TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Hao A1 - Wang, Xue-jiang A1 - Wang, Wei-shi A1 - Yan, Xiang-bo A1 - Xia, Peng A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Zhao, Jian-fu T1 - Modeling and optimization of struvite recovery from wastewater and reusing for heavy metals immobilization in contaminated soil JF - Journal of chemical technology & biotechnology N2 - BACKROUND: Few studies have been carried out to connect nutrients recovery from wastewater and heavy metals immobilization in contaminated soil. To achieve the goal, ammonia nitrogen (AN) and phosphorus (P) were recovered from rare-earth wastewater by using the formation of struvite, which was used as the amendment with plant ash for copper, lead and chromium immobilization. RESULTS: AN removal efficiency and residual P reached 95.32 +/- 0.73% and 6.14 +/- 1.72mgL(-1) under optimal conditions: pH= 9.0, n(Mg): n(N): n(P)= 1.2: 1: 1.1, which were obtained using response surface methodology (RSM). The minimum available concentrations of Cu, Pb and Cr (CPC) separately reduced to 320.82 mg kg(-1), 190.77 mg kg(-1) and 121.46 mg kg(-1) with increasing immobilization time at the mass ratio of phosphate precipitate (PP)/plant ash (PA) of 1: 3. Humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) were beneficial to immobilize Cu, both of which showed no effect or even a negative effect on Pb and Cr immobilization. KW - precipitation KW - experimental design KW - immobilization KW - heavy metals KW - environmental remediation Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.4931 SN - 0268-2575 SN - 1097-4660 VL - 91 SP - 3045 EP - 3052 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Jian A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Wang, Zi-Neng A1 - Liu, Tie-Bin A1 - Chen, Dan A1 - Dong, Yun-Peng A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - A functional fetal HSD11B2[CA]n microsatellite polymorphism is associated with maternal serum cortisol concentrations in pregnant women JF - Kidney & blood pressure research : official organ of the Gesellschaft für Nephrologie N2 - Background/Aims: Cortisol plays an important role during pregnancy. It controls maternal glucose metabolism and fetal development. Cortisol metabolism is partially controlled by the 11b-HSD2. This enzyme is expressed in the kidney and human placenta. The activity of the enzyme is partially controlled by functional polymorphisms: the HSD11B2[CA]n microsatellite polymorphism. The impact of this functional gene polymorphism on cortisol metabolism and potential effects on the newborn's is unknown so far. Methods: In the current prospective birth cohort study in southern Asia, we analyzed the association of the HSD11B2[CA]n microsatellite polymorphisms in 187 mothers and their newborn's on maternal and newborn's serum cortisol concentrations. Results: Using multivariable regression analyses considering known confounding ( gestational age, newborn's gender, the labor uterine contraction states and the timing during the day of blood taking), we showed that the fetal HSD11B2[CA]n microsatellite polymorphisms in the first intron was related to maternal cortisol concentration ( R2=0.26, B=96.27, p=0.007), whereas as the newborn's cortisol concentrations were independent of fetal and maternal HSD11B2[CA] n microsatellite polymorphism. Conclusions: Our study showed for the first time that the fetal HSD11B2[CA]n microsatellite polymorphism of the HSD11B2 gene in healthy uncomplicated human pregnancy is associated with maternal cortisol concentration. This indicates that fetal genes controlling cortisol metabolism may affect maternal cortisol concentration and hence physiology in healthy pregnant women. KW - Pregnancy KW - Placenta KW - Cortisol vertical bar metabolism KW - 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 KW - HSD11B2[CA]n polymorphism Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1159/000355761 SN - 1420-4096 SN - 1423-0143 VL - 38 IS - 1 SP - 132 EP - 141 PB - Karger CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Jian A1 - Wang, Zi-Neng A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Dong, Yun-Peng A1 - Shuai, Han-Lin A1 - Xiao, Xiao-Min A1 - Reichetzeder, Christoph A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Late gestational maternal serum cortisol is inversely associated with fetal brain growth JF - Neuroscience & biobehavioral reviews : official journal of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society N2 - To analyze the association between fetal brain growth and late gestational blood serum cortisol in normal pregnancy.Blood total cortisol was quantified at delivery in 432 Chinese mother/child pairs. Key inclusion criteria of the cohort were: no structural anomalies of the newborn, singleton pregnancy, no alcohol abuse, no drug abuse or history of smoking no hypertensive disorders and no impairment of glucose tolerance and no use of steroid medication during pregnancy. Differential ultrasound examination of the fetal body was done in early (gestational day 89.95 +/- 7.31), middle (gestational day 160.17 16.12) and late pregnancy (gestational day 268.89 +/- 12.42). Newborn's cortisol was not correlated with any of the ultrasound measurements during pregnancy nor with birth weight. Multivariable regression analysis, considering timing of the ultrasound examination, the child's sex, maternal BMI, maternal age, maternal body weight at delivery, the timing of cortisol measurement and maternal uterine contraction states, revealed that maternal serum total cortisol was significantly negative correlated with ultrasound parameters describing the fetal brain: late biparietal diameter (R-2 =0.512, p =0.009), late head circumference (R-2 = 0.498, p= 0.001), middle biparietal diameter (R-2= 0.819, p = 0.013), middle cerebellum transverse diameter R-2 = 0.76, p= 0.014) and early biparietal diameter(R-2 = 0.819, p = 0.013). The same analysis revealed that birth weight as well as ultrasound parameters such as abdominal circumference and femur length were not correlated to maternal cortisol levels. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that maternal cortisol secretion within physiological ranges may be inversely correlated to fetal brain growth but not to birth weight. It remains to be demonstrated whether maternal cortisol secretion negatively influencing fetal brain growth translates to adverse neurological outcomes in later life. KW - Brain development KW - Fetal programming KW - Cortisol Maternal cortisol KW - Head circumference KW - Biparietal diameter Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.006 SN - 0149-7634 VL - 36 IS - 3 SP - 1085 EP - 1092 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Jian A1 - Wang, Zi-Neng A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Dong, Yun-Peng A1 - Mao, Xiao-Min A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Association of fetal but not maternal P-glycoprotein C3435T polymorphism with fetal growth and birth weight, a possible risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in later life JF - Clinical laboratory : the peer reviewed journal for clinical laboratories and laboratories related to blood transfusion N2 - Background: The multidrug transporter P-glycoprotein (PGP) is expressed in the human placenta. In particular the C3435T ABCB1 polymorphism was associated with altered tissue expression of PGP in the human placenta. However, the potential functional impact of this polymorphism on the offspring is unknown so far. Methods: We analyzed the impact of the ABCB1/C3435T polymorphism on fetal growth in 262 mother/child pairs. Fetal growth was assessed by differential ultrasound examination of the fetal body prior to birth and by measuring birth weight. Results: The maternal ABCB1/C3435T polymorphism showed no trend for an association with birth weight or any ultrasound parameter describing late gestational fetal body shape. Genotyping the newborns, however, demonstrated that newborns carrying two copies of the T allele had a birth weight of 3176.39 g, whereas CT and CC newborns had a birth weight of 3345.04 g (p = 0.022). Adjusting for gestational age at delivery, child's gender, maternal BM1, maternal age and body weight at delivery confirmed this finding (p = 0.009). Considering gestational day of late ultrasound examination, gestational age at delivery, child's gender, maternal BMI, maternal age and maternal body weight at delivery, the fetal ABCB1/C3435T genotype revealed likewise a significant negative correlation with abdominal diameter and abdominal circumference (R-2 = 0.538, p = 0.010 and R-2 = 0.534, p = 0.005, respectively). Conclusions: Low birth weight may be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in later life. The fetal ABCB1/C3435T gene polymorphism may contribute to this risk. Since PGP controls transport of various biological agents, we suggest that PGP is involved in the transport of biological agents to the fetus that are important for normal fetal growth. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.7754/Clin.Lab.2012.110920 SN - 1433-6510 VL - 58 IS - 9-10 SP - 1085 EP - 1089 PB - Clin Lab Publ., Verl. Klinisches Labor CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chen, Yao A1 - Wang, Guang A1 - Wang, Xiao-yu A1 - Ma, Zheng-lai A1 - Chen, You-peng A1 - Chuai, Manli A1 - von Websky, Karoline A1 - Hocher, Berthold A1 - Yang, Xuesong T1 - Effects of high salt-exposure on the development of retina and lens in 5.5-Day Chick Embryo JF - Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology N2 - Background/Aims: Excess maternal salt intake during pregnancy may alter fetal development. However; our knowledge on how an increased salt intake during pregnancy influences fetal eye development is limited. In this study, we investigated the effects of high salt treatment on the developing eyes in chick embryos, especially focusing on the development of the retina and the lens. Methods: 5.5 day chick embryos were exposed to 280mosm/l (n=17), or 300mosm/l (n=16) NaCl. The treated embryos were then incubated for 96 hours before they were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for H&E staining, whole mount embryo immunostaining and TUNEL staining. BrdU and PH3 incorporation experiments were performed on the chick embryos after high salt treatment. RT-PCR analyses were conducted from chick retina tissues. Results: We demonstrated that high-salt treatment altered the size of eyes in chick embryos, induced malformation of the eyes and impaired the development of the lens and the retina. We found an impaired expression of Paired box 6 (PAX6) and neuronal cells in the developing retina as revealed by neurofilament immunofluorescent staining. There was a reduction in the number of BrdU-positive cells and PH3-positive cells in the retina, indicating an impaired cell proliferation with high salt treatment. High salt treatment also resulted in an increased number of TUNEL-positive cells in the retina, indicating a higher amount of cell death. RT-PCR data displayed that the expression of the pro-apoptotic molecule nerve growth factor (NGF) in chick retina was increased and CyclinD1 was reduced with high-salt treatment. The size of the lens was reduced and Pax6 expression in the lens was significantly inhibited. High salt treatment was detrimental to the migration of neural crest cells. Conclusion: Taken together; our study demonstrated that high salt exposure of 5.5 day chick embryos led to an