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Objective: To evaluate oncological and reproductive outcomes of women ≤40 years undergoing fertility-sparing surgery (FSS) for stage Ⅱ or Ⅲ borderline ovarian tumor (BOT). Methods: The patients with BOT and ≤40 years old with stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ BOT who underwent FSS enrolled from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University between January 2011 and March 2023 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical data and follow-up results were obtained and analyzed. The univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were used to explore high-risk factors associated with prognosis. Additionally, pregnancy outcomes were also analyzed. Results: (1) A total of 79 patients with stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ BOT who have been treated with FSS were conducted, with an average age of (27.5±6.7) years old. The median tumor maximum diameter were 10.4 cm (range: 4.8-90.0 cm). The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage was stage Ⅱ in 45 cases and stage Ⅲ in 34 cases. According to the pathological types, there were 48 cases of serous tumor, 21 cases of mucinous tumor, 1 case of endometrioid tumor, and 9 cases of mixed types. There were 41 cases of unilateral ovarian involvement, 38 cases of bilateral ovarian involvement. There were 5 cases of microinvasion, 17 cases of micropapillary subtype. Extra-ovarian invasive implants were found in 5 cases, and there were 31 cases of merged ascites. (2) Tumor outcomes: the median follow-up time from primary cytoreduction were 58 months (range: 8-146 months). At the end of the observation period, 24 cases (30%, 24/79) recurred, among them 5 cases had two recurrences and 2 cases had three recurrences. There were 2 cases (3%, 2/79) of death and 1 case (1%, 1/79) of survival with tumor. (3) Analysis of prognostic risk factors: the results of univariate analysis showed that mucinous tumor, tumor maximum diameter >13.15 cm, FIGO stage Ⅲ, merged ascites, micropapillary subtype, invasive implantation, and bilateral ovarian involvement were independent risk factors (all P <0.05) for disease-free survival (DFS). FIGO stage Ⅲ ( HR =4.555, 95% CI : 1.525-13.607; P =0.007) and micropapillary subtype ( HR =2.396, 95% CI : 1.003-5.725; P =0.049) were found to be related to DFS through the multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analysis. (4) Pregnancy outcomes: among the patients with fertility intentions 36 cases (46%,36/79), 29 cases (81%, 29/36) had successful pregnancies, and 27 cases (75%, 27/36) had successful births. Conclusions: Patients with stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ BOT underwent FSS have favorable survival and pregnancy rates. Micropapillary subtypes and FIGO staging (stage Ⅲ) are the significant risk factors of DFS.

Dendrobium officinale is a rare and precious medicinal plant. Southern blight is a destructive disease in the artificial cultivation of D. officinale, and one of its pathogens is Sclerotium delphinii. S. delphinii is a phytopathogenic fungus with a wide host range with extremely strong pathogenicity. In this study, S. delphinii was isolated from D. officinale with southern blight. Subsequently, this specific strain underwent thorough whole-genome sequencing using the PacBio Sequel II platform, which employed single-molecule real-time (SMRT) technology. Comprehensive annotations were obtained through functional annotation of protein sequences using various publicly available databases. The genome of S. delphinii measures 73.66 Mb, with an N90 contig size of 2,707,110 bp, and it contains 18,506 putative predictive genes. This study represents the first report on the genome size assembly and annotation of S. delphinii, making it the initial species within the Sclerotium genus to undergo whole-genome sequencing, which can provide solid data and a theoretical basis for further research on the pathogenesis, omics of S. delphinii., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Constructing a ocean Internet of Things requires an essential ocean environment monitoring system. However, the widely distributed existing ocean monitoring sensors make it impractical to provide power and transmit monitored information through cables. Therefore, ocean environment monitoring systems particularly need a continuous power supply and wireless transmission capability for monitoring information. Consequently, a high-strength, environmentally multi-compatible, floatable metamaterial energy harvesting device has been designed through integrated dynamic matching optimization of materials, structures, and signal transmission. The self-powered monitoring system breaks through the limitations of cables and batteries in the ultra-low-frequency wave environment (1 to 2 Hz), enabling real-time monitoring of various ocean parameters and wirelessly transmitting the data to the cloud for post-processing. Compared with solar and wind energy in the ocean environment, the energy harvesting device based on the defective state characteristics of metamaterials achieves a high-energy density (99 W/m 3 ). For the first time, a stable power supply for the monitoring system has been realized in various weather conditions (24 h)., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Inhibitory control, the ability to manage conflicting responses and suppress inappropriate actions, is crucial for team sports athletes, including soccer players. While previous studies have shown that soccer players possess superior inhibitory control, the underlying mechanisms responsible for this advantage remain unclear. