Arctic Tundra Plant Dieback Can Alter Surface N2O Fluxes and Interact With Summer Warming to Increase Soil Nitrogen Retention.

In recent years, the arctic tundra has been subject to more frequent stochastic biotic or extreme weather events (causing plant dieback) and warmer summer air temperatures. However, the combined effects of these perturbations on the tundra ecosystem remain uninvestigated. We experimentally simulated plant dieback by cutting vegetation and increased summer air temperatures (ca. +2°C) by using open-top chambers (OTCs) in an arctic heath tundra, West Greenland. We quantified surface greenhouse gas fluxes, measured soil gross N transformation rates, and investigated all ecosystem compartments (plants, soils, microbial biomass) to utilize or retain nitrogen (N) upon application of stable N-15 isotope tracer. Measurements from three growing seasons showed an immediate increase in surface CH4 and N2O uptake after the plant dieback. With time, surface N2O fluxes alternated between emission and uptake, and rates in both directions were occasionally affected, which was primarily driven by soil temperatures and soil moisture conditions. Four years after plant dieback, deciduous shrubs recovered their biomass but retained significantly lower amounts of 15N, suggesting the reduced capacity of deciduous shrubs to utilize and retain N. Among four plant functional groups, summer warming only increased the biomass of deciduous shrubs and their 15N retention, while following plant dieback deciduous shrubs showed no response to warming. This suggests that deciduous shrubs may not always benefit from climate warming over other functional groups when considering plant dieback events. Soil gross N mineralization (~ -50%) and nitrification rates (~ -70%) significantly decreased under both ambient and warmed conditions, while only under warmed conditions immobilization of NO3 - significantly increased (~ +1900%). This explains that plant dieback enhanced N retention in microbial biomass and thus bulk soils under warmed conditions. This study underscores the need to consider plant dieback events alongside summer warming to better predict future ecosystem-climate feedback.

Advancing the reporting of pediatric EEG data: Tools for estimating reliability, effect size, and data quality metrics.

EEG studies play a crucial role in enhancing our understanding of brain development across the lifespan. The increasing clinical and policy implications of EEG research underscore the importance of utilizing reliable EEG measures and increasing the reproducibility of EEG studies. However, important data characteristics like reliability, effect sizes, and data quality metrics are often underreported in pediatric EEG studies. This gap in reporting could stem from the lack of accessible computational tools for quantifying these metrics for EEG data. To help address the lack of reporting, we developed a toolbox that facilitates the estimation of internal consistency reliability, effect size, and standardized measurement error with user-friendly software that facilitates both computing and interpreting these measures. In addition, our tool provides subsampled reliability and effect size in increasing numbers of trials. These estimates offer insights into the number of trials needed for detecting significant effects and reliable measures, informing the minimum number of trial thresholds for the inclusion of participants in individual difference analyses and the optimal trial number for future study designs. Importantly, our toolbox is integrated into commonly used preprocessing pipelines to increase the estimation and reporting of data quality metrics in developmental neuroscience.

Urolithin A Protects against Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension by Inhibiting Pulmonary Arterial Smooth Muscle Cell Pyroptosis via AMPK/NF-κB/NLRP3 Signaling.

Recent studies confirmed that pyroptosis is involved in the progression of pulmonary hypertension (PH), which could promote pulmonary artery remodeling. Urolithin A (UA), an intestinal flora metabolite of ellagitannins (ETs) and ellagic acid (EA), has been proven to possess inhibitory effects on pyroptosis under various pathological conditions. However, its role on PH remained undetermined. To investigate the potential of UA in mitigating PH, mice were exposed to hypoxia (10% oxygen, 4 weeks) to induce PH, with or without UA treatment. Moreover, in vitro experiments were carried out to further uncover the underlying mechanisms. The in vivo treatment of UA suppressed the progression of PH via alleviating pulmonary remodeling. Pyroptosis-related genes were markedly upregulated in mice models of PH and reversed after the administration of UA. In accordance with that, UA treatment significantly inhibited hypoxia-induced pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell (PASMC) pyroptosis via the AMPK/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway. Our results revealed that UA treatment effectively mitigated PH progression through inhibiting PASMC pyroptosis, which represents an innovative therapeutic approach for PH.

