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Yujin Mei,1 Xue Yang,1 Yuqing Li,1 Xiaoyun Zhang,1 Jiaofeng Gui,1 Ying Wang,1 Wenyue Chen,1 Mingjia Chen,1 Changjun Liu,2 Lin Zhang3 1School of Nursing, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu City, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Marxism, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Internal Medicine Nursing, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu City, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Lin Zhang, Email yaoran2008@163.comBackground: In China, diabetes has become a serious healthcare problem that plagues individuals and the government because of its high mortality rate and social burden, with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounting for the vast majority (about 90%) of cases. T2DM patients face a huge medication burden and it is imperative to find appropriate tools to assess the medication burden for patients. This study aimed to translate the original Diabetes Treatment Burden Questionnaire (DTBQ) into Chinese and assessed the reliability and validity of the DTBQ concerning the burden of medication treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes.Methods: A total of 329 T2DM patients were recruited to participate in the survey. The original version scale was first translated into Chinese using the backward and forward translation procedures. The internal consistency reliability of the scale was measured by the Cronbach alpha coefficient, the test-retest reliability, and the item-total correlation. The validity of the scale was assessed by the content validity index, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.Results: The content validity index of the scale was 0.920. Cronbach alpha coefficient for the scale was 0.831. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported a 15-item and 3-factor structure of the translated questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed in the model fitness index, the chi-square degree of freedom was 3.575, the incremental fit index (IFI) was 0.917, the comparative fit index(CFI) was 0.916, the Tucker Lewis Index(TLI) was 0.900, all within acceptable limits. The retest reliability was 0.892, and the corrected item-total correlations for the items ranged from 0.293 to 0.729.Conclusion: Verification results showed that the Chinese version of the 15-item DTBQ had reliable reliability and validity. Therefore, it can be considered as an appropriate tool to assess the burden of drug treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes in China.Keywords: diabetes treatment burden questionnaire, T2DM, reliability, validity

Background. Colorectal cancer (CRC), one of the main causes of death, remains a leading cause of mortality in gastrointestinal cancer and tends to affect the younger generation. However, the pathological process of colorectal cancer is unclear. Exploring potential pathogenesis and therapeutic targets of CRC is significant as its high prevalence and high mortality. Nowadays, the rapid development of bioinformatics provides us an opportunity to explore potential molecular markers of CRC. Materials and Methods. First, three CRC gene chips with paracancerous controls were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Second, after combining and batch correcting the three chips using the R language and Perl language, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were selected to investigate how they affect the CRC occurrence and development by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. Third, based on the STRING website and the Cytoscape software, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and the core genes were screened out. Finally, through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC), the expression and function of the core gene CXCL8 in CRC were explored. Results. GSE10950, GSE44076, and GSE75970, including 126 intestinal cancer samples and 126 paracancer samples, were screened as the datasets. 192 DEGs were screened, including 43 upregulated genes and 149 downregulated genes. Through the DEGs screened out, GO enrichment analysis, KEGG enrichment analysis, and the construction of PPI interaction network were carried out. Finally, according to the nodes and edges in the PPI network, the DEGs were sorted and the core genes were selected. Through basic experiments, the first ranked CXCL8 was further studied, and the results suggest that the expression of CXCL8 is related to the proliferation, migration, invasion, and even distant metastasis of CRC. Conclusion. The present study showed that DEGs of CRC are associated with multiple tumor-related biological processes and signaling pathways. The core gene CXCL8 has the potential to be a new therapeutic target for CRC.

Background: Hypertension is prevalent in China. Hypertensive patients suffered from many health problems in life. As time goes by, this will cause them to lack of healthy beliefs. Nevertheless, one’s beliefs about managing their hypertension level and a battery of health habits it is still indistinct. So, it is extremely vital to find a suitable instrument to comprehend the health beliefs of patients and provide seasonable help to keep their body and mind healthy. This Study intended to translate the Hypertension Belief Assessment Tool (HBAT) into Chinese and to explore the validity and reliability of the Chinese version in hypertensive patients. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. We translated the HBAT into Chinese, and tested the validity and reliability of the Chinese version among 325 hypertensive patients. Results: The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the scale was 0.803. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported a six-factor structure block for the HBAT, and the model was qualified in our confirmatory factor analysis. With modified confirmatory factor analysis, the fit indices were chi-square/degree of freedom (CMIN/DF) =2.491, comparative fit index (CFI)=0.952, incremental fit index (IFI)=0.952, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.068, Tucker Lewis index (TLI)=0.941. The high score group (27%) and low score group (27%) all showed significant differences (PConclusion: The HBAT has good validity and reliability and it can evaluate the beliefs of Chinese hypertensive patients.

