eQTLs play critical roles in regulating gene expression and identifying key regulators in rice.

The regulation of gene expression plays an essential role in both the phenotype and adaptation of plants. Transcriptome sequencing enables simultaneous identification of exonic variants and quantification of gene expression. Here, we sequenced the leaf transcriptomes of 287 rice accessions from around the world and obtained a total of 177 853 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms after filtering. Genome-wide association study identified 44 354 expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), which regulate the expression of 13 201 genes, as well as 17 local eQTL hotspots and 96 distant eQTL hotspots. Furthermore, a transcriptome-wide association study screened 21 candidate genes for starch content in the flag leaves at the heading stage. HS002 was identified as a significant distant eQTL hotspot with five downstream genes enriched for diterpene antitoxin synthesis. Co-expression analysis, eQTL analysis, and linkage mapping together demonstrated that bHLH026 acts as a key regulator to activate the expression of downstream genes. The transgenic assay revealed that bHLH026 is an important regulator of diterpenoid antitoxin synthesis and enhances the disease resistance of rice. These findings improve our knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression variation and complex regulatory networks of the rice genome and will facilitate genetic improvement of cultivated rice varieties.

An Improved WiFi Positioning Method Based on Fingerprint Clustering and Signal Weighted Euclidean Distance.

WiFi fingerprint positioning has been widely used in the indoor positioning field. The weighed K-nearest neighbor (WKNN) algorithm is one of the most widely used deterministic algorithms. The traditional WKNN algorithm uses Euclidean distance or Manhattan distance between the received signal strengths (RSS) as the distance measure to judge the physical distance between points. However, the relationship between the RSS and the physical distance is nonlinear, using the traditional Euclidean distance or Manhattan distance to measure the physical distance will lead to errors in positioning. In addition, the traditional RSS-based clustering algorithm only takes the signal distance between the RSS as the clustering criterion without considering the position distribution of reference points (RPs). Therefore, to improve the positioning accuracy, we propose an improved WiFi positioning method based on fingerprint clustering and signal weighted Euclidean distance (SWED). The proposed algorithm is tested by experiments conducted in two experimental fields. The results indicate that compared with the traditional methods, the proposed position label-assisted (PL-assisted) clustering result can reflect the position distribution of RPs and the proposed SWED-based WKNN (SWED-WKNN) algorithm can significantly improve the positioning accuracy.

Factor X Deficiency Caused by Nonsecretory Myeloma Successfully Corrected with Bortezomib: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

A 62-year-old female presenting with anemia and extensive hemorrhages is reported. Coagulation tests showed significantly prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time. Decreased levels of clotting factor X activity were determined (5.4%). Bone marrow biopsy revealed neoplastic plasma cells. Serum and urine protein electrophoresis were both negative for monoclonal gammopathy, and both bone marrow and abdominal fat biopsies were negative for amyloid deposition. The patient was diagnosed as suffering from nonsecretory multiple myeloma (MM) complicated by acquired factor X deficiency. A complete response (CR) of the myeloma and recovery of factor X activity (56.6%) were achieved after the administration of treatment, including chemotherapy and bortezomib. We suggest that patients with nonsecretory MM might present with factor X deficiency and should be carefully screened for light chain amyloidosis. Novel agents such as bortezomib should be highly considered as treatment in these patients.

Pedestrian Dead Reckoning Based on Motion Mode Recognition Using a Smartphone.

This paper presents a pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) approach based on motion mode recognition using a smartphone. The motion mode consists of pedestrian movement state and phone pose. With the support vector machine (SVM) and the decision tree (DT), the arbitrary combinations of movement state and phone pose can be recognized successfully. In the traditional principal component analysis based (PCA-based) method, the obtained horizontal accelerations in one stride time interval cannot be guaranteed to be horizontal and the pedestrian's direction vector will be influenced. To solve this problem, we propose a PCA-based method with global accelerations (PCA-GA) to infer pedestrian's headings. Besides, based on the further analysis of phone poses, an ambiguity elimination method is also developed to calibrate the obtained headings. The results indicate that the recognition accuracy of the combinations of movement states and phone poses can be 92.4%. The 50% and 75% absolute estimation errors of pedestrian's headings are 5.6° and 9.2°, respectively. This novel PCA-GA based method can achieve higher accuracy than traditional PCA-based method and heading offset method. The localization error can reduce to around 3.5 m in a trajectory of 164 m for different movement states and phone poses.

