Search

Drought and flooding stress alternately and frequently occur in Guangxi, China, and the whole world, which seriously limit maize production. Few studies focus on the different responses and evaluations of maize to drought and flooding stresses. A pot experiment with 40 varieties was conducted under well water, drought and flooding stresses. A multivariate analysis method of principal component analysis, comprehensive evaluation value, correlation analysis, stepwise regression analysis, and cluster analysis was used to evaluate the resistance of maize. Most varieties had stronger drought resistance rather than flooding resistance because of the higher antioxidant enzyme activities, osmotic adjustment substances, less reactive oxygen species, and a greater than 1.0 drought-resistance coefficient. However, there was an increment of reactive oxygen species (especially O2−), ascorbate peroxidase, peroxidase, soluble sugar, and the decrement of superoxide dismutase, catalase, soluble protein, and a lower than 1.0 of flooding-resistance coefficient of most maize varieties in flooding stress compared with well water. The superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, proline, soluble sugar and protein, plant height, leaf area/plant, and stem diameter were screened out to be accurate and representative indicators to evaluate the drought and flooding resistance of maize. The study provides an insight to comprehend the different mechanisms of maize in response to drought and flooding stresses and provides a multivariate analysis method for screening the resistance of maize germplasm which could be valuable for further research and breeding of drought and flooding resistances of maize.One-sentence summaryA multivariate analysis method for the screening the resistance of maize germplasm and the different physiological mechanisms of drought and flooding stresses were revealed.

Background Creating a functional neovagina is a practical therapeutic intervention for women with congenital vaginal agenesis and sexual needs. Although the incidence of neovaginal prolapse (NP) is low, it is inconvenient for patients and is a challenging problem for gynecologists. Case A 32-year-old woman who had undergone transabdominal sigmoid vaginoplasty 10 years previously at another hospital visited our clinic for evaluation and treatment of NP. Gynecological examination showed exstrophy of the vaginal apex, 4 cm beyond the hymen. Laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy was performed using a mesh. The mesh was sutured at the anterior wall and apex of the neovagina and suspended in the anterior sacral region without blood vessels. Summary and Conclusion Laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy might be an effective and safe treatment for NP.

Melatonin plays an important role in numerous vital life processes of animals and has recently captured the interests of plant biologists because of its potent role in plants. As well as its possible contribution to photoperiodic processes, melatonin is believed to act as a growth regulator and/or as a direct free radical scavenger/indirect antioxidant. However, identifying a precise concentration of melatonin with an optimum nitrogen level for a particular application method to improve plant growth requires identification and clarification. This work establishes inimitable findings by optimizing the application of melatonin with an optimum level of nitrogen, alleviating the detrimental effects of drought stress in maize seedlings. Maize seedlings were subjected to drought stress of 40–45% field capacity (FC) at the five-leaf stage, followed by a soil drenching of melatonin 100 µM and three nitrogen levels (200, 250, and 300 kg ha−1) to consider the changes in maize seedling growth. Our results showed that drought stress significantly inhibited the physiological and biochemical parameters of maize seedlings. However, the application of melatonin with nitrogen remarkably improved the plant growth attributes, chlorophyll pigments, fluorescence, and gas exchange parameters. Moreover, melatonin and nitrogen application profoundly reduced the reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation by increasing maize antioxidant and nitrogen metabolism enzyme activities under drought-stress conditions. It was concluded that the mitigating potential of 100 µM melatonin with an optimum level of nitrogen (250 kg N ha−1) improves the plant growth, photosynthetic efficiency, and enzymatic activity of maize seedling under drought-stress conditions.

Simple Summary Waterlogging is one of the serious abiotic stresses that retards plant growth and reduces crop productivity. Therefore, exploring effective ways for alleviating the impacts of waterlogging stress has important theoretical and practical applications. Melatonin is a pleiotropic molecule that influences many diverse actions to enhance plant growth. Therefore, investigating efficient waterlogging mitigation measures has both theoretical and practical significance. The objectives of the present research were to examine the efficiency of melatonin and KNO3 seed soaking and foliar application on alleviating the waterlogging inhibited growth performance of maize seedlings. The results showed that melatonin and KNO3 significantly improved the plant growth and biochemical parameters of maize seedlings under waterlogging stress conditions. Overall, the application of 100 µM melatonin with 0.50 g KNO3 via seed soaking and foliar spray can be used as a potential mitigating strategy for improving the growth of maize seedlings and alleviating the ill effects of waterlogging stress. Abstract Waterlogging is one of the serious abiotic stresses that inhibits crop growth and reduces productivity. Therefore, investigating efficient waterlogging mitigation measures has both theoretical and practical significance. The objectives of the present research were to examine the efficiency of melatonin and KNO3 seed soaking and foliar application on alleviating the waterlogging inhibited growth performance of maize seedlings. In this study, 100 µM melatonin and different levels (0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 g) of potassium nitrate (KNO3) were used in seed soaking and foliar applications. For foliar application, treatments were applied at the 7th leaf stage one week after the imposition of waterlogging stress. The results showed that melatonin with KNO3 significantly improved the plant growth and biochemical parameters of maize seedlings under waterlogging stress conditions. However, the application of melatonin with KNO3 treatments increased plant growth characteristics, chlorophyll content, and the net photosynthetic rate at a variable rate under waterlogging stress. Furthermore, melatonin with KNO3 treatments significantly reduced the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and it decreased the activity of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase, while increasing enzymatic activities and soluble protein content of maize seedlings under waterlogging stress conditions. Overall, our results indicated that seed soaking with 100 µM melatonin and 0.50 g KNO3 was the most effective treatment that significantly improved the plant growth characteristics, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, and enzymatic activity of maize seedling under waterlogging conditions.

