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The completely autotrophic nitrogen removal over nitrite (CANON) process is significantly hindered by prolonged start-up periods and unstable nitrogen removal efficiency. In this study, a novel umbrella basalt fiber (BF) carrier with good biological affinity and adsorption performance was used to initiate the CANON process. The CANON process was initiated on day 64 in a sequencing batch reactor equipped with umbrella BF carriers. During this period, the influent NH4+-N concentration gradually increased from 100 to 200 mg·L−1, and the dissolved oxygen was controlled below 0.8 mg L−1. Consequently, an average ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency (ARE) and total nitrogen removal efficiency (TNRE) of ∼90 and 80% were achieved, respectively. After 130 days, ARE and TNRE remained stable at 92 and 81.1%, respectively. This indicates a reliable method for achieving rapid start-up and stable operation of the CANON process. Moreover, Candidatus Kuenenia and Candidatus Brocadia were identified as dominant anammox genera on the carrier. Nitrosomonas was the predominant genus among ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Spatial differences were observed in the microbial population of umbrella BF carriers. This arrangement facilitated autotrophic nitrogen removal in a single reactor. This study indicates that the novel umbrella BF carrier is a highly suitable biocarrier for the CANON process. HIGHLIGHTS The umbrella basalt fiber (BF) carrier CANON reactor achieved rapid start-up and stable operation.; There were spatial distribution differences between AOB and anammox bacteria in the umbrella BF carrier.; Umbrella BF carriers enhance the abundance and diversity of microbial communities.;

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical, imaging and pathological features of extraskeletal osteosarcoma (EOS) and to improve the understanding of this disease and other similar lesions. Methods The data for 11 patients with pathologically confirmed extraosseous osteosarcoma, including tumour site and size and imaging and clinical manifestations, were analysed retrospectively. Results Six patients were male (60%), and 5 were female (40%); patient age ranged from 23 to 76 years (average age 47.1 years). Among the 11 patients, 7 had clear calcifications or ossification with different morphologies, and 2 patients showed a massive mature bone tumour. MRI showed a mixed-signal mass with slightly longer T1 and T2 signals in the tumour parenchyma. Enhanced CT and MRI scans showed enhancement in the parenchyma. Ten patients had different degrees of necrosis and cystic degeneration in the mass, 2 of whom were complicated with haemorrhage, and MRI showed “fluid‒fluid level” signs. Of the 11 patients, five patients survived after surgery, and no obvious recurrence or metastasis was found on imaging examination. One patient died of lung metastasis after surgery, and 2 patients with open biopsy died of disease progression. One patient died of respiratory failure 2 months after operation. 2 patients had positive surgical margins, and 1 had lung metastasis 6 months after operation and died 19 months after operation. Another patient had recurrence 2 months after surgery. Conclusion The diagnosis of EOS requires a combination of clinical, imaging and histological examinations. Cystic degeneration and necrosis; mineralization is common, especially thick and lumpy mineralization. Extended resection is still the first choice for localized lesions. For patients with positive surgical margins or metastases, adjuvant chemoradiotherapy is needed.

Cognitive impairment (COI) is a prevalent complication across a spectrum of brain disorders, underpinned by intricate mechanisms yet to be fully elucidated. Neurons, the principal cell population of the nervous system, orchestrate cognitive processes and govern cognitive balance. Extensive inquiry has spotlighted the involvement of Foxo3a in COI. The regulatory cascade of Foxo3a transactivation implicates multiple downstream signaling pathways encompassing mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, autophagy, and apoptosis, collectively affecting neuronal activity. Notably, the expression and activity profile of neuronal Foxo3a are subject to modulation via various modalities, including methylation of promoter, phosphorylation and acetylation of protein. Furthermore, upstream pathways such as PI3K/AKT, the SIRT family, and diverse micro-RNAs intricately interface with Foxo3a, engendering alterations in neuronal function. Through several downstream routes, Foxo3a regulates neuronal dynamics, thereby modulating the onset or amelioration of COI in Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, ischemic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, and traumatic brain injury. Foxo3a is a potential therapeutic cognitive target, and clinical drugs or multiple small molecules have been preliminarily shown to have cognitive-enhancing effects that indirectly affect Foxo3a. Particularly noteworthy are multiple randomized, controlled, placebo clinical trials illustrating the significant cognitive enhancement achievable through autophagy modulation. Here, we discussed the role of Foxo3a in neuron-mediated COI and common cognitively impaired diseases.

