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Black Carbon (BC) is a solid material obtainable from the remnants of incomplete burning of biological organisms or fossil fuels, which benefits pollution alleviation and soil amendment. In this study MBC was prepared using acidic potassium permanganate for inactivating heavy metal in soils. The specific surface area and pore volume of BC and MBC were measured by nitrogen adsorption and the space around the black carbon particles was observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The contents of carboxyl, ester and phenol hydroxyl group on their surface have been determined. The effect on availability of Cu in soils and soil enzyme activity of MBC was also investigated. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of MBC demonstrated large micropores with looser aggregate structure. MBC featured a higher surface area (956.88m2·g-1), larger average pore size and pore volume than BC, which can improve its excellent adsorption ability. Using as a soil heavy metal passivator, MBC reduced the available content of copper in three soils significantly and MBC has the best passivation effect on copper in cinnamon soil. Comparison of the enzyme activities in three soils amended with MBC under constant moisture conditions revealed that MBC increased the activities of catalase, urease in different degrees and inhibited the activities of dehydrogenase in three soils. These findings suggest that MBC has a strong passivation ability to Cu and would be applied to the remediation of copper contaminated soil.

The big brand of Chinese patent medicine, Fufang Danshen Prescription(FDP), effective in promoting blood circulation, resolving blood stasis, regulating qi, and relieving pain, is wide in clinical application and diverse in dosage forms and products, but its quality and price are uneven, which causes problems for doctors and patients. To clarify the key links and weakness of quality control leading to the quality difference of FDP products, the present study carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the whole production cycle of FDP based on thequot;high-quality Chinese patent medicine evaluation criteriaquot; and analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of production and quality of different FDP products according to scores. The results showed that the scores of various products in thequot;raw materials selectionquot; varied greatly. The highest score(S1) and the lowest score(S2) differed by more than 3 times, indicating that different manufacturers had inconsistent requirements for the selection of raw materials, leading to fundamental differences in the quality of raw materials. The scores in thequot;production processquot; varied slightly, with an average score of 66.8%. The manufacturer S8 obtained the highest score(84.0%), which indicated the emergence of intelligent manufacturing production. The scores(with the average score of 44.0%) in thequot;quality controlquot; were lower than those of the previous two items, which was attributed to the fact that most FDP products only met thequot;qualifiedquot; benchmark required by the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and their consistency and high quality were both uncontrollable. The scores in thequot;post-marketing researchquot; were the lowest(with an average score of 28.5%), and most manufacturers were scored 0, which reflected little attention paid. Only a few brand manufacturers were scored acceptably and they were willing to carry out relevant research on post-marketing evaluation. The evaluation results demonstrated the key links and weakness leading to the production and quality differences of FDP from different manufacturers. It is expected to improve the quality of FDP, promote the formation of thequot;high quality and good pricequot; mechanism, and provide information for the centralized procurement of governments.

