Acute Neurobehavioral and Glial Responses to Explosion Gas Inhalation in Rats.

Military personnel, firefighters, and fire survivors exhibit a higher prevalence of mental health conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to the general population. While numerous studies have examined the neurological impacts of physical trauma and psychological stress, research on acute neurobehavioral effects of gas inhalation from explosions or fires is limited. This study investigates the early-stage neurobehavioral and neuronal consequences of acute explosion gas inhalation in Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were exposed to simulated explosive gas and subsequently assessed using behavioral tests and neurobiological analyses. The high-dose exposure group demonstrated significant depression-like behaviors, including reduced mobility and exploration. However, neuronal damage was not evident in histological analyses. Immunofluorescence revealed increased density of radial glia and oligodendrocytes in specific brain regions, suggesting hypoxia and axon damage induced by gas inhalation as a potential mechanism for the observed neurobehavioral changes. These findings underscore the acute impact of explosion gas inhalation on mental health, highlighting the habenula and dentate gyrus of hippocampus as the possible target regions. The findings are expected to support early diagnosis and treatment strategies for brain injuries caused by explosion gas, offering insights into early intervention for depression and PTSD in affected populations.

Concentrations, seasonal trends, sources, health risk and subchronic toxicity to the respiratory and immune system of PAHs in PM2.5 in Xi'an.

PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been proved to be hazardous to health. Previous studies have focused on the distribution and sources of PAHs, whereas there is little knowledge of the damage to organs. Here we sought to investigate the pollution level and seasonal variation characteristics of PAHs in PM2.5 in Xi'an and assess the health risk, to establish a PAHs exposure model, and investigate the toxicological effects of PAHs on the respiratory and immune functions. A sub-chronic exposure model of PAHs was established by inhalation. The pathological changes of lung tissues were observed with a light microscope. Inflammatory reactions in alveolar lavage fluid were determined using the corresponding kit. The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were detected with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit; the proliferation of lymphocytes in spleen was detected with methyl tetrazolium (MTT); DNA immune damage was determined with DNA gel electrophoresis. The results showed that (1) the total concentration of 16 PAHs ranged from 41.1 to 387 ng/m3, with a mean value of 170 ng/m3, and the concentration of PAHs in PM2.5 was higher in winter than in other seasons. (2) The sources of PAHs in the atmosphere of Xi'an urban area were mainly coal combustion, and the equivalent carcinogenic concentration of PAHs in PM2.5 was 3.9 ng/m3. (3) Foreign body granuloma formation and inflammatory cell damage were observed in the lungs of rats infected with toxin; the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mobile device assistant (MDA) increased while nitric oxide synthase (NOS) decreased with the increase of dose; the expression levels of IL-6 and IL-8 elevated with the increase of toxin dose, showing an obvious dose-effect relationship; the level of PAHs damage to cells showed a dose-effect relationship. Sub-chronic exposure to PAHs could cause sustained inflammatory injury to the organism. Measures should be taken to counter the problems of PAHs in PM2.5 in Xi'an and relevant health promotion strategies should be developed.

Pollution Assessment and Source Apportionment of Trace Metals in Urban Topsoil of Xi'an City in Northwest China.

