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Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), an invasive beetle that has caused billions of dollars in economic losses, is a serious pest of Pinus massoniana in many Asian countries. Clarifying the eye pigment gene and its knockdown phenotype of M. alternatus can provide functional gene identification and a marker for screening of gene editing, as well as help develop new control ideas. In this study, we first screened the transcriptome and found one homologous gene of tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) and one of kynurenine-3-monooxygenase (KMO). By measuring the expression levels of TDO and KMO in different developmental periods, it was indicated that TDO and KMO were expressed in various stages of M. alternatus. The gene expression of MaKMO was higher than MaTDO, showing high expression after pupation and decreasing at the beginning of eclosion. MaTDO and MaKMO were knocked down using RNA interference technology in different periods of expression, and the temporal expression changes were obtained using RT-qPCR technology. The results showed that the expressions of MaTDO and MaKMO were significantly inhibited by the injection of dsRNA; the expressions of MaTDO at 48 h, 96 h and after pupation were 21.9%, 32.3% and 59.2%, respectively, meanwhile, those of KMO were 23.4%, 25.0% and 69.7%, respectively. There was a significant change in eye color, and the beetles were able to pupate normally without their activity being affected. Therefore, both MaTDO and MaKMO can be used as tag genes for M. alternatus. A dominant marker system based on eye color can be developed for the genetic manipulation and control of M. alternatus.

Background Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a common pathogen in development of peptic ulcers with pyroptosis. Rabeprazole, a critical component of standard triple therapy, has been widely used as the first-line regimen for H. pylori infectious treatment. The aim of this study to explore the function of Rabeprazole on cell pyroptosis in vitro. Methods The clinical sample from patients diagnosed with or without H. pylori-infection were collected to analyze by Immunohistochemistry (IHC). Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), western blot (WB) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa) were performed to analyze the effect of Rabeprazole on cell pyroptosis, including LDH, IL-1β and IL-18. Results In this study, we showed that Rabeprazole regulated a phenomenon of cell pyroptosis as confirmed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. Further results showed that Rabeprazole inhibited cell pyroptosis in gastric epithelial cells by alleviating GSDMD-executed pyroptosis, leading to decrease IL-1β and IL-18 mature and secretion, which is attributed to NLRP3 inflammasome activation inhibition. Further analysis showed that ASC, NLRP3 and Caspase-1, was significantly repressed in response to Rabeprazole stimulation, resulting in decreasing cleaved-caspase-1 expression. Most important, NLRP3 and GSDMD is significantly increased in gastric tissue of patients with H. pylori infection. Conclusion These findings revealed a critical role of Rabeprazole in cell pyroptosis in patients with H. pylori infection, suggesting that targeting cell pyroptosis is an alternative strategy in improving H. pylori treatment.

Background. CD147/basigin (Bsg), a transmembrane glycoprotein, activates matrix metalloproteinases and promotes inflammation. Objective. The aim of this study is to explore the clinical significance of CD147 in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Results. In addition to monocytes, the clinical analysis showed that there is no significance obtained in leucocyte, neutrophil, eosinophil, basophil, and erythrocyte between IBD and controls. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that CD147 was increased in intestinal tissue of patients with active IBD compared to that in the control group. What is more, CD147 is involved in intestinal barrier function and intestinal inflammation, which was attributed to the fact that it has an influence on MCT4 expression, a regulator of intestinal barrier function and intestinal inflammation, in HT-29 and CaCO2 cells. Most importantly, serum level of CD147 content is higher in active IBD than that in inactive IBD or healthy control, which could be a biomarker of IBD. Conclusion. The data suggested that increased CD147 level could be a biomarker of IBD in children.

