Application of Microhaplotypes in Sibling Kinship Testing.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of different numbers of microhaplotype (MH) loci and the introduction of different reference samples on the identification of full sibling, half sibling and differentiation between full sibling and half sibling kinships, and to explore the effect of changing mutation rate on sibling testing. METHODS: First, a family map involving three generations was established, and four full sibling identification models, five half sibling identification models and five models distinguishing full and half siblings were constructed for different reference samples introduced. Based on the results of the previous study, two sets of nonbinary SNP-MH containing 34 and 54 loci were selected. Based on the above MH loci, 100 000 pairs of full sibling vs. unrelated individuals, 100 000 pairs of half sibling vs. unrelated individuals and 100 000 pairs of full sibling vs. half sibling were simulated based on the corresponding sibling kinship testing models, and the efficacy of each sibling kinship testing model was analyzed by the likelihood ratio algorithm under different thresholds. The mutant rate of 54 MH loci was changed to analyze the effect of mutation rate on sibling identification. RESULTS: In the same relationship testing model, the systematic efficacy of sibling testing was positively correlated with the number of MH loci detected. With the same number of MH loci, the efficacy of full sibling testing was better than that of uncle or grandfather when the reference sample introduced was a full sibling of A, but there was no significant difference in the identification efficacy of the four reference samples introduced for full sibling and half sibling differentiation testing. In addition, the mutation rate had a slight effect on the efficacy of sibling kinship testing. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing the number of MH loci and introducing reference samples of known relatives can increase the efficacy of full sibling testing, half sibling testing, and differentiation between full and half sibling kinships. The level of mutation rate in sibling testing by likelihood ratio method has a slight but insignificant effect on the efficacy.

hsa-mir-3199-2 and hsa-mir-1293 as Novel Prognostic Biomarkers of Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma by COX Ratio Risk Regression Model Screening.

Papillary renal cell carcinoma(PRCC) is the second most common and aggressive renal cell carcinoma. Identification of novel microRNA biomarkers could be beneficial for the diagnosis and prognosis of PRCC patients. We aimed to screen differentially expressed miRNAs that can act as prognostic factors and to predict the survival of PRCC patients. High-throughput data of miRNAs of 274 PRCC samples were downloaded from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) dataset and interested miRNAs were identified. Hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed on these miRNAs. Critical genes that can act as prognostic factors were screened by LASSO. What's more, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) growth curve were used to testify the accuracy of the model. Biological processes of putative targets of miRNAs were analyzed by bioinformatics methods such as GO (Go Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) analysis. A total of 105 differentially expressed miRNAs were screened out in PRCC samples compared with healthy controls. Two critical miRNAs, hsa-mir-3199-2, and hsa-mir-1293, were screened out by LASSO (Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator), including 197 and 189 target genes, respectively. Furthermore, its' accuracy was testified by ROC analysis with the AUC (Area under the curve) value of 0.7774968 and 0.6743466. These miRNAs were significantly enriched in pathways as platelet activating factor biosynthetic process, epithelial cell maturation, and IkappaB kinase complex. In conclusion, hsa-mir-3199-2 and hsa-mir-1293 that can act as prognostic biomarkers of PRCC were screened out, which can provide new insights for the clinical treatment of the disease. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3488-3494, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Analysis of chemical speciation of heavy metals in L07-11 profile sediments of "Big Ear" Region of Lop Nor Lake].

As playa is the typical characteristic in "Big Ear" Region of Lop Nor Lake, it is significant for enriching playa heavy metal earth environmental chemical data by analyzing species distribution of heavy metal among this district. In this thesis, heavy metal Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu in L07-11 Profile Sediments of "Big Ears" Region of Lop Nor Lake are considered as research objects. Tessier sequential extraction and Graphite furnace atomic absorption method (GF-990) are used to discuss and analyze five forms of Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu among sediments. The results show that the content of Cd, Pb, Ni and Cu is in the range from 1.10~2.54, 9.18~20.02, 9.88~17.15, 4.43~21.11 mg · kg(-1), respectively. The value of organic matter range from 8.71-54.72 g · kg(-1). The order of the bioavailable state in heavy metals is Cd>Pb>Cu>Ni. Pb and Cd mainly exist in exchangeable form including water-soluble, and that Ni is in residual form, and that Cu is mostly in Fe-Mn oxide bound iron-manganese oxides or in residual form. Among surface sediments, effective content of heavy metal is more than 80%. Except Cu, the content of heavy metal Cd, Pb, Ni in exchangeable form is more than 60%. Heavy metal Cd and Pb has higher secondary release potential. The content of heavy metal and organic material has some correlation.

