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The paclitaxel is a common-used chemotherapy drug and its combination with nano albumin reduces drug side effect. However, whether nab-paclitaxel affects drug resistance of breast cancer remains unclear. This study intends to discuss the mechanism of drug resistance induced by nab-paclitaxel. The drug resistance of MCF-7/nab-paclitaxel in MCF-7 cell and cell proliferation was detected by MTT along with analysis of ABCB1 expression, cell cycle, and apoptosis. There was stronger drug resistance of nab-paclitaxel in the MCF-7/nab-paclitaxel cell group through be adopted with different concentration of nab-paclitaxel at the 0th hour, 24th hour and 48th hour. There was remarkable abnormal expression of the ABCB1 in the MCF-7/nab-paclitaxel cell group. The si-ABCB1 could release the quantity of the MCF-7/nab-paclitaxel cell blocked at S period. And the si-ABCB1 could reduce the expression of cyclin D1 and CDK2 in the MCF-7/nab-paclitaxel cell notably. But the expression level of p21 was increased when there was high concentration of si-ABCB1. The si-ABCB1 could increase the quantity of the MCF-7/nab-paclitaxel cell at the later period of cell apoptosis notably. The rat’s tumor growth was delayed obviously at the MCF-7/nabpaclitaxel cell group treated by si-ABCB1. But the inhibiting effect of the MCF-7/nab-paclitaxel cell on tumor growth was less. There was stronger drug resistance of cell for the nano albumin combined with paclitaxel. The function of cell proliferation in breast cancer was restrained by the nano albumin combined with paclitaxel mainly through inducing the expression of ABCB1, adjusting the growth of cell cycle and the expression of P21/BCL-2 protein.

PURPOSE Cumulative doses of 200 mg/m2 for concurrent cisplatin (DDP) were indicated by retrospective studies as sufficient in conferring survival benefit for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LA-NPC). We performed an open-label, phase II, randomized, controlled trial to test the noninferiority of a two-cycle 100 mg/m2 concurrent DDP regimen over three-cycle in patients with low-risk LA-NPC with pretreatment Epstein-Barr virus DNA levels < 4,000 copies/mL. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eligible patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive two cycles or three cycles concurrent DDP-based chemoradiotherapy. The primary end point was 3-year progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary end points included overall survival, distant metastasis-free survival, locoregional relapse-free survival, etc. RESULTS Between September 2016 and October 2018, 332 patients were enrolled, with 166 in each arm. After a median follow-up of 37.7 months, the estimated 3-year PFS rates were 88.0% in the two-cycle group and 90.4% in the three-cycle group, with a difference of 2.4% (95% CI, –4.3 to 9.1, Pnoninferiority = .014). No differences were observed between groups in terms of PFS, overall survival, and the cumulative incidences of locoregional relapse and distant metastasis. Patients in the three-cycle group developed significantly more grade 3-4 mucositis (41 [24.8%] v 25 [15.1%]), hyponatremia (26 [15.8%] v 14 [8.4%]), and dermatitis (9 [5.5%] v 2 [1.2%]). The overall all-grade and grade 3-4 toxicity burdens were heavier in three-cycle group (T-scores, 12.33 v 10.57, P < .001 for all grades; 1.76 v 1.44, P = .05 for grade 3-4). Patients in the three-cycle group also showed more all-grade hearing impairment, dry mouth and skin fibrosis, and impaired long-term quality of life. CONCLUSION Intensity-modulated radiotherapy plus two cycles of concurrent 100 mg/m2 DDP could be an alternative treatment option for patients with low-risk LA-NPC.

Two previously undescribed cyclopentenone metabolites, (S)-2-(3-acetylamino-2-methyl)propyl-3-butyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one (1) and (S)-2-(3-acetylamino-2-ethyl)propyl-3-butyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one (2), were isolated from the fermentation broth of the strain Streptomyces sp. HU119. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined by the comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1 D, 2 D NMR, MS spectral analysis and the comparison with data from the literature. The absolute configurations were elucidated by experimental and calculated optical rotations (OR). Compounds 1 and 2 displayed weak cytotoxic activity.

A new ruthenium complex was synthesized, which can effectively prevent the development of S. aureus drug-resistance and with high antibacterial activity in vitro and in vivo.

Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a newly developed cancer treatment modality based on a target-specific photosensitizer conjugate (TSPC) composed of an NIR phthalocyanine photosensitizer and an antigen-specific recognition system. NIR-PIT has predominantly been used for targeted therapy of tumors via local irradiation with NIR light, following binding of TSPC to antigen-expressing cells. Physical stress-induced membrane damage is thought to be a major mechanism underlying NIR-PIT-triggered photokilling. Notably, NIR-PIT can rapidly induce immunogenic cell death and activate the adaptive immune response, thereby enabling its combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Furthermore, NIR-PIT-triggered "super-enhanced permeability and retention" effects can enhance drug delivery into tumors. Supported by its potential efficacy and safety, NIR-PIT is a rapidly developing therapeutic option for various cancers. Hence, this review seeks to provide an update on the (i) broad range of target molecules suitable for NIR-PIT, (ii) various types of receptor-selective ligands for designing the TSPC "magic bullet," (iii) NIR light parameters, and (iv) strategies for enhancing the efficacy of NIR-PIT. Moreover, we review the potential application of NIR-PIT, including the specific design and efficacy in 19 different cancer types, and its clinical studies. Finally, we summarize possible NIR-PIT applications in noncancerous conditions, including infection, pain, itching, metabolic disease, autoimmune disease, and tissue engineering.

Background: Eosinophils are involved in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and inhaled corticosteroid responsiveness. We evaluated clinical predictors of high sputum eosinophil levels in a COPD cohort in China. Methods: We conducted an observational, prospective, population-based, cross-sectional study. Participants were tested for COPD and underwent spirometry, computed tomography scans, and a blood test. Participants also produced induced sputum and responded to an information-gathering questionnaire. High sputum eosinophils were defined as ≥3.0%. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify predictors of high sputum eosinophil levels. Results: We recruited 895 patients with complete and quality control data. The median percentage of sputum eosinophil abundance was 2.00% (interquartile range: 0.75–5.00) and the prevalence of COPD with high sputum eosinophils was 38.0%. Covariance analysis indicated that the high sputum eosinophil group had lower lung function, more severe emphysema, and air trapping. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that high blood eosinophil levels, severe respiratory symptoms, being a former smoker, and a family history of respiratory diseases were associated with high sputum eosinophil levels. Conclusion: High blood eosinophil levels, severe respiratory symptoms, being a former smoker, and a family history of respiratory diseases may be predictors of high sputum eosinophil levels in Chinese COPD patients. High sputum eosinophils were associated with lower lung function, more emphysema, and gas trapping.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a deadly hematological malignancy. Cellular morphology detection of bone marrow smears based on the French–American–British (FAB) classification system remains an essential criterion in the diagnosis of hematological malignancies. However, the diagnosis and discrimination of distinct FAB subtypes of AML obtained from bone marrow smear images are tedious and time-consuming. In addition, there is considerable variation within and among pathologists, particularly in rural areas, where pathologists may not have relevant expertise. Here, we established a comprehensive database encompassing 8245 bone marrow smear images from 651 patients based on a retrospective dual-center study between 2010 and 2021 for the purpose of training and testing. Furthermore, we developed AMLnet, a deep-learning pipeline based on bone marrow smear images, that can discriminate not only between AML patients and healthy individuals but also accurately identify various AML subtypes. AMLnet achieved an AUC of 0.885 at the image level and 0.921 at the patient level in distinguishing nine AML subtypes on the test dataset. Furthermore, AMLnet outperformed junior human experts and was comparable to senior experts on the test dataset at the patient level. Finally, we provided an interactive demo website to visualize the saliency maps and the results of AMLnet for aiding pathologists’ diagnosis. Collectively, AMLnet has the potential to serve as a fast prescreening and decision support tool for cytomorphological pathologists, especially in areas where pathologists are overburdened by medical demands as well as in rural areas where medical resources are scarce.

BackgroundAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex disorder, and its risk is influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors. In this study, an AD risk gene prediction framework based on spatial and temporal features of gene expression data (STGE) was proposed.MethodsWe proposed an AD risk gene prediction framework based on spatial and temporal features of gene expression data. The gene expression data of providers of different tissues and ages were used as model features. Human genes were classified as AD risk or non-risk sets based on information extracted from relevant databases. Support vector machine (SVM) models were constructed to capture the expression patterns of genes believed to contribute to the risk of AD.ResultsThe recursive feature elimination (RFE) method was utilized for feature selection. Data for 64 tissue-age features were obtained before feature selection, and this number was reduced to 19 after RFE was performed. The SVM models were built and evaluated using 19 selected and full features. The area under curve (AUC) values for the SVM model based on 19 selected features (0.740 [0.690–0.790]) and full feature sets (0.730 [0.678–0.769]) were very similar. Fifteen genes predicted to be risk genes for AD with a probability greater than 90% were obtained.ConclusionThe newly proposed framework performed comparably to previous prediction methods based on protein-protein interaction (PPI) network properties. A list of 15 candidate genes for AD risk was also generated to provide data support for further studies on the genetic etiology of AD.

Background The role of airway impairment assessed by impulse oscillometry (IOS) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the proportion and clinical characteristics of airway impairment assessed by IOS across COPD severities, and explore whether airway impairment is a subtype of COPD. Methods This study was based on cross-sectional data from the ECOPD cohort in Guangdong, China. Subjects were consecutively recruited from July 2019 to August 2021. They filled out questionnaires and underwent lung function tests, IOS and computed tomography (CT). COPD was defined as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity upper limit of normal or Results 768 COPD subjects were finally enrolled in the study. The proportion of airway impairment assessed by R5, R20, R5–R20, X5, AX, and Fres was 59.8%, 29.7%, 62.5%, 52.9%, 60.9% and 67.3%, respectively. Airway impairment assessed by IOS parameters (R5, R5–R20, X5, AX, and Fres) in patients with COPD was present across all severities of COPD, particularly in GOLD 3–4 patients. Compared with patients with normal IOS parameters, patients with IOS parameters’ abnormalities had more respiratory symptoms, more severe airway obstruction and imaging structural abnormalities. Patients with IOS parameters’ abnormalities assessed by R5 [risk ratio (RR): 1.58, 95% confidential interval (CI): 1.13–2.19, P = 0.007], R5–R20 [RR: 1.73, 95%CI: 1.22–2.45, P = 0.002], X5 [RR: 2.11, 95%CI: 1.51–2.95, P res [RR: 2.13, 95%CI: 1.44–3.15, P Conclusions Airway impairment assessed by IOS may be a subtype of COPD. Future studies are warranted to identify the underlying mechanisms and longitudinal progression of airway impairment.

Picosecond lasers have a very short pulse duration and a high peak power density. When fractional optical delivery systems are attached to picosecond lasers, they generate an array of concentrated microspots with a high fluence surrounded by areas with a low fluence. This article discusses the histologic characteristics and clinical applications of fractional picosecond laser treatment. Fractional picosecond laser produces laser-induced optical breakdown (LIOB) and laser-induced cavitation (LIC) in the epidermis and dermis respectively, and can encourage skin regeneration and dermal remodeling. It has been shown that fractional picosecond laser has a positive effect on facial photoaging, enlarged facial pores, dyspigmentation, wrinkles, and atrophic scars. Further research is still needed to confirm the benefits of fractional picosecond lasers.

The stoichiometry characteristics of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) is an important indicator of soil quality and ecosystem nutrient limitations. Exploring the effects of land use type and soil depth on soil nutrient stoichiometry can clarify soil nutrient cycling. In this study, we collected soil samples from sites with five different land use types (irrigated cropland, rainfed cropland, sandy grassland, fixed dunes, and mobile dunes) in the Horqin Sandy Land, and evaluated the influences of land use type and soil depth on the contents and stoichiometry characteristics of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). We found that: 1) SOC (3.23 g·kg土壤碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)化学计量是衡量土壤质量及生态系统元素限制的重要指标,探讨土地利用和土层深度对土壤化学计量特征的影响有利于揭示科尔沁沙地土壤元素循环规律。本研究以科尔沁沙地5种土地利用类型(灌溉农田、旱作农田、沙质草地、固定沙丘、流动沙丘)土壤为对象,分析不同土地利用类型和不同土层土壤有机碳(SOC)、全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)含量及其化学计量特征。结果表明: 1)科尔沁沙地0～10 cm SOC(3.23 g·kg

