To improve tobacco leaf quality, excessive K
2
SO
4
fertilizers were applied to soils in major tobacco-planting areas in China. However, the effects of K
2
SO
4
application on soil microbial ...community and functions are still unclear. An eight-year field experiment with three kinds of K
2
SO
4
amounts (low amount, K
2
O 82.57 kg hm
-2
, LK; moderate amount, K
2
O 165.07 kg hm
-2
, MK; high amount, K
2
O 247.58 kg hm
-2
, HK) was established to assess the effects of K
2
SO
4
application on the chemical and bacterial characteristics of tobacco-planting soil using 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequencing approaches. Results showed that HK led to lower pH and higher nitrogen (N), potassium (K), sulfur(S) and organic matter contents of the soil than LK. The bacterial community composition of HK was significantly different from those of MK and LK, while these of MK and LK were similar. Compared to LK, HK increased the relative abundance of predicted copiotrophic groups (e.g.
Burkholderiaceae
,
Rhodospirillaceae
families and
Ellin6067
genus) and potentially beneficial bacteria (e.g.
Gemmatimonadetes
phylum and
Bacillus
genus) associated with pathogens and heavy metal resistance, N fixation, dissolution of phosphorus and K. While some oligotrophic taxa (e.g.
Acidobacteria
phylum) related to carbon, N metabolism exhibited adverse responses to HK. Metagenomic analysis suggested that the improvement of pathways related to carbohydrate metabolism and genetic information processing by HK might be the self-protection mechanism of microorganisms against environmental stress. Besides, the redundancy analysis and variation partitioning analysis showed that soil pH, available K and S were the primary soil factors in shifting the bacterial community and KEGG pathways. This study provides a clear understanding of the responses of soil microbial communities and potential functions to excessive application of K
2
SO
4
in tobacco-planting soil.
Pyroptosis is a new type of programmed cell death, which induces a strong pro-inflammatory reaction. However, the mechanism of pyroptosis after brain ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and the interaction ...between different neural cell types are still unclear. This study comprehensively explored the mechanisms and interactions of microglial and neuronal pyroptosisin the simulated I/R environment
in vitro
. The BV2 (as microglial) and HT22(as neuronal) cells were treated by oxygen–glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). Both BV2 and HT22 cells underwent pyroptosis after OGD/R, and the pyroptosis occurred at earlier time point in HT22than that of BV2. Caspase-11 and Gasdermin E expression in BV2 and HT22 cells did not change significantly after OGD/R. Inhibition of caspase-1 or GSDMD activity, or down-regulation of GSDMD expression, alleviated pyroptosis in both BV2 and HT22 cells after OGD/R. Transwell studies further showed that OGD/R-treated HT22 or BV2 cells aggravated pyroptosis of adjacent non-OGD/R-treated cells, which could be relieved by inhibition of caspase-1 or GSDMD. These results suggested that OGD/R induces pyroptosis of microglia and neuronal cells and aggravates cell injury via activation of caspase-1/GSDMD signaling pathway. Our findings indicated that caspase-1 and GSDMD may be therapeutic targets after cerebral I/R.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The Asian citrus psyllid,
Diaphorina citri
, is a notorious pest that is an efficient vector for
Candidatus
Liberibacter asiaticus (
C
Las), the causal agent of citrus huanglongbing (HLB). The ...olfactory system of insects is crucial for foraging and mating behavior. Antennae-abundant odorant degrading enzymes (ODEs), including cytochrome P450 (CYPs), are important in degrading redundant odorant molecules to recover the insect olfactory. In this study, to isolate the antennal CYP genes of
D. citri
, we generated four transcriptomes from female/male antennae and body through deep sequencing of RNA libraries. Seven
DcCYP
genes preferentially expressed in antennae were first identified by comparing the antennal and body transcriptomes. Phylogenetic analysis grouped four
DcCYPs
(
DcCYP6a13
,
DcCYP6j1
,
DcCYP6k1,
and
DcCYP6a2
) into the CYP3 class, whereas
DcCYP4d2
,
DcCYP4c62,
and
DcCYP4d8
were clustered in the CYP4 clade. qRT-PCR analyses across developmental stages and tissues showed they were antennae-abundant in both genders and constantly expressed from the first instar nymph to the adult. The results presented here highlight the isolation and expression of CYP genes in
D. citri
antennae, providing valuable insights into their putative role in odorant degradation.
