[Precipitation variation reconstructed based on tree-ring width data for the past 399 years in the eastern Yinshan Mountains, China]. / åŸºäºŽæ ‘è½®å®½åº¦æ•°æ®é‡å»ºçš„é˜´å±±ä¸œéƒ¨è¿‡åŽ»399年降水变化.

Based on the tree-ring increment cores of Pinus tabuliformis collected from the eastern Yinshan Mountains, the tree-ring width chronology was developed. The correlation coefficients were calculated between the chronology and monthly mean temperature and monthly precipitation during the instrumental period of AD 1952-2007. The results showed that the highest correlation was found between the total precipitation from September of previous year to June of current year and the chronology (r=0.73, n=56, P<0.01). Based on the correlation, the September of previous year to June of current year total precipitation variation was reconstructed in the eastern Yin-shan Mountains during the past 399 years (AD 1619-2017). The reconstruction explained 54.9% of the variation in the total precipitation from September of previous year to June of current year for the calibration period (AD 1952-2007). Both the 'leave-one-out' cross validation and split-period validation showed that the model was relatively robust, with sufficient skills of estimation and high reliability. At the decadal scale, there were four wet periods (AD 1619-1663, AD 1705-1711, AD 1945-1963, and AD 1979-2017)) and four dry periods (AD 1734-1767, AD 1786-1814, AD 1839-1867, and AD 1888-1942) in the past 399 years. Among those periods, the AD 1979-2017 was the wettest period, and AD 1888-1942 was the longest dry duration with the driest period at the late 1920s. Results of power spectral analysis revealed cyclic fluctuations of precipitation series on 2-7 years and 125 years. In addition, the comparison with other reconstructions and spatial correlation analysis indicated that the reconstructed precipitation series well represented regional scale precipitation variation.

[Influence of large volcanic eruptions on climate as revealed by tree-ring data on the Tibetan Plateau, China]. / æ ‘è½®æ•°æ®æ­ç¤ºçš„å¼ºç«å±±å–·å‘å¯¹é’è—é«˜åŽŸåœ°åŒºæ°”å€™çš„å½±å“.

Large volcanic eruption is an important factor affecting global climate change. In the past few decades, many researchers reconstructed a number of climate series based on tree rings on the Tibetan Plateau, and examined the impacts of large volcanic eruptions on the climate. The results showed that these tree-ring sites used to examined the influences of large volcanic eruptions on climate change were primarily located in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. In addition, the series comparison and the superposed epoch analysis were main methods for studying the climate effects of large volcanic eruptions. Based on the results analyzed using two methods, we suggested that the large volcanic eruptions in low-mid latitudes had a significant impact on temperature and dry/wet variation. Cooling or drought occurred after large volcanic eruptions in the subsequent 1-2 years. How-ever, the large volcanic eruptions in high latitudes had minor impacts on climate change. Furthermore, consecutive multiple volcanic eruptions could result in cooling at the decades scale. The factors influencing the climate effects of large volcanic eruptions included the location of the volcanic eruptions, intensity of the volcanic eruptions, atmospheric circulation, etc. Finally, we proposed research projects that need to be carried out in the future.

Prognostic Immune-Related Analysis Based on Differentially Expressed Genes in Left- and Right-Sided Colon Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) can be divided into left-sided and right-sided COAD (LCCs and RCCs, respectively). They have unique characteristics in various biological aspects, particularly immune invasion and prognosis. The purpose of our study was to develop a prognostic risk scoring model (PRSM) based on differentially expressed immune-related genes (IRGs) between LCCs and RCCs, therefore the prognostic key IRGs could be identified. METHODS: The gene sets and clinical information of COAD patients were derived from TCGA and GEO databases. The comparison of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of LCCs and RCCs were conducted with appliance of "Limma" analysis. The establishment about co-expression modules of DEGs related with immune score was conducted by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Furthermore, we screened the module genes and completed construction of gene pairs. The analysis of the prognosis and the establishment of PRSM were performed with univariate- and lasso-Cox regression. We employed the PRSM in the model group and verification group for the purpose of risk group assignment and PRSM accuracy verification. Finally, the identification of the prognostic key IRGs was guaranteed by the adoption of functional enrichment, "DisNor" and protein-protein interaction (PPI). RESULTS: A total of 215 genes were screened out by differential expression analysis and WGCNA. A PRSM with 16 immune-related gene pairs (IRGPs) was established upon the genes pairing. Furthermore, we confirmed that the risk score was an independent factor for survival by univariate- and multivariate-Cox regression. The prognosis of high-risk group in model group (P < 0.001) and validation group (P = 0.014) was significantly worse than that in low-risk group. Treg cells (P < 0.001) and macrophage M0 (P = 0.015) were highly expressed in the high-risk group. The functional analysis indicated that there was significant up-regulation with regard of lymphocyte and cytokine related terms in low-risk group. Finally, we identified five prognostic key IRGs associated with better prognosis through PPI and prognostic analysis, including IL2RB, TRIM22, CIITA, CXCL13, and CXCR6. CONCLUSION: Through the analysis and screening of the DEGs between LCCs and RCCs, we constructed a PRSM which could predicate prognosis of LCCs and RCCs, and five prognostic key IRGs were identified as well. Therefore, the basis for identifying the benefits of immunotherapy and immunomodulatory was built.