impairment of retina and lens development, possibly through interfering with Pax6 expression. KW - Chick embryos KW - High osmolarity KW - Retina KW - Lens KW - Pax6 Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1159/000363044 SN - 1015-8987 SN - 1421-9778 VL - 34 IS - 3 SP - 804 EP - 817 PB - Karger CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Peng, Junjie A1 - Liu, Danxu A1 - Wang, Yingtao A1 - Zeng, Ying A1 - Cheng, Feng A1 - Zhang, Wenqiang T1 - Weight-based strategy for an I/O-intensive application at a cloud data center JF - Concurrency and computation : practice & experience N2 - Applications with different characteristics in the cloud may have different resources preferences. However, traditional resource allocation and scheduling strategies rarely take into account the characteristics of applications. Considering that an I/O-intensive application is a typical type of application and that frequent I/O accesses, especially small files randomly accessing the disk, may lead to an inefficient use of resources and reduce the quality of service (QoS) of applications, a weight allocation strategy is proposed based on the available resources that a physical server can provide as well as the characteristics of the applications. Using the weight obtained, a resource allocation and scheduling strategy is presented based on the specific application characteristics in the data center. Extensive experiments show that the strategy is correct and can guarantee a high concurrency of I/O per second (IOPS) in a cloud data center with high QoS. Additionally, the strategy can efficiently improve the utilization of the disk and resources of the data center without affecting the service quality of applications. KW - IOPS KW - process scheduling KW - random I KW - O KW - small files KW - weight Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/cpe.4648 SN - 1532-0626 SN - 1532-0634 VL - 30 IS - 19 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gong, Chen Chris A1 - Libeskind, Noam I. A1 - Tempel, Elmo A1 - Guo, Quan A1 - Gottloeber, Stefan A1 - Yepes, Gustavo A1 - Wang, Peng A1 - Sorce, Jenny A1 - Pawlowski, Marcel T1 - The origin of lopsided satellite galaxy distribution in galaxy pairs JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - It is well known that satellite galaxies are not isotropically distributed among their host galaxies as suggested by most interpretations of the Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model. One type of anisotropy recently detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (and seen when examining the distribution of satellites in the Local Group and in the Centaurus group) is a tendency to be so-called lopsided. Namely, in pairs of galaxies (like Andromeda and the Milky Way) the satellites are more likely to inhabit the region in between the pair, rather than on opposing sides. Although recent studies found a similar set-up when comparing pairs of galaxies in ΛCDM simulations indicating that such a set-up is not inconsistent with ΛCDM, the origin has yet to be explained. Here we examine the origin of such lopsided set-ups by first identifying such distributions in pairs of galaxies in numerical cosmological simulations, and then tracking back the orbital trajectories of satellites (which at z = 0 display the effect). We report two main results: first, the lopsided distribution was stronger in the past and weakens towards z = 0. Secondly, the weakening of the signal is due to the interaction of satellite galaxies with the pair. Finally, we show that the z = 0 signal is driven primarily by satellites that are on first approach, who have yet to experience a ‘flyby’. This suggests that the signal seen in the observations is also dominated by dynamically young accretion events. KW - galaxies: evolution KW - galaxies: formation KW - galaxy: kinematics and dynamics KW - Local Group KW - dark matter KW - cosmology: theory Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz1917 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 488 IS - 3 SP - 3100 EP - 3108 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Warrington, Nicole A1 - Beaumont, Robin A1 - Horikoshi, Momoko A1 - Day, Felix R. A1 - Helgeland, Øyvind A1 - Laurin, Charles A1 - Bacelis, Jonas A1 - Peng, Shouneng A1 - Hao, Ke A1 - Feenstra, Bjarke A1 - Wood, Andrew R. A1 - Mahajan, Anubha A1 - Tyrrell, Jessica A1 - Robertson, Neil R. A1 - Rayner, N. William A1 - Qiao, Zhen A1 - Moen, Gunn-Helen A1 - Vaudel, Marc A1 - Marsit, Carmen A1 - Chen, Jia A1 - Nodzenski, Michael A1 - Schnurr, Theresia M. A1 - Zafarmand, Mohammad Hadi A1 - Bradfield, Jonathan P. A1 - Grarup, Niels A1 - Kooijman, Marjolein N. A1 - Li-Gao, Ruifang A1 - Geller, Frank A1 - Ahluwalia, Tarunveer Singh A1 - Paternoster, Lavinia A1 - Rueedi, Rico A1 - Huikari, Ville A1 - Hottenga, Jouke-Jan A1 - Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka A1 - Cavadino, Alana A1 - Metrustry, Sarah A1 - Cousminer, Diana L. A1 - Wu, Ying A1 - Thiering, Elisabeth Paula A1 - Wang, Carol A. A1 - Have, Christian Theil A1 - Vilor-Tejedor, Natalia A1 - Joshi, Peter K. A1 - Painter, Jodie N. A1 - Ntalla, Ioanna A1 - Myhre, Ronny A1 - Pitkänen, Niina A1 - van Leeuwen, Elisabeth M. A1 - Joro, Raimo A1 - Lagou, Vasiliki A1 - Richmond, Rebecca C. A1 - Espinosa, Ana A1 - Barton, Sheila J. A1 - Inskip, Hazel M. A1 - Holloway, John W. A1 - Santa-Marina, Loreto A1 - Estivill, Xavier A1 - Ang, Wei A1 - Marsh, Julie A. A1 - Reichetzeder, Christoph A1 - Marullo, Letizia A1 - Hocher, Berthold A1 - Lunetta, Kathryn L. A1 - Murabito, Joanne M. A1 - Relton, Caroline L. A1 - Kogevinas, Manolis A1 - Chatzi, Leda A1 - Allard, Catherine A1 - Bouchard, Luigi A1 - Hivert, Marie-France A1 - Zhang, Ge A1 - Muglia, Louis