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Background: The evidence about the effects of trace elements on overall survival(OS) of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) is limited. This study aims to evaluate mixed effects of plasma trace elements on OS of ESCC. Methods: This prospective cohort analysis included 497 ESCC patients with a median follow-up of 52.3 months. The concentrations of 17 trace elements were measured. We fitted Cox's proportional hazards regression, factor analysis and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models to estimate the association between trace elements and OS. Results: Our analysis found that in the single-element model, Co, Ni, and Cd were associated with an increased risk of death, while Ga, Rb, and Ba were associated with a decreased risk. Cd had the strongest risk effect among all elements. As many elements were found to be mutually correlated, we conducted a factor analysis to identify common factors and investigate their associations with survival time. The factor analysis indicated that the factor with high factor loadings in Ga, Ba and B was linked to a decreased risk of death, while the factor with high factor loadings in Co, Ti, Cd and Pb was associated with a borderline significantly increased risk. Using BKMR analysis to disentangle the interaction between elements in significant factors, we discovered that Ga interacted with Ba and both elements had U-shaped effects with OS. Cd, on the other hand, had no interaction with other elements and independently increased the risk of death. Conclusions: Our analysis revealed that Ga, Ba and Cd were associated with ESCC outcome, with Ga and Ba demonstrating an interaction. These findings provide new insights into the impact of trace elements on the survival of patients with ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic segmentation in indoor environments is a crucial task for artificial intelligence-driven visual robotics, enabling pixel-level classification results to facilitate robot path planning. Inspired by the success of multimodal models, we propose an end-to-end multimodal semantic segmentation model for image segmentation tasks in indoor scenes, which we call OIPNet. We design the OIP module to enhance the network's ability to extract global information and enable information interaction in different directions. We have validated on NYUv2 and Sun RGB-D datasets, and the experiments show the generality and effectiveness of the proposed model. Our code is available at https://github.com/Mantee0810/OIP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is traumatic, difficult to perform, and has a high incidence of postoperative complications and perioperative mortality. Postoperative complications and pain occur frequently and seriously affect the psychological status of patients. Esketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, has analgesic and antidepressant effects. In this study, we aim to investigate the effect of esketamine on postoperative depression and pain in patients undergoing PD. Methods/design: This prospective, single-center, randomized control trial will include 80 patients who will undergo elective PD. The patients will be randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group that will receive esketamine (n = 40) and the control group (n = 40). In the esketamine group, the analgesic pump will be connected immediately after surgery. A solution of esketamine 1.5 mg/kg + sufentanil 2 µg/kg, diluted to 150 mL, will be administered continuously for 72 h at the background infusion and impact doses of 1 mL/h and 2 mL/time, respectively; the locking time will be 10 min. The control group will receive sufentanil 2 µg/kg that will be administered as per the esketamine group. The primary outcome will be the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-17) score on the third day post-surgery (POD3). Secondary study indicators will include (1) visual analog scale (VAS) score and HAMD-17 score prior to surgery, immediately after entering the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 days after surgery; (2) Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) score at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 days after surgery; (3) consumed doses of sufentanil and esketamine after surgery; (4) postoperative analgesia pump effective press times, rescue analgesia times, and rescue drug dosage, recording the number of rescue analgesia and rescue drug dosage at 6, 24, 48, and 72 h after the patient enters the PACU; (5) postoperative complications and adverse events; (6) postoperative hospital stay; (7) concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNP), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin-6, at 1, 3, and, 5 days post-surgery; and (8) the patient survival rate at 6 and 12 months post-surgery. Discussion: The study hypothesis is that the postoperative HAMD-17 and VAS scores, incidence of postoperative adverse reactions, and concentration of serum markers BDNP, 5-HT, TNF-α, and IL-6 in the experimental group will be lower than those in the control group. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ChiCTR2200066303. Registered on November 30, 2022. Protocol version: 1.0 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habrobracon hebetor is a parasitoid wasp capable of infesting many lepidopteran larvae. It uses venom proteins to immobilize host larvae and prevent host larval development, thus playing an important role in the biocontrol of lepidopteran pests. To identify and characterize its venom proteins, we developed a novel venom collection method using an artificial host (ACV), i.e., encapsulated amino acid solution in paraffin membrane, allowing parasitoid wasps to inject venom. We performed protein full mass spectrometry analysis of putative venom proteins collected from ACV and venom reservoirs (VRs) (control). To verify the accuracy of proteomic data, we also collected venom glands (VGs), Dufour's glands (DGs) and ovaries (OVs), and performed transcriptome analysis. In this paper, we identified 204 proteins in ACV via proteomic analysis; compared ACV putative venom proteins with those identified in VG, VR, and DG via proteome and transcriptome approaches; and verified a set of them using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Finally, 201 ACV proteins were identified as potential venom proteins. In addition, we screened 152 and 148 putative venom proteins identified in the VG transcriptome and the VR proteome against those in ACV, and found only 26 and 25 putative venom proteins, respectively, were overlapped with those in ACV. Altogether, our data suggest proteome analysis of ACV in combination with proteome–transcriptome analysis of other organs/tissues will provide the most comprehensive identification of true venom proteins in parasitoid wasps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isochromenes are important pharmacophores present in biologically active molecules and natural products. Their synthesis is generally limited to cyclization of phenyl propargyl ether precursors under transition metal catalyzed conditions. Herein, we present a novel disconnection that rapidly constructs isochromene derivatives through a cascade radical cyclization strategy. Generation of aryl radicals by SET reduction of 2‐iodo benzyl allenyl ethers is followed by radical cyclization to construct the isochromene core with formation of an allylic radical. The allylic radical then undergoes coupling with the azaallyl radical to give products in good to excellent yields. The elaborated 2‐iodo phenyl propargyl ether precursors can be used to construct isochromenes bearing various functional groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • NiO, a new cataluminescence sensing material, was synthesized by a simple template-free hydrothermal method. • Camellia-like NiO with high specific surface area showed excellent sensing performance towards H 2 S. • The sensing mechanism was studied which proved the main emission peak is from SO 2 *. Abstract In this work, three different microstructures of NiO nanomaterials including tremella, camellia and hexagonal nanosheets were successfully synthesized by a simple template-free hydrothermal method. Among them, camellia-like NiO was reported and applied to cataluminescence (CTL) for the first time. SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, BET and BJH were employed to characterize the as-prepared samples. As sensing materials, these NiO with various morphologies showed different CTL capabilities to detect H 2 S, and the camellia-like NiO exhibited the best catalytic performance with high sensitivity and selectivity, which may be attributed to the synergistic effect of its high specific surface area, porous nanostructure, as well as the surface adsorption oxygen. After optimization, a good linear relationship was obtained in the range of 0.8–30.8 ppm and the detection limit (S/N = 3, LOD) was 0.3 ppm. Sixteen common volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as carbon disulfide, ethyl mercaptan and formaldehyde, were discussed as possible interferent components, and the sensing mechanism of the CTL sensing towards H 2 S was discussed in detail. Camellia-like NiO could be used as a new sensing material for H 2 S monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Microbial spoilage was the primary cause of food deterioration and caused huge economic losses and serious public health problems. The discovery of quorum sensing (QS) system got a new research orientation for the control of food spoilage. A fast, simple, and efficient method of solvent-terminated dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (ST-DLLME) combined with micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography was developed for the determination of N-acylhomoserine lactones from spoilage bacteria and aquatic product. In the procedure, the emulsion was formed by rapidly injecting a mixture of extraction solvent (carbon tetrachloride) and dispersive solvent (acetonitrile) rapidly into the aqueous sample solution. The acetonitrile was quickly injected into the emulsion as demulsification solvent, then the emulsion turned clear and became two phases. The last, the lower layer (carbon tetrachloride) as sample was collected and analyzed by capillary electrophoresis. Important parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of ST-DLLME were investigated in detail. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed method provided low limits of detection (below 5 ng.mL−1), a good linearity range of 5–1000 ng. mL−1, and good repeatability of the extractions (RSDs below 5.8%, n = 6). This proposed method was utilized to analyze the free extract of Pseudomonas aeruginosa CV12472, Aeromonas hydrophila PA01, fish and shrimp and obtained satisfactory results. The results indicated that the proposed method was successfully applied to the extraction of the routine analysis in the food field. Highlights • Solvent-terminated dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction was developed for detection of N-acylhomoserine lactones. • The emulsion was formed by rapidly injecting a mixture of carbon tetrachloride and acetonitrile. • The acetonitrile was used as demulsification solvent without using centrifugation. • Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with capillary electrophoresis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bacteria pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) infects rice and causes the severe disease of rice bacteria blight. As the central regulator of the salic acid (SA) signaling pathway, NPR1 is responsible for sensing SA and inducing the expression of pathogen-related (PR) genes in plants. Overexpression of OsNPR1 significantly increases rice resistance to Xoo. Although some downstream rice genes were found to be regulated by OsNPR1, how OsNPR1 affects the interaction of rice-Xoo and alters Xoo gene expression remains unknown. In this study, we challenged the wild-type and OsNPR1-OE rice materials with Xoo and performed dual RNA-seq analyses for the rice and Xoo genomes simultaneously. In Xoo-infected OsNPR1-OE plants, rice genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis and SA signaling pathways, as well as PR genes and nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) genes, were significantly upregulated compared to rice variety TP309. On the other hand, Xoo genes involved in energy metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, biosynthesis of primary and secondary metabolism, and transportation were repressed. Many virulence genes of Xoo, including genes encoding components of type III and other secretion systems, were downregulated by OsNPR1 overexpression. Our results suggest that OsNPR1 enhances rice resistance to Xoo by bidirectionally regulating gene expression in rice and Xoo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) are central components of the machinery mediating cell membrane fusion and intracellular vesicular trafficking in eukaryotic cells, and have been well-documented to play critical roles in growth, development, and pathogenesis in the filamentous fungal plant pathogens. However, little is known about the contributions of SNAREs to the physiology and biocontrol potential in entomopathogenic filamentous fungi. Here, a genome-wide analysis of SNARE genes was performed taking advantage of the available whole genome sequence of Beauveria bassiana, a classical entomopathogenic fungus. Based on the compared genomic method, 22 genes encoding putative SNAREs were identified from the whole genome of B. bassiana, and were classified into four groups (7 Qa-, 4 Qb-, 6 Qc-, and 5 R-SNAREs) according to the conserved structural features of their encoding proteins. An R-SNARE encoding gene BbSEC22 was further functionally characterized by gene disruption and complementation. The BbSEC22 null mutant showed a fluffy appearance in mycelial growth and an obvious lag in conidial germination. The null mutant also exhibited significantly increased sensitivity to oxidative stress and cell wall perturbing agents and reduced the yield of conidia production by 43.1% compared with the wild-type strain. Moreover, disruption of BbSEC22 caused a significant decrease in conidial virulence to Spodoptera litura larvae. Overall, our results provide an overview of vesicle trafficking in B. bassiana and revealed that BbSec22 was a multifunctional protein associated with mycelial growth, sporulation, conidial germination, stress tolerance, and insecticidal virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asexual development is the main propagation and transmission mode of Beauveria bassiana and the basis of its pathogenicity. The regulation mechanism of conidiation and the key gene resources for utilization are key links to improving the conidia yield and quality of Beauveria bassiana. Their clarification may promote the industrialization of fungal pesticides. Here, we compared the regulation of morphology, resistance to external stress, virulence, and nutrient utilization capacity between the upstream developmental regulatory gene fluG and the key genes brlA, abaA, and wetA in the central growth and development pathway. The results showed that the ΔbrlA and ΔabaA mutants completely lost the capacity to conidiate and that the ΔwetA mutant had seriously reduced conidiation capacity. Although the deletion of fluG did not reduce the conidiation ability as much as deletions of brlA, abaA, and wetA, it significantly reduced the fungal response to external stress, virulence, and nutrient utilization, while the deletion of the three other genes had little effect. Via transcriptome analysis and screening the yeast nuclear