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Tinea capitis is still common in developing countries, such as China. Its pathogen spectrum varies across regions and changes over time.This study aimed to clarify the current epidemiological characteristics and pathogen spectrum of tinea capitis in China.A multicentre, prospective descriptive study involving 29 tertiary hospitals in China was conducted. From August 2019 to July 2020, 611 patients with tinea capitis were enrolled. Data concerning demography, risk factors and fungal tests were collected. When necessary, the pathogens were further identified by morphology or molecular sequencing in the central laboratory.Among all enrolled patients, 74·1% of the cases were in patients aged 2-8 years. The children with tinea capitis were mainly boys (56·2%) and were more likely than adults to have a history of animal contact (57·4% vs. 35·3%, P = 0·012) and zoophilic dermatophyte infection (73·5% vs. 47%). The adults were mainly female (83%) and were more likely than children to have anthropophilic agent infection (53% vs. 23·9%). The most common pathogen was zoophilic Microsporum canis (354, 65·2%), followed by anthropophilic Trichophyton violaceum (74, 13·6%). In contrast to the eastern, western and northeastern regions, where zoophilic M. canis predominated, anthropophilic T. violaceum predominated in central China (69%, P 0·001), where the patients had the most tinea at other sites (20%) and dermatophytosis contact (26%) but the least animal contact (39%). Microsporum ferrugineum was the most common anthropophilic agent in the western area, especially in Xinjiang province.Boys aged approximately 5 years were the most commonly affected group. Dermatologists are advised to pay more attention to the different transmission routes and pathogen spectra in different age groups from different regions.

新型冠状病毒Omicron变异株已波及全球超过150个国家和地区，且儿童病例数显著增加。本文综述了Omicron变异株的分子特征及其在儿童中的传播能力、致病性、流行现状、临床特征和疫苗的有效性，为儿童Omicron变异株感染的治疗与防控提供参考。.

Summary Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat is a well‐known local cashmere goat breed in China. It is famous for excellent fleece quality and a significant advantage in cashmere yield compared to other cashmere goat breeds. In this study, a genome‐wide association study was used to investigate fiber length, fiber diameter, and cashmere yield of 192 Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats using the Illumina GoatSNP52K Beadchip panel. We discovered that four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) reached genome‐wide significance levels. These SNPs were located in some genes, e.g. FGF12, SEMA3D, EVPL, and SOX5, possibly related to fleece traits in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goat. Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that these genes were enriched in several biological pathways that were involved in hair follicle development in cashmere goats. In summary, the identified significant SNPs and genes provide useful information to explore genetic mechanisms underlying the variation in fleece traits and genomic selection of Chinese cashmere goat.

The dendrite structure of aluminum alloys can be refined with titanium, boron, and rare earth elements. The effect of a refiner on the dendrite sizes was currently neglected in the cellular automata method. The parameter setting of the cellular automata method, considering the effect of rare earth elements on the α-Al dendrite of a hypereutectic AlSi alloy, was systematically investigated. The α-Al primary phase sizes of an AlSi7Cu3Mg alloy with different Y contents are experimentally studiedю With the Y addition of up to 0.2 wt.%, the refinement effect was the most effective, and grain sizes decreased to 0.67 mm. The microstructure simulation by the cellular automata method was studied experimentally and theoretically. By the use of this model, the parameter-setting effect on the Y refinement was more consistent with physical meaning. The calculation results fit the experimental ones well, and the validity and applicability of the model were verified.

The current study aimed at assessing the overall efficacy of probiotics for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) through the review of relevant studies.A systematic literature review was conducted based largely on the following electronic databases updated to May 2021: Embase, the Cochrane Library, and PubMed, with the use of keywords. The investigators also thoroughly reviewed key pertinent sources in the literature for further inclusion.Eighteen studies including 1651 patients were selected in the present meta-analysis. In comparison with antibiotics, antibiotics plus probiotics significantly decreased the recurrence rate of BV (at 1-3 months and overall analysis) and increased the cure/remission rate of BV (at 1-3 months and overall analysis). Compared with placebo, probiotics decreased the recurrence rate of BV (at 1-3 months and overall analysis) and increased the cure/remission rate of BV (at 1-3 months). Compared with antibiotics, probiotics significantly decreased the recurrence rate of BV (at1 month, 1-3 months and overall analysis) as well as the incidence of adverse events (AEs) (at less than 1 month) and increased the cure/remission rate of BV (at 1-3 months).In comparison with short-term probiotics treatment (1 month), long-term probiotics treatment (1-3 months) yields superior beneficial outcomes and efficacy in the treatment of BV.

