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Maritime clusters are conducive to promoting the development of an urban economy and maritime industry. The development of high value-added maritime industry is beneficial to upgrading a maritime c...

Ischemia reperfusion injury represents a common pathological condition that is triggered by the release of endogenous ligands. While neutrophils are known to play a critical role in its pathogenesis, the tissue-specific spatiotemporal regulation of ischemia-reperfusion injury is not understood. Here, using oxidative lipidomics and intravital imaging of transplanted mouse lungs that are subjected to severe ischemia reperfusion injury, we discovered that necroptosis, a nonapoptotic form of cell death, triggers the recruitment of neutrophils. During the initial stages of inflammation, neutrophils traffic predominantly to subpleural vessels, where their aggregation is directed by chemoattractants produced by nonclassical monocytes that are spatially restricted in this vascular compartment. Subsequent neutrophilic disruption of capillaries resulting in vascular leakage is associated with impaired graft function. We found that TLR4 signaling in vascular endothelial cells and downstream NADPH oxidase 4 expression mediate the arrest of neutrophils, a step upstream of their extravasation. Neutrophil extracellular traps formed in injured lungs and their disruption with DNase prevented vascular leakage and ameliorated primary graft dysfunction. Thus, we have uncovered mechanisms that regulate the initial recruitment of neutrophils to injured lungs, which result in selective damage to subpleural pulmonary vessels and primary graft dysfunction. Our findings could lead to the development of new therapeutics that protect lungs from ischemia reperfusion injury.

Land use affects the accumulation of heavy metals in soil, which will endanger ecological safety and human health. Taking the village as an administrative unit, the ecological safety and health risks of heavy metals, namely, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb in soils in the Houzhai River Watershed of Guizhou Province, China, were evaluated based on land use types by the Hakanson potential ecological risk methods and human health risk model. Results showed that the spatial heterogeneity of Cu and Zn was greatly affected by primary structural factors, and Cr and Pb were interfered by both structural factors and human activities. The geo-accumulation index of the heavy metals showed a light pollution in the study area. The comprehensive potential ecological risk of heavy metal in the area was divided into three levels: slight, moderate, and intense, and it is spatially high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Both non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk of the heavy metals to the human body are not significant and are acceptable. The risks of children are higher than adults, and direct intake is the primary route of exposure in the area. The potential ecological risk and human health risk of soil heavy metals are relatively obviously affected by digital elevation data and normalized vegetation index. The study has certain reference value for the prevention and control of regional soil heavy metal risk.

In order to obtain Pb content in soil quickly and efficiently, a multivariate linear regression (MLR) and a principal component regression (PCR) Pb content estimation model were established on the basis of hyperspectral techniques, and their applicability in different soil types was evaluated. Results indicated that Pb exhibited strong spatial heterogeneity in the study area, and more than 82% of the samples exceeded the background value. In addition, the pollution range was large. Pb was sensitive in the near-infrared band, and the correlation of absorbance (AB) was most significant of all the transformed forms. Both models achieved optimal stability and reliability when AB was used as an independent variable. Compared with the PCR model, the stability, fitting accuracy, and predictive power of the MLR model were superior with a coefficient of determination, root mean square error, and mean relative error of 0.724%, 24.92%, and 28.22%, respectively. Both models could be applied to different soil types; however, MLR had better applicability compared with PCR. The PCR model that distinguished different soil types had better reliability than one that did not. Thus, the model established via hyperspectral techniques can achieve large-area, rapid, and efficient soil Pb content monitoring, which can provide technical support for the treatment of heavy metal pollution in soil.

Karst Rocky Desertification (KRD) has become the most serious ecological disaster in Southwest China. We used the data of Thematic Mapper (TM) images from 1990, 1995, 2000, 2004, and 2011 and the 2...

