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Climate warming is causing rapid permafrost degradation, including thaw-induced subsidence, potentially resulting in heightened carbon release. Nevertheless, our understanding of the levels and variations of carbon components in permafrost, particularly during the degradation process, remains limited. The uncertainties arising from this process lead to inaccurate assessments of the climate effects during permafrost degradation. With vast expanses of permafrost in the Tibetan Plateau, there is limited research available on SOC components, particularly in the central Tibetan Plateau. Given remarkable variations in hydrothermal conditions across different areas of the Tibetan Plateau, the existing limited studies make it challenging to assess the overall SOC components in the permafrost across the Tibetan Plateau and simulate their future changes. In this study, we examined the properties of soil organic carbon (SOC) and microbial necromass carbon (MicrobialNC) in a representative permafrost thaw-subsidence area at the southern edge of continuous permafrost in the central Tibetan Plateau. The results indicate that prior to the thaw-subsidence, the permafrost had a SOC content of 72.68 ± 18.53 mg g−1, with MicrobialNC accounting for 49.6%. The thaw-subsidence of permafrost led to a 56.4% reduction in SOC, with MicrobialNC accounting for 70.0% of the lost SOC. MicrobialNC constitutes the primary component of permafrost SOC, and it is the main component that is lost during thaw-subsidence formation. Changes in MicrobialNC are primarily correlated with factors pH, plant input, and microbial properties. The present study holds crucial implications for both the ecological and biogeochemical processes associated with carbon release from permafrost, and it furnishes essential data necessary for modeling the global response of permafrost to climate warming. Based on this study and previous research, permafrost thawing in the Tibetan Plateau causes substantial loss of SOC. However, there's remarkable heterogeneity in SOC component changes across different regions, warranting further in-depth investigation.

Abstract Background Postoperative delirium is a common complication in older patients, with poor long-term outcomes. This study aimed to investigate risk factors and develop a predictive model for postoperative delirium in older patients after major abdominal surgery. Methods This study retrospectively recruited 7577 patients aged ≥ 65 years who underwent major abdominal surgery between January 2014 and December 2018 in a single hospital in Beijing, China. Patients were divided into a training cohort (n = 5303) and a validation cohort (n = 2224) for univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses and to build a nomogram. Data were collected for 43 perioperative variables, including demographics, medical history, preoperative laboratory results, imaging, and anesthesia information. Results Age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, white blood cell count, glucose, total protein, creatinine, emergency surgery, and anesthesia time were associated with postoperative delirium in multivariate analysis. We developed a nomogram based on the above 8 variables. The nomogram achieved areas under the curve of 0.731 and 0.735 for the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The discriminatory ability of the nomogram was further assessed by dividing the cases into three risk groups (low-risk, nomogram score 199; P

Studies on the responses of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen dynamics to Holocene climate and environment in permafrost peatlands and/or wetlands might serve as analogues for future scenarios, and they can help predict the fate of the frozen SOC and nitrogen under a warming climate. To date, little is known about these issues on the Qinghai‒Tibet Plateau (QTP). Here, we investigated the accumulations of SOC and nitrogen in a permafrost wetland on the northeastern QTP, and analyzed their links with Holocene climatic and environmental changes. In order to do so, we studied grain size, soil organic matter, SOC, and nitrogen contents, bulk density, geochemical parameters, and the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of the 216-cm-deep wetland profile. SOC and nitrogen contents revealed a general uptrend over last 7300 years. SOC stocks for depths of 0–100 and 0–200 cm were 50.1 and 79.0 kgC m−2, respectively, and nitrogen stocks for the same depths were 4.3 and 6.6 kgN m−2, respectively. Overall, a cooling and drying trend for regional climate over last 7300 years was inferred from the declining chemical weathering and humidity index. Meanwhile, SOC and nitrogen accumulated rapidly in 1110–720 BP, while apparent accumulation rates of SOC and nitrogen were much lower during the other periods of the last 7300 years. Consequently, we proposed a probable conceptual framework for the concordant development of syngenetic permafrost and SOC and nitrogen accumulations in alpine permafrost wetlands. This indicates that, apart from controls of climate, non-climate environmental factors, such as dust deposition and site hydrology, matter to SOC and nitrogen accumulations in permafrost wetlands. We emphasized that environmental changes driven by climate change have important impacts on SOC and nitrogen accumulations in alpine permafrost wetlands. This study could provide data support for regional and global estimates of SOC and nitrogen pools and for global models on carbon‒climate interactions that take into account of alpine permafrost wetlands on the northeastern QTP at mid-latitudes.