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) featured by clonal proliferation of platelets, thrombosis and hemorrhage. Portal hypertension is a serious complication of ET associated with poor prognosis. We report a patient with ET complicated with acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and intestinal perforation due to portal hypertension. She had an uneventful recovery after surgical and endoscopic treatment.原发性血小板增多症（essential thrombocythemia，ET）是一种以克隆性血小板生成、血栓形成和出血倾向为特点的慢性骨髓增殖性肿瘤（myeloproliferative neoplasm，MPN）。门静脉高压是ET的严重并发症，可能对预后造成不良影响。我们报道一例因门静脉高压造成消化道出血和肠穿孔的ET患者，采用手术和内镜治疗后病情稳定，以期为伴有门静脉高压的MPN患者诊疗提供参考。.

We study a square mean value problem and two general divisor problems related to Hecke eigenvalues of classical holomorphic cusp forms and classical Maass cusp forms, respectively. We improve previous results.

Microinstabilities such as ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode and trapped electron mode (TEM) in quasi-axisymmetric (QA) stellarator are investigated by using gyrokinetic Vlasov simulations, where the QA configuration of Chinese first quasi-axisymmetric stellarator is utilized. Extensive parameter scans with respect to the density and temperature gradients for the zero beta cases identify the microinstability maps that indicate the transition boundary among ITG and TEM. It is found that, in particular for the modes with the ion-gyroradius scale, a relatively more stabilized regime appears along the transition boundary of ITG–TEM. Such a valley-like stability structure is not observed in the other cases with the sub-ion-gyroradius-scale. A stabilization effect attributed to the hollow density profile is also demonstrated.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a major cause of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) is a risk factor for PPH after vaginal delivery.We retrospectively analyzed medical records of all patients who had a vaginal delivery at Fujian Provincial Maternity and Children's Hospital, between 1st January 2013 to 31st December 2018. Women with cesarean deliveries, multiple pregnancies, abnormal coagulation profile, and those with concomitant liver or kidney disorders were excluded. Patients were classified into MSAF (n=13686) and clear amniotic fluid (AF) (n=41511) groups.The incidence of PPH was significantly higher at 2.7% (370/13686) in the MSAF group as compared to 2.18% (904/41511) in the clear AF group (p=0.0004). There was no difference in the incidence of severe PPH between the two groups. Statistically significant difference in the incidence of PPH between MSAF and clear AF was seen in the maternal age groups of 30-34 and 35-39 years, gestational age40weeks and3 gravidity (p0.05).Our study demonstrates that MSAF is a significant risk factor for minor and moderate PPH. Presence of meconium could therefore alert clinicians to expect PPH and make arrangements for further patient management. Further basic research is required to evaluate the mechanism by which meconium influences the incidence of PPH.

To identify laboratory markers among platelet indices, coagulation parameters, blood lipid parameters, and liver/kidney function variables that can be used to predict preeclampsia.We studied records of 568 women with preeclampsia, gestational hypertension (GH), or normal term pregnancies hospitalized in the Obstetrics Department of the Fujian Maternal and Child Health Hospital from September 2014 to September 2018. We divided the patients' records into three groups (216 with preeclampsia, 136 with gestational hypertension, and 216 with normal pregnancies). We conducted retrospective analyses to compare variable measurements between the groups and find correlations. We looked into maternal pre-onset platelet indices, coagulation parameters (thrombin time [TT], fibrinogen [FIB]), biochemical parameters (total cholesterol [TC], triglycerides [TG], high-density lipoproteins [HDL], alanine transaminase [ALT], serum creatinine [CRE], blood urea nitrogen [BUN], uric acid [UA]), maternal complications, and perinatal outcomes. In addition to our statistical analysis, we trained a back-propagation (BP) neural network to identify the strongest predictors of preeclampsia.We found significant differences among the groups in terms of values for PLT, MPV, PDW, PLCR, TT, FIB, TG, LDH, BUN, and others. After adjusting for confounding factors in a multivariate ordered logistic regression model, we found that mean values for MPV, BUN, TG, and LDH can independently predict the risk of preeclampsia (the OR values were 1.858, 1.583, 1.104, and 1.020, respectively), the C-index (concordance statistic) was 0.73. Also, our BP neural network derived ALB, MPV, BUN, LDH and TG as the strongest predictors of preeclampsia.MPV, TG, LDH, and BUN can help establish the risk for the development of preeclampsia to apply active measures and improve maternal and perinatal outcomes. The BP neural network can be used to study predictive models of preeclampsia.