Abundant nitrogen (N) fertilization is needed for maize (Zea mays L.) production in China because of its huge residual biomass return. However, excessive N fertilization has a negative impact on the soil ecosystem and environment, which contributes to climate change. Soil incorporation of maize residues is a well-known practice for reducing chemical N fertilization without compromising maize yield and soil fertility. Thus, residues incorporation has the capacity to minimize N fertilization uses and hence mitigate soil greenhouse gas emissions by improving plant N uptake and use efficiency. There is still a research gap regarding the effects of maize residues incorporation on maize yield, soil fertility, greenhouse gas emissions, and plant N and carbon (C) contents. Therefore, we conducted a field experiment during spring and autumn involving four different N fertilization rates (N0, N200, N250, and N300 kg N ha

Background As a class of the opioid receptors, the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) has been verified to be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for human malignant tumors. However, a thorough understanding of whether KOR affects progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is still lacking. This study focused on exploring the effect of knocking down KOR in ESCC and its underlying mechanism. Methods Bioinformatics analysis was used to compare the different expression level of OPRK1 (KOR gene) in tumor and adjacent normal tissues, and predict the relationship between KOR expression and overall survival. RNA-sequence analysis was performed to detect the altered functions and mechanisms after down regulating KOR. The in vitro and in vivo assays were used to detect the effects of down-regulated KOR on cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Substrate gel zymography and 3D cell culture assays were used to find the effect of KOR knockdown on the degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM), and immunefluorescence was performed to detect the altered cytoskeleton. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used to explore the underlying mechanism pathway. Results Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the expression of OPRK1 was lower in tumor tissue than that in adjacent normal tissues, and lowered expression of KOR was associated with poorer overall survival. The in vitro assays demonstrated that down-regulation of KOR enhanced ESCC proliferation, metastasis and invasion. Western blotting revealed that down-regulation of KOR could activate PDK1-AKT signaling pathway, which actively regulated the cancer progression. Down-regulation of KOR enhanced the formation of invadopodia, secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) and rearrangement of cytoskeleton, which were positively related with the invasion of ESCC. KOR knockdown enhanced the tumor invasion and elevated the AKT phosphorylation in nude mice. The AKT kinase inhibition could reverse the effect of down-regulation of KOR. Conclusion KOR might act as a tumor suppressor in ESCC and down-regulation of KOR could enhance the ESCC tumor phenotype. Graphical abstract

Microstrip dual- and triple-band bandpass filters (BPFs) exhibiting an ultracompact size and high frequency selectivity are proposed in this study. A common resonator feeding technique is proposed and was applied to design the multiband BPFs. In the design, the first and last resonators are realised using stepped-impedance resonators and are used to form a passband that has lower operating frequencies than the passband(s) of other resonator(s). Moreover, the first and last resonators serve as the input-output feeding structure and provide a source-load coupling for the passband(s) operating at higher frequencies. Thus, finite transmission zeros can be formed over the stopband. Hence, size miniaturisation and high frequency selectivity can be achieved simultaneously. The higher operating passband(s) is (are) formed by the dual-mode stub-loaded resonator(s) to reduce the number of resonators and the overall size of a filter. To verify the design approach, a dual-band BPF centred at 1.3 and 2.58 GHz with an ultracompact circuit size of 0.048 λ g × 0.088 λ g ( λ g : guided wavelength at the central frequency of the lower passband) and a triple-band BPF centred at 1.24, 2.5, and 3.5 GHz with an ultracompact circuit size of 0.15 λ g × 0.12 λ g were designed and fabricated. The measurement and electromagnetic simulation results were in good agreement.

