Search

Abstract Background Major depressive disorder is characterized by not only monoamine neurotransmitters deficiencies but also persistent neuroinflammation. The complement system is an attractive therapeutic target for various inflammation-related diseases due to its early activation in inflammatory processes. Results In the present study, the dynamic alteration of complement C3 and its receptor C3aR during the occurrence of depression and the mechanism of astrocyte-microglia IL-1R/C3/C3aR on synaptic pruning were investigated. The proteomic analysis firstly showed that chronic stress caused an elevation of C3. GO analysis indicated that complement system-mediated synaptic pruning signaling was involved in depression. The dynamic observation indicated that C3/C3aR was activated in the early onset and throughout the course of depression induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and chronic stress. In contrast, C3aR blockade inhibited the hyperactivation of microglial APT2/DHHC7 palmitoylation cycle, which mediated the translocation of STAT3 and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Meanwhile, C3aR blockade also attenuated the synaptic pruning and enhanced the synaptogenesis in the prefrontal cortex of mice. Moreover, the blockade of IL-1R/NF-κB signaling pathway reduced the release of C3 from astrocyte. Conclusions The current study demonstrates that astrocyte-microglia IL-1R/C3/C3aR activation causes the abnormal synaptic pruning in depression, and suggests that the activation of complement C3/C3aR may be particularly helpful in predicting the onset stage of depression.

AIM: To investigate the clinical features, causative organisms and effects of timely vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade without intraocular lens (IOL) removal in the treatment of acute-onset endophthalmitis after cataract surgery (APCE). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical features and microbiological factors in 10 eyes of 10 patients with APCE at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from January 2010 to December 2018. Data on the clinical features, causative organisms, visual acuity, intraocular pressure (IOP) and complications were collected. The mean follow-up period was 25.5mo. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 71.4y. The mean time between cataract surgery and the onset of endophthalmitis was 2.0d. Preoperative visual acuity ranged from no light perception to hand motion. After vitrectomy, the visual acuity increased in nine eyes (90%), and was unchanged in one eye (10%). A significant difference was observed between the mean preoperative (36.3±7.1 mm Hg) and postoperative IOP (14.9±4.3 mm Hg, P

Abstract Objective Primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) is a heterogeneous chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by lymphocyte infiltration of the exocrine glands and the involvement and dysfunction of multiple organs and tissues. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common type of respiratory system damage. This study ascertained the factors related to ILD in patients with pSS (pSS-ILD), such as altered levels of circulating lymphocyte subtypes. Methods Eighty healthy controls and 142 patients diagnosed with pSS were included. The pSS patients were classified into groups with pSS-ILD or pSS without ILD (pSS-non-ILD). Baseline clinical and laboratory data were collected for all subjects, including the levels of lymphocytes measured by modified flow cytometry. Results The pSS-ILD patients were older, had higher ESSDAI scores, had higher positivity rates for anti-SSB and anti-Ro52 antibodies, and had more frequent symptoms of respiratory system involvement than pSS-non-ILD patients. pSS-ILD patients had the lowest Th2 cell counts among the three groups. Although the absolute numbers of Treg and NK cells were lower in pSS patients with and without ILD than in the healthy controls, there was no significant difference between the two pSS groups. The Th1/Th2 ratio was significantly higher in patients with ILD than in patients without ILD. Further analysis showed that older age (OR=1.084), lower Th2 count (OR=0.947), higher Th1/Th2 ratio (OR=1.021), and positivity for anti-SSB (OR=3.620) and anti-Ro52 (OR=5.184) antibodies were associated with the occurrence of ILD in patients with pSS. Conclusion Decreased circulating Th2 cells and an elevated Th1/Th2 ratio may be the immunological mechanism underlying the development of ILD in pSS patients.

Abstract Background Adenylate kinase (AK) is a monomolecular enzyme widely found in a variety of organisms. It mainly catalyses the reversible transfer of adenosine nucleotide phosphate groups and plays an important role in maintaining energy metabolism. AK deficiency is a rare genetic disorder that is related to haemolytic anaemia. Chronic haemolytic anaemia associated with AK deficiency is a rare condition, and only 14 unrelated families have been reported thus far. Moreover, only 11 mutations have been identified in the AK1 gene, with only 3 cases of psychomotor impairment. Case presentation The patient was a 3-year-old boy with severe haemolytic anaemia and psychomotor retardation. A molecular study of the patient’s AK gene revealed 2 different mutations: a heterozygous missense mutation in exon 6 (c.413G > A) and a heterozygous frameshift mutation in exon 5 (c.223dupA). Molecular modelling analyses indicated that AK gene inactivation resulted in a lack of AK activity. The patient recovered after regular blood transfusion therapy. Conclusions AK1 deficiency was diagnosed on the basis of low enzymatic activity and the identification of a mutation in the AK1 gene located on chromosome 9q. Here, we report the first case of moderate red cell AK1 deficiency associated with chronic nonspherocytic haemolytic anaemia (CNSHA) in China. The genetic mutations were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. The variants were classified as pathogenic by bioinformatics tools, such as ACMG/AMP guidelines, Mutation Taster, SIFT, MACP, REVEL and PolyPhen2.2. Based on our evidence and previous literature reports, we speculate that the site of the AK1 gene c.413G > A (p.Arg138His) mutation may be a high-frequency mutation site and the other mutation (c.223dupA) might be related to the neuropathogenicity caused by AK1 deficiency. NGS should be a part of newborn to early childhood screening to diagnose rare and poorly diagnosed genetic diseases as early as possible.

Low-temperature and weak-light conditions have major effects on the growth and flower quality of horticultural plants. A greenhouse pot experiment was performed to investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Funneliformis mosseae and Glomus versiforme) on the growth, photosynthesis, and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L.) under low-temperature and weak-light stress. The growth and biomass of snapdragon were higher following inoculation with F. mosseae and G. versiforme compared with control plants. The percentage of mycorrhizal colonization and root activity were high in A. majus plants with AMF. AMF inoculation enhanced the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency of plants under low-temperature and weak-light conditions. Furthermore, the chlorophyll content, potential activity of photosystem II (PSII), effective photochemistry quantum efficiency of PSII, actual photochemical quantum efficiency of PSII, and photochemical quenching coefficient were higher in AMF-inoculated plants than in uninoculated plants. The application of AMF reduced the intercellular CO2 concentration and non-photochemical quenching coefficient. Thus, snapdragon plants treated with F. mosseae and G. versiforme are more resistant to low-temperature and weak-light stress than untreated plants.

