The magnitude and patterns of associations between smoking and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in high-incidence regions remain uncertain. Associations with active and passive tobacco smoking ...were estimated using multivariate logistic regression in a population-based case-control study of 2,530 NPC cases and 2,595 controls in Guangdong and Guangxi, southern China, in 2010-2014. Among men, risk of NPC was significantly higher in current smokers compared with never smokers (odds ratio (OR) = 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 1.53) but not in former smokers (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.73, 1.17). Risk increased with smoking intensity (per 10 cigarettes/day, OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.16), smoking duration (per 10 years, OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.16), and cumulative smoking (per 10 pack-years, OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.12). Risk decreased with later age at smoking initiation (per year, OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.96, 0.98) but not greater time since smoking cessation. Exposures to passive smoking during childhood (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.48) and from a spouse during adulthood (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.63) were independently associated with increased NPC risk in never-smoking men and women, but exposure-response trends were not observed. In conclusion, active and passive tobacco smoking are associated with modestly increased risk of NPC in southern China; risk is highest among long-term smokers.
Aims
The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin-D(25-(OH)
2
D
3
) level and sweat function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods
A ...cross-sectional study of 1021 patients with T2DM who underwent 25-(OH)
2
D
3
level detections and sweat function tests was carried out. These individuals were divided into deficient groups (
n
= 154 cases), insufficient groups (
n
= 593 cases) and sufficient groups (
n
= 274 cases). Spearman correlation analysis and multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis were implemented to determine the association of 25-(OH)2D3 level and sweat function.
Results
The total presence of sweating dysfunction was 38.59%. Patients with a lower level of serum 25-(OH)
2
D
3
had more severe sweat secretion impairment (
P
< 0.05). As the decrease of serum 25-(OH)
2
D
3
level, the presence of sweating dysfunction increased (
P
< 0.05). 25-(OH)
2
D
3
level was positively correlated with sweat function parameters, age and duration of T2DM were negatively correlated with sweat function parameter (
P
< 0.05). Multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis explored a significant association between serum 25-(OH)
2
D
3
level with sweat function (
P
< 0.05).
Conclusions
Serum 25-(OH)
2
D
3
level was positively correlated with sweat function in patients with T2DM.
Aims
To examine the characteristics of three isolated Pediococcus acidilactici strains (LTG7, LOG9 and LH9) and evaluate their effects on silage quality, nutritive value and in vitro ruminal ...digestibility in a variety of forages.
Methods and Results
One commercial inoculant Lactobacillus plantarum MTD‐1 (G) and three isolated lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains were measured by morphological, physiological and biochemical tests. All the LAB strains were added to Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schred.) and oat (Avena sativa L.) for ensiling 30 days in laboratory silos (1 l) respectively. Isolated strains could grow normally at 5–20°C, pH 3·5–7·0 and NaCl (3·0, 6·5%), and were identified as P. acidilactici by sequencing 16S rDNA. In Italian ryegrass and oat silages, all inoculants obviously (P < 0·05) increased lactic acid (LA) contents, LAB numbers and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), and decreased pH, undesirable micro‐organism numbers, butyric acid and ammonia nitrogen (NH3‐N) contents compared with the corresponding controls. LTG7, LOG9 and G silages in Italian ryegrass and oat had markedly (P < 0·05) higher LA content and IVDMD, and lower pH and NH3‐N contents than LH9 silages. In tall fescue silage, LAB inoculants had no obvious (P > 0·05) effect on fermentation quality, while markedly (P < 0·05) enhanced IVDMD.
Conclusions
Based on our results, strains LTG7 and LOG9 had similar potential with the commercial inoculant G in silage making.
Significance and Impact of the Study
Few studies involved inoculation of silage with P. acidilactici in different forage types. Analysis of effects of LAB strains with their physiological and biochemical characteristics help understand how LAB inoculants affect the digestibility.
We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with post-stroke depression (PSD). Six relevant electronic databases ...(PubMed, CENTRAL, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO) were searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared rTMS with control condition for PSD were included. The mean change in depression symptom scores was defined as the primary efficacy outcome. Secondary outcomes included the remission rate of depression, stroke recovery, and cognitive function recovery. In total, 7 RCTs with 351 participants were included. At post-treatment, rTMS was significantly more effective than the control condition, with a standardized mean difference (SMD) of -1.15 (95%CI: -1.62 to -0.69; P<0.001, I2=71%) and remission with an odds ratio (OR) of 3.46 (95%CI: 1.68 to 7.12; P<0.001; I2=11%). As for stroke recovery, rTMS was also better than the control condition (SMD=-0.67, 95%CI: -1.02 to -0.32; P<0.001). However, no significant difference was found for cognitive function recovery between the two groups (SMD=4.07, 95%CI: -1.41 to 9.55; P=0.15). To explore the potential moderators for the primary outcome, a series of subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed. The results implied that rTMS may be more effective in Asian samples than in North American samples (P=0.03). In conclusion, from the current evidence in this study, rTMS could be an effective treatment for patients with PSD. Further clinical studies with larger sample sizes and clearer subgroup definitions are needed to confirm these outcomes.