The design of filtering 180° hybrids with arbitrary power division and filtering response (filter order) is proposed in this paper. By integrating a 180° hybrid and bandpass filters into a single component, the overall circuit size can be reduced. The design theory based on the coupled resonator technique was detailed and validated experimentally through the fabrication of the third-order filtering 180° hybrid with a 0-dB power-dividing ratio and the second-order filtering 180° hybrid with a 6-dB power-dividing ratio. The power-dividing ratio can be arbitrarily determined through proper design of the coupling coefficients between the resonators. In addition, net-type resonators were selected to ensure compactness of the filtering 180° hybrids. The prototype sizes of the two example circuits were only approximately $0.25\lambda _{g} \times 0.12\lambda _{g}$ and $0.12\lambda _{g} \times 0.12\lambda _{g}$ , demonstrating highly compact circuit sizes. Moreover, isolations better than 30 and 21 dB within the operating passbands for the two circuits were achieved.

The unpredictable precipitation and water deficit conditions in semiarid regions significantly reduce the yield of summer maize. The exogenous application of plant growth regulators can be used as a strategy to enhance plant stress tolerance and improve the growth and yield of maize under semiarid conditions. Here, we studied the protective role of melatonin application on maize yield using grain filling rate and hormonal crosstalk in maize grains. In the first field experiment, seeds were soaked with melatonin at a concentration of 0 (SM0 ), 25 (SM1 ), 50 (SM2 ), and 75 μM (SM3 ) μM. In contrast, in the second experiment, melatonin was applied on the foliage at the ninth leaf stage at a concentration of 0 (FM0 ), 25 (FM1 ), 50 (FM2 ), and 75 (FM3 ) μM. Our findings showed that melatonin treatments as seed soaking significantly increased single seed weight, seed filling rate in superior, medium and inferior seeds by regulating the hormone levels compared to foliar application. Application of melatonin significantly increased the zeatin+zeatin riboside (Z+ZR), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and gibberellic acid (GA) contents. However, it significantly inhibited the contents of abscisic acid (ABA) during the seed filling period. The content of Z+ZR, IAA, and GA was positively correlated with the maximum seed filling rate, seed weight, and mean filling rate in middle, superior and lower seeds, while the ABA was negatively correlated. The ABA content in inferior seeds was positively correlated with the maximum and mean seed filling rate. In semiarid regions, melatonin treatment of SM2 and FM2 significantly increased the dry matter per plant, 100-grain weight, seed filling rate, IAA, Z+ZR, GA contents, ear characteristics, and maize yield.

Low water availability coupled with poor planting method has posed a great challenge to winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) productivity. To improve productivity and water use efficiency (WUE) under deficit irrigation, an effective water-saving technology that is characterized by three planting modes has been developed (uniform with 30-cm row spacing (U), double-double row spacing of 5 cm (DD), and furrow-ridge row spacing of alternated 20 cm and 40 cm (F)) combined with three irrigation regimes (50 mm water each at growth stage 34 (GS34) and GS48 (W1), and 100 mm water at GS48 (W2), or 100 mm each water at GS34 and GS48 (W3)). Results showed that DD increased yield by 9.7% and WUE by 12.6% due to higher soil water status and less soil water depletion and evapotranspiration compared with U. Although the soil water status, soil water depletion, evapotranspiration, and yield increased with increasing irrigation amount, more soil water depletion and evapotranspiration resulted in low WUE. The deficit irrigation was beneficial for improving WUE as W1 had significantly increased yield by 5.4% and WUE by 7.1% compared with W2. Yield and evapotranspiration showed a quadratic dynamic equation indicating that yield increased with increasing evapotranspiration. Considering WUE and relatively higher yield under deficit water, W1 combined with DD is suggested to be a good management strategy to be applied in winter wheat of water-scarce regions.

A compact eight-channel multiplexer with independently switchable passbands has been presented and investigated. The use of the dual-mode stub-loaded resonators can lead to significant size reduction for the multiplexer, this is because the required resonator number is reduced. In addition, the multiplexer is designed based on the distributed coupling technique, so that each passband can be designed individually due to the loading effect is small. Moreover, the complicated nine-port matching network at the input is not required. Besides, since the p-i-n diodes are connected to the output resonators for each channel, all passbands of the multiplexer can be independently switched on and off when the diode is in the reverse-biased and forward-biased states, respectively. Therefore, the proposed multiplexer can arbitrarily transfer to a single-band bandpass filter, a diplexer, a triplexer, a quadruplexer, a quinqueplexer, a sexaplexer, a septiplexer, and an octoplexer. For a demonstration, an eight-channel multiplexer with the second-order bandpass response have been designed and fabricated with microstrip in printed circuit board. The measured results are in good agreement with the full-wave simulation results.

