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Huizhong Shen,
Ye Huang,
Rong Wang,
Dan Zhu,
Wei Li,
Guofeng Shen, Bin Wang,
Yanyan Zhang,
Yuanchen Chen,
Yan Lu,
Han Chen,
Tongchao Li,
Kang Sun,
Bengang Li,
Wenxin Liu,
Junfeng Liu,
Shu Tao
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ABSTRACT: Global atmospheric emissions of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from 69 major sources were estimated for a period from 1960 to 2030. Regression models and a technology split method were used to estimate country and time specific emission factors, resulting in a new estimate of PAH emission factor variation among different countries and over time. PAH emissions in 2007 were spatially resolved to 0.1 0.1 grids based on a newly developed global high-resolution fuel combustion inventory (PKU-FUEL-2007). The global total annual atmospheric emission of 16 PAHs in 2007 was 504 Gg (331-818 Gg, as interquartile range), with residential/commercial biomass burning (60.5%), open-field biomass burning (agricultural waste burning, deforestation, and wildfire, 13.6%), and petroleum consumption by on-road motor vehicles (12.8%) as the major sources. South (87 Gg), East (111 Gg), and Southeast Asia (52 Gg) were the regions with the highest PAH emission densities, contributing half of the global total PAH emissions. Among the global total PAH emissions, 6.19% of the emissions were in the form of high molecular weight carcinogenic compounds and the percentage of the carcinogenic PAHs was higher in developing countries (6.22%) than in developed countries (5.73%), due to the differences in energy structures and the disparities of technology. The potential health impact of the PAH emissions was greatest in the parts of the world with high anthropogenic PAH emissions, because of the overlap of the high emissions and high population densities. Global total PAH emissions peaked at 592 Gg in 1995 and declined gradually to 499 Gg in 2008. Total PAH emissions from developed countries peaked at 122 Gg in the early 1970s and decreased to 38 Gg in 2008. Simulation of PAH emissions from 2009 to 2030 revealed that PAH emissions in developed and developing countries would decrease by 46-71% and 48-64%, respectively, based on the six IPCC SRES scenarios.
Environmental Science & Technology 05/2013; · 4.80 Impact Factor
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Yanxin Yu, Bin Wang,
Xilong Wang,
Rong Wang,
Wentao Wang,
Guofeng Shen,
Huizhong Shen,
Wei Li,
Minghong Wong,
Wenxin Liu,
Shu Tao
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ABSTRACT: Placenta and umbilical cord blood are important media for investigating maternal-fetal exposure to environmental pollutants. Historically hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) were once widely-used in China. In this study, residues of HCHs were measured in placenta and umbilical cord blood samples for 40 women from Beijing. The measured median values of HCHs were 62.0 and 68.8 ng/g fat in placenta and umbilical cord blood, respectively. Concentrations of HCHs in placenta and umbilical cord blood of urban cohort were higher than those of rural group due to enhanced consumption of fish, meat, and milk. Residues of HCHs in placenta were significantly correlated with total food consumption, dietary intake, and maternal age, and could be predicted using the parameters dependent upon ingestion of meat and milk. The transplacental exposure of fetuses to HCHs was revealed by a close association between the residual levels in the paired placenta and the paired umbilical cord blood samples.
Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex: 1987) 05/2013; 179C:75-80. · 3.43 Impact Factor
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Guofeng Shen,
Shu Tao,
Siye Wei,
Yuanchen Chen,
Yanyan Zhang,
Huizhong Shen,
Ye Huang,
Dan Zhu,
Chenyi Yuan,
Haochen Wang,
Yafei Wang,
Lijun Pei,
Yilan Liao,
Yonghong Duan, Bin Wang,
Rong Wang,
Yan Lv,
Wei Li,
Xilong Wang,
Xiaoying Zheng
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ABSTRACT: Air pollutants from residential solid fuel combustion are attracting growing public concern. Field measured emission factors (EFs) of various air pollutants for solid fuels are close to the reality and urgently needed for better emission estimations. In this study, emission factors of particulate matter (PM), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from residential combustions of coal briquette, coal cake, and wood were measured in rural Heshun County, China. The measured EFs of PM, OC, and EC were 8.1-8.5, 2.2-3.6, 0.91-1.6 g/kg for the wood burnt in a simple metal stove, 0.54-0.64, 0.13-0.14, 0.040-0.0041 g/kg for the briquette burned in an improved stove with a chimney, and 3.2-8.5, 0.38-0.58, 0.022-0.052 g/kg for the homemade coal cake combusted in a brick stove with a flue, respectively. EFs of 28 parent PAHs, 4 oxygenated PAHs, and 9 nitro-PAHs were 182-297, 7.8-10, 0.14-0.55 mg/kg for the wood, 14-16, 1.7-2.6, 0.64-0.83 mg/kg for the briquette, and 168-223, 4.7-9.5, 0.16-2.4 mg/kg for the coal cake, respectively. Emissions from the wood and coal cake combustions were much higher than those for the coal briquette, especially true for high molecular weight PAHs. Most EFs measured in the field were higher than those measured in stove combustions under laboratory conditions.
