Relationship between CCR2-V64I polymorphism and cancer risk: A meta-analysis

Background and objectives

The role of CCR2-V64I polymorphism in various cancers has been reported in many studies. However, results from published studies on the association between CCR2-V64I polymorphism and cancer risk are conflicting. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to estimate the overall cancer risk associated with the polymorphism.

Methods

Electronic searches of PubMed and EMBASE were conducted for all publications on the association between this variant and cancer. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were used to access the strength of this association.

Results

Sixteen studies with 2661 cancer patients and 5801 healthy controls were included. Overall, significant association was found between the CCR2-V64I polymorphism and cancer risk (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.35–2.51, AA vs GA/GG, P = 0.37). In the subgroup analysis stratified by cancer types, there was a significant association between this polymorphism and bladder cancer (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.02–4.15, AA vs GA/GG, P = 0.11), cervical cancer (OR = 3.34, 95% CI = 1.48–7.50, AA vs GG, P = 0.56), and oral cancer (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.46–2.84, GA vs GG, P = 0.70). In the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicities, an increased cancer risk was also found in Europeans (OR = 2.31, 95% CI = 1.45–3.68, AA vs GA/GG, P = 0.16) and Asians (OR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.12–3.16, AA vs GA/GG, P = 0.92).

Conclusion

This meta-analysis suggested that CCR2-V64I polymorphism may contribute to an increased risk of cancer.     

Quercetin relieved diabetic neuropathic pain by inhibiting upregulated P2X4 receptor in dorsal root ganglia

The upregulation of nociceptive ion channels expressed in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) contributes to the development and retaining of diabetic pain symptoms. The flavonoid quercetin (3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) is a component extracted from various fruits and vegetables and exerts anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anticarcinogenic, antiulcer, and antihypertensive effects. However, the exact mechanism underlying quercetin's analgesic action remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quercetin on diabetic neuropathic pain related to the P2X₄ receptor in the DRG of type 2 diabetic rat model. Our data showed that both mechanical withdrawal threshold and thermal withdrawal latency in diabetic rats treated with quercetin were higher compared with those in untreated diabetic rats. The expression levels of P2X₄ messenger RNA and protein in the DRG of diabetic rats were increased compared with the control rats, while quercetin treatment significantly inhibited such enhanced P2X₄ expression in diabetic rats. The satellite glial cells (SGCs) enwrap the neuronal soma in the DRG. Quercetin treatment also lowered the elevated coexpression of P2X₄ and glial fibrillary acidic protein (a marker of SGCs) and decreased the upregulation of phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) in the DRG of diabetic rats. Quercetin significantly reduced the P2X₄ agonist adenosine triphosphate-activated currents in HEK293 cells transfected with P2X₄ receptors. Thus, our data demonstrate that quercetin may decrease the upregulation of the P2X₄ receptor in DRG SGCs, and consequently inhibit P2X₄ receptor-mediated p38MAPK activation to relieve the mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in diabetic rats.     

A Passive Anti-icing Strategy Based on a Superhydrophobic Mesh with Extremely Low Ice Adhesion Strength

Although superhydrophobic materials have attracted much research interest in anti-icing,some controversy still exists.In this research,we report a cost-effective method used to verify the contribution of area fraction to ice adhesion strength.We tried to partially-embed siliea nanopnarticles into microscale fabrics of a commercial polyamide mesh.Then,the area fraction could be determined by altering the mesh size.Generally,the ice adhesion strength decreases as the area fraction decreases.An ice adhesion strength of~1.9 kPa and a delayed freezing time of~1048 s can be obtained.We attribute the low ice adhesion strength to the combination of superhydro-phobicity and stress concentration.The superhydrophobicity prohibits the water from penetrating into the voids of the meshes,and the small actual contact area leads to stress concentration which promotes interfacial crack propagation.Moreover,our superhydrophobic mesh simultaneously exhibis a micro-nano hierarchical structure and a partally-cmbedded structure.Therefore,the as-prepared superhydrophobic mesh retained the ieephobicity after 20 icingldeicing cycles,and maintained its superhydrophobicity even afier 60 sandpaper-abrasion cycles and a 220"C thermal treatment.     

Enhancing plant uptake of polychlorinated biphenyls and cadmium using tea saponin

The potential of natural surfactant tea saponin to enhance uptake of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and cadmium (Cd) by Zea Mays L. and Saccharum officinarum L. was investigated. With addition of tea saponin at 0.01% in solution culture, the concentrations of PCB 14, PCB 18, PCB 77 and PCB 156 in root of corn seedling were 2.72, 2.68, 1.94 and 2.40 times as those of treatments without adding any surfactant, respectively. Application of tea saponin to the soil significantly elevated PCB 5 accumulation in shoots and roots (p < 0.05) by sugarcanes. With addition of 0.3% tea saponin, Cd concentration was increased by 96.9% in roots, 156.8% in stems and 30.1% in leaves compared with the treatment without addition of surfactant in sugarcane grown in soil. Tea saponin had potential of assisting the uptake of PCBs and Cd by plants from water solution and soil.     

