Inhibiting Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation via Immobilization of Heparin/Fibronectin Complexes on Titanium Surfaces.

The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of heparin/fibronectin (Hep/Fn) complexes on neointimal hyperplasia following endovascular intervention. Hep/Fn complexes were immobilized onto titanium (Ti) surfaces, with subsequent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Toluidine Blue O (TBO) and immunohistochemistry methods were used to characterize surface properties. Smooth muscle cell (SMC) cultures were used to evaluate the effect of Hep/Fn complexes on SMC proliferation. Results showed that Hep/Fn complexes successfully immobilized onto Ti surfaces and resulted in an inhibition of SMC proliferation. This study suggests that Hep/Fn surface-immobilized biomaterials develop as a new generation of biomaterials to prevent neointimal hyperplasia, particularly for use in cardiovascular implants.

Neuroprotective effect of schizandrin A on oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion-induced cell injury in primary culture of rat cortical neurons

Brain ischemia appears to be associated with innate immunity. Recent reports showed that C3a and C5a, as potent targets, might protect against ischemia induced cell death. In traditional Chinese medicine, the fruit of Schizandra chinesis Baill (Fructus schizandrae) has been widely used as a tonic. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of schizandrin A, a composition of S. chinesis Baill, against oxygen and glucose deprivation followed by reperfusion (OGD/R)-induced cell death in primary culture of rat cortical neurons, and to test whether C3a and C5a affected cortical neuron recovery from ischemic injury after schizandrin A treatment. The results showed that schizandrin A significantly reduced cell apoptosis and necrosis, increased cell survival, and decreased intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in primary culture of rat cortical neurons after OGD/R. Mechanism studies suggested that the modulation of extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNK), and p38, as well as caspase-3 activity played an important role on the progress of neuronal apoptosis. C5aR participated in the neuroprotective effect of schizandrin A in primary culture of rat cortical neurons after OGD/R. Our findings suggested that schizandrin A might act as a candidate therapeutic target drug used for brain ischemia and related diseases

Neuroprotective effect of schizandrin A on oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion-induced cell injury in primary culture of rat cortical neurons.

Brain ischemia appears to be associated with innate immunity. Recent reports showed that C3a and C5a, as potent targets, might protect against ischemia induced cell death. In traditional Chinese medicine, the fruit of Schizandra chinesis Baill (Fructus schizandrae) has been widely used as a tonic. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of schizandrin A, a composition of S. chinesis Baill, against oxygen and glucose deprivation followed by reperfusion (OGD/R)-induced cell death in primary culture of rat cortical neurons, and to test whether C3a and C5a affected cortical neuron recovery from ischemic injury after schizandrin A treatment. The results showed that schizandrin A significantly reduced cell apoptosis and necrosis, increased cell survival, and decreased intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in primary culture of rat cortical neurons after OGD/R. Mechanism studies suggested that the modulation of extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNK), and p38, as well as caspase-3 activity played an important role on the progress of neuronal apoptosis. C5aR participated in the neuroprotective effect of schizandrin A in primary culture of rat cortical neurons after OGD/R. Our findings suggested that schizandrin A might act as a candidate therapeutic target drug used for brain ischemia and related diseases.

Mulberroside A protects against ischemic impairment in primary culture of rat cortical neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation followed by reperfusion.

Mulberroside A is a natural polyhydroxylated stilbene compound present at relatively high abundance in the roots and twigs of Morus alba L. It is known for its nephroprotective, hypoglycemic, and antidiabetic effects. Because its metabolite, oxyresveratrol, possessed purported anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects, we proposed that mulberroside A may elicit neuroprotective effects that can be used in the treatment of brain ischemic injury. Therefore, we decided to investigate the pharmacological properties of mulberroside A in primary culture of rat cortical neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation followed by reperfusion (OGD/R), evaluating its ability to counteract the hypoxia-ischemia impairment. The results showed that mulberroside A elicited neuroprotective effects comparable to nimodipine. The mechanistic studies showed that mulberroside A decreased the expressions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1ß, and IL-6 and inhibited the activation of NALP3, caspase-1, and nuclear factor-κB and the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases, the c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38, exhibiting anti-inflammatory antiapoptotic effects. Our results also further demonstrate that the proinflammatory cytokines of IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α are promising targets for treatment of cerebral ischemic injury. Although further investigation is required for its development, all of these findings led us to speculate that mulberroside A is a candidate for the treatment of ischemic stroke, which would act as a multifactorial neuroprotectant.

Hemoglobinopathy: molecular epidemiological characteristics and health effects on Hakka people in the Meizhou region, southern China.

