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Based on the characteristics that plants can take advantage of carbonic anhydrase enzyme to catalyze the bi- carbonate ions into carbon dioxide and water, which can serve as substrates for photosynthesis, two sodium bicarbonate whose δ13CPDB value differences were greater than 10‰ were used as the carbon isotope labeling and to bidirectional water culture Orychophragmus violaceus and Brassica juncea lasted for 24 h in this study,respectively. The daily mean stable carbon isotope compositions in two different times and environments were investigated and analyzed according to isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) technique. In particular, Environment 1 represented adding some sodium bicarbonate to solutions to get different concentrations of bicarbonate solution and Environment 2 represented adding some polyethylene glycol to solutions to get different concentrations of PEG solutions. These results showed that δCa values in the Environment 1 were related to the concentrations of added exogenous sodium bicarbonate to solution, but these in the Environment 2 had no significant correlation with PEG concentration in the treatment solution , these results in this study suggested that the daily mean stable carbon isotope composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide had no relationship with the cultured plant species, but was related to the concentration of exogenous bicarbonate ion added to the culture solution and growth rate of the two plants. The data obtained with good reproducibility and reliability, accurately determined the stable carbon isotope composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide in test environments. This study confirmed that the method was a very powerful tool for monitoring the carbon isotope composition and sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide in different times and places for further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the molecular mechanism of AwB subtype by performing serological and gene detection in a Chinese individual. Methods: One case of AwB subtype was determined by ABO serology using standard serological method, and 7 exons of ABO gene and their flanks were amplified by PCR, and then cloned and sequenced. Glycosyl Transferase A (GTA) mutants were constructed by Chimera software, and was mapped and analyzed by PyMOL software. Results: Serological identification showed that this individual had AwB subtype. DNA cloning and gene sequen-cing analysis showed that the A gene from the proband was A cis-expressed allele of A1.02 and A3.03, and the genotype was ABO*Avar/B.01. In the ISBT database, the A allele of this variant should be a novel allele, with missense mutations in c. 467C>T and c. 838C>T, which could result in p.P.156L and p.L.280F amino acid replacement in GTA. Analysis of the spatial structure of GTA showed, p.L280F resulted in the phenotypes, and did not lead to changes in the overall structure of GTA proteins, which altered the hydrogen bond network between amino acid 280 and surrounding amino acid residues, resulting in local conformation changes. Conclusions: AwB subtype caused by a novel A allele-is reported for the first time. The formation mechanism may be as follows: p.L280F mutations in glycosyltransferases encoded by the A1.02 allele alter the interactions between adjacent amino acids, resulting in reduced activity of the A enzyme,and AwB subtype occurs when co-expressing with the B allele.

Spatial and temporal associations between sympatric species underpin biotic interactions, structure ecological assemblages, and sustain ecosystem functioning and stability. However, the resilience of interspecific spatiotemporal associations to human activity remains poorly understood, particularly in mountain forests where anthropogenic impacts are often pervasive. Here, we applied context-dependent Joint Species Distribution Models to a systematic camera-trap survey dataset from a global biodiversity hotspot in eastern Himalayas to understand how prominent human activities in mountain forests influence species associations within terrestrial mammal communities. We obtained 10,388 independent detections of 17 focal species (12 carnivores and five ungulates) from 322 stations over 43,163 camera days of effort. We identified a higher incidence of positive associations in habitats with higher levels of human modification (87%) and human presence (83%) compared to those located in habitats with lower human modification (64%) and human presence (65%) levels. We also detected a significant reduction of pairwise encounter time at increasing levels of human disturbance, corresponding to more frequent encounters between pairs of species. Our findings indicate that human activities can push mammals together into more frequent encounters and associations, which likely influences the coexistence and persistence of wildlife, with potential far-ranging ecological consequences., Competing Interests: XL, WB, WH, QL, HW, ZC, RB, XJ No competing interests declared, (© 2023, Li et al.)

Competing Interests: The author has no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Despite the precarious state of marine turtles as a highly endangered species, our understanding of their diseases remains limited. This case report presents a detailed pathological investigation of spirorchiidiasis, a blood fluke infection that poses a substantial threat to marine turtles. This retrospective study examined three cases of spirorchiid-infected sea turtles, specifically, green sea turtles stranded on Jeju Island, South Korea. Premortem examination of the three spirorchiid-infected green sea turtles demonstrated nonspecific clinical symptoms; blood analysis revealed dehydration, malnutrition, and anemia. Computed tomography scans provided insights into severe pulmonary and extrapulmonary manifestations, including the mass present in the joint region. Post-mortem examinations consistently indicated severe lung lesions and systemic manifestations, with histopathological examination confirming the presence of spirorchiid ova across various organs. Despite the global prevalence of spirorchiidiasis in sea turtles, disease severity varies regionally. This report provides a detailed demonstration of the pathology of spirorchiidiasis in sea turtles from Northeast Asia.

