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The design and optimization of rubber, vulcanized or thermoplastic existance to Ozone cracking tester observation device is considered in this paper, The design and optimization include observation lamp, observation mirror and retro-reflector. The device solves the problem that observation of ozone crack sample rexistance to Ozone cracking tester doesn't stop state, and greatly improves the accuracy and comprehensive of the results of the ozone crack observation. It also solves the problem of operation inconvenience in the ozone crack test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study that analyzes the partial mtDNA D-loop sequences and phylogeny of sympatric goat populations in lower valley of Yellow River, China.

• Propose a novel extreme value distribution of structural stochastic response. • Tackle the discontinuity and incompleteness problems of piecewise distribution. • Develop the dynamic reliability analysis method based on the proposed model. • Verify the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. In practical engineering, it is usually necessary to compute the small first-passage probability of dynamic systems exposed to nonstationary stochastic excitations. However, it is still a challenging problem to efficiently estimate the super-small failure probability using an approximate extreme value distribution (EVD) based on a small number of simulated samples. In this study, a novel EVD model is proposed to describe the probability distribution of the structural extreme response induced by nonstationary stochastic excitations. This EVD model consists of two parts: the main body is modeled by a truncated-shifted generalized lognormal distribution, and a monotonic exponential model is proposed to fit the tail region. Besides that, a criterion for determining the breakpoint between the main body and tail region is proposed, which ensures the non-negativity and normativity of the proposed EVD model and allows the EVD to be reconstructed accurately and efficiently, particularly in its tail region. In this regard, the corresponding first passage probabilities under different thresholds can be straightly evaluated. The precision and completeness of the proposed EVD model are investigated using two numerical examples that consider linear and nonlinear frame structures subjected to nonstationary ground motion accelerations. The results show that the proposed model is in excellent agreement with the results of Monte Carlo simulation, even when the failure probability is very small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Time-variant reliability constraints are considered by the improved extreme value moment method. • Local approximation of extreme value moment is established using WA-SGNI. • A local approximation method for quantile functions is proposed. • A decoupled t-RBDO method is developed by combining sequential approximation optimization. Time-variant reliability-based design optimization (t-RBDO) is an effective tool to guarantee a high reliability of the product during the full life cycle. This paper proposes a new decoupled method for t-RBDO via an improved extreme value moment method (EVMM). In the proposed method, a weight approach based on sparse grid numerical integration (WA-SGNI) is employed to establish the local approximation of the extreme value moment. Since evaluating the failure probability functions (FPFs) using fourth-moment transformation method has certain limitations, a local approximation method for quantile functions (QFs) is proposed to consider the time-variant reliability constraints in t-RBDO. After the local approximations of QFs are established, t-RBDO problem is decoupled into a deterministic one in the design sub-region. Combining sequential approximation optimization, a unified t-RBDO framework is presented. Four numerical examples are investigated to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self-interacting proteins (SIPs), two or more copies of the protein that can interact with each other expressed by one gene, play a central role in the regulation of most living cells and cellular functions. Although numerous SIPs data can be provided by using high-throughput experimental techniques, there are still several shortcomings such as in time-consuming, costly, inefficient, and inherently high in false-positive rates, for the experimental identification of SIPs even nowadays. Therefore, it is more and more significant how to develop efficient and accurate automatic approaches as a supplement of experimental methods for assisting and accelerating the study of predicting SIPs from protein sequence information. Results: In this paper, we present a novel framework, termed GLCM-WSRC (gray level co-occurrence matrix-weighted sparse representation based classification), for predicting SIPs automatically based on protein evolutionary information from protein primary sequences. More specifically, we firstly convert the protein sequence into Position Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM) containing protein sequence evolutionary information, exploiting the Position Specific Iterated BLAST (PSI-BLAST) tool. Secondly, using an efficient feature extraction approach, i.e., GLCM, we extract abstract salient and invariant feature vectors from the PSSM, and then perform a pre-processing operation, the adaptive synthetic (ADASYN) technique, to balance the SIPs dataset to generate new feature vectors for classification. Finally, we employ an efficient and reliable WSRC model to identify SIPs according to the known information