Over-expression of EGFR regulated by RARA contributes to 5-FU resistance in colon cancer.

A promising new strategy for cancer therapy is to target the autophagic pathway. However, comprehensive characterization of autophagy genes and their clinical relevance in cancer is still lacking. Here, we systematically characterized alterations of autophagy genes in multiple cancer lines by analyzing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and CellMiner database. Interactions between autophagy genes and clinically actionable genes (CAGs) were identified by analyzing co-expression, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and transcription factor (TF) data. A key subnetwork was identified that included 18 autophagy genes and 22 CAGs linked by 28 PPI pairs and 1 TF-target pair, which was EGFR targeted by RARA. Alterations in the expression of autophagy genes were associated with patient survival in multiple cancer types. RARA and EGFR were associated with worse survival in colorectal cancer patients. The regulatory role of EGFR in 5-FU resistance was validated in colon cancer cells in vivo and in vitro. EGFR contributed to 5-FU resistance in colon cancer cells through autophagy induction, and EGFR overexpression in 5-FU resistant colon cancer was regulated by RARA. The present study provides a comprehensive analysis of autophagy in different cancer cell lines and highlights the potential clinical utility of targeting autophagy genes.

Research on stress-induced apoptosis of natural killer cells and the alteration of their killing activity in mouse liver.

AIM: To investigate the stress-induced apoptosis of natural killer (NK) cells and the changes in their killing activity in mouse livers. METHODS: A restraint stress model was established in mice. Flow cytometry was employed to measure the percentage of NK cells and the changes in their absolute number in mouse liver. The cytotoxicity of hepatic and splenic NK cells was assessed against YAC-1 target cells via a 4 h 51Cr-release assay. RESULTS: The restraint stress stimulation induced the apoptosis of NK cells in the liver and the spleen, which decreased the cell number. The number and percentage of NK cells in the spleen decreased. However, the number of NK cells in the liver decreased, whereas the percentage of NK cells was significantly increased. The apoptosis of NK cells increased gradually with prolonged stress time, and the macrophage-1 (Mac-1)(+) NK cells were more susceptible to apoptosis than Mac-1(-) NK cells. Large numbers of Mac-1(-) NK cells in the liver, which are more resistant to stress-induced apoptosis, were observed than the Mac-1(-) NK cells in the spleen. The stress stimulation diminished the killing activity of NK cells in the spleen was significantly decreased, but the retention of numerous Mac-1(-) NK cells in the liver maintained the killing ability. CONCLUSION: Significant stress-induced apoptosis was observed among Mac-1(+) NK cells, but not Mac-1(-) NK cells in the mouse liver. Stress stimulation markedly decreased the killing activity of NK cells in the spleen but remained unchanged in the liver.

The role of para-aortic lymphadenectomy in surgical management of patients with stage N+ rectal cancer below the peritoneal reflection.

