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Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The diagnostic gold standard for detecting NASH still relies upon an invasive pathological biopsy. There is, therefore, a need to identify non-invasive diagnostic markers. Oxidative stress mediates fatty liver progression to NASH. Imbalanced iron metabolism produces many reactive oxygen species (ROS). Ceruloplasmin is associated with oxidase and iron metabolism-related activities. The current study aimed to determine whether there was a correlation between ceruloplasmin levels and NASH and whether such a relationship may be associated with altered iron metabolism in NASH patients. Methods: A total of 135 NAFLD patients were enrolled in this study. A pathological biopsy confirmed that 60 of those patients had NAFLD activity scores (NAS) 5, while the remaining 75 had NAS

According to the structural features, sedimentary evolution, types of sedimentary facies, source rocks features, diagenesis evolution, reservoir features and hydrocarbon formation mechanism, exploration status and hydrocargon resource potential, this article analyzed the major control fac-tors and hydrocarbon distribution rules of the lithologic reservoirs in continental fault basin. The research shows that three major control factors and one coupled factor (fractures act as a tie) in-fluence hydrocarbon formation of lithologic traps in Nantun Formation of Tanan Sag, which in-clude sand body types, effective source rocks and effective reservoirs. With the increase in depth, enough hydrocarbon generate in source rock under thermal evolution. Hydrocarbon generation and expulsion are more intensive when it comes to the depth threshold and critical conditions of hydrocarbon supplying are met. Traps that surrounded or contacted by source rock, or communi-cated by fault are qualified to form reservoirs. As buried depth increases, hydrocarbon genera-tion-expulsion intensity grows and the trap is more petroliferous. Hydrocarbon accumulation and reservoir formation are also controlled by sandbody accumulation conditions. When it meets the critical conditions of hydrocarbon generation and concrete oil and gas are charged in, better phys-ical properties of sandbody always indicate more hydrocarbon accumulation in the trap. Alloca-tion of sand type, effective source rock and effective reservoir is optimized under the effect of fractures, and coupled hydrocarbon reservoir with these three elements.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide health problem with high morbidity and mortality rates. The therapeutic vaccine is a promising method of treatment, and HBV polymerase plays a vital role in viral replication. Therefore, a therapeutic vaccine that binds to HBV DNA polymerase may control HBV infection. We predicted and selected epitopes of polymerase using online databases and analysis software. We then performed molecular docking and peptide binding assays to evaluate the binding energies and affinities between polymerase epitopes and the HLA-A0201 molecule. Finally, we induced T cells from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy donors using each epitope and quantified the functions of epitope-specific T cells by IFN-γELISPOT assay, T2 cell cytotoxicity assay, HepG2.2.15 cell cytotoxicity assay and HBV gene expression assays. Four epitopes (RVTGGVFLV, GLLGFAAPF, LLDDEAGPL and YMDDVVLGA) had low binding energy and two epitopes (RVTGGVFLV and GLLGFAAPF) had a high binding affinity. The T cells stimulated by two epitopes (GLLGFAAPF and HLYSHPIIL) had a greater ability to induce immune response and suppress HBV. The HBV DNA polymerase epitopes identified in this study are promising targets for designing an epitope-based therapeutic vaccine against HBV.

Background The aims of this study were to identify risk factors for significant fibrosis (SF) by assessing physical and laboratory parameters and develop and validate a clinical score and nomogram for the prediction of SF in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods This retrospective study included 225 patients with histologically confirmed NAFLD who were divided into two cohorts using 10-fold cross validation for model training and validation. The clinical score and nomogram were used to predict the NAFLD outcome. Results The model for predicting SF (stage ≥ 2) including the free T4/free T3 ratio, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), percentage of appendicular skeletal muscle mass and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level in the training and validation cohorts yielded an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.79 and 0.78, respectively. The AUROC of the combined clinical score for the prediction of SF was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.75–0.89) at a cutoff value of 3 points, with a sensitivity (SE) of 77.19%, specificity (SP) of 82.88%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 63.77%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 90.30%. The nomogram had good performance in quantitatively predicting the risk probability of SF. Conclusion Our study showed that a noninvasive clinical scoring system using easily available physical and laboratory variables can identify patients with NAFLD with or without SF with a high degree of accuracy. Application of this system may decrease the need for staging liver biopsy specimens and allow early identification and intervention in these high-risk patients.

