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In order to investigate the biodegradable film degradation properties of polyadipate/terephthalate (PBAT) materials and their applications for processing tomatoes in Xinjiang, different PBAT biodegradable mulch films, common polyethylene plastic (PE) mulch films, and bare land were compared. The experiment using biodegradable film was carried out in the main planting areas of processed tomato in Changji City, Xinjiang. Degradation performance of biodegradable mulch film and its effects on the temperature, humidity, and yields of tomato were systematically analyzed. The results showed that the biodegradable mulch film of Shandong Tianye began to degrade around 50 d, and that of Shandong Qingtian and Lanshan Tunhe began to degrade around 65 d. The degradation area of processed tomatoes could reach 60% during harvest, and the buried part in the soil was basically degraded in the first ten days after harvest. The three biodegradable mulch films of Lanshan Tunhe, Shandong Tianye, and Shandong Qingtian did not have fracture and adhesion problems during mechanical filming, which could therefore meet the requirements of mechanical film mulching in Xinjiang. Compared with traditional PE film, the average daily soil temperature of PBAT films was 0.81℃ lower than that of the PE film before the biodegradable film began to rupture, but 1.13℃ and 1.94℃ higher than bare land, respectively, indicating that the biodegradable film has good soil insulation performance before cracking; its effect is equivalent to the effect of PE film. The permeability of the Shandong Qingtian biodegradable mulch film was 210 g·m-2·24 h-1, which was higher than that of the Lanshan Tunhe and Shandong Tianye biodegradable mulch films, the values of which were much lower than the national standard of biodegradable mulch films. Shandong Qingtian biodegradable mulch film increased yield by 6.0% compared with PE film. The biodegradable mulch film of Lanshan Tunhe increased yield by 2.4%. The difference in yield of tomatoes between the two films was not significant (P>0.05), and the yield of tomatoes for Shandong Tianye biodegradable mulch film decreased by 13.3%. The yield, output value, and net profit of the two tomatoes of biodegradable mulch film of Lanshan Tunhe and Shandong Qingtian were the same as those of the PE mulch film. There was no significant difference, indicating that the biodegradable mulch film is economically viable in the production of processing tomatoes in Xinjiang.

Hydropower, which is the most extensively used renewable energy, is sensitive to the change of streamflow under the great impact of precipitation. According to the relationship between the hydropower station generation and local precipitation, the impact of precipitation on hydropower can be analyzed. In this paper, the global climate model and regional climate model simulations in precipitation are compared firstly, and the high-resolution precipitation data are then calculated by stepwise clustering analysis statistical downscaling method. Secondly, based on the hydropower potential (HP), the hydropower response model driven by precipitation is established. Finally, the simulated generation of a hydropower station in Dadu River basin is used as a case to validate this proposed model. The results show that precipitation will increase by around 42% from May to August in study region, while it will decrease by 40% in other months in RCP4.5. For different periods of reservoir scheduling, the precipitation will increase by about 40% in the Neutral I and Wet period, while it will decrease by around 30% in other periods, which will lead to the shortening of the peak period of hydropower generation and the peak value will be decreased. Correspondingly, the results show power generation will decrease by around 12% from June to December and increase by around 4% in the rest months. On the other hand, owing to the changes in precipitation, the future power generation will increase by 25% in Neutral I and decrease by 13.5% in other periods, but the total hydropower generation will remain. The results can provide some decision support for future water resources management in Dadu river basin, especially for the planning and operation of hydropower stations.

// Rui-Hua Liu 1, * , Ming-Ying Wang 1, 3, * , Ling-Yun Chen 2, 3, * , Zhi-Jie Yin 1 , Qian-Kun Ji 1 , Yang-Yang Wang 1 and Bao-Zhe Jin 1 1 Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453000, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China 2 Department of Operating Theatre, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453000, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China 3 Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453000, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Bao-Zhe Jin, email: jinbaozhe2016@163.com Keywords: LncRNA; AFAP1-AS1; neoplasms; prognosis; metastasis Received: August 29, 2017 Accepted: October 28, 2017 Published: December 21, 2017 ABSTRACT LncRNA actin filament-associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1) is often dysregulated in cancer. We performed this meta-analysis to clarify the usefulness of AFAP1-AS1 as a prognostic marker in malignant tumors. The PubMed, Medline, OVID, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to Augest 7, 2017. Sixteen studies with a total of 1,386 patients were included in the study. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) suggested high AFAP1-AS1 expression correlated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.98, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.71–2.28), disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.22–1.95), and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 2.17, 95% CI:1.64–2.88) in cancer patients, without obvious heterogeneity. High AFAP1-AS1 expression also correlated with larger tumor size (odds ratio (OR) = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.54–2.72), advanced tumor stage (OR=2.35, 95% CI: 1.70–3.26), poor histological grade (OR =1.39, 95% CI: 1.02–1.90), lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.98–3.72) and distant metastasis (OR = 2.96, 95% CI: 2.03–4.32). Thus high AFAP1-AS1 expression is predictive of poor OS, DFS, PFS, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, histological grade, larger tumor size and tumor stage, which suggests high AFAP1-AS1 expression may serve as a novel biomarker of poor prognosis in cancer.

