Associations between multiple sleep dimensions and suicide and non-suicidal self-injury: a cross-sectional study of 3828 Chinese young people.

PURPOSE: Suicide and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are preventable concerns in young people. Suicidal ideation (SI), suicidal plans (SP) and suicidal attempt (SA) are closely related to death. Sleep problems are known risk factors for suicide and NSSI. This study aimed to explore the relationship between sleep, suicidality and NSSI. METHODS: Participants were 3,828 middle school and college students aged 11-23 years from urban and rural areas of Henan Province. Sleep, suicidal phenomena and NSSI were assessed by applying self-reported questionnaires. Chi-squared tests were utilized to demonstrate the demographic data and sleep variables. The correlation between sleep, suicidality and NSSI were explored by using binary logistic regression, while adjusting socio-demographic characteristics with multivariate models. RESULTS: Sleep variables except mid-sleep time were related to suicidal phenomena (P < 0.05). Greater social jet lag (SJL) [≥ 2 h (h)] was associated with increased risk of SI [Odds ratios (OR) = 1.72, 95% confidence intervals (CI):1.40-2.11], SP (OR = 2.10, 95%CI:1.59-2.79) and SA (OR = 1.50, 95%CI:1.00-2.26). Non-only child participants with SJL (≥ 2 h) had significantly increased odds of SI (OR = 1.75, 95%CI: 1.41-2.18) and SP (OR = 2.25, 95%CI: 1.66-3.05). Eveningness chronotype had the strongest correlation with SI (OR = 3.87, 95%CI:2.78-5.38), SP (OR = 4.72, 95%CI:2.97-7.50), SA (OR = 6.69, 95%CI:3.08-14.52) and NSSI (OR = 1.39, 95%CI:1.02-1.90). CONCLUSION: Overlong or short sleep duration, SJL, eveningness chronotype and other sleep abnormalities (e.g., daytime dysfunction, low sleep efficiency) were associated with a higher prevalence of SI, SP and SA. Additionally, eveningness was significantly correlated with NSSI among young people. These findings suggested the importance of assessing and intervening in sleep habits to prevent suicide and NSSI in young people.

Sleep-Body Composition Relationship: Roles of Sleep Behaviors in General and Abdominal Obesity in Chinese Adolescents Aged 17-22 Years.

This study aimed to investigate the association between sleep behaviors and body composition, which was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) among Chinese adolescents. Overall, 444 students (65.3% females, 19.12 ± 1.177 years) completed questionnaires describing sleep characteristics. Sleep characteristics were derived from subjective means. Body composition was obtained from BIA by InBody 720 (Biospace Co. Ltd., Seoul, Republic of Korea). Regression models tested relationships between sleep and body composition after adjustment for covariates. Students with weekday nap duration (>30 min/d) exerted higher waist-height ratio (WHtR) (B = 0.013, FDR-corrected p = 0.080). Average sleep duration (≤7 h/d) was linked to more WHtR (B = 0.016, FDR-corrected p = 0.080). People with high social jetlag showed gained visceral fat area (B = 7.475), WHtR (B = 0.015), waist to hip ratio (B = 0.012), fat mass index (B = 0.663) and body fat percentage (B = 1.703) (all FDR-corrected p < 0.1). Individuals with screen time before sleep (>0.5 h) exhibited higher visceral fat area (B = 7.934, FDR-corrected p = 0.064), WHtR (B = 0.017, FDR-corrected p = 0.080), waist to hip ratio (B = 0.016, FDR-corrected p = 0.090), fat mass index (B = 0.902, FDR-corrected p = 0.069) and body fat percentage (B = 2.892, FDR-corrected p = 0.018). We found poor sleep characteristics were closely related to general and abdominal obesity.

Unhealthy lifestyles and clusters status among 3637 adolescents aged 11-23 years: a school-based cross-sectional study in China.

