Elevated CO2 concentration increases maize growth under water deficit or soil salinity but with a higher risk of hydraulic failure.

Climate change presents a challenge for plants to acclimate their water relations under changing environmental conditions, and may increase the risks of hydraulic failure under stress. In this study, maize plants were acclimated to two different CO2 concentrations ([CO2]; 400 ppm and 700 ppm) while under either water stress (WS) or soil salinity (SS) treatments, and their growth and hydraulic traits were examined in detail. Both WS and SS inhibited growth and had significant impacts on hydraulic traits. In particular, the water potential at 50% loss of stem hydraulic conductance (P50) decreased by 1 MPa in both treatments at 400 ppm. When subjected to elevated [CO2], the plants under both WS and SS showed improved growth by 7-23%. Elevated [CO2] also significantly increased xylem vulnerability (measured as loss of conductivity with decreasing xylem pressure), resulting in smaller hydraulic safety margins. According to the plant desiccation model, the critical desiccation degree (time×vapor pressure deficit) that the plants could tolerate under drought was reduced by 43-64% under elevated [CO2]. In addition, sensitivity analysis showed that P50 was the most important trait in determining the critical desiccation degree. Thus, our results demonstrated that whilst elevated [CO2] benefited plant growth under WS or SS, it also interfered with hydraulic acclimation, thereby potentially placing the plants at a higher risk of hydraulic failure and increased mortality.

Agrin expression is correlated with tumor development and poor prognosis in cholangiocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the role of agrin in the development of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). METHODS: Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of target genes. The correlation between agrin expression and prognosis was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumorigenesis were examined in CCA cells and tissues using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, cell cycle analysis, transwell migration assay, and nude mouse tumorigenicity assay in vivo, respectively. RESULTS: Agrin expression was significantly upregulated in CCA tissues compared with that in adjacent non-tumor tissues, and agrin expression was correlated with poorer tumor characteristics such as portal vein tumor thrombus, intrahepatic metastasis, and worse survival. Forced agrin expression in CCA cells apparently promoted proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion, and cell cycle progression, but agrin depletion had the opposite effects. Furthermore, agrin-depleted CCA cells developed fewer and smaller tumors than control cells in vivo. Mechanistic analyses indicated that agrin activated the Hippo signaling pathway and induced the translocation of YAP to the nucleus. CONCLUSIONS: Agrin promoted CCA progression by activating the Hippo signaling pathway, suggesting its promise as a target for CCA therapy.

Stomatal conductance of tomato leaves is regulated by both abscisic acid and leaf water potential under combined water and salt stress.

Stomatal conductance (gs ) affects water use efficiency (WUE) through coordinating photosynthesis and transpiration and is regulated by chemical and/or hydraulic signals. However, the regulation mechanism of gs of tomato leaves has not been fully explored under combined water and salt stress. Here, we set up four salt treatments and two water treatments in a climate greenhouse and measured stomatal morphologies and conductance and other photosynthesis parameters. Water and salt stress reduced stomatal length (SL), width, perimeter, area (amax ), density (SD), and the maximum stomatal conductance (gsmax ). Water and salt stress had a separate weakening effect on net photosynthetic rate (A) and transpiration rate but interactively reduced gs . The contents of abscisic acid (ABA) and Na+ in tomato leaves increased with the NaCl concentration, while leaf water potential (Ψl ) and chlorophyll content decreased. Under full irrigation, gsmax was coordinated by SD and amax , and gs by ABA content under salt stress. Under water and salt combined stress, gsmax was affected by amax , and gs was coordinated with ABA and Ψl . The decrease of A was caused by both a reduction of chlorophyll content and gs under water and salt stress. Intrinsic WUE did not reduce under full irrigation or mild to moderate salt stress but decreased under a combination of water and severe salt stress, indicating that the leaves of the tested tomato cultivar performed better under moderate salt stress. Collectively, these results can provide useful insights for the efficient management of water and salt to adapt to drought and high salt environments.

Heartbeat Classification Based on Multifeature Combination and Stacking-DWKNN Algorithm.