The tunneling characteristics at the cosmological and event horizons of Reissner–Nordström–de Sitter black hole with a global monopole are studied by using the modified Lorentz violation scalar field equation in curved space–time. Firstly, we get the modified Hamilton–Jacobi equation using the semi-classical approximation, then the Hawking radiation and thermodynamical properties of Reissner–Nordström–de Sitter black hole with a global monopole are computed based on the modified Hamilton–Jacobi equation. Our results show that Lorentz violation can lead to lower Hawking temperature and higher entropy of the black hole at the same time. This work improves the understanding of the physical nature of Lorentz violation in curved space–time.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), the predominant type of esophageal cancer, has a 5-year survival rate less than 20%. Although the cause of poor prognosis is the high incidence and mortality of ESCC, the high rate of metastasis after esophageal cancer surgery is the main cause of death after the surgery. Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4), an epigenetic reader of chromatin-acetylated histones in tumorigenesis and development, plays an essential role in regulating oncogene expression. BRD4 inhibition and BRD4 inhibition-based treatment can potentially suppress ESCC growth. However, the effects and mechanisms of action of BRD4 on ESCC cell migration remain unclear.To explore the effect of BRD4 on cell migration of ESCCHuman ESCC cell lines KYSE-450 and KYSE-150 were used. The 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide assay was performed to examine cell proliferation, and the transwell migration assay was conducted to test ESCC cell migration. JQ1, a BRD4 inhibitor, was applied to cells, and BRD4 siRNA was transfected into ESCC cells to knockdown endogenous BRD4. GFP-RFP-LC3 adenovirus was infected into ESCC cells to evaluate the effect of JQ1 on autophagy. Western blotting was performed to determine the protein levels of BRD4, E-cadherin, vimentin, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and p-AMPK.BRD4 was either downregulated by small interfering RNA or pretreated with JQ1 in ESCC cells, leading to increased tumor migration in ESCC cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Inhibition of BRD4 not only significantly suppressed cell proliferation but also strongly increased cell migration by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The protein expression of vimentin was increased and E-cadherin decreased in a dose-dependent manner, subsequently promoting autophagy in KYSE-450 and KYSE-150 cells. Pretreatment with JQ1, a BRD4 inhibitor, inhibited BRD4-induced LC3-II activation and upregulated AMPK phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, an increased number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes were observed in JQ1-treated ESCC cells. The autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) reversed the effects of BRD4 knockdown on ESCC cell migration and blocked JQ1-induced cell migration. 3-MA also downregulated the expression of vimentin and upregulation E-cadherin.BRD4 inhibition enhances cell migration by inducing EMT and autophagy in ESCC cells

Considering the modified Lorentz dispersion relation, combined with the Dirac equation and Rarita–Schwinger equation of fermions in stationary axisymmetric Sen black hole space–time, the fermion tunneling radiation of the black hole is modified accurately, and meaningful physical quantities such as the modified fermion tunneling rate, event horizon temperature, and entropy of the black hole are obtained. The discussion of the conclusions shows that the effect of the Lorentz dispersion relation and Lorentz violation theory on particle dynamics must be considered in curved space–time during the study of quantum theory and Hawking tunneling radiation.

PURPOSE Germline BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 mutations (gBRCAms) are risk factors for pancreatic cancer. The extent to which demographic and geographic factors affect the uptake of gBRCAm testing in pancreatic cancer (PC) is unknown. METHODS We conducted a retrospective, descriptive analysis of demographic/geographic data from the first 2,206 patients with metastatic PC (mPC) screened for eligibility to enter the phase III POLO trial of maintenance olaparib. No formal statistical tests were performed. RESULTS Of 2,167 patients with previously unknown gBRCAm status, 128 (5.9%) had a newly identified gBRCAm; rates were highest in the United States, France, and Israel (9.5%, 7.6%, and 7.4%, respectively). When including patients with a previously known gBRCAm, prevalence rose to 7.2% (or 5.8% after excluding populations enriched in Ashkenazi Jews, who are known to have a high rate of BRCA1 and BRCA2 founder mutations). Patients with a gBRCAm were slightly younger (57.9 v 61.1 years) and more likely to have early-onset mPC than those without. Higher newly identified gBRCAm prevalence was observed among African American (n = 28) versus white (n = 1,808), Asian (n = 218), and other (n = 61) patients (10.7% v 6.1%, 5.0%, and 1.6%, respectively). Of 139 white patients with a gBRCAm, 110 were newly identified during screening; the majority of gBRCAms in African American, Asian, and Hispanic patients (n = 3, n = 11, and n = 5, respectively) were newly identified. CONCLUSION We identified substantial geographic and some racial variability in gBRCAm prevalence among patients with mPC, an important consideration given the increased use of familial screening and possible future use of targeted therapies in this setting. Although our study included small numbers of nonwhite patients, prior knowledge of their gBRCAm status was limited compared with their white counterparts, which suggests disparities in genetic testing uptake.