目的 研究未甲基化胞嘧啶鸟嘌呤二核苷酸寡脱氧核苷酸（DSP30）和IL-2在慢性淋巴细胞白血病（CLL）常规染色体检测中的价值。 方法 DSP30联合IL-2刺激CLL细胞增殖，CLL细胞培养72 h后进行染色体制备，采用R显带法进行核型分析。对85例患者进行FISH检测，与同期核型结果进行比较。 结果 89例CLL患者中，无分裂象者5例，84例（94.38%）患者染色体分析成功，51例检测出染色体异常，异常检出率为60.71%（51/84），复杂核型者占52.94%（27/51）。对85例CLL患者进行了FISH检测，FISH探针为D13S25、RB1、P53、ATM、cen12。FISH检测结果显示74例异常，异常检出率为87.06%（74/85），其中复杂核型2例，占2.70%（2/74）。85例进行FISH检测的CLL患者中，50例常规染色体核型分析异常，30例核型正常，5例无分裂象，异常检出率为62.50%（50/80）；其中FISH检测异常而核型正常者25例，核型异常而FISH检测正常者4例，两者结合检测出异常者78例，异常检出率91.76%。FISH检测到的13q−异常率明显高于常规核型分析（69.41%对16.67%，P0.05）。常规核型分析对复杂异常的检出率（50.98%）高于FISH（2.70%）。另外，根据FISH结果进行预后分层的11例低危和9例中危患者均为复杂核型，根据核型结果被归为高危组。 结论 DSP30联合IL-2可以提高CLL患者常规染色体异常的检出率，对复杂异常核型的检测更为有效。FISH异常检出率高于常规核型分析方法，对缺失片段较小的13q−异常更为敏感，两者结合不仅将染色体异常检出率提高至91.76%，还可对CLL患者进行更为准确的预后分层，为临床提供更多信息。

To explore the roles and underlying mechanism of LINC00963 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) progression.Quantitative Real Time-PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect LINC00963 expression in ESCC tissues. EdU, colony formation, and transwell invasion assays were used to detect the proliferation and metastasis ability of ESCC, respectively. The correlation between LINC00963 and miR-214-5p in ESCC was confirmed by a Luciferase reporter and RIP assays.LINC00963 expression was significantly increased in ESCC tissues and correlated with advanced TNM stage, metastasis, and poor prognosis. The knockdown of LINC00963 expression reduced ESCC cells proliferation, invasion in vitro, and reduced tumor growth in vivo. In mechanism, LINC00963 served as a sponge for miR-214-5p in ESCC progression. In addition, miR-214-5p could bind to RAB14 and regulate its expression.LINC00963 might promote ESCC cells proliferation and invasion via regulating the miR-214-5p/RAB14 axis and it might serve as a therapeutic target for ESCC treatment.

We study the mean value estimate of coefficients of product L-function related to a primitive holomorphic cusp form f(z) of weight k for the full modular group $${SL_{2}(\mathbb{Z})}$$ . Upper bounds and asymptotic formulas are established.

The aim of this study was to explore the role of microRNA-579-3p (miR-579-3p) in the development of squamous cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). Our findings might provide new insights into the treatment of SCLC.Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine the expression level of miR-579-3p in 30 pairs of CRC tissues and para-cancerous tissues. The relation between miR-579-3p expression and clinical features of SCLC patients was analyzed. MiR-579-3p expression in SCLC cells was further verified by qRT-PCR as well. In addition, the effects of miR-579-3p on the migration and invasion of SK-MES-1 cells were examined through the transwell assay.QRT-PCR results revealed for the first time that miR-579-3p was significantly down-regulated in SCLC tissues. This indicated that miR-579-3p was possibly involved in the development of SCLC. According to bioinformatics prediction websites and the luciferase activity assay, macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1) was predicted and verified as the target gene of miR-579-3p. Transfection of miR-579-3p mimics significantly reduced the protein expression level of MSR1 in cells, eventually inhibiting the proliferation, invasion, and migration of SCLC cells.The miR-579-3p/MSR1 axis might be a novel regulatory pathway of apoptosis, which could be used as potential therapeutic sites in SCLC.

The primary purpose of this study was explored the variation of landscape process and its impact on the possibility of ecological corridors on Pingtung Linhousilin Forest Park. Developing the landscape change process in year 2002, 2005, 2012 and 2014 via the land-use definition of IPCC (forest land, cropland, grassland, wetlands, settlements and other land). In the landscape structure analysis, the cropland was gradually changed to forest land in this area. Moreover, the variation of gravity model showed that the interaction between Linhousilin Forest Park and low elevation mountains were gradually increased which means the function of ecological corridors has increased.

Toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes excited by energetic particles (EPs) and their transition to energetic particle modes are investigated using a three-dimensional nonlinear kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic hybrid simulation code. Both the symmetric chirping inside the Alfvén continuum gap for upward and downward directions and the asymmetric chirping affected by the Alfvén continuum are found in the simulations depending on the EP drive and the mode damping. For weak drive and damping, symmetric frequency chirping is observed with a chirping rate consistent with the Berk–Breizman theory (Berk et al 1997 Phys. Lett. A 234 213). For moderate drive and damping, upward chirping is dominant because downward chirping is interrupted by interaction with the Alfvén continuum. For strong drive and damping, two branches of frequency chirping are found for different poloidal harmonics. The dominant chirping is downward into the Alfvén continuum and the other is an upward chirping inside the Alfvén continuum gap. The creation and the propagation of holes and clumps are found in EP phase space, which is qualitatively consistent with the Berk–Breizman theory.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) originating from western South America is widely cultivated as a commercial crop around the world. It is rich in a series of nutrition such as vitamin C, phytochemical lycopene, and so on. In February 2019, leaf blight symptoms were observed on tomato plants in a commercial growing area in Wegyi village, Pyinmana township, Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Diseased leaves showed blight symptoms with a dark brown margin and diffused chlorosis on the entire leaf blade, particularly on older leaves. Ten symptomatic leaves from different plants were randomly collected to isolate the causal agents. Infected leaves were cut into small sections, placed on moist filter papers in plastic dishes, and incubated at 25°C. Large-spored Alternaria that developed from the diseased tissues were single-spore isolated. All isolates (11) were identical to each other in morphology and deposited in the Fungi Herbarium of Yangtze University (YZU), Jingzhou, Hubei, China. Two isolates, YZU 191010 and YZU 191011, were used for further study. After being grown on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25°C in darkness for 7 days, colonies were white-velvety, reverse side amber brown, cinnamon-buff margin, and 36 to 38 mm in diameter. The two isolates were transferred onto potato carrot agar (PCA) and incubated at 22°C under a photoperiod of 8 h light/16 h dark for 7 days to stimulate sporulation. Conidiophores were long, erect, 70 to 100 × 3 to 6 µm in size. Conidia were solitary, long-ovoid, ellipsoid in body with six to nine transverse septa, and 65 to 120 × 16 to 36 µm in size. Conidial beaks were filamentous, 70 to 110 × 2 to 5 µm in size. Based on morphology, the fungus was identical to Alternaria blumeae described by Simmons (2007). Genomic DNA was extracted, and five gene regions including the internal transcribed spacer rDNA region (ITS), translation-elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF1), glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), Alternaria major allergen gene (ALT), and RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2) were amplified with specific primers ITS4/ITS5, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, GPD1/GPD2, Alt-for/Alt-rev, and RPB2-5F/RPB2-7cR, respectively (Woudenberg et al. 2014). The resulting sequences of YZU 191010 and YZU 191011 were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers MN612547 and MN612548 (ITS), MN612551 and MN612552 (GAPDH), MN612545 and MN612546 (ALT), MN612553 and MN612554 (TEF1), and MN612549 and MN612550 (RPB2). Related gene sequences were retrieved from GenBank. Phylogenetic trees of the five combined genes were constructed based on Bayesian methods and maximum likelihood with an evolutionary model of GTR+I+G. The results showed that the two strains were clustered with A. blumeae (CBS 117364 and CBS 117215), supported by a Bayesian posterior probability value of 1.0 and a RAxML bootstrap value of 100%. Besides, the five gene sequences of the present fungus were 100% identical to the sequences of type strain A. blumeae (CBS 117364). Pathogenicity tests were conducted on a local tomato cultivar collected from Wegyi village. Seeds were sown in a tray to obtain the seedlings. Three-week-old seedlings were transplanted into pots for further growth. Then, 5 weeks later, the inoculation tests were performed with two isolates using two methods: mycelium plugs (2 mm diameter) from 3-day-old colonies on PDA and spore suspension (1 × 10⁵ spore/ml) prepared from 7-day-old-colonies on PCA. Aseptic PDA plugs and sterile distilled water were used as negative controls. The inoculated plants were then maintained in a greenhouse at 25°C with high humidity and 12-h light period. Dark small spots were observed after 3 days on both treatments, and they enlarged gradually. After 7 days, the spots reached to 18 to 25 × 26 to 32 mm and 7 to 18 × 8 to 25 mm in size, respectively. The symptoms were similar to the original symptoms that occurred in the field. Control leaves were symptomless. The tests were repeated three times. Koch’s postulates were fulfilled by reisolating the pathogen from inoculated leaves and identified as A. blumeae by ALT gene sequence. A. blumeae was first reported on Blumea aurita (Compositae) in Thailand (Simmons 2007) and recently was discovered on wilted tissues of Solanum tuberosum (Solanaceae) in China (Liu et al. 2019). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. blumeae causing leaf blight on S. lycopersicum (Solanaceae) in Myanmar.