Perennial ryegrass is considered an excellent cold-season turfgrass, and salinity is an important environmental factor that affects its growth. Many studies have shown that arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can alleviate stress responses in plants, but there have been few reports on the promotion of turfgrass growth in saline-alkali land by AM fungi. We designed an experiment to investigate the effects of different saline conditions (0%, 0.05%, 0.1% salt, w/w) on the growth and physiological metabolism of perennial ryegrass. The results showed that under 0.05% salt stress, AM fungi increased the plant height by 25.9%, the aboveground and underground dry weight by 37.1% and 55.6%, respectively; and the content of chlorophyll a in the plants by 31.0%. Inoculation with AM fungi increased the net photosynthetic rate (A), transpiration rate (E), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), and stomatal conductance (Gs) of perennial ryegrass, and the increase in their levels negatively correlated with increasing salt concentrations. Under 0.1% salt stress, the A, Ci, Gs, and E of perennial ryegrass inoculated with AM fungi increased by 24.6%, 23.2%, 139.1%, and 40.7%, respectively. However, inoculation with AM fungi reduced Fv/Fm and had no significant impacts on the SOD activity, MDA, proline (Pro) content, soluble sugar content, and soluble protein content of perennial ryegrass. In conclusion, AM fungi can promote the growth of perennial ryegrass under salt stress, enhance its photosynthetic capacity, and improve the ability of perennial ryegrass to resist salt stress.

Abstract The structural change-mediated catalytic activity regulation plays a significant role in the biological functions of natural enzymes. However, there is virtually no artificial nanozyme reported that can achieve natural enzyme-like stringent spatiotemporal structure-based catalytic activity regulation. Here, we report a sub-nanostructural transformable gold@ceria (STGC-PEG) nanozyme that performs tunable catalytic activities via near-infrared (NIR) light-mediated sub-nanostructural transformation. The gold core in STGC-PEG can generate energetic hot electrons upon NIR irradiation, wherein an internal sub-nanostructural transformation is initiated by the conversion between CeO2 and electron-rich state of CeO2−x , and active oxygen vacancies generation via the hot-electron injection. Interestingly, the sub-nanostructural transformation of STGC-PEG enhances peroxidase-like activity and unprecedentedly activates plasmon-promoted oxidase-like activity, allowing highly efficient low-power NIR light (50 mW cm−2)-activated photocatalytic therapy of tumors. Our atomic-level design and fabrication provide a platform to precisely regulate the catalytic activities of nanozymes via a light-mediated sub-nanostructural transformation, approaching natural enzyme-like activity control in complex living systems.

Abstract Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is an immune checkpoint protein that has been linked with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and fibroblast to myofibroblast transition (FMT). However, it remains largely unclear how PD-L1 mediates this process. We found significantly increased PD-L1 in the lungs of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients and mice with pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin and TGF-β. In primary human lung fibroblasts (HLFs), TGF-β induced PD-L1 expression that is dependent on both Smad3 and p38 pathways. PD-L1 knockdown using siRNA significantly attenuated TGF-β-induced expression of myofibroblast markers α-SMA, collagen-1, and fibronectin in normal and IPF HLFs. Further, we found that PD-L1 interacts with Smad3, and TGF-β induces their interaction. Interestingly, PD-L1 knockdown reduced α-SMA reporter activity induced by TGF-β in HLFs, suggesting that PD-L1 might act as a co-factor of Smad3 to promote target gene expression. TGF-β treatment also phosphorylates GSK3β and upregulates β-catenin protein levels. Inhibiting β-catenin signaling with the pharmaceutical inhibitor ICG001 significantly attenuated TGF-β-induced FMT. PD-L1 knockdown also attenuated TGF-β-induced GSK3β phosphorylation/inhibition and β-catenin upregulation, implicating GSK3β/β-catenin signaling in PD-L1-mediated FMT. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that fibroblast PD-L1 may promote pulmonary fibrosis through both Smad3 and β-catenin signaling and may represent a novel interventional target for IPF.

In the past, conventional Czerny–Turner spectrometers were usually designed to achieve high resolution while often ignoring astigmatism in the sagittal direction. In contrast, by replacing the focusing mirror with a freeform surface in the structure, we can obtain a Czerny–Turner spectrometer with low keystone distortion by controlling the astigmatism. At the same time, the area sensor can receive all of the spectrum from the optical system. In this paper, we briefly describe the formation of keystone distortion and smile in a plane grating. Additionally, the validity of the method is verified through simulation. Finally, we evaluated the smile and keystone distortion of both the initial and final systems. The keystone and smile were reduced to 1.77 μm and 8.3 μm, respectively, over the wavelength range of 535 nm to 630 nm. Concurrently, the resolution achieved was 0.4 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins are epigenetic modulators that regulate gene transcription through interacting with acetylated lysine residues of histone proteins. BET proteins have multiple roles in regulating key cellular functions such as cell proliferation, differentiation, inflammation, oxidative and redox balance, and immune responses. As a result, BET proteins have been found to be actively involved in a broad range of human lung diseases including acute lung inflammation, asthma, pulmonary arterial hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Due to the identification of specific small molecular inhibitors of BET proteins, targeting BET in these lung diseases has become an area of increasing interest. Emerging evidence has demonstrated the beneficial effects of BET inhibitors in preclinical models of various human lung diseases. This is, in general, largely related to the ability of BET proteins to bind to promoters of genes that are critical for inflammation, differentiation, and beyond. By modulating these critical genes, BET proteins are integrated into the pathogenesis of disease progression. The intrinsic histone acetyltransferase activity of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is of particular interest, seems to act independently of its bromodomain binding activity, and has implication in some contexts. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the research on BET proteins with a focus on BRD4 in several major human lung diseases, the underlying molecular mechanisms, as well as findings of targeting BET proteins using pharmaceutical inhibitors in different lung diseases preclinically.