The establishment of an efficient and economic means of producing hydrogen via electrocatalytic water-splitting will facilitate the extensive commercialization of fuel cells, and the round-the-clock model of electrocatalytic hydrogen production will alleviate the intermittency issue associated with sustainable energy sources. To enable this feature of renewable hydrogen energy, the key point is to develop cheap, large-scale and high-performance hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts as an alternative to noble metals. Here, a simple and robust physically sputtering strategy is reported to massively prepare a porous and defect-enriched W2C@WC1−x film electrocatalyst on carbon cloth (CC) in a W, C and Ar ion plasma atmosphere. The preferential re-sputtering mechanism promotes the loss of activated W and C ions in plasma and extracts more C from plasma, resulting in the ultimate formation of a defective W2C@WC1−x film. The ratio of W2C to WC1−x increased and the particle size decreased when additional nano-scale thickness Mo sublayers were further incorporated. A monolithic and porous W2C@WC1−x/Mo multilayer film as a binder-free electrocatalyst on flexible CC is created. It exhibits excellent HER performance with a low overpotential of 58 mV vs. RHE to drive a current density of −10 mA cm−2, a low Tafel slope of 41 mV dec−1 and over 6 days of long-term running stability in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. It outperforms most of the recently reported outstanding non-noble metal electrocatalysts. This work sheds light on a new route to regulate the tungsten-carbide catalyst morphology and composition with an aim to boost its HER activity.

LBA16 Background: PROpel (NCT03732820) met its primary endpoint showing significant investigator-assessed radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) benefit for patients with mCRPC treated with abi + ola vs abi + pbo in the 1L setting (hazard ratio [HR] 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.54–0.81, P< 0.001, data cut-off: 7/30/2021). Sensitivity analysis by blinded independent central review was consistent. A trend toward OS benefit with abi + ola was observed at the time of the primary rPFS analysis (28.6% maturity, HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.66–1.12) and a subsequent interim analysis (40.1% maturity, HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.66–1.03). We report OS and safety from the pre-planned final analysis (data cut-off: 10/12/2022). Methods: PROpel is a randomized, double-blind phase 3 trial of 1L therapy for patients with mCRPC eligible for abiraterone. Patients were prospectively assessed for homologous recombination repair mutation (HRRm) status using tumor tissue (FoundationOne CDx) and/or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA; FoundationOne Liquid CDx) tests after randomization 1:1 to ola (300 mg twice daily [bid]) or pbo, and abi (1000 mg once daily) plus prednisone/prednisolone (5 mg bid). Treatment continued until radiographic disease progression, unacceptable toxicity or withdrawal of consent. OS was a key secondary endpoint (2-sided boundary for significance 0.0377). Aggregate results from tumor tissue and ctDNA tests were used to assign patients to HRRm/BRCAm subgroups. Results: Patient (n = 796) characteristics (including prior docetaxel, site of metastasis, symptom score and HRRm status) were generally balanced. There was a consistent trend toward OS benefit in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population with abi + ola vs abi + pbo (maturity 47.9%, HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.67–1.00, P= 0.0544), with median OS 42.1 months (m) vs 34.7 m, respectively. OS medians and HRs for HRRm, non-HRRm, BRCAm and non-BRCAm subgroups all favored abi + ola vs abi + pbo. In the abi + ola arm the most common Grade ≥3 adverse event was anemia (16.1%). Conclusions: At the prespecified final analysis in PROpel, abi + ola prolonged OS by > 7 m vs standard-of-care abiraterone (abi + pbo) in the ITT population. The median OS of > 42 m is the longest median reported to date in a phase 3 trial in 1L mCRPC. Consistent with rPFS results, a trend toward OS benefit was observed in HRRm, non-HRRm, BRCAm and non-BRCAm subgroups with greatest benefit in the BRCAm subgroup. No new long-term safety issues were identified. These results support the use of abi + ola in 1L mCRPC. Clinical trial information: NCT03732820 . [Table: see text]

The availability and catalytic activity of the cost-efficient electrocatalysts are the dominant factors for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in the renewable hydrogen economy. Exte...