PKCδ promotes the invasion and migration of colorectal cancer through c-myc/NDRG1 pathway.

Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third cause of expected cancer deaths both in men and women in the U.S. and the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in China Targeted therapy has been proven to improve overall survival for unresectable metastatic CRC. But the location of the primary tumor or the presence of various core driver gene mutations that confer resistance may limit the utility of targeted therapy. Therefore, it is of great significance to further elucidate novel mechanisms of invasion and metastasis of CRC and find potential novel therapeutic targets. Protein Kinase C Delta (PKCδ) plays an important role in various diseases, including tumors. In CRC, the function of PKCδ on proliferation and differentiation is mostly studied but various research results were reported. Therefore, the role of PKCδ in CRC needs to be further studied, especially in tumor invasion and metastasis in CRC which few studies have looked into. Methods: The expression of PRKCD was analyzed by the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases and Immunohistochemical (IHC). Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) enrichment analysis were used to explore the biological functions and pathways related to PRKCD. Lentivirus transfection was used to construct CRC cell lines with overexpression and knock-down of PKCδ or N-myc Downstream Regulated Gene 1 (NDRG1). Cell invasion and migration assay, wound healing assay were used to detect the function of PKCδ and NDRG1 in the invasion and migration of cells. Flow cytometry analysis was used to detect the influence of PKCδ on the CRC cell cycles .Immunofluorescence histochemistry ,Immunoprecipitation Assay and qPCR were used to detect the relationship of PKCδ and NDRG1. Xenograft model was used to verify the role of PKCδ in vivo. Results: PKCδ is overexpressed in CRC and could promote Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and the invasion and migration of CRC in vitro. We confirmed that PKCδ and the tumor suppressor factor NDRG1 had a co-localization relationship in CRC. PKCδ inhibited NDRG1 transcription and protein expression. Overexpressing NDRG1 could inhibit the function of PKCδ in promoting tumor invasion and migration. PKCδ could regulate c-Myc, one transcription factor of NDRG1, to down-regulate NDRG1. In vivo, overexpressing PKCδ could promote xenograft growth and volume. Thus, our results showed that PKCδ reduced the expression of NDRG1 through c-Myc, promoting the invasion and migration of CRC through promoting EMT. Conclusion: The increased expression of PKCδ in CRC tumor tissue could promote the invasion and migration of tumor cells, and one of the mechanisms may be regulating c-Myc to inhibit the expression of NDRG1 and promote EMT.

[Analysis of Cd pollution & spatial variability characteristics of typical agricultural soils in suburbs of Urumqi City, Xinjiang].

Cd content in agricultural soils from 4 townships in north suburb and 2 townships in south suburb of Urumqi City was determined with graphite furnace (GF-990) atomic absorption spectrometry, and the spatial variability of Cd content there was analyzed with geo-statistics method. The result indicates that Cd content from the sampling points in north suburb exceeds the stipulated standard and falls into medium or strong spatial variability with nugget value > 75%, which explains a weak self-correlation among those variable spaces under mainly the impact of random factors of external pollution such as local fertilization level, irrigation and cultivation etc. Cd content from the sampling points in north suburb does not exceed the stipulated standard but approaches to the critical warning value with nugget value at 50.2%, which falls into medium self-correlation among those variable spaces. Spatial variability characteristics of Cd distribution in suburban agricultural soils of Urumqi City, Xinjiang were studied in this paper for providing scientific basic data to source analysis and control of Cd pollution in the far mLands there.

[Effects of simulated rainfall enhancement on sediment CO2 flux in dry lakebed of Barkol Lake, China]. / 模拟增雨对巴里坤湖干涸湖底沉积物CO2通量的影响.

