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Oil shale samples from Longkou City, Shandong Province, China, were pyrolyzed in a fixed bed reactor at retorting temperature varied from 400 to 550°C under nitrogen atmosphere with heating rate of 15°C/min. The influence of retorting temperature on the yield and characteristics of shale oil and retorting gases were determined. It was observed that the oil yield increased to the maximum value, 15.68 wt%, as the retorting temperature increased from 440 to 550°C. And increasing retorting temperature improved also gas yields, but reduced the char yield. The contents of H2, CO2, and CH4 in the retorting gas increased with the rising of retorting temperature. The ratio of alkane/alkene hydrocarbon (C1-C5) decreased because of the secondary cracking reactions of gas phase in the high temperature. The carbon and nitrogen contents of shale oil increased with increasing retorting temperature, while those of hydrogen and oxygen decreased. The sulfur content was not significantly affected by the retorting temperature. In addition, the shale oil obtained from 550°C had the lowest aromatic content, 25.12 wt%, and the highest saturate content, 50.03 wt%, compared to the other retorting temperatures due to the cracking of aliphatic compounds. The alkanes with 8-34 carbons and alkenes with 8-27 carbons were detected in the shale oil. The concentration more than 20 mg/goil was C23-C30 in the range of 400-550°C. The total content of n-alkanes decreased to 369.25 mg g-1oil, and that of n-alkene reached the maximum value at 550°C, 181.62 mg/goil, with the rise of retorting temperature. It was demonstrated that the higher temperature was beneficial to promoting the reaction of aromatization, dehydrogenation, fraction, and other reactions in the pyrolysis process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: At present, scholars at home and abroad try to promote the growth of bone graft by changing the types and morphology of implant materials, and improving the thickness and smoothness of induced membrane. OBJECTIVE: To compare the degree of vascularization and the expression of some osteogenic factors in the polymethylmethacrylate bone cement membrane with different surface roughness degrees at different femoral bone defects in rats. METHODS: Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawtey rats (purchased from the Experimental Animal Center of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine) were used to establish rat models of critical-size femur defect. These rat modes were then randomly divided into groups A, B, C and D. Polymethylmethacrylate bone cement occupiers with surface roughness< 1.5 μm, 1.5-2.0 μm, 5.0-7.0 μm, and 14.0-20.0 μm were implanted in the femoral bone defects, respectively. At 6 weeks after implantation of bone cement spacer, the induced membranes around bone cement were removed. The morphological changes of the induced membranes were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect bone morphogenetic protein 2, transforming growth factor beta 1 and vascular endothelial growth factor protein in the induced membranes for quantitative and qualitative analyses. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, China (approval No. 20181101006). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that four kinds of bone cement with different surface roughness degrees could form a relatively regular induced membrane. The degree of vascularization and the number of cells in the induced membrane were similar among the four groups. Western blot analysis showed that the average levels of bone morphogenetic protein 2, transforming growth factor β1 and vascular endothelial growth factor protein were similar among four groups (P > 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the positive expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2, transforming growth factor β1 and vascular endothelial growth factor protein was similar among four groups (P > 0.05). These findings suggest that the change of surface roughness of bone cement has no significant effect on the histomorphological structure of induced membrane and the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2, transforming growth factor β1 and vascular endothelial growth factor in induced membrane at 6 weeks after implantation of bone cement spacer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Studies have found that polymethylmethacrytate bone cement implanted in the subcutaneous region, muscle and other parts can form induced membrane. The induced membrane favors vascularization and secretes multiple osteogenic factors. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences in the level of vascularization and the expression of osteogenic factors in the induced membrane among subcutaneous region, muscle and femoral bone defects. METHODS: Thirty-six male SD rats (purchased from the Experimental Animal Center of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine) were randomly divided into three groups (n=12/group). Polymethylmethacrylate antibiotic cement spacers were implanted in the subcutaneous tissue, muscle and femoral bone defects of the hind limbs. At 6 weeks after implantation, the induced membrane around the bone cement was removed. The change in membrane morphology was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2, transforming growth factor-β1 and vascular endothelial growth factor in the induced membrane was detected by western blot, RT -qPCR and immunohistochemistry. This study was approved by Animal Ethics Committee, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, China (approval No. 20181101006). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that induced membrane formed in each group. The number of vessels in the outer layer of the membrane tissue section was higher in the femoral bone defect groups than that in the muscle and subcutaneous tissue group. The number of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in the inner layer close to the bone cement was higher in the femoral bone defect group than in the muscle and subcutaneous tissue groups. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that bone morphogenetic protein-2, transforming growth factor-β1 and vascular endothelial growth factor expression levels were highest in the femoral bone defect group and lowest in the subcutaneous tissue group. Western blot and RT -qPCR showed that bone morphogenetic protein 2, transforming growth factor β1 and vascular endothelial growth factor expression levels were significantly higher in the femoral bone defect group than in the muscle and subcutaneous tissue groups (P < 0.001 ). These findings suggest that different surrounding tissue conditions have different important influences on tissue structure and osteogenic factor expression in the induced membrane. Polymethylmethacrylate bone cement implanted in the femoral bone defects can improve the quality of induced membrane formation, lead to a larger amount of newly formed vessels and higher osteogenic factor expression in the induced membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burning coal for winter heating has been considered a major contributor to northern China's winter haze, with the district heating boilers holding the balance. However a decade of intensive efforts on district heating boilers brought few improvements to northern China's winter air quality, arousing a speculation that the household heating stoves mainly in rural area rather than the district heating boilers mainly in urban area dominate coal emissions in winter. This implies an extreme underestimation of rural household coal consumption by the China Energy Statistical Yearbooks (CESYs), although direct evidence supporting this speculation is lacking. A village energy survey campaign was launched to gather the firsthand information on household coal consumption in the rural areas of two cities, Baoding (in Hebei province) and Beijing (the capital of China). The survey data show that the rural raw coal consumption in Baoding (5.04 × 10 3 kt) was approximately 6.5 times the value listed in the official CESY 2013 and exceeded the rural total of whole Hebei Province (4668 kt), revealing a huge amount of raw coal missing from the current statistical system. More importantly, rural emissions of particulate matter (PM) and SO 2 from raw coal, which had never been included in widely distributing environmental statistical reports, were found higher than those from industrial and urban household sectors in the two cities in 2013, which highlights the importance of rural coal burning in creating northern China's heavy haze and helps to explain why a number of modeling predictions on ambient pollutant concentrations based on normal emission inventories were more bias-prone in winter season than in other seasons. We therefore recommend placing greater emphasis on the “missing” rural raw coal to help China in its long-term ambition to achieve clean air in the context of rapid economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors influencing the pyrolysis process of Longkou oil shale, such as nitrogen flow rate, pyrolysis temperature, particle size, and heating rate, were investigated in order to optimize the pyrolysis condition and reduce the secondary reactions. Oil yield reached the maximum value, 17.46 %, higher than Fischer assay oil yield, at heating rate 15 °C min up to 550 °C under 0.6 L min nitrogen flow rate for 2- to 3-mm oil shale particles. Compared with the retorting gas obtained from Fischer assay, the retorting gas under optimized condition had a higher organic/inorganic gas ratio and alkanes/alkenes (C1-C5), due to the inhibition of the gas cracking or secondary gas phase reactions. And the shale oil obtained from optimized condition had a lower IBP and higher distilled mass percent when reaching the same end temperature, 750 °C. The content of total alkanes and alkenes in the shale oil under optimized condition was 401 and 181 mg g, which were higher than those from Fischer assay, but the C8-C10 alkenes were lower, proving that optimizing pyrolysis condition was beneficial to reducing the secondary reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The resources of lignite in Dongsheng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China are abundant. Because of its low energy density and typically high moisture content, lignite is not utilized extensively compared to higher coal grades. This paper focused on pyrolysis characteristic of lignite and the properties of its pyrolysates. The result demonstrated that comprehensive utilization of Dongsheng lignite can be achieved with in-depth knowledge of property of