Endometrial cells and microenvironment are two important factors in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis. Our previous study demonstrated that macrophages can induce eutopic epithelial cells of adenomyosis to suffer from epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). The aim of this study is to detect whether macrophages interacting with epithelial cells equally induce the EMT process in normal and eutopic endometria of healthy and adenomyotic patients; and whether macrophages parallelly polarize to M2. We investigated the expression levels of epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin), neural cadherin (N-cadherin), cytokeratin7 (CK7), vimentin, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFB1), SMAD3 and pSMAD3 using immunohistochemistry and western blot, and then estimated the genetic levels of CD163, IL10 and MMP12 using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in macrophages. Eutopic and normal endometrial tissues were obtained from 20 patients with adenomyosis and 11 control patients without adenomyosis, respectively. The immunohistochemical analysis shows distinct EMT in eutopic endometria in secretory phase; the expression levels of TGFB1, SMAD3 and pSMAD3 that indicate signal pathway of EMT were also higher in secretory phase. Macrophages can induce EMT process in primary endometrial epithelial cells derived from normal and eutopic endometria. After co-culturing, THP-1-derived macrophages polarized to M2. Compared with the eutopic endometrium group, further polarization to M2 was observed in the normal endometrium group. These results indicate that adenomyosis may be promoted by the pathologic EMT of epithelial cells, which is induced by macrophages that incapably polarize to M2.

A compact switchable and fully tunable bandpass filter (BPF) with continuous frequency tuning range has been presented in this letter. Since the BPF is formed by two varactor-tuned switchable resonators, which can be switched to higher and lower resonant modes, a very wide frequency tuning range can be achieved. Moreover, the external quality factors and coupling coefficients can be well controlled over the entire tuning range. For demonstration, a second-order BPF with frequency tuning range from 1.1 to 2.1 GHz (fractional tuning range: 63%) and constant absolute bandwidth of 40 MHz has been designed and fabricated with microstrip technology. The prototype circuit size of the BPF is only about $0.06\,\,\lambda {g} \times 0.27\,\, \lambda {g}$ .

A compact and high isolation microstrip six-channel diplexer has been proposed. The diplexer is formed by connecting two tri-band bandpass filters (BPFs) to a single feed with multiple coupling paths. By using the distributed coupling technique, the input matching circuit is not needed anymore, resulting in a smaller circuit size. In addition, by employing the multi-mode stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs), a diplexer with compact size and flexible frequency allocation can be implemented. For a demonstration, a six-channel diplexer with third-order Chybeshev bandpass response is designed and fabricated using microstrip technology. The size of the fabricated diplexer is only about $\pmb{0.69 \lambda_{\text{g}}\times 0.21\lambda_{\text{g}}}$ . Moreover, the isolation between the output channels is larger than 35 dB.

The MADS-box gene family encodes transcription factors and plays an important role in plant growth and the development of flower and fruit. A perennial dioecious plant, the red bayberry genome has been published recently, providing the opportunity to analyze the MADS-box gene family and its role in fruit development and ripening. Here, we identified 54 MADS-box genes in the red bayberry genome, and classified them into two types based on phylogenetic analysis. Thirteen Type I MADS-box genes were subdivided into three subfamilies and 41 Type II MADS-box genes into 13 subfamilies. A total of 46 MADS-box genes were distributed across eight red bayberry chromosomes, and the other eight genes were located on the unmapped scaffolds. Transcriptome analysis suggested that the expression of most Type II genes was higher than Type I in five female tissues. Moreover, 26 MADS-box genes were expressed during red bayberry fruit development and ten of them showed high expression. qRT-PCR showed that the expression of MrMADS01 (SEP, MIKCC), with differences between the pale pink and red varieties, increased significantly at the final ripening stage, suggesting it may participate in ripening as positive regulator and related to anthocyanin biosynthesis. These results provide some clues for future study of MADS-box genes in red bayberry, especially in ripening process.

A compact-size dual-band bandpass filter (BPF) with flexible band control and simple layout has been proposed in this paper. By employing the distributed coupling technique, each of the passbands can be independently designed based on the coupling coefficients and external quality factors. For a demonstration, a microstrip BPF operating at 0.7 GHz and 0.9 GHz with third-order Chebyshev bandpass response was designed and fabricated. Measured results are found in good agreement with the simulated ones.

