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Acute liver failure (ALF) is a severe and potentially lethal clinical syndrome. It has been demonstrated that micro ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are crucial mediators of nearly all pathological processes, including liver disease.The present study investigates the role of miR-378 in ALF. An ALF mouse model was induced using intraperitoneal injections of d-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide (d-GalN/LPS). A hepatocyte cell line and miR-378 analogue were used in vitro to investigate the possible roles of miR-378 in ALF.The expressions of miR-378 and predicted target genes were measured via reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, and cell apoptosis was assayed using flow cytometry.Compared with mice in the control group, the mice challenged with d-GalN/LPS showed higher levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6, more severe liver damage and increased numbers of apoptotic hepatocytes. Hepatic miR-378 was distinctly downregulated, while messenger RNA and protein levels of cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 9 (caspase-9) were upregulated in the ALF model. Furthermore, miR-378 was downregulated in d-GalN/TNF-induced hepatocyte cells, and miR-378 was found to inhibit hepatocyte apoptosis by targeting caspase-9.Together, the present results indicate that miR-378 is a previously unrecognised post-ALF hepatocyte apoptosis regulator and may be a potential therapeutic target in the context of ALF.

Language plays a pivotal role in poverty alleviation. This article aims to explore the relationship between multilingual ability and poverty in Southwest China. By adopting a mixed design, this article studies the multilingual ability, occasions for language use, and attitudes towards the importance of language of the participants, as well as the correlations between the participants’ multilingual ability and the cause of poverty in relation to monthly household income. The sample comes from the mainstream Han ethnic group and 13 ethnic minority groups in 34 border poverty counties in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Tibet. The investigation concludes that Mandarin Chinese ability and local dialect ability quantitatively influence the income of the documented households, while ethnic minority language ability and English language ability qualitatively influence their household income to some degree. It is hoped that this study will provide both theoretical and practical implications for rural language strategies in the post-poverty alleviation period and rural revitalization in China.

Heparanase (HPSE) is a kind of multifunctional extracellular hydrolase, and related to metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Endothelial necroptosis promotes the metastasis of cancer cells. It is not clear whether HPSE could mediate necroptosis of microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs) to promote HCC metastasis. Here we found HPSE expression was up-regulated in HCC tissues and its over-expression was correlated with multiple tumor foci, microvascular invasion, and poor outcome of HCC patients. Non-contact co-culture experiments showed high-expressed HPSE in HCC cells mediated the necroptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and elevated the expression levels of syndecan-1 (SDC-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in vitro. As a result of necroptosis, trans-endothelial migration (TEM) of HCC cells was increased. Conversely, both HPSE and SDC-1 knockdowns reversed necroptosis and decreased TNF-α expression level, while HPSE over-expression increased SDC-1 and TNF-α expression and aggravated necroptosis. Animal experiments found that the nude mice, intraperitoneally injected with HPSE high expressing HCC cells, had obvious necroptosis of MVECs and high intrahepatic metastasis rate, which could be relieved by inhibitor of necroptosis. Morever, HPSE elevated the expression levels of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) rather than nuclear factor kappa B in vitro. Our data suggest that HPSE induces necroptosis of MVECs to promote the metastasis of HCC by activating HPSE/SDC-1/TNF-α axis and p38 MAPK pathway.

Blackleg on potato plants (

Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp. cause Blackleg on potato worldwide (Charkowski, 2018). Potato plants (cv. Innovator V4 or Favorita) with blackleg symptoms (vascular browning of crown stems or ...