Sixty-two topsoil samples were collected within the third ring road of Xi'an City in Northwest China and analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for the concentrations of As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn. The pollution levels of trace metals were assessed by pollution index (PI) and Nemerow pollution index (NPI). Meanwhile, the sources of trace metals were apportioned by receptor models, including positive matrix factorization (PMF), UNMIX, and principal component analysis-multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR). The average concentrations of the trace metals analyzed in the urban soil exceeded the corresponding soil element background values of Shaanxi Province, especially for Co, which was 2.38 times higher than the corresponding background value. The mean of PI was 2.38 for Co, reflecting a moderate pollution level, and ranged from 1.07 to 1.72 for other trace metals, presenting slight pollution levels. The NPI of trace metals varied between 1.20 and 3.50 with an average of 2.00, indicating that trace metals presented slight pollution in 62.90% of soil samples, moderate pollution in 30.65% of soil samples, and heavy pollution in 6.45% of soil samples, respectively. Three sources of trace metals apportioned by the three receptor models were mixed nature and anthropogenic source, traffic exhaust, and industrial emissions. The contributions of them were 38.58%, 32.72%, and 28.70% from the PMF, 65.36%, 17.76%, and 16.88% through the UNMIX and 49.16%, 38.90%, and 11.94% via the PCA-MLR, respectively. Meanwhile, the study results suggested that the combined usage of multiple receptor models is a good method to apportion the source compositions and contributions of trace metals in urban soil.

Decolorization effect and related mechanism of atmospheric pressure plasma jet on Eriochrome Black T.

In this study, Eriochrome Black T (EBT) in water was decolorized by means of argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ), which showed great decolorization performance. The results showed that the relatively high decolorization rate (approximately 80%) was obtained after plasma treatment for 6 min. Changes to some reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) in the liquid phase were detected. The contents of peroxide, HO·, O2 -·, and NO· in the plasma-treated EBT solution were much less than those in the activated water. The roles of H2O2 and HO· in the decolorization of EBT solution were explored by evaluating the effects of their scavengers, and by exploring the direct effect of H2O2. The results indicated that reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially HO· and O2 -·, played significant roles in the decolorization of the EBT solution. Analysis of degradation by-products indicated that plasma discharge could destroy the azo bond first and gradually break the aromatic rings of EBT molecules into small molecular compounds.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Urban Soil in the Semi-arid City of Xi'an, Northwest China: Composition, Distribution, Sources, and Relationships with Soil Properties.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the environment. This study collected a total of 62 urban soil samples from the typical semi-arid city of Xi'an in Northwest. They were analyzed for the composition, distribution, and sources of PAHs as well as the relationships with soil properties. The sum of 16 individual PAHs (∑16PAHs) ranged from 390.6 to 10,652.8 µg/kg with a mean of 2052.6 µg/kg. The average ∑16PAHs decreased in the order of the third ring road (2321.1 µg/kg) > the first ring road (1893.7 µg/kg) > the second ring road (1610.0 µg/kg), and in the order of industrial areas (3125.6 µg/kg) > traffic areas (2551.6 µg/kg) > educational areas (2414.4 µg/kg) > parks (1649.5 µg/kg) > mixed commercial and traffic areas (1332.8 µg/kg) > residential areas (1031.0 µg/kg). The most abundant PAHs in the urban soil were 3- to 5-ring PAHs. Elevated levels of PAHs were found in industrial and traffic areas from the east and west suburbs and the northwest corner of Xi'an as well as the northeast corner in the urban district of Xi'an. PAHs in the urban soil were mainly related to the combustion of fossil fuel (i.e., coal, gasoline, diesel, and natural gas) and biomass (i.e., grass and wood) (variance contribution 57.2%) as well as the emissions of petroleum and its products (variance contribution 29.9%). Soil texture and magnetic susceptibility were the main factors affecting the concentration of PAHs in urban soil. Meanwhile, this study suggested that the single, rapid, and nondeductive magnetic measurements can be an indicator of soil pollution by PAHs.

Investigating into composition, distribution, sources and health risk of phthalic acid esters in street dust of Xi'an City, Northwest China.

Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are widely used as plasticizers and in consumer products, which may enter the environment and present risks to human health. U.S. EPA classifies six PAEs as priority pollutants, which could be accumulated in street dust at the interface of atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere. This study collected a total of 58 street dust samples from Xi'an City in Northwest China and analyzed for concentrations of the priority PAEs. Composition, distribution, sources and health risk of the PAEs were further examined. All the priority PAEs were detected in the street dust. The concentrations of individual PAEs varied between not detected and 183.19 mg/kg. The sum of the 6 priority PAEs (∑6PAEs) ranged from 0.87 to 250.30 mg/kg with a mean of 40.48 mg/kg. The most abundant PAEs in the street dust were di-n-butyl phthalate and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). Higher concentrations of ∑6PAEs in the street dust were found in the south and west parts of Xi'an City as well as its urban center, which were possibly attributed to the prevailing northerly Asian winter monsoon. The PAEs in the street dust originated mainly from wide application of plasticizers as well as cosmetics and personal care products. The main pathways of human exposure to PAEs in the street dust were ingestion and dermal adsorption of dust particles. The non-cancer risk of human exposure to PAEs in the street dust was relatively low, while the risk to children was higher than that to adults. The cancer risk of human exposure to DEHP in the street dust was lower than the standard limit value of 10-6.

Dual effects of atmospheric pressure plasma jet on skin wound healing of mice.

Cold plasma has become an attractive tool for promoting wound healing and treating skin diseases. This article presents an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) generated in argon gas through dielectric barrier discharge, which was applied to superficial skin wounds in BALB/c mice. The mice (n = 50) were assigned randomly into five groups (named A, B, C, D, E) with 10 animals in each group. Natural wound healing was compared with stimulated wound healing treated daily with APPJ for different time spans (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 seconds) on 14 consecutive days. APPJ emission spectra, morphological changes in animal wounds, and tissue histological parameters were analyzed. Statistical results revealed that wound size changed over the duration of the experimental period and there was a significant interaction between experimental day and group. Differences between group C and other groups at day 7 were statistically significant (p < 0.05). All groups had nearly achieved closure of the untreated control wounds at day 14. The wounds treated with APPJ for 10, 20, 30, and 40 seconds showed significantly enhanced daily improvement compared with the control and almost complete closure at day 12, 10, 7, and 13, respectively. The optimal results of epidermal cell regeneration, granulation tissue hyperplasia, and collagen deposition in histological aspect were observed at day 7. However, the wounds treated for 50 seconds were less well healed at day 14 than those of the control. It was concluded that appropriate doses of cold plasma could inactivate bacteria around the wound, activate fibroblast proliferation in wound tissue, and eventually promote wound healing. Whereas, over doses of plasma suppressed wound healing due to causing cell death by apoptosis or necrosis. Both positive and negative effects may be related to the existence of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) in APPJ.

Artemisinin ameliorated proteinuria in rats with adriamycin-induced nephropathy through regulating nephrin and podocin expressions.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of artemisinin against proteinuria and glomerular filtration barrier damage in rats with adriamycin-induced nephropathy, and the potential mechanism underpinned the action. METHODS: Forty adriamycin rats were randomly divided into two groups with the ratio of 1 : 3; the small-number group served as control group (n = 10), and the rats in the large-number group were treated with adriamycin to induce nephropathy; then they were further randomly assigned into 3 subgroups: benazepril group (n = 10), artemisinin group (n = 10), and adriamycin group (n = 10). The benazepril group and artemisinin group were treated with benazepril suspl (5.0 mg/kg daily) and artemisinin suspl (150 mg/kg daily) respectively after being modeled; those in the control group and adriamycin group were intragastrically administered an equivalent volume of distilled water every day. The treatment after model establishment lasted for a total of 4 weeks. The 24 h uric protein, blood biochemicals, renal pathological changes, renal ultrastrutural changes, Nephrin and Podocin proteins and gene expressions were measured by Coomassie brilliant blue assay, completely automatic biochemical analyzer, light microscope, electron microscopy, Western blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively. RESULTS: The rats in adriamycin group showed a significant increase in 24 h uric protein excretion, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr) and decrease in albumin (Alb) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Compared with adriamycin group, artemisinin could reduce uric protein excretion, decrease the serum TC, TG elevation, increase the serum Alb level, up-regulate the expressions of Nephrin and Podocin (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), but no statistical significance effects on the levels of BUN, Scr in artemisinin group (P > 0.05). The renal pathological and ultrastrutural observation indicate that artemisinin could attenuate the severity of foot process effacement and fusion in the nephropathic rats. CONCLUSION: Artemisinin might have an effect on the nephropathy in rats caused by adriamycin, which may be at least partly correlated with attenu- ation of the severity of foot process effacement and fusion, up-regulation of the expressions of Nephrin and Podocin in the glomeruli in the rats.