The goal of this retrospective study was to determine the effect of para-aortic lymphadenectomy on clinical outcome in patients with stage N+ rectal adenocarcinoma below the peritoneal reflection. A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical outcome of 181 patients with stage N+ rectal adenocarcinoma below the peritoneal reflection who underwent total mesorectal excision (TME) with total pelvic lymph node (PLN) adenectomy, with or without para-aortic lymph node (PAN) adenectomy. Independent prognostic factors were determined by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Disease-free survival (DFS) was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test. The incidence of PLN metastases was 39.2% (71/181) in all the patients, and the incidence of PAN metastases was 12% (12/100) in patients who received PLN + PAN adenectomies. The patients were divided into two groups: PLN adenectomy (n = 81) and PLN + PAN adenectomy (n = 100). There were no statistically significant differences in clinicopathological factors between the PLN adenectomy and PLN + PAN adenectomy groups. On univariate analysis, the gross tumor type (P = 0.012), histological differentiation (P = 0.013), CEA level (P = 0.019), T stage (P = 0.019), N stage (P < 0.0001), and the number of positive PLN sites (P < 0.0001) were associated with poor DFS. Gross tumor type (P = 0.031), N stage (P = 0.001), and the number of positive PLN sites (P < 0.0001) were independent prognostic factors for DFS as identified by multivariate Cox regression analysis. PLN + PAN adenectomy significantly improved DFS compared to PLN adenectomy alone in patients with noninfiltrating type (P = 0.001), but not in patients with infiltrating type (P = 0.075). PLN + PAN adenectomy significantly improved DFS compared to PLN adenectomy alone in patients with 0 or 1 positive PLN site (P = 0.001, P = 0.009 respectively), but not in patients with ≥2 positive PLN sites (P = 0.095). In the N1 and N2 stage groups, PLN + PAN adenectomy significantly improved DFS compared with PLN adenectomy alone (P = 0.001; P < 0.0001, respectively). Furthermore, mean DFS was longer in the absence of PAN metastasis (P < 0.0001). PAN metastases appear to be associated with reduced DFS. Total PAN adenectomy may improve DFS in patients with noninfiltrating type, stage III rectal cancer below the peritoneal reflection, who have <2 positive PLN sites.

[Effect of phosphorus deficiency on alternative respiratory pathway and its relation with O2-* accumulation in suspension-cultured tobacco cells].

Effects of phosphorus deficiency on alternative respiratory pathway and its relation with O(-.)(2) production were investigated in two lines of suspension-cultured tobacco cells which have different tolerances to P deficiency. Oxford cells were shown to be much more tolerant than K326. There were no apparent differences in inorganic and total phosphorous content between the two cell lines. The capacity and activity of alternative respiratory pathway were decreased by P deficiency in K326 cells but were little influenced in Oxford cells. Under either P-deficient or sufficient condition, the capacity and activity of alternative respiratory pathway were always higher in Oxford than in K326. When mitochondria were isolated and used for the same study, similar results were obtained as described above. The expression of AOX at protein level was induced by P deficiency in both lines to similar extents. O(-.)(2) content in K326 cells was significantly higher under P deficiency but little affected in Oxford. It is suggested that alternative respiratory pathway may be associated with tolerance of tobacco cells to P deficiency and may play a role in scavenging reactive oxygen species.

The recognition of glycolate oxidase apoprotein with flavin analogs in higher plants.

The dependence of glycolate oxidase apoprotein (apoGO) activity on flavin analogs was surveyed in 9 higher plants from 7 families. Activities of all apoGOs depended not only on flavin mononucleotide (FMN) but also on flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), but not on riboflavin. The kinetic analysis showed that FMN was the optimum cofactor for apoGO from leaves of Brassica campestris. In plant kingdom, FMN, FAD and riboflavin are three flavin analogs with very similar structure, and they could coexist and be inter-converted from each other, so the question is how the apoprotein of glycolate oxidase (GO) recognized these flavin analogs. No inhibition effect of riboflavin on the activity of apoGO with FMN or FAD was found and no obvious quenching of riboflavin or apoGO protein fluorescence was detected with the addition of apoGO or riboflavin, respectively. These results indicated that riboflavin did not bind to apoGO tightly like FMN and FAD. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) did inhibit the activity of GO, and kinetic analysis revealed that this inhibition was caused by the competitive binding to apoGO between Pi and FMN. This competitive binding was further confirmed by the inhibition of Pi to the quenching of FMN and apoGO protein fluorescence with apoGO and FMN, respectively. It was suggested that the 5'-phosphate group of FMN or FAD may play a key role in the recognition and binding of riboflavin analog cofactors with apoGO.