Lithium recovery from an aqueous resource was accelerated by electrochemically driving the transformation of MnIV /MnIII with a spinel λ-MnO2 film electrode. A λ-MnO2 electrode without binders or conductive additives is preferred for achieving a large capacity at high current density and long-term cycling capability. In this study, a film of Mn(OH)2 was first deposited on the surface of Pt or graphite substrates owing to alkalization near the cathode, then it was oxidized to a Mn3 O4 film by air, followed by being hydrothermally lithiated to LiMn2 O4 spinel and, finally, it was turned into the λ-MnO2 film electrode through potentiostatic delithiation. The results show that the charging/discharging electric capacity of the fabricated λ-MnO2 film electrode was up to ≈100 mAh g-1 at a current density of 50 mA g-1 in 30 mm Li+ aqueous solution, twice that of the λ-MnO2 powder electrode. Also, 82.3 % lithium capacity remained after 100 cycles of an electrochemically assisted lithium recovery process, indicating high availability and good stability of the λ-MnO2 spinel on the electrode. The energy consumption for each cycle is estimated to be approximately 1.55±0.09 J, implying that only 4.14 Wh is required for recovery of one mole of lithium ions by this method.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) common scab can be caused by multiple pathogenic Streptomyces spp. worldwide. Potato tubers (cv. Favorita) with severe pitted common scab symptoms were observed at a small farm (2 hectares) during harvest in Anshun, Guizhou province in early May 2020. The disease incidence was around 10%, and symptomatic samples were collected to isolate the pathogen. Two isolates, ZR-IMU141 and ZR-IMU146 (Accession number MW995958 and MW995959 respectively), showed more than 99% sequence identity to S. stelliscabiei sequences (Accession No. HM018085). Five house-keeping genes for multi-locus sequence analyze (MLSA) of Streptomycetaceae were amplified, sequenced and uploaded to NCBI: atpD (MZ343164 and MZ343165), gyrB (MZ343162 and MZ343163), recA (MZ343166 and MZ343167), rpoB (MZ343168and MZ343169) and trpB (MZ343170 and MZ343171). All the genes show over 98% identity with S. stelliscabiei. Phylogenetic trees of 16S rRNA gene sequence and multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) were constructed. The two isolates contain pathogenicity genes txtAB, nec1, and tomA, which was confirmed by PCR. To complete Koch's postulates, 9 potato seedlings (cv. Favorita, 15 centimeters high), were transferred to new pots and inoculated with spore suspensions of ZR-IMU141 and ZR-IMU146 (104 CFU/ml), or water as a negative control. Two months later, potato tubers inoculated with either ZR-IMU141 or ZR-IMU146 exhibited typical symptoms of potato common scab, such as superficial or deep, raised, pitted, or polygonal lesions like the field symptoms, but the negative controls remained asymptomatic. The pathogens were reisolated from the lesions and confirmed identical to the original isolate by 16s rRNA gene sequences. To our knowledge, this is the first report of S. stelliscabiei causing potato common scab in Guizhou province, China. We believe that this report will draw attention to the study and management of the increased pool of scab pathogens in China.

Blackleg on potato plants (Solanum tuberosum) is caused by Pectobacterium spp. and Dickeya spp. (Charkowski, 2018) worldwide. From June to August in both 2018 and 2019, cases of blackleg were investigated in potato-producing areas in Hulunbuir, Ulanqab, and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, China. The total surveyed field area was about 200 hectares. The plants showed typical blackleg symptoms, such as black and stunted stems or curled leaves (Fig. S1), and the number of infected plants were counted. The disease showed an incidence of around 8%. Five diseased plants were collected from a 10 ha potato field with approximately 75,000 potato plants (cv. mainly Favorita and Xisen) per hectare. Two-centimeter-long samples of symptomatic stems were removed from the selected plants using a sterile scalpel. The surfaces of the samples were disinfected with 75% ethanol for 2 min. They were then rinsed with sterile distilled water and soaked in 5 ml sterile distilled water for 30 min. Aliquots of three tenfold dilutions of this solution were plated onto the crystal violet pectate agar (CVP) plate and incubated for 3 days at 28°C (Ge et al., 2018). A single bacterial colony that showed pitting on CVP plates (Fig. S2) was picked with a toothpick, streaked onto nutritional agar (She et al., 2013) to obtain pure colonies. Amplification of a 1.4-kb segment containing 16S rRNA gene was performed on the pure colonies using the universal primer set 27F/1492R (Monciardini et al., 2002). The amplicons were sequenced and submitted to the GenBank Nucleotide Basic Local Alignment Search Tool analysis. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of four isolates (GenBank accession numbers: MN626412, MN626449, MN625916, and MT235556) showed more than 99% sequence identity to Pectobacterium parmentieri type strain RNS 08-42-1A (NR_153752.1) (Fig. S3). Six housekeeping genes proA (MT427753-MT427756), gyrA (MT427757-MT427760), icdA (MT427761-MT427764), mdh (MT427765-MT427768), gapA (MT427769-MT427772), and rpoS (MT427773-MT427776) of these four isolates were amplified and sequenced (Ma et al., 2007, Waleron et al., 2008). All sequences showed 99% to 100% sequence identity with Pectobacterium parmentieri strains. Phylogenetic trees (Fig. S4) were constructed by multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) using MEGA 6.0 software (Tamura et al., 2013). The samples were tested against Koch's postulates on potato seedlings (cv. Favorita) by injecting 100 μl bacterial suspension (107 CFU/ml) or sterile phosphate buffered solution into the stems 2 cm above the base (Ge et al., 2018). The seedlings were incubated at 21°C and 80% humidity (She et al., 2013). Three to 5 days after inoculation, only infected seedlings showed similar symptoms as those observed in the field: the infected area turned black and rotten (Fig. S5). Bacterial colonies isolated from these symptomatic seedlings were identified using the same methods described above and were identified as inoculated Pectobacterium parmentieri strains. Blackleg on potato plants has been reported to be caused by Pectobacterium atrosepticum, Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum, and Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliense in China (Zhao et al., 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of blackleg of potato caused by Pectobacterium parmentieri in Inner Mongolia, China. We believe that this report will draw attention to the identification of this pathogen, which is essential to disease management.