The Fenghe River Estuary (FRE), a long-narrow estuary located in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, China, has suffered severe sediment siltation in the downstream of a tidal barrier over the past ...decades. In order to relieve the sediment siltation and promote local economic development, a restoration scheme with new shoreline and bathymetry was proposed for the FRE. In this study, a wave-current-sediment coupled model was established for the FRE based on the numerical model MIKE21, which was well validated against the observation. The model was then applied to estimate hydrodynamic and morphological responses of the long-narrow estuary to the restoration scheme and a major storm. The numerical results indicate that the restoration scheme has a great influence on the current fields in the estuarine channel, resulting in the current speed in the channel to be more spatially uniform. Under the restoration scheme, the spatial pattern of suspended sediment concentration in the estuary is redistributed due to the change of local tidal asymmetry associated with geometry and topography variation. The interaction between wave and current during a storm increases bed shear stress on the tidal flat, leading to large erosion on the tidal flat and severe sediment siltation in the estuarine channel.
•Responses of a long-narrow estuary to a restoration scheme is estimated by numerical model.•Sediment is redistributed due to the tidal asymmetry variation by restoration.•Enhanced bed stress due to wave leads to tidal flat erosion and estuarine channel siltation.•Morphological change during the typhoon is six time larger than that in normal weather.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the common arrhythmias. Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is closely related to atrial remodeling and leads to AF. MF is the main cause of cardiovascular diseases and a ...pathological basis of AF. Thus, the underlying mechanism in MF and AF development should be fully elucidated for AF therapeutic innovation. Autophagy is a highly conserved lysosomal degradation pathway, and the relationship between autophagy and MF has been previously shown. Moreover, research reported that quercetin (Que) could ameliorate MF. The current study aimed to explore the mechanism of Que in MF. The results in this study showed that in clinical AF patients and in aged rats, miR-223-3p was high-expressed, while FOXO3 and autophagy pathway related proteins, such as ATG7, p62/SQSTM1 and the ratio of LC3B-II/LC3B-I were significantly inhibited. In vivo and in vitro studies, we found that Que can effectively inhibit the expression of miR-223-3p in AF model cells and rats myocardial tissues, and meanwhile enhance the expression of FOXO3 and activate the autophagy pathway, and significantly inhibit myocardial fibrosis, and improve myocardial remodeling in atrial fibrillation. All in all, in this study, we found that Que prevents isoprenaline-induced MF by increasing autophagy via regulating miR-223-3p/FOXO3.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
•A new sparse signal representation in the frequency domain is presented for target recognition in SAR image.•A frequency prescreening skill is developed to generate representation in the transformed ...domain.•The recognition performance of proposed method is verified in several unconstrained scenarios, including the change of pose, configuration, and depression angle, spatial translation, articulation and occlusion.
Classical sparse modeling requires accurate alignment between the query and the training data. This precondition is disadvantageous for target recognition tasks, where, although the target is present in the images, it is infeasible to perfectly register it during training. In addition, the classical approach is less powerful under unconstrained operating conditions. To solve these problems, this paper presents a new sparse signal modeling strategy in the frequency domain. Because signal energy is mainly concentrated on a small portion of low-frequency components, this set of spectrum carries vital information that can be used to discriminates the class of a target. We generated representations by aggregating low-frequency components. They were then used to build sparse signal models. More specifically, the spectral representation of training data were concatenated to form an over-complete dictionary to encode the counterpart of the query as a linear combination of themselves. Sparsity was harnessed to generate an optimal solution, from which an inference can be made. Multiple comparative analyses were made to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed strategy, especially in unconstrained environments.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) are regarded as one of the most effective and economical solutions for large-scale energy storage, and thus have motivated widespread exploration on desirable electrode ...materials. Manganese-based phosphates are expected to be potential cathodes for SIBs due to their stable framework, low cost, and high operating voltage. However, low electrochemical activity and severe Mn dissolution lead to unsatisfying specific capacity and poor cycle life, which greatly limit their practical applications. Herein, a dual-carbon (amorphous carbon and reduced graphene oxide) decoration strategy is proposed and applied to Na3Mn2(P2O7)(PO4) (NMPP) via freeze drying technique in order to tackle the common issues of manganese phosphate cathodes. By minimizing particle aggregation and constructing conductive network, the dual-carbon functionalized NMPP nanocomposite has overcome its intrinsic sluggishness, and delivers a reversible capacity of ∼101 mAh g−1 with a high Mn2+/Mn3+ potential of ∼3.6 V vs. Na+/Na and a favorable energy density of ∼350 Wh kg−1. Besides, the NMPP||Na battery also manifests favorable cycle performance (73% retention after 500 cycles) and decent rate ability (32 mAh g−1 at 5C). Finally, the desodiation/sodiation mechanism is investigated, which demonstrates that NMPP is based on solid-solution reaction accomplished by Na1 and Na3 extraction/intercalation with a tiny volume change of 0.87%.