Purpose Liver fibrosis (or liver scarring) is a causative factor for hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Alginate (Agn) isolated from brown algae is known to slow the proliferation of fibroblasts, through the mechanisms of these effects remain undefined. This study explored the benefits of Agn on hepatic health and its associated mechanism(s) of action in hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6s). Materials and methods To assess the effects of Agn, HSC-T6s were treated with PDGF and cell proliferation, colony formation, cell migration, cell invasiveness and apoptosis were assessed. Rat models of liver fibrosis were produced through 12-week injections of intraperitoneal (IP) carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Rats were Agn-treated from weeks 8 to 12, and liver damage was assessed through Masson's and H & E staining. Gene expression profiles were assayed via RT-PCR, Western blot and commercial ELISA kits. Results Agn reduced the proliferation of HSC-T6s and increased apoptotic rates through the downregulation of the Bcl-2:Bax ratio. Agn also inhibited the invasion and migration of HSC-T6s, prevented ECM deposition, and reduced the occurrence of liver fibrosis in rat models. Agn also prevented IκBα and p65 phosphorylation. Conclusion Agn prevents liver fibrosis through its attenuation of HSC activation and division through the suppression of NF-κB in in vitro and animal models. This highlights how the clinical use of Agn can prevent hepatic fibrosis.

BackgroundThe prevalence of dyslipidemia in China is increasing annually. Current studies suggest that dyslipidemia affects the antiviral efficacy of hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapies. Recent studies have shown that serum lipids influence the response rates of chronic hepatitis B patients receiving PEGylated interferon-alpha (Peg IFN-a) treatment. However, the role of dyslipidemia in the efficacy of nucleoside (acid) analogues in chronic hepatitis B patients has not been determined. Methods From January 2010 to December 2013, data from 179 treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive and visited the first affiliated hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were collected. Amongst them, 68 patients were diagnosed with CHB complicated with dyslipidemia (dyslipidemia group) whilst 111 patients comprised the lipid control group. Three treatment strategies were performed amongst the 179 CHB patients over a 5 year period. Treatments included combination therapy of lamivudine (LAM) plus adefovir dipivoxil (ADV), telbivudine (LdT) monotherapy or entecavir (ETV) monotherapy. Serum assessments, blood biochemistry, HBV serological markers, HBV DNA before treatment and HBeAg serological conversion and virological responses at different time points after treatment were compared between the two groups. Measurement data were compared using τ tests, whilst enumeration data were compared using c2 tests. Correlation analysis was performed using binary Logistic regression analysis. Results The rates of HBeAg seroconversion in the dyslipidemia group at years 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 10.3%, 13.2%, 17.6% and 22.1%, respectively, which were not significantly lower than those of the lipid control group 11.7%, 16.2%, 18.0% and 33.3%, (c2 = 0.085, 0.293, 0.004 and 2.601, respectively; R > 0.05). However, the rates of HBeAg seroconversion in the dyslipidemia group were significantly lower than those of the lipid control group at year 5 (27.9% vs 43.2%, c2 =4.216, RConclusions During antiviral therapy, dyslipidemia affects HBeAg seroconversion in CHB patients treated with nucleoside (acid) analogues but does not affect the virological response.

Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific effector CD8+ T cells are critical for viral clearance. To determine the effects of HBV-specific effector CD8+ T cells on HBV infection, we performed a meta-analysis of the available literature. Methods Electronic database searches identified appropriately designed studies that detected specific CD8+ T cells in HBV-infected patients. Our main endpoints were the course of infection, seroconversion of HBV “e” antigen (HBeAg), the level of HBVDNA, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity. We used a fixed/random model for analysis, according to the results of a heterogeneity test (P value of Q-squared, I2). Results Our searches found five eligible articles. Pooled estimation of the reported results showed that levels of specific CD8+ T cells were significantly higher in patients with acute hepatitis B than in patients with chronic hepatitis B (odds ratio [OR] = 76.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 15.37–378.70). With respect to chronic hepatitis B, patients with 107 copies/ml HBVDNA, but the difference had no statistics significance (OR: 3.89, 95% CI: 0.71–21.33). Patients with negative HBeAg or positive anti-HBeAg antibody (anti-HBe) results had significantly higher levels of specific CD8+ T cells versus patients with positive HBeAg results (OR: 5.82, 95% CI: 1.41–24.13). There were no significant associations between the levels of specific CD8+ T cells and serum ALT activity (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.01–74.15). Conclusion HBV-specific effector CD8+ T cells influence the disease activity in HBV-infected patients in various ways and determine prognosis by eliminating the virus. Therefore, efforts of studying HBV-specific effector CD8+ T cells focused vaccine are potentially needed.