Magnetic hydrogel derived from wheat straw cellulose (WSC) and feather protein (FP) was successfully derived from [Bmim]Cl ionic liquids for copper nanoparticles carrier to prepare magnetic hydrogel-Cu (m-WSC/FP-Cu). Morphology, structure and component of m-WSC/FP-Cu were characterized by different techniques (SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR, VSM, etc.). The activity of m-WSC/FP-Cu were evaluated by employing them as catalysts for the reduction of 2-nitrobenzoic acid (2-NA) to a useful industrial intermediates, 2-aminobenzoic acid (2-ABA). Effect of experimental conditions, including m-WSC/FP-Cu dosage, 2-NA initial concentration, NaBH4 dosage and temperature, were investigated. The m-WSC/FP-Cu exhibited maximum catalytic activity under conditions of 1.00 g m-WSC/FP-Cu, 100 mg/L 2-NA and 0.3 g NaBH4. Besides, higher activity of m-WSC/FP-Cu was obtained at higher temperature. The activity of m-WSC/FP-Cu maintained 99.02% over 5 cycles utilization and 90.60% after 30 days storage, which exhibited excellent recyclability and stability. It is expected that the m-WSC/FP-Cu have the potential for treating organic wastewater cooperated with a catalyst regeneration device.

This paper presents a high-performance termination based on multi-epi method, where an intrinsic layer is used in the top layer epitaxy, and the field limiting rings (FLR) and field plate (FP) are also adopted. The introduction of the surface intrinsic layer can improve the internal electric field and meet the breakdown voltage (BV) requirements of the termination under the condition of a small termination area. As an example, simulation result of a 1200V fast recovery diode (FRD) shows that the BV is up to 1410V under a termination length of 220µm. Compared with traditional FLR and FP structures, the termination length is reduced by 58% and the BV is increased by 19%. The proposed structure can be well applied to existing high voltage power devices.

A modified Hamilton–Jacobi equation with Lorentz-violating scalar field in the curved spacetime is used to research tunneling radiation from the horizons of Reissner–Nordstr $$\ddot{\mathrm{o}}$$ m de Sitter black hole. We investigate the influence of different etheric-like vector $$u^\alpha $$ on the solution of the modified Hamilton–Jacobi equation by using both the semi-classical approximation and beyond the semi-classical approximation. We find that the solution of the modified Hamilton–Jacobi equation strongly depends on the choices of $$u^\alpha $$ . As $$u^\alpha =\delta ^\alpha _t u^t$$ , the Lorentz-violating scalar field can enhances black holes’ Hawking temperature but reduces its entropy. However, the case will reverses as $$u^\alpha =\delta ^\alpha _r u^r$$ . Our conclusions are applicable to other spherically symmetric charged black holes.

Liuwei Dihuang Pills is a typical traditional Chinese medicine withquot;the same product made by many manufacturersquot;. The quality and price of products made in various factories was different obviously. In this study, the quality differences of Liuwei Dihuang Pills were evaluated over multi-dimensions and throughout the whole production cycle involving raw materials, production process, quality control and post-marketing re-studies based on thequot;Chinese patent medicine evaluation standard with quality at the corequot; established earlier by our research group. The research results showed that the product quality of various manufacturers was significantly different, and the product quality was positively correlated with the market shares of enterprises, indicating that enterprises with more market shares paid more attention to product quality; and the sales determined the concern degree of enterprises on products, which was in line with general cognition. During the single-item evaluation of Liuwei Dihuang Pills, the score of raw material selection was relatively low, and the enterprises paid less attention to the initial raw materials. The whole production process was better, and the national compulsory implementation ofquot;Production Quality Management Standardquot;(GMP) had a positive effect in improving product quality. Quality control could basically guarantee product quality. Intelligent manufacturing promoted by the government was beneficial to ensure product uniformity. The score rate ofquot;quality evaluationquot; item was basically qualified, which indicated that the quality control level of Liuwei Dihuang Pills was acceptable as a whole, but there was still room for improvement.quot;Re-evaluation and Brand Constructionquot; had the lowest scores, reflecting that enterprises did not pay enough attention to in-depth study and re-evaluation ofquot;the same product made by many manufacturersquot;. The evaluation results were in line with expectations, provided a reference example for the evaluation of high-quality Chinese patent medicine, a basis for the high-quality and good price of Chinese patent medicine, scientific data for improving medical insurance bidding, and thus facilitated promoting the healthy development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry.