Morella rubra, red bayberry, is an economically important fruit tree in south China. Here, we assembled the first high‐quality genome for both a female and a male individual of red bayberry. The genome size was 313‐Mb, and 90% sequences were assembled into eight pseudo chromosome molecules, with 32 493 predicted genes. By whole‐genome comparison between the female and male and association analysis with sequences of bulked and individual DNA samples from female and male, a 59‐Kb region determining female was identified and located on distal end of pseudochromosome 8, which contains abundant transposable element and seven putative genes, four of them are related to sex floral development. This 59‐Kb female‐specific region was likely to be derived from duplication and rearrangement of paralogous genes and retained non‐recombinant in the female‐specific region. Sex‐specific molecular markers developed from candidate genes co‐segregated with sex in a genetically diverse female and male germplasm. We propose sex determination follow the ZW model of female heterogamety. The genome sequence of red bayberry provides a valuable resource for plant sex chromosome evolution and also provides important insights for molecular biology, genetics and modern breeding in Myricaceae family.

A new compact triple-wideband bandpass filter (BPF) using stepped-impedance stub-loaded resonator (SISIR) is investigated. The tri-band BPF is constructed by the combination of a SISIR, inter-digital coupled-lines, and open-ended stepped-impedance stubs. A triple-wideband BPF is achieved by creating extra transmission zeros to split the single ultra-wide passband into three. For the demonstration, a triple-wideband BPF centering at 4 GHz, 7.6 GHz, and 10.6 GHz with fractional bandwidths of 60%, 28%, and 20%, respectively, has been designed and implemented using microstrip technology. The size of the tri-band BPF is only about 0.57λg by 0.52λg. Good agreement is achieved between simulation and measurement.

This paper presents the design of microstrip contiguous broadband diplexer by using dual-mode stub-loaded resonators. The diplexer is formed by two stub-loaded resonator filters operating at 1.36 GHz and 1.75 GHz with distributed coupling technique. A transmission zero for each filter has been created to improve the selectivity and output isolation. For a demonstration, a microstrip contiguous broadband diplexer with fractional bandwidths of 25 % and 20 % has been designed and implemented. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation predictions.

A compact and high selectivity microstrip dual-band power divider (PD) with Chebyshev bandpass response is proposed in this paper. By using the coupled-resonator technique, both the size reduction and filtering characteristic can be achieved. The dual-band response is realized by introducing multiple coupling routes between input and output ports. Moreover, the two passbands can be well controlled by varying the coupling strengths between adjacent resonators. Thus, greater design flexibility for the dual-band filtering PD can be obtained. For demonstration, a dual-band 4th-order Chebyshev filtering PD with a compact size of 0.47λ g by 0.21λ g has been designed and fabricated. Furthermore, a good output isolation of greater than 25 dB is achieved.

This study examines whether silencing specific β-nerve growth factor small interfering RNA (β-NGF siRNA) can affect the growth of ectopic endometriotic implants, generalized hyperalgesia, and nerve fiber density in endometriosis.Four specific β-NGF siRNAs were detected by Western blot analysis, and the most efficient specific siRNA was transferred into rats with surgically induced endometriosis through gene transfer. The length × width × height of each ectopic transplant that survived from 2 groups were measured at pre-and postbombardment after 2 weeks. The transplants were collected 2 weeks after bombardment. Warm-water tail flick test was performed before the rats were sacrificed. The specimens were sectioned and stained immunohistochemically with antibodies against the types of nerve fibers to compare the presence of different nerve fibers in the treatment and control groups. The serums and supernatants of the peritoneal washings in the treatment and control groups were collected for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis. The extra rats were successfully induced with endometriosis and through gene transfer as described above. The spherical volumes of the transplants and tail flick latency post-bombardment after 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks were measured.The spherical volumes in the treatment group were much smaller than those in the control group, and tail flick latency significantly increased in the treatment group postbombardment after 2 weeks. The ELISA analysis showed that the concentrations of β-NGF in the serums and supernatants of the peritoneal fluid decreased in the treatment group unlike in the control group. Less sympathetic and sensory innervation was observed in the treatment group postbombardment after 2 weeks. The outcomes of the spherical volumes of the transplants and tail flick latency postbombardment after 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks showed that the sizes of the transplants did not return to their previous size and that the treatment had some effects on generalized hyperalgesia.Specific siRNA-mediated silencing of the β-NGF gene expression after gene transfer suppressed the growth of ectopic endometriotic implants resulted in a significant improvement in generalized hyperalgesia as well as reduced sympathetic and sensory nerve fiber density in the treatment group.

A compact-size and high-isolation microwave diplexer for system-in-a-package has been proposed. By employing the folded stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs), the overall circuit size can be significant reduced. For demonstration, a diplexer operating at 0.5 GHz and 0.86 GHz with third-order Chebyshev bandpass response has been designed and fabricated with microstrip technology. As a result, the diplexer occupies a small size, i.e., 0.14 λg by 0.12 λg. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulation. The output isolation and out-of-band rejection better than 60 dB are achieved.

