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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as regulators of aging at the tissue or organism level or as regulators of cellular senescence. Targeted deletion of miR-126 in mice causes partial embryonic lethality, but its biological function in the liver is still largely unknown. Here, we deleted miR-126a, using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in vitro and in vivo. miR-126a was reduced in the aging livers, and disruption of miR-126a in bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) induced age-associated telomere shortening, DNA damage responses, and proinflammatory cytokines. Moreover, disruption of miR-126a in mice caused hepatocyte senescence, inflammation, and metabolism deficiency. In addition, disruption of miR-126a via BMSC transplantation aggravated the severity of liver defects induced by cholestasis compared with that in the functional miR-126a BMSC group. Mechanistically, we identified versican (VCAN) as a novel direct miR-126a-5p target that induces telomere shortening, BMSC senescence, and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway activation. This study identified aging-related reduced expression of miR-126a and promotion of its target VCAN as a key mechanism in the regulation of hepatic metabolic function during aging and hepatic damage by inducing NF-κB pathway activation, DNA repair function disorder, and telomere attrition. The findings indicate that miR-126a may be a drug target for the treatment of hepatic failure. Keywords: aging, CRISPR-Cas9, liver, miRNA-126a, VCAN, BMSC, transplantation, inflammation

Abstract We evaluate the ability of the latest generation atmospheric general circulation model from State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (namely, FAMIL2) in simulating some key characteristics (genesis location, track, number, and intensity) of tropical cyclones (TCs) in terms of their climatology and seasonal to interannual variability. A standard 1° × 1° atmospheric model intercomparison project experiment is carried out for the period 1979–2002, and the last 20 years of outputs are used for analysis. The same period from International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) is used as the observation for comparison purposes. The evaluations focus on TC activity at the global scale as well as in the three key regions of the northern Indian Ocean (NIO), western Pacific (WP) and northern Atlantic (NA). With respect to the simulated TC climatology, FAMIL2 shows notable ability in correctly reproducing the main characteristics of the genesis locations, tracks, and numbers of TC, particularly over the key regions of TC activity in the Northern Hemisphere; whereas, it underestimates the intensities of TC, as is the case with many state‐of‐the‐art climate models operating at a medium resolution. On seasonal‐to‐interannual time scales, meanwhile, FAMIL2 successfully reproduces the seasonal cycles of TC numbers over the NIO and WP regions, the former being characterized by double TC peaks (in May and October) and the latter by a maximum peak season in August. However, the model only captures these features approximately. For the simulated interannual variability of TC activity, the correlation coefficients of 20‐year TC numbers between FAMIL2 and IBTrACS are 0.22, 0.51 (95% confidence interval), and 0.49 (95% confidence interval) for the NIO, WP, and NA, respectively. We also examine the possible reasons behind the performance of FAMIL2 by investigating its subseasonal signs related to the Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO) and convectively coupled equatorial waves. The TC genesis potential index is employed to investigate the possible impacts of the large‐scale dynamic fields on the simulation of TC activity. Finally, the biases of simulated TC activity, as well as possible solutions for these biases, are discussed with respect to the horizontal resolution of the model. A TC forecasting case study is introduced as a first step in applying FAMIL2 to a TC forecasting system.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of superfine grinding (SP) and high-pressure homogenization (HPH) on the structural and physicochemical properties of artichoke dietary fiber (ADF), as well as the protective effects against cadmium poisoning in rats. The structural characteristics and physicochemical properties of ADF, HPH-ADF (ADF treated by HPH) and CM-ADF (ADF treated by SP and HPH) were determined, and cadmium chloride (CdCl2) was induced by exposing rats for 7 weeks. The amounts of creatinine and urea; the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum; the quantity of red blood cells, hemoglobin, white blood cells and neutrophil proportion in blood samples; and the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in liver tissue were analyzed. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was performed to analyze the tissue structure and pathology of the liver and testis. The results showed that ADF subjected to HPH and SP-HPH exhibited increased content of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) (p < 0.05). HPH and SP-HPH treatments increased oil-holding capacity (OHC), total negative charge (TNC) and heavy metal adsorption capacity (p < 0.05). The CdCl2 intervention led to a significant increase in AST, ALT, creatinine, urea, neutrophil proportion and white blood cell count, as well as a significant decrease in GSH-Px activity, red blood cell count and hemoglobin (HGB) (p < 0.05). In rats fed with ADF, HPH-ADF and CM-ADF significantly reduced creatinine, urea amounts, ALT, AST activity in serum, leukocyte count and the neutrophil ratio in blood and increased GSH-Px activity in the liver, in addition to increasing the erythrocyte count and hemoglobin count in blood (p < 0.05). H&E staining results showed that steatosis in the liver was significantly reduced, whereas testicular tissue edema was improved. These results indicate that ADF exhibited positive activity against cadmium poisoning in rats and that CM-ADF had a better protective effect than ADF and HPH-ADF. ADF has specific potential to be used in health foods or therapeutic drugs, providing a reference for the development and utilization of artichoke waste.