Cell division cycle associated 7 like (CDCA7L) belongs to the JPO protein family, recently identified as a target gene of c-Myc and is frequently dysregulated in multiple cancers. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies to date have been carried out to investigate the functions of CDCA7L in glioma. Thus, in this study, the expression level of CDCA7L and its association with the prognosis in glioma were detected through the TCGA database. The mRNA expression levels of CDCA7L in glioblastoma (GBM) tissues and normal brain tissues were detected by RT-qPCR and western blot analysis. To explore the role of CDCA7L in glioma, CDCA7L siRNA was constructed and transfected into U87 glioma cells. The expression levels of CDCA7L and cyclin D1 (CCND1) in glioma U87 cells following transfection with CDCA7L siRNA were measured by RT-qPCR and western blot analysis. CCK-8, colony formation, EdU and Transwell assays were used to measure the effects of CDCA7L on U87 cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was used to monitor the changes in the cell cycle following transfection with CDCA7L siRNA. Xenograft tumors were examined in vivo for the carcinogenic effects, as well as the mechanisms and prognostic value of CDCA7L in glioma tissues. The results revealed that CDCA7L was highly expressed in human GBM tissues, and a high expression of CDCA7L was associated with a poor prognosis of glioma patients through the TCGA database. We demonstrated that CDCA7L was highly expressed in human GBM tissues and 3 glioma cell lines. The downregulation CDCA7L expression significantly inhibited the proliferation and colony formation ability of U87 cells by blocking cell cycle progression in the G0/G1 phase. In addition, we found that the mRNA and protein levels of CCND1 were markedly decreased following transfection with CDCA7L siRNA compared with NC siRNA in vitro. The downregulation CDCA7L expression reduced the number of invading cells. Consistent with the results of the in vitro assays, the xenograft assay, immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay and western blot analysis demonstrated that, in response to CDCA7L inhibition, tumor growth was inhibited, Ki-67 and CCND1 expression levels were decreased in vivo. On the whole, the results of the current study indicate that CDCA7L is highly expressed in human glioma tissues and that a high CDCA7L expression predicts a poor prognosis of glioma patients. CDCA7L promotes glioma U87 cell growth through CCND1.

Xiang-Sheng Li,1 Fa-Zheng Shen,1 Li-Yong Huang,1 Lei Hui,1 Rui-Hua Liu,1 Yan-Juan Ma,2 Bao-Zhe Jin1 1Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453000, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453000, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China Background: In multiple cancers, long non-coding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (lncRNA SNHG20) is generally dysregulated. In the present study, both the biological role and clinicopathological value of lncRNA SNHG20 in glioma are explored.Methods: Real-time PCR was employed to determine lncRNA SNHG20 expression in glioma patients. The prognostic role of expression of lncRNA SNHG20 was evaluated in a retrospective cohort study. In addition, the association between lncRNA SNHG20 expression and the clinicopathological features of glioma patients, such as tumor recurrence, survival status, follow-up time, WHO grade, resection extent, tumor location, Karnofsky performance scale score, cystic change, tumor size, gender and age, was discussed. By constructing and transfecting siRNAs that targeted lncRNA SNHG20 into the glioma U87 cells, the effects of lncRNA SNHG20 on the proliferation and cell cycle of U87 cells were assessed through cell counting kit-8, colony formation and cell cycle assays, respectively. In addition, Western blot and real-time PCR measured the expression levels of P21 and CCNA1 in U87 cells after being transfected with SNHG20 siRNA.Results: Our results suggested the high expression of lncRNA SNHG20 in human glioma tissues compared with normal brain tissues, which was related to recurrence-free survival and poor overall survival in glioma patients. According to the existing retrospective cohort study, high lncRNA SNHG20 expression was associated with tumor size, extent of resection, WHO grade, follow-up time, survival status and recurrence. Besides, knocking down the expression of lncRNA SNHG20 could inhibit the proliferation and colony formation abilities of glioma U87 cells through cell cycle arrest. Consequently, the expression of CCNA1 was inhibited, and the expression of P21 was up-regulated in U87 cells.Conclusion: A high lncRNA SNHG20 expression level predicts the poor prognosis for glioma patients. Moreover, lncRNA SNHG20 can promote glioma proliferation through silencing P21 and thus lncRNA SNHG20 is an independent potential prognostic biomarker for glioma patients. Keywords: lncRNA SNHG20, glioma, clinicopathological, prognosis, proliferation