Resource partitioning may allow species coexistence. Sand dunes in the typical steppe of Alxa Desert Inner Mongolia, China, consisting of desert, shrub, and grass habitats, provide an appropriate system for studies of spatial niche partitioning among small mammals. In this study, the spatial niche characteristics of four rodents, Orientallactaga sibirica, Meriones meridianus, Dipus sagitta, and Phodopus roborovskii, and their responses to environmental changes in the Alxa Desert were studied from 2017 to 2021. Using the capture-mark-recapture method, we tested if desert rodents with different biological characteristics and life history strategies under heterogeneous environmental conditions allocate resources in spatial niches to achieve sympatric coexistence. We investigated the influence of environmental factors on the spatial niche breadth of rodents using random forest and redundancy analyses. We observed that the spatial niche overlap between O. sibirica and other rodents is extremely low (overlap index ≤ 0.14). P. roborovskii had the smallest spatial niche breadth. Spatial niche overlap was observed in two distinct species pairs, M. meridianus and D. sagitta, and P. roborovskii and D. sagitta. The Pielou evenness index of rodent communities is closely related to the spatial distribution of rodents, and the concealment of habitats is a key factor affecting the spatial occupation of rodents.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a refractory autoimmune disease, affecting about 1% of the world’s population. RA is divided into seronegative RA and seropositive RA. However, biomarkers for discriminating between seronegative and seropositive RA have not been reported. In this study, we profiled serum miRNAs in seronegative RA patients (N-RA), seropositive RA patients (P-RA) and healthy controls (HC) by small RNA sequencing. Results indicated that compared with HC group, there were one up-regulated and four downregulated miRNAs in N-RA group (fold change ≥ 2 and P value < 0.05); compared with P-RA group, there were two up-regulated and four downregulated miRNAs in N-RA group; compared with HC group, there were three up-regulated and four downregulated miRNAs in P-RA group. Among them, the level of hsa-miR-362-5p in N-RA group was up-regulated compared with that in HC group and P-RA group, and the level of hsa-miR-6855-5p and hsa-miR-187-3p in P-RA group was upregulated compared with that in N-RA group and HC group. Validation by qPCR confirmed that serum hsa-miR-362-5p level was elevated in N-RA group. Subsequently, by analyzing the target genes using RNAhybrid, PITA, Miranda and TargetScan and functions of differential miRNAs utilizing Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), we found that the target genes and molecular pathways regulated by miRNAs in seronegative RA and seropositive RA were roughly the same, and miRNAs in these two diseases may participate in the occurrence and development of diseases by regulating the immune system. In conclusion, this study revealed the profiles of serum miRNAs in seronegative and seropositive RA patients for the first time, providing potential biomarkers and targets for the diagnosis and treatment of seronegative and seropositive RA.

Ecosystem stability has been of increasing interest in the past several decades as it helps predict the consequences of anthropogenic disturbances on ecosystems. A wild rodent community under reclamation and different grazing disturbances in the Alxa Desert was investigated using live trapping from 2006 to 2011. We studied the rodent community composition, community diversity, and variability of different life history strategies. These results showed that reclamation reduced rodent community stability by increasing temporal variability of community, reducing rodent community resistance as shown by decreasing dominance of KSS strategists, and increased the resistance variability of the rodent community by increasing the variability of abundance and richness for KSS strategists. Grazing reduced rodent community resilience by reducing the dominance of rRF strategists, and increased the resilience variability of the rodent community by increasing the variability of abundance and richness for rRF strategists. Those results may answer the three ecological questions about how ecosystems respond to disturbances from a diversity perspective. The ecosystems with intermediate disturbance are more stable, in other words, with higher resistance and resilience. The increase of KSS strategists means the increase of resistance of the community. The increase of rRF strategists means the increase of community resilience.

The rapid warming of the Arctic has led to permafrost degradation, accelerating the transport of terrestrial materials by rivers. The quantitative assessment of riverine nutrients and total suspended solids (TSS) flux is important to clarify the land–ocean connections in the Arctic. However, much is unknown about the estimates of these components from direct measurements in the Arctic rivers and the response of the components to permafrost degradation. Here, we report the results from the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory (Arctic-GRO) for the six major Arctic rivers (Yenisey, Lena, Ob’, Mackenzie, Yukon, and Kolyma) to investigate the riverine exports of TSS, total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), nitrate (NO3−), bicarbonate (HCO3−), total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), and phosphate (PO43−). The results showed that from 2004 to 2017, the annual TSS, TDN, and NO3− exports to the Arctic Ocean were approximately 106,026 Gg, 692 Gg, and 130 Gg, respectively, and the HCO3−, TDP, and PO43− exports were approximately 79,092 Gg, 32 Gg, and 18 Gg, respectively. There were remarkable variations in component concentrations and fluxes between seasons. More than 80% of the TDN, TDP, PO43−, and TSS exports mainly occurred in spring and summer, and a high HCO3− flux was recorded in summer, while a high NO3− flux in some rivers occurred in winter. The active layer thickness was significantly positively correlated with the annual TDN, NO3−, and HCO3− exports. In addition, the HCO3− flux of the six Arctic rivers increased by 247 Gg per year during 2004–2017. The positive relationship between the active layer thickness and river discharge indicates that permafrost degradation accelerated riverine carbonate, nitrogen, and phosphorus exports. This study demonstrates that riverine exports play an important role both in the Arctic terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and permafrost degradation will likely increase the riverine material exports to the ocean.