OBJECTIVE: Ischemic stroke (IS) is a complex disease that resulting from the interaction of various environmental and genetic risk factors. As genetic factors exerting a direct contributory role in IS, it is one of the focus areas of identification the genetic factors of IS. This study aimed to screen bio-targets of ischemic stroke (IS), and to identify related drug molecules. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The gene expression profile GSE22255 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, including 20 whole blood samples from IS patients (IS group) and 20 samples from healthy controls (control group). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened out using limma package in R. Hierarchical clustering and differences between the groups analysis were conducted for confirming these DEGs. Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) and Kyoto Enrichment of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to obtain the functional genes and pathways respectively. The DEGs were then entered into the WebGestalt database and related drug molecules were retrieved. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, 27 DEGs were identified from IS group including 25 up- and 2 down-regulated genes. Then functions and pathways enrichment analysis for DEGs were conducted and TNF, IL1B and TNFAIP3 were found to be both participate in apoptosis and NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. Finally, collagenase and other most-related drug molecules were identified from the DEGs. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to DEGs, several drug molecules were retrieved, which may be related with stroke. Our study provides some underlying bio-targets such as TNF, IL1B and TNFAIP3 for IS and potential drug molecules such as collagenase for the treatment of IS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric pollution over South Asia attracts special attention due to its effects on regional climate, the water cycle, and human health. These effects are potentially growing owing to rising trends of anthropogenic aerosol emissions found there. In this study, the spatio-temporal aerosol distributions over South Asia from 7 global models, for the period of 2000-2007, are evaluated systematically against aerosol retrievals of NASA satellite sensors and ground-based measurements. Overall, substantial underestimations of aerosol loading over South Asia are found systematically in 6 out of 7 models. Averaged over the entire South Asia, the annual mean Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) is underestimated by a range of 18-45% across models compared to MISR, which is the lowest bound among various satellite AOD retrievals (from MISR, SeaWiFS, MODIS Aqua and Terra). In particular at Kanpur located in northern India, AOD is underestimated even more by a factor of 4, and annual mean Aerosol Absorption Optical Depth (AAOD) is underestimated by about a factor of 2 in comparison with AERONET, during the post-monsoon and the wintertime periods (i.e. October-January) when agricultural waste burning and anthropogenic emissions dominate. The largest model underestimation of aerosol loading occurs in the lowest boundary layer (from surface to 2 km) based on the comparisons with aerosol extinction vertical distribution from CALIPSO. The possible causes for the common problems of model aerosol underestimation over south Asia are identified here, which are suggested as the following. During the winter, not only the columnar aerosol loading in models, but also surface concentrations of all aerosol components (sulfate, nitrate, organic aerosol and black carbon) are found lower than observations (ISRO-GBP, ICARB and CALIPSO), indicating that anthropogenic emissions, especially biofuel, are likely underestimated in this season. Nitrate, a major component of aerosols in South Asia, is either not considered in 4 out of 7 models or significantly lower than observations in other 2 models. Surprisingly, the near-surface relative humidity in these models is found significantly lower than observations in the winter, resulting in suppression of the hygroscopic growth of soluble aerosols and formations of sulfate and nitrate, and thereby underestimation of AOD. During the post-monsoon season, the deficiency of agricultural waste burning emissions in GFED2 biomass burning emission inventory, used by the models, partly contributes to the model underestimation of aerosol loading over South Asia in burning seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE) plays a critical role in the earth's radiation balance, and its global mean magnitude is much larger than the warming effect induced by greenhouse gases. This study investigates the SWCRE at the top of the atmosphere and its inter‐annual variation over southeastern China (SEC) using satellite retrievals and ERA‐Interim reanalysis data. The results show that in this region the largest SWCRE with the maximum intensity up to −120 W·m−2 occurs in spring and is also the strongest between 60°S and 60°N. The domain‐averaged intensity of SWCRE is much larger than the longwave cloud radiative effect (LWCRE), suggesting the dominant cooling role of SWCRE in the regional atmosphere–surface system. The spring SWCRE over SEC shows a weak increasing trend and its anomalies in most years exceed those of LWCRE during 2000–2017. This means that SWCRE also plays a dominant role in the inter‐annual variation of regional cloud radiative effects. Over SEC, low‐ to mid‐level ascending motion and water vapor convergence during spring favor the generation and maintenance of cloud water, leading to strong SWCRE. Statistical analysis shows that the spatial pattern and intensity of the spring SWCRE are well correlated with the low‐ to mid‐level ascending motion and water vapor convergence. The temporal correlation coefficient between domain‐averaged spring SWCRE and 850–500‐hPa vertical velocity is .76 during 2000–2017. The long‐term variation in spring SWCRE over SEC can be inferred to some extent from regional ascending motion and associated large‐scale circulations.