In this paper, aiming at the trajectory tracking problem of the nonholonomic mobile robot with static obstacles, a simultaneous trajectory tracking and obstacle avoidance method based on the model predictive control (MPC) is proposed. First, a quadratic cost function is calculated to obtain the optimal tracking error in the trajectory tracking controller. Then, the obstacle avoidance region is established, and the optimal obstacle avoidance direction is determined according to the location parameters of the robot, the reference trajectory and obstacles. Finally, simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the control method.

Background & Aims: Studies on the relationship between thyroid function and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among euthyroid subjects had shown inconsistent results. Objective of the present study was to exploring the independent relationship between thyroid function parameters and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), significant fibrosis (SF) respectively after adjusting other well-identified risk factors.Method: This study enrolled 307 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD. Thyroid dysfunction defined as serum thyroid-stimulating hormone > 4.5 mIU/l or 14.41 pmol/l or

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and is internationally recognized as an important lacustrine and wetland ecosystem with abundant biodiversity. Since 2003, the average la...

Additional file 1: Experimental protocol of SRM 972a detection.

Objective We aimed to describe the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status of southern Chinese individuals by a high-accuracy liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method which can trace to reference measurement procedure. Materials and methods From January 2018 to June 2019, a total of 4775 southern Chinese individuals were evaluated in our study. The serum levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) were detected simultaneously in 162 cases. 25(OH)D was determined by LC-MS/MS, and PTH was detected using routine automated analysers. The distribution of the concentration, prevalence and seasonal variability of 25(OH)D in males and females of different age groups were studied. Results The mean 25(OH)D concentration in our study was 32.57 ng/mL (4.20–101.40 ng/mL). The global 25(OH)D concentration in males was higher than that in females of different age group. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (2 was detected in 672 serum samples (14.07%). In addition, there was a negative correlation between the concentrations of 25(OH)D and serum PTH (r = − 0.149, P Conclusion Our study demonstrated that the average serum 25(OH)D concentration in southern Chinese individuals was higher than that in other Chinese cohorts by a high-accuracy LC-MS/MS method. The global 25(OH)D concentration in males was higher than that in females of different ages, and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in females was higher than that in males. Seasonal change was an important aspect of 25(OH)D concentration in young and middle-aged people but became less relevant for that in older subjects. 25(OH)D2 detection was of minor practical significance in our study. In addition, we also found that there was a negative correlation between the serum levels of 25(OH)D and PTH in southern Chinese individuals.

Chronic respiratory disorders are some of the most frequent and severe chronic diseases in China. Epidemiological research has shown that particulate matter (PM) is a risk factor and is closely correlated to the progression of numerous respiratory diseases. Fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) is a mesenchymal-epithelial signaling messenger essential for the development and environmental stability of several tissues. Nevertheless, its role in PM-induced airway inflammation remains unclear. The present study aimed to explore the mechanisms underlying the FGF10-related slowing of lung injury and inflammation in vivo and in vitro, as well as the therapeutic potential of these phenomena. Mice were intraperitoneally injected with a vehicle (PBS) or FGF10 (0.5 mg/kg) at one hour before intratracheal treatment with vehicle (PBS) or PM (4 mg/kg) for two consecutive days. Human airway epithelial BEAS-2B cells were exposed to a vehicle (PBS) or FGF10 (10 ng/ml) in vitro at one hour prior to incubation with a vehicle or PM (200 ug/ml) for 24 hours. Then, the impact on inflammatory molecules was investigated. In vivo, it was found that FGF10 diminished the inflammatory cell aggregation and reduced the apoptosis. Interestingly, in the PM group, the level of FGF10 increased in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). However, the pre-treatment with FGF10 markedly impaired the PM-induced increase in IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and PGE2 levels in BALF and the cell supernatant. In conclusion, the present findings indicate that FGF10 attenuates PM-induced airway inflammation by inhibiting apoptosis and inflammation. This may be exploited for the prevention and management of PM-induced airway inflammation.