Arrhythmia is one of the most common abnormal symptoms that can threaten human life. In order to distinguish arrhythmia more accurately, the classification strategy of the multifeature combination and Stacking-DWKNN algorithm is proposed in this paper. The method consists of four modules. In the preprocessing module, the signal is denoised and segmented. Then, multiple different features are extracted based on single heartbeat morphology, P length, QRS length, T length, PR interval, ST segment, QT interval, RR interval, R amplitude, and T amplitude. Subsequently, the features are combined and normalized, and the effect of different feature combinations on heartbeat classification is analyzed to select the optimal feature combination. Finally, the four types of normal and abnormal heartbeats were identified using the Stacking-DWKNN algorithm. This method is performed on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. The result shows a sensitivity of 89.42% and a positive predictive value of 94.90% of S-type beats and a sensitivity of 97.21% and a positive predictive value of 97.07% of V-type beats. The obtained average accuracy is 99.01%. Compared to other models with the same features, this method can improve accuracy and has a higher positive predictive value and sensitivity, which is important for clinical decision-making.

An optically active isochroman-2H-chromene conjugate potently suppresses neuronal oxidative injuries associated with the PI3K/Akt and MAPK signaling pathways.

Increasing evidence suggests that the use of potent neuroprotective agents featured with novel pharmacological mechanism would offer a promising strategy to delay or prevent the progression of neurodegeneration. Here, we provide the first demonstration that the chiral nonracemic isochroman-2H-chromene conjugate JE-133, a novel synthetic 1,3-disubstituted isochroman derivative, possesses superior neuroprotective effect against oxidative injuries. Pretreatment with JE-133 (1-10 µM) concentration-dependently prevented H2O2-induced cell death in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and rat primary cortical neurons. Pretreatment with JE-133 significantly alleviated H2O2-induced apoptotic changes. These protective effects could not be simply attributed to the direct free radical scavenging as JE-133 had moderate activity in reducing DPPH free radical. Further study revealed that pretreatment with JE-133 (10 µM) significantly decreased the phosphorylation of MAPK pathway proteins, especially ERK and P38, in the neuronal cells. In addition, blocking PI3K/Akt pathway using LY294002 partially counteracted the cell viability-enhancing effect of JE-133. We conclude that JE-133 exerts neuroprotection associated with dual regulative mechanisms and consequently activating cell survival and inhibiting apoptotic changes, which may provide important clues for the development of effective neuroprotective drug lead/candidate.

[Effect of injecting mouse nerve growth factor in different ways on motor development, cerebral hemodynamics and biochemical metabolism in children with cerebral palsy].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of acupoint injection and intramuscular injection with mouse nerve growth factor (mNGF) on gross motor function development of children with cerebral palsy (CP), and explore the treatment mechanism. METHODS: A total of 63 children with CP were randomly divided into an observation group (32 cases, 4 cases dropped off ) and a control group (31 cases, 3 cases dropped off). Based on the routine rehabilitation therapy, the control group received intramuscular injection of mNGF(18 µg/2 mL), and the observation group received acupoint injection of mNGF at Xinshu (BL 15), Ganshu (BL 18), Pishu (BL 20), Shenshu (BL 23), Sanjiaoshu (BL 22), Shenting (GV 24), Baihui (GV 20), Fengfu (GV 16), Dazhui (GV 14), etc. Of them, 5-6 acupoints alternately were selected each time, and each acupoint was given 0.3-0.5 mL, totally 18 µg/2 mL. Both treatment were carried out once every other day for six months. Before and after treatment, the children's development of brain function was assessed using gross motor function classification system (GMFCS). Before treatment (T0), after 2 (T2), 4 (T4) and 6 (T6) months of treatment, the motor function was evaluated by gross motor function measure (GMFM-88). The systolic peak velocity (Vs), mean velocity (Vm) and vascular resistance index (RI) of anterior cerebral artery (ACA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) were measured, and the level of N-acetyl aspartate acid (NAA), choline (Cho), lactate (Lac) and creatine (Cr) from the basal ganglia, thalamus and periventricular white mater were detected by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) technology with MAGNETOM Skyra3.0T magnetic resonance imaging system before and after treatment. RESULTS: Compared with before treatment, the GMFCS classification of the observation group after treatment was significantly improved (P<0.05); after treatment, the difference of GMFCS classification between the two groups was not significant (P>0.05), however, the observation group had a 3.142 times of feasibility for good gross motor function development by more than level 1 compared to the control group (P<0.05). After 2, 4, and 6 months of treatment, the GMFM-88 scores of the two groups showed an upward trend (P<0.01), and the increase of the observation group was greater than that of the control group (P<0.05). Compared with before treatment, in the ACA and MCA, the Vs and Vm increased, RI decreased in both groups after treatment (P<0.01), and in the brain, NAA/Cr increased, Cho/Cr and Lac/Cr decreased (P<0.01), and after treatment, the Vs, Vm of ACA and MCA and NAA/Cr of brain in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), and the RI of ACA and MCA and Cho/Cr and Lac/Cr of brain in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The mNGF acupoint injection has a better effect on the gross motor function in the children with cerebral palsy compared with the intramuscular injection, and the mechanism may be associated with exhibiting the double effects of acupoint effect and the targeting therapy of drug, which can effectively improve the cerebral hemodynamics and the metabolism of cerebral nervous substances.

