To adapt to changing environments, plants have evolved elaborate regulatory mechanisms balancing their growth with stress responses. It is currently unclear whether and how the tryptophan (Trp), the ...growth-related hormone auxin, and the stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) are coordinated in this trade-off. Here, we show that tryptophan synthase β subunit 1 (TSB1) is involved in the coordination of Trp and ABA, thereby affecting plant growth and abiotic stress responses. Plants experiencing high salinity or drought display reduced TSB1 expression, resulting in decreased Trp and auxin accumulation and thus reduced growth. In comparison with the wild type, amiR-TSB1 lines and TSB1 mutants exhibited repressed growth under non-stress conditions but had enhanced ABA accumulation and stress tolerance when subjected to salt or drought stress. Furthermore, we found that TSB1 interacts with and inhibits β-glucosidase 1 (BG1), which hydrolyses glucose-conjugated ABA into active ABA. Mutation of BG1 in the amiR-TSB1 lines compromised their increased ABA accumulation and enhanced stress tolerance. Moreover, stress-induced H2O2 disrupted the interaction between TSB1 and BG1 by sulfenylating cysteine-308 of TSB1, relieving the TSB1-mediated inhibition of BG1 activity. Taken together, we revealed that TSB1 serves as a key coordinator of plant growth and stress responses by balancing Trp and ABA homeostasis.
Plants can precisely balance their growth with their need for adaptive responses to abiotic stresses; however, the mechanism underlying this trade-off remains elusive. Our study demonstrates that tryptophan synthase β subunit 1 coordinates the homeostasis between the growth-promoting amino acid tryptophan and stress phytohormone abscisic acid, thereby affecting plant growth and abiotic stress responses in Arabidopsis.
Mg3Sb2-based Zintl compounds show great promise for thermoelectric power generation due to their favorable properties, such as high thermoelectric performance over a wide range of temperatures, low ...cost, and mechanical robustness. However, their practical application is severely impeded by the low thermal stability induced by significant Mg loss at elevated temperatures. Here, with the goal to intrinsically enhance the thermal stability of Mg3Sb2-based materials, a strategy of Mn doping at the Mg site is investigated and is found to be effective. In addition to having a high average zT, Mn-doped Mg3Sb1.5Bi0.5 exhibits negligible variation in electrical performance throughout a 40-hour continuous electrical properties measurement at 673 K. Microstructure and composition analyses verify the high structural stability of the Mn-doped sample following the long-term in situ measurement. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the enhanced thermal stability of the Mn-doped compound results from the stronger bonding between Mn and Mg atoms in comparison to the Mg-Mg bonds, which can significantly suppress the formation of Mg vacancies. This study demonstrates a novel approach to the development of reliable thermoelectric materials with both a high zT and intrinsically improved thermal stability for applications.
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N-type Mg3+x(Sb, Bi)2-based thermoelectrics have quickly attracted considerable interest because of their excellent thermoelectric performance over a wide temperature range. Most studies on these ...compounds have thus far focused on improving their thermoelectric performance, with little consideration given to the equally essential issue of thermal stability. Mg3+x(Sb, Bi)2 is highly disordered due to having many kinds of defects, resulting in features like low thermal conductivity. However, the lattice distortion introduced by defects and the evolution of non-equilibrium defects both may impair the thermal stability of these thermoelectric materials. Additionally, incorporating Mg as the most prominent element in Mg3+x(Sb, Bi)2 has a significant impact on the compound’s initial defect concentration and its stability performance at high temperatures due to Mg loss resulting from the element’s high vapor pressure. Here we used in situ stability testing to reveal the evolution of intrinsic defects in n-type Mg3+xSb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01. A low-temperature annealing treatment was employed to improve stability by regulating non-equilibrium defects. Results from both experiments and theoretical calculations show that filling vacancy defects with transition metals rather than with additional excess Mg is effective in improving thermal stability due to the resulting enhanced chemical bonding and increased defect formation energy. This study has important implications for understanding and overcoming instability in other similar thermoelectric materials.
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•Thermal stability is closely related to inherent defects in n-type Mg3+xSb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01.•Non-equilibrium defects evolve with temperature and service time.•Low-temperature annealing minimizes fluctuations in thermoelectric properties by stabilizing non-equilibrium defects.•Replacing Mg with transition metals can enhance chemical bonding and increase defect formation energy.
