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To clarify the spatial distribution characteristics of zooplankton communities and the relationship between zooplankton and water environmental factors, 81 samples from 28 rivers and lakes in Beijing were collected in September 2017. A total of 68 species of zooplankton were identified, including 17 species of protozoa (25%), 36 species of rotifers (53%), 13 species of cladocera (19%), and copepods (3%, which were mainly copepodids and nauplii). Among 15 dominant species, 12 were copepods and rotifers. Zooplankton communities varied between the different rivers:The zooplankton in rivers in mountainous areas were mainly protozoa and copepods; in suburban areas, communities were dominated by copepods; and in urban areas, rotifers were dominant. A comprehensive water quality index, the Shannon-Wiener index, the Pielou evenness index, and the Margalef richness index were also calculated. Results showed that the water quality of the rivers in mountainous areas was generally better than in urban areas, which was better than in suburban areas. TN was found to be the main form of pollution using the single factor water quality index. Principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) identified that NH 4 + -N, BOD 5 , and COD had a significant effect on zooplankton community characteristics.

The activities and gene expression of antioxidative enzymes and the ROS content were analyzed in two typical storage-tolerant cultivars (Xushu 32 and Shangshu 19) and another two storage-sensitive cultivars (Yanshu 25 and Sushu 16) to explore the association between the storage capacity of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) and ROS scavenging capability. The storage roots of the storage-tolerant cultivars maintained higher activities and expression levels of antioxidative enzymes, including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD); lower activity and expression of lipoxygenase (LOX); and lower accumulation of ROS metabolites compared with the storage-sensitive cultivars. The antioxidative capability and ROS parameters of leaves were positively correlated with those of storage roots. Our results provide valuable insight for evaluating the storability of sweetpotato cultivars by analyzing the capabilities of the antioxidative system and the contents of ROS metabolites.

Objective: To discuss the diagnostic value of multislice spiral tomography (CT) combined with CT angiography (CTA) technology in intra-abdominal undescended testis secondary seminoma cases., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the CT and CTA imaging features of CT and CTA findings of nine patients with an intra-abdominal undescended testis secondary seminoma., Results: The tumors in all nine patients were mainly solid, and the average CT value was 38.4 ± 3.4 HU. Low-density areas of various sizes were visible in the tumors, and calcifications were detected in two patients. The tumors in eight patients had a complete capsule, which pressed on the surrounding structures. In one patient, the tumor had an incomplete capsule, which invaded the surrounding structures. Some of the solid tumors showed progressive and slight enhancement on the CT-enhanced scans. The values in the arterial phase, venous phase, and delayed phase were 46.3 ± 5.1 (40-55 HU), 57.3 ± 7.3HU (48-68 HU), and 65.1 ± 7.2HU (56-77 HU), respectively, with an average increase rate of 27.0 ± 7.2 HU. No enhancement was found in low-density areas on the CTA scans, and the supply arteries of the tumors in the nine patients all originated from the abdominal aortic wall 2-3 cm below the renal ostia. These arteries became thickened and tortuous when near the tumors, and there were no branching vessels. In eight patients, the supply arteries of the tumors originated from the posterior tumor and ended inside the tumor, and they originated from anterior of the tumor in one patient. Testicular venous drainage was detected in three patients, and lymph node metastasis in the abdominal aorta detected in two cases., Conclusion: An intra-abdominal undescended testis secondary seminoma exhibits a characteristic appearance on CT. CTA shows a three-dimensional testicular vascular pedicle sign of a seminoma. A combination of CT and CTA can improve the diagnostic accuracy of an intra-abdominal undescended testis secondary seminoma.