Enhanced transformation of phosphorus (P) in sewage sludge to hydroxyapatite via hydrothermal carbonization and calcium-based additive.

Phosphorus (P) recovery from sewage sludge is one of the promising substitutes to the phosphate ores to alleviate the shortage of P supply in the future. In this study, how hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) temperature functioned in the migration and transformation of P from sewage sludge during HTC process was clarified. The enhancement effect of Ca-based additive on the transformation of P to hydroxyapatite via HTC was systematically studied. Additionally, leaching characteristics of P in the hydrochars with Ca-based additive were analyzed to assess their P-bioavailability. Results indicated that favoring by increased pH in the process water, HTC temperature played a significant role in the migration and transformation of P during HTC. Therefore, higher HTC temperature was beneficial for P enrichment and transformation to apatite phosphorus in the hydrochars. Both alkaline environment and existence of sufficient calcium ions were essential for enhanced formation of apatite phosphorus during HTC. Adding CaO could stimulate almost complete transformation of non-apatite inorganic phosphorus to apatite phosphorus such as hydroxyapatite, causing a maximum increase of apatite phosphorus by 252%. Concurrently, P-bioavailability by 2% (w/w) formic acid extraction of the hydrochars increased by 233% at CaO = 4%. These findings were confirmed by XRD analyses. Ca-associated apatite phosphorus such as Ca5(PO4)3OH and Ca2P2O7 âˆ™ 2H2O, was detected in the hydrochars. With the assistance of thermochemical calculation, transformation pathways of P after CaO addition have been proposed, which coincided with our experimental results well. The stable P-containing minerals of hydroxyapatite (Ca5(PO4)3OH) was calculated at equilibrium state.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel chiral oxazino-indoles as potential and selective neuroprotective agents against Aß25-35-induced neuronal damage.

A series of chiral oxazino-indoles have been synthesized via a key intermolecular oxa-Pictet-Spengler reaction. These compounds exhibited significant and selective neuroprotective effects against Aß25-35-induced neuronal damage. This is the first report of evaluating the influence of chiral diversity of oxazino-indoles on their neuroprotective activities, with the structure-activity relationship been analyzed. The highly active compounds 3f, 3g, 4g, 4h, and 6b all performed over 90% cell protection, providing a new direction for the development of neuroprotective agents against Alzheimer's disease.

[Degradation of PCDD/Fs by the Mixture of V2O5-WO3/TiO2 Catalyst and Activated Carbon].

The mixture of V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalyst and two kinds of Activated Carbons (AC) (AC-1: based on lignite; AC-2: based on coconut shell) was used to destroy gas phase PCDD/Fs with high concentration (9. 80 ng.m-3, evaluated by international toxic equivalence quantity (I-TEQ) under low thermal temperature (160°C) based on a dioxin generating system. After mixing with AC, removal efficiency (RE) and destruction efficiency (DE) of PCDD/Fs increased by 20% compared with only catalyst condition. In comparison with mixture of AC based on coconut shell, mixture of AC based on lignite had lower RE-values and higher DE-values. The adjustments of the ratio of catalyst and AC could cause the different degradation effects, and RE-values increased and DE-values decreased with increasing proportions of catalyst. When the volume fraction of oxygen was 0% in experimental atmosphere, catalyst could lose its activity and most PCDD/Fs were not oxidized but adsorbed by the mixture. RE and DE-values increased with increasing content of oxygen. The addition of ozone (concentration of 200 mg.m-3) could improve catalytic oxidation effects to a certain degree. However, ozone might react with AC, which could influence the lifetime of the mixture. Under 200°C, the mixture with proportion of AC: catalyst = 1:1 and in the present of 200 mg.m-3 ozone conditions, the highest RE and DE-value were obtained with 98. 0% and 94. 8% respectively, and the concentration of PCDD/Fs residual in off-gas was only 0. 51 ng.m-3 evaluated by I-TEQ.