Understanding the responses of lake sediment carbon process to climate change is an important part of a comprehensive understanding of lake carbon budget. To explore the effects of future rainfall increase on sediment carbon flux, undisturbed sediment samples were collected from the bottom of dry lake Barikun in Hami, Xinjiang for the incubation experiment. Based on the increase rate of precipitation (4 mm·10 a-1) and the distribution characteristics of rainfall in the plant growing season in Hami, Xinjiang since 1960, five rainfall treatments were set (86 mm, T0; 94 mm, T1; 102 mm, T2; 110 mm, T3; 126 mm, T4) based on the rainfall in growing season of 2016 (86 mm). We analyzed the effects of rainfall increase on sediment CO2 flux. Results showed that compared with that before rainfall, the sediment CO2 flux increased after 1 day of rainfall in the study area. Compared with that during May to July, the CO2 flux of sediments in August to October decreased. There was no variation of CO2 accumulative emission among the T0-T3 treatments from May to October. However, the average CO2 emission rate under the T3 treatment (0.22 µmol·m-2·s-1) was significantly higher than that under the T4 treatment (0.14 µmol·m-2·s-1). All treatments showed CO2 sink at the first day of rainfall (1 d), with T4 treatment (-0.13 µmol·m-2·s-1) having the highest "carbon sink" capacity. After 1 day, the CO2 sink converted to CO2 source under the five rainfall treatments, with the CO2 emission rate under T3 treatment (0.34 µmol·m-2·s-1) being significantly higher than those under other treatments. Compared with May, the CO2 emission fluxes of T2-T4 treatments were significantly higher than those at the time from August to October. Under the condition with relatively stable temperature, the CO2 flux of sediments was significantly correlated with the sediment moisture and air humidity. In the next 60 years, the continuous increase of future rainfall may be an important factor promoting CO2 emission from lake sediment in arid regions, and thus affecting global warming.

[Research on the relevance of earthworms inducing soil Cd2+ absorbed by perennial ryegrass].

Through the method of simulating the heavy metal pollution in farmland, the graphite oven (GF-990) atomic absorption was used for analyzing the regulations of the earthworms inducing the soil Cd2+ absorbed by the perennial ryegrass. The result indicated: (1) under the circumstance of the soil Cd2+ density of 3-6 mg x kg(-1), the positive relevance appeared extremely remarkably that the contents of Cd2+ in underground portions of the perennial ryegrass relate to the earthworm quantity (r = 0.883 2-0.986 2), but in the portion above ground the positive relevance did not appear extremely remarkably (r = 0.345 5-0.325 4); And the negative relevance appeared remarkably that the contents of Cd2+ in the soil relate to the earthworm quantity (r = -0.588 7(-) -0.678 4). (2) Under the conditions of isometric number of earthworms, the more the density of Cd2+ in the soil, the more the increase of Cd2+ in both portions under and above ground of perennial ryegrass. (3) Under the same soil environment, the negative relevance appeared that the number of earthworms relates to the contents of Cd2+ in the earthworms (r = -0.982 0(-) -0.991 6).

[Tolterodine tartrate combined with alpha-receptor blocker for benign prostatic hyperplasia with detrusor overactivity].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tolterodine Tartrate combined with the alpha-receptor blocker in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with detrusor overactivity (BPH-DO). METHODS: A total of 113 patients with BPH-DO were randomly assigned to receive Tolterodine Tartrate combined with Cardura (Group A) and Cardura alone (Group B), both for 12 weeks. Then we recorded and compared their average 24 h urinary frequency, IPSS and QOL score, maximum urinary flow rate, residual urine volume and urinary retention times before and after the treatment. RESULTS: After the treatment, Group A showed significantly better improvement in the average 24 h urinary frequency and scores on IPSS and QOL than Group B. No significant differences were found between the two groups in the maximum urinary flow rate and residual urine volume. No acute urinary retention occurred in either group. CONCLUSION: The combined use of Tolterodine Tartrate and the alpha-receptor blocker can effectively relieve the symptoms of dysuria, urinary frequency and urinary urgency in patients with BPH-DO, with neither significant adverse effects on the maximum flow rate and residual urine volume nor increase in the incidence of acute urinary retention.

[Effects of reduction of nitrogen fertilizer application and combined organic fertilizer on soil nematode community in winter wheat field.] / æ°®è‚¥å‡æ–½ä¸Žé æ–½æœ‰æœºè‚¥å¯¹å†¬å°éº¦åœŸå£¤çº¿è™«ç¾¤è½ç»“æž„çš„å½±å“.