Objective: The quality of life of diabetes patients is associated with their disease or surrounding social environment. How to deal with psychological changes and adjust psychological stress response is worth further discussion. The researchers constructed moderated mediation models to test the impact of psychological resilience on the quality of life of people with diabetes, as well as the mediating role of stigma and the moderating role of empowerment. Method: From June to September 2022, data were collected by multi-stage stratified sampling. Firstly, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College was randomly selected from all tertiary hospitals in Wuhu, Anhui Province. Secondly, two departments were randomly selected from this hospital: endocrinology and geriatrics. Thirdly, survey points were set up in each department, and T2DM patients were randomly selected for questionnaire surveys. In addition, we used the Connor-Davidson Elasticity Scale (CD-RISC) to measure the psychological resilience of patients, and used the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI) to measure stigma. Empowerment was measured by the Diabetes Empowerment Scale (DES). Quality of Life was assessed by the Diabetes Quality of Life Scale (DQoL). We used SPSS (version 21) and PROCESS (version 4.1) for data analysis. Results: (1) Psychological resilience was negatively correlated with stigma and quality of life, and positively correlated with empowerment. Stigma was positively associated with empowerment and quality of life. Empowerment was negatively correlated with quality of life. (2) The mediation analysis showed that psychological resilience had a direct predictive effect on the quality of life, and stigma partially mediated the relationship; Empowerment moderates the first half of "PR→ stigma → quality of life"; Empowerment moderates the latter part of "PR→ stigma → quality of life." Conclusion: Under the mediating effect of stigma, psychological resilience can improve quality of life. Empowerment has a moderating effect on the relationship between psychological resilience and stigma, and it also has a moderating effect on the relationship between stigma and quality of life. These results facilitate the understanding of the relationship mechanisms between psychological resilience and quality of life.

In this study, flurbiprofen (FB) was selected as the model drug, and hyaluronic acid-coated flurbiprofen-layered double hydroxide ophthalmic drug delivery system (HA-FB-LDH) was designed and prepared. In this system, the model drug flurbiprofen was intercalated in layered double hydroxide and coated with hyaluronic acid (HA), so as to prolong the corneal residence time and increase the corneal permeability of the drug. Layered double hydroxide (LDH) was prepared by alcohol-water coprecipitation method. Through single factor investigation, the optimum preparation conditions were obtained as follows: The Mg/Al ratio was 2:1, the reaction pH was 11.0, the hydrothermal reaction time was 24 h, and the hydrothermal reaction temperature was 100°C. Under these conditions, the particle size of LDH was 116.4 ± 0.8 nm, the potential was 42.2 ± 1.2 mV, and a relatively regular crystal structure could be had. Then FB was intercalated into the LDH layer to prepare flurbiprofen-layered double hydroxide (FB-LDH). In the end, HA-FB-LDH was prepared by the stirring-ultrasonic method, in which through prescription screening, the molecular weight of HA was 200-400 kDa and the concentration of HA solution was 1.25 mg·mL

In this study, a novel bioadhesive material, a conjugate of chondroitin sulfate and L-cysteine (CS-Cys), was synthesized and modified on the surface of the cationic nanostructured lipid carriers loaded dexamethasone to prepare a novel nano-lipid ocular delivery system (Dex-CS-Cys-cNLC). Through the permeation and retention studies of isolated cornea, it was demonstrated that Dex-CS-Cys-cNLC has better corneal permeation and retention ability and can better overcome the barrier effect of the ocular surface. In addition, the fluorescent probe (RhB) was used to replace the drug, and fluorescence imaging was used to investigate the ocular surface retention ability of the formulation, and the results showed that CS-Cys-cNLC has stronger retention ability and can effectively prolong the time of drug action in the ocular surface. Dex-CS-Cys-cNLC was not irritating to rabbit eye tissues and was a safe delivery system. The results of rabbit dry eye pharmacodynamic experiments also showed that Dex-CS-Cys-cNLC could effectively alleviate dry eye symptoms in rabbits, effectively repair corneal damage, and improve the stability of tear film. All these experimental results suggest that Dex-CS-Cys-cNLC is a promising drug delivery carrier for the treatment of anterior segment of the eye disease.