Water conservancy projects occupy an extremely important status in human development history. Human cognition about water conservancy projects has been in constant evolution along with the changing relationship between humans and nature (water). Based on a literature review, this study provides a systemic summary of the evolution of the human need for water resources and of water conservancy projects, as well as the equilibrium between humans and nature (river and lake ecosystems). More importantly, the transformation of cognition concerning the governance of nature and river and lake ecosystems is reviewed. Taking the perspective of modern rationalism on water conservancy projects, four major changes in human cognition are identified. Further, the most salient water-related issues arising from China&rsquo, s largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake, are analyzed and the history and predicament of its governance are described. This is accompanied by a discussion on the countermeasures. Finally, based on the evolution of the human&ndash, water relationship and cognitive transformation concerning water conservancy projects, several suggestions are proposed for the planned construction of the Poyang Lake Hydraulic Project. The conclusions of this paper shed new light on the principles of water governance and water conservancy project construction in a new era that has witnessed a growing conflict between socioeconomic development and the water environment. Our suggestions are also valuable for the governance of Poyang Lake.

The histogram comparison approach (HCA) is proposed to assess the alteration of hydrologic regimes, which are characterized by the hydrologic metrics, for example, the indicators of hydrologic alteration. The HCA method considers alterations within the whole range of the hydrologic regime and estimates the alteration degree by comparing the pre-impact and post-impact histograms. A key parameter of the HCA method is the similarity degree, which considers both the class-by-class and cross-class information of histograms and reflects how many features of the pre-impact histogram remain in the post-impact histogram. The alteration degree is defined as the mathematical maximum similarity degree, that is, 100%, subtracted by the actual similarity degree in the HCA method. Comparing the HCA method to the existing range of variability approach and histogram matching approach through theoretical analysis and case studies, the HCA method can eliminate some limitations of the range of variability approach and histogram matching approach methods and can more accurately and effectively assess the hydrologic regime alteration. The Ob and Yangtze Rivers, which are located in different climatic zones, are used as case studies. Hydrologic regime alterations impacted by reservoirs with different regulation abilities (daily, seasonally and yearly) were assessed using the HCA method, the results of which verified its rationality and practicability. More sites with a wider range of flow variations will be examined in the future to assess the applicability of the HCA method. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Women with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) have poor prognosis because of the aggressive nature of the tumor, delayed diagnosis and non-specific symptoms in the early stages. Identification of novel specific TNBC serum biomarkers for screening and therapeutic purposes therefore remains an urgent clinical requirement.We obtained serum samples from a total of 380 recruited individuals split into mining and testing sets, with the aim of screening for reliable protein biomarkers from TNBC and non-TNBC (NTNBC) sera. Samples were assessed using mass spectrometry, followed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC), survival and hazard function curve as well as multivariate Cox regression analyses to ascertain the potential of the protein constituents as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for TNBC.We identified upregulated apolipoprotein C-I (apoC-I) with a validated positive effect on TNBC tumorigenesis, with confirmation in an independent test set and minimization of systematic bias by pre-analytical parameters. The apoC-I protein had superior diagnostic ability in distinguishing between TNBC and NTNBC cases. Moreover, the protein presented a more robust potential prognostic factor for TNBC than NTNBC. The apoC-I protein identified in this study presents an effective novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for TNBC, indicating that measurement of the peak intensity at 7785 Da in serum samples could facilitate improved early detection and estimation of postoperative survival prognosis for TNBC.

Impacted by ongoing climate change and anthropogenic activities, large seasonal lakes experience water regime evolution, which raises challenges for the management of water resources and environment. The water regime evolution refers to the spatial and temporal alterations in the hydrological features of lakes. Characterizing the lake water regime and its alteration may help policymakers design effective adaption strategies. Therefore, total 47 hydrological indicators were proposed, considering intra-annual fluctuations, flood and drought features, and rate and frequency of water level variations. Combined with Mann-Kendall algorithm and Sen&rsquo, s slope, the indicators were applied in Poyang Lake, a typically large seasonal lake in China, as a case study. The results revealed temporal and spatial variations in different hydrological indicators. The most dramatic alteration was the water level decline in October and November over the entire study phase, especially over the past 30 years. This was an urgent environmental problem that Poyang Lake faced, partially caused by the increased hydraulic gradient between southern and northern lake. It could trigger the drought occurring earlier, prolong the drought duration, and impair the wetland ecosystem. Environmental water requirements of both Poyang Lake and Yangtze River were suggested for regional sustainable development. The application in Poyang Lake showed the practicability and reliability of the indicators, which are applicable in international seasonal lakes. The series of indicators can be used in whole or in part, determined by the ecohydrological characters of a specific lake and the research objectives.