J. A1 - Heikkinen, Jani A1 - Morgen, Camilla S. A1 - van Kampen, Antoine H. C. A1 - van Schaik, Barbera D. C. A1 - Mentch, Frank D. A1 - Langenberg, Claudia A1 - Scott, Robert A. A1 - Zhao, Jing Hua A1 - Hemani, Gibran A1 - Ring, Susan M. A1 - Bennett, Amanda J. A1 - Gaulton, Kyle J. A1 - Fernandez-Tajes, Juan A1 - van Zuydam, Natalie R. A1 - Medina-Gomez, Carolina A1 - de Haan, Hugoline G. A1 - Rosendaal, Frits R. A1 - Kutalik, Zoltán A1 - Marques-Vidal, Pedro A1 - Das, Shikta A1 - Willemsen, Gonneke A1 - Mbarek, Hamdi A1 - Müller-Nurasyid, Martina A1 - Standl, Marie A1 - Appel, Emil V. R. A1 - Fonvig, Cilius Esmann A1 - Trier, Caecilie A1 - van Beijsterveldt, Catharina E. M. A1 - Murcia, Mario A1 - Bustamante, Mariona A1 - Bonàs-Guarch, Sílvia A1 - Hougaard, David M. A1 - Mercader, Josep M. A1 - Linneberg, Allan A1 - Schraut, Katharina E. A1 - Lind, Penelope A. A1 - Medland, Sarah Elizabeth A1 - Shields, Beverley M. A1 - Knight, Bridget A. A1 - Chai, Jin-Fang A1 - Panoutsopoulou, Kalliope A1 - Bartels, Meike A1 - Sánchez, Friman A1 - Stokholm, Jakob A1 - Torrents, David A1 - Vinding, Rebecca K. A1 - Willems, Sara M. A1 - Atalay, Mustafa A1 - Chawes, Bo L. A1 - Kovacs, Peter A1 - Prokopenko, Inga A1 - Tuke, Marcus A. A1 - Yaghootkar, Hanieh A1 - Ruth, Katherine S. A1 - Jones, Samuel E. A1 - Loh, Po-Ru A1 - Murray, Anna A1 - Weedon, Michael N. A1 - Tönjes, Anke A1 - Stumvoll, Michael A1 - Michaelsen, Kim Fleischer A1 - Eloranta, Aino-Maija A1 - Lakka, Timo A. A1 - van Duijn, Cornelia M. A1 - Kiess, Wieland A1 - Koerner, Antje A1 - Niinikoski, Harri A1 - Pahkala, Katja A1 - Raitakari, Olli T. A1 - Jacobsson, Bo A1 - Zeggini, Eleftheria A1 - Dedoussis, George V. A1 - Teo, Yik-Ying A1 - Saw, Seang-Mei A1 - Montgomery, Grant W. A1 - Campbell, Harry A1 - Wilson, James F. A1 - Vrijkotte, Tanja G. M. A1 - Vrijheid, Martine A1 - de Geus, Eco J. C. N. A1 - Hayes, M. Geoffrey A1 - Kadarmideen, Haja N. A1 - Holm, Jens-Christian A1 - Beilin, Lawrence J. A1 - Pennell, Craig E. A1 - Heinrich, Joachim A1 - Adair, Linda S. A1 - Borja, Judith B. A1 - Mohlke, Karen L. A1 - Eriksson, Johan G. A1 - Widen, Elisabeth E. A1 - Hattersley, Andrew T. A1 - Spector, Tim D. A1 - Kaehoenen, Mika A1 - Viikari, Jorma S. A1 - Lehtimaeki, Terho A1 - Boomsma, Dorret I. A1 - Sebert, Sylvain A1 - Vollenweider, Peter A1 - Sorensen, Thorkild I. A. A1 - Bisgaard, Hans A1 - Bonnelykke, Klaus A1 - Murray, Jeffrey C. A1 - Melbye, Mads A1 - Nohr, Ellen A. A1 - Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O. A1 - Rivadeneira, Fernando A1 - Hofman, Albert A1 - Felix, Janine F. A1 - Jaddoe, Vincent W. V. A1 - Hansen, Torben A1 - Pisinger, Charlotta A1 - Vaag, Allan A. A1 - Pedersen, Oluf A1 - Uitterlinden, Andre G. A1 - Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta A1 - Power, Christine A1 - Hypponen, Elina A1 - Scholtens, Denise M. A1 - Lowe, William L. A1 - Smith, George Davey A1 - Timpson, Nicholas J. A1 - Morris, Andrew P. A1 - Wareham, Nicholas J. A1 - Hakonarson, Hakon A1 - Grant, Struan F. A. A1 - Frayling, Timothy M. A1 - Lawlor, Debbie A. A1 - Njolstad, Pal R. A1 - Johansson, Stefan A1 - Ong, Ken K. A1 - McCarthy, Mark I. A1 - Perry, John R. B. A1 - Evans, David M. A1 - Freathy, Rachel M. T1 - Maternal and fetal genetic effects on birth weight and their relevance to cardio-metabolic risk factors JF - Nature genetics N2 - Birth weight variation is influenced by fetal and maternal genetic and non-genetic factors, and has been reproducibly associated with future cardio-metabolic health outcomes. In expanded genome-wide association analyses of own birth weight (n = 321,223) and offspring birth weight (n = 230,069 mothers), we identified 190 independent association signals (129 of which are novel). We used structural equation modeling to decompose the contributions of direct fetal and indirect maternal genetic effects, then applied Mendelian randomization to illuminate causal pathways. For example, both indirect maternal and direct fetal genetic effects drive the observational relationship between lower birth weight and higher later blood pressure: maternal blood pressure-raising alleles reduce offspring birth weight, but only direct fetal effects of these alleles, once inherited, increase later offspring blood pressure. Using maternal birth weight-lowering genotypes to proxy for an adverse intrauterine environment provided no evidence that it causally raises offspring blood pressure, indicating that the inverse birth weight-blood pressure association is attributable to genetic effects, and not to intrauterine programming. Y1 - 2019 SN - 1061-4036 SN - 1546-1718 VL - 51 IS - 5 SP - 804 EP - + PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tian, Guang-Zong A1 - Hu, Jing A1 - Zhang, Heng-Xi A1 - Rademacher, Christoph A1 - Zou, Xiao-Peng A1 - Zheng, Hong-Ning A1 - Xu, Fei A1 - Wang, Xiao-Li A1 - Linker, Torsten A1 - Yin, Jian T1 - Synthesis and conformational analysis of linear homo- and heterooligomers from novel 2-C-branched sugar amino acids (SAAs) JF - Scientific reports N2 - Sugar amino acids (SAAs), as biologically interesting structures bearing both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups represent an important class of multifunctional building blocks. In this study, we develop an easy access to novel SAAs in only three steps starting from nitro compounds in high yields in analytically pure form, easily available by ceric (IV) mediated radical additions. Such novel SAAs have been applied in the assembly of total nine carbopeptoids with the form of linear homo-and heterooligomers for the structural investigations employing circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, which suggest that the carbopeptoids emerge a well-extended, left (or right)-handed conformation similar to polyproline II (PPII) helices. NMR studies also clearly demonstrated the presence of ordered secondary structural elements. 