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In this study, the DEA–Malmquist index method was used to measure the total factor productivity of citrus in seven major mandarin-producing provinces and seven major tangerine-producing provinces in China from 2006 to 2020. Moran’s I index was used to test the spatial correlation of total factor productivity of mandarin and tangerine, and its σ convergence and β convergence characteristics were explored using coefficient of variation and spatial panel models. The results show that from the perspective of time series evolution, the growth rate of total factor productivity of mandarin and tangerine in China slowed down year by year after reaching the maximum value in 2008. Technological progress was the main factor affecting the total factor productivity of citrus. The total factor productivity growth of tangerine was more stable than that of mandarin, and the pure technical efficiency index and scale efficiency change index of mandarin and tangerine were not stable. From the perspective of regional differences, the total factor productivity of China’s main citrus-producing provinces all indicated positive growth, showing an increasing trend from east to west. The drivers of growth were mainly technological progress and scale efficiency. The regional differences in total factor productivity growth for mandarin were more obvious than for tangerine. The total factor productivity of mandarin and tangerine showed obvious spatial correlation characteristics; the positive spatial spillover effect was significant; and there were σ convergence, absolute β convergence, and conditional β convergence. Regional disparities in citrus industry development can be more objectively reflected by convergence analysis that takes spatial factors, economic and social factors, and other factors into account.

With continued anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen (N) into the environment, non-point source N pollutants produced in winter cannot be ignored. This study explores the effects of substrate improvement on N removal in winter and rhizospheric crosstalk between reed (Phragmites australis) and microbes in subtropical riparian reed wetlands. The rates of wetland N removal in winter, root metabolite profiles and rhizosphere soil microbial community compositions were determined following addition of different substrates (gravel, gravel + biochar, ceramsite + biochar and modified ceramsite + biochar) to natural riparian soil. The results showed that the addition of different substrate to initial soil enhanced N removal from the microcosms in winter. The root metabolite characteristics and microbial community compositions showed some variations under different substrate addition compared to the initial soil. The three treatments involving biochar addition decreased lipid metabolites and enhanced the contents and variety of carbon sources in rhizosphere soil, while modified ceramsite + biochar addition treatment had a greater impact on the microbial community structure. There was evidence for a complex crosstalk between plants and microbes in the rhizosphere, and some rhizosphere metabolites were seen to be significantly correlated with the bacterial composition of the rhizospheric microbial community. These results highlighted the importance of rhizospheric crosstalk in regulating winter N removal in riparian reed wetland, provided a scientific reference for the protection and restoration of riparian reed areas and the prevention and control of non-point source pollution.

Angiomyolipoma is an extremely rare, benign mesenchymal tumor of the nasal cavity, primarily common in the kidney and secondarily common in the liver. According to the author’s knowledge, no cases of angiomyolipoma of the nasal septum have been identified to date. We report a case of a patient with a giant angiomyolipoma at the posterior end of the nasal septum who recovered after surgery without any complication.

The outbreak of a novel febrile respiratory disease called COVID-19, caused by a newfound coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has brought a worldwide attention. Prioritizing approved drugs is critical for quick clinical trials against COVID-19. In this study, we first manually curated three Virus-Drug Association (VDA) datasets. By incorporating VDAs with the similarity between drugs and that between viruses, we constructed a heterogeneous Virus-Drug network. A novel Random Walk with Restart method (VDA-RWR) was then developed to identify possible VDAs related to SARS-CoV-2. We compared VDA-RWR with three state-of-the-art association prediction models based on fivefold cross-validations (CVs) on viruses, drugs and virus-drug associations on three datasets. VDA-RWR obtained the best AUCs for the three fivefold CVs, significantly outperforming other methods. We found two small molecules coming together on the three datasets, that is, remdesivir and ribavirin. These two chemical agents have higher molecular binding energies of − 7.0 kcal/mol and − 6.59 kcal/mol with the domain bound structure of the human receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, respectively. Interestingly, for the first time, experimental results suggested that navitoclax could be potentially applied to stop SARS-CoV-2 and remains to further validation.

