Medical expenditure for lung cancer in China: a multicenter, hospital-based retrospective survey.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer, and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in China. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct medical expenditure incurred for lung cancer care and analyze the trend therein for the period 2002-2011 using nationally representative data in China METHODS: This study was based on 10-year, multicenter retrospective expenditure data collected from hospital records, covering 15,437 lung cancer patients from 13 provinces diagnosed during the period 2002-2011. All expenditure data were adjusted to 2011 to eliminate the effects of inflation using China's annual consumer price index. RESULTS: The direct medical expenditure for lung cancer care (in 2011) was 39,015 CNY (US$6,041) per case, with an annual growth rate of 7.55% from 2002 to 2011. Drug costs were the highest proportionally in the total medical expenditure (54.27%), followed by treatment expenditure (14.32%) and surgical expenditure (8.10%). Medical expenditures for the disease varied based on region, hospital level, type, and stage. CONCLUSION: The medical expenditure for lung cancer care is substantial in China. Drug costs and laboratory test are the main factors increasing medical costs.

Health-related quality of life of patients with colorectal neoplasms in China: A multicenter cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aimed to clarify health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with colorectal precancer and colorectal cancer (CRC) in China and to better understand related utility scores. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in precancer and CRC patients from 2012 to 2014, covering 12 provinces in China. HRQoL was assessed with EuroQol 5-Dimensions 3-Levels. Utility scores were derived using Chinese value set. A multivariate regression model was established to explore potential predictors of utility scores. RESULTS: A total of 376 precancer (mean age 58.7 years, 61.2% men) and 2470 CRC patients (mean age 58.6 years, 57.6% men) were included. In five dimensions, there was a certain percentage of problem reported among precancer (range: 12.0% to 36.7%) and CRC (range: 32.4% to 50.3%) patients, with pain/discomfort being the most serious dimension. Utility scores of precancer and CRC patients were 0.870 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.855-0.886) and 0.751 (95% CI, 0.742-0.759), both of which were lower than those of general Chinese population (0.960 [95% CI, 0.960-0.960]). Utilities for patients at stage I to stage IV were 0.742 (95% CI, 0.715-0.769), 0.722 (95% CI, 0.705-0.740), 0.756 (95% CI, 0.741-0.772), and 0.745 (95% CI, 0.742-0.767), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that therapeutic regimen, time point of the interview, education, occupation, annual household income, and geographic region were associated with utilities of CRC patients. CONCLUSION: Health-related quality of life of both precancer and CRC patients in China declined considerably. Utility scores differed by sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and findings of these utilities may facilitate implementation of further cost-utility evaluations.

Short-term impact of breast cancer screening intervention on health-related quality of life in China: A multicentre cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: The impact of participating in breast cancer screening programmes on health-related quality of life (HRQoL)is poorly understood. METHODS: Based on a national breast cancer screening programme in China, a multicentre cross-sectional survey was conducted covering 12 provinces from September 2013 to December 2014. HRQoL of participants in the screening population and general population was evaluated by the three-levelEuroQol-five-Dimensions (EQ-5D-3L) instrument, and utility scores were generated through the Chinese value set. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to explore determinants of utility scores and anxiety/depression problems. RESULTS: For screening group and general population (n = 4756, mean age = 51.6 year old), the corresponding utility scores were 0.937 (95% CI, 0.933-0.941) and 0.953 (0.949-0.957) (P < .001). Pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression were the most common reported in both groups (51.4% and 34.3%, P < .001). Utility scores at prescreening, in-screening, and postscreening interview timings were 0.928 (0.921-0.935), 0.958 (0.948-0.969), and 0.938 (0.933-0.943), respectively (P < .001); the corresponding proportions of anxiety/depression reporting were 25.9%, 16.3%, and 21.1%, respectively (P = .004). Interview timing, geographical region, and insurance status were associated with HRQoL and anxiety/depression in women at high-risk of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Utility scores of screening participants were significantly lower than that of general population in China, but the difference may be clinically insignificant. Further cohort studies using HRQoL measurements are needed.

miR­155 mediates inflammatory injury of hippocampal neuronal cells via the activation of microglia.

