Description: Based on Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) g, r and South Galactic Cap of u-band Sky Survey (SCUSS) u photometry, we develop a photometric calibration for estimating the stellar metallicity from u – g and g – r colours by using the SDSS spectra of 32 542 F- and G-type main-sequence stars, which cover almost 3700 deg 2 in the south Galactic cap. The rms scatter of the photometric metallicity residuals relative to spectrum-based metallicity is 0.14 dex when g – r  〈 0.4, and 0.16 dex when g – r  〉 0.4. Because of the deeper and more accurate magnitude of SCUSS u band, the estimate can be used up to the faint magnitude of g  = 21. This application range of photometric metallicity calibration is wide enough so that it can be used to study metallicity distribution of distant stars. In this study, we select the Sagittarius (Sgr) stream and its neighbouring field halo stars in south Galactic cap to study their metallicity distribution. We find that the Sgr stream at the cylindrical Galactocentric coordinate of R  ~ 19 kpc, | z | ~ 14 kpc exhibits a relative rich metallicity distribution, and the neighbouring field halo stars in our studied fields can be modelled by two-Gaussian model, with peaks, respectively, at [Fe/H] = –1.9 and –1.5.

Description: To trace the source of the avian H7N9 viruses, we collected 99 samples from 4 live poultry markets and the family farms of 3 patients in Hangzhou city of Zhejiang province, China. We found that almost all positive samples came from chickens and ducks in live poultry markets. These results strongly suggest that the live poultry markets are the major source of recent human infections with H7N9 in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province of China. Therefore, control measures are needed, not only in the domestic bird population, but also in the live poultry markets to reduce human H7N9 infection risk.

Description: Based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and South Galactic Cap of u -band Sky Survey (SCUSS) early data, we use a star count method to estimate the Galactic structure parameters in an intermediate latitude with 10 180 main-sequence (MS) stars in an absolute magnitude interval of 4 ≤  M r  ≤ 13. We divide the absolute magnitude into five intervals, 4 ≤  M r  〈 5, 5 ≤  M r  〈 6, 6 ≤  M r  〈 8, 8 ≤  M r  〈 10 and 10 ≤  M r  ≤ 13, and estimate the Galactic structure parameters in each absolute magnitude interval to explore their possible variation with the absolute magnitude. Our study shows that the parameters depend on absolute magnitude. For the thin disc, the intrinsic faint MS stars have large local space density and they tend to stay close to the Galactic plane. A plausible explanation is that faint MS stars with long lifetime experience and long gravitational interaction time result in a short scaleheight. However, for the thick disc, the parameters show a complex trend with absolute magnitude, which may imply the complicated original of the thick disc. For the halo, the intrinsic faint MS stars have large local density and small axial ratio, which indicate a flattened inner halo and a more spherical outer halo.

Description: Humanin (HN) is a novel 24-amino acid mitochondrial-derived peptide that has demonstrated diverse cytoprotective effects, including an emerging role in diabetes. The purpose of this study was to examine the pharmacokinetics of humanin analogues, which show great potential as therapeutic agents (HNG and the non-IGFBP-3 binding, HNGF6A). 11-week-old male IGFBP-3 –/– and wild type (WT) mice were divided into 3 groups: WT mice treated with HNG, WT mice treated with HNGF6A, and IGFBP-3 –/– mice treated with HNG. Plasma was obtained from mice following ip injection with HN analogues, and HN levels were measured with ELISA. WT mice treated with HNGF6A and IGFBP-3 –/– mice treated with HNG displayed a longer half-life of HN compared with WT mice treated with HNG. Following HNG injection, both IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels decreased over time. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were also ip injected with HNG, and HN levels were measured in various tissues (plasma, liver, heart, and brain) by ELISA. The half-life of HN was found to be longer in rats compared with mice. In rats, HN levels were found to be highest in plasma, present in liver, and undetectable in brain or heart. The current study provides evidence of HN and IGFBP-3 association in the circulation and suggests that native HN may modulate the distribution of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3. The results also demonstrate varying kinetic profiles of HN analogues and interspecies variation in rodents. Sustainable levels of circulating HN measured in plasma underline the potential value of HN analogues as a new therapeutic intervention in the treatment of diabetes.

Description: Aims With the continuing increase in the impact of human activities on ecosystems, ecologists are increasingly interested in understanding the effects of high temperature on litter decomposition since litter decomposition and the accompanying release of nutrients and carbon dioxide are key processes in ecosystem nutrient cycling and carbon flux. This study was conducted to evaluate the temperature sensitivity of forest litter decomposition and soil enzymes during litter decomposition in subtropical forest in China. Methods Two dominant litter types were chosen from Zijin Mountain in China: Quercus acutissima leaves from a broadleaf forest (BF) and Pinus massoniana needles from a coniferous forest (CF). The litter samples were incubated in soil microcosms at ambient control temperature (20°C) and 10°C warmer. During a 5-month incubation, chemical composition of litter samples, litter mass losses, and related soil enzyme activities were determined. Important Findings Three main results were found: (i) high temperature accelerated decomposition rates of both litter types, and the temperature sensitivities of litter decomposition for BF leaves and that for CF needles are equivalent basically, (ii) high temperature enhanced soil enzyme activities in the two forest types, and the temperature sensitivities of polyphenol oxidase were significantly higher than those of the other soil enzymes and (iii) the temperature sensitivities of nitrate reductase were significantly higher in the CF soil than in the BF soil, while there was no significant difference in the temperature sensitivities of the other soil enzymes between BF and CF. As a long-term consequence, the high-temperature-induced acceleration of litter decomposition rates in these subtropical forests may cause carbon stored belowground to be transferred in the atmosphere, which may alter the balance between carbon uptake and release, and then alter the global carbon cycle in the coming decades.