BACKGROUND: Unhealthy lifestyles are risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and tend to be clustered, with a trajectory that extends from adolescence to adulthood. This study investigated the association of diets, tobacco, alcohol, physical activity (PA), screen time (ST) and sleep duration (SD) in a total of six lifestyles, separately and as cumulative lifestyle scores, with sociodemographic characteristics among school-aged adolescents in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. METHODS: In the aggregate, 3,637 adolescents aged 11-23 years were included in the study. The questionnaire collected data on socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyles. Healthy and unhealthy lifestyles were identified and scored, depending on the individual score (0 and 1 for healthy and unhealthy lifestyles respectively), with a total score between 0 and 6. Based on the sum of the dichotomous scores, the number of unhealthy lifestyles was calculated and divided into three clusters (0-1, 2-3, 4-6). Chi-square test was used to analyze the group difference of lifestyles and demographic characteristics, and multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the associations between demographic characteristics and the clustering status of unhealthy lifestyles. RESULTS: Among all participants, the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles was: 86.4% for diet, 14.5% for alcohol, 6.0% for tobacco, 72.2% for PA, 42.3% for ST and 63.9% for SD. Students who were in university, female, lived in country (OR = 1.725, 95% CI: 1.241-2.398), had low number of close friends (1-2: OR = 2.110, 95% CI: 1.428-3.117; 3-5: OR = 1.601, 95% CI: 1.168-2.195), and had moderate family income (OR = 1.771, 95% CI: 1.208-2.596) were more likely to develop unhealthy lifestyles. In total, unhealthy lifestyles remain highly prevalent among Chinese adolescents. CONCLUSION: In the future, the establishment of an effective public health policy may improve the lifestyle profile of adolescents. Based on the lifestyle characteristics of different populations reported in our findings, lifestyle optimization can be more efficiently integrated into the daily lives of adolescents. Moreover, it is essential to conduct well-designed prospective studies on adolescents.

Work-family conflict and anxiety among nurses of the maternal and child health institutions: the mediating role of job satisfaction.

Introduction: Over the past decades, anxiety has garnered significant attention from nursing population. Investigations have centered on the correlation between work-family conflict (WFC) and anxiety as well as the link between job satisfaction and anxiety among nurses. However, the role of job satisfaction plays in the relationship between work-family conflict and anxiety remains relatively unexplored. Methods: In April 2021, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among nurses (N = 3,770) working at the maternal and child health institutions in Henan province, China. Multiple linear regression model was used to explore the factors associated with anxiety. Model 4 in Hayes's PROCESS macro and Bootstrap method was performed to examine the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between work-family conflict and anxiety. Results: The median (interquartile range) anxiety score was 5.00 (6.00). Work-family conflict was shown to be significantly correlated to job satisfaction (r = -0.517, p < 0.001) and anxiety (r = 0.457, p < 0.01). There was a strong negative correlation between job satisfaction and anxiety (r = -0.379, p < 0.01). The study also found that nurses aged 31-40 years, those with a junior college education (p = 0.001), those with an undergraduate or above education (p < 0.001), those who reported experiencing work-family conflict (p < 0.001), and those with lower job satisfaction (p < 0.001) were more likely to experience anxiety. Additionally, job satisfaction partially (a*b = 20.90%) mediated the relationship between work-family conflict and anxiety. Conclusion: The association between work-family conflict and anxiety among nurses in maternity and child health institutions was moderated by job satisfaction. Therefore, it is critical to enhance working conditions, minimize work-family conflict, and promoting job satisfaction among nurses may help to mitigate the negative effects of work-family conflict on anxiety.

The association between various dimensions of sleep parameters and mental health: A large cross-sectional study of 13554 Chinese students.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the association between multiple sleep variables and mental health among Chinese students aged 9-22. METHOD: We stratified the included 13,554 students by educational levels. Sleep parameters contained sleep duration on school days and weekends, napping time, chronotype and social jetlag (SJL), which were calculated via questionnaires. Individual psychological well-being and distress were assessed by Warwick-Edinburgh mental Well-being scale and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale 10 respectively. The multiple linear and binary logistic regression were applied to analyze the association of sleep with mental health. RESULTS: Short sleep on school days showed significantly positive association with psychological problems. While among senior high school students, we found reverse result that sleeping less might negatively associated with more severe distress (7-8 h: aOR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.46, 0.97). The association of sleep duration with mental health was attenuated a lot on weekends. The chronotype was significantly related with mental health in primary and junior high school: intermediate chronotype (vs late chronotype) was associated with greater wellbeing (ß = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.09, 1.96; ß = 1.89, 95% CI: 0.81, 2.97) and less distress (aOR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.60, 1.00; aOR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.58, 0.91). The relationship between SJL, napping duration and psychological health problems were also observed in some educational levels. CONCLUSION: Sleep deprivation on school days, late chronotype and SJL were positively associated with worse mental health in our study, which differed among various educational stages.

All-carbon sandwich-type self-powered biosensor for ultrasensitive detection of femtomolar miRNA-141.

