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Few other diseases exert such a huge toll of suffering as influenza. We report here that intranasal (i.n.) administration of E1/ E3-defective (DE1E3) adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) particles rapidly induced an anti-influenza state as a means of prophylactic therapy which persisted for several weeks in mice. By encoding an influenza virus (IFV) hemagglutinin (HA) HA1 domain, an Ad5-HA1 vector conferred rapid protection as a prophylactic drug followed by elicitation of sustained protective immunity as a vaccine for inducing seamless protection against influenza as a drug-vaccine duo (DVD) in a single package. Since Ad5 particles induce a complex web of host responses, which could arrest influenza by activating a specific arm of innate immunity to impede IFV growth in the airway, it is conceivable that this multi-pronged influenza DVD may escape the fate of drug resistance that impairs the current influenza drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently no detailed evidence for the long-term effects of bariatric surgery on severely obese with type 2 diabetes, such as the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. In order to provide evidence on the risks of macrovascular diseases and metabolic indicators of bariatric surgery follow-up for more than five years, we searched in the Cochrane library, Pubmed, and EMBASE databases from the earliest studies to January 31, 2019. Randomized clinical trials or cohort studies compared bariatric surgery and conventional medical therapy for long-term incidence of macrovascular events and metabolic outcomes in severely obese patients with T2DM. Fixed-effects and random-effects meta-analyses were performed to pool the relative risks (RRs), hazard ratios (HRs) and weighted mean difference (WMD). Publication bias and heterogeneity were examined. Four RCTs and six cohort studies were finally involved in this review. Patients in the bariatric surgery group as compared to the conventional treatment group had lower incidence of macrovascular complications (RR = 0.43, 95%CI = 0.27~0.70), cardiovascular events (CVEs) (HR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.39~0.71), and myocardial infarction (MI) (RR = 0.40, 95%CI = 0.26~0.61). At the same time, the results demonstrate that bariatric surgery is associated with better weight and better glycemic control over the long-term than non-surgical therapies, and reveal that different surgical methods have different effects on various metabolic indicators. Bariatric surgery significantly decreases macrovascular complications over the long term and is associated with greater weight loss and better intermediate glucose outcomes among T2DM patients with severe obesity as compared to patients receiving only conservative medical measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the growth of plants and improving plant stress-resistance by plant growth-promoting microorganism increasingly become a hotpot. While, most researchers focus on their supply role of nutrition or plant hormone. In this study, a novel mechanism that phosphate solubilizing microorganisms promoted plant growth under saline-alkali stress through secretion of organic acids, was proposed. The effects of desulfurization gypsum, humic acid, organic fertilizer and phosphate-solubilizing microorganism Penicillium funicuiosum P1 (KX400570) on the growth of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa cv. Longli 1), showed that the survival rate, stem length and dry weight of quinoa treated with P1 were 2.5, 1.5, 1 and 1.5 times higher than those of sterile water (CK) under severe saline-alkali stress. The growth-promoting effect of P1 on quinoa was much better than that of other treatment groups. In addition, P1 promoted the growth of quinoa because the organic acids (malic acid, citric acid, succinic acid, etc.) from P1 stimulated the antioxidant system and promote the photosynthesis of quinoa, further promote quinoa growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the influencing factors associated with no/low response to preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients. A total of 79 patients were included in this prospective study. Fifteen factors that might affect the resistance to CCRT were included in this logistic regression analysis, these factors include the general clinical data of patients, the expression status of tumor stem cell marker CD44v6 and the volumetric imaging parameters of primary tumor lesions. We found that the no/low response status to preoperative CCRT was positively correlated with the real tumor volume (RTV), the total surface area of tumor (TSA), and CD44v6 expression, whereas negatively correlated with the tumor compactness (TC). According to the results of logistic regression analysis, two formulas that could predict whether or not no/low response to preoperative CCRT were established. The Area Under Curve (AUC) of the two formulas and those significant measurement data (RTV, TC, TSA) were 0.900, 0.858, 0.771, 0.754, 0.859, the sensitivity were 95.8%, 79.17%, 62.50%, 95.83%, 62.5%, the specificity were 70.9%, 74.55%, 83.64%,47.27%, 96.36%, the positive predictive