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Lemna turionifera is native to North America and northern Asia, with significant potential for industrial wastewater remediation. The complete nucleotide sequence of the L. turionifera chloroplast genome (cpDNA) was determined. The cpDNA is a circular molecule of 166,606 bp and containing a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) measuting 31,663 bp each. These IRs are flanked by a small single-copy region of 13,542 bp and a large single-copy region of 89,738 bp. The chloroplast genome of L. turionifera consisted of 112 unique genes, including 78 protein-encoding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis utilizing cpDNA provided a well-supported resolution of the relationships among subfamilies within the Araceae family. Our findings indicated a close relationship between L. turionifera and a clade consisting of L. minor, L. japonica, and L. gibba. The availability of the complete chloroplast genome sequence of L. turionifera presents valuable data for future phylogenetic investigations within the Lemnaceae family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about wildlife diets is crucial for comprehending how species adapt to varying environments in fragmented habitats and for developing effective conservation strategies. White‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) are exclusively found in fragmented limestone forests in southwestern China. To investigate the effects of habitat fragmentation on langurs' diets, we collected published dietary data and relevant environmental factors spanning from 1996 to 2021 at two regions with different degrees of fragmentation (Banli > Bapen), from 10 studies (three of Banli and seven of Bapen). The results demonstrated that the diets of white‐headed langurs were significantly influenced by environmental factors, including habitat fragmentation, annual rainfall, and mean annual temperature. Food item diversity index was significantly and positively affected by the fragmentation index, the higher fragmentation the langurs suffered, the more diverse food items they consumed. Besides, fruit consumption was negatively influenced by annual rainfall and the consumption of other items was influenced by mean annual temperature. Notably, although there are no significant differences in the feeding proportions of food items or food item diversity indices were observed between the Banli and Bapen groups, the Banli groups extensively consumed ground‐supported kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), a plant rarely recorded in the dietary preferences of the Bapen groups, implying that the large plants likely lacking in the fragmented limestone forests. Our findings provide evidence of the major impact of habitat fragmentation on the dietary composition of white‐headed langurs, highlighting the need of considering the possibility that the habitats of the white‐headed langurs have all undergone extreme fragmentation, inferring the conservation efforts should prioritize protecting native vegetation and reducing human disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Components of excretory/secretory products (ESPs) of helminths have been proposed as vaccine targets and shown to play a role in modulating host immune responses for decades. Such research interest is further increased by the discovery of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the ESPs of parasitic worms. Although efforts have been made to reveal the cargos of EVs, little is known about the proteomic differences between EVs and canonical ESPs released by parasitic worms from animals. Methods: The total ESPs of Haemonchuscontortus (barber's pole worm) were obtained by short-term in vitro culturing of young adult worms, and small EVs were isolated from ESPs using an ultracentrifugation method. Data-dependent acquisition (DDA) label-free Nano-LC–MS/MS was used to quantify the proteomic difference between small EVs and EV-depleted ESPs of H.contortus. Functional annotation and enrichment of the differential proteins were performed regarding cellular components, molecular functions, pathways, and/or biological processes. Results: A total of 1697 proteins were identified in small EVs and EV-depleted ESPs of H.contortus adult worms, with 706 unique proteins detected in the former and 597 unique proteins in the latter. It was revealed that proteins in small EVs are dominantly cytoplasmic, whereas proteins in EV-depleted ESPs are mainly extracellular; canonical ESPs such as proteases and small GTPases were abundantly detected in small EVs, and SCP/TAP-, DUF-, and GLOBIN domain-containing proteins were mainly found in EV-depleted ESPs. Compared with well-characterised proteins in small EVs, about 50% of the proteins detected in EV-depleted ESPs were poorly characterised. Conclusions: There are remarkable differences between small EVs and EV-depleted ESPs of H.contortus in terms of protein composition. Immune modulatory effects caused by nematode ESPs are possibly contributed mainly by the proteins in small EVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-affinity K+ transporter (HAK) family, the most prominent potassium transporter family in plants, which involves K+ transport, plays crucial roles in plant responses to abiotic stresses. However, the HAK gene family remains to be characterized in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.). We explored HAKs in quinoa, identifying 30 members (CqHAK1–CqHAK30) in four clusters phylogenetically. Uneven distribution was observed across 18 chromosomes. Furthermore, we investigated the proteins' evolutionary relationships, physicochemical properties, conserved domains and motifs, gene structure, and cis-regulatory elements of the CqHAKs family members. Transcription data analysis showed that CqHAKs have diverse expression patterns among different tissues and in response to abiotic stresses, including drought, heat, low phosphorus, and salt. The expressional changes of CqHAKs in roots were more sensitive in response to abiotic stress than that in shoot apices. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that under high saline condition, CqHAK1, CqHAK13, CqHAK19, and CqHAK20 were dramatically induced in leaves; under alkaline condition, CqHAK1, CqHAK13, CqHAK19, and CqHAK20 were dramatically induced in leaves, and CqHAK6, CqHAK9, CqHAK13, CqHAK23, and CqHAK29 were significantly induced in roots. Our results establish a foundation for further investigation of the functions of HAKs in quinoa. It is the first study to identify the HAK gene family in quinoa, which provides potential targets for further functional study and contributes to improving the salt and alkali tolerance in quinoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The application of clinical mNGS for diagnosing respiratory infections improves etiology diagnosis, however at the same time, it brings new challenges as an unbiased sequencing method informing all identified microbiomes in the specimen. Methods: Strategy evaluation and metagenomic analysis were performed for the mNGS data generated between March 2017 and October 2019. Diagnostic strengths of four specimen types were assessed to pinpoint the more appropriate type for mNGS diagnosis of respiratory infections. Microbiome complexity was revealed between patient cohorts and infection types. A bioinformatic pipeline resembling diagnosis results was built based upon multiple bioinformatic parameters. Results: The positive predictive values (PPVs) for mNGS diagnosing of non-mycobacterium, Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), and Aspergillus were obviously higher in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) demonstrating the potency of BALF in mNGS diagnosis. Lung tissues and sputum were acceptable for diagnosis of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infections. Interestingly, significant taxonomy differences were identified in sufficient BALF specimens, and unique bacteriome and virome compositions were found in the BALF specimens of tumor patients. Our pipeline showed comparative diagnostic strength with the clinical microbiological diagnosis. Conclusions: To achieve reliable mNGS diagnosis result, BALF specimens for suspicious common infections, and lung tissues and sputum for doubtful MTB infections are recommended to avoid the false results given by the complexed respiratory microbiomes. Our developed bioinformatic pipeline successful helps mNGS data interpretation and reduces manual corrections for etiology diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is known and objective: Camrelizumab is a recently developed PD‐1 inhibitor in China applied in treating different cancers including lung cancer. This study is designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and prognostic factors for camrelizumab plus carboplatin and pemetrexed (CP) chemotherapy in treating patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. Methods: Of 51 advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients with negative driver genes who received camrelizumab plus CP chemotherapy were recruited. These patients received four cycles of camrelizumab plus CP chemotherapy in a 21‐day cycle. Then, camrelizumab, pemetrexed or camrelizumab plus pemetrexed was administered as maintenance therapy. Results and discussion: The rates of complete response, partial response, stable disease and progressive disease were 2.0%, 56.8%, 19.6% and 5.9%, respectively; while treatment response of 15.7% of patients was missing or not evaluable. The objective response and disease control rates were 58.8% and 78.4%, respectively. With a median follow‐up period of 14.9 months (the follow‐up duration ranged from 3.9 months to 24.3 months), 41 (83.4%) cases of disease progression and 22 (43.1%) cases of death were recorded. The median progression‐free survival (PFS) was 10.5 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 8.4–12.6 months) with a 1‐year PFS rate of 36.3% and a 2‐year PFS rate of 7.5%. In addition, the median overall survival (OS) was 18.7 months (95% CI: 16.4–21.0 months) with a 1‐year OS rate of 79.1% and a 2‐year OS rate of 30.4%. In consideration of safety, the most frequent adverse events were peripheral neuropathy (37.3%), neutropenia (37.3%), alopecia (35.3%), etc. and most of them were grade 1–2 and could be controlled. What is new and Conclusion: Camrelizumab plus CP chemotherapy achieves favourable efficacy and tolerable adverse events in advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The continuous activation of transcription factors drives many diseases, including tumors, autoimmune disease, neurodegenerative disease, and male infertility. Thus, Blocking the transcriptional activity of these proteins may inhibit disease progression. In this study, we developed a new method to specifically inhibit the activity of the transcription factor STAT3. Methods: Fusing the transcriptional inhibitory domain KRAB with STAT3 successfully blocked the transcription activity of STAT3 in cancer cells without affecting its function in the mitochondria and lysosomes. Results: the expression of KRAB-STAT3 fusion protein inhibited the growth of tumor cells. Conclusions: The KRAB-STAT3 fusion protein provides a novel approach for drug development for the treatment of cancer or autoimmune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The continuous activation of transcription factors drives many diseases, including tumors, autoimmune disease, neurodegenerative disease, and male infertility. Thus, Blocking the transcriptional activity of these proteins may inhibit disease progression. In this study, we developed a new method to specifically inhibit the activity of the transcription factor STAT3.Methods: Fusing the transcriptional inhibitory domain KRAB with STAT3 successfully blocked the transcription activity of STAT3 in cancer cells without affecting its function in the mitochondria and lysosomes.Results: the expression of KRAB-STAT3 fusion protein inhibited the growth of tumor cells.Conclusions: The KRAB-STAT3 fusion protein provides a novel approach for drug development for the treatment of cancer or autoimmune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the pollution of the environment and the acceleration of the social rhythm, the prevalence of tumors has increased year by year, and tumors have brought huge pain and inconvenience to patients. However, traditional nursing work consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, but it is difficult to improve the happiness of cancer patients, and it also brings a lot of troubles to many nursing workers. Based on the above reasons, we reengineered the traditional nursing process based on the BPR theory and applied the new process to the analysis of the management effect of cancer patients after oral chemotherapy drugs. The data shows that there are 23 patients with no pressure ulcer risk (score greater than 19) before care, 27 patients with low risk (15–19 points), 32 patients with moderate risk (13–14 points), and 18 people at high risk (less than 12 points). After nursing, there were 82 patients with no pressure ulcer risk, 10 patients with low risk, 7 patients with moderate risk, and 1 patient with high risk. This shows that the risk of pressure ulcers in patients with cancer after the use of chemotherapy drugs is significantly reduced compared with those without nursing. Nursing intervention can improve the psychological state of cancer patients during the recovery period, and nursing intervention can promote the compliance of cancer patients in various aspects of rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This phase II, single-arm, prospective study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in Chinese patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer (CC). Methods: Patients with histologically proven recurrent or metastatic advanced CC were enrolled at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Patients received 12 mg of oral anlotinib daily before breakfast for 2 weeks of each 3-week (21 days) cycle separated by a 1-week interval. Anlotinib was administered orally until disease progression, patient withdrawal, intolerant toxicity, or death. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate (ORR) according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, and the secondary endpoints included the disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. Results: Between September 2018 and November 2019, 41 patients were recruited. The median age was 53 years old. The histological results revealed that 82.9% of the recruited patients had squamous cell carcinoma, 14.6% had adenocarcinoma, and 2.4% had other types. At the data cutoff date, six patients were still being treated, and 35 patients had discontinued treatment. Forty (40/41, 97.5%) patients were evaluated for treatment response. The median PFS and OS was 3.2 and 9.9 months, respectively, in patients who received anlotinib treatment. The ORR was 24.4%. In addition, 34.2% (14/41) of patients were confirmed to have stable disease, and 39.0% (16/41) of patients were confirmed to have progressive disease. The DCR was 58.5%. Ten patients (10/41) had a confirmed response during the follow-up period. Most adverse events (AEs) were grade 1 or 2. High-grade AEs (grade 3) included urinary leukocyte positivity (9.8%), hematuria (4.9%), and hypertension (2.4%). Conclusion: This is the first study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in Chinese patients with recurrent or metastatic CC. Anlotinib produced durable clinical responses with manageable safety in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate salt tolerance and organ-specific responses of Populus deltoides × Populus euramericana cv., ‘NL895’ to salinity stress, plantlets were cultured on half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium containing 0, 50, 100, 150, or 200 mM NaCl for 15-30 d. The growth, ion homeostasis, antioxidant activities, and ultrastructural responses of the roots and leaves were assessed. Sodium chloride, at 50 and 100 mM (there were mostly no statistical differences in the two levels), induced lower Na+ contents, higher K+/Na+ ratio, and lower H2O2 and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in roots compared to those in leaves. However, salt-stressed roots exhibited greater peroxidase (POD) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities and higher ascorbic acid (AsA) contents compared to leaves. The leaves maintained higher K+ and Ca2+ levels than the roots during NaCl treatment and partly balanced the excess Na+ to decrease Na+ toxicity. Also, leaves reduced oxidative damage by increasing the activities of the antioxidation enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase, and by increasing AsA and glutathione (GSH) levels. Additionally, an increase in the stomatal density was observed in the NaCl-treated leaves. Overall, roots and leaves displayed different adaptive mechanisms to cope with salt stress and the roots were more tolerant to salt stress than the leaves. Coordination of Na+ and K+ transport in roots and leaves, and the organ-specificity of high POD activity in roots, and high CAT and APX activities in leaves, likely contributed to the salt tolerance of the whole plant. ‘NL895’ poplar could survive at a moderate NaCl level of 100 mM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the effects of dextran glycation on soya β-conglycinin self-assembly into nanofibrils at 85 °C and pH 2.0, as well as their stability at pH 2.0-10.0. Although the hydrolysis rate of β-conglycinin decreased, glycation significantly increased the structural change rate in the initial stage of nanofibril formation and the growth of nanofibril. It is suggested that the glycation of three subunits (α′, α, β) in β-conglycinin may promote fibril assembly because the extension regions of α′ and α subunits play an important role in affecting the rate of structural changes in fibril formation. At neutral pH, conjugate nanofibrils are highly dispersible and transparent and remained greater structural stability compared with mixture. The improvement stability of conjugate nanofibrils may be contributed to dextran which provides some steric hindrance to prevent the aggregation of nanofibrils; this would also facilitate the application of soya β-conglycinin nanofibrils in food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chloroplast (cp) genome of natural male mutant Cymbidium tortisepalum 'Guanshihe' has been characterized using Illumina pair-end sequencing technology. The complete cp genome was 149,830 bp in length, containing a large single-copy region (LSC) of 85,131 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 13,275 bp, which were separated by a pair of 25,712 bp inverted repeat regions (IRs). The genome contained 130 genes, with 111 unique genes, including 77 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. The overall GC content is 37.09% with the values of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 34.40%, 29.63%, and 43.45%, respectively. Further, phylogenetic analysis suggested that the plastome of C. tortisepalum male mutant 'Guanshihe' is close to sequenced C. sinense, C. kanran, C. tortisepalum, and C. ensifolium plastomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of a gynodioecious Satyrium ciliatum female type has been characterized using Illumina pair-end sequencing. The complete cp genome was 154,418 bp in length, containing a large single copy region (LSC) of 83,475 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 17,513 bp, which were separated by a pair of 26,715 bp inverted repeat regions (IRs). The genome contained 132 genes, with 113 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. The overall GC content is 37.18% with the values of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 34.90%, 30.15%, and 43.06%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the S. ciliatum is close to Platanthera japonica (MG925368) in subfamily Orchidoideae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Liuyuezaoyou' is an early-ripening cultivar selected from a bud mutation of Citrus grandis Osbeck 'Guanximiyou'. They were designated here as MT and WT, respectively. The fruit of MT matures about 45 days earlier than WT, which was accompanied by significant changes in key phytohormones, sugar compounds and organic acids. Recent studies have showed that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in regulation