BACKGROUND: Hemoglobinopathies are the most common inherited diseases in southern China. However, there have been only a few epidemiological studies of hemoglobinopathies in Guangdong province. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 15299 "healthy" unrelated subjects of dominantly ethnic Hakka in the Meizhou region, on which hemoglobin electrophoresis and routine blood tests were performed. Suspected cases with hemoglobin variants and hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) were further characterized by PCR, DNA sequencing, reverse dot blot (RDB) or multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). In addition, 1743 samples were randomly selected from the 15299 subjects for thalassemia screening, and suspected thalassemia carriers were identified by PCR and RDB. RESULTS: The gene frequency of hemoglobin variants was 0.477% (73/15299). The five main subgroups of the ten hemoglobin variants were Hb E, Hb G-Chinese, Hb Q-Tahiland, Hb New York and Hb J-Bangkok. 277 cases (15.89%, 277/1743) of suspected thalassemia carriers with microcytosis (MCV<82 fl) were found by thalassemia screening, and were tested by a RDB gene chip to reveal a total of 196 mutant chromosomes: including 124 α-thalassemia mutant chromosomes and 72 ß-thalassemia mutant chromosomes. These results give a heterozygote frequency of 11.24% for common α and ß thalassemia in the Hakka population in the Meizhou region. 3 cases of HPFH/δß-thalassemia were found, including 2 cases of Vietnamese HPFH (FPFH-7) and a rare Belgian( G)γ((A)γδß)°-thalassemia identified in Chinese. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide a detailed prevalence and molecular characterization of hemoglobinopathies in Hakka people of the Meizhou region. The estimated numbers of pregnancies each year in the Meizhou region, in which the fetus would be at risk for ß thalassemia major or intermedia, Bart's hydrops fetalis, and Hb H disease, are 25 (95% CI, 15 to 38), 40 (95% CI, 26 to 57), and 15 (95% CI, 8 to 23), respectively.

[Spatiotemporal variations of aboveground biomass and leaf area index of typical grassland in tower flux footprint].

By using cyclic sampling method, the aboveground biomass and leaf area index (LAI) of typical grassland in tower flux footprint were measured at three growth stages, i.e., early July (July 2-7), late July (July 20-26), and late August (Aug. 25-30), with their spatial patterns analyzed by geostatistics. At the three stages, the aboveground biomass of the grassland kept rising, while the LAI decreased after an initial increase. Both the two variables had good spatial autocorrelation, with similar spatial pattern and temporal evolution trend, and changed from stripe to patch. From early July to late August, the C0/(C0+C) of the aboveground biomass and LAI all decreased significantly, indicating that the spatial autocorrelation of the two variables changed from medium to high. The change ranges of the two variables gradually decreased, presenting the decrease of spatial continuity. The fractal dimension (D) also decreased gradually, suggesting the increase of spatial dependence. Topography and field management were the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of aboveground biomass and LAI, which induced the spatial variability of water and heat, and further, affected the grass growth.

[Spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation cover based on trajectory change detection: a case study in Dapeng Peninsula of Shenzhen].

By using the second-time developed ArcEngine component at pixel level, this paper studied the spatiotemporal dynamics of vegetation cover in the Dapeng Peninsula of Shenzhen, China in 1986-2007, and analyzed the characters and causes of the dynamics. To quantify this dynamics, the NDVI changes in 1986-2007 were extracted from 10 time-series TM/ETM+ remote sensing images, and the results showed that from 1986 to 2007, there were four trajectories of vegetation cover change in the Peninsula, including stable (a), stable-rising-stable (aba), stable-descending-stable (aca), and stable-descending-stable-rising-stable (acaba). The area with these four types occupied 71.54% of the total. Among the four types, type "a" was most common, occupying 1/3 of the study area, mainly in the mountains; and type "acaba" was the typical one, which was closely related to the deforestation and reforestation after the human disturbances of original vegetation. The areas at higher elevation or steeper slopes exhibited smaller vegetation change, mainly because of the constrained human disturbances. Timing of the vegetation cover change showed a relative stability in the mid-90s of 20th century, but a dramatic change after 2003, coinciding with the growth of Shenzhen City.

[Disturbance assessment of urban wetland ecosystem services: a case study in Pingshan watershed of Shenzhen City].

