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Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is more prevalent with an increase in diabetes mellitus. Oxidative stress is a major factor in the occurrence and progression of DKD. Defending against oxidative stress and restoring antioxidant defense might be key to preventing and treating DKD. The purpose of this article is to provide an explanation of how oxidative stress affects DKD, conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on DKD, and examine the effect of antioxidants on the disease. An analysis of 19 randomized controlled trials showed that the use of antioxidants could reduce UAE (albumin excretion rate) in patients with DKD (SMD: − 0.31; 95% CI [− 0.47, − 0.14], I2 = 0%), UACR (urine albumin/creatinine ratio) (SMD: − 0.60; 95% CI [− 1.15, − 0.06], I2 = 89%), glycosylated hemoglobin (hbA1c) (MD: − 0.61; 95% CI [− 1.00, − 0.21], I2 = 93%) and MDA (malonaldehyde) (SMD:-1.05; 95% CI [− 1.87, − 0.23], I2 = 94%), suggesting that antioxidants seemed to have therapeutic effects in patients with DKD, especially in reducing proteinuria and hbA1c. The purpose of this study is to provide new targets and ideas for drug research and clinical treatment of DKD.

Herein we report the synthesis of polystyrene-graphene nanosheets (PS-GNs) and octadecylamine-graphene nanosheets (OA-GNs) which possessed much rougher surface and wider lamellar spacing than that of the pristine GNs. The incorporation of PS and OA into the GNs mitigated the agglomeration issues of the pristine GNs. The synthesized PS-GNs and OA-GNs were in turn applied as additives to prepare modified cement mortars which were tested for various mechanical and fluidity tests. The test results showed that PS-GNs and OA-GNs incorporation played effective roles in reinforcing compressive strength and flexural strength of modified cement mortar. The results revealed that in contrast to the physical reaction of PS-GNs with the cement mortar, the chelating reaction of OA-GNs with Ca2+ retarded the hydration process at 0–7 days of cement mortar. This study provides important findings for the preparation of PS-GNs/cement mortar and OA-GNs/cement mortar with enhanced mechanical properties for practical applications in construction industries.

The current methods for detecting pathogenic bacteria in feed require high technique and take a long time. A Micro Biological Survey (MBS) rapid detection system is a simple, economical and rapid microbial detection method. The purpose of this experiment was to compare the detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Listeria monocytogenes (LM), coliform (COLI) and total viable count (TVC) in feed by the MBS rapid microbial detection system and plate counting method (PCM). The results showed that the MBS microbial rapid detection system could detect E. coli, Salmonella, S. aureus, LM, COLI and TVC in artificially contaminated sterilized fish meal, and the quantitative limit were 5.58 cfu/mL, 8.60 cfu/mL, 7.90 cfu/mL, 8.40 cfu/mL, 3.93 cfu/mL and 7.43 cfu/mL, respectively. The quantitative limit of the PCM were 41.30 cfu/mL, 56.70 cfu/mL, 39.00 cfu/mL, 56.00 cfu/mL, 40.00 cfu/mL and 48.00 cfu/mL, respectively. The recovery rates of the MBS microbial rapid detection system for E. coli, Salmonella, S. aureus, LM, COLI and TVC in the concentration range of 101~108 cfu/mL were 87.92 ~ 98.42%, 87.19 ~ 90.76%, 89.95 ~ 96.32%, 89.15 ~ 92.93%, 90.95 ~ 97.66% and 90.21 ~ 97.03%, respectively; the recovery rates of the PCM were 5.58%~92.60%, 79.77%~93.48%, 86.33%~94.01%, 83.05%~92.69%, 87.44%~96.58% and 87.09%~94.98%, respectively. The coefficients of variation of the MBS microbial rapid detection system for detecting E. coli, Salmonella, S. aureus, LM, COLI and TVC in sterilized fish meal were 9.83%, 7.18%, 10.28%, 9.55%, 8.03% and 9.21%, respectively. The coefficients of variation of PCM were 14.92%, 13.84%, 15.63%, 12.18%, 13.21% and 14.91%, respectively. When detecting the pathogenic bacteria content in artificially contaminated feed, the MBS rapid microbial detection system was positively correlated with the PCM. When the MBS microbial rapid detection system and PCM were used to detect the collected real feed samples, there was no significant difference in the detection results of the two methods in most of the feed samples. In summary, the quantitative limit, recovery rate and coefficient of variation of the MBS microbial rapid detection system are better than the quantitative limit, recovery rate and coefficient of variation of the plate counting method, which is the most convenient and rapid detection method and is suitable for promotion and application in production lines.