MicroRNA (miR)­155 has a crucial role in various cellular functions, including differentiation of hematopoietic cells, immunization, inflammation and cardiovascular diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the roles and mechanisms of miR­155 in treatment­resistant depression (TRD). A Cell Counting Kit­8 assay and flow cytometry were performed to assess the cell viability and apoptosis of microglial cells, respectively. Western blotting and reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays were used to evaluate the associated protein and mRNA expression, respectively. The results revealed that miR­155 reduced the cell viability of BV­2 microglial cells, and miR­155 enhanced the expression levels of pro­inflammatory cytokines in BV­2 microglial cells. Furthermore, conditioned medium from miR­155­treated microglia decreased the cell viability of HT22 hippocampal cells. miR­155­treated microglia increased the apoptosis of neuronal hippocampal cells by modulating the expression levels of apoptosis regulator Bax, apoptosis regulator Bcl­2, pro­caspase­3 and cleaved­caspase­3. The cell cycle distribution was disrupted by miR­155­treated microglia through induction of S phase arrest. Furthermore, the overexpression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 reversed the pro­apoptotic effect of activated microglia on hippocampal neuronal cells. In conclusion, the present results suggested that miR­155 mediated the inflammatory injury in hippocampal neuronal cells by activating the microglial cells. The potential effects of miR­155 on the activation of microglial cells suggest that miR­155 may be an effective target for TRD therapies.

Brønsted acid-catalysed regiodivergent phosphorylation of 2-indolylmethanols to synthesize benzylic site or C3-phosphorylated indole derivatives.

A Brønsted acid catalysed regiodivergent phosphorylation of 2-indolylmethanols with diarylphosphine oxides has been established, which provides a brand-new strategy for accessing highly functionalized phosphorus-containing indoles with structural diversity. Under the catalysis of HOTs·H2O, 2-indolylmethanols undergo regioselective benzylic phosphorylation at room temperature to afford benzylic site phosphorylated indoles in good to high yields (29 examples, up to 98% yield), while C3-phosphorylated indoles are obtained in the presence of HOTf under heating conditions (16 examples, up to 83% yield). Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that C3-phosphorylated indoles are possibly obtained partially from direct C3-phosphorylation and dominantly from a tandem benzylic phosphorylation/[1,3]-P migration/isomerization sequence from 2-indolylmethanols. Furthermore, the acidity of the Brønsted acid and the reaction temperature play a vital role in the [1,3]-P migration of benzylic phosphorylated indoles to form C3-phosphorylated indoles. This protocol serves as a good example for regioselective benzylic functionalization of 2-indolylmethanols.

Medical expenses of urban Chinese patients with stomach cancer during 2002-2011: a hospital-based multicenter retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: In China, stomach cancer is the third most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death. Few studies have examined Chinese stomach cancer patients' medical expenses and their associated trends. The Cancer Screening Program in Urban China (CanSPUC) is a Major Public Health Project funded by the central government. Through this project, we have extracted patients' medical expenses from hospital billing data to examine the costs of the first course treatments (which refers to 2 months before and 10 months after the date of cancer diagnosis) in Chinese patients with stomach cancer and the associated trends. METHODS: The expense data of 14,692 urban Chinese patients with stomach cancer were collected from 40 hospitals in 13 provinces. We estimated the inflation-adjusted medical expenses per patient during 2002-2011. We described the time trends of medical expenses at the country-level, and those trends by subgroup, and analyzed the compositions of medical expenses. We constructed the Generalized Linear Mixed (GLM) regression model with Poisson distribution to examine the factors that were associated with medical expenses per patient. RESULTS: The average medical expenses of the first course treatments were about 43,249 CNY (6851 USD) in 2011, more than twice of that in 2002. The expenses increased by an average annual rate of 7.4%. Longer stay during hospitalization and an increased number of episodes of care are the two main contributors to the expense increase. The upward trend of medical expenses was observed in almost all patient subgroups. Drug expenses accounted for over half of the medical expenses. CONCLUSIONS: The average medical expenses of the first course (2 months before and 10 months after the date of cancer diagnosis) treatments per stomach cancer patient in urban China in 2011 were doubled during the previous 10 years, and about twice as high as the per capita disposable income of urban households in the same year. Such high expenses indicate that it makes economic sense to invest in cancer prevention and control in China.