Environmental Science & Technology 03/2013; · 4.80 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The temporal trends in daily dietary exposure of the populations in Beijing and Shenyang, China to DDTs and HCHs through consumption of various food categories and the associated health risks were investigated in this work. The estimated dietary intakes of DDTs and HCHs in 2005/2007 were almost one and two orders of magnitude lower than those in 1992 and in the 1970s, respectively, revealing the historical decrease of DDT and HCH in Chinese foods after their applications were banned. The relative contributions of different foodstuffs to the overall intakes of DDTs and HCHs in the 1970s and in 1992 were very different from those in 2005/2007, mainly due to the remarkable concentration variance in foodstuffs and changes in diet habit of population. According to the hazard guidelines, it is concluded that intakes of these two pesticides in 2005/2007 may not exert adverse effects on human health.
Chemosphere 02/2013; · 3.21 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of the low central venous pressure (LCVP) technique on postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing liver transplantation. METHODS: Sixty-five adult patients were randomly divided into a LCVP group (n = 33) and a control group (n = 32). The CVP was maintained below 5 mmHg or 40 % lower than baseline in the LCVP group, by manipulating the patient's posture, limiting infusion volume, and administration of nitroglycerine. Recipients in the control group received standard care. The volume of intraoperative blood loss and transfusion, and postoperative pulmonary complications of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The LCVP group had a significantly earlier tracheal extubation (33 ± 33 vs. 53 ± 36 h, P < 0.05), and lower rate of postoperative pulmonary complications (42.8 vs. 71.4 %, P < 0.05) in comparison to the control group. The most frequent complication was pleural effusion (28.5 vs. 67.8 %, P < 0.05), followed by pneumonia (24.2 vs. 57.1 %, P < 0.05) and pulmonary edema (3.1 vs. 14.3 %, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The LCVP technique during liver transplantation could decrease postoperative pulmonary complications.
Surgery Today 12/2012; · 1.22 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: PURPOSE: Inhaled anesthetics increase the incidence of postoperative residual neuromuscular blockade, and the mechanism is still unclear. We have investigated the synergistic effect of low-concentration inhaled anesthetics and rocuronium on inhibition of the inward current of the adult-type muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (ε-nAChR). METHODS: Adult-type mouse muscle ε-nAChR was expressed in HEK293 cells by liposome transfection. The inward current of the ε-nAChR was activated by use of 10 μmol/L acetylcholine alone or in combination with different concentrations of sevoflurane, isoflurane, or rocuronium. The concentration-response curves of five cells were constructed, and the data yielded the 5, 25, and 50 % inhibitory concentrations (IC(5), IC(25), and IC(50), respectively) for single-drug application. Subsequently, the functional channels were perfused by adding 0.5 IC(5) of either sevoflurane or isoflurane (aqueous concentrations 140 and 100 μmol/L, respectively) to the solution, followed by addition of IC(5), IC(25), or IC(50) rocuronium. The amount of inhibition was calculated to quantify their synergistic effect. RESULTS: The inhibitory effect of rocuronium was enhanced by sevoflurane or isoflurane in a concentration-dependent manner. Sevoflurane or isoflurane (0.5 IC(5)) with rocuronium at IC(5), IC(25), and IC(50) synergistically inhibited the current amplitude of adult-type muscle ε-nAChR. When the IC(5) of rocuronium was used, isoflurane had a stronger synergistic effect than sevoflurane (p < 0.05). When rocuronium was applied at higher concentrations (IC(25) and IC(50)), sevoflurane had an effect similar to that of isoflurane. For both inhaled anesthetics, the synergistic effect was more intense for rocuronium at IC(5) than for rocuronium at IC(25) or IC(50). CONCLUSION: Residual-concentration sevoflurane or isoflurane has a strong synergistic effect with rocuronium at clinically relevant residual concentrations. A lower rocuronium concentration resulted in a stronger synergistic effect.