2D-ROESY spectra were acquired to identify i+1NH <-> (C1H)-C-i, (C2H)-C-i correlations which support the conformational analysis of tetramers by CD spectroscopy. These findings provide interesting information of SAAs and their oligomers as potential scaffolds for discovering new drugs and materials. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24927-6 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 8 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lu, Yong-Ping A1 - Zeng, De-Ying A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Liang, Xu-Jing A1 - Xu, Jie-Ping A1 - Huang, Si-Min A1 - Lai, Zhi-Wei A1 - Wen, Wang-Rong A1 - von Websky, Karoline A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Low birth weight is associated with lower respiratory tract infections in children with hand, foot, and mouth disease JF - Clinical laboratory : the peer reviewed journal for clinical laboratories and laboratories related to blood transfusion N2 - Background: Low birth weight (LBW) might be a risk factor for acquiring lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) associated with disease related complications in early childhood. HFMD, a frequent viral infection in southern China, is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children. We analyzed whether LBW is a risk factor for children with HFMD to develop lower respiratory tract infections. Methods: A total of 298 children with HFMD, admitted to a hospital in Qingyuan city, Guangdong province, were recruited. Demographic data and clinical parameters such as serum glucose level and inflammatory markers including peripheral white blood cell count, serum C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were routinely collected on admission. Birth weight data were derived from birth records. Results: Mean birth weight (BW) was 167 g lower in patients with HFMD and LRTIs as compared to patients with solely HFMD (p = 0.022) and the frequency of birth weight below the tenth percentile was significantly higher in patients with HFMD and LRTIs (p = 0.002). Conclusions: The results of the study show that low birth weight is associated with a higher incidence of lower respiratory tract infections in young children with HFMD. KW - hand KW - foot and mouth disease (HFMD) KW - low birth weight (LBW) KW - lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) KW - pneumonia KW - children Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.7754/Clin.Lab.2012.120725 SN - 1433-6510 VL - 59 IS - 9-10 SP - 985 EP - 992 PB - Clin Lab Publ., Verl. Klinisches Labor CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cheng, Shifeng A1 - van den Bergh, Erik A1 - Zeng, Peng A1 - Zhong, Xiao A1 - Xu, Jiajia A1 - Liu, Xin A1 - Hofberger, Johannes A1 - de Bruijn, Suzanne A1 - Bhide, Amey S. A1 - Kuelahoglu, Canan A1 - Bian, Chao A1 - Chen, Jing A1 - Fan, Guangyi A1 - Kaufmann, Kerstin A1 - Hall, Jocelyn C. A1 - Becker, Annette A1 - Bräutigam, Andrea A1 - Weber, Andreas P. M. A1 - Shi, Chengcheng A1 - Zheng, Zhijun A1 - Li, Wujiao A1 - Lv, Mingju A1 - Tao, Yimin A1 - Wang, Junyi A1 - Zou, Hongfeng A1 - Quan, Zhiwu A1 - Hibberd, Julian M. A1 - Zhang, Gengyun A1 - Zhu, Xin-Guang A1 - Xu, Xun A1 - Schranz, M. Eric T1 - The Tarenaya hassleriana Genome Provides insight Into Reproductive Trait and Genome Evolution of Crucifers JF - The plant cell N2 - The Brassicaceae, including Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica crops, is unmatched among plants in its wealth of genomic and functional molecular data and has long served as a model for understanding gene, genome, and trait evolution. However, genome information from a phylogenetic outgroup that is essential for inferring directionality of evolutionary change has been lacking. We therefore sequenced the genome of the spider flower (Tarenaya hassleriana) from the Brassicaceae sister family, the Cleomaceae. By comparative analysis of the two lineages, we show that genome evolution following ancient polyploidy and gene duplication events affect reproductively important traits. We found an ancient genome triplication in Tarenaya (Th-alpha) that is independent of the Brassicaceae-specific duplication (At-alpha) and nested Brassica (Br-a) triplication. To showcase the potential of sister lineage genome analysis, we investigated the state of floral developmental genes and show Brassica retains twice as many floral MADS (for MINICHROMOSOME MAINTENANCE1, AGAMOUS, DEFICIENS and SERUM RESPONSE FACTOR) genes as Tarenaya that likely contribute to morphological diversity in Brassica. We also performed synteny analysis of gene families that confer self-incompatibility in Brassicaceae and found that the critical SERINE RECEPTOR KINASE receptor gene is derived from a lineage-specific tandem duplication. The T. hassleriana genome will facilitate future research toward elucidating the evolutionary history of Brassicaceae genomes. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.113.113480 SN - 1040-4651 VL - 25 IS - 8 SP - 2813 EP - 2830 PB - American Society of Plant Physiologists CY - Rockville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Xiao, Xiao-Min A1 - Li, Jian A1 - Reichetzeder, Christoph A1 - Wang, Zi-Neng A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Paternal body mass index (BMI) is associated with offspring intrauterine growth in a gender dependent manner JF - PLoS one N2 - Background: Environmental alternations leading to fetal programming of cardiovascular diseases in later life have been attributed to maternal factors. However, animal studies showed that paternal obesity may program cardio-metabolic diseases in the offspring. In the current study we tested the hypothesis that paternal BMI may be associated with fetal growth. Methods and Results: We analyzed the relationship between paternal body mass index (BMI) and birth weight, ultrasound parameters describing the newborn's body shape as well as parameters describing the newborns endocrine system such as cortisol, aldosterone, renin activity and fetal glycated serum protein in a birth cohort of 899 father/mother/child triplets. Since fetal programming is an offspring sex specific process, male and female offspring were analyzed separately. Multivariable regression analyses considering maternal BMI, paternal and maternal age, hypertension during pregnancy, maternal total glycated serum protein, parity and either gestational age (for birth weight) or time of ultrasound investigation (for ultrasound parameters) as confounding showed that paternal BMI is associated with growth of the male but not female offspring. Paternal BMI correlated with birth parameters of male offspring only: birth weight; biparietal diameter, head circumference; abdominal diameter, abdominal circumference; and pectoral diameter. Cortisol was likewise significantly correlated with paternal BMI in male newborns only. Conclusions: Paternal BMI affects growth of the male but not female offspring. Paternal BMI may thus represent a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases of male offspring in later life. It remains to be demonstrated whether this is linked to an offspring sex specific paternal programming of cortisol secretion. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036329 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 7 IS - 5 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Li, Jian A1 - Wang, Zi-Neng A1 - Reichetzeder, Christoph A1 - Xu, Hao A1 - Gong, Jian A1 - Chen, Guang-Ji A1 - Pfab, Thiemo A1 - Xiao, Xiao-Min A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Renin angiotensin aldosterone system and glycemia in pregnancy JF - Clinical laboratory : the peer reviewed journal for clinical laboratories and laboratories related to blood transfusion N2 - Background: The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in the general population. The RAAS is activated during pregnancy. However, it is unknown whether the RAAS contributes to glycemia in pregnant women. Methods: Plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma aldosterone levels were quantified at delivery in 689 Chinese mothers. An oral glucose tolerance test in fasted women was performed in the second trimester of pregnancy. The diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and impaired glucose tolerance during pregnancy were made according to the guidelines of the Chinese Society of Obstetrics. Results: Plasma aldosterone was significantly higher in pregnant women with GDM as compared to those without impairment of glycemic control (normal pregnancies: 0.27 +/- 0.21 ng/mL, GDM: 0.36 +/- 0.30 ng/mL; p<0.05). Regression analyses revealed that PRA was negatively correlated with fasting blood glucose (FBG) (R-2 = 0.03, p = 0.007), whereas plasma aldosterone and aldosterone/PRA ratio were positively correlated with FBG (R-2 = 0.05, p<0.001 and R-2 = 0.03, p = 0.007, respectively). Multivariable regression analysis models considering relevant confounding factors confirmed these findings. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that fasting blood glucose in pregnant women is inversely correlated with the PRA, whereas plasma aldosterone showed a highly significant positive correlation with fasting blood glucose during pregnancy. Moreover, plasma aldosterone is significantly higher in pregnant women with GDM as compared to those women with normal glucose tolerance during pregnancy. Although causality cannot be proven in association studies, these data may indicate that the RAAS during pregnancy contributes to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance/new onset of diabetes during pregnancy. KW - Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system KW - pregnancy KW - fasting blood glucose KW - glycemic control Y1 - 2012 SN - 1433-6510 VL - 58 IS - 5-6 SP - 527 EP - 533 PB - Clin Lab Publ., Verl. Klinisches Labor CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Jian A1 - Wang, Zi-Neng A1 - Schlemm, Ludwig A1 - Pfab, Thiemo A1 - Xiao, Xiao-Min A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Low birth weight and elevated head-to-abdominal circumference ratio are associated with elevated fetal glycated serum protein concentrations JF - Journal of hypertension N2 - Objective To analyze the association between low birth weight, head-to-abdominal circumference ratio, and insulin resistance in early life. Method and results Glycated serum proteins (GSPs) were quantified at delivery in 612 Chinese mother/child pairs serving as a surrogate of maternal and fetal glycemia. Differential ultrasound examination of the fetal's body (head circumference, biparietal diameter, pectoral diameter, abdominal circumference, and femur length) was done in average 1 week prior to delivery. Multivariable regression analysis considering gestational age at delivery, the child's sex, maternal BMI, maternal age at delivery, maternal body weight, and pregnancyinduced hypertension revealed that fetal GSP was inversely associated with birth weight (R(2) = 0.416; P < 0.001). Fetal GSP was furthermore positively associated with the head-to-abdominal circumference ratio, whereas the maternal GSP was negatively correlated with the offspring's head-to-abdominal circumference ratio (R(2) = 0.285; P = 0.010 and R(2) = 0.261; P = 0.020, respectively). The increased head-to-abdominal circumference ratio in newborns