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Quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum key agreement (QKA) are two main branches of key establishment in quantum cryptography. However, the research of QKA falls far behind that of QKD, especially in practicability. The main reason is that QKA needs to resist not only the outside eavesdropping but also the participant cheating. Resisting dishonest participant is more difficult than resisting outside eavesdropping, especially when the apparatuses are imperfect. Actually, existing QKA protocols cannot tolerate the channel loss and have to rely on stable quantum storage. To solve this problem, we give a new quantum multi-party key agreement protocol based on the error-correcting code. Our protocol is loss tolerant, and the participants can measure the received qubits immediately in one of two conjugate bases, without storage, so our protocol can eliminate the requirement of quantum storage. Besides, our protocol is more fair because it can partially discriminate dishonest participants’ cheating from outside eavesdropping (previously, these two attacks are generally checked simultaneously via decoy states but cannot be discriminated), as a result, dishonest participants generally will not cheat at the cost of losing good reputation.

In recent years, an increasing number of young women have been diagnosed with cancer, including some nulliparous women. Therefore, many young patients with early-stage cancer desire to preserve fertility after cytotoxic oncological treatments. It is important to develop a multidisciplinary approach to achieve the best outcomes for each patient. On the other hand, there has been a sharp increase in microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis, and evaluation of treatment efficacy of several diseases. MiR-543 has been reported to affect the pathogenesis and progression of diseases via complex mechanisms. Understanding the regulatory role of miR-543 may aid comprehension of the pathogenesis and treatment of a broad range of diseases. Therefore, we provide an overview of the biogenesis, function, and role of miR-543 in various systems. These results shed light on the anticancer and endometrial protection role of miR-543 in young patients with gynecologic tumors and highlight the clinical potential of miR-543-based applications and related challenges.

Most existing quantum private query (QPQ) protocols can hardly work in the presence of noise. The user Alice may obtain a false database item in noisy environments and both participants may cheat under the disguise of noise, so dealing with the noise needs an overall consideration of error correction, user privacy and database security. However, the only two existing protocols aiming to correct errors in QPQ lack such an overall consideration (at least one party’s privacy can be revealed), and they did not estimate what extent of errors can be tolerated (actually, noise is seldom discussed in quantum two-party secure computations, and to the best of our knowledge, relevant bounds on tolerable errors remain unattainable so far). To solve this problem, we first exemplify how one participant reveals the other party’s privacy in the existing QPQ protocols aiming to correct errors. Then we propose a practical protocol which can really work via noisy channel, that is, the error rate of the retrieved database item is reduced significantly and both parties’ privacy are well protected. Besides, we deduce that the final error rate, user privacy and database security are pairwise in a “trade-off” relationship. By balancing them according to the required level of security and reliability, we obtain an upper bound on tolerable errors.

Background: Plasmodium vivax remains the predominant species at the China–Myanmar border, imposing a major challenge to the recent gains in regional malaria elimination. To closely supervise the emerging of drug resistance in this area, we surveyed the variations in genes potentially correlated with drug resistance in P. vivax parasite and the possible drug selection with time.Methods: A total of 235 P. vivax samples were collected from patients suffering uncomplicated malaria at Yingjiang, Tengchong, and Longling counties, and Nabang port in China, Yunnan province, and Laiza township in Myanmar, during 2008 to 2017. Five potential drug resistance genes were amplified utilizing nested-PCR and analyzed, including pvdhfr, pvdhps, pvmdr1, pvcrt-o, and pvk12. Results: The pvdhfr F57I/L, S58R, T61M and S117T/N presented in 40.64%, 56.68%, 40.11%, and 56.04% of the sequenced P. vivax isolates, and these mutations significantly decreased with years. The haplotype formed by these quadruple mutations predominated at Yingjiang, Tengchong, Longling and Nabang. While a mutation H99S/R (56.59%) dominated at Laiza and increased with time. In pvdhps, the A383G prevailed in 69.16% of the samples, which remained the most prevalent haplotype. However, a significant decrease of its occurrence was also noticed over the time. The S382A/C and A553G existed in 8.37% and 30.84% of the isolates, respectively. In pvmdr1, the mutation Y976F occurred at a low frequency in 5/232 (2.16%), while T958M was fixed and F1076L was approaching fixed (72.41%). The K10 insertion was detected at an occurrence of 33.17% in pvcrt-o, whereas there was no significant difference among the sites or over the time. No mutation was identified in pvk12.Conclusions: Mutations related with resistance to antifolate drugs are prevalent in this area as expected, while their frequencies decrease significantly with time, suggestive of increased susceptibility of P. vivax parasite to antifolate drugs. Resistance to CQ is possibly emerging. However, since the molecular mechanisms underneath CQ resistance is yet to be better understood, close supervision of clinical drug efficiency and continuous function investigation is urgently needed to alarm drug resistance.

