Historical behaviors of microplastic in estuarine and riverine reservoir sediment.

This study investigates the sedimentation behaviors of microplastics (MPs) within a typical meso-scale river estuary, the Yalu River Estuary (YRE) and its riverine reservoir. It analyzes sediment cores in two habitats of Yalu River, revealing changing MPs abundance over time. Results highlight significant differences in riverine and estuarine MPs deposition. Reservoir sample contains more MPs in fragments. Color variations are notable in estuarine samples but minimal in reservoir sample. After 1980, estuarine cores show an increase in coarser MPs, likely due to growth of aquaculture activities. Although sediment accumulates at 1/10 of the rate in reservoir compared to estuary, MPs in reservoir sediments exceeds estuarine level by over threefold. A possible mechanistic framework is then proposed to discuss the varying MPs behaviors in the two habitats, indicating reservoirs accumulate MPs at a higher rate due to the barrier effect of an upper-stream reservoir, stable hydrodynamics, and weak salinity-induced buoyancy.

Seasonal dynamics of coastal pollution migration in open waters with intensive marine ranching.

Mariculture activities have been recognized as one of the major sources of contamination for marine pollutants, such as the excessive discharging of nitrogen and phosphate. The fully understanding of the pollutants emission and transportation is crucial for coastal environment management. However, the influence of such highly dynamic coastal process on the pollutant migration remain unclear, such as the effects of coastal seasonal hydrodynamics on the dissolved pollutant transportation, especially under intensive marine ranching activities in open waters. This study investigated the seasonal transport mechanisms of pollutants released from three typical mariculture methods (floating raft, cage and bottom pond) in the Wangjia Island (WJ), Yellow Sea, China. We have conducted three field surveys to monitor the coastal dynamics and measure the distribution of dissolved pollutants in the ranching area. Results from these field surveys show that the WJ and adjacent area experienced significant degradation in terms of water quality with the development of regional marine ranching. The average of calculated index for eutrophication Ei increases from 0.12 in the non-farming area to 0.78 in the farming area. In order to delineate the impacts area of pollutant transport associated with these highly dynamics of water exchange, a Eulerian passive tracer-tracking module is applied to simulate the pollutant transport processes based on a field scale three-dimensional Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM). Then after, the impacts of barotropic and baroclinic coastal dynamics on the migration of dissolved pollutants were evaluated. The transport of pollutants was greatly influenced by the different farming modes. The travel distance of pollutants released from the bottom pond farming mode was limited, whereas pollutants from the surface-farming methods were transported over a longer distance. In this study, there are three folders of finding: 1) The migration direction varies with seasons, with a landward direction in winter and an offshore direction in summer; 2) In winter, strong wind (wind speed over 10 m/s) is the dominant factor for water exchange, which is conducive to the dispersion of pollutants in the study area. However, in summer, the thermal stratification controls pollutant migration; 3) The results of breakthrough time illustrate that the pollutants travelled slower during summer, especially for pollutants discharged from the bottom pond farming method. In summary, this study demonstrates that even in open waters with stronger water exchange capacity, the pollutants from intensive marine ranching can still increase the risk of eutrophication. The finding of this study has important implications for the management and regulation of offshore aquaculture activities, particularly for mitigating pollutants from marine ranching.

Screening virulence factors of porcine extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (an emerging pathotype) required for optimal growth in swine blood.

Porcine extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) is occurring with increasing frequency in China, which causes acute septicemia and sudden death in pigs leading to significant economic losses. Bacterial survival and even proliferation within host bloodstream are a common manifestation of a number of bacterial septicemias, including porcine ExPEC diseases. However, the underlying pathogenesis for this novel pathotype of ExPEC has not been explored deeply. Here, we used a conjunction with transposon mutagenesis to identify the mechanisms of bacterial fitness involved in optimal growth of porcine ExPEC in swine serum ex vivo under static culture. Our work identified 28 genes involved in nucleotide biosynthesis, extracellular polysaccharide biosynthesis, regulators Fur and FNR, acid/zinc resistance, and Deley-Douderoff carbon metabolism that are required for the serum fitness. Subsequent functional analyses revealed that either interruption of de novo nucleotide biosynthesis or blocking of several extracellular polysaccharide biosynthesis including O2-antigen, Lipid A-core, and ECA significantly affect porcine ExPEC's growth in swine serum and proliferation in host bloodstream. Furthermore, the reasonable regulations of iron and anaerobic metabolisms in response to host stimuli by global regulators Fur and FNR also play key roles during systemic infection of porcine ExPEC. These findings provide compelling evidences that de novo nucleotide biosynthesis may enable porcine ExPEC to adapt to swine blood-specific nutrient availability, and the effective assembly of O-antigen, lipid A-core, and ECA is required to resist the bactericidal activity of swine serum. These studies contribute to better understand the underlying mechanisms employed by porcine ExPEC to survive, grow in the swine bloodstream, and cause disease. These related factors may serve as therapeutic targets for countering or preventing ExPEC serum resistance in the clinic.