Background A body shape index (ABSI) has been proven to be related to a population’s CVD incidence. However, the application of this indicator has produced different results. Aim This study aimed to evaluate the applicability of the ABSI in predicting the incidence of CVD in rural Xinjiang, China, and compare it with waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and body mass index (BMI). Subjects and methods 5375 people aged 18 years or older were included in the study. We used the Cox proportional hazard model to evaluate the relationship between WC, WHR, WHtR, BMI, and ABSI and the incidence of CVD, the area under the curve (AUC) to evaluate the predictive power of each anthropometric index for the incidence of CVD, and restricted cubic splines are used to analyse the trend relationship between anthropometric indicators and the incidence of CVD. Results After multivariate adjustment, standardised WC, WHR, WHtR, BMI, and ABSI all positively correlated with the incidence of CVD. WC had the highest HR (95% CI) value, 1.64 (1.51–1.78), and AUC (95% CI) value, 0.7743 (0.7537–0.7949). ABSI had the lowest HR (95% CI) value, 1.21(1.10–1.32), and AUC (95% CI) value, 0.7419 (0.7208–0.7630). In the sex-specific sensitivity analysis, the predictive ability of traditional anthropometric indicators for the incidence of CVD is higher than that of ABSI. Conclusions In the rural areas of Xinjiang, the traditional anthropometric indicators of WC had better ability to predict the incidence of CVD than ABSI.

IntroductionNumerous studies on the mosquito life cycle and transmission efficacy were performed under constant temperatures. Mosquito in wild, however, is not exposed to constant temperature but is faced with temperature variation on a daily basis.MethodsIn the present study, the mosquito life cycle and Zika virus transmission efficiency were conducted at daily fluctuating temperatures and constant temperatures. Aedes albopictus was infected with the Zika virus orally. The oviposition and survival of the infected mosquitoes and hatching rate, the growth cycle of larvae at each stage, and the infection rate (IR) of the progeny mosquitoes were performed at two constant temperatures (23°C and 31°C) and a daily temperature range (DTR, 23–31°C).ResultsIt showed that the biological parameters of mosquitoes under DTR conditions were significantly different from that under constant temperatures. Mosquitoes in DTR survived longer, laid more eggs (mean number: 36.5 vs. 24.2), and had a higher hatching rate (72.3% vs. 46.5%) but a lower pupation rate (37.9% vs. 81.1%) and emergence rate (72.7% vs. 91.7%) than that in the high-temperature group (constant 31°C). When compared to the low-temperature group (constant 23°C), larvae mosquitoes in DTR developed faster (median days: 9 vs. 23.5) and adult mosquitoes carried higher Zika viral RNA load (median log10 RNA copies/μl: 5.28 vs. 3.86). However, the temperature or temperature pattern has no effect on transovarial transmission.DiscussionThose results indicated that there are significant differences between mosquito development and reproductive cycles under fluctuating and constant temperature conditions, and fluctuating temperature is more favorable for mosquitos' survival and reproduction. The data would support mapping and predicting the distribution of Aedes mosquitoes in the future and establishing an early warning system for Zika virus epidemics.

Ecological factors have received increasing attention as drivers of speciation but also in the maintenance of postspeciation divergence. However, the relative significance of the responses of species to climate oscillations for driving niche divergence or conservatism in the evolution of many species that pass through diverse environments and limited geographical boundaries remains poorly understood. Paeonia rockii (one of the ancient species of Paeonia) comprising two subspecies called Paeonia rockii subsp. rockii and Paeonia rockii subsp. taibaishanica is an endemic, rare, and endangered medicinal plant in China. In this study, we integrated whole chloroplast genomes, and ecological factors to obtain insights into ecological speciation and species divergence in this endemic rare peony. RAxML analysis indicated that the topological trees recovered from three different data sets were identical, where P. rockii subsp. rockii and P. rockii subsp. taibaishanica clustered together, and molecular dating analyses suggested that the two subspecies diverged 0.83 million years ago. In addition, ecological niche modeling showed that the predicted suitable distribution areas for P. rockii subsp. rockii and P. rockii subsp. taibaishanica differed considerably, although the predicted core distribution areas were similar, where the population contracted in the last interglacial and expanded in the last glacial maximum. Under the emissions scenarios for the 2050s and 2070s, the suitable distribution areas were predicted to contract significantly, where the migration routes of the two subspecies tended to migrate toward high latitudes and elevations, thereby suggesting strong responses of the distributions of the two subspecies to climate change. These findings combined with the phylogeographic relationships provide comprehensive insights into niche variation and differentiation in this endemic rare peony, and they highlight the importance of geological and climatic changes for species divergence and changes in the population geographic patterns of rare and endangered medicinal plants in East Asia.

Prevention of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission from infected mothers to their newborns is critical to HBV control and eventual eradication. Mother-to-child perinatal transmission causes the highest chronic carrier rate (>85%) with a high rate of subsequent chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. This risk is reduced by 90% with HBV vaccine given along with hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) starting at birth. New analyses of our data from US trials of HBIG and HBV vaccine in high-risk infants revealed better efficacy with yeast-recombinant vaccine than plasma-derived vaccine, especially in preventing late onset infections, with evidence that vaccine prevented transmission of maternal HBV infection with the glycine to arginine mutation in surface antigen codon 145 (sG145R). Most late infections with sG145R were in vaccine non-responders, suggesting escape from HBIG rather than from vaccine-induced antibody. Our findings also help explain survey results from Taiwan following universal childhood immunization implemented in the mid-1980s. We conclude that current vaccines will remain effective against surface antigen mutants. Anti-viral drugs in high-risk pregnant women, in combination with newborn HBIG and vaccine, show promise for eliminating residual breakthrough neonatal infections, critical to meeting WHO 2030 goals and for eradicating HBV.

The dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in the malignancy of lupus nephritis (LN). This work aims to analyse the effect and mechanism of miR-146b-5p in lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced model of LN in vitro. The serum samples of LN patients and normal volunteers were collected. HK-2 cells were challenged via LPS. miR-146b-5p and interferon-induced protein 35 (IFI35) abundances were detected via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or western blot. The inflammatory response was assessed via inflammatory cytokines levels via qRT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cell apoptosis was analysed via flow cytometry and apoptotic protein levels. The protein levels of JAK1/STAT1 signalling were detected via western blot. The relationship of miR-146b-5p and IFI35 was analysed via bioinformatics and dual-luciferase reporter assays. This study revealed that miR-146b-5p level was declined and IFI35 abundance was elevated in serum of LN patients and LPS-challenged HK-2 cells. Functionally, IFI35 overexpression promoted LPS-caused inflammatory response and cell apoptosis, and knockdown of IFI35 caused an opposite trend. Meanwhile, miR-146b-5p targeted IFI35 to suppress inflammatory response and cell inflammatory response and apoptosis via inactivating the JAK1/STAT1 pathway. MiR-146b-5p suppressed inflammatory response and cell apoptosis by IFI35 mediated-JAK1/STAT1 signalling in HK-2 cells, which provided a new mechanism for understanding the pathogenesis of LN.

Abstract Background This study aimed to describe the prevalence of metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy normal weight (MUNW) rural adults in Xinjiang and to explore their influencing factors. Methods We selected 13,525 Uyghur, Kazakh and Han participants in Kashi, Yili and Shihezi areas in Xinjiang from 2009 to 2010. Weight status was classified according to body mass index. Metabolic phenotype was further defined based on the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Results The prevalence of normal weight, overweight, and obesity were 51.6, 30.2, and 14.4%, respectively. The mean age of the population was 45.04 years. The prevalence of MHO was 5.5% overall and was 38.5% among obese participants. The prevalence of MUNW was 15.5% overall and was 30.1% among normal weight participants. A metabolically healthy phenotype among obese individuals was positively associated with females and vegetable consumption ≥4 plates per week. However, this was inversely associated with higher age, red meat consumption ≥2 kg per week, and larger waist circumference (WC). Conversely, a metabolically unhealthy phenotype among normal-weight individuals was positively associated with higher age, red meat consumption ≥2 kg per week, and larger WC; this was however inversely associated with vegetable consumption ≥4 plates per week. Conclusions The prevalence of MHO among obese adults in Xinjiang is higher than that of Han adults, while the prevalence of MUNW among normal weight adults is lower than that among Han adults. In obese and normal weight participants, higher age, more red meat consumption, and larger WC increase the risk of metabolic abnormality, and more vegetable consumption reduces the risk of metabolic abnormality.

Abstract Used as traditional Chinese medicine, Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. (A. membranaceus) roots are also used as tonic food material in a wide range of applications, while the leaves are left in the field, unused. Therefore, comprehensively exploring and utilizing the leaves will inevitably reduce the associated resource waste and environment pollution. In this study, the plant leaves were processed into tea using green tea processing technology. Bioactive components, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the Leaf Tea (LT) and Dry Leaves (DL) were studied, and compared to that of the Dry Roots (DR). The results showed that the polysaccharides content (POL) in the DR (20.44%) was twice as high as the DL (10.18%) and LT (8.68%). However, the DL contained 36.85% more water-soluble extracts (WSE), 35.09% more ethanol-soluble extracts (ESE), 409.63% more total flavonoid content (TFC), 221.01% more total phenolic content (TPC) and 94.34% more proteins, and the LT contained 26.21% more WSE, 40.64% more ESE, 326.93% more TFC, 191.90% more TPC and 37.71% more proteins. The total amino acid (AA) content in the DR was 8.89%, while in that of the DL and LT were 24.18% and 28.96% respectively, nearly 3-times higher than that of the DR. The antioxidant activity of DR was much lower than those of DL and LT, both of which had antioxidant activity closer to that of Vitamin C (VC) and the antioxidant activities were even stronger when the optimal concentration was reached. Except for Aspergillus niger and Staphylococcus aureus, the DL and DR exhibited inhibition activities to Salmonella, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and yeast, while the LT had antimicrobial activities against all the strains except for A. niger. In summary, compared with the most commonly used DR, the DL and LT from A. membranaceus contained higher bioactive components, and stronger antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Producing leaf tea may be an appropriate way to economically and reasonably utilize the plant leaves which are by-products.

With the development of new materials and technology, high entropy alloy (HEA) nitride films have attracted much attention of researchers due to their excellent optical properties and mechanical properties. Herein, a novel SS/NbMoTaWN (HEAN)/NbMoTaWON (HEAON)/SiO2 coatings are prepared, which shows a high spectral selectivity of α/ε = 0.944/0.12. The preparation and optimization of the coating are studied by combining experiments with ellipsometric program and CODE software. High temperature thermal stability test is performed in depth, which proves that the coating could bear 400 °C in air for 2 h, and 600 °C for 2 h in vacuum. Long-term thermal stability researches indicate that the SSACs still keep good optical properties (α = 0.902, ε = 0.106) even after annealing at 600 °C for 100 h. The failure mechanism is analyzed by XRD and Raman spectra. In addition, neutral salt spray test is performed to investigate the anti-corrosion ability, which indicates the coating has a good optical performance after soaking in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution for 30 days. Obviously, this work provides a new strategy to construct solar absorber coatings based on NbMoTaW high entropy alloy.

Abstract Background To investigate the effects of different plasma target concentrations of remifentanil on the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) for blocking adrenergic response (BAR) of sevoflurane in children with laparoscopic herniorrhaphy. Methods Seventy-five children with 3-7 years old scheduled for laparoscopic herniorrhaphy were randomly divided into group R0, group R1, and group R2 according to different remifentanil plasma target concentration (0, 1, and 2 ngml-1), respectively. The MACBAR of sevoflurane was determined by the up-and-down and sequential method in each group. The concentrations of epinephrine and noradrenaline were also determined at corresponding time points. Results A total of 52 child patients were used among the anticipated 75 patients. In groups R0, R1, and R2, the MACBAR of sevoflurane was (3.29 ± 0.17) %, (2.12 ± 0.10) % and (1.29 ± 0.11) %, respectively, and a significant difference was found among the three groups (P

