The Role of Nuclear Regulators in Reviewing Population Growth Projections

One of the roles of nuctear regulators is to review population projections calculated by applicants for populations lying in the vicinity of nuclear power plants. This paper examines methods of calculating rates of growth and thus calculating future population growth. This paper is concerned about regulators making sure that nuclear power plants are not located near densely populated centers and that population centers located near nuclear power plants do not become densely populated. In the case of El Dabaa city in the north coast of Egypt, south west of the nominated plant site, three rates of growth 1.5%, 2.5% and 3% were identified. The first is the current population growth rate of the city, the second is the average national growth rate and the third is the expected growth rate of the city when the nuclear power plant gets constructed and operated. In all three cases, this city is a population center and rules of distance from the nuclear power plant shall apply. Thus the further natural growth of this city should be controlled and directed away from the downwind of the plant.

Panax notoginseng Saponins Protect Kidney from Diabetes by Up-regulating Silent Information Regulator 1 and Activating Antioxidant Proteins in Rats

Objective： To explore the mechanism of the protective effects of Panax notoginseng saponins（PNS） on kidney in diabetic rats. Methods： Diabetic rat model was obtained by intravenous injection of alloxan, and the rats were divided into model, PNS-100 mg/（kg·day） and PNS-200 mg/（kg·day） groups, 10 each. Another 10 rats injected with saline were served as control. Periodic acid-Schiff staining and immunological histological chemistry were used to observe histomorphology and tissue expression of bone morphogenetic protein-7（BMP-7）. Silent information regulator 1（SIRT1） was silenced in rat mesangial cells by RNA interference. The mR NA expressions of SIRT-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1（MCP-1）, transforming growth factor β1（TGF-β1） and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1（PAI-1） were analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The protein expressions of SIRT1 and the acetylation of nuclear factor κB（NF-κB） P65 were determined by western blotting. The concentration of MCP-1, TGF-β1 and malondialdehyde（MDA） in culture supernatant were detected by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay. The activity of superoxide dismutase（SOD） was detected by the classical method of nitrogen and blue four. Results： In diabetic model rats, PNS could not only reduce blood glucose and lipid（P〈0.01）, but also increase protein level of BMP-7 and inhibit PAI-1 expression for suppressing fibrosis of the kidney. In rat mesangial cells, PNS could up-regulate the expression of SIRT1（P〈0.01） and in turn suppress the transcription of TGF-β1（P〈0.05） and MCP-1（P〈0.05）. PNS could also reverse the increased acetylation of NF-κB p65 by high glucose. In addition, redox regulation factor MDA was down-regulated（P〈0.05） and SOD was up-regulated（P〈0.01）, which were both induced by SIRT1 up-regulation. Conclusions： PNS could protect kidney from diabetes with the possible mechanism of up-regulating SIRT1, therefore inhibiting inflammation through decreasing the induction of inflammatory cytokines and TGF-β1, as well as activating antioxidant proteins.