Integrating land-sea coordination into construction of an ecological security pattern for urban agglomeration: a case study in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The construction of ecological security pattern (ESP) is of great scientific significance for solving the problem of habitat fragmentation in urban environment. However, previous studies mainly focused on the ESP in land area, leaving the sea area to be ignored. This study took the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and its offshore area as an example and integrated the land-sea coordination into the construction of ESP based on the minimum resistance model, gravity model, and graph theory centrality. The results showed that there are 171 and 56 ecological sources for land area and offshore area, accounting for 31.46% and 21.51% of total area, respectively. Twenty-four important ecological corridors with a total length of 2738.05 km were identified in GBA, and the width is proposed to be less than 100 m. Moreover, the α, ß, and γ index of the ecological network in the study area is 0.19, 1.33, and 0.5, respectively, indicating that the ecological network structure is complex and the connectivity between ecological nodes is good. The ecological restoration area includes 286.6 km2 of ecological pinch points and 140.44 km2 of ecological barrier. The overall ESP of the study area is "one ring, two belts, and four zones." The main body of the area with a superior ecological environment is distributed in a ring-like pattern near the outer edge of the study area, and two belts (important ecological corridor and ecological corridor) are distributed in a network. According to the ecological characteristics, the study area was divided into four zones: ecological preservation areas, ecological restoration areas, limited construction areas, and optimized construction areas. The ESP established herein institute provides a reference for the revision of ecological space control and optimization measures in the GBA. It also provides effective and systematic means to solve ecological problems in the current territorial spatial planning and territorial ecological restoration of coastal urban agglomeration.

NEDD9 expression is correlated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition markers in colorectal cancer.

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical step in tumor metastasis. NEDD9 has been shown to be an oncogene in colorectal cancer. However, little is known about the relationship between NEDD9 and EMT in colorectal cancer metastasis. A total of 63 pairs of freshly frozen colorectal cancer tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues were evaluated for NEDD9 gene expression using quantitative real-time PCR. The expression of NEDD9 and three epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins (E-cadherin, ß-catenin and vimentin) was examined in 122 colorectal cancers by immunohistochemistry. The expression of NEDD9 was markedly increased in colorectal cancer tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues. The expression level of NEDD9 was positively correlated and TNM stage but not with other clinicopathological features of colorectal tumors. Furthermore, the expression of NEDD9 was strongly associated with the loss of epithelial marker E-cadherin and acquired expression of the mesenchymal markers nuclear ß-catenin and vimentin. These findings suggested that NEDD9 might promote EMT and the progression of colorectal cancer, and thus may be a potential therapeutic target of colorectal cancers.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene 2350 G/A polymorphism and susceptibility to atrial fibrillation in Han Chinese patients with essential hypertension.

OBJECTIVE: The angiotensin-converting enzyme gene is one of the most studied candidate genes related to atrial fibrillation. Among the polymorphisms of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene, the 2350 G/A polymorphism (rs4343) is known to have the most significant effects on the plasma angiotensin-converting enzyme concentration. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2350 G/A polymorphism with atrial fibrillation in Han Chinese patients with essential hypertension. METHODS: A total of 169 hypertensive patients were eligible for this study. Patients with atrial fibrillation (n = 75) were allocated to the atrial fibrillation group, and 94 subjects without atrial fibrillation were allocated to the control group. The PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism technique was used to assess the genotype frequencies. RESULTS: The distributions of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2350 G/A genotypes (GG, GA, and AA, respectively) were 40.43%, 41.49%, and 18.08% in the controls and 18.67%, 46.67%, and 34.66% in the atrial fibrillation subjects (p = 0.037). The frequency of the A allele in the atrial fibrillation group was significantly greater than in the control group (58.00% vs. 38.83%, p = 0.0007). Compared with the wild-type GG genotype, the GA and AA genotypes had an increased risk for atrial fibrillation. Additionally, atrial fibrillation patients with the AA genotype had greater left atrial dimensions than the patients with the GG or GA genotypes (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study indicate that the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2350 G/A polymorphism is associated with atrial fibrillation and that the A allele shows an increased risk for atrial fibrillation in Han Chinese patients with essential hypertension.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene 2350 G/A polymorphism and susceptibility to atrial fibrillation in Han Chinese patients with essential hypertension

OBJECTIVE: The angiotensin-converting enzyme gene is one of the most studied candidate genes related to atrial fibrillation. Among the polymorphisms of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene, the 2350 G/A polymorphism (rs4343) is known to have the most significant effects on the plasma angiotensin-converting enzyme concentration. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2350 G/A polymorphism with atrial fibrillation in Han Chinese patients with essential hypertension. METHODS: A total of 169 hypertensive patients were eligible for this study. Patients with atrial fibrillation (n = 75) were allocated to the atrial fibrillation group, and 94 subjects without atrial fibrillation were allocated to the control group. The PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism technique was used to assess the genotype frequencies. RESULTS: The distributions of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2350 G/A genotypes (GG, GA, and AA, respectively) were 40.43%, 41.49%, and 18.08% in the controls and 18.67%, 46.67%, and 34.66% in the atrial fibrillation subjects (p = 0.037). The frequency of the A allele in the atrial fibrillation group was significantly greater than in the control group (58.00% vs. 38.83%, p = 0.0007). Compared with the wild-type GG genotype, the GA and AA genotypes had an increased risk for atrial fibrillation. Additionally, atrial fibrillation patients with the AA genotype had greater left atrial dimensions than the patients with the GG or GA genotypes (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study indicate that the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2350 G/A polymorphism is associated with atrial fibrillation and that the A allele shows an increased risk for atrial fibrillation in Han Chinese patients with essential hypertension. .

[Protective effect of reduced glutathione on multiple organ function in patient with acute pancreatitis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the protective effect of reduced glutathione (GSH) on multiple organ function in patient with acute pancreatitis. METHODS: A total of 45 patients with acute pancreatitis was randomly divided into two groups, 22 patients were given GSH in a dose of 1.2 g/d through intravenous drip for 7 days as GSH group, and 23 patients were not given GSH to serve as control group. The same treatment was given to both groups other than GSH. Plasma contents of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and biochemistry indexes were determined. RESULTS: After the treatment, the levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were significantly decreased in both groups (all P<0.05). The levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were decreased much more obviously in GSH group compared with those in control group (P<0.05). Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), and MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CK-MB) were significantly decreased in both treatment groups, but the decrease of all these indexes was more marked in GSH group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that GSH has beneficial effects in protecting visceral organ function in patients with acute pancreatitis.