In the data era when the Fourth Industrial Revolution is quickly progressing, the pedagogy must consider the relations between education and machines as an intermediary when studying the relationship between education and humanity, as well as the relationship between education and social development. The subject should be based on ontology and axiology, as machines and their evolution have become a part of human and societal development. Machines become integral to teaching and learning; meanwhile, the reform of the educational structure relies on a revolution of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Schools are becoming a new type of social organization that connects everything when the development of machines and education limit one another. Such changes entail reforms of pedagogy as well as the promotion of a new concept of education. There should be a theoretical system supported by data and information, and a policy system consisting of artificial intelligence and education.

Wetlands play an important role in reducing the impact of nitrogen pollution on natural aquatic environments. However, during the plant wilting period (winter) there will inevitably be a reduction in nitrogen removal from wetlands. Understanding optimum harvest time will allow the use of management practices to balance the trade-off between nitrogen removal and the sustainability of wetlands. In this study, we investigated wetland nitrogen removal and reed (Phragmites australis) nutrient responses for two years [first year: influent total nitrogen (TN) 17.6–34.7 mg L−1; second year: influent TN 3.2–10.0 mg L−1] to identify the optimal harvest time: before wilting, mid-wilting, or late wilting. Harvesting decreased wetland nitrogen removal in both years, with later harvest time producing a smaller decrease in TN and ammonium-nitrogen (NH4+–N) removal. In addition to harvest before wilting, aboveground reed harvest at mid-wilting harvested more nutrients [carbon (C) 7.9%, nitrogen (N) 46.6% and phosphorus (P) 43.6%] in the first year, while harvest at late wilting harvested more nutrients (C 4.9%, N 7.8% and P 24.1%) in the second year, although this was not statistically significant. The late wilting harvest caused fewer disturbances to root stoichiometric homeostasis in the first year, while mid-wilting harvest promoted root nutrient availability in the second year. In addition, redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that root stoichiometry was interrelated with wetland nitrogen removal. Our results suggest that optimal harvest time was late wilting on the basis of wetland nitrogen removal, or either mid- or late wilting according to reed nutrient response to influent nitrogen concentration in some years. Our results provide crucial information for winter wetlands management.

Recently, many studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are new small molecule drug targets. Identifying small molecule-miRNA associations (SMiRs) plays an important role in finding new clues for various human disease therapy. Wet experiments can discover credible SMiR associations; however, this is a costly and time-consuming process. Computational models have therefore been developed to uncover possible SMiR associations. In this study, we designed a new SMiR association prediction model, RWNS. RWNS integrates various biological information, credible negative sample selections, and random walk on a triple-layer heterogeneous network into a unified framework. It includes three procedures: similarity computation, negative sample selection, and SMiR association prediction based on random walk on the constructed small molecule-disease-miRNA association network. To evaluate the performance of RWNS, we used leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) and 5-fold cross validation to compare RWNS with two state-of-the-art SMiR association methods, namely, TLHNSMMA and SMiR-NBI. Experimental results showed that RWNS obtained an AUC value of 0.9829 under LOOCV and 0.9916 under 5-fold cross validation on the SM2miR1 dataset, and it obtained an AUC value of 0.8938 under LOOCV and 0.9899 under 5-fold cross validation on the SM2miR2 dataset. More importantly, RWNS successfully captured 9, 17, and 37 SMiR associations validated by experiments among the predicted top 10, 20, and 50 SMiR candidates with the highest scores, respectively. We inferred that enoxacin and decitabine are associated with mir-21 and mir-155, respectively. Therefore, RWNS can be a powerful tool for SMiR association prediction.

Long-term agricultural development has led to agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution. Ecological ditches (eco-ditch), as specific wetland systems, can be used to manage agricultural NPS water and achieve both ecological and environmental benefits. In order to understand which type of eco-ditch systems (Es, soil eco-ditch; Ec, concrete eco-ditch; Eh, concrete eco-ditch with holes on double-sided wall) is more suitable for plant nutrient balance meanwhile reducing NPS water (total nitrogen [TN], about 10 mg/L; total phosphorus [TP], about 1 mg/L), it is essential to evaluate the plant (Vallisneria natans) stoichiometry response to water in different types of eco-ditches under static experiment. The results indicated that there were no significant differences in TP removal efficiency among three eco-ditches, yet Eh systems had the best TN removal efficiency during the earlier experimental time. Addition of agricultural NPS water had varying effects on plants living in different types of eco-ditch systems. Plant organ stoichiometry of V. natans varied in relation to eco-ditch types. Plant stoichiometry (C:N, C:P, and N:P) of V. natans in Eh systems could maintain the homeostasis of nutrients and was not greatly affected by external changing environment. V. natans in Es systems can more easily modify the nutrient contents of organs with regard to nutrient availability in the environment. Our findings provide useful plant stoichiometry information for ecologists studying other specific ecosystems.