During the implantation of embryo, apoptosis is inevitable. These apoptotic cells (AC) are removed by efferocytosis, which fills the macrophage with a metabolite load nearly equal to the phagocyte itself. A timely question pertains to the interrelationship between efferocytosis metabolism and the immune behavior of decidual macrophages (dMΦs) and its effect on pregnancy outcome. Here we report a positive feedback of IL-33/ST2-AXL-efferocytosis leading to pregnancy failure through metabolic reprogramming of dMΦs. We compared the serum level of IL-33, sST2, along with IL-33, ST2, efferocytosis and metabolism of dMΦs from both normal gravidas and unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) patients. And we revealed the disturbance of IL-33/ST2 axis, increased apoptotic cells and elevated efferocytosis of dMΦs from the patients with RPL. Afterwards the dMΦs swallowing so many apoptotic cells secreted more sST2 and less TGF-β, which polarized dMΦs towards M1 phenotype. Moreover, the elevated sST2 biased the efferocytosis metabolism of RPL dMΦs towards oxidative phosphorylation and exacerbated the disruption of IL-33/ST2 signaling pathway. The metabolic disorders also led to the dysfunction of efferocytosis, resulting in more uncleared apoptotic cells and the secondary necrosis occurred. We also screened efferocytotic molecule AXL regulated by IL-33/ST2. This positive feedback of IL-33/ST2-AXL-efferocytosis led to pregnancy failure. And the IL-33 knockout mice demonstrated poor pregnancy outcomes, and exogenous supplementation of mouse IL-33 could partially alleviate the fate of embryo losses. These findings highlight a new etiological mechanism whereby dMΦs leverage immunometabolism for the homeostasis of microenvironment at the maternal-fetal interface.

During embryo implantation, apoptosis is inevitable. These apoptotic cells (ACs) are removed by efferocytosis, in which macrophages are filled with a metabolite load nearly equal to the phagocyte itself. A timely question pertains to the relationship between efferocytosis-related metabolism and the immune behavior of decidual macrophages (dMΦs) and its effect on pregnancy outcome. Here, we report positive feedback of IL-33/ST2-AXL-efferocytosis leading to pregnancy failure through metabolic reprogramming of dMΦs. We compared the serum levels of IL-33 and sST2, along with IL-33 and ST2, efferocytosis and metabolism of dMΦs, from patients with normal pregnancies and unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). We revealed disruption of the IL-33/ST2 axis, increased apoptotic cells and elevated efferocytosis of dMΦs from patients with RPL. The dMΦs that engulfed many apoptotic cells secreted more sST2 and less TGF-β, which polarized dMΦs toward the M1 phenotype. Moreover, the elevated sST2 biased the efferocytosis-related metabolism of RPL dMΦs toward oxidative phosphorylation and exacerbated the disruption of the IL-33/ST2 signaling pathway. Metabolic disorders also lead to dysfunction of efferocytosis, resulting in more uncleared apoptotic cells and secondary necrosis. We also screened the efferocytotic molecule AXL regulated by IL-33/ST2. This positive feedback axis of IL-33/ST2-AXL-efferocytosis led to pregnancy failure. IL-33 knockout mice demonstrated poor pregnancy outcomes, and exogenous supplementation with mouse IL-33 reduced the embryo losses. These findings highlight a new etiological mechanism whereby dMΦs leverage immunometabolism for homeostasis of the microenvironment at the maternal-fetal interface.

Platycrater arguta is a rare and endangered shrub species endemic to East Asia. Here, we report the complete chloroplast (cp) genome structure and its taxonomic position within Hydrangeaceae to promote its conservation and restoration. The complete cp genome of P. arguta was 157,810 bp in length and contained a large single-copy region (LSC) of 86,823 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,735 bp, as well as a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,126 bp, each. 113 unique genes are predicted in this cp genome, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and 4 rRNAs. Maximum-likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analysis based on 79 shared cp CDS (coding DNA sequences) of 19 species reveals a close relationship between P. arguta and Schizophragma hydrangeoides.

