The impact of aerosol on MODIS cloud detection and property retrieval in seriously polluted East China.

Previous researches proved that aerosols have a significant influence on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud observation. In East China, this impact is much greater and special compared with other regions because of the frequent haze pollution. This study evaluated the impact of aerosols on cloud detection, cloud top height (CTH) and cloud optical thickness (COT) retrieval in East China primarily using the MODIS and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) observation, combined with a cloud detection rectification algorithm. The results showed that, in haze weather, MODIS misjudged large-scale of dense aerosols as "clouds", which increased the observed cloud cover by 0.4 to 0.6 in the most seriously polluted regions. Compared with the clear condition, high aerosol loading with AOD >2 would increase the misjudgment possibility by 35%. Another influence is that MODIS has a 30% higher possibility to obtain an over low CTH of high and thin clouds, and overestimate the COT of thin ice clouds by 2.15 to 3.74 under serious air pollution. Further analyzes found that the cloud detection and COT retrieval was mainly influenced by the dense aerosols, while the CTH retrieval is vulnerable to both thin and dense aerosol. This study made a quantitative measurement of the aerosol influence on MODIS cloud observation, and first made a deep explanation for the effect of air pollution density.

The effects of initial participation motivations on learning engagement in transition training for future general practitioners in rural China: perceived deterrents as mediator.

BACKGROUND: For the shortage of high-quality general practitioners (GPs) in China's rural areas, Chinese government has taken steps to encourage rural specialists to participate in transition training for future GPs. Specialists' initial participation motivations and their perceived deterrents during training may play important roles for their learning engagement in the transition training. This study aimed at revealing the relationships among the variables of initial participation motivations, perceived deterrents in training, and learning engagement. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was used in this study. A total of 156 rural specialists who participated in transition training for future GPs filled out the questionnaire, which consisted of the measurements of initial participation motivations, perceived deterrents, and learning engagement in training. The data about specialists' demographic variables were collected at the same time. RESULTS: The variance of initial escape/stimulations motivation significantly predicted the variance of learning engagement through the full mediating role of perceived deterrents in training. In addition, initial educational preparation motivations predicted the variance of learning engagement directly. CONCLUSIONS: Specialists' initial participation motivations and perceived deterrents in training played important roles for learning engagement in the transition training.

How School Climate Influences Teachers' Emotional Exhaustion: The Mediating Role of Emotional Labor.

Currently, in China, improving the quality of teachers' emotional labor has become an urgent need for most pre-kindergarten through 12th grade (p-12) schools because the new curriculum reform highlights the role of emotion in teaching. A total of 703 primary and high school teachers in Mainland China were investigated regarding their perceptions of school climate, emotional labor strategy and emotional exhaustion via questionnaires. The findings revealed that the teachers' perceptions of the school climate negatively affected surface acting but positively affected deep acting. Surface acting positively predicted emotional exhaustion, and deep acting had no significant effect on emotional exhaustion. Moreover, emotional labor mediated the relationship between the teachers' perceptions of the school climate and emotional exhaustion. Programs aimed at improving the school climate and the teachers' use of appropriate emotional labor strategies should be implemented in schools in Mainland China.

Coenzyme Q10 treatment of cardiovascular disorders of ageing including heart failure, hypertension and endothelial dysfunction.

Advancing age is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases. The aetiology of several cardiovascular disorders is thought to involve impaired mitochondrial function and oxidative stress. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) acts as both an antioxidant and as an electron acceptor at the level of the mitochondria. Furthermore, in cardiac patients, plasma CoQ10 has been found to be an independent predictor of mortality. Based on the fundamental role of CoQ10 in mitochondrial bioenergetics and its well-acknowledged antioxidant properties, several clinical trials evaluating CoQ10 have been undertaken in cardiovascular disorders of ageing including chronic heart failure, hypertension, and endothelial dysfunction. CoQ10 as a therapy appears to be safe and well tolerated.

The activation of protein homeostasis protective mechanisms perhaps is not responsible for lifespan extension caused by deficiencies of mitochondrial proteins in C. elegans.

During aging the ability of organisms to maintain the protein homeostasis declines and damaged and misfolded proteins accumulate in cells. But whether the deterioration of protein homeostasis is the cause or consequence of aging is not clearly understood. Mitochondrial dysfunctions usually lead to increased longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans, the cause of which is believed to be the activation of protein homeostasis protective mechanisms including mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR(mt)) and GCN-2 kinase mediated nutrient-sensing pathway. However, we investigated four genes which encode well-defined mitochondrial proteins and found that: (i) UPR(mt) activation was associated with not only increased longevity by knockdown of mfn-1, cco-1, or nuo-6, but also decreased longevity by mev-1 RNAi; (ii) The blockage of UPR(mt) pathway did not repress mfn-1, cco-1, or nuo-6 RNAi induced lifespan extension; (iii) The activation of UPR(mt) did not increase longevity; (iv) Knockdown of mfn-1, cco-1, or nuo-6 increased longevity independently of GCN-2. The combined results indicate that two important kinds of the protein homeostasis protective mechanisms, namely UPR(mt) and GCN-2 pathways, are not responsible for mitochondrial deficiency induced lifespan extension. The enhanced protection of protein homeostasis may be insufficient to slow aging, and there may be other mechanisms that contribute to the increased longevity in response to mitochondrial dysfunctions.

Molecular analysis for diagnosis of Marfan syndrome and Marfan-associated disorders.

Marfan syndrome is a systemic disorder of connective tissue, caused by mutations in the FBN1, TGFBR1 or TGFBR2 genes. This syndrome is characterized by involvement of three major systems, skeletal, ocular, and cardiovascular. The continuing improvements in molecular biology and increasing availability of molecular diagnosis in clinical practice allow recognition of Marfan syndrome in patients with incomplete phenotypes. Additionally, molecular analyses could also be used for preimplantation genetic diagnosis. The identification of a mutation allows for early diagnosis, prognosis, genetic counseling, preventive management of carriers and reassurance for unaffected relatives. The importance of knowing in advance the location of the putative family mutation is highlighted by its straightforward application to prenatal and postnatal screening.