Periodic variability in the hydro-climatic system has important implications not only for climate prediction but also for planning and managing water resources. Here we identify periodic decadal variability of dry/wet conditions in Central Asia (CA) since the mid-20th century, which are tied to the Pacific quasi-decadal oscillation (PQDO) with a period of 8–16 years ( r = 0.87). The periodically varying forcing in the Pacific modulates zonal winds and moisture transport and profoundly affects the precipitation on the decadal time scale. The PQDO-related equatorial central Pacific warming significantly heats the overlying troposphere, increasing the meridional temperature/geopotential gradients in the subtropics. As a result, the strengthened westerly jet in CA transports more water vapor from the North Atlantic and increases local precipitation. The plateau to the east further amplifies the increased precipitation in eastern CA through orographic influence on the convection and large-scale circulation. The atmospheric model forced by the PQDO signal reproduces an overall consistent mechanism with the observation, indicating a robust synchronization of the Central Asian hydro-climatic system to the PQDO. The newly discovered oscillatory feature in this study may advance the predictability of Central Asian precipitation on the decadal time scale, which promotes the mitigation and prevention of natural disasters like droughts and wildfires.

Climate system models are useful tools for understanding the interactions among the components of the climate system and predicting/projecting future climate change. The development of climate models has been a central focus of the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP) since the establishment of the laboratory in 1985. In China, many pioneering component models and fully coupled models of the climate system have been developed by LASG/IAP. The fully coupled climate system developed in the recent decade is named FGOALS (Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model). In this paper, an application-oriented review of the LASG/IAP FGOALS model is presented. The improved model performances are demonstrated in the context of cloud-radiation processes, Asian monsoon, ENSO phenomena, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and sea ice. The FGOALS model has contributed to both CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-phase 5) and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) AR5 (the Fifth Assessment Report). The release of FGOALS data has supported the publication of nearly 500 papers around the world. The results of FGOALS are cited ~106 times in the IPCC WG1 (Working Group 1) AR5. In addition to the traditional long-term simulations and projections, near-term decadal climate prediction is a new set of CMIP experiment, progress of LAGS/IAP in the development of near-term decadal prediction system is reviewed. The FGOALS model has supported many Chinese national-level research projects and contributed to the national climate change assessment report. The crucial role of FGOALS as a modeling tool for supporting climate sciences is highlighted by demonstrating the model’s performances in the simulation of the evolution of Earth’s climate from the past to the future.

Hai-Yang Wang,1 Xiao-Xia Zhang,1 Cui-Ping Si,1 Yang Xu,1 Qian Liu,1 He-Tao Bian,1 Bing-Wei Zhang,2 Xue-Lin Li,3 Zhong-Rui Yan1 1Department of Neurology, Jining No 1 People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong Province, China; 2Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, First Affiliate Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China; 3Department of Intensive Care Unit, Jining No 1 People’s Hospital, Jining, Shandong Province, China Objective: Impairments in emotion regulation, and more specifically in cognitive reappraisal, are thought to play a key role in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. However, the available evidence on such deficits is inconsistent. To further illustrate the neurobiological underpinnings of anxiety disorder, the present meta-analysis summarizes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings for cognitive reappraisal tasks and investigates related brain areas.Methods: We performed a comprehensive series of meta-analyses of cognitive reappraisal fMRI studies contrasting patients with anxiety disorder with healthy control (HC) subjects, employing an anisotropic effect-size signed differential mapping approach. We also conducted a subgroup analysis of medication status, anxiety disorder subtype, data-processing software, and MRI field strengths. Meta-regression was used to explore the effects of demographics and clinical characteristics. Eight studies, with 11 datasets including 219 patients with anxiety disorder and 227 HC, were identified.Results: Compared with HC, patients with anxiety disorder showed relatively decreased activation of the bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA), left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), bilateral parietal cortex, and left fusiform gyrus during cognitive reappraisal. The subgroup analysis, jackknife sensitivity analysis, heterogeneity analysis, and Egger’s tests further confirmed these findings. Conclusions: Impaired cognitive reappraisal in anxiety disorder may be the consequence of hypo-activation of the prefrontoparietal network, consistent with insufficient top-down control. Our findings provide robust evidence that functional impairment in prefrontoparietal neuronal circuits may have a significant role in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorder. Keywords: anxiety disorder, emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, fMRI, prefrontoparietal network, signed differential mapping

The iterative search method（ Newton or Quasi-Newton） is an important numerical method for solving the forward kinematics（ FK） problem of parallel mechanisms. Due to the extremely displacement singularity in the limbs,the search space is easy to be out of the mechanism workspace,which causes failed in solving the FK problem of the class of 2 RUS/2 RRS mechanism. Taking the plane series branch as an example,the equivalent method of eliminating the extremely displacement singularity is given,and the 2 RUS/2 RRS mechanism is equivalent to a 2 UPS/2 RPS mechanism. Based on the relationship between the angular velocity and the Euler’s derivative,the 4 × 4 Jacobian matrix is gotten through the virtual mechanism method. The Jacobian matrix of the initial pose of the equivalent mechanism can be taken as the approximate initial value of the Quasi-Newton method,which can reduce the calculation and improve the computational efficiency. The FK problem of 2 RUS/2 RRS are numerically verified by inverse Broyden algorithm in Quasi-Newton method.

