Search

This study uses the extended C-D production function method to measure the total distortion of factor prices and the distortion of capital, labor and land factor prices in China's provinces and cities. The results indicate that between 2000 and 2019, due to factors such as the dual economic structure between urban and rural areas, human intervention in the capital market, and lagging land marketization reform, both capital and land factor prices showed negative distortions, except for positive distortions in labor factor prices. The degree of this positive distortion began to gradually weaken, and even showed a negative distortion trend in some regions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Lan, Li. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: In Guangxi province of China, there is a high prevalence of HIV in the general population and in men who have sex with men (MSM). However, there is still a low proportion of MSM among people living with HIV. This apparent contradiction could be due to the high proportion of potential non-disclosed MSM (pnMSM) among reported heterosexual men. We analyzed the genetic linkage of HIV specimens to address this problem aiming to (1) identify the optimal genetic distance threshold, which gave the highest number of genetic clusters, (2) document the proportion of potential non-disclosed MSM (pnMSM) among self-reported heterosexual men, and (3) determine predictors for pnMSM., Methods: Pairwise genetic distances were computed among all samples. The genetic distance threshold giving the highest number of genetic clusters was identified. Self-reported heterosexual men were identified as belonging to the pnMSM group if they could be linked to any MSM in their cluster. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine associated factors of being pnMSM., Results: The optimal genetic distance threshold was 0.75% substitutions/site. Among 896 self-reported heterosexual men, the frequency (percentage and 95% confidence interval) was 62 (6.9%, 5.2-8.6%) for pnMSM, 779 (86.9%, 84.7-89.1%) for indeterminate men and 55 (6.1%, 4.5-7.7%) for potential heterosexual men, respectively. Self-reported heterosexual men who were younger, single and more educated were more likely to be pnMSM., Conclusion: Based on these findings, there is a need to pay more attention to sexually active, young and educated self-reported heterosexual men and provide them with voluntary counselling and testing and specific HIV prevention services., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests, (Copyright: © 2023 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

To control the HIV/AIDS epidemics in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China, Guangxi government launched the 5-year Guangxi AIDS Conquering Project (GACP, Phase I: 2010-2014, Phase II: 2015-2020). In the project, three measures are implemented, such as great improvements of the coverage of HIV/AIDS education, promotion of HIV voluntary counseling and testing, and enhancement of antiretroviral treatment. In this paper, we explore the effects of the three measures of GACP by construction of a Susceptible-Infected-Diagnosed-Treated population compartments model and via evaluation of the basic reproduction number derived from the model. A computational framework is developed for estimating the model parameters based on the HIV surveillance data, with application of the Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo method and Nonlinear Least Squares method. By estimating the new infections and evaluating the basic reproduction number, we find that the implementation of the three measures of GACP has a significant effect on controlling the rise of HIV/AIDS cases and the epidemic trend. Compared with HIV voluntary counseling and testing, strengthening HIV/AIDS education and expanding the coverage of antiretroviral treatment show a greater impact on HIV/AIDS epidemic control, which provides a reference project for other provinces with a similar epidemic situation in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. At the same time, our research fills the current research gap for the evaluation of large-scale AIDS prevention and control projects in developing areas., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

