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The study was to establish a method for the simultaneous determination of six growth promoting antibacterial agents in premixes by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography. An acetonitrile-0.25% formic acid aqueous solution (50: 50) was used as the solvent, and the samples were pretreated by ultrasonic extraction. A 0.05 mol/L ammonium formate aqueous solution (pH value adjusted to 3.8 with formic acid)-acetonitrile was used as the mobile phase, and the samples were separated by gradient elution and C18 column. The results showed that the detection limit of six antibacterial agents was 1~10 mg/g. In the range of 2~100 mg/g of the added concentration, the peak areas of the main components of the six growth promoting antibacterial agents detected by the method had a good linear relationship, and the correlation coefficient R2 was 0.999 4~1.000 0. The average recoveries of six antibacterial agents were 92.2%~104.6%. The study indicates that the proposed method is efficient, reliable and sensitive, which can be used for the detection of growth promoting antibacterial agents in premixes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lodging is one of the main factors affecting the grain yield and mechanized harvesting in maize. Dissecting the genetic basis of lodging related traits can provide a theoretical basis for high yield and mechanized harvest breeding of maize. In this study, genome-wide association study (GWAS) and linkage analysis were combined to identify the significant loci interrelated with lodging related traits using 153 inbred lines from China and abroad. We detected 5, 14, 16, and 21 SNPs significant SNPs related to stem strength, plant height, ear height, and ear height-to-plant height ratio, respectively. Among these significant SNPs, the maximum effect value of a single site was 13.24. Twenty-one QTLs related to lodging related traits were identified by linkage analysis, which explaining the phenotypic variations of 3.86%-16.58% in F5 population constructed by KA105 and KB020. Further, we noticed that two QTL intervals were coincided with the candidate intervals of association analysis. Finally, GRMZM2G105391, GRMZM2G014119, and GRMZM2G341410 candidate genes related to cell wall biosynthesis, cell division and elongation were predicted by functional annotation for these candidate regions. These results can provide a new reference for further analysis of the genetic basis of lodging resistance in maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving soil fertility is one of the key approaches for ecological restoration of the wind-sand area in northwest Liaoning Province. Taking wind-sand area in northwest Liaoning Province as test object, we conducted a fertilization experiment with treatments of inorganic fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers), organic fertilizer, combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers, and organic fertilizer combined with a biologically organic matrix (γ-polyglutamic acid), and no fertilizer as control. We measured soil organic matter content and extractable cations concentrations, vegetation coverage, and biomass under different fertilization treatments and determine the suitable fertilization mode. The results showed that compared to the control, inorganic fertilizer rapidly increased vegetation coverage and biomass, but high levels of inorganic fertilizer (150 kg N·hm -2 ) led to soil acidification and Ca 2+ leaching. Organic fertilizer increased soil organic matter content, exchangeable K + , Ca 2+ , and Mg 2+ contents, as well as coverage and biomass vegetation, especially combined with γ-polyglutamic acid. Overall, the combination of low levels of inorganic fertilizer (50 kg N·hm -2 ) and moderate levels of organic fertilizer (30000 kg·hm -2 ) was the best fertilization practice for the rapid and stable restoration of grassland in wind-sand area. Moreover, the extra addition of γ-polyglutamic acid (60 kg·hm -2 )could effectively improve soil fertility.

Based on the domestic and foreign published papers about soil heavy metal contents, the present study explored the spatial variations of heavy metal contents in agricultural soil in China. Totally, 173 studies on soil Pb, 138 on Cd, 156 on Cu, 139 on Zn and 140 on Cr were collected. Firstly, the abnormal values were selected and removed, then the spatial distributions were obtained through Kriging method and the average values in the provinces were calculated. Results show that the spatial distributions of heavy metals have obvious regional characteristics and the southwest part of China has relatively high heavy metal concentrations in soils. Compared with the background value of soil heavy metal concentrations, nearly all of the provinces have higher Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn concentrations. Pb and Cd have the most obviously higher values than the background values. The highest difference of Pb concentration is in Yunnan Province with 1.91 times of the background, and the highest Cd difference is in Liaoning Province with 23.04 times of the background; The highest Zn enrichment is in Yunnan, with 1.55 times of the background; and the highest Cu difference with 2.92 times of the background value.

