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This study aimed to recapitulate the change trajectory of postoperative weight and investigate the association between postoperative hypothalamic damage and weight gain and hypothalamic obesity (HO) in patients with adult-onset craniopharyngioma.The data of 96 patients with surgically treated primary adult-onset craniopharyngioma were retrospectively analyzed. The association between postoperative hypothalamic damage based on magnetic resonance images or endoscopic observation and postoperative weight gain and HO was determined by multivariable logistic regression.Forty-seven (49.0%) patients and 18 (18.8%) patients experienced clinically meaningful weight gain (≥5%) and HO at last follow-up, respectively. Postoperative weight significantly increased during the first 6 months following surgery, followed by stabilization. Both grade 2 postoperative hypothalamus damage, as evaluated by the magnetic resonance imaging classification system of Müller et al., and higher scores based on the Roth et al. hypothalamic lesion score were significantly associated with postoperative weight gain of ≥5% (p = 0.005 and p = 0.002) and with HO (p = 0.001 and p = 0.008). Additionally, bilateral hypothalamic injury as evaluated by the Hong et al. hypothalamic injury pattern based on endoscopic observation (p = 0.008) could predict postoperative weight gain ≥5%.Significant postoperative weight gain is common in patients with adult-onset craniopharyngioma. Postoperative hypothalamic damage can predict clinically meaningful weight gain and HO.

Soil salinity is important abiotic stress affecting various ecosystems worldwide such as grassland. Distinct ecotypes often evolve within species by natural selection to facilitate adaptation to different types of environmental stress. Leymus chinensis is a perennial rhizomatous grass that is widely distributed in the eastern Eurasian steppe; it has two main ecotypes, namely, yellow-green (YG) and gray-green (GG), which differ in their strategy for coping with salinity stress. Few studies have examined the seed germination of the two ecotypes under salinity stress. In this study, the seed germination and seedling growth of two ecotypes of L. chinensis in response to different levels of salinity (NaCl) stress [0 (control), 20, 50, 100, and 200 mM] were examined. Then, ungerminated seeds were placed under normal conditions to evaluate seedling growth following exposure to salt stress (i.e., regermination). The germination percentage was significantly higher, and the mean germination time was significantly shorter in the GG ecotype than in the YG ecotype at all NaCl concentrations. As the salinity level increased, the radicle length of the two ecotypes decreased; however, GG had longer radicles and a higher number of radicles, even at 200 mM NaCl when no radicle protruding from the seed coat was detected in YG. The shoot length of GG was significantly longer than that of YG at all NaCl levels. After salinity stress was removed, the seed germination percentage increased as the original concentration of NaCl applied increased, but the total germination percentage did not significantly differ among NaCl concentrations. The total seed germination percentage of GG was approximately 80%, whereas that of the YG was approximately 20%. The seedling length of regerminated seeds for both GG and YG was similar. The thousand-grain weight of GG was significantly higher than that of YG. GG was more salt-tolerant than YG and might be better capable of surviving in harsher environments, suggesting that GG might be particularly useful for saline grassland restoration.

Fusidic acid is the only fusidane-type antibiotic that has been clinically used. However, biosynthesis of this important molecule in fungi is poorly understood. We have recently elucidated the biosynthesis of fusidane-type antibiotic helvolic acid, which provides us with clues to identify a possible gene cluster for fusidic acid (fus cluster). This gene cluster consists of eight genes, among which six are conserved in the helvolic acid gene cluster except fusC1 and fusB1. Introduction of the two genes into the Aspergillus oryzae NSAR1 expressing the conserved six genes led to the production of fusidic acid. A stepwise introduction of fusC1 and fusB1 revealed that the two genes worked independently without a strict reaction order. Notably, we identified two short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase genes fusC1 and fusC2 in the fus cluster, which showed converse stereoselectivity in 3-ketoreduction. This is the first report on the biosynthesis and heterologous expression of fusidic acid., Graphical abstract Fusidane-type antibiotics, represented by fusidic acid, helvolic acid and cephalosporin P1, are a group of fungi-derived triterpenoid antibiotics. Here, we firstly identified the biosynthetic gene cluster of the clinically used fusidic acid and characterized its full biosynthetic pathway using a combinational biosynthetic approach. Notably, we identified two short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase FusC1 and FusC2 with converse stereoselectivity in 3-ketoreduction.fx1

