(2011) Two common SNPs in pri-miR-125a alter the mature miRNA expression and associate with recurrent pregnancy loss in a Han-Chinese population, RNA Biology, 8:5,[861][862][863][864][865][866][867][868][869][870][871][872]

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Rice farming in Northeast China is crucially important for China's food security and sustainable development. A key challenge is how to optimize nitrogen (N) management to ensure high yield production while improving N use efficiency and protecting the environment. Handheld chlorophyll meter (CM) and active crop canopy sensors have been used to improve rice N management in this region. However, these technologies are still time consuming for large-scale applications. Satellite remote sensing provides a promising technology for large-scale crop growth monitoring and precision management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of using FORMOSAT-2 satellite images to diagnose rice N status for guiding topdressing N OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2015, 7 10647 application at the stem elongation stage in Northeast China. Five farmers' fields (three in 2011 and two in 2012) were selected from the Qixing Farm in Heilongjiang Province of Northeast China. FORMOSAT-2 satellite images were collected in late June. Simultaneously, 92 field samples were collected and six agronomic variables, including aboveground biomass, leaf area index (LAI), plant N concentration (PNC), plant N uptake (PNU), CM readings and N nutrition index (NNI) defined as the ratio of actual PNC and critical PNC, were determined. Based on the FORMOSAT-2 imagery, a total of 50 vegetation indices (VIs) were computed and correlated with the field-based agronomic variables. Results indicated that 45% of NNI variability could be explained using Ratio Vegetation Index 3 (RVI3) directly across years. A more practical and promising approach was proposed by using satellite remote sensing to estimate aboveground biomass and PNU at the panicle initiation stage and then using these two variables to estimate NNI indirectly (R 2 = 0.52 across years). Further, the difference between the estimated PNU and the critical PNU can be used to guide the topdressing N application rate adjustments.

Objective. To investigate differences in genetic risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Han Chinese as compared with Europeans.Methods. A genome-wide association study was conducted in China with 952 patients and 943 controls, and 32 variants were followed up in 2,132 patients and 2,553 controls. A transpopulation meta-analysis with results from a large European RA study was also performed to compare the genetic architecture across the 2 ethnic remote populations.Results. Three non-major histocompatibility complex (non-MHC) loci were identified at the genomewide significance level, the effect sizes of which were larger in anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive patients than in ACPA-negative patients. These

The process of folliculogenesis requires a tightly regulated series of gene expression that are a pre-requisite to the development of ovarian follicle. Among these genes, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is notable for its dual role in development of follicles as well as proliferation and differentiation of granulosa cells. The post-transcriptional expression of these genes is under the control of microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small, endogenous RNAs that negatively impact gene expression. This study was carried out to determine the role of several miRNAs including mir-143, let-7a, mir-125b, let-7b, let-7c, mir-21 in follicular development in the mouse. The expression of these RNAs was very low in primordial follicles but these became readily detectable in the granulosa cells of primary, secondary and antral follicles. We show that this expression of some miRNAs (mir-143, let-7a, mir-15b) is under negative control of FSH. Together, these findings suggest that FSH regulates folliculogenesis by a novel pathway of miRNAs.