of fruit ripening process. The aim of this study was to compare MT fruits with WT ones to uncover if miRNAs were implicated in the ripening of C. grandis. Fruits of both WT and MT at four developmental stages were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing and RT-PCR. Several independent miRNA libraries were constructed and sequenced. A total of 747 known miRNAs were identified and 99 novel miRNAs were predicted across all libraries. The novel miRNAs were found to have hairpin structures and possess star sequences. These results showed that transcriptome and miRNAs are substantially involved in a complex and comprehensive network in regulation of fruit ripening of this species. Further analysis of the network model revealed intricate interactions of miRNAs with mRNAs during the fleshy fruit ripening process. Several identified miRNAs have potential targets. These include auxin-responsive protein IAA9, sucrose synthase 3, V-type proton ATPase, NCED1 (ABA biosynthesis) and PL1/5 (pectate lyase genes), as well as NAC100 putative coordinated regulation networks, whose interactions with respective miRNAs may contribute significantly to fruit ripening of C. grandis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate the imaging biomarkers of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer in comparison to other molecular subtypes and to determine the feasibility of identifying hormone receptor (HR) status and lymph node metastasis status using volumetric-tumour histogram-based analysis through intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and non-Gaussian diffusion.Methods: This study included 145 breast cancer patients with 148 lesions between January and November in 2018. Among the 148 lesions, 74 were confirmed to be HER2-positive. The volumetric-tumour histogram-based features were extracted from the combined IVIM and non-Gaussian diffusion model. IVIM and non-Gaussian diffusion parameters obtained from images of the subjects with different molecular prognostic biomarker statuses were compared by Student's t test or the Mann-Whitney U test. The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity at the best cut-off point were reported. The Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated to analyse the correlations of clinical tumor nodule metastasis (TNM) stage and Ki67 with the IVIM and non-Gaussian diffusion parameters.Results: The entropy of mean kurtosis (MK) was significantly higher in the HER2-positive group than in the HER2-negative group (p = 0.015), with an AUC of 0.629 (95% CI 0.546, 0.707), a sensitivity of 62.6%, and a specificity of 66.2%. For HR status, the MD 5th percentile was higher in the HR-positive group of HER2-positive breast cancer (p = 0.041), with an AUC of 0.643 (95% CI 0.523, 0.751), while for lymph node status, the entropy of mean diffusivity (MK) was lower in the lymph node positive group (p = 0.040), with an AUC of 0.587 (95% CI 0.504, 0.668). The clinical TNM stage and Ki67 index were correlated with several histogram parameters.Conclusion: Volumetric-lesion histogram analysis of IVIM and the non-Gaussian diffusion model can be used to provide prognostic information about HER2-positive breast cancers and potentially contribute to individualized anti-HER2 targeted therapy plans . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of a dual-parametric 2D histogram classification method for breast lesions.Methods: This study included 116 patients with 72 malignant and 44 benign breast lesions who underwent CAIPIRINHA-Dixon-TWIST-VIBE dynamic contrast-enhanced (CDT-VIBE DCE) and readout-segmented diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance examination. The volume of interest (VOI), which encompassed the entire lesion, was segmented from the last phase of DCE images. For each VOI, a 1D histogram analysis (mean, median, 10th percentile, 90th percentile, kurtosis and skewness) was performed on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and volume transfer constant (Ktrans) maps; a 2D histogram image (Ktrans-ADC) was generated from the pixelwise aligned maps, and its kurtosis and skewness were calculated. Each parameter was correlated with pathological results using the Mann-Whitney test and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.Results: For the Ktrans histogram, the area under the curve (AUC) of the mean, median, 90th percentile and kurtosis had statistically diagnostic values (mean: 0.760; median: 0.661; 90th percentile: 0.781; and kurtosis: 0.620). For the ADC histogram, the AUC of the mean, median, 10th percentile, skewness and kurtosis had statistically diagnostic values (mean: 0.661; median: 0.677; 10th percentile: 0.656; skewness: 0.664; and kurtosis: 0.620). For the 2D Ktrans-ADC histogram, the skewness and kurtosis had statistically higher diagnostic values (skewness: 0.831, kurtosis: 0.828) than those of the 1D histogram (all P < 0.05).Conclusions: The dual-parametric 2D histogram analysis revealed better diagnostic accuracy for breast lesions than single parametric histogram analysis of either Ktrans or ADC maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]