As the northern segment of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Paleoproterozoic graphite metallogenic belt, the Liaohe Group contains a significant amount of phaneritic graphite deposits, which are of great significance to the exploration of graphite resources in China. However, few studies have investigated the metallogeny of these deposits. To unravel the carbon source and metallogenic process of the graphite deposits in the Liaohe Group, we performed detailed petrological, zircon U-Pb dating, Raman spectroscopy, and carbon isotope studies for the graphite deposits in the North (MG-Magou graphite deposit) and South (WLG-Wuligou graphite deposit) Liaohe Groups. The results show that the graphite-bearing rocks of the two groups are located in the sandstone, shale, wacke, and arkose regions in the log (Fe2O3/K2O) – log (SiO2/Al2O3) sediment classification diagram. They have similar trace element characteristics and exhibit similar rare earth element features with post-Archean Australian average shales (PAAS). Geochemical data show that these samples are compositionally immature and underwent a relatively low degree of weathering, which are the products of rapid accumulation of sediments. The carbon isotopic values of graphites from the WLG and MG both show a wide range of variation (δ13CWLG = −13.69 to −17.82‰, δ13CMG = -16.49 to −25.72‰), which are caused by the demethanation of organic matter during metamorphism. Raman spectroscopy indicates that the peak metamorphic temperature of the graphite from WLG is higher than 650 ℃, which is higher than that of MG graphite deposits (T = 551–627 ℃) from the North Liaohe Group. Combined with previous geochronology data, we suggest that a large amount of organic matter was deposited in an active continental margin environment at 2130–2175 Ma. During the collisional orogeny between the Longgang and LiaonanNangrim blocks (1950 to 1800 Ma), organic matter gradually transformed into graphite through prograde metamorphism and accumulated to form the graphite deposits in the Liaohe Group.

Primary pulmonary mucinous adenocarcinoma (PPMA) is an uncommon subtype of lung adenocarcinoma. The present study attempted to clarify the diagnosis, clinicopathological characteristics, and pathologic significance of epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene (KRAS) mutations and the prognosis of PPMA. A total of 29 patients with PPMA from among 1,469 surgically resected patients with lung adenocarcinoma were enrolled. All of the tumours expressed CK7 and 5 cases exhibited co-expression with CK20. A total of 8 cases expressed EGFR, 14 cases expressed P53 and 2 cases expressed CEA. The majority of mucinous adenocarcinomas expressed thyroid transcription factor 1, Napsin A, Villin and Cam5.2 proteins. KRAS mutations were observed in 62% of patients and were more prevalent in the lower lung lobe and in patients with invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma. A total of 2 cases exhibited an EGFR mutation, and the co-mutation of KRAS and EGFR was only detected in 1 case. The relapse-free and overall survival rates at 5 years were 70.4, and 81.5%, respectively. The results may assist to identify a molecular target and supply important information for a therapeutic strategy for patients with PPMA.

Curcumin is a natural compound extracted from the dried rhizomes of Curcuma (curcuma root or zedoary) that exhibits extensive pharmacological effects and low toxicity. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether curcumin inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis of laryngeal cancer through Bcl-2 and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt), and by upregulating microRNA-15a (miR-15a). It was demonstrated that curcumin inhibits cell proliferation, and promotes apoptosis and increased caspase-3 activity of human laryngeal cancer cells. Furthermore, curcumin decreased Bcl-2 and PI3K protein expression, and decreased the phospho (p)-Akt protein expression of human laryngeal cancer cells. Furthermore, curcumin activated miR-15a expression by human laryngeal cancer cells. Suppression of miR-15a expression reversed the anticancer effect of curcumin on cell proliferation of human laryngeal cancer cells and increased Bcl-2 and PI3K/Akt protein expression in AMC-HN-8 cells treated with 40 µM of curcumin. The results of the present study suggest that curcumin inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis of laryngeal cancer cells through Bcl-2 and PI3K/Akt, and by upregulating miR-15a.

