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Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the long‐term sexual function of patients with cervical cancer who underwent treatment and to explore influential factors. Methods: This retrospective cross‐sectional study was conducted at Peking University First Hospital in (Beijing, China). A total of 207 patients, who were diagnosed with Stage IA‐IIA cervical cancer and had undergone surgical treatment (some patients had also been treated with adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy) between January 2010 and August 2020, completed questionnaires via telephone. The median time since diagnosis was 54 (range, 13–138) months. Sexual function was assessed using the validated short form of Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire (PISQ‐12). The multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors influencing sexual function after treatment. Results: The mean preoperative PISQ‐12 score was 39.42 ± 3.922, and the mean postoperative PISQ‐12 score was 32.60 ± 6.592, indicating a significant decrease in postoperative PISQ‐12 score compared with preoperation (p < 0.001). In total, 49.8% of the patients had sexual dysfunction after treatment. According to the results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis, longer follow‐up (months), ovariectomy, lack of hormone replacement therapy after ovariectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy were significantly associated with sexual dysfunction after treatment (p < 0.05). There was no significant correlation among surgical method, tumor stage, adjuvant chemotherapy, and sexual dysfunction after treatment. Conclusions: The sexual function of cervical cancer survivors significantly decreased after treatment, which was related to the length of follow‐up, ovariectomy, and adjuvant radiotherapy. Hormone replacement therapy after ovariectomy can help patients to improve their sexual function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the effects of different kinds of inhibitors on the activity and structure of acetate-degrading microbial community involved in methane fermentation is critically important for developing countermeasures to make the fermentation process stable under different inhibitory conditions. In the present study, a mesophilic chemostat fed with acetate as the sole carbon source was constructed. Microbial community analysis based on high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA revealed that Methanothrix was the dominant methanogen and a variety of bacteria including acetate-oxidizing bacteria such as Tepidanaerobacter , Mesotoga , Geovibrio , and Geobacter were found. The activity and dynamic changes of the acetate-degrading microbial community under different inhibitory conditions were investigated. Addition of 600 mg L−1 ammonium and 150 mg L−1 sulfide reduced nearly half of the biogas production. The response of microbial community to sulfide inhibition was quicker than ammonium but the structure could recover in a short time. Addition of 8 mg L−1 chlortetracycline (CTC) and 160 mg L−1 enrofloxacin (EFX) exhibited a similar inhibitory effect on biogas production, with approximately 35% reduction. Compared to ammonium and sulfide, antibiotics showed stronger selective inhibition on some bacterial species. The genera related to acetate-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria showed stronger tolerance to CTC, which may be due to their low growth rates. Network analysis suggested that some genera which had close phylogenic relationship and similar functions showed constant positive correlation under different inhibitory conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syntrophic oxidization of acetate and propionate are both critical steps of methanogenesis during thermophilic anaerobic digestion. However, knowledge on syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria (SAOB) and syntrophic propionate-oxidizing bacteria (SPOB) is limited because of the difficulty in pure culture isolation due to symbiotic relationship. In this study, two thermophilic acetate-fed anaerobic chemostats, ATL (dilution rate of 0.025 day−1) and ATH (0.05 day−1) and one thermophilic propionate-fed anaerobic chemostat PTL (0.025 day−1) were constructed, AOB and POB in these chemostats were studied via microbial community analysis and DNA stable-isotope probing (SIP). The results showed that, in addition to Tepidanaerobacter, a known SAOB, species of Thauera, Thermodesulfovibrio, Anaerobaculum, Ruminiclostridium, Comamonas, and uncultured bacteria belonging to Lentimicrobiaceae, o_MBA03, Thermoanaerobacteraceae, Anaerolineaceae, Clostridiales, and Ruminococcaceae were determined to be potential AOB in chemostats. Pelotomaculum was the key SPOB detected in the propionate-fed chemostat. Based on the intense fluorescence of coenzyme F420, majority of Methanosarcina cells in acetate-fed chemostats were involved in hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, suggesting the existence of highly active SAOB among the detected AOB. In the propionate-fed chemostat, most of the species detected as AOB were similar to those detected in the acetate-fed chemostats, suggesting the contribution of the syntrophic acetate oxidization pathway for methane generation. These results revealed the existence of previously unknown AOB with high diversity in thermophilic chemostats and suggested that methanogenesis from acetate via the syntrophic oxidization pathway is relevant for thermophilic anaerobic digestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