Background: Baicalin, which is isolated from Radix Scutellariae, possesses strong biological activities including an anti-inflammation property. Recent studies have shown that the anti-inflammatory effect of baicalin is linked to toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which participates in pathological changes of central nervous system diseases such as depression. In this study, we explored whether baicalin could produce antidepressant effects via regulation of TLR4 signaling in mice and attempted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms., Methods: A chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) mice model was performed to explore whether baicalin could produce antidepressant effects via the inhibition of neuroinflammation. To clarify the role of TLR4 in the anti-neuroinflammatory efficacy of baicalin, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was employed in mice to specially activate TLR4 and the behavioral changes were determined. Furthermore, we used LY294002 to examine the molecular mechanisms of baicalin in regulating the expression of TLR4 in vivo and in vitro using western blot, ELISA kits, and immunostaining. In the in vitro tests, the BV2 microglia cell lines and primary microglia cultures were pretreated with baicalin and LY292002 for 1 h and then stimulated 24 h with LPS. The primary microglial cells were transfected with the forkhead transcription factor forkhead box protein O 1 (FoxO1)-specific siRNA for 5 h and then co-stimulated with baicalin and LPS to investigate whether FoxO1 participated in the effect of baicalin on TLR4 expression., Results: The administration of baicalin (especially 60 mg/kg) dramatically ameliorated CUMS-induced depressive-like symptoms; substantially decreased the levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in the hippocampus; and significantly decreased the expression of TLR4. The activation of TLR4 by the LPS triggered neuroinflammation and evoked depressive-like behaviors in mice, which were also alleviated by the treatment with baicalin (60 mg/kg). Furthermore, the application of baicalin significantly increased the phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), and FoxO1. The application of baicalin also promoted FoxO1 nuclear exclusion and contributed to the inhibition of the FoxO1 transactivation potential, which led to the downregulation of the expression of TLR4 in CUMS mice or LPS-treated BV2 cells and primary microglia cells. However, prophylactic treatment of LY294002 abolished the above effects of baicalin. In addition, we found that FoxO1 played a vital role in baicalin by regulating the TLR4 and TLR4-mediating neuroinflammation triggered by the LPS via knocking down the expression of FoxO1 in the primary microglia., Conclusion: Collectively, these results demonstrate that baicalin ameliorated neuroinflammation-induced depressive-like behaviors through the inhibition of TLR4 expression via the PI3K/AKT/FoxO1 pathway.

The correlation between improvement in longitudinal liver stiffness and fibrosis regression has not been properly evaluated during long-term antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. In this study, liver stiffness was serially performed by FibroScan ® every 26 weeks in a prospective cohort of CHB patients receiving entecavir. Results were compared with liver biopsies at baseline and week 78. A total of 120 treatment-naïve CHB patients were analyzed, in which 54 (45%) patients had fibrosis regression at 78 weeks of antiviral therapy. Liver stiffness measurement presented as a rapid-to-slow decline pattern and decreased more significantly in patients with fibrosis regression than those without improvement in fibrosis at week 78 (- 46.4 vs. - 28.6%, P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that percentage decline of 52-week and 78-week liver stiffness from baseline was independent predictive factors for fibrosis regression (OR = 46.6, P < 0.001; OR = 17.8, P = 0.002, respectively). Moreover, percentage decline of 78-week liver stiffness was moderately predictive of fibrosis regression (AUROC = 0.694, P < 0.001), while the optimal cutoff values were different between non-cirrhosis and cirrhosis patients (38 vs. 45%). Fibrosis regression could be predicted with a high positive predictive value (96%) in non-cirrhosis patients and could be excluded with a high negative predictive value (94%) in cirrhosis patients. In conclusion, serial liver stiffness measurement could be applied for longitudinal monitoring of fibrosis status in CHB patients. Continuous decline of liver stiffness after effective antiviral treatment could partially reflect fibrosis regression at an optimal cutoff value.

Sojae Semen Praeparatum (SSP) is commonly used as a type of dietetic Chinese herb. By collecting and analyzing ancient and recent literatures, a textual criticism was conducted on the historical evolution of the processing of SSP. Fermented soybean was recorded in Shijing, and relevant rational processing was described in Qimin Yaoshu. In the early time, fermented soybean included the type of "salty" and "light". After the Ming Dynasty, "light" fermented soybean or SSP was recognized as a better medicinal matter than salty fermented soybean, and the fermentation processing was recorded more clearly. In modern time, many characteristic methods for processing SSP have been developed. Today, the processing of SSP is mainly based on the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, which records soybean as a main ingredient and Artemisiae Annuae Herba, Mori Folium as excipients., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