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the neural processes involved in conflict resolution and response inhibition, comparing collegiate level soccer players with non-athletes. Participants completed a novel go/no-go task that involved conflict resolution and response inhibition, while their electroencephalograms were recorded. Despite no significant difference in behavioral performance between the two groups, soccer players exhibited notable N2 and frontal midline theta modulations in response to conflict resolution and inhibition, which were comparatively weaker in non-athletes. Our findings suggest that expertise in team sports may enhance neural sensitivity to subtle yet significant information, even without a discernible behavioral advantage., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Liver fibrosis is a determinant-stage process of many chronic liver diseases and affected over 7.9 billion populations worldwide with increasing demands of ideal therapeutic agents. Discovery of active molecules with anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacies presents the most attacking filed. Here, we revealed that hepatic L-aspartate levels were decreased in CCl 4 -induced fibrotic mice. Instead, supplementation of L-aspartate orally alleviated typical manifestations of liver injury and fibrosis. These therapeutic efficacies were alongside improvements of mitochondrial adaptive oxidation. Notably, treatment with L-aspartate rebalanced hepatic cholesterol-steroid metabolism and reduced the levels of liver-impairing metabolites, including corticosterone (CORT). Mechanistically, L-aspartate treatment efficiently reversed CORT-mediated glucocorticoid receptor β (GRβ) signaling activation and subsequent transcriptional suppression of the mitochondrial genome by directly binding to the mitochondrial genome. Knockout of GRβ ameliorated corticosterone-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and hepatocyte damage which also weakened the improvements of L-aspartate in suppressing GRβ signaling. These data suggest that L-aspartate ameliorates hepatic fibrosis by suppressing GRβ signaling via rebalancing cholesterol-steroid metabolism, would be an ideal candidate for clinical liver fibrosis treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests. Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sacubitril valsartan (SV) on heart failure (HF) hospitalization and cardiovascular mortality in patients on hemodialysis with HF with preserved ejection fraction (EF; HFpEF)., Methods: This single-center, prospective study enrolled 155 stable hemodialysis patients with EF > 40% who were followed up for 12 months. Fifty-nine patients were treated with SV; the others were matched for EF (57.89 ± 9.35 vs. 58.00 ± 11.82, P = 0.9) at a ratio of 1:1 and included as controls. The target dosage of SV was 200 mg/day., Results: Twenty-three (23/155; 14.84%) had HF with mid-range EF (HFmrEF), while 132 (85.16%) had HFpEF. After SV treatment, the peak early diastolic transmitral flow velocity/peak early diastolic mitral annular tissue velocity(E/e') improved from 17.19 ± 8.74 to 12.80 ± 5.52 (P = 0.006), the left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic diameter decreased from 53.14 ± 7.67 mm to 51.56 ± 7.44 mm (P = 0.03), and the LV mass index decreased from 165.7 ± 44.6 g/m 2 to 154.8 ± 24.0 g/m 2 (P = 0.02). LVEF (P = 0.08) and LV global longitudinal strain (P = 0.7) did not change significantly. The composite outcome of first and recurrent HF hospitalization or cardiovascular death showed no difference between group. However, the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative Workgroup (ADQI) HF class improved in 39 and 15 patients and worsened in 1 and 11 patients in the SV and control groups, respectively (P < 0.001). Age, diabetes mellitus, and pulmonary arterial pressure were independent risk factors for HF hospitalization and cardiovascular mortality in patients with HFpEF., Conclusions: SV improved LV hypertrophy, diastolic function, and the ADQI class for HF; however, it failed to reduce the composite endpoints of HF hospitalization and cardiovascular disease-related mortality over 12 months of follow-up in patients on maintenance hemodialysis with EF of > 40%., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Prior research has highlighted the potential impact of aerobic exercise on cognitive functioning, particularly in situations demanding heightened cognitive control. However, the mechanism underlying this cognitive enhancement has remained unknown. To address this issue, this study examined the impact of a 4-week aerobic exercise program on cognitive control processes in young male adults (aerobic exercise group: n=36, aged 21.42±1.13years) in comparison to a control group that received no treatment (n=33, aged 21.82±1.76years). We employed the redundant-target Stroop task to investigate inhibition processes at both perceptual and semantic stages. Utilizing systems factorial technology and the drift diffusion model, we assessed changes in resilience capacity and the underlying cognitive mechanisms. Our primary findings revealed a significant reduction in mean response times (RTs) in the aerobic exercise group, accompanied by a decrease in RT variability when inhibiting semantic processing. Resilience capacity significantly declined in both groups at similar levels. Notably, the aerobic exercise group exhibited an enhanced drift rate during automatic response inhibition and reduced non-decision time in the condition involving the inhibition of perceptual information. This study deepens our understanding of how a 4-week aerobic exercise program enhances cognitive control, affecting distinct cognitive processes, including processing speed, information accumulation during automatic response inhibition, and sensory and motor processes in perceptual conflicts. Our research underscores the potential of aerobic exercise as a means to boost cognitive control among young adults., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest We declare no competing finical interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.)