system library, we found that the differentially expressed genes in the ΔfluG mutants were concentrated in the signaling pathways of ABC transporters, propionate metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, DNA replication, mismatch repair, and fatty acid metabolism. FluG directly acted on 40 proteins that were involved in various signaling pathways such as metabolism, oxidative stress, and cell homeostasis. The analysis indicated that the regulatory function of fluG was mainly involved in DNA replication, cell homeostasis, fungal growth and metabolism, and the response to external stress. Our results revealed the biological function of fluG in asexual development and the responses to several environmental stresses as well as its influence on the asexual development regulatory network in B. bassiana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The SO-DLLME combined with MECC was developed for determination of fluoroquinolones. • Deep eutectic solvent (DES) was used as an extraction solvent combined with back extraction. • A detection limit less than 10 ng mL−1 for fluoroquinolones could be achieved. • The method was successfully applied to determination of fluoroquinolones in food and water samples. A simple and sensitive salting out-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method using deep eutectic solvent combined with back extraction and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (SO-DLLME-DES-BE-MECC) was developed for the determination of fluoroquinolones in milk, honey and water samples. Several parameters affecting the extraction efficiency including DES volume, vortex time, centrifugation time, salt type and amount, sample pH and volume, etc. were investigated. Good linearity were obtained for fluoroquinolones in a range of 0.020–3.200 μg mL−1 and 0.030–4.800 μg mL−1 with LODs less than 0.010 μg mL−1. The recoveries were in the ranges of 95.0–104.9%, 90.1–110.2% and 87.8–114.1% for water, honey and milk samples, respectively. The relative standard deviations for reproducibility were all below 7.6%. Under the optimized conditions, the enrichment factors for analytes were achieved in the range from 531 to 858 folds. The presented method was successfully applied for the determination of fluoroquinolones in milk, honey and water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on personality trait development has mainly focused on influences of life experiences in one single life domain (e.g., work or family) separate from one another and has primarily examined personality development in early life stages. Thus, less attention has been devoted to influences from interplays across different life domains and personality development in middle and late adulthood. Synthesizing the literature on personality science and organizational research, we built a theoretical model and investigated what, how, and why the interplay between two central life domains—work and family—may be related to personality trait development of people at their middle and late life stages, and more important, change-related reciprocal relationships between personality traits and work–family experiences. Generally, convergent findings with data from two longitudinal studies (National Survey of Midlife in the United States, maximum N = 3,192, three waves; and Health and Retirement Study, maximum N = 1,133, three waves except anxiety) revealed that work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, work-to-family facilitation, and family-to-work facilitation mostly had lagged effects on changes of Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Neuroticism, and the influences were generally channeled through changes of anxiety. Personality traits also had lagged influences on changes of work–family experiences, with some influences deteriorating over time. Change-related reciprocal relationships were recorded mainly between Neuroticism and Extraversion with work–family experiences. Some selection effects were larger than socialization effects. Our research contributes to the personality and the work–family literature and represents a useful example of cross-fertilization of research in different areas of psychology to advance personality research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer vision obtains object and environment information by simulating human visual senses and borrowing human sensory activity. As one of the main tasks of computer vision, image classification can be used not only for face recognition, traffic scene recognition, image retrieval, and automatic photo categorization but also as a theoretical basis for target detection and image segmentation. In this paper, we use the existing CNN architecture network-ConvNeXt. By adapting and modifying the residual connectivity and convolutional structure of the network, we achieve a balance between classification accuracy and inference speed. These modifications are able to reduce both computation and memory consumption while keeping accuracy largely unchanged, thus better facilitating network lightweighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel and simple fluorescence method for Hg2+ recognition and detection has been developed based on T‐Hg2+‐T complex and exonuclease III (Exo III) assisted cyclic signal amplification. Graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used to quench the fluorescence FAM‐labelled single strand DNA (FAM‐ssDNA). The optimum conditions, including GO and CNTs concentrations, enzyme concentration and enzymatic hydrolysis time, were studied. The linear range, regression equation and metal ion selectivity were further studied and compared. The recovery rates of Hg2+ in tap water and urine were between 93.83–103.