Harpin proteins are well known as eliciters that induce multiple responses in plants, such as systemic acquired resistance, hypersensitive response, enhancement of growth, resistance to the green ...peach aphid, and tolerance to drought. Overexpression of Harpin-encoding genes enhances plant resistance to diseases in tobacco, rice, rape, and cotton; however, it is not yet known whether the expression of Harpin-encoding genes in vivo improves plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. The results of this study showed that overexpression of a Harpin-encoding gene hrf1 in rice increased drought tolerance through abscisic acid (ABA) signalling. hrf1- overexpression induces an increase in ABA content and promotes stomatal closure in rice. The hrf1 transgenic rice lines exhibited a significant increase in water retention ability, levels of free proline and soluble sugars, tolerance to oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species-scavenging ability, and expression levels of four stress-related genes, OsLEA3-1, OsP5CS, Mn-SOD, and NM_001074345, under drought stress. The study confirmed that hrf1 conferred enhanced tolerance to drought stress on transgenic crops. These results suggest that Harpins may offer new opportunities for generating drought resistance in other crops.
Metal pollution has been widely reported in mangrove wetlands; however, the mechanisms involved in metal detoxification by mangroves are still poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the ...possible function of root anatomy and lignification/suberization on metal uptake and tolerance in seedlings of six species of mangroves. The results revealed that the three rhizophoraceous species (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Poir, Kandelia obovata Sheue, Liu & Yong and Rhizophora stylosa Griff) consistently exhibited higher metal tolerances than the three pioneer species (Aegiceras corniculatum (Linn.) Blanco, Acanthus ilicifolius L. and Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Viern.). Moreover, metal-tolerant species often exhibited a thick exodermis with high lignification and suberization. The tolerance indices of the mangroves were found to be positively correlated with the amounts of lignin and suberin deposition within the exodermal cell walls. The observed metal uptake by the excised roots further illustrated that a lignified/suberized exodermis directly delayed the entry of metals into the roots, and thereby contributed to a higher tolerance to heavy metals. In summary, the present study proposes a barrier property of the lignified/suberized exodermis in dealing with the stresses of heavy metals, such that the mangroves which possessed more extensive lignification/suberization within the exodermis appeared to exhibit higher metal tolerance.
Soil carbon (C) models are important tools for understanding soil C balance and projecting C stocks in terrestrial ecosystems, particularly under global change. The initialization and/or ...parameterization of soil C models can vary among studies even when the same model and data set are used, causing potential uncertainties in projections. Although a few studies have assessed such uncertainties, it is yet unclear what these uncertainties are correlated with and how they change across varying environmental and management conditions. Here, applying a process-based biogeochemical model to 90 individual field experiments (ranging from 5 to 82 years of experimental duration) across the Australian cereal-growing regions, we demonstrated that well-designed optimization procedures enabled the model to accurately simulate changes in measured C stocks, but did not guarantee convergent forward projections (100 years). Major causes of the projection uncertainty were due to insufficient understanding of how microbial processes and soil C pool change to modulate C turnover. For a given site, the uncertainty significantly increased with the magnitude of future C input and years of the projection. Across sites, the uncertainty correlated positively with temperature but negatively with rainfall. On average, a 331 % uncertainty in projected C sequestration ability can be inferred in Australian agricultural soils. This uncertainty would increase further if projections were made for future warming and drying conditions. Future improvement in soil C modelling should focus on how the microbial community and its C use efficiency change in response to environmental changes, and better conceptualization of heterogeneous soil C pools and the C transformation among those pools.
Osteoclasts are one of the key therapeutic targets for a variety of orthopedic diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. In this study, we synthesized a novel compound ...N-(3-(cyclohexylcarbamoyl) phenyl)-1H-indole-2- carboxamide (termed as OA-4) and investigated the effects of OA-4 on the differentiation and function of osteoclasts. OA-4 markedly diminished osteoclast differentiation and osteoclast specific gene expression in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, OA-4 dose-dependently suppressed osteoclastic bone resorption. Furthermore, we found OA-4 attenuated RANKL-induced p38 phosphorylation without affecting JNK or NF-κB signaling pathways. Collectively, we synthesized a novel compound OA-4 which can inhibit osteoclast formation and functions via the suppression of p38 signaling pathway.
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