a popular flowering species with many cultivars, Cymbidium ensifolium (L.) is commercially important in horticulture. However, so far little has been known about genetic diversity and conservation genetics of this species. Understanding of the genetic variation and relationships in cultivars of C. ensifolium is a prerequisite for development of future germplasm conservation and cultivar improvement. Here we report assessment of genetic variations in C. ensifolium cultivars using the DNA fingerprinting technique of inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR). A total of 239 ISSR loci were identified and used for evaluation of genetic variation with a selection of 19 ISSR primers. Among these ISSR loci, 99.16% were polymorphic with wide genetic variation as shown by Nei's gene diversity ( H = 0.2431) among 85 tested cultivars. ISSR fingerprinting profiles showed that each cultivar had its characteristic DNA pattern, indicating unequivocal cultivar identification at molecular level. Eighteen cultivar-specific ISSR markers were identified in seven cultivars. The cultivar Sijiwenhan was confirmed as hybrid by four ISSR primers. Several cultivars with same name but different geographical origins were distinguished based on their ISSR profiles. A dendrogram generated with ISSR markers could group 73 of 85 cultivars into four major clusters. Further analysis of ISSR variation revealed that about 69% of total genetic variation in this species is due to genetic divergence inside geographical groups. Our results suggest that both germplasm collection and in situ conservation are important for future planning of C. ensifolium species conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The genetic diversity of the genus Dendrobium is not well known and the phylogenetic relationship of Dendrobium species are mainly determined by studies of the comparative vegetative anatomy and plant systematics. In the present study, we used the technique of inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) to evaluate genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship among 31 Dendrobium species from Yunnan region of China. In total, 2368 bands were amplified by 17 ISSR primers, resulting from 278 ISSR loci with 100% polymorphism at genus level. Thirty-one species were unequivocally distinguished based on ISSR fingerprinting. Species-specific ISSR markers were identified in nine of 31 tested Dendrobium species. Unweighted pair-group mean analysis (UPGMA) showed that 31 Dendrobium species were grouped into six clusters, indicating the genus was polyphyletic with several well-supported lineages. The high polymorphism and reliable amplification across species demonstrated the utility of ISSR marker for species diagnosis and genetic diversity study of the genus Dendrobium. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Propionate is one of the most important intermediates of anaerobic fermentation. Its oxidation performed by syntrophic propionate-oxidizing bacteria coupled with hydrogenotrophic methanogens is considered to be a rate-limiting step for methane production. However, the current understanding of SPOB is limited due to the difficulty of pure culture isolation. In the present study, two anaerobic chemostats fed with propionate as the sole carbon source were operated at different dilution rates (0.05 d−1 and 0.15 d−1). The propionate- and acetate-oxidizing bacteria in the two methanogenic chemostats were investigated combining DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) and 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. The results of DNA-SIP with 13C-propionate/acetate suggested that, Smithella, Syntrophobacter, Cryptanaerobacter, and unclassified Rhodospirillaceae may be putative propionate-oxidizing bacteria; unclassified Spirochaetaceae, unclassified Synergistaceae, unclassified Elusimicrobia, Mesotoga, and Gracilibacter may contribute to acetate oxidation; unclassified Syntrophaceae and Syntrophomonas may be butyrate oxidizers. By DNA-SIP, unclassified OTUs with 16S rRNA gene abundance higher than 62% of total Bacteria in the PL chemostat and 38% in the PH chemostat were revealed to be related to the degradation of propionate. These results suggest that a variety of uncultured bacteria contribute to propionate degradation during anaerobic digestion. The functions and metabolic characteristics of these bacteria require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propionate is one of the major intermediates in anaerobic digestion of organic waste to CO2 and CH4. In methanogenic environments, propionate is degraded through a mutualistic interaction between symbiotic propionate oxidizers