Background. The prognostic role of CRP (C-reactive protein) in gynecological tumors has been previously reported in individual studies, but whether CRP can be used as a separate potential prognostic factor has not been systematically reviewed. The purpose of this research is to determine if there is a link between CRP levels and the prognosis of gynecological cancer patients. Methods. A systematic search was carried out to find the literature evaluating the predictive role of CRP in the prognosis of gynecological cancer patients. For the purpose of determining the relationship between CRP and clinicopathological characteristics, the pooled odds ratio (OR) was calculated. A hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to determine differences in overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), or progression-free survival (PFS) between patients with low and high CRP levels. Results. A total of 19 studies, including 4062 patients, were analyzed retrospectively. The FIGO stage was related to the CRP level (OR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.19–1.00). Age, lymph node metastasis, and histological grade were not associated with CRP level (OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.69–1.25; OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.65–1.28; OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.52–1.05). Worse OS (HR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.23–1.57), DFS (HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.12–1.28), and PFS (HR = 1.57, 95%CI: 1.23–1.91) were associated with elevated CRP levels, as shown by the pooled results. Subgroup analysis was performed according to cancer type (endometrial cancer: HR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.02–1.28; ovarian cancer: HR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.03–2.31; cervical cancer: HR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.19–1.64), multivariate value (HR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.10–1.33), and age (HR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.28–1.72). Significant correlations were observed between CRP and OS. Conclusions. CRP may be utilized as a prognostic indicator for a variety of gynecologic malignancies, including cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and vulvar cancer.

Based on single-center data, the related predictive factors of preeclampsia (PE) were investigated, and a nomogram prediction model was established and validated. A retrospective collection of 93 PE patients admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to January 2021 were included in the PE group. In addition, non-PE pregnant women were selected for physical examination during the same period for matching, and 170 normal pregnant women who met the matching conditions were found as the normal pregnancy group. Clinical data of the selected candidates were collected. The risk factors of PE were screened by logistic regression analysis, and the lipopograph prediction model was constructed and verified. Logistic analysis results showed that age (OR = 3.069, 95% CI = 1.233–7.638), prepregnancy BMI (OR = 2.896, 95% CI = 1.193–7.029), vitamin E deficiency (OR = 2.803, 95% CI = 1.134–6.928), 25-(OH)D (OR = 0.944, 95% CI = 0.903∼9.988), PLGF (OR = 0.887, 95% CI = 0.851∼0.924), PAPP-A (OR = 1.240, 95% CI = 1.131∼1.360), and PI (OR = 6.376, 95% CI = 1.163∼34.967) were the independent risk factors for PE prediction ( P < 0.05 ). The ROC curve showed that the AUC of the model for predicting the risk of PE was 0.957 (95% CI: 0.935–0.979), and the specificity and sensitivity were 0.912 and 0.892, respectively. H-L goodness of the fit test showed that there was no statistical significance in the deviation between the actual observed value and the predicted value of the risk in the line graph model (χ2 = 7.001, P = 0.536 ). The bootstrap test was used for internal verification, and the original data were repeatedly sampled 1000 times. The average absolute error of the calibration curve is 0.014, and the fitting degree between the calibration curve and the ideal curve is good. Age, prepregnancy BMI, lack of vitamin E, 25-(OH)D, PLGF, PAPP-A, and PI are independent risk factors for predicting PE. The establishment of a nomogram prediction model based on the above parameters can help identify PE high-risk groups in the early clinical stage and provide a reference for individualized clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Safety and toxicity have become major challenges in the internationalization of Chinese medicine. Inspite of its wide application, security problems of Chinese medicine still occur from time to time, raising widespread concerns about its safety. Most of the studies either only partially discussed the intrinsic toxicities or extrinsic harmful residues in Chinese medicine, or briefly described detoxification and attenuation methods. It is necessary to systematically discuss Chinese medicine's extrinsic and intrinsic toxic components and corresponding toxicity detoxification or detection methods as a whole.This review comprehensively summarizes various toxic components in Chinese medicine from intrinsic and extrinsic. Then the corresponding methods for detoxification or detection of toxicity are highlighted. It is expected to provide a reference for safeguards for developing and using Chinese medicine.A literature search was conducted in the databases, including PubMed, Web of Science,Wan-fang database, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Keywords used were safety, toxicity, intrinsic toxicities, extrinsic harmful residues, alkaloids, terpene and macrolides, saponins, toxic proteins, toxic crystals, minerals, heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins, sulfur dioxide, detoxification, detection, processing (Paozhi), compatibility (Peiwu), Chinese medicine, etc., and combinations of these keywords. All selected articles were from 2006 to 2022, and each was assessed critically for our exclusion criteria. Studies describe the classification of toxic components of Chinese medicine, the toxic effects and mechanisms of Chinese medicine, and the corresponding methods for detoxification or detection of toxicity.The toxic components of Chinese medicines can be classified as intrinsic toxicities and extrinsic harmful residues. Firstly, we summarized the intrinsic toxicities of Chinese medicine, the adverse effects and toxicity mechanisms caused by these components. Next, we focused on the detoxification or attenuation methods for intrinsic toxicities of Chinese medicine. The other main part discussed the latest progress in analytical strategies for exogenous hazardous substances, including heavy metals, pesticides, and mycotoxins. Beyond reviewing mainstream instrumental methods, we also introduced the emerging biochip, biosensor and immuno-based techniques.In this review, we provide an overall assessment of the recent progress in endogenous toxins and exogenous hazardous substances concerning Chinese medicine, which is expected to render deeper insights into the safety of Chinese medicine.

