Matching actions to needs: shifting policy responses to the changing health needs of Chinese children and adolescents.

China is home to the second largest population of children and adolescents in the world. Yet demographic shifts mean that the government must manage the challenge of fewer children with the needs of an ageing population, while considering the delicate tension between economic growth and environmental sustainability. We mapped the health problems and risks of contemporary school-aged children and adolescents in China against current national health policies. We involved multidisciplinary experts, including young people, with the aim of identifying actionable strategies and specific recommendations to promote child and adolescent health and wellbeing. Notwithstanding major improvements in their health over the past few decades, contemporary Chinese children and adolescents face distinct social challenges, including high academic pressures and youth unemployment, and new health concerns including obesity, mental health issues, and sexually transmitted infections. Inequality by gender, geography, and ethnicity remains a feature of health risks and outcomes. We identified a mismatch between current health determinants, risks and outcomes, and government policies. To promote the health of children and adolescents in China, we recommend a set of strategies that target government-led initiatives across the health, education, and community sectors, which aim to build supportive and responsive families, safe communities, and engaging and respectful learning environments. TRANSLATION: For the Chinese translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Compound heterozygous variants in SLC45A1 might cause syndromic intellectual disability by localization failure and activity attenuation in cells.

Intellectual disability (ID) is a kind of nervous developmental disorder and affects more than 1% of people worldwide. SLC45A1 as a transmembrane protein is implicated in the regulation of glucose homoeostasis. Through trio-based exome sequencing, the missense mutations of SLC45A1 c.103G>A (p.V35M) and c.1211T>G (p.F404C) were identified in the proband with syndromic ID. The distribution, expression and activity of SLC45A1 wild-type (WT) and variants were assayed in transfected COS7 cells. In SLC45A1 variants, the hydrogen bonds surrounding the 35th and 404th amino acid were changed, location on the cytomembrane was failed, their activity to transport glucose was also significantly decreased to contrast with SLC45A1-WT. No difference was observed at the mRNA and protein level. In conclusion, the compound heterozygous variants of SLC45A1 might be the genetic etiology for syndromic ID. These novel mutations probably attenuated its activity to transport glucose by the alteration of tertiary structure and failure of intracellular location.

The cyclic AMP (cAMP) phosphodiesterase CpdA required for growth, biofilm formation, motility and pathogenicity of Edwardsiella piscicida.

Edwardsiella piscicida is a severe fish pathogen with wide host range, causing the huge economic losses in the aquaculture industry. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) as an important second messenger regulates the physiological and behavioral responses to environmental cues in eukaryotic and prokaryotic. The intracellular level of cAMP for effective activity is tightly controlled by the synthesis of adenylate cyclase, excretion and degradation of phosphodiesterase. In this study, we identified and characterized a class III cAMP phosphodiesterase, named as CpdA, in the E. piscicida. To investigate the role of CpdA in the physiology and pathogenicity, we constructed the in-frame deletion mutant of cpdA of E. piscicida, TX01ΔcpdA. The results showed that TX01ΔcpdA accumulated the higher intracellular cAMP concentration than TX01, indicating that CpdA exerted the hydrolysis of cAMP. In addition, compared to the TX01, the TX01ΔcpdA slowed growth rate, diminished biofilm formation and lost motility. More importantly, pathogenicity analysis confirmed that TX01ΔcpdA significantly impaired the ability of invading the epithelial cells, reproduction in macrophages, tissues dissemination and lethality for healthy tilapias. The most of lost properties of TX01ΔcpdA were restored partially or fully by the introduction of cpdA gene. These results suggest that cpdA is required for regulation of the physiology and virulence of E. piscicida.

Understanding the application of covalent adaptable networks in self-repair materials based on molecular simulation.

Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) are widely used in the field of self-repair materials. They are a group of covalently cross-linked associative polymers that undergo reversible chemical reactions, and can be further divided into dissociative CANs (Diss-CANs) and associative CANs (Asso-CANs). Self-repair refers to the ability of a material to repair itself without external intervention, and can be classified into self-adhesion and self-healing according to the utilization of open stickers. Unlike conventional materials, the viscoelastic properties of CANs are influenced by both the molecular structure and reaction kinetics, ultimately affecting their repair performance. To gain deeper insight into the repair mechanism of CANs, we conducted simulations by using the hybrid MC/MD algorithm, as previously proposed in our research. Interestingly, we observed a significant correlation between reaction kinetics and repair behavior. Asso-CANs exhibited strong mechanical strength and high creep resistance, rendering them suitable as self-adhesion materials. On the other hand, Diss-CANs formed open stickers that facilitated local relaxation, aligning perfectly with self-healing processes. Moreover, the introduction of crosslinkers in the form of small molecules enhanced the repair efficiency. Theoretically, it was found that the repair timescale of Asso-CANs is slower than that of Diss-CANs with identical molecular structures. Our study not only clarifies the similarities and differences between Diss-CANs and Asso-CANs in terms of their self-repairing capabilities, but more importantly, it provides valuable insights guiding the effective utilization of CANs in the development of self-repair materials.

Mandarin-speaking Children With Cochlear Implants Face Challenges in Using F0 Expansion to Express Contrastive Focus.