The Relationship Between Smartphone Addiction and the Interpersonal Competence of Chinese Private College Students: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Purpose: As an aspect of the lives of private college students in China, interpersonal competence (IC) is important to their socialization and employment competence. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Chinese private college students' smartphone addiction (SPA) and IC, the mediating effect of negative emotions (NE), and the moderating effect of psychological resilience (PR). Samples and Methods: Using simple random sampling, 5473 Chinese private college students (male 74.5%, urban household registration 51.6%, served as a student leader 31.5%) were recruited. Results: The results showed that (1) SPA positively predicted IC; (2) NE partially mediated the relationship between SPA and IC; and (3) PR moderated the relationships between SPA and NE, NE and IC, SPA and IC. Conclusion: These findings provide a new perspective to improve Chinese private college students' socialization and their employment competitiveness.

Long-term survival outcomes of patients with primary ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma: A large single-center cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Primary ocular adnexal extranodal marginal zone mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma (OAML) is a rare subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and no consensus has been defined concerning the optimal treatment strategies. This study aims to investigate the associations of disease characteristics and different treatments with long-term outcomes of patients with localized OAML. METHODS: A large retrospective cohort study was conducted in a single-center of China, and 166 patients with newly diagnosed primary localized OAML were enrolled. Detailed data of disease characteristics at diagnosis and treatments were collected for all patients. We compared treatment response and progression-free survival (PFS) among patients with different characteristics and treatments. RESULTS: Of the 166 patients, 52 received complete resection of neoplasm, whereas 114 had residual lesion after surgery. Among the 114 patients, 61 underwent watchful waiting and 53 received further treatment including localized radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Median follow-up was 49 months. A total of 31 patients had disease progression or relapse, including four patients with such event more than five years after initial treatment. The 5-year PFS was 73.9%, 70.6%, and 85.9%, whereas the 10-year PFS was 69.3%, 59.2%, and 79.3%, among patients with complete resection of neoplasm, patients in the watchful waiting group and patients with further treatment, respectively. Patients with further treatment had longer PFS, compared with patients in the watchful waiting group (p = 0.011). Bilateral involvement at diagnosis was associated with significantly inferior PFS (p = 0.029), whereas age, IPI score, or TNM staging were not associated with PFS. No serious adverse reaction was reported among patients with further treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral involvement was associated with poor prognosis. Among patients with residual lesions after surgery, further treatment was associated with improved survival. Patients with OAML might experience disease progression or relapse more than five years after initial treatment.

FBI-1 functions as a novel AR co-repressor in prostate cancer cells.

The pro-oncogene FBI-1, encoded by Zbtb7a, is a transcriptional repressor that belongs to the POK (POZ/BTB and Krüppel) protein family. In this study, we investigated a potential interaction between androgen receptor (AR) signaling and FBI-1 and demonstrated that overexpression of FBI-1 inhibited ligand-dependent AR activation. A protein-protein interaction was identified between FBI-1 and AR in a ligand-dependent manner. Furthermore, FBI-1, AR and SMRT formed a ternary complex and FBI-1 enhanced the recruitment of NCoR and SMRT to endogenous PSA upstream sequences. Our data also indicated that the FBI-1-mediated inhibition of AR transcriptional activity is partially dependent on HDAC. Interestingly, FBI-1 plays distinct roles in regulating LNCaP (androgen-dependent) and PC-3 cell (androgen-independent) proliferation.

Multimodality and Computational Intelligence-Enabled Intercultural Communicative Competence of College-English-Teaching Students.