Abstract Background There is a paucity of research investigating the application of machine learning techniques for distinguishing between lipid-poor adrenal adenoma (LPA) and subclinical pheochromocytoma (sPHEO) based on radiomic features extracted from non-contrast and dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scans of the abdomen. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of multiphase spiral CT scans, including non-contrast, arterial, venous, and delayed phases, as well as thin- and thick-thickness images from 134 patients with surgically and pathologically confirmed. A total of 52 patients with LPA and 44 patients with sPHEO were randomly assigned to training/testing sets in a 7:3 ratio. Additionally, a validation set was comprised of 22 LPA cases and 16 sPHEO cases from two other hospitals. We used 3D Slicer and PyRadiomics to segment tumors and extract radiomic features, respectively. We then applied T-test and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to select features. Six binary classifiers, including K-nearest neighbor (KNN), logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and multi-layer perceptron (MLP), were employed to differentiate LPA from sPHEO. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC) values were compared using DeLong’s method. Results All six classifiers showed good diagnostic performance for each phase and slice thickness, as well as for the entire CT data, with AUC values ranging from 0.706 to 1. Non-contrast CT densities of LPA were significantly lower than those of sPHEO (P

Abstract Evidence for an association between the amount of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere and vitamin D status of pregnant women is limited. We aimed to examine the independent association between PM and maternal levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) during the second trimester and to explore possible modifications to the association by meteorological factors. 27,768 pregnant women presenting for prenatal examination who were tested for serum 25OHD concentration during the second trimester between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2020, were included in this retrospective analysis. Exposure to PM was evaluated based on daily average PM with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and PM with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤ 10 μm (PM10). Corresponding meteorological data for daily average atmospheric temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, sunshine duration, and wind speed were collected. The maximum cumulative effects of PM2.5 occurred at lag 45 days, and the maximum cumulative effects of PM10 occurred at lag 60 days. In crude models, 45-day moving daily average PM2.5 concentrations were negatively associated with 25OHD levels (β, − 0.20; 95% CI − 0.21 to − 0.19), as were 60-day moving daily average PM10 concentrations (β, − 0.14; 95% CI − 0.15 to − 0.14). After adjusting for temporal and meteorological factors, the effect values were drastically reduced (adjusted β of PM2.5, − 0.032; 95% CI − 0.046 to − 0.018; adjusted β of PM10, − 0.039; 95% CI − 0.049 to − 0.028). Our study showed there was a small, independent, negative association between PM in the atmosphere and maternal serum 25OHD levels during the second trimester of pregnancy after adjusting for temporal and/or meteorological factors, which indicates that PM may have a limited influence on maternal serum 25OHD levels. Besides taking vitamin D supplements, pregnant women should keep participating in outdoor activities while taking PM protection measures to improve their vitamin D levels when PM levels are high in winter and spring.

Legume cultivars affect N uptake, component crop growth, and soil physical and chemical characteristics in maize–legume intercropping systems. However, how belowground interactions mediate root growth, N fixation, and nodulation of different legumes to affect N uptake is still unclear. Hence, a two-year experiment was conducted with five planting patterns, i.e., maize–soybean strip intercropping (IMS), maize–peanut strip intercropping (IMP), and corresponding monocultures (monoculture maize (MM), monoculture soybean (MS), and monoculture peanut (MP)), and two N application rates, i.e., no N fertilizer (N–) and conventional N fertilizer (N+), to examine relationships between N uptake and root distribution of crops, legume nodulation and soil N availability. Results showed that the averaged N uptake per unit area of intercrops was significantly lower than the corresponding monocultures. Compared with the monoculture system, the N uptake of the intercropping systems increased by 31.7–45.4% in IMS and by 7.4–12.2% in IMP, respectively. The N uptake per plant of intercropped maize and soybean significantly increased by 61.6 and 31.8%, and that of intercropped peanuts significantly decreased by 46.6% compared with the corresponding monocultures. Maize and soybean showed asymmetrical distribution of roots in strip intercropping systems. The root length density (RLD) and root surface area density (RSAD) of intercropped maize and soybean were significantly greater than that of the corresponding monocultures. The roots of intercropped peanuts were confined, which resulted in decreased RLD and RSAD compared with the monoculture. The nodule number and nodule fresh weight of soybean were significantly greater in IMS than in MS, and those of peanut were significantly lower in IMP than in MP. The soil protease, urease, and nitrate reductase activities of maize and soybean were significantly greater in IMS and IMP than in the corresponding monoculture, while the enzyme activities of peanut were significantly lower in IMP than in MP. The soil available N of maize and soybean was significantly greater increased in IMS and IMP than in the corresponding monocultures, while that of IMP was significantly lower than in MP. In summary, the IMS system was more beneficial to N uptake than the IMP system. The intercropping of maize and legumes can promote the N uptake of maize, thus reducing the need for N application and improving agricultural sustainability.

