| 1. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(författare)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
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Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
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| 2. |
- Zhang, Qiang, et al.
(författare)
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Multifractal analysis of measure representation of flood/drought grade series in the Yangtze Delta, China, during the past millennium and their fractal model simulation
- 2010
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Ingår i: International Journal of Climatology. - : Wiley. - 0899-8418 .- 1097-0088. ; 30:3, s. 450-457
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on reconstructed flood/drought grade series, IFS (iterazed function systems) and RIFS[(recurrent) iterated function systems] models were used to reconstruct their measure representations. The goodness-of-fit of the simulation indicated good performance of IFS and RIFS models in simulation of the measure representaitons of the historical flood/drought grade series in the Yangtze Delta. Multifractal properties of the measures of the flood/drought grade series were analyzed using multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) technique. The DFA1 exponents of 0.6348 +/- 0.013 and 0.7215 +/- 0.013 indicated that the measures of the flood/drought grade series of the Yangtze Delta were characterized by long memory or persistence. Furthermore, the h(q) curves of the measure representations indicated that the measure representations of the flood/drought grade series in the Yangtze Delta were multifractal measures. The finding of this paper highlights possibility of prediction for future climatic changes based on historical records in the Yangtze Delta region. Copyright (C) 2009 Royal Meterological Society.
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| 3. |
- Chen, David, et al.
(författare)
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Hydrologic alteration along the Middle and Upper East River (Dongjiang) basin, South China : a visually enhanced mining on the results of RVA method
- 2010
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Ingår i: Stochastic environmental research and risk assessment (Print). - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1436-3240 .- 1436-3259. ; 24, s. 9-18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a visually enhanced evaluation of the spatio-temporal patterns of the dam-induced hydrologic alteration in the middle and upper East River, south China over 1952-2002, using the range of variability approach (RVA) and visualization package XmdvTool. The impacts of climate variability on hydrological processes have been removed for wet and dry periods, respectively, so that we focus on the impacts of human activities (i.e., dam construction). The results indicate that: (1) along the East River, dams have greatly altered the natural flow regime, range condition and spatial variability; (2) six most remarkable indicators of hydrologic alteration induced by dam-construction are rise rate (1.16), 3-day maximum (0.91), low pulse duration (0.88), January (0.80), July (0.80) and February (0.79) mean flow of the East River during 1952-2002; and (3) spatiotemporal hydrologic alterations are different among three stations along Easter River. Under the influence of dam construction in the upstream, the degree of hydrologic changes from Lingxia, Heyuan to Longchuan station increases. This study reveals that visualization techniques for high-dimensional hydrological datasets together with RVA are beneficial for detecting spatio-temporal hydrologic changes.
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| 4. |
- Chen, Yongqin David, et al.
(författare)
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Multiscale streamflow variations of the Pearl River basin and possible implications for the water resource management within the Pearl River Delta, China
- 2010
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Ingår i: Quaternary International. - : Elsevier BV. - 1040-6182 .- 1873-4553. ; 226:1-2, s. 44-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Long monthly streamflow series of three control hydrological stations of the Pearl River basin were analyzed by using the scanning t-test and the scanning F-test. Possible implications of the changing properties of streamflow variations for the water resource management of the Pearl River Delta are also discussed. The results indicated that: 1) more complicated changes were observed in terms of the second center moment when compared to the first original moment More significant abrupt changes of the second center moment imply more sensitive response of streamflow stability to climate changes and human activities; 2) abrupt behaviors of the first (second) center moment of the streamflow variations tend to be more sensitive to climate changes and/or human activities in the larger river basin when compared to those in the smaller river basin. These phenomena are attributed to buffering functions of more storage space of longer river channel, and more complicated and longer runoff yield and concentration processes in the river basin of larger drainage area; 3) annual minimum streamflow of the Pearl River basin tends to be increasing. This will be helpful for better human mitigation of the salinity intrusion in dry seasons across the Pearl River Delta. Annual maximum streamflow, when compared to annual minimum streamflow, shows larger-magnitude variability reflected by larger standard deviation, implying unfavorable conditions for flood mitigation in the Pearl River Delta. The results of this paper are of scientific and practical merits for water resource management and sound human mitigation to water hazards across the Pearl River Delta, and also are a good case study for similar researches in other river deltas in the world under the changing environment. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Duan, Chen, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative analysis of gene expression profiles between primary knee osteoarthritis and an osteoarthritis endemic to Northwestern China, Kashin-Beck disease.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Arthritis and Rheumatism. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0004-3591 .- 1529-0131. ; 62:3, s. 771-780
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences in gene expression profiles of adult articular cartilage from patients with Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) versus those with primary knee osteoarthritis (OA).METHODS: The messenger RNA expression profiles of articular cartilage from patients with KBD, diagnosed according to the clinical criteria for KBD in China, were compared with those of cartilage from patients with OA, diagnosed according to the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index. Total RNA was isolated separately from 4 pairs of the KBD and OA cartilage samples, and the expression profiles were evaluated by Agilent 4x44k Whole Human Genome density oligonucleotide microarray analysis. The microarray data for selected transcripts were confirmed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification.RESULTS: For 1.2 x 10(4) transcripts, corresponding to 58.4% of the expressed transcripts, 2-fold changes in differential expression were revealed. Expression levels higher in KBD than in OA samples were observed in a mean + or - SD 6,439 + or - 1,041 (14.6 + or - 2.4%) of the transcripts, and expression levels were lower in KBD than in OA samples in 6,147 + or - 1,222 (14.2 + or - 2.8%) of the transcripts. After application of the selection criteria, 1.85% of the differentially expressed genes (P < 0.001 between groups) were detected. These included 233 genes, of which 195 (0.4%) were expressed at higher levels and 38 (0.08%) were expressed at lower levels in KBD than in OA cartilage. Comparisons of the quantitative RT-PCR data supported the validity of our microarray data.CONCLUSION: Differences between KBD and OA cartilage exhibited a similar pattern among all 4 of the pairs examined, indicating the presence of disease mechanisms, mainly chondrocyte matrix metabolism, cartilage degeneration, and apoptosis induction pathways, which contribute to cartilage destruction in KBD.