The latest research shows that the expression level of microRNA-141 can predict the number of prostate cancer cells in the human body and has become an important biomarker. In this paper, an all-carbon sandwich self-powered biosensor based on graphene and carbon cloth is constructed for the highly sensitive detection of the prostate tumor marker miRNA-141. First, gold nanoparticles modified carbon cloth is applied for substrate electrode, and bilirubin oxidase is then immobilized on it to prepare the biocathode of the biofuel cell. Then, aptamer 1 is immobilized on gold nanoparticles-modified carbon cloth as the electrode substrate. The bioconjugate is prepared by immobilizing the aptamer 2-glucose oxidase complex on gold nanoparticles/graphene. In the biofuel cell-based self-powered sensing system, when the target microRNA-141 is present, it undergoes complementary base pairing with aptamer 1 and aptamer 2, and the bioconjugates are immobilized on the anode to form the sandwich structure. The enzyme on the anode undergoes an oxidation reaction to catalyze the reduction of oxygen, and the electrochemical respond of the system increases significantly. The results show that the concentration of microRNA-141 is proportional to the open-circuit voltage value ranging from 0.0001 to 1000 pmol/L with a detection limit of 50 amol/L (S/N = 3). The method has high sensitivity and excellent selectivity and can be applied to sensitively detect tumor marker microRNA-141 in biological matrix.

Multidimensional self-rating biological rhythm disorder and its association with depression and anxiety symptoms among adolescents aged 11-23 years: a school-based cross-sectional study from China.

BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are topical concerns worldwide, especially among adolescents. Besides, biological rhythm disorder as a candidate mechanism for mood disorders is highly prevalent, but relevant research among adolescents in China is presently limited. We conducted the present study to investigate the distribution of multi-dimensional self-rating biological rhythm disorder and the association of self-rating biological rhythm disorders with depression and anxiety symptoms among Chinese adolescents in different academic stages. METHODS: In the cross-sectional study, 3693 students aged 11-23 from Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China were included. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) were used to evaluate symptoms of depression and anxiety, respectively. Additionally, the Self-Rating of Biological Rhythm Disorder for Adolescents (SBRDA) was used to assess status of biological rhythm disorders. Multivariate logistic regression was developed to explore factors potentially associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety stratified by academic stages. RESULTS: Among all participants, 44.14 and 36.15% suffered from depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively. On average, participants scored 74.66 ± 19.37 on the measure of total biological rhythm disorder. Adjusted for demographic confounding factors, the logistic regression analysis showed higher scores of total biological rhythm disorder were associated with more severe depression (OR = 14.38, 95%CI: 11.38-18.16) and anxiety symptoms (OR = 11.63, 95%CI: 9.14-14.81). The similar results were also found in the stratified analysis by academic stages. CONCLUSIONS: Self-rating biological rhythm disorders are significantly associated with depression and anxiety symptoms among adolescents. Discrepancy across academic stages should also be taken into account in establishing public health strategies.

Different Neural Activities for Actions and Language within the Shared Brain Regions: Evidence from Action and Verb Generation.

The Inferior Frontal Gyrus, Premotor Cortex and Inferior Parietal Lobe were suggested to be involved in action and language processing. However, the patterns of neural activities in the shared neural regions are still unclear. This study designed an fMRI experiment to analyze the neural activity associations between action and verb generation for object nouns. Using noun reading as a control task, we compared the differences and similarities of brain regions activated by action and verb generation. The results showed that the action generation task activated more in the dorsal Premotor Cortex (PMC), parts of the midline of PMC and the left Inferior Parietal Lobe (IPL) than the verb generation task. Subregions in the bilateral Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) and the left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG) were found to be shared by action and verb generation. Then, mean activation level analysis and multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) were performed in the overlapping activation regions of two generation tasks in the shared regions. The bilateral SMA and the left IFG were found to have overlapping activations with action and verb generation. All the shared regions were found to have different activation patterns, and the mean activation levels of the shared regions in the bilateral of SMA were significantly higher in the action generation. Based on the function of these brain regions, it can be inferred that the shared regions in the bilateral SMA and the left IFG process action and language generation in a task-specific and intention-specific manner, respectively.

Clogging and Water Quality Change Effects of Typical Metal Pollutants under Intermittent Managed Aquifer Recharge Using Urban Stormwater.