of self-interacting and non-interacting proteins. Conclusions: Extensive experimental results show that the proposed approach exhibits high prediction performance with 98.10% accuracy on the yeast dataset, and 91.51% accuracy on the human dataset, which further reveals that the proposed model could be a useful tool for large-scale self-interacting protein prediction and other bioinformatics tasks detection in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A transformed extreme value distribution method is proposed based on the Box-Cox transformation. • An absolute skewness minimization criterion is proposed to find the optimal Box-Cox transformation parameter. • The uniform design method and random function-spectral representation method are combined to estimate the statistical moments of the transformed extreme value. • The transformed extreme value distribution is covered by the generalized Gaussian distribution. This paper proposes a novel approach for dynamic reliability analysis of uncertain structures subjected to non-stationary stochastic excitations. This approach calculates the first-passage probabilities by evaluating the transformed extreme value distribution (TEVD) instead of the original extreme value distribution (EVD). The Box-Cox transformation is first used to symmetrize the extreme value, and then the generalized Gaussian distribution (GGD) is suggested to approximate the main body and tails of the TEVD. An absolute skewness minimization criterion is proposed to find the optimal Box-Cox transformation parameter. Furthermore, the random-function spectral representation method (RFSRM) and uniform design method (UDM) are successfully combined to estimate the first four central moments of the transformed extreme value with a small sample size. Two numerical examples involving linear and nonlinear shear-frame structures under nonstationary ground motions are investigated. The results indicate that the proposed method can be used for dynamic reliability analysis with high accuracy and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural practice of straw incorporation is often employed to enhance soil fertility, improve soil properties and reduce nitrate leaching via deep burying. Nevertheless, the tradeoff between nitrate leaching and N 2 O emissions caused by deep straw incorporation in various soil types remains uncertain. To address this knowledge gap, a mesocosm column experiment was established to evaluate the impact of straw amendment (NS) and of straw plus application of denitrifying bacterial agents (NSS) at column depths of 20–60 cm on NO 3 --N leaching and N 2 O emission across four soil types (brown, cinnamon, fluvo-aquic and mortar black soil) in the North China plain. The results showed that the NS and NSS treatments significantly reduced NO 3 --N leaching by 47%–73% and 37%–81%, respectively, across four soil types, in comparison to the control without straw and bacterial agents (N), with the greatest reduction recorded in the mortar black soil (by 73% for NS and 81% for NSS). Meanwhile, the NS and NSS treatments resulted in a significant increase in cumulative N 2 O emissions (by 289% for NS and 598% for NSS) in the acidic brown soil with a soil pH ranging between 4.8 and 6.5, but showed no significant effect in the remaining three soil types in which soil pH is above 7.5. When compared to the NS treatment, NSS treatment reduced the cumulative N 2 O emissions in the fluvo-aquic soil by 42%. We further showed that soil type is the primary driver of bacterial community composition (R 2 = 62.3%; P < 0.001), followed by soil depth (R 2 = 5.2%; P < 0.001). The incorporation of straw and denitrifying bacterial agents induced significant change in the bacterial community in the middle depth layers, and increases in nosZ gene abundance and the relative abundance of inoculant-similar OTUs significantly by 0.5–37 folds and 2.8–6900 folds, respectively, in all soil types, suggesting the colonization of denitrifying bacterial agents. Our results further suggested that the Streptomycetales were the most important predictors for N 2 O emissions, and the relative abundance of Streptomycetales was highly positively correlated with N 2 O emissions across the four soil types. Overall, the study suggests that deep straw incorporation as soil amendment is effective in mitigating nitrate leaching in all four soil types, especially in the fluvo-aquic soil, due to its dual effects on controlling nitrate leaching and N 2 O emissions. However, it is not recommended for the acidic brown soils as it may cause increased N 2 O emissions. [Display omitted] • Straw and bacterial agents incorporation markedly reduced soil nitrate leaching in 4 soil types. • Straw and bacterial agents incorporation increased N 2 O emissions in the acidic brown soil only. • The application of nosZ -harboring denitrifier increased nosZ gene abundance in all soil types. • Streptomycetales showed highly positive correlation with N 2 O emission across the 4 soil types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COX-2 specific inhibitor, which has been widely used, can delay bone fracture healing and reduce osteogenic potential of bone marrow stromal cells. However, it remains unknown how to prevent these side-effects of COX-2 inhibitor. In this study, we introduced BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation as model to evaluate whether all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) could ameliorate these adverse effects of COX-2 specific inhibitor on bone metabolism with in vitro and in vivo experiments, and uncover the possible