Orychophragmus violaceus (L.) O.E. Schulz (Chinese violet cress) belongs to the Brassicaceae family and is widely distributed in China as a garden plant. In April 2016, severe leaf spot disease was observed on cultivated O. violaceus in Xuanwu Lake Park, Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. The initial symptoms were small brown spots (1 to 2 mm in diameter) on the leaves. The spots enlarged to 10 to 15 mm in diameter, light brown to black, sometimes comprising concentric rings surrounded by a yellow halo. Severely infected leaves became black to gray and dry. More than 10 symptomatic leaves were randomly collected, and tissues (2 mm) were incubated on moistened filter papers at 25°C for 1 day. Three pure cultures (YZU 161008, YZU 161009, and YZU 161010) were obtained by single-spore isolation and deposited in the Culture Collection of Yangtze University. Each isolate was cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25°C in darkness. After 7 days, the upper sides of colonies were cottony and white, and the reverse sides were buff, 37 to 38 mm in diameter, with irregular margins. For morphological observation, the fungus was cultured on potato carrot agar at 22°C with a light/dark period of 8 h/16 h according to the method of Simmons (2007). After 7 days, conidiophores arose directly from the agar surface. Conidia were 10 to 42 × 8 to 19 μm in size, short- to long-ovoid, smooth-walled, medium tawny in color, middle and basal parts of several cells were markedly swollen, beakless, with one to five transverse septa. They formed short chains of one to four conidia. Numerous microchlamydospores were observed. Individual microchlamydospores were 6 to 13 × 8 to 19 μm in size, irregular in shape, multicellular, cells swollen, thick-walled, and heavily pigmented. Branching groups were around 15 to 136 μm in length. The characteristics in culture and conidial morphology were identical to Alternaria japonica (Simmons 2007). Genomic DNA was extracted from fresh mycelia of two selected isolates (YZU 161009 and YZU 161010) according to the method of Cenis (1992). Three gene regions including internal transcribed spacer rDNA regions (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and partial translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF1) were amplified using the primer pairs ITS4/ITS5 (White et al. 1990), gpd1/gpd2 (Berbee et al. 1999), and EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999), respectively. PCR amplifications were conducted using the following conditions: an initial denaturation at 94°C for 2 min; 30 amplification cycles of 98°C for 5 s, 50°C (ITS and TEF1)/57°C (GAPDH) for 15 s, and 72°C for 5 s; and a final extension phase at 72°C for 10 min. The DNA sequences of two isolates were deposited in the GenBank nucleotide database with accession numbers MK940391 (ITS, 597 bp), MK940389 (GAPDH, 611 bp), and MK940387 (TEF1, 367 bp) for YZU 161009 and MK940392 (ITS, 599 bp), MK940390 (GAPDH, 596 bp), and MK940388 (TEF1, 283 bp) for YZU 161010. All the sequences were compared using the BLASTn tool, and the results showed that they were 100% identical to A. japonica (CBS 118390) and A. nepalensis (CBS 118700). Simmons (2007) reported microchlamydospore production by A. japonica and not A. nepalensis, which supports the diagnosis of these isolates as A. japonica. Pathogenicity tests were carried out with YZU 161009 and YZU 161010 using two methods on 2-month-old healthy plants (six plants for each method). A 20-μl conidial suspension (10⁵ conidia/ml) was applied on five to six points per leaf with sterilized ddH₂O used as the negative control. Mycelia plugs grown on PDA (2 to 3 mm in diameter) were also applied to one point per leaf, with pure PDA plugs as the negative control. After 7 days at 25°C in a greenhouse, brown necrotic lesions developed on leaves for each inoculated with conidial suspension (1 to 5 mm in diameter) and mycelia plugs (10 to 20 mm in diameter). Control plants were symptomless. The fungus reisolated from diseased tissues was confirmed as A. japonica based on the morphology of conidia and microchlamydospores, thus fulfilling Koch’s postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. japonica causing leaf spot on O. violaceus in China. The identification of the pathogen is important for improving management strategies and control of this disease.