A collection of 122 Chinese bayberry accessions and one wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera L.) were analyzed with 14 polymorphic simple sequence repeats (SSRs). The average number of alleles per locus was 9.3, and polymorphism information content varied from 0.07 to 0.83, with a mean value of 0.62. The genetic relationships among the 123 accessions were analyzed using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The similarity among all the accessions, based on Dice’s coefficient, varied from 0.78 to 0.99, and 0.74 between the Chinese bayberries and wax myrtle. A set of 122 Chinese bayberries clustered into four groups, with the first group further divided into six subgroups. The accessions originating from the same geographical region were more closely related than those from different regions, although extensive gene flow has taken place. The Mantel test, used to compare similarity matrices calculated from AFLP and SSR data, showed that their combination could provide information on the genetic relationship among the Chinese bayberry accessions. Ten selected SSR markers were able to distinguish most accessions, and multiplex PCR systems were developed. In addition, we found that SSRs developed from Chinese bayberry are transferable to M. cerifera.

Termination of pregnancy is an important and necessary back-up method for family planning services in many countries. The combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is a widely used alternative to surgical evacuation of the uterus in early pregnancy; however, there are few reports about medical abortion in women with a prior uterine incision and few studies have described curettage occurring as part of the procedure and an indication for the intervention. Curettage in a prior uterine incision can increase operative complications. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether vaginal bleeding intervals, routine ultrasound scan and serum beta-hCG test after medical abortion could accurately identify women with uterine scars who would require curettage.Six hundred sixty-eight women with a uterine scar and at up to 49 days of gestation underwent a medical abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol. Each woman took 50 mg and 25 mg of mifepristone orally in the morning and in the evening, respectively, for 2 days and 600 mcg of misoprostol orally on the third day.Of the 668 women, 6 (0.9%) were lost to follow-up. The overall complete abortion rate was 91.7%; 55 women underwent curettage, including 2 women with heavy bleeding, 3 women with ongoing pregnancy and 34 women with incomplete abortion. The incomplete abortion rate was significantly greater in women with persistent bleeding lasting 21 days than in women with persistent bleeding lasting 14 days (p.001), and the overall sensitivity and specificity of vaginal bleeding interval (21 days) were 97.1% and 75%, respectively. The incomplete abortion rate was also greater in women whose serum beta-hCG wasor=500 IU/L than in women whose serum beta-hCG was500 IU/L (p.001), and the overall sensitivity and specificity of serum beta-hCG (or=500 IU/L) were 97.1% and 62.5%, respectively. Moreover, the incomplete abortion rate was greater in women with an endometrial thicknessor=15 mm than in women with an endometrial thickness15 mm (p.001), and the overall sensitivity and specificity of endometrial thickness (or=15 mm) were 94.1% and 75%, respectively. No complication occurred.The combination of mifepristone and misoprostol was found to be a safe and effective method to terminate early pregnancy in women with a previous cesarean delivery. If a woman with a prior uterine incision experienced vaginal bleeding intervalsor=21 days and/or had a bilayer endometrial thicknessor=15 mm and/or serum beta-hCGor=500 IU/L after a medical abortion, then she should undergo curettage.

Total phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (Cy-3-glu) and antioxidant capacity of Chinese bayberry fruit (Myrica rubra Sieb. and Zucc.) differed among the four cultivars “Baizhong” (white), “Fenhong” (pink), “Wuzhong” (red) and “Biqi” (dark red). Antioxidant capacity determined by both the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH.) radical scavenging capacity was significantly correlated with the antioxidant components in the fruit, and directly related to fruit color. Cy-3-glu accounted for at least 82, 38, and 12% of the total antioxidant capacity in “Biqi”, “Wuzhong” and “Fenhong” fruits, respectively. No detectable Cy-3-glu was found in “Baizhong” fruit. Greater fruit maturity was associated with higher levels of all the bioactive components and antioxidant capacity. Significant increases were also found during postharvest storage of “Biqi” fruit held at either 20 °C for 2 days or 0 °C for 5 days. However, these levels decreased during a 2-day shelf-life at 20 °C after 5 days at 0 °C. These results show that storage and shelf-life conditions are important if health-based bioactive components of bayberry fruit are to be maintained after harvest.

The effect of ethanol vapour treatment on controlling fruit decay was studied on Chinese bayberry ( Myrica rubra Sieb. & Zucc.) stored at different temperatures over two seasons. Ethanol vapour at a concentration of 1000 μL/L, generated from pre-saturated filter paper sheets using either a 10 mL/L ethanol stock solution at 20 °C or a 40 mL/L ethanol stock solution at 0 °C, proved to be the most effective for controlling postharvest decay of bayberry fruit. The ethanol treatment reduced the decay rate of fruit from 28.7 to 15.8% after 3 days storage at 20 °C and from 27.8 to 16.6% after 5 days storage at 0 °C and 1 day shelf-life at 20 °C. The ethanol treatment did not have any deleterious effects on fruit quality, but resulted in an increase in the accumulation of anthocyanins in the fruit.