mechanism underlying this process. Results showed that ATRA enhanced the potential of BMP9 to induce the osteogenic markers, such as alkaline phosphates (ALP) and mineralization; but retinoic acid receptor a (RARa) inhibitor showed the reversal effects. COX-2 specific inhibitor (NS398) reduced the osteogenic markers induced by BMP9, and ATRA almost eliminated the inhibitory effect of NS398. BMP9 up-regulated the protein level of β-catenin and promoted it translocate to nucleus, and both were reduced by NS398. On the contrary, ATRA notablely attenuated the inhibitory effect of NS398 on BMP9-increased β-catenin. Exogenous RXRa obviously ameliorated the inhibitory effect of silencing COX-2 on ectopic bone formation induced by BMP9. NS398 reduced the level of phosphorylated CREB, which was almost reversed by ATRA. Besides, RXRa interacted with phosphorylated CREB directly and both were recruited at β-catenin promoter region. Thus, we demonstrated that ATRA may reverse the side-effects of COX-2 inhibitor on bone metabolism through increasing the activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway partly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the quest to manage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the focus has shifted to a more holistic approach encompassing both data analytics and innovative treatments. Analyzing rich data resources, such as the cancer genome atlas (TCGA), and examining progressive therapies can potentially reshape the trajectory of HCC treatment., Aim: To elucidate the immunological genes and the underlying mechanism of the combined Kombo knife and sorafenib regimen for HCC by analyzing data from TCGA and machine learning data., Methods: Immune attributes were evaluated via TCGA's postablation HCC RNA sequencing data. Using weighted gene coexpression network analysis and machine learning, we identified genes with high prognostic value. The therapeutic landscape and safety metrics of the integrated treatment were critically evaluated across cellular and animal models., Results: Immune genes-specifically, peptidylprolyl isomerase A and solute carrier family 29 member 3-emerged as significant prognostic markers. Enhanced therapeutic outcomes, such as prolonged progression-free survival and an elevated overall response rate, characterize the combined approach, with peripheral blood mononuclear cells displaying potent effects on HCC dynamics., Conclusion: The combination of Kombo knife with sorafenib is an innovative HCC treatment modality anchored in immune-centric strategies., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Plant-associated diazotrophs strongly relate to plant nitrogen (N) supply and growth. However, our knowledge of diazotrophic community assembly and microbial N metabolism in plant microbiomes is largely limited. Here we examined the assembly and temporal dynamics of diazotrophic communities across multiple compartments (soils, epiphytic and endophytic niches of root and leaf, and grain) of three cereal crops (maize, wheat, and barley) and identified the potential N-cycling pathways in phylloplane microbiomes. Our results demonstrated that the microbial species pool, influenced by site-specific environmental factors (e.g., edaphic factors), had a stronger effect than host selection (i.e., plant species and developmental stage) in shaping diazotrophic communities across the soil-plant continuum. Crop diazotrophic communities were dominated by a few taxa (~0.7% of diazotrophic phylotypes) which were mainly affiliated with Methylobacterium , Azospirillum , Bradyrhizobium , and Rhizobium . Furthermore, eight dominant taxa belonging to Azospirillum and Methylobacterium were identified as keystone diazotrophic taxa for three crops and were potentially associated with microbial network stability and crop yields. Metagenomic binning recovered 58 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from the phylloplane, and the majority of them were identified as novel species (37 MAGs) and harbored genes potentially related to multiple N metabolism processes (e.g., nitrate reduction). Notably, for the first time, a high-quality MAG harboring genes involved in the complete denitrification process was recovered in the phylloplane and showed high identity to Pseudomonas mendocina . Overall, these findings significantly expand our understanding of ecological drivers of crop diazotrophs and provide new insights into the potential microbial N metabolism in the phyllosphere.IMPORTANCEPlants harbor diverse nitrogen-fixing microorganisms (i.e., diazotrophic communities) in both belowground and aboveground tissues, which play a vital role in plant nitrogen supply and growth promotion. Understanding the assembly and temporal dynamics of crop diazotrophic communities is a prerequisite for harnessing them to promote plant growth. In this study, we show that the site-specific microbial species pool largely shapes the structure of diazotrophic communities in the leaves and roots of three cereal crops. We further identify keystone diazotrophic taxa in crop microbiomes and characterize potential microbial N metabolism pathways in the phyllosphere, which provides essential information for developing microbiome-based tools in future sustainable agricultural production., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical features and demographic characteristics of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) patients, specifically choriocarcinoma (CC), placental site trophoblastic tumour (PSTT), and epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT). We utilized data from a local