Medicinal plant diversity (MPD) is an important component of plant diversity. Over-collection based on medicinal and economic value has the potential to damage the stability of the regional ecosystem. It is important to understand the current distribution of MPD and the factors influencing it. However, it is still unclear whether environmental and socioeconomic conditions have an impact on their distribution. We selected the Inner Mongolia as a representative study area which covers a wide area, accounting for 12.29% of China’s national land area and 0.79% of the world’s land area. At the same time, the region is a long-standing traditional medicinal area for Mongolians in China. Therefore, the region is significantly influenced by changes in environmental factors and socio-economic factors. We used 9-years field survey of the distribution of medicinal plants in Inner Mongolia for assessing the distribution of MPD as influenced by environmental and socioeconomic activities by combining spatial analyses, species distribution models, and generalized additive models. The results from the spatial analysis show that the western region of Inner Mongolia is the main cold spot area of the MPD, and the central-eastern and northeastern regions of Inner Mongolia are the main hot spot areas of the MPD. At the same time, the distribution of cold spots and hot spots of MPD is more obvious at large spatial scales, and with the refinement of spatial scales, the cold spots in scattered areas are gradually revealed, which is indicative for the conservation and development of MPD at different spatial scales. Under the future climate change of shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP), areas with high habitat suitability for medicinal plants remain mainly dominated by the Yellow River, Yin Mountains, and Greater Khingan Range. Notably, the SSP245 development pathway remains the most significant concern in either long- or short-term development. The nonlinear relationship between the driving factors of MPD at different spatial scales shows that temperature, precipitation and socioeconomic development do have complex effects on MPD. The presence of a certain temperature, altitude, and precipitation range has an optimal facilitation effect on MPD, rather than a single facilitation effect. This complex nonlinear correlation provides a reference for further studies on plant diversity and sustainable development and management. In this study, the spatial distribution of medicinal plant resources and the extent to which they are driven by ecological and socioeconomic factors were analyzed through a macroscopic approach. This provides a reference for larger-scale studies on the environmental and socioeconomic influences on the distribution of plant resources.

Lagotis brachystachya Maxim, a common herb in Tibetan medicine, is mainly used to treat pneumonia, hepatitis, yellow water disease (gouty arthritis). Since long-term heavy drinking is also a risk factor for gouty arthritis, the present study aimed to evaluate the underlying protective role and mechanism of extracts of Lagotis brachystachya (ELB) in chronic alcoholic liver injury combined with gouty arthritis. The rat chronic alcoholic liver injury combined with gouty arthritis model was established by long-term alcohol consumption and monosodium urate (MSU) injection. The therapeutical action of ELB was then evaluated by biochemical measurement, histopathological examination, ankle swelling assessment, and protein detection. According to biochemical measurements and histopathological evaluation, ELB could alleviate the symptoms of alcoholic liver injury combined with gouty arthritis. In addition, chronic alcohol consumption and MSU activated inflammatory-related signaling such as TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB, NLRP3, and JAK2/STAT3 pathways in the liver and synovial tissues, while ELB significantly inhibited the activation of the inflammatory signaling pathway. In conclusion, ELB is protective in rats with chronic alcoholic liver injury and gouty arthritis, possibly mediated by the inhibition of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB, NLRP3, and JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathways in both the hepatic and synovial tissues.

Mucormycosis caused by Lichtheimia ramosa is an emerging and uncommon opportunistic infection in patients with hematological malignancies, with high mortality rates. Herein, we first report a case of pulmonary mucormycosis with Lichtheimia ramosa in a 3-year-old girl recently diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The diagnosis was made using computerized tomography of the lung, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of blood and sputum specimens, and microscopic examination to detect the development of Lichtheimia ramosa on the surgical specimen. She was effectively treated after receiving prompt treatment with amphotericin B and posaconazole, followed by aggressive surgical debridement. In our case, the fungal isolates were identified as Lichtheimia ramosa using mNGS, which assisted clinicians in quickly and accurately diagnosing and initiating early intensive treatment. This case also indicated the importance of strong clinical suspicion, as well as aggressive antifungal therapy combined with surgical debridement of affected tissues.

Background:Aedes albopictus is an indigenous primary vector of dengue and Zika viruses in China. Wolbachia is a gram-negative and common intracellular bacteria, which is maternally inherited endosymbionts and could expand their propagation in host populations by means of various manipulations. Compared with research on the dispersion of Ae. albopictus at the macrospatial level (mainly at the country or continent level), little is known about its variation and Wolbachia infection at the microspatial level, which is essential for its management. Meanwhile, no local cases of dengue fever have been recorded in the history of Nanjing, which implies that few adulticides have been applied in the city. Thus, the present study examines how the Ae. albopictus population varies and the Wolbachia infection status of each population among microspatial regions of Nanjing City.Methods: The genetic structure of 17 Aedes albopictus populations collected from urban, urban fringe, and rural regions of Nanjing City was investigated based on 9 microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial coxI gene. The Wolbachia infection status of each population was also assessed with Wolbachia A- and Wolbachia B-specific primers.Results: Nine out of 58 tested pairs of microsatellite markers were highly polymorphic, with a mean PIC value of 0.560, and these markers were therefore chosen for microsatellite genotyping analysis. The Na value of each Ae. albopictus population was very high, and the urban area populations (7.353 ± 4.975) showed a lower mean value than the urban fringe region populations (7.866 ± 5.010). A total of 19 coxI haplotypes were observed among 329 Ae. albopictus individuals via haplotype genotyping, with the highest diversity observed among the urban fringe Ae. albopictus populations (Hd = 0.456) and the lowest among the urban populations (Hd = 0.277). Each Ae. albopictus population showed significant departure from HWE, and significant population expansion was observed in only three populations from the urban (ZSL), urban fringe (HAJY), and rural areas (HSZY) (p < 0.05). Combined with DAPC analysis, all the Ae. albopictus populations were adequately allocated to two clades with significant genetic differences according to population structure analysis, and the best K value was equal to two. AMOVA results showed that most (96.18%) of the genetic variation detected in Ae. albopictus occurred within individuals (FIT = 0.22238, p < 0.0001), while no significant positive correlation was observed via isolation by distance (IBD) analysis (R2 = 0.03262, p = 0.584). The TCS network of all haplotypes showed that haplotype 1 (H1) and haplotype 4 (H4) were the most frequent haplotypes among all populations, and the haplotype frequency significantly increased from urban regions (36.84%) to rural regions (68.42%). Frequent migration was observed among Ae. albopictus populations from rural to urban regions via the urban fringe region, with four direct migration routes between rural and urban regions. Furthermore, Wolbachia genotyping results showed that most of the individuals of each population were coinfected with Wolbachia A and Wolbachia B. The independent infection rate of Wolbachia A was slightly higher than that of Wolbachia B, and no significant differences were observed among different regions.Conclusion: In the microspatial environment of Nanjing City, the urban fringe region is an important region for the dispersion of Ae. albopictus populations between rural and urban areas, and Wolbachia A and Wolbachia B coinfection is the most common Wolbachia infection status in all Ae. albopictus populations among different regions.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is transmitted primarily through person-to-person contact or exposure to contaminated food or water. After the introduction of hepatitis A vaccine recommendations in the United States in [...]

