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Direct seeding of rice has become a main planting method due to the low labor input and high economic benefit in South China. Dry direct seeding (DDS) has been widely used for single-season rice planting establishment. However, few studies have examined the performance of early-season indica rice under mechanical dry direct seeding. A two-year field experiment was conducted with two indica rice cultivars (i.e., Zhongjiazao 17 and Zhuliangyou 819) to study lodging characteristics and grain yield formation under DDS, flooded direct seeding (FDS) and wet direct seeding (WDS) patterns. The results showed that the annual grain yield in DDS was higher by 14.42–26.34% for cultivar ZLY819 and 6.64–24.58% for cultivar ZJZ17 than in WDS and FDS, respectively, and these increases were mainly attributed to the improvement of the panicles. The DDS pattern significantly increased the seedling emergence rate of early indica rice cultivars, and increased total dry weight and crop growth rate. Meanwhile, shorter basal internodes, better stem diameter and stem wall thickness and lower lodging index were found in DDS in contrast to FDS and WDS. In particular, DDS improved the stem lodging resistance. Our results suggested that the appropriate direct seeding method was beneficial for improving the grain yield and lodging resistance of early indica rice.

Objectives: To improve the diagnostic efficacy of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) for Chinese patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO) and inflammation of unknown origin (IUO), with combined clinical parameters. Materials and methods: FUO/IUO patients who underwent a standard diagnostic work-up and 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning were enrolled and divided into a local uptake lesion subgroup and a non-specific abnormal uptake subgroup. Beneficial clinical parameters for improving the diagnostic efficacy of PET/CT were identified. Results: From January 2014 to January 2019, 253 FUO/IUO patients were studied. In total, 147 patients had local uptake lesions and 106 patients had non-specific abnormal uptake. In the local uptake lesion group, the positioning accuracy of PET/CT was 37.2% in grades 1 and 2, and 66.3% in grades 3 and 4. With the following combination of clinical parameters, the positioning accuracy increased to 75.0% and 90.0%, respectively: time from admission to performing PET/CT scanning 95 mg/l. In the non-specific abnormal uptake group, the combination of sex (male), bicytopenia, and lactic dehydrogenase improved the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for diagnosing malignancy from 64.3%, 69%, 60%, and 72.7%, respectively, to 83.3%, 81%, 81.4%, and 82.9%, respectively. With the combination of sex (male), white blood count, serum ferritin level, and hepatosplenomegaly, the infection prediction model had a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 78%, 76.2%, 76.6%, and 77.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Combined clinical parameters improved the localization diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the local uptake lesion subgroup and the etiological diagnostic value in the non-specific abnormal uptake subgroup. Keywords: Fever of unknown origin (FUO), Inflammation of unknown origin (IUO), Clinical parameters, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT), Diagnostic efficacy

Coexisting natural enemies that share a common host resource in the same guild usually exhibit variation in their life history traits, due to their need to share a similar ecological niche. In this study, we compared the immature development times and adult life history traits of two coexisting, host-feeding parasitoids, Diglyphus isaea Walker and Neochrysocharis formosa Westwood (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), of which both attack larvae of the same agromyzid leafminers. These two species are both synovigenic, idiobiont parasitoids, whose adults consume host fluids (“host feeding”) and lay anhydropic eggs. Of the two, D. isaea has a larger body but little or no initial egg load, and engages in similar lifetime host-feeding events. However, it achieves higher fecundity, longer adult longevity, and higher host suppression ability than N. formosa, which has a smaller body and higher initial egg load. Although D. isaea engages in similar lifetime host-feeding events with N. formosa, all of its gains in life history traits per host-feeding event of D. isaea were larger than those of N. formosa. The age-specific fecundity and host mortality curves of N. formosa were more skewed in early life than those of D. isaea. In addition, the ovigeny index of N. formosa was negatively correlated to body size. Our results confirmed that two coexisting parasitoids, which share the same host resource, show different immature development patterns and life history traits, suggesting that different resource allocation mode could be a general rule of coexisting species sharing the same habitat or host.

BACKGROUND: Restricted space and close contact with conspecifics in captivity may be stressful for musk deer, as they are highly territorial and solitary in the wild. So we tested the effects of crowding on stress of forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii) in heterosexual groups, using fecal cortisol analysis as a non-invasive method. 32 healthy adults during non-breeding seasons were chose as our experimental objects. Group 1 was defined as higher crowding condition, with 10-15 m²/deer (6 enclosures, 10♀ and 6♂); group 2 was defined as lower crowding condition, with 23-33 m²/deer (6 enclosures, 10♀ and 6♂). Every enclosure contained 1 male and 3 female. These patterns had been existed for years. RESULTS: The results showed that females in lower crowding condition (217.1 ± 9.5 ug/g) had significantly higher fecal cortisol levels than those in higher crowding condition (177.2 ± 12.1 ug/g). Interestingly, crowding seemed have no effect on male fecal cortisol levels (148.1 ± 9.1 ug/g and 140.5 ± 13.3 ug/g, respectively). At both groups, cortisol was significantly lower in males than in females. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that chronic crowding may affect stress status of captive forest musk deer. The captive environment should consider the space need for musk deer.