hospital and the SEER database, as well as survival outcomes of CC in SEER database. Additionally, we used multiple risk factors to create a prognostic nomogram model for CC patients. The study included GTN patients from the SEER database between 1975 and 2016 as well as those from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Jiaotong University between January 2005 and May 2022. Related factors of patients were compared using the chi-square (χ2) or Fisher's exact test. For assessing overall survival we employed the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. To construct the nomogram, we used Cox regression. Statistically significant differences were found between CC and PSTT/ETT patients in terms of surgery in local hospital, as well as age and year of diagnosis in the SEER database. Moreover, significant differences were observed between low and high (HR) /ultra-high risk (UHR) groups regarding FIGO stage, surgery and chief complaint at the local hospital, and FIGO stage, surgery and unemployment in the SEER database. The Cox regression analysis confirmed that age, race, surgery, marital status, FIGO stage, and unemployment were correlated with CC prognosis. Furthermore, the analysis showed that patients aged 40 years or older and those with FIGO Ⅲ/Ⅳ were independent prognostic factors of CC. The study indicates that atypical symptoms or signs may be the main reasons for HR /UHR patients to seek medical treatment. Therefore, providing multidisciplinary care is recommended for CC patients experiencing psychological distress due to unfavorable marital status or unemployment.

Background: All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) promotes the osteogenic differentiation induced by bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9), but the intrinsic relationship between BMP9 and ATRA keeps unknown. Herein, we investigated the effect of Cyp26b1, a critical enzyme of ATRA degradation, on the BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and unveiled possible mechanism through which BMP9 regulates the expression of Cyp26b1., Methods: ATRA content was detected with ELISA and HPLC-MS/MS. PCR, Western blot, and histochemical staining were used to assay the osteogenic markers. Fetal limbs culture, cranial defect repair model, and micro-computed tomographic were used to evaluate the quality of bone formation. IP and ChIP assay were used to explore possible mechanism., Results: We found that the protein level of Cyp26b1 was increased with age, whereas the ATRA content decreased. The osteogenic markers induced by BMP9 were increased by inhibiting or silencing Cyp26b1 but reduced by exogenous Cyp26b1. The BMP9-induced bone formation was enhanced by inhibiting Cyp26b1. The cranial defect repair was promoted by BMP9, which was strengthened by silencing Cyp26b1 and reduced by exogenous Cyp26b1. Mechanically, Cyp26b1 was reduced by BMP9, which was enhanced by activating Wnt/β-catenin, and reduced by inhibiting this pathway. β-catenin interacts with Smad1/5/9, and both were recruited at the promoter of Cyp26b1., Conclusions: Our findings suggested the BMP9-induced osteoblastic differentiation was mediated by activating retinoic acid signalling, viadown-regulating Cyp26b1. Meanwhile, Cyp26b1 may be a novel potential therapeutic target for the treatment of bone-related diseases or accelerating bone-tissue engineering., (© 2023. Korean Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society.)

The present article was aimed to compare the effectiveness of different induction methods for depression models. Kunming mice were randomly divided into chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) group, corticosterone (CORT) group, and CUMS+CORT (CC) group. The CUMS group received CUMS stimulation for 4 weeks, and the CORT group received subcutaneous injection of 20 mg/kg CORT into the groin every day for 3 weeks. The CC group received both CUMS stimulation and CORT administration. Each group was assigned a control group. After modeling, forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST) and sucrose preference test (SPT) were used to detect the behavioral changes of mice, and the serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and CORT were detected with ELISA kits. Attenuated total refraction (ATR) spectra of mouse serum were collected and analyzed. HE staining was used to detect morphological changes in mouse brain tissue. The results showed that the weight of model mice from the CUMS and CC groups decreased significantly. There was no significant change in immobility time of model mice from the three groups in FST and TST, while the glucose preference of model mice from the CUMS and CC groups was significantly reduced (P < 0.05). The serum 5-HT levels of model mice from the CORT and CC groups were significantly reduced, while the serum BDNF and CORT levels of model mice from the CUMS, CORT, and CC groups showed no significant changes. Compared with their respective control groups, the three groups showed no significant difference in the one-dimensional spectrum of serum ATR. The difference spectrum analysis results of the first derivative of the spectrogram showed that the CORT group had the greatest difference from its respective control group, followed by the CUMS group. The structures of hippocampus in the model mice from the three groups were all destroyed. These results suggest that both CORT and CC treatments can successfully construct a depression model, and the CORT model is more effective than the CC model. Therefore, CORT induction can be used to establish a depression model in Kunming mice.