Dongsheng lignite. The pyrolysis experiments on lignite were carried out using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) at four different heating rates of 10, 15, 20 and 25°C/min and with a final temperature of 600°C. The kinetics model has been developed and the kinetic parameters are determined from TGA data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Currently, the conventional Fushun-type retorting process is the most main way of shale oil production in China. However, it has many disadvantages, such as low resource utilization efficiency and severe environmental pollution inevitably. In this paper, the framework of exergetic life cycle assessment (ELCA) is applied to the shale oil production process, and the indicator of resource utilization efficiency ( γ ) and the indicator of environmental sustainability ( ζ ) were defined to evaluate the performance of the resource utilization efficiency and environmental sustainability. The results indicate that the Aspen Plus simulation results are reasonably consistent with industrial data. The yield of shale oil is 4.52 kg/s by the pyrolysis of 100 kg/s oil shale. The framework of ELCA is applicable for the Fushun-type shale oil production process. During the whole life cycle, the cumulative exergy consumption (CExC) and the Abatement exergy (AbatEx) of pollutants (per kg shale oil produced) are 225.65 MJ and 61.69 MJ, respectively. The retorting stage has the lowest exergy efficiency, 62.49%, followed by the semi-coke gasification stage 63.15%. The γ and ζ values in shale oil production stage are very poor, 42.64% and 32.64%, respectively. When the retorting temperature is set to 500 °C and the saturation of feeding air is controlled to 80 °C, the γ and ζ values of the whole life cycle achieve the greatest potential, 35.85% and 28.05%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ECs mounted on WPCBs are profiled for materials and toxicity. • Higher contents of precious metals are found in ECs than PWBs. • New toxic threats from As and Se are found. Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) contain valuable material resources and hazardous substances, thereby posing a challenge for sustainable resource recovery and environmental protection initiatives. Overcoming this challenge will require mapping the toxic footprint of WPCBs to specific materials and substances used in manufacturing electronic components (ECs). Therefore, this work collected 50 EC specimens from WPCBs in five ubiquitous consumer products, such as television, refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine and computer. The work extracted and analyzed metal contents and used leachability assessments based on tests adopted by the regulatory policies from China and the United States. The work found that copper and iron are the most abundant constituents in ECs, with concentrations ranging 5.90–796.62 g/kg and 0–831.53 g/kg, respectively; whereas abundance of precious metal content is in the order of silver > gold > palladium > platinum, with silver concentration ranging 15–5290 mg/kg. The content of marginally-regulated toxic substance arsenic ranged 0–9700 mg/kg; whereas fully regulated toxic metals such as chromium, lead and mercury did not exceed the thresholds set by China and US standards. The work found new toxic threats from arsenic and selenium leached from 20 of 50 ECs exceeding regulatory standards. These results will aid manufacturers and recyclers in protecting workers' health and environmental quality from arsenic and selenium pollution, and should initiate discussion about regulating these toxic components as part of a comprehensive program to reduce the toxic footprint of electronic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass absorption efficiency (MAE) and mass scattering efficiency (MSE) of aerosols are critical to their light extinction capacity. In winter in northern China, episodes of clear air and heavy haze alternately occur due to the high primary emission and secondary formation of aerosols, coupled with changing weather conditions. These occurrences facilitate detailed investigation of how significant changes in the pollution level impact the MAE and MSE, they also enable the determination of whether current air quality improvement measures are also beneficial to the mitigation of climate change, to avoid climatic side effects of attempts to clean the air. In the present study, a one-month observation campaign was conducted in Beijing, China, during the 2016–2017 winter season. A photoacoustic extinctiometer, which is an in situ measurement instrument, was used to investigate the aerosol absorption coefficient (σ a) and scattering coefficient (σ s) at an infra-red wavelength of 870 nm. The MAE and MSE were found to vary differently with increasing pollution level. A positive correlation between the particulate matter concentration (PM 2.5) and the MAE was observed for PM 2.5 < 100 μg m−3, with the increase in the MAE declining for PM 2.5 = 100–200 μg m−3, and the MAE subsequently stabilizing. In contrast, the MSE continuously increased with increasing PM 2.5. The single scattering albedo (SSA), which governs the climatic effect of aerosols, was observed to be a function of both σ a and σ s , increasing from 0.827 ± 0.018 (average ± standard deviation) for a bottom particulate matter concentration