[Effect of Qufeng Tongluo Recipe on the expressions of connexin 36 protein and gene in rat mesangial cells].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of Qufeng Tongluo Recipe (QFTLR) on the expressions of connexin 36 (Cx36) protein and gene in rat mesangial cells (MCs) and the proliferation of the MCs. METHODS: Serum samples containing Benazepril (Bena) and QFTLR were prepared in line with serum pharmacology methodology. The MCs cultured in vitro were divided into normal control and Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Bena and QFTLR treated groups. The expressions of Cx36 protein and gene were detected by laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM), Western blot, immunohistochemical assay and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) respectively. RESULTS: Compared with the control, higher level of Cx36 protein expression was found in the MCs than treated with LPS (P < 0.01). Both Bena and QFTLR lowered the level of Cx36 protein expression in the MCs treated with LPS significantly (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Similar results were found with the expression of Cx36 mRNA. CONCLUSION: QFTLR inhibits the proliferation of rat MCs, possibly through down-regulating the expressions of Cx36 protein and gene.

Smallholders' resilience-building adaptation and its influencing factors in rainfed agricultural areas in China: based on random forest model.

In recent years, extreme events and risks have increased under the background of global warming, which influenced agricultural production significantly. Adaptation has been considered as a key pathway to enhancing smallholders' climate resilience. We selected a total of 903 smallholders using the multi-stage random sampling technique in rainfed areas in China, and then collected the survey data through the structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. Three resilience-building adaptation indices (RBAS-A, RBAS-D and RBAS-I) were constructed by the entropy method, whose mean values were 0.378, 0.336, and 0.602, respectively. Furtherly, the random forest model was used to explore influencing factors of climate-resilient adaptation strategies. The results revealed that education level of household head, family size, farmland size, access to information by mass media and kith and kin, perception of temperature change in summer and winter, and perception of crop yield change were the significant factors influencing smallholders' alteration strategies. Meanwhile, age and education level of household heads, off-farm income, farmland size, mass media, and perception of winter temperature changes had significant effects on the diversification strategies. Moreover, demographic characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, information access and climate change perceptions, and impacts had significant impacts on intensification strategies. Importantly, we found that there was a certain threshold for the impact of several factors on the constructed composite indices. And the impacts of the perceptions of temperature on alteration and intensification strategies showed a V-shape. Finally, we proposed targeted suggestions for improving smallholders' climate-resilient adaptation in the rainfed agricultural areas in China.

The environmental pollution perception of residents in coal mining areas: a case study in the Hancheng mine area, Shaanxi Province, China.

The environmental behavior of the residents depends on their perception of environmental pollution. Hence, it is important for scientific and policy experts to research on the impact of the environmental pollution perception of local residents. Owing to the richness of natural resources, Hancheng coal mine areas are abound in heavy industries, and environmental pollution is serious and typical in this area, thus, the residents are anxious about their health. Using questionnaires, this paper surveys the perception of residents living in the coal mine area. The influential factors of environmental perception were analyzed by the Rank Sum Test. The results were: (1) the majority of the residents in the coal mine area are not satisfied with their living environment. The perception order of pollution severity is: air pollution > noise pollution > sanitation > water pollution. The residents think that pollution is mainly caused by coal processing. Hence, coal mining is not the main reason of the pollution in the coal mine area. (2) Age and length of residence have significant positive effects on perceptions of air, water, and noise pollutions; whereas education has a significant negative effect on perceptions of water and noise pollutions, as well as sanitation. This phenomenon can be explained by the various cultural groups having varied perceptions on the environmental pollution. In addition, proximity to mine has significant negative effect on perceptions of water and noise pollution. In conclusion, the paper discusses the effects of demographical and social factors on the perception of environmental pollution and gives suggestions on the planning and management of the environment.