Stem borer (Lepidoptera) is a key pest and causes significant damage in commercial sugarcane production. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an unpiloted and automatic aircraft that is being used for precision agriculture. The impact of multi-rotor UAV (four-rotor electronic UAV, 3WWDZ-10A) application on controlling the stem borer in sugarcane variety GT46 was explored with aerial spray of 1.5% abamectin (liquid) and 2% lufenuron (microemulsion) at seedling stage of sugarcane crop. The knapsack electric sprayer (KES) without pesticide (NP) treatments were used as the controls. The droplet deposition, spray efficiency and rate of dead larvae for UAV and KES treatments were compared after spraying. The rate of dead larvae counts for UAV spray was found 40.0%, which was higher compared to KES (30.0%) and NP (0.0%) treatments. Besides, the spray efficiency of UAV treatment was recorded 14.37 times more than that of KES treatment, and the pesticide requirement was lowered as much as 90.65% as compared to KES. The droplet coverage and deposition were also recorded lower, accounting for 9.5% and 0.7% of KES, respectively. Our results suggest the high potential use of UAV spray of insecticides for the management of sugarcane borer in commercial crop production in China.

Problem Decidual macrophages (dMφ ) play an important role in the formation of maternal-fetal immune tolerance. However, factors that influence the immune status of dMφ and the related potential mechanisms have not been elucidated to date. Method of study The gene transcription in dMφ , decidual stromal cells (DSCs), extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs), and peripheral monocytes (pMo) from human samples were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Monocyte-DSC co-culture was established to explore whether DSCs influenced dMφ polarization via C-C motif ligand 2 (CCL2)-C-C chemokine receptor (CCR2) binding using flow cytometry. In vivo, changes in dMφ percentage and M1 and M2 marker expression after treatment with CCR2 or Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) inhibitor were detected with flow cytometry. Embryo resorption percentages in the above groups were also analyzed. Results We found that dMφ were an M1/M2 mixed status at the maternal-fetal interface during early pregnancy. CCL2 influenced the immune status of dMφ in an autocrine and paracrine manner. As a downstream regulator of CCR2 and triggers the Stat3 pathway, JAK2 was found to be essential for dMφ homeostasis in vivo. JAK2 inhibitor decreased the dMφ proportion and attenuated Ki67, CD36, CD86, CD206, TNF, and IL-10 expression in dMφ at E8.5 d. Moreover, CCR2-JAK2 pathway inhibition decreased the width of the placental labyrinth layer, further influencing the pregnancy outcome. Conclusion The M1/M2 mixed immune status of dMφ was regulated by DSCs via CCR2, and the CCL2/CCR2/JAK2 pathway was essential for the immune status of dMφ and the outcome of early pregnancy.

In this study, the complete 17,809 bp mitochondrial genome of Callosobruchus maculates (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) was sequenced using Illumina’s HiSeq2000 platform. The mitogenome is a double-stranded circular molecule of 17,809 bp in length with 21 transfer RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, and two ribosomal RNA genes as in other insects. Specially, there is a 2008 bp-inserted segment between ND2 and tRNA-Trp from 1180 to 3187, which cannot be aligned to any known gene of mitogenomes. To estimate the taxonomic status of Bruchinae, total 17 species from eight subfamilies of Chrysomelidae were selected as ingroups and three species of Lamiinae as outgroups for phylogenetic analysis based on mitogenome. The results showed that three major lineages were formed, including a basal ‘Eumolpine’ clade (Cassidinae, Eumolpinae, Cryptocephalinae, Clytrinae), ‘'Criocerine’ clade (Criocerinae, Bruchinae) and ‘Chrysomeline’ clade (Chrysomelinae, Galerucinae s. l.). Bruchinae showed more closed relationship with Criocerinae than other subfamilies. More thorough taxon sampling will be needed to well understand the relationship in Chrysomelidae.

Platycrater arguta is a rare and endangered shrub species endemic to East Asia. Here, we report the complete chloroplast (cp) genome structure and its taxonomic position within Hydrangeaceae to promote its conservation and restoration. The complete cp genome of P. arguta was 157,810 bp in length and contained a large single-copy region (LSC) of 86,823 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,735 bp, as well as a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,126 bp, each. 113 unique genes are predicted in this cp genome, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and 4 rRNAs. Maximum-likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analysis based on 79 shared cp CDS (coding DNA sequences) of 19 species reveals a close relationship between P. arguta and Schizophragma hydrangeoides.