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benzofurans are among the most popular structural units in bioactive natural products, however, the synthesis of such structures by radical cyclization cascade reactions is rare. Herein, we report a mild and broadly applicable method for the construction of complex benzofurylethylamine derivatives through a unique radical cyclization cascade mechanism. Single‐electron transfer (SET) from 2‐azaallyl anions to 2‐iodo aryl allenyl ethers initiates a radical cyclization that is followed by intermolecular radical–radical coupling. This expedient approach enables the synthesis of a range of polycyclic benzofurans that would otherwise be difficult to prepare. Well behaved radicals: a mild and broadly applicable method for the construction of complex benzofurylethylamine derivatives through a unique radical cyclization cascade mechanism is presented. SET from 2‐azaallyl anions to 2‐iodo aryl allenyl ethers initiates a radical cyclization that is followed by intermolecular radical–radical coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benzofurans are among the most popular structural units in bioactive natural products, however, the synthesis of such structures by radical cyclization cascade reactions is rare. Herein, we report a mild and broadly applicable method for the construction of complex benzofurylethylamine derivatives through a unique radical cyclization cascade mechanism. Single‐electron transfer (SET) from 2‐azaallyl anions to 2‐iodo aryl allenyl ethers initiates a radical cyclization that is followed by intermolecular radical–radical coupling. This expedient approach enables the synthesis of a range of polycyclic benzofurans that would otherwise be difficult to prepare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the effect of tea consumption on the improvement of postoperative quality of life in male patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Methods: The quality of life information of 290 male patients with ESCC was collected. The time to deterioration and the number of events in each area of quality of life was calculated by time-to-deterioration (TTD) model. The association between postoperative tea drinking and postoperative quality of life in male ESCC patients was investigated using the Cox proportional risk model.Results: Postoperative tea-drinking patients experienced delayed TTD in multiple domains, including general health, physical, role, emotional, and cognitive function, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, dyspnea, loss of appetite, constipation, diarrhea, eating problems, difficulty swallowing, choking while swallowing saliva, dry mouth, taste difficulties, coughing, and speech problems. The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that drinking tea after surgery improved quality of life, including physical function (HR = 0.722, 95% CI: 0.559-0.933), role function (HR = 0.740, 95% CI: 0.557-0.983), eating problems (HR = 0.718, 95% CI: 0.537-0.960), odynophagia (HR = 0.682, 95% CI: 0.492-0.945), trouble swallowing saliva (HR = 0.624, 95% CI: 0.444-0.877), coughing (HR = 0.627, 95% CI: 0.442-0.889) and speech problems (HR = 0.631, 95% CI: 0.441-0.903). Furthermore, the improvement was more significant in patients who drank tea before surgery and continued to drink tea after surgery.Conclusions: Postoperative tea drinking had a positive effect on delay in clinical deterioration and improvements in multiple functions and symptoms associated with ESCC in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the extensive interest in open-minded discussion in organizations, inconsistencies regarding its antecedents and consequences remain. Drawing upon cooperation and competition theory, we propose a theoretical framework of open-minded discussion. On the basis of 114 primary studies (128 independent samples), a meta-analytic investigation showed that cooperative goal interdependence was positively associated with open-minded discussion, which in turn was positively related to desirable work outcomes, including performance, creativity, relationship quality, LMX, and commitment, whereas competitive and independent goal interdependence were negatively related to open-minded discussion and desirable outcomes. We also explored three moderators: culture (i.e., East Asian cultures and North American cultures), level of analysis (i.e., incident, individual, and team level), and research area (i.e., goal interdependence and conflict management). Results support the theorizing that cooperative goal interdependence develops mutual benefit motivation and integrative conflict management that in turn lead to open-mindedness where collaborators combine their best ideas that result in high quality contributions to organizations. Through the meta-analysis, we