Journal of Anesthesia 12/2012; · 0.83 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Recent studies showed that activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway promoted the differentiation of osteoblast-like cells in the arterial calcification, but its mechanism remains unknown. In this study, the hypothesis that Wnt/β-catenin pathway promotes the differentiation of osteoblast-like cells by upregulating the expression of receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) was examined. LiCl was used to activate the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. The differentiation of osteoblast-like cells was observed by Von Kossa staining, calcium content assay, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay, and detection of osteocalcin expression. Real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression of RANKL and osteoprotegerin (OPG, the decoy receptor of RANKL) during the osteoblast-like cell differentiation. Different concentrations of OPG were added to the culture media respectively to inhibit the function of RANKL, and the change in the differentiation of osteoblast-like cells was evaluated. The results showed that when the Wnt/β-catenin pathway was activated by LiCl, the expression of RANKL was significantly increased, which coincided with the differentiation of osteoblast-like cells (P<0.05), and the OPG treatment could partly attenuate the promoting effect of Wnt/β-catenin pathway on the differentiation of osteoblast-like cells (P<0.05), but it failed to completely abolish such effect. It was concluded that activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway promotes the differentiation of osteoblast-like cells by both RANKL-dependent and RANKL-independent mechanisms.
Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology 12/2012; 32(6):818-22. · 0.38 Impact Factor
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Zhonghuan Xia,
Xiaoli Duan,
Shu Tao,
Weixun Qiu,
Di Liu,
Yilong Wang,
Siye Wei, Bin Wang,
Qiujing Jiang,
Bin Lu,
Yunxue Song,
Xinxin Hu
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ABSTRACT: Passive air samplers were deployed to collect both gas and particulate phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Taiyuan between 2009 and 2010. Annual average concentrations of BaP equivalent concentration (B[a]P(eq)) in background, rural and urban areas were 2.90 ± 0.29, 23.2 ± 30.8 and 27.4 ± 28.1 ng/m(3), respectively, with higher concentration in the winter than in other seasons. The median B[a]P(eq) concentrations of annual inhalation exposure were estimated to be in the range of 103-347 ng/d for all population groups in rural as well as in urban areas. The median values of incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) induced by whole year inhalation exposure for all groups were basically larger than 10(-6), with higher values in winter than in other seasons and in urban than in rural area. In the same season and area, the ILCR of adults was larger than other age groups and that of females was a little higher than males.
Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex: 1987) 11/2012; 173C:150-156. · 3.43 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The highly conserved human and mouse SLC39A14 and SLC39A8 genes encode the ZIP14 and ZIP8 transporters, respectively-functioning as divalent cation/bicarbonate symporters and expressed in dozens of tissues. Due to alternative splicing of exons 4, human and mouse SLC39A14 genes each encode two distinct gene products, whereas SLC39A8 produces a single product. This lab previously noted that ZIP14A and ZIP14B show highly variable expression in different cell types, suggesting differences in metal uptake function. We ligated mouse ZIP14A, ZIP14B and ZIP8 cDNA coding regions into the Xenopus-specific vector pXFRM, transcribed these in vitro, and microinjected the capped RNAs into Xenopus oocytes. K(m) and V(max) values for Cd, Zn and Fe uptake were determined. Electrogenicity studies using a potassium gradient confirmed that (just as we found previously for ZIP8) ZIP14A- and ZIP14B-mediated divalent Cd- or Zn-bicarbonate complexes are electroneutral. Competitive inhibition of Cd and Zn uptake with ten additional divalent cations showed a unique gradient of patterns for each of ZIP14A, ZIP14B and ZIP8. ZIP14 proteins are prominent in the gastrointestinal tract and ZIP8 protein is located on the surface of renal proximal tubular epithelial cells. It is known that renal Fanconi syndrome can be caused by five nonessential heavy metals: Cd(2+), Hg(2+), Pb(2+), Pt(2+) and U(2+). In the present study we show that these five divalent cations are usually competitors of ZIP14- and/or ZIP8-mediated Zn uptake; our data thus support the possible involvement of intestinal ZIP14 for uptake of these five metals into the body and ZIP8 for efficient uptake into the kidney.