Zinnia elegans originated from Mexico and has been widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in China. In August 2018, leaf spots were observed on Z. elegans in Tai’an, Shandong province, China. The symptoms appeared on the edge of the leaves as small brown spots. In serious cases, the leaves were withered, which affected the ornamental value of the plants. Diseased leaf samples were cut into small segments, put onto moist filter papers within Petri dishes, and incubated at 25°C. Spores resembling Stemphylium developed from the tissues after 1 day and were singly picked up and transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA). Morphologically, all the colonies were identical to each other, and the strain YZU 181216 was selected for further study. A pure culture of YZU 181216 was deposited in the Fungi Herbarium of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China. To determine the colony morphology of the species, mycelial plugs (6 mm in diameter) were transferred to fresh PDA and incubated at 23°C in darkness. After 7 days, the colony was vinaceous buff, reverse cinnamon to buff, 52 to 53 mm in size. To examine its conidial morphology, the mycelium was transferred onto potato carrot agar (PCA) and incubated at 23°C under an 8-h photoperiod for 7 days. On PCA, conidiophores were straight or curved, 88 to 179 × 3.5 to 6 µm in size; conidia were solitary, oblong, three to five transverse septa, 24 to 59 × 11.5 to 20.5 µm in size, with a conical apex and bluntly rounded base. Based on morphology, the fungus was identified as Stemphylium lycopersici (21 to 60 × 12 to 24 µm) described by Yamamoto (1960). To corroborate morphological identification, genomic DNA of the strain was extracted from 3-day-old mycelia grown on PDA. Three gene fragments, including the internal transcribed spacer rDNA region (ITS), glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh), and calmodulin (cmdA), were amplified with primer pairs ITS5/ITS4, gpd1/gpd2, and CALDF1/CALDR2, respectively (Woudenberg et al. 2017). Sequences of the strain were deposited in the GenBank with accession numbers MK895975 (ITS), MK895977 (gapdh), and MK895976 (cmdA). Relevant gene sequences of Stemphylium spp. were derived from GenBank, and the three gene sequences were combined after alignment. Maximum likelihood analysis based on the combined three gene sequences was conducted with an evolutionary model of GTR+I+G under 1,000 bootstrap replicates. The phylogenetic tree showed that the strain YZU 181216 clustered with S. lycopersici (CBS 124980 and CBS 124981) and was supported by a bootstrap value of 100%. To confirm its pathogenicity, mycelial plugs (6 mm in diameter) were inoculated on living leaves of Z. elegans. Control groups were inoculated with fresh PDA plugs. The plants were covered with plastic bags and incubated in a greenhouse at 25°C. Brown spots were observed on the leaves after 2 days. Infected tissues withered after 5 days, similar to the original symptoms that occurred in the field. No symptoms were observed on control groups. The fungus reisolated from infected leaves was identical to S. lycopersici based on conidial morphology and gapdh gene sequence. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Z. elegans leaf spot caused by S. lycopersici in China.

Based on the magnetic field configuration of the Chinese First Quasi-axisymmetric Stellarator (CFQS) device, three types of orbits such as the passing orbit, blocked trapped orbit, and localized trapped orbit are simulated using the Boris algorithm. Also, the orbital topology, orbit transition, and loss characteristics of these particles under different initial conditions are studied in this paper. It is found that there exists a transition from blocked trapped orbits to localized trapped orbits due to small continuous helical ripples. This phenomenon is analyzed as follows: we define the angle between the particle drift velocity (v→D) and the radial direction (ρ^) as β. If the blocked-localized transition appears in the region where β>90○, the localized particles will return to the blocked particles and be constrained. However, if the blocked-localized transition happens in the region where β

We study the electronic structure of the skutterudite ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3}{\mathrm{Co}}_{4}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{13}$, which is known to exhibit a charge density wave (CDW) transition, at temperature ${T}_{CDW}\ensuremath{\sim}160$ K, coupled to a metal-to-metal transition. We use temperature dependent hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to investigate the occupied and unoccupied electronic states of ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3}{\mathrm{Co}}_{4}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{13}$. The Co $2p$ and Sn $3p$ core level spectra show small but finite shifts in binding energy positions across ${T}_{CDW}$ while Ce $3d$ core level spectra do not show any change across the transition. The Ce ${M}_{4,5}$-edge XAS spectrum compared with calculations indicate a typical trivalent ionic ${\mathrm{Ce}}^{3+}$ spectral shape, ruling out Kondo screening in ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3}{\mathrm{Co}}_{4}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{13}$. In contrast, the Co ${L}_{2,3}$-edge XAS spectrum compared with a calculated spectrum shows evidence for hybridization with neighboring Sn atoms in a trigonal prismatic co-ordination. Temperature dependent XAS across the Co ${L}_{2,3}$-edge shows a small shift across ${T}_{CDW}$, consistent with HAXPES results. Detailed XAS measurements as a function of temperature show that the spectral shifts occur with a hysteresis across ${T}_{CDW}$, indicative of a first-order transition. Valence band spectra show a normal Fermi edge above and below ${T}_{CDW}$. The Co $3d$ states are observed at a binding energy of $\ensuremath{\sim}2$ eV while the Ce $4f$ states occur as a weak feature within 0.5 eV of the Fermi level. The results suggest an unusual CDW transition coupled to a metal-to-metal transition in ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3}{\mathrm{Co}}_{4}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{13}$.