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) using urban stormwater facilitates relieving water supply pressure, restoring the ecological environment, and developing sustainable water resources. However, compared to conventional water sources, such as river water and lake water, MAR using urban stormwater is a typically intermittent recharge mode. In order to study the clogging and water quality change effects of Fe, Zn, and Pb, the typical mental pollutants in urban stormwater, a series of intermittent MAR column experiments were performed. The results show that the type of pollutant, the particle size of the medium and the intermittent recharge mode have significant impacts on the pollutant retention and release, which has led to different clogging and water quality change effects. The metals that are easily retained in porous media have greater potential for clogging and less potential for groundwater pollution. The fine medium easily becomes clogged, but it is beneficial in preventing groundwater contamination. There is a higher risk of groundwater contamination for a shallow buried aquifer under intermittent MAR than continuous MAR, mainly because of the de-clogging effect of porous media during the intermittent period.

Effects of Qizhukangxian granules on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled and multicenter clinical pilot trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of Qizhukangxian granules (QG) on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). METHODS: This is a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled and multicenter clinical pilot trial. Six medical centers in Tianjin, China, participated in the study. A total of 120 IPF patients were enrolled and randomized into two groups, with 60 patients in each group. The treatment group was treated with QG, while the control group received a Qizhukangxian placebo. The pharmacological treatment lasted for 48 weeks from the enrollment date. The indexes of patients were recorded on the admission day and at the end of the 24th and 48th weeks. Data were analyzed to study the effects of QG; forced vital capacity, change in forced vital capacity and maximal 6-min walk test (6MWT) distance were the primary endpoints. Secondary endpoints were percentage of patients with episodes of acute exacerbation of IPF, pulmonary function, changes in pulse oxygen saturation during the 6MWT, dyspnea score, St. George's respiratory questionnaire score, arterial blood gas analyses and the total Traditional Chinese Medicine symptom pattern score. RESULTS: After 24 weeks of treatment, QG showed greater efficacy than the placebo in certain parameters, including the dyspnea score, Traditional Chinese Medicine symptom pattern score and some indicators in the St. George's respiratory questionnaire score. Analysis of the indexes obtained from all patients at the end of the 48th week showed that the therapeutic effects in the treatment group were significantly better than those in the control group because remarkable differences were observed in most of the primary and secondary endpoints between the two groups, except for the maximal distance of the 6MWT and arterial blood gas analyses. No adverse reaction was observed in either group during the 48-week trial treatment period. CONCLUSION: QG could effectively treat IPF patients by ameliorating pulmonary function, improving the quality of life and lowering the percentage of acute exacerbations.

Analysis of Potential Risks Associated with Urban Stormwater Quality for Managed Aquifer Recharge.

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) can be used to increase storage and availability of groundwater resources, but water resources available for recharge are constrained due to a surface water shortage. Alternative resources, like stormwater, are receiving increasing attention as sustainable resources for reuse in MAR. However, pollutants in stormwater can impact groundwater quality, and cause clogging of the infiltration system. Based on the stormwater data in the literature, the physicochemical stormwater properties of data were analyzed. The results showed that concentrations of pollutants from different underlying surfaces varied widely. The main pollutants of stormwater were as follows: Total suspended particles (TSSs), organic matter represented by the chemical oxygen demand (COD), nutrients (total nitrogen, TN; total phosphorus, TP; and NH3-N), and metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, Fe, and Mn). Based on the simulation of TOUGHREACT, the contamination risk of pollutants for each type of stormwater was assessed. The risk of contamination was divided into four categories due to the different migration times of ions through the sand column. The iron ion has the highest risk of contamination, followed by Zn and Mn, and the contamination risk of nutrients and other metals (Pb, Cu, and Cd) are relatively low. Besides, the physical, biological, and chemical clogging risk were evaluated. The physical clogging potential of all types of stormwater is very high because of the high concentration of TSS. According to the concentration of TN that can spur the growth of bacteria and algae, the relative risk of biological clogging for stormwater is greenbelt stormwater < road stormwater < roof stormwater. However, only road stormwater has high chemical clogging due to the existence of iron, which can generate precipitation that blocks the pore volume.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of resistant and susceptible kiwifruits in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae during early infection.

