Risk Assessment for a Flood Control Engineering System Using Fuzzy Theory: A Case in China

Flood control engineering system risk assessment entails fuzziness. An assessment model is developed, based on the improved fuzzy comprehensive assessment method that developed a new index (S_fin ) to judge the assessment class. The model is used to assess the flood control engineering risk of a case in China. The results show that the proposed model in the present article can rationally determine the risk status of a flood control engineering system, and has higher resolution compared to the two conventional methods, fuzzy comprehensive assessment and matter-element model method. The proposed model is flexible and adaptable for determining flood control engineering system risk status.     

Silencing of Long Noncoding RNA AK139328 Attenuates Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Mouse Livers

Recently, increasing evidences had suggested that long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) are involved in a wide range of physiological and pathophysiological processes. Here we determined the LncRNA expression profile using microarray technology in mouse livers after ischemia/reperfusion treatment. Seventy one LncRNAs were upregulated, and 27 LncRNAs were downregulated in ischemia/reperfusion-treated mouse livers. Eleven of the most significantly deregulated LncRNAs were further validated by quantitative PCR assays. Among the upregulated LncRNAs confirmed by quantitative PCR assays, AK139328 exhibited the highest expression level in normal mouse livers. siRNA-mediated knockdown of hepatic AK139328 decreased plasma aminotransferase activities, and reduced necrosis area in the livers with a decrease in caspase-3 activation after ischemia/reperfusion treatment. In ischemia/reperfusion liver, knockdown of AK139328 increased survival signaling proteins including phosphorylated Akt (pAkt), glycogen synthase kinase 3 (pGSK3) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (peNOS). Furthermore, knockdown of AK139328 also reduced macrophage infitration and inhibited NF-κB activity and inflammatory cytokines expression. In conclusion, these findings revealed that deregulated LncRNAs are involved in liver ischemia/reperfusion injury. Silencing of AK139328 ameliorated ischemia/reperfusion injury in the liver with the activation of Akt signaling pathway and inhibition of NF-κB activity. LncRNA AK139328 might be a novel target for diagnosis and treatment of liver surgery or transplantation.     

Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) Independently Predicts Amputation Inchronic Criticallimb Ischemia (CLI)

Objective

General malnutrition usually occurs in critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients because of shortness of appetite and sleeplessness leaded by chronic pain. And amputation frequently is end-point of CLI patients. So the aim of this study was to assess the predictive ability of Geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) for predicting amputation in patients with CLI.

Methods

A retrospective study was designed. Demographics, history, comorbidity, and risk factors for peripheral vascular disease of admitted patients, and laboratory study were documented. Patients’ height, weight and BMI were recorded. Amputation was identified as end-point during follow-up. Patients’ amputation-free survival (AFS) was recorded.

Result

172 patients were identified, with mean age 71.98±3.12. Geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) = 90 was taken as cutoff value of high risk of amputation for CLI patients via using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Span of follow-up was 12–48 months. During follow-up, 60 patients (36.04%) received amputation surgery. And analyzed by Cox proportional hazards model, it is found that GNRI was the independent predictive factor for amputation in long term.

Conclusion

This study revealed that GNRI was a reliable and effective predictive marker for AFS. GNRI could identify patients with high risk for amputation in early time.     

Fruit and vegetable consumption,cardiovascular disease,and all-cause mortality in China

Science China Life Sciences - Evidence about the response patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality was inconsistent. These...     

Bioaccumulation and ROS generation in liver of Carassius auratus, exposed to phenanthrene

In the present study, the bioaccumulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were studied after fish (Carassius auratus) were exposed to different concentrations (0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.07 and 0.1 mg/L) of phenanthrene for 4 days. The accumulation of phenanthrene in liver increased with the exposure concentration (R(2)=0.88). A secondary spin trapping technique was used followed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis, to study the ROS production. The ROS generated in fish liver after exposure to phenanthrene was identified as hydroxyl radical ((*)OH). The (*)OH signal intensity of the EPR spectrum showed a significant increase (p<0.05) compared to the control when the phenanthrene concentration was as low as 0.05 mg/L. A good positive relationship (R(2)=0.97) was found between the (*)OH formation and exposure concentrations. The changes of the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and contents of reduced glutathione (GSH) also were detected. The results clearly indicated that phenanthrene could induce (*)OH generation and result in oxidative stress in liver of fish.     

Structure-function studies of PANDER, an islet specific cytokine inducing cell death of insulin-secreting beta cells

PANDER (pancreatic derived factor, FAM3B) is a novel cytokine, present in insulin secretory granules, that induces apoptosis of alpha and beta cells of mouse, rat, and human islets in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and may be implicated in diabetes. PANDER has the predicted secondary structure of 4 alpha-helical bundles with an up-up-down-down topology, and two disulfide bonds. Eleven mutated PANDERs were constructed and expressed in beta-TC3 cells to identify the essential region of PANDER involved in beta-cell death. Beta-cell function was assessed by assays of cell viability and insulin secretion. Based on quantitative real-time RT-PCR all mutant PANDERs had similar mRNA expression levels in beta-TC3 cells. Immunoblotting showed that ten of eleven mutant PANDER proteins were synthesized and detected in beta-TC3 cells. A mutant PANDER with no signal peptide, however, was not expressed. Truncation of helix D alone caused a 40-50% decrease in PANDER's activity, while truncation of both helices C and D resulted in a 75% loss of activity. In contrast, truncation of the N-terminus of PANDER (helix A, the loop between helices A and B, and the first two cysteines) had no effect on PANDER-induced beta-cell death. The third and fourth cysteines of PANDER, C91 and C229, were shown to form one disulfide bond and be functionally important. Finally, the region between Cys91 and Phe152 constitutes the active part of PANDER, based on the demonstration that mutants with truncation of helix B or C caused decreased beta-cell death and did not inhibit insulin secretion, as compared to wild-type PANDER. Hence, helices B and C and the second disulfide bond of PANDER are essential for PANDER-induced beta-cell death.