Dynamic secret sharing can deal with the problems of both adding agents and revoking ones, which makes it more practical and flexible compared with general secret sharing. In this work, we analyze an efficient and secure dynamic quantum secret sharing protocol based on Bell states, and find that there is an unnoticed problem that it does not satisfy the requirement for dynamic secret sharing in the sense that if the access structure has been completed, then both adding an agent and revoking one become impossible by the way in this protocol; or else if adding an agent or revoking one can be realized, then the previous access structure has not been implemented in fact. Furthermore, we discuss how to solve this problem and give a possible way to improve this protocol.

The challenge posed by the many-body problem in quantum physics originates from the difficulty of describing the nontrivial correlations encoded in the many-body wave functions with high complexity. Quantum neural network provides a powerful tool to represent the large-scale wave function, which has aroused widespread concerns in the quantum superiority era. A significant open problem is what exactly the representational power boundary of the single-layer quantum neural network is. In this paper, we design a 2-local Hamiltonian and then give a kind of Quantum Restricted Boltzmann Machine (QRBM, i.e. single-layer quantum neural network) based on it. The proposed QRBM has the following two salient features. (1) It is proved universal for implementing quantum computation tasks. (2) It can be efficiently implemented on the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. We successfully utilize the proposed QRBM to compute the wave functions for the notable cases of physical interest including the ground state as well as the Gibbs state (thermal state) of molecules on the superconducting quantum chip. The experimental results illustrate the proposed QRBM can compute the above wave functions with an acceptable error.

Nitrate esters have been used in clinical practice for more than one century for the treatment of angina. Their clinical effectiveness is due to vasodilator activity in arteries through a method of delivering nitric oxide or a nitric oxide-like compound. Recently, an increasing numbers of functions of this molecule in biology and pathophysiology have been discovered. Macrophage polarization shift in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been demonstrated to be correlated with the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study, we aimed to investigate whether nitrate esters could improve coronary atherosclerosis through inhibition of macrophage polarization shift in EAT. A case-control study enrolled 48 subjects in 2 groups: CAD patients with or without nitrate esters treatment. Infiltration of M1/M2 macrophages and the expressions of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in EAT and subcutaneous white adipose tissue were investigated by immunohistochemical stain among subjects undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The expression levels of metabolic genes were investigated by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We found that nitrate ester treatment significantly inhibited NF-кB activity and decreased macrophage infiltration and M1/M2 macrophage ratio in EAT in patients with CAD. The expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines were significantly decreased, along with significantly elevated expressions of anti-inflammatory cytokines in CAD patients with nitrate ester treatment, corresponding EAT dysfunction was ameliorated and the severity of patients with CAD (Gensini score) was significantly decreased. The protective effects on macrophage polarization and EAT function through NF-кB activity inhibition suggested a potential mechanism of nitrate esters in alleviating the severity of CAD.

Impaired NK cell cytotoxic activity contributes to the local dysfunctional immune environment in endometriosis (EMS), which is an estrogen-dependent gynecological disease that affects the function ...

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the molecular mechanism of sugarcane response to the smut pathogen at the beginning of the pathogen infection of sugarcane seedlings, to explore related genes, and to provide useful information for developing rational strategies to control smut at early stages of disease development. A suppression subtractive hybridization library was constructed using cDNA synthesized from RNA extracted from normal stalks as driver and inoculated stalks as tester. The positive clones of the libraries were sequenced randomly, analyzed by BLAST, and classified by GO. A total of 248 positive clones were selected for sequencing, and a total of 224 EST sequences were obtained. In total, 188 ESTs were found to share a considerable homology with known genes, while the remaining 36 ESTs had no homology with known genes. In the Gene Ontology database, the unigenes were assigned functional descriptions; 152, 129, and 139 ESTs were, respectively, involved in cell component, molecular function, and biological process. Some genes related to a smut pathogen infection were obtained, while the SSH library was constructed. These genes reflected the regulation of sugarcane to smut pathogen and can be used as candidate genes.