CD103 is considered as a surface marker for the resident immune cells. However, little is known about the intrinsic function of CD103 in infection and inflammation. In this study, we found that CD103 was highly expressed in CD4+T cells of the gastric mucosa from patients with H. pylori-positive gastritis. Mucosal resident CD103+CD4+T cells exhibited an increase in the CD45RO+CCR7− effector memory phenotype and high expression of the chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR9 compared with those in CD103−CD4+T cells. An In vitro coculture study demonstrated that H. pylori-specific antigen CagA/VacA-primed dendritic cells (DCs) induced proliferation and IFN-γ, TNF as well as IL-17 production by CD103+CD4+T cells from patients with H. pylori-positive gastritis, while blocking CD103 with a neutralizing antibody reduced proliferation and IFN-γ, TNF, and IL-17 production by CD103+CD4+T cells cocultured with DCs. Moreover, immunoprecipitation revealed that CD103 interacted with TCR α/β and CD3ζ, and activation of CD103 enhanced the phosphorylation of ZAP70 induced by the TCR signal. Finally, increased T-bet and Blimp1 levels were also observed in CD103+CD4+T cells, and activating CD103 increased T-bet and Blimp1 expression in CD4+T cells. Our results explored the intrinsic function of CD103 in gastric T cells from patients with H. pylori-positive gastritis, which may provide a therapeutic target for the treatment of gastritis.

The local immune response plays an important role in the pathogenesis of colorectal carcinoma. Patients with colorectal polyps are at increased risk of colorectal cancer. However, the immunoregulation of early-stage colorectal polyps remain unknown. In the study, 202 biopsy samples from 80 pediatric patients with colorectal polyps and from 42 normal controls were collected. We found that the number of CD4

Background Very-early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEOIBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract occurring during infancy or early childhood. NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has emerged as a crucial regulator of intestinal homeostasis; however, whether NLRP3 variants may modify VEOIBD risk is unknown. Objective We sought to investigate whether and how a rare NLRP3 variant, found in 3 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, contributes to VEOIBD development. Methods Whole-exome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis were performed to screen disease-associated NLRP3 variants from a cohort of children with VEOIBD. Inflammasome activation was determined in reconstituted HEK293T human embryonic kidney cells with NLRP3 inflammasome components, doxycycline-inducible NLRP3 macrophages, as well as PBMCs and biopsies from patients with NLRP3 variants. Pathogenesis of the variants was determined using a dextran sulfate sodium–induced acute colitis model. Results We identified a dominant gain-of-function missense variant of NLRP3, encoded by rs772009059 (R779C), in 3 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms. Functional analysis revealed that R779C increased NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in macrophages. This was mediated by enhanced deubiquitination of NLRP3 via binding with deubiquitinases BRCC3 and JOSD2, which are highly expressed in myeloid cells. In a dextran sulfate sodium–induced acute colitis model, NLRP3-R779C in hematopoietic cells resulted in more severe colitis, which can be ameliorated via knockdown of BRCC3 or JOSD2. Conclusions BRCC3 and JOSD2 mediate NLRP3-R779C deubiquitination, which promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation and the risk of developing VEOIBD.

The local immune response plays an important role in the pathogenesis of colorectal carcinoma. Patients with colorectal polyps are at increased risk of colorectal cancer. However, the immunoregulation of early-stage colorectal polyps remain unknown. In the study, 202 biopsy samples from 80 pediatric patients with colorectal polyps and from 42 normal controls were collected. We found that the number of CD4+, CD8+T cells and CD19+B cells were reduced, whereas CD68+macrophages (Mϕ) were increased in colorectal polyps compared to the distal normal tissue from the same patients and the tissue from healthy donors. The frequency of Mϕwas negatively correlated with the number of CD4+ and CD8+T cells but not CD19+B cells in colorectal polyps. We further identified that CD163 was highly expressed on Mϕϕ from colorectal polyps compared to those from normal controls. Furthermore, real-time PCR revealed that TGF-β, but not IL-10 and IL-4, was increased in colorectal polyps. Immunofluorescence and flow cytometry showed that TGF-β was predominantly produced by CD163+Mϕ. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the supernatant from cultured polyps induced CD163 expression and TGF-β production in blood-derived Mϕ. A co-culture experiment revealed that purified Mϕ from colorectal polyps suppressed T cell proliferation. Based on these results, we hypothesized that abundant CD163+Mϕ may promote the progression of colorectal polyps by inhibiting the local T cell response through TGF-β production.