The cold-inducible protein RBM3 mediates hypothermic neuroprotection against nitric oxide (NO)-induced cell death. Meanwhile, it is well-known that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is upregulated by RBM3 in ...several types of cells; however, it is still unclear whether COX-2 contributes to the neuroprotective effects of mild hypothermia/RBM3 against NO-induced cell death. Using human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, it was revealed that NO remarkably downregulates the expression of COX-2 at both mRNA and protein levels. When COX-2 was silenced using siRNA technique, cells became more sensitive to NO-induced cell death. Conversely, the overexpression of COX-2 significantly prevented NO-induced cell death in SH-SY5Y cells, indicating a pro-survival role of COX-2. Upon mild hypothermia pre-treatment, COX-2 was notably induced at both mRNA and protein levels; however, COX-2 silencing abrogated hypothermia-related neuroprotection against NO-induced cell death. Furthermore, it was revealed that either silencing or overexpression of RBM3 had no effects on the expression of COX-2 in SH-SY5Y cells. These findings suggest that mild hypothermia could protect neuroblastoma cells against NO-induced cell death by inducing COX-2 in a RBM3-independent manner.
This study aims to review the clinical efficacy and factors affecting the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The clinical data of 47 ...patients with MM from the Department of Hematology of Henan Cancer Hospital from September 2010 to July 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. At pre‐transplantation of autologous cells, 25.5% were in complete remission (CR), 14.9% were in very good partial remission (VGPR) and 59.6% were in partial remission (PR). Among these cases, one case had PR after three recurrences. At post‐transplantation, 51% were in CR, including two cases who received double transplantations, 27.7% were in VGPR, and 21.3% were in PR. The median follow‐up time was 27.6 months (4–96 months). The 3‐year progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 47.9% and 79.6%, respectively. The Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results revealed that factors that affected OS were international staging system (ISS) stage (P = 0.002), CR and VGPR post‐transplantation (P = 0.002), while factors that affected PFS were ISS stage (P = 0.005), pre‐transplant induction therapy (P = 0.032), and disease risk stratification (P = 0.017). The curative effects for PFS were CR and VGPR pre‐transplantation (P = 0.013) and post‐transplantation (P = 0.011). The Cox multivariate regression analysis revealed that ISS stage and CR and VGPR post‐transplantation were independent prognostic factors of OS. At post‐transplantation, CR and VGPR, ISS stage, and pre‐transplant induction therapy were independent prognostic factors for PFS. In conclusion, ASCT can improve the clinical efficacy and survival rate of MM patients. ISS stage, CR and VGPR post‐transplantation are independent prognostic factors of OS and PFS, while pre‐transplant induction therapy is an independent prognostic factor for PFS.
Traditional laparoscopic radical prostatectomy is a treatment choice in many developing countries and regions for most patients with localized prostate cancer; however, no system for predicting ...surgical difficulty and risk has been established. This study aimed to propose a simple and standard preoperative classification system of prostate cancer using preoperative data to predict surgical difficulty and risk and to evaluate the relationship between the data and postoperative complications. We collected data from 236 patients and divided them into three groups to evaluate and validate the relationships among preoperative, operative, and postoperative data. This new scoring system is based on the body mass index, ultrasonic prostate volume, preoperative prostate-specific antigen level, middle lobe protrusion, and clinical stage. In the scoring group, we classified 89 patients into two groups: the low-risk group (score of <4) and high-risk group (score of ≥4), and then compared the postoperative data between the two groups. The positive surgical margin rate was higher in the high-risk group than low-risk group. The results in validation Groups A and B were similar to those in the scoring group. The focus of our scoring system is to allow for preliminary assessment of surgical difficulty by collecting the patients' basic information. Urologists can easily use the scoring system to evaluate the surgical difficulty and predict the risks of a positive surgical margin and urinary incontinence in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
Regular check-up with ultrasound in underserved rural and/or remote areas is hampered due to the limited availability of sonologists and ultrasound devices. This study aimed to assess the feasibility ...and satisfaction of health check-ups with a 5G-based robotic teleultrasound diagnostic system.
In this prospective study, sonologists from two hospitals manipulated the telerobotic ultrasound system to perform teleultrasound check-ups of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, bladder, prostate (male), uterus and ovaries (female) for the subjects. The feasibility and satisfaction of health check-ups with a 5G-based robotic teleultrasound diagnostic system were evaluated in terms of examination results, examination duration, and satisfaction questionnaire survey.
A total of 546 subjects were included with the most frequently diagnosed being abdominal disorders (
= 343) and male reproductive illnesses (
= 97), of which fatty liver (
= 204) and prostatic calcification (
= 54) were the most. The median teleultrasound examination duration (interquartile range) for men and women was 9 (9-11) min and 9 (7-11) min (
= 0.236), respectively. All the subjects were satisfied with this new type of telerobotic ultrasound check-ups and 96% reported no fear of the robotic arm during the examination.
The 5G-based teleultrasound robotic diagnostic system in health check-ups is feasible and satisfactory, indicating that this teleultrasound robot system may have significant application value in underserved rural and/or remote areas to mitigate disparity in achieving health equity.