BackgroundIt is well known that the clivus is composed of abundant cancellous bone and is often invaded by pituitary adenoma (PA), but the range of these cancellous bone corridors is unknown. In addition, we found that PA with clivus invasion is sometimes accompanied by petrous apex invasion, so we speculated that the petrous apex tumor originated from the clivus cancellous bone corridor. The aim of this study was to test this hypothesis by investigating the bony anatomy associated with PA with clival invasion and its clinical significance.MethodsTwenty-two cadaveric heads were used in the anatomical study to research the bony architecture of the clivus and petrous apex, including six injected specimens for microsurgical dissection and sixteen cadavers for epoxy sheet plastination. The surgical videos and outcomes of PA with clival invasion in our single center were also retrospectively reviewed.ResultsThe hypoglossal canal and internal acoustic meatus are composed of bone canals surrounded by cortical bone. The cancellous corridor within clivus starts from the sellar or sphenoid sinus floor and extends downward, bypassing the hypoglossal canal and finally reaching the occipital condyle and the medial edge of the jugular foramen. Interestingly, we found that the cancellous bone of the clivus was connected with that of the petrous apex through petroclival fissure extending to the medial margin of the internal acoustic meatus instead of a separating cortical bone between them as it should be. It is satisfactory that the anatomical outcomes of the cancellous corridor and the path of PA with clival invasion observed intraoperatively are completely consistent. In the retrospective cohort of 49 PA patients, the clival component was completely resected in 44 (89.8%), and only five (10.2%) patients in the early-stage had partial residual cases in the inferior clivus.ConclusionThe petrous apex invasion of PA is caused by the tumor invading the clivus and crossing the petroclival fissure along the cancellous bone corridor. PA invade the clivus along the cancellous bone corridor and can also cross the hypoglossal canal to the occipital condyle. This clival invasion pattern presented here deepens our understanding of the invasive characteristics of PA.

Objective:Craniopharyngiomas are rare, histologically benign but clinically challenging neoplasms. Here, we aimed to interrogate the effect and significance of Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway on papillary craniopharyngioma (PCP) cell growth and survival.Methods: We used Western blotting (WB) experiments to evaluate the expression of the PI3K/protein kinase B (AKT) in Craniopharyngiomas tissues, relative to health tissues. Primary tumor cells were obtained from fresh PCP samples by cell culture and then determined by cell morphology, immunofluorescence staining and expression of specific cell markers. In this study, PCP cell lines, isolated from fresh PCP samples, were treated with different concentrations of LY294002, a PI3K/AKT signaling inhibitor, to evaluate their proliferation, migration and invasion. We determined the cell proliferation using Cell Counting Kit-8 and colony formation. We then used flow cytometry to evaluate cell apoptosis and cell cycle. In addition, cell migration and invasion levels were determined by wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively.Results: Our data demonstrated that the expression of phosphorylated-PI3K/AKT was upregulated in human craniopharyngioma tissues compared to the normal control tissues. Immunofluorescence assays showed the presence of cytokeratin (pan CK) and vimentin protein (VIM) in the PCP primary cells. Furthermore, inhibition of PI3K/AKT signaling blocks the proliferation, migration and invasion of the PCP primary cells.Conclusions:Taken together, our data robustly demonstrates that the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway mediates the proliferation, migration and invasion of the PCP cells.