Background. The incentive spirometer (IS) is a mechanical device that promotes lung expansion and can be used to prevent and treat postoperative pulmonary complications. In this study, the preventive effect of pulmonary function training with IS on the improvement of pulmonary function and pulmonary complications was observed. Methods. From May 2019 to April 2021, 69 scoliosis patients with impaired moderate and severe lung function were divided into the traditional pulmonary training group (n = 32) and IS-enhanced pulmonary training group (n = 35). The patient underwent lung function testing after admission and one week after the start of training and chest CT on the third day after surgery. Results. The average age was 13.47 and 15.66, respectively ( p = 0.223). The Cobb angles were 83.84 and 83.97 ( p = 0.756), respectively, and no statistical difference between the parameters of lung function was detected. After 1 week of respiratory function training, significant improvement in lung function testing parameters including VC%, FVC%, FEV1%, FEV1/FVC, FEV1/VC, and MVV% was found in both groups. Analysis of covariance showed more significant improvement in IS-enhanced group compared to the conventional training group ( p p = 0.043) with no difference in the overall incidence of pulmonary complications ( p = 0.164) and shorter preoperative and total hospitalization in the IS-enhanced group. Conclusion. Compared to traditional pulmonary function training, IS-enhanced training can significantly accelerate the improvement of pulmonary function testing parameters, shorten the preoperative pulmonary function training time, reduce the incidence of postoperative pulmonary tension complications, and accelerate postoperative rehabilitation.

Metal nanoparticles stabilized on a support material have been explored extensively to boost heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, the effect of metal-support interaction between bismuth (Bi) nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (Gr) on the electroreduction of CO2 towards value-added formate is explored. The obtained Bi/Gr hybrid catalysts exhibit a superior catalytic activity towards electrochemical reduction of CO2, which gives the maximum faradic efficiency of 92.1 % at -0.97 V (vs. RHE) for formate generation. Particularly, the hydride shows an enhancement to the catalysts of bare Bi and physical mixture of Bi and Gr, with a high current density of 28.1 mA∙cm−2 and production rate of 0.53 mol∙cm−2 h-1 at -1.17 V (vs. RHE) for formate generation. The electrochemical analysis reveals that the metal-support interactions substantially boost CO2 electroreduction activity through modification the electronic structure and improving interfacial electron transfer between Bi and Gr. This work not only deepens an understanding of metal-support interaction effect but also sheds light on the design of high-efficiency catalysts toward CO2 electroreduction by virtue of the interactions between active metals and carbon-like support.