Field spectrometer plays a significant role in geological survey, agriculture, vegetation remote sensing, marine remote sensing and environmental monitoring. In the measurement of field spectrometer, the calibration algorithm and correlation processing of spectrometer are the key points and the research hotspots. In this paper, the methods of third-order fitting, linear fitting, polynomial fitting and normalization, respectively, to achieve the field of the spectrometer wavelength calibration and deal with the nonlinear correction algorithm. With the help of the processing ability of big data of the PC, a series of calibration algorithms and related processing functions of wavelength calibration and nonlinear correction spectrometer are designed. Experimental results show that the field in the spectrometer calibration accuracy, accurate to 0.3 nm wavelength measurement, nonlinear fitting precision to 1.029, these algorithms in field spectrometer with actual application, good results were achieved.

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of depression of different degrees on inflammatory response and immune function in patients with ovarian cancer. One hundred and eight cases of ovarian cancer according to the Federation Internationale of Gynecologie and Obstetrigue (FIGO) stage II~III who visited the Gynecology Department of Affiliated HongQi Hospital of MuDanJiang Medical University between September 2015 and May 2017 were enrolled in the study. After being hospitalized, they were divided into two groups according to their Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. The total score of BDI is 63, with 0~4 for the normal group (25 cases), 5~13 for the mild depression group (24 cases), 14~20 for the moderate depression group (28 cases), and 21~63 for the severe depression group (31 cases). The immune function, inflammatory reaction, tumor markers [CA125, human epididymis protein-4 (HE4), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I)], platelet technology and D-dimer index were compared between the four groups. The results showed that there were different levels of depression in patients with ovarian cancer in II~III stage, and the degree of depression could stimulate the level of serum-6, and TNF -α in serum increased. The proportion of CD3+, CD4+ and NK cells in patients with severe depression decreased, and their immunity also decreased. Depression increased the levels of CA125, HE4 and IGF-I in serum and ascites of ovarian cancer patients, and increased the risk of tumor progression and recurrence. Hypercoagulability existed in patients with ovarian cancer, and tumor associated depression could increase platelet count in plasma and increase D-dimer level. To sum up, depression can affect the level of micro inflammation in patients with ovarian cancer. In particular, depression can reduce cellular immune responses, affect the progression free survival of ovarian cancer patients, and reduce their overall survival rate.

Evidence suggested that deficiency of autophagy is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, some recent studies have also shown that autophagy is activated in renal cells under diabetic conditions. In this review, we discuss whether autophagy is inactivated in renal cells in DN as well as the therapeutic potential of autophagy for treating DN, in order to aid future investigation in this field.Relevant information, original research articles and reviews, were gathered primarily through a search in PubMed and Cochrane database. The activity and role of autophagy, as well as the relevant signaling pathways, were analyzed in different intrinsic renal cells, including podocyte, renal tubular epithelial cell, glomerular mesangial and endothelial cells.The upstream of autophagic pathway, but not whole pathway, was predominately studied in these intrinsic renal cells, such as the induction of autophagy, an amount of autophagic vacuoles and so on. In most cases, autophagic inactivation occurred, which is an important mechanism underlying DN progression. Targeting the autophagic pathway to activate autophagy activity might have renoprotective effect. However, autophagic activation was also found in a few studies, in which there was a debate on the role of activated autophagy: mounting an adaptive response or leading to autophagic apoptosis.The downstream of autophagic pathway, including the degradation of autophagic vacuoles, and lysosomal function, should be well studied to clarify the activity and role of autophagy in the progression of DN. Autophagy activation is likely a potential therapy for combatting DN.

Serum miRNAs are promising biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognostication of many diseases. Our present study aimed at assessing the usefulness of serum miR-770 expression as a diagnostic and prognostic tool for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure expression level of serum miR-770 in 196 NSCLC patients and 77 healthy controls. The associations of serum miR-770 expression with clinicopathologic variables were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC) was used to determine the value of serum miR-770 as a biomarker for diagnosis of NSCLC. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between serum miR-770 expression and prognosis of NSCLC patients.We found that serum miR-770 levels were significantly decreased in NSCLC patients compared to healthy controls (p0.01). Decreasing serum miR-770 expression was significantly correlated with poorer histological grade (p = 0.015), positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.007), and advanced tumor stage (p = 0.002). Moreover, we found that the diagnostic value of serum miR-770 for NSCLC patients from healthy controls resulted in an AUC of 0.835 (95 % CI, 0.751-0.919) with a sensitivity of 68% and a specificity of 89%, based on a cut-off value of 5.723. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that decreased serum miR-770 expression was associated with poor overall survival of NSCLC patients (p = 0.000). Multivariate analysis confirmed that serum miR-770 was an independent prognostic factor in patients with NSCLC.Our findings suggested that serum miR-770 may represent a novel diagnostic, prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.