To improve the performance of wind sensors in the high velocity range, this paper proposes a wind measurement strategy for thermal wind velocity sensors that combines the constant power and constant temperature difference driving modes of the heating element. Based on the airflow distribution characteristics from fluid dynamics, sequential measurement and correction is proposed as a method of measuring wind direction. In addition, a wind velocity and direction measurement instrument was developed using the above-mentioned approaches. The test results showed that the proposed instrument can obtain large dynamic wind velocity measurements from 0 to 60 m/s. The wind velocity measurement accuracy was ±0.5 m/s in the common velocity range of 0-20 m/s and ±1 m/s in the high velocity range of 20-60 m/s. The wind direction accuracy was ±3° throughout the 360° range. The proposed approaches and instrument are not only practical but also capable of meeting the requirements of wide-range and large dynamic wind vector measurement applications., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The nuclear receptors REV-ERBα and REV-ERBβ have been demonstrated to be core members of the circadian clock and participate in the regulation of a diverse set of metabolic functions. Due to their overlapping tissue expression patterns and gene expression profiles, REV-ERBβ is thought to be redundant to REV-ERBα. Recent work has highlighted REV-ERBα's role in the regulation of skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and mitochondrial biogenesis. Considering the similarity between the REV-ERBs and the hypothesized overlap in function, we sought to determine whether REV-ERBβ-deficiency presented with a similar skeletal muscle phenotype as REV-ERBα-deficiency. Ectopic overexpression in C2C12 cells demonstrated that REV-ERBβ drives mitochondrial biogenesis and the expression of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation. Intriguingly, knock down of REV-ERBβ in C2C12 cultures also resulted in mitochondrial biogenesis and increased expression of genes involved in fatty acid β-oxidation. To determine whether these effects occurred in vivo, we examined REV-ERBβ-deficient mice and observed a similar increase in expression of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and fatty acid β-oxidation. Consistent with these results, REV-ERBβ-deficient mice exhibited an altered metabolic phenotype compared to wild-type littermate controls when measured by indirect calorimetry. This likely compensated for the increased food consumption that occurred, possibly aiding in the maintenance of their weight over time. Since feeding behaviors are a direct circadian output, this study suggests that REV-ERBβ may have more subtle effects on circadian behaviors than originally identified. Furthermore, these data implicate REV-ERBβ in the control of skeletal muscle metabolism and energy expenditure and suggest that development of REV-ERBα versus REV-ERBβ selective ligands may have therapeutic utility in the treatment of metabolic syndrome.

Atherosclerotic lesions are lipometabolic disorder characterized by chronic progressive inflammation in arterial walls. Previous studies have shown that macrophage-derived lipoprotein lipase (LPL) might be a key factor that promotes atherosclerosis by accelerating lipid accumulation and proinflammatory cytokine secretion. Increasing evidence indicates that microRNA-27 (miR-27) has beneficial effects on lipid metabolism and inflammatory response. However, it has not been fully understood whether miR-27 affects the expression of LPL and subsequent development of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E knockout (apoE KO) mice. To address these questions and its potential mechanisms, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)-treated THP-1 macrophages were transfected with the miR-27 mimics/inhibitors and apoE KO mice fed high-fat diet were given a tail vein injection with miR-27 agomir/antagomir, followed by exploring the potential roles of miR-27. MiR-27 agomir significantly down-regulated LPL expression in aorta and peritoneal macrophages by western blot and real-time PCR analyses. We performed LPL activity assay in the culture media and found that miR-27 reduced LPL activity. ELISA showed that miR-27 reduced inflammatory response as analyzed in vitro and in vivo experiments. Our results showed that miR-27 had an inhibitory effect on the levels of lipid both in plasma and in peritoneal macrophages of apoE KO mice as examined by HPLC. Consistently, miR-27 suppressed the expression of scavenger receptors associated with lipid uptake in ox-LDL-treated THP-1 macrophages. In addition, transfection with LPL siRNA inhibited the miR-27 inhibitor-induced lipid accumulation and proinflammatory cytokines secretion in ox-LDL-treated THP-1 macrophages. Finally, systemic treatment revealed that miR-27 decreased aortic plaque size and lipid content in apoE KO mice. The present results provide evidence that a novel antiatherogenic role of miR-27 was closely related to reducing lipid accumulation and inflammatory response via downregulation of LPL gene expression, suggesting a potential strategy to the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis.