In order to fulfill the energy utilization for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, a novel liquid cooling system for battery thermal management (BTM) is designed in this paper. Combing the excellent cooling effect of copper tubes and silicon cold plates with flexible and elastic adhered on batteries, the as-constructed silicon cold plates coupled with copper tubes is a feasible and efficient approach with a more suitable temperature and a smaller temperature difference. For comparison, a silicon cold plate based natural air cooling and forced air convection cooing system for BTM were designed. The experiment results revealed that the natural air-cooling system was hardly to satisfy the requirements of temperature in application, meanwhile, even though the forced air cooling system could enhance the heat dissipation at a certain degree, it was not enough to control the temperature of the module below 45 °C during cycling test. Nevertheless, the silicon cold plate coupled with copper tubes can absorb the heat quickly and transfer it through the water flowing in the copper tube efficiently, the optimal fluid cooling system could control the maximum temperature below 41.92 °C and temperature difference within 1.78 °C under the conditions of middle flow direction at 8 ml/s volume flow rate. In addition, the energy consumption of copper tube based liquid system for battery module was decreased by 47.4% than forced convection air cooling system. These investigations are expected to afford an effective insight for designing and optimizing thermal management system for battery module.

Battery thermal management has attracted increasing attention from scientists and engineers. An entire battery thermal management system is expensive and complex. In this regard, a battery thermal management system with air cooling is an effective solution. This paper proposes a battery thermal management system that uses double silica cooling plate coupled with copper mesh as the air cooling system. Experiments and simulations were conducted to investigate the cooling capacity of battery thermal management system coupled with copper mesh and determine the thickness of the silica cooling plate, air velocity, air inlet position, and number of fans. Results indicated that 1.5 mm-thick silica cooling plate and 3.5 m/s air velocity exhibited the optimal effect on thermal management. Furthermore, the thermal management system coupled with copper mesh exhibited an excellent battery performance. In addition, the forced convection effect of the designing equipment was evaluated. The number of fans had no significant influence on cooling ability. However, the fan at the front side of the battery presented better thermal management performance than that at the side of the battery. Moreover, the average temperature of five batteries using a 1.5 mm double silica cooling plate coupled with copper mesh was determined through simulation with 5 m/s forced convection speed during the 5C discharge process. The mean temperature was 2.87 °C higher than that of one battery condition. Hence, the battery thermal management system using double silica cooling plate coupled with copper mesh could be an effective and appropriate air cooling system for thermal management.

Battery thermal management (BTM) technology has been widely utilized in pure/hybrid electric vehicles. In this study, a novel and effective hybrid cooling system including composite silica gel plate (CSGP) coupled with cooling tubes has been designed for battery module. Combining the excellent cooling effect of copper tubes and CSGP with low contact thermal resistance between each other, the coupling of CSGP and copper tubes is a feasible and effective method with more suitable temperature and smaller temperature difference. For comparison, the natural cooling module and the forced air convection module (CSGP-FC) based CSGP have also been designed. The experiment results revealed that the natural cooling module was hardly to satisfy the requirements of temperature in practical application. Meanwhile, although the CSGP-FC could enhance the heat dissipation at a certain degree, it was still not enough to control the temperature of the module below 45 °C after ten cycling tests. Compared with natural cooling module and CSGP-FC, the CSGP coupled with copper tubes can absorb the heat quickly and transfer it through the water flowing in the copper tubes efficiently, which can control the maximum temperature (Tmax) and make it have a decreasing tendency in ten charge and discharge cycles. The liquid cooling module (CSGP-LC) with 0.8 m/s water flowing rate can control the Tmax below 42.7℃ and temperature difference (ΔT) within 2.7 ℃ at 4C discharge rate. In addition, the energy consumption of the CSGP-LC was half of the CSGP-FC. It should be noted that the expanded graphite (EG) and copper foam added into silica gel (SG) can transfer the heat generating by batteries to copper tubes timely and promptly owing to high thermal conductivity, giving rise to a superior thermal management effect for battery module, especially at high discharge rate. Thus, it can be concluded that this designed cooling approach can provide a new insight for optimizing structure of liquid cooling technology and greatly promote the development of BMS systems.