Climate warming leads to vast changes in the land cover types and plant biomass in the northern high-latitude regions. The overall trend is of shrubland and tree lines moving northwards, while changes in different land cover types and vegetation growth in response to climate change are largely unknown. Here, we selected land areas with latitudes higher than 50°N as the study area. We compared the land cover type changes and explored relationships between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values of different land cover types, air temperature, and precipitation during 1982–2015 based on dynamic grid. The results indicated that forest and shrubland areas increased as a large area of grassland shifted to forest and shrubland. The snow/ice, tundra and grassland largely have decreased from 1982 to 2015. Although approximately 277.3 × 103 km2 of barren land (6.2% of the total barren land area in 1982) changed to tundra, the tundra area still decreased because some tundra shifted to forest and grassland. The NDVI values of tundra significantly increased, but the shrubland showed a decreasing trend. Temperature in the growing season (June to September) showed the largest positive correlation coefficients with the NDVI values of forest, tundra, grassland, and cropland. However, due to shrubification processes and plant mortality in shrubland areas, the shrubland NDVI showed negative relationship with annual temperature but positively correlated with monthly t. Taken together, although there is large room for improvement of the land cover type data accuracy, our results suggested that the land cover types in high-latitude regions changed significantly, while the NDVI values of the different land cover types showed different responses to climate change.

Arctic warming leads to permafrost degradation, which can increase ecosystem respiration and release more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, climate warming also promotes the plant growth and increases carbon assimilation. Presently, it is largely unknown about the carbon budget and their responses to climate change in the Arctic regions. In this study, to investigate the seasonal and annual net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE), we collected 71 observation stations for net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 in the high latitude permafrost regions during 2002–2017. The results showed that the annual NEE was −8.2 ± 4.1 g CO2 m−2 d−1 for forest, −3.3 ± 2.6 g CO2 m−2 d−1 for shrub, −4.8 ± 4.1 g CO2 m−2 d−1 for grassland, −3.6 ± 3.0 g CO2 m−2 d−1 for wetland and 0.02 ± 0.62 g CO2 m−2 d−1 for tundra, respectively. From 2002 to 2017, the CO2 emissions of grassland (carbon source) showed a decreasing trend, and the CO2 assimilation of shrub and forest (carbon sink) has been increased. The wetland and tundra are shifting from carbon sources to sinks. There were great variations in temperature sensitivities (Q10) of NEE in different seasons, with larger values in winter and lower values in summer. These findings indicate that the Arctic terrestrial ecosystem presently acts as a carbon sink, while there is a possibility that future warming, especially the warming in winter, may decrease the carbon sink of the Arctic terrestrial ecosystem.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease affecting 1% to 3% of the world population. Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) is the most common form of psoriasis. PV patients suffer from inflamed, pruritic and painful lesions for years (even a lifetime). However, conventional drugs for PV are costly. Considering the need for long-term treatment of PV, it is urgent to discover novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Plasma exosomal miRNAs have been identified as the reliable biomarkers and therapy targets of human diseases. Here, we described the levels of plasma exosomal miRNAs in PV patients and analyzed the functional features of differently expressed miRNAs and their potential target genes for the first time. We identified 1,182 miRNAs including 336 novel miRNAs and 246 differently expressed miRNAs in plasma exosomes of healthy people and PV patients. Furthermore, the functional analysis found differently expressed miRNA-regulated target genes enriched for specific GO terms including primary metabolic process, cellular metabolic process, metabolic process, organic substance metabolic process, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway containing cellular processes, human diseases, metabolic pathways, metabolism and organismal systems. In addition, we found that some predicted target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs, such as CREB1, RUNX2, EGFR, are both involved in inflammatory response and metabolism. In summary, our study identifies many candidate miRNAs involved in PV, which could provide potential biomarkers for diagnosis of PV and targets for clinical therapies against PV.