group of (0, 25] μg m−3 to 0.924 ± 0.007 for a top particulate matter concentration group of (300, 400] μg m−3, indicating a positive correlation between the SSA and PM 2.5. These observations suggest a risk of current clean air measures weakening or eliminating the cooling effect of ambient aerosols in northern China. It seems that no previous study has involved the simultaneous acquisition of σ a and σ s at the same wavelength with the purpose of determining how increasing air pollution differently impacts the MAE and MSE. Practical measures that can be used to decrease the black carbon-to-PM 2.5 ratio include phasing out or reducing black carbon-rich sources and promoting technologies that decrease the black carbon-to-organic carbon ratio. Image 1 • MAE and MSE were found to show different responses to escalating pollution levels. • A risk of weakened cooling effect of ambient aerosol with the clean air process. • Practical solution was proposed to against the risks in China's clean air process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality in rivers is undergoing continuous degradation caused by natural factors like drought and anthropogenic activities such as industry and agriculture waste water and domestic sewage. Proper assessment of water pollution is critical for agencies and local governments to take effective measures to protect water environment. Here a general one-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model is proposed, which explicitly incorporates the effects of pollutant attenuation and dispersion. The governing equations are solved by the finite volume Slope Limiter Centred (SLIC) scheme and the friction source term is treated implicitly to maintain numerical stability and accuracy in the occurrence of very small water depth. As applied to the Wei Canal in the Haihe River basin of China, the effects of evaporation and infiltration on the flow are considerable, especially in the summer, and thus have to be properly accounted for. Sensitivity analysis of the parameters in the water quality equation is also conducted. It is found that the present model can successfully reproduce the hydrodynamic and pollutant transport processes, thereby facilitating a promising modeling tool able to underpin water quality management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The pelvic cavity is a monolithic structure whose integrity plays an important role in the pelvic organ function. Currently, pelvic floor peritoneum reconstruction (PFPR) is rarely performed during laparoscopic surgery for middle and low rectal cancer patients. This study evaluated the effect of PFPR using barbed wire during laparoscopic surgery on the postoperative defecation function in middle and low rectal cancer patients., Methods: This was a retrospective study involving a total of 252 middle and low rectal cancer patients who had been subjected to laparoscopic-assisted anterior resection of rectal cancer at Shanghai Changhai Hospital from March 2018 to April 2020. The Wexner and low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) scores were used to evaluate the postoperative defecation function among patients. A Wexner score ≥ 8 and LARS score ≥ 30 were considered to indicate major defecation dysfunction., Results: A total of 229 patients (52 patients subjected to PFPR) were followed up, and the Wexner and LARS scores were recorded. The follow-up rate was 90.87%, the mean follow-up time was 22.88 ± 6.93 months, the stoma rate was 64.29%, the ileostomy reduction surgical rate was 90.74%, and the stoma duration was 7.64 ± 2.94 months. Regarding the assessment of postoperative defecation dysfunction using the Wexner score, a multivariate analysis revealed that a long operation time (odds ratio [OR], 0.991; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.984-0.999, p = 0.026) and radiotherapy (OR, 0.352; 95% CI, 0.156-0.797, p = 0.012) were independent risk factors for major defecation dysfunction, while a high tumor location (OR, 1.318; 95% CI, 1.151-1.657, p = 0.001) and PFPR (OR, 4.770; 95% CI, 1.435-15.857, p = 0.011) were independent protective factors for major defecation dysfunction. Regarding the assessment of the postoperative defecation function using the LARS score, a multivariate analysis revealed that a high tumor location (OR, 1.293; 95% CI, 1.125-1.486, p < 0.001) and PFPR (OR, 3.010; 95% CI, 1.345-6.738, p = 0.007) were independent protective factors for major defecation dysfunction. A subgroup analysis showed that the postoperative Wexner score (3.13 ± 2.79 vs. 4.71 ± 3.45 p = 0.003) and LARS score (21.77 ± 8.62 vs. 25.14 ± 8.78 p = 0.015) were lower for patients with PFPR than for patients without PFPR. Regarding patients with low rectal cancer, those with PFPR had a lower LARS score than those without it (23.62 ± 8.94 vs. 28.40 ± 7.90, p = 0.022), but there was no significant difference in the Wexner score between the groups. A total of 9.76% of patients with PFPR and 48.89% of those without PFPR showed an intestinal accumulation in the sacral front (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: PFPR and a high tumor location are protective factors for postoperative defecation dysfunction in middle and low rectal cancer patients. PFPR can be routinely performed during laparoscopic surgery., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.)