Kiwifruit bacterial canker is a devastating disease threatening kiwifruit production. To clarify the defense mechanism in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), we observed phenotypic changes in resistant Huate (HT) and susceptible Hongyang (HY) kiwifruit varieties at 0, 12, 24, 48, 96, and 144 hour after inoculation (hai) with Psa. Brown lesions appeared in the inoculation areas 12 hai in HY shoots, and the lesion length gradually increased from 24 to 144 h. In contrast, no lesions were found in HT shoots at any time points. Furthermore, RNA-seq analysis showed significantly more differentially expressed genes between HT and HY at 12 hai than at any other time point. According to weighted gene co-expression network analysis, five modules were notably differentially expressed between HT and HY; pathway mapping using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes database was performed for the five modules. In MEgreenyellow and MEyellow modules, pathways related to"plant-pathogen interaction", "Endocytosis", "Glycine, serine and threonine metabolism", and "Carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms" were enriched, whereas in the MEblack module, pathways related to "protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum", "plant-pathogen interaction", and "Glycolysis / Gluconeogenesis" were enriched. In particular, the Pti1 and RPS2 encoding effector receptors, and the NPR1, TGA, and PR1 genes involved in the salicylic acid signaling pathway were significantly up-regulated in HT compared with HY. This indicates that the effector-triggered immunity response was stronger and that the salicylic acid signaling pathway played a pivotal role in the Psa defense response of HT. In addition, we identified other important genes, involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and Ca2+ internal flow, which were highly expressed in HT. Taken together, these results provide important information to elucidate the defense mechanisms of kiwifruit during Psa infection.

Different activity patterns for action and language within their shared neural areas: An fMRI study on action observation and language phonology.

The neural processes for action and language activate shared brain regions including the left inferior frontal, parietal and temporal-occipital cortices. However, it still remains unclear how action and language are related and what neural activity patterns are elicited within these shared cortical regions. In this study we examined the neural activation for action observation and language phonology in their shared cortical regions by conducting three experiments in a single fMRI session: a mixed-task experiment involving both action and language phonological processing, and two independent experiments involving language phonology and action observation respectively. To control for differences in the visual processing and to enable a direct comparison between the tasks, the same visual stimuli were used for the mixed-tasks. Common neural areas for action observation and language phonology were located in the junction of the left inferior frontal/precentral gyrus, the left intraparietal sulcus and the left temporal-occipital cortex. Nevertheless, multi-voxel pattern analysis on the shared neural areas revealed that different patterns of neural activity were elicited for the action and language phonological tasks. Our results provide the first neuroimaging evidence that the common neural structures are engaged differently by action and language phonological processing.

Application of the Ureteroscope for Diagnosis and Treatment of the Seminal Vesicle Diseases.

The objective of this paper is to apply the transurethral endoscopic technique with the ureteroscope for diagnosis and treatment of the seminal vesicle and ejaculatory duct disorders. At present there is no special equipment designed to enter directly into the seminal vesicle cavity under direct vision. Sixty patients with disorders of the seminal vesicle were included in this study. A 6.5 F rigid ureteroscope (Richard Wolf GmbH, Knittlingen, Germany) was inserted into the posterior urethra to find the verumontanum. Then a 3F catheter (Shanghai Kangge JJMC, Shanghai, China) was inserted into the verumontanum. After that the 6.5 F ureteroscope was introduced into the ejaculatory duct and seminal vesicle to examine them under direct observation. A total of 55 patients were diagnosed and cured successfully with the ureteroscope; 42 (76.4%) patients were discovered to have hemospermia. They were given an anti-inflammatory and seminal vesicle washing. Eight (14.5%) patients who had small stones in the seminal vesicle were offered the operation of the stones removal. Five (9.1%) patients were found to have seminal vesicle gland cysts. The orifices of ejaculatory duct were not found in 3 patients among 5 who were operated unsuccessfully. The ureteroscope failed to enter the seminal vesicle in 2 patients. Some diseases of the seminal vesicle and ejaculatory duct can be easily diagnosed and treated in the clinical practice using a ureteroscope. Transurethral endoscopy technique with the ureteroscope for diagnosis and therapy of the seminal vesicle and ejaculatory duct disorders is safe and practicable.

AtrbohD and AtrbohF negatively regulate lateral root development by changing the localized accumulation of superoxide in primary roots of Arabidopsis.