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of grazing on midday gerbil (Meriones meridianus) population characteristics and survival of animals of different genders. The experiment used a randomized complete block design and was conducted in Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia, China, in 2002 (The agricultural reclamation plots set up in 1994). From April 2006 to October 2010, midday gerbils were live‐trapped in 3 light grazing plots, 3 overgrazed plots, and 3 grazing exclusion plots. The quantity of vegetation was investigated in the two different grazing intensity areas and grazing exclusion area to determine the relationship between gerbils and plant food availability. The results suggested that there was higher gerbil density, individual body mass, and daily body mass growth rate in the grazing exclusion sites than the other sites across the whole year. Females had higher survival in grazing exclusion areas than in other treatments, but the males’ survival showed the opposite pattern. Our results indicated that grazing negatively influenced the midday gerbil population by reducing food availability. Grazing influenced the survival rates of male midday gerbils positively, but had negative effects on females. The reason for gendered differences in survival rates of midday gerbils requires further investigation.

AIM: To compare the clinical effects and safety of single subthreshold micropulse(STMP)yellow laser and combined ranibizumab intravitreal injection on the treatment of diabetic macular edema(DME).METHODS: Totally 33 patients(58 eyes)with DME were divided into two groups. Group A(laser group)received STMP yellow laser, and group B(combined treatment group)received ranibizumab intravitreal injection combined with STMP yellow laser. The best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), intraocular pressure(IOP), central macular thickness(CMT), total macular volume(TMV), fluorescein fundus angiography(FFA), multifocal ERG(MERG), autofluorescence(AF)and macular pigment optical density(MPOD)were compared before and after the treatments. And treatment times were counted. RESULTS:Compared with those before treatment, there were significant differences in BCVA and TMV 6, 9, 12mo after treatment in the laser group(PPP1 amplitude of MEG, Max OD and Mean OD before treatment, there were significant differences for the two groups 12mo after treatment(P1 amplitudes between the two groups after 12mo of treatment(PP=0.943).CONCLUSION:Both single STMP laser and combined with intravitreal injection of ranibizumab can effectively reduce macular edema, improve vision and safety in DME patients. And the combined treatment group has faster and better effect.

The Huayu-Qiangshen-Tongbi (HQT) decoction, a Chinese medical formula, has been identified to show a potent therapeutic effect on rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the specific molecular mechanism of HQT in RA has not been well studied. In the present study, LPS-treated human rheumatoid fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS) MH7A cells and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice were utilized as in vitro and in vivo models. Our results demonstrated that HQT could efficiently inhibit RA-induced inflammation by reducing the production of cytokines including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Moreover, HQT significantly upregulated the expression of miR-125b. Besides, analysis of bioinformatics suggested casein kinase 2 (CK2) was a potential target of miR-125b. Luciferase reporter assay was performed and revealed that miR-125b suppressed CK2 expression in MH7A cells. Furthermore, miR-125b inhibited LPS-induced NF-kappa-B (NF-κB) activation, which is a downstream target of CK2. In addition, the NF-κB inhibitor ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC) and NF-kappa-B inhibitor alpha (IkB-α) enhanced the inhibitory effect of miR-125b on the expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. Taken together, our study revealed that HQT could attenuate RA through upregulating miR-125b to suppress NF-κB-induced inflammation by targeting CK2. The findings of this study should facilitate investigating the mechanism of HQT on RA and discovering novel therapeutic targets for RA.

Urban lakes are important natural assets but are exposed to multiple stressors from human activities. Submersed macrophytes, a key plant group that helps to maintain clear-water conditions in lakes, tend to be scarce in urban lakes, particularly when they are eutrophic or hypertrophic, and their loss is linked, in part, to impaired underwater light climate. We tested if enhancing the underwater light conditions using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could restore submersed macrophytes in urban lakes. Twelve mesocosms (1000 L each) were each planted with tape grass (Vallisneria natans) and monitored over three months (22 August–7 November), using a control and three artificial light intensity treatments (10, 50, and 100 µmol m-2 s-1). Compared with the control, the high light treatment (100 µmol m-2 s-1) had higher leaf number, maximum leaf length, and average leaf length (3.9, 5.8, and 2.8 times, respectively). Shoot number, leaf number, leaf dry mass, root dry mass, and photosynthetic photon flux density in the high-light treatment were significantly greater than the control, but root length and phytoplankton chlorophyll a were not related to plant growth variables and were low in all treatments. Periphyton chlorophyll a increased significantly with the plant growth variables (i.e., shoot number, leaf number, and maximum leaf length) and was high in the light treatments but did not hamper the growth of the macrophytes. These results indicate that LED light supplementation enables the growth of V. natans under eutrophic conditions, at least in the absence of fish as in our experiment, and that the method may have potential as a restoration method in urban lakes. Lake-scale studies are needed, however, to fully evaluate LED light supplementation under natural conditions where other stressors (e.g., fish grazing) may need to be controlled for successful restoration of urban lakes.