The dysregulation of glycolysis leads to serials of disease. Rabeprazole is a representative of proton pump inhibitors and widely used in anti-ulcer treatment. However, the function of Rabeprazole on glycolysis in gastric epithelial cells remained to be identified. In this study, 30（Helicobacter pylori）H. pylori-negative cases and 26H. pylori-positive cases treated with Rabeprazole were recruited. The qPCR and Western blotting results showed that Rabeprazole suppressed cell proliferation by inhibition of HK2-mediated glycolysis in BGC823 cells, leading to decrease glucose uptake and lactate production in a dose-dependent way. Furthermore, the phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was drastically reduced in response to Rabeprazole stimulation, leading to attenuate STAT3 nuclear translocation. Luciferase and Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis showed that Rabeprazole treatment led to a significant inhibition of the binding of STAT3 to the promoter of the HK2 gene, repressing transcriptional activation of HK2. Moreover, the ectopic expression of STAT3 in BGC823 cells resulted in recovery of HK2 transactivation and cell proliferation in Rabeprazole-treated cells. Most importantly, HK2 expression was significantly increased in H. pylori-infected gastric mucosa. These findings suggested that Rabeprazole inhibited cell proliferation by targeting STAT3/HK2 signaling-mediated glucose metabolism in gastric epithelial cells. Therefore, targeting HK2 is an alternative strategy in improving the treatment of patients with H. pylori infection.

Sustainable development has become a primary objective for many countries and regions throughout the world now. The ecological footprint (EF) is a kind of concise method of quantifiably measuring the natural capital consumption and it can reflect the goal of sustainability. In this paper, the concept, the theory and method of ecological footprint are introduced. On this basis, the study brings forward the method of ecological footprint and capacity prediction. The method is employed for the ecological footprint prediction combining consumption model with population model and the technique is adopted for the ecological capacity (EC) prediction uniting the Geographical Cellular Automata (Geo CA) and Geographic Information System (GIS). The above models and methods are employed to calculate EF and EC in 1995 and 2000 and predict them in 2005 in Hexi Corridor. The result shows that EF is continually increasing, and EC ascended in the anterior 5 years and will descend in the posterior 5 years. This suit of method is of the character of accuracy and speediness.

The ecological footprint analysis is a concise quantitative method of the natural capital consumption measurement by tracking the footprint of energy sources and resources consumption in a region. This approach provides an estimate for the necessary land area to sustain current consumption levels of resources within a given population, and compares with the area of biologically productive land available. It can judge if the consumption pattern is sustainable. This paper, applying the methods of questionnaire and remote sensing image analysis, seeks to explore a modified method for ecological footprint analysis. The new method applies questionnaire in ecological footprint and does remote sensing image analysis in ecological capacity. It judges the ecological status by comparing the above results. In addition, this scheme predicts the ecological footprint based on the consumption and population models and the ecological capacity by Cellular Automata. Furthermore, future ecological status can be judged by comparing the ecological footprint with the ecological capacity

The application of remote sensing in the study of terrestrial ecosystem opens up an effective way for simulating terrestrial productivity. In this paper, a RUE model is established by parameterized plant photosynthesis and respiration. Photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by all surface materials (APARSFC), obtained by correcting photosynthetically active radiation observed by MODIS for the effects of surface albedo, atmospheric total transmittance, and periodical change of solar incident angle and solar hour angle during daytime, together with the ratio of PAR absorbed by the canopy to APARSFC (RPAR) and radiation use efficiency (RUE) based on a relationship between RUE and maximum rate of leaf photosynthesis (Amax) governed by its dependence on seasonal dynamics of foliage nitrogen content, are used to estimate gross photosynthesis. Plant respiration is divided into growing respiration as constant fraction of GPP, and maintenance respiration from leaf, stem, and root. The model is adapted to calculate the net primary productivity (NPP) of temperate deciduous forest in northeast China, supported by auxiliary data composed of daily MODIS data, atmosphere profile, ice-snow cover and landform of the study area in June 2003. In June 2003, daily mean APARSFC of temperate deciduous forest in the study area reaches 8.1 MJ m-2day-1, RUE varies from 0.45 to 1.09 gC MJ-1, and monthly NPP is 0.53 MgC ha-1, 0.56 MgC ha-1 for temperate deciduous coniferous forest, 0.51 MgC ha-1 for temperate deciduous broadleaved forest. Compared with the process-based model, both of them are in agreement with simulated NPP

Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), known as solar radiation available for photosynthesis, regulates the rate of carbon fixed by plant. During PAR propagating from the top of atmosphere to the surface, they undergo Rayleigh scattering, absorption by ozone, Mie scattering, scattering and absorption by aerosols, and surface bidirectional reflection. Due to the difficulty of acquiring extensive ground-based observations, increasing efforts are being devoted to estimate PAR from satellite measurement. A new approach for PAR based on satellite algorithm is proposed in this study, which defines net surface PAR (NSPARSFC) as the attenuated downward PAR at the TOA for the effects of atmospheric molecular, cloud, aerosol, and albedo caused by surface BRDF. Taking temperate forest area in northeast China as an example, it is tested as a practical tool in estimating NSPARSFC using MODIS data and other auxiliary data. The results accurately show PAR dynamics of temperate forest woodland from day to year, and are successfully applied to simulate net primary productivity of temperate forest in northeast China

The application of remote sensing in the study of terrestrial productivity opens up an effective way for simulating terrestrial ecosystem productivity. Observation by space-borne sensors can provide parameters to describe ecosystem processes related to plant,growth. In this paper, a biogeographic process model (forest-BGPG) is established to estimate forest net primary productivity, which caters for mountainous distribution and species' diversity of forest in China. Gross photosynthesis and respiration are evaluated separately in forest-BGPG because of different meteorologic, soil and biological factors exert varies degrees of control on these processes. In forest-BGPG, an alternative satellite algorithm is used to estimate photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by forest canopy (APAR), spatial and seasonal patterns of the maximum efficiency of PAR utilization of forest woodland are simulated by a physiological model at stand level. Taking temperate deciduous forest in northeast China as an example, forest-BGPG is applied to simulate NPP of temperate deciduous forest over study area using MODIS data. The mean NPP value is close to 4.7 MgC ha(-1) for deciduous broadleaved forest, and 4.32 MgC ha(-1) for deciduous coniferous forest in northeast China at the period from November of 2002 to October of 2003. Compared with MODIS NPP products from School of forestry of the university of Montana, both of them are in agreement.

With the successful launching of the new generation satellite of EOS Terra, its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data has more advantages in comprehensive research of land, ocean and atmosphere. ALso it can be used in disaster monitoring and losing assessment. This article focuses on the discussion of using Terra/MODIS data to study sand-dust information quantitative retrieval method. The conclusion is that MODIS data can be used to study the quantitative retrieval of sand-dust information and the study scenario has certain feasibility. The study contains of selecting the characteristic spectrum bands of sand-dust information; separating sand-dust information from the background and enhancing the weak information of floating dust, raising dust, etc. Theory basis of quantitative retrieval method are remote sensing quantitative method, atmosphere radiative transforming and visibility theories. Data pre-processing is also necessary. Retrieving of sand-dust aerosol optic thickness is more difficult and also the key problem to resolve. Case study is necessary and should be used to support the quantitative method. The study can provide the theory basis and technique support for sand-dust disaster forecasting monitoring and preventing.

Background Numerous diagnostic tests are available to detect Helicobactor pylori (H. pylori). There has been no single test available to detect H. pylori infection reliably. We evaluated the accuracy of a new fluorescence quantitative PCR (fqPCR) for H. pylori detection in children. Methods Gastric biopsy specimens from 138 children with gastritis were sent for routine histology exam, rapid urease test (RUT) and fqPCR. 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT) was carried out prior to endoscopic procedure. Gastric fluids and dental plaques were also collected for fqPCR analysis. Results 38 children (27.5%) were considered positive for H. pylori infection by gold standard (concordant positive results on 2 or more tests). The remaining 100 children (72.5%) were considered negative for H. pylori. Gastric mucosa fqPCR not only detected all 38 H. pylori positive patients but also detected 8 (8%) of the 100 gold standard-negative children or 11 (10.7%) of the 103 routine histology-negative samples. Therefore, gastric mucosa fqPCR identified 46 children (33.3%) with H. pylori infection, significantly higher than gold standard or routine histology (P Conclusions Gastric mucosa fqPCR was more sensitive than routine histology, RUT, 13C-UBT alone or in combination to detect H. pylori infection in children with chronic gastritis. Either gastric fluid or dental plaque PCR is as reliable as 13C-UBT for H. pylori detection.