Machine learning to predict lymph node metastasis in T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma：a multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Existing models do poorly when it comes to quantifying the risk of Lymph node metastases (LNM). This study aimed to develop a machine learning model for LNM in patients with T1 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS AND RESULTS: The study is multicenter, and population based. Elastic net regression (ELR), random forest (RF), extreme gradient boosting (XGB), and a combined (ensemble) model of these was generated. The contribution to the model of each factor was calculated. The models all exhibited potent discriminating power. The Elastic net regression performed best with externally validated AUC of 0.803, whereas the NCCN guidelines identified patients with LNM with an AUC of 0.576 and logistic model with an AUC of 0. 670. The most important features were lymphatic and vascular invasion and depth of tumor invasion. CONCLUSIONS: Models created utilizing machine learning approaches had excellent performance estimating the likelihood of LNM in T1 ESCC.

Changes in soil organic carbon components and microbial community following spent mushroom substrate application.

While spent mushroom substrate (SMS) has shown promise in increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) and improving soil quality, research on the interplay between SOC components and microbial community following the application of diverse SMS types remains scant. A laboratory soil incubation experiment was conducted with application of two types of SMSs from cultivation of Pleurotus eryngii (PE) and Agaricus bisporus (AB), each at three application rates (3, 5.5, and 8%). Advanced techniques, including solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-throughput sequencing, were employed to investigate on SOC fractions and chemical structure, microbial community composition and functionality. Compared to SMS-AB, SMS-PE application increased the relative abundances of carbohydrate carbon and O-alkyl C in SOC. In addition, SMS-PE application increased the relative abundance of the bacterial phylum Proteobacteria and those of the fungal phyla Basidiomycota and Ascomycota. The relative abundances of cellulose-degrading bacterial (e.g., Flavisolibacter and Agromyces) and fungal genera (e.g., Myceliophthora, Thermomyces, and Conocybe) were increased as well. The application of SMS-AB increased the aromaticity index of SOC, the relative abundance of aromatic C, and the contents of humic acid and heavy fraction organic carbon. In addition, SMS-AB application significantly increased the relative abundances of the bacterial phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. Notably, the genera Actinomadura, Ilumatobacter, and Bacillus, which were positively correlated with humic acid, experienced an increase in relative abundance. Functional prediction revealed that SMS-PE application elevated carbohydrate metabolism and reduced the prevalence of fungal pathogens, particularly Fusarium. The application of high-rate SMS-AB (8%) enhanced bacterial amino acid metabolism and the relative abundances of plant pathogenic fungi. Our research provides strategies for utilizing SMS to enrich soil organic carbon and fortify soil health, facilitating the achievement of sustainable soil management.

The gut microbiota-aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) axis mediates the anticolitic effect of polyphenol-rich extracts from Sanghuangporus.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a significant global health concern. The gut microbiota plays an essential role in the onset and development of IBD. Sanghuangporus (SH), a traditional Chinese medicinal mushroom, has excellent anti-inflammatory effects and is effective at modulating the gut microbiota. Despite these attributes, the specific anticolitic effects of SH and the mechanisms through which the gut microbiota mediates its benefits remain unclear. Herein, we demonstrated that polyphenol-rich extract from SH effectively alleviated the pathological symptoms of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice by modulating the gut microbiota. Treatment with SH distinctly enriched Alistipes, especially Alistipes onderdonkii, and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5HIAA). Oral gavage of live A. onderdonkii or 5HIAA potently mitigated DSS-induced colitis in mice. Moreover, both 5HIAA and SH significantly activated the aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and the administration of an AhR antagonist abrogated their protective effects against colitis. These results underscore the potent efficacy of SH in diminishing DSS-induced colitis through the promotion of A. onderdonkii and 5HIAA, ultimately activating AhR signaling. This study unveils potential avenues for developing therapeutic strategies for colitis based on the interplay between SH and the gut microbiota.

Overexpression of NtGPX8a Improved Cadmium Accumulation and Tolerance in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.).

Cadmium (Cd)-induced oxidative stress detrimentally affects hyperaccumulator growth, thereby diminishing the efficacy of phytoremediation technology aimed at Cd pollution abatement. In the domain of plant antioxidant mechanisms, the role of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in conferring Cd tolerance to tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) remained unclear. Our investigation employed genome-wide analysis to identify 14 NtGPX genes in tobacco, revealing their organization into seven subgroups characterized by analogous conserved domain patterns. Notably, qPCR analysis highlighted NtGPX8a as markedly responsive to Cd2+ stress. Subsequent exploration through yeast two-hybridization unveiled NtGPX8a's utilization of thioredoxins AtTrxZ and AtTrxm2 as electron donors, and without interaction with AtTrx5. Introduction of NtGPX8a into Escherichia coli significantly ameliorated Cd-induced adverse effects on bacterial growth. Transgenic tobacco overexpressing NtGPX8a demonstrated significantly augmented activities of GPX, SOD, POD, and CAT under Cd2+ stress compared to the wild type (WT). Conversely, these transgenic plants exhibited markedly reduced levels of MDA, H2O2, and proline. Intriguingly, the expression of NtGPX8a in both E. coli and transgenic tobacco led to increased Cd accumulation, confirming its dual role in enhancing Cd tolerance and accumulation. Consequently, NtGPX8a emerges as a promising candidate gene for engineering transgenic hyperaccumulators endowed with robust tolerance for Cd-contaminated phytoremediation.