[Effect of artemisinin on the expressions of GRalpha mRNA, GRbeta mRNA and P300/CBP protein in lupus nephritis mice].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Artemisinin on the expressions of GRalpha mRNA, GRbeta mRNA and P300/CBP protein in lupus nephritis mice. METHODS: Forty hybrid female mice were randomly and equally divided into four groups with the method of random number table: control group, model group, prednisone group administrated with 6.45 mg/kg Artemisinin (Art) suspension. A mice model of LN was established by injection with living lymph cell suspension. The expressions of GC receptor alpha (GRalpha) mRNA, GC receptor beta (GRbeta) mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and transcriptional coactivator P300/CBP protein in renal tissue were respectively measured by the technique of RT - PCR and immunohistochemical assay. RESULTS: Compared with the model group. The expression of transcriptional coactivator P300/CBP protein in renal tissue and GRa mRNA in PBMCs of treatment groups was increased significantly, GRbeta mRNA expression was significantly decreased (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). And the Art group had a better effect on the expression of GRalpha mRNA and transcriptional coactivator P300/CBP protein than that of the prednisone group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The underlying therapeutic mechanism may be correlated with the regulation of Art on the expressions of GRalpha mRNA, GRbeta mRNA in PBMC and transcriptional coactivator P300/CBP protein in renal tissue.

Has the public habituated to the haze in China?

The concept of haze habituation was proposed based on haze perception and behavior in this paper. This study employed factor analysis and Potential Conflict Index (PCI) to analyze the dimensions, degrees, and internal differences of the public's haze habituation. Then, K-means clustering algorithm was applied to classify the public into four categories. The entropy method was used to quantitatively evaluate the public's haze habituation, and the natural breakpoint method was used to grade it into five levels. Finally, an ordered logistic regression model was chosen to analyze the influencing factors of the public's haze habituation. The results indicate that: (1) The public's haze habituation can be measured from five dimensions: protective behavior, haze reduction behavior, haze attention, life impact perception, and health impact perception. The public had the same views on protective behavior, haze reduction behavior, life impact perception, and health impact perception. However, there is a wide divergence among the public on the haze attention; (2) Based on the above five dimensions, the public can be divided into the protective sensitive group, attention sensitive group, health sensitive group, and environmental protection sensitive group; (3) Generally, the public has a low haze habituation where the protective behavior, haze reduction behavior, and health impact perception are the crucial elements; (4) Gender, self-health assessment, and travel mode have a significant positive impact on the public's haze habituation, respectively. Age, the family with elders or children, and annual family income have a significant negative impact on the public's haze habituation, respectively.

Geographical indication agricultural products, livelihood capital, and resilience to meteorological disasters: evidence from kiwifruit farmers in China.

Developing geographical indication agricultural products will help to expand regional characteristic industries by taking actions that suit local circumstances. Improving the adaptability of the kiwifruit farmers to cope with meteorological disasters is conducive to promoting the optimization of rural industrial structure and the implementation of rural revitalization strategy. Based on the field survey data of Shaanxi Province, this research uses the method of natural breaks to classify the resilience scores of meteorological disasters under the framework of Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. Finally, the ordinal logistic regression model is used to quantitatively research how livelihood capital contributes to the resilience of kiwifruit farmers to meteorological disasters during the phenological phases. The results show that the perception of meteorological disasters by farmers does not significantly affect their resilience, and the impacts of different livelihood capitals on the resilience strategies of farmers are quite distinct: physical capital, financial capital, social capital, and human capital have significant positive impact on the resilience strategies of farmers, while natural capital has a significant negative impact on the resilience strategies of farmers. The results extend the theoretical foundation of resilience strategies for meteorological disasters in kiwifruit phenological phases and bring quantitative evidence linkage of livelihood capital and resilience strategies. Furthermore, the study emphasizes that the agricultural activities of kiwifruit farmers during the phenological phases should be combined with the livelihood capital guarantee measures, as well as a better financial environment should be created by government intervention. Paying attention to science popularization work of middle-aged and elderly farmers, accelerating the linkages between the government and the mass, would help the government to obtain the best agricultural management methods.