An efficient battery thermal management system (BTMS) will undoubtedly promote the performance and lifespan of battery packs. In this study, a novel flame-retarded composite PCMs composed by paraffin (PA), expanded graphite (EG), ammonium polyphosphate (APP), red phosphorus (RP) and epoxy resin (ER) has been proposed for battery module. The thermophysical and flame retardant properties are investigated at both macro and micro levels. The results show that the proposed composite PCMs with an APP/RP ratio of 23/10 exhibit the optimum flame retardant performance. Besides, the APP/RP-based composite PCMs for 18,650 ternary battery module has also been researched comparing with air cooled and PCM with pure PA modes. The experimental results indicated that the fire retardant PCMs shown significant cooling and temperature balancing advantages for battery module, leading to a 44.7% and 30.1% reduction rate of the peak temperature and the maintenance of the maximum temperature difference within 1.36 °C at a 3 C discharge rate for 25 °C. Even at 45 °C, the temperature uniformity can still be controlled within 5 °C. Thus, this research indicates the composite PCM had good flame retardant and form stable properties, it would be utilized in BTMS, energy storage and other fields.

Location recommendation on location-based social networks, which is a rapidly growing research topic, suggests recommendations for unvisited locations to their users. This recommendation service is based on users’ visit histories and location-related information, such as location categories. Finding similarities in users’ behaviors can help these networks make better recommendations. In this paper, we propose two similarity-based Probabilistic Category-based Location Recommendation (sPCLR) algorithms that recommend locations to users at a given time of the day by utilizing category information: sPCLR-DTW and sPCLR-BCC. Both algorithms utilize temporal and spatial components. The temporal component utilizes the temporal influence of similar users’ check-in behaviors by representing users’ periodic check-in behavior at different location categories as temporal curves. The similarity between users’ periodic check-in behavior is calculated based on the difference between temporal curves. In sPCLR-DTW, the traditional dynamic time warping method (DTW) is used to measure the distance between temporal curves. In order to improve the time efficiency of the recommendation process, a novel sequence-matching technique—best curve coupling (BCC)—is proposed and utilized in sPCLR-BCC. The spatial component utilizes the geographical influence of locations and filters out those locations that are not of interest to the user. The performance of the sPCLR-DTW and sPCLR-BCC algorithms are studied and compared to two existing location recommendation algorithms on a real-world dataset. Experimental results show that the sPCLR-DTW performs better than all other recommendation algorithms, whereas sPCLR-BCC can provide comparable recommendations more quickly, making it ideal for online applications.

Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a well-established indicator of ongoing tissue inflammation. However, there is a scarcity of molecular imaging probes capable of providing noninvasive sensitive detection of ROS for allowing longitudinal studies of disease pathology and/or monitoring therapeutic efficacy of ROS scavengers. Herein, we report synthesis and chemical characterization of a novel metalloprobe, Galuminox, a moderately fluorescent agent that detects superoxide and hydrogen peroxide generation. Using live-cell fluorescence imaging analysis, Galuminox demonstrates ability to detect superoxide and monitor effects of ROS-attenuating agents, such as Carvedilol, Dexrazoxane, and mitoTempo in lung epithelial A549 cells. Furthermore, LPS stimulation of A549 cells that either express the mitochondria targeted fluorescent protein Keima or are stained with MitoSOX, a mitochondria-specific superoxide probe, indicates preferential co-localization of Galuminox with mitochondria producing elevated amounts of superoxide. Dynamic PET/CT scans 45 min post tail-vein administration of 68Ga-Galuminox show 4-fold higher uptake and stable retention in lungs of LPS treated mice compared to their saline-only treated counterparts. Post preclinical PET imaging, quantitative biodistribution studies also correlate with 4-fold higher retention of the radiotracer in lungs of LPS treated mice compared with their saline-only treated control counterparts. Consistent with these observations, lung cells isolated from LPS-treated mice demonstrated elevated ROS production deploying CellROX, the ROS probe. Finally, Galuminox uptake correlates with histological and physiological evidence of acute lung injury as evident by polynuclear infiltration, thickening of the alveolar epithelial membranes and increased bronchioalveolar lavage protein content. Taken collectively, these data indicate that 68Ga-Galuminox tracer uptake is a measure of ROS activity in acutely injured lungs and suggests its potential utility in monitoring oxidative stress in other diseases., Graphical abstract Image 1