Background The relationship between interleukin-8 (IL-8) expression and the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients has been reported, but the results are contradictory. Aim To investigate the effect of IL-8 expression on the prognosis of patients with GC. Method A comprehensive search strategy was used to search the PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases. The total survival time was analysed using the RevMan 5.4 software. Through extensive search and meta-analysis of relevant studies, studies examining the relationship between IL-8 expression and prognosis in patients with GC were conducted to obtain more accurate estimates. Findings Eight studies (1843 patients) were included. The combined results of all the studies showed that high expression of IL-8 was a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with GC (hazard ratio (HR): 2.08; 95% CI: 1.81–2.39). Sensitivity analysis suggested that the pooled HR was stable, and omitting a single study did not change the significance of the pooled HR. Funnel plots revealed no significant publication bias in the meta-analysis. Conclusion High IL-8 expression could be a negative prognostic biomarker for patients with GC.

Background. Hsp70 (heat shock protein 70) plays a key role in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. However, the relationship between the Hsp70 expression level and the colorectal cancer patient survival is unknown. This study is aimed at investigating the relationship between Hsp70 and the prognosis of colorectal carcinoma patients. Methods. PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were used for systematic computer literature retrieval. Stata SE14.0 software was used for quantitative meta-analysis. Besides, data was extracted from selected articles. Relationships between Hsp70 expression level and prognosis were further studied. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were also computed. Results. A total of 11 potentially eligible studies with 2269 patients were identified in 10 tumors from PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. Hsp70 overexpression was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in colorectal carcinoma patients (HRs, 0.65 (95% CI: 0.52-0.78) and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.23-1.32), respectively). Conclusions. Hsp70 overexpression can predict poor survival in colorectal cancer patients.

Background Since the end of December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak has occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. An epidemiological survey showed that the pneumovirus infection was closely related to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, causing great panic among the general population. Through isolation of the pneumovirus strain and whole-genome sequencing, an infection model of the pneumovirus in human airway epithelial cells was established, and the pneumovirus was identified as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which belongs to the β-coronavirus genus. This study focused on the different characteristics of 2019-nCoV, which we learned at the early stage of Covid-19 pandemic will help us to save more lives during the outbreak. Methods The data of 17 deaths from 13 hospitals in Wuhan were obtained, and the initial symptoms, clinical features during the progression of the disease, and treatment processes were well analyzed. Results At the initial phase of the outbreak of 2019-nCoV, the lack of effective drugs for pneumonia has led to lethal results in people who are often elderly with multiple underlying conditions. Males were affected more than females. Fever, dry coughing, shortness of breath were the primary presentations, but not all. Chest images showed typical features of viral pneumonia. Respiratory support treatment were needed, although sometimes did not improve respiratory distress. All the patients died of multiple organ failure caused by respiratory failure. Many treatments of covid-19 were done in ICU and lasted for a long time, the occupation of public medical resources will put pressure on the present medical system.Conclusions COVID-19 is different from pneumonia caused by previous coronaviruses, it is more infectious and hard to manage. The initial death population were mainly elderly patients with underlying diseases. Protecting the elderly is an effective method to reduce the number of deaths. In the absence of nucleic acid detection reagents, relying on identifying typical symptoms and making full use of CT can increase the diagnosis of suspicious people. The condition of patients may deteriorate rapidly which increased the complexity of treatment. The increasing number of patients will put great pressure on the existing medical system.