Description: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules, which act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and have been implicated in initiation, progression and treatment outcome of diverse cancers. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), as the most common type of genetic variation, also exist in miRNA genes and can lead to alteration in miRNA expression resulting in diverse functional consequences. Emerging studies have evaluated the association of miRNA SNPs with cancer risk, but the results remain inconclusive. To assess the relationship between miRNA SNPs and cancer risk, we performed a meta-analysis of 18 studies involving 20660 subjects for miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism and 21 studies involving 26,018 subjects for miR-196a2 rs11614913 polymorphism. As for rs2910164, no significant association of cancer risk was found in the overall analysis. In subgroup analysis by cancer type, ethnicity, source of controls and sample size, significant association of cancer risk was mainly found in papillary thyroid carcinoma, primary liver cancer, cervical cancer, Caucasian population and small sample size studies. For rs11614913, significant results were found in all the tested genetic models and T allele or its carriers were associated with decreased cancer risk in overall analysis (T vs. C: OR = 0.888, 95% CI 0.84–0.938; TT+TC vs. CC: OR = 0.897, 95% CI 0.828–0.971). In stratified analysis by cancer type and ethnicity, significant association of cancer risk was observed in breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer and Asian population, but not in Caucasian population. During further stratified analysis by source of controls and sample size, results similar to those of overall analysis were found in all of the subgroups. Taken together, our results indicated that miR-196a2 rs11614913 T variant probably contribute to decreased susceptibility to cancer. However, limited evidence was found for association of miR-146a rs2910164 with cancer risk, and further well-designed studies with large sample size will be necessary to validate the effect of miR-146a rs2910164 on cancer susceptibility.

Description: Germline mutations in genes that cause hereditary syndromes are highly predisposed to familial pancreatic cancer. However, genetic susceptibility to sporadic pancreatic cancer is largely uncovered. We conducted a two-stage association study on pancreatic cancer that included 981 cases and 1991 controls in the first stage followed by a second stage (2603 cases and 2877 controls). Using an approach based on candidate genes whose roles in pancreatic cancer have been well known, we identified two new susceptibility loci. rs11571836 located in the BRCA2 3'-untranslated region was significantly associated with lower expression of BRCA2 transcript and increased pancreatic cancer risk [odds ratio = 1.30, 95% confidence interval = 1.14–1.47, P = 7.64 x 10 –5 ] in a recessive manner. rs12939944 located in the MAP2K4 intron was associated with decreased risk (odds ratio = 0.82, 95% confidence interval = 0.74–0.91, P = 0.0001) in a dominant manner. Our results demonstrate for the first time that common variants in BRCA2 and MAP2K4 are susceptibility to sporadic pancreatic cancer.

Description: We propose an approach to extend the isogeometric analysis (IGA) method to solve material interface problems. The development is carried out through incorporating the advantages of the extended finite element method into the standard IGA approach for solving problems with discontinuities. By applying both the XIGA and IGA methods to solve Poisson's equation problem containing weak discontinuities, we demonstrate that the XIGA achieves the optimal convergence rate, whereas the IGA only converges suboptimally. The proposed method is then successfully applied to solve bimaterial and curved material interface problems.

Description: Based on the LAMOST survey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we use low-resolution spectra of 130 043 F/G-type dwarf stars to study the kinematics and metallicity properties of the Galactic disc. Our study shows that the stars with poorer metallicity and larger vertical distance from the Galactic plane tend to have a larger eccentricity and velocity dispersion. After separating the sample stars into likely thin-disc and thick-disc sub-samples, we find that there exists a negative gradient of rotation velocity V with metallicity [Fe/H] for the likely thin-disc sub-sample, and the thick-disc sub-sample exhibits a larger positive gradient of rotation velocity with metallicity. By comparing with model predictions, we consider that the radial migration of stars appears to have influenced the formation of the thin disc. In addition, our results show that the observed thick-disc stellar orbital eccentricity distribution peaks at low eccentricity ( e ~ 0.2) and extends to a high eccentricity ( e ~ 0.8). We compare this result with four thick-disc formation simulation models, which imply that our result is consistent with the gas-rich merger model.

Description: Gene fusions and their products (RNA and protein) were once thought to be unique features to cancer. However, chimeric RNAs can also be found in normal cells. Here, we performed, curated and analyzed nearly 300 RNA-Seq libraries covering 30 different non-neoplastic human tissues and cells as well as 15 mouse tissues. A large number of fusion transcripts were found. Most fusions were detected only once, while 291 were seen in more than one sample. We focused on the recurrent fusions and performed RNA and protein level validations on a subset. We characterized these fusions based on various features of the fusions, and their parental genes. They tend to be expressed at higher levels relative to their parental genes than the non-recurrent ones. Over half of the recurrent fusions involve neighboring genes transcribing in the same direction. A few sequence motifs were found enriched close to the fusion junction sites. We performed functional analyses on a few widely expressed fusions, and found that silencing them resulted in dramatic reduction in normal cell growth and/or motility. Most chimeras use canonical splicing sites, thus are likely products of ‘intergenic splicing’. We also explored the implications of these non-pathological fusions in cancer and in evolution.