Water shortage in karst mountainous areas is a difficult problem faced worldwide. Serious surface water leakage, which is a karst characteristic, has puzzled global scientists for a long time. Local climate and hydrology play important roles in water resources occurrence and behaviour, which in turn affects surface and groundwater management. The objectives of this study were as follows: to conduct in-depth analysis of the major problems in the current utilisation on the surface water resources in karst areas; to reveal the differences in surface hydrogeological structures that grew and formed under the control of different lithological characters, surface water occurrence conditions and its cyclical rules; to propose strategies for development and effective utilisation of water resources. A series of technologies for karst surface water resource use on the basis of karst hydrogeological features and development law is proposed. These technologies include gully section runoff confluence water harvesting technology, surface karst spring directional diversion technology, sunken geomorphology ecotype cistern design technology, road rainwater-harvesting and effective utilisation technology, effective comprehensive and utilisation of rooftop rainwater harvesting technology and other surface water resource optimal allocation technologies. Thus, this study offers research-driven technological solutions to ease water shortage, facilitate modern agriculture and regional economic development in karst mountainous areas.

Insulin resistance is a common metabolic complication of obesity and an important risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, and coronary heart disease (1, 2). It has been proposed that an increase in circulating branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), valine, leucine, and isoleucine, is involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, because increased plasma BCAA concentrations are often observed in obese and insulin resistant states (3, 4), and weight loss leads to decreased plasma BCAA concentrations and improved insulin action (5, 6). However, the underlying mechanism(s) responsible for the relationship between BCAA metabolism and insulin resistance is not known. Monomethyl branched chain fatty acids (mmBCFA) could provide a link between BCAA metabolism and metabolic dysfunction. In most peripheral tissues, BCAA are deaminated by mitochondrial branched chain aminotransferase (BCAT2 or BCATm) to generate branched-chain α-ketoacids (7), which are then decarboxylated by the branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase complex (8). The resulting short-chain branched acyl moieties can be exported out of mitochondria (9) and undergo conventional de novo fatty acid biosynthesis, catalyzed by fatty acid synthase (FAS), to produce mmBCFA (10). Alternatively, the fatty acyl chain could be extended within mitochondria by using the mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (FAS II) system (11) (Supplementary Figure S1). The predominant branching in mmBCFA is near the terminal end of the carbon chain with an isopropyl or isobutyl group denoted as iso- or anteiso-BCFA, respectively. mmBCFA are present in a large range of organisms from bacteria to mammals, indicating conserved metabolic pathways for their synthesis and function. The enzymes involved in BCAA metabolism are key regulators of both the degradation of BCAA and the synthesis of mmBCFA. Skeletal muscle and adipose tissue are the primary sites for BCAA degradation (12), whereas BCAA catabolism in the liver is minimal because of low levels of BCATm (7). A study conducted in a rodent model demonstrated that adipose tissue BCAA metabolism can modulate circulating BCAA concentrations (13), presumably because adipose tissue is a major site for plasma BCAA uptake and conversion to lipids (14). Whole tissue assessments of BCAA catabolic activities and kinetics also suggest that adipose tissue could play an important role in regulating whole body BCAA homeostasis in people (15, 16). Adipose tissue gene expression of enzymes involved in BCAA catabolism is lower in obese and insulin resistant mice and people than in their lean counterparts (17, 18). Therefore, it is possible that increased catabolism of BCAA and conversion to mmBCFA in adipose tissue could improve insulin sensitivity by clearing BCAA from plasma. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the possibility that adipose tissue mmBCFA metabolism is associated with whole-body (primarily skeletal muscle) insulin sensitivity in obese subjects. Accordingly, we conducted: i) a cross-sectional study to assess the relationship between adipose tissue mmBCFA content and insulin sensitivity in lean and obese subjects, and ii) a longitudinal study to assess the effects of marked weight loss on adipose tissue mmBCFA metabolism and insulin sensitivity.