The efficiency of the combined process of ozonation with Vallisneria natans to improve the quality of piggery effluent was investigated in this study, and the effects of ozonated water on the antioxidant responses of V. natans were explored. The effluent was treated with ozone at 10, 30 and 50 mg L−1 for 30 min in combination with V. natans for 28−d. Combined treatment was successful at removing inorganic nutrients and organic compounds from piggery effluent. Low ozone concentration treatment of water was optimal for the growth of V. natans, while exposure to high levels for long periods of time increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and damaged their antioxidant systems. The results demonstrate that combined ozonation and submerged macrophytes treatment, can remove inorganic nutrients and organic compounds from piggery effluent, reducing the pollution into aquatic ecosystem.

This paper focuses on the education of migrant children in Beijing. As of the late 1990s, the Chinese Government has developed several policies to address educational issues among migrant children. The present study analyses data from interviews with key education personnel in Beijing to explore the outcomes of the implementation of such migrant children’s education (MCE) policies and the reasons for variation from policy design. The data suggest that there is poorer equality in terms of education among migrant vs. local children than the government has reported. Migrant children are faced with numerous strict admission procedures for public schools. The Chinese Government has not prioritised educational equality, despite professing to do so. The capability and motivation of local institutions for policy implementation are less adequate than might be expected. Using Honig’s model of policy implementation, this research shows that the outcomes of the MCE policies are a product of interaction betwee...

Shared bicycle travel is a new type of green, economical and fashionable travel mode. It is essentially a new type of vehicle leasing business-bicycle leasing business; it accelerates man-car matching through LBS technology and becomes the general public to solve the last mile of important traffic tool. For Chengdu, with a resident population of 16.33 million, GDP of 1,543.277 billion RMB and an area of 14,335 square kilometers, millions of shared bicycle travel orders are generated daily. The number of active users per day is 1,318,140, and the number of active vehicles per day is 446,826. The vast majority of orders are generated between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning peak and between 16:00 and 19:00 in the evening peak near the metro station and in the core urban areas.

Identifying lncRNA-protein Interactions (LPIs) is vital to understanding various key biological processes. Wet experiments found a few LPIs, but experimental methods are costly and time-consuming. Therefore, computational methods are increasingly exploited to capture LPI candidates. We introduced relevant data repositories, focused on two types of LPI prediction models: network-based methods and machine learning-based methods. Machine learning-based methods contain matrix factorization-based techniques and ensemble learning-based techniques. To detect the performance of computational methods, we compared parts of LPI prediction models on Leave-One-Out cross validation (LOOCV) and five-fold cross validation. The results show that SFPEL-LPI obtained the best performance of AUC. Although computational models have efficiently unraveled some LPI candidates, there are many limitations involved. We discussed future directions to further boost LPI predictive performance.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Considering the essential role of plakophilin 3 (PKP3) in the maintenance cell-cell adhesion, dysregulation of PKP3 is involved in human diseases. This study aimed to explore the clinical significance of PKP3 in ovarian cancer. Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine the PKP3 expression in 157 cancer specimens from primary ovarian cancer patients. PKP3 was expressed in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. Eighty-one (51.6%) out of 157 ovarian cancer tissues showed PKP3 expression, while absent expression was observed in normal ovarian tissues. High PKP3 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis (LNM, P = .004) and advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (P = .013). Patients with high PKP3 expression had shorter overall survival (OS) than those with low PKP3 expression (60.2 months vs 74.2 months, P = .021). However, no association between PKP3 expression and progression-free survival (PFS) was observed (P = .790). Cox regression analysis indicated that PKP3 expression was an independently predictive factor for the OS of patient with ovarian cancer (adjusted HR = 1.601, 95%CI: 1.014-2.528, P = .043), especially those with FIGO stages III and IV disease (adjusted HR = 1.607, 95%CI: 1.006–2.567, P = .047). The gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA) databases also showed that PKP3 was upregulated in ovarian cancer (P

Free-air O3 enrichment was used to investigate the responses of different antioxidant mechanisms in different rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars - O3-sensitive hybrid indica (O3-S) cultivars and O3-tolerant conventional japonica (O3-T) cultivars across all growth stages. Elevated [O3] induced increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in O3-S cultivars, which were more pronounced in the later growing stages. In O3-S cultivars, continuous O3 stress decreased catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities, while in O3-T cultivars, short-term O3 stress decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD), CAT, POD and GPX activities. The same POD isozyme patterns were observed in both O3-S and O3-T cultivars, while SOD and APX isozymes varied by cultivar. The results suggest that O3 tolerance might be improved at different rice development stages through regulating the responses of antioxidant mechanisms to O3 stress.