Background Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy combined with conventional therapies is being broadly applied in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, the risk of interstitial pneumonitis (IP) following a combined regimen is incompletely characterized. Methods A total of 46,127 NSCLC patients were extracted for disproportionality analyses of IP from the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database. A total of 1108 NSCLC patients who received ICI treatment at Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University were collected and utilized for real-world validation. Results Of the 46,127 patients with NSCLC, 3830 cases (8.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8.05–8.56) developed IP. Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that the adjusted ROR of ICI combined with radiation (RT) was the highest (121.69; 95% CI, 83.60–184.96; P < 0.0001) among all therapies, while that of ICI combined with chemotherapy (CHEMO) or targeted therapy (TARGET) was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.78–1.04; P = 0.160) and 1.49 (95% CI, 0.95–2.23; P = 0.065), respectively, using ICI monotherapy as reference. Furthermore, analyses from our validation cohort of 1108 cases showed that the adjusted odds ratio of ICI combined with RT was the highest (12.25; 95% CI, 3.34–50.22; P < 0.01) among all the therapies, while that of ICI combined with CHEMO or TARGET was 2.32 (95% CI, 0.89–7.92; P = 0.12) and 0.66 (95% CI, 0.03–4.55; P = 0.71), respectively, using ICI monotherapy as reference. Conclusions Compared with ICI monotherapy, ICI combined with RT, rather than with CHEMO or TARGET, is associated with a higher risk of IP in NSCLC patients. Hence, patients receiving these treatments should be carefully monitored for IP.

Additional file 1. Table S1. Serum cytokine levels in each group (Median, pg/ml).

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous disease and its clinically relevant subtypes are not well understood. Which clinical characteristics are more likely to be present among individuals who develop COPD remains to be studied in depth. Therefore, we designed a prospective observational cohort study, entitled the Early Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (ECOPD) study, to fill this evidence gap. The ECOPD study has four specific aims: (I) identification of characteristics, parameters, and biomarkers that may predict the development of airflow obstruction and annual decline in lung function with normal spirometry; (II) identification of clinically relevant early COPD subtypes; (III) identification of characteristics, parameters, and biomarkers that may predict disease progression in these early COPD subtypes; (IV) development and validation of machine learning models to predict development of airflow obstruction and disease progression. METHODS: We will recruit approximately 2,000 participants aged 40–80 years, including approximately 1,000 with COPD [post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC)

Energy conversion and release occur through the entire deformation and failure process in jointed rock masses, and the accumulation and dissipation of rock mass energy in engineering can reveal the entire process of deformation and instability. This study uses PFC2D to carry out numerical simulation tests on single-joint sandstone under uniaxial compression and biaxial compression, respectively, and analyse the influence of joint inclination, length, and confining pressure on the meso-energy conversion process and phase evolution of jointed sandstone. Through analysis, it is found that the input meso total strain energy is transformed into meso dissipated energy and meso-elastic strain energy. Macroscopic and microscopic joint sandstone law is consistent with the overall energy evolution; and the difference is reflected in two aspects: (1) the microlevel energy evolution has no initial compaction energy consumption section and (2) the linear energy storage section before the macroenergy evolution peak can be subdivided into two sections in the meso-level energy evolution. Under uniaxial compression, the energy values at the characteristic points of the meso-level energy evolution phases first asymmetrically decrease and then increase with the increase of the joint inclination. The initiation point of jointed sandstone is significantly affected by the length of the joint, and the degradation effect of the meso-energy at the damage point and peak point weakens with the increase of the joint length. Comparing the data obtained from the PFC numerical simulation with the experimental data, it is found that the error is small, which shows the feasibility of the numerical model in this paper. Under biaxial compression, the accumulation rate of meso-elastic strain at the peak point of the jointed sandstone first decreases and then increases with the joint inclination angle. After the peak of jointed sandstone, the rate of sudden change of meso-energy change decreases with the increase of joint length. The conditions of high confining pressure will promote the meso-accumulated damage degree of the jointed sandstone before the peak, while inhibiting the meso-energy and the mutation degree of the damage after the peak. The higher the confining pressure, the more obvious the joint length and inclination effect characteristics of the elastic strain energy at the peak point of the jointed sandstone.

