Long term survival outcomes of surgery combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for perforated low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms: A multicenter retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (LAMN) are very rare, accounting for approximately 0.2%-0.5% of gastrointestinal tumors. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study to explore the impact of different surgical procedures combined with HIPEC on the short-term outcomes and long-term survival of patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological data of 91 LAMN perforation patients from 9 teaching hospitals over a 10-year period, and divided them into HIPEC group and non-HIPEC group based on whether or not underwent HIPEC. RESULTS: Of the 91 patients with LAMN, 52 were in the HIPEC group and 39 in the non-HIPEC group. The Kaplan-Meier method predicted that 52 patients in the HIPEC group had 5- and 10-year overall survival rates of 82.7% and 76.9%, respectively, compared with predicted survival rates of 51.3% and 46.2% for the 39 patients in the non-HIPEC group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (χ2 = 10.622, p = 0.001; χ2 = 10.995, p = 0.001). Compared to the 5-year and 10-year relapse-free survival rates of 75.0% and 65.4% in the HIPEC group, respectively, the 5-year and 10-year relapse-free survival rates of 48.7% and 46.2% in the non-HIPEC group were significant different between the two outcomes (χ2 = 8.063, p = 0.005; χ2 = 6.775, p = 0.009). The incidence of postoperative electrolyte disturbances and hypoalbuminemia was significantly higher in the HIPEC group than in the non-HIPEC group (p = 0.023; p = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that surgery combined with HIPEC can significantly improve 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates and relapse-free survival rates of LAMN perforation patients, without affecting their short-term clinical outcomes.

Rice false smut virulence protein subverts host chitin perception and signaling at lemma and palea for floral infection.

The flower-infecting fungus Ustilaginoidea virens causes rice false smut, which is a severe emerging disease threatening rice (Oryza sativa) production worldwide. False smut not only reduces yield, but more importantly produces toxins on grains, posing a great threat to food safety. U. virens invades spikelets via the gap between the 2 bracts (lemma and palea) enclosing the floret and specifically infects the stamen and pistil. Molecular mechanisms for the U. virens-rice interaction are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that rice flowers predominantly employ chitin-triggered immunity against U. virens in the lemma and palea, rather than in the stamen and pistil. We identify a crucial U. virens virulence factor, named UvGH18.1, which carries glycoside hydrolase activity. Mechanistically, UvGH18.1 functions by binding to and hydrolyzing immune elicitor chitin and interacting with the chitin receptor CHITIN ELICITOR BINDING PROTEIN (OsCEBiP) and co-receptor CHITIN ELICITOR RECEPTOR KINASE1 (OsCERK1) to impair their chitin-induced dimerization, suppressing host immunity exerted at the lemma and palea for gaining access to the stamen and pistil. Conversely, pretreatment on spikelets with chitin induces a defense response in the lemma and palea, promoting resistance against U. virens. Collectively, our data uncover a mechanism for a U. virens virulence factor and the critical location of the host-pathogen interaction in flowers and provide a potential strategy to control rice false smut disease.

A novel automatic segmentation method directly based on magnetic resonance imaging K-space data for auxiliary diagnosis of glioma.

Background: The use of segmentation architectures in medical imaging, particularly for glioma diagnosis, marks a significant advancement in the field. Traditional methods often rely on post-processed images; however, key details can be lost during the fast Fourier transformation (FFT) process. Given the limitations of these techniques, there is a growing interest in exploring more direct approaches. The adaption of segmentation architectures originally designed for road extraction for medical imaging represents an innovative step in this direction. By employing K-space data as the modal input, this method completely eliminates the information loss inherent in FFT, thereby potentially enhancing the precision and effectiveness of glioma diagnosis. Methods: In the study, a novel architecture based on a deep-residual U-net was developed to accomplish the challenging task of automatically segmenting brain tumors from K-space data. Brain tumors from K-space data with different under-sampling rates were also segmented to verify the clinical application of our method. Results: Compared to the benchmarks set in the 2018 Brain Tumor Segmentation (BraTS) Challenge, our proposed architecture had superior performance, achieving Dice scores of 0.8573, 0.8789, and 0.7765 for the whole tumor (WT), tumor core (TC), and enhanced tumor (ET) regions, respectively. The corresponding Hausdorff distances were 2.5649, 1.6146, and 2.7187 for the WT, TC, and ET regions, respectively. Notably, compared to traditional image-based approaches, the architecture also exhibited an improvement of approximately 10% in segmentation accuracy on the K-space data at different under-sampling rates. Conclusions: These results show the superiority of our method compared to previous methods. The direct performance of lesion segmentation based on K-space data eliminates the time-consuming and tedious image reconstruction process, thus enabling the segmentation task to be accomplished more efficiently.

