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Two new iridoid glycosides, named 3′-O-benzoyl-dolichocymboside D (1) and dolichocymboside E (2), along with ten known glycosides (3–12), were isolated from the ethanol extract of the whole plants of Odontites vulgaris Moench. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESI-MS spectra and by comparison with those reported in the literature. This is the first report on compounds 11 and 12 isolated from the family Scrophulariaceae, and compounds 8–10 were isolated from the genus Odontites.

BackgroundThere were limited studies that directly compare the outcomes of various mind-body exercise (MBE) therapies on chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP).ObjectivesTo compare the efficacy of the four most popular MBE modes [Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi (TC), and Qigong] in clinically CNLBP patients, we conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA).MethodsWe searched databases for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (from origin to July 2022). RCTs were eligible if they included adults with CNLBP, and implemented one or more MBE intervention arms using Pilates, yoga, TC, and qigong. In addition, pain intensity and physical function were evaluated using validated questionnaires.ResultsNMA was carried out on 36 eligible RCTs involving 3,050 participants. The effect of exercise therapy on pain was in the following rankings: Pilates [Surface under cumulative ranking (SUCRA) = 86.6%], TC (SUCRA = 77.2%), yoga (SUCRA = 67.6%), and qigong (SUCRA = 64.6%). The effect of exercise therapy on function: Pilates (SUCRA = 98.4%), qigong (SUCRA = 61.6%,), TC (SUCRA = 59.5%) and yoga (SUCRA = 59.0%).ConclusionOur NMA shows that Pilates might be the best MBE therapy for CNLBP in pain intensity and physical function. TC is second only to Pilates in improving pain in patients with CNLBP and has the value of promotion. In the future, we need more high-quality, long-term follow-up RCTs to confirm our findings.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=306905, identifier: CRD42022306905.

Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) has occupied an important position in modern surgery, further stimulating the progress of methodology and technology. In recent years, a large number of computer vision-based methods have been widely used in surgical workflow recognition tasks. For training the models, a lot of annotated data are necessary. However, the annotation of surgical data requires expert knowledge and thus becomes difficult and time-consuming. In this paper, we focus on the problem of data deficiency and propose a knowledge transfer learning method based on artificial neural network to compensate a small amount of labeled training data. To solve this problem, we propose an unsupervised method for pre-training a Convolutional-De-Convolutional (CDC) neural network for sequencing surgical workflow frames, which performs neural convolution in space (for semantic abstraction) and neural de-convolution in time (for frame level resolution) simultaneously. Specifically, through neural convolution transfer learning, we only fine-tuned the CDC neural network to classify the surgical phase. We performed some experiments for validating the model, and it showed that the proposed model can effectively extract the surgical feature and determine the surgical phase. The accuracy (Acc), recall, precision (Pres) of our model reached 91.4, 78.9, and 82.5%, respectively.

Two new iridoid glycosides, named 3'

Two new stilbene glucosides

Two new stilbene glucosides, trans-3,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxystilbene 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), cis-3,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxystilbene 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), one new benzoic acid derivative, cis-4-hydroxy-3-hydroxymethyl-2-butenyl benzoate 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), and four known compounds (4 − 7) were isolated from Tournefortia sibirica L. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectral data. Anti-inflammatory effects of compounds (1 − 7) were evaluated in terms of inhibition on production of NO, TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Compounds 1, 2 and 5 − 7 could inhibit the levels of NO, TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells with IC50 values ranging from 40.96 to 88.76 µM.

Under the assumption of the minimal model theory for projective klt pairs of dimension n, we establish the minimal model theory for lc pairs ( X / Z , Δ ) {(X/Z,\Delta)} such that the log canonical divisor is relatively log abundant and its restriction to any lc center has relative numerical dimension at most n. We also give another detailed proof of results by the second author, and study termination of log MMP with scaling.