Excessive rainfall provides a favorable condition for field mold infection of plants, which triggers field mold (FM) stress. If FM stress occurs during the late maturation stage of soybean seed, it negatively affects seed yield and quality. To investigate the responses of soybean seed against FM stress and identify the underlying biochemical pathways involved, a greenhouse was equipped with an artificial rain producing system to allow the induction of mold growth on soybean seed. The induced quality changes and stress responses were revealed on the levels of both transcriptome and metabolome. The results showed that soybean seeds produced under FM stress conditions had an abnormal and inferior appearance, and also contained less storage reserves, such as protein and polysaccharide. Transcriptional analysis demonstrated that genes involved in amino acid metabolism, glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid, β-oxidation of fatty acids, and isoflavone biosynthesis were induced by FM stress. These results were supported by a multiple metabolic analysis which exhibited increases in the concentrations of a variety of amino acids, sugars, organic acids, and isoflavones, as well as reductions of several fatty acids. Reprogramming of these metabolic pathways mobilized and consumed stored protein, sugar and fatty acid reserves in the soybean seed in order to meet the energy and substrate demand on the defense system, but led to deterioration of seed quality. In general, FM stress induced catabolism of storage reserves and diminished the quality of soybean seed in the field. This study provides a more profound insight into seed deterioration caused by FM stress.

There are many factors affecting decisions to persistent participation in sports and various approaches have been used to frame these antecedents. The aim of this paper was to systematically review and quantify the primary factors of persistent participation and to assess their respective strengths of association with persistent participation in youth sport. Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA) guidelines, a comprehensive search was implemented on 31st December 2021 in five databases and meta-analytic procedures were applied to data from studies meeting inclusion criteria. The results revealed that sports enjoyment (meta r = 0.45, 95%CI [0.42, 0.49]) was highly correlated with persistent intention, while persistent intention (SMD = 1.13, 95%CI [0.70, 1.56]) was highly correlated with persistent behavior. In addition, parental support, coach support, peer support, basic psychological needs and sports competence were the primary factors associated with persistent intention and persistent behavior, respectively. This study identified the key factors related to persistent participation and provide a complete understanding of children and adolescents' decisions to continue their participation in organized sports. Referring to the key factors, it can provide information for sports clubs and policy makers to develop strategies to increase youth participation in organized sport.Systematic Review RegistrationPROSPERO, identifier: CRD42021229397.

Abstract Background Musk deer can produce musk which has high medicinal value and is closely related to human health. Viruses in forest musk deer both threaten the health of forest musk deer and human beings. Methods Using viral metagenomics we investigated the virome in 85 faeces samples collected from forest musk deer. Results In this article, eight novel CRESS-DNA viruses were characterized, whole genomes were 2148 nt–3852 nt in length. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that some viral genomes were part of four different groups of CRESS-DNA virus belonging in the unclassified CRESS-DNA virus, Smacoviridae, pCPa-like virus and pPAPh2-like virus. UJSL001 (MN621482), UJSL003 (MN621469) and UJSL017 (MN621476) fall into the branch of unclassified CRESS-DNA virus (CRESSV1–2), UJSL002 (MN621468), UJSL004 (MN621481) and UJSL007 (MN621470) belong to the cluster of Smacoviridae, UJSL005 (MN604398) showing close relationship with pCPa-like (pCRESS4–8) clusters and UJSL006 (MN621480) clustered into the branch of pPAPh2-like (pCRESS9) virus, respectively. Conclusion The virome in faeces samples of forest musk deer from Chengdu, Sichuan province, China was revealed, which further characterized the diversity of viruses in forest musk deer intestinal tract.

Objective To study the effects of adaptive response in A549 cells induced by low-dose radiation and the miRNAs expression. Methods A549 cells were irradiated with 50 mGy and 200 mGy initial doses, respectively, and then irradiated with a challenge dose 20 Gy at 6 hours interval. The biological effects and miRNA expression were detected. Results The apoptosis rates of 50 mGy-20 Gy and 200 mGy-20 Gy groups were significantly lower than that of only 20 Gy irradiation group ( P < .05). The percentage of G2/M phase cells of 50 mGy-20 Gy and 200 mGy-20 Gy groups was significantly decreased relative to the 20 Gy group ( P < .05). One miRNA (mir-3662) was upregulated and 15 miRNAs (mir-185, mir-1908, mir-307, mir-182, mir-92a, mir-582, mi-r501, mir138-5p, mir-1260, mir-484, mir-378d, mir-193b, mir-127-3p, mir-1303, and mir-654-5p) were downregulated both in 50 mGy-20 Gy and 200 mGy-20 Gy groups than that of the 20 Gy group. Go and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the target genes were significantly enriched in cell communication regulation, metabolic process, enzyme binding, and catalytic activity signaling pathways. Conclusion Low-dose X-ray of 50 mGy and 200 mGy radiation can induce adaptive apoptosis response prior to 20 Gy in A549 cells. Sixteen differently expressed miRNAs may play important roles in the adaptive effect of low-dose radiation.