Hydrologic regimes are essential to riverine, lacustrine, and wetland ecosystems, and every component of a hydrologic regime has a specific ecological environmental function. In an outflow lake-river system, water levels are reduced by a reservoir constructed at the river, which interferes with the river-lake interrelationships by impairing the river’s blocking effect. This increases the lake-river hydraulic gradient and accelerates the lake’s drainage to the river, resulting in shrinkage of the lake and damaging environmental issues. To respond to these issues, we propose an environmental flow assessment that considers the river’s blocking effect on the lake. This novel methodology consists of four steps: data preparation, assessment of the lake’s environmental water level, assessment of the river’s environmental water level, and environmental flow assessment. We estimated the river’s environmental water level through a hydraulic correlation between the lake and the river, and found that the river’s blocking effect could be sustained. The Yangtze-Poyang system was selected as a case study to illustrate the methodology’s procedures and applicability. The impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir, during the fall retreating season, decreased the Yangtze’s water level and weakened the Yangtze’s blocking effect on Poyang Lake. Poyang Lake’s environmental water level, which ranges from 11.71 to 15.81 m in the month of October, was used to estimate the Yangtze’s environmental water level as falling in a range of 11.95 to 16.17 m, which corresponds to an environmental flow range of 16,822 to 32,371 m3/s. This study offers a solution for reservoir-induced accelerated lake drainage, which may be helpful in mitigating the negative impacts of reservoirs and sustaining natural rive-lake interactions.

Background LncRNAs are known to take part in normal brain functions and nervous system diseases. Little evidence has pointed to the dysregulation of lncRNAs in congenital intestinal atresia. We aimed to investigate the underlying molecular mechanism of congenital intestinal atresia that involves in lncRNA-MEG3. Materials and methods The expressions of LncRNA-MEG3, miR-211-5p and GDNF were determined by the qRT-PCR and Western blot assay when appropriate. The results were verified in intestinal atresia Wistar rat model and bone marrow derived stem cell (BMSCs)-derived into intestinal ganglion cells. RNA immunoprecipitation and RNA pull-down assays were performed to analyze the regulatory mechanism between MEG3 and miR-211-5p. The effects of MEG3 on the cell proliferation and apoptosis of isolated intestinal ganglion cells were detected with an MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Results The expression of MEG3 was detected to be declined in congenital intestinal atresia tissues at clinic and animal levels. MEG3 promoted the differentiation of BMSCs into intestinal ganglion cells and regulated GDNF expression in retinal ganglion cells (RGC-5 cells) via targeting miR-211-5p. Hypoxia induced the apoptosis of intestinal ganglion cells via MEG3/miR-211-5p/GDNF axis. Conclusion MEG3 promoted the differentiation of BMSCs into intestinal ganglion cells and inhibited the apoptosis of intestinal ganglion cells under the exposure of hypoxia to protect against CIA injury via directly regulating miR-211-5p/GDNF axis.

A member of the p53 family, the p73 gene is essential for the maintenance of genomic stability, DNA repair and apoptosis regulation. This study was designed to evaluate the utility of expression and DNA methylation patterns of the p73 gene in the early diagnosis and prognosis of Wilms' tumour (WT).Methylation-specific PCR, semi-quantitative (sq-PCR), real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR), receiver operating characteristic (ROC), and survival and hazard function curve analyses were utilised to measure the expression and DNA methylation patterns of p73 in WT tissue samples with a view to assessing diagnostic and prognostic value.The relative expression of p73 mRNA was higher, while the promoter methylation level was lower in the WT than the control group (p0.05) and closely associated with poor survival prognosis in children with WT (p0.05). Increased expression and decreased methylation of p73 were correlated with increasing tumour size, clinical stage and unfavourable histological differentiation (p0.05). ROC curve analysis showed areas under the curve of 0.544 for methylation and 0.939 for expression in WT venous blood, indicating the higher diagnostic yield of preoperative p73 expression.Preoperative venous blood p73 level serves as an underlying biomarker for the early diagnosis of WT. p73 overexpression and concomitantly decreased promoter methylation are significantly associated with poor survival in children with WT.