As the most widely used battery thermal management (BTM) technology in pure/hybrid electric vehicles, liquid cooling is facing challenge of enhancing the heat transfer capability between the cooling tubes and the curved surface of cylindrical cells. In this work, a kind of graphene oxide (GO) -modified silica gel (GO-SG) is prepared and simply filled in the space between the cylindrical cells and water cooling tubes. The addition of GO endows the GO-SG with enhanced thermal conductivity to transfer the generated heat to the tubes effectively, thus giving rise to a superior cooling and temperature-uniformed performance of the battery module. For instance, during the fast charging process of 2 and 3C, the maximum temperature (Tmax) of the water cooling module with GO-SG is as low as 37.7 and 42.0 °C, and the corresponding temperature difference (ΔT) is controlled below 4 and 5 °C, respectively. During the cycling tests, the Tmax and ΔT can be maintained below 40 and 4 °C, respectively. We believe that this approach may open new thoughts for the structural optimization of the liquid cooling technology and thus promote the development of the BTM systems.

The accumulation of metals in soil harms human health through different channels. Therefore, it is very important to conduct fast and effective non-destructive prediction of metals in the soil. In this study, we investigate the characteristics of four metal contents, namely, Sb, Pb, Cr, and Co, in the soil of the Houzhai River Watershed in Guizhou Province, China, and establish the content prediction back propagation (BP) neural network and genetic-ant colony algorithm BP (GAACA-BP) neural network models based on hyperspectral data. Results reveal that the four metals in the soil have different degrees of accumulation in the study area, and the correlation between them is significant, indicating that their sources may be similar. The fitting effect and accuracy of the GAACA-BP model are greatly improved compared with those of the BP model. The R values are above 0.7, the MRE is reduced to between 6% and 15%, and the validation accuracy is increased by 12&ndash, 64%. The prediction ability of the model of the four metals is Cr &gt, Co &gt, Sb &gt, Pb. These results indicate the possibility of using hyperspectral techniques to predict metal content.

Sarcolemmal CD36 facilitates myocardial fatty acid (FA) uptake, which is markedly reduced in CD36-deficient rodents and humans. CD36 also mediates signal transduction events involving a number of cellular pathways. In taste cells and macrophages, CD36 signaling was recently shown to regulate store-responsive Ca2+ flux and activation of Ca2+-dependent phospholipases A2 that cycle polyunsaturated FA into phospholipids. It is unknown whether CD36 deficiency influences myocardial Ca2+ handling and phospholipid metabolism, which could compromise the heart, typically during stresses. Myocardial function was examined in fed or fasted (18–22 h) CD36−/− and WT mice. Echocardiography and telemetry identified conduction anomalies that were associated with the incidence of sudden death in fasted CD36−/− mice. No anomalies or death occurred in WT mice during fasting. Optical imaging of perfused hearts from fasted CD36−/− mice documented prolongation of Ca2+ transients. Consistent with this, knockdown of CD36 in cardiomyocytes delayed clearance of cytosolic Ca2+. Hearts of CD36−/− mice (fed or fasted) had 3-fold higher SERCA2a and 40% lower phospholamban levels. Phospholamban phosphorylation by protein kinase A (PKA) was enhanced after fasting reflecting increased PKA activity and cAMP levels in CD36−/− hearts. Abnormal Ca2+ homeostasis in the CD36−/− myocardium associated with increased lysophospholipid content and a higher proportion of 22:6 FA in phospholipids suggests altered phospholipase A2 activity and changes in membrane dynamics. The data support the role of CD36 in coordinating Ca2+ homeostasis and lipid metabolism and the importance of this role during myocardial adaptation to fasting. Potential relevance of the findings to CD36-deficient humans would need to be determined.

Background: Glucose homeostasis relies on insulin to suppress hepatic glu-cose production and to stimulate glucose uptake by peripheral tissues (pri-marily skeletal muscle) during and after a meal or glucose load. Glucosemetabolism impairments in the liver and⁄or muscle attenuate these insulinactions, causing hyperglycemia. Thus, identifying the loci of the impair-ments can improve the understanding of hyperglycemia and enable organ-targeted interventions.Methods: Studies were performed to identify such loci using modified oralglucose tolerance test (OGTT) techniques in individuals with type 2 diabe-tes (T2D) and overweight⁄obese individuals.Results: Individuals with severe T2D were found to have significantlyimpaired glucose metabolism in both the liver and muscle. In contrast,impairments in glucose metabolism in individuals with non-severe T2Dwere predominantly localized in the liver or muscle, but not both. Simi-larly, milder impairments in overweight or obese individuals were clearlylocalized in either the liver or muscle, but not both. All these impairmentsare quantifiable.Conclusion: Impairments in glucose metabolism in the liver and muscle canbe differentiated and quantified in a clinical setting.Keywords: hyperglycemia, localization, organ impairment, type 2 diabetes.Significant findings of the study: The liver or muscle as the main source of hyperglycemia varies from personto person and can be diagnosed individually to enable personalized glycemic control.What this study adds: An improved understanding of the mechanism underlying postprandial hyperglycemiaat the organ level and the possibility of selectively targeting the liver or muscle in the intervention and pre-vention of type 2 diabetes.