Removal of gaseous HxCBz by gliding arc plasma in combination with a catalyst.

Hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz) owns the chemical structure of one benzene ring and six H atoms substituted by Cl atoms and it is a persistent organic pollutant present in flue gas from municipal solid waste incineration as an important precursor of dioxins. Its removal was studied using gliding arc plasma treatment, coupled downstream with a V2O5­WO3­TiO2 catalyst. Several parameters (input voltage, O2 concentration, catalytic temperature and catalyst position) all influenced its removal efficiency (RE). Optimal parameter settings were tentatively determined, i.e., an input voltage of 15 kV, the temperature of the catalyst (250 °C), and the O2 concentration (30 vol% O2) tested at a single, fixed concentration of gaseous HxCBz (71.6 ng Nm−3). A maximum RE of 76 ± 3% HxCBz was attained, with the plasma and coupled catalyst combined. Two destruction pathways, incorporating dechlorination and oxidation reactions, were recognised, both based on the detection of end- and intermediate products as well as of active species produced by the plasma. These end- and intermediate products included: low chlorinated polychlorobenzenes (mainly 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene) as well as hydrocarbons (mainly C2H6), HCOOH, CH4, CO, CO2, etc.

Treating PCDD/Fs by combined catalysis and activated carbon adsorption.

V2O5-WO3/TiO2 catalysts are used to destroy dioxins present in the gas phase, yet both their removal efficiency (RE) and destruction efficiency (DE) decrease with rising initial concentration (IC). Therefore, activated carbons (AC-1: based on lignite; AC-2: based on coconut shell) were mixed with the catalyst to tackle these high IC gases. A gas phase dioxin-generating system was used to supply three different stable IC-values. When the highest IC is used (20.5 ng I-TEQ Nm(-3)) without AC, at 200°C, the RE and DE-value of PCDD/Fs reaches only 76% and 64%, respectively. At the same conditions, using a mix of catalyst and AC-2, these RE and DE-values rise to 90.1% and 82.0%, respectively. The mix catalyst/AC also shows better performance at low temperature (160 and 180°C). The AC characteristics influence upon the adsorption and degradation abilities of the mixtures.

Ozone-enhanced oxidation of PCDD/Fs over V(2)O(5)-TiO(2)-based catalyst.

The catalytic oxidation of PCDD/Fs (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans) vapors was studied in a temperature range of 180-220°C on a honeycomb V2O5-TiO2-based catalyst, in the presence and the absence of ozone. A stable dioxin-generating system was established to support the experimental program and this system could adjust the concentration of PCDD/Fs by injecting appropriate mother liquors. At 220°C the removal efficiency(1) (RE) of PCDD/Fs reaches up to 97% and the degradation efficiency (DE) up to 90%. Both values diminish at lower operating temperatures. In the presence of ozone, however, these values rise to 99% and 98% at 220°C. Especially at low temperatures the effect of ozone is obvious. Catalytic oxidation with ozone thus offers a low-temperature solution to achieve higher rates and low activation energies. The morphology and microstructure of the catalysts changes after ozone treatment and some of their characteristics seem closely related with DE-values.

[Low-temperature thermal treatment of dioxin in medical waste fly ash under unert atmosphere].

Two kinds of fly ash (AG and BG) from hazardous waste rotary kiln were investigated as the targets of thermal treatment. AG was sampled after fabric filter with activated carbon spray and BG was sampled in pipe before fabric filter. The effects of temperature and time on PCDD/Fs degradation rate in fly ash were investigated in quartz tubular. Under nitrogen atmosphere, low-temperature thermal treatment for dioxin degradation had obvious effect. For sample BG, the degradation rate of dioxin in solid phase was 82.8%-99.9%, and the degradation rate of I-TEQ was 77.3%-99.8%. For sample AG, the degradation rate was 66.8% - 99.8%, and the degradation rate of I-TEQ was 43.5% - 99.6%. Although dioxin in solid phase was reduced, it was generated in gas phase, and among all the different temperatures tested, dioxin was generated at highest amounts at 300 degrees C - 350 degrees C, and among all the toxic congeners, OCDD was detected as the most abundant in this experiment. The best conditions of thermal treatment were: heating time 60 min, temperature 400 degrees C, under nitrogen atmosphere. The results indicate that low-temperature thermal treatment under inert atmosphere has good effect on treating dioxin present in medical fly ash, it can be applied in practical projects in large scales.