with higher fetal GSP is mainly due to a reduced abdominal circumference rather than reduced growth of the brain. Conclusion The disproportional intrauterine growth is in line with the concept of so-called brain sparing, a mechanism maintaining the intrauterine growth of the brain at the expense of trunk growth. Our data suggest that the low birth weight phenotype, linked to cardiovascular diseases like hypertension in later life, might be a phenotype of disproportional intrauterine growth retardation and early life insulin resistance. KW - disproportional intrauterine growth retardation KW - insulin resistance KW - low birth weight KW - ultrasound Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0b013e328349a2e6 SN - 0263-6352 VL - 29 IS - 9 SP - 1712 EP - 1718 PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chen, You-Peng A1 - Lu, Yong-Ping A1 - Li, Jian A1 - Liu, Zhi-Wei A1 - Chen, Wen-Jing A1 - Liang, Xu-Jing A1 - Chen, Xin A1 - Wen, Wang-Rong A1 - Xiao, Xiao-Min A1 - Reichetzeder, Christoph A1 - Hocher, Berthold T1 - Fetal and maternal angiotensin (1-7) are associated with preterm birth JF - Journal of hypertension N2 - Background: Recent studies show that preterm birth is associated with hypertension in later life. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) during pregnancy influences fetal growth and development. In the current study, we investigated the impact of fetal as well as maternal angiotensin (1-7) [Ang (1-7)] and angiotensin II (Ang II) plasma concentrations on the risk of preterm birth. Methods: Three hundred and nine pregnant women were prospectively included into the study. The pregnant women were divided into two groups, for example, preterm birth of lower than 37 gestational weeks (n = 17) and full-term birth of 37 gestational weeks or more (n = 292). Maternal and neonatal plasma Ang (1-7) and Ang II concentrations were analyzed at birth from maternal venous blood and umbilical cord blood, respectively. Risk factors for premature birth were determined by multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Fetal and maternal plasma Ang (1-7) concentrations in the preterm group were lower than those of the term group fetal Ang (1-7) preterm birth: 486.15 +/- 337.34 ng/l and fetal Ang (1-7) term birth: 833.84 +/- 698.12 ng/l and maternal Ang (1-7) preterm birth: 399.86 +/- 218.93 ng/l; maternal Ang (1-7) term birth: 710.34 +/- 598.22 ng/l. Multiple logistic regression analysis considering confounding factors revealed that preeclampsia (P < 0.001), premature rupture of membranes (P = 0.001), lower concentration of maternal Ang (1-7) (P = 0.013) and fetal plasma Ang (1-7) (P = 0.032) were independently associated with preterm birth. We could furthermore demonstrate that the maternal Ang (1-7)/Ang II ratio is independently associated with gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, factors causing preterm birth. Conclusions: Lower concentrations of maternal and fetal Ang (1-7) are independently associated with preterm birth - a risk factor of hypertension in later life. KW - angiotensin (1-7) KW - angiotensin II KW - cardiovascular disease KW - fetal programming KW - intrauterine fetal growth KW - pregnancy KW - preterm delivery Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000000251 SN - 0263-6352 SN - 1473-5598 VL - 32 IS - 9 SP - 1833 EP - 1841 PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fang, Peng A1 - Wang, Feipeng A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Basso, Heitor Cury T1 - Three-layer piezoelectrets from fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) copolymer films JF - Applied physics : A, Materials science & processing N2 - A process for preparing three-layer piezoelectrets from fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) copolymer films is introduced. Samples are made from commercial FEP films by means of laser cutting, laser bonding, electrode evaporation, and high-field poling. The observed dielectric-resonance spectra demonstrate the piezoelectricity of the FEP sandwiches. Piezoelectric d (33) coefficients up to a few hundred pC/N are achieved. Charging at elevated temperatures can increase the thermal stability of the piezoelectrets. Isothermal experiments for approximately 15 min demonstrate that samples charged at 140A degrees C keep their piezoelectric activity up to at least 120A degrees C and retain 70% of their initial d (33) even at 130A degrees C. Acoustical measurements show a relatively flat frequency response in the range between 300 Hz and 20 kHz. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-6008-2 SN - 0947-8396 SN - 1432-0630 VL - 103 IS - 2 SP - 455 EP - 461 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Naimeng A1 - Cao, Xianyong A1 - Xu, Qinghai A1 - Huang, Xiaozhong A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Shen, Zhongwei A1 - Peng, Wei A1 - Liu, Sisi A1 - Wu, Duo A1 - Wang, Jian A1 - Xia, Huan A1 - Zhang, Dongju A1 - Chen, Fahu T1 - Vegetation change and human-environment interactions in the Qinghai Lake Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, since the last deglaciation JF - Catena N2 - The nature of the interaction between prehistoric humans and their environment, especially the vegetation, has long been of interest. The Qinghai Lake Basin in North China is well-suited to exploring the interactions between prehistoric humans and vegetation in the Tibetan Plateau, because of the comparatively dense distribution of archaeological sites and the ecologically fragile environment. Previous pollen studies of Qinghai Lake have enabled a detailed reconstruction of the regional vegetation, but they have provided relatively little information on vegetation change within the Qinghai Lake watershed. To