Alpine grassland occupies two-thirds of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). It is vital to project changes of this vulnerable ecosystem under different climate change scenarios before taking any mitigation or adaptation measures. In this study, we used a process-based ecosystem model, driven with output from global circulation models under different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), to project the carbon dynamics of alpine grassland. The results showed the following: 1) Vegetation carbon (C) on the QTP increased by 22–38 gC m−2 during periods of 1.5 and 2 °C warming under different RCPs when compared to the baseline period (1981–2006), while soil C increased by 85–122 gC m−2. 2) The increases of vegetation C and soil C at the period of 1.5 °C warming were about 15 gC m−2 and 40 gC m−2 smaller than those at the period of 2 °C warming, respectively; increase of C was greater for alpine meadow than for alpine steppe. 3) Precipitation, radiation, and permafrost changed significantly and showed heterogeneous spatial patterns, and caused heterogeneous response of C dynamics. For alpine meadow in regions transformed from permafrost to seasonally frozen soil with medium annual precipitation (200–400 mm), vegetation C and net primary production decreased by 18.7 gC m−2 and 3.1 gC m−2 per year during 2 °C warming under RCP 4.5, respectively. This decrease can be attributed to the disappearing impermeable permafrost. Different from previous studies that indicated an unfavorable response of alpine grassland to climate warming, this study showed a relatively favorable response, which is mainly attributed to CO2 fertilization. Keywords: Permafrost, Terrestrial ecosystem model, Vegetation, Soil, Net primary production

Numerous results have revealed an association between inhibited function of excitatory amino acid transporter 3 (EAAT3) and several neurodegenerative diseases. This was also corroborated by our previous studies which showed that the EAAT3 function was intimately linked to learning and memory. With this premise, we examined the role of EAAT3 in post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and explored the potential benefit of riluzole in countering POCD in the present study. We first established a recombinant adeno-associated-viral (rAAV)-mediated shRNA to knockdown SLC1A1/EAAT3 expression in the hippocampus of adult male mice. The mice then received an intracerebroventricular microinjection of 2 μg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to construct the POCD model. In addition, for old male mice, 4 mg/kg of riluzole was intraperitoneally injected for three consecutive days, with the last injection administered 2 h before the LPS microinjection. Cognitive function was assessed using the Morris water maze 24 h following the LPS microinjection. Animal behavioral tests, as well as pathological and biochemical assays, were performed to clarify the role of EAAT3 function in POCD and evaluate the effect of activating the EAAT3 function by riluzole. In the present study, we established a mouse model with hippocampal SLC1A1/EAAT3 knockdown and found that hippocampal SLC1A1/EAAT3 knockdown aggravated LPS-induced learning and memory deficits in adult male mice. Meanwhile, LPS significantly inhibited the expression of EAAT3 membrane protein and the phosphorylation level of GluA1 protein in the hippocampus of adult male mice. Moreover, riluzole pretreatment significantly increased the expression of hippocampal EAAT3 membrane protein and also ameliorated LPS-induced cognitive impairment in elderly male mice. Taken together, our results demonstrated that the dysfunction of EAAT3 is an important risk factor for POCD susceptibility and therefore, it may become a promising target for POCD treatment.

Backgroud: Acupuncture is common used for Bell's palsy in clinic, however, recent systematic reviews all shows that there is no sufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of acupuncture for Bell's palsy because ofthe poor quality and heterogeneity. It's urgently necessary to develop a guideline of acupuncture for Bell's palsy based on principles of evidence-based medicine to optimize acupuncture treating, standardize outcomes evaluating and to improve the quality of acupuncture for patients with Bell's palsy under general circumstances.

Background/Objective: Plasma-sprayed titanium coating (TC) with rough surfaces has been successfully applied in hip or knee prostheses. This study aimed to investigate the osteoconduction and osseointegration of Type I collagen covalently immobilised on TC (TC-AAC) compared with those of TC. Methods: In vitro, the migration of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on TC and TC-AAC was observed by scanning electron microscopy and visualised fluorescent live/dead assay. In vivo, a rabbit model with femur condyle defect was employed, and implants of TC and TC-AAC were embedded into the femur condyles. Results: Collagen immobilised on TC could promote hMSCs' migration into the porous structure of the TC. Micro computed tomography images showed that bone trabeculae were significantly more abundant around TC-AAC implants than around TC implants. Fluorescence micrographs indicated more active new-bone formation around implants in the TC-AAC group than in the TC group. The measurement of bone–implant contact on histological sections indicated significantly greater osteointegration around TC-AAC implants than around TC ones. Conclusion: Immobilised Type I collagen could improve the osteoconduction and osseointegration of TC implants.