In the space-time of the nonstationary spherical symmetry Vaidya-Bonner black hole, an accurate modification of Hawking tunneling radiation for fermions with arbitrary spin is researched. Considering a light dispersion relationship derived from string theory, quantum gravitational theory, and the Rarita-Schwinger equation in the nonstationary spherical symmetry space-time, we derive an accurately modified dynamic equation for fermions with arbitrary spin. By solving the equation, the modified tunneling rate of fermions with arbitrary spin, Hawking temperature, and entropy at the event horizon of the Vaidya-Bonner black hole are presented. We find that the Hawking temperature will increase, but the entropy will decrease compared with the case without the Lorentz Invariation Violation modification.

GermlineWe conducted a retrospective, descriptive analysis of demographic/geographic data from the first 2,206 patients with metastatic PC (mPC) screened for eligibility to enter the phase III POLO trial of maintenance olaparib. No formal statistical tests were performed.Of 2,167 patients with previously unknown gBRCAm status, 128 (5.9%) had a newly identified gBRCAm; rates were highest in the United States, France, and Israel (9.5%, 7.6%, and 7.4%, respectively). When including patients with a previously known gBRCAm, prevalence rose to 7.2% (or 5.8% after excluding populations enriched in Ashkenazi Jews, who are known to have a high rate ofWe identified substantial geographic and some racial variability in gBRCAm prevalence among patients with mPC, an important consideration given the increased use of familial screening and possible future use of targeted therapies in this setting. Although our study included small numbers of nonwhite patients, prior knowledge of their gBRCAm status was limited compared with their white counterparts, which suggests disparities in genetic testing uptake.

According to a corrected dispersion relation proposed in the study on string theory and quantum gravity theory, Rarita-Schwinger equation has been precisely modified, which results in a Rarita-Schwinger-Hamilton-Jacobi equation, and through which, the characteristics of arbitrary spin fermions quantum tunneling radiation from non-stationary Kerr-de Sitter black hole are researched. A series of accurately corrected physical quantities such as surface gravity, chemical potential, tunneling probability and Hawking temperature that describe the properties of the black hole are derived. This research has enriched the research methods and made precision of the research contents of black hole physics., 8 pages

Glutamate and its receptors have been demonstrated to promote both basal and nicotine-evoked catecholamine release in bovine chromaffin cells. Multiple glutamate receptors, including metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), are found in the adrenal glands of several species, as well as in chromaffin cells. However, there is limited information available regarding the expression of glutamate metabotropic receptor (GRM)1-8 mRNAs and the detailed localization of group I mGluRs (mGluR1 and mGluR5) in the rat and human adrenal cortex and medulla. Therefore, we examined mRNA expression of GRM1-8 subunits using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the distribution of mGluR1 and mGluR5 by immunostaining. The results showed that the GRM1-8 mRNAs were expressed in both the cortex and medulla of rat and human adrenal glands with the exception of GRM1, which was not detectable in the rat adrenal cortex. Immunostaining of mGluR1 revealed that it was localized only in the adrenal medulla of rats but was present in both the adrenal cortex and medulla in humans. In the adrenal medulla, the central part of the adrenal glands, mGluR1 was detected in chromaffin cells but not in nerve fibers and ganglion cells. Immunoactivity of mGluR5 was visible in the capillary wall throughout the adrenal cortex and medulla in rat and human samples. Its immunoactivity was also observed in ganglion cells in the rat adrenal medulla. There was no mGluR5 immunoactivity detected in chromaffin cells and nerve fibers in the rat and human adrenal medulla. Using dissected rat adrenal medulla as a model, we found that treatment with a mGluR1 agonist activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and increased the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme of catecholamine synthesis. Moreover, these results showed that mGluR1 signaling was involved in hypoxia-induced upregulation of TH in the rat adrenal medulla. This study shows the expression of GRM1-8 mRNAs in rat and human adrenal glands and indicates that glutamate, through the activation of mGluRs, may play various physiological roles in the adrenal gland. Furthermore, mGluR1 may be involved in catecholamine biosynthesis by regulating TH, and mGluR5 may affect cortical and medullar hormone levels by regulating microvascular function.