A new theory of designing dual-band power divider (PD) based on Wilkinson structure is presented in this paper. Because of the utilization of coupled lines, the proposed PD is with a high design freedom that many transmission line (TL) combinations can be used for a fixed frequency ratio k (ƒ2/ƒ1). Meanwhile, since the lengths of the conventional coupled lines used are extremely long, the slow-wave structure is introduced, which configuration results in a property of designable length and compact size because of the improved space efficiency. After analysing the even- and odd-mode circuits, precise design formulas are derived and further verified for the frequency ratio from 1.5 to 6.0 using NI AWR simulator under the consideration of the largest realizable TL impedance as 128 Ω. For verification, two PDs with the same centre frequency of 1.0 GHz and 4.0 GHz but different TL configurations are designed based on the proposed design theory. According to the experimental results, both fabricated PDs have good performances as expected, such as low in-band insertion loss (S21), wide isolation, and relatively better out-of-band rejection than majority of previous studies that the maximum S21 between the two passbands is larger than 6 dB, while previous studies are around 4 dB.

Non-point pollution is becoming one of the main causes of the degradation of rural environment in China. A systematic strategy encompassing source reduction, process retention, nutrient reuse, and water restoration for controlling agricultural non-point source pollution was applied to a 1.5 km2 intensive rice-wheat rotation area at Yaoqiao county, Zhenjiang city, Jiangsu Province, in the downstream reach of the Yangtze River, China, from 2016 to 2018. The results showed that the use of organic and controlled-release fertilizers reduced the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) input for rice and wheat by 20 % and 27 %, respectively, without any yield loss. The N and P concentration in the ecological ditches declined by 8%–50.4% for TN and 12%–69.7% for TP in comparison with that in the control ditches, and then further declined after the purification of eco-ponds. The removal efficiency was positive related with the N and P centration of inflow. TN concentration in the drainage water finally flow into the Shangshe River was lower than 2 mg/L during three out of 19 times. The river water quality was distinctly improved, wherein the TN, NH4+-N, TP, and chemical oxygen demand (CODCr) concentrations were lower by 28.9 %, 30.4 %, 21.9 %, and 35.5 %, respectively following implementation of ecological water restoration technologies. The water quality improvement was mainly attributed to reduced pollutant load from agricultural fields and the aquatic plant uptake. This study found that the systematic “4R” approach is a promising method for decreasing the N and P loads from agricultural fields and improving the downstream water eutrophication problem, and can be extended to other agricultural intensive regions.

In recent years, manganese oxides have been widely applied in pollution control, but not found to be used as NH3–N adsorbent. In this study, synthetic manganese oxides (MnOs) prepared from the redox reaction between KMnO4 and MnSO4 were used to remove NH3–N from aqueous solution. The influence of relative ratio of MnSO4/KMnO4 on the yield, composition and NH3–N removal was discussed for obtain the optimal adsorbent. Several characterization methods including XPS, Zeta potential, and FTIR, were introduced in this study. Removal of NH3–N by MnOs under various environmental factors, such as initial pH, reaction time, coexisting cations and ambient temperature with different levels, was investigated subsequently. A few of kinetics and isotherm models were introduced to fit the experimental data, which were applied to figure out the NH3–N removal mechanism for MnOs. The results indicated that manganese oxide derived from the redox reaction with the ratio of MnSO4/KMnO4 set as 1:1 exhibited the highest removal despite the lower yield. The presence of superabundant Mn (Ⅱ) covering the surface of nascent MnO2 would reduce NH3–N removal. The initial pH range of 6–8 is beneficial to the adsorption of NH3–N and the highest adsorption capacity would occur at pH = 6. The influence of coexisting cations on NH3–N removal follows an order of Ca2+ > K+ > Mg2+ > Na+, and raising temperature can promote the elimination of NH3–N. Pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir fitting models were used for describing NH3–N adsorption process. The electrostatic interaction and ion exchange between hydroxyl and NH4+ were the dominant removal mechanism. Manganese oxides were expected to be promising for the control of NH3–N pollution in water bodies due to simple preparation procedure, rapid adsorption process and higher adsorption capacity.