Objective: Villoglandular papillary adenocarcinoma (VGPA) of the uterine cervix is a subtype of cervical adenocarcinoma. In the present study, we summarized the clinical features of VGPA of the uterine cervix and discussed the potential indications for a conservative treatment. Methods: A retrospective review of clinical characteristics and treatment aspects of 10 patients with VGPA at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University was conducted between January 2007 and December 2016. Almost all of the existing 40 English papers on “villoglandular papillary adenocarcinoma [title/abstract]” identified from PubMed were obtained. Clinical data from these papers were analyzed in terms of age, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, recurrence rate, mortality, and conservation treatment aspects. Results: The median age of 10 patients with VGPA was 40 years. All cases had Stage IB 1 disease. Seven patients underwent human papillomavirus examinations, which revealed 6 positive and 1 negative case(s) of infection. Six patients underwent ThinPrep cytologic tests, which revealed 4 patients with atypical glandular cells, 1 with a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, and 1 who tested negative for intraepithelial malignancy. None of the patients had lymph node metastases. During the 6–114 months of follow-up, no disease recurrence or death occurred. Of note, one patient who received conservative treatment successfully became pregnant. Conclusions: VGPA can be detected at an early FIGO stage with excellent prognosis. For young patients who do not exhibit poor prognosis factors, conservative treatment may be the first treatment choice based on overall assessment of clinical conditions.

In this study, the complete 17,809 bp mitochondrial genome of Callosobruchus maculates (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) was sequenced using Illumina’s HiSeq2000 platform. The mitogenome ...

Problem To explore whether the thrombospondin-1(TSP1)-CD47-signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) signaling pathway has impacts on the development of endometriosis. Method of study Endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) originated from ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissues with or without endometriosis. Monocytes (Macrophages) were isolated from peripheral blood and peritoneal fluids with or without endometriosis. The expression levels of molecules were investigated by flow cytometry (FCM), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and RT-qPCR. The concentration of TSP1 was assessed via ELISA. The capacities of angiogenesis and phagocytosis were measured via tube formation assay and phagocytic assay, respectively. Results We confirmed the up-regulation of critical molecules within the pathway in endometriosis patients. TSP1 can encourage normal ESCs (NESCs) growth and fibrosis. It simultaneously promotes the secretion of inflammatory factors and inhibits the phagocytic abilities of macrophages. Moreover, the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells (VECs) may be improved by TSP1. These effects may be offset by CD47 blocking antibodies. In addition, ectopic ESCs (EESCs) directly improve SIRPα expression on macrophages, which may further exhaust their phagocytic ability. Phagocytosis efficiency of macrophages on EESCs significantly improves by blocking CD47-SIRPα pathway. Conclusion TSP1-CD47-SIRPα signaling pathway not only improves the viability of NESCs per se but also promotes their survival circumstances by affecting the function of macrophages and VECs, which are mutually reinforcing and jointly promote the development of endometriosis.

Multiparty quantum digital signatures play an important role in quantum networks which sign and distribute message among users with information-theoretic security. In this work, we give a cryptanalysis of a multiparty quantum digital signature scheme and then propose a new attacks strategy, whereby dishonest participants can frame an honest participant if they collude with each other. To prevent the framing attack, we study the relations between the signing key and each verification key, as well as the relations among different verification keys in this scheme, and then give the security requirements on the relations among different keys, which is also very useful for the next development of multiparty quantum digital signature schemes. Finally, we present a possible way to solve the security problem.

Quantum private query of blocks (QPQB) allow user to obtain meaningful multiple consecutive bits in one query, which has certain advantages in improving communication efficiency and protecting user privacy. However, previous QPQB protocols generally show poor practicability for the use of high-dimensional quantum system (which is difficult to implement) or the ignorance of error correction (as a result, user may pay for a false database item). To solve this problem, we proposed a new fault-tolerant quantum protocol for private query of blocks based on the two-dimensional quantum system, by using a special reorder-shift-addition technique. This technology can not only compress user’s additional information obtained in error correction, but also can reduce the user’s advantage obtained from the alignment of the key bits in bitwise adding, solving an inherent security problem in postprocessing. Moreover, our protocol is loss tolerant and can resist the quantum memory attack.

