AMP-activated protein kinase α2 contributes to acute and chronic hyperuricemic nephropathy via renal urate deposition in a mouse model.

Hyperuricemia can induce acute and chronic kidney damage, but the pathological mechanism remains unclear. The potential role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) α2 in hyperuricemia-induced renal injury was investigated in this study. Acute and chronic hyperuricemic nephropathy was induced by administering intraperitoneal injections of uric acid and oxonic acid to AMPK α2 knockout and wild-type mice.

Metformin improves renal injury of MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice via the AMPK/STAT3 pathway.

Objective: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a major complication and cause of death among patients with SLE. This research used in vivo and in vitro experiments to explore the therapeutic potential of metformin in kidney injury from LN-induced inflammation.

Methods: In vivo study, 8-week-old MRL/MpJ-Faslpr/J (MRL/lpr) mice were randomly divided into two groups (n=12 each): daily administration of 0.

Full particle-in-cell simulation of the formation and structure of a collisional plasma shock wave.

The formation and structure of a collisional shock wave in a fully ionized plasma is studied via full particle-in-cell simulations, which allows the complex momentum and energy transfer processes between different charged particles to be treated self-consistently. The kinetic energy of the plasma flow drifting towards a reflecting piston is found to be rapidly converted into thermal motion under the cooperative effects of ion-ion collisions, ion-electron collisions, and electric field charged-particle interactions. The subsequent shock evolution is influenced by the "precursor" ion beam before a quasisteady state is reached.

Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 00858 functions as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-422a to facilitate the cell growth in non-small cell lung cancer.

The expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) is dysregulated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the functions and contributions of lncRNAs remain largely unknown. Here, we identified a critical role of long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 00858 (LINC00858) in NSCLC.

Three Gorges Dam: Impact of Water Level Changes on the Density of Schistosome-Transmitting Snail Oncomelania hupensis in Dongting Lake Area, China.

Background: Schistosomiasis remains an important public health issue in China and worldwide. Oncomelania hupensis is the unique intermediate host of schistosoma japonicum, and its change influences the distribution of S. japonica.

[Short-term effect of black film covering on Oncomelania hupensis snail control in marshland and lake regions].

Objective: To evaluate the short-term effect of the black film covering combined with niclosamide on Oncomelania hupensis snail control in marshland and lake regions.

Methods: A ditch with snails in Anxiang County was selected as the experimental sites. The ditch was divided into 3 groups: a film group, a niclosamide group, and a niclosamide and film group.

[Effect of comprehensive schistosomiasis control measures with focus on buffalo and sheep removal in Anxiang County].

Objective: To understand the effect of comprehensive schistosomiasis control measures with focus on buffalo and sheep removal in Anxiang City, Dongting Lake area.

Methods: The data of buffalo and sheep removal, routine schistosomiasis control measures such as disease detection and treatment, Oncomelania snail survey and control, as well as health education were collected and analyzed in Anxiang County, Hunan Province from 2004 to 2012.

Results: The schistosome infection rates of people, domestic animals and snails decreased from 11.

Fluoxetine protects against big endothelin-1 induced anti-apoptosis by rescuing Kv1.5 channels in human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells.

Purpose: Pulmonary Kv channels are thought to play a crucial role in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis. Previous studies have shown that fluoxetine upregulated the expression of Kv1.5 and prevented pulmonary arterial hypertension in monocrotaline-induced or hypoxia-induced rats and mice.

[Evaluation of schistosomiasis control effect of buffalo removal in Anxiang County].

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a comprehensive schistosomiasis control strategy based on buffalo removal in a lake and marshland region.

Methods: A community intervention trial was carried out in seven pilot villages and seven control villages along Dongting Lake in Anxiang County, Hunan Province. Besides annual routine control measures such as synchronous chemotherapy, molluscicidal spray and health education, all buffaloes and sheep were killed or removed from the pilot areas in 2005, of which the effect was strengthened by other supporting measures such as replacing bovines by agricultural machines, isolating meadows and prohibiting pastures, supplying safe water, and building sanitary lavatories or methane pits.

Magnetic-field generation and electron-collimation analysis for propagating fast electron beams in overdense plasmas.

An analytical fluid model is proposed for artificially collimating fast electron beams produced in the interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with specially engineered low-density-core-high-density-cladding structure targets. Since this theory clearly predicts the characteristics of the spontaneously generated magnetic field and its dependence on the plasma parameters of the targets transporting fast electrons, it is of substantial relevance to the target design for fast ignition. The theory also reveals that the rapid changing of the flow velocity of the background electrons in a transverse direction (perpendicular to the flow velocity) caused by the density jump dominates the generation of a spontaneous interface magnetic field for these kinds of targets.

China's new strategy to block Schistosoma japonicum transmission: experiences and impact beyond schistosomiasis.

Despite sustained efforts for its control made over the past 50+ years, the re-emergence of schistosomiasis in China was noted around the turn of the new millennium. Consequently, a new integrated strategy was proposed to stop the contamination of schistosome eggs to the environment, which emphasizes health education, access to clean water and adequate sanitation, mechanization of agriculture and fencing of water buffaloes, along with chemotherapy. Validation of this integrated control strategy in four pilot counties in the provinces of Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi revealed significant reductions in the rate of Schistosoma japonicum infection in humans and intermediate host snails.

Continuous fluoxetine administration prevents recurrence of pulmonary arterial hypertension and prolongs survival in rats.

1. The serotonin transporter (SERT) is strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients and animal models. Inhibitors of SERT have been reported to attenuate or reverse experimental PAH, which makes them potential therapeutic options for the treatment of PAH in humans.

Generation of strong quasistatic magnetic fields in interactions of ultraintense and short laser pulses with overdense plasma targets.

An analytical fluid model is proposed for the generation of strong quasistatic magnetic fields during normal incidence of a short ultraintense Gaussian laser pulse with a finite spot size on an overdense plasma. The steepening of the electron density profile in the originally homogeneous overdense plasma and the formation of electron cavitation as the electrons are pushed inward by the laser are included self-consistently. It is shown that the appearance of the cavitation plays an important role in the generation of quasistatic magnetic fields: the strong plasma inhomogeneities caused by the formation of the electron cavitation lead to the generation of a strong axial quasistatic magnetic field Bz.

[The clinical study on the adjunctive effects of aqueous extract from coptis root for the treatment of chronic periodontitis].

Purpose: To make a therapeutic membrane with aqueous extract from coptis root and explore its adjunctive effects for treating chronic periodontitis.

Methods: Drug membrane from coptis root aqueous extract was developed; 4 teeth in 30 patients with moderate to advanced periodontitis were randomly divided into four groups: coptis root membrane, iodine glycerin, single drug membrane and blank control group. All parameters including plaque index (PI), probing depth (PD), attachment loss (AL) and bleeding on probing (BOP) were measured at baseline, 4 and 7 weeks after treatment.