Desflurane improves electrical activity of neurons and alleviates oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neuronal injury by activating the Kcna1-dependent Kv1.1 channel.

Several volatile anesthetics have presented neuroprotective functions in ischemic injury. This study investigates the effect of desflurane (Des) on neurons following oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) challenge and explores the underpinning mechanism. Mouse neurons HT22 were subjected to OGD, which significantly reduced cell viability, increased lactate dehydrogenase release, and promoted cell apoptosis. In addition, the OGD condition increased oxidative stress in HT22 cells, as manifested by increased ROS and MDA contents, decreased SOD activity and GSH/GSSG ratio, and reduced nuclear protein level of Nrf2. Notably, the oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis were substantially blocked by Des treatment. Bioinformatics suggested potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily A member 1 (Kcna1) as a target of Des. Indeed, the Kcna1 expression in HT22 cells was decreased by OGD but restored by Des treatment. Artificial knockdown of Kcna1 negated the neuroprotective effects of Des. By upregulating Kcna1, Des activated the Kv1.1 channel, therefore enhancing K+ currents and inducing neuronal repolarization. Pharmacological inhibition of the Kv1.1 channel reversed the protective effects of Des against OGD-induced injury. Collectively, this study demonstrates that Des improves electrical activity of neurons and alleviates OGD-induced neuronal injury by activating the Kcna1-dependent Kv1.1 channel.

Diel variability of carbon dioxide concentrations and emissions in a largest urban lake, Central China: Insights from continuous measurements.

Accurately quantifying the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from lakes, especially in urban areas, remains challenging due to constrained temporal resolution in field monitoring. Current lake CO2 flux estimates primarily rely on daylight measurements, yet nighttime emissions is normally overlooked. In this study, a non-dispersive infrared CO2 sensor was applied to measure dissolved CO2 concentrations over a 24-h period in a largest urban lake (Tangxun Lake) in Wuhan City, Central China, yielding extensive data on diel variability of CO2 concentrations and emissions. We showed the practicality and efficiency of the sensor for real-time continuous measurements in lakes. Our findings revealed distinct diurnal variations in CO2 concentrations (Day: 38.58 ± 23.8 µmol L-1; Night: 42.01 ± 20.2 µmol L-1) and fluxes (Day: 7.68 ± 10.34 mmol m-2 d-1; Night: 9.68 ± 9.19 mmol m-2 d-1) in the Tangxun Lake. The balance of photosynthesis and respiration is of utmost importance in modulating diurnal CO2 dynamics and can be influenced by nutrient loadings and temperature. A diel variability correction factor of 1.14 was proposed, suggesting that daytime-only measurements could underestimate CO2 emissions in urban lakes. Our data suggested that samplings between 11:00 and 12:00 could better represent the average diel CO2 fluxes. This study offered valuable insights on the diel variability of CO2 fluxes, emphasizing the importance of in situ continuous measurements to accurately quantify CO2 emissions, facilitating selections of sampling strategies and formulation of management strategies for urban lakes.

Action Recognition Based on Multi-Level Topological Channel Attention of Human Skeleton.

In action recognition, obtaining skeleton data from human poses is valuable. This process can help eliminate negative effects of environmental noise, including changes in background and lighting conditions. Although GCN can learn unique action features, it fails to fully utilize the prior knowledge of human body structure and the coordination relations between limbs. To address these issues, this paper proposes a Multi-level Topological Channel Attention Network algorithm: Firstly, the Multi-level Topology and Channel Attention Module incorporates prior knowledge of human body structure using a coarse-to-fine approach, effectively extracting action features. Secondly, the Coordination Module utilizes contralateral and ipsilateral coordinated movements in human kinematics. Lastly, the Multi-scale Global Spatio-temporal Attention Module captures spatiotemporal features of different granularities and incorporates a causal convolution block and masked temporal attention to prevent non-causal relationships. This method achieved accuracy rates of 91.9% (Xsub), 96.3% (Xview), 88.5% (Xsub), and 90.3% (Xset) on NTU-RGB+D 60 and NTU-RGB+D 120, respectively.