Background: Vaginal microecology has a definite influence on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and clearance, but the specific correlation is still controversial. This research aimed to investigate the differences in the vaginal microenvironment of different types of HPV infection and also provide data supporting clinical diagnosis and treatment., Methods: According to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, the case data of 2,358 female patients who underwent vaginal microecology and HPV-DNA tests at the same time in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from May 2021 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The population was divided into two groups: an HPV-positive group and an HPV-negative group. HPV-positive patients were further classified into HPV16/18-positive group and HPV other subtypes positive group. The vaginal microecology of HPV-infected patients was analyzed using the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression., Results: Among the 2,358 female patients, the HPV infection rate was 20.27% (478/2,358), of which the HPV16/18 infection rate was 25.73% (123/478), and the HPV other subtypes infection rate was 74.27% (355/478). The difference in HPV infection rates between the age groups was statistically significant ( P < 0.01). The prevalence of mixed vaginitis was 14.37% (339/2,358), with bacterial vaginosis (BV) paired with aerobic vaginitis (AV) accounting for the majority (66.37%). The difference in HPV infection rates among mixed vaginitis was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). The prevalence of single vaginitis was 24.22% (571/2,358), with the most frequent being vulvovaginal Candidiasis (VVC; 47.29%, 270/571), and there was a significant difference in HPV infection rates among single vaginitis ( P < 0.001). Patients with BV had a higher risk of being positive for HPV16/18 (OR: 1.815, 95% CI: 1.050-3.139) and other subtypes (OR: 1.830, 95% CI: 1.254-2.669). Patients with Trichomoniasis were at higher odds of other HPV subtype infections (OR: 1.857, 95% CI: 1.004-3.437). On the contrary, patients with VVC had lower odds of becoming infected with other HPV subtypes (OR: 0.562, 95% CI: 0.380-0.831)., Conclusion: There were disparities in HPV infection among different age groups; therefore, we should pay attention to the prevention and treatment of susceptible individuals. BV and Trichomoniasis are linked to HPV infection; hence, restoring the balance of vaginal microecology could assist in the prevention of HPV infection. As a protective factor for other HPV subtype infections, VVC may provide new insights into the development of immunotherapeutic therapies., 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 © 2023 Feng, Hou, Zhang, Wang, Li, Guo and An.)

Background: Naoluo Xintong decoction (NLXTD) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula which has been used to improve neuronal functional recovery after cerebral ischemic stroke. However, the molecular mechanism underlying NLXTD's amelioration of ischemic stroke remains unclear. The present study was designed to explore the effect and mechanism of NLXTD on brain angiogenesis in a rat model with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury targeting the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α (HIF-1 α )/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway., Materials and Methods: Cerebral I/R model was established by the classical middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) method. Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats ( n  = 80) were randomly divided into the sham-operation group, the model group, the HIF-1 α inhibitor 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME2) group, the 2ME2 with NLXTD group, and the NLXTD group. Neurological deficit test, TTC staining, H&E staining, TUNEL staining, immunohistochemistry (IH), immunofluorescence (IF), western blot, and quantitative RT-PCR were performed to evaluate the effect of NLXTD after MCAO., Results: Administration of NLXTD significantly decreased neuron deficiency scores, reduced brain infarct volume, and lowered damaged and apoptotic cells after brain I/R injury in rats. Meanwhile, NLXTD had a protective effect on angiogenesis by increasing the MVD and the expressions of BrdU and CD34, which enhanced the number of endothelial cells in the ischemic penumbra brain. NLXTD treatment significantly raised the protein and mRNA levels of HIF-1 α , VEGF, VEGFR2, and Notch1 compared with the model treatment. In contrast, a specific HIF-1 α inhibitor, 2ME2, inhibited the improvement of neurological function and angiogenesis in NLXTD-induced rats with cerebral I/R injury, suggesting that NLXTD played a positive role in ischemic brain injury by activating the HIF-1 α /VEGF signaling pathway., Conclusions: NLXTD exerts neuroprotection targeting angiogenesis by upregulating the HIF-1 α /VEGF signaling pathway on cerebral I/R injury rats., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Pei-Pei Li et al.)