address the issue we conducted a pollen-based vegetation reconstruction for an archaeological site (YWY), located on the southern shore of Qinghai Lake. We used high temporal-resolution pollen records from the YWY site and from Qinghai Lake, spanning the interval since the last deglaciation (15.3 kyr BP to the present) to quantitatively reconstruct changes in the local and regional vegetation using Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm models. The results show that, since the late glacial, spruce forest grew at high altitudes in the surrounding mountains, while the lakeshore environment was occupied mainly by shrub-steppe. From the lateglacial to the middle Holocene, coniferous woodland began to expand downslope and reached the YWY site at 7.1 kyr BP. The living environment of the local small groups of Paleolithic-Epipaleolithic humans (during 15.3-13.1 kyr BP and 9-6.4 kyr BP) changed from shrub-steppe to coniferous forest-steppe. The pollen record shows no evidence of pronounced changes in the vegetation community corresponding to human activity. However, based on a comparison of the local and regional vegetation reconstructions, low values of biodiversity and a significant increase in two indicators of vegetation degradation, Chenopodiaceae and Rosaceae, suggest that prehistoric hunters-gatherers likely disturbed the local vegetation during 9.0-6.4 kyr BP. Our findings are a preliminary attempt to study human-environment interactions at Paleolithic-Epipaleolithic sites in the region, and they contribute to ongoing environmental archaeology research in the Tibetan Plateau. KW - Quantitative vegetation reconstruction KW - Local and regional vegetation KW - dynamics KW - Paleolithic-Epipaleolithic human-environment  KW - interactions KW - Northeastern Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2021.105892 SN - 0341-8162 SN - 1872-6887 VL - 210 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Damle, Mitali A1 - Sparre, Martin A1 - Richter, Philipp A1 - Hani, Maan H. A1 - Nuza, Sebastian A1 - Pfrommer, Christoph A1 - Grand, Robert J. J. A1 - Hoffman, Yehuda A1 - Libeskind, Noam A1 - Sorce, Jenny A1 - Steinmetz, Mathias A1 - Tempel, Elmo A1 - Vogelsberger, Mark A1 - Wang, Peng T1 - Cold and hot gas distribution around the Milky-Way – M31 system in the HESTIA simulations JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - Recent observations have revealed remarkable insights into the gas reservoir in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxy haloes. In this paper, we characterise the gas in the vicinity of Milky Way and Andromeda analogues in the hestia (High resolution Environmental Simulations of The Immediate Area) suite of constrained Local Group (LG) simulations. The hestia suite comprise of a set of three high-resolution arepo-based simulations of the LG, run using the Auriga galaxy formation model. For this paper, we focus only on the 𝑧 = 0 simulation datasets and generate mock skymaps along with a power spectrum analysis to show that the distributions of ions tracing low-temperature gas (H i and Si iii) are more clumpy in comparison to warmer gas tracers (O vi, O vii and O viii). We compare to the spectroscopic CGM observations of M31 and low-redshift galaxies. hestia under-produces the column densities of the M31 observations, but the simulations are consistent with the observations of low-redshift galaxies. A possible explanation for these findings is that the spectroscopic observations of M31 are contaminated by gas residing in the CGM of the Milky Way. KW - software: data analysis KW - software: simulations KW - Galaxy: evolution KW - galaxies: evolution KW - galaxies: Local Group Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac663 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 512 SP - 3717 EP - 3737 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Damle, Mitali A1 - Sparre, Martin A1 - Richter, Philipp A1 - Hani, Maan H. A1 - Nuza, Sebastián E. A1 - Pfrommer, Christoph A1 - Grand, Robert J. J. A1 - Hoffman, Yehuda A1 - Libeskind, Noam A1 - Sorce, Jenny G. A1 - Steinmetz, Matthias A1 - Tempel, Elmo A1 - Vogelsberger, Mark A1 - Wang, Peng T1 - Cold and hot gas distribution around the Milky-Way-M31 system in the HESTIA simulations JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - Recent observations have revealed remarkable insights into the gas reservoir in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxy haloes. In this paper, we characterise the gas in the vicinity of Milky Way and Andromeda analogues in the hestia (High resolution Environmental Simulations of The Immediate Area) suite of constrained Local Group (LG) simulations. The hestia suite comprise of a set of three high-resolution arepo-based simulations of the LG, run using the Auriga galaxy formation model. For this paper, we focus only on the z = 0 simulation datasets and generate mock skymaps along with a power spectrum analysis to show that the distributions of ions tracing low-temperature gas (H i and Si iii) are more clumpy in comparison to warmer gas tracers (O vi, O vii and O viii). We compare to the spectroscopic CGM observations of M31 and low-redshift galaxies. hestia under-produces the column densities of the M31 observations, but the simulations are consistent with the observations of low-redshift galaxies. A possible explanation for these findings is that the spectroscopic observations of M31 are contaminated by gas residing in the CGM of the Milky Way. KW - Local Group KW - Software: simulations KW - Galaxy: evolution Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac663 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 512 IS - 3 SP - 3717 EP - 3737 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER -