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Background Selenium (Se) plays a key role in controlling several processes in plant development, such as root growth and regulation of enzyme activity. However, research on the effects of Se in Sophora tonkinensis, a medicinal plant, has not been reported. To elucidate the effect of Se on the accumulation of secondary metabolites in tissue-cultured seedlings of S. tonkinensis.Materials and Methods Tissue culture seedlings of S. tonkinensiswas treated with different concentrations of Se in the rooting medium. Agronomic traits of roots and concentrations of hormones and some secondary metabolites were measured from seedlings.Results The results show that (1) root growth of tissue culture seedlings were stimulated by Se; (2) a specific amount of Se enhanced the activities of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as the production and storage of soluble proteins and chlorophyll; and (3) Se treatment lowered brassinolide (BR) content, and 15 mg/L Se minimized abscisic acid (ABA) content, while 60 mg/L Se enhanced ABA content. The gibberellin (GA3) content in seedlings increased significantly compared with the control under the treatment of 60 mg/L Se.Conclusion Se concentration of 30 mg/L facilitated matrine and oxymatrine production and accumulation in stem/leaf tissues.

The study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of all-transretinoic acid (ATRA) plus low-dose rituximab (LD-RTX) with LD-RTX monotherapy in corticosteroid-resistant or relapsed immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients. Recruited patients were randomized at a ratio of 2:1 into 2 groups: 112 patients received LD-RTX plus ATRA, and 56 patients received LD-RTX monotherapy. Overall response (OR), defined as achieving a platelet count of ≥30 × 109/L confirmed on ≥2 separate occasions (≥7 days apart), at least a doubling of the baseline platelet count without any other ITP-specific treatment, and the absence of bleeding within 1 year after enrollment, was observed in more patients in the LD-RTX plus ATRA group (80%) than in the LD-RTX monotherapy group (59%) (between-group difference, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.07-0.36). Sustained response (SR), defined as maintenance of a platelet count >30 × 109/L, an absence of bleeding, and no requirement for any other ITP-specific treatment for 6 consecutive months after achievement of OR during 1 year following enrollment, was achieved by 68 (61%) patients in the combination group and 23 (41%) patients in the monotherapy group (between-group difference, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.04-0.35). The 2 most common adverse events (AEs) for the combination group were dry skin and headache or dizziness. Our findings demonstrated that ATRA plus LD-RTX significantly increased the overall and sustained response, indicating a promising treatment option for corticosteroid-resistant or relapsed adult ITP. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.govas #NCT03304288.

The study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) plus low-dose rituximab (LD-RTX) with LD-RTX monotherapy in corticosteroid-resistant or relapsed immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients. Recruited patients were randomized at a ratio of 2:1 into 2 groups: 112 patients received LD-RTX plus ATRA, and 56 patients received LD-RTX monotherapy. Overall response (OR), defined as achieving a platelet count of ≥30 × 109/L confirmed on ≥2 separate occasions (≥7 days apart), at least a doubling of the baseline platelet count without any other ITP-specific treatment, and the absence of bleeding within 1 year after enrollment, was observed in more patients in the LD-RTX plus ATRA group (80%) than in the LD-RTX monotherapy group (59%) (between-group difference, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.07-0.36). Sustained response (SR), defined as maintenance of a platelet count >30 × 109/L, an absence of bleeding, and no requirement for any other ITP-specific treatment for 6 consecutive months after achievement of OR during 1 year following enrollment, was achieved by 68 (61%) patients in the combination group and 23 (41%) patients in the monotherapy group (between-group difference, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.04-0.35). The 2 most common adverse events (AEs) for the combination group were dry skin and headache or dizziness. Our findings demonstrated that ATRA plus LD-RTX significantly increased the overall and sustained response, indicating a promising treatment option for corticosteroid-resistant or relapsed adult ITP. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT03304288.