In order to reveal the differences of soil physical and chemical properties and their response mechanism to the evolution of KRD. The characteristics of soil physical and chemical properties of different grades of KRD were studied by field sampling method to research different types of KRD in the typical karst valley of southern China. Instead of using space of time, to explore the response and the mechanisms of the soil physical and chemical properties at the different evolution process. The results showed that: (1) There were significant differences in organic matter, pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, sediment concentration, clay content and AWHC in different levels of KRD environment. However, these indicators are not with increasing desertification degree has been degraded, but improved after a first degradation trends; (2) The correlation analysis showed that soil organic matter, acid, alkali, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium and clay contents were significantly correlated with other physical and chemical factors. They are the key factors of soil physical and chemical properties, play a key role in improving soil physical and chemical properties and promoting nutrient cycling; (3) The principal component analysis showed that the cumulative contribution rate of organic matter, pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium and sediment concentration was 80.26%, which was the key index to evaluate rocky desertification degree based on soil physical and chemical properties. The results have important theoretical and practical significance for the protection and restoration of rocky desertification ecosystem in southwest China.

Here we describe a single-molecule quantitative assay of mRNA levels based on mRNA mediate-ligation and BEAMing (beads, emulsion, amplification, and magnetics) technique, which allows accurate and parallel measurement of multiple genes from a small amount of cells. In this method, a pair of oligos complementary target mRNA was used to probe transcripts for each gene of interest. The ligated products of oligos pair were clonally amplified on beads in millions of parallel compartmentalized droplets in a water-in-oil emulsion. The levels of each transcript within a sample were measured by counting the number of the correspondingly amplified beads which were immobilized on a glass surface. To demonstrate its utility, this method has been applied to the quantitation of the mRNA levels for two transcription factors, Klf4 and Sox5, and a housekeeping gene, Gapdh, in human leukemia K562 cells before and after induction with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. Interestingly, we found a significant downregulation of the mRNA level of Sox5 after phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate treatment. The mRNA mediate-ligation and BEAMing technique provides an accurate and sensitive way to quantify the amount of multiple specific mRNA in a very small number of cells, which may be valuable in the studies requiring precise and parallel quantization of multiple mRNA in the defined cell populations.

The effects of various environmental factors in unfolding/refolding pathway of proteins on ANS fluorescence were investigated. In phosphate buffer of pH 7.4, ANS bound cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTMAB) and resulted in significant increase of ANS fluorescence and a sudden blue-shift in emission maximum wavelength. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) caused less increase in ANS fluorescence and less blue-shift in emission maximum wavelength than CTMAB and Tween 20. Tween 20, urea, polyethylene glycol 8000 (PEG 8000) and glycerol which contains hydrophobic groups also enhanced ANS fluorescence and caused their emission maximum wavelength blue-shift. For guanidine hydrochloride (GdmCl), due to its shorter hydrophobic chain, it caused less increase in ANS fluorescence and less decrease in emission maximum wavelength than CTMAB although GdmCl also has a positive charge. The results demonstrated the need for caution in interpreting enhancement of ANS fluorescence as an evidence for the existence of partially folded protein intermediates.

