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Surface mounds and depressions are the basic patterns of microtopography. Their geometric forms and physical properties affect rainfall infiltration, runoff generation and runoff confluence process. In this study, soil beds were set up with seven different types of microtopography to study the effects of surface mounds and depressions on runoff. They were the control check (CK), alternate mounds (AM), continuous mounds (CM), alternate depressions (AD), continuous depressions (CD), alternate mounds and depressions (AMD) and continuous mounds and depressions (CMD). There was only one microtopography type for monomorphic surface relief (MSR) while two for compound surface relief (CSR). All soil beds were exposed under 60, 90 or 120 mm/h rainfall intensity for 90 min. The main results are as follows: surface mounds could promote surface runoff, triggering and shortening runoff generation time, while surface depressions showed contrary results. Whether there was an interval between mounds or depressions also affected the characteristics of runoff. The runoff generation time was 3.8–5.0 times higher for continuous slope than for interval slope, while the runoff yield and runoff coefficient both decreased by approximately 40%. CSR can significantly neutralize the flow-promoting effects of the mounds and the flow-inhibiting effects of the depressions, making the runoff yield and runoff process present a neutral state between the mounds and depressions. CSR prolongs runoff generation time from 1–10 min of MSR to 5–16 min. The runoff yield of CSR presented as 0.12, between 0.17 for mounds and 0.10 for depressions, and so did the runoff coefficient and hydrodynamic parameters. In addition, with rainfall intensity increased, the runoff pattern of CSR and MSR became more similar to each other, and the retarding effects of topography on overland flow were more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the miRNA expression profile of plasma exosomes in women whose pregnancy is complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has not been fully clarified. In this study, differentially expressed miRNAs in plasma exosomes were identified by high-throughput small-RNA sequencing in 12 pregnant women with GDM and 12 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and validated in 102 pregnant women with GDM and 101 with NGT. A total of 22 exosomal miRNAs were found, five of which were verified by real-time qPCR. Exosomal miR-423-5p was upregulated, whereas miR-122-5p, miR-148a-3p, miR-192-5p, and miR-99a-5p were downregulated in women whose pregnancy was complicated by GDM. IGF1R and GYS1 as target genes of miR-423-5p, and G6PC3 and FDFT1 as target genes of miR-122-5p were associated with insulin and AMPK signaling pathways and may participate in the regulation of metabolism in GDM. The five exosomal miRNAs had an area under the curve of 0.82 (95%CI, 0.73, ∼0.91) in early prediction of GDM. Our study demonstrates that dysregulated exosomal miRNAs in plasma from pregnant women with GDM might influence the insulin and AMPK signaling pathways and could contribute to the early prediction of GDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]