMCs of post-menopausal osteoporosis patients, which was an important predictive biomarker for the diagnosis. LncMIAT expression in PBMCs was positively correlated with the inflammatory cytokine secretion. Mechanism study indicated that lncMIAT increased the expression levels of p38MAPK by crosstalk with miR-216a in PBMCs. The lncMIAT/miR-216a/p38MAPK signaling contributed predominantly to the increased inflammatory cytokine secretion in the PBMCs from postmenopausal osteoporosis. In conclusion, we identified that increased lncMIAT in PBMCs induced inflammatory cytokine secretion, which contributed to the development of post-menopausal osteoporosis. lncMIAT/miR-216a axis was critical for the regulation of AMPK/p38MAPK signaling, which may be a promising therapeutic target for osteoporosis treatment by inflammatory cytokine inhibition.

This paper examines the spatial-temporal dynamics of inequality from the perspective of social deprivation in the context of continuous growth of grain production using national census data from 2000 and 2010 for Henan province, China. Our analytical results show an overall level of social deprivation that is high and a widening social deprivation gap at the county level. The social deprivation shows great spatiotemporal heterogeneity, the higher deprived counties are mainly distributed in central and eastern Henan province, while counties with lower social deprivation are clustered in northwestern regions, formed a belt-shape spatial differential between the south (higher deprived counties clustered) and northwest (low deprived counties clustered) Henan in 2000, and changed toward a core-periphery semi annular spatial structure in 2010, the low deprived counties surrounded by high deprived counties. The social deprivation shows a “west low and east high” spatial pattern, similar to the grain production in Henan province. Socioeconomic development level was low in most counties in Yudong plain despite of keeping the continuous increase of grain production, meaning the higher grain output did not result in the more social development expected in Chinese traditional agricultural areas, and the regional disparity is expected to increase in the near future if development conditions are not changed, which could inspire more targeted rural governance options.

Glycogen and triglyceride are two major forms of energy storage in the body and provide the fuel during different phases of food deprivation. However, how glycogen metabolism is linked to fat deposition in adipose tissue has not been clearly characterized. We generated a mouse model with whole-body deletion of PPP1R3G, a glycogen-targeting subunit of protein phosphatase-1 required for glycogen synthesis. Upon feeding with high-fat diet, the body weight and fat composition are significantly reduced in the PPP1R3G-/- mice compared to the wild type controls. The metabolic rate of the mice as measured by O2 consumption and CO2 production is accelerated by PPP1R3G deletion. The high-fat diet-induced liver steatosis is also slightly relieved by PPP1R3G deletion. The glycogen level in adipose tissue is reduced by PPP1R3G deletion. In 3T3L1 cells, overexpression of PPP1R3G leads to increases of both glycogen and triglyceride levels. In conclusion, our study indicates that glycogen is actively involved in fat accumulation in adipose tissue and obesity development upon high-fat diet. Our study also suggests that PPP1R3G is an important player that links glycogen metabolism to lipid metabolism in vivo.

Aims Our objective was to examine the effects of global warming inducing environmental and biological changes on soil respiration of desert steppe. Methods We used infrared heaters to carry out the interactive simulation of warming and increasing precipitation in a desert steppe of Inner Mongolia from June to September 2011. Our experimental design was set up with two temperature levels (control and warming) and three precipitation treatments (control, 15% and 30% increase of the average precipitation during 1987–2007), using a complete randomized block arrangement. Soil respiration rate was measured by a LI-8100 carbon flux system in these six different treatments. We analyzed the relationships between soil respiration and environmental factors, aboveground biomass, and belowground biomass at different soil layers (0–10, 10–20 and 0–20 cm). Important findings Soil respiration in the desert steppe reached its peak value in the middle of the growing season. The average soil respiration rate of the desert steppe from July to August was 1.35 μmol CO 2 ·m –2 ·s –1 . The soil respiration rate was 2.08 and 0.63 μmol CO 2 ·m –2 ·s –1 in July and August, respectively. Increasing soil moisture and temperature significantly influenced daily soil respiration, but their interaction had no significant effect on soil respiration. Soil moisture had greater impact on monthly soil respiration than soil temperature. Soil respiration rate showed a power function relationship with belowground biomass at different soil depths. The belowground biomass at 0–10 cm soil was the major part of the belowground biomass and could explain more variation of soil respiration rate (79.2%) than that at 10–20 cm (31.6%). Under the future climatic changes scenarios, soil moisture was a principal environmental factor affecting plant biomass, while belowground biomass was a major biological factor controlling soil respiration in the desert steppe. Soil moisture might control the heterogeneity of soilrespiration by influencing the distribution of belowground biomass at different soil depths.

Precision medicine emerges as a new approach that takes into account individual variability. The successful conduct of precision medicine requires the use of precise disease models. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), as well as adult stem cells, can be differentiated into a variety of human somatic cell types that can be used for research and drug screening. The development of genome editing technology over the past few years, especially the CRISPR/Cas system, has made it feasible to precisely and efficiently edit the genetic background. Therefore, disease modeling by using a combination of human stem cells and genome editing technology has offered a new platform to generate " personalized " disease models, which allow the study of the contribution of individual genetic variabilities to disease progression and the development of precise treatments. In this review, recent advances in the use of genome editing in human stem cells and the generation of stem cell models for rare diseases and cancers are discussed.

Learning objectives Background Imaging findings OR Procedure details Conclusion Personal information References, Learning objectives: To review the spectrum of imaging appearances of immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) in the pancreas, biliary tree, orbit, lacrimal glands, salivary glands, lung, kidney, aorta, retroperitoneum, lymph nodes, pachymeninges and the pituitary...

Based on the research of computer model on unified seismogenic process of grouped earthquakes in tectonic block under tectonodynamic force, some characteristics of seismic activity and some features of earthquake precursory field have been studied, including activity of grouped earthquakes, the relationship between earthquake activity and earthquake precursors, the cause of earthquake precursors and so on. By comparing research between the results of theoretical model and practical earthquake cases, some physical explanation for seismogenic process, some characteristics of earthquake activity, and the features of earthquake precursory field have been given.

Model set design method has been one of the focuses of the research on multi-model control. The immune system is a excellent biological multi-model control system. In the immune system, the antibody is the model of antigen. Many kinds of antibodies constitute the idiotypic network. This network can be regarded as the model set of antigens. Among these antibodies there exists interaction. Through this interaction the structure of idiotypic network can be adjusted to maintain the diversity of antibodies. Self-adjustment of the idiotypic network can be regarded as the optimization of the model set. Inspired by this thought, the idiotypic network was used to represent the model set of complex uncertain dynamic process. Corresponding training algorithm was given. Simulation results showed this new model set design method is effective.

Control methods are represented for the AC servo system of the brushless director motor. The paper determines fast and precise performance perfectly with the help of a position regulator and a speed regulator. The nonlinear position control regulator and the variable structure fuzzy PID speed control regulator are designed and the control algorithms are proposed. The simulation result and operation shows the improved performance of the system: the robustness is better than conventional PID control under the parameter variable and load disturbance.