To establish appropriate drip fertigation scheduling with loss control fertilizer (LCF) as a basal fertilizer in sandy soil, a 2‐year field study was conducted to evaluate the effects of five fertilizer levels (10, 30, 50, 70 and 90% of the recommended fertilizer dose (RFD) in 2012, and 10, 35, 60, 85 and 110% of RFD in 2013) on potato biomass, tuber yield and fertilizer and irrigation water productivity. All LCFs were applied as basal fertilizer while drip fertigation was applied when soil matric potential at 0.2 m depth under the emitters reached –25 kPa. Results showed 35–60% of RFD resulted in a better dry matter distribution between above ground and tubers during tuber bulking. Tuber yield initially increased and then decreased with increasing fertilizer rates in both seasons. The highest irrigation water productivity was for 50% of RFD in 2012 and 35% of RFD in 2013. Fertilizer productivity decreased slowly after fertigation level increased to about 50% of RFD. Therefore, 35–50% of RFD is suggested scheduling for potato production in sandy soils under drip fertigation with LCF as basal fertilizer in arid and semi‐arid regions in the north of China. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Summary Background IL-11 is a multifunctional cytokine that belongs to the IL-6 family. Previous studies have demonstrated that IL-11 has underlying anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties. In this study, we evaluated the potential effects of IL-11 on mouse liver WI/Rp injury. Methods For in vivo experiments, mice were randomly divided into four main experimental groups ( n = 5 each): (1) normal group – anesthesia; (2) sham group– laparotomy; (3) I/R group– liver WI/Rp; and (4) IL-11 pretreatment (500 μg/kg, tail vein injection) group– administration of RhIL-11 2 h before liver WI/Rp induced in the same manner as in group 3. For in vitro experiments, cells were divided into two groups: (1) H/R group– H/R; and (2) IL-11 pretreatment group– pretreatment with RhIL-11 (2 μg/mL for 12 h) before the induction of H/R. For both groups, three periods of reoxygenation were examined (2 h, 6 h, and 12 h). Results In the in vivo experiments, IL-11 protected mouse livers from WI/Rp by reducing liver enzyme levels and cellular degeneration. In the in vitro experiments, IL-11 significantly reduced hepatocyte apoptosis. In both the in vivo and in vitro experiments, IL-11 pre-treatment significantly reduced the expression of TNF-α and IL-1β. In addition, NF-κB, a target of IL-11, was suppressed in macrophages after IL-11 pre-treatment. Conclusions Pre-treatment with IL-11 protects mouse livers from WI/Rp injury by suppressing NF-kB activity.

Lithium recovery from an aqueous resource was accelerated by electrochemically driving the transformation of Mn

Acuteliver failure (ALF) has a high mortality rate and is characterized by massive hepatocyte destruction. Although microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in manyliver diseases, the role of miRNAs in ALF development is unknown. In this study, the murine ALF model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide (D-GalN/LPS). Compared with saline-treated mice, miR-24 was distinctly down-regulated post D-GalN/LPS challenge in vivo and D-galactosamine/tumor necrosis factor (D-GalN/TNF) challenge in vitro, which was confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Meanwhile, the mRNA and protein levels of the BH3-only-domain-containing protein BIM were upregulated after challenge both in vivo and in vitro. Previous studies have demonstrated that hepatocyte apoptosis is a distinguishing feature of D-GalN/LPS-associated liver failure. In this study, D-GalN/LPS-challenged mice showed higher alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels, more severe liver damage, increased numbers of apoptotic hepatocytes and higher levels of caspase-3 compared with saline-treated mice. In D-GalN/TNF-treated BNLCL2 cells, miR-24 overexpression attenuated apoptosis.Furthermore, miR-24 overexpression reduced BIM mRNA and protein levels in vitro. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that miR-24 regulates hepatocyte apoptosis via BIM during ALF development, suggesting that miR-24 is a novel onco-miRNA that may provide potential therapeutic targets for ALF.