SMYD3 is a histone methyltransferase involved in transcriptional regulation, and its overexpression in various forms of cancer justifies that blocking SMYD3 functions can serve as a novel therapeutic strategy in cancer treatment. Herein, a series of novel tetrahydrofuranyl spirooxindoles were designed and synthesized based on a structure-based drug design strategy. Subsequent biochemical analysis suggested that these novel SMYD3 inhibitors showed good anticancer activity against stomach adenocarcinoma both in vitro and in vivo. Among them, compound 7r exhibited potent inhibitory capacities against SMYD3 and BGC823 cells with IC

Background Synchronous multiple primary lung cancers associated with small non-dominant nodules are commonly encountered. However, the incidence, follow-up, and treatment of small non-dominant tumors have been but little studied. We explored the prevalence and management of small non-dominant tumors and factors associated with interval growth. Methods This observational, consecutive, retrospective single-center study enrolled patients diagnosed with synchronous multiple primary lung cancers and small non-dominant tumors (≤ 6 mm in diameter) who underwent resection of the dominant tumor. The incidence, follow-up, and management of small non-dominant tumors and predictors of nodule growth were analyzed. Results There were 88 patients (12% of all lung cancer patients) with pathological diagnoses of synchronous multiple primary lung cancers. A total of 131 (18%) patients were clinically diagnosed with at least one small (≤ 6 mm in diameter) multiple primary lung cancer non-dominant tumor. 94 patients with 125 small-nodule non-dominant tumors clinically diagnosed as multiple primary lung cancers were followed-up for at least 6 months. A total of 29 (29/125, 23.2%) evidenced small pulmonary nodules (≤ 6 mm in diameter) that exhibited interval growth on follow-up computed tomography (CT). On multivariate analysis, a part-solid nodule (compared to a pGGN) (OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.08–1.40) or a solid nodule (compared to a pGGN) (OR 3.50; 95% CI 1.94–6.30) predicted small nodule interval growth. Conclusion We found a relatively high incidence of multiple primary lung cancers with small non-dominant tumors exhibiting interval growth on follow-up CT, suggesting that resection of non-dominant tumors at the time of dominant tumor resection, especially when the nodules are part-solid or solid, is the optimal treatment.

Multiple primary lung cancer (MPLC) is an increasingly prevalent subtype of lung cancer. According to recent genomic studies, the different lesions of a single MPLC patient exhibit functional similarities that may reflect evolutionary convergence. We performed whole-exome sequencing for a unique cohort of MPLC patients with multiple samples from each lesion found. Using our own and other relevant public data, evolutionary tree reconstruction revealed that cancer driver gene mutations occurred at the early trunk, indicating evolutionary contingency rather than adaptive convergence. Additionally, tumors from the same MPLC patient were as genetically diverse as those from different patients, while within-tumor genetic heterogeneity was significantly lower. Furthermore, the aberrant molecular functions enriched in mutated genes for a sample showed a strong overlap with other samples from the same tumor, but not with samples from other tumors or other patients. Overall, there was no evidence of adaptive convergence during the evolution of MPLC. Most importantly, the similar between-tumor diversity and between-patient diversity suggests that personalized therapies may not adequately account for the genetic diversity among different tumors in an MPLC patient. To fully exploit the strategic value of precision medicine, targeted therapies should be designed and delivered on a per-lesion basis.