values were 58.96%, 57.58%, 62.51%,44.23%, 88.23%, the negative predictive values were 97.48%, 89.13%, 83.64%, 96.29%, and 85.48%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peatlands in the Sanjiang Plain could be more vulnerable to global warming because they are located at the southernmost boundary of northern peatlands. Unlike bacteria, fungi are often overlooked, even though they play important roles in substance circulation in the peatland ecosystems. Accordingly, it is imperative that we deepen our understanding of fungal community structure and diversity in the peatlands. In this study, high-throughput Illumina sequencing was used to study the fungal communities in three fens in the Sanjiang Plain, located at the southern edge of northern peatlands. Peat soil was collected from the three fens which developed during different periods. A total of 463,198 fungal ITS sequences were obtained, and these sequences were classified into at least six phyla, 21 classes, more than 60 orders and over 200 genera. The fungal community structures were distinct in the three sites and were dominated by Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. However, there were no significant differences between these three fens in any α-diversity index (p > 0.05). Soil age and the carbon (C) accumulation rate, as well as total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N ratio, and bulk density were found to be closely related to the abundance of several dominant fungal taxa. We captured a rich fungal community and confirmed that the dominant taxa were those which were frequently detected in other northern peatlands. Soil age and the C accumulation rate were found to play important roles in shaping the fungal community structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composted sewage sludge (CS) is considered a rich source of soil nutrients and significantly affects the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of soil, but its effect on specific enzyme activity in soil is disregarded. The present experiment examined the absolute and specific enzyme activity of the enzymes involved in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles, the diversity of soil microbial functions, and soil community composition in a Fluventic Ustochrept under a maize—wheat rotation system in North China during 2012–2015. Application of CS led to increase in MBC and in its ratio to both total organic carbon (TOC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN). Absolute enzyme activity, except that of phosphatase, increased in CS-treated soils, whereas specific activity of all the enzymes declined, especially at the highest dose of CS (45 t ha−1). The diversity of soil microbial community also increased in CS-treated soils, whereas its functional diversity declined at higher doses of CS owing to the lowered specific enzyme activity. These changes indicate that CS application induced the domination of microorganisms that are not metabolically active and those that use resources more efficiently, namely fungi. Redundancy analysis showed that fundamental alterations in soil enzyme activity depend on soil pH. Soil specific enzyme activity is affected more than absolute enzyme activity by changes in soil properties, especially soil microbial activity and composition of soil microflora (as judged by the following ratios: MBC/TOC, MBC/MBN, and TOC/LOC, that is labile organic carbon) through the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Specific enzyme activity is thus a more accurate parameter than absolute enzyme activity for monitoring the effect of adding CS on the activities and structure of soil microbial community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: We aimed to replicate the association of the rs290487 (IVS3C/T) and rs7903146 (IVS3C/T) polymorphisms of transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Han Chinese people in Henan province, China. Methods: In all, 1,842 patients with T2DM and 7,777 normal glucose-tolerant controls underwent genotyping for the T2DM-associated variants rs7903146 (IVS3C/T) and rs290487 (IVS3C/T). W performed a meta-analysis of the association of the risk alleles of rs7903146 (IVS3C/T) and rs290487 (IVS3C/T) in TCF7L2 and T2DM in Han Chinese by combining previous studies with the present study. Results: We found that T2DM was associated with the CC genotype (1.364, 1.137–1.636, p  = 0.001), the recessive model (1.457, 1.156–1.838, p  = 0.001) of rs290487 (IVS3C/T) and haplotype CC (1.116, 1.034–1.204, p  = 0.004) in Han Chinese. Moreover, our meta-analyses supported the association of the T allele (IVS3C/T) of rs7903146 (1.36, 1.24–1.48; p  = 6.404×10−12) and T2DM but not the C allele of rs290487 (IVS3C/T) (0.99, 0.85–1.15, p  = 0.890) in Han Chinese. We found no interactions between behavioral risk factors (smoking, alcohol drinking, and physical activity) and rs7903146 (IVS3C/T) and rs290487 (IVS3C/T) polymorphisms. Conclusions: The CC genotype and the recessive model of the variant rs290487 (IVS3C/T) and CC haplotype of rs7903146 (IVS3C/T) and rs290487 (IVS3C/T) in TCF7L2 may be associated with T2DM in Han Chinese people in Henan province, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]