offer a more stringent test of cooperation and competition theory and expand the research on open-minded discussion in organizations across various contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A fundamental feature of parasitism is the nutritional exploitation of host organisms by their parasites. Parasitoid wasps lay eggs on arthropod hosts, exploiting them for nutrition to support larval development by using diverse effectors aimed at regulating host metabolism. However, the genetic components and molecular mechanisms at the basis of such exploitation, especially the utilization of host amino acid resources, remain largely unknown. To address this question, here, we present a chromosome-level genome assembly of the parasitoid wasp Cotesia chilonis and reconstruct its amino acid biosynthetic pathway. Results: Analyses of the amino acid synthetic pathway indicate that C. chilonis lost the ability to synthesize ten amino acids, which was confirmed by feeding experiments with amino acid-depleted media. Of the ten pathways, nine are known to have been lost in the common ancestor of animals. We find that the ability to synthesize arginine was also lost in C. chilonis because of the absence of two key genes in the arginine synthesis pathway. Further analyses of the genomes of 72 arthropods species show that the loss of arginine synthesis is common in arthropods. Metabolomic analyses by UPLC-MS/MS reveal that the temporal concentrations of arginine, serine, tyrosine, and alanine are significantly higher in host (Chilo suppressalis) hemolymph at 3 days after parasitism, whereas the temporal levels of 5-hydroxylysine, glutamic acid, methionine, and lysine are significantly lower. We sequence the transcriptomes of a parasitized host and non-parasitized control. Differential gene expression analyses using these transcriptomes indicate that parasitoid wasps inhibit amino acid utilization and activate protein degradation in the host, likely resulting in the increase of amino acid content in host hemolymph. Conclusions: We sequenced the genome of a parasitoid wasp, C. chilonis, and revealed the features of trait loss in amino acid biosynthesis. Our work provides new insights into amino acid exploitation by parasitoid wasps, and this knowledge can specifically be used to design parasitoid artificial diets that potentially benefit mass rearing of parasitoids for pest control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perceptual scope of deep convolutional neural networks is inherently confined to a local scale due to the inherent limitations of convolution operations. This confinement subsequently hampers a comprehensive understanding of intricate scenes. In response, an innovative approach called Bilateral Non-Local Decoupled Convergence Network (BNDCNet) is proposed to facilitate contextual interaction of global information. The proposed module decouples the information from the input feature map and uses a bilateral non-local architecture for system processing. This strategy facilitates inter-pixel interaction and aggregates global information. An important aspect of our approach involves the computation of adaptive convolutional channel weights for the feature map. This innovation greatly improves the efficacy and performance of the model. The proposed method achieved high performance on the competitive scene-parsing datasets CamVid, Cityscapes, and KITTI, and thus demonstrated effectiveness and generality. Code has been released: https://github.com/Mantee0810/BNDC. • The addition of this module improves segmentation performance. • Decoupling the channel message of the feature map for information interaction. • Extracting information and reconstructing feature maps by tensor operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) infectious diseases are common diseases in emergency rooms and neurology departments. CNS pathogen identification methods are time consuming and expensive and have low sensitivity and poor specificity. Some studies have shown that bacteria and viruses can produce specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The aim of this study is to find potential biomarkers by VOC analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with bacterial and viral meningitis/encephalitis (ME). Methods: CSF samples from 16 patients with bacterial ME and 42 patients with viral ME were collected, and solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyze the metabolites in the CSF. Results: There are 2 substances (ethylene oxide and phenol) that were found to be different between the 2 groups. Ethylene oxide was significantly greater in the group of bacterial ME patients than in the viral ME group of patients (p < 0.05). In addition, phenol was remarkably increased in the group of ME patients compared with the bacterial ME patients (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Ethylene oxide and phenol may be potential biomarkers to distinguish bacterial ME and viral ME. VOC analysis of CSF may be used as a supporting tool for clinical diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Microbiota has been reported to play a role in cancer patients. Nevertheless, little is known about the association between alcohol consumption and resultant changes in the diversity and composition of oesophageal microbiota in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: We performed a hospital-based retrospective study of 120 patients with pathologically diagnosed primary ESCC. The relevant information for all study participants were collected through a detailed questionnaire. The differences in adjacent tissues between non-drinkers and drinkers were explored using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Raw sequencing data were imported into QIIME 2 to analyse the diversity and abundance of microbiota. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) and unconditional logistic regression were performed to determine the bacterial taxa that were associated with drinking. Results: The Shannon diversity index and Bray-Curtis distance of oesophageal microbiota were significantly different among drinkers(P < 0.05). The alcohol-related bacteria were primarily from the orders Clostridiales, Gemellales and Pasteurellales, family Clostridiaceae, Lanchnospiraceae, Helicobacteraceae, Alcaligenaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Pasteurellaceae and Gemellaceae; genus Clostridium, Helicobacter, Catonella, Bacteroides, Bacillus, Moraxella, and Bulleidia; and species B. moorei and longum (genus Bifidobacterium). In addition, the diversity and abundance of these microbiota were observed to be affected by the age, residential districts of the patients, and sampling seasons. Moreover, the higher the frequency and years of alcohol consumption, the lower was the relative abundance of genus Catonella that was observed. Conclusion: Alcohol consumption is associated with alterations in both the diversity and composition the of the oesophageal microbiota in ESCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radical reactions have been widely applied in C−P bond‐forming strategies. Most of these strategies require initiators, transition metal catalysts, or organometallic reagents. Herein, a transition metal‐free C(sp3)−P bond formation to prepare α‐aminophosphine oxides via deprotonative radical coupling processes of 2‐azaallyls with chlorodiphenylphosphine oxides was presented. Deprotonation of N‐benzyl imines may generate super‐electron‐donor (SED) 2‐azaallyl anions that reduced chlorodiphenylphosphine oxides to phosphine oxide radicals. Single‐electron transfer (SET) process transformed the 2‐azaallyl anions into 2‐azaallyl radicals, which may couple with phosphine oxide radicals to construct C−P bonds. The deprotonative radical coupling approach enables the synthesis of α‐aminophosphine oxides bearing various functional groups under mild conditions and without precious transition metal catalysts or oxidants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a novel and scalable synthesis of electron rich 1,3‐dienes based on KOtBu mediated isomerization of propargylic ether derivatives was developed. This new process features easy handling reaction conditions, transition‐metal‐free isomerization, high isolated yields, and most of all, it could be used for modification of natural products at late stage functionalizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Esophageal microbiota may influence esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) pathobiology. Therefore, we investigated the characteristics and interplay of the esophageal microbiota in ESCC.Methods: We performed 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing on paired esophageal tumor and tumor-adjacent samples obtained from 120 primarily ESCC patients. Analyses were performed using quantitative insights into microbial 2 (QIIME2) and phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states 2 (PICRUSt2). Species found to be associated with ESCC were validated using quantitative PCR.Results: The microbial diversity and composition of ESCC tumor tissues significantly differed from tumor-adjacent tissues; this variation between subjects beta diversity is mainly explained by regions and sampling seasons. A total of 56 taxa were detected with differential abundance between the two groups, such as R. mucilaginosa, P. endodontalis, N. subflava, H. Pylori, A. Parahaemolyticus, and A. Rhizosphaerae. Quantitative PCR confirmed the enrichment of the species P. endodontalis and the reduction of H. Pylori in tumor-adjacent tissues. Compared with tumor tissue, a denser and more complex association network was formed in tumor-adjacent tissue. The above differential taxa, such as H. Pylori, an unclassified species in the genera Sphingomonas, Haemophilus, Phyllobacterium, and Campylobacter, also participated in both co-occurrence networks but played quite different roles. Most of the differentially abundant taxa in tumor-adjacent tissues were negatively associated with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2), erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 4 (ERBB4), and fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) signaling pathways, and positively associated with the MET proto-oncogene, receptor tyrosine kinase (MET) and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) signaling pathways in tumors.Conclusion: Alterations in the microbial co-occurrence network and functional pathways in ESCC tissues may be involved in