The placenta is an attractive new source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), but the biological characteristics of placenta-derived MSCs (P-MSCs) have not yet been characterized. We successfully isolated, cultured and expanded P-MSCs using routine methods. Under appropriate induction conditions, these cells can differentiate into bone, cartilage, fat and hepatocyte-like cells. In addition, the proliferative response of P-MSCs to different cytokines was monitored using the MTT assay. The results show that low concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines, e.g. RANTES, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and IL-8 can stimulate the proliferation of P-MSCs in a dose-dependent manner, peaking at concentrations of 40 ng/ml of RANTES, 10 ng/ml of IL-1 and IL-6, and 150 ng/ml of IL-8 (p < 0.01). The level of proliferation decreased when the concentration of these four cytokines increased beyond these values. On the other hand, anti-inflammatory cytokines hepatocyte growth factor and IL-4 had an inhibitory effect on P-MSCs. In conclusion, the placenta contains MSCs that are consistent with the characteristics of bone marrow MSCs. Low concentrations of proinflammatory chemokines stimulated the proliferation of P-MSCs while anti-inflammatory cytokines inhibited the growth of P-MSCs in a dose-dependent manner.

Background Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. & Zucc.) is an important subtropical evergreen fruit tree in southern China. Generally dioecious, the female plants are cultivated for fruit and have been studied extensively, but male plants have received very little attention. Knowledge of males may have a major impact on conservation and genetic improvement as well as on breeding. Using 84 polymorphic SSRs, we genotyped 213 M. rubra individuals (99 male individuals, 113 female varieties and 1 monoecious) and compared the difference in genetic diversity between the female and the male populations. Results Neighbour-joining cluster analysis separated M. rubra from three related species, and the male from female populations within M. rubra. By structure analysis, 178 M. rubra accessions were assigned to two subpopulations: Male dominated (98) and Female dominated (80). The well-known cultivars ‘Biqi’ and ‘Dongkui’, and the landraces ‘Fenhong’ are derived from three different gene pools. Female population had a slightly higher values of genetic diversity parameters (such as number of alleles and heterozygosity) than the male population, but not significantly different. The SSR loci ZJU062 and ZJU130 showed an empirical Fst value of 0.455 and 0.333, respectively, which are significantly above the 95 % confidence level, indicating that they are outlier loci related to sex separation. Conclusion The male and female populations of Chinese bayberry have similar genetic diversity in terms of average number of alleles and level of heterozygosity, but were clearly separated by genetic structure analysis due to two markers associated with sex type, ZJU062 and ZJU130. Zhejiang Province China could be the centre of diversity of M. rubra in China, with wide genetic diversity coverage; and the two representative cultivars ‘Biqi’ and ‘Dongkui’, and one landrace ‘Fenhong’ in three female subpopulations. This research provides genetic information on male and female Chinese bayberry and will act as a reference for breeding programs. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1602-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

To elucidate the process of fetal liver hematopoiesis, the relationships between stroma and hematopoietic cells involved in maturation were investigated. Cultured mouse fetal liver explants were established for morphological analysis of the interactions between fetal liver stroma and hematopoietic cells ex vivo. Fetal liver stroma comprised epithelial cells and macrophages, which occupied most of the culture surface. Macrophages proliferated extensively in primary culture, but almost disappeared after 3 passages. Close morphological and functional relationships were established between macrophages and hemopoietic cells, whereas epithelial cells did not interact with blood cells. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that macrophages were in close contact with erythroblasts and formed a three-dimensional network. In each erythroblastic island, 2-3 lymphocytes were also in contact with the macrophages; erythroblasts, lymphocytes and macrophages formed close, firm associations through their cytoplasmic membranes. This cell orientation was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy of fetal liver in vivo. In situ hybridization revealed that the macrophages expressed jagged-1, an important ligand of the Notch signaling system in hematopoiesis.

Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc.) is one of the important subtropical fruit crops native to the South of China and Asian countries. In this study, 107 novel simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers, a powerful tool for genetic diversity studies, cultivar identification, and linkage map construction, were developed and characterized from whole genome shotgun sequences. M13 tailing for forward primers was applied as a simple method in different situations. In total, 828 alleles across 45 accessions were detected, with an average of 8 alleles per locus. The number of effective alleles ranged from 1.22 to 10.41 with an average of 4.08. The polymorphic information content (PIC) varied from 0.13 to 0.89, with an average of 0.63. Moreover, these markers could also be amplified in their related species Myrica cerifera (syn. Morella cerifera) and Myrica adenophora. Seventy-eight SSR markers can be used to produce a genetic map of a cross between ‘Biqi’ and ‘Dongkui’. A neighbor-joining (NJ) tree was constructed to assess the genetic relationships among accessions, and the elite accessions ‘Y2010-70’, ‘Y2012-140’, and ‘Y2012-145’, were characterized as potential new genotypes for cultivation.

Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. & Zucc.) is one of the most important fruit tree crops in southern China. This paper reports the development of microsatellite primers for Chinese bayberry. By screening the expressed sequence tag database and other sources, 11 polymorphic loci were generated and primers were designed. Polymorphism of these 11 loci was assessed in 32 cultivars. All the 11 loci are polymorphic and the number of alleles (A) ranged from 3 to 12, observed heterozygosity (HO) and expected heterozygosity (HE) ranged from 0.1250 to 0.9667 and 0.2359 to 0.8790, respectively, polymorphism information content ranged from 0.2285 to 0.8516. These microsatellite loci should be useful in the studies of genetic diversity of Myrica rubra and will provide useful implications for resource conservation.

Purpose: To investigate the antitumor activity of physcion8-O-β-glucopyranoside (PSG) against cervical cancer, as well as its mechanisms. Methods : The anti-proliferative effects of PSG on HeLa cells were determined by CCK-8 assay and the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were calculated. Subsequently, a mouse xenograft model of HeLa cell line was established to investigate the antitumor effect of PSG in vivo. Furthermore, cell apoptosis was investigated by fluorescence microscopy via DAPI staining, and other mechanisms were determined by Western blot assay. Results : In vitro, PSG exhibited significant anti-proliferative effect on HeLa cells (p

Background Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. and Zucc.) is a subtropical evergreen tree originating in China. It has been cultivated in southern China for several thousand years, and annual production has reached 1.1 million tons. The taste and high level of health promoting characters identified in the fruit in recent years has stimulated its extension in China and introduction to Australia. A limited number of co-dominant markers have been developed and applied in genetic diversity and identity studies. Here we report, for the first time, a survey of whole genome shotgun data to develop a large number of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to analyse the genetic diversity of the common cultivated Chinese bayberry and the relationship with three other Myrica species. Results The whole genome shotgun survey of Chinese bayberry produced 9.01Gb of sequence data, about 26x coverage of the estimated genome size of 323 Mb. The genome sequences were highly heterozygous, but with little duplication. From the initial assembled scaffold covering 255 Mb sequence data, 28,602 SSRs (≥5 repeats) were identified. Dinucleotide was the most common repeat motif with a frequency of 84.73%, followed by 13.78% trinucleotide, 1.34% tetranucleotide, 0.12% pentanucleotide and 0.04% hexanucleotide. From 600 primer pairs, 186 polymorphic SSRs were developed. Of these, 158 were used to screen 29 Chinese bayberry accessions and three other Myrica species: 91.14%, 89.87% and 46.84% SSRs could be used in Myrica adenophora, Myrica nana and Myrica cerifera, respectively. The UPGMA dendrogram tree showed that cultivated Myrica rubra is closely related to Myrica adenophora and Myrica nana, originating in southwest China, and very distantly related to Myrica cerifera, originating in America. These markers can be used in the construction of a linkage map and for genetic diversity studies in Myrica species. Conclusion Myrica rubra has a small genome of about 323 Mb with a high level of heterozygosity. A large number of SSRs were identified, and 158 polymorphic SSR markers developed, 91% of which can be transferred to other Myrica species.

Background This study aimed to develop a working animal model for exploring the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of premature ovarian failure (POF) as induced by cisplatin. Methods Female Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally injected with different doses of cisplatin. The bodyweight, estrous cyclicity, concentration of gonadal hormones, ovarian weight, and histopathology were determined and compared with those of the control group. Gene chips were used to compare the genes that were differentially expressed between the POF and control ovaries. Results A cisplatin dose of 1.5mg/kg body weight significantly reduced the E2 levels and elevated the gonadotropin levels after two weeks of injection. The treated rats were characterized by estrous cycle disorders and the lack of mature follicles. Thus, these animals could be used as a model for chemotherapy-induced POF. Compared with the controls, the Gene Ontology (GO) categories that were significantly increased in the POF ovaries included "monooxygenase activity," "cholesterol metabolism," and "acute inflammatory response." On the other hand, the GO terms "mitotic spindle organization," "ovulation," and "cholesterol biosynthetic process" were downregulated. The upregulation of three proteins CYP2E1, SCARB1, C3 and downregulation of CYP51 were verified in the cisplatin ovaries by Western blot analysis. Conclusions The immune inflammatory response and reactive oxygen species may damage ovarian function in the cisplatin-induced POF.