Previous study revealed that higher expression of transforming growth factor beta induced (TGFBI) is correlated to poorer cancer-specific survival and higher proportion of tumor necrosis and Fuhrman grades III and IV in clear cell renal cell carcinomas. However, the relationships between TGFBI expression and malignant phenotypes of gliomas remain unclear. We downloaded and analyzed data from seven GEO datasets (GSE68848, GSE4290, GSE13041, GSE4271, GSE83300, GSE34824 and GSE84010), the TCGA database and the REMBRANDT database to investigate whether TGFBI could be a biomarker of glioma. From microarray data (GSE68848, GSE4290) and RNA-seq data (TCGA), TGFBI expression levels were observed to correlate positively with pathological grade, and TGFBI expression levels were significantly higher in gliomas than in normal brain tissues. Furthermore, in GSE13041, GSE4271 and the TCGA cohort, TGFBI expression in the mesenchymal (Mes) subtype high-grade glioma (HGG) was significantly higher than that in the proneural subtype. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of GBM patients in the GSE83300 dataset, REMBRANDT and TCGA cohort revealed that patients in the top 50% TGFBI expression group survived for markedly shorter periods than those in the bottom 50%. Analysis of grade III gliomas showed that the median survival time was significantly shorter in the TGFBI high expression group than in the TGFBI low expression group. In addition, we found that TGFBI expression levels might relate to several classical molecular characterizations of glioma, such as, IDH mutation, TP53 mutation, EGFR amplification, etc. These results suggest that TGFBI expression positively correlates with glioma pathological grades and that TGFBI is a potential signature gene for Mes subtype HGG and a potential prognostic molecule.

In order to evaluate the effects of carbon-nitrogen ratio (CNR) on nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission and quantify N 2 O spatial distribution in subsurface wastewater infiltration system (SWIS), layered sampling method was introduced. Results showed that low N 2 O emission rate (1.43 mg/m 2 ·h) and conversion rate (0.1% accounting for influent TN) were obtained when CNR increased up to as high as 10. The highest N 2 O emission (3.14 mg/m 2 ·h) was observed at CNR of 6. Instead, independent of CNR variations, 0-75 cm was the main contributor for N 2 O emission. The results indicated that layered sampling method is necessary in revealing N 2 O spatial distribution in soil layers. Carbon source availability and nitrogen load and their ratio (i.e. CNR) determined N 2 O emission rate. CNR of medium level leads to an increase in N 2 O emission rate., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this field study, the impacts of influent loadings and drying-wetting cycles on N 2 O emission in a subsurface wastewater infiltration (SWI) system were investigated. N 2 O emitted under different operation conditions were quantified using static chamber and gas chromatograph techniques. N 2 O conversion rate decreased from 6.6 ± 0.1% to 2.7 ± 0.1% with an increase in hydraulic loading (HL) from 0.08 to 0.24 m 3 /m 2 ·d. By contrast, N 2 O conversion rate increased with increasing pollutant loading (PL) up to 8.2 ± 0.5% (PL 4.2 g N/m 2 ·d) above which conversion rate decreased, confirming that N 2 O production was under the interaction of nitrification and denitrification. Taking into consideration the pollutants (chemical oxygen demand (COD), NH 4 + -N, NO 3 - -N and total nitrogen (TN)) removal ratio and N 2 O emission, optimal loading ranges and drying-wetting modes were suggested as HL 0.08-0.12 m 3 /m 2 ·d, PL 3.2-3.7 g N/m 2 ·d and 12 h:12 h, respectively. The results revealed that in SWI systems, conversion ratio of influent nitrogen to N 2 O could be between 4.5% and a maximum of 7.0%.

Background: Professional attitude is of great importance for nursing talents in the modern society. To develop an effective educational program for student nurses in China, an appropriate instrument is required for the assessment of their professional attitude., Objective: To assess the validity and reliability of the Instrument of Professional Attitude for Student Nurses (IPASN) in Chinese version., Methods: The original version of IPASN was translated through Brislin model (translation, back translation, culture adaption and pilot study) with the authorization from the developer. A total of 681 nursing students were chosen by stratified convenience sampling to assess construct validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Besides, item analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficients, test-retest reliability were conducted to test the psychometric properties in this part. A total of 204 nursing undergraduate trainees were selected by cluster convenience sampling to confirm the structure using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in another time., Results: Corrected item-total correlations, alpha if item deleted were between 0.33 and 0.69, 0.906 and 0.913, respectively, indicating no item should be deleted. Cronbach alpha value was 0.91 for the total scale and Cronbach alpha coefficient for subscales ranged from 0.67 to 0.89. Test-retest reliability estimated from intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.74 (P<0.05). Differences in item scores between the high-score group (the first 27%) and low-score group (the last 27%) were significant (P<0.001), indicating that the item discrimination ability was good. Seven subscales (contribution to increase of scientific information load, autonomy, community service, continuous education, to promote professional development, cooperation and theory guiding practice) were identified in EFA and confirmed in CFA, and explained 65.5% of the total variance., Conclusion: It indicated that the Chinese version of IPASN was valid and reliable for the evaluation of nursing students' professional attitude., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the inhibition of the expression of steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1) in the LNCap cell line through RNA interference (RNAi) and the effect of the silenced SRC-1 gene on LNCap cells., Methods: The experiment included four groups: siRNA transfection, siRNA negative control, bland vehicle (with Lipofectamine 2000 but no siRNA), and blank control (with neither Lipofectamine 2000 nor siRNA). LNCap cells were transfected with designed siRNA using the liposomes method, the expressions of SRC-1 determined by Q-PCR and Western blot, and the proliferation of the LNCap cells detected by the CCK-8 method., Results: The expression of SRC-1 mRNA in the transfected LNCap cells was decreased by 35% at 24 hours and 77% at 48 hours, with statistically significant differences from the blank control group (P < 0.05). The SRC-1 protein expression of the transfected group was 0.359 +/- 0.034 at 24 hours and 0.257 +/- 0.065 at 48 hours, markedly decreased as compared with that of the negative control (0.782 +/- 0.078 and 0.766 +/- 0.043) , bland vehicle (0.840 +/- 0.013 and 0.786 +/- 0.051), and blank control group (0.816 +/- 0.065 and 0.805 +/- 0.107) (P < 0.05). The LNCap cell growth inhibition rates were 25%, 52%, 55% and 60% at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours, respectively., Conclusion: The expression of SRC-1 is correlated with the growth of LNCap cells; its high expression in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells may be involved in the progression to androgen-independence. Inhibiting the expression of SRC-1 may be an option for the treatment of androgen-dependent prostate cancer.