High entropy alloys (HEAs), which is at the expense of high cost compared to traditional alloy, should not be confined to the mechanical properties, but should be employed to devise a novel combination with unique functional and mechanical performances. In this work, high entropy alloy nitride (HEAN) is utilized as a novel double absorption layer to improve solar absorption in the high temperature solar selective absorbing coatings (SSACs). Our primary motivation is to lower thermal emittance (ε) and enhance solar absorptance (α). In order to realize this goal, coating design (CODE) software is employed to design and optimize the proposed HEAN based SSACs using appropriate dielectric function model. The ultimate as-deposited coating shows good optical properties with a high α value of 0.965 and a low ε value of 0.086 (at 82 °C). The estimate of thermal stability tests indicates that HEAN based SSACs has the ability to resist instability in high working temperature, which keeps good optical properties (α = 0.925, ε = 0.070) after annealing at 600 °C for 10 h.

Telomere biology disorders (TBDs) induced by TINF2 mutations manifest clinically with a spectrum of phenotypes, from silent carriers to a set of overlapping conditions. A rare TINF2 frameshift mutation (c.591delG) encoding a truncated mutant TIN2 protein (p.W198fs) was identified in a 6-years-and-3-month-old Chinese girl with neuroblastoma (NB) by next generation sequencing and confirmed by Sanger sequencing. To explore the possible implications of TINF2 mutations in TBDs development, the TINF2 mutant was transfected into the human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cells, and mRNA expression of the shelterin complex components as well as the cellular distribution of mutant TIN2 were examined. The TINF2 mutation was phenotypically associated with short stature in the proband, nail dystrophy and spotted hypopigmentation in her mother, and psoriasis in her older brother. I-TASSER modeling analysis revealed conformational changes of the mutant TIN2 protein and loss of pivotal domains downstream of the 198th amino acid. Additionally, mRNA expression of the shelterin components was downregulated, and TIN2 mutant protein expression was reduced in HEK293T cells transfected with mutant TINF2. Furthermore, instead of being restricted to the nucleus, the mutant TIN2 was identified in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. The TINF2 gene mutation might impair the function of the shelterin complex and the telomere maintenance mechanisms, both of which are involved in the development of TBDs. TBDs have been associated with increased cancer risk. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of NB in patients with TBDs. The relationship between the TINF2 mutation and NB may need to further study.

West Nile virus (WNV) is an arbovirus, which causes widespread zoonotic disease globally. In China, it was first isolated in Jiashi County, Kashgar Region, Xinjiang in 2011. Determining the vector competence of WNV infection has important implications for the control of disease outbreaks. Four geographical strains of Aedes Albopictus (Ae. Albopictus) in China were allowed to feed on artificial infectious blood meal with WNV to determine the infection and transmission rate. The results indicated that four strains of Ae. Albopictus mosquitoes could infect and transmit WNV to 1- to 3-day-old Leghorn chickens. The infection rates of different strains were ranged from 16.7 to 60.0% and were statistically different (χ2 = 12.81, p < 0.05). The highest infection rate was obtained from the Shanghai strain (60.0%). The transmission rates of Ae. Albopictus Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Chengdu strains were 28.6, 15.2, 13.3, and 6.7%, respectively. Furtherly, the results reveal that Ae. Albopictus Beijing strain infected orally can transmit WNV transovarially even the eggs are induced diapausing. The study confirmed that WNV could survive in the diapause eggs of Ae. Albopictus and could be transmitted to progeny after diapause termination. This is of great significance for clarifying that the WNV maintains its natural circulation in harsh environments through inter-epidemic seasons.

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is a well-known environmental toxic metal that causes reprotoxicity in pregnant females. There are currently no appropriate interventions or treatments for Cr(VI) exposure during pregnancy. Herein, the protective effect of melatonin (MLT) against Cr(VI)-induced reprotoxicity is investigated by administrating MLT to pregnant mice exposed to Cr(VI). The results indicate that MLT effectively alleviates Cr(VI)-induced adverse pregnancy outcomes, restoring the decreased fetal weight and increased fetal resorption and malformation caused by Cr(VI) exposure to normal levels. MLT reduces the negative effects of Cr(VI) on follicular atresia and the development of primordial follicle in the maternal ovarian, thereby mitigating the decline in the reserve of primordial follicles. MLT alleviates Cr(VI)-induced oxidative stress, hence reducing the excessive accumulation of malondialdehyde in the maternal ovary. MLT inhibits Cr(VI)-induced apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells and the expression of cleaved caspase-3 in the ovary. MLT reduces the increase in serum follicle-stimulating hormone caused by Cr(VI) exposure, while elevating anti-Mullerian hormone levels. We demonstrate that MLT reverses Cr(VI)-induced reprotoxicity in pregnant mice, opening up a new avenue for treating reproductive defects caused by environmental stress.

The development of various antitumor drugs has significantly improved the survival of patients with cancer. Many first-line chemotherapy drugs are cytotoxic and the cardiotoxicity is one of the most significant effects that could leads to poor prognosis and decreased survival rate. Cancer treatment include traditional anthracycline drugs, as well as some new targeted drugs such as trastuzumab and ICIs. These drugs may directly or indirectly cause cardiovascular injury through different mechanisms, and lead to increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease or accelerating the development of cardiovascular disease. Cardiotoxicity is clinically manifested by arrhythmia, decreased cardiac function, or even sudden death. The cardiotoxicity caused by traditional chemotherapy drugs such as anthracyclines are significantly known. The cardiotoxicity of some new antitumor drugs such like immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is also relatively clear and requiring further observation and verification. This review is focused on major three drugs with relatively high incidence of cardiotoxicity and poor prognosis and intended to provide an update on the clinical complications and outcomes of these drugs, and we innovatively summarize the monitoring status of survivors using these drugs and discuss the biomarkers and non-invasive imaging features to identify early cardiotoxicity. Finally, we summarize the prevention that decreasing antitumor drugs-induced cardiotoxicity.