Recent studies have suggested that miR-590 may play critical roles in cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to determine the effects of miR-590 on lipoprotein lipase (LPL) expression and development of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E knockout (apoE-/-) mice and explore the potential mechanisms. En face analysis of the whole aorta revealed that miR-590 significantly decreased aortic atherosclerotic plaque size and lipid content in apoE-/- mice. Double immunofluorescence staining in cross-sections of the proximal aorta showed that miR-590 agomir reduced CD68 and LPL expression in macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions. MiR-590 agomir down-regulated LPL mRNA and protein expression as analyzed by RT-qPCR and western blotting analyses, respectively. Consistently, miR-590 decreased the expression of CD36 and scavenger receptor A1 (SRA1) mRNA and protein. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)analysis confirmed that treatment with miR-590 agomir reduced lipid levels either in plasma orinabdominal cavity macrophages of apoE-/- mice. ELISA analysis showed that miR-590 agomir decreased plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-1β (IL-1β)and interleukin-6 (IL-6). In contrast, treatment with miR-590 antagomir prevented or reversed these effects. Taken together, these results reveal a novel mechanism of miR-590 effects, and may provide new insights into the development of strategies for attenuating lipid accumulation and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion.

Sustained molecular oscillations are ubiquitous in biology. The obtained oscillatory patterns provide vital functions as timekeepers, pacemakers and spacemarkers. Models based on control theory have been introduced to explain how specific oscillatory behaviors stem from protein interaction feedbacks, whereas the energy dissipation through the oscillating processes and its role in the regulatory function remain unexplored. Here we developed a general framework to assess an oscillator's regulation performance at different dissipation levels. Using the Escherichia coli MinCDE oscillator as a model system, we showed that a sufficient amount of energy dissipation is needed to switch on the oscillation, which is tightly coupled to the system's regulatory performance. Once the dissipation level is beyond this threshold, unlike stationary regulators' monotonic performance-to-cost relation, excess dissipation at certain steps in the oscillating process damages the oscillator's regulatory performance. We further discovered that the chemical free energy from ATP hydrolysis has to be strategically assigned to the MinE-aided MinD release and the MinD immobilization steps for optimal performance, and a higher energy budget improves the robustness of the oscillator. These results unfold a novel mode by which living systems trade energy for regulatory function.

Introduction: Female sex workers (FSWs) are at highest risk for contracting HIV and facilitating the current heterosexual HIV epidemic in Guangxi, China, yet little is known of the impact of recent harm reduction campaigns in the province. We analyzed sentinel surveillance data collected between 2010 and 2012 in Guangxi to explore correlations between the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), and syphilis and risk behaviors of different categories of FSWs in Guangxi., Methods: The sentinel surveillance data for 5,1790 FSWs in all 14 prefectures and 64 city/county regions of Guangxi, China from 2010 to 2012 were collected. Differences between three categories of FSWs (grouped by venue) and disease trends (HIV, HCV, and syphilis) by year were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses as to evaluate risk factors correlated with HIV, HCV, or syphilis infection., Results: HIV and HCV prevalence remained constant across the three FSW categories; however, syphilis prevalence showed a significant increase from 5.7% to 7.3% for low-tier FSWs. Most cases with HIV, HCV, syphilis and intravenous drug use were seen in low-tier FSWs. Testing positive for HIV and syphilis were most correlated with being HCV positive (AOR 4.12 and AOR 4.36), only completing elementary school (AOR 3.71 and AOR 2.35), low tier venues (AOR 2.02 and AOR 2.00), and prior STI (AOR 1.40 and AOR 3.56), respectively. HCV infection was correlated with ever injecting drugs (AOR 60.65) and testing positive for syphilis (AOR 4.16) or HIV (AOR 3.74)., Conclusions: This study highlights that low tier FSWs with lower formal education levels are the most vulnerable population at risk for acquiring and transmitting HIV, HCV, and syphilis in Guangxi, China. Condom distribution with evolution to safer sex practices are the reasons to explain the non-increasing prevalence of HIV, HCV in Guangxi for 2010-2012.