Grazing exclusion by fencing is a common and effective grassland management strategy for degraded grassland restoration. Soil bacteria, the most important decomposers of soil organic matter, is the linkage between plant and soil. However, soil bacterial α-diversity and community composition in the recover process of degraded shrubland – grassland ecotone on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has not been well understood. Thus, in this research, lightly and heavily degraded shrubland – grassland ecotone and its adjacent communities (alpine shrubland and alpine meadow) during recover process on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were selected to study α-diversity and community composition of soil bacteria, as well as the relationships among soil bacterial community, plant community and soil properties. Our results demonstrated that: 1) Dominant taxa at the phylum and genera level in all samples were similar. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Bacteroidetes were dominant phyla, RB41, H16 and Ferruginibacter were dominant genera. 2) Grazing exclusion had no effect on soil bacterial α-diversity. However, grazing exclusion significantly decreased relative abundance of the Chloroflexi phylum, but grazing exclusion significantly increased the Elusimicrobia phylum relative abundance in the alpine meadow plot. 3) There were no significant differences on soil bacterial α-diversity between the heavily and lightly degraded grassland. However, relative abundance of the Planctomycetes phylum, Deltaproteobacteria class and RB41 genus in the alpine meadow plot of heavily degraded grassland were significantly lower than those in the lightly degraded grassland. 4) The higher plant community α-diversity and soil nutrition of shrubland – grassland ecotone did not result in a higher soil bacterial α-diversity. However, relative abundances of Chloroflexi phylum, Deltaproteobacteria class and Nitrospira class in the shrubland – grassland ecotone were significantly higher than those in the alpine meadow and alpine shrubland plots inside fence of the lightly degraded grassland. 5) Structural equation model (SEM) showed that soil organic carbon and soil total nitrogen were dominant factors affecting soil bacterial α-diversity. 6) Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that soil nitrate nitrogen and soil total nitrogen were the main driving factors for soil bacterial community composition. Our research found that the changes of soil bacterial α-diversity is incongruous with plant community α-diversity, while soil bacterial community composition is paralleled with plant community α-diversity and soil characteristics, especially the soil chemical property. These findings can provide management support for the restoration of degraded alpine shrubland.

We quantified the serum levels of 34 cytokines/chemokines in 30 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Elevated levels of IP-10 and IL-7 were detected in the acute and convalescent stages of the infection and were highly associated with disease severity.

We study the characteristics of the quantum tunneling radiation of scalar bosons in the stationary Kerr-anti-de Sitter black hole based on Lorentz symmetry violation theory. First, the Klein-Gordon equation and Hamilton-Jacobi equation of bosons that are corrected by Lorentz symmetry violation theory in curved space-time are obtained. After solving the corrected dynamic equation of bosons, it is shown that the Lorentz-violating theory has an effect on the stationary Kerr-anti-de Sitter black hole's Hawking tunneling radiation rate, temperature and entropy. At last, some comments are made on the results of our work.

