Preliminary Investigation and Imaging Analysis of Early Lung Cancer Screening Among Petroleum Workers in North China.

BACKGROUND: The detection rate of lung nodules has increased significantly among petroleum workers in North China since the low-dose CT (LDCT) screening has been widely carried out. What's more, the number of confirmed early lung cancers is increasing continuously. Therefore, a great deal of concern for the high risk of lung cancer has been shown among petroleum workers. PURPOSE: To improve the screening efficiency and maximize the benefits of the subjects, the current situation of LDCT lung cancer screening should be understood and the imaging characteristics of early lung cancer should be analyzed for petroleum workers in North China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Firstly, the dynamic changes of LDCT early lung cancer screening for petroleum workers in North China were analyzed in recent years. Then, the survey data of 3121 petroleum workers was compared with that of 1868 non-petroleum workers, which was analyzed. Finally, 91 patients (129 nodular lung cancer) confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed, and the data of which was compared with the clinical features obtained from survey data above. The imaging characteristics and related factors of different subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma were discussed and analyzed. RESULTS: Lung nodules were found in 810 cases (25.95%) out of 3121 petroleum workers; and the surgery was chosen by 42 patients, 38 of whom were confirmed as lung cancer. Compared with the data of screened petroleum workers, there were more older people and more females as well as a higher proportion of people with family malignancy history, and a lower proportion of smoking people in 91 patients with lung cancer. As the pathological grade of tumor nodules increased, the volume and diameter of nodules gradually increased, and the mean density, maximum density and standard deviation of density also increased (p < 0.001). The volume and diameter of nodules were positively correlated with ages (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of lung adenocarcinoma is closely related to the family history of malignant tumors, and the constituent ratio of young women without a history of smoking increased significantly. At the same time, the quantitative information obtained by using CT images has important value in predicting its pathological subtypes.

[Response of root dynamics to nitrogen addition and the influencing factors in a Tibetan alpine steppe, China]. / é’è—é«˜åŽŸé«˜å¯’è‰åŽŸæ ¹ç³»åŠ¨æ€å¯¹æ°®æ·»åŠ çš„å“åº”åŠå ¶è°ƒæŽ§å› ç´ .

A field manipulative experiment was carried out during 2015 and 2016 to examine the changes and influencing factors of root production, turnover rate, and standing crop under different nitrogen (N) addition levels, i.e., 0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 g N·m-2·a-1, in a Tibetan alpine steppe. The results showed that root production and standing crop decreased linearly or exponentially with increasing N addition rates. Compared with control, 16 g N·m-2·a-1 significantly reduced the two-year average root production and standing crop by 43.0% and 45.7%, respectively. Root turnover rate increased first and then decreased along the N addition gradient, with the maximum appearing under 2 and 4 g N·m-2·a-1 treatments for 2015 and 2016, respectively. Results from linear mixed-effects models showed that root starch content was the main factor modulating the N-induced changes in root production and turnover rate, explaining 21.7% and 25.4% of their variations. Root protein content mainly contributed to the variations in standing crop, with an explanation of 20.8% of its variance. Overall, N addition had negative effect on root production and standing crop, and low N promoted while high N inhibited root turnover rate. Root metabolic parameters were the main factors modulating the N-induced changes in root dynamics.

[Ecological quality assessment of Xiongan New Area based on remote sensing ecological index]. / 基于遥感生态指数的雄安新区生态质量评估.