The present case report aims to outline the post-mortem findings of an East Asian finless porpoise with upper aerodigestive tract obstruction using different post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) visualization techniques and discusses the potential cause of death of this individual. A dead-stranded adult male East Asian finless porpoise was recovered from the Northern coast of Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. The carcass was frozen in Jeju National University within 2 h upon first reported. The PMCT examinations were performed at 120 kVp, 200 mAs with a section thickness of 1 mm. The scan field of view (sFOV) was set to 400 mm. Four image rendering techniques, including multi-planar reconstruction, three-dimensional volume rendering, perspective volume rendering, and minimum intensity projection technique, were used to aid the diagnosis of upper aerodigestive tract obstruction in the stranded finless porpoise. Conventional necropsy was performed to provide a complete necropsy report. Using PMCT, a Sebastidae of 24 cm measured length was found to be lodged in the left pharyngeal food channel and esophagus of the finless porpoise. Hard rays of the pectoral fin of the lodged fish have impaled the esophageal mucosa. Fishing gear was found to embed at the dorsal side of the lodged fish. The trachea was compressed ventrally and the arytenoepiglottic tube opening has been narrowed, which may precipitate to the finless porpoise difficult breathing. Pulmonary hyperinflation, pulmonary edema, pneumothorax, pneumopericardium, and pneumorrhachis were observed. This case report represents the first documentation of potential radiological indicators of upper aerodigestive tract obstruction in the East Asian finless porpoise using PMCT. Spatial location of the lodged item could be rendered in situ as the time of death. It has demonstrated that PMCT could provide objective measurements to adjunct the necropsy findings in diagnosis of fatal aerodigestive tract obstruction in stranded cetaceans., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Human fishing activities have significantly affect environmental concern for marine ecosystems, conservation of marine mammals, and human health. Coastal cetaceans are highly vulnerable to ingestion of fishing gear, bycatching, or entanglement, all of which can be fatal for these animals. In particular, certain coastal dolphins and porpoises are heavily impacted by fishing gear such as angling gear or stownet, as their food often overlap with the target fish species of human fisheries., Case Presentation: This study presents a case of an Indo-Pacific finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) beached on the coast of Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, with ingestion of fishing gear and severe Anisakis infection. Although this species inhabits waters ranging from the Persian Gulf to Taiwan, several stranded carcasses have been reported on Jeju Island in recent years. Post-mortem computed tomography revealed a bundle of four fishing hooks in the forestomach, along with nylon lines and steel lines with connectors, which were assumed to be angling gear for Jeju hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus). Further necroscopic investigation revealed that the forestomach contained a large number of Anisakis spp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae). Histological examination revealed a thickened forestomach wall with pinpoint and volcanic ulcerations, a thickened layer of stratified squamous epithelium, and infiltrated stroma in the squamous epithelium., Conclusions: This study emphasizes the urgent need to address the impact of fishing activities on marine mammals, marine litter pollution, and the bycatch problem in Korean seawater. In addition, the occurrence of N. phocaenoides in seawater around Jeju Island should be raised in future geographical ecology or veterinary pathology studies and when its distribution is updated., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The shortage of organs for heart transplantation has created a need to explore the use of extended-criteria organs. We report the preliminary use of normothermic TransMedics Organ Care System-an ex vivo approach to preserve extended-criteria brain-dead donor hearts. This System maintains a normal temperature, provides continuous perfusion and oxygenation, reduces ischemic time, and enables additional viability assessment options. In a retrospective single-centre study conducted from April 2020 to March 2023, four extended criteria brain-dead donor hearts were perfused and monitored using the Organ Care System. Suitability for transplantation was assessed based on stable or decreasing lactate levels, along with appropriate perfusion parameters. The Organ Care for use of the Organ Care System were coronary artery disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, high-dose inotrope use in the donor, a downtime exceeding 20 min, and a left ventricular ejection fraction of 40-50%. Three out of the four donor hearts were transplanted, while one was discarded due to rising lactate concentration. The three recipients had a higher surgical risk profile for heart transplant. All showed normal cardiac function and no primary graft dysfunction postoperatively. At 2-3 years post-transplant, all recipients have a ventricular function of > 60%, with only one showing evidence of mild rejection. The Organ Care System enables the successful transplantation of marginal donor organs in high-risk recipients, showcasing the feasibility of recruiting donors with extended criteria. This technique is safe and promising, expanding the donor pool and addressing the organ shortage in heart transplantation in Hong Kong., (© 2024. The Japanese Society for Artificial Organs.)

This paper examines the link between CNS tumor biology and heterogeneity and the use of genome-wide DNA methylation profiling as a clinical diagnostic platform. CNS tumors are the most common solid tumors in children, and their prognosis remains poor. This study retrospectively analyzed pediatric patients with CNS embryonal tumors in Hong Kong between 1999 and 2017, using data from the territory-wide registry and available formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. After processing archival tumor tissue via DNA extraction, quantification, and methylation profiling, the data were analyzed by using the web-based DKFZ classifier (Molecular Neuropathology (MNP) 2.0 v11b4) and t-SNE analysis. Methylation profiles were deemed informative in 85 samples. Epigenetic data allowed molecular subgrouping and confirmed diagnosis in 65 samples, verified histologic diagnosis in 8, and suggested an alternative diagnosis in 12. This study demonstrates the potential of DNA methylation profiling in characterizing pediatric CNS embryonal tumors in a large cohort from Hong Kong, which should enable regional and international collaboration in future pediatric neuro-oncology research.