If a stop codon appears within one gene, then its translation will be terminated earlier than expected. False folding of premature protein will be adverse to the host; hence, all functional genes would tend to avoid the intragenic stop codons. Therefore, we hypothesize that there will be less frequency of nucleotides corresponding to stop codons at each codon position of genes. Here, we validate this inference by investigating the nucleotide frequency at a large scale and results from 19,911 prokaryote genomes revealed that nucleotides coinciding with stop codons indeed have the lowest frequency in most genomes. Interestingly, genes with three types of stop codons all tend to follow a T-G-A deficiency pattern, suggesting that the property of avoiding intragenic termination pressure is the same and the major stop codon TGA plays a dominant role in this effect. Finally, a positive correlation between the TGA deficiency extent and the base length was observed in start-experimentally verified genes of Escherichia coli (E. coli). This strengthens the proof of our hypothesis. The T-G-A deficiency pattern observed would help to understand the evolution of codon usage tactics in extant organisms.

AIM: To analyze the effectiveness and influencing factors of phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens(IOL)implantation in the treatment of primary angle-closure glaucoma(PACG). METHODS: Clinical data of 75 patients(75 eyes)with PACG who received phacoemulsification and IOL implantation in our hospital from January 2017 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Postoperative intraocular pressure(IOP), best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA), changes of anterior segment and incidence of complications were counted. The patients were grouped by efficacy, and multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors influencing the effectiveness of phacoemulsification and IOL implantation in patients with PACG. RESULTS: Postoperative IOP of patients with PACG was decreased while BCVA was increased, and there were statistically significant differences compared with those before operation(P

Abstract Background Most Chinese migrants have been faced with obstacles to getting access to local public health services. Young migrants among internal migrants make a major contribution to the economy. However, the establishment of their health records has been ignored. This research was aimed at exploring the status and associated factors of the establishment of health records among young Chinese migrants. Methods Data were obtained from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS). Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were performed to investigate the associated factors of the establishment of health records among young Chinese migrants. Results Approximately 30.2% of young migrants had their health records established in inflow communities. Urban residence, medical insurance (insured), and lower average monthly household income were attributed to the establishment of more health records. Young migrants who were in northeast China and across provinces and immigrated for working or engaging in trade were less likely to have health records established. Young migrants who participated in social activities and public affairs activities and took type of people in touch as natives in the inflow area showed a higher possibility of establishing health records. Meanwhile, receiving health education and hearing about national basic public health services (BPHSs) were beneficial for establishing the health records of more young migrants. Conclusion This study showed that the health records of young migrants had a relatively low establishment rate. Sociodemographic and migration characteristics, health status, public health services, and social integration factors were all related to the health record establishment of young Chinese migrants.

Reactive oxygen species management is a practical strategy that can reduce the risk of chemotherapy-induced acute kidney injury, but at the cost of chemotherapeutic efficacy. Here the authors report catalytic activity tunable ceria nanoparticles as context-dependent reactive oxygen species scavengers, which can prevent chemotherapy-induced acute kidney injury without interfering with chemotherapeutic agents.

Abstract Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is listed as a class I carcinogen in human gastric cancer; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. In this study, we identified Protogenin (PRTG) was upregulated in both gastric cancer tissues and H. pylori-infected tissues by analyzing dysregulated genes in TCGA and GEO databases. Importantly, upregulated PRTG predicted poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients and integrative analysis revealed that PRTG served as an oncogenic protein in gastric cancer and was required for H. pylori-mediated tumorigenic activities in in vitro cellular and in vivo tumor-bearing mouse models. Mechanistically, H. pylori infection enhanced PRTG expression by promoting transcriptional factor ZEB1 stabilization and recruitment to the PRTG promoter, and which then activated the sub-following cGMP/PKG signaling pathway in bioinformatic and cellular studies. Cellular studies further confirmed that PRTG depended on activating cGMP/PKG axis to promote proliferation, metastasis, and chemoresistance of gastric cancer cells. The PKG inhibitor KT5823 played synergistic anti-tumor effects with cisplatin and paclitaxel to gastric cancer cells in in vitro cellular and in vivo tumor-bearing mouse models. Taken together, our findings suggested that H. pylori infection depends on ZEB1 to induce PRTG upregulation, and which leading to the development and progression of gastric cancer through activating cGMP/PKG signaling pathway. Blocking PRTG/cGMP/PKG axis, therefore, presents a promising novel therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.

Abstract Background To validate markers for cervical carcinoma (CC) and precancerous lesions related with HPV infections. Methods Three different cervical cancer cell lines C-33A, SiHa and Caski were used for secretome profiling by label-free quantitative proteomics. Cervical exfoliated cells and matching serum samples were collected from 284 patients with normal control (n = 75, 26.41 %), precancerous lesions (n = 88, 30.99 %) and early stage cervical squamous carcinoma (n = 121, 42.61 %). HPV subtyping and quantification was performed by PCR and hybridization. 20 candidate proteins identified in previous screening studies (tissue, plasma, cells) were quantified by ELISA. Finally, highly quantitative parallel reaction monitoring mass spectrometry was used to assess the specificities and sensitivities of candidate serum markers. Results While CC was found to be associated with high-risk HPV subtypes, serum antibodies for high risk HPV were not significantly related to the progression of cervical cancer. Significant differences between patient groups were detected for the four proteins CLU, APOA4, APOE and MLH3, but none would allow clinical application due to insufficient sensitivity and specificity and large variability. Subsequent proteomic secretome analysis of cervical cancer cell lines identified a set of 729 common proteins. Cross referencing this dataset with ELISA measurements revealed six candidate proteins of which two, FBLN1 and ANT3, showed co-occurrence with HPV infection (75.7 % and 85 %, respectively) and had promising diagnostic ability in terms of sensitivity and specificity. After the loss of E6/E7 by using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, the content of ANT3 and FBLN1 in KoE6/E7 SiHa were downregulated, which indicated the expression of ANT3 and FBLN1 in cervical cancer may be affected by HPV infection. Conclusions FBLN1 and ANT3 might be potential tumor- and HPV-associated serum markers.