AbstractAs a medicinal plant, Sophora tonkinensisis mainly distributed in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and northern Vietnam. In recent years, due to the strong demand for S. tonkinensis, wild resources have become decreased, which has placed great pressure on their protection. Therefore, the introduction of S. tonkinensiswas carried out in Guangxi. Although the flowering period of S. tonkinensisis long, its seed setting rate is low. To promote flower production, it is necessary to do basic research on flowering in S. tonkinensis. In this study, the contents of various mineral elements in the roots, stems and leaves of S. tonkinensiswere measured during the period of flowering, and cluster analysis was carried out on the content changes. At the same time, the correlations among the elements were analyzed. It was found that As and Hg inhibited the absorption of some important elements related to flower development. It is necessary to pay attention to the effects of these toxic elements on flowering during cultivation. RNA-seq of flower buds and flower organs was carried out, and the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) method was used to mine the key genes. These genes may play an important role in flowering control and flower development in S. tonkinensis.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2021.1988707 .

Infection is one of the primary causes of death from immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), and the lungs are the most common site of infection. We identified the factors associated with hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in nonsplenectomized adults with ITP and established the ACPA prediction model to predict the incidence of hospitalization for CAP. This was a retrospective study of nonsplenectomized adult patients with ITP from 10 large medical centers in China. The derivation cohort included 145 ITP inpatients with CAP and 1360 inpatients without CAP from 5 medical centers, and the validation cohort included the remaining 63 ITP inpatients with CAP and 526 inpatients without CAP from the other 5 centers. The 4-item ACPA model, which included age, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, initial platelet count, and initial absolute lymphocyte count, was established by multivariable analysis of the derivation cohort. Internal and external validation were conducted to assess the performance of the model. The ACPA model had an area under the curve of 0.853 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.818-0.889) in the derivation cohort and 0.862 (95% CI, 0.807-0.916) in the validation cohort, which indicated the good discrimination power of the model. Calibration plots showed high agreement between the estimated and observed probabilities. Decision curve analysis indicated that ITP patients could benefit from the clinical application of the ACPA model. To summarize, the ACPA model was developed and validated to predict the occurrence of hospitalization for CAP, which might help identify ITP patients with a high risk of hospitalization for CAP.

Infection is one of the primary causes of death from immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), and the lungs are the most common site of infection. We identified the factors associated with hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in nonsplenectomized adults with ITP and established the ACPA prediction model to predict the incidence of hospitalization for CAP. This was a retrospective study of nonsplenectomized adult patients with ITP from 10 large medical centers in China. The derivation cohort included 145 ITP inpatients with CAP and 1360 inpatients without CAP from 5 medical centers, and the validation cohort included the remaining 63 ITP inpatients with CAP and 526 inpatients without CAP from the other 5 centers. The 4-item ACPA model, which included age, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, initial platelet count, and initial absolute lymphocyte count, was established by multivariable analysis of the derivation cohort. Internal and external validation were conducted to assess the performance of the model. The ACPA model had an area under the curve of 0.853 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.818-0.889) in the derivation cohort and 0.862 (95% CI, 0.807-0.916) in the validation cohort, which indicated the good discrimination power of the model. Calibration plots showed high agreement between the estimated and observed probabilities. Decision curve analysis indicated that ITP patients could benefit from the clinical application of the ACPA model. To summarize, the ACPA model was developed and validated to predict the occurrence of hospitalization for CAP, which might help identify ITP patients with a high risk of hospitalization for CAP.

AbstractSophora tonkinensisis an important source of herbal medicine for treatment of swelling and pain in the throat. Its chemical composition has been extensively studied; however, there are still gaps in the research on genetic diversity of S. tonkinensiswhich can provide insights for better utilization and conservation of genetic resources. In this study, 23 populations of diverse locations from southern China were evaluated using AFLP markers. The average number of alleles (Naand Ne) from all populations was 0.608 (Na) and 1.153 (Ne), average Shannon’s information index was 0.137, which indicated that the genetic diversity of the whole populations was low. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering and principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) showed that the populations could be divided into three clades. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that 20% of the molecular variance was due to differences among wild populations and 80% of the molecular variance was due to divergence within wild populations. There was a significant positive correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance, as well as ecological factors including altitude and temperature. It is necessary to closely monitor the status of the wild populations and consider expanding their genetic diversity. Establishment of the conservation basis in different areas is more conducive to the protection of S. tonkinensis.