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder worldwide. We aimed to examine the associations of two mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) biomarkers in the peripheral blood, mtDNA copy number (CN), and mtDNA 4977 deletion rate (DR), with PCOS in a clinical setting., Methods: We performed a study involving 263 women with PCOS and 326 age-matched controls between June 2015 and June 2019. The mtDNA CN and mtDNA 4977 DR were measured using multiplex probe-based qPCR. The associations of the mtDNA CN and mtDNA 4977 DR with the risk of PCOS were estimated using logistic regression., Results: Analysis of the associations between mtDNA biomarkers and PCOS indicate that the mtDNA CN ( P = 0.003) and mtDNA 4977 DR ( P < 0.001) in PCOS patients were significantly higher than those in the controls. After adjusting for the body mass index, luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio, and testosterone level, only higher mtDNA 4977 DR was associated with PCOS (odds ratio 1.053, 95% confidence interval 1.024 to 1.083; P < 0.001). The linear dose-response trends of the mtDNA 4977 DR were also supported by the quartile analysis., Conclusion: Multivariable models suggest that mtDNA 4977 DR levels are strongly associated with PCOS and represent an independent risk factor for PCOS. Further investigation of the utility of mtDNA as a biomarker for PCOS is warranted., Competing Interests: Author BH was employed by company Shanghai WeHealth BioMedical Technology Co., Ltd. The remaining 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 © 2021 Ye, Hu, Shi, Guo, Xu and Li.)

The elderly population have a high incidence of cardiovascular disease and are the main users of green spaces, such as city parks. Creating supportive green spaces for exercise for the elderly is of great significance to promote their cardiovascular health. The winter cities have a severely cold climate and high incidence of cardiovascular disease, while the elderly, especially those with cardiovascular disease, face more challenges when participating in exercise in the green spaces. In the context of the winter cities, the kinds of exercise the elderly participate in are more conducive to their cardiovascular health, and determining the factors of the green spaces that are supportive for exercise for cardiovascular health in the winter are of particular interest. Taking Harbin, a typical winter city in China, as an example, this study aims to identify the exercise characteristics of elderly residents in the green spaces in winter, to link them with the principles and contents of exercise prescription for cardiovascular health, to identify the deficient factors of the green spaces in supporting exercise for cardiovascular health, and to put forward optimization design implications. Mixed qualitative methods including interviews, a questionnaire, and field observation were used to identify special behavioral characteristics and spatial factors involving winter exercise in the green spaces among the elderly. The results showed that: (1) about 42.4% of the participants had a gap with the principles of exercise prescription for cardiovascular health. Their exercise items were generally consistent with the principle of low-intensity exercise, but some of them had the problems regarding early exercise time and insufficient exercise duration and frequency. (2) Insufficient supportive factors of the green spaces mainly included facilities allocation, comfort, safety, accessibility, and air quality. Facilities allocation involved walking paths, rehabilitation facilities, auxiliary facilities, and guidance facilities; comfort involved sunlight conditions of the exercise areas; safety involved slippery roads and sites with ice and snow and medical accidents; accessibility involved the proximity, the safety of connecting roads, and the movement of the elderly; air quality involved the planting of evergreen trees. Accordingly, the design implications were given in order to bridge the supportive gap of the green spaces for exercise for cardiovascular health in the elderly population.