Recent studies suggest that adipose tissue hypoxia (ATH) may contribute to endocrine dysfunction in adipose tissue of obese mice. In this study, we examined hypoxia's effects on metabolism in adipocytes. We determined the dynamic relationship of ATH and adiposity in ob/ob mice. The interstitial oxygen pressure (Po2) was monitored in the epididymal fat pads for ATH. During weight gain from 39.5 to 55.5 g, Po2 declined from 34.8 to 20.1 mmHg, which are 40–60% lower than those in the lean mice. Insulin receptor-β (IRβ) and insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) were decreased in the adipose tissue of obese mice, and the alteration was observed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes after hypoxia (1% oxygen) treatment. Insulin-induced glucose uptake and Akt Ser473 phosphorylation was blocked by hypoxia in the adipocytes. This effect of hypoxia exhibited cell type specificity, as it was not observed in L6 myotubes and βTC6 cells. In response to hypoxia, free fatty acid (FFA) uptake was reduced and lipolysis was increased in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The molecular mechanism of decreased fatty acid uptake may be related to inhibition of fatty acid transporters (FATP1 and CD36) and transcription factors (PPARγ and C/EBPα) by hypoxia. The hypoxia-induced lipolysis was observed in vivo after femoral arterial clamp. Necrosis and apoptosis were induced by hypoxia in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These data suggest that ATH may promote FFA release and inhibit glucose uptake in adipocytes by inhibition of the insulin-signaling pathway and induction of cell death.

The synthesis of docosahexaenoic (DHA, 22:6n-3) and Osbond acid (OA, 22:5n-6) is regulated by the heterodimer of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor and retinoid X receptor (RXR). 9-Cis retinoic acid, a metabolite of vitamin A, is the most potent ligand of RXR. We tested whether vitamin A deficiency impairs DHA and OA synthesis in rats fed a vitamin A- and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)-sufficient (VASALAS), vitamin A-sufficient and ALA-deficient (VASALAD), vitamin A-deficient and ALA-sufficient (VADALAS), or vitamin A- and ALA-deficient (VADALAD) diet. After 7 wk of feeding, liver and colon choline (CPG) and ethanolamine (EPG) phosphoglyceride FA were analyzed. The VADALAS compared with the VASALAS rats had elevated levels of both DHA (P0.05) and OA (P0.005) in liver CPG and EPG. In contrast, the VADALAD group had a lower DHA (P0.01) and higher OA (P0.005) level in CPG and EPG of both tissues than their VASALAD counterparts. ALA deficiency reduced DHA and enhariced OA levels in liver and colon CPG and EPG in both the vitamin A-sufficient (VASALAS vs. VASALAD) and -deficient (VADALAS vs. VADALAD) rats (P0.005). The study demonstrates that ALA deficiency reduced DHA and enhanced OA levels in tissue membranes, and dietary vitamin A deficiency has a profound effect on membrane DHA and OA in rat tissues. Both vitamin A and DHA are involved in a myriad of vital physiological functions pertaining to growth and development and health. Hence, there is a need for a further study to unravel the mechanism by which vitamin A influences membrane DHA and OA.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), is a major public health problem among the elderly in industrialized countries and a growing problem in developing countries. In Cuba, 14,6% of the population is older than 60 years. The AD prevalence in Cuba lies between 5,13–7,14%. Several studies have shown the relationship between the low nutritional status of B vitamins, hyperhomocysteinaemia with loss of neuro-cognitive function and AD. In studies during the epidemic neuropathy that affected Cuba between 1992–1993, B vitamins deficiency and smoking habits were strongly associated with the epidemic. Some studies in healthy adults and elderly after this epidemic have shown a sub-clinical deficiency of some B vitamins and a high prevalence of infection by Helicobacter pylori. The possibility that B vitamin deficiencies could be an additional risk factor for the high prevalence of the AD in Cuba is discussed.

