Prehistoric humans seem to have preferred inhabiting small river basins, which were closer in distance to most settlements compared to larger rivers. The Holocene landscape evolution is considered to have played a pivotal role in shaping the spatiotemporal patterns of these settlements. In this study, we conducted comprehensive research on the relationship between landscape evolution and settlement distribution within the Huangshui River basin, which is a representative small river in Central China with numerous early settlements, including a prehistoric city known as the Wangjinglou site (WJL). Using geoarchaeological investigations, optically stimulated luminescence dating, pollen analysis, and grain-size analysis, we analyzed the characteristics of the Holocene environment. The results indicate the presence of two distinct geomorphic systems, namely the red clay hills and the river valley. The red clay hills, formed in the Neogene, represent remnants of the Songshan piedmont alluvial fan that was eroded by rivers. There are three grades of terraces within the river valley. T3 is a strath terrace and formed around 8.0 ka. Both T2 and T1 are fill terraces, which were developed around 4.0 ka and during the historical period, respectively. The sedimentary features and pollen analysis indicate the existence of an ancient lake-swamp on the platform during 11.0–9.0 ka. This waterbody gradually shrank during 9.0–8.0 ka, and ultimately disappeared after 8.0 ka. Since then, the development of large-scale areas of water ceased on the higher geomorphic units. River floods also cannot reach the top of these high geomorphic units, where numerous prehistoric settlements are located, including the Xia–Shang cities of the WJL site. Our research demonstrates that landscape stability supported the long-term and sustainable development of ancient cultures and facilitated the establishment of the WJL ancient cities in the region.

In recent years, obesity is a growing pandemic in the world and has likely contributed to increasing the incidence of obesity-related diseases. Fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) is the first gene discovered which has a close connection with fat. Recent studies suggested that FTO gene has played an important role in the molecular mechanisms of many diseases. Obesity is considered to be a hereditary disease and can evoke many kinds of diseases, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cancer, etc., whose exact possible molecular mechanisms responsible for the effect of FTO on obesity and obesity-related diseases remain largely unknown. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the correlation between FTO gene and obesity, cancer, PCOS, T2DM, as well as the molecular mechanism involved in these diseases.

Nutritional Risk Screening index is a standard tool to assess nutritional risk, but epidemiological data are scarce on controlling nutritional status (CONUT) as a prognostic marker in acute haemorrhagic stroke (AHS). We aimed to explore whether the CONUT may predict a 3-month functional outcome in AHS. In total, 349 Chinese patients with incident AHS were consecutively recruited, and their malnutrition risks were determined using a high CONUT score of ≥ 2. The cohort patients were divided into high-CONUT (≥ 2) and low-CONUT (< 2) groups, and primary outcomes were a poor functional prognosis defined as the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of ≥ 3 at post-discharge for 3 months. Odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the poor functional prognosis at post-discharge were estimated by using a logistic analysis with additional adjustments for unbalanced variables between the high-CONUT and low-CONUT groups. A total of 328 patients (60·38 ± 12·83 years; 66·77 % male) completed the mRS assessment at post-discharge for 3 months, with 172 patients at malnutrition risk at admission and 104 patients with a poor prognosis. The levels of total cholesterol and total lymphocyte counts were significantly lower in high-CONUT patients than low-CONUT patients (P = 0·012 and < 0·001, respectively). At 3-month post discharge, there was a greater risk for the poor outcome in the high-CONUT compared with the low-CONUT patients at admission (OR: 2·32, 95 % CI: 1·28, 4·17). High-CONUT scores independently predict a 3-month poor prognosis in AHS, which helps to identify those who need additional nutritional managements.

Discounting rate refers to people’s tendency to reduce the rate of subjective value from delayed benefit over time. The current study investigates the relationship among belief in a just world (BJW), sense of control, and discounting rate, especially the mediating effect of sense of control between BJW and discounting rate. The study recruited 412 undergraduates to complete a BJW scale, Sense of Control scale, and the Monetary Choice Questionnaire. The results show that (1) BJW positively predicted sense of control, (2) BJW and sense of control were negatively correlated with discounting rate, and (3) sense of control completely mediated the associations between BJW and discounting rate. These findings extend those of prior studies and indicate that a sense of control underlies the association between BJW and discounting rate.

The aim of this study was to investigate the in vivo degradation mechanism and the mechanical properties of poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/beta-tricalcium phosphate (PLGA/β-TCP) composite anchors. Anchors composed of PLGA and β-TCP were implanted in the dorsal subcutaneous tissue of beagle dogs for 6, 12, 16, and 26 weeks. The degradation of the materials was evaluated by measuring the changes in thermal behavior, crystallinity, and mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the surface and longitudinal section of the material. The evaluation of mechanical strength retention and degradation properties suggest that the addition of β-TCP particles efficiently enhances their mechanical properties and thermal characteristics and delays their degradation rate. By analyzing the results of SEM, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry, we can infer that after 12 weeks, the connection between β-TCP and PLGA becomes less compact, which accelerates the decline of mechanical strength.