Maize-soybean relay intercropping is an effective approach to improve the crop yield and nutrient use efficiency, which is widely practiced by farmers in southwest of China. To elucidate the characteristics of different planting patterns on crop nutrient uptake, soil chemical properties, and soil bacteria community in maize-soybean relay intercropping systems, we conducted a field experiment in 2015–2016 with single factor treatments, including monoculture maize (MM), monoculture soybean (MS), maize-soybean relay intercropping (IMS), and fallow (CK). The results showed that the N uptake of maize grain increased in IMS compared with MM. Compared with MS, the yield and uptake of N, P, and K of soybean grain were increased by 25.5, 24.4, 9.6, and 22.4% in IMS, respectively, while the N and K uptakes in soybean straw were decreased in IMS. The soil total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and soil organic matter contents were significantly higher in IMS than those of the corresponding monocultures and CK. Moreover, the soil protease, soil urease, and soil nitrate reductase activities in IMS were higher than those of the corresponding monocultures and CK. The phyla Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Actinobacteria dominated in all treatments. Shannon's index in IMS was higher than that of the corresponding monocultures and CK. The phylum Proteobacteria proportion was positively correlated with maize soil organic matter and soybean soil total nitrogen content, respectively. These results indicated that the belowground interactions increased the crop nutrient (N and P) uptake and soil bacterial community diversity, both of which contributed to improved soil nutrient management for legume-cereal relay intercropping systems.

Maize-soybean strip intercropping system is an important ecological planting system; the wide development of intercropped soybean has contributed to the soybean industry in China. Soybean growth and seed production were affected by the shading from maize. Previous studies confirmed that relay strip intercropping shading facilitates the accumulation of isoflavone glucosides but does not take advantage of the accumulation of isoflavone aglycone. However, the regulation of isoflavones accumulation under strip intercropping system was unknown; in which soybean and maize were sown at the same time, and soybean was mainly shaded in the reproductive stage. In order to reveal the effects of intercropping shading on the isoflavones accumulation in soybean seed, two independent field experiments were conducted in eastern China. We compared the isoflavones profiles of soybean seeds, which were grown under various maize-soybean intercropping systems with different shade levels. The results showed that the intercropping shading was not benefited to the accumulation of soy-isoflavones, including aglycones and isoflavones glycosides and various forms of isoflavones were decreased with the decline of photosynthetic active radiation. Multivariate statistical analysis and significance analysis showed that acylated isoflavones may be more susceptible to intercropping shading. Abbreviations: HCA: Hierarchical cluster analysis; PAR: photosynthetically active radiation; PCA: Principal component analysis; LC-MS: Liquid chromatography mass spectrometer.

Intercropping is one of the most vital practice to improve land utilization rate in China that has limited arable land resource. However, the traditional intercropping systems have many disadvantages including illogical field lay-out of crops, low economic value, and labor deficiency, which cannot balance the crop production and agricultural sustainability. In view of this, we developed a novel soybean strip intercropping model using maize as the partner, the regular maize-soybean strip intercropping mainly popularized in northern China and maize-soybean relay-strip intercropping principally extended in southwestern China. Compared to the traditional maize-soybean intercropping systems, the main innovation of field lay-out style in our present intercropping systems is that the distance of two adjacent maize rows are shrunk as a narrow strip, and a strip called wide strip between two adjacent narrow strips is expanded reserving for the growth of two or three rows of soybean plants. The distance between outer rows of maize and soybean strips are expanded enough for light use efficiency improvement and tractors working in the soybean strips. Importantly, optimal cultivar screening and increase of plant density achieved a high yield of both the two crops in the intercropping systems and increased land equivalent ratio as high as 2.2. Annually alternative rotation of the adjacent maize- and soybean-strips increased the grain yield of next seasonal maize, improved the absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potasium of maize, while prevented the continuous cropping obstacles. Extra soybean production was obtained without affecting maize yield in our strip intercropping systems, which balanced the high crop production and agricultural sustainability.