Health-related quality of life and utility scores of patients with breast neoplasms in China: A multicenter cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life and utility scores of patients with breast cancer and precancerous lesions are sparse in China. This study aimed to derive utility scores of patients with breast cancer and precancer in China. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An interviewer-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted in 12 provinces across China from 2013 to 2014. The three-level EuroQol-5-Dimension instrument was used to evaluate quality of life, and utility scores were generated using the Chinese value set. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the determinants of utility scores. RESULTS: In total, 2626 breast cancer and 471 precancer patients were included. Mean age was 49.1 for breast cancer and 41.4 years for precancer (p < 0.001). Among the five dimensions, pain/discomfort was the most reported problem, 53.9% in breast cancer and 29.3% in precancer patients. Mean (95% CI) utility scores for breast cancer and precancer patients were estimated as 0.887 (0.875-0.899) and 0.781 (0.774-0.788), and the scores of breast cancer at stage-I, stage-II, stage-III and stage-IV were 0.789 (0.774-0.805), 0.793 (0.783-0.802), 0.774 (0.759-0.788) and 0.686 (0.654-0.717), respectively. Mean (95% CI) visual analogue scale scores for breast cancer and precancer were 75.6 (74.0-77.3) and 72.8 (72.3-73.3). Multiple regression showed advanced clinical stage, lower educational level, lower household income, surgery treatment, and undergoing treatment were independently associated with lower utility scores for breast cancer patients. CONCLUSION: The utility scores deteriorate with the severity of breast neoplasms. Detailed utility scores of breast cancer and precancer are fundamental for further cost-utility analysis in China.

Medical expenditure for liver cancer in urban China: A 10-year multicenter retrospective survey (2002-2011).

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand the medical expenditure for liver cancer during 2002-2011 in urban areas of China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study. Based on a stratified cluster sampling method, a medical expenditure survey collected basic personal information from related medical records. Two-tailed independent sample t-test, variance analysis, and Student-Newman-Keuls Tests were used in cost analysis for the corresponding data types. RESULTS: A total of 12,342 liver cancer patients were included in the analysis. Overall average medical expenditure per case for liver cancer diagnosis and treatment in China has increased from ¥21, 950 to ¥40, 386 over the study period. For each liver cancer patient diagnosed between 2009 and 2011, the average expenditures were 29,332 CNY for stage I, 35,754 CNY for stage II, 34,288 CNY for stage III, and 30,275 CNY for stage IV diseases (P < 0.001). Pharmaceuticals accounted for the biggest part of the medical expenditure and it rose from 48.01% to 52.96% during these ten years, and the share of nursing fee expenses was the lowest (around 1%). Over the entire 10-year data period, the per capita expenditure of the east region (32,983 CNY) was higher than that of the west region (26,219 CNY) and slightly higher than the central region (31,018 CNY, P < 0.001). DISCUSSION: As a major cancer in China, liver cancer accounts for a large portion of health economic burden and its medical expenditure is heavy for families. Early diagnosis and treatment for liver cancer will save medical expenditure. CONCLUSION: The economic burden of liver cancer is high in China and related medical expenditure has increased.

Medical and non-medical expenditure for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in China: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

AIM: We aimed to assess economic burden of breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and treatment in China through a multicenter cross-sectional study, and to obtain theoretical evidence for policy-making. METHODS: This survey was conducted in 37 hospital centers across 13 provinces in China from September 2012 to December 2014. We collected information on the subject characteristics. We then assessed the medical and non-medical expenditure for BC diagnosis and treatment, factors influencing the average case expense, variations between medical and non-medical expenditure at different clinical stages, economic impact of overall expenditure in newly diagnosed course after reimbursement to the patient's family, composition of non-medical expenditure and time loss for the patient and family. RESULTS: Among 2746 women with BC (72.6% were admitted to specialized hospitals), the overall average expenditure was US $8450 (medical expenditure: $7527; non-medical expenditure: $922). Significant differences were found among the overall expenditure in the four clinical stages (P < 0.0001); the expenditure was higher in stages III and IV than that in stages I and II, whereas the stage IV was the highest (P < 0.0001). Moreover, a higher self-reported predicted reimbursement ratio was associated with a less economic impact on the patient's family, and the average time lost was estimated as $1529. CONCLUSIONS: Early detection and treatment of breast cancer might be effective for decreasing the economic burden, because costs escalate as the degree of malignancy increases.

Medical expenditure for esophageal cancer in China: a 10-year multicenter retrospective survey (2002-2011).

BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer is associated with substantial disease burden in China, and data on the economic burden are fundamental for setting priorities in cancer interventions. The medical expenditure for the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer in China has not been fully quantified. This study aimed to examine the medical expenditure of Chinese patients with esophageal cancer and the associated trends. METHODS: From 2012 to 2014, a hospital-based multicenter retrospective survey was conducted in 37 hospitals in 13 provinces/municipalities across China as a part of the Cancer Screening Program of Urban China. For each esophageal cancer patient diagnosed between 2002 and 2011, clinical information and expense data were extracted by using structured questionnaires. All expense data were reported in Chinese Yuan (CNY; 1 CNY = 0.155 USD) based on the 2011 value and inflated using the year-specific health care consumer price index for China. RESULTS: A total of 14,967 esophageal cancer patients were included in the analysis. It was estimated that the overall average expenditure per patient was 38,666 CNY, and an average annual increase of 6.27% was observed from 2002 (25,111 CNY) to 2011 (46,124 CNY). The average expenditures were 34,460 CNY for stage I, 39,302 CNY for stage II, 40,353 CNY for stage III, and 37,432 CNY for stage IV diseases (P < 0.01). The expenditure also differed by the therapy type, which was 38,492 CNY for surgery, 27,933 CNY for radiotherapy, and 27,805 CNY for chemotherapy (P < 0.05). Drugs contributed to 45.02% of the overall expenditure. CONCLUSIONS: These conservative estimates suggested that medical expenditures for esophageal cancer in China substantially increased in the last 10 years, treatment for early-stage esophageal cancer costs less than that for advanced cases, and spending on drugs continued to account for a considerable proportion of the overall expenditure.

Expenditure and financial burden for the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer in China: a hospital-based, multicenter, cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in China and the paucity of information about relevant expenditure highlight the necessity of better understanding the financial burden and effect of CRC diagnosis and treatment. We performed a survey to quantify the direct medical and non-medical expenditure as well as the resulting financial burden of CRC patients in China. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, cross-sectional survey in 37 tertiary hospitals in 13 provinces across China between 2012 and 2014. Each enrolled patient was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. All expenditure data were inflated to the 2014 Chinese Yuan (CNY; 1 CNY = 0.163 USD). We quantified the overall expenditure and financial burden and by subgroup (hospital type, age at diagnosis, sex, education, occupation, insurance type, household income, clinical stage, pathologic type, and therapeutic regimen). We then performed generalized linear modeling to determine the factors associated with overall expenditure. RESULTS: A total of 2356 patients with a mean age of 57.4 years were included, 57.1% of whom were men; 13.9% of patients had stage I cancer; and the average previous-year household income was 54,525 CNY. The overall average direct expenditure per patient was estimated to be 67,408 CNY, and the expenditures for stage I, II, III, and IV disease were 56,099 CNY, 59,952 CNY, 67,292 CNY, and 82,729 CNY, respectively. Non-medical expenditure accounted for 8.3% of the overall expenditure. The 1-year out-of-pocket expenditure of a newly diagnosed patient was 32,649 CNY, which accounted for 59.9% of their previous-year household income and caused 75.0% of families to suffer an unmanageable financial burden. Univariate analysis showed that financial burden and overall expenditure differed in almost all subgroups (P < 0.05), except for sex. Multivariate analysis showed that patients who were treated in specialized hospitals and those who were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma or diagnosed at a later stage were likely to spend more, whereas those with a lower household income and those who underwent surgery spent less (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: For patients in China, direct expenditure for the diagnosis and treatment of CRC seemed catastrophic, and non-medical expenditure was non-ignorable. The financial burden varied among subgroups, especially among patients with different clinical stages of disease, which suggests that, in China, CRC screening might be cost-effective.

RelB/NF-κB links cell cycle transition and apoptosis to endometrioid adenocarcinoma tumorigenesis.