We present a set of bulk chemical and mineralogical compositions of the Pingba red residua on karst terrains of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau that show evidence pertaining to the source and to evolution of the profile. The known potential sources of clay-rich deposits on the plateau include: (1) Triassic dolomites, (2) Quaternary sediments, (3) Chinese loess, (4) Early Pliocene-Late Holocene volcanic ash (although the existence of volcanic ash is not supported by geological or mineralogical data), or a mixture of the four sources. The mineralogical compositions of the profile have shown an obvious inheritance relationship between the regolith and insoluble residues from the underlying dolomites, without allochthonous components involved. In the regolith, the contents of Al2O3 and Zr are fairly constant and both the TiO2/Al2O3 and Fe2O3T/Al2O3 ratios are consistent with those of bedrock below in the profile. The chemical index of alteration (CIA) for the profile varies from 84 to 94. An obvious variation is only found in the lower regolith. In the Al2O3-CaO*+Na2O-K2O (A-CN-K) triangular diagram, almost all the samples are concentrated, and cannot be distinctly distinguished, close to the A-K. joint, and they tend to the A end. The SiO2/Al2O3 ratio in the samples from the regolith is less variable and low ( approximate to 1), but the K2O/Na2O ratio is very variable (2-18). The above two ratios are quite different from those of PAAS, upper continental crust (UCC) and Chinese loess. Average UCC-normalized spiderdiagrams for the samples from the regolith and the insoluble residues in the dolomites share much in common with respect to element distribution pattern. The ratios of mobile to immobile elements (Ca/Al, Mg/Al, Na/Al, K/Al and Mn/Al) and between the immobile elements (Al/Zr, Ti/Zr and Ti/Nb) reflect the characteristics of in situ weathering rather than a sedimentary origin. The above lends great support to a cognate relation between the dolomite and its overlying regolith. The chemical weathering of dolomite can be divided into two stages in the major element and high field strength element (HFSE) diagrams-namely for "leaching-accumulating trend" and "weathering trend". The research results of this paper demonstrate that the Pingba red residua is a typical in situ chemical weathering crust and material sources of the profile are derived from underlying Triassic dolomites. The previously postulated two-stage development model for red residua in the karst terrain can be discriminated clearly, among them, the change of chemical composition occurs notably in the transition periods of the two stages. Moreover, it is the leaching processes that have an important meaning in the formation of horizons of the soil and ferruginous crust from the profile. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Purification of structured lipids (SL), produced from lipase-catalyzed acidolysis of rapeseed oil and capric acid, and deodorization of randomized SL, produced from chemical randomization of fish oil and tricaprin, were studied in a bench-scale short path distillation (SPD). SL obtained from enzymatic acidolysis usually contain a large proportion of medium-chain and long-chain free fatty acids. Two SPD steps have been applied for the removal of free fatty acids. Parameters such as evaporator temperature, feeding flow rate, stirring roller speed, and the content of free fatty acids (FFA) added to the starting materials were optimized with respect to FFA left in the product residuals and to tocopherol loss from the starting oil. Evaporator temperature and flow rate were optimized using response surface methodology and two models were obtained for the FFA content left and loss of tocopherols. An applicable parameter zone was created to obtain a certain FFA (0.5% for example) content. In general, conditions that result in a lower FFA content will lead to a higher loss of tocopherols. In most parts of the parameter zone, 50% loss of tocopherols will be expected. The deodorization study of randomized SL from fish oils and tricaprin indicated that SPD in comparison with batch deodorization gave a product of a poorer sensoric quality.

Background The stability of long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) that possess tissue/cell-specific expression, might be closely related to their physiological functions. However, the mechanism associated with stability of lincRNA remains elusive. In this study, we try to study the stability of lincRNA in K562 cells, an important model cell, through comparing two K562 transcriptomes which are obtained from ENCODE Consortium and our sequenced RNA-Seq dataset (PH) respectively. Results By lincRNAs analysis pipeline, 1804 high-confidence lincRNAs involving 1564 annotated lincRNAs and 240 putative novel lincRNAs were identified in PH, and 1587 high-confidence lincRNAs including 1429 annotated lincRNAs and 158 putative novel lincRNAs in ENCODE. There are 1009 unique lincRNAs in PH, 792 unique lincRNAs were in ENCODE, and 795 overlapping lincRNAs in both datasets. The analysis of differences in minimum free energy distribution and lincRNA half-life showed that a large proportion of overlapping lincRNAs were more stable than the unique lincRNAs. Most lincRNAs were more unstable than protein-coding RNAs through comparing their minimum free energy. Conclusions Identification of overlapping and unique lincRNAs can be helpful to classify the stability of lincRNAs. Our results suggest that overlapping lincRNAs (relatively stable linRNAs) and unique lincRNAs (relatively unstable lincRNAs) might be involved in different cellular processes. Reviewers This article has been reviewed by Prof. Oliviero Carugo, Dr. Alistair Forrest and Prof. Manju Bansal.