Phytoremediation of ethion by water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) from water

The potential of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) to remove a phosphorus pesticide ethion were investigated. The disappearance rate constants of ethion in culture solutions were 0.01059, 0.00930, 0.00294, and 0.00201 h-1 for the non-sterile planted, sterile planted, non-sterile unplanted, and sterile unplanted treatment, respectively, which were significantly different and implied that plant uptake and phytodegradation contributed 69% and that of microbial degradation took up 12% to the removal of the applied ethion. The accumulated ethion in live water hyacinth plant decreased by 55-91% in shoots and 74-81% in roots after the plant growing 1 week in ethion free culture solutions, suggesting that plant uptake and phytodegradation might be the dominant process for ethion removal by the plant. This plant might be utilized as an efficient, economical and ecological alternative to accelerate the removal and degradation of agro-industrial wastewater polluted with ethion.     

Homographic Patch Feature Transform: A Robustness Registration for Gastroscopic Surgery

Image registration is a key component of computer assistance in image guided surgery, and it is a challenging topic in endoscopic environments. In this study, we present a method for image registration named Homographic Patch Feature Transform (HPFT) to match gastroscopic images. HPFT can be used for tracking lesions and augmenting reality applications during gastroscopy. Furthermore, an overall evaluation scheme is proposed to validate the precision, robustness and uniformity of the registration results, which provides a standard for rejection of false matching pairs from corresponding results. Finally, HPFT is applied for processing in vivo gastroscopic data. The experimental results show that HPFT has stable performance in gastroscopic applications.     

江河源区高寒草甸退化序列上"秃斑" 连通效应的元胞自动机模拟

高寒草甸草毡层"秃斑"是高寒草甸退化进程中最活跃的表征,明确其在退化序列上的演变时空规律是揭示草地退化动力学机制的关键之一。采用实地调研结合元胞自动机模拟的方法,对高寒草甸退化序列上秃斑格局动态进行了模拟,是对退化序列上秃斑的连续动态图谱表达,建立了高寒草甸由初步退化到系统崩溃的符合实际的草地秃斑连通的图谱序列,模拟吻合度达93.9%。通过对图谱序列关系的分析表明,秃斑连通进程分为3个阶段:低速连通期——第0—2年、跃变期——第2—7年、连通不可逆转期——第7—9年;最大秃斑面积、最大秃斑面积-秃斑总面积比的跃变过程,是草地退化等级的质变过程;通过对跃变期和连通不可逆转期相应的草地生态与恢复性能的对比分析,确定了连通阈值为54.5%;秃斑连通的过程伴随着临界阈现象的发生。由于连通不可逆转期"黑土滩"形成过程的不可逆性及形成后的巨大危害性,连通阈值的确定将为高寒草甸生态系统安全预警及其退化恢复治理提供依据。     

低覆盖度固沙林的乔木分布格局与防风效果

低覆盖度植被是我国干旱、半干旱区经过漫长的自然演替过程逐步发育形成且广泛分布的植被类型。前人研究认为,植被覆盖度达到40%为固定沙地,40%-20%为半固定-半流动沙地。但在实践观察中发现:在低密度(或覆盖度)时,灌丛的水平分布格局对固定流沙和阻止风沙流的作用差异显著。在干旱区、半干旱区,存在着大量天然的乔木疏林,其覆盖度均在低于40%,地表处于半流动状态,而配置成行带式后,即使覆盖度降低到20%时,地面也不会出现风蚀现象。因此,在内蒙古浑善达克沙地,针对覆盖度在20%左右的乔木疏林,同时测定了随机与行带式两种分布格局的防风阻沙效果。结果表明:(1)在不同的对照风速下,行带式配置的林内的相对风速均低于随机分布,其中在200 cm高度处行带式配置的平均相对风速比随机分布的低53.89%,在50 cm高度处低36.82%;(2)行带式林内的水平风速流场变化有一定规律,而随机分布林内风速流场变化主要受树冠在空间的分布影响,变化非常复杂;(3)随机分布的疏林内出现风速超过旷野对照的现象,在50 cm和200 cm的两个观测高度上分别有约27.45%和22.55%的风速测定值超过对照风速,说明出现明显的局部风速"抬升"现象,形成了强的涡流;(4)行带式配置林内的平均地表粗糙度达到1.01 cm,比随机分布的疏林内增大约5倍之多;(5)总体而论,行带式分布格局第1带降低风速的作用最显著,第2带及其以后各带间的风速均比第1带后的风速小,但逐带降低的叠加效益不明显;(6)由于乔木基本(枝下高)没有枝条对风的阻碍,乔木行带式固沙林在迎风面的第1林带的基部有一定的风力"抬升"作用,对林带基部地面产生较强的侵蚀作用,多数第1带树木的根系被侵蚀裸露,过境的风沙流只能在林带后树冠外侧堆积;(7)随机分布林内在许多位置出现了非常低的地表粗糙度,地表粗糙度低的位置基本与风速"抬升"区相吻合,这种"抬升"区形成的强的涡流是疏林内出现风蚀坑的重要因素,这也是浑善达克沙地出现榆树与风蚀坑相间分布的主要原因。     

Update soybean Zhonghuang 13 genome to a golden reference

<正>Dear Editor,Soybean is one of the most important crops worldwide. A high-quality reference genome will facilitate its functional analysis and molecular breeding (Wang and Tian, 2015).Previously, we de novo assembled a high-quality Chinese soybean genome Gmax_ZH13 (Shen et al., 2018, Yang and Huang, 2018). However, due to technical limitations at the