Stomatochroon lagerheimii is a rare endobiotic green alga that lives in the stomatal chambers of the leaves from tropical vascular plants. The only report, to date, on this species was from Sumatra, Indonesia, by Palm in 1934. For this study, specimens were collected from a tropical rain forest inYunan, south west China, and each section of the thallus was measured using these Chinese specimens since the dimensions for each part were not given in Palm's original description. Using LM and SEM, this study has discovered further important characteristics about S. lagerheimii. Notably, that the external part of S. lagerheimii can be deep orange - red as well as deep purple, the sporangia wall is reticulate and the setae are the first structures to arise from the basal cell of a germling. The host plants, originally from Indonesia and China, are from the genus, Clerodendrum (Verbenaceae), which suggests that this alga is an endobiotic parasitic species that exhibits host specificity.

Cryptomonads are unicellular, biflagellate algae. Generally, cryptomonad cells cannot be preserved well because of their fragile nature, and an improved methodology should be developed to identify cryptomonads from natural habitats. In this study, we tried using several cytological fixatives, including glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, and their combinations to preserve field samples collected from various waters, and the currently used fixative, Lugol's solution was tested for comparison. Results showed that among the fixatives tested, glutaraldehyde preserved the samples best, and the optimal concentration of glutaraldehyde was 2%. The cell morphology was well preserved by glutaraldehyde. Cells kept their original color, volume, and shape, and important taxonomic features such as furrow/gullet complex, ejectosomes, as well as flagella could be observed clearly, whereas these organelles frequently disappeared in Lugol's solution preserved samples. The osmotic adjustments and buffers tested could not preserve cell density significantly higher. Statistical calculation showed the cell density in the samples preserved by 2% glutaraldehyde remained stable after 43 days of the fixation procedure. In addition, DNA was extracted from glutaraldehyde preserved samples by grinding with liquid nitrogen and the 18S rDNA sequence was amplified by PCR. The sequence was virtually identical to the reference sequence, and phylogenetic analyses showed very close relationship between it and sequences from the same organism. To sum up, the present study demonstrated that 2% unbuffered glutaraldehyde, without osmotic adjustments, can preserve cryptomonads cells for identification, in terms of both light microscopy and phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences.

Two freshwater cryptomonads, Cryptomonas obovata Skuja and Cryptomonas curvata Ehrenberg, are reported for the first time in China. Identification was based on light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Cryptomonas obovata was characterized by its obovoid cell shape, lobed cell subapex, and a large number of starch grains. Cryptomonas curvata was characterized by its sigmoid cell shape, rostrate cell apex, and numerous pyrenoids. Nuclear and nucleomorph small subunit rDNA phylogenetic analyses revealed Cryptomonas curvata collected from China was very similar to C. curvata strains cultivated in Germany, and the closest relative of C. obovata was found to be C. pyrenoidifera Geitler. Controversially, some quite morphologically different members of the genus Cryptomonas Ehrenberg were clustered into the same group in phylogeny analyses, which emphasized the complexity of the genus Cryptomonas.

A freshwater dinoflagellate was identified as Durinskia baltica (Levander) Carty & Cox by morphological characteristics, with the plate formula: Po, x, 4', 2a, 6 '', 5c, 4s, 5''', 2"". Durinskia was a newly recorded dinoflagellate genus for China with two anterior intercalary plates and six characteristic precingular plates. Partial sequences of the small and large subunit ribosomal DNA and internal transcribed spacer sequences for the dinoflagellate cells were obtained from field samples. Molecular phylogenetic results indicated Durinskia species could cluster into a monophyletic group, which were distinct from Peridinium species. According to morphological and molecular evidence, it was agreed that the genus Durinskia was separated from the genus Peridinium, which could be a polyphyletic group. In addition, D. baltica was an infrequent diatom-harboring dinoflagellate which was known to possess an endosymbiotic diatom or diatom-like alga. The phylogenetic analyses indicated that D. baltica had a close affinity with Peridiniopsis penardii and P. niei, common freshwater bloom-forming species in China.

Nostoc sphaeroides Kuetzing has been used as a traditional medicine in China to treat a variety of ailments. This research identified the antioxidant activities of polysaccharide extract from Nostoc sphaeroides. The extract, which contains 46.2% carbohydrates, exhibited an effective scavenging capability on superoxide radical, hydroxyl radicals in non site-specific as well as site-specific assays, and also performed lipid peroxidation inhibition in a dose-dependent manner. Polysaccharide extract had no 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging potential at all test concentrations. Activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase in human embryo kidney 293 cells were increased effectively when Nostoc sphaeroides extract was applied. These results suggested that the use of N. sphaeroides in treating ailments may be based on the antioxidant capacities of polysaccharide composition.