With the intensification of global economic integration, international exchanges have become increasingly frequent, and employers have put forward higher requirements for ICC (Intercultural Communication Competence) of college students. In this paper, in ICC mode, the multimodal evaluation model framework of ICC is constructed by using multimodal theory. The evaluation object is Chinese college students, the evaluation media are computers and networks, and the evaluation contents include knowledge, consciousness, speculation, attitude, skills, and strategies of cross-cultural communication. The research results will help Chinese college students overcome their fears during the cross-cultural communications, meanwhile,can strengthen the cultivation of ICC for students as well. After comprehensive consideration of various influencing factors, comparing the overall teaching quality of universities of different grades or the same grade can objectively reflect the overall teaching level of the university, hoping to provide some reference for the application of multimodal discourse analysis theory and CET (college English teaching).

The NS1 protein of influenza A virus interacts with heat shock protein Hsp90 in human alveolar basal epithelial cells: implication for virus-induced apoptosis.

BACKGROUND: Our previous study showed that the NS1 protein of highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus H5N1 induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549), supporting its function as a proapoptotic factor during viral infection, but the mechanism is still unknown. RESULTS: To characterize the mechanism of NS1-induced apoptosis, we used a two-hybrid system to isolate the potential NS1-interacting partners in A549 cells. We found that heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) was able to interact with the NS1 proteins derived from both H5N1 and H3N2 viruses, which was verified by co-immunoprecitation assays. Significantly, the NS1 expression in the A549 cells dramatically weakened the interaction between Apaf-1 and Hsp90 but enhanced its interaction with cytochrome c (Cyt c), suggesting that the competitive binding of NS1 to Hsp90 might promote the Apaf-1 to associate with Cyt c and thus facilitate the activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3. CONCLUSIONS: The present results demonstrate that NS1 protein of Influenza A Virus interacts with heat hock protein Hsp90 and meidates the apoptosis induced by influenza A virus through the caspase cascade.

Elevated Pancreatic Enzymes in ICU Patients With COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Pancreatic enzyme elevation has been reported in patients with COVID-19 during the pandemic. However, with the shortage of medical resources and information, several challenges are faced in the examination and treatment of this condition in COVID-19 patients. There is little information on whether such condition is caused by pancreatic injury, and if this is a warning sign of life threatening complications like multiple organ failure in patients. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between elevated pancreatic enzymes and the underlying risk factors during the management of COVID-19 patients. Method: A total of 55 COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Wuhan Jinyintan hospital from January 1 to March 30, 2020 were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent transabdominal ultrasound imaging to assess their pancreas. Results: Out of the 55 patients, three patients had pancreatitis, 29 (52.7%) with elevated pancreatic enzymes, and 23 (41.8%) without. The most common symptoms of patients with COVID-19 were fever and cough. There was no statistical difference in most baseline characteristics except myalgia on admission. Compared with those having normal enzyme levels, patients with elevated pancreatic enzymes had higher rates of mortality (79.3 vs. 52.2%; P = 0.038), and lower rates of discharge (20.7 vs. 47.8%; P = 0.038). Patients with elevated enzymes had higher incidence of mechanical ventilation (P = 0.004) and kidney injury (P = 0.042) than patients without elevated pancreatic enzymes. The results of multivariable logistic analysis showed that the odds ratio were 10.202 (P = 0.002) for mechanical ventilation and 7.673 (P = 0.014) for kidney injury with the elevated enzymes vs. the normal conditions. Conclusions: The findings show that the incidences of pancreatic enzymes elevation are not low in critical COVID-19 patients and only a few of them progressed to acute pancreatitis (AP). Increased pancreatic enzymes levels is associated with poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients. In addition, the kidney injury and oxygenation degradation are associated with the pancreatic enzymes elevation in COVID-19 patients.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus H5N1 NS1 protein induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in human alveolar basal epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND: It is widely considered that the multifunctional NS1 protein of influenza A viruses contributes significantly disease pathogenesis by modulating a number of virus and host-cell processes, but it is highly controversial whether this non-structural protein is a proapoptotic or antiapoptotic factor in infected cells. RESULTS: NS1 protein of influenza A/chicken/Jilin/2003 virus, a highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, could induce apoptosis in the carcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549) by electron microscopic and flow cytometric analyses. NS1 protein-triggered apoptosis in A549 cells is via caspase-dependent pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza A virus NS1 protein serves as a strong inducer of apoptosis in infected human respiratory epithelial cells and plays a critical role in disease pathogenesis.