Covert Cerebrovascular Changes in People With Heart Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of silent brain infarction (SBI) and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) in adults with atrial fibrillation (AF), coronary artery disease, heart failure or cardiomyopathy, heart valve disease, and patent foramen ovale (PFO), with comparisons between those with and without recent stroke and an exploration of associations between heart disease and SBI/CSVD. METHODS: Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library were systematically searched for hospital-based or community-based studies reporting SBI/CSVD in people with heart disease. Data were extracted from eligible studies. Outcomes were SBI (primary) and individual CSVD subtypes. Summary prevalence (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) were obtained using random-effects meta-analysis. Pooled prevalence ratios (PRs) (95% CI) were calculated to compare those with heart disease with available control participants without heart disease from studies. RESULTS: A total of 221 observational studies were included. In those with AF, the prevalence was 36% (31%-41%) for SBI (70 studies, N = 13,589), 25% (19%-31%) for lacune (26 studies, N = 7,172), 62% (49%-74%) for white matter hyperintensity/hypoattenuation (WMH) (34 studies, N = 7,229), and 27% (24%-30%) for microbleed (44 studies, N = 13,654). Stratification by studies where participants with recent stroke were recruited identified no differences in the prevalence of SBI across subgroups (phomogeneity = 0.495). Results were comparable across participants with different heart diseases except for those with PFO, in whom there was a lower prevalence of SBI [21% (13%-30%), 11 studies, N = 1,053] and CSVD. Meta-regressions after pooling those with any heart disease identified associations of increased (study level) age and hypertensives with more SBIs and WMH (pregression <0.05). There was no evidence of a difference in the prevalence of microbleed between those with and without heart disease (PR [95% CI] 1.1 [0.7-1.7]), but a difference was seen in the prevalence of SBI and WMH (PR [95% CI] 2.3 [1.6-3.1] and 1.7 [1.1-2.6], respectively). DISCUSSION: People with heart disease have a high prevalence of SBI (and CSVD), which is similar in those with vs without recent stroke. More research is required to assess causal links and implications for management. TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: PROSPERO CRD42022378272 (crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/).

Theoretical and experimental study of attenuation in cancellous bone.

Significance: Photoacoustic (PA) technology shows great potential for bone assessment. However, the PA signals in cancellous bone are complex due to its complex composition and porous structure, making such signals challenging to apply directly in bone analysis. Aim: We introduce a photoacoustic differential attenuation spectrum (PA-DAS) method to separate the contribution of the acoustic propagation path to the PA signal from that of the source, and theoretically and experimentally investigate the propagation attenuation characteristics of cancellous bone. Approach: We modified Biot's theory by accounting for the high frequency and viscosity. In parallel with the rabbit osteoporosis model, we build an experimental PA-DAS system featuring an eccentric excitation differential detection mechanism. Moreover, we extract a PA-DAS quantization parameter-slope-to quantify the attenuation of high- and low-frequency components. Results: The results show that the porosity of cancellous bone can be evaluated by fast longitude wave attenuation at different frequencies and the PA-DAS slope of the osteoporotic group is significantly lower compared with the normal group (**p<0.01). Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that PA-DAS effectively differentiates osteoporotic bone from healthy bone, facilitating quantitative assessment of bone mineral density, and osteoporosis diagnosis.

Correlation between oxygenation status of extra-synovial tissue of wrist and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a photoacoustic imaging study.

OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by hypoxia in the synovial tissue. While photoacoustic imaging (PA) offers a method to evaluate tissue oxygenation in RA patients, studies exploring the link between extra-synovial tissue of wrist oxygenation and disease activity remain scarce. We aimed to assess synovial oxygenation in RA patients using a multimodal photoacoustic-ultrasound (PA/US) imaging system and establish its correlation with disease activity. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 111 patients with RA and 72 healthy controls from 2022 to 2023. Dual-wavelength PA imaging quantified oxygen saturation (So2) levels in the synovial membrane and peri-wrist region. Oxygenation states were categorised as hyperoxia, intermediate oxygenation, and hypoxia based on So2 values. The association between oxygenation levels and the clinical disease activity index was evaluated using a one-way analysis of variance, complemented by the Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni adjustment. RESULTS: Of the patients with RA, 39 exhibited hyperoxia, 24 had intermediate oxygenation, and 48 had hypoxia in the wrist extra-synovial tissue. All of the control participants exhibited the hyperoxia status. Oxygenation levels in patients with RA correlated with clinical metrics. Patients with intermediate oxygenation had a lower disease activity index compared with those with hypoxia and hyperoxia. CONCLUSION: A significant correlation exists between wrist extra-synovial tissue oxygenation and disease activity in patients with RA.

Transvaginal cerclage for prevention of preterm birth in twin pregnancies with cervical dilatation or shortening: A prospective observational study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of transvaginal cerclage in twin pregnancies with cervical shortening, and to narrow the threshold cervical length for transvaginal cerclage. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study and 177 twin pregnancies with asymptomatic cervical dilatation or cervical length of 15 mm or less between 16+0 and 25+6 weeks of pregnancy were included. Patients independently chose either transvaginal cerclage (n = 129) or no cerclage treatment (n = 48) after being consulted on the risk and potential benefit of transvaginal cerclage. The primary outcome measures were gestational age at delivery and neonatal survival rate. RESULTS: Compared with the no cerclage group, the cerclage group exhibited a higher gestational age at delivery (32.1 ± 4.5 vs 28.3 ± 6.2 weeks, P < 0.001) and a higher neonatal survival rate (86.4% vs 47.9%, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that in twin pregnancies with cervical dilatation or cervical length less than 10 mm, the cerclage group had significantly higher gestational age at delivery (31.3 ± 4.6 vs 23.4 ± 4.3 weeks, P < 0.001) and a higher neonatal survival rate (123 [85.4%] vs 4 [9.1%], P < 0.001) than the no cerclage group, but in twins when cervical length was 10-15 mm, the two measures were similar between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Transvaginal cerclage may provide benefits for twins when cervical dilatation or cervical length is less than 10 mm, but its efficacy might not extend to twins when the cervical length is 10-15 mm. Further evidence is needed to confirm the efficacy of transvaginal cerclage for twin pregnancies with a short cervix.

Perinatal outcomes in patients undergoing repeat cerclage: A retrospective case series study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the pregnancy outcomes of a case series of patients with probable cerclage failure who received repeat cerclage (RC) with potential indications. METHODS: We retrospectively collected a case series of 55 singleton pregnancies with RC from 2019 to 2022 in Shanghai, China. All included women provided written informed consent, and the study was approved by the ethics committees of the two hospitals. We compared pregnancy outcomes between pregnancies with RC for different indications. RESULTS: Among the case series, nine patients underwent RC for the indication of protruding membranes below the previous suture loop (group A), and the other 46 patients for painless cervix dilation (group B). Gestational age at delivery was shorter in group B than in group A (30.7 vs 37.6 weeks, P = 0.009). Rates of preterm birth <32 weeks (63.0% vs 22.2%, P = 0.033) and < 37 weeks (76.1% vs 33.3%, P = 0.002) were significantly higher in group B than in group A. Of the 46 patients who underwent RC for painless cervical dilation, 28 had cervical dilation of 1 to 2 cm (group C) and the other 18 had cervical dilation of 3 to 6 cm (group D). The gestational age at delivery was shorter in group D than in group C (27.4 vs 31.5 weeks, P = 0.037). However, rates of preterm birth <32 or <37 weeks were similar between the groups. CONCLUSION: RC may constitute a rescue strategy for patients with probable cerclage failure. Protrusion of membranes below the cerclage loop or cervical dilation <3 cm may be an indicator of better pregnancy outcome.

Strain-level screening of human gut microbes identifies Blautia producta as a new anti-hyperlipidemic probiotic.