The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical significance and biological function of long noncoding RNA CASC9 (CASC9) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to determine the expression of CASC9 in ESCC tissues and cell lines. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of CASC9. The correlation between the CASC9 levels and the clinicopathological factors of the patients was also analyzed. Then, the survival was assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method and proportional hazards model. The effects of CASC9 on ESCC cells were evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), migration and invasion. Finally, several EMT markers expression was detected by Western blot.We found that CASC9 was significantly upregulated in ESCC cell lines and clinical tissues. The CASC9 levels discriminated ESCC tissues from normal tissues with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.813. In addition, there is statistical significance between CASC9 expression level and tumor stage, lymph nodes metastasis, and clinical stage. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that high CASC9 expression had a significant impact on overall survival (p = 0.014) and disease-free survival (p = 0.0025). Moreover, CASC9 expression was an independent prognostic marker of overall survival and disease-free survival in a multivariate analysis. In vitro assay indicated that inhibition of CASC9 could suppress proliferation, migration, and invasion in ESCC. Further mechanistic studies found that aberrant CASC9 expression could modulate the expression levels of markers of EMT.Our data highlight the pivotal role of CASC9 as a novel diagnostic, prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target of ESCC.

To evaluate the mechanism of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) in reducing the oxidative stress after cerebral infarction through PI3K/AKT/NRF2 signaling pathway.96 healthy SD rats, which were 6-8-week old, weighting about 250-280 g, were selected for the study. The middle cerebral artery occlusion model (MCAO) was established in SD rats using the suture method. The rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, BMMNCs group and PI3K inhibitor group. 24 rats in each group were selected. 200 μl phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution was injected into the caudal vein of the rats in the model group, 200 μl PBS solution containing 5×106 BMMNCs that obtained by gradient centrifugation was injected into the rats in the BMMNCs group, meanwhile, in the PI3K inhibitor group, LY294002 (10 mmol/L/kg) was injected into the lateral ventricle of the brain. After the 3d, 7d and 14d, the modified neurological severity scores (mNSS) were used to evaluate the neurological function. The volume of cerebral infarction was assessed by TTC staining, the VEGF, BDNF, TNF-α, IL-1β, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels were detected by ELISA.The mNSS and the volume of cerebral infarction of the model group were significantly higher than those of the sham operation group (p0.05), while the mNSS and the volume of cerebral infarction of the BMMNCs group were lower than those of the model group, higher than those of the sham operation group (p0.05). The VEGF, BDNF, TNF-α, IL-1β, MDA, SOD and GSH-Px levels of the model group were significantly higher than those of the sham operation group (p0.05).BMMNCs can reduce the oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory reaction through PI3K/AKT/NRF2 signaling pathway, thus promoting the secretion of nerve and vascular cytokines, improving the neurological function and reducing the infarct scope.

Specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, and neutron scattering have been used to investigate the nature of the spin system in the antiferromagnet Nd

Expression of pituitary homeobox 2 (PITX2) is significantly elevated in pituitary adenoma tissues, which also has lower microRNA (miR)-21 expression, indicating possible tumor-suppression role of miR-21. Bio-informatics analysis revealed targeting onto 3'-UTR of PITX2 by miR-21. This study aims to investigate the role of miR-21/PITX2 expression in proliferation and apoptosis of pituitary adenoma cells and pathogenesis.A total of 48 pituitary adenoma samples were collected in parallel with 12 normal brain tissues and were recruited in this study. Flow cytometry was employed to test Ki-67 expression and apoptosis. Expressions of miR-21 and PITX2 were compared, along with their targeted relationship by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Cultured HP75 cells were transfected with miR-21 mimic and/or si-PITX2. Caspase-3 activity was further quantified, followed by flow cytometry for apoptosis. MiR-21, cleaved caspase-3 and PITX2 expressions were tested.Invasive pituitary adenoma tissues had significantly higher Ki-67 and PITX2, and lower miR-21 expressions or apoptosis than non-invasive tumors. MiR-21 targeted 3'-UTR of PITX2 gene to inhibit its expression. Elevated miR-21 and/or silencing PITX2 significantly depressed PITX2 expression in HP75 cells, potentiating caspase-3 activity, decreasing cell proliferation and facilitating apoptosis.MiR-21 was down-regulated while PITX2 was up-regulated in pituitary adenoma tissues. MiR-21 can inhibit pituitary adenoma cell HP75 proliferation and facilitate apoptosis via inhibiting PITX2 expression.