In China, the abuse of chemical nitrogen (N) fertilizer results in decreasing N use efficiency (NUE), wasting resources and causing serious environmental problems. Cereal-legume intercropping is widely used to enhance crop yield and improve resource use efficiency, especially in Southwest China. To optimize N utilization and increase grain yield, we conducted a two-year field experiment with single-factor randomized block designs of a maize-soybean intercropping system (IMS). Three N rates, NN (no nitrogen application), LN (lower N application: 270 kg N ha−1), and CN (conventional N application: 330 kg N ha−1), and three topdressing distances of LN (LND), e.g., 15 cm (LND1), 30 cm (LND2) and 45 cm (LND3) from maize rows were evaluated. At the beginning seed stage (R5), the leghemoglobin content and nitrogenase activity of LND3 were 1.86 mg plant−1 and 0.14 mL h−1 plant−1, and those of LND1 and LND2 were increased by 31.4 and 24.5%, 6.4 and 32.9% compared with LND3, respectively. The ureide content and N accumulation of soybean organs in LND1 and LND2 were higher than those of LND3. The N uptake, NUE and N agronomy efficiency (NAE) of IMS under CN were 308.3 kg ha−1, 28.5%, and 5.7 kg grain kg−1 N, respectively; however, those of LN were significantly increased by 12.4, 72.5, and 51.6% compared with CN, respectively. The total yield in LND1 and LND2 was increased by 12.3 and 8.3% compared with CN, respectively. Those results suggested that LN with distances of 15–30 cm from the topdressing strip to the maize row was optimal in maize-soybean intercropping. Lower N input with an optimized fertilization location for IMS increased N fixation and N use efficiency without decreasing grain yield.

Objectives: Objectives: Cigarette smoking is the major risk factor of bladder cancer via exposure to chemical carcinogens. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+): quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and sulfotransferase 1A1 (SULT1A1) have been reported to involve in the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aromatic amines. Therefore, the risk of bladder cancer (BC) may be influenced by polymorphisms in the genes that modulate metabolic detoxification in particular by interacting with cigarette smoking. Considering the limited power by the individual studies with a relatively small sample size, especially when analyzing the combined effect of polymorphisms in NQO1 and SULT1A1 genes and smoking, these 2 meta-analyses have aimed to clarify the combined effects of them on BC risk by integrating related studies. Material and Methods: Two meta-analyses included 1341 cases and 1346 controls concerning NQO1 Pro187Ser and smoking, and 1921 cases and 1882 controls on SULT1A1 Arg213His and smoking were performed. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used for assessing the strength of the association. Results: The result has demonstrated that smokers with NQO1 Pro/Ser or Ser/Ser genotypes have a prominent association with the risk of BC as compared with non-smokers with NQO1 Pro/Pro genotype, with OR equal to 3.71 (95% CI: 2.87–4.78, pheterogeneity = 0.376). Besides, smokers carrying SULT1A1 Arg/Arg genotypes were observed to confer 2.38 fold increased risk of BC (95% CI: 1.44–3.93, pheterogeneity = 0.001) when compared with non-smokers with SULT1A1 Arg/Arg or His/His genotypes. Conclusions: These findings have suggested that the NQO1 Pro187Ser or SULT1A1 Arg213His polymorphism combination with smoking significantly confer susceptibility to BC. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(5):791–802

Clear cell myomelanocytic tumors (CCMTs) of the falciform ligament/ligamentum teres are extremely rare. CCMTs are a variant of perivascular epithelioid cell tumors. We present a case of hepatic CCMT in a 54-year-old woman with abdominal pain. The patient had an 8.8 cm well-demarcated tumor in the right lobe of the liver. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed a heterogeneous mass that enhanced significantly in the arterial and portal venous phases, and was less enhanced in the delayed phase. The patient underwent a right hemihepatectomy and cholecystectomy. The tumor cells had clear to slightly eosinophilic cytoplasm, vesicular nuclei, and were positive for HMB-45 and smooth muscle actin. The patient had no recurrence after 36 months follow-up. A review of the literature identified 10 hepatic CCMTs. Hepatic CCMTs are usually benign tumors of young women that present as large masses located in the right lobe of the liver.

The title compound, C19H14BrN, was synthesized by the N-alkylation of (chloromethyl)benzene with 3-bromo-9H-carbazole. The carbazole ring system is essentially planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.013 Å) and forms a dihedral angle of 87.1 (2)° with the phenyl ring.

In the title compound, C11H9Cl2NO2, the dihedral anngle between the mean planes of the aromatic ring and the twisted pyrrolidinedione ring is 79.98 (9)°.