This study was designed to evaluate the utility of expression and DNA methylation patterns of the sine oculis homeobox homolog 2 (SIX2) gene in early diagnosis and prognosis of Wilms’ tumor (WT). Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP), real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), receiver operating characteristic (ROC), and survival curve analyses were utilized to measure the expression and DNA methylation patterns of SIX2 in a cohort of WT tissues, with a view to assessing their diagnostic and prognostic value. Relative expression of SIX2 mRNA was higher, while the promoter methylation level was lower in the WT than control group (P

Instream ecological flow (IEF) and flow-related variations were important for healthy river systems. However, water conservancy projects such as reservoirs altered the processes of IEF and thereby posed considerable threat to the health of river systems and aquatic lives. To that end, in this study the effects of reservoir construction on IEF in the upper reaches of the Irtysh River were analyzed using an improved hydrological method. The computed results were in turn used to determine the maximum (MaxIEF), minimum (MinIEF) and optimal (OptIEF) instream ecological flows of the river. Based on the study, reservoir impoundments limited IEF in wet seasons but enhanced it in dry seasons. It also narrowed suitable flow range for reproduction and growth of aquatic life. Reservoirs could be used to regulate Irtysh River discharge. For healthy instream processes in wet years, OptIEF could be set as the lower limit and MaxIEF as the upper limit. For much the same reasons, MinIEF could be set as the lower limit in dry years and OptIEF as a suitable target in normal years.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific effector CD8Electronic database searches identified appropriately designed studies that detected specific CD8Our searches found five eligible articles. Pooled estimation of the reported results showed that levels of specific CD8HBV-specific effector CD8

Breast cancer (BC) is the second-leading cause of cancer mortality after lung cancer in women owing partly to a lack of specific and sensitive tests for early screening and monitoring. The detection of novel specific BC serum indicators for screening purposes is an essential clinical need. A total of 437 serum specimens from 310 BC patients that were divided into mining and testing sets were collected in this study. In contrast with the conventional BC indicators through receiver operating characteristic, survival and hazard function curves, and multivariate Cox regression analyses, we intended to hunt for stable protein indicators from serum specimens and identify their diagnostic and prognostic potential for BC. We identified a unique serum peptide located at 6648 Da originated from apoC-III with a validated correlation with BC tumorigenesis with confirmation in a substantive testing set and minimization of systematic bias by pre-analytical parameters. We found that the diagnostic efficacy of this peptide is better than the present conventional BC diagnostic indicators either alone or in combination with conventional indicators in distinguishing BC patients from control volunteers. Moreover, this peptide denotes a stronger prognostic factor for BC patients than conventional indicators. In light of these findings, we speculate that this peptide is a potential diagnostic and prognostic indicator and a supplement to conventional indicators in monitoring BC. The detection of this peptide located at 6648 Da in sera could enhance early screening and assessment of the postoperative survival opportunity for BC patients.

The Gezhouba Reservoir (GR) and Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) are the two largest water-storage projects in the middle reach of the Yangtze River. The impoundments of the reservoirs have changed natural flow-regimes in the river. This paper uses the Yichang Hydrological Station as a proxy for water-storage projects along the Yangtze River to assess alterations in river-flow conditions in three separate periods. The periods coincide with the start of water storage in the GR and TGR. The ecohydrological conditions in the river system are assessed based on annual discharge, water level, water temperature, and suspended-sediment concentration. More importantly, the entire analysis is done in relation to the Chinese sturgeon species, which face the danger of extinction in the Yangtze River. Based on the research reported in this paper, the impoundment of the GR and TGR increases downstream average annual water-temperature. In contrast, it decreases downstream average annual runoff, water level, and susp...