Ca2+-sensing receptor (CaSR) represents a potential therapeutic target for inflammatory bowel diseases and strongly prefers aromatic amino acid ligands. We investigated the regulatory effects of dietary supplementation with aromatic amino acids – tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine (TPT) – on the CaSR signalling pathway and intestinal inflammatory response. The in vivo study was conducted with weanling piglets using a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement in a randomised complete block design. Piglets were fed a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with TPT and with or without inflammatory challenge. The in vitro study was performed in porcine intestinal epithelial cell line to investigate the effects of TPT on inflammatory response using NPS-2143 to inhibit CaSR. Dietary supplementation of TPT alleviated histopathological injury and decreased myeloperoxidase activity in intestine challenged with lipopolysaccharide. Dietary supplementation of TPT decreased serum concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, TNF-α), as well as the mRNA abundances of pro-inflammatory cytokines in intestine but enhanced anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and transforming growth factor-β mRNA levels compared with pigs fed control diet and infected by lipopolysaccharide. Supplementation of TPT increased CaSR and phospholipase Cβ2 protein levels, but decreased inhibitor of NF-κB kinase α/β and inhibitor of NF-κB (IκB) protein levels in the lipopolysaccharide-challenged piglets. When the CaSR signalling pathway was blocked by NPS-2143, supplementation of TPT decreased the CaSR protein level, but enhanced phosphorylated NF-κB and IκB levels in IPEC-J2 cells. To conclude, supplementation of aromatic amino acids alleviated intestinal inflammation as mediated through the CaSR signalling pathway.

This paper describes an experimental investigation of steady-state resonant waves. Several co-propagating short-crested wave trains are generated in a basin at the State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering (SKLOE) in Shanghai, and the wavefields are measured and analysed both along and normal to the direction of propagation. These steady-state resonant waves are first calculated theoretically under the exact resonance criterion with sufficiently high nonlinearity, and then are generated in the basin by means of the main wave components that contain at least 95 % of the wave energy. The steady-state wave spectra are quantitatively observed within the inherent system error of the basin and identified by means of a contrasting experiment. Both symmetrical and anti-symmetrical steady-state resonant waves are observed and the experimental and theoretical results show excellent agreement. These results offer the first experimental evidence of the existence of steady-state resonant waves with multiple solutions.

Mouse strain differences in immobility and in sensitivity to antidepressants have been observed in the forced swimming test (FST) and the tail suspension test (TST). However, the neurotransmitter systems and neural substrates that contribute to these differences remain unknown. To investigate the role of the hippocampal serotonin transporter (5-HTT), we measured baseline immobility and the immobility responses to fluoxetine (FLX) in the FST and the TST in male CD-1, C57BL/6, DBA and BALB/c mice. We observed strain differences in baseline immobility time, with CD-1 mice showing the longest and DBA mice showing the shortest. In contrast, DBA and BALB/c mice showed the highest sensitivity to FLX, whereas CD-1 and C57BL/6 mice showed the lowest sensitivity. Also we found strain differences in both the total 5-HTT protein level and the membrane-bound 5-HTT level (estimated by Vmax) as follows: DBA > BALB/c > CD-1 = C57BL/6. The uptake efficiency of the membrane-bound 5-HTT (estimated by 1/Km) was highest in DBA and BALB/c mice and lowest in CD-1 and C57BL/6 mice. A correlation analysis of subregions within the hippocampus revealed that immobility time was negatively correlated with Vmax and positively correlated with Km in the hippocampus. Therefore a higher uptake capacity of the membrane-bound 5-HTT in the hippocampus was associated with lower baseline immobility and greater sensitivity to FLX. These results suggest that alterations in hippocampal 5-HTT activity may contribute to mouse strain differences in the FST and the TST.

We discuss tail behaviors, subexponentiality, and the extreme value distribution of logarithmic skew-normal random variables. With optimal normalized constants, the asymptotic expansion of the distribution of the normalized maximum of logarithmic skew-normal random variables is derived. We show that the convergence rate of the distribution of the normalized maximum to the Gumbel extreme value distribution is proportional to 1/(log n)1/2.

Cryphodera sinensis n. sp. is described from ramie (Boehmeria nivea) based on the morphology and molecular analyses of rRNA small subunit (SSU), D2D3 expansion domains of large subunit (LSU D2D3) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS). This new species is characterized by oval females with a distinct subcrystalline layer and pronounced and protruding vulval lip, distinctly concave vulva–anus profile and a vulva–anus distance of 29.5–35.8 μm. Males possess two annuli in the lip region, a stylet 27–32.5 μm in length with round knobs sloping slightly posteriorly, lateral fields with three lines, spicules 20–28 μm long and the presence of a short cloacal tube. Second-stage juveniles possess three lip annuli, a stylet 28–31 μm in length with well-developed knobs projected anteriorly and three lines along the lateral field. The pointed tail, 52–65 μm long, possesses a mucro-like tip and a hyaline region, 24.5–35 μm long. Large phasmids with a lens-like structure are located 2–6 annuli posterior to the anus. Phylogenetic analysis shows that the species has unique SSU, LSU D2D3 and ITS rRNA sequences. Phylogenetic relationships of the three rDNA sequences of C. sinensis n. sp. and other cystoid/cyst nematodes are analysed together with a comparison of other species within the genus Cryphodera.