Segmental mandibular advancement (SMA) consists of a combination of bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, anterior subapical osteotomy with extraction of the first premolars, and genioplasty, to allow an extended advancement of the mandible for the improvement of tongue base obstruction in moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and to minimize any unfavourable aesthetic change due to the large jaw advancement. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the surgical outcomes and complications following SMA in OSA patients. Twelve patients (nine male, three female) underwent SMA as part or whole of their skeletal advancement procedure for OSA. The apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) improved from a mean± standard deviation 42.4 ± 22.0/hour preoperatively to 9.0 ± 17.4/hour at 1 year postoperative. Surgical success (50% reduction in AHI) was achieved in 11 of the 12 patients (91.7%) at 1 year postoperative, while seven patients (58.3%) attained surgical cure (AHI<5/hour). The lowest oxygen saturation (LSAT) increased from a mean 73.3% preoperatively to 78.7% at 1 year postoperative. The airway volume increased from a mean 2.4 ± 1.7 cm 3 at baseline to 6.7 ± 3.5 cm 3 at 1 year postoperative (P < 0.001). No major complication occurred. This pilot study showed that SMA appears to be safe and effective as part or whole of the skeletal advancement surgery for moderate-to-severe OSA., (Copyright © 2022 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) pretreatment before total hysterectomy for adenomyosis patients with uterine volume ≥12 gestational weeks and moderate or severe anemia. Methods: From January 2018 to March 2023, 689 patients who underwent total hysterectomy for adenomyosis in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were retrospectively analyzed. According to the preoperative medication, they were divided into study group (127 cases) and control group (562 cases). Patients in the study group underwent GnRH-a pretreatment for 3 cycles before surgery, and the control group received operation directly. SPSS 26.0 software was used to perform 1∶1 matching for the two groups of patients through the propensity score matching method. Matching variables included age, body mass index, gravidity, parity, history of pelvic and abdominal surgery, menstrual cycle, menstrual period, dysmenorrhea score, initial diagnosis of cancer antigen 125 (CA 125 ), uterine volume and hemoglobin value. The dysmenorrhea score, uterine volume, hemoglobin value and CA 125 level before and after GnRH-a pretreatment in the study group were compared. And the duration of operation, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative white blood cell count, perioperative blood transfusion cases, postoperative disease rate, duration of hospitalization, total hospitalization cost between the two groups were compared. Results: With propensity score matching, 119 patients in the study group and 119 patients in the control group were finally enrolled in this study. In the study group, before and after the treatment with GnRH-a, the dysmenorrhea score (7.4±1.7 vs 5.6±1.8), uterine volume [(362±160) vs (233±126) cm 3 ], hemoglobin value [(74.1±10.7) vs (102.5±13.5) g/L], and CA 125 level [(104±76) vs (64±51) kU/L] were statistically different (all P <0.05). There were statistical differences of operation time [(86±18) vs (116±31) minutes], intraoperative blood loss [(24±9) vs (43±22) ml], white blood cell count after 1 day of operation [(9.80±0.10)×10 9 /L vs (9.90±0.10)×10 9 /L], number of perioperative blood transfusion case [5.9% (7/119) vs 61.3% (73/119)], postoperative disease rate [5.0% (6/119) vs 16.0% (19/119)], hospitalization duration [(7.1±1.6) vs (7.9±1.6) days], and total hospitalization cost [(35 323±5 275) vs (37 159±5 640) yuan] between the study group and the control group (all P <0.05). Conclusion: The pretreatment of using GnRH-a before total hysterectomy for adenomyosis patients with uterine volume ≥12 gestational weeks and moderate or severe anemia is not only conducive to improving dysmenorrhea, signs of anemia, reducing uterine volume, but also conducive to the implementation of surgery, reducing intraoperative and postoperative complications, and reducing hospital costs.

Previous studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive control, the ability to inhibit distractions (conflict control) or impulsive actions (response inhibition). However, it is unknown whether these sub-processes and their underlying information processing capacity are differentially related to aerobic fitness. To address this question, we employed a go/no-go version of the redundant-target task, which was administered concurrently with the recording of event-related potentials (ERPs) and the use of a reaction-time based diagnostic tool known as system factorial technology (SFT). Our sample consisted of 46 young male adults with varying levels of aerobic fitness: the high-fit group (n = 23; aged 21.33 ± 2.44 years; VO 2max 58.83 ± 6.93 ml/kg/min) and the low-fit group (n = 23; aged 22.30 ± 1.40 years; VO 2max 41.90 ± 4.01 ml/kg/min). The results showed that the high-fit group exhibited a lower false-alarm rate compared to the low-fit group. However, there was no difference in processing speed between the two groups. The SFT analysis revealed that the high-fit group had more efficient information processing for earlier responses, but not later responses, compared to the low-fit group. Analysis of the ERPs indicated that the high-fit group had larger N2d amplitudes and shorter P3d latencies during conflict control compared to the low-fit group, while there were no such effects for the process of response inhibition. These findings suggest that aerobic fitness may be differentially related to the temporal dynamics and sub-processes of cognitive control., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We declare no competing finical interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Arteriovenous fistula is the preferred vascular access for hemodialysis patients. High-flow arteriovenous fistula may cause high-output heart failure. Various procedures are used to reduce high-flow arteriovenous fistula. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of proximal artery restriction combined with distal artery ligation on flow reduction for high-flow arteriovenous fistula and on cardiac function and echocardiographic changes in patients undergoing hemodialysis., Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on data collected from the medical records of patients undergoing hemodialysis with heart failure and high-flow arteriovenous fistula between May 2018 and May 2021. Thirty-one patients were treated with proximal artery restriction (banding juxta-anastomosis of the proximal artery) combined with distal artery ligation (anastomosis distal artery ligation). Changes in the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative Workgroup cardiac function class, blood pressure, and echocardiography before and 6 months after flow restriction were compared, and post-intervention primary patency was followed-up., Results: The technical success rate of the surgery was 100%, and no surgery-related adverse events occurred. Blood flow and blood flow/cardiac output decreased significantly after flow restriction. Blood flow