Hydrological parameters are significant both in hydrological events and ecological conservation. The implications of hydrological statistical parameters in river ecology were investigated by considering three basic parameters, as follows: (1) mean value, (2) coefficient of variation, and (3) extreme ratio. Four typical rivers selected as case studies include the Yellow and Yiluo Rivers in north China, and the Yangtze and Oujiang Rivers in south China. Hydrological statistical parameters were calculated using monthly flow data collected from the key hydrometric stations on each of the four rivers. The results revealed that the three hydrological statistical parameters are all crucial ecological indicators that reflect the ecological conditions of river ecosystems. The mean value of the flow may be the key determinant of habitat range and aquatic biomass. The coefficient of variation may reflect the stability or vulnerability of the ecological conditions of rivers, and the extreme ratio may reflect ...

This study analyzed the long-term trends and variations of temperature and precipitation on annual timescale in the Ili-Balkhash Basin (IBB), Kazakhstan. Some statistical tools were employed to detect any climate variations at four stations in the IBB during the period between 1936 and 2005. These methods included the Mann–Kendall trend test, the Theil–Sen approach, and the sequential Mann–Kendall test. The results showed that in temporal scale, the climate in the IBB has been becoming warmer and wetter in the past several decades as a whole. The annual mean temperature and the annual precipitation in the IBB showed an increasing trend since the 1970s and the 1940s, respectively. The significance of the annual mean temperature and annual precipitation trends in the IBB was tested at >95 % confidence level. The slope of the increasing trend of annual mean temperature ranges from 0.019 to 0.029 °C/year, and that of the annual precipitation ranges from 0.654 to 2.179 mm/year. In spatial scale, the multiyear mean values of temperature and precipitation are greater in the southern mountain region than those in the northern plain and hilly land area of the basin. The multiyear mean temperature decreases with the increasing latitudes, while increases with the increasing altitudes except for Karaganda; the multiyear mean precipitation increase with the increasing altitudes, while decreases centered with the Lake Balkhash from the surrounding area. The results may provide climatic backgrounds for solving the problems related to water sources of the IBB.

Employing the histogram matching approach, the sediment regime alteration of the upper Yangtze River was assessed and its possible causes and environmental influences were discussed. Daily sediment load and flow data from 1950 to 2008 were collected from Yichang hydrometric station. The annual sediment load series was segmented by heuristic segmentation algorithm in 1986 and 2003, and the multi-year mean values of the three phases were 5.28 × 108, 3.89 × 108 and 0.57 × 108 t, respectively. One change point was found by cross wavelet transform in 2003 when the cross wavelet power became insignificant, which indicates the interruption of the common annual cycle of the sediment load and flow series. The sediment regime from 1986 to 2002 was altered by a total of 41 % compared with the regime from 1950 to 1985. It may be mainly attributed to numerous dams constructed in the tributaries, the Gezhouba Dam constructed in the mainstream, and land use and land cover change, e.g., the increased grassland with a coverage density larger than 50 %. The sediment regime alteration after 2003, assessed to be a total of 83 %, may be mainly attributed to the Three Gorges Reservoir. It breaks the natural process of sediment transport, reduces sediment concentration and releases clear water to the downstream which may result in some environmental problems, e.g., limited nutrients availability, river bed erosion, benthic habitat destruction, etc. The assessment of sediment regime alteration may provide some references for the environmental management and conservation of the Yangtze River.

Central Asia is one of the regions that suffer the most prominent transboundary water and energy problems in the world. Effective transboundary water-energy resource management and cooperation are closely related with socioeconomic development and stability in the entire Central Asia. Similar to Central Asia, Northwest China has an arid climate and is experiencing a water shortage. It is now facing imbalanced supply—demand relations of water and energy resources. These issues in Northwest China and Central Asia pose severe challenges in the implementation of the Silk Road Economic Belt strategy. Based on the analysis of water and energy distribution characteristics in Central Asia as well as demand characteristics of different countries, the complexity of local transboundary water problems was explored by reviewing corresponding historical problems of involved countries, correlated energy issues, and the evolution of inter-country water-energy cooperation. With references to experiences and lessons of five countries, contradictions, opportunities, challenges and strategies for transboundary water-energy cooperation between China and Central Asia were discussed under the promotion of the Silk Road Economic Belt construction based on current cooperation conditions.