Though many global aerosols models prognose surface deposition, only a few models have been used to directly simulate the radiative effect from black carbon (BC) deposition to snow and sea-ice. Here, we apply aerosol deposition fields from 25 models contributing to two phases of the Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models (AeroCom) project to simulate and evaluate within-snow BC concentrations and radiative effect in the Arctic. We accomplish this by driving the offline land and sea-ice components of the Community Earth System Model with different deposition fields and meteorological conditions from 2004-2009, during which an extensive field campaign of BC measurements in Arctic snow occurred. We find that models generally underestimate BC concentrations in snow in northern Russia and Norway, while overestimating BC amounts elsewhere in the Arctic. Although simulated BC distributions in snow are poorly correlated with measurements, mean values are reasonable. The multi-model mean (range) bias in BC concentrations, sampled over the same grid cells, snow depths, and months of measurements, are -4.4 (-13.2 to +10.7) ng g-1 for an earlier Phase of AeroCom models (Phase I), and +4.1 (-13.0 to +21.4) ng g-1 for a more recent Phase of AeroCom models (Phase II), compared to the observational mean of 19.2 ng g-1. Factors determining model BC concentrations in Arctic snow include Arctic BC emissions, transport of extra-Arctic aerosols, precipitation, deposition efficiency of aerosols within the Arctic, and meltwater removal of particles in snow. Sensitivity studies show that the model--measurement evaluation is only weakly affected by meltwater scavenging efficiency because most measurements were conducted in nonmelting snow. The Arctic (60-90° N) atmospheric residence time for BC in Phase II models ranges from 3.7 to 23.2 days, implying large inter-model variation in local BC deposition efficiency. Combined with the fact that most Arctic BC deposition originates from extra-Arctic emissions, these results suggest that aerosol removal processes are a leading source of variation in model performance. The multi-model mean (full range) of Arctic radiative effect from BC in snow is 0.15 (0.07-0.25)W m-2 and 0.18 (0.06-0.28)W m-2 in Phase I and Phase II models, respectively. After correcting for model biases relative to observed BC concentrations in different regions of the Arctic, we obtain a multi-model mean Arctic radiative effect of 0.17 W m-2 for the combined AeroCom ensembles. Finally, there is a high correlation between modeled BC concentrations sampled over the observational sites and the Arctic as a whole, indicating that the field campaign provided a reasonable sample of the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerosol variations and trends over different land and ocean regions during 1980-2009 are analyzed with the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model and observations from multiple satellite sensors and ground-based networks. Excluding time periods with large volcanic influences, the tendency of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and surface concentration over polluted land regions is consistent with the anthropogenic emission changes. The largest reduction occurs over Europe, and regions in North America and Russia also exhibit reductions. On the other hand, East Asia and South Asia show AOD increases, although relatively large amount of natural aerosols in Asia makes the total changes less directly connected to the pollutant emission trends. Over major dust source regions, model analysis indicates that the dust emissions over the Sahara and Sahel respond mainly to the near-surface wind speed, but over Central Asia they are largely influenced by ground wetness. The decreasing dust trend in the tropical North Atlantic is most closely associated with the decrease of Sahel dust emission and increase of precipitation over the tropical North Atlantic, likely driven by the sea surface temperature increase. Despite significant regional trends, the model-calculated global annual average AOD shows little changes over land and ocean in the past three decades, because opposite trends in different regions cancel each other in the global average. This highlights the need for regional-scale aerosol assessment, as the global average value conceals regional changes, and thus is not sufficient for assessing changes in aerosol loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the NASA GEOS-5 transport model with tagged tracers to investigate the contributions of different regional sources of CO and black carbon (BC) to their concentrations in the Western Arctic (i.e., 50-90° N and 190- 320° E) in spring and summer 2008. The model is evaluated by comparing the results with airborne measurements of CO and BC from the NASA Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) field campaigns to demonstrate the strengths and limitations of our simulations. We also examine the reliability of tagged CO tracers in characterizing air mass origins using the measured fossil fuel tracer of dichloromethane and the biomass burning tracer of acetonitrile. Our tagged CO simulations suggest that most of the enhanced CO concentrations (above background level from CH4 production) observed during April originate from Asian anthropogenic emissions. Boreal biomass burning emissions and Asian anthropogenic emissions are of similar importance in July domain wise, although the biomass burning CO fraction is much larger in the area of the ARCTAS field experiments. The fraction of CO from Asian anthropogenic emissions is larger in spring than in summer. European sources make up no more than 10% of CO levels in the campaign domain during either period. Comparisons of CO concentrations along the flight tracks with regional averages from GEOS-5 show that the alongtrack measurements are representative of the concentrations within the large domain of the Western Arctic in April but not in July. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of black carbon (BC) aerosols on the global radiation balance is not well constrained. Here twelve global aerosol models are used to show that at least 20% of the present uncertainty in modeled BC direct radiative forcing (RF) is due to diversity in the simulated vertical profile of BC mass. Results are from phases 1 and 2 of the global aerosol model intercomparison project (AeroCom). Additionally, a significant fraction of the variability is shown to come from high altitudes, as, globally, more than 40% of the total BC RF is exerted above 5 km. BC emission regions and areas with transported BC are found to have differing characteristics. These insights into the importance of the vertical profile of BC lead us to suggest that observational studies are needed to better characterize the global distribution of BC, including in the upper troposphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulated multi-model "diversity" in aerosol direct radiative forcing estimates is often perceived as measure of aerosol uncertainty. However, current models used for aerosol radiative forcing calculations vary considerably in model components relevant for forcing calculations and the associated "host-model uncertainties" are generally convoluted with the actual aerosol uncertainty. In this AeroCom Prescribed intercomparison study we systematically isolate and quantify host model uncertainties on aerosol forcing experiments through prescription of identical aerosol radiative properties in nine participating models. Even with prescribed aerosol radiative properties, simulated clear-sky and all-sky aerosol radiative forcings show significant diversity. For a purely scattering case with globally constant optical depth of 0.2, the global-mean all-sky top-of-atmosphere radiative forcing is -4.51Wm-2 and the inter-model standard deviation is 0.70Wm-2, corresponding to a relative standard deviation of 15 %. For a case with partially absorbing aerosol with an aerosol optical depth of 0.2 and single scattering albedo of 0.8, the forcing changes to 1.26Wm-2, and the standard deviation increases to 1.21W-2, corresponding to a significant relative standard deviation of 96 %. However, the top-ofatmosphere forcing variability owing to absorption is low, with relative standard deviations of 9% clear-sky and 12% all-sky. Scaling the forcing standard deviation for a purely scattering case to match the sulfate radiative forcing in the AeroCom Direct Effect experiment, demonstrates that host model uncertainties could explain about half of the overall sulfate forcing diversity of 0.13Wm-2 in the AeroCom Direct Radiative Effect experiment. Host model errors in aerosol radiative forcing are largest in regions of uncertain host model components, such as stratocumulus cloud decks or areas with poorly constrained surface albedos, such as sea ice. Our results demonstrate that host model uncertainties are an important component of aerosol forcing uncertainty that require further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the AeroCom Phase II direct aerosol effect (DAE) experiment where 15 detailed global aerosol models have been used to simulate the changes in the aerosol distribution over the industrial era. All 15 models have estimated the radiative forcing (RF) of the anthropogenic DAE, and have taken into account anthropogenic sulphate, black carbon (BC) and organic aerosols (OA) from fossil fuel, biofuel, and biomass burning emissions. In addition several models have simulated the DAE of anthropogenic nitrate and anthropogenic influenced secondary organic aerosols (SOA). The model simulated all-sky RF of the DAE from total anthropogenic aerosols has a range from -0.58 to -0.02W m-2, with a mean of -0.30W m-2 for the 15 models. Several models did not include nitrate or SOA and modifying the estimate by accounting for this with information from the other AeroCom models reduces the range and slightly strengthens the mean. Modifying the model estimates for missing aerosol components and for the time period 1750 to 2010 results in a mean RF for the DAE of -0.39W m-2. Compared to AeroCom Phase I (Schulz et al., 2006) we find very similar spreads in both total DAE and aerosol component RF. However, the RF of the total DAE is stronger negative and RF from BC from fossil fuel and biofuel emissions are stronger positive in the present study than in the previous AeroCom study. We find a tendency for models having a strong (positive) BC RF to also have strong (negative) sulphate or OA RF. This relationship leads to smaller uncertainty in the total RF of the DAE compared to the RF of the sum of the individual aerosol components. The spread in results for the individual aerosol components is substantial, and can be divided into diversities in burden, mass extinction coefficient (MEC), and normalized RF with respect to AOD. We find that these three factors give similar contributions to the spread in results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified cumulus convection parametrisation scheme is presented. This scheme computes the mass of air transported upward in a cumulus cell using conservation of moisture and a detailed distribution of convective precipitation provided by a reanalysis dataset. The representation of vertical transport within the scheme includes entrainment