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| 6. |
- Gkrania-Klotsas, Effrossyni, et al.
(författare)
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Differential White Blood Cell Count and Type 2 Diabetes : Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Prospective Studies
- 2010
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Ingår i: PloS one. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 5:10, s. e13405-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Biological evidence suggests that inflammation might induce type 2 diabetes (T2D), and epidemiological studies have shown an association between higher white blood cell count (WBC) and T2D. However, the association has not been systematically investigated. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Studies were identified through computer-based and manual searches. Previously unreported studies were sought through correspondence. 20 studies were identified (8,647 T2D cases and 85,040 non-cases). Estimates of the association of WBC with T2D were combined using random effects meta-analysis; sources of heterogeneity as well as presence of publication bias were explored. RESULTS: The combined relative risk (RR) comparing the top to bottom tertile of the WBC count was 1.61 (95% CI: 1.45; 1.79, p = 1.5*10(-18)). Substantial heterogeneity was present (I(2) = 83%). For granulocytes the RR was 1.38 (95% CI: 1.17; 1.64, p = 1.5*10(-4)), for lymphocytes 1.26 (95% CI: 1.02; 1.56, p = 0.029), and for monocytes 0.93 (95% CI: 0.68; 1.28, p = 0.67) comparing top to bottom tertile. In cross-sectional studies, RR was 1.74 (95% CI: 1.49; 2.02, p = 7.7*10(-13)), while in cohort studies it was 1.48 (95% CI: 1.22; 1.79, p = 7.7*10(-5)). We assessed the impact of confounding in EPIC-Norfolk study and found that the age and sex adjusted HR of 2.19 (95% CI: 1.74; 2.75) was attenuated to 1.82 (95% CI: 1.45; 2.29) after further accounting for smoking, T2D family history, physical activity, education, BMI and waist circumference. CONCLUSIONS: A raised WBC is associated with higher risk of T2D. The presence of publication bias and failure to control for all potential confounders in all studies means the observed association is likely an overestimate.
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| 7. |
- Liu, Jiandong, et al.
(författare)
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Observation and calculation of the solar radiation on the Tibetan Plateau
- 2012
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Ingår i: Energy Conversion and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0196-8904. ; 57, s. 23-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Distribution of solar radiation is vital to locate the most suitable regions for harvesting solar energy, but solar radiation is only observed at few stations due to high costs and difficult maintenance. From 2001 to 2005, a set of pyranometer instruments were set up in Gaize, on the Tibetan Plateau, to test the hypothesis of high solar-radiation levels in this region, and find a suitable method for estimating the radiation. Over the 5-year observation period, the average daily radiation was 21 MJ m-2day-1 with maximum daily values of 27 MJ m-2day-1 occurring in June and minimum values of 14 MJ m-2day-1 in December, which is much higher than those measured in other regions at similar latitudes. The observational data were used to validate a set of radiation models: five sunshine based and three temperature based. The results showed that of the five sunshine-based models, a newly developed “comprehensive” model performed the best, but that the “vapor revised Angstrom model” was recommended to use for its simplicity and easy operation. The temperature-based models performed worse than the sunshine-based ones, where the Wu model is to be preferred if a temperature-based model is the only option. Moreover, it was shown that when estimating the solar radiation based on time-dependent coefficients, consideration of the seasonal variation of the coefficients has little predictive value and is thus unnecessary. Based on the results of this study, a strategy for the calculation of solar radiation on the Tibetan Plateau was made for potential users.