carcinogenesis and the maintenance of the local microenvironment for ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The hypothesis that propofol alters gut microbes was tested in a rat model with continuous intravenous infusion of propofol. • Changes in the abundance and diversity of intestinal flora were assessed by 16s ribosomal RNA sequencing and fecal sample analysis. • The results indicate that continuous intravenous infusion of propofol had little effect on intestinal flora of rats in a short period of time. Under normal circumstances, the gut microbiota, host, and external environment establish a dynamic ecological balance and maintain human health. Once this balance is broken, the intestinal flora dysregulation will form, manifested by changes in the diversity, richness, proportion, location and biological characteristics of the gut microbiota. The hypothesis that propofol alters gut microbes was tested in a rat model with continuous intravenous infusion of propofol. Eight male wistar rats underwent tail vein puncture and catheterization respectively, and were continuously pumped with propofol for 3 h. Feces were collected from each rat before and on the 1 st, 3rd, 7th and 14th days after intervention. Finally, the effect of continuous intravenous infusion of propofol on the intestinal flora of rats was analyzed by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplification sequencing. Through high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing analysis, we found that continuous intravenous infusion of propofol had little effect on intestinal flora in rats. Analysis of Alpha (shannon diversity index) showed that group A-7 was different from group P and group A-1 (P = 0.034), and recovered on the 14th day. Although the species diversity analysis showed a significant difference among the five groups (P = 0.049), the distribution of most fecal samples in the PCoA showed a clustered distribution, indicating similarity. In addition, no significant difference was found in the statistical KEGG difference pathway through LEfSe analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide. To date, no non-invasive and specific biomarkers have been identified for the diagnosis of CRC. The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is attracting increasing attention and provides the possibility of a non-invasive diagnosis. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) have been used to analyze the VOCs released from the headspace gas of LS174T (Dukes' type B colorectal adenocarcinoma) cells, arsenic trioxide (ATO)-treated LS174T cells and the blood from tumor-bearing mice. The data were processed using principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), which showed that the levels of decanal, 2,4-dimethyl- heptane, and twelve other metabolites were significantly greater in the headspace gas of the LS174T cells and blood of tumor-bearing mice. Additionally, in vivo experiments indicated that formic acid, ethenyl ester and p-trimethylsilyloxyphenyl-(trimethylsilyloxy)trimethylsilylacrylate were consumed during tumor growth. In conclusion, VOCs such as 1-methoxy-hexane and 2,4-dimethyl-heptane could be useful diagnostic markers for CRC. Further research should focus on the potential metabolic pathways associated with these profiles. • SPME and GC-MS can be used to analyze the VOCs released from cell lines. • Decanal and 2,4-dimethyl-Heptane were significant higher in LS174T cells and blood of tumor bearing mice. • VOCs may be useful as diagnostic assays for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chrysanthemum is among the top ten traditional flowers in China, and one of the four major cut flowers in the world, but the growth of chrysanthemum is severely restricted by high temperatures which retard growth and cause defects in flowers. DREB (dehydration-responsive element-binding) transcription factors play important roles in the response to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, whether the DREB A-6 subgroup is involved in heat tolerance has not been reported conclusively. Result: In the present study, CmDREB6 was cloned from chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) ‘Jinba’. CmDREB6, containing a typical AP2/ERF domain, was classed into the DREB A-6 subgroup and shared highest homology with Cichorium intybus L. CiDREB6 (73%). CmDREB6 was expressed at its highest levels in the leaf. The CmDREB6 protein localized to the nucleus. Based on the yeast one hybrid assay, CmDREB6 showed transcription activation activity in yeast, and the transcriptional activation domain was located in the 3 ‘end ranging from 230 to 289 amino acids residues. CmDREB6 overexpression enhanced the tolerance of chrysanthemum to heat. The survival rate of two transgenic lines was as high as 85%, 50%, respectively, in contrast to 3.8% of wild-type (WT). Over-expression of CmDREB6 promoted the expression of CmHsfA4, CmHSP90, and the active oxygen scavenging genes CmSOD and CmCAT. Conclusion: In this study, DREB A-6 subgroup gene CmDREB6 was cloned from chrysanthemum ‘Jinba’. Overexpression of CmDREB6 enhanced heat tolerance of chrysanthemum by regulating genes involved in the heat shock response and ROS homeogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]