Since Feb, 2013, more than 100 human beings had been infected with novel H7N9 avian influenza virus. As of May 2013, several H7N9 viruses had been found in retail live bird markets (LBMs) in Guangdong province of southern China where several human cases were confirmed later. However, the real avian influenza virus infection status especially H7N9 in Guangzhou remains unclear. Therefore, a cross-sectional study of avian influenza in commercial poultry farms, the wholesale LBM and retail LBMs in one district of Guangzhou was conducted from October to November, 2013. A total of 1505 cloacal and environmental samples from 52 commercial poultry farms, 1 wholesale LBM and 18 retail LBMs were collected and detected using real-time RT-PCR for type A, H7, H7N9 and H9 subtype avian influenza virus, respectively. Of all the flocks randomly sampled, 6 farms, 12 vendors of the wholesale LBM and 18 retail LBMs were type A avian influenza virus positive with 0, 3 and 11 positive for H9, respectively. The pooled prevalence and individual prevalence of type A avian influenza virus were 33.9% and 7.9% which for H9 subtype was 7.6% and 1.6%, respectively. None was H7 and H7N9 subtype virus positive. Different prevalence and prevalence ratio were found in different poultry species with partridges having the highest prevalence for both type A and H9 subtype avian influenza virus. Our results suggest that LBM may have a higher risk for sustaining and transmission of avian influenza virus than commercial poultry farms. The present study also indicates that different species may play different roles in the evolution and transmission of avian influenza virus. Therefore, risk-based surveillance and management measures should be conducted in future in this area.

Background: Rising HIV infection rates have been observed among elderly people in Guangxi, China. Inexpensive aphrodisiacs are available for purchase in suburban and rural areas. This study aims to investigate the association between aphrodisiac use and increased HIV risk for middle-aged and elderly men in Guangxi., Methods: A matched case-control study of aphrodisiac use-associated HIV infection was performed among male subjects over 50 years old who were clients of low-cost commercial sex venues in Guangxi. The cases were defined as clients who were HIV-positive and two controls were selected for each case. The cases and the controls were matched on the visited sex venue, age (±3 years), number of years of purchasing sex (±3 years), and educational attainment. Subjects were interviewed and tested for HIV. Paired t-test or McNemar Chi-squared test were used to compare the characteristics between the cases and controls. A stepwise conditional logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with HIV infection., Findings: This study enrolled 103 cases and 206 controls. Aphrodisiac use (P = 0.02, odds ratio (OR) = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.08-3.04), never using condom during commercial sex encounter (P = 0.03, odds ratio (OR) = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.08-3.07), and lacking a stable partner (P = 0.03, odds ratio (OR) = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.05-2.98) were found to be risk factors for HIV infection among the study groups. For subjects reporting aphrodisiac use, the frequency of purchasing sex was positively correlated with the frequency of aphrodisiac use (r = 0.3; p = 0.02)., Conclusions: Aphrodisiac use was significantly associated with increased HIV infection risk in men over 50 years old who purchased commercial sex in the suburban and rural areas of Guangxi. Further research and interventions should address the links between aphrodisiac use, commercial sex work, condom use, and increased HIV transmission.

