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Tumor immune microenvironment has been the focus of tumor research in recent years, and its role in tumor regulation has become prominent and has received increasing attention. The imbalance of the tumor immune microenvironment plays an important role in promoting tumor progression, and the adjustment of its instability plays an important role in controlling tumor progression. The theoretical idea of Traditional Chinese Medicine's "Yipingweiqi" is basically the same as that of modern medicine of controlling tumors by maintaining the balance of the immune microenvironment. This study discusses the aspects of tumor immune microenvironment, its destabilization, relationship to tumor progression, importance in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and regulation by Traditional Chinese Medicine with different treatments. In particular, this work focuses on the role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in maintaining the balance of the tumor immune microenvironment and its potential mechanism by using qi benefit, yang warming, dampness eliminating, and heat clearing under the guidance of the principle of "Yipingweiqi". Results will provide reference for the application of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors.

Biochar is widely used in agricultural production because of its ability to improve the physical and chemical properties of soil and promote crop growth. In this study, a combination of different biochar and lake sediments were used to improve saline soils. The four raw materials, including corn stalk and chicken manure liquefaction product (SMLP), rice husk charcoal (RHC) and two types of sediment (S‐1 and S‐2), which was used to improve the saline–alkali soil, respectively. The most significantly effective applied on the soil was when the composite soil conditioner (CSC) prepared by mixing SMLP, RHC, S‐1 and S‐2 at 5:20:6000:500 t·100 ha−1. The results of soil experiments using the above blending levels showed that the spike weight, plant height and root length of corn increased by 12.49%, 47.17% and 22.10%, respectively, and the pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of soil decreased by 4.83% and 24.02%, respectively. The contents of soil nutrients, soil organic matter (SOM), water content (WC) and soluble cations (K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) all presented an increasing trend, and the contents of Na+ and soluble anions (Cl−, CO32−, HCO3− and SO42−) of soil showed a downward trend. Accordingly, the composite soil conditioner with biochar and dredged sediment achieves a synergistic improvement in soil physical structure and an increase in nutrient content, which is beneficial for promoting the growth characteristics and yield of corn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Frequent herbicide use selects for herbicide resistance in weeds. Cytochrome P450s are important detoxification enzymes responsible for herbicide resistance in plants. We identified and characterized a candidate P450 gene (BsCYP81Q32) from the problematic weed Beckmannia syzigachne to test whether it conferred metabolic resistance to the acetolactate synthase‐inhibiting herbicides mesosulfuron‐methyl, bispyribac‐sodium, and pyriminobac‐methyl. Transgenic rice overexpressing BsCYP81Q32 was resistant to the three herbicides. Equally, rice overexpressing the rice ortholog gene OsCYP81Q32 was more resistant to mesosulfuron‐methyl. Conversely, an OsCYP81Q32 gene knockout generated using CRISPR/Cas9 enhanced mesosulfuron‐methyl sensitivity in rice. Overexpression of the BsCYP81Q32 gene resulted in enhanced mesosulfuron‐methyl metabolism in transgenic rice seedlings via O‐demethylation. The major metabolite, demethylated mesosulfuron‐methyl, was chemically synthesized and displayed reduced herbicidal effect in plants. Moreover, a transcription factor (BsTGAL6) was identified and shown to bind a key region in the BsCYP81Q32 promoter for gene activation. Inhibition of BsTGAL6 expression by salicylic acid treatment in B. syzigachne plants reduced BsCYP81Q32 expression and consequently changed the whole plant response to mesosulfuron‐methyl. Sequence polymorphisms in an important region of the BsTGAL6 promoter may explain the higher expression of BsTGAL6 in resistant versus susceptible B. syzigachne plants. Collectively, the present study reveals the evolution of an herbicide‐metabolizing and resistance‐endowing P450 and its transcription regulation in an economically important weedy plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aims to analyze the association between the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and the risk of gynecologic cancers, using data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011 to 2016., Methods: We employed multiple logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between WWI and risk of gynecologic cancers. Subsequent subgroup analyses were performed on specific populations of interest. A restricted cubic spline model was used to explore potential non-linear relationships. Additionally, the effectiveness of WWI in predicting sarcopenia was assessed through Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. K-fold cross-validation was applied for model assessment., Results: Among the 4,144 participants, 98 self-reported having gynecologic cancers. In the fully adjusted model, WWI was significantly associated with the prevalence of gynecologic cancers (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.02-1.88, p  = 0.0344). Our findings indicate a linear positive association between WWI and the risk of gynecologic cancers. Subgroup analysis revealed that WWI had the strongest association with cervical cancer (OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 0.97-2.18, p  = 0.0354) and endometrial cancer (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 0.81-2.39, p  = 0.0142). No significant association was found between WWI and the risk of ovarian cancer (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.48-2.72, p  = 0.5359). Restricted cubic spline analysis confirmed a linear relationship between WWI and the risk of cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that WWI had superior predictive capability for gynecologic cancers., Conclusion: Elevated levels of WWI were significantly associated with an increased risk of gynecologic cancers in American women, displaying a stronger association than other obesity markers. Therefore, WWI may serve as a distinct and valuable biomarker for assessing the risk of gynecologic cancers, particularly cervical and endometrial cancers., 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 © 2024 Fang, Li, Fang, Wang, Wang, Xie and Zhang.)