Stress or stress-induced intestinal disturbances, especially diarrhea, are the main triggers for inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Diarrhea and intestinal inflammatory disease afflict patients around the world, and it has become a huge burden on the global health care system. Drinking sodium metasilicate-based alkaline mineral water (SM-based AMW) exerts a potential therapeutic effect in gastrointestinal disorders, including gut inflammation, and diarrhea, but the supportive evidence on animal studies and mechanism involved remain unreported. The maternally separated (MS) piglet (Newly weaned piglet) is an excellent model to investigate the treatment of diarrhea in infant. This study aims to determine whether drinking SM-based AMW confers diarrhea resistance in maternally separated (MS) piglets under weaning stress and what the underlying mechanisms are involved. 240 newly weaned piglets were randomly divided into the Control group and the sodium metasilicate pentahydrate (SMP) group. A decreased diarrhea incidence was observed in SMP treatment piglets. The intestine injury and activated stress hormones (COR and ACTH) induced by weaning was alleviated by SM-based AMW. This may be related to the improvement of intestinal microflora structure and function by SMP, especially the increase of s_copri abundance. Meanwhile, SMP maintained the integrity of the duodenal mucus barrier in MS piglets. Importantly, by targeting NF-κB inhibition via the microbiota-gut interaction, SM-based AMW alleviated intestinal inflammation, maintained fluid homeostasis by modulating aquaporins and fluid transporter expression, and enhanced barrier integrity by suppressing MLCK/p-MLC signaling. Therefore, drinking metasilicate-based alkaline mineral water confers diarrhea resistance in MS piglets via the microbiota-gut interaction.

Peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) and epithelial membrane proteins (EMP-1, -2, and -3) belong to a small hydrophobic membrane protein subfamily, with four transmembrane structures. PMP22 and EMPs are widely expressed in various tissues and play important roles in cell growth, differentiation, programmed cell death, and metastasis. PMP22 presents its highest expression in the peripheral nerve and participates in normal physiological and pathological processes of the peripheral nervous system. The progress of molecular genetics has shown that the genetic changes of the PMP22 gene, including duplication, deletion, and point mutation, are behind various hereditary peripheral neuropathies. EMPs have different expression patterns in diverse tissues and are closely related to the risk of malignant tumor progression. In this review, we focus on the four members in this protein family which are related to disease pathogenesis and discuss gene mutations and post-translational modification of them. Further research into the interactions between structural alterations and function of PMP22 and EMPs will help understand their normal physiological function and role in diseases and might contribute to developing novel therapeutic tools.

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) is difficult to deploy on resource-constrained devices due to its huge amount of computation. Channel pruning is an effective method to reduce the amount of computation and accelerate network inference. Most of channels pruning methods use statistics from a single structure (convolutional layer or batch normalization layer) of the sparse network to evaluate the importance of channels. The limitation of these methods is that it may often mistakenly delete the important channels. In view of this, we propose a novel method, namely Collaborative Channel Pruning (CCPrune), to evaluate the importance of channels, which combines the convolution layer weights and the BN layer scaling factors. The proposed method first introduces the regularization on the convolution layer weights and the BN layer scaling factors respectively. Then combine the weight of the convolutional layer and the scaling factor of the BN layer to evaluate the importance of the channel. Finally, it can delete the unimportant channels without reduces the performance of the model. The experimental results well demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. On CIFAR-10, it can reduce the FLOPs of VGG-19 by 85.50% while only slightly reducing the accuracy of the model, and it can reduce the FLOPs of Resnet-50 by 78.31% without reducing the accuracy of the model, respectively.

It has been suggested that a trade-off between hydraulic efficiency and safety is related to drought adaptation across species. However, whether leaf hydraulic efficiency is sacrificed for safety during woody resprout regrowth after crown removal is not well understood. We measured leaf water potential (ψleaf ) at predawn (ψpd ) and midday (ψmid ), leaf maximum hydraulic conductance (Kleaf-max ), ψleaf at induction 50% loss of Kleaf-max (Kleaf P50 ), leaf area-specific whole-plant hydraulic conductance (LSC), leaf vein structure and turgor loss point (πtlp ) in 1- to 13-year-old resprouts of the aridland shrub (Caragana korshinskii). ψpd was similar, ψmid and Kleaf P50 became more negative, and Kleaf-max decreased in resprouts with the increasing age; thus, leaf hydraulic efficiency clearly traded off against safety. The difference between ψmid and Kleaf P50 , leaf hydraulic safety margin, increased gradually with increasing resprout age. More negative ψmid and Kleaf P50 were closely related to decreasing LSC and more negative πtlp , respectively, and the decreasing Kleaf-max arose from the lower minor vein density and the narrower midrib xylem vessels. Our results showed that a clear trade-off between leaf hydraulic efficiency and safety helps C. korshinskii resprouts adapt to increasing water stress as they approach final size.