Objective: To investigate the expression of DD3 mRNA in the peripheral blood and its value in diagnostic of prostate cancer (Pca)., Methods: Thirty-five untreated Pca patients, aged 72 (53 - 83), 58 Pca patients treated with endocrinotherapy, aged 74 (53 - 86), and 59 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, aged 71 (48 - 85), underwent peripheral blood sample collection one week before or after digital examination. RT-PCR was used to examine the level of DD3 mRNA. The level of prostate specific antigen (PSA) was detected too. Ten healthy male frontiers, aged 33 (21 - 38), were used as controls. Receiver operating curve (ROC) was drawn to evaluate the diagnostic performance of DD3 mRNA., Results: The DD3 mRNA level of the untreated Pca patients was 2741 copies/ml, significantly higher than those of the Pca patients treated with endocrinotherapy, patients with benign hyperplasia, and healthy persons (all < 24 copies, all P < 0.001). The DD3 mRNA level of the endocrinotherapy-treated Pca patients was significantly higher than those of the patients with benign hyperplasia, and healthy persons (both P < 0.001). ROC analysis showed that when the critical value was 846 copies/ml the area under curve of ROC (AUC-ROC) was 0.8233 (95% CI: 0.725 - 0.910). and the sensitivity was 74.34%, the specificity was 89.8%. The DD3 mRNA in the peripheral blood increased along with the increase of clinical staging (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The level of DD3 mRNA in the peripheral blood is an excellent marker for diagnosis pf Pca, and may help in monitoring of the curative effects of endocrinotherapy.

Objective: To investigate the role of bacteria in chronic prostatitis., Methods: Complete specimens of prostate were obtained from 140 organ donors, aged 20 - 35, at autopsy. A piece of tissue was collected from the peripheral zone of prostate from each specimen and was divided into 2 parts to undergo pathological examination and PCR so as to detect the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene of bacteria., Results: Focal mild inflammation was shown in 46 of the 104 specimens (32.9%), including interstitial inflammation in 42 specimens, inflammation in both interstitial and body of gland in 3 specimens, and perigladulitis in 1 specimen. Twenty-seven of the 140 specimens (19.3%) were positive in 16S rRNA gene. The positive rate of 16S rRNA gene of the specimens with prostatitis was 48.9%, significantly higher than that of the specimens without prostatitis (5.3%, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Bacteria may play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic prostatitis.

Aim: To study the changes in rheological properties, namely the parameters of the hysteresis loops and yield stress versus time for human semen after ejaculation., Methods: Ejaculates were obtained from volunteers and immediately put into the test cup of a Brookfield Programmable DV-11 Rheometer, by which the hysteresis loops and yield stress were determined., Results: (1) Yield stress values dropped down from more than 3000 mPa to 60 mPa in about 5 minutes after ejaculation; (2) The shape of the hysteresis loops of shear stress versus shear rate was changed from the counter-clockwise direction, that enclosed a large area, into the clockwise direction, that enclosed a very small area., Conclusion: Human ejaculate originally possesses semi-solid or visco-elastic body behavior and in 5 minutes after liquefaction, it becomes a thixotropic fluid or shearing thinning fluid with very low viscosity.