A severely cold climate has a significant impact on cardiovascular health, involving temperature, air environment, exercise and diet. Existing studies have revealed that green space, as an important health resource, may play a positive role in promoting cardiovascular health through the air environment and exercise. Studies focusing on the correlation between green space and cardiovascular health are rarely carried out in winter cities. The purpose of this paper is to take a winter city in China as an empirical case to explore the correlation between green space in a neighbourhood and cardiovascular health in a representative sample at the neighbourhood level, combining the results with Urban Residential Area Planning and Design Standards (GB50180-2018) in China and the existing research. The results showed that green space characteristics of a neighbourhood were related to cardiovascular disease and some of its risk factors. In neighbourhoods with a Green Space Ratio lower than 28%, residents had a higher risk of physical inactivity, overweight or obesity, hypertension and stroke. In neighbourhoods with a Green View Index lower than 15%, residents had a higher risk of physical inactivity, overweight/obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and stroke. A correlation was found between evergreen tree configuration type and the prevalence of overweight/obesity and hypertension. No correlation was found between the type of sports field and cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, except for hypertension. Residents' cardiovascular health scores also showed significant differences among neighbourhoods with different green space characteristics. Intervention efforts may benefit from emphasising the importance of improving the Green Space Ratio and Green View Index effectively in a neighbourhood to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Rationale: Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) is known for some typical characters like finger joint enlargement, shortened fingers, and dwarfism. However, Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the talus in KBD has rarely been reported in the literature. Here, we reported on a KBD patient presented with partial AVN of the talus in conjunction with ankle and subtalar arthritis., Patient Concerns: A 50-year-old woman presented with severe pain and limited range of motion in her left ankle and subtalar joint while walking for 2 years. She had been walking with the aid of crutches for many years. Conservative treatment with rigid orthosis and activity restriction could not help reduce the pain in the left foot., Diagnoses: Radiographs demonstrated that partial AVN was developed in the body of the talus and arthritis was viewed in the left ankle and subtalar joint. Hence, we established the diagnosis of partial talar AVN in conjunction with ankle and subtalar arthritis., Interventions: A conservative tibiotalocalcaneal fusion attempting to preserve as much viable talar body as possible was performed using a humeral locking plate and 2 cannulated compression screws., Outcomes: Bone union proved by CT scan and a good alignment of the left limb were achieved at 4-month follow-up postoperatively., Lessons: Partial AVN of the talus along with ankle and subtalar arthritis in KBD patients has rarely been reported as it is not a common characteristic of KBD in clinical practice. Conservative tibiotalocalcaneal fusion could help preserving much more viable talar body, maintaining most structural integrity of the ankle joint, and achieving a stable and plantigrade foot postoperatively.

Background: Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are considered to be risk factors for cognitive dysfunction. The specific pathology and clinical manifestations of CMBs are different based on their locations. We investigated the association between CMBs at different locations and cognitive dysfunction and explored the potential underlying pathways in a rural Han Chinese population., Methods: We used baseline data from 562 community-dwelling adults (55-65 years old) in the Taizhou Imaging Study between 2013 and 2015. All individuals underwent multimodal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 444 subjects completed neuropsychological tests: the Mini-Mental Status Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the association between CMBs and cognitive dysfunction. The volume of brain regions and white matter microstructure were analyzed using Freesurfer and tract-based spatial statistics, respectively., Results: CMBs were detected in 104 individuals (18.5%) in our study. Multinomial logistic regression found deep/mixed CMBs were associated with global cognitive dysfunction (OR 3.52; 95% CI 1.21 to 10.26), whereas lobar CMBs (OR 1.76; 95% CI 0.56 to 5.53) were not. Quantification of multimodal brain MRI showed that deep/mixed CMBs were accompanied by decreased thalamic volume and loss of fractional anisotropy of bilateral anterior thalamic radiations., Conclusion: Deep/mixed CMBs were associated with cognitive dysfunction in this Chinese cross-sectional study. Disruption of thalamocortical connectivity might be a potential pathway underlying this relationship., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Loss of bone mass may affect the progression of atherosclerosis. We investigated the relationship between low bone mineral density (BMD) and subclinical atherosclerosis in rural China., Methods: In total, 333 men and 421 postmenopausal women aged 55-65 years were enrolled. BMD was measured in the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Subclinical atherosclerosis was defined as increased carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT ≥0.9 mm), the presence of carotid plaques, high brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV ≥1,400 cm/s), and low ankle-brachial index (ABI ≤1). Binary logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association between low BMD and subclinical atherosclerosis., Results: There was no significant difference in BMD between the normal group and the subclinical atherosclerosis group. After full adjustment for the relevant covariates, a boundary significant association was found between low BMD in the femoral neck and baPWV in postmenopausal women (odds ratio = 1.77, p = 0.049). After full adjustment, neither BMD nor low BMD were significantly associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in men or postmenopausal women., Conclusions: Low BMD is not associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in Chinese individuals aged 55-65 years resident in rural China., (© 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