Thrombocytopenia is associated with life-threatening bleeding and is common in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Robust molecular prognostic biomarkers need to be developed to improve clinical decision making for patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia. Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) and preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) are promising immunogenic antigen candidates for immunotherapy, and their clinical effects on patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia are still not well understood. We performed a multicenter observational study of adult patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia from 7 different tertiary medical centers in China. We examined bone marrow samples collected at diagnosis for WT1 and PRAME transcript levels and then analyzed their prognostic effect for patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia. In total, we enrolled 1110 patients diagnosed with MDS with thrombocytopenia. Overexpression of WT1 and PRAME was associated with elevated blast percentage, worse cytogenetics, and higher Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) risk. Further, both WT1 and PRAME overexpression were independent poor prognostic factors for acute myeloid leukemia evolution, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Together, the 2 genes overexpression identified a population of patients with MDS with substantially worse survival. On the basis of WT1 and PRAME transcript levels, patients with MDS with IPSS-R low risk were classified into 2 significantly divergent prognostic risk groups: a low-favorable group and a low-adverse group. The low-adverse group had survival similar to that of patients in the intermediate-risk group. Our study demonstrates that the evaluation of WT1/PRAME transcript analysis may improve the prognostication precision and better risk-stratify the patients.

Thrombocytopenia is associated with life-threatening bleeding and is common in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Robust molecular prognostic biomarkers need to be developed to improve clinical decision making for patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia. Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) and preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) are promising immunogenic antigen candidates for immunotherapy, and their clinical effects on patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia are still not well understood. We performed a multicenter observational study of adult patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia from 7 different tertiary medical centers in China. We examined bone marrow samples collected at diagnosis for WT1and PRAMEtranscript levels and then analyzed their prognostic effect for patients with MDS with thrombocytopenia. In total, we enrolled 1110 patients diagnosed with MDS with thrombocytopenia. Overexpression of WT1and PRAMEwas associated with elevated blast percentage, worse cytogenetics, and higher Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) risk. Further, both WT1and PRAMEoverexpression were independent poor prognostic factors for acute myeloid leukemia evolution, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Together, the 2 genes overexpression identified a population of patients with MDS with substantially worse survival. On the basis of WT1and PRAMEtranscript levels, patients with MDS with IPSS-R low risk were classified into 2 significantly divergent prognostic risk groups: a low-favorable group and a low-adverse group. The low-adverse group had survival similar to that of patients in the intermediate-risk group. Our study demonstrates that the evaluation of WT1/PRAMEtranscript analysis may improve the prognostication precision and better risk-stratify the patients.

In cancer treatment, prolonging the retention time of therapeutic agents in tumor tissues is a key point in enhancing the therapeutic efficacy. However, drug delivery by intravenous injection is always subjected to a “CAPIR” cascade, including circulation, accumulation, penetration, internalization, and release. Intratumoral administration has gradually emerged as an ideal alternative approach for nanomedicine because of its independence of blood constituents and minimal systemic toxicities. In this contribution, based on the dynamically reversible interaction between boronic acid (BA) and dopamine (DA), a thermo- and pH-responsive polymeric complex is rationally obtained by facile mixing of phenylboronic acid (PBA)- and tetraphenylethene (TPE)-modified poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-poly(phenyl isocyanide)s block copolymers, PNIPAM-b-P(PBAPI-co-TPEPI), and tetra(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate (OEGA)- and DA-containing hydrophilic P(DA-co-OEGA) copolymers. The resultant complex exhibited temperature- and pH-dependent size change as well as sustained nile red (NR) release profiles in a mimic tumor environment. Moreover, thanks to the opposite optical behavior of TPE and NR molecules, the complex could be served as a fluorescence ratiometric cell imaging agent, avoiding the interference of background fluorescence and improving correlated resolution. After encapsulation of camptothecin (anticancer drug), the efficient killing on HeLa cells was achieved in vitro, and the structural integrity of the complex endowed its extended retention time in tumor tissues. Considering these advantages, the reversible covalent interaction between PBA and diols can be used as an efficient driving force to form dynamic drug-delivery vectors, which are promising to be an effective nanoplatform for injectable medical treatments.