and detrainment processes in convective updrafts and downdrafts. Output from the proposed parametrisation scheme is employed in the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) global chemical transport model driven by JRA-25/JCDAS reanalysis. The simulated convective precipitation rate and mass fluxes are compared with observations and reanalysis data. A simulation of the short-lived tracer 222Rn is used to further evaluate the performance of the cumulus convection scheme. Simulated distributions of 222Rn are validated against observations at the surface and in the free troposphere, and compared with output from models that participated in the TransCom-CH4 Transport Model Intercomparison. From this comparison, we demonstrate that the proposed convective scheme can successfully reproduce deep cloud convection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present analysis of simulations using the NASA GEOS-5 chemistry and transport model to quantify contributions from different continents to the Western Arctic pollution, to investigate pollution sources and to identify transport pathways. We compare DC-8 airborne measurements of CO, SO2, BC and SO4 from the NASA Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) field campaigns (spring and summer, 2008) and observations from the AIRS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite to demonstrate the strengths and limitations of our simulations and to support this application of the model. Comparisons of measurements along the flight tracks with regional averages show that the along-track measurements are representative of the region in April but not in July. Our simulations show that most Arctic pollutants are due to Asian anthropogenic emissions during April. Boreal biomass burning emissions and Asian anthropogenic emissions are of similar importance in July. European sources make little contribution to pollution in the campaign domain during either period. The most prevalent transport pathway of the tracers is from Asia to the Arctic in both April and July, with the transport efficiency stronger in spring than in summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A chemistry-transport model (CTM) intercomparison experiment (TransCom-CH4) has been designed to investigate the roles of surface emissions, transport and chemical loss in simulating the global methane distribution. Model simulations were conducted using twelve models and four model variants and results were archived for the period of 1990-2007. All but one model transports were driven by reanalysis products from 3 different meteorological agencies. The transport and removal of CH4 in six different emission scenarios were simulated, with net global emissions of 513±9 and 514±14 TgCH4 yr-1 for the 1990s and 2000s, respectively. Additionally, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) was simulated to check the interhemispheric transport, radon (222Rn) to check the subgrid scale transport, and methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3) to check the chemical removal by the tropospheric hydroxyl radical (OH). The results are compared to monthly or annual mean time series of CH4, SF6 and CH3CCl3 measurements from 8 selected background sites, and to satellite observations of CH4 in the upper troposphere and stratosphere. Most models adequately capture the vertical gradients in the stratosphere, the average long-term trends, seasonal cycles, interannual variations (IAVs) and interhemispheric (IH) gradients at the surface sites for SF6, CH3CCl3 and CH4. The vertical gradients of all tracers between the surface and the upper troposphere are consistent within the models, revealing vertical transport differences between models. An average IH exchange time of 1.39±0.18 yr is derived from SF6 time series. Sensitivity simulations suggest that the estimated trends in exchange time, over the period of 1996-2007, are caused by a change of SF6 emissions towards the tropics. Using six sets of emission scenarios, we show that the decadal average CH4 growth rate likely reached equilibrium in the early 2000s due to the flattening of anthropogenic emission growth since the late 1990s. Up to 60% of the IAVs in the observed CH4 concentrations can be explained by accounting for the IAVs in emissions, from biomass burning and wetlands, as well as meteorology in the forward models. The modeled CH4 budget is shown to depend strongly on the troposphere-stratosphere exchange rate and thus on the model's vertical grid structure and circulation in the lower stratosphere. The 15-model median CH4 and CH3CCl3 atmospheric lifetimes are estimated to be 9.99±0.08 and 4.61±0.13 yr, respectively, with little IAV due to transport and temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is implicated in hepatocarcinogenesis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis. HAb18G/CD147, which belongs to the CD147 family, is an HCC-associated antigen that has a crucial role in tumor invasion and metastasis. The goal of this study was to investigate the role of HAb18G/CD147 during EMT in hepatocarcinogenesis. Human normal hepatic cell lines QZG and L02, primary mouse hepatocytes and nude mouse models were used to determine the role of HAb18G/CD147 in EMT, and the involvement of the TGF-β-driven pathway. A dual-luciferase reporter assay and ChIP were used to investigate the transcriptional regulation of the CD147 gene. Samples from patients with liver disease were assessed to determine the relationship between HAb18G/CD147 and typical markers for EMT. Our results show that upregulation of HAb18G/CD147 is induced by TGF-β coupled with downregulation of E-cadherin and