Dysfunction of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling has been causally associated with numerous human malignancies. Although the NF-κB family of genes has been implicated in endometrial carcinogenesis, information regarding the involvement of central regulators of NF-κB signaling in human endometrial cancer (EC) is limited. Here, we investigated the specific roles of canonical and noncanonical NF-κB signaling in endometrial tumorigenesis. We found that NF-κB RelB protein, but not RelA, displayed high expression in EC samples and cell lines, with predominant elevation in endometrioid adenocarcinoma (EEC). Moreover, tumor cell-intrinsic RelB was responsible for the abundant levels of c-Myc, cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, which are key regulators of cell cycle transition, apoptosis and proliferation in EEC. In contrast, p27 expression was enhanced by RelB depletion. Thus, increased RelB in human EC is associated with enhanced EEC cell growth, leading to endometrial cell tumorigenicity. Our results reveal that regulatory RelB in noncanonical NF-κB signaling may serve as a therapeutic target to block EC initiation.

Halofuginone alleviates acute viral myocarditis in suckling BALB/c mice by inhibiting TGF-ß1.

Viral myocarditis (VMC) is an inflammation of heart muscle in infants and young adolescents. This study explored the function of halofuginone (HF) in Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) -treated suckling mice. HF-treated animal exhibited higher survival rate, lower heart/body weight, and more decreased blood sugar concentration than CVB3 group. HF also reduced the expressions of interleukin(IL)-17 and IL-23 and the numbers of Th17 cells. Moreover, HF downregulated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and increased anti-inflammatory cytokine levels. The expressions of transforming growth factor(TGF-ß1) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B (NF-κB) p65/ tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) proteins were decreased by HF as well. Finally, the overexpression of TGF-ß1 counteracted the protection effect of HF in CVB3-treated suckling mice. In summary, our study suggests HF increases the survival of CVB3 suckling mice, reduces the Th17 cells and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, and may through downregulation of the TGF-ß1-mediated expression of NF-κB p65/TNF-α pathway proteins. These results offer a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of VMC.

Imagery perspective among young athletes: Differentiation between external and internal visual imagery.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the construct of external visual imagery (EVI) vs. internal visual imagery (IVI) by comparing the athletes' imagery ability with their levels of skill and types of sports. METHODS: Seventy-two young athletes in open (n = 45) or closed (n = 27) sports and with different skill levels completed 2 custom-designed tasks. The EVI task involved the subject generating and visualizing the rotated images of different body parts, whereas the IVI task involved the subject visualizing himself or herself performing specific movements. RESULTS: The significant Skill-Level × Sport Type interactions for the EVI task revealed that participants who specialized in open sports and had higher skill-levels had a higher accuracy rate as compared to the other subgroups. For the IVI task, the differences between the groups were less clear: those with higher skill-levels or open sports had a higher accuracy rate than those with lower skill-levels or closed sports. CONCLUSION: EVI involves the visualization of others and the environment, and would be relevant to higher skill-level athletes who engage in open sports. IVI, in contrast, tends to be more self-oriented and would be relevant for utilization by higher skill-level athletes regardless of sport type.

Conformational Change of Self-Assembled DNA Nanotubes Induced by Two-Photon Excitation.

Two-photon-regulated, shape-changing DNA nanostructures are demonstrated by integrating a DNA nanotube with a two-photon photocleavable module that enables the opening of the cavities of tube, and becomes partially single-stranded in response to two-photon excitation under 800 nm fs laser pulses.

Regulation of neuronal input transformations by tunable dendritic inhibition.

Transforming synaptic input into action potential output is a fundamental function of neurons. The pattern of action potential output from principal cells of the mammalian hippocampus encodes spatial and nonspatial information, but the cellular and circuit mechanisms by which neurons transform their synaptic input into a given output are unknown. Using a combination of optical activation and cell type-specific pharmacogenetic silencing in vitro, we found that dendritic inhibition is the primary regulator of input-output transformations in mouse hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells, and acts by gating the dendritic electrogenesis driving burst spiking. Dendrite-targeting interneurons are themselves modulated by interneurons targeting pyramidal cell somata, providing a synaptic substrate for tuning pyramidal cell output through interactions in the local inhibitory network. These results provide evidence for a division of labor in cortical circuits, where distinct computational functions are implemented by subtypes of local inhibitory neurons.

Boron-containing two-photon-absorbing chromophores. 3. One- and two-photon photophysical properties of p-carborane-containing fluorescent bioprobes.