To establish the optimum fertilizer rate and propose an appropriate drip fertigation regime for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) on sandy soil, a two-year field experiment comparing different fertigation levels on potato yield, irrigation water productivity (IWP) and partial fertilizer productivity (PFP) was carried out during 2012–2013. The treatments included five fertigation levels: 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% of the recommended fertilizer dose of 420:105:495 of N:P:K in kg ha–1 year–1 in 2012; and 10%, 35%, 60%, 85% and 110% of the recommended dose of 390:150:465 of N:P:K in kg ha–1 year–1 in 2013. The recommended fertilizer dose was estimated based on the method of nutrient balance for a target yield of 45.0 Mg ha–1. The soil matric potential at 20 cm depth beneath the emitters was controlled above –25 kPa for drip fertigation. Results showed the highest tuber yield was 38.0 Mg ha–1 for 90%NPK in 2012 and 45.8 Mg ha–1 for 60%NPK in 2013, which was significantly higher than that for 10%NPK. The highest IWP was for 70%NPK in 2012 and 60%NPK in 2013. The highest PFP values were 255.5 kg kg−1 in 2012 and 316.4 kg kg−1 in 2013, recorded in the 10%NPK plots and were significantly higher than for other fertigation treatments. High yield levels of potatoes and both high IWP and PFP could be reached by drip fertigation with 72% of the recommended fertilization dose. Compared with the recommended fertilizer dose, the yield and IWP of 72% NPK increased by 5.9% and 4.7%, respectively. It was possible to make average savings in one season alone of 136, 36 and 152 kg ha–1 N, P2O5 and K2O, respectively. In conclusion, drip fertigation with 72% NPK should be considered optimum for potato production on sandy soils. Each fertilizer amount based on irrigation interval was applied with irrigation quota at 5–6 mm when soil matric potential at soil depths of 20 cm immediately under drip emitters reached –25 kPa. Furthermore, drip fertigation was triggered when 10 consecutive days were without fertigation or rainfall in 24 h exceeded 10 mm.

In this era of information and economic globalization, developing critical thinking skills in college students has been set as a primary goal and learning outcome in higher education. Teaching critical thinking, however, is a great challenge to most EFL teachers. This article, therefore, attempts to examine the nature and teachability of critical thinking, analyze and discuss the functions and types of teacher questions as well as Bloom’s Taxonomy of Questions. Its primary purpose is to help EFL classroom instructors gain a deep understanding of teacher questions and get to know how to use higher order questioning to enhance EFL students’ critical thinking ability.

Form-focused instruction (FFI) and communication-focused instruction (CFI) are two different L2 or foreign language teaching approaches. In actual teaching practice, almost every EFL teacher has a preference for them so that these two instructional approaches dominate EFL classrooms to a great extent. This study, by using a self-designed questionnaire, attempts to examine student perceptions toward FFI and CFI. The subjects in this quantitative study were 300 ninth graders and 300 twelfth graders from two public urban schools. Findings from two-way MANOVA analysis revealed that: 1) Both ninth-grade and twelfth-grade students held highly positive perceptions toward CFI, but they were not very positive toward FFI. In contrast, ninth graders showed more positive perceptions toward FFI than twelfth graders. 2) Gender differences existed in student perceptions toward FFI. Male students were more positive toward FFI than female students. 3) Results showed that the two predictors FFI and CFI had certain correlations with the academic achievement of ninth-grade and twelfth-grade students. Based on the findings of this study, a few constructive conclusions are as follows: 1) EFL teachers are encouraged to apply the communicative approach in class to foster and develop secondary school students’ communication skills. 2) Teaching grammar to junior high and male students is likely to achieve effective results. 3) EFL teachers need to take gender differences into account when they design English curriculum. 4) Both FFI and CFI can help students achieve academic success at school.

Functional grammar has received more and more attention from domestic scholars in the world of linguistics since 1970s, but it is still new to most EFL teachers. In spite of controversies about its applications into classroom teaching, this new grammar model has its own advantages and can facilitate EFL students to achieve academic success. This paper, based on current literature, examines and analyzes the following issues: the nature of functional grammar, the key concepts of functional grammar, the fundamental differences between traditional grammar and functional grammar, and the implications for English teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to help EFL teachers have an overall understanding of the theory and key concepts of functional grammar as well as the positive role functional grammar plays in school contexts.

The Lower Palaeozoic system is a series of iron-bearing rocks consisting mainly of shallow sea-fades carbonates. On the basis of microfacies analysis of the carbonate rocks, the Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary sea basin is divided into two broad sedimentary-tectonic regions of four sedimentary facies and eight subfacies. The original iron-rich carbonates were deposited in saltlakes, lagoons, etc. of the restricted basins. Over the long geological history, the original iron formations were reconstructed to various extents by late tectonic processes. Geological observations and studies on the equilibrium mechanism of oxygen/sulfur isotopic fractionation and the composition and temperature of fluid inclusions in the minerals indicate that thermal brines played an important role in reworking of the original iron-rich carbonate rocks, which led to the formation of sedimentary-reworked strata-bound ore deposit.