Soil nematodes are one of the typical indicator organisms for soil health. To reveal the effects of reduction in nitrogen fertilizer application on soil health, we examined community structure of soil nematode under reduced nitrogen fertilizer while combined with organic fertilizer at the jointing stage of winter wheat. There were six fertilization treatments, including CF(315 kg N·hm-2, conventional fertilization), N240 (240 kg N·hm-2), N210 (210 kg N·hm-2)、N180 (180 kg N·hm-2), F150 (180 kg N·hm-2+150 kg·hm-2 fulvic acid), and F225(180 kg N·hm-2+225 kg·hm-2 fulvic acid). The results showed that: 1) The reduction of nitrogen fertilization decreased nematode number by 15.3%-68.5%. 2) Protorhabditis was the dominant genus (19.6%-50.4%) across all treatments. The reduction of nitrogen fertilizer application increased the abundance of fungivores, herbivores, and predators-omnivores, while that of bacterivores decreased first and then increased. Combined application of organic fertilizer decreased the abundance of bacterivores and fungivores, while increased that of herbivores and predators-omnivores. 3) N240 and F225 increased the Shannon diversity (H) of nematode community by 48.1% and 58.5%, respectively. The maturity index (MI) in N240 was the highest (1.95), while the structural index (SI) was the lowest in N180 (43.33). The structural index (SI) of F225 with combined application of organic fertilizer reached 62.72, but its enrichment index (EI) was lowest (80.82). In conclusion, reduced nitrogen fertilizer application and combined with organic fertilizer could improve soil nematode diversity, increase the complexity of soil food web, which would be conducive to the health and stability of agricultural ecosystem.

[Comparative analysis of endogenous hormones between two species of Ammopiptanthus seedlings around germination and under Pb2+ stress].

The changes in three endogenous hormones, phytohormones gibberrelic acid (GA3), indoles-3-acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA), were studied around germination and under tress of different density of Pb2+ between two species of Ammopiptanathus. It was found that (1) around germination, in Xinjiang Ammopiptanthus the rate IAA decreased 77.80%, and the rate of ABA decreased 98.90%; and in Mongolia Ammopiptanthus the rate of IAA decreased 75.80%, the rate of ABA decreased 66.20%, and the GA3 contents in both had no big change. (2) With the increase in Pb2+ concentration (20-1 500 mg x L(-1)), the IAA decreased significantly; and only under the high density (more than 1 000 mg x L(-1)) of Pb2+, the GA3 was affected by it; the ABA did not change regularly. So the three endogenous hormone levels of Mongolia Ammopiptanthus were higher than those of Xinjiang Ammopiptanthus. (3) the distributions of Pb2+ in Ammopiptanthus seedlings are the root > stems > leaves. (4) the stress of high concentration of Pb2+ damages irreversibly the leaf cells of Ammopiptanthus. This study can provide the basis of reference data for further research on the growth characteristics, resilience and the mechanism of specific broad-leaved evergreen shrubs-Ammopiptanthus in desertification area.

[Control of Cadmium Migration and Transformation in Alkaline Paddy Soil-Rice Using Cotton Stalk Biochar].

We investigated the effects of cotton stalk biochar addition on the soil nutrient characteristics of alkaline paddy soil and the migration and transformation of cadmium in a soil-rice system. An outdoor pot experiment was conducted with Tefengyou 2 rice as the testing material. We added cotton stalk biochar (0%, 1%, 2.5%, and 5%) in the alkaline paddy soil with cadmium content of 0, 1, 4, and 8 mg·kg-1. After rice harvesting, the effects of different concentrations of cotton stalk biochar on alkaline soil physical and chemical properties, cadmium enrichment and transfer in rice, and the occurrence of cadmium in soil were analyzed under different concentrations of cadmium stress. The results showed that ① adding cotton stalk biochar can effectively increase soil nutrient (P<0.05). After the addition of cotton stalk biochar, the organic matter increased by 25.74%-47.53%, and the available potassium content increased by 3.16-4.25 times. ② Cotton stalk carbon can reduce the cadmium content in soil and rice, especially after the application of 5% cotton stalk carbon, The cadmium content of brown rice at Cd4 and Cd8 concentrations decreased from 0.31 mg·kg-1 and 0.43 mg·kg-1 to 0.15 mg·kg-1 and 0.10 mg·kg-1, respectively, reaching the national standard. Cotton stalk biochar can significantly reduce the enrichment and transfer coefficient of cadmium in soil-rice systems and can increase the cadmium content in the residual cadmium but decrease the acid extractable cadmium, reducible cadmium, and oxidizable cadmium content (P<0.05). ③ Soil pH, conductivity, and nutrient indicators were significantly negatively correlated with cadmium content in rice and acid extractable cadmium, reducible cadmium, and oxidizable cadmium content in soil and were positively correlated with cadmium content in residual cadmium. The above results indicate that the application of cotton stalk biochar can significantly improve the soil nutrient of alkaline cadmium-contaminated paddy soil, and the application of cotton stalk biochar has a significant control effect on the migration and transformation of cadmium in alkaline soil and rice.

Overexpression of Glutathione S-transferase P1 Inhibits the Viability and Motility of Prostate Cancer via Targeting MYC and Inactivating the MEK/ERK1/2 Pathways.