upregulation of N-cadherin and vimentin. The expression of HAb18G/CD147 is controlled by the cell survival PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway, and is directly regulated by the transcription factor Slug. Transfection of CD147 also induces an elevated expression of TGF-β. CD147-transfected hepatocytes have mesenchymal phenotypes that accelerate tumor formation and tumor metastasis in vivo. Immunohistochemistry analysis shows a negative correlation between HAb18G/CD147 and E-cadherin expression (rs=−0.3622, P=0.0105), and a positive correlation between HAb18G/CD147 and Slug expression (rs=0.3064, P=0.0323) in human HCC tissues. Our study uncovers a novel role of HAb18G/CD147 in mediating EMT in the process of HCC progression and showed that CD147 is a Slug target gene in the signaling cascade TGF-β→PI3K/Akt→GSK3β→Snail→Slug→CD147. Our results suggest that CD147 may be a potential target for the treatment and prevention of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound is analyzed by X-ray diffraction. ONIOM(B3LYP/6-31G( d,p):PM3) is used to investigate the optimized calculation and the frequency analysis of the molecule, in which the PM3 method was used for carbon and hydrogen atoms of the benzene ring and the B3LYP/6-31G( d,p) method was used for the other parts. Energy changes in the molecule are numerically investigated by the flexible scan at PM3 level. The nature of intramolecular interactions that stabilize the structure in vacuo and solid is studied. The results reveal that the molecule is flexible and molecular conformations can easily be mutually transformed through very small potential barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the efficacy of a brief integrative multiple behavior intervention and assessed risk factors as mediators of behavioral outcomes among older adolescents. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with participants randomly assigned to either a brief intervention or standard care control with 3-month follow-up. A total of 479 students attending two public high schools participated. Participants receiving the intervention showed a significant reduction in quantity × frequency of alcohol use, and increases in fruit and vegetable consumption and frequency of relaxation activities, compared to those receiving the control, P's = .01. No effects were found on cigarette and marijuana use, exercise and sleep. Effect sizes were small with alcohol use cessation effects reaching medium size. Intervention effects were mediated by changes in peer influenceability for alcohol use, and self-efficacy and self-image for health promoting behaviors. Findings suggest that the brief intervention resulted in health risk and promoting behavior improvements for adolescents, with outcomes mediated by several risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the risk factors for bowel resection and outcome in patients with incarcerated groin hernias. The records of all adult patients who had undergone emergency hernia repair for incarcerated groin hernia from January 1999 to June 2009 were analyzed. One hundred and eighty-two patients with incarcerated groin hernias were included in this study. Bowel resection was required in 28 patients (15.4%). One hundred and twenty-six patients (69.2%) were covered by various types of health insurance. Twenty-six patients (14.3%) were hospitalized for mechanical bowel obstruction or had obvious symptoms of simultaneous bowel obstruction. Obvious peritonitis was found in seven patients (3.8%). A logistic regression model identified three independent risk factors for bowel resection: lack of health insurance (odds ratio [OR], 5, P = 0.005), obvious peritonitis (OR, 11.52, P = 0.019), and femoral hernia (OR, 8.31, P < 0.001). Postoperative complications (standardized coefficient [SC] = 0.478, P < 0.001), presentation of bowel obstruction on admission (SC = 0.169, P = 0.017), and having health insurance (SC = 0.153, P = 0.030) were associated with prolonged length of stay. No factors were found to be directly associated with morbidity or mortality. Risk for intestinal resection in emergency groin hernia repair is higher in patients with femoral hernia, obvious peritonitis, or those with no health insurance. Surgeons should pay more attention to these patients and initiate emergency surgery without delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a sensitivity study on the effects of spatial and temporal resolution of atmospheric relative humidity (RH) on calculated aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and the aerosol direct radiative effects (DRE) in a global model. Using the same aerosol 5 fields simulated in the Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) model, we find that, on a global average, the calculated AOT from RH in 1° latitude by 1.25° longitude spatial resolution is 11% higher than that in 2° by 2.5° resolution, and the corresponding DRE at the top of the atmosphere is 8-9% higher for total aerosols and 15% higher for only anthropogenic aerosols in the finer spatial resolution case. The difference is largest 10 over surface escarpment regions (e.g. >200% over the Andes Mountains) where RH varies substantially with surface terrain. The largest zonal mean AOT difference occurs at 50-60°N (16-21%), where AOT is also relatively larger. A similar increase is also found when the time resolution of RH is increased. This increase of AOT and DRE with the increase of model resolution is due to the highly non-linear relationship between 15 RH and the aerosol mass extinction efficiency (MEE) at high RH (>80%). Our study suggests that caution should be taken in a multi-model