A new therapeutic strategy for lung tissue injury induced by influenza with CR2 targeting complement inhibitor.

BACKGROUND: Influenza is a respiratory disease that seriously threatens human health. In fact, influenza virus itself does not make critical contribution to mortality induced by influenza, but "cytokine storm" produced by the excessive immune response triggered by the virus can result in inflammatory reaction of lung tissues and fatal lung tissue injury, and thus increase influenza mortality. Therefore, besides antiviral drugs, immunosuppression drugs should also be included in infection treatment. PRESENTATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS: Complement is the center of inflammatory reaction. If complement system is over activated, the body will have strong inflammatory reaction or tissue injury, resulting in pathological process. Many studies have proved that, inflammatory injury of lung tissues caused by influenza virus is closely related to complement activation. Therefore, inhibiting complement activation can significantly reduce inflammatory injury in lung tissues. As complement is both a physiological defense and pathological damage medium, systematic inhibition may result in side effects including infection. Therefore, we design targeting complement inhibitors for complement activation sites, i.e. with CR2 as targeting vector, complement inhibitors like CD59 and Crry are targeted to inflammatory sites to specially inhibit the complement activation in local injury, thus local inflammatory reaction is inhibited. TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: CR2-CD59 and CR2-Crry targeting complement inhibitors are fusion-expressed, and their biological activity is examined via in vivo and in vitro tests. CR2 targeting complement inhibitors are used to treat mouse influenza viral pneumonia model, with PBS treatment group as the control. The survival and lung tissue injury of the mice is observed and the effect of CR2 targeting complement inhibitors on pneumonia induced by influenza virus is evaluated. IMPLICATIONS OF THE HYPOTHESIS: CR2 targeting complement inhibitors are expected to be ideal drugs for viral pneumonia.

Genomic features of an Escherichia coli ST156 strain harboring chromosome-located mcr-1 and plasmid-mediated blaNDM-5.

The emergence of Escherichia coli strains coharboring the blaNDM and mcr genes has become a new challenge in clinical therapy because of their resistance to most antibiotics. This study reports the emergence of an E. coli strain GZEC065 isolated from blood sample of a patient in China with both chromosome-located mcr-1 and plasmid-mediated blaNDM-5 genes. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that GZEC065 was resistant to most tested antimicrobials, including imipenem and polymyxin B. S1-nuclease-pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Southern blotting analysis and conjugation assay was performed to determine the location and conjugative ability of mcr-1 and blaNDM-5 genes. Whole genome sequencing and analysis showed that GZEC065 belonged to sequence type ST156 and contained three different plasmids (46 kb, 88 kb and 142 kb) with multiple resistance genes, such as mcr-1, blaNDM-5 and blaTEM-1. The blaNDM-5 gene was carried by the 46 kb conjugative IncX3 plasmid, which has been reported frequently in China. The mcr-1 gene was located on the chromosome mediated by the Tn6330 mobile element and showed genetic complexity among different strains. The emergence of E. coli strains coharboring both chromosome-located mcr-1 and plasmid-mediated blaNDM-5 genes highlights the urgent need for alternative antibiotic treatment and continuous active surveillance.

Mycelial polysaccharides of Lentinus edodes (shiitake mushroom) in submerged culture exert immunoenhancing effect on macrophage cells via MAPK pathway.