A real-time RT-PCR assay using TaqMan-MGB probes was developed to detect and type the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in cattle. Universal primers and TaqMan-MGB probes were designed from the 5′-untranslated region of known pestiviral sequences. Prior to optimizing the assay, cRNAs were transcribed in vitro from the BVDV 1 and BVDV 2 RT-PCR products to make standard curves. The detection limit of the assay was 1.72×102 copies for BVDV 1 and 2.14×102 copies for BVDV 2. The specificity of the assay evaluated on several BVDV strains including bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV 1), foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) and several classical swine fever virus (CSFV) strains showed specific detection of the positive virus over 40 cycles. The assay was highly reproducible with the coefficient of variance ranging from 1.04 to 1.33% for BVDV 1 and from 0.83 to 1.48% for BVDV 2, respectively. Using this method, we tested a total of 2 327 cattle from three dairy farms for the presence of BVDV persistently infected (PI) animals. In this assay, each RT-PCR template contained a mixture of ten samples from different animals. The occurrence rate of PI cattle in three farms ranging from 0.9 to 2.54% could represent partly the PI rates in cattle farm in China. In conclusion, using our real-time PCR assay, we could effectively detect and type BVDV and identify PI cattle in a rapid and cost-effective manner.

Background: Identifying the risk factors associated with perioperative mortality is crucial, particularly in older patients. Predicting 6-month mortality risk in older patients based on large datasets can assist patients and surgeons in perioperative clinical decisionmaking. This study aimed to develop a risk prediction model of mortality within 6 months after noncardiac surgery using the clinical data from 11 894 older patients in China. Materials and Methods: A multicentre, retrospective cohort study was conducted in 20 tertiary hospitals. The authors retrospectively included 11 894 patients (aged ≥65 years) who underwent noncardiac surgery between April 2020 and April 2022. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator model based on linear regression was used to analyse and select risk factors, and various machine learning methods were used to build predictive models of 6-month mortality. Results: The authors predicted 12 preoperative risk factors associated with 6-month mortality in older patients after noncardiac surgery. Including laboratory-associated risk factors such as mononuclear cell ratio and total blood cholesterol level, etc. Also including medical history associated risk factors such as stroke, history of chronic diseases, etc. By using a random forest model, the authors constructed a predictive model with a satisfactory accuracy (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.97). Conclusion: The authors identified 12 preoperative risk factors associated with 6-month mortality in noncardiac surgery older patients. These preoperative risk factors may provide evidence for a comprehensive preoperative anaesthesia assessment as well as necessary information for clinical decision-making by anaesthesiologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the authors present their study which examined the formation of male gametes from spermatogonial stem cells (SSC) by profiling the neonatal, juvenile, and adult testes in pigs through single-cell sequencing (scRNA-seq). Also cited are how prospermatogonia (ProSG) produce SSCs, and the similarities between pig and human spermatogenesis.

Introduction Preoperative radiotherapy followed by total mesorectal excision with adjuvant chemotherapy has been recommended as the preferred treatment method for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Similar rates of local control, survival and toxicity were observed in preoperative long-course chemoradiotherapy (LCRT) (45-50.4 Gy in 25-28 fractions) and in short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) with 25 Gy over five fractions. Both regimens lower the local recurrence rates compared with that of surgery followed by postoperative radiotherapy. With the simplicity and lower cost of SCRT, a growing number of patients have been receiving SCRT as preoperative radiotherapy. However, the currently established SCRT (25 Gy over five fractions) followed immediately by surgery resulted in poor downstaging and sphincter preservation rate. The pathological complete response (pCR) rate is also markedly lower with SCRT than with LCRT (0.7%vs16%). Several studies recommended SCRT with delayed surgery for more than 4 weeks with expectation of improved pathological outcomes and fewer postoperative complications. While a number of clinical trials demonstrated a persistently better overall local control with SCRT than with LCRT, overall survival advantage has not been observed. Since survival is mainly depended on distant metastases, efforts should be made towards more effective pathological response and systemic treatment. Given the apparent advantages of SCRT, we aimed to establish a dose escalation of SCRT and sequential modified FOLFOX6 (mFOLFOX6) as preoperative therapy for LARC with objectives of achieving an optimal balance of safety, cost effectiveness and clinical outcome, and to support further investigation of this regimen in a phase II/III setting. Methods In this phase I study, three dose levels (6Gyx5F, 7Gyx5F, 8Gyx5F to gross tumour volume, while keeping the rest of irradiated volume at 5Gyx5) of SCRT followed by four cycles of mFOLFOX6 chemotherapy as neoadjuvant therapy will be tested by using the traditional 3+3 design. The pCR rate, R0 resection rate, sphincter preservation rate and treatment related toxicity will be assessed. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Fujian Medical University Union Hospital (No. 2017YF020-02) and all participants provided written informed consent. Results from our study will be disseminated in international peer-reviewed journals. All study procedures were developed in order to assure data protection and confidentiality. Trial registration number NCT03466424; Pre-results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a forty-six-year-old man, who was suffering from multilevel spondylolysis. Topics discussed include conservative treatment using lumbar radiographs, low back pain in persons who perform gymnastics, diving and weight lifting, association of spondylolysis with mechanical factors such as heavy physical labor, and need of monitoring Pelvic incidence (PI).