Metallomics 10/2012; 4(11):1218-25. · 3.90 Impact Factor
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Chen Wang,
Wei Li,
Jiwei Chen,
Hongqijie Wang,
Tongchao Li,
Guofeng Shen,
Huizhong Shen,
Ye Huang,
Rong Wang, Bin Wang,
Yanyan Zhang,
Jianhui Tang,
Wenxin Liu,
Xilong Wang,
Shu Tao
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ABSTRACT: High levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been extensively reported in urban areas and at e-waste recycling sites in coastal China. However, data are scarce in northern China and are not available in rural areas at all. In addition, it is often believed that air concentrations in rural areas are lower than those in urban areas without distinguishing rural residential areas and open fields. In this study, air samples were collected at 17 sites covering urban and rural (residential and open field) areas in northern China using active samplers. With BDE-209 dominated in all congeners, the average concentrations of BDE-209 (41 ± 72 pg/m(3)) and other 13 PBDEs (16 ± 12 pg/m(3)) were significantly lower than those found in south China, such as in Guangzhou or Hong Kong. On average, the total PBDE concentrations at the urban sites were 2.2 and 2.9 times of those at the rural residential and field sites, respectively.
Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex: 1987) 09/2012; 171:234-40. · 3.43 Impact Factor
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Jinyao Li,
Shuang Geng,
Xiaoping Xie,
Hu Liu,
Guoxing Zheng,
Xiaolin Sun,
Gan Zhao,
Ying Wan,
Yuzhang Wu,
Xuan Chen,
Yiwei Zhong, Bin Wang
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ABSTRACT: Induction of Ag-specific regulatory T cells (iTregs) by vaccination is a promising strategy for treating autoimmune diseases. We previously demonstrated that DNA and protein covaccination converted naive T cells to Ag-specific iTregs by inducing CD11c(+)CD40(low)IL-10(+) regulatory dendritic cells (DCregs). However, it is unclear how coimmunization induces the DCregs. In this paper, we report that the event is initiated by coentry of sequence-matched DNA and protein immunogens into the same DC via caveolae-mediated endocytosis, which leads to inhibition of phosphorylation of caveolin-1 (Cav-1), the main component of caveolae, and upregulation of Tollip. This triggers downstream signaling that upregulates suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 and downregulates NF-κB and STAT-1α. Silencing either Cav-1 or Tollip blocks the negative signaling, leading to upregulated expression of CD40, downregulated production of IL-10, and loss of iTreg-inducing function. We further show that DCregs can be induced in culture from primary DCs and JAWS II DC lines by feeding them sequence-matched DNA and protein immunogens. The in vitro-generated DCregs are effective in ameliorating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in several mouse models. Our study thus suggests that DNA and protein coimmunization induces DCregs through Cav-1- and Tollip-mediated negative signaling. It also describes a novel method for generating therapeutic DCregs in vitro.
The Journal of Immunology 08/2012; 189(6):2852-9. · 5.79 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We study the problem of local alignment, which is finding pairs of similar
subsequences with gaps. The problem exists in biosequence databases. BLAST is a
typical software for finding local alignment based on heuristic, but could miss
results. Using the Smith-Waterman algorithm, we can find all local alignments
in O(mn) time, where m and n are lengths of a query and a text, respectively. A
recent exact approach BWT-SW improves the complexity of the Smith-Waterman
algorithm under constraints, but still much slower than BLAST. This paper takes
on the challenge of designing an accurate and efficient algorithm for
evaluating local-alignment searches, especially for long queries. In this
paper, we propose an efficient software called ALAE to speed up BWT-SW using a
compressed suffix array. ALAE utilizes a family of filtering techniques to
prune meaningless calculations and an algorithm for reusing score calculations.
We also give a mathematical analysis and show that the upper bound of the total
number of calculated entries using ALAE could vary from 4.50mn0.520 to
9.05mn0.896 for random DNA sequences and vary from 8.28mn0.364 to 7.49mn0.723
for random protein sequences. We demonstrate the significant performance
improvement of ALAE on BWT-SW using a thorough experimental study on real
biosequences. ALAE guarantees correctness and accelerates BLAST for most of
parameters.