Tumor microenvironment remodeling plus immunotherapy could be used in mesenchymal-like tumor with high tumor residual and drug resistant rate.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a common process during tumor progression and is always related to residual tumor, drug resistance and immune suppression. However, considering the heterogeneity in EMT process, there is still a need to establish robust EMT classification system with reasonable molecular, biological and clinical implications to investigate whether these unfavorable survival factors are common or unique in different individuals. In our work, we classify tumors with four EMT status, that is, EMTlow, EMTmid, EMThigh-NOS (Not Otherwise Specified), and EMThigh-AKT (AKT pathway overactivation) subtypes. We find that EMThigh-NOS subtype is driven by intrinsic somatic alterations. While, EMThigh-AKT subtype is maintained by extrinsic cellular interplay between tumor cells and macrophages in an AKT-dependent manner. EMThigh-AKT subtype is both unresectable and drug resistant while EMThigh-NOS subtype can be treated with cell cycle related drugs. Importantly, AKT activation in EMThigh-AKT not only enhances EMT process, but also contributes to the immunosuppressive microenvironment. By remodeling tumor immune-microenvironment by AKT inhibition, EMThigh-AKT can be treated by immune checkpoint blockade therapies. Meanwhile, we develop TumorMT website ( http://tumormt.neuroscience.org.cn/ ) to apply this EMT classification and provide reasonable therapeutic guidance.

The transcription factor masculinizer in sexual differentiation and achieved full functional sex reversal in prawn.

Some Zinc finger (ZnF) proteins are required for masculinization in silkworms. In the present study, a masculinizer gene (Mr-Masc) with multi-tissue expression is identified in the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. The Mr-Masc is clustered into a separate branch with ZnF proteins from decapoda by phylogenetic tree analysis. Moreover, Mr-Masc silencing in male postlarvae prawn results in functional sex reversal females known as neo-females, which are applied to all-male monosex offspring breeding. This manipulation has been significant in sexually dimorphic cultured species. In addition, several significantly expressed transcripts are enriched and the effects of crucial signal pathways are focused through the comparative transcriptomic analysis in Mr-Masc gene knockdown. The significantly differentially expressed epidermal growth factor, upregulated low-density lipoprotein receptor, flotillin, and sex-lethal unigenes, downregulated heat shock proteins and forkhead box homologs are focused. The finding offers an innovative perspective on Masc proteins' evolution and physiological function.

STAR-FC: Structure-Aware Face Clustering on Ultra-Large-Scale Graphs.

Face clustering is a promising method for annotating unlabeled face images. Recent supervised approaches have boosted the face clustering accuracy greatly, however their performance is still far from satisfactory. These methods can be roughly divided into global-based and local-based ones. Global-based methods suffer from the limitation of training data scale, while local-based ones are inefficient for inference due to the use of numerous overlapped subgraphs. Previous approaches fail to tackle these two challenges simultaneously. To address the dilemma of large-scale training and efficient inference, we propose the STructure-AwaRe Face Clustering (STAR-FC) method. Specifically, we design a structure-preserving subgraph sampling strategy to explore the power of large-scale training data, which can increase the training data scale from 105 to 107. On this basis, a novel hierarchical GCN training paradigm is further proposed for better capturing the dynamic local structure. During inference, the STAR-FC performs efficient full-graph clustering with two steps: graph parsing and graph refinement. And the concept of node intimacy is introduced in the second step to mine the local structural information, where a calibration module is further proposed for fairer edge scores. The STAR-FC gets 93.21 pairwise F-score on standard partial MS1M within 312 seconds, which far surpasses the state-of-the-arts while maintaining high inference efficiency. Furthermore, we are the first to train on an ultra-large-scale graph with 20 M nodes, and achieve superior inference results on 12 M testing data. Overall, as a simple and effective method, the proposed STAR-FC provides a strong baseline for large-scale face clustering.

Short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic or robotic radical gastrectomy based on preoperative perigastric artery CTA surgical decision-making: a high-volume center retrospective study with propensity score matching.