Two distinct styles of gold mineralization occurred in the Liaodong Peninsula, in the northeastern North China Craton. One formed an altered rock-type gold deposit in the west, and the other formed a quartz vein-type deposit in the east. Geological investigations and structural analysis show that these deposits may have originated from two distinct tectono-magmatic hydrothermal systems. The former is an E–W-trending contractional–extensional structural system formed in the Late Triassic, which includes the deposits in Baiyun, Jianshangou, and Maoling. The latter is related to high-angle strike-slip faults formed in the Early Cretaceous, and includes the Wulong gold deposit. Stress-induced tectonic analyses show that the principal stress in the western district was nearly N–S-oriented contractional stress initially, which subsequently changed to extensional stress; this might have been the result of the collision and subsequent extension of the Siberia Craton, North China Craton, and Yangzi Craton in the Late Triassic. The principal stress in the eastern district was nearly NW–SE-oriented contractional and sinistral shear stress initially, which subsequently changed to extensional stress, which may be the result of regional extension associated with the westward subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate in the Early Cretaceous. The structural control of the gold mineralization is manifested at all scales from regional to mines to orebodies; that is, the grading of the ores was controlled by different generations or orders of deformation. Gold ores were mainly formed under brittle or brittle-shear deformation conditions; in particular with extensive ore-bearing catalasite flows; which were generated by both the brittle or brittle-shear failure along major fault systems and related Late Triassic and Early Cretaceous magmatic hydrothermal activity. This genetic origin for gold mineralization and ore-bearing catalasite flows may provide support for the mechanism of flash vaporization in mineralization processes that form mesothermal gold systems.

Nutrient emissions from paddy fields are one of the main sources of agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution. Based on the “4R” (Reduce-Retain-Reuse-Restore) strategical system of agricultural NPS pollution control, ecological ditches are effective control measures under the “Retain” system. In this study, the nutrient removal efficiency and stoichiometric variations in three different ecological ditch systems were studied in order to better understand the long-term performance of ecological ditches, and to determine which type of ecological ditch system (Eh, concrete ecological ditch with holes on the wall; Ec, concrete ecological ditch; and Es, soil ecological ditch) is optimal for the removal of agricultural NPS pollutants. The results indicated that the converted ecological ditch (Eh type) significantly reduced nutrient levels in two-year rice season runoff compared to a traditional concrete ditch. The average removal efficiencies of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in the converted ecological ditch were 20.8 %, 37.0 %, and 44.4 %, respectively. All ecological ditch types had considerable capacity to remove nutrients in simulated rice season runoff. There were no significant differences in the efficiency of nutrient removal between Eh (TOC 24.1 %, TN 42.8 %, and TP 52.6 %) and Es (TOC 20.3 %, TN 35.7 %, and TP 47.9 %). However, the results indicated that Eh systems could provide a relatively stable environment for plants with increased capacity to maintain biological homeostasis. Of the three ditch types, Ec (TOC 12.9 %, TN 23.3 %, and TP 32.6 %) had a relatively low removal efficiency. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that leaf P content, sediment C:N ratio and root N content were more closely related to water variables, and nutrient stoichiometric characteristics of water, plants, and sediment systems were significantly related to the nutrient removal capacity of ecological ditches (99.5 % of the total variation). It is anticipated that this study will promote further development of the “4R” strategical system, and encourage additional improvements to ecological ditches so they can become more effective in reducing agricultural NPS pollution in the field.