Background Since the end of December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak has occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. An epidemiological survey showed that the pneumovirus infection was closely related to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, causing great panic among the general population. Through the isolation and whole-genome sequencing of the pneumovirus, an infection model of the pneumovirus in human airway epithelial cells was established, and the pneumovirus was identified as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which belongs to the β-coronavirus genus. This study focus on lethiferous processes of infections associated with the new virus.Methods The data of 17 deaths from 13 hospitals in Wuhan were obtained, and the initial symptoms, clinical features during the progression of the disease, and treatment processes were well analyzed. Results At the early phase of the outbreak of 2019-nCoV, the lack of effective drugs for pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus has led to lethal results in people who are often elderly with multiple diseases. Males were affected more than females. Fever, dry coughing, shortness of breath are the primary presentations, but not all. Chest images showed viral pneumonia. Symptomatic supportive treatment did not improve respiratory distress, leading to a sudden deterioration in the condition. The development of diseases are different from the other two cronoviruses.Conclusions Older people are at high risk of death due to 2019-nCoV infection, and protecting high-risk groups is an effective way to reduce the number of deaths. A large number of viral pneumonia in Wuhan within a short period of time suggest the outbreak caused by a new virus, virus nucleic acid test will make accurate diagnosis, and the diagnosis based on clinical manifestations and imaging results provides a basis for early treatments.

Small fructans improve plant tolerance for cold stress. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we have demonstrated that the small fructan tetrasaccharide nystose improves the cold stress tolerance of primary rice roots. Roots developed from seeds soaked in nystose showed lower browning rate, higher root activity, and faster growth compared to seeds soaked in water under chilling stress. Comparative proteomics analysis of nystose-treated and control roots identified a total of 497 differentially expressed proteins. GO classification and KEGG pathway analysis documented that some of the upregulated differentially expressed proteins were implicated in the regulation of serine/threonine protein phosphatase activity, abscisic acid-activated signaling, removal of superoxide radicals, and the response to oxidative stress and defense responses. Western blot analysis indicated that nystose promotes the growth of primary rice roots by increasing the level of RSOsPR10, and the cold stress-induced change in RSOsPR10levelis regulated by jasmonate, salicylic acid, and abscisic acid signaling pathways in rice roots. Furthermore, OsMKK4-dependentmitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascades may be involved in the nystose-induced cold tolerance of primary rice roots. Together, these results indicate that nystose acts as an immunostimulator of the response to cold stress by multiple signaling pathways.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to formate is believed as one of the most technologically and economically viable strategies for valuable fuels and chemical productions. Defect-rich Bi/Bi2O3 nanosheets in situ grown on the carbon fiber papers (Bi/Bi2O3-CP) are directly used as an integrated cathode for CO2RR. Bi/Bi2O3-CP exhibits a high mass-normalized formate partial current density of 32.4 and 50.7 mA∙mg−1 cm−2 at −0.87 and −0.97 V, respectively, with high formate faradic efficiency of about 90 %. Incredibly, this cathode gives a record mass-normalized formate production rate of 1.12 mmol∙mg-1 cm-2 h-1 at −1.17 V, which exceeds drop-casted sample (0.41 mmol∙mg−1 cm−-2 h−1 at −1.17 V) and most state-of-the-art Bi based electrocatalysts. The boosted formation generation could be attributed to the unique mesoporous 3D hierarchical nanostructure with the integrated contributions of abundant defects and synergistic coordination of regionally disordered Bi/Bi2O3 metal/oxide junction.

Six pairs of primers were designed for gene-specific transcript amplification. (DOC 25Â kb)

One pteridophyte, Pteris vittata L., was found to be a suitable plant used in phytoremediation of the soils contaminated with excess arsenic. In this paper, literature on this fern’s potential in remediating soils contaminated with arsenic, its possible detoxification strategies, and the measures facilitating its practical application in phytoremediation were reviewed. Some of the unresolved questions about this fern in both detoxification and phytoextraction of arsenic (As) were also listed. The aim of this paper was to introduce this magic fern to more researchers focusing on a wider field of discipline and make it more useful in both macroscopic and microcosmic science world.

In this paper, the water quality of the Xixi Wetland was evaluated and the characteristics of water pollution were described according to the survey data. Based on the status of water quality and its functional requirements as an urban wetland, biological-ecological countermeasures were suggested. The experimental use of ecological technologies, such as artificial wetlands, ecological aquiculture and artificial floating island, were done in several fish ponds in the Xixi Wetland. Water monitoring results show that the quality of the treated water has improved significantly and the measures to purify the eutrophic water in the wetland have been effective.