BACKGROUND: Some studies have demonstrated the short-term recovery course for patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy according to preoperative computed tomography angiography (CTA) assessment. However, reports of the long-term oncological outcomes are still limited. METHODS: The data of 988 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic or robotic radical gastrectomy between January 2014 and September 2018 were analyzed retrospectively at our center, and propensity score matching was used to eliminate bias. Study cohorts were divided into the CTA group (n = 498) and the non-CTA group (n = 490) depending on whether preoperative CTA was available. The primary and secondary endpoints were the 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates and the intraoperative course and short-term outcomes, respectively. RESULTS: 431 patients were included in each group after PSM. Compared with the non-CTA group, the CTA group had more harvested lymph nodes and less operative time, blood loss, intraoperative vascular injury and total cost, especially in the subgroup analysis with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 patients. There was no difference in the 3 year OS and DFS between the CTA group and the non-CTA group. When further stratified by BMI < 25 or ≥ 25 kg/m2, the 3-year OS and DFS were significantly higher in the CTA group than in the non-CTA group in terms of BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic or robotic radical gastrectomy based on preoperative perigastric artery CTA surgical decision-making has the possibility of improving short-term outcomes. However, there is no difference in the long-term prognosis, except for a subgroup of patients with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2.

Contrastive mechanisms of groundwater ammonium enrichment in different hydrogeologic settings.

Although high levels of geogenic ammonium in groundwater have been widely reported, the mechanisms controlling its heterogeneous distribution are not yet well understood. In this study, a comprehensive investigation of hydrogeology, sediments, and groundwater chemistry was coupled with a set of incubation experiments to reveal the contrasting mechanisms of groundwater ammonium enrichment at two adjacent monitoring sites with different hydrogeologic settings in the central Yangtze River basin. Significant differences were found in the ammonium concentrations of groundwater at two monitoring sites, with the ammonium concentrations in the Maozui (MZ) section (0.30-5.88 mg/L; average of 2.93 mg/L) being much higher than those in the Shenjiang (SJ) section (0.12-2.43 mg/L; average of 0.90 mg/L). For the SJ section, the aquifer medium had a low organic matter (OM) content and a weak mineralization capability, leading to a limited potential for geogenic ammonium release. Moreover, due to the presence of alternating silt and continuous fine sand layers (with coarse grains) above the underlying confined aquifer, the groundwater was in a relatively open environment with oxidizing conditions, which may have promoted the removal of ammonium. For the MZ section, the aquifer medium had a high OM content and a strong mineralization capability, leading to a much higher potential for geogenic ammonium release. Furthermore, due to the presence of a thick and continuous muddy clay layer (aquitard) above the underlying confined aquifer, the groundwater was in a closed environment with strong reducing conditions, which was conductive to the storage of ammonium. Larger sources of ammonium in the MZ section and greater consumption of ammonium in the SJ section contributed collectively to the significant differences in groundwater ammonium concentrations. This study identified contrasting mechanism of groundwater ammonium enrichment in different hydrogeologic settings, which can help explain the heterogeneous distribution of ammonium levels in groundwater.

Development and preliminary validation of Cancer-related Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire.

The Cancer-related Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CPFQ) was developed and validated for assessing cancer patients' psychological flexibility, including attitudes and behavior toward cancer. In a systematic process, the CPFQ identified four factors through principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis: Cancer Acceptance, Cancer Avoidance, Activity Engagement, and Valued Action. The results of this study reveal that the CPFQ has a clear factor structure and good psychometric properties. The specific nature of cancer and the need for a specific measure of cancer patient psychological flexibility make this questionnaire valuable for research on psychological flexibility in cancer patients.

Neuroprotective and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of alkaloids from Solanum lyratum Thunb.: An in vitro and in silico analyses.

The n-BuOH extract from the herb of Solanum lyratum Thunb. (Solanaceae) was purified by various chromatographic methods, which led to the isolation of seven undescribed alkaloids ((-)-(7'S)-N-feruloyltyramine A, (+)-(7'R)-N-feruloyltyramine A, (+)-(7'S)-N-solanamide A, (-)-(7'R)-N-solanamide A, 7'S-perillascens, solanpyrrole A, and (Z)-asmurratetra A) and 13 known alkaloids, including four pairs of enantiomers. Extensive spectroscopic data and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations were applied to determine the structures of the undescribed compounds. In in vitro biological activity assays, (-)-(7'S)-N-feruloyltyramine A and (+)-(7'R)-N-feruloyltyramine A exhibited pronounced neuroprotective effects against SH-SY5Y cell damage with survival rates of 75.98% and 76.61%, respectively, at 50 µM. Additionally, (-)-(7'S)-N-feruloyltyramine A and N-cis-feruloyl-3'-methoxy-tyramine displayed acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory effects with IC50 values of 7.41 ± 1.76 µM and 9.21 ± 0.89 µM, respectively. Molecular docking simulations revealed that (-)-(7'S)-N-feruloyltyramine A had a binding site for AChE. These findings reveal the structural diversity of the bioactive compounds in S. lyratum and provides insights into the use of this information for the production of functional components in the pharmaceutical industry.