A crude polysaccharide fraction (termed cLEP) and two derived fractions (termed LEP1 and LEP2) from Lentinus edodes mycelia were purified and characterized. LEP1/-2 were classified as α-type heteropolysaccharides with 1 → 2, 1 → 3, 1 → 4, 1 → 6 linkages. Their monosaccharide components were respectively Gal, Glc, Man, Ara, Fuc, and Rha (molar ratio 10.17:9.75:9.01:1.61:1.26:1), and Glc, Man, Fuc, Rha, and Gal (molar ratio 5.18:4.69:2.85:1.43:1). In vitro culture experiments with macrophage RAW264.7 cells showed no cytotoxic effects of the polysaccharides. Phagocytosis (neutral red uptake) was significantly enhanced by LEP1/-2. Levels of NO, TNF-α and IL-6 were higher in LEP1/-2-treated groups than in cLEP-treated group. qRT-PCR analysis showed that LEP1/-2 had greater enhancing effect on mRNA transcription of iNOS, TNF-α, and IL-6 genes. Western blotting analysis revealed that LEP1/-2 strongly promoted phosphorylation of kinases ERK and JNK, and suggested that they exert immunoenhancing effects via MAPK signaling pathway.

Diversity of New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-producing bacteria in China.

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence and dissemination of diverse NDM-producing bacteria in China was investigated. METHODS: We collected 1,162 isolates from 8 cities during December 2013∼May 2015 in China. The NDM-positive strains as well as the NDM genotypes in these sample were detected via Vitek 2 compact system (bioMérieux, France), 16S rRNA gene sequencing, PCR and an S1- pulsed-field gel electrophoresis assay and Southern blot hybridization. The horizontal-transfer capability of the blaNDM gene was assessed by filter mating by using a standard E.coli J53 azide-resistant strain as the recipient. RESULTS: Three genotypes (NDM-1, NDM-3 and NDM-5) of NDM-producing bacteria were identified, among which the NDM-1-positive isolates were the most frequent one. For the first time, we found NDM-5-produing S.typhimurium and NDM-3-produing E.coli in China. We also found that the NDM-positive (especially NDM-3 and NDM-5) strains were completely resistant to nearly all of the antimicrobial drugs utilized and blaNDM was mostly located on diverse plasmids with sizes ranging from 30 to 670kb. CONCLUSION: Various species of bacteria especially the enteric pathogens with diverse NDM genotypes had spread in China. Hence, an ongoing surveillance of their dissemination is essential to prevent and control the spread of these organisms.

Occurrence and health risk assessment of selected metals in drinking water from two typical remote areas in China.

The potential contaminations of 16 trace elements (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb, Co, Be, V, Ti, Tl, Al) in drinking water collected in two remote areas in China were analyzed. The average levels of the trace elements were lower than the allowable concentrations set by national agencies, except for several elements (As, Sb, Mn, and Be) in individual samples. A health risk assessment model was conducted and carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were evaluated separately. The results indicated that the total carcinogenic risks were higher than the maximum allowed risk level set by most organizations (1 × 10(-6)). Residents in both study areas were at risk of carcinogenic effects from exposure to Cr, which accounted for 80-90 % of the total carcinogenic risks. The non-carcinogenic risks (Cu, Zn, Ni) were lower than the maximum allowance levels. Among the four population groups, infants incurred the highest health risks and required special attention. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations among most trace elements, indicating the likelihood of a common source. The results of probabilistic health risk assessment of Cr based on Monte-Carlo simulation revealed that the uncertainty of system parameters does not affect the decision making of pollution prevention and control. Sensitivity analysis revealed that ingestion rate of water and concentration of Cr showed relatively high sensitivity to the health risks.

Relationship between Antibiotic Resistance, Biofilm Formation, and Biofilm-Specific Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii.

In this study, we aimed to examine the relationships between antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, and biofilm-specific resistance in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii. The tested 272 isolates were collected from several hospitals in China during 2010-2013. Biofilm-forming capacities were evaluated using the crystal violet staining method. Antibiotic resistance/susceptibility profiles to 21 antibiotics were assessed using VITEK 2 system, broth microdilution method or the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) to cefotaxime, imipenem, and ciprofloxacin were evaluated using micro dilution assays. Genetic relatedness of the isolates was also analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and plasmid profile. Among all the 272 isolates, 31 were multidrug-resistant (MDR), and 166 were extensively drug-resistant (XDR). PFGE typing revealed 167 pattern types and 103 clusters with a similarity of 80%. MDR and XDR isolates built up the main prevalent genotypes. Most of the non-MDR isolates were distributed in a scattered pattern. Additionally, 249 isolates exhibited biofilm formation, among which 63 were stronger biofilm formers than type strain ATCC19606. Population that exhibited more robust biofilm formation likely contained larger proportion of non-MDR isolates. Isolates with higher level of resistance tended to form weaker biofilms. The MBECs for cefotaxime, imipenem, and ciprofloxacin showed a positive correlation with corresponding MICs, while the enhancement in resistance occurred independent of the quantity of biofilm biomass produced. Results from this study imply that biofilm acts as a mechanism for bacteria to get a better survival, especially in isolates with resistance level not high enough. Moreover, even though biofilms formed by isolates with high level of resistance are always weak, they could still provide similar level of protection for the isolates. Further explorations genetically would improve our understanding of these processes and provide novel insights in the therapeutics and prevention against A. baumannii biofilm-related infections.