ObjectiveCraniopharyngiomas are rare histologically benign but clinically challenging neoplasms.The aim of this study is to explore the effect and significance of PI3K signal pathway on papillary craniopharyngioma cell growth and survival.MethodsWestern blotting (WB) was used to evaluate expression of the PI3K / AKT protein in Craniopharyngiomas tissues relative to health controls. Primary tumor cells were obtained from fresh papillary craniopharyngioma samples by primary cell culture and determined by cell morphology, immunofluorescence staining and specific cell markers expression. In this study, PCPs cell lines, isolated from fresh papillary craniopharyngioma samples, were treated with different concentrations of LY294002, a specific inhibitor of the PI3K / AKT signaling pathway, in order to evaluate their proliferation, migration and invasion. The proliferation effects was determined using Cell Counting Kit-8 and colony formation. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry. Furthermore, cell migration and invasion levels were detected by wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively.ResultsThe expression of p-PI3K and p-AKT were obviously higher in human craniopharyngioma tissue relative to their corresponding normal control. PCPs primary cells were isolated and detected by immunofluorescence, and PCPs cytokeratin (pan CK) and vimentin protein (VIM) were detected.The inhibition of PI3K / AKT signaling pathway can significantly inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCPs primary cells.Conclusions LY294002 effectively inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCPs cells through the PI3K / AKT signaling pathway.

Efficiently changing optical properties (reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance) through reversible color changes of electrochromic (EC) materials is challenging and critical in achieving high-performance EC devices. In this work, we have prepared methyl-viologen modified ZnO nanotubes (NTs) as an electrode material, which exhibits good durability, a high transmittance modulation range (70%) and fast response times (6 s and 3 s for coloration and bleaching respectively). The results indicate the potential application of ZnO NTs in smart windows, optical displays, electronic papers and so on.

A novel Ag/Fe2O3/ZnO ternary composite was fabricated using the chemical deposition and photochemical deposition methods. Its structure and optical properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry. The Ag/Fe2O3/ZnO ternary composite exhibited a greater improvement in photocatalytic activity compared with the Fe2O3/ZnO or Ag/ZnO binary composite. The degradation rate of Ag/Fe2O3/ZnO towards methyl orange (MO) and iodoform (CHI3) within 120 min was 80% and 94%, respectively. More importantly, the Ag/Fe2O3/ZnO composite had a much higher degradation efficiency towards iodoform, which indicates its efficient and selective degradation characteristics. The results show that the Ag/Fe2O3/ZnO ternary composite holds great potential in the removal of carcinogenic iodoform from sewage.

The granular reduction plays an important role in covering rough sets, and the aim of this paper is to explore the granular reduction of covering rough sets and fuzzy covering rough set Firstly, the covering rough sets based on neighborhood element and the N-reduction are introduced, and their properties are discussed; secondly, The definitions and properties of upper and lower approximation of fuzzy covering rough based on the neighborhood are given; Lastly, the N- reduction of fuzzy covering rough based on the neighborhood element is proposed, and we can get that covering rough sets remain the same upper and lower approximations for N-reduction.

Aerospace product design is a complex and difficult process with high technical requirements and a tight development cycle involving a variety of institutes and manufacturers and requiring close collaboration. These features significantly increase the difficulty of configuration management for an aerospace product. Based on the characteristics and management requirements of new-generation aerospace product design, a method for configuration management with baseline is proposed. The application procedure and working mechanisms of baseline in the three typical stages of aerospace product design: stage transition, multi-stage parallel design, and multi-batch parallel design, are discussed in detail. Research and application results can provide a practical solution and concept for the effective and reliable management of complex configurations.

To obtain a TiO2 photocatalyst with high photocatalytic efficiency under visible irradiation and good reusability, the Fe3+ and N co-doped TiO2 micro/nano fiber films were fabricated by electrospinning and calcinations. The morphologies and structures of the resulting samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction and x-ray energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS). The absorbance and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were characterized respectively by UV–visible spectrophotometer and COD Rapid Tester. The results show that the Fe3+ and N co-doped TiO2 micro/nano fiber had a multi-porous structure with an average diameter of about 45 to 506 nm. The crystalinity degrees, visible light absorption of these films were affected by the dosage of Fe3+ and N co-doping (DFN). Moreover, these films exhibited high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of dye waste water under sunlight and it was related to DFN. As DFN was 0.5 %, it has highest crystalinity degree, largest visible light absorption and highest photocatalytic efficiency on dye waste water. The decolor rate of the dye waste water was as high as 67.6 % and its COD decreased from 2800±200 to 236.40 ± 15.61, when the photocatalytic time was only 3 h.