The changes of microbial communities of rhizospheric soil in different ages are speculated to cause soil-borne diseases and replanting problem in American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) cultivation. This study analyzed the physicochemical properties and microbial communities of rhizospheric soil during the planting of American ginseng in the Wendeng area of Weihai, China. The water content and organic matter content of American ginseng rhizospheric soil decreased year by year. A decline in the diversity of bacteria and fungi was observed in the rhizospheric soils planting American ginseng compared with the traditional crop wheat in the control group. During the later planting stage, the abundances of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Basidiomycota were lower, whereas that of Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, and Mucoromycota were higher. Through the correlation analysis between environmental factors and microbial community, it was found that the content of soil phosphorus was significantly positively correlated with the root rot pathogen Fusarium. The results of functional prediction showed that the decrease of secondary metabolite synthesis of rhizospheric soil bacteria and the increase of plant pathogenic fungi may be the important reasons for the increase of diseases in the later stage of American ginseng planting. This study revealed the evolution of rhizosphere microbial community and function in the process of American ginseng planting, which is valuable for planting management.

The aims of this research were to (i) systematically investigate the soil organic carbon (SOC) and labile SOC fraction dynamics over a period of 3 years under biochar amendment, (ii) reveal the relations of labile SOC fractions to SOC, and (iii) evaluate the sensitivity of SOC to biochar added at different rates by determining C pool management index (CPMI). The SOC, labile SOC fractions, and the CPMI in the 0–20-cm layer were analyzed via a 3-year field experiment of maize. Four biochar treatments were studied, with application rates of 0, 15.75, 31.5, and 47.25 t ha−1 (CK, BC1, BC2, and BC3, respectively). Biochar was applied manually before sowing only in the first year of this experiment; an equal mineral NPK fertilizer was applied to each treatment annually. The average data of this 3-year field study demonstrated that biochar incorporation significantly increased SOC, particulate organic carbon (POC), easily oxidizable carbon (EOC), light fraction organic carbon (LFOC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) by 31.75–83.62, 92.72–323.30, 29.90–51.55, 194.30–437.37, and 31.13–93.12%, respectively, compared to the control; their concentrations increased with increasing biochar addition rates, except for MBC. In addition, EOC, POC, and LFOC were significantly positively related with SOC. Compared to the control, the DOC contents were reduced after biochar addition, but the specific reasons for this finding need to be further studied. Biochar incorporation could not only significantly improve the soil quality via increasing the soil organic C fractions, but also increase C sequestration rates in the long term by increasing the non-labile C pool (NLC). The CPMI could be used as a representative index in evaluating the impacts of biochar on SOC content and soil quality.

DREB transcription factors usually play important regulatory roles in the responses of plants to abiotic stress. In this study, a novel SlDREB1 transcription factor from tomato was isolated by yeast-one-hybrid system. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the SlDREB1 is a single copy gene with typical AP2 conserved domain, and located on the #6 chromosome of the tomato genome. The SlDREB1 protein was confirmed to be localized to the cell nucleus. To profile the physiological and molecular responses of the SlDREB1 gene to drought stress, we transferred the SlDREB1 gene into the Arabidopsis plants, and functionally characterized the SlDREB1 gene by molecular detection in vitro and drought stress experiments. The data showed that accumulation of the SlDREB1 mRNA in the roots of the tomato was higher than that in the shoots, and strongly induced by drought, salt or exogenous abscisic acid. Both transcriptional activation and gel mobility shift assay indicated that the SlDREB1 protein exhibited specific mechanism recognizing the CCGAC motif in the promoters of the stress-resistant genes in the transgenic Arabidopsis. The data exhibited that the transgenic Arabidopsis revealed obvious up-regulations in accumulations of the SlDREB1 and ERD15 mRNA in response to drought stress. Physiological measurements demonstrated that the transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing the SlDREB1 gene remarkably increased accumulation of osmolytes, such as soluble sugar and free proline, but reduced the contents of malondialdehyde in the leaves, suggesting that overexpression of the SlDREB1 gene in the transgenic Arabidopsis plays crucial regulatory roles in maintaining the balance of osmotic potentials and alleviating physiological damage in response to drought stress. Northern blotting also provided evidence that the tomato SlDREB1 apparently up-regulated the expressions of the drought-resistant ERD15 gene through a transcriptional activation pathway recognizing the CCGAC motifs, such as the NNCCGACNN element in the promoter of the ERD15 instead of limiting to the specific DRE element in the promoter of the RD29A, and led to an enhanced tolerance of the transgenic Arabidopsis to drought stress.

This study aimed to detect serum microRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients with impaired glucose metabolism (IGM), PCOS patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), and healthy controls. A TaqMan miRNA array explored serum miRNA profiles as a pilot study, then selected miRNAs were analyzed in a validation cohort consisting of 65 PCOS women with IGM, 65 PCOS women with NGT, and 45 healthy women The relative expression of miR-122, miR-193b, and miR-194 was up-regulated in PCOS patients compared with controls, whereas that of miR-199b-5p was down-regulated. Furthermore, miR-122, miR-193b, and miR-194 were increased in the PCOS-IGM group compared with the PCOS-NGT group. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that miR-193b and body mass index contributed independently to explain 43.7 % (P

Aquaporins (AQPs), a large family of channel proteins in plants, play an important role in regulating the balance of osmotic potential in cells. We isolated an AQP gene, TsMIP6, from the halophyte Thellungiella salsuginea and functionally characterized it in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa). This gene belongs to a subfamily of tonoplast intrinsic proteins and is localized at the plasma membrane. Real-time PCR showed that expression of TsMIP6 in shoots or roots of T. salsuginea was markedly induced by salinity, whereas its ectopic expression in ‘Kitaake’ lines of rice significantly increased plant tolerance to salt stress. Physiological data suggested that TsMIP6 is involved in regulating ion homeostasis and water channel activity in salt-stressed transgenic rice. Heterologous expression analysis indicated that TsMIP6 specifically interacts with a member of the glycoside hydrolase family 64 protein #617 in yeast cells. This suggests that the relationship between TsMIP6 and #617 has a crucial role in mediating osmotic balance in plant cells. Moreover, TsMIP6 might help to modulate the transport of some neutral molecules and may function through a pathway regulating solute equilibrium to maintain osmotic potential.

Biochar is considered difficult for microorganisms to decompose, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sorbed to fresh biochar may affect the survival rate of inoculants or the structure of soil microbial communities. We tested the hypotheses that VOCs on fresh biochar may play a vital role in shaping the structure of soil microbial communities and determined if they inhibited or supported the growth of inoculants. We examined the growth of Bacillus mucilaginosus in mushroom medium-based biochar (MM-biochar), corn stalk-based biochar (CS-biochar), and rice straw-based biochar (RS-biochar) in comparison with peat. The composition of VOCs before and after the incubation was characterized by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The structure of a soil microbial community incubated in biochar was examined via denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was applied to reveal the contribution of pH, K and Na, and diversity indices from VOC fingerprints to diversity indices in DGGE profiles. In the present study, all biochars were able to support B. mucilaginosus at population densities analogous to peat. Phenols comprise a fraction of the VOCs that potentially could be toxic to some microbes and inhibit their growth in the short time. The structure of the inoculated soil microbial communities in terms of the diversity indices calculated from 16S ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) and 18S rDNA DGGE profiles was greatly affected by biochar. Besides, CCA revealed the role of VOCs in shaping the structure of soil microbial communities. VOCs absorbed to biochar, despite their short life spans, could support the survival of B. mucilaginosus, demonstrating the potential of biochars as carriers for inoculants. The changes in the soil microbial communities induced by fresh biochar may not represent the long-term “biochar effect.” Therefore, future work needs to appreciate mechanisms underlying aged biochar on the structure of soil microbial communities.

Osteosarcoma, the most common primary malignant bone tumor, usually arises in the metaphysis of long bones. Amplification and mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene represent signature genetic abnormalities encountered in osteosarcoma. Noscapine is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid derived from the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. Recently several studies have suggested its anti-cancer effect in melanoma, ovarian cancer, gliomas, breast cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer. However, the underlying molecular mechanism for its anti-cancer effect still remains unclear. In this paper, we found the mechanism of noscapine effectively suppressed proliferation and invasion of MG63 cell line by inhibiting the phosphorylation of EGFR and its downstream pathway.