Synthesis and Structure-Activity Analysis of Icaritin Derivatives as Potential Tumor Growth Inhibitors of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

The prenylated flavonoid icaritin (ICT, 1), a new drug for treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), was selected as a template to develop more potent inhibitors. An initial semisynthetic modification of ICT was performed to obtain a structure-activity relationship (SAR), which indicated that the cytotoxicity is enhanced by OH-3 rhamnosylation and that OH-7 is an important modification site. Based on the results of the SAR study, 46 N-containing ICT derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as the anti-HCC inhibitors. The results showed that most of the derivatives produced inhibited three HCC cell lines used (Hep3B, HepG2 and SMMC-7721). The modification strategy was validated by 3D-QSAR, which provided information for the further design and optimization of ICT. The most potent compound, 11c, exhibited IC50 values of 7.6 and 3.1 µM against HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells, respectively, which were more potent than those of ICT and sorafenib, respectively. Further mechanistic studies indicated that 11c caused arrest at the G0/G1 phase in the cell cycle and induced cell apoptosis in HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells.

A natural allele of proteasome maturation factor improves rice resistance to multiple pathogens.

Crops with broad-spectrum resistance loci are highly desirable in agricultural production because these loci often confer resistance to most races of a pathogen or multiple pathogen species. Here we discover a natural allele of proteasome maturation factor in rice, UMP1R2115, that confers broad-spectrum resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae, Rhizoctonia solani, Ustilaginoidea virens and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Mechanistically, this allele increases proteasome abundance and activity to promote the degradation of reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzymes including peroxidase and catalase upon pathogen infection, leading to elevation of H2O2 accumulation for defence. In contrast, inhibition of proteasome function or overexpression of peroxidase/catalase-encoding genes compromises UMP1R2115-mediated resistance. More importantly, introduction of UMP1R2115 into a disease-susceptible rice variety does not penalize grain yield while promoting disease resistance. Our work thus uncovers a broad-spectrum resistance pathway integrating de-repression of plant immunity and provides a valuable genetic resource for breeding high-yield rice with multi-disease resistance.

Cancer cell intrinsic TIM-3 induces glioblastoma progression.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is identified to share common signal pathways between glioma and immune cells. Here, we find that T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain protein 3 (TIM-3) is one of the most common co-inhibitory immune checkpoints in GBM shared by tumor and non-tumor cells. Glioma cell-intrinsic TIM-3 is involved in not only regulating malignant behaviors of glioma cells but also inducing macrophage migration and transition to anti-inflammatory/pro-tumorigenic phenotype by a TIM-3/interleukin 6 (IL6) signal. In mechanism, as one of the major regulators of IL6, TIM-3 regulates its expression through activating NF-κB. Blocking this feedback loop by Tocilizumab, an IL6R inhibitor, inhibited the above effects and repressed the tumorigenicity of GBM in vivo. Our work identifies glioma cell-intrinsic functions of TIM-3/IL6 signal mediating the crosstalk feedback loop between glioma cells and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Blocking this feedback loop may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for GBM.

Overproduction of OsRACK1A, an effector-targeted scaffold protein promoting OsRBOHB-mediated ROS production, confers rice floral resistance to false smut disease without yield penalty.

Grain formation is fundamental for crop yield but is vulnerable to abiotic and biotic stresses. Rice grain production is threatened by the false smut fungus Ustilaginoidea virens, which specifically infects rice floral organs, disrupting fertilization and seed formation. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of the U. virens-rice interaction and the genetic basis of floral resistance. Here, we report that U. virens secretes a cytoplasmic effector, UvCBP1, to facilitate infection of rice flowers. Mechanistically, UvCBP1 interacts with the rice scaffold protein OsRACK1A and competes its interaction with the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase OsRBOHB, leading to inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Although the analysis of natural variation revealed no OsRACK1A variants that could avoid being targeted by UvCBP1, expression levels of OsRACK1A are correlated with field resistance against U. virens in rice germplasm. Overproduction of OsRACK1A restores the OsRACK1A-OsRBOHB association and promotes OsRBOHB phosphorylation to enhance ROS production, conferring rice floral resistance to U. virens without yield penalty. Taken together, our findings reveal a new pathogenic mechanism mediated by an essential effector from a flower-specific pathogen and provide a valuable genetic resource for balancing disease resistance and crop yield.