Endometriosis (EMS) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the presence of extrauterine endometrial tissues. It has been previously reported that the refluxed blood containing viable endometrial tissues and the defective elimination of peritoneal macrophages in the pelvic cavity may involve in EMS pathogenesis. However, the mechanism by which macrophages exhibit attenuated phagocytic capability in EMS remains undetermined. Herein, we found that heme, the byproduct of lysed erythrocytes, accumulated abnormally in the peritoneal fluid (PF) of patients with EMS (14.22 μmol/L, 95% confidence interval (CI): 12.54–16.71), compared with the EMS-free group (9.517 μmol/L, 95% CI: 8.891–10.1053). This abnormal accumulation was not associated with the color of PF, phase of the menstrual cycle or severity of the disease. The reduced phagocytic ability of peritoneal macrophages (pMφs) was observed in the EMS group. Consistently, a high-concentration (30 μmol/L) heme treatment impaired EMS-pMφs phagocytosis more than a low-concentration (10 μmol/L) heme treatment. A similar phenomenon was observed in the EMS-free control pMφs (Ctrl-pMφs) and the CD14+ peripheral monocytes (CD14+ Mos). These results indicated that a high heme concentration exhibits a negative effect on macrophage phagocytosis, which supplements the mechanism of impaired scavenger function of pMφs in EMS.

Efferocytosis, which is known as the phagocytic clearance of dying cells by professional as well as non-professional phagocytes, including a great number of intracellular/extracellular factors and signals, is interrelated with the immune system, contributing to local and systemic homeostasis, especially in tissues with high constitutive rates of apoptosis. Accumulating studies have indicated that immune dysregulation is associated with the pathogenesis of the female reproductive system, which causes preeclampsia (PE), recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA), ruptured ectopic pregnancy, and so on. And some studies have revealed the pleiotropic and essential role of efferocytosis in these obstetrical disorders. More specifically, the occurrence and development of these diseases were in connection with some efferocytosis-related factors and signals, such as C1q, MBL, and IL-33/ST2. In this review, we systematically review the diverse impacts of efferocytosis in immune system and discuss its relevance to normal and pathological pregnancy. These findings may instruct future basic researches as well as clinical applications of efferocytosis-related factors and signals as latent predictors or therapeutic targets on the obstetrical disorders.

Impaired NK cell cytotoxic activity contributes to the local dysfunctional immune environment in endometriosis (EMS), which is an estrogen-dependent gynecological disease that affects the function of ectopic endometrial tissue clearance. The reason for the impaired cytotoxic activity of NK cells in an ectopic lesion microenvironment (ELM) is largely unknown. In this study, we show that the macroautophagy/autophagy level of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) from EMS decreased under negative regulation of estrogen. The ratio of peritoneal FCGR3(−) NK to FCGR3(+) NK cells increases as EMS progresses. Moreover, the autophagy suppression results in the downregulation of HCK (hematopoietic cellular kinase) by inactivating STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3), as well as the increased secretion of the downstream molecules CXCL8/IL8 and IL23A by ESCs, and this increase induced the upregulation of FCGR3(−) NK cells and decline of cytotoxic activity in ELM. This process is mediated through the depression of microRNA MIR1185-1-3p, which is associated with the activation of the target gene PTGS2 in NK cells. FCGR3(−) NK with a phenotype of PTGS2/COX2(high) IFNG(low) PRF1(low) GZMB(low) induced by hck knockout (hck(−/-)) or 3-methyladenine (3-MA, an autophagy inhibitor)-stimulated ESCs accelerates ESC’s growth both in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that the estrogen-autophagy-STAT3-HCK axis participates in the differentiation of PTGS2(high) IFNG(low) PRF1(low) GZMB(low) FCGR3(−) NK cells in ELM and contributes to the development of EMS. This result provides a scientific basis for potential therapeutic strategies to treat diseases related to impaired NK cell cytotoxic activity. Abbreviations: anti-FCGR3: anti-FCGR3 with neutralizing antibody; Ctrl-ESC: untreated ESCs; CXCL8: C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8; ectoESC: ESCs from ectopic lesion; ELM: ectopic lesion microenvironment; EMS: endometriosis; ESCs: endometrial stromal cells; eutoESC:eutopic ESCs; HCK: hematopoietic cellular kinase; HCK(OE): overexpression of HCK; IFNG: interferon gamma; IL23A (OE): overexpression of IL23A; KLRK1: Killer cell lectin like receptor K1; MAP1LC3B/LC3B: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; 3 -MA: 3-methyladenine; 3-MA-ESC: 3-MA-treated ESCs; MIR1185-1-3p(+): overexpression of HsMIR1185-1-3p; NK: natural killer; normESCs: normal ESCs; Rap-ESC:rapamycin-treated ESCs; PCNA: proliferating cell nuclear antigen; PF: peritoneal fluid; SFKs: SRC family of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases; si-HCK: silencing of HCK; siIL23A: silencing of IL23A; USCs: uterus stromal cells.