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| 8. |
- Liu, Yu, et al.
(författare)
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Tree-ring stable carbon isotope-based May-July temperature reconstruction over Nanwutai, China, for the past century and its record of 20th century warming
- 2014
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 93, s. 67-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Growth anomaly of trees in some regions was detected under current episode of rapid warming. This raises a dilemma for temperature reconstructions by using tree-ring width which is believed to be the most important proxy on inter-annual temperature reconstruction during the past millenniums. Here we employed the tree-ring d13C to reconstruct temperature variations for exploring their potential on capturing signals of rapid warming, and to test how its difference with the tree-ring width based reconstruction. In this study the mean MayeJuly temperature (TMeJ) was reconstructed over the past century by tree-ring d13C of Chinese pine trees growing in the Nanwutai region. The explained variance of the reconstruction was 43.3% (42.1% after adjusting the degrees of freedom). Compared to a ring-width temperature reconstruction (MayeJuly) from the same site, the tree-ring d13C-based temperature reconstruction offered two distinct advantages: 1) it captured a wider range of temperature variability, i.e., at least MayeJuly, even over a longer part of the year, JanuaryeSeptember; and 2) the reconstruction preserved more low-frequency climate information than that of ring width did. The 20th century warming was well represented in the Nanwutai tree-ring d13C temperature reconstruction, which implied that stable carbon isotope of tree rings potentially represents temperature variations during historical episodes of rapid warming. A spatial correlation analysis showed that our temperature reconstruction represented climate variations over the entire Loess Plateau in north-central China. Significant positive correlations (p < 0.1) were found between the temperature reconstruction and ENSO, as well as SSTs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The reconstruction showed the periodicities of 22.78-, 4.16-, 3.45e3.97- and 2.04e2.83-year quasi-cycles at a 95% confidence level. Our results suggested that temperature variability in the Nanwutai region may be linked to Pacific and Indian Ocean SST variations and solar activity.
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| 9. |
- Ma, Tao, et al.
(författare)
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Genomic insights into salt adaptation in a desert poplar
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 4, s. 2797-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the high economic and ecological importance of forests, our knowledge of the genomic evolution of trees under salt stress remains very limited. Here we report the genome sequence of the desert poplar, Populus euphratica, which exhibits high tolerance to salt stress. Its genome is very similar and collinear to that of the closely related mesophytic congener, P. trichocarpa. However, we find that several gene families likely to be involved in tolerance to salt stress contain significantly more gene copies within the P. euphratica lineage. Furthermore, genes showing evidence of positive selection are significantly enriched in functional categories related to salt stress. Some of these genes, and others within the same categories, are significantly upregulated under salt stress relative to their expression in another salt-sensitive poplar. Our results provide an important background for understanding tree adaptation to salt stress and facilitating the genetic improvement of cultivated poplars for saline soils.
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| 10. |
- Shan, Yun-feng, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental studies on treatment of pancreatic cancer with double-regulated duplicative adenovirus AdTPHre-hEndo carrying human endostatin gene
- 2013
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Ingår i: Pancreatology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1424-3903. ; 13:4, s. 393-400
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Gene-virus targeted therapy is a promising new method of treating pancreatic cancer. To increase the efficacy and decrease the side-effect, we constructed a conditionally replicative adenovirus (CRAd) expressing human endostatin, with a human Telomoerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT) promoter for the regulation of the early stage of adenovirus expression of gene E1a and a Hypoxia Response Element (HRE) promoter to regulate the gene E1b. Methods: A gene recombination technique was adopted to construct and generate the adenovirus AdTPHre-hEndo. Pancreatic cancer cells were studied both in vitro and in vivo. Western blotting was adopted to observe the expressions of protein E1A and E1B; duplication assay was applied to observe the selective duplication capability of recombinant cells. MTT assay was applied to measure the lethal effects of virus on pancreatic cancer cells, and ELISA was adopted to detect the human endostatin gene expression. A pancreatic cancer transplantation tumor model of nude mice was constructed to observe the antitumor effects of the virus. Results: Double-regulated duplicative adenovirus AdTPHre-hEndo genes were successfully constructed. Duplication and lethal assays proved that AdTPHre-hEndo could replicate specifically in pancreatic cancer cells and kill them. The endostatin expression in a cultured supernatant from tumor cells was significantly higher than that obtained from non-duplicative adenovirus vectors carrying that gene. The animal experiment demonstrated that AdTPHre-hEndo has a high capability to limit pancreatic cancer growth. Conclusions: AdTPHre-hEndo has a special ability to duplicate and kill pancreatic cancer cells in in vitro and in vivo experiments, thus providing a new gene-virus-based treatment system for pancreatic cancer. Copyright (C) 2013, IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier India, a division of Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.
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