Applications and challenges of low temperature plasma in pharmaceutical field.

Low temperature plasma (LTP) technology has shown an outstanding application value in the pharmaceutical filed in recent ten years. This paper reviews the research advances in LTP, including its effects on enhancing or inhibiting drug activity, its combined use with drugs to treat cancers, its effects on the improvement of drug delivery system, its use in preparation of new inactivated virus vaccines, its use with mass spectrometry for rapid detection of drug quality, and the anti-tumor and sterilization effects of plasma-activated liquids. The paper also analyzes the challenges of LTP in the pharmaceutical filed, hoping to promote related research.

Therapeutic effect of artemisinin on lupus nephritis mice and its mechanisms.

In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of artemisinin (Art) on lupus nephritis mice and its mechanisms by comparing the differences between lupus nephritis (LN) mice given Art and control mice in molecular biology, immunohistochemistry, and histopathology. The results showed that Art could remarkably relieve the symptoms, decrease the level of urine protein/24 h, and alleviate pathological renal lesions. The differences among the four groups in the expression of the NF-κBp65 protein, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity, and the expression of transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) mRNA in renal tissue suggested that Art can lower the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and inhibit the expression of the NF-κBp65 protein and NF-κB and TGF-ß1 mRNA in the renal tissues of LN mice. These results proved that it is reliable and effective to use Art to treat LN mice, and its therapeutic mechanisms should closely be related to the fact that Art can obviously decrease the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 and down-regulate the expression of the NF-κBp65 protein and NF-κB and TGF-ß1 mRNA in renal tissues.

[Effects of artemisinin on proliferation, apoptosis and Caspase-3 expression of rat mesangial cell].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of artemisinin on proliferation, apoptosis and Caspase-3 active of rat mesangial cell. METHODS: Rat mesangial cells were incubated with different concentrations of artemisinin, the proliferation, apoptosis and Caspase-3 active of rat mesangial cell were measured by MTT assay, fluorescent inverted microscope and enzyme-labeled analytical instruments respectively. RESULTS: Compared with control group, the proliferation and Caspase-3 expression of mesangial cell of three other groups were significantly different (P < 0.01). Compared with dexamethasone group, there were significant difference effects of proliferation and Caspase-3 expression of mesangial cell in other two groups of identical concentration drugs (P < 0. 01), especially in the artemisinin + glucocorticoid (ArtGC) group, and the effects of three different drugs on the mesangial cell Caspase-3 expression, proliferation and apoptosis had the tendency of depend on dosage, and mass mortality of mesangial cell in the mediate-dosage and high-dosage ArtGC group. CONCLUSION: Artemisinin could inhibit the proliferation of mesangial cell, enhance the expression of Caspase-3 and promote the apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner.