Compelling evidence has tightly linked gut microbiota with host metabolism homeostasis and inspired novel therapeutic potentials against metabolic diseases (e.g., hyperlipidemia). However, the regulatory profile of individual bacterial species and strain on lipid homeostasis remains largely unknown. Herein, we performed a large-scale screening of 2250 human gut bacterial strains (186 species) for the lipid-decreasing activity. Different strains in the same species usually displayed distinct lipid-modulatory actions, showing evident strain-specificity. Among the tested strains, Blautia producta exhibited the most potency to suppress cellular lipid accumulation and effectively ameliorated hyperlipidemia in high fat diet (HFD)-feeding mice. Taking a joint comparative approach of pharmacology, genomics and metabolomics, we identified an anteiso-fatty acid, 12-methylmyristic acid (12-MMA), as the key active metabolite of Bl. Producta. In vivo experiment confirmed that 12-MMA could exert potent hyperlipidemia-ameliorating efficacy and improve glucose metabolism via activating G protein-coupled receptor 120 (GPR120). Altogether, our work reveals a previously unreported large-scale lipid-modulatory profile of gut microbes at the strain level, emphasizes the strain-specific function of gut bacteria, and provides a possibility to develop microbial therapeutics against hyperlipidemia based on Bl. producta and its metabolite.

Responses of Trollius chinensis to drought stress and rehydration: From photosynthetic physiology to gene expression.

Drought stress occurs more frequently in recent years due to the global climate change. Widely distributed in northern China, Mongolia, and Russia, Trollius chinensis Bunge has high medicinal and ornamental values and is often exposed to drought stress, while the mechanism underlying its drought response is still unclear. In this study, we applied 74-76% (control, CK), 49-51% (mild drought), 34-36% (moderate drought), and 19-21% (severe drought, SD) of the soil gravimetric water content to T. chinensis, and measured leaf physiological characteristics on the 0, 5th, 10th, 15th day after the soil reaching the set drought severities, and on the 10th day after rehydration. The results showed that many physiological parameters, such as chlorophyll contents, Fv/Fm, ΦPSⅡ, Pn, and gs decreased with the deepening of severity and duration of drought stress and recovered to some extent after rehydration. On the 10th day of drought stress, leaves in SD and CK were selected for RNA-Seq, and 1649 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found, including 548 up-regulated and 1101 down-regulated DEGs. Gene Ontology enrichment found that the DEGs were mainly enriched in catalytic activity and thylakoid. Koyto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment found that DEGs were enriched in some metabolic pathways such as carbon fixation and photosynthesis. Among them, the differential expression of genes related to photosynthesis process, ABA biosynthesis and signaling pathway, such as NCED, SnRK2, PsaD, PsbQ, and PetE, might explain why T. chinensis could tolerate and recover from as long as 15 days of severe drought conditions.

High-Dose Ionizing Radiation Accelerates Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression by Regulating P38/NCOA4-Mediated Ferritinophagy/Ferroptosis of Endothelial Cells.

PURPOSE: Radiation therapy (RT) significantly increased the incidence of coronary artery diseases, especially atherosclerosis. Endothelial dysfunction has been the major side effect of RT among tumor patients who received RT. However, the involvement between endothelial dysfunction and radiation-induced atherosclerosis (RIA) remains unclear. Here, we constructed a murine model of RIA, aiming to uncover its underlying mechanisms and identify novel strategies for RIA prevention and treatment. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Eight-week-old ApoE-/- mice that were fed a Western diet were subjected to partial carotid ligation (PCL). Four weeks later, ionizing radiation (IR) of 10 Gy was performed to verify the detrimental role of IR on atherogenesis. Ultrasound imaging, RT quantitative polymerase chain reaction, histopathology and immunofluorescence, and biochemical analysis were performed 4 weeks after IR. To study the involvement of endothelial ferroptosis induced by IR in RIA, mice after IR were administrated with ferroptosis agonist (cisplatin) or antagonist (ferrostatin-1) intraperitoneally. Western blotting, autophagic flux measurement, reactive oxygen species level detection, and coimmunoprecipitation assay were carried out in vitro. Furthermore, to determine the effect of ferritinophagy inhibition on RIA, in vivo knockdown of NCOA4 was carried out by pluronic gel. RESULTS: We verified that accelerated plaque progression was concomitant with endothelial cell (EC) ferroptosis after IR induction, as suggested by a higher level of lipid peroxidation and changes in ferroptosis-associated genes in the PCL + IR group than in the PCL group within vasculature. In vitro experiments further validated the devastating effects of IR on oxidative stress and ferritinophagy in ECs. Mechanistic experiments revealed that IR induced EC ferritinophagy and subsequent ferroptosis in a P38/NCOA4-dependent manner. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed the therapeutic effect of NCOA4 knockdown in alleviating IR-induced ferritinophagy/ferroptosis of EC and RIA. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms of RIA and first prove that IR accelerates atherosclerotic plaque progression by regulating ferritinophagy/ferroptosis of ECs in a P38/NCOA4-dependent manner.