Background: Primary pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) is a rare subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and no effective treatments have been defined for advanced disease. Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is expressed in a group of cancers that may be suitable targets for specific immunotherapy. Methods: This study investigated the expression and clinical value of PD-L1 in pulmonary LELC. Seventy-nine patients with pulmonary LELC were investigated. Paraffin-embedded tumor sections were stained with PD-L1 antibody. Correlations of PD-L1 expression with clinicopathologic parameters and outcomes were analyzed. Results: Fifty patients (63.3%) were PD-L1 positive. The 3-year and 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 76.0% and 68.0%, respectively, and the 3-year and 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 88.0% and 79.0%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with positive PD-L1 expression had longer PFS and OS than those with negative PD-L1 expression (P=0.019 and P=0.042, respectively). In a multivariate Cox regression model including age, tumor size, stage, and PD-L1 expression status, the latter three factors were found to be independent predictors of PFS (P=0.023, P=0.000, and P=0.009, respectively), but only stage was found to be an independent factor for OS (P=0.007), and PD-L1 expression status showed a trend to be independently correlated with OS (P=0.080). Conclusion: Our results showed that a large proportion of patients with pulmonary LELC had positive expression of PD-L1, supporting the potential use of anti-PD-1/PD-L1-targeted therapies in this distinct type of NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasticity of circadian rhythm was investigated for the model species desert hamster (Phodopus roborovskii) under natural conditions in the Alashan Desert using the radiofrequency identification (RFID) technique, that is, animals were caught in the field and marked with passive transponders, and burrows were equipped with integrated microchip readers and photosensors for detection of movements into or out of the burrow. Additionally, video observations with infrared cameras were conducted at feeding sites to verify RFID data and analyze interspecific behavior. Composition of the rodent community changed during observation periods from a midday gerbil (Meriones meridianus)-dominated community to a desert hamster (P. roborovskii)-dominated community in 2009 and from a northern three-toed jerboa (Dipus sagitta)-dominated community to a hamster-dominated community in 2010. Activity pattern of hamsters was clearly affected by species composition. In the hamster-dominated community, activity started 1.7 h ± 1.0 SD after sundown and ended 7.2 ± 1.4 h after sundown. A similar activity pattern was found for the jerboa-dominated community. In contrast, hamsters shortened their activity tremendously in the gerbil-dominated community, to 2.2 ± 1.3 h (activity began at 0.8 ± 0.3 h after sundown and ended at 3.0 ± 1.5 h after sundown). An analysis of interspecific behavior at feeding sites showed clearly that gerbil behavior was characterized by aggressive attacks (60.4% attacks versus 6.1% being attacked), whereas jerboa behavior was dominated by avoidance of direct contact (67.5% avoidance versus 22.9% attack). Hamster intraspecific behavior included all 4 elements in a similar ratio (27.3% attacks, 21.8% being attacked, 22.7% fleeing without direct contact, and 22.7% causing fleeing without direct contact). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed to investigate the effect of human resistin on myocyte differentiation and insulin resistance. The human resistin eukaryotic expression vector was stable transfected into C2C12 myocyte cells and was transiently transfected into COS7 cells. The effects of human resistin on cell proliferation, cell cycle, and myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells were examined. Glucose uptake assays was performed on C2C12 myotubes by using [³H] 2-deoxy-D-glucose. The mRNA levels of insulin receptor (IR) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) were evaluated by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Results showed by the C2C12 cells transfected with human resistin gene compared with that without transfecting gene are as follows: (1) cell proliferation was significantly promoted, (2) after inducing differentiation, the myotube's diameters and expression of desmin and myoglobin decreased, and (3) glucose uptake ratio was lowered and expression of IR and GLUT4 decreased. However, there was no significant difference in the glucose uptake ratio between C2C12 myotubes treated with a human resistin conditioned medium of COS7 cells and treated with control medium. These results suggest that maybe human resistin has not a direct role on insulin sensitivity of myocytes. However, maybe it impaired the insulin sensitivity of myocytes through suppressing myogenesis and stimulating proliferation of myoblasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Through analysis of measure data on three 220kV transformer substation in Shanxi China, the results show that harmonic current produced by electrification railroad injects into power system in a proportion through 110kV point of common coupling, and the infiltration coefficient is closed to 1 if harmonic current direction is 110kV to 35kV, this phenomenon coincides with usual law; but there has strong infiltration in harmonic voltage between 110kV and 220kV system, and the infiltration coefficient could be not negligible, it does not coincide with usual law. Therefore, 110kV harmonic distortion produced by electrification railroad not only infiltrates to 220kV system thought coupling transformer, but also disseminates even hundreds of kilometres thought electric fence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a case study of a 12-year-old girl with giant herniation of an intervertebral disc calcification in the thoracic spine. The girl had tenderness at the spinous processes of T2 and T3 with paraspinal muscle spasm and the spinal motions were extremely painful. She was initially treated with bed rest for three months and the pain disappeared completely in ten months. It discusses intervertebral disc calcification in childhood as an uncommon and distinct disease of unknown cause.