decreased from 2047.21 ± 398.08 mL/min to 1001.36 ± 240.42 mL/min, and blood flow/cardiac output decreased from 40.18% ± 6.76% to 22.34% ± 7.21% (P < .001). Post-intervention primary patency of arteriovenous fistula at 6, 12, and 24 months was 96.8%, 93.5%, and 75.2%, respectively. The Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative Workgroup cardiac function class improved significantly after 6 months of flow restriction (P < .001). The systolic and diastolic left heart function improved, as evidenced by a significant decrease in left atrial volume index, left ventricular end-diastolic/end-systolic diameters, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, left ventricular mass index, cardiac output, and cardiac index and an increase in lateral peak velocity of longitudinal contraction, average septal-lateral s', and lateral early diastolic peak velocity after flow restriction (P < .05). Systolic pulmonary artery pressure decreased from 32.36 ± 8.56 mmHg to 27.57 ± 8.98 mmHg (P < .05), indicating an improvement in right heart function., Conclusions: Proximal artery restriction combined with distal artery ligation effectively reduced the blood flow of high-flow arteriovenous fistula and improved cardiac function., (Copyright © 2023 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is caused by overdistension of the alveoli by the repetitive recruitment and derecruitment of alveolar units. This study aims to investigate the potential role and mechanism of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a metabolic regulator secreted by the liver, in VILI development., Methods: Serum FGF21 concentrations were determined in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia and in a mouse VILI model. Lung injury was compared between FGF21-knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice. Recombinant FGF21 was administrated in vivo and in vitro to determine its therapeutic effect., Results: Serum FGF21 levels in patients and mice with VILI were significantly higher than in those without VILI. Additionally, the increment of serum FGF21 in anesthesia patients was positively correlated with the duration of ventilation. VILI was aggravated in FGF21-KO mice compared with WT mice. Conversely, the administration of FGF21 alleviated VILI in both mouse and cell models. FGF21 reduced Caspase-1 activity, suppressed the mRNA levels of Nlrp3, Asc, Il-1β, Il-18, Hmgb1 and Nf-κb, and decreased the protein levels of NLRP3, ASC, IL-1β, IL-18, HMGB1 and the cleaved form of GSDMD., Conclusions: Our findings reveal that endogenous FGF21 signaling is triggered in response to VILI, which protects against VILI by inhibiting the NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD pyroptosis pathway. These results suggest that boosting endogenous FGF21 or the administration of recombinant FGF21 could be promising therapeutic strategies for the treatment of VILI during anesthesia or critical care., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Sport expertise has been shown to modulate the cognitive advantage in open-skill athletes, with evidence for a greater advantage for athletes practicing interceptive sports relative to strategic sports. However, this conclusion is solely based on central tendency measures such as accuracy or mean reaction time (RT), dismissing important information embedded in the intra-individual temporal dynamics of cognitive performance. This study aimed to better understand the cognitive advantage associated with open-skill sports, with a non-parametric approach assessing cognitive process at the level of RT distribution (i.e., systems factorial technology, SFT). Twenty-eight interceptive sport athletes, 27 strategic sport athletes, and 26 physically active non-athletes performed a go/nogo version of the redundant target task to assess their processing capacity of simultaneously monitoring multiple information channels. SFT was applied to assess resilience capacity, an estimate of workload capacity underlying inhibitory control. Our findings showed that interceptive sport athletes exhibited shorter mean RT relative to non-athletes selectively in the task condition involving distracting information, while strategic sport athletes showed greater resilience capacity over earlier responses relative to the other groups. These findings suggest that the two types of open-skill sports may be associated with different processing specificity, possibly reflecting the domain-specific rules and requirements., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare no competing finical interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to determine the (a) dose-response effects of cognitively engaging movement games (CEMGs) designed to improve aerobic capacity, interference control (IC), and academic performance, (b) relationship between intervention-induced improvements in aerobic capacity, IC, and academic performance, and (c) moderation effect of IC on the relationship between aerobic capacity and academic performance in overweight children. Seventy-five overweight children (aged 11.23 ± 0.60 years; 48% males) participated in this study conducted in Taipei during the 2018/2019 academic year and were randomly assigned to the low-dose (20-min) intervention, high-dose (40-min) intervention, and control groups and completed a Stroop test, half-mile run, and language and mathematics tests before and after a 10-week afterschool program. Both intervention groups showed similar improvements in outcomes of aerobic capacity (ds > 0.80), IC (ds > 0.76), and academic performance (ds > 0.90) from the pretest to posttest, whereas these outcomes were unchanged for the control group. Furthermore, improved IC moderated the association between improvements in aerobic capacity and academic performance. Our findings suggest that CEMG with varying doses is feasible and effective for improving aerobic capacity, IC, and academic performance in overweight children and that the association between improvements in aerobic capacity and academic performance depends on the intervention effects on IC., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Proteomic analysis and biochemical tests were employed to investigate the critical biological processes responsible for the different cadmium (Cd) accumulations between two water spinach ( Ipomoea aquatica ) cultivars, QLQ and T308. QLQ, with lower shoot Cd accumulation and translocation factor than T308, possessed higher expression of cell wall biosynthesis and modification proteins in roots, together with higher lignin and pectin contents, higher pectin methylesterase activity, and lower pectin methylation. The results demonstrated that QLQ could more effectively restrict root-to-shoot Cd translocation by compartmentalizing more Cd in root cell walls. In contrast, T308 showed higher expression of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, glutathione (GSH) metabolism, and heavy metal transporter proteins, accompanied by higher GSH content and glutathione S -transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR) activity, which accelerated Cd uptake and translocation in T308. These findings revealed several critical biological processes responsible for cultivar-dependent Cd accumulation in water spinach, which are important for elucidating Cd accumulation and transport mechanisms in different cultivars.