BACKGROUND Protocadherin 8 (PCDH8) functions as a tumor-suppressor gene in many types of cancer. This study aimed to investigate the role of PCDH8 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). MATERIAL AND METHODS Cell proliferation, apoptosis, transwell assay, tube formation assays, and tumor xenograft experiment were performed to explore the role of PCDH8 in the progression of ESCC. RESULTS PCDH8 was found to be downregulated in ESCC cells. Ectopic expression of PCDH8 blocked proliferation, invasion, and migration and induced apoptosis in ESCC cells. Furthermore, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) secretion and the AKT signaling pathway were also inhibited when PCDH8 was upregulated. PCDH8 overexpression suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and pro-angiogenic activity of ESCC cells. In a mouse model of ESCC xenograft tumors, PCDH8 overexpression remarkably restrained tumor cell growth, with the tumor inhibition rate of 75.2%. PCDH8 was the target of miR-200c and had a negative correlation with miR-200c. CONCLUSIONS PCDH8 exerts a tumor-suppressive effect against ESCC cells. However, further studies are required to elucidate the exact molecular mechanism underlying the antitumor activity of PCDH8 in ESCC.

To observe the effect of electromyography (EMG) guided point injection at Renying (ST 9) for post-stroke dysphagia caused by bulbar paralysis, and explore effective treatments for improving swallowing function on the basis of conventional medicine and rehabilitation training.A total of 60 patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. The conventional drugs combined with rehabilitation training were given in the control group, the treatment was given once every day. Based on the treatment in the control group, the EMG guided point injection at Renying (ST 9) was added in the observation group, three times a week. All the treatment was given for 2 weeks.Toshima Ichiro swallow test score increased after treatment in both groups compared with that before treatment, andOn the basis of conventional drugs and rehabilitation training, the EMG guided point injection at Renying (ST 9) can effectively increase the swallowing function of patients with post-stroke dysphagia caused by bulbar paralysis .

Our study assessed the actual water situation in the estuarine area of Lake Wuli, Meiliang Bay, Lake Taihu, China, based on eutrophication levels and status of water quality using the trophic level index (TLI) and water quality index (WQI) methods. In the wet (August 2017) and dry (March 2018) seasons, 22 estuarine areas were tested at 69 sampling sites, which included lake and rivers. Five parameters-chlorophyll a (Chl-a), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), Secchi disk (SD) and permanganate index (CODMn)-were measured to calculate the TLI, and 15 parameters-temperature (T), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), TN, TP, ammonium (NH4-N), nitrate (NO3-N), nitrite (NO2-N), CODMn, calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), chloride (Cl-) and phosphate (PO4-P)-were measured to calculate the WQI. The average TLI and WQI values in the wet season were 61.69 and 60.70, respectively, and the eutrophication level and water quality status were worse than that in the dry season (TLI: 57.40, WQI: 65.74). Significant differences were observed between three parts of Lake Wuli (West, Middle and East). Regardless of wet or dry season, East Wuli had worse eutrophication levels and water quality status than the other parts, whereas West Wuli showed less severe levels. DO, TN and CODMn used in the minimum WQI (WQImin) were the most effective parameters in our study. WQImin had stricter standards than WQI when analyzing water quality in the estuarine area of Wulihu. Factor analysis from principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that N might be the main factor affecting water quality of the most eastern sites in the wet season, and P may be the main factor in the dry season. Our results provide a valuable contribution to inform decision-making for the management of water environments by providing the actual water situation of the estuarine area of Lake Wuli.

Nitrogen (N), one of the most important nutrients for plants, also can be a pollutant in water environments. N metabolism is sensitive to N fertilization application and related to rice growth. Different levels of N fertilization treatment (N0, control without N fertilizer application; N100, chemical fertilizer of 100 kg N ha−1; N200, chemical fertilizer of 200 kg N ha−1; N300, chemical fertilizer of 300 kg N ha−1) were tested to investigate N loss due to surface runoff and to explore the possible involvement of rice N metabolism responses to different N levels. The results indicated that N loss through runoff and rice yield was simultaneously increased in response to increasing N fertilizer levels. About 30% of total nitrogen (TN) was lost in the form of ammonium (NH4+) in a rice growing season, while only 3% was lost in the form of nitrate (NO3−). Higher N application increased carbon (C) and N content and increased nitrate reductase (NR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) activities in rice leaves, while it decreased glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activities. These results suggest that N caused the accumulation of assimilation products in flag leaves of rice and stimulated N metabolic processes, while some protective substances were also stimulated to resist low N stress. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving N fertilizer management to reduce N loss and increase rice yield.