Autophagy and inflammation closely interact with each other, and together, they play critical roles in bacterial infection. Leprosy is caused by the infection of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae). The objective of the study was to investigate the association between polymorphisms in IRGM, an autophagy gene, and susceptibility to leprosy, and identify possible functions of the polymorphism in the infection of M. leprae. Two polymorphisms in IRGM, rs4958842 and rs13361189, were tested in 412 leprosy cases and 432 healthy controls. Levels of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin 1 beta, IL-4, IL-6, and interferon gamma (INF-γ) were measured after the infection of M. leprae in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) of subjects with different genotypes of rs13361189. Data showed that prevalence of rs13361189TC and CC genotypes were significantly higher in leprosy patients than in healthy controls (odds ratio (OR) = 1.49, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.09-2.04, P = 0.012; OR = 2.58, 95 % CI 1.65-4.05, P < 0.001; respectively). Furthermore, the frequency of rs13361189CC genotype was increased in patients with complications than those without complications (P = 0.011). When analyzing the effect of rs13361189 polymorphism on M. leprae infection, we identified that M. leprae-infected PBMC with rs13361189CC genotype expressed significantly elevated levels of INF-γ and IL-4 than those with TT genotype. Our results suggested autophagy gene polymorphism was associated with the increased risk of leprosy by affecting inflammatory cytokines.

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The Shangqiu area, situated on the alluvial plain of the lower Yellow River, is traditionally considered the center of the predynastic and early Shang culture. Archaeologic remains dating to predynastic and dynastic Shang periods, however, have remained elusive. The current pattern of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites is characterized by their upland settings; and it has been often assumed that the area had the same landscape from the Neolithic through recent historic time. The potential impact of geomorphic processes on these early sites has been hardly considered in developing archaeologic models of temporal and spatial distribution of these sites. This article first presents a reconstruction of the Holocene floodplain history in the archaeologically significant area. On the basis of stratigraphy and sedimentology, a Holocene landscape evolution model is constructed to explore the interrelationship between evolving landscape and archaeologic record of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The prolonged landscape stability from very late Pleistocene or early Holocene to 2000 yr B.P. provided potential Neolithic and Bronze Age human occupation with a favorable physical environment. After 2000 yr B.P., the hydrologic regime changed and the floodplain experienced 2-3 m of gradual vertical accretion during the following millennium. In response to the dramatic change of hydrologic regime after the early 12th century A.D., a new floodplain formed by dominantly overbank deposition, and the old floodplain surfaces are covered by as much as ten meters of the younger alluvium. As a result, a pronounced effect has been imposed on the preservation, visibility, and discovery of the Neolithic and Bronze Age sites, including those sites of predynastic and early Shang phases. Thus, much difficulty has been imparted to our understanding of the configuration of these early archaeologic sites. This study demonstrates the usefulness of landscape reconstruction in developing settlement models of Neolithic and Bronze age sites in the area. cr;

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This study deals with a geoarchaeological examination of the jade artifacts unearthed from the major sites of jade‐using cultures over Neolithic China. The earliest examples of true jade—tremolite‐actinolite nephrite—were jade artifacts from the Chahai site at Fuxin in Liaoning, dating back to the 6th millennium B.C., approximately contemporaneous with the beginning of the Neolithic age. The expansion of jade‐using culture during the Neolithic period was gradually from east through west China. The jade‐using culture thrived especially in both the lower Yangtze River and Liao River valleys, and came to a climax during the late Neolithic period when not only could nephrite be discerned from jadelike and other minerals and rocks, but also nephrite of various grades could apparently be deliberately used to make jades of different types according to their importance in social life. It may be suggested that the raw nephrite used to make jades during the Neolithic age was derived from unknown ancient deposits that might be within China proper rather than at Kunlun Mountain.