and methanogens. Although temperature heavily influences the microbial ecology and performance of methanogenic processes, its effect on syntrophic interaction during propionate degradation remains poorly understood. In this study, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics were employed to compare mesophilic and thermophilic propionate degradation communities. Mesophilic propionate degradation involved multiple syntrophic organisms (Syntrophobacter, Smithella, and Syntrophomonas), pathways, interactions, and preference toward formate-based electron transfer to methanogenic partners (i.e., Methanoculleus). In thermophilic propionate degradation, one syntrophic organism predominated (Pelotomaculum), interspecies H2 transfer played a major role, and phylogenetically and metabolically diverse H2-oxidizing methanogens were present (i.e., Methanoculleus, Methanothermobacter, and Methanomassiliicoccus). This study showed that microbial interactions, metabolic pathways, and niche diversity are distinct between mesophilic and thermophilic microbial communities responsible for syntrophic propionate degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants use various secondary chemicals in their chemical defense against herbivores. While botanical insecticides are crucial for reducing the reliance on chemical pesticides, the development of plant-derived insecticides remains limited. In this study, we fed Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata with three different host plants (Solanum nigrum, Solanum tuberosum, and Physalis floridana) and observed that feeding on P. floridana led to changes in the body size and a significantly high mortality rate. Through transcriptome analysis, it was found that the trehalose metabolism pathway of H. vigintioctopunctata changed significantly under different host feeding conditions, especially since the expression level of the trehalase gene was extremely different. We subsequently identified eight transcripts of HvTREs and analyzed their evolution and structure. Among them, significant differences are observed in the relative expression levels of HvTRE1-5 in H. vigintioctopunctata after the fourth instar and were affected by different plant diets. Compared with the natural host S. nigrum, the larvae that fed on P. floridana significantly reduced the contents of trehalose, glucose and glycogen and significantly affected the trehalase activity. Knockdown of HvTRE1-5 by RNAi increased mortality at the H. vigintioctopunctata prepupation stage, suggesting that HvTRE1-5 is important for H. vigintioctopunctata pupation. This study provides new insights into developing of green control methods for H. vigintioctopunctata and offers a valuable example for understanding the interaction between host plants and herbivorous insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chrysanthemum morifolium plants are important commercial herbs in China, widely used in ornamental horticulture and traditional medicine. In this study, start codon targeted (SCoT) polymorphic markers were applied to assess genetic relationships among 32 populations of C. morifolium . Thirty-two SCoT primers produced 872 loci, 90% (785) of which showed polymorphism. Average polymorphism information content of the SCoT primers was 0.987 (0.950–0.993), showing that plenty of genetic diversity exists among Chinese C. morifolium cultivars. Cluster analysis of SCoT markers (based on UPGMA and PCoA method) grouped all the cultivars of C. morifolium into two clusters. The partition of clusters in the dendrogram and PCoA plot was similar and large degree of grouping according to their origin and ecological distribution. Our results will provide much more useful information for C. morifolium germplasm resource protection and will also useful to improve the current plant breeding programs. Our results also indicated that SCoT markers are informative and could be used to evaluate genetic diversity of Chinese medicinal C. morifolium cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking is a well-known major risk factor in development of esophageal cancer, but few studies have reported the association between smoking status and prognosis of these patients. We conduct the present study to summarize current evidence. A computerized search of the PubMed and EMBASE was performed up to April 30, 2015. Eight studies, containing 4,286 patients, were analyzed. In the grouping analysis, among esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma patients, current and former smokers, compared to those who have never smoked, seemed to have a poorer prognosis (HR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.22–1.64, and HR = 1.35, 95% CI 0.92–1.97, resp.). In the subgroup analysis, adverse effects on current smoker compared with never smoker were also observed in China and the other countries (HR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.18–1.92, and HR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.12–1.65, resp.). In the group that ever smoked, we could not get a similar result. No significantly increased risk was found in esophageal adenocarcinoma patients