To understand the origin and chemical characteristics of precipitation in Shenyang, about 25 rainwater samples were collected in 2007. The pH of samples varied from 4.89 to 8.02, with the volume-weighted average of 6.89. The results showed that the concentration of the sum of anions and cations in Shenyang was higher than those in southern cities such as Hangzhou, whereas the acidification of rainwater was not very serious in Shenyang. The volume-weighted average concentrations of SO4(2-) and Cl(-) were 330.00 microeq x L(-1) and 85.05 microeq x L(-1), with the percent contribution to anions of 60.32% and 15.55%, respectively. Ca2+ and NH4(+) were the main cations with contribution of 49.51% and 29.78%, respectively. The seasonal variations of ions showed that the concentrations were higher in autumn and winter than in spring and summer. Investigations of fractional acidity (FA), neutralization factors (NF), and correlation coefficients among ionic constituents indicated that high pH values were controlled by the neutralization caused by the alkaline materials but not by the absence of acidic materials. Results of NF indicated that NH4(+) and Ca(2+) were the dominant neutralization substances. Calculation of enrichment factors for rainwater components relative to soil and seawater indicated that SO4(2-) and NO3(-) were mostly attributed by the anthropogenic activities, 53.1% of Cl(-) originated from sea sources, and NH4(+) and K(+) came from the soils and human activities.

This study is to investigate the effects of ceramide on GSTA1 expression in Caco-2 cells. After being exposed to ceramide for a fixed time, GSTA1 protein expression was detected by Western blotting analysis; GSTA1 mRNA expression was detected by real time PCR; dual luciferase assay was used to analyze GSTA1 transcriptional activity and GSTA1 activity was determined toward androstanedione (AD) as substrate. The data showed that ceramide can significantly induce the expression of protein and GSTA1 mRNA, and increase transcriptional activity and enzyme activity of GSTA1. The results demonstrated that ceramide may increase resistance to chemotherapeutics in Caco-2 cells by up-regulating the expression of GSTA1.

Objective: To survey the incidence of acute coronary events and its trend in three years, and explore the distribution of the incidence across Beijing residents aged 25 years and more from 2007 to 2009., Methods: The present study incorporated and linked the routinely collected data from the Hospital Discharge Information System and Cause of Death Register System in Beijing, estimated the incidence of acute coronary events, and analyzed the distribution of the incidence across gender, age groups and regions. Acute coronary event was defined as non-fatal myocardial infarction and death from coronary heart disease. Numbers of residents by age, gender and area were obtained from the Beijing Statistics Bureau., Results: A total of 68 390 acute coronary events were identified among permanent residents of Beijing aged 25 years and more from 2007 to 2009. The age-standardized incidence was 166.4 per 100 000 people in overall population, with 218.5 in males and 115.2 in females. The age-standardized incidence was 144.3, 154.7, and 195.8 per 100 000 people in urban, suburban, and exurban area, respectively. The incidence was the highest in Huairou district (263.8 per 100 000), while was the lowest in Haidian district (121.5 per 100 000). The age-standardized incidence was 158.4, 169.4, and 171.2 per 100 000 in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. The age-standardized incidence increased by 8.1% in 2009 compared to 2007, increase in men (11.1%) was greater than in women (2.5%). The incidence increased significantly with age in each year. The incidence raised by 30.3% in 2009 compared to 2007 for men aged 35 - 44 years. In 2009, the incidence was 146.7, 155.9, and 207.4 per 100 000 people in urban, suburban, and exurban area, respectively. The rates increased by 3.2% in both urban and suburban areas, and 16.4% in exurban areas in 2009 compared to 2007., Conclusion: The incidence of acute coronary events increased from 2007 to 2009 among the permanent residents of Beijing aged 25 years and over, especially in young men, and people living in the exurban areas.

Objective: To examine the distribution and trends of hospitalization rates for coronary heart disease (CHD) from 2007 to 2009 in Beijing., Methods: We calculated hospitalization rates for CHD using data from Beijing Hospital Discharge Information System. Information of census registered population in Beijing was obtained from Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. CHD includes acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina and other forms of CHD. Age-standardized hospitalization rates for CHD per 100 000 population aged 25 years or more were calculated., Results: During 2007 - 2009, a total of 248 049 patients aged 25 years or more hospitalized in Beijing with the primary discharge diagnosis of CHD were enrolled, of whom 73.7% were permanent registered Beijing citizens. The average hospitalization rate for CHD in 2007 - 2009 was 651.2/100 000 for the permanent residences in Beijing (741.2/100 000 in men, 560.9/100 000 in women). The highest average hospitalization rate (671.9/100 000) was seen in exurban area compared to other areas in Beijing. The average hospitalization rate for acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and other CHD was 126.4/100 000, 226.4/100 000 and 298.4/100 000, respectively. The hospitalization rate for CHD increased 18.1% from 2007 to 2009 (from 598.1/100 000 to 706.5/100 000). The same trend was seen in women (20.2%) and men (16.6%). The hospitalization rates of CHD in the urban, suburban, and exurban areas of Beijing all increased in the three years, and the greatest increase (36.6%) was found in exurban area. Hospitalization rates of acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina increased 24.5% and 55.3%, respectively, in the three years, while hospitalization rates of other CHD decreased 5.7%., Conclusions: The hospitalization rate of CHD is higher in men than in women in Beijing. The hospitalization rates for CHD increased from the observation period, especially in those living in exurban area. Awareness of the magnitudes and trends of CHD hospitalization rates is of great importance in evaluating the burden of cardiovascular disease, allocating and utilizing health care resources, and estimating the health insurance for Beijing.