To identify variants of the genes in fibroblast growth factors/fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGF/FGFR) signal pathway that predispose to mandibular prognathism (MP) in the general Chinese population systematically.Targeted sequencing of the FGF/FGFR genes was conducted in 176 MP individuals and 155 class I malocclusion controls. The associations of common and rare variants with MP as a categorical phenotype and also continuous malocclusion phenotypes generated by principal component (PC) analysis were analyzed.One common variant, rs372127537, located in the 3'-untranslated region of FGF7 gene, was significantly related to PC1 (P  =  4.22 × 10), which explained 23.23% of the overall phenotypic variation observed and corresponded to vertical discrepancies ranging from short anterior face height to long anterior face height, after Bonferroni correction. Also, 15 other variants were associated with PC1-4, although not significant after multiple corrections (P < .05). We also identified 3 variants: rs13317 in FGFR1, rs149242678 in FGF20, and rs79176051 FGF12 associated with MP (P < .05). With respect to rare variant analysis, variants within the FGF12 gene showed significant association with MP (P  =  .001).Association between FGF/FGFR signaling pathway and MP has been identified. We found a previously unreported SNP in FGF7 significantly related to increased facial height. Also, rare variants within the FGF12 were associated with MP. Our results provide new clues for genetic mechanisms of MP and shed light on strategies for evaluating rare variants that underlie complex traits. Future studies with larger sample sizes and more comprehensive genome coverage, and also in other population are required to replicate these findings.

Several recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have suggested that the histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9) gene is associated with stroke, but the reliability of these findings remains controversial, particularly for the data derived from different ethnicities and geographical locations. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to explore the associations between HDAC9 polymorphisms and the risk of stroke in the Chinese population. All eligible case-control studies that met the search criteria were retrieved from multiple databases, and six case-control studies with a total of 2,356 stroke patients and 3,420 healthy controls were included. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to assess the strengths of the associations of 3 HDAC9 gene polymorphisms with stroke risk. Our results revealed statistically significant associations of the rs2107595 (T/C) polymorphism with an increased risk of stroke in the allele, codominant and dominant models. Additionally, the rs2389995 (G/A) polymorphism was found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk of stroke in all genetic models. In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested that the T allele of rs2107595 in HDAC9 increases the risk of stroke but that the G allele of rs2389995 decreases the risk of stroke in the Chinese population., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Objective: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) gene are associated with triglyceride (TG) levels. However, the minor allele frequencies and linkage disequilibriums (LDs) of the SNPs in addition to their effects on TG levels vary greatly between Caucasians and East Asians. The distributions of the SNPs/haplotypes and their associations with TG levels in Uyghur population, an admixture population of Caucasians and East Asians, have not been reported to date. Here, we performed a cross-sectional study to address these., Methods: Genotyping of four SNPs in APOA5 (rs662799, rs3135506, rs2075291, and rs2266788) was performed in 1174 unrelated Uyghur subjects. SNP/haplotype and TG association analyses were conducted., Results: The frequencies of the SNPs in Uyghurs were in between those in Caucasians and East Asians. The LD between rs662799 and rs2266788 in Uyghurs was stronger than that in East Asians but weaker than that in Caucasians, and the four SNPs resulted in four haplotypes (TGGT, CGGC, TCGT, and CGTT arranged in the order of rs662799, rs3135506, rs2075291, and rs2266788) representing 99.2% of the population. All the four SNPs were significantly associated with TG levels. Compared with non-carriers, carriers of rs662799-C, rs3135506-C, rs2075291-T, and rs2266788-C alleles had 16.0%, 15.1%, 17.1%, and 12.4% higher TG levels, respectively. When haplotype TGGT was defined as the reference, the haplotypes CGGC, TCGT, and CGTT resulted in 16.1%, 19.0%, and 19.8% higher TG levels, respectively. The proportions of variance in TG explained by APOA5 locus were 2.5%, 0.3%, 0.4%, and 1.9% for single SNP rs662799, rs3135506, rs2075291, and rs2266788, respectively, and 3.0% for the haplotypes constructed by them., Conclusions: The association profiles between the SNPs and haplotypes at APOA5 locus and TG levels in this admixture population differed from those in Caucasians and East Asians. The functions of these SNPs and haplotypes need to be elucidated comprehensively.