Objectives: To assess HIV incidence and its associated risk factors among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in urban areas, China., Design: The study used a prospective cohort study design and standard diagnostic tests., Methods: A twelve-month prospective cohort study was conducted among YMSM (18-25 years old) in 8 large cities in China. The participants were recruited via snowball sampling. A total of 1102 HIV-negative YMSM completed baseline assessment, 878 YMSM participants completed 6-month follow-up, and 902 completed 12-month follow-up. HIV was screened by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed with Western Blot. Syphilis was screened via rapid plasma reagent and confirmed by treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay., Results: 78 HIV seroconversions were identified within 1168.4 person-year observations yielding an incidence rate of 6.7 per 100 person-years. HIV seroconversion was associated with non-student status (RR = 2.61, 90% CI = 1.3-5.26), low HIV transmission knowledge (RR = 8.87, 90% CI = 2.16-36.43), and syphilis infection (RR = 5.04, 90% CI = 2.57-9.90)., Conclusions: Incidence of HIV among YMSM is high in urban areas of China. Interventions measures are required to contain the HIV epidemic within this population.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) decrease the expression of specific target oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes and thereby play crucial roles in tumorigenesis and tumor growth. To date, the potential miRNAs regulating osteosarcoma growth and progression are not fully identified yet. In this study, the miRNA microarray assay and hierarchical clustering analysis were performed in human osteosarcoma samples. In comparison with normal human skeletal muscle, 43 miRNAs were significantly differentially expressed in human osteosarcomas (fold change ≥2 and p≤0.05). Among these miRNAs, miR-133a and miR-133b expression was decreased by 135 folds and 47 folds respectively and the decreased expression was confirmed in both frozen and paraffin-embedded osteosarcoma samples. The miR-133b precursor expression vector was then transfected into osteosarcoma cell lines U2-OS and MG-63, and the stable transfectants were selected by puromycin. We found that stable over-expression of miR-133b in osteosarcoma cell lines U2-OS and MG-63 inhibited cell proliferation, invasion and migration, and induced apoptosis. Further, over-expression of miR-133b decreased the expression of predicted target genes BCL2L2, MCL-1, IGF1R and MET, as well as the expression of phospho-Akt and FAK. This study provides a new insight into miRNAs dysregulation in osteosarcoma, and indicates that miR-133b may play as a tumor suppressor gene in osteosarcoma.

Hypertrophic scars (HTS), the excessive deposition of scar tissue by fibroblasts, is one of the most common skin disorders. Fibroblasts derived from surgical scar tissue produce high levels of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). However, the molecular mechanisms for this phenomenon is poorly understood. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the molecular mechanisms of HTS and their potential therapeutic implications. Fibroblasts derived from skin HTS were cultured and characterized in vitro. The fibroblasts were synchronized and randomly assigned to two groups: cyclic stretch and cyclic stretch pre-treated with SB203580 (a p38MAPK inhibitor). Cyclic stretch at 10% strain was applied at a loading frequency of 10 cycles per minute (i.e. 5 seconds of tension and 5 seconds of relaxation) for 0 h, 6 h and 12 h. Cyclic stretch on HTS fibroblasts led to an increase in the expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 mRNA and protein and the phosphorylation of p38MAPK. SB203580 reversed these effects and caused a decrease in matrix contraction. Furthermore, HTS fibroblast growth was partially blocked by p38MAPK inhibition. Therefore, the mechanism of cyclic stretch involves p38 MAPK, and its inhibition is suggested as a novel therapeutic strategy for HTS.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046074.].

Studying the spatial pattern and interspecific associations of plant species may provide valuable insights into processes and mechanisms that maintain species coexistence. Point pattern analysis was used to analyze the spatial distribution patterns of twenty dominant tree species, their interspecific spatial associations and changes across life stages in a 20-ha permanent plot of seasonal tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, China, to test mechanisms maintaining species coexistence. Torus-translation tests were used to quantify positive or negative associations of the species to topographic habitats. The results showed: (1) fourteen of the twenty tree species were negatively (or positively) associated with one or two of the topographic variables, which evidences that the niche contributes to the spatial pattern of these species. (2) Most saplings of the study species showed a significantly clumped distribution at small scales (0-10 m) which was lost at larger scales (10-30 m). (3) The degree of spatial clumping deceases from saplings, to poles, to adults indicates that density-dependent mortality of the offspring is ubiquitous in species. (4) It is notable that a high number of positive small-scale interactions were found among the twenty species. For saplings, 42.6% of all combinations of species pairs showed positive associations at neighborhood scales up to five meters, but only 38.4% were negative. For poles and adults, positive associations at these distances still made up 45.5% and 29.5%, respectively. In conclusion, there is considerable evidence for the presence of positive interactions among the tree species, which suggests that species herd protection may occur in our plot. In addition, niche assembly and limited dispersal (likely) contribute to the spatial patterns of tree species in the tropical seasonal rain forest in Xishuangbanna, China.