Our studies investigated the physico-chemical properties of alkaline phosphatase excreted by D. magna. This cladoceran mainly released alkaline phosphatase, though it also released a small amount of acid phosphatase. The alkaline phosphatase showed a broad pH optimum (8.05-10.0), and had a broad optimum temperature (30-35 degrees C) with a temperature coefficient (Q(10)) of 2.45. The K-m of the enzyme is 0.15 +/- 0.02 mM when p-nitrophenyl phosphate is used as a substrate, and the V-max is 0.43 +/- 0.01 mu M pNP mg(-1) DW h(-1). Even though alkaline phosphatase had been incubated in chloroform saturated with WC medium for 13 days, its activity was 54% that of the original. The enzyme was strongly inactivated by EDTA, and appeared to be zinc dependent. The alkaline phosphatase activity remained constant when D. magna was fed different quantities of Chlorella sp. The sensitivity of D. magna phosphatase activity to phosphate was time-dependent. During the first 16 hrs, the enzyme was insensitive to phosphate addition, after 24 hrs incubation the enzyme became sensitive to phosphate addition.

Water temperature (WT), pH, HCO3-, dissolved oxygen and the concentration of Chl-a in Xiangxi Bay were measured in spring. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide was calculated by the chemical balance and Henry's Law while CO2 flux by the thin-layer diffusion model. Results showed that pCO2 of surface water in Xiangxi Bay varied from 8.34 microatm to 168.70 microatm with a mean of 49.01 microatm. pCO2 increased along the stream with Chl-a decreased from upstream to the estuary. The mean of pCO2 was 117.92 microatm on the diurnal scale, ranging from 74.43 microatm to 168.70 microatm, and the mean concentration of Chl-a was 3.04 mg x m(-3) with the range from 2.22 mg x m(-3) to 4.55 mg x m(-3). There were statistically significant negative correlations between values for pCO2 and Chl-a (r = -0.844, P0.01). Phytoplankton photosynthesis in Xiangxi Bay played a crucial role in the spatial and temporal distribution of pCO2. The undersaturation observed suggests that surface waters in Xiangxi Bay represented a sink for atmospheric CO2 in spring, and the exchange rate of CO2 was estimated to be -35.17 mmol x (m2 x d)(-1).

With the closed chamber and gas chromatography method, a 24-hour continuous monitoring was carried out to understand the greenhouse gases fluxes across the water-air interface of the Xiangxi River Bay, the Three-Gorges Reservoir in Autumn. Results indicated that the fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O across the water-air interface showed an obvious diurnal variation. The absorption and emission process of CH4 showed strong diurnal variation during the experimental period, reaching the highest emission at 1 am, whereas CO2 and N2O were emitted all day. The fluxes of CO2 ranged from 20.1-97.5 mg x (m2 x h)(-1) at day and 32.7-42.5 mg x (m2 x h)(-1) at night, the fluxes of N2O ranged from 18.4-133.7 microg x (m2 x h)(-1) at day and 42.1-102.6 microg x (m2 x h)(-1) at night. The fluxes of CO2 had positive correlation with wind speed and negative correlation with pH. The fluxes of N2O had positive correlation with pH.

Cultivating algal biofilm on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in waters presents an alternative to control eutrophication. Under laboratory conditions, efficiency on nitrogen and phosphorus removal from synthetic wastewater, secondary effluent and eutrophic lake water by algal biofilm was assessed. Algal biofilm was mainly composed of blue-green algal species Oscillatoria princeps. During a 5-day treatment, for synthetic wastewater, secondary effluent and eutrophic lake water, removal rates of TN were 57.1%, 94.5% and 93.8%, respectively, removal rates of TP were 93%, 73% and 79%, respectively. The dried algal production were 3.7 - 7.2 g x m(-2)x d(-1), and the TKN and TP of algal biomass were 5.7% - 7.2% and 0.78% - 2.44%, respectively. Recovery of nutrients in harvested algal biomass accounted for about 20% - 39% for N and 65% - 82% for P.