Wenyang Huazhuo Fang exerts transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily C member-dependent nephroprotection in a rat model of doxorubicin-induced nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of Wenyang Huazhuo Fang (WHF), a Traditional Chinese Medicine decoction, on renal function in a rat model of doxorubicin-induced nephropathy, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups: control, doxorubicin-nephropathy, and prednisone-treated (6.45 mg·kg-1·d－1) doxorubicin nephropathy groups, as well as high- (7.26 g·kg-1·d－1, medium- (2.42 g·kg-1·d－1, and low-dose (0.81 g·kg-1·d－1 WHF-treated doxorubicin-nephropathy groups. The nephropathy rat model was established by two tail vein injections of doxorubicin, followed by prednisone or WHF treatment for 8 weeks. Body weights were monitored and urinary protein was measured every 2 weeks. After the end of the treatment period, the rats were euthanized. Serum biochemical indicators were determined and renal morphological alterations were assessed using histological staining. The expression of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily C member 6 (TRPC6), stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1), and calcium release-activated calcium channel protein 1 (Orai1) was detected using western blotting, and their mRNA levels were examined using quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: WHF treatment was found to significantly ameliorate weight loss, proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and dyslipidemia in doxorubicin-nephropathy rats. The protein and mRNA levels of TRPC6, STIM1, and Orai1 were partially, but significantly suppressed by prednisone or WHF treatment. CONCLUSION: Treatment with WHF significantly ameliorates renal injury in a rat model of doxorubicin-induced nephropathy, which could be at least partially related to repression of the TRPC6 pathway.

Low-Temperature Plasma Suppresses Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis in Lung Cancer Cells by Regulating the miR-203a/BIRC5 Axis.

AIM: Low-temperature plasma (LTP) has potential applications in cancer therapy. Herein, we explored the molecular mechanisms of proliferation inhibition induced by LTP. METHODS: LTP was generated by a helium atmospheric-pressure plasma jet and used to treat A549 and H1299 cells. CCK-8 and cell apoptosis assays were performed to evaluate the effects of LTP treatment on A549 and H1299 cells. The qRT-PCR was performed to measure the expression of miR-203a after treating with LTP. CCK-8, colony formation, cell apoptosis assays, and Western blotting were performed to analyse the function of miR-203a in the development of lung cancer. Dual-luciferase assay and Western blotting were used to probe the relationship between miR-203a and BIRC5, and gene silencing using si-BIRC5 was carried out to explore the effect of knocking down BIRC5 on lung cancer cells. RESULTS: We found that LTP significantly suppressed proliferation and promoted apoptosis in A549 and H1299 cells. The miR-203a expression was increased after cells were treated with LTP. The miR-203a expression was downregulated among lung cancer tissue samples, and overexpression of miR-203a suppressed cell growth and induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells. We showed that miR-203a targeted BIRC5. Moreover, silencing of BIRC5 caused proliferation inhibition and induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that LTP inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in A549 and H1299 cells through the miR-203a/BIRC5 axis. These findings showed that LTP could potentially be used to treat lung cancer.

Farmers' perceived efficacy of adaptive behaviors to climate change in the Loess Plateau, China.

The impact of climate change is very significant to farmers who depend on natural resources for livelihood. It is essential to have a better understanding of farmers' assessments of the efficacy of adaptive behaviors for formulating appropriate adaptation policies and improving farmers' ability to adapt to climate change. Based on survey data from interviews with farmers in the Loess Plateau, the features of farmers' perceived adaptation efficacy are analyzed. Three multiple linear regression models are used to analyze farmers' perceived efficacy of adaptive behaviors and identify factors influencing those assessments in terms of farmers' demographical and social factors, their perception of climate change, their perception of climate change effects and the average temperature and precipitation from 2005 to 2015 in this area. The results are as follows: (1) Generally, the adaptive behaviors with high perceived adaptation efficacy were used by most respondents. Measures with relatively low perceived adaptation efficacy were not commonly adopted, such as migration, buying insurance, changing planting and harvesting time. (2) The factors affect the perceived efficacy of adaption behavior in decreasing order are as follows: perception of climate change, the average precipitation, and demographical and social factors. Perception of local natural disasters, perception of planting and harvesting time, crop yield and diseases and insect pests caused by climate change were found to affect farmers' adaptation assessments. The key demographical and social factors influencing farmers' assessments were non-farming income, farming income, farmland quantity, gender, the frequency of watching TV and going to the market.