08/2012;
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Guofeng Shen,
Shu Tao,
Siye Wei,
Yanyan Zhang,
Rong Wang, Bin Wang,
Wei Li,
Huizhong Shen,
Ye Huang,
Yuanchen Chen,
Han Chen,
Yifeng Yang,
Wei Wang,
Xilong Wang,
Wenxin Liu,
Staci L M Simonich
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ABSTRACT: Residential wood combustion is one of the important sources of air pollution in developing countries. Among the pollutants emitted, parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pPAHs) and their derivatives, including nitrated and oxygenated PAHs (nPAHs and oPAHs), are of concern because of their mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. In order to evaluate their impacts on regional air quality and human health, emission inventories, based on realistic emission factors (EFs), are needed. In this study, the EFs of 28 pPAHs (EF(PAH28)), 9 nPAHs (EF(PAHn9)), and 4 oPAHs (EF(PAHo4)) were measured for residential combustion of 27 wood fuels in rural China. The measured EF(PAH28), EF(PAHn9), and EF(PAHo4) for brushwood were 86.7 ± 67.6, 3.22 ± 1.95 × 10(-2), and 5.56 ± 4.32 mg/kg, which were significantly higher than 12.7 ± 7.0, 8.27 ± 5.51 × 10(-3), and 1.19 ± 1.87 mg/kg for fuel wood combustion (p < 0.05). Sixteen U.S. EPA priority pPAHs contributed approximately 95% of the total of the 28 pPAHs measured. EFs of pPAHs, nPAHs, and oPAHs were positively correlated with one another. Measured EFs varied obviously depending on fuel properties and combustion conditions. The EFs of pPAHs, nPAHs, and oPAHs were significantly correlated with modified combustion efficiency and fuel moisture. Nitro-naphthalene and 9-fluorenone were the most abundant nPAHs and oPAHs identified. Both nPAHs and oPAHs showed relatively high tendencies to be present in the particulate phase than pPAHs due to their lower vapor pressures. The gas-particle partitioning of freshly emitted pPAHs, nPAHs, and oPAHs was primarily controlled by organic carbon absorption.
Environmental Science & Technology 07/2012; 46(15):8123-30. · 4.80 Impact Factor
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Rong Wang,
Shu Tao,
Wentao Wang,
Junfeng Liu,
Huizhong Shen,
Guofeng Shen, Bin Wang,
Xiaopeng Liu,
Wei Li,
Ye Huang,
Yanyan Zhang,
Yan Lu,
Han Chen,
Yuanchen Chen,
Chen Wang,
Dan Zhu,
Xilong Wang,
Bengang Li,
Wenxin Liu,
Jianmin Ma
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ABSTRACT: Black carbon (BC) emissions from China are of global concern. A new BC emission inventory (PKU-BC(China)) has been developed with the following improvements: (1) The emission factor database was updated; (2) a 0.1° × 0.1° gridded map was produced for 2007 based on county-level proxies; (3) time trends were derived for 1949-2007 and predicted for 2008-2050; and (4) the uncertainties associated with the inventory were quantified. It was estimated that 1957 Gg of BC were emitted in China in 2007, which is greater than previously reported. Residential coal combustion was the largest source, followed by residential biofuel burning, coke production, diesel vehicles, and brick kilns. By using a county-level disaggregation method, spatial bias in province-level disaggregation, mainly due to uneven per capita emissions within provinces, was reduced by 42.5%. Emissions increased steadily since 1949 until leveling off in the mid-1990s, due to a series of technological advances and to socioeconomic progress. BC emissions in China in 2050 are predicted to be 920-2183 Gg/yr under various scenarios; and the industrial and transportation sectors stand to benefit the most from technological improvements.