Excessive cadmium (Cd) accumulation in vegetables due to farmland pollution constitutes a serious threat to human health. Eggplant has a tendency to accumulate Cd. To investigate the mechanism of the differences in Cd accumulation levels between high-Cd (BXGZ) and low-Cd (MYQZ) eggplant cultivar, physiological and biochemical indicators and mRNA expression of eggplant were examined using photosynthetic apparatus, biochemical test kits, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and transcriptome sequencing, etc. The results of biochemical test kits and FTIR revealed that MYQZ enhanced pectin methylesterase (PME) activity, and lignin and pectin content in the root cell wall, which was associated with the upregulation of PME, cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase and peroxidase (PODs). Higher levels of cysteine and glutathione (GSH) contents and upregulation of genes associated with sulfur metabolism, as well as higher expression of ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABCs), cation exchangers (CAX) and metal tolerance proteins (MTPs) were observed in MYQZ. In BXGZ, the higher stomatal density and stomatal aperture as well as higher levels of Ca 2+ binding protein-1 (PCaP1) and aquaporins and lower levels of A2-type cyclins (CYCA2-1) are consistent with an enhanced transpiration rate in BXGZ. Furthermore, a more developed root system was shown to be associated with higher levels of auxin response factor (ARF19), GATA transcription factors (GATA4, 5 and 11) and auxin efflux carrier component (PIN5) in BXGZ. In conclusion, highly active PME, and higher levels of lignin and pectin in MYQZ are expected to reduce Cd toxicity, while Cd translocation can be inhibited with the help of ABC and other Cd transporters. As for BXGZ, the uptake and translocation of Cd were enhanced by the developed root system and stronger transpiration., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Shen, Huang, Liao, Huang, Xin, Wang and Fu.)

Bamboo nodes play a key role in the hollow structure and the rapid growth of bamboo culm. Studying on the anatomical structure of bamboo is helpful to understand its growth mechanism. Taking the noninvasive, high-resolution and accurate technical advantages of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we conducted cross-sectional high-resolution MRI scanning on the tip of young Moso bamboo culm (removed shoot sheath) and extracted the gray value of the MRIs by using MATLAB software to explore the differences of water distribution in nodes, proximal nodes, and internodes. The results showed that numerous vascular bundles were repeatedly twisted and rotated horizontally at the nodal diaphragms and inner wall near the nodal diaphragms of the young bamboo, forming an intricate and highly connected network. The structure protected important tissues from mechanical stress by allocating axial loads, and enabled to laterally transport water and nutrients, which was an important basis for the rapid growth of Moso bamboo in relatively short term. The signal value (also known as brightness value) of MRIs indicated that water content of vascular bundles in young bamboo culm was much higher than that of surrounding parenchyma tissues. The mean value and standard deviation of water content between pixels of internodes were significantly higher than that of nodes, and the values of that in the proximal nodes were intermediate. The development of MRI would play a significant role in the studies of bamboo anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry.