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the most common malignancies of men. Glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) has been suggested to play a protective role in the prostate. The proto-oncogene MYC has been extensively proved to be a key regulator of tumor transformation from early stage to malignant. Our study aims to investigate the mechanism of GSTP1 in the biological behavior of PC. Compared with normal prostate tissues, the expression of GSTP1 was decreased in PC tissues. Conversely, the level of MYC was increased in PC tissues compared with normal tissues. MYC was convinced a direct target of GSTP1. Besides, the overexpression of GSTP1 or MYC siRNA strongly reduced cell viability via decreasing the volume of cell spheres and cell proliferation rate. GSTP1 overexpression or MYC siRNA also decreased cell motility of PC via reducing the closing rate of scratch wounds and the number of invasive cells. We further explored the underlying mechanism, and found that the level of p-MEK and p-ERK1/2 was strongly decreased in PC3 cells with pcDNA-GSTP1 or MYC siRNA transfection compared with control group. The inhibitory effect on cell viability, p-MEK and p-ERK1/2 was stronger when pcDNA-GSTP1 and MYC siRNA function together. Finally, the in vivo experiment displayed that pcDNA-GSTP1 transfection reduced tumor growth and tumor volume in PC xenografts. The decreased level of metastasis-related proteins VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and MMP (metal matrix proteinase)-9 in GSTP1 overexpression model mice was detected by immunohistochemistry. Besides, the expression of MYC, p-MEK and p-ERK1/2 was strongly inhibited in mice with pcDNA-GSTP1 transfection. Taken together, our research indicates that GSTP1 overexpression inhibits the viability and motility of PC in vitro and in vivo, and may through targeting MYC and inactivating MEK/ERK1/2 pathway.

[Effects of plastic film mulching on soil CO2 efflux and CO2 concentration in an oasis cotton field].

A field study was conducted to compare soil CO2 efflux and CO2 concentration between mulched and non-mulched cotton fields by using closed chamber method and diffusion chamber technique. Soil CO2 efflux and CO2 concentration exhibited a similar seasonal pattern, decreasing from July to October. Mulched field had a lower soil CO2 efflux but a higher CO2 concentration, compared to those of non-mulched fields. Over the measurement period, cumulative CO2 efflux was 1871.95 kg C . hm-2 for mulched field and 2032.81 kg C . hm-2 for non-mulched field. Soil CO2 concentration was higher in mulched field (ranging from 5137 to 25945 µL . L-1) than in non- mulched field (ranging from 2165 to 23986 µL . L-1). The correlation coefficients between soil CO2 concentrations at different depths and soil CO2 effluxes were 0.60 to 0.73 and 0.57 to 0.75 for the mulched and non-mulched fields, indicating that soil CO2 concentration played a crucial role in soil CO2 emission. The Q10 values were 2.77 and 2.48 for the mulched and non-mulched fields, respectively, suggesting that CO2 efflux in mulched field was more sensitive to the temperature.

Intermittent tri-weekly docetaxel plus bicalutamide in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: a single-arm prospective study using a historical control for comparison.

Whether continuous docetaxel (DTX) chemotherapy offers an advantage over intermittent therapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is unknown. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy, toxicity and quality of life (QoL) of intermittent tri-weekly DTX with bicalutamide in CRPC. Forty-two patients (group A) with CRPC were enrolled. The patients received intravenous DTX (75 mg m(-2)) once tri-weekly with oral bicalutamide (50 mg) once daily. Patients had a DTX holiday when the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level declined ≥50%. DTX was restarted in patients with a PSA increase ≥25%. Sixty patients (group B) who had matching characteristics and had continuously received DTX without bicalutamide for 10-12 cycles were also enrolled. There were no statistically significant differences in progression-free survival (8 months vs. 9 months, P=0.866) or overall survival (19 months vs. 21 months, P=0.753) between groups A and B; however, the proportions of patients in group A with all grades of neutropenia (33% vs. 58%, P=0.013) and nausea/vomiting (11% vs. 29%, P=0.024) were significantly less compared to group B. A significant improvement in the global health and fatigue scores was recorded for group A post-chemotherapy compared to pre-chemotherapy (P<0.05). The fatigue, nausea/vomiting and appetite loss scores in group B were increased post-chemotherapy compared to pre-chemotherapy (P<0.05). In conclusion, intermittent tri-weekly DTX plus bicalutamide is well tolerated and has the potential to achieve comparable disease control with an improvement in QoL for patients with CRPC.