The acidification of agricultural soil in the southern part of the North China Plain has become more obvious, which is particularly true for the heavy clay soil types, such as yellow-cinnamon and lime concretion black soils. To understand the spatial variability of the pH value and nutrients on the vertical agricultural soil profile of heavy clay soils in this area, we measured pH values and available phosphorus (AP) in 63 farmland sample points from Xiping County in the southern Henan Province. Geostatistical methods and ArcGIS technology were used to map soil pH values along three soil depths (0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm) and the spatial distribution of soil AP in the tillage layer (0-20 cm). Furthermore, the correlation between pH and AP was analyzed. The results showed that mean pH values of typical yellow-cinnamon and typical fluvo-aquic soils from three soil layers were 4.98, 4.93, 5.31, and 5.46, 5.81, 6.26, respectively, which gradually increased with soil depths. However, there was no significant difference among the three soil layers. Mean pH values of typical lime concretion black soil from the three soil layers were 5.23, 5.43 and 6.03, respectively, and that of the 20-30 cm soil layer was significantly higher than that of the 0-10 cm (by 0.8-1 pH unit) and the 10-20 cm layers. The pH of the 20-30 cm soil layer of the calcareous lime concretion black and moist soils were also significantly higher than that of the 0-10 and 10-20 cm soil layers. The AP contents of the typical yellow-cinnamon, typical lime concretion black, moist, typical fluvo-aquic and calcareous lime concretion black soils in 0-20 cm soil layer were 8.85-54.75, 4.27-37.49, 8.22-51.80, 6.07-34.82, and 13.22-22.85 mg·kg -1 , respectively. The results of the map indicated that the areas with low AP were distributed in the middle of the study area in blocks, and the areas with high AP were distributed around the study area in dots and flakes. The pH values of the typical yellow-cinnamon, typical lime concretion black, and moist soils positively correlated with the content of AP in the 0-20 cm soil layer. In conclusion, the heavy clay soil in southern Henan Province became stratified acidification, which slowed down along the soil depth. Soil AP contents in the tillage layer were distributed unevenly in the study area, and were affected by soil types and soil pH. These results would be useful for the improvement of heavy clay soil acidification in the southern part of the North China Plain.

Background: The association of low socioeconomic status (SES) with childhood and adolescent obesity has been reported. It is unknown whether low SES affects body mass index (BMI) growth trajectory in the first 12 mo of life. Moreover, accelerated growth as a compensatory mechanism for low birth weight (LBW) during infancy, is an important predictor of later obesity. The aim of the present study was to examine the association of low SES with infancy BMI growth rate and trajectory for LBW and normal birth weight (NBW) infants., Methods: From September 2012 to October 2014, a total of 387 infants in this longitudinal study was subjected to repeated measures of weight and length from birth to 12 mo in Hefei. Generalized growth mixture modeling was used to classify the infancy BMI growth trajectories. Differences in infancy BMI z score (zBMI) and BMI growth rate between low SES and high SES were estimated based on linear regression after adjusting for several confounders including maternal age, pregnancy BMI, physical activity during pregnancy, paternal BMI as well as alcohol use, paternal smoking status, breastfeeding duration and delivery mode., Results: Infancy BMI trajectories in this study were classified into three categories: rapid growth (class 1), normal growth (class 2) and slow growth (class 3). Low SES infants had the higher zBMI than high SES infants for LBW group at age 6 mo [zBMI difference with 95% CI at 6 mo: 0.28(0.03, 0.53); at 12 mo: 0.21(0.01, 0.43)]. Low SES infants had more rapid zBMI growth rate than those with high SES for low birth weight between 0 and 6 months. Controlling for the confounders, these associations remained robust. We found the lower SES in the rapid growth group., Conclusions: These findings highlighted the impact of low SES on increasing BMI and accelerated growth during early infancy. Health care and relatively optimal family environment in the first 12 mo of life, especially for LBW infants, are benefit to shape the better infancy growth trajectory., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Plants live with diverse microbial communities which profoundly affect multiple facets of host performance, but if and how host development impacts the assembly, functions and microbial interactions of crop microbiomes are poorly understood. Here we examined both bacterial and fungal communities across soils, epiphytic and endophytic niches of leaf and root, and plastic leaf of fake plant (representing environment-originating microbes) at three developmental stages of maize at two contrasting sites, and further explored the potential function of phylloplane microbiomes based on metagenomics., Results: Our results suggested that plant developmental stage had a much stronger influence on the microbial diversity, composition and interkingdom networks in plant compartments than in soils, with the strongest effect in the phylloplane. Phylloplane microbiomes were co-shaped by both plant growth and seasonal environmental factors, with the air (represented by fake