Even though the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is nearly approaching the Schottky-Queisser limit, low open-circuit voltage (V oc ) and severe V oc loss problems continue to impede the improvement of PCEs. Astaxanthin (ASTA) additive is introduced in the formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbI 3 ) perovskite film as an additive, which can facilitate the transportation of charge carriers and interact with Pb 2+ by its distinctive groupings. Furthermore, the addition of ASTA decreases the defect's active energy, regulates the deep-level defect by filling up the grain boundaries (GBs), and promotes the crystallization of perovskite film. Remarkably, an enhanced quasi-Fermi level splitting (QFLS) of 1.164 eV and a reduced V oc loss of only 96 mV are realized. The champion PCE of 24.56% is attained by ASTA-modified PSCs on the basis of 22.75% PCE. Moreover, the PSCs that underwent ASTA modification demonstrate improved operational stability, ensuring consistent output in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, PSCs with an active area of 1 cm 2 are used for water electrolysis to produce hydrogen and exhibit a PCE of 22.41%. This work offers an environmentally benign solution to address the inherent issues of FAPbI 3 PSCs and lays the groundwork for the development of a prospective solar hydrogen production application., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Echinochloa crus-galli is the most troublesome and widespread weed of most rice-growing regions of the world. Cyhalofop-butyl, a herbicide within the acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) chemical group, has been extensively used to control barnyardgrass in rice. The repeated exposure to cyhalofop-butyl has led to resistance evolution in E. crus-galli populations., Results: In this study, we identified a population of E. crus-galli (R-HN) in a rice field in Hunan, China, that developed resistance to cyhalofop-butyl at 4.49-fold the recommended field dose. No known target mutation was detected in the ACCase gene of the R-HN population by ACCase sequencing compared to sensitive populations. Both cytochrome P450 (CYP450) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) inhibitors could not significantly reverse the resistance to cyhalofop-butyl. The nontarget-site resistance (NTSR) mechanism was investigated by transcriptome sequencing. Validation of the screened candidate genes by quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR revealed that six glycosyltransferases (GTs) and four ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes were consistently upregulated in the R-HN population. Five GTs and one ABC transporter genes were constitutively upregulated after cyhalofop-butyl treatment in the R-HN population. Molecular docking results showed that the significant binding energy of GT79, GT75L6 and GT74E among all candidate genes., Conclusion: Thus, the GT genes appear to be directly implicated in NTSR to cyhalofop-butyl in the R-HN populations through metabolic enhancement, but their functional characterization needs to be studied. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Introduction: Bromus japonicus is one of the most notorious agricultural weeds in China. The long-term use of ALS-inhibiting herbicides has led to rapid evolution of herbicide resistance in B. japonicus . B. japonicus population (BJ-R) surviving mesosulfuron-methyl treatment was collected from wheatland. Here, we aimed to confirm the resistance mechanisms in this putative resistant population., Methods: The dose-reponse tests were used to test the resistance level of the B. japonicus to ALS-inhibiting herbicides. Pretreatment with P450 and GST inhibitors and GST activity assays were used to determine whether P450 or GST was involved in the resistance of the BJ-R population. Sanger sequencing was used to analyse the ALS mutation of the BJ-R population. RT-qPCR was used to confirm the the expression levels of the ALS gene in mesosulfuron-methyl -resistant (BJ-R) and-susceptible (BJ-S) B. japonicus . An in vitro ALS activity assay was used to determine the ALS activity of the BJ-R and BJ-S populations. Homology modelling and docking were used to determine the binding energy of the BJ-R and BJ-S populations with ALS-inhibiting herbicides., Results: B. japonicus population (BJ-R) was confirmed to be 454- and 2.7-fold resistant to the SU herbicides mesosulfuron-methyl and nicosulfuron, and 7.3-, 2.3-, 1.1- and 10.8-fold resistant to the IMI herbicide imazamox, the TP herbicide penoxsulam, the PTB herbicide pyribenzoxim and the SCT herbicide flucarbazone-sodium, respectively, compared with its susceptible counterpart (BJ-S). Neither a P450 inhibitor nor a GST inhibitor could reverse the level of resistance to mesosulfuron-methyl in BJ-R. In addition, no significant differences in GST activity were found between the BJ-R and BJ-S. ALS gene sequencing revealed a Pro-197-Thr mutation in BJ-R, and the gene expression had no significant differences between the BJ-R and BJ-S. The ALS activity of BJ-R was 106-fold more tolerant to mesosulfuron-methyl than that of BJ-S. Molecular docking showed that the binding energy of the ALS active site and mesosulfuron-methyl was changed from -6.67 to -4.57 kcal mol -1 due to the mutation at position 197., Discussion: These results suggested that the Pro-197-Thr mutation was the main reason for the high resistance level of BJ-R to mesosulfuron-methyl. Unlike previous reports of the cross-resistance pattern conferred by this mutation, we firstly documented that the Pro-197-Thr mutation confers broad cross-resistance spectrums to ALS-inhibiting herbicides in B. japonicus ., 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 © 2024 Liu, Wu, Li, Fang, Ju, Zhang, Bai and Pan.)