comparison (e.g. AeroCom) since the comparison usually deals with results coming from different spatial/temporal resolutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has shown potential in clinical practice to accelerate wound healing, but the underlying biomolecular mechanism remains largely unknown. Fibroblasts are the most important cells involved in producing and remodelling the extracellular matrix (ECM) in wound healing, and are one of the major target cells of bFGF in wound repair. To date, however, we have little idea of whether there is any specific relationship between bFGF and ECM metabolism. This study aimed to investigate whether bFGF improves wound repair by regulating the balance of ECM synthesis and degradation. Objective. To investigate the effects of bFGF on the expression of fibronectin, collagen and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 of human skin fibroblasts (HSFs) and to evaluate whether it contributes to improving the quality of wound healing. Methods. HSFs were stimulated with bFGF for 72 h, and then production of fibronectin, collagen and MMP-1 was detected, using reverse transcription PCR at the transcriptional level and Western blot analysis at post-transcriptional level. Results. bFGF stimulation resulted in increases in fibronectin expression of 1.31-, 1.47-, 1.57- and 1.62-fold in a dose-dependent manner in response to 10 ng/mL, 50 ng/mL, 100 ng/mL and 500 ng/mL of bFGF, respectively, but had no effect on the expression of collagen. Further investigation revealed that bFGF dose-dependently upregulated the expression of MMP-1. Conclusion. This study supports the hypothesis that bFGF has the potential to accelerate wound healing and improve the quality of wound healing by regulating the balance of ECM synthesis and degradation, suggesting a potential antiscarring role in wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-risk drinking on game day represents a unique public health challenge. OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the drinking behavior of college football fans and assessed the support for related interventions. PARTICIPANTS: The authors randomly selected 762 football fans, including college students, alumni, and other college football fans, to complete an anonymous online game-day survey. METHODS: The authors collected data on participants' drinking behaviors and support for specific game-day interventions. RESULTS: Analysis revealed that, overall, fans drank significantly more on game day than they did the last time they partied or socialized. Nondrinkers were the most supportive of game-day interventions, followed by moderate drinkers, whereas heavy drinkers offered the least support. CONCLUSIONS: With the exception of limiting tailgating hours on game day, fans support game-day interventions, including alcohol-free alternatives, designating tailgating areas where open containers are permitted, and increasing law enforcement efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a compact eye-safe intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO), driven by a diode end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4/Cr: YAG laser. At the incident diode pump power of 6.2 W and signal pulse repetition rate of 13 kHz, we obtain a minimum signal pulse duration as short as 1.3 ns, holding a pulse compressing factor of 17 with respect to that of the pump, and exhibiting an efficient pulse shortening mechanism. At the same time, the maximum average power of 110 mW and pulse energy of 8.5 μJ for the signal wave are also achieved. In addition, cavity dumping characteristics and the correlation dynamics between the laser and the OPO are qualitatively analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present in this paper a highly stable and efficient KTP-based intracavity optical parametric oscillator with a diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO4/Cr:YAG passively Q-switched laser. At the incident diode pump power of 4 W, the signal (1.57 μm) and idler (3.29 μm) average output powers up to 580 and 100 mW, respectively, have been achieved. The corresponding conversion efficiency from the input diode pump power to the output signal power is 14.5%, while that to the total OPO output (signal+idler) reaches 17%. To the best of our knowledge, these are the highest conversion efficiencies reported to date. After more than four hours of investigation, the OPO power stability better than 2% has been obtained. In addition, efficient cavity dumping of the IOPO has inevitably led to the short pulse duration (1.6 ns) and high peak power output (8.3 kW) at the signal wave. Additionally, the amplitude and repetition rate fluctuations of the signal pulses are well within 5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field emission of electrons from silicon-tip arrays coated with SrTiO3 thin layers has been investigated. It is found that the emission properties are sensitive to the preparation conditions and the extent of nitrogen doping in the magnetron sputtering. Nitrogen addition could reduce the band gap of the SrTiO3 caps to improve the emission properties significantly with a threshold field of 17 V/μm and the stability of emitted current compared with the uncoated silicon tips. Results demonstrate that SrTiO3 thin films with N addition effectively lower the work function of silicon tips. However, oxygen-rich SrTiO3 exhibits a detrimental effect. Findings are explained in terms of valence-density-state modification by the nonbonding lone pairs and the lone-pair-induced dipoles [W. T. Zheng and C. Q. Sun, Prog. Solid State Chem. 34, 1 (2006)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]