Two N2-fixing bacteria isolates, B11S and B8S, were obtained from the surface-sterilized stalks of sugarcane cultivars GT11 and B8. Both isolates showed acetylene reduction activity in nitrogen-free media. The two nitrogen-fixing bacterial isolates produced siderophores, and the ability of B8Ss was higher than that of B11S. The two isolates were also able to dissolve Ca3(PO4)2, and the ability of B11S was higher. It was found that only the strain B8S displayed ACC deaminase activity. The IAA production ability of strain B8S was higher than that of B11S. Both the B11S and B8S isolates were classified on the basis of 16 S rRNA gene sequences and their biological characteristics. The 16 S rRNA gene sequence of isolates B11S and B8S showed 98.5 and 100 % similarities with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Rhizobium radiobacter), respectively. For both growth and nitrogenase activity of the isolates, the optimum temperature was 31 °C. The optimum pH for their growth was 6.0, but it ranged from 6.5 to 7.0 for nitrogenase activity. The two strains grew faster and showed increased nitrogenase activity with increasing concentration of carbon in the cultural media, for which the sucrose was better compared to glucose. Further, the growth and nitrogenase activity of the strains were found better when cultured in the media containing suitable concentrations of NH4 + and NO3 −; however, the growth of both isolates was hindered significantly with increasing concentration of both nitrogen sources.

Problem To explore whether IL-33/ST2 axis modulates the polarization and efferocytosis of decidual macrophages (dMφs). Method of study The phenotype characteristics of dMφs from both normal pregnant women and recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) patients were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and flow cytometry (FCM). Then, the efferocytosis and expression of IL-33 and its receptor (ST2) in dMφs were analyzed by FCM. Finally, the effects of sST2, a decoy receptor for IL-33 that inhibits the IL-33/ST2 signaling pathway, on the polarization and efferocytosis of dMφs and human macrophage cell line U937 were investigated. Results Compared with normal pregnancy, dMφs from RSA patients presented a M1 phenotype with high secretion of IL-33, whereas the expression of ST2 decreased. However, dMφs from RSA patients possessed a more powerful efferocytosis ability to clear the apoptotic decidual stromal cells (DSCs) compared with dMφs from normal pregnancy patients. Treatment with recombinant human sST2 led to the up-regulation of M1 bias and efferocytosis ability of both normal dMφs and U937. Conclusion This study indicates that IL-33 secreted by dMφs promotes M2 bias at the feto-maternal interface, and as a result, RSA might attribute to the disturbance of IL-33/ST2 axis and the enhancement of efferocytosis of dMφs subsequently.

Our previous study demonstrated that thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) secreted by cervical cancer cells promotes angiogenesis and recruitment, and regulates the function of eosinophils (EOS). However, the function of TSLP in the crosstalk between EOS and vascular endothelial cells in cancer lesions remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of EOS caused by TSLP in in vitro angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The results of the present study revealed that recombinant human TSLP protein (rhTSLP) increased the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), but not fibroblast growth factors, in HL-60-eosinophils (HL-60E). Compared with cervical cancer cells (HeLa or CasKi cells) or HL-60E alone, there were increased levels of interleukin (IL)-8 and VEGF in the co-culture system between cervical cancer cells, and HL-60E cells. This effect was strengthened by rhTSLP, but inhibited by inhibiting the TSLP signal with anti-human TSLP or TSLP receptor neutralizing antibodies. The results of the tube formation assays revealed that treatment with the supernatant from cervical cancer cells and/or HL-60E resulted in an increase in angiogenesis in HUVECs, which could be decreased by TSLP or TSLPR inhibitors. The results of the present study suggested that TSLP derived of cervical cancer cells may indirectly stimulate angiogenesis of HUVECs, by upregulating IL-8 and VEGF production, in a co-culture model between cervical cancer cells and EOS, therefore promoting the development of cervical cancer.