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Objective To investigate and analyze the level of homocysteine (Hcy) in Tibet and to analyze the differences of Hcy level in different altitude regions, genders and ages, and thus to provide the prevalence profile of hyperhomocysteine and the differences in relevant tests between HHcy(hyperhomocysteinemia) and non-HHcy populations. Methods Totally 1 615(male n=585) subjects were selected from Ngari, Lhasa, Shigatse and Nyingchi plateau areas of Tibet by stratified cluster sampling. Serum Hcy level was analyzed and the difference of Hcy level in populations located at different altitude plateau areas, gender groups were found. The prevalence of hyperhomocysteine and related test were analyzed. Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare Hcy levels in different altitudes, genders and age groups, and Pearson Chi-square test was used to compare HHcy prevalence. Variance analysis was used for the differences of different test indicators between non-HHcy and HHcy populations. Results The level of Hcy in different regions and different genders were statistically significant, which was higher in males than that in females, and higher in Lhasa and Shigatse than in Nyingchi and Ngari. There was difference in serum HHcy prevalence among different genders, regions and age groups. Males showed a higher level than females, people from Lhasa and Shigatse showed a higher level than those from Nyingchi and Ngari. Conclusions The incidence of hyperhomocysteinemia in Tibet is statistically significant in different areas, different genders and different age groups. So this study provides a scientific basis for the rational use of Hcy as an indicator in clinical practice of prevention and treatment of related diseases in plateau areas.

SignificanceDynamically understanding the microscopic processes governing ordering transformations has rarely been attained. The situation becomes even more challenging for nanoscale alloys, where the significantly increased surface-area-to-volume ratio not only opens up a variety of additional freedoms to initiate an ordering transformation but also allows for kinetic interplay between the surface and bulk due to their close proximity. We provide direct evidence of the microscopic processes controlling the ordering transformation through the surface-bulk interplay in Pt-Fe nanoalloys and new features rendered by variations in alloy composition and chemical stimuli. These results provide a mechanistic detail of ordering transformation phenomena which are widely relevant to nanoalloys as chemical ordering occurs in most multicomponent materials under suitable environmental bias.

Taking the major apple producing provinces in northern China as the research area, spatial-temporal distribution characteristics of different levels of apple drought during different growing periods are quantitatively evaluated. The drought index is graded, and historical disaster data collected are used to count disaster samples of different drought levels during different growth stages of apple, which verifies the rationality of the drought index level. Then the spatial-temporal distribution of different levels of drought, drought occurrence frequency, and occurrence range of apples during different eras in northern China are analyzed based on the validated drought grade index. Results show that among 46 total samples, the fully matched and basically matched samples account for 85%. Therefore, the drought grade index constructed can reflect the actual drought conditions reasonably for apples in northern China. Spatial distribution characteristics of drought levels decrease sequentially from north to south. The severe drought during different growing periods for apples is mainly distributed in northern and central of Gansu and northern Ningxia. The degree of drought changes greatly with the change of years in north central Shanxi from fruit tree sprouts to flower buds sprout, in Shanxi, Shandong, north Shaanxi from flower buds sprout to flower full bloom, and in Henan from mature to fallen leaves. The area of severe drought gradually increases with changes of the years from 1981 to 2010 in fruit tree sprouts to flower buds sprout and mature to fallen leaves. The frequency of no drought increases from north to south and the high frequency areas occur one time or above in two years. The frequency of severe drought decreases from north to south and the high frequency areas occur one time or above in two years. The light drought has dominated during the past 36 years in the study area, and the range of severe drought during the period from flower to maturity is larger than the other period. The ratio of drought occurring stations show a significant increasing trend for severe drought in the period from fruit tree sprouts to flower buds sprout and the moderate drought in the period from flower to maturity. The drought is severe and the frequency is high in the northwest. In the production of apples, a drought prevention plan should be prepared on the basis of drought warning, and attention should be paid to the timely response to drought at different growth stages.

Clarifying the spatial-temporal distribution and the periodic law of drought during different growth stages of apple in northern China can provide a scientific basis for disaster prevention and mitigation and high yield and quality. Based on daily meteorological data of 144 meteorological stations in north of China from 1981 to 2016, precipitation, water requirement, continuous no-precipitation days and the drought index during different growth stages of apple are calculated. Spatial distribution characteristics and temporal trends of apple drought in the study area are clarified. Finally, the periodic law of drought during different growth stages of apple in northern China is revealed with wavelet analysis. Results show that the spatial distribution of precipitation during different growth stages of apple is consistent with the spatial distribution of drought index. The precipitation exhibits an increasing trend from northwest to southeast during different growth stages. The precipitation during fruit tree sprouts to flower buds and flowering to maturity show a decreasing trend and the precipitation in stages from flower buds sprout to flower full bloom and from mature to fallen leaves exhibit an increasing trend from 1981 to 2016. The apple water requirement during stages from fruit tree sprouts to flower buds and from flower bud sprout to flower full bloom exhibit an increasing trend, while the other growing stages exhibit a decreasing trend from 1981 to 2016. High values for drought index are mainly distributed in Gansu, Ningxia, Hebei and Beijing. The drought index during the stage from fruit tree sprouts to flower buds shows an increasing trend, while during the other growth stages the drought index shows a decreasing trend from 1981 to 2016. There are three different scales of periodic variation for apple drought during different growth stages.Above all, areas with the most serious drought are mainly concentrated in Gansu, Ningxia, Hebei and Beijing. The drought is the most serious during the stage from flower bud sprout to flower full bloom, and the drought index during the growth stage from fruit tree sprouts to flower buds shows an increasing trend.