To understand the wetland ecosystem services in urbanizing area is much needed in wetland assessment. Currently, the dominant approach in assessing wetland value is the assessment model using environmental economic analysis. However, this approach can not reflect the impact of human disturbance. This paper introduced the connotation of wetland ecosystem services and the patterns of human disturbance, established an evaluation index system which could characterize the disturbance impact, and determined the weight of each index by using analytic hierarchy process. Moreover, a dual-grade fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model was applied to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of human disturbance. Our case study in Pingshan River Basin, a typical urbanizing area of Shenzhen, showed that geographic condition was the primary factor in determining the intensity of human disturbance on wetland ecosystem services. The main disturbance pattern in the south hilly area was vegetation degeneration, but the disturbance intensity was low. Even so, the vegetation protection and management in this area shouldn't be ignored though. The disturbance pattern in north valley area was diverse, and the disturbance intensity was much higher than that south hilly area. From the upper reach to the lower reach of the main stream, the impact of human disturbance increased first and decreased then, being accorded with the characteristics of land use pattern, but the disturbance pattern didn't have a continuous distribution. Our study showed that fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model had good performance in the disturbance assessment of wetland ecosystem services.

[Retrieval of leaf water content of winter wheat from canopy hyperspectral data using partial least square regression].

Accurate estimation of leaf water content (LWC) from remote sensing can assist in determining vegetation physiological status, and further has important implications for drought monitoring and fire risk evaluation. This paper focuses on retrieving LWC from canopy spectra of winter wheat measured with ASD FieldSpec Pro. The experimental plots were treated with five levels of irrigation (0, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mm) in growing season, and each treatment had three replications. Canopy spectra and LWC were collected at three wheat growth stages (booting, flowering, and milking). The temporal variations of LWC, spectral reflectance, and their correlations were analyzed in detail. Partial least square regression embedded iterative feature-eliminating was designed and employed to obtain diagnostic bands and build prediction models for each stage. The results indicate that LWC decreases quickly along with the winter wheat growth. The mean values of LWC for the three stages are respectively 338.49%, 269.65%, and 230.90%. The spectral regions correlated strongly with LWC are 1 587-1 662 and 1 692-1 732 nm (booting), 617-687 and 1 447-1 467 nm (flowering), and 1 457-1 557 nm (milking). As far as the LWC prediction models are concerned, the optimum modes of spectral data are respectively logarithmic, 1st order derivative and plain reflectance. The diagnostic bands detected by PLS are from SWIR, NIR, and SWIR. Retrieval accuracy at the flowering stage is the highest (R2(cv) = 0.889) due to the enhancement of leaf water information at canopy scale via multiple scattering. At the booting and milking stage, accuracies are relatively lower (R2(cv) = 0.750, 0.696), because the retrieval of LWC is negatively affected by soil background and dry matter absorption respectively. This research demonstrated clearly that the spectral response and retrieval of LWC has distinct temporal characteristics, which should not be neglected when developing remote sensing product of crop water content in the future.

[Relationships between landscape pattern and water quality at western reservoir area in Shenzhen City].

In this paper, the relationships between landscape pattern and water quality at western reservoir area in Shenzhen City were studied with grey connection method, and the influences of source' and 'sink' landscape patterns on non-point pollution were probed. The results showed that the dominance, adjacency, and fragmentation of 'source' and 'sink' landscapes could markedly influence the water quality. From 2000 to 2001, due to the changes of the 'source' and 'sink' landscape patterns in research areas, the output of pollutants increased and the reduction of pollution decreased, resulting in the deterioration of water quality of three reservoirs. According to the spatial distribution of 'source' and 'sink' landscapes, it was found that the distribution of 'sink' landscapes at the middle-lower reaches of the watersheds had close relationships with the changes of reservoir water quality, suggesting that 'sink' landscape pattern was of significance in the management of non-point pollution.

[Ecological water requirement of forests in Loess Plateau].

Converting degraded farmlands to forest or grass lands is the best approach to reduce the soil erosion, the Loess Plateau is faced with most serious ecological disaster. Loess Plateau located in the arid and semi-arid regions is a fragile region with the characteristics of little precipitation and intensive evapotranspiration. Therefore, water is the most important factor limiting the eco-restoration and construction of the vegetation in the region. According to the latest digital land use map and with GIS, the ecological water requirement for forests in Loess Plateau was estimated, and by the water balance of the forest ecosystem in their growing season, the ecological water shortage was calculated. The results revealed that the minimum and suitable ecological water requirement of the forests in Loess Plateau were approximately 262.49 x 10(8) m3 and 421.34 x 10(8) m3 respectively. Accordingly, if it is taken the minimum ecological water requirement as the quota, the area of forests suffered water shortage was about 7,639.09 km2, 9.1% of all, and the ecological water shortage was amounted to 4.77 x 10(8) m3; if it is taken the suitable ecological water requirement as the quota, the forest land area suffered water shortage was about 57.7% of all, and the ecological water shortage was roughly 58.55 x 10(8) m3.