[Evaluation and spatial-temporal variations of ecological comprehensive index along the Yellow River of Shanxi Province, China]. / 山西省沿黄地区生态综合指数评价及时空变化.

Ecological comprehensive index can quantitatively and visually analyze the temporal and spatial variations of ecological environment quality in a region. Based on the five indices of fractional vegetation coverage, leaf area index, total primary productivity, land surface temperature and wetness obtained by MODIS satellite data in 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, and coupled the comprehensive quality of the eco-environment (K), we analyzed the temporal and spatial variations of ecological quality along the Yellow River of Shanxi Province from 2001 to 2020 by using the principal component analysis and spatial autocorrelation method. The results showed that the mean value of K in the study area increased from 0.3354 to 0.4389 during 2001-2020. The ecological quality along the Yellow River of Shanxi Province improved overall, but with obvious temporal and spatial variations. On the large scale, it presented a pattern of "better in the south and worse in the north". There was difference between hills and mountains on the small scale. It showed a trend of continuous improvement in time, but the rate of change was different. The trend of improvement in the south was stronger than that in the north. From 2001 to 2020, the global Moran I values of K were all greater than 0.93, indicating that the ecological quality along the Yellow River of Shanxi Province had a strong spatial correlation. The types of spatial agglomeration were mainly high-high and low-low. The high-high agglomeration areas were mainly distributed in blocks in the south, while the low-low agglomeration areas were mainly concentrated in the north. The ecological quality of areas alone the Yellow River of Shanxi Province had been greatly improved during the research period, but there was still obvious spatial heterogeneity, which need to strengthen ecological protection.

Water exchange versus air insufflation for colonoscopy: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To compare water exchange (WE) method with conventional air insufflation (AI) method for colonoscopy, evaluating the technical quality, screening efficacy, and patients' acceptance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic databases were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials comparing WE colonoscopy with AI colonoscopy. The pooled data of procedure-associated and patient-related outcomes were assessed, using the weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for continuous variables and relative risk (RR) with 95% CI for dichotomous variables, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 13 studies involving 7056 patients were included. The cecum intubation rate was similar between WE and AI methods (RR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.99-1.02,P = 0.37); however, a significantly longer cecum intubation time was shown in WE group (WMD = 1.56, 95% CI = 0.75-2.37,P = 0.002). Compared with AI, WE was associated with a higher risk of adenoma detection rate (ADR) (RR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.18-1.38,P < 0.00001) and polyp detection rate (PDR) (RR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.21-1.39,P < 0.00001). Patients in WE group experienced significantly less maximum pain score (WMD = -1.99, 95% CI = -2.68 to -1.30,P < 0.00001) and less requested on-demand sedation (RR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.44-0.77,P = 0.0002). Likewise, they also experienced less abdominal compression (RR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.51-0.74,P < 0.00001) and reposition (RR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.63-0.86,P = 0.0001). Moreover, patients' willingness to repeat colonoscopy was significantly greater for WE (RR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.07-1.21,P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis confirmed that WE method could significantly increase ADR/PDR and improve patients' acceptance of colonoscopy, while reducing the degree of pain and minimize the need for on-demand sedation and adjunct maneuvers, despite requiring more cecal intubation time.

The combined effect of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome on colorectal carcinoma mortality: a retrospective in Chinese females.

BACKGROUND: This research aimed to investigate whether metabolic syndrome (MetS) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) had both individual and synergistic effects on the prognosis for female colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients. METHODS: The relationship between CRC prognosis and NAFLD as well as MetS was evaluated in 764 female participants. Based on the NAFLD level, patients were divided into significant NAFLD (SNAFLD), "moderate" and "severe" level, and non-SNAFLD, "non" and "mild" level. All the patients were categorized into four subgroups according to the status of SNAFLD and MetS and then a comparison of CRC prognosis among those four groups was performed. RESULTS: NAFLD, SNAFLD, and MetS were independent factors for CRC-specific mortality with the adjustment of age and other confounders. The hazard ratio (HR) of CRC-specific mortality in MetS (+) SNAFLD (+) group was significantly higher than that in other three groups. Relative excess risk of interaction (RERI) was 2.203 with 95% CI ranged from 0.197 to 4.210, attributable proportion (AP) was 0.444 with range from 0.222 to 0.667, and synergy index (SI) of 2.256 with 95% CI from 1.252 to 4.065, indicating SNAFLD and MetS had a significant synergic effect on CRC-specific mortality. CONCLUSIONS: SNAFLD and MetS are independent risk factors for CRC-specific mortality in females. Moreover, those two diseases have a synergistic effect on promoting CRC-specific mortality.

Fibrinogen-like protein 2 prothrombinase may contribute to the progression of inflammatory bowel disease by mediating immune coagulation.

Inflammation and coagulation are interdependent processes that enable each process to activate and propagate the other in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Thus, we investigated the role of a novel immune coagulant, fibrinogen-like protein 2 prothrombinase (FGL2), in patients and mice with IBD. 83 IBD patients and 40 normal controls were enrolled, and trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis mice were used. Expression of FGL2 in the intestine was detected by immunohistochemistry. Using serial sections, staining was performed to detect tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) expression, and to demonstrate co-localization of FGL2 with macrophages and fibrin. Correlations between FGL2 expression with some common laboratory parameters were examined. FGL2 was seen primarily in inflammatory infiltrating cells, mainly macrophages, and microvascular vessels and had a strong co-localization with fibrin deposition. IBD patients and mice had increased expression of FGL2 compared with controls. Furthermore, FGL2 expression was correlated with intestinal and plasmatic TNF-α expression, mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet count (PLT), platelet-crit (PCT), and fibrinogen. Our data indicate that FGL2 may mediate immune coagulation in IBD patients. It may be considered as a novel molecule that contributes to the onset and development of IBD.

Behavior regulation of adsorbed proteins via hydroxyapatite surface texture control.

The influence of nanometer-scale interfaces on proteins has received much attention in recent years. The dynamic behaviors of bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) on a series of hydroxyapatite (HAP) surface textures were investigated to explore the influence of different surface textures using molecular dynamics (MD), steered molecular dynamics simulations (SMD), and quantum mechanics calculations. It is observed that the interaction energy curve from SMD simulations can exhibit the dynamic behavior of BMP-7 in detail. Both the type and the number difference of the adsorptive residues and the intensity discrepancy of interaction, which is induced by the specific texture of the HAP surface, could be uncovered from the energy curve qualitatively and semiquantitatively in this study. The largest conformational change occurs in the system 010+a. The quantum mechanics calculations suggest that there is a phenomenon of electron transfer from HAP to the groups of BMP-7 during the adsorption process. These findings suggest that surface-engineering techniques could be employed to directly control the texture of HAP surfaces in order to regulate the behavior of a protein adsorbed onto the nanometer-scale interface.

[Synthesis and antitumor activity of anthracene-9-carbaldehyde amino-s-triazole Schiff-bases with side-chain of S-acetic acid].

To find out a novel lead compound from heterocyclic amine Schiff bases for developing new antitumor agents, each of (4-amino-5-substituted-s-triazol-3-ylthio) -acetic acids 2a-j was condensed with anthracene-9-carbaldehyde to obtain Schiff-bases of [4-(anthracen-9-yl methylene) amino] -5-substituted-s-triazol-3-ylsulfanyl] -acetic acids 3a-j. The structures of new compounds synthesized were characterized by elemental analysis and spectral data, and in vitro antitumor activity was also evaluated against CHO, HL60 and L1210 cell lines by MTT assay.