Ethambutol (EMB) is an essential first-line drug for tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Nucleotide substitutions at embB codon 306 ( embB 306) have been proposed to be a potential marker for EMB resistance and a predictor of broad drug resistance in clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. However, discordant findings about the association between embB 306 mutations and EMB resistance were reported. Hebei Province is located in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration region in China; however, little information about the genetic diversity of the embB locus in this area is available. In this study, we sequenced the region surrounding embB 306 (codons 207 to 445) in 62 ethambutol-resistant (EMB r ) isolates, 214 ethambutol-susceptible isolates resistant to other first-line drugs (EMB s isolates), and 100 pan-sensitive isolates. Our data indicated that none of the pan-sensitive isolates showed mutations at embB 306 and 63 drug-resistant isolates harbored embB 306 substitutions, with these substitutions being found in 56.5% (35/62) of EMB r isolates and 13.1% (28/214) of EMB s isolates. A significant association between the embB 306 mutation and resistance to isoniazid, rifampin, EMB, and multiple drugs was observed, and the rate of mutation of embB 306 increased with increasing numbers of first-line drugs to which the isolates were resistant. The embB 306 mutation is not the sole causative factor for EMB resistance, and the poor sensitivity limits its utility as a marker for drug-resistant TB. However, it may be a potential marker for broad drug resistance, especially for multidrug resistance. The mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit–variable-number tandem-repeat profiles may serve as markers for predicting the embB 306 substitutions that may occur in drug-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates under antimicrobial selection pressure.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate whether and how sulforaphane (SFN), a novel promising nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activator, exerted antioxidative stress through activating Nrf2 signaling. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cultured human trabecular meshwork cells (HTMCs) were treated with SFN for 6 hours after establishing the oxidative stress model by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The cell viability, the level of intercellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the apoptosis rate were observed using various kits. In addition, the gene and protein expression of Nrf2 and the phase II antioxidative enzymes were determined by performing qRT-PCR and western blotting. RESULTS In H₂O₂-treated HTMCs, SFN protected HTMCs from oxidative stress damage and decreased the intracellular ROS accumulation, thus inhibiting cell apoptosis. SFN also increased the gene and protein expression of phase II antioxidative enzymes such as NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), and glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (GCLM) by Nrf2-dependent pathway. Furthermore, investigations of the pathway showed that HTMCs pretreated with LY294002, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), downregulated the expression of phase II antioxidative enzymes, partly. CONCLUSIONS These results indicated a novel application for SFN in attenuating H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in HTMCs through activating PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Pennisetum sinese, a source of bio-energy with high biomass production, is a species that contains high crude protein and will be useful for solving the shortage of forage grass after the implementation of “Green for Grain” project in the Loess plateau of Northern Shaanxi in 1999. Plants may receive benefits from endophytic bacteria, such as the enhancement of plant growth or the reduction of plant stress. However, the composition of the endophytic bacterial community associated with the roots of P. sinese is poorly elucidated. In this study, P. sinese from five different samples (Shaanxi province, SX; Fujian province, FJ; the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous prefecture, XJ and Inner Mongolia, including sand (NS) and saline-alkali land (NY), China) were investigated by high-throughput next-generation sequencing of the 16S rDNA V3-V4 hypervariable region of endophytic bacteria. A total of 313,044 effective sequences were obtained by sequencing five different samples, and 957 effective operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were yielded at 97% identity. The phylum Proteobacteria, the classes Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, and the genera Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Arthrobacter, Psychrobacter, and Neokomagataea were significantly dominant in the five samples. In addition, our results demonstrated that the Shaanxi province (SX) sample had the highest Shannon index values (3.795). We found that the SX (308.097) and NS (126.240) samples had the highest and lowest Chao1 richness estimator (Chao1) values, respectively. Venn graphs indicated that the five samples shared 39 common OTUs. Moreover, according to results of the canonical correlation analysis (CCA), soil total carbon, total nitrogen, effective phosphorus, and pH were the major contributing factors to the difference in the overall composition of the bacteria community in this study. Our data provide insights into the endophytic bacteria community composition and structure of roots associated with P. sinese. These results might be useful for growth promotion in different samples, and some of the strains may have the potential to improve plant production in future studies.