Higher isolation of NDM-1 producing Acinetobacter baumannii from the sewage of the hospitals in Beijing.

Multidrug resistant microbes present in the environment are a potential public health risk. In this study, we investigate the presence of New Delhi metallo-ß-lactamase 1 (NDM-1) producing bacteria in the 99 water samples in Beijing City, including river water, treated drinking water, raw water samples from the pools and sewage from 4 comprehensive hospitals. For the bla NDM-1 positive isolate, antimicrobial susceptibility testing was further analyzed, and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed to determine the genetic relationship among the NDM-1 producing isolates from sewage and human, as well as the clinical strains without NDM-1. The results indicate that there was a higher isolation of NDM-1 producing Acinetobacter baumannii from the sewage of the hospitals, while no NDM-1 producing isolates were recovered from samples obtained from the river, drinking, or fishpond water. Surprisingly, these isolates were markedly different from the clinical isolates in drug resistance and pulsed field gel electrophoresis profiles, suggesting different evolutionary relationships. Our results showed that the hospital sewage may be one of the diffusion reservoirs of NDM-1 producing bacteria.

HCV antibody response and genotype distribution in different areas and races of China.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) heterogeneity accounts for the failure of effective vaccine development and the lack of successful anti-viral therapy in some patients. Little is known about the immune response to HCV peptides and the region or race specific genotypes in China. The objective of this study was to characterize HCV antibody immune response to HCV peptides and HCV genotypes in different regions and races of China. A total of 363 serum samples were collected from HCV carriers in 6 regions in China. The immune response to HCV peptides was evaluated by ELISA. HCV genotypes were examined using nested RT-PCR. We found that the anti-HCV antibody neutralization rates were significantly different among the serum samples from different areas or from different races in the same area. For samples from Tibet and Sinkiang, the rates of neutralization by HCV peptides were only 3.2% and 30.8%, respectively. The genotypes of samples from Tibet and Sinkiang were apparently heterogeneic and included type I, II, III and multiple types (I/II/III, I/II, I/III, II/III). One specific sample with multiple-genotype (I/II/III) HCV infection was found to consist of type I, II, III, II/III and an unclassified genotype. These studies indicate that the anti-HCV antibody immune response to HCV peptides varied across regions and among races. The distribution of HCV genotypes among Tibetans in Tibet and Uighurs in Sinkiang was different from that in the inner areas of China. In addition, a "master" genotype, type II, was found to exist in HCV infection with multiple HCV genotypes.

[Land use change and its driving factors in Mongolia from 1992 to 2005].

Based on the remote sensing images in 1992 and 2002 and the MODIS images in 2001 and 2005, as well as relevant statistical information, the integrated characteristics and the spatial heterogeneity of land use change in Mongolia were analyzed, with the driving factors discussed. The results showed that from 1992 to 2005, the area of farmland and forestland in Mongolia decreased significantly, that of construction land and unused land exhibited an increasing trend, water area showed a slight decrease, and grassland had less change in its area but declined in its quality. A significant regional difference was observed in the land use change, which mainly concentrated in the mountain areas of the western plateau and in the northern part of southern Gobi area. Both natural (climate change and natural disasters) and social (policies, regulations, and population increase) driving factors were responsible for the land use change in Mongolia.