This paper investigates hydrologic changes in the Yangtze River using long-term daily stream flow records (1955–2013) collected from four flow gauging stations located from the upper to the lower reaches of the river. The hydrologic regime is quantified using the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration, which statistically characterize hydrologic variation within each year. Scanning t-test is applied to analyze multiple changes in the hydrologic regime at different time scales. Then, coherency analysis is applied to identify common changes among different hydrologic indicators and across different reaches of the Yangtze River. The results point to various change patterns in the five components of hydrologic regime, including the magnitude of monthly water conditions, magnitude and duration of annual extreme water conditions, timing of annual extreme water conditions, frequency and duration of high and low pulses, and rate and frequency of water condition changes. The 32 hydrologic indicators feature multiple temporal-scale changes. Spatial variations can be observed in the hydrologic changes of the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the river. Common changes in different reaches consist of hydrologic indicators including the monthly flow in October and the low-flow indicators. The monthly flow in October is dominated by decreasing trends, while the monthly flows between January and March, the annual minimum 1/3/7/30/90-day flows, and the base flow index are characterized by increasing trends. Low pulse duration and total days of low pulses feature downward trends. The coherency analysis reveals significant relationships between the monthly flow in October and the low-flow indicators, indicating that reservoir regulation is an important factor behind the hydrologic changes.

As the largest tributary of the Ob River, the Irtysh River is an international river partially joining the territories of China, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Four meteorological stations in the Irtysh Basin were selected and the long-term observed daily temperature data were collected. The extreme temperature change was analyzed considering climate change. Detected by the heuristic segmentation by histogram comparison approach, climate was changed during the first half of the 1970s in terms of the increased mean value and decreased standard deviation of the daily temperature series. The noticeable change of the monthly mean temperature was the warmer winter. After climate change, the annual maximum temperature was little changed and its series was not segmented. However, the annual minimum temperature was significantly changed in terms of the increased mean value by more than 2°C, so its series was segmented to the pre- and post-change point subseries. The generalized extreme value distribution was fitted to the annual extreme temperature and the parameters were estimated by the maximum likelihood method. The return levels for 10/50/100-year return periods estimated by the profile likelihood method were obtained for the annual extreme temperature. The probability of occurrence of the cold extremes was decreased after 1970s.

The four main Chinese carps, collectively abbreviated as MCHA, include the black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenop haryngodon idellus), silver carp (Hypoph thal michthys molitrix), and the big-head carp (Aristichyths nobilis). MCHA constitutes a significant catch of China's fresh water fishery. The construction of the Gezhouba and Three Gorges Dams greatly affects the physical habitat conditions of these four main carp species. This paper presents a time-series model for the assessment of instantaneous physical conditions in MCHA habitats. The model incorporates the effects of various hydrological variables (e.g. water level fluctuation, water temperature and sediment concentration) on MCHA habitat quality. The model is tested for the Yichang-Zhijiang reaches of the Yangtze River – a suitable region for analysing the effects of dam construction on the physical conditions of MCHA habitat. The model analyses instream ecological flow (IEF) characteristics of the study area in the spawning season of MCHA. On the basis of the analysis, the min, max and optimal IEFs are 6200, 51000 and 14 500 m3/s, respectively. The model introduces an efficient method for calculating the instantaneous habitat area on the basis of IEF and other physical conditions. If properly applied, the model is an efficient tool for assessing the effects of variations in flow conditions on MCHA habitat quality. The model could also be used in real time to analyse the combined effect of ecological regulations (e.g. as induced by the Three Gorges and Gezhouba Dams) on MCHA spawning conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydrodynamic flow fields affect the ecological processes such as the water diversity and the distribution of organisms. Understanding the hydrodynamic and ecological processes is critical for the restoration and protection of especially fragile ecological habitats in river systems. This study uses turbulent flow to characterize the ecological behaviour of Chinese Sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) in the Yangtze River. The Delft3D-Flow model, which is first validated with field-measured data, is used to simulate the flow field within spawning habitats of Chinese Sturgeon, downstream of Gezhouba Dam. The model-simulated turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and its distribution pattern are then used to characterize the hydraulic environment of the fish's spawning habitat. For the spawning habitat, downstream of Gezhouba Dam, the lower limit of TKE for the Chinese Sturgeon egg mass field is 0.025 m2/s2, which occurs at a velocity less than 1.7 m/s. Chinese Sturgeon prefers habitats with TKE range of 0.010 ~ 0.015 m2/s2 for resting. This suggests that discharge regimes provide the basis for ecological regulation of the Three Gorges Reservoir and the scientific reference for river management. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.