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In this study biology-eco microplate culture technology was used to study the differences in carbon source utilization of soil microorganisms in land use patterns along the Yellow River in China. At the same time, physical and chemical indices of soil such as soil organic carbon and alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen contents, three soil enzyme activities and two secondary metabolites contents were measured to explore the relationship between soil microbial carbon source utilization and soil characteristics. The results showed that farmland was the best carbon source utilization land use pattern, followed by poplar forest land, Ligustrum lucidum land and grassland. The consumption of carbon sources by the soil microorganisms in the four land use patterns were mainly carbohydrates and amino acids. The farmland showed the highest diversity of microorganisms. Furthermore, redundancy analysis (RDA) analysis showed that the metabolic functions and activities of four land use patterns microbial were mostly affected by the contents of organic carbon, alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen and sucrase activity. Significant differences were observed among the physicochemical properties and microbial carbon source utilization of the four land use patterns along the Yellow River. Organic carbon, phosphatase and sucrase activities were the main factors affecting microbial diversity. This study provided a theoretical basis for future research on planning land use and helping soil ecological restoration along the Yellow River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: High expression levels of lncRNA associated with microvascular invasion in HCC (lncRNA MVIH) were found to correlate with several solid tumors. However, little is known concerning the function of MVIH in glioma. The purpose of our study is to explore the role of lncRNA MVIH in clinical glioma samples and cell lines. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression levels of MVIH were analyzed in glioma surgical resection tissues and cells by RT-PCR. Additionally, the associations of MVIH expression with clinicopathological features were analyzed. Survival and Cox proportional-hazards regression analyses were performed to determine the correlation between MVIH expression levels and prognosis in the patients. The cell proliferation, migration ability, invasion ability were measured successively by CKK-8 assay, transwell and wound healing assay. RESULTS: We found that MVIH was significantly upregulated in glioma cell lines and tissues. Furthermore, MVIH expression was positively correlated with KPS and WHO grade. Patients with MVIH high expression tumors had a worse overall survival compared to patients with MVIH high expression tumors. Moreover, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that MVIH was an independent risk factor for glioma. Finally, in vitro, we showed that up-regulation of MVIH expression promoted human glioma cells proliferation, invasion and migration, while down-regulation of MVIH expression suppressed human glioma cells proliferation, invasion and migration. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that MVIH expression may serve not only as a prognostic marker but also as a potential therapeutic target in glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerium doped TiO2 films were synthesised by microarc oxidation (MAO) process on pure titanium. The suitable condition for MAO treatment were first investigated under various concentration of electrolytes, then the doping process was carried out in the suitable concentration of electrolytes with MAO. The characterisations of MAO-TiO2 and cerium doped MAO-TiO2 films were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the films was evaluated by decolourisation of methylene blue in aqueous solution as a model pollutant under sunlight irradiation simulation with homemade ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of MAO-TiO2 films first increased and then decreased with the concentration of electrolytes. Moreover, after doping, the cerium doped MAO-TiO2 films were of evidently improved photocatalytic activity than that of the MAO-TiO2 films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microarc oxidation (MAO) TiO2films were fabricated in phosphate based electrolyte under different voltages on titanium to study the optimum voltage for photocatalysis, and then the doping process was carried out under the optimum condition above. The surface morphology and composition of MAO films were examined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The photocatalytic activities of MAO films with and without cation dopant were evaluated by photocatalytic decolourisation of methylene blue in aqueous solution as a model pollutant under simulated sunlight irradiation. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of MAO–TiO2films first increased and then decreased with increasing the voltage, and the cation dopant enhanced the photocatalytic activity of MAO–TiO2films. Moreover, the transition metal cation Cu2+was more suitable for dope than the rare earth metal cation Ce4+to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Our objective is to determine the value of enhanced substantia nigra echo in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease by analyzing the intensity and area of substantia nigra echo by transcranial Doppler sonography (TCS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 36 patients diagnosed as ultra early stage Parkinson's disease between 2013 November and 2014 August were selected as the disease group, and 32 healthy people with the similar representation of age and gender were selected as the control group. TCS was used to detect the echo intensity and the echo intensity of the same location of bilateral hemicerebrum was used to evaluate the bilateral substantia nigra echo. The age and gender were also used for correlation analysis with the results of substantia nigra echo. RESULTS: In the control group, there were 17 patients of substantia nigra echo grade I (53.1%), 13 cases of substantia nigra echo grade II (40.6%), 2 cases of substantia nigra echo grade III (6.3%). While in the disease group, there were 4 cases of substantia nigra echo grade II (11.1%), 13 cases of substantia nigra echo grade III (36.1%), 12 cases of substantia nigra echo grade IV (33.3%) and 7 cases of substantia nigra echo grade V (19.4%). The ratio of enhanced substantia nigra echo in Parkinson's disease patients was significantly higher than the control group. The analysis of the factors related to motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients revealed that the area of bilateral substantia nigra echo was negatively correlated with gender, but positively correlated with age, S/M ratio and UPDRS II score. However, there was no correlation with H-Y stage. The sensitivity of substantia nigra echo in diagnosing Parkinson's disease was 32/36 = 88.89% and the specificity was 30/32 = 93.75%. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of substantia nigra echo is practically useful for the diagnosis of the ultra early stage Parkinson's disease, which can potentially improve the accuracy of clinical diagnosis to significantly enhance the early clinical prevention and reduce later disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unit discharges of carotid chemosensory afferent fibers were recorded in the in vitro carotid body (CB)--sinus nerve preparations (n = 55) from 29 rabbits. The results were as follows: (1) The discharge of all the units increased from 0.86 +/- 0.21 to 1.75 +/- 0.40 imp/s (P < 0.001) upon lowering the pH of modified Locke solution. (2) Addition of nicotine at doses of 1, 3, 6, 10 and 15 micrograms/ml to the solution led to a dose-dependent increase in the discharge from 0.60 +/- 0.21 to 0.96 +/- 0.21, 1.19 +/- 0.30. 1.24 +/- 0.29, 1.48 +/- 0.41 and 1.82 +/- 0.39 imp/s, respectively (r = 0.94, P < 0.001, n = 10). Nicotinic stimulation was antagonized by D-tubocurarine but the basal discharge was not significantly affected. (3) Superfusion of the CB with acid solution increased the discharge from 0.95 +/- 0.34 to 1.84 +/- 0.55 imp/s (P < 0.01, n = 19); After injections of nicotine 1-5 micrograms/ml to acid perfusate the unit discharge showed an increase from 0.96 +/- 0.25 to 1.53 +/- 0.24 imp/s. The degree of increase was less as compared with that due to mere acidification (P < 0.05). (4) D-tubocurarine did not alter the action of acid solution on chemosensory discharge (P > 0.05, n = 17). The present results suggest that ACh might act only as a modulator on carotid chemosensory activity without involving N-cholinergic receptor directly as did by low pH perfusion of CB.