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•Dual-carbon decorated Na3Mn2(P2O7)(PO4) was prepared assisted by freeze-drying.•Na3Mn2(P2O7)(PO4) has one-dimension pathways for Na ions according to BVEL result.•Rate and cycle capability were significantly improved.•Conductivity was enhanced and Mn-dissolution was suppressed.•A solid-solution reaction with tiny volume change was observed by in-situ XRD.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
IMPORTANCE: Acupuncture is used to induce ovulation in some women with polycystic ovary syndrome, without supporting clinical evidence. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether active acupuncture, either alone ...or combined with clomiphene, increases the likelihood of live births among women with polycystic ovary syndrome. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A double-blind (clomiphene vs placebo), single-blind (active vs control acupuncture) factorial trial was conducted at 21 sites (27 hospitals) in mainland China between July 6, 2012, and November 18, 2014, with 10 months of pregnancy follow-up until October 7, 2015. Chinese women with polycystic ovary syndrome were randomized in a 1:1:1:1 ratio to 4 groups. INTERVENTIONS: Active or control acupuncture administered twice a week for 30 minutes per treatment and clomiphene or placebo administered for 5 days per cycle, for up to 4 cycles. The active acupuncture group received deep needle insertion with combined manual and low-frequency electrical stimulation; the control acupuncture group received superficial needle insertion, no manual stimulation, and mock electricity. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was live birth. Secondary outcomes included adverse events. RESULTS: Among the 1000 randomized women (mean SD age, 27.9 3.3 years; mean SD body mass index, 24.2 4.3), 250 were randomized to each group; a total of 926 women (92.6%) completed the trial. Live births occurred in 69 of 235 women (29.4%) in the active acupuncture plus clomiphene group, 66 of 236 (28.0%) in the control acupuncture plus clomiphene group, 31 of 223 (13.9%) in the active acupuncture plus placebo group, and 39 of 232 (16.8%) in the control acupuncture plus placebo group. There was no significant interaction between active acupuncture and clomiphene (P = .39), so main effects were evaluated. The live birth rate was significantly higher in the women treated with clomiphene than with placebo (135 of 471 28.7% vs 70 of 455 15.4%, respectively; difference, 13.3%; 95% CI, 8.0% to 18.5%) and not significantly different between women treated with active vs control acupuncture (100 of 458 21.8% vs 105 of 468 22.4%, respectively; difference, −0.6%; 95% CI, −5.9% to 4.7%). Diarrhea and bruising were more common in patients receiving active acupuncture than control acupuncture (diarrhea: 25 of 500 5.0% vs 8 of 500 1.6%, respectively; difference, 3.4%; 95% CI, 1.2% to 5.6%; bruising: 37 of 500 7.4% vs 9 of 500 1.8%, respectively; difference, 5.6%; 95% CI, 3.0% to 8.2%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among Chinese women with polycystic ovary syndrome, the use of acupuncture with or without clomiphene, compared with control acupuncture and placebo, did not increase live births. This finding does not support acupuncture as an infertility treatment in such women. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01573858
Improving the anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with a long activation process, poor cycle stability, and low Coulomb efficiency is of great significance for developing novel high-performance ...anode materials. Orthorhombic LiVMoO 5 with high specific capacity was applied to the anode field of lithium-ion battery for the first time. However, the activation process led to its poor cyclic performance. By adopting a novel nano-transformation treatment process in a water and oxygen environment, we effectively avoided the long-term activation process. The specially treated LiVMoO 5 electrode (STLVME) exhibited excellent reversible specific capacity (∼1100 mA h g −1 ) and rate cycle stability (capacity retention rate ∼100%). Furthermore, GITT and EIS also showed that compared with the primitive LiVMoO 5 electrode (LVME), smaller internal resistance and a higher Li + diffusion coefficient were caused using the novel treatment process, significantly improving the rate cycle stability. Using in situ XRD and ex situ characterization, we illustrated the lithium storage mechanism of LVME and STLVME. In addition, the practical application potential of LVME and STLVME was also explored by assembling the full cells. Because the long-term activation process was effectively avoided, the full-cell exhibited amazing cycle stability, indicating that STLVME can be considered a promising potential anode for practical applications in energy storage devices.
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