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss and seroconversion are considered as an end point of a functional cure. Therefore, it is crucial to find new agents which could efficiently decrease HBsAg. Traditional herbal plants have been considered as an important source of new hepatitis B drugs development for their extensive use in antimicrobial and anti-inflammation. In this study, Peristrophe japonica, which could remarkably reduce HBsAg in the supernatant of HepG2.2.15 cells, was screened out for further extraction. Here, an active ethyl acetate fraction of Peristrophe japonica containing 34 sub-fractions was extracted. Subsequently, the monomeric compound Ciliatoside A was isolated and identified as a potential antiviral reagent with low cytotoxicity from Fraction 30. Ciliatoside A exhibited strong inhibition on intracellular and circulating HBsAg and HBV RNAs in HBV-infected cells and an HBV recombinant-cccDNA mouse model. The mechanistic study revealed that Ciliatoside A exhibited a potent anti-HBV effect through inducing autophagy-lysosomal pathway to autophagic degradation of HBc by activating AMPK-ULK1 axis and inhibiting mTOR activation. In summary, we have identified a novel antiviral compound Ciliatoside A isolated from Peristrophe japonica. This study may provide important direction and new ideas for the discovery of hepatitis B cure drugs., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Tens of thousands of species are increasingly confronted with habitat degradation and threatened with local extirpation and global extinction as a result of human activities. Understanding the local processes that shape the regional distribution patterns of at-risk species is useful in safeguarding species against threats. However, there is only limited understanding of the processes that shape the regional distribution patterns of threatened species. We explored the drivers and patterns of species richness of threatened, non-threatened and total terrestrial mammals by employing multi-region multi-species occupancy models based on data from a broad camera trapping survey at 1096 stations stratified across different levels of human activities in 54 mountain forests in southwest China. We compared correlates between total and threatened species richness and examined relationships of human impact variables with the proportion of threatened species and the site's local contribution to β diversity (LCBD). We found that threatened species richness was negatively related to human modification and human presence. However, both non-threatened and total species richness increased as human modification increased. Predicted proportions of threatened species were strongly and positively related to LCBD but negatively related to human modification and human presence. Our results indicate that human impacts can lead to disproportionate loss of threatened terrestrial mammals and highlight the importance of considering threatened species diversity independently from total species richness for directing conservation resources. Our approach represents one of the highest-resolution analyses of different types of human impacts on regional diversity patterns of threatened terrestrial mammals available to inform conservation policy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Bacteria and fungi that grow on the walls can cause allergic reactions and infectious diseases in human. We proposed a low-cost and easy-to-operate testing protocol for large scale field studies to evaluate the long-term antimicrobial performance of a novel WO x paint in 2 primary schools., Methods: In Tun Mun and Tin Shui Wai schools, WO x paints were painted on semi-outdoor and indoor walls and daily chlorine disinfection was applied after class in TSW School. A guidance was proposed for the protocol using the ATP biofluorescence method for large-scale field studies. ATP swab samples were taken at locations with and without the WO x paint on a control basis with a sampling frequency once a week for three months. The ATP values were then processed and presented in box plots., Results: In both schools, the median log-scale ATP values of walls with WOx paint were at least 0.5-log lower than those without WOx paint. The WO x paint also performed better than daily chlorine disinfection in reducing microbial activities in long-term., Conclusions: The proposed testing protocol is suitable to evaluate long-term performance of an antimicrobial paint by analyzing its microbial activity in large-scale field tests. The WO x paint shows long-term effectiveness in reducing microbial activities on wall surfaces in both indoor and semi-outdoor environments., (Copyright © 2021 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Different guidelines recommend different approaches to lipid management in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. We aim to determine the best strategy for lipid management in Asian patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Method: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in patients who underwent first-ever PCI from 14 hospitals in Hong Kong. All participants either achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) target of <55 mg/dl with ≥50% reduction from baseline (group 1), or received high-intensity statin (group 2), or both (group 3) within 1 yr after PCI. The primary endpoint was a composite outcome of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, and any unplanned coronary revascularization between 1 and 5 yr after PCI. Results: A total of 8,650 patients were analyzed with a median follow-up period of 4.2 yr. After the adjustment of baseline characteristics, complexity of PCI and medications prescribed and the risks of the primary outcome were significantly lower in group 2 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74-0.93, P = 0.003) and group 3 (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.62-0.90; P = 0.002). The primary outcome occurred at similar rates between group 2 and group 3. Conclusions: Use of high intensity statin, with or without the attainment of guidelines recommended LDL-C target, was associated with a lower adjusted risk of MACE at 5 yr, compared with patients who attained LDL-C target without high intensity statin., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Ng, Ng, Ip and Siu.)