Middle Pleistocene human femoral diaphyses from Hualongdong, Anhui Province, China.

Objectives: The paleontological description and comparative analysis using discrete morphology, morphometrics (linear and geometric) and cross-sectional geometry of three femoral diaphyseal sections from the Middle Pleistocene site of Hualongdong, China.

Materials And Methods: The material consists of the original Hualongdong femoral fossils and available data on femoral diaphyses from Middle and Late Pleistocene archaic humans and Middle and earlier Upper Paleolithic modern humans. The methods include visual observation, diaphyseal diameters, cross-sectional parameters (transverse areas and second moments of area derived from micro-CT scans), and geometric morphometrics using semilandmark data.

Archaic human remains from Hualongdong, China, and Middle Pleistocene human continuity and variation.

Middle to Late Pleistocene human evolution in East Asia has remained controversial regarding the extent of morphological continuity through archaic humans and to modern humans. Newly found ∼300,000-y-old human remains from Hualongdong (HLD), China, including a largely complete skull (HLD 6), share East Asian Middle Pleistocene (MPl) human traits of a low vault with a frontal keel (but no parietal sagittal keel or angular torus), a low and wide nasal aperture, a pronounced supraorbital torus (especially medially), a nonlevel nasal floor, and small or absent third molars. It lacks a malar incisure but has a large superior medial pterygoid tubercle.

The earliest unequivocally modern humans in southern China.

The hominin record from southern Asia for the early Late Pleistocene epoch is scarce. Well-dated and well-preserved fossils older than ∼45,000 years that can be unequivocally attributed to Homo sapiens are lacking. Here we present evidence from the newly excavated Fuyan Cave in Daoxian (southern China).

Downregulation of VMP1 confers aggressive properties to colorectal cancer.

Vacuole membrane protein 1 (VMP1) was recently found to be involved in the process of tumor metastasis and is also considered to play a vital role in balancing apoptosis and autophagy. In the present study, the expression of VMP1 in colorectal cancer and matched adjacent non‑cancerous tissues was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for studying the role of VMP1 in the process of colorectal cancer. Kaplan‑Meier analysis and the log-rank test were used to calculate the correlation of classic clinicopathological characteristics related to survival and the expression of VMP1.

Treatment with telbivudine positively regulates antiviral immune profiles in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is associated with impairment of T and NK cell immunity. This study was aimed at investigating the impact of treatment with telbivudine (LDT) on T and NK cell immunity in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). A total of 54 CHB patients and 30 healthy controls (HC) were recruited.

Dentoalveolar paleopathology of the early modern humans from Zhirendong, South China.

The fragmentary early Late Pleistocene, early modern human remains from Zhirendong, south China, present a suite of dentoalveolar pathologies and anomalies. The lesions include lower molar buccal alveolar resorption (Zhiren 1), massive dental caries in a mandibular molar associated with hypercementosis (Zhiren 2), and bilateral mesial premolar (P) periapical lesions (granulomata with a probable left abscess) (Zhiren 3). The Zhiren 3 periapical lesions, given their bilaterality and the non-pathological incisor and canine alveoli, suggest dens evaginatus, although absence of the Zhiren 3 dentition prevents full evaluation of this diagnosis.

Human remains from Zhirendong, South China, and modern human emergence in East Asia.

The 2007 discovery of fragmentary human remains (two molars and an anterior mandible) at Zhirendong (Zhiren Cave) in South China provides insight in the processes involved in the establishment of modern humans in eastern Eurasia. The human remains are securely dated by U-series on overlying flowstones and a rich associated faunal sample to the initial Late Pleistocene, >100 kya. As such, they are the oldest modern human fossils in East Asia and predate by >60,000 y the oldest previously known modern human remains in the region.

[Avastin combined with cisplan inhibits malignant ascites production in nude mice bearing transplanted ovary carcinoma with high VEGF expression].

Objective: To establish a nude mouse model of malignant ascites with human ovarian carcinoma cell line OVCAR3 which highly expresses VEGF and evaluate the therapeutic of Avastin combined with cisplan.

Methods: Forty-eight nude mice with malignant ascites resulting from intraperitoneal transplantation of human ovarian carcinoma cell line OVCAR3 were treated with intraperitoneal injection of Avastin, cisplan, their combination, and PBS, respectively, to observe the effect on ascites development, VEGF content in the ascites, peritoneal permeability, development of new vessels and number of tumor cells in the ascites.

Results: Avastin obviously inhibited ascites accumulation and peritoneal capillary permeability, reduced VEGF protein level and microvascular density in the tumor tissues and the number of red cells and tumor cells in the malignant ascites, and prolonged the survival of the mice.

Fractionations of rare earth elements in plants and their conceptive model.

Fractionations of rare earth elements (REEs) and their mechanisms in soybean were studied through application of exogenous mixed REEs under hydroponic conditions. Significant enrichment of middle REEs (MREEs) and heavy REEs (HREEs) was observed in plant roots and leaves respectively, with slight fractionation between light REEs (LREEs) and HREEs in stems. Moreover, the tetrad effect was observed in these organs.

Effects of organic ligands on fractionation of rare earth elements (REEs) in hydroponic plants: an application to the determination of binding capacities by humic acid for modeling.

Previous studies have revealed the fractionation processes of rare earth elements (REEs) in hydroponic plants, with a heavy REE (HREE, the elements from Gd to Lu) enrichment in leaves. In this study, effects on the HREE enrichment in soybean leaves with additions of carboxylic acids (acetate, malate, citrate, NTA, EDTA and DTPA) and two soil humic acids (HAs) were investigated. REE speciation in carboxylic acid and HA solutions was simulated using Visual MINTEQ and Model V, respectively.

[Influence of PO4(3-) and citrate on REE accumulation and fractionation in wheat].

This paper has studied the influence of phosphate (Pi, one of inorganic ligands) and citrate (Cit, one of organic ligands) on accumulation and fractionation of REEs in wheat based on aqueous culture, added with extraneous mixed REEs (MRE) and ICP-MS analysis technology. The results show that initial phosphate (Pi) solution of different levels followed by exposure to fixed-MRE solution has no significant effects on accumulation of the total concentrations of REEs (sigma REE) in the wheat roots, but it decrease the REE dramatically in the wheat leaves. Simultaneous culture of wheat with mixture of MRE and citrate solution caused obvious decreases of the sigma REE both in wheat roots and leaves.