To detect and analyze dental dust pollution in the department of prosthodontics and propose reasonable protective measures.Individual dust sampling pumps were used to detect the concentration of respirable dust produced by five common dental materials (hard resin base, advanced artificial teeth, photosensitive plastic, cobalt-chromium alloy, veneering ceramics) in the department of prosthodontics. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to detect the concentration of free silica respirable dust in veneer porcelain dust. Inductively coupled atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used to detect the thoracic dust of cobalt element and the inhalable dust concentration of chromium element in cobalt-chromium alloy dust. The results were compared with the occupational exposure limits set by China and the United States.The respiratory dust concentration of the five common dusts in the department of prosthodontics was far lower than occupational exposure limits set by China and the United States. The concentration of free silica in veneer porcelain, cobalt and its compounds in cobalt-chromium alloys were below the lower detection limit. Chromium and its compounds can be detected, and its concentration was also far below the occupational exposure limit.Problem of dust pollution in the department of prosthodontics exists, which is mainly caused by heavy metal pollution (such as chromium). Protective measures such as ventilation and wearing professional mask should be taken to protect the health of dental practitioners.

Background: Airway abnormalities assessed by impulse oscillometry (IOS) were common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, most studies only used difference from R5 to R20 (R5-R20) > 0.7kPa/L/s to diagnose airway abnormalities, which may ignore the value of other IOS indicators in the diagnosis of airway abnormalities. Our study aimed to comprehensively assess clinical symptoms and radiologic features of airway abnormalities in COPD patients in China. Methods: We enrolled 805 COPD patients from a part of ECOPD cohort, they underwent questionnaires, symptom scores, lung function, IOS and HRCT. The criteria of airway abnormalities were based on standardized IOS reference values. Logistic regression was used to analyze risk factors of airway abnormalities. The associations between acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) in the previous year and airway abnormalities were assessed by Poisson regression. Logistic regression was used to assess the associations between CT imaging and airway abnormalities. Results: The proportion of airway abnormalities evaluated by other indicators increased gradually with COPD severity except for R20. Multivariate logistic analysis showed dyspnea, low FEV1% predicted and airway obstruction were associated with risk of airway abnormalities. Compared with normal airway group, airway abnormalities group had more clinical symptoms (wheeze and dyspnea) and higher mMRC and CAT scores. Airway abnormalities assessed by X5 and AX had more emphysema, gas trapping and higher risk of AECOPD in the previous year. Conclusions: Reactance (X5, AX) assessment of airway abnormalities had more clinical symptoms, emphysema, gas trapping and higher risk of AECOPD in the previous year.

Background Aging has been evidenced to bring about some structural and functional lung changes, especially in COPD. However, whether aging affects SAD, a possible precursor of COPD, has not been well characterized. Objective We aimed to comprehensively assess the relationship between aging and SAD from computed tomography, impulse oscillometry, and spirometry perspectives in Chinese. Methods We included 1859 participants from ECOPD, and used a linear-by-linear association test for evaluating the prevalence of SAD across various age subgroups, and multivariate regression models for determining the impact of age on the risk and severity of SAD. We then repeated the analyses in these subjects stratified by airflow limitation. Results The prevalence of SAD increases over aging regardless of definitional methods. After adjustment for other confounding factors, per 10-yrs increase in age was significantly associated with the risk of CT-defined SAD (OR 2.57, 95% CI 2.13 to 3.10) and the increase in the severity of air trapping (β 2.09, 95% CI − 0.06 to 4.25 for LAA-856), airway reactance (β − 0.02, 95% CI − 0.04 to − 0.01 for X5; β 0.30, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.47 for AX; β 1.75, 95% CI 0.85 to 2.66 for Fres), as well as the decrease in expiratory flow rates (β − 3.95, 95% CI − 6.19 to − 1.71 for MMEF%predicted; β − 5.42, 95% CI − 7.88 to − 2.95 for FEF50%predicted) for SAD. All these associations were generally maintained in SAD defined by IOS or spirometry. After stratification of airflow limitation, we further found that the effect of age on LAA-856 was the most significant among almost all subgroups. Conclusions Aging is significantly associated with the prevalence, increased risk, as well as worse severity of SAD. CT may be a more optimal measure to assess aging-related SAD. The molecular mechanisms for the role of aging in SAD need to be explored in the future. Trialregistration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900024643. Registered on 19 July 2019

Plants secreted phytocytokine SMALL PHYTOCYTOKINES REGULATING DEFENSE AND WATER LOSS (SCREWs) and its receptor PLANT SCREW UNRESPONSIVE RECEPTOR (NUT) to counter abscisic acid (ABA)- and pathogen-induced stomatal closure (Liu et al.). This novel signaling process provides plants with a new strategy to increase immunity through disrupting an aqueous habitat for pathogen colonization.

Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a juvenile onset neurodevelopmental disorder with social impairment and stereotyped behavior as the main symptoms. Unaffected relatives may also exhibit similar ASD features due to genetic factors. Although previous studies have demonstrated atypical brain morphological features as well as task-state brain function abnormalities in unaffected parents with ASD children, it remains unclear the pattern of brain function in the resting state.Methods: A total of 42 unaffected parents of ASD children (pASD) and 39 age-, sex-, and handedness-matched controls were enrolled. Multiple resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) analyzing methods were applied, including amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), degree centrality (DC), and functional connectivity (FC), to reveal the functional abnormalities of unaffected parents in ASD-related brain regions. Spearman Rho correlation analysis between imaging metric values and the severity of ASD traits were evaluated as well.Results: ALFF, ReHo, and DC methods all revealed abnormal brain regions in the pASD group, such as the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and rectal gyrus (ROI-1), bilateral supplementary motor area (ROI-2), right caudate nucleus head and right amygdala/para-hippocampal gyrus (ROI-3). FC decreasing was observed between ROI-1 and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), ROI-2, and bilateral precuneus. FC enhancing was observed between ROI-3 and right anterior cerebellar lobe, left medial temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, right postcentral gyrus in pASD. In addition, ALFF values in ROI-1, DC values in ROI-3 were positively correlated with AQ scores in pASD (ρ1 = 0.298, P1 = 0.007; ρ2 = 0.220, P2 = 0.040), while FC values between ROI-1 and right ACC were negatively correlated with AQ scores (ρ3 = −0.334, P3 = 0.002).Conclusion: rsfMRI metrics could be used as biomarkers to reveal the underlying neurobiological feature of ASD for unaffected parents.

Antibiotics have been widely used for improving human and animal health and well-being for many decades. However, the enormous antibiotic usage in agriculture especially for livestock leads to considerable quantities of antibiotic residues in associated food products and can reach potentially hazardous levels for consumers. Therefore, timely detection and systematical surveillance on residual antibiotics in food materials are of significance to minimize the negative impact caused by such unwanted antibiotic leftovers. To this end, we constructed a cloud-platform-based system (ARSCP) for comprehensive surveillance of antibiotic residues in food materials. With the system, we collected 126,560 samples from 68 chicken farms across China and detected the antibiotic residues using a rapid detection colorimetric commercial (Explorer 2.0) kit and UPLC-MS/MS. Only 108 (0.085 %) of the samples contained residual antibiotics exceeding the MRLs and all data were subjected to ARSCP system to provide a landscape of antibiotic residues in China. As a proof-of-concept, we provided an overview of residual antibiotics based on data from China, but the system is generally applicable to track and monitor the antibiotic residues globally when the data from other countries are incorporated. We used the combined Explorer 2.0 and MS data to construct ARSCP, an antimicrobial residue surveillance cloud platform for raw chicken samples. ARSCP can be used for rapid detection and real-time monitoring of antibiotic residues in animal food and provides both data management and risk warning functions. This system provides a solution to improve the management of facilities that must monitor antibiotic MRLs in food animal products that can reduce the pollution of antibiotics to the environment.

Use of GnRH antagonists in IVF stimulation protocols shortens controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) and reduces the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). However, profound reduction in LH levels has been associated with use of GnRH antagonists. This study aims to determine if LH suppression during GnRH antagonist cycles results in poorer IVF outcomes. This was a prospective pilot longitudinal study where serum LH levels were measured on day 2/3 of the menstrual cycle before COH, 1/2 days following institution of GnRH antagonist and at the day of ovulation trigger. A threshold of LH