Protein lysine acetylation is a reversible and dynamic post-translational modification. It plays an important role in regulating diverse cellular processes including chromatin dynamic, metabolic pathways, and transcription in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Although studies of lysine acetylome in plants have been reported, the throughput was not high enough, hindering the deep understanding of lysine acetylation in plant physiology and pathology. In this study, taking advantages of anti-acetyllysine-based enrichment and high-sensitive-mass spectrometer, we applied an integrated proteomic approach to comprehensively investigate lysine acetylome in strawberry. In total, we identified 1392 acetylation sites in 684 proteins, representing the largest dataset of acetylome in plants to date. To reveal the functional impacts of lysine acetylation in strawberry, intensive bioinformatic analysis was performed. The results significantly expanded our current understanding of plant acetylome and demonstrated that lysine acetylation is involved in multiple cellular metabolism and cellular processes. More interestingly, nearly 50% of all acetylated proteins identified in this work were localized in chloroplast and the vital role of lysine acetylation in photosynthesis was also revealed. Taken together, this study not only established the most extensive lysine acetylome in plants to date, but also systematically suggests the significant and unique roles of lysine acetylation in plants.

The plant cell wall is the first barrier in response to external stimuli and cell wall proteins (CWPs) can play an important role in the modulation of plant growth and development. In the past 10 years, the plant cell wall proteomics has increasingly become a very active research filed, which provides a broader understanding of CWPs for people. The cell wall proteome of Arabidopsis, rice, and other model plants has begun to take shape, and proteomic technology has become an effective way to identify the candidate functional CWPs in large scale. The challenging work of Francin-Allami et al. (Proteomics 2015, 15, 2296-2306) is a vital step toward building the most extensive cell wall proteome of a monocot species. They identified 299 cell wall proteins in Brachypodium distachyon grains, and also compared the grain cell wall proteome with those of B. distachyon culms and leaves, which provides a new perspective for further explaining the plant cell wall structures and remodeling mechanism.

Understanding the defense mechanisms used by anthracnose-resistant strawberries against Colletotrichum infection is important for breeding purposes. To characterize cell responses to Colletotrichum infection, proteomes from strawberry seedling leaves that had or had not been infected with Colletotrichum fragariae were characterized at different time points post infection by 2-DE and by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS/MS and database-searching protein identification. Mass spectrometry identified 49 differentially expressed proteins with significant intensity differences (>1.5-fold, p

Rice hull, the outer cover of the rice grain, determines grain shape and size. Changes in the rice hull proteome in different growth stages may reflect the underlying mechanisms involved in grain development. To better understand these changes, isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitative (iTRAQ) MS/MS was used to detect statistically significant changes in the rice hull proteome in the booting, flowering, and milk-ripe growth stages. Differentially expressed proteins were analyzed to predict their potential functions during development. Gene ontology (GO) terms and pathways were used to evaluate the biological mechanisms involved in rice hull at the three growth stages. In total, 5,268 proteins were detected and characterized, of which 563 were differentially expressed across the development stages. The results showed that the flowering and milk-ripe stage proteomes were more similar to each other (r=0.61) than either was to the booting stage proteome. A GO enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed proteins was used to predict their roles during rice hull development. The potential functions of 25 significantly differentially expressed proteins were used to evaluate their possible roles at various growth stages. Among these proteins, an unannotated protein (Q7X8A1) was found to be overexpressed especially in the flowering stage, while a putative uncharacterized protein (B8BF94) and an aldehyde dehydrogenase (Q9FPK6) were overexpressed only in the milk-ripe stage. Pathways regulated by differentially expressed proteins were also analyzed. Magnesium-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester [oxidative] cyclase (Q9SDJ2), and two magnesium-chelatase subunits, ChlD (Q6ATS0), and ChlI (Q53RM0), were associated with chlorophyll biosynthesis at different developmental stages. The expression of Q9SDJ2 in the flowering and milk-ripe stages was validated by qRT-PCR. The 25 candidate proteins may be pivotal markers for controlling rice hull development at various growth stages and chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway related proteins, especially magnesium-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester [oxidative] cyclase (Q9SDJ2), may provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of rice hull development and chlorophyll associated regulation.