plants) as its important source. Further, we found that bacterial communities in plant compartments were more strongly driven by deterministic processes at the early stage but a similar pattern was for fungal communities at the late stage. Moreover, bacterial taxa played a more important role in microbial interkingdom network and crop yield prediction at the early stage, while fungal taxa did so at the late stage. Metagenomic analyses further indicated that phylloplane microbiomes possessed higher functional diversity at the early stage than the late stage, with functional genes related to nutrient provision enriched at the early stage and N assimilation and C degradation enriched at the late stage. Coincidently, more abundant beneficial bacterial taxa like Actinobacteria, Burkholderiaceae and Rhizobiaceae in plant microbiomes were observed at the early stage, but more saprophytic fungi at the late stage., Conclusions: Our results suggest that host developmental stage profoundly influences plant microbiome assembly and functions, and the bacterial and fungal microbiomes take a differentiated ecological role at different stages of plant development. This study provides empirical evidence for host exerting strong effect on plant microbiomes by deterministic selection during plant growth and development. These findings have implications for the development of future tools to manipulate microbiome for sustainable increase in primary productivity. Video Abstract., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Objective: To investigate clinical efficacy of and optimal therapeutic strategy for ventricular intracranial pressure monitoring (V-ICPM) in patients with traumatic bifrontal contusions (TBCs)., Methods: From 8760 patients with traumatic brain injury treated between January 2010 and January 2016, a retrospective analysis was performed on 105 patients with TBCs who underwent V-ICPM and 282 patients with TBCs who did not. All patients underwent treatment at the 101st Hospital of PLA, Wuxi, China. Rates of successful conservative treatment, decompressive craniectomy, and bifrontal craniotomy; incidence of neurologic dysfunction; length of stay; and medical expenses were compared between groups., Results: Glasgow Outcome Scale was used to assess all patients during follow-up (range, 6 months to 5.5 years). There were no significant differences in prognosis between the 2 groups (P = 0.100). Compared with the patients who did not undergo V-ICPM, the V-ICPM group had a significantly better successful conservative treatment rate (64.8% vs. 47.2%, P = 0.002), decompressive craniectomy rate (8.1% vs. 22.1%, P = 0.008), and bifrontal craniotomy rate (5.7% vs. 15.6%, P = 0.01); shorter length of stay (P = 0.000); and lower medical expenses (P = 0.004)., Conclusions: Patients with TBCs should be strictly, closely, and dynamically observed by neurosurgery intensive care unit physicians and nurses. Patients should undergo ventricular intracranial pressure probe implantation in a timely manner. V-ICPM can help optimize treatment. Although V-ICPM did not significantly improve the prognosis of patients, it had many other advantages. V-ICPM warrants further clinical research and may be beneficial for patients with TBCs., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A pool culture experiment was carried out to investigate the influence of different forms of sulfur fertilizers (sulfur and gypsum) on the transformation and migration of sulfur speciation in the rhizosphere and bulk soil of unpolluted and polluted paddy soils.The results showed that the redox potential (Eh) was about 93-283 mV and 83-254 mV, respectively, the soil solution pH was 7.5-8.4 and 7.7-8.4, respectively, and pe +pH was 9.1-13.2 and 9.1-12.5, respectively, in the bulk and bulk soil.Solution Eh values in Rhizosphere soil were generally higher than those in bulk soil, and solution pH in the former was generally lower than that in the latter.The different forms of inorganic sulfur followed the order of water-soluble sulfur (41%-81% of total inorganic sulfur, similarly hereinafter)>>sulfur adsorption (9%-34%)>hydrochloric acid soluble sulfur (8%-24%)>hydrochloric acid volatile sulfide (2%-8%) in the rhizosphere.In tillering and earing flowering,the concentrations of water-soluble and absorbed sulfur by application of gypsum were significantly higher than those using elemental sulfur.And its content in unpolluted paddy soil was significantly higher than that in polluted paddy soil. In the bulk soil,the forms of inorganic sulfur followed the order of water-soluble sulfur (40%-69%)>>hydrochloric acid soluble sulfur (18%-41%)>hydrochloric acid volatile sulfide (6%-16%)>adsorbed sulfur (0.7%-7.5%).The mass fractions of inorganic sulfur, organic sulphur and the total sulfur in the rhizosphere soil were in the range of 223-738 mg·kg -1 , 574-1647 mg·kg -1 and 825-2287 mg·kg -1 ,respectively,and the corresponding fractions were in the range of 68-128 mg·kg -1 , 108-391 mg·kg -1 and 200-477 mg·kg -1 in the bulk soil,respectively.Inorganic sulfur and organic sulfur of total sulfur in the rhizosphere were 20%-40% and 60%-80%, respectively, and those in the bulk were 18%-46% and 54%-82%, respectively.Total sulfur. organic sulfur and water-soluble sulfur and adsorbed sulfur and hydrochloric acid soluble sulfur in the rhizosphere were 3-11 times, 3-5 times, 5-7 times, 12-20 times, and 2-3 times of those in the bulk soil, respectively, whereas the hydrochloric acid volatile sulfur in the rhizosphere was lower than that in the bulk soil.

High dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) has been an effective salvage therapy for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), while little is known about the exact mechanisms implicated in glucocorticoid-induced cell death. To explore the mechanism of glucocorticoid-induced cell death, we investigated the effect of HDMP on canonical Wnt signaling which emerged as a key pathway implicated in the pathogenesis of CLL. In this study, the human CLL cell line MEC-1 was incubated with various concentrations of methylprednisolone. Cell proliferation activity was detected by CCK8 assay, the apoptotic effect was evaluated by TUNEL assay. Western blot was used to detect active-caspase 3, and the key proteins in Wnt signaling pathway (LEF-1, β-catenin). RT-PCR was performed to assess the mRNA levels of β-catenin, LEF-1, c-myc and cyclin D1. We observed that high concentration of methylprednisolone could suppress the proliferation activity of MEC-1 cells, promote the relative expression of active-caspase 3, and induce apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, methylprednisolone could inhibit LEF-1 protein expression, consequently down-regulate mRNA levels of c-myc and cyclin D1, but could not affect the transcription level of β-catenin and LEF-1 mRNA. The results of this study indicate that methylprednisolone can suppress Wnt signaling pathway by down-regulating LEF-1 protein expression, indicating a novel mechanism for HDMP therapy in CLL.

Metadherin (MTDH) is highly expressed in many tumors and is involved in the proliferation, metastasis and drug resistance of tumor cells by regulating multiple signaling pathways. Our previous studies demonstrated that MTDH is overexpressed in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and involved in apoptosis resistance, in part, via Wnt signaling. Here, we investigated the role of MTDH in the chemo-sensitivity of DLBCL. The study was performed in the DLBCL cell line LY8 to investigate the relationship between MTDH expression and doxorubicin (DOX) sensitivity in DLBCL. A MTDH interference model was developed in LY8 cells by transfected with lentivirus which is carrying MTDH interference sequence. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression. A CCK-8 assay was used to evaluate cell proliferation. The results showed that DOX treatment had no effect on the intracellular MTDH expression of LY8 cells. The proliferation of LY8 cells was inhibited after MTDH interference. MTDH interference increased the DOX sensitivity in the LY8 cell lines. The results suggested that MTDH is a potential therapeutic target in DLBCL, and it cooperates with DOX in treatment of DLBCL.

We have reported Metadherin (MTDH) was proven to be overexpression and involved in malignance of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) via Wnt signaling pathway. In this study, we further investigate the role of MTDH in regulation of BCR signaling pathway in CLL. Six CLL samples whose cells were proliferation after BCR activation were chosen from patients with unmutated IgVH. CCK-8 method used to evaluate the proliferation rate. MTDH expression was measured by quantitative PCR and Western blot. After BCR activation, there exist upregulation of MTDH expression in mRNA and protein level in all six CLL patients (P<0.05). In cell line MEC-1, we observed the same pro-proliferation effect accompanying with elevated MTDH expression. The proliferation effects of BCR activation to MEC-1 can be inhibited by MTDH interference. The results of this study indicate that MTDH involved in the pro-proliferation effect of BCR activation in CLL. And the results imply that MTDH can be a potential therapy target of CLL.