compared to the squamous-cell histology ones. In the smoking intensity analysis, heavy smoking was associated with poor survival in esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma. Our pooled results supported the existence of harmful effects of smoking on survival after esophagus cancer diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process to treat synthetic swine wastewater containing antibiotics and heavy metals was studied in this work. Nitrogen removal performance and granule characteristics were tracked by continuous-flow monitoring to evaluate the long-term joint effects of Cu and Zn and of Cu and oxytetracycline (OTC). Cu and Zn with a joint loading rate (JLR) of 0.04 kg m day did not affect the performance, while a JLR of 0.12 kg m day caused a rapid collapse in performance. Cu and OTC addition with a JLR of 0.04 kg m day for approximately 2 weeks induced significant nitrite accumulation. Granule characteristic analysis elucidated the disparate inhibition mechanisms of heavy metals and antibiotics: the internalization of heavy metals caused metabolic disorders, whereas OTC functioned as a growth retarder. However, anammox reactors could adapt to a JLR of 0.04 kg m day via self-regulation during the acclimatization to subinhibitory concentrations, which had a stable nitrogen removal rate (>8.5 kg m day) and removal rate efficiency (>75 %) for reactors with Cu-OTC addition. Therefore, this study supports the great potential of using anammox granules to treat swine wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the behavior, distribution and form dynamics of overloaded Cu(II) in anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) granular sludge reactors were investigated. The performance and physiological characteristics were tracked by continuous-flow monitoring to evaluate the long-term effects. High Cu loading (0.24 g L −1 d −1 ) exceeded sludge bearing capacity, and precipitation dominated the removal pathway. The Cu distribution migrated from the extracellular polymeric substances-bound to the cell-associated Cu and the Cu forms shifted from the weakly bound to strongly bound fractions over time. Pearson correlation and fluorescence spectra analyses showed that the increase in protein concentrations in the EPS was a clear self-defense response to Cu(II) stress. Two remediation strategies, i.e., ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) washing and ultrasound-enhanced EDTA washing, weakened the equilibrium metal partition coefficient from 5.8 to 0.45 and 0.34 L mg −1 SS, respectively, thereby accelerating the external diffusion of the Cu that had accumulated in the anammox granules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starvation of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria can occur in underloaded bioreactors or during the storage of sludge. In this study, the impacts of intermittent and persistent resting modes and phosphates on the endogenous metabolism of anammox bacteria during long-term starvation were investigated. Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the response of anammox granules to different modes of starvation (persistent-resting and intermittent-resting cells) in the presence and absence of phosphates. The endogenous decay coefficient of anammox granules (based on the decreased biomass) over a 30-d persistent starvation period was 0.0062 d −1 , while the intermittent starvation by means of providing substrates every 10 days accelerated the biomass decay approximately twice (0.0110 d −1 ). Moreover, the intermittent-resting cells displayed exacerbated decreases in specific anammox activity relative to the persistent-resting cells, whereas no significant difference was observed in the heme c contents. Regardless of the physiological status of the cells, the presence of low levels of phosphates may be beneficial; however, a high level of phosphates is not recommended. Although different metabolic strategies were adopted depending on the starvation mode, anammox bacteria possessed a better survival strategy via a relatively low maintenance energy requirement to ensure their survival in nutrient-limited systems. In addition, the variations in extracellular protein-like components were indicative of different intracellular metabolic regulation mechanisms. These results provide a better understanding of the endogenous metabolism of anammox bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the short- and long-term effects of Zn(II) on the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) performance and sludge characteristics were evaluated. The anammox activity decreased with increasing Zn(II) concentration and pre-exposure time in short-term tests. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC) of Zn(II) was found to be 25.0 mg L. The 24 and 48-h pre-exposure time was a restricted factor impacting the anammox activity, and washing the inhibited sludge with buffer solution only worked under 0 and 24-h pre-exposure time. The anammox sludge could tolerate 5 mg L Zn(II) but was suppressed at 8 mg L. The inhibited performance could be remitted, as the combination strategies were applied, and after the short term of recovery period, the inhibited sludge characteristics were remitted to the normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the individual and interactive effects of influent substrate concentration ( TN inf ), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and upflow velocity ( V up ) on the performance of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) in a granule-based upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor were investigated by employing response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design. The purpose of this work was to identify the optimal combination of TN inf , HRT and V up with respect to the nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) and nitrogen removal rate (NRR). The reduced cubic models developed for the responses indicated that the optimal conditions corresponded to a TN inf content of 644–728 mg N L −1 , an HRT of 0.90–1.25 h, and a V up of 0.60–1.79 m h −1 . The results of confirmation trials were similar to the predictions of the developed models. These results provide useful information for improving the nitrogen removal performance of the anammox process in a UASB reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The floatation of flocculent and granular sludge was investigated in this study. An anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor was operated for 665 days. During this time, the maximum nitrogen removal rate was 52.6 kgN m −3 d −1 . Floccule floatation occurred between days 100 and 140, which potentially resulted from the sudden increase in gas yield and the poor settling ability of the floccules. Increasing the shear rate from 0.084 to 0.135 s −1 was effective at eliminating floccule floatation. In addition, granule floatation occurred between days 572 and 665, which likely resulted from the formation of hollows within the granules. Floatation may be effectively prevented by maintaining a shear rate of more than 0.778 s −1 . Furthermore, the mechanisms of granule floatation and the floatation processes were proposed. Overall, controlling the shear force may effectively overcome sludge floatation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The role of bio-augmentation in assisting recovery of ANAMMOX from OS was studied. [•] The bio-augmentation time (BAT) was optimized. [•] The bio-augmentation dosage (BAD) was optimized. [•] The changes in sludge characteristics were monitored. [•] The mechanisms of bio-augmentation were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendrobium plants are important commercial herbs in China, widely used in traditional medicine and ornamental horticulture. In this study, sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers were applied to molecular phylogeny analysis and species identification of 31 Chinese Dendrobium species. Fourteen SRAP primer pairs produced 727 loci, 97% of which (706) showed polymorphism. Average polymorphism information content of the SRAP pairs was 0.987 (0.982-0.991), showing that plenty of genetic diversity exists at the interspecies level of Chinese Dendrobium. The molecular phylogeny analysis (UPGMA) grouped the 31 Dendrobium species into six clusters. We obtained 18 species-specific markers, which can be used to identify 10 of the 31 species. Our results indicate the SRAP marker system is informative and would facilitate further application in germplasm appraisal, evolution, and genetic diversity studies in the genus Dendrobium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A full-length D. nobile cDNA library was constructed and 1835 ESTs were obtained. [•] One hundred seventy novel EST-SSRs were developed in D. nobile. [•] A set of 142 EST-SSRs showed robust transferability among 31 Dendrobium species. [•] The genetic diversity showed wide genetic differentiation of section Dendrobium. [•] The phylogeny analysis revealed different genetic architecture among sections. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The genome organization of Dendrobium species remains largely unexplored. An F1 family derived from the controlled interspecific hybridization between Dendrobium moniliforme and D. officinale were used to create genetic linkage maps of parental Dendrobiums using double pseudo-testcross strategy. A total of 422 markers, including 66 EST-SSR, 126 SRAP, 74 ISSR, and 156 RAPD markers, showed expected Mendelian segregation ratio and were used for genetic map construction. Genetic linkage groups with Kosambi genetic distances were constructed using a LOD score≥4 and a recombination threshold of 0.4. The map of D. moniliforme was 1127.9cM in total length with 165 marker loci distributed in 17 linkage groups; and the D. officinale map consisted of 19 genetic linkage groups with a total length of 1210.9cM positioned by 169 marker loci. The genetic maps constructed in this study can serve as a reference linkage map of Dendrobium species for efficient studies of comparative genetics, genetic mapping of traits with economic interest, and marker-assisted selection in horticultural breeding. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]