420 Background: The POLO study (NCT02184195) showed that mPaC patients (pts) with a deleterious or suspected deleterious gBRCAm, and whose disease had not progressed during ≥16 weeks of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, had significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS, primary endpoint) with maintenance olaparib vs placebo: median 7.4 vs 3.8 months, hazard ratio (HR) 0.53; P= 0.004. PFS benefit was observed in pts with g BRCA1m (HR 0.40) and g BRCA2m (HR 0.63). The POLO study represents the largest BRCAm prevalence study in pancreatic cancer . We report additional exploratory analysis to further characterize patient gBRCAm profiles, including the relationship with efficacy. Methods: Pts were enrolled based on either a previously identified gBRCAm status from a local test result and subsequently confirmed by central testing, or a prospectively identified gBRCAm. Pts received maintenance olaparib 300 mg twice daily (tablet) or placebo. PFS was assessed by blinded independent central review (modified RECIST v1.1). Results: Of 3194 prospectively screened pts, a valid BRCA test result was obtained for 3175 (99%) from 12 countries; gBRCAm prevalence was 6.2% in pts not previously known to harbor a gBRCAm (196/3175; 1.6% g BRCA1m, 4.5% g BRCA2m). In countries (n = 8) with > 100 pts prospectively tested, highest gBRCAm prevalence was 9.2% (USA) and lowest 4.0% (Spain). Prevalence by race ( > 100 pts); 6.4% Caucasian, 4.6% Asian. In total, 154 pts with a gBRCAm satisfied all eligibility criteria and were randomized (106 prospectively tested and 48 by local test [44/48 subsequently confirmed by Myriad testing]). 37/154 (24%) randomized pts carried a common Ashkenazi Jewish founder mutation, the majority being from Israel (21 pts). From a total of 151 variants, frameshift mutations were most frequent (g BRCA1m 69.6%, g BRCA2m 71.4%) followed by nonsense mutations (g BRCA1m 6.5%, g BRCA2m 17.1%). The efficacy (PFS) of olaparib vs placebo in the different subgroups are shown in the table. Conclusions: In pts with mPaC enrolled in POLO, g BRCA2m were more prevalent than g BRCA1m and mutation type was predominantly frameshift. PFS benefit was consistent across a heterogenous spectrum of gBRCAm and with the previously reported full analysis set. Clinical trial information: NCT02184195. [Table: see text]

Low-cost activated carbon was produced from alligator weed by phosphoric acid activation. The cost of production of alligator weed-activated carbon (AWAC) was CN¥ 2.1/kg and the content of activated carbon (AC) in AWAC was 35.33%. AWAC was used as an adsorbent to adsorb cephalexin (CEX) from aqueous solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of AWAC revealed a highly porous structure with a rough surface. AWAC featured a high surface area of 736.3 m 2 /g and an average pore size of 4.05 nm, which were responsible for its excellent adsorption ability. The maximum CEX adsorption capacity of AWAC was ∼45 mg/g. The Langmuir isotherm ( R 2 = 0.9967) gave the best correlation with the experimental data at 308 K, indicating monolayer adsorption. The kinetic model data on AWAC fit well to the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation, which is considered as the rate-limiting factor. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed the presence of phosphorus-containing groups and C–H, C–O, and C=C moieties on the surface of AWAC. Following adsorption, the intensity of the spectral peaks of AWAC decreased owing to coverage of the CEX species or reaction with the functional groups of CEX.

Loofah sponge and activated carbon (AC) made from it were used to adsorb rhodamine B (RhB) onto aqueous solutions. Scanning electron microscopy of the two materials revealed they possessed rough surfaces; loofah sponge featured a high surface area of 132.6 m2/g, which increased to 842.3 m2/g for AC. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that the surface of both materials was abundant in O–H, C–H, and C=O groups, which may increase their adsorption capacities. The kinetics, isotherms, and optimum conditions for RhB removal were studied. RhB adsorption by the adsorbents was consistent with pseudo-second-order equations. The adsorption isotherms revealed that the adsorption process of loofah sponge involved multilayer adsorption, while that of AC was monolayer adsorption. The optimal performance of AC (removal ratio of 99.20% and equilibrium adsorption of 191.43 mg/g) was achieved using a temperature of 313 K, AC content of 0.6 mg/L, and initial RhB concentration of 120 mg/L. AC displayed...