In cancer treatment, surface modification by penetrating peptides and size control have been exploited as the two main strategies to tackle the problems of deep tumor penetration and cell internalization for nanocarriers. Polymeric nanocarriers with small size are beneficial for deep tumor penetration; however, they always undergo rapid clearance during body circulation and have low tumor accumulation efficiency. To solve this dilemma, a tumor-targeted size-switchable CPT/IR780@H30-PCL-PPI(L−)/PEI(–COOH/FA) nanoassembly with a “pomegranate” construction was designed in this study. Initially, it possessed a large size and negative charge to meet the long blood circulation time but rapidly disassembled into small-sized guanidinium and helical chain-modified unimolecular micelle-based nanocarriers, CPT/IR780@H30-PCL-PPI(L−/ + ), at tumor sites due to the tumor microenvironment-induced charge reversal. The CPT/IR780@H30-PCL-PPI(L−/+) assembly could efficiently expand the penetration depth and accelerate cell internalization due to the guanidinium group-modified helical chains, which exhibited a similar structure to that of the cell penetrating peptides. In addition, the nanoassembly exhibited strong photothermal conversion and acoustic generation efficiency. Moreover, the generated heat significantly improved the drug release, thus realizing functional cooperativity and adaptability. This proof of concept can be supposed to be a significant progress in the design and preparation of tumor microenvironment-responsive drug delivery systems and their use for photoacoustic imaging-assisted chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy.

Relationship between green building project stakeholders at different stages in the whole life cycle constitutes a complex network, and the stakeholders' relationship at different stages can be coordinated through project governance at the organisation level, so as to promote green building large-scale popularisation and application. This paper, firstly, screens the green building projects stakeholders through the literature research, and then identifies green building projects key stakeholders at different stages in the whole life cycle, in order to project more targeted governance. Secondly, this paper uses social network analysis (SNA) to measure green building project key stakeholders network organisation relations, to analyse the mutual influence among key stakeholders. Finally, combining with social network analysis results, this paper puts forward different governance solution at the decision-making phase, implementation phase and usage phase of green building projects.

The membrane-bound AAA protease FtsH is the key player controlling protein quality in bacteria. Two single-pass membrane proteins, HflK and HflC, interact with FtsH to modulate its proteolytic activity. Here, we present structure of the entire FtsH-HflKC complex, comprising 12 copies of both HflK and HflC, all of which interact reciprocally to form a cage, as well as four FtsH hexamers with periplasmic domains and transmembrane helices enclosed inside the cage and cytoplasmic domains situated at the base of the cage. FtsH K61/D62/S63 in the β2-β3 loop in the periplasmic domain directly interact with HflK, contributing to complex formation. Pull-down and in vivoenzymatic activity assays validate the importance of the interacting interface for FtsH-HflKC complex formation. Structural comparison with the substrate-bound human m-AAA protease AFG3L2 offers implications for the HflKC cage in modulating substrate access to FtsH. Together, our findings provide a better understanding of FtsH-type AAA protease holoenzyme assembly and regulation.

Accurate estimation of Lithium-ion battery’s (LiB) state of charge (SOC) in the battery management system (BMS) is very critical to the performance of battery electric vehicles (BEV) because it indicate how much charge is remaining in the battery. However, due to the nonlinear properties of the LiB and the uncertainty of battery models, estimating the SOC of battery online during vehicle operation is often a major challenge. This paper proposes a model-based estimation method named an improved fractional-order extended Kalman filter (IFO-EKF) to overcome the shortcomings of the electrical equivalent circuit model (EECM) in a regular LiB integer-order model. Firstly, a simplified first-order fractional-order model (FOM) which combines the advantages of both the EECM and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was developed to accurately interpret battery electrochemical processes using electrical circuit made up of resistors and constant phase element (CPE) having fractional-order characteristics. Secondly, the unknown parameters of the FOM model are identified off-line using quantum particle swarm optimization (QPSO) algorithm. In addition, due to the non-linear dynamic characteristics of LiB, Kalman filter family algorithms used in battery state estimation faces some shortcomings which results in filter divergence caused by the implementation of inappropriate co-variance matrix in the algorithm which leads to inaccuracies and estimation error in the model. The convergence rate of the proposed IFO-EKF algorithm in this study was improved by introducing a Grünwald–Letnikov (G–L) fractional derivative and a time-varying measurement error covariance (R) into the proposed estimation algorithm. Finally, to verify the validity of the proposed model, the HWFET, UDDS and NEDC vehicle dynamics condition tests were used to compare the estimation results of the IFO-EKF against the integer-order extended Kalman filter (IO-EKF) algorithm. The simulation results of the IFO-EKF algorithm proved that it is a better estimation algorithm than the IO-EKF in terms of accuracy.

With the rapid development of wireless communication networks and mobile terminal technology, it has an important significance for improving the cultural quality of farmers and the rural information level that researching the key technology of personalized learning for farmers based on wireless network. The research progress of personalized service was introduced based on reading a large number of domestic and foreign related research literature. The personalized recommendation technology, the recommendation algorithm and measure method was given in the research of personalized technology. The personalized recommendation system was designed and tested, the result could need the users need. Finally the problems and future research directions in the personalized system is summarized.

The construction of the user model for achieving accurate personalized learning recommendation has an important role. The paper described the user model construction method based on ontology for multimedia video teaching resources in the field of agriculture. The concept and evolution of the ontology, user modeling technology and agriculture video ontology construction method is given, and the user model is realized and validated by experiment at last.

This paper briefly describes the characteristics of two-dimensional code technology and realistic foundation, combined with the existing conditions and characteristics of distance education platform stream media system. Firstly, expounds the application value of two-dimensional code in the remote education platform, and then details and description of the application of two-dimensional code the Distance Education system architecture and system design and implementation of intelligent mobile phone client. From the analysis of application value to practical application of the two-dimensional code technology, state clearly that the application of two-dimensional code can further enhance the distance education platform service level, service ability, can provide better service for remote user education.

To attribute reduction in an uncertain information system, this paper proposed a method of attribute reduction based on rough set theory. This reduction method gives the concepts of tolerance relationship, attribute significance and tolerance relationship similar matrix to deal with the inconsistency problem of in the information table. And then obtains the core attributes of incomplete information systems via the tolerance relationship similar matrix. Finally, according to attribute frequency in the tolerance relationship similar matrix, as the heuristic knowledge, makes use of binsearch heuristic algorithm to calculate the candidate attribute expansion so that it can reduce the expansion times to speed up reduction. Experiment results show that the algorithm is simple and effective.

Both the reference image and original image are respectively decomposed into low-frequency components and high-frequency components by wavelet transform. Then, count the low-frequency components of the two images by margin calculation and select the PIF points to correct while the high-frequency components remain unchanged. Finally, reconstract the high-frequency components of discorrected original image and low-frequency components of corrected to get the corrected image. The method eliminates the radiation difference resulted from different time periods and save the radiation difference caused by the change of surface features themselves in the original image. The relative radiometric correction achieves a better effect, and can improve the accuracy of remote sensing dynamic monitoring.

Introduction

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.