Partially acetylated chitosan oligosaccharides (COS), which consists of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and glucosamine (GlcN) residues, is a structurally complex biopolymer with a variety of biological activities. Therefore, it is challenging to elucidate acetylation patterns and the molecular structure-function relationship of COS. Herein, the detailed deacetylation pattern of chitin deacetylase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ScCDA2, was studied. Which solves the randomization of acetylation patterns during COS produced by chemical. ScCDA2 also exhibits about 8% and 20% deacetylation activity on crystalline chitin and colloid chitin, respectively. Besides, a method for separating and detecting partially acetylated chitosan oligosaccharides by high performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) system has been developed, which is fast and convenient, and can be monitored online. Mass spectrometry sequencing revealed that ScCDA2 produced COS with specific acetylation patterns of DAAA, ADAA, AADA, DDAA, DADA, ADDA and DDDA, respectively. ScCDA2 does not deacetylate the GlcNAc unit that is closest to the reducing end of the oligomer furthermore ScCDA2 has a multiple-attack deacetylation mechanism on chitin oligosaccharides. This specific mode of action significantly enriches the existing limited library of chitin deacetylase deacetylation patterns. This fully defined COS may be used in the study of COS structure and function.

A class of nonlinear sum operator equations with a parameter on order Banach spaces were considered. The existence and uniqueness of positive solutions for this kind of operator equations and the dependence of solutions on the parameter have been obtained by using the properties of cone and nonlinear analysis methods. The critical value of the parameter was estimated. Further, the application to some nonlinear three-point boundary value problems was given to show the significance of the discussion.

We investigate the infinite boundary value problems for second-order impulsive differential equations with supremum by establishing a new comparison result and using the lower and upper solution method, and obtain the existence results for their maximal and minimal solutions.

Selagin-7-O-(6''-O-acetyl-)-ß-D-glycoside, a new flavone glycoside isolated from Cancrinia discoidea, is known to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity in vivo. This study aimed to investigate the protection of this flavone glycoside on inflammation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The effects of selagin-7-O-(6''-O-acetyl-)-ß-D-glycoside on inflammatory cytokines and signaling pathways were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and western blot. Results show that selagin-7-O-(6''-O-acetyl-)-ß-D-glycoside protected LPS-induced macrophage RAW 264.7 cells from injury. The flavone glycoside markedly inhibited the LPS-induced production of tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-1ß, and interleukin-6 and increased interleukin- 10 release in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, treatment with the flavone glycoside decreased nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 in LPS-challenged RAW 264.7 cells. These decreases were associated with the down-regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX-2), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-?B) activity. These findings suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of selagin-7-O-(6''-O-acetyl-)-ß-Dglycoside were associated with the adjustment of inflammatory cytokines, and attributed to the down-regulation of NF-?B and consequent suppression of the expression of iNOS and COX-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many species from Senecio genus have been used in traditional medicine, and their pharmacological activities have been demonstrated. This study investigated the chemical composition and anti-inflammatory activities of essential oils from Senecio flammeus. A total of 48 components representing 98.41% of the total oils were identified. The main compounds in the oils were a-farnesene (11.26%), caryophyllene (8.69%), n-hexadecanoic acid (7.23%), and a-pinene (6.36%). The anti-inflammatory activity of the essential oils was evaluated in rodents (10-90 mg/kg bw) in classical models of inflammation [carrageenan-induced paw edema, 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced ear edema, and cotton pelletinduced granuloma]. The essential oils at doses of 10, 30, and 90 mg/kg bw significantly reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema by 17.42% (P < 0.05), 52.90% (P < 0.05), and 66.45% (P < 0.05) 4 h after carrageenan injection, respectively, and significantly reduced myeloperoxidase activity (P < 0.05). The essential oils (10, 30, and 90 mg/kg) also produced a significant dose-dependent response to reduce TPA-induced ear edema by 20.27% (P < 0.05), 33.06% (P < 0.05), and 53.90% (P < 0.05), respectively. The essential oils produced significant dose-response anti-inflammatory activity against cotton pellet-induced granuloma that peaked at the highest dose of 90 mg/kg (49.08% wet weight and 47.29% dry weight). Results demonstrate that the essential oils of S. flammeus were effective in the treatment of both acute and chronic inflammatory conditions, thereby supporting the traditional use of this herb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with delay dynamic equations on time scales. Linear and nonlinear delay dynamic equations are discussed. By using a different theorem to that used S. Hilger, Analysis on measure chains. A unified approach to continous and discrete calculus. Results Math. 18 (1990), pp. 18-56], some criteria for the existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence of the solution for the nonlinear delay dynamic equations are established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, fixed points for mixed monotone operators without continuity or compactness assumptions are derived. New fixed point theorems for monotone operators with concavity and convexity then follow as applications. An elliptic boundary value problem is discussed to illustrate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove that a u 0–concave operator can include other concave operators, and derive a sufficient and necessary condition for the existence and uniqueness of the fixed point of a kind of u 0–concave operator under a weaker condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]