Objectives: Diagnosis of thyroid disease among individuals dwelling at high altitude remains a challenge. Reference intervals (RIs) for thyroid-associated hormones among Tibetans living at various high altitudes were established to improve diagnosis. Methods: One thousand two hundred eighty-one subjects were randomly recruited from Nyingchi, Shigatse/Lhasa, and Ali of Tibet. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxine (FT4) were measured by the Cobas e601 electrochemiluminescence analyzer. We used multiple linear regression and variance component analysis to assess the effect of sex, age, and altitude on hormones. RIs were established by refineR algorithm and compared with those provided by the manufacturer. Results: Serum TSH was significantly lower in males than in females, while FT3 and FT4 were higher in males. Both FT3 and FT4 decreased with increasing age. FT3 increased with altitude, while TSH and FT4 were less influenced by altitude. The RI for TSH was 0.764–5.784 μIU/ml, while for FT4, the RIs were 12.36–19.38 pmol/L in females and 14.84–20.18 pmol/L in males. The RIs for FT3 at Nyingchi, Shigatse/Lhasa, and Ali in females were 4.09–4.98, 4.31–5.45, and 4.82–5.58 pmol/L, while in males, the values were 4.82–5.41, 4.88–5.95, and 5.26–6.06 pmol/L, respectively. The obtained RIs for TSH and FT4 were generally higher, while that for FT3 was narrower than the RIs provided by Cobas. Conclusions: Specific RIs were established for thyroid-associated hormones among Tibetans, which were significantly different from those provided by the manufacturer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have been shown to have a close association in previous studies, but their pathogeneses are unclear. This study explores the molecular mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis of OSA and NAFLD and identifies key predictive genes., Methods: Using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, we obtained gene expression profiles GSE38792 for OSA and GSE89632 for NAFLD and related clinical characteristics. Mitochondrial unfolded protein response-related genes (UPRmtRGs) were acquired by collating and collecting UPRmtRGs from the GeneCards database and relevant literature from PubMed. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with OSA and NAFLD were identified using differential expression analysis. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was conducted for signaling pathway enrichment analysis of related disease genes. Based on the STRING database, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis was performed on differentially co-expressed genes (Co-DEGs), and the Cytoscape software (version 3.9.1) was used to visualize the PPI network model. In addition, the GeneMANIA website was used to predict and construct the functional similar genes of the selected Co-DEGs. Key predictor genes were analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve., Results: The intersection of differentially expressed genes shared between OSA and NAFLD-related gene expression profiles with UPRmtRGs yielded four Co-DEGs: ASS1 , HDAC2 , SIRT3 , and VEGFA . GSEA obtained the relevant enrichment signaling pathways for OSA and NAFLD. PPI network results showed that all four Co-DEGs interacted (except for ASS1 and HDAC2 ). Ultimately, key predictor genes were selected in the ROC curve, including HDAC2 (OSA: AUC = 0.812; NAFLD: AUC = 0.729), SIRT3 (OSA: AUC = 0.775; NAFLD: AUC = 0.750), and VEGFA (OSA: AUC = 0.812; NAFLD: AUC = 0.861) (they have a high degree of accuracy in predicting whether a subject will develop two diseases)., Conclusion: In this study, four co-expression differential genes for OSA and NAFLD were obtained, and they can predict the occurrence of both diseases. Transcriptional mechanisms involved in OSA and NAFLD interactions may be better understood by exploring these key genes. Simultaneously, this study provides potential diagnostic and therapeutic markers for patients with OSA and NAFLD., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Liu, Li, Wang, Ai and Li.)

Objective: To investigate the expression level and analyze the clinical significance of NT5C2, which is an nucleoside analogues metabolism related gene, in children with acute leukemia (AL)., Methods: Real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were presented to detect the level of NT5C2 mRNA and its protein product cN- Ⅱ in bone marrow samples of 63 patients initially diagnosed with AL, 15 patients who achieved complete remission, 7 patients who relapsed and 16 non- hematologic malignancie controls. The expression of NT5C2 mRNA in different groups of AL and its relevance with clinical indicators were analyzed., Results: ①The expression of NT5C2 mRNA in newly diagnosed B-ALL, TALL, AML and controls were 1.16 (0.89-2.25, 0.96 (0.74-1.25, 1.66 (0.84-3.15) and 0.88 (0.61-1.21), respectively. NT5C2 mRNA expression in AML (P<0.01) and B-ALL (P<0.05) cases were higher than that in controls; NT5C2 mRNA expression in T- ALL and in controls showed no significant difference (P>0.05). Changes of NT5C2 mRNA level were observed between preliminary diagnosis and complete remission in 15 patients. NT5C2 mRNA levels were significantly decreased in complete remission stage than that in newly diagnosis AL (P<0.01). NT5C2 mRNA levels of relapsed-refractory group were higher than that of complete remission group and controls (P<0.01). ② Immunohistochemical staining results revealed that NT5C2 protein levels were consistent with the trend of mRNA levels. ③NT5C2 mRNA levels in AML (r=0.434) and T-ALL (r=0.389) were positively correlated with risk classification (P<0.05). ④ During chemotherapy of patients with AML, the NR rate of bone marrow in NT5C2 high expression group was higher than that of low expression group after 9 days induction chemotherapy (35.2% vs 0) and before consolidation therapy (25.0% vs 0); The positive rate of minimal-residual disease (36.4% vs 14.3%) and relapse rate of AL (38.5% vs 28.6%) were increased in NT5C2 high expressed patients than that in low expressed patients, but all the differences were insignificant (P>0.05)., Conclusion: High expression of NT5C2 was found to be a related risk factor of AL children with unfavourable prognosis. NT5C2 promises a new target for guiding individualized chemotherapy and evaluating the prognosis of childhood acute leukemia and monitoring recurrence.