It was found that chlorogenic acid inhibited in vitro animal fatty acid synthase (FAS I) and the ß-ketoacyl-ACP reductase (FabG) from Escherichia coli in a concentration-dependent manner with respective IC50 of 94.8 and 88.1 µM. The results of Lineweaver-Burk plots indicated that chlorogenic acid inhibited competitively the binding of NADPH to FAS I, while left those of acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA unaffected. Further kinetic studies showed that chlorogenic acid blocked the activity of FAS I mainly by inhibiting the ß-ketoacyl reductase domain, which catalyzed the same reaction as that done by FabG in the fatty acid synthesis. The ß-ketoacyl reduction reactions accomplished by both FAS I and FabG required nucleotide cofactor, NADPH. Furthermore, the Lineweaver-Burk and Yonetani-Theorell analyses implicated that chlorogenic acid filled competitively in the binding-pocket of NADPH in the ß-ketoacyl reductase domain of FAS I. The similar results were also obtained from the inhibition of FabG by chlorogenic acid. As observed in these results, the inhibitions of FAS I and FabG by chlorogenic acid were highly related to the interference of the inhibitor with NADPH, which was possibly due to the similarity between chlorogenic acid and some portion of NADPH, maybe the section consisting of the two ribose groups. IUBMB Life , 58: 39 – 46, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on studies on the development and application of a oxidative methodology for promoting Mannich and related cyclizations reactions. General features of these processes; Information on the application of these processes; Discussion on the results from these studies.

Active antenna elements consisting of FET oscillators integrated with notch antennas have been used to create a 3 x 3 quasioptical power combining array. The array has a good power combining efficiency and a well-defined main beam. The design of the FET active notch antenna element and the performance of the 3 x 3 array are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple method was used to design a microstrip flat reflect-array antenna. An X-band, 12-element array of rectangular microstrip patches was demonstrated for the first time to reflect the main beam 20 degrees off broadside. A redirection efficiency of 65.8% was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that the secret key generation rate can be balanced with the maximum secure distance of four-state continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) by using the linear optics cloning machine (LOCM). Benefiting from the LOCM operation, the LOCM-tuned noise can be employed by the reference partner of reconciliation to achieve higher secret key generation rates over a long distance. Simulation results show that the LOCM operation can flexibly regulate the secret key generation rate and the maximum secure distance and improve the performance of four-state CV-QKD protocol by dynamically tuning parameters in an appropriate range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the design and performance of a slop dipole antenna integrated directly with an FET amplifier. The measured radiation patterns of the antenna are linear with cross-polarization levels of 11 dB down n E plane and 17.5 dB down in H plane. The measured gain of the antenna is 10 dB at 7.1 GHz. Compared with a passive antenna, the active antenna has an extra gain of 7 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective vaccines against malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum are still lacking, and the molecular mechanism of the host-parasite interaction is not fully understood. Here we demonstrate that the interaction of RAP2, a parasite-secreted rhoptry protein that functions in the parasitophorous vacuole formation stage of the invasion, and CD147 on the host erythrocyte is essential for erythrocyte invasion by P falciparum and is independent from all previously identified interactions involved. Importantly, the blockade of the CD147-RAP2 interaction by HP6H8, a humanized CD147 antibody, completely abolished the parasite invasion with both cure and preventative functions in a humanized mouse model. Together with its long half-life on human red blood cells and its safety profile in cynomolgus monkeys, HP6H8 is the first antibody that offers an advantageous approach by targeting a more conserved late-stage parasite ligand for preventing as well as treating severe malaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]