MAIN CONCLUSION: NADPH oxidase AtrbohD an d AtrbohF negatively modulate lateral root development by changing the peroxidase activity and increasing the local generation of superoxide in primary roots of Arabidopsis in an auxin-independent manner. NADPH oxidase subunits AtrbohD and AtrbohF play pivotal roles in regulating growth, development and stress responses in Arabidopsis. However, whether they modulate lateral root (LR) formation has not yet been addressed, and the detailed mechanisms underlying the process remain unanswered. Here, we show that two null double mutants atrbohD1/F1 and atrbohD2/F2, in which both AtrbohD and AtrbohF genes are disrupted, had remarkably higher LR density than wild-type (WT), or the single mutant atrbohD1 and atrbohF1. Compared to WT, the double mutants exhibited early emerged LRs and enhanced density of lateral root primordia (LRP). Unexpectedly, the production of superoxide (O2 (-)), but not hydrogen peroxide, in the mature area of the primary root containing LRs significantly increased in the double mutants relative to that in WT. Further experiments revealed that the local accumulation of O2 (-) led to the enhancement of LR density in the double mutants. Moreover, the deficiency of AtrbohD and AtrbohF caused a marked increase in peroxidase activity in the mature root zone, which contributed to the localized accumulation of O2 (-) and the elevated LR density in the double mutants. Furthermore, the double mutants were not sensitive to exogenous auxin naphthalene acetic acid or auxin transport inhibitor 1-N-naphthylphthalamic acid in terms of LR formation. The auxin response of LRP in vivo in atrbohD1/F1 was also similar to that in WT. Taken together, these results suggest that AtrbohD and AtrbohF negatively modulate LR development by controlling the local generation of superoxide in an auxin-independent manner. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of NADPH oxidase-mediated regulation of LR branching in Arabidopsis.

Automatic correction of hand pointing in stereoscopic depth.

In order to examine whether stereoscopic depth information could drive fast automatic correction of hand pointing, an experiment was designed in a 3D visual environment in which participants were asked to point to a target at different stereoscopic depths as quickly and accurately as possible within a limited time window (≤300 ms). The experiment consisted of two tasks: "depthGO" in which participants were asked to point to the new target position if the target jumped, and "depthSTOP" in which participants were instructed to abort their ongoing movements after the target jumped. The depth jump was designed to occur in 20% of the trials in both tasks. Results showed that fast automatic correction of hand movements could be driven by stereoscopic depth to occur in as early as 190 ms.

AtrbohD and AtrbohF positively regulate abscisic acid-inhibited primary root growth by affecting Ca2+ signalling and auxin response of roots in Arabidopsis.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) originating from the NADPH oxidases AtrbohD and AtrbohF play an important role in abscisic acid (ABA)-inhibited primary root growth in Arabidopsis. However, the mechanisms underlying this process remain elusive. In this study, the double mutant atrbohD1/F1 and atrbohD2/F2, in which both AtrbohD and AtrbohF were disrupted, were less sensitive to ABA suppression of root cell elongation than wild-type (WT) plants. Furthermore, the double mutants showed impaired ABA responses in roots, including ROS generation, cytosolic Ca(2+) increases, and activation of plasma membrane Ca(2+)-permeable channels compared with WT. Exogenous H2O2 can activate the Ca(2+) currents in roots of atrbohD1/F1. In addition, exogenous application of the auxin transport inhibitor naphthylphthalamic acid effectively promoted ABA inhibition of root growth of the mutants relative to that of WT. The ABA-induced decreases in auxin sensitivity of the root tips were more pronounced in WT than in atrbohD1/F1. These findings suggest that both AtrbohD and AtrbohF are essential for ABA-promoted ROS production in roots. ROS activate Ca(2+) signalling and reduce auxin sensitivity of roots, thus positively regulating ABA-inhibited primary root growth in Arabidopsis.

[Clinical investigation on intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period to prevent bladder carcinoma recurrence].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period to prevent bladder carcinoma recurrence. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out. A total of 120 patients with bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TNM I-II) underwent partial cystectomy or transurethral resection of bladder tumour were randomly divided into 2 groups, which were chosen from the patients were hospitalized during June 2003 to May 2009. There were 62 patients were in group A and 58 patients were in group B. In group A, intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period was conducted. In group B, intravesical perfusion of pirarubicin was performed regularly after operation. All the patients were followed up in order to record the relapse rates and adverse reaction. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between group A and group B from gender, age, pathological stage and operation methods (P > 0.05). The recurrence rates were 8.1% in group A, and 20.7% in group B. The adverse effect rates of urethrostenosis in group A and group B were 3.2% and 18.9%. The adverse effect rates of cystic stimulation including irritation signs of bladder and hematuria in group A and group B were 4.8% and 27.6%. There were significant differences in recurrence rates and adverse effect rates between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period is an effective procedure for the prevention of bladder cancer recurrence.