The continuous urbanization leads to increasing pressure on the ecological environment. It is a key point to measure regional ecological environment quality objectively, accurately and quickly from multiple directions in ecological research. In this study, the normalized vegetation index (NDVI), wet index (WET), land surface temperature (LST), and normalized difference building-soil index (NDBSI) were extracted from the aspects of greenness, humidity, heat and dryness. The ecological quality of Xiongan New Area between 1995 and 2015 was evaluated by integrating selected indicators to measure the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) with principal component analysis technology based on ENVI platform. The results showed that the average RSEI of Xiongan New Area was 0.724, 0.710, and 0.682 in 1995, 2004 and 2015, respectively, showing a downward trend. RSEI mainly changed from 4, 5 to 1, 2 and 3 in the study area from 1995 to 2015. Ecological quality improved and deteriorated area accounted for 8.9% and 20.9% of the total area respectively. The ecological quality improved area was mainly located in the east and south of Xiongxian County, because a large area of forests and gardens was highly valued and strictly protected by the local government. The ecological quality deteriorated area was in the periphery of the town and the surrounding area of Baiyangdian due to the sharp decline of the water area of Baiyangdian and the continuous urbanization. The three-year average correlation coefficient between RSEI and each component index was 0.804, which was higher than that between other component indices. Our results showed that RSEI could efficiently integrate the information of each component index and comprehensively and accurately reflect the ecological quality of the study area.

[Assessment and early warning of land ecological security in rapidly urbanizing coastal area: A case study of Caofeidian new district, Hebei, China].

Assessment and early warning of land ecological security (LES) in rapidly urbanizing coastal area is an important issue to ensure sustainable land use and effective maintenance of land ecological security. In this study, an index system for the land ecological security of Caofeidian new district was established based on the Pressure-State-Response (P-S-R) model. Initial assessment units of 1 km x 1 km created with the remote sensing data and GIS methods were spatially interpolated to a fine pixel size of 30 m x 30 m, which were combined with the early warning method (using classification tree method) to evaluate the land ecological security of Caofeidian in 2005 and 2013. The early warning level was classed into four categories: security with degradation potential, sub-security with slow degradation, sub-security with rapid degradation, and insecurity. Result indicated that, from 2005 to 2013, the average LES of Caofeidian dropped from 0.55 to 0.52, indicating a degradation of land ecological security from medium security level to medium-low security level. The areas at the levels of insecurity with rapid degradation were mainly located in the rapid urbanization areas, illustrating that rapid expansion of urban construction land was the key factor to the deterioration of the regional land ecological security. Industrial District, Shilihai town and Nanpu saltern, in which the lands at the levels of insecurity and sub-security with rapid degradation or slow degradation accounted for 58.3%, 98.9% and 81.2% of their respective districts, were at the stage of high early warning. Thus, land ecological security regulation for these districts should be strengthened in near future. The study could provide a reference for land use planning and ecological protection of Caofeidian new district.

Plausible mechanism of melamine-related urinary calculi formation in children: a model description.

OBJECTIVE: To explore melamine-related urinary calculi (MRUC) formation mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four MRUC and 19 adult urinary stones (serving as controls) were included. Stone calcium, uric acid, creatinine, creatine, melamine, and cyanuric acid levels were measured quantitatively using flame atomic absorption spectrum and high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The structure of extractions from MRUC and controls, artificial melamine-cyanurate assemblies, chromatographic-grade uric acid, creatine, and creatinine were investigated by transmission electron microscope. RESULTS: Creatinine and creatine levels in MRUC were significant higher than those in controls (P = .000., 008). There were positive correlations between MRUC creatinine level and creatine and uric acid levels (r = .854, 0.846, P = .002, 001). However, no relationship was found between MRUC-children's blood biochemical indexes and stone indexes (P > .05). Compared with noncalcium oxalate-containing MRUC, calcium oxalate-containing MRUC had more melamine and cyanuric acid but without significance (P = .497). No relationship was found between MRUC calcium level and melamine and cyanurate levels (P = .481). Networks only observed in extractions from MRUC core area were very similar to those in artificial melamine-cyanurate assemblies. The single molecule size of creatine, creatinine, and uric acid was less than the mesh observed both in MRUC and artificial melamine-cyanurate assemblies. CONCLUSION: This study primarily illustrates existence of networks in MRUC. Smaller molecules in urine, especially acidic molecules, are probably trapped in the mesh within renal tubule provided by melamine-cyanurate assemblies networks based on its molecule sievelike effect and alkaline nature, which induces nucleation in MRUC formation.