Environmental Science & Technology 06/2012; 46(14):7595-603. · 4.80 Impact Factor
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Guofeng Shen,
Shu Tao,
Siye Wei,
Yanyan Zhang,
Rong Wang, Bin Wang,
Wei Li,
Huizhong Shen,
Ye Huang,
Yuanchen Chen,
Han Chen,
Yifeng Yang,
Wei Wang,
Wen Wei,
Xilong Wang,
Wenxing Liu,
Xuejun Wang,
Staci L y Masse Simonich
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ABSTRACT: Biomass pellets are emerging as a cleaner alternative to traditional biomass fuels. The potential benefits of using biomass pellets include improving energy utilization efficiency and reducing emissions of air pollutants. To assess the environmental, climate, and health significance of replacing traditional fuels with biomass pellets, it is critical to measure the emission factors (EFs) of various pollutants from pellet burning. However, only a few field measurements have been conducted on the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the combustion of pellets. In this study, pine wood and corn straw pellets were burned in a pellet burner (2.6 kW), and the EFs of CO, organic carbon, elemental carbon, PM, and PAHs (EF(CO), EF(OC), EF(EC), EF(PM), and EF(PAH)) were determined. The average EF(CO), EF(OC), EF(EC), and EF(PM) were 1520 ± 1170, 8.68 ± 11.4, 11.2 ± 8.7, and 188 ± 87 mg/MJ for corn straw pellets and 266 ± 137, 5.74 ± 7.17, 2.02 ± 1.57, and 71.0 ± 54.0 mg/MJ for pine wood pellets, respectively. Total carbonaceous carbon constituted 8 to 14% of the PM mass emitted. The measured values of EF(PAH) for the two pellets were 1.02 ± 0.64 and 0.506 ± 0.360 mg/MJ, respectively. The secondary side air supply in the pellet burner did not change the EFs of most pollutants significantly (p > 0.05). The only exceptions were EF(OC) and EF(PM) for pine wood pellets because of reduced combustion temperatures with the increased air supply. In comparison with EFs for the raw pine wood and corn straw, EF(CO), EF(OC), EF(EC), and EF(PM) for pellets were significantly lower than those for raw fuels (p < 0.05). However, the differences in EF(PAH) were not significant (p > 0.05). Based on the measured EFs and thermal efficiencies, it was estimated that 95, 98, 98, 88, and 71% reductions in the total emissions of CO, OC, EC, PM, and PAHs could be achieved by replacing the raw biomass fuels combusted in traditional cooking stoves with pellets burned in modern pellet burners.
Environmental Science & Technology 05/2012; 46(11):6409-16. · 4.80 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To evaluate the effects of electroconvulsive stimulation (ECS) on long-term potentiation (LTP) and synaptophysin (SYP) in the hippocampus of rats under chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS).
Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=20 for each group): the control group (no intervention), the CUMS group (subjected to 28 days of CUMS exposure followed by 7 days of mock ECS treatment), and the CUMS+ECS group (subjected to 28 days of CUMS exposure followed by 7 days of ECS treatment). Depressive behavior was assessed by a sucrose preference test and an open-field test. The LTP levels in rat hippocampal slices were examined through electrophysiological experiments. The SYP mean density in the hippocampal CA3 region was detected by immunohistochemistry. Hippocampal SYP mRNA was assessed through reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.
Chronic unpredictable mild stress diminished sucrose preference and reduced measures of locomotor activity. In addition, CUMS impaired LTP in the hippocampal CA1 region and significantly decreased SYP mean density in the hippocampal CA3 region and hippocampal SYP mRNA levels. Electroconvulsive stimulation improved these harmful behavioral effects and ameliorated LTP impairment, as well as stabilized SYP mean density in the hippocampal CA3 region and hippocampal SYP mRNA levels.
These results suggest that ECS can reverse the harmful behavioral effects of CUMS in rats and that the behavioral alterations induced by ECS and/or CUMS may be associated with hippocampal neuroplasticity and SYP levels.
The journal of ECT 04/2012; 28(2):111-7. · 1.19 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Wild rice, Oryza rufipogon, has endangered species conservation status and it is subject to in situ conservation in China. To understand the potential of the seed bank in species conservation and population restoration, this study compared the genetic diversity of O. rufipogon plants with that of its soil seed banks in two marshes. A total of 11 pairs of rice SSR primers were used and 9 were polymorphic. Allele frequencies of the seeds differed significantly from those of surface plants and varied between soil layers. Relatively more alleles and higher genetic diversity (H
e) were found in plant populations, relative to seed banks. The numbers of germinable seeds and the level of genetic variation in seed banks decreased with the increasing of soil depth, indicating a rapid seed loss. Genetic differentiation was detected between sites and between plant and seed populations, as well as among seeds of different soil strata. Rapid seed loss, partly dormancy loss, and nonrandom seed mortality are discussed as the possible contributors to the pattern of reduced genetic variation within seed banks, compared to plants. These could also be responsible for the considerable genetic differentiation between populations. The seed population held about 72% of the total genetic variation of O. rufipogon in each marsh, indicating the potential of seed banks for restoring population variabilities if the plant populations were lost.