Although aerobic fitness has been thought to protect against the detrimental cognitive effects following exhaustive exercise, available evidence from studies using traditional mean behavioral measures remain somewhat equivocal., Purpose: This study aimed to reconcile this discrepancy by using a novel theory-driven diagnostic tool, the Systems Factorial Technology (SFT)., Methods: Sixty-six healthy young adults aged from 18 to 30 years old with different levels of aerobic fitness (n = 33 for the higher-fit and lower-fit groups) completed a go/nogo version of redundant-target task before and after a graded exercise test (GXT) until exhaustion. SFT was used to calculate the resilience capacity, which reflects the information processing capacity underlying inhibitory control., Results: Following the GXT, both higher-fit and lower-fit groups showed faster responses while leaving accuracy unchanged as compared to the performance at the pretest. On the other hand, the resilience capacity decreased for the lower-fit group but was maintained for the higher-fit group., Conclusion: The present findings suggest that aerobic fitness may modulate the individual difference in decisional mechanism following exhaustive exercise. In sum, this study offers an alternative mechanistic explanation regarding cognitive individual differences in response to exhaustive exercise and provides novel insights into the significance of maintaining a state of high physical fitness for those who need to perform cognitively challenging tasks under physically stressful conditions (e.g., elite athletes)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare no competing finical interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Heart valvular calcification (HVC) is an important predictor of cardiovascular events (CEs) and all-cause mortality in dialysis patients. Patients in the early stage of dialysis or those with central venous catheters (CVC) are also at high risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. It could be a confounding factor for the prognosis of HVC on CE., Methods: From March 2017 to April 2022, the prognosis of HVC on CE and all-cause mortality was studied retrospectively in 158 hemodialysis (HD) patients who used arteriovenous fistulas or arteriovenous grafts as vascular access and entered HD for more than 12 months., Results: Out of 158 patients, 70 (44.3%) were diagnosed with HVC via echocardiography. A total of 180 CEs occurred during follow-up. Among them, acute heart failure accounted for 62.66%, and its prevalence was significantly higher in the HVC group than that in the non-HVC group (p &lt; 0.0001). The cumulative incidence of CE-free survival in the HVC group was significantly lower than that in the non-HVC group (p = 0.030). Only 11 patients died, and there was no significant difference in all-cause mortality between the two groups (p = 0.560). Multivariate COX regression analyses showed that HD vintage, mitral valve calcification, and aortic valve regurgitation (AR)/aortic valve stenosis (AS) but not aortic valve calcification were risk factors for CE (p &lt; 0.05)., Conclusion: After excluding the factors of the early stage of HD and CVC, HVC remained a predictor of adverse CE in HD patients., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Aerobic exercise has been identified as an effective strategy for transiently enhancing inhibitory control, an ability to suppress irrelevant distractors while focusing on relevant information in facilitating the implementation of goal-directed behavior. The purpose of this study was to employ a go/no-go version of the redundant-target task and event-related potential to further determine whether inhibitory control at the perceptual and response levels as well as their underlying processing capacity and neuroelectric alterations are differentially affected by a single bout of aerobic exercise. Twenty-seven young adults completed the redundant-target task while electroencephalogram was recorded before and after one 20-min bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and a sitting control condition on separate days in counterbalanced order. Although behavioral outcomes of mean-level performance did not differ between intervention conditions, time-related decreases in processing capacity for the faster responses were only observed following rest. Aerobic exercise resulted in maintained P3b amplitude from pretest to posttest for all trial types while decreased P3b amplitude from pretest to posttest during single-target and redundant-target trials was observed following rest. Further, the time-related changes in P3b amplitude were positively correlated with improvements in task performance following exercise. These findings suggest that a short bout of aerobic exercise selectively counteracts the time-related decrements in processing capacity as well as neuroelectric processing of attention and conflict suppression that contribute to behavioral outcomes of inhibitory control., (© 2022 Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

Objectives: To examine the impact of probiotics on the lung development of preterm birth of Bama pig. Methods: From April 2020 to October 2021, this animal experimental research was performed by setting up preterm (birth at gestation 104 d), full-term (birth at gestation 113 d), preterm with probiotics (birth at gestation 104 d treated with probiotics given at 3 d after birth), and full-term with probiotics (birth at gestation 113 d treated with probiotics given at 3 d after birth) groups and using the preterm Bama minipig model, the body weights were recorded and lung, ileum, and intestinal content samples were collected at birth, 4 days, 9 days, and 21 days after births of the piglets in preterm and full-term groups, the same samples were collected on 9 days after births of the piglets in preterm with probiotics and full-term with probiotics groups. The body weight and radial alveolar counts (RAC) were compared to evaluate the lung development of the piglets. The lengths of ileal villus were compared to evaluate the development of ileum. The composition structures of bacteria in ileum were analyzed by 16 S rRNA sequencing. The statistical analyses between different groups were performed by t test. Results: There were totally 30 piglets (16 female piglets and 14 male piglets) involving 12 piglets in preterm and full-term groups respectively and 3 piglets in preterm with probiotics and full-term with probiotics groups respectively. The body weights of the piglets in preterm group were lower than those in full-term group at 4, 9 and 21 d after birth ((507±27) vs. (694±56) g, (620±35) vs. (1 092±154) g, (1 660±210) vs. (2 960±418) g, t =2.96, 2.99, 2.78, all P< 0.05). The alveolarization of the preterm piglets at 9 days after birth was significantly lower than that of the full-term piglets at the equivalent time point (4.00±0.29 vs. 6.11±0.35, t =4.64, P< 0.01). The bacteria genus with the highest abundance in ileum were all different between the preterm and the full-term groups at 4, 9 and 21 d after birth (4 d Escherichia-Shigella (26.63%) and Enterococcus (30.48%) respectively;9 d Turicibacter (35.94%) and Lactobacillus (27.33%) respectively;21 d Escherichia-Shigella (28.02%) and Lactobacillus (46.29%) respectively). The heights of ileal villus of the preterm piglets at 9 d after birth were significantly lower than those of the full-term minipigs at the equivalent time point ((297±21) vs. (411±32) μm, t =3.01, P =0.007).There were both no differences in the body weight and alveolarization ((692±36) vs. (767±67) g, 5.44±0.34 vs. 5.89±0.26, t =0.74, 1.04, both P> 0.05) between the piglets in preterm with probiotics group and those in full-term with probiotics group. Turicibacter was the dominant genus in the piglets of both preterm with probiotics and the full-term with probiotics groups. The heights of ileal villus of the piglets in preterm with probiotics group were significantly longer that those of the piglets in preterm group ((371±13) vs. (297±21) μm, t =3.04, P =0.006), and were both not significantly different from those of the piglets in full-term with probiotics group and full-term group ((371±13) vs. (338±12) and (411±32) μm, t =1.90, 1.15, both P >0.05). Conclusions: Premature birth could impact the lung alveolarization of piglets. The probiotics could improve the lung alveolarization of preterm minipigs by promoting the development of ileum.