MicroRNA-141 inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation through targeting PAPP-A.

It is well known that ox-LDL plays key roles in the development of atherosclerosis, partly by inducing vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation. Recent findings have revealed that microRNAs, a class of small noncoding RNAs, could regulate cell proliferation in many physiological and pathological conditions. However, the role and function of miRNAs on ox-LDL induced VSMC proliferation are not fully elucidated. In this study, we showed that ox-LDL could suppress miR-141 expression and inhibition of miR-141 could promote VSMCs proliferation. Moreover, we found that PAPPA was the direct target gene of miR-141. Overexpression of PAPPA impaired the miR-141-induced inhibition of proliferation in the VSMCs. Taken together; miR-141 may play important roles in ox-LDL-induced abnormal proliferation of the VSMC.

Association between osteoporosis and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Increasing recent evidence has implicated osteoporosis as a risk factor for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). We conducted a systematic review to examine the association between osteoporosis and BPPV. METHODS: Four electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and the China Network Knowledge Infrastructure) were searched to identify all papers, published in either English or Chinese, examining the association between osteoporosis (osteopenia) and BPPV. RESULTS: Seven studies were eligible for analysis, though these studies included some weaknesses. Most of the studies demonstrated a correlation between osteoporosis (osteopenia) and the occurrence and recurrence of BPPV, especially in older women. Patients with osteoporosis may require more canalith-repositioning procedures. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review provides insight into currently available evidence and elucidates the possible existence of an association between BPPV and osteoporosis (osteopenia). However, the evidence supporting that conclusion is not strong, and further studies are needed to clarify the association between these conditions.

6-acetyl-5H-thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives as the novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitors: design, synthesis, and biological activity.

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are the most frequently prescribed anti-Alzheimer's drugs. A series of 6-acetyl- 5H-thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives as the novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitors were designed based on virtual screening methods. The target compounds which are not reported in the literature were synthesized with Biginelli reaction and Hantzsch-type condensation of dihydropyrimidines with substituted phenacyl chlorides, and were characterized with elemental analysis, IR, MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. The biological evaluation against human acetylcholinesterase in vitro showed most of the target compounds exhibited varying inhibition at 10 µM using the Ellman method. The results provide a starting point for the development of novel drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease, and a foundation in search for improved acetylcholinesterase inhibitors with the novel scaffolds. The preliminary structure-activity relationships were the 2-hydroxyethoxy group at the phenyl ring at C4 position of the parent nucleus played significant roles in the AChE inhibitory activity of the target compounds.

Apoptosis and its pathway in X gene-transfected HepG2 cells.

AIM: To investigate the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) X gene on apoptosis and expressions of apoptosis factors in X gene-transfected HepG2 cells. METHODS: The HBV X gene eukaryon expression vector pcDNA3-X was transiently transfected into HepG2 cells by lipid-media transfection. Untransfected HepG2 and HepG2 transfected with pcDNA3 were used as controls. Expression of HBx in HepG2 was identified by RT-PCR. MTT and TUNEL were employed to measure proliferation and apoptosis of cells in three groups. Semi-quantified RT-PCR was used to evaluate the expression levels of Fas/FasL, Bax/Bcl-xL, and c-myc in each group. RESULTS: HBV X gene was transfected into HepG2 cells successfully. RT-PCR showed that HBx was only expressed in HepG2/pcDNA3-X cells, but not expressed in HepG2 and HepG2/pcDNA3 cells. Analyzed by MTT, cell proliferation capacity was obviously lower in HepG2/pcDNA3-X cells (0.08910+/-0.003164) than in HepG2 (0.14410+/-0.004927) and HepG2/pcDNA3 cells (0.12150+/-0.007159) (P<0.05 and P<0.01). Analyzed by TUNEL, cell apoptosis was much more in HepG2/pcDNA3-X cells (980/2,000) than HepG2 (420/2,000), HepG2/pcDNA3 cells (520/2,000) (P<0.05 and P<0.01). Evaluated by semi-quantified RT-PCR, the expression level of Fas/FasL was significantly higher in HepG2 cells transfected with HBx than in HepG2 and HepG2/pcDNA3 cells (P<0.05 and P<0.01). Bax/Bcl-xL expression level was also elevated in HepG2/pcDNA3-X cells (P<0.05 and P<0.01). Expression of c-myc was markedly higher in HepG2/pcDNA3-X cells than in HepG2 and HepG2/pcDNA3 cells (P<0.05 and P<0.01). CONCLUSION: HBV X gene can impair cell proliferation capacity, improve cell apoptosis, and upregulate expression of apoptosis factors. The intervention of HBV X gene on the expression of apoptosis factors may be a possible mechanism responsible for the change in cell apoptosis and proliferation.