Taking Fuyang county of Zhejiang Province as the study area, the present study estimated soil Zn concentration (divided by its local background value into G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5) using CART methods, based on 184 soil samples (0-20 cm). The environmental factors used to infer the Zn concentration rules included soil types, pH, organic matter, agricultural land uses, industry plant types, road and village density. The other 41 soil samples were used to test the prediction results. The Zn concentration classes estimated by CART have accuracy in attribution to the right classes of 80.49%. This is a 21.95% improvement on Zn classes estimated by ordinary Kriging method. Concretely, it improved the precision much for G1, G3 and G4, while obtained similar precision for G2 and G5. Moreover, CART provided some insights into the sources of current soil Zn contents. The categories of industrial plants play the most important role in separating the high and low level of Zn concentration (G1, G2 and G3, G4, G5), and the pH value, soil types and agricultural types play important roles in differentiation among G1 and G2, and among G3, G4 and G5.

Three types of CaCO3 can be synthesized through biomimetic synthesis. In the present work, carboxymethyl-starch, etherified-starch, and phosphate-starch, used as organic matrices, were studied by FTIR. The result shows that the intensity of C-O peaks of the three modified-starchs changed. In addition, the intensity of C-O peaks was weakened or vanished obviously with the increase in time. The action mechanism of the modified-starchs and CaCO3 was briefly discussed.

Objective: To explore the influence of dermal defect and fat dome structure destruction in burn wounds on the formation of hyperplastic scar., Methods: Fifty two wounds in 24 burn patients with deep partial thickness burn indicating tangential excision in the extremities were enrolled in the study, and they were divided into three groups according to the extent of exposure of dermal fat granules, i.e. A (without fat exposure), B (with little fat exposure) and C (with much fat exposure) groups. These three groups were subdivided into A1 (without grafting), A2 (grafting with razor thin skin), B1 (without grafting), B2 (with razor thin skin grafting), C1 (without grafting) and C2 (with split-thickness skin grafting) groups, with 9 wounds in each group. The dermal depth and exposure rate of the fat granules in each group were measured and analyzed by KS400 photography analysis apparatus. The follow-up conditions of the scars 6 months after operation were evaluated with Vancouver remark system by Vancouver score assessment., Results: There was obvious difference in the dermal depth and exposure rate of the fat granules among all the groups (P < 0.05 or 0.01). The fat exposure rate was positively correlated with the extent of the dermal defect (gamma = 0.554, P < 0.05). The Vancouver score in group A was lower than that in B and C groups (P < 0.05), while that in B1 group (3.714 +/- 2.498) was evidently higher than that in other groups (P < 0.01). The scar score was lowered when the wounds were grafted with the dermis with its thickness similar to the depth of the defect, The scar score was increased along with the elevation of fat exposure rate (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: There was a positive correlation between the degree of dermal defect and that of hyperplastic scar after burns. The disruption of fat dome structure might also be an important factor in the scar development.

Objective: To explore the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of mitochondrial gene mutation A3243G (mt tRNA(Leu(UUR)) 3243 A-->G) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) in China., Methods: Four hundred and twenty-eight cases of DM2 patients were selected randomly. One hundred and eighty-eight individuals were healthy controls. The mutation was assayed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. The target fragments of PCR were digested with restriction endonuclease Apa I., Results: mt tRNA(Leu(UUR)) 3243A-->G gene mutation was found in 2 of 428 patients with DM2, but not found in the controls. Further investigation of the relatives of the 2 patients' families revealed that 3 members were the carriers of mt tRNA A3243G gene mutation and the patients with diabetes. In addition, one proband and her son were characterized with the syndrome of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis. The diabetes of these patients is frequently accompanied by hearing impairment or deafness with maternal inheritance., Conclusion: The prevalence of the mitochondrial gene A3243G mutation is 0.47% in DM2 patients in China. The data acquired in this study suggest that the clinical phenotype of these patients with A3243G should be heterogeneous.

The effect of crystallization of calcium carbonate on the secondary structure of pepsin was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, derivative, deconvolution and curve-fitting techniques in this paper. The result shows that the pure protein is composed of 24.38% alpha-helices, 29.91% beta-sheets, 39.22% beta-turns and 6.49% random structures, and the pepsin in the CaCO3/pepsin solution is composed of 2.09% alpha-helices, 93.304% beta-sheets, 4.60% beta-turns and 0.006% random structures. From these data we can see that the alpha-helices decrease and the beta-turns increase with the formation of the crystal of calcium carbonate. The essence of these changes is discussed in the paper.