Pyroptosis is a novel proinflammatory programmed cell death process. This study was designed to investigate the functional mechanisms of long noncoding RNA growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (lncRNA GAS5) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced human bronchial epithelial cell (HBEC) pyroptosis. LPS was used to induce pyroptosis in HBECs, followed by the detection of the expression of GAS5, forkhead box O3 (FOXO3), and nuclear factor E2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase 1 (Nrf2/HO-1) signaling pathway-related factors. Cell viability was evaluated using CCK-8 assay, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release was assessed by LDH assay kit and caspase-1 activity by flow cytometry. Furthermore, expression of NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 and pyroptosis-related proteins was evaluated using Western blot analysis, while enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the levels of inflammatory factors. The interaction between GAS5 and FOXO3 was confirmed using bioinformatic prediction, RNA immunoprecipitation assay, RNA pull-down, and dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Treatment of HBECs with LPS upregulated the expression of GAS5 and FOXO3, resulting in the inactivation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. On the other hand, inhibition of both GAS5 and FOXO3 promoted cell viability, reduced LDH release, pyroptosis, and inflammatory response in LPS-induced HBECs. Furthermore, FOXO3 could interact with GAS5, while FOXO3 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of GAS5 knockdown on cell pyroptosis. Thus, mechanistically, inhibition of FOXO3 activates the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway to suppress LPS-induced pyroptosis in HBECs. This study revealed that GAS5 knockdown attenuates FOXO3 expression thereby activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway to inhibit LPS-induced pyroptosis in HBECs. These findings may contribute to identifying novel targets that inhibit pyroptosis in HBECs., (© 2021 The Authors. The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia on behalf of Kaohsiung Medical University.)

The genus Enterobacter is a member of the ESKAPE group, which contains the major resistant bacterial pathogens. Enterobacter cloacae complex (ECC) has emerged as a clinically significant cause of a wide variety of nosocomial infections. Carbapenem-nonsusceptible Enterobacter cloacae complex (CnsECC) has become an emerging threat to public health but there is still a lack of comprehensive molecular and clinical epidemiological analysis. A total of 157 CnsECC isolates were recovered during October 2011 to August 2017. hsp60 gene sequencing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were applied to discriminate the species, genetic clusters and clonal relatedness. All the isolates were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis for carbapenemase, AmpC-type β-lactamase, and extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) genes. Clinical data were collected on all patients for comparing clinical risks and outcomes between patients with carbapenemase-producing (CP)-CnsECC compared with non-CP-CnsECC infection. The most commonly identified species was E. hormaechei subsp. hoffmannii (47.1%), followed by E. hormaechei subsp. steigerwaltii (24.8%). Different species of CnsECC isolates showed heterogeneity in resistance patterns to piperacillin/tazobactam, cefepime and levofloxacin. In the present study, we observed that E. hormaechei subsp. hoffmannii was characterized with higher cefepime and levofloxacin resistance rate but lower piperacillin/tazobactam resistance rate relative to other species of CnsECC. CP-CnsECC comprised 41.1% (65 isolates) and all of these isolates carried IMP-8. In this study, 98% of patients had antimicrobial therapy prior to culture, with a total of 57/150 (38%) patients being exposed to carbapenems. Chronic pulmonary disease (OR: 2.51, 95% CI: 1.25-5.06), received ventilator support (OR: 5.54, 95% CI: 2.25-12.03), steroid exposure (OR: 3.88, 95% CI: 1.91-7.88) and carbapenems exposure (OR: 2.17, 95% CI: 1.10-4.25) were considered risk factors associated with CP-CnsECC infection. The results suggest that CP-CnsECC are associated with poorer outcomes including in-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality and 100-day mortality. Our study provides insights into the epidemic potential of IMP-8-producing E. cloacae for healthcare-associated infections and underscores the importance of understanding underlying resistance mechanisms of CnsECC to direct antibiotic treatment decisions.

