Calcification of the splenic, iliac, and breast arteries and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Background And Aims: CVD risks associated with coronary artery calcification (CAC) and aortic calcification (AC) are well known, but less is known about other calcified arteries. We aimed to assess the associations of arterial calcification in the breast, splenic, and internal and external iliac arteries with CVD risk factors and mortality.

Methods: We conducted a case-cohort study nested in a cohort of 5196 individuals who self-referred or were referred by a health care provider for whole body computed tomography (CT), including a random subcohort (n = 395) and total and CVD mortality cases (n = 298 and n = 90), who died during a median follow-up of 9.

Characterization of OsPIP2;7, a water channel protein in rice.

Aquaporins are water channel proteins that facilitate passage of water and other small neutral molecules across biological membranes. There are usually a large number of members of this family in higher plants, which exhibit various physiological functions and are regulated in a time-specific and particular mode. We have previously shown that a rice gene, OsPIP2;7, was generally up-regulated in roots but down-regulated in shoots at the early stage of chilling stress.

Transport functions and expression analysis of vacuolar membrane aquaporins in response to various stresses in rice.

The vacuole, a multifunctional organelle of most plant cells, has very important roles in space filling, osmotic adjustment, storage and digestion. Previous researches suggested that aquaporins in the tonoplast were involved in vacuolar functions. The rice genome contains 33 aquaporin genes, 10 of which encode tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs).

The role of water channel proteins and nitric oxide signaling in rice seed germination.

Previous studies have demonstrated the possible role of several aquaporins in seed germination. But systematic investigation of the role of aquaporin family members in this process is lacking. Here, the developmental regulation of plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP) expression throughout germination and post-germination processes in rice embryos was analyzed.

Upland rice and lowland rice exhibited different PIP expression under water deficit and ABA treatment.

Aquaporins play a significant role in plant water relations. To further understand the aquaporin function in plants under water stress, the expression of a subgroup of aquaporins, plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), was studied at both the protein and mRNA level in upland rice (Oryza sativa L. cv.

Comparative proteomic analysis provides new insights into chilling stress responses in rice.

Low temperature is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting the productivity and the geographical distribution of many important crops. To gain a better understanding of chilling stress responses in rice (Oryza sativa L. cv.