[Urban thermal environment effects based on visual indices: A case study in Xuzhou City, China]. / 基于视觉指数的城市热环境效应­­ä»¥å¾å·žå¸‚为例.

Urban thermal environments are closely related to habitats, citizens' health, and sustainable development. Based on green view index (GVI), we proposed two new visual indices, construction view index (CVI) and imperious surface view index (R&PVI). Mobile observation was used to obtain urban thermal environment data, images and coordinates synchronously in Xuzhou City in late summer, including urban area (U), scenic area (S), exterior of university campus (E), and university campus inside (CUMT). We analyzed the impacts of the urban composition represented by the visual index on the urban thermal environment. The results showed that, along the sampling line, mean air temperature (Ta) was highest (30.42 ℃) and mean relative humidity (RH) was lowest (40.7%) in urban area, while mean Ta was lowest (29.35 ℃) and mean RH was highest (48.4%) in scenic area. The situation of mean wind-chill temperature (TaW) was the highest (32.95 ℃) in the urban area and the lowest (31.93 ℃) in the scenic area. As for CVI, urban area, university campus inside, exterior of university campus and scenic area ranked in descending order, while GVI showed an opposite pattern. CVI was significantly positively correlated to Ta and TaW, but negatively to RH. GVI was significantly negatively correlated to Ta and TaW, but positively to RH. R&PVI was significantly positively correlated to Ta and TaW, but not correlated to RH. CVI and GVI influenced Ta significantly, with the independent effects being 10.4% and 18.9%, and joint effects being 7.8% and 11.3%, respectively. As for RH, CVI and GVI contributed significantly as well, independent effects were 37.5% and 15.7%, and joint effects were 51.4% and 30.2%, respectively. As for TaW, the three visual indices contributed significantly, but independent and joint effects were lower than those on Ta. Moreover, visual indices contributed more on RH than Ta or TaW. The results could provide ideas for optimizing urban thermal environments and mitigating urban heat island effects, and have practical implications for urban renewal and improvement of the quality of human living environment.

[Expression and regulation of the SOST gene].

Sclerostin(SOST), mainly expressed in osteocytes, is a negative regulator of bone formation. Hormones PTH and E2 inhibit the expression of the SOST gene. Transcription factors Osterix, Runx2, and Mef2c promote the SOST expression, while Sirt1 negatively regulates the SOST expression. In addition, the expression of the SOST gene is regulated by epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation and microRNA. Mutations in the SOST gene, which cause sclerosteosis and Van Buchem diseases, are associated with osteoporosis. Wnt and BMP are two important signaling pathways in bone metabolic regulation. SOST can regulate osteoblastic differentiation and bone formation by binding type I/II receptors and co-receptor LRP5/6 to inhibit BMP and Wnt signaling pathways. Suppression of SOST provides a new approach for osteoporosis treatment. This review covers the structure, function and expression regulation of the SOST gene, human disease association, mechanism in the regulation of bone metabolism and prospect in clinical application.

[Preliminary study on the changes of bacterial community structure in Qingcaosha Reservoir during water storage period].

In order to investigate the changes in water quality and the bacterial community structure in Qingcaosha Reservoir during water storage and supply period, the microorganisms in water body were studied by microbial culture counting and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DEEG) technique. Results showed that the water quality had been improved significantly and the nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations significantly reduced after the Yangtze River water flowed into the reservoir. The number of culturable microorganisms in the influent and the reservoir changed with the seasons, and there were more microorganisms in the influent than these in the reservoir during spring and summer, and fewer in autumn and winter, and the precipitation of suspended microorganisms in the water caused the increase of organic matter content in the sediment. PCR-DGGE results showed that bacterial community structure in the reservoir changed with the seasons, and the microbial community diversity was the highest in summer and the lowest in autumn. The cluster analysis showed that the similarity of microbial community structure of water and sediment samples was 62% , which might be due to the contribution of the precipitation of the suspended microorganisms. The dominant microbial species in water had high similarity with alpha, beta-Proteobacteria, Flavobacterium, Rheinheimera, Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and Marine metagenome, indicating that Qingcaosha Reservoir faced the risk of algae bloom and seawater intrusion. The results provide the fundamental understanding on reservoir operation and can be used as reference for future studies.

[Meta-analysis of LPL Pvuâ ¡ polymorphism with hyperlipoidemia and coronary heart disease in the Chinese population.].

Multiple studies reported the association of LPL PvuⅡpolymorphism (rs285) with hyperlipoidemia and coronary heart disease in the Chinese population; however, the sample sizes of these studies were small (119-647) and the results were not consistent. A Meta-analysis was undertaken to evaluate the role of LPL PvuⅡpolymorphism in hyperlipoidemia and coronary heart disease in Chinese. A total of 11 case-control studies were collected. Among them, 6 studies on hyperlipoidemia contained 943 cases and 1,093 controls, and 5 studies on coronary heart disease contained 821 cases and 727 controls. No significant publication bias was found and significant heterogeneity between these studies was observed. The results of Meta-analysis indicated that the allele P+ increased the risk of hyperlipoidemia (OR=1.36, 95%CI 1.07~1.73, P=0.011), and no evidence of association (P=0.755) was found for coronary heart disease. Our study suggested that the LPL PvuⅡpolymorphism was significantly associated with hyperlipoidemia but not with coronary heart disease in the Chinese population.