Yield gap exists because the current attained actual grain yield cannot yet achieve the estimated yield potential. Chinese high yield maize belt has a wide span from east to west which results in different solar radiations between different regions and thus different grain yields. We used multi-site experimental data, surveyed farmer yield data, the highest recorded yield data in the literatures, and simulations with Hybrid-Maize Model to assess the yield gap and tried to reduce the yield gap by matching the solar radiation and plant density. The maize belt was divided into five regions from east to west according to distribution of accumulated solar radiation. The results showed that there were more than 5.8 Mg ha–1 yield gaps between surveyed farmer yield and the yield potential in different regions of China from east to west, which just achieved less than 65% of the yield potential. By analyzing the multi-site density experimental data, we found that the accumulated solar radiation was significantly correlated to optimum plant density which is the density with the highest yield in the multi-site density experiment (y=0.09895×–32.49, P

The uneven distribution of solar radiation is one of the main reasons for the variations in the yield gap between different regions in China and other countries of the world. In this study, different solar radiation levels were created by shading and the yield gaps induced by those levels were analyzed by measuring the aboveground and underground growth of maize. The experiments were conducted in Qitai, Xinjiang, China, in 2018 and 2019. The maize cultivars Xianyu 335 (XY335) and Zhengdan 958 (ZD958) were used with planting density of 12×104 plants ha–1 under either high solar radiation (HSR) or low solar radiation (LSR, 70% of HSR). The results showed that variation in the solar radiation resulted in a yield gap and different cultivars behaved differently. The yield gaps of XY335 and ZD958 were 8.9 and 5.8 t ha–1 induced by the decreased total intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (TIPAR) of 323.1 and 403.9 MJ m-2 from emergence to the maturity stage, respectively. The average yield of XY335 was higher than that of ZD958 under HSR, while the average yield of ZD958 was higher than that of XY335 under LSR. The light intercepted by the canopy and the photosynthetic rates both decreased with decreasing solar radiation. The aboveground dry matter decreased by 11.1% at silking and 21% at maturity, and the dry matter of vegetative organs and reproductive organs decreased by 9.8 and 20.9% at silking and by 12.1 and 25.5% at physiological maturity, respectively. Compared to the HSR, the root weights of XY335 and ZD958 decreased by 54.6 and 45.5%, respectively, in the 0–60 cm soil layer under LSR at silking stage. The aboveground and underground growth responses to different solar radiation levels explained the difference in yield gap. Selecting suitable cultivars can increase maize yield and reduce the yield gaps induced by variation of the solar radiation levels in different regions or under climate change.

There is a lack of information on the compound profile of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. seeds. This greatly affects their optimal utilization. In our preliminary study, we found that the extract of the seeds displayed a strong positive reaction to the FeCl3 solution, indicating the presence of polyphenols. However, to date, only nine polyphenols have been isolated. In this study, HPLC-ESI-MS/MS was employed to fully reveal the polyphenol profile of the seed extracts. A total of 90 polyphenols were identified. They were classified into nine brevifolincarboxyl tannins and their derivatives, 34 ellagitannins, 21 gallotannins, and 26 phenolic acids and their derivatives. Most of these were first identified from the seeds of C. officinalis. More importantly, five new types of tannins were reported for the first time: brevifolincarboxyl-trigalloyl-hexoside, digalloyl-dehydrohexahydroxydiphenoyl (DHHDP)-hexdside, galloyl-DHHDP-hexoside, DHHDP-hexahydroxydiphenoyl(HHDP)-galloyl-gluconic acid, and peroxide product of DHHDP-trigalloylhexoside. Moreover, the total phenolic content was as high as 79,157 ± 563 mg gallic acid equivalent per 100 g in the seeds extract. The results of this study not only enrich the structure database of tannins, but also provide invaluable aid to its further utilization in industries.

Timely flowering is a determinative trait for many economically valuable species in the Dendrobium genus of the Orchidaceae family, some of which are used for ornamental and medicinal purposes. D. nobile, a representative species of nobile-type Dendrobium, normally flowers in spring after exposure to sufficient low temperatures in winter. However, flowering can be stopped or disrupted by the untimely application of high temperatures. Little is known about the regulation and the mechanisms behind this switch. In this study, we report two isoforms from the KFK09_017173 locus of the D. nobile genome, named DnFCAγ and DnFCAβ, respectively, that cooperatively regulate flowering in D. nobile. These two isoforms are generated by alternative 3′ polyadenylation of DnFCA (FLOWERING CONTROL LOCUS C in D. nobile) pre-mRNA and contain a distinct 3′-terminus. Both can partially rescue late flowering in the Arabidopsis fca-1 mutant, while in wild-type Arabidopsis, they tend to delay the flowering time. When introduced into the detached axillary buds or young seedlings of D. nobile, both were able to induce the transcription of DnAGL19 (AGAMOUS LIKE 19 in D. nobile) in seedlings, whereas only DnFCAγ was able to suppress the transcription of DnAPL1 (AP1-LIKE 1 in D. nobile) in axillary buds. Furthermore, the time-course change of DnFCAγ accumulation was opposite to that of DnAPL1 in axillary buds, which was remarkable under low temperatures and within a short time after the application of high temperatures, supporting the suggestion that the expression of DnAPL1 can be inhibited by a high accumulation of DnFCAγ in floral buds. In leaves, the accumulation of DnFCAβ was in accordance with that of DnAGL19 and DnFT (FLOWERING LOCUS T in D. nobile) to a large extent, suggesting the activation of the DnAGL19–DnFT pathway by DnFCAβ. Taken together, these results suggest that the DnFCAγ–DnAPL1 pathway in axillary buds and the DnFCAβ–DnAGL19 pathway in the leaves cooperatively promote flowering under low temperatures. The long-term and constant, or untimely, application of high temperatures leads to the constitutive suppression of DnAPL1 by a high level of DnFCAγ in axillary buds, which consequently delays floral development.