Two series of double-chain single-head nonionic surfactants, Guerbet alcohol ethoxylates (C m GA–E n ; m = 16 and 20, n = 5.7–24.0), were synthesized, and their performances as surfactants for ...surfactant–polymer (SP) flooding free of alkali were evaluated. The products have relatively low critical micelle concentrations (6.8 × 10–7)–(1.0 × 10–5 mol/L) and a wide range of surface tensions at the critical micelle concentration (γcmc) values (30.3–38.0 mN/m) at 25 °C, depending on both the alkyl-chain length and the number of ethylene oxide (EO) units. When used alone, these nonionic surfactants are not efficient for reducing crude oil/connate water interfacial tension (IFT), but their binary mixtures with a highly hydrophobic zwitterionic surfactant, didodecylmethyl hydroxylpropyl sulfobetaine (diC12HSB), are very efficient in reducing Daqing crude oil/connate water IFTs. Ultralow IFTs can be achieved in a wide total concentration range (0.3–10 mM) at 45 °C, and the low limit (0.3 mM) can be further reduced to 0.15 mM by adding an anionic surfactant, α-olefin sulfonate (AOS), to the binary mixtures at a small mole fraction (0.1). Both the binary and ternary mixtures display good resistance against adsorption by Daqing sandstone, and when dissolved in connate water, they prefer to keep the negatively charged rock surface water-wet and produce a crude-oil-in-water emulsion. In addition, the incorporation of AOS into the binary mixtures was found to be beneficial for preventing crystallization of zwitterionic surfactant and flocculation of nonionic surfactants, as reported previously. Comparatively, for SP flooding free of alkali, the Guerbet alcohol ethoxylates are as excellent as the glyceryl ether ethoxylates, nonionic surfactants with a similar double-alkyl single-head structure, but are far superior to the conventional nonionic surfactants with monoalkyl single-head structures.
A new series of nonionic surfactants with double hydrocarbon tails and a single polyoxyethylene (POE) chain 1,3-dialkyl glyceryl ether ethoxylates with an alkyl length between diC8 and diC12 and ...ethylene oxide (EO) number between 3.9 and 25.6 were synthesized and characterized. The correlation of their surfactant–polymer (SP) flooding behavior with the alkyl length and EO number were studied. Although the individual surfactants can be made highly surface-active by matching the alkyl lengths with an appropriate EO number as reflected by the low critical concentration range of 6 × 10–7 to 9 × 10–5 mol/L and γcmc as low as 26.5–30.5 mN/m at 25 °C, they are not good surfactants for SP flooding when used alone since ultralow interfacial tension (IFT) between Daqing crude oil and connate water can only be achieved by a few members with short POE chains or hydrophile–lipophile balance (HLB) numbers near 7–8, which are poorly soluble in water. However, those with long POE chains exhibit excellent synergism in reducing Daqing crude oil/connate water IFT by mixing with a highly hydrophobic surfactant, didodecylmethylhydroxylpropyl sulfobetaine (diC12HSB). Ultralow IFT between 10–3 and 10–4 mN/m can be achieved in a wide range of total surfactant concentrations (0.3–10 mM) at 45 °C. The binary mixed systems also possess good resistance against adsorption by Daqing sandstone and the ability to maintain negatively charged surfaces water-wet over a wide concentration range, as well as a tendency to form crude oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, which are all beneficial for high oil recovery in SP flooding. This synergism between nonionic surfactants and the sulfobetaine surfactant may be responsible for the excellent behavior of binary mixtures and the double alkyl chains in nonionic surfactants, which enhance the interaction between the surfactant monolayer and crude oil, making them superior to the conventional nonionic surfactants with a monoalkyl tail. Although the nonionic surfactants with long POE chains and varying alkyl lengths (diC8–diC12) behave similarly, those with diC8 alkyls are generally superior due to their excellent properties and relatively low molar mass (less dosage).
Patients began to receive granulocyte colony-stimulating factor 5 μg/kg, from +5 days to the day when the white blood cell and neutrophil counts returned to normal. The OS was longer in patients who ...underwent allo-HSCT than in patients who received salvage chemotherapy (P < 0.01). ...the European Leukemia Net AML Working Party showed that the high-risk cytogenetic cohorts can achieve a major benefit with allo-HSCT in CR1; in addition, the indication for allo-HSCT in intermediate risk AML patients has been favored by recent studies and recommendations. Furthermore, disease status at HSCT and high risk of AML-CR1 were factors that affected OS (P < 0.05). ...early allo-HSCT may benefit some patients with greater survival. Lucchini et al8 also demonstrated that patients receiving a Bu/Cy-based regimen had a lower incidence of relapse and higher OS and DFS. ...the Bu/Cy-based regimens may be a better option for children with leukemia.
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