Boron-containing two-photon-absorbing fluorophores have been prepared as new bifunctional molecules, potentially useful in two-photon excited microscopy (TPEM) and boron neutron capture therapy. They are based on a one-dimensional conjugated system containing a p-carborane entity at one end of the molecule and various electron-donating groups containing oxygen or nitrogen atoms at the other end. We investigated their one- and two-photon photophysical properties. They showed efficient fluorescence in an organic solvent, as well as in water for two of them, allowing microscopy on cell cultures. High two-photon absorption cross sections were determined in the 700-900 nm range. TPEM images were obtained with these new p-carborane-containing fluorophores, with laser intensities in the submilliwatt range.

Live-cell one- and two-photon uncaging of a far-red emitting acridinone fluorophore.

Total synthesis and photophysical properties of PENB-DDAO, a photoactivatable 1,3-dichloro-9,9-dimethyl-9H-acridin-2(7)-one (DDAO) derivative of a far-red emitting fluorophore, are described. The photoremovable group of the DDAO phenolic function comprises a donor/acceptor biphenyl platform which allows an efficient (> or = 95%) and rapid (< 15 micros time-range) release of the fluorescent signal and displays remarkable two-photon uncaging cross sections (delta(a) x Phi(u) = 3.7 GM at 740 nm). PENB-DDAO is cell permeable as demonstrated by the triggering of cytoplasmic red fluorescent signal in HeLa cells after one-photon irradiation (lambda(exc) around 360 nm) or by the generation of a red fluorescent signal in a delineated area of a single cell after two-photon photoactivation (lambda(exc) = 770 nm).

[Effects of different tillage measures on upland soil respiration in Loess Plateau].

A field experiment was conducted in Lijiabu Town of Dingxi City, Gansu Province to study the soil respiration and its relations with the canopy temperature and soil moisture content in a rotation system with spring wheat and pea under effects of different tillage measures. Six treatments were installed, i.e., tillage with no straw- or plastic mulch (conventional tillage, T), tillage with straw mulch (TS), tillage with plastic mulch (TP), no-tillage (NT), no-tillage with straw mulch (NTS), and no-tillage with plastic mulch (NTP). During the growth periods of spring wheat and pea, soil respiration had different change patterns, with the peaks appeared at the early jointing, grain-filling, and maturing stages of spring wheat, and at the 5-leaf, silking, flowering and poding, in spring wheat field between treatments NTS and T, and the soil respiration rate was significantlyand maturing stages of pea. There was an obvious difference in the diurnal change of soil respiration lower in NTS than in T; while the soil respiration in pea field had less diurnal chan ge. Soil respiration rate had a significant linear relationship with the canopy temperature of both spring wheat andpea, the correlation coefficient being the highest at booting stage of spring wheat and at flowering and poding stage of pea, followed by at grain-filling stage of spring wheat and at branching stage of pea. There was also a significant parabola relationship between soil respiration rate and soil moisture content, the correlation coefficient being higher under conservation tillage than under conventional tillage, with the highest under NTS. The moisture content in 10-30 cm soil layer of spring wheat field and that in 5-10 cm soil layer of pea field had the greatest effects on soil respiration. Comparing with conventional tillage, all the five conservation tillage measures decreased soil respiration, with the best effects of no-tillage with straw mulch.

Synthesis and binding properties of carboxylphenyl-modified calix[4]arenes and cytochrome c.

Two novel carboxylphenyl-modified calix[4]arenes, tetrakis-carboxylphenylcalix[4]arene (TCPC) and 1,3-bis-carboxylphenylcalix[4]arene (BCPC), as well as a corresponding analogue for comparison, tetrakis-phenylcalix[4]arene (TPC), have been synthesized by palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling of arylboronic acid and tetrabromocalix[4]arene as a key step. The binding properties of these calix[4]arene derivatives with bovine heart cytochrome c (cyt c) in dimethylformamide (DMF) was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. The binding affinity in the order of TCPC>BCPC>>TPC reflects a clear dependence on the number of carboxyl ligating groups attached onto a receptor and suggests the electrostatic force may be the predominant factor driving the complexing process. The stable 1:1 complexes of TCPC and BCPC with cyt c were evidenced with the binding constants of 3.15 x 10(6) and 5.85 x 10(5)L mol(-1), respectively. Due to a large overlap between the emission spectrum of TCPC and the absorption spectrum of cyt c, and a short interaction distance (estimated to be 5.6 nm) between them, the fluorescence quenching of TCPC upon complexation with cyt c is attributed to an efficient energy transfer.