Conservation Genetics 04/2012; 7(6):909-917. · 1.61 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is a T-cell-derived cytokine that modulates T-cell, B-cell, and natural killer cell responses. It is not known if it could be used as an adjuvant for HIV DNA vaccination. In our study, we investigated if a DNA construct expressing IL-21 (designated as pVAX-IL-21) as a molecule adjuvant could enhance antigen-specific immune responses to an HIV DNA vaccine (pGX-EnvC). We found that a higher level of antigen-specific cytotoxic responses was induced in BALB/C mice immunized with pGX-EnvC with the pVAX-IL-21 via electroporation. The increased response was associated with higher expression of IFN-γ in CD8⁺ T cells. In contrast, the administration of pVAX-IL-21 inhibited the antibody responses to HIV induced by the pGX-EnvC. The plasma cell inhibitory transcription factors B-cell lymphoma 6 protein (Bcl-6) and Pax-5 were increased in B cells from mice that had been immunized by HIV DNA vaccine plus pVAX-IL-21, suggesting that the expressed IL-21 may inhibit the differentiation from B cells to plasma cells. These results indicate that IL-21 could enhance CD8⁺ T-cell immunity, but inhibit humoral responses during HIV DNA vaccination.
Viral immunology 04/2012; 25(2):131-40. · 1.78 Impact Factor
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Guofeng Shen,
Shu Tao,
Siye Wei,
Yanyan Zhang,
Rong Wang, Bin Wang,
Wei Li,
Huizhong Shen,
Ye Huang,
Yifeng Yang,
Wei Wang,
Xilong Wang,
Staci L Massey Simonich
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ABSTRACT: Retene (1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene) is often used as a marker for softwood combustion and for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) source apportionment. The emission factors of retene (EF(RET)s) from 11 crop residues, 27 firewood fuels, and 5 coals were measured using traditional rural Chinese stoves. Retene was measured in combustion emissions from all of the residential fuels tested and EF(RET)s varied significantly among the fuels due to the differences in fuel properties and combustion conditions. EF(RET)s for pine (0.34 ± 0.08 mg/kg) and larch (0.29 ± 0.22 mg/kg) were significantly higher than those of other wood types, including fir and cypress (0.081 ± 0.058 mg/kg). However, EF(RET)s for crop residues varied from 0.048 ± 0.008 to 0.37 ± 0.14 mg/kg and were not significantly lower than those for softwood (0.074 ± 0.026 to 0.34 ± 0.08 mg/kg). The EF(RET)s for coal were very high and ranged from 2.2 ± 1.5 (anthracite briquette) to 187 ± 113 mg/kg (raw bituminous chunk). EF(RET) was positively correlated with EFs of coemitted particulate matter (EF(PM)) and phenanthrene (EF(PHE)) for crop residue and coal, but not for wood. In addition, the ratios of EF(PHE)/EF(RET) and EF(PM)/EF(RET) for coals were much lower than those for crop residues and wood. These data suggest that retene is not a unique PAH marker for softwood combustion and that coal combustion, in particular, should be taken into account when retene is used for PAH source apportionment.
Environmental Science & Technology 03/2012; 46(8):4666-72. · 4.80 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Pulmonary inflammation is the key pathological presentation of mechanical ventilation-induced lung injury (VILI), and synthetic RGDS peptide has been suggested to attenuate pulmonary inflammation. The present study aimed to determine whether RGDS peptide has protective effects on VILI. Rats received 4 hours of high tidal volume mechanical ventilation with or without pretreatment with RGDS. Rats that were kept on spontaneous respiration served as controls. At the end of 4 hours, rats that received 4 hours of mechanical ventilation exhibited serious pulmonary pathological changes, more polymorphonulear and mononuclear leukocyte recruitment, more tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production, higher total protein contents in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs) and more lung phosphorylation of integrin β3 and nuclear factor-κB inhibitor (I-κB), and increased NF-κB p65 binding activity than did the control group. Administration of RGDS peptide tended to significantly inhibit all these changes induced by mechanical ventilation. These results suggested that RGDS pretreatment might improve VILI in rats by attenuating inflammatory cascade related to integrin αVβ3 and NF-κB.
Experimental Lung Research 03/2012; 38(4):204-10. · 1.22 Impact Factor