Both cadmium (Cd) contamination and boron (B) deficiency in farmland soils pose a threat to the yield and quality of crops in Southern China. The present study investigated the mechanisms by which B reduces Cd accumulation in rice (Oryza sativa) seedlings. Boron supplementation partially restored the decline in shoot and root biomass caused by Cd treatment (26% and 33%, respectively), with no significant difference between the B+Cd and control groups. We also found that B significantly reduced shoot and root Cd concentrations (by 64% and 25%, respectively) but increased Cd concentration (by 43%) and proportion (from 38% to 55%) in root cell walls. Transcriptome analysis and biochemical tests suggested that B supplementation enhanced lignin and pectin biosynthesis, pectin demethylation, and sulfur and glutathione metabolism. Moreover, B decreased the expression of some Cd-induced transporter-related genes (i.e., HMA2, Nramp1, and several ABC genes). These results indicate that B relieved Cd toxicity and reduced Cd accumulation in rice seedlings by restraining Cd uptake and translocation from root to shoot by improving Cd tolerance and chelation ability. These novel findings would benefit further investigations into how B influences Cd uptake, translocation, detoxification, and accumulation in crops., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the influence of the breakpoints of balanced chromosome 1 translocation on routine semen parameters., Methods: This study included 44,239 patients with male reproductive abnormalities from the outpatient department of Shandong University Hospital of Reproduction between January 2017 and December 2020. Through chromosome G banding karyotype analysis of peripheral blood, 57 of the patients were diagnosed as balanced chromosome 1 translocation carriers and underwent routine semen examination., Results: Normal semen were found in 24.56% and abnormal semen in 75.44% of the 57 balanced chromosome 1 translocation carriers. The most common breakpoints were p36.2, p21, q31 and q32 for normal semen, q21, p13, p10, p21, p11, q24 and q32 for abnormal semen in the 11 cases of azoospermia, q21, p13, p32, p22 and p12 in the 5 patients with severe semen abnormalities such as oligospermia and asthenospermia, and q21, p13 and p10 in azoospermia and severe semen abnormalities., Conclusions: Balanced chromosome 1 translocation is closely related to routine semen parameters, and so is the breakpoint of chromosome 1 to the severity of semen abnormalities.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination of croplands has become a threat to crop food safety and human health. In this study, we investigated the effect of sulfur on the growth of water spinach under Cd stress and the amount of Cd accumulation by increasing the soil sulfate content. We found that the biomass of water spinach significantly increased after the application of sulfur while the shoot Cd concentration was considerably reduced (by 31%). The results revealed that sulfur could promote the expression of PME and LAC genes, accompanied by an increase in PME activity and lignin content. Also, the cell wall Cd content of water spinach roots was significantly increased under sulfur treatment. This finding suggests that sulfur could enhance the adsorption capacity of Cd by promoting the generation of cell wall components, thereby inhibiting the transportation of Cd via the apoplastic pathway. In addition, the higher expression of Nramp5 under the Cd1S0 (concentration of Cd and sulfur are 2.58 and 101.31 mg/kg respectively) treatment led to increased Cd uptake. The CAX3 and ABC transporters and GST were expressed at higher levels along with a higher cysteine content and GSH/GSSR value under Cd1S1 (concentration of Cd and sulfur are 2.60 and 198.36 mg/kg respectively) treatment, which contribute to the Cd detoxification and promotion of Cd compartmentalization in root vacuoles, thereby reducing the translocation of Cd to the shoot via the symplastic pathway., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Excessive accumulation of cadmium (Cd) in vegetables poses a serious threat to human health; therefore, it is urgent to screen and cultivate vegetable cultivars with low Cd accumulation in the edible parts. Eggplant has a high tendency for Cd accumulation, but research on its low Cd accumulation cultivars is still rare. In this study, to screen low-Cd cultivars, 30 eggplant cultivars were screened using soils containing 0.22 mg/kg, 2.9 mg/kg (low-Cd), and 4.7 mg/kg of Cd (high-Cd). MYCQ and ZGQ were confirmed as low-Cd cultivars, BXGZ and WCCQ were confirmed as high-Cd cultivars, and a 2.52-3.88-fold difference in Cd concentration was observed in their fruits. The subcellular distribution revealed that the root cell wall and vacuole Cd concentrations of a typical low-Cd cultivar (MYCQ) were significantly higher than those of a typical high-Cd cultivar (BXGZ); however, the Cd concentrations in the cell wall and vacuole in fruits, leaves, and stems were significantly lower in MYCQ than in BXGZ. These results indicated that the low-Cd cultivars of eggplant could lessen Cd toxicity through the elevated Cd retention and sequestration levels of root cell walls and vacuoles, thus reducing Cd transport from roots to aboveground tissues, leading to low Cd accumulation. The findings of this study can provide a physiological and biochemical foundation for the screening and breeding of low-Cd cultivars of fruit vegetables and demonstrates that the application of low-Cd cultivars is necessary for food safety in humans., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)