HC-Net: A hybrid convolutional network for non-human primate brain extraction.

Brain extraction (skull stripping) is an essential step in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis of brain sciences. However, most of the current brain extraction methods that achieve satisfactory results for human brains are often challenged by non-human primate brains. Due to the small sample characteristics and the nature of thick-slice scanning of macaque MRI data, traditional deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) are unable to obtain excellent results. To overcome this challenge, this study proposed a symmetrical end-to-end trainable hybrid convolutional neural network (HC-Net). It makes full use of the spatial information between adjacent slices of the MRI image sequence and combines three consecutive slices from three axes for 3D convolutions, which reduces the calculation consumption and promotes accuracy. The HC-Net consists of encoding and decoding structures of 3D convolutions and 2D convolutions in series. The effective use of 2D convolutions and 3D convolutions relieves the underfitting of 2D convolutions to spatial features and the overfitting of 3D convolutions to small samples. After evaluating macaque brain data from different sites, the results showed that HC-Net performed better in inference time (approximately 13 s per volume) and accuracy (mean Dice coefficient reached 95.46%). The HC-Net model also had good generalization ability and stability in different modes of brain extraction tasks.

Remediation of lindane contaminated soil by fluidization-like dielectric barrier discharge.

This study proposed the fluidization-like dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma for the remediation of lindane contaminated soil and integrated physical and chemical reaction pathway. Soil particle distribution within the reactor was simulated with Euler-Euler and Gidaspow drag models, and a bipolar pulsed power supply was applied to energize the DBD reactor after full fluidized. The effect of soil particles movement on electric features was discussed in terms of voltage waveforms and Lissajous figures. Lindane degradation was found to be related to electrics parameters and soil properties. Soil samples before and after treatment were analyzed by XRD and SEM methods. A 95.98% lindane decomposition and 0.66 mgLindane/h average reaction rate were obtained with 3 wt% CaO injection by pulse power drove fluidization-like DBD after 32 min treatment. Ozone was proved to play a major role during lindane degrading by plasma. The reaction potential pathway of lindane decomposition contains 4 steps, including dehydrogen, dehydrochlorination, and dechlorination, respectively.

Noninvasive Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation Improves Gastric Slow Waves Impaired by Cold Stress in Healthy Subjects.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Stress is known to inhibit gastric motility. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and autonomic mechanisms of transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation (taVNS) on cold stress (CS)-induced impairment in gastric motility that are relevant to the brain-gut interactions in healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Healthy volunteers (eight women; age 28.2 ± 1.8 years) were studied in four randomized sessions (control, CS, CS + taVNS, and CS + sham-electrical stimulation [sham-ES]). Each session was composed of 30 minutes in the fasting state and 30 minutes after a standard test meal. CS was induced during minutes 10 to 30 after the meal, whereas taVNS or sham-ES was performed during minutes 0 to 30 after the meal. The electrogastrogram and electrocardiogram were recorded for assessing gastric slow waves and autonomic functions, respectively. RESULTS: First, CS decreased the percentage of normal gastric slow waves (59.7% ± 9.8% vs 85.4% ± 4.5%, p < 0.001 vs control); this impairment was dramatically improved by taVNS (75.5% ± 6.3% vs 58.4% ± 12.5%, p < 0.001 vs sham-ES). Second, CS increased the symptom score (22.0 ± 12.1 vs 39.3 ± 11.5, p = 0.001 vs control); taVNS, but not sham-ES, reduced the symptom score (26.0 ± 12.2 vs 38.3 ± 21.6, p = 0.026 vs sham-ES). Third, CS decreased vagal activity assessed from the spectral analysis of heart rate variability (0.21 ± 0.10 vs 0.26 ± 0.11, p < 0.05 vs control) and increased the sympathovagal ratio (4.89 ± 1.94 vs 3.74 ± 1.32, p = 0.048 vs control); taVNS normalized CS-induced suppression in vagal activity (0.27 ± 0.13 vs 0.22 ± 0.10, p = 0.049 vs sham-ES; p > 0.05 vs control) and CS-induced increase in the sympathovagal ratio (3.28 ± 1.61 vs 4.28 ± 2.10, p = 0.042 vs sham-ES; p > 0.05 vs control). CONCLUSION: The noninvasive taVNS improves the CS-induced impairment in gastric pace-making activity, possibly by reversing the detrimental effect of CS on autonomic functions. taVNS may have a therapeutic potential for stress-induced gastric dysmotility.