A Rapid Prediction Method of Moisture Content for Green Tea Fixation Based on WOA-Elman.

Fixation is the most critical step in the green tea process. Hence, this study developed a rapid and accurate moisture content detection for the green tea fixation process based on near-infrared spectroscopy and computer vision. Specifically, we created a quantitative moisture content prediction model appropriate for the processing of green tea fixation. First, we collected spectrum and image information of green tea fixation leaves, utilizing near-infrared spectroscopy and computer vision. Then, we applied the partial least squares regression (PLSR), support vector regression (SVR), Elman neural network (ENN), and Elman neural network based on whale optimization algorithm (WOA-ENN) methods to build the prediction models for single data (data from a single sensor) and mid-level data fusion, respectively. The results revealed that the mid-level data fusion strategy combined with the WOA-ENN model attained the best effect. Namely, the prediction set correlation coefficient (Rp) was 0.9984, the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) was 0.0090, and the relative percent deviation (RPD) was 17.9294, highlighting the model's excellent predictive performance. Thus, this study identified the feasibility of predicting the moisture content in the process of green tea fixation by miniaturized near-infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, in establishing the model, the whale optimization algorithm was used to overcome the defect whereby the Elman neural network falls into the local optimum. In general, this study provides technical support for rapid and accurate moisture content detection in green tea fixation.

Insight into Isolation and Characterization of Phenolic Compounds from Hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida Bge.) with Antioxidant, Anti-Acetylcholinesterase, and Neuroprotective Activities.

Recent epidemiologic studies have demonstrated a link between the consumption of daily functional fruits rich in phenols and the prevention of disease for neurodegenerative disorders. Hawthorn products are derived from the functional fruit hawthorn, which is rich in phenols and has been used around the world for centuries. In order to explore the phenolic components in hawthorn, the investigation of the ethanol extract led to the separation of five new phenol compounds (1a/1b, 2-4), including one pair of enantiomers (1a/1b), along with seven disclosed analogs (5-11). Their structures were elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic analyses and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). The compounds (1-11) were tested for antioxidant activities by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonicacid) (ABTS), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. Apart from that, monomeric compounds 2, 4, and 6 exhibited more potent protective capabilities against H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide)-induced SH-SY5Y cells. Meanwhile, electronic analyses were performed using the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) to analyze compounds 2, 4, and 6. Furthermore, compounds (1-11) measured acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activities, and 2, 4, and 6 possessed greater AChE inhibitory activity than donepezil. At the same time, molecular docking was used to investigate the possible mechanism of the interaction between active compounds (2, 4, and 6) and AChE.

Nitrogen burial characteristics of Quaternary sediments and its controls on high ammonium groundwater in the Central Yangtze River Basin.

As the strata sedimentary process proceeds, considerable amounts of nitrogen (N) is buried in sediments, which controls the sources and fate of N in the "groundwater-sediment" system. However, there is little concern regarding N burial characteristics in continuous sediment profiles from surface layer to deep aquifer thus far. In this study, lithology, grain size, geochronology, exchangeable N contents and geochemical proxies of sediments were analyzed to reveal the controlling mechanisms of N burial characteristics in Quaternary sediments and to interpret the enrichment of N in groundwater of central Yangtze River Basin. The results demonstrated a similar distribution trend for buried N in two sedimentary cores, which were high in the surface layer and decreased to stable in the deep aquifer. Excessive exchangeable N (EX-N) contents in sediments were mainly attributed to geologic origin. The N burial characteristics were controlled by the evolution of depositional environment: sedimentary facies determined the concentrations of total organic nitrogen (TON), further affecting the mineralization capacity of sediments; while paleoclimate regulated the intensity of the N transformation processes, ultimately influencing the actual concentrations of EX-N in sediments. In addition, due to the fast accumulation of alluvial deposits after Last Glacial Maximum and rapid development of Jianghan Lake Groups during Holocene, abundant organic matter (with high TON contents) was buried in sediments, which were still able to produce more ammonium or nitrate, and further posing continuous threats to groundwater quality. This study provided a new interpretation for the formation of high-ammonium aquifer in terms of depositional evolution.