OBJECTIVES: Children with cochlear implants (CIs) face challenges in perceiving fundamental frequency (F0) information because CIs do not transmit F0 effectively. In Mandarin, F0 can contrast meanings at the word level, that is, via lexical tones with distinct F0 contours, and signal contrastive relations between words at the utterance-level, that is, via contrastive focus with expanded F0 range and longer duration. Mandarin-speaking children with CIs have been reported to face challenges in producing distinct F0 contours across tones, but early implantation facilitates tonal acquisition. However, it is still unclear if utterance-level prosody, such as contrastive focus, is also challenging for these children, and if early implantation also offers benefits for focus production. Therefore, this study asked how accurately children with CIs can produce contrastive focus, and if early implantation leads to more accurate focus production, with acoustic patterns approaching that of children with typical hearing (TH). DESIGN: Participants included 55 Mandarin-speaking children (3 to 7 years) with CIs and 55 age-matched children with TH. Children produced noun phrases with and without contrastive focus, such as RED-COLORED cat versus red-colored cat. Three adult native listeners perceptually scored the productions as correct or incorrect. The "correct" productions were then acoustically analyzed in terms of F0 range and duration. RESULTS: Based on the perceptual scores, children with CIs produced focus with significantly lower accuracy (38%) than their TH peers (84%). The acoustic analysis on their "correct" productions showed that children with TH used both F0 and duration to mark focus, producing focal syllables with an expanded F0 range and long duration, and postfocal syllables with a reduced F0 range and short duration. However, children with CIs differed from children with TH in that they produced focal syllables with long duration but not an expanded F0 range, although they produced postfocal syllables with a reduced F0 range and short duration like their TH peers. In addition, early implantation correlated with the percept of more accurate focus productions and better use of F0 range in focal marking. CONCLUSIONS: This study finds that Mandarin-speaking children with CIs are still learning to apply appropriate acoustic cues to contrastive focus. The challenge appears to lie in the use of an expanded F0 range to mark focus, probably related to the limited transmission of F0 information through the CI devices. These findings thus have implications for parents and those working with children with CIs, showing that utterance-level prosody also requires speech remediation, and underscores the critical role of identifying problems early in the acquisition of F0 functions in Mandarin, not only at the word level but also at the utterance-level.

THBru attenuates diabetic cardiomyopathy by inhibiting RAGE-dependent inflammation.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a complication of diabetes mellitus characterized by heart failure and cardiac remodeling. Previous studies show that tetrahydroberberrubine (THBru) retrogrades cardiac aging by promoting PHB2-mediated mitochondrial autophagy and prevents peritoneal adhesion by suppressing inflammation. In this study we investigated whether THBru exerted protective effect against DCM in db/db mice and potential mechanisms. Eight-week-old male db/db mice were administered THBru (25, 50 mg·kg-1·d-1, i.g.) for 12 weeks. Cardiac function was assessed using echocardiography. We showed that THBru administration significantly improved both cardiac systolic and diastolic function, as well as attenuated cardiac remodeling in db/db mice. In primary neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes (NMCMs), THBru (20, 40 µM) dose-dependently ameliorated high glucose (HG)-induced cell damage, hypertrophy, inflammatory cytokines release, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Using Autodock, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and DARTS analyses, we revealed that THBru bound to the domain of the receptor for advanced glycosylation end products (RAGE), subsequently leading to inactivation of the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway. Importantly, overexpression of RAGE in NMCMs reversed HG-induced inactivation of the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway and subsequently counteracted the beneficial effects mediated by THBru. We conclude that THBru acts as an inhibitor of RAGE, leading to inactivation of the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway. This action effectively alleviates the inflammatory responses and oxidative stress in cardiomyocytes, ultimately leading to ameliorated DCM.

Endoscopic resection for the treatment of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors: a retrospective study from a large tertiary hospital in China.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: With the continuous development of endoscopic technology, endoscopic resection (ER) has gradually become an optional method for the treatment of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). However, studies with a large sample or a long follow-up are lacking. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ER for gastric GISTs in the real-world setting with more than 300 enrolled patients and a follow-up period longer than 45 months. METHODS: From January 2013 to February 2023, 409 patients with a pathological diagnosis of GISTs after ER were retrospectively enrolled in this study. After excluding 86 patients with non-gastric GISTs, we assessed 323 patients with gastric GISTs. The main outcome measures were en bloc resection, complete resection, residual disease, recurrence, and complications. RESULTS: There were 194 (60.06%) females and 129 (39.94%) males, and the median age of the included patients was 58 years (51, 63). The median tumor size was 15.0 (10.0, 20.0) mm. According to the modified NIH criteria, 246 (75.85%) patients were classified as very low risk, 62 (19.20%) were classified as low risk, 12 (3.72%) were classified as moderate risk, and 3 (0.93%) were classified as high risk. A total of 287 (88.85%) patients achieved en bloc resection, and 287 (88.85%) also achieved complete resection. Only one patient showed residual and no recurrent lesions were noted during the follow-up. Regarding complications, three patients had complications, with a complication rate of 0.93%, and no severe complications requiring surgical intervention occurred. CONCLUSION: ER is an appropriate alternative method for the treatment of gastric GISTs, with an en bloc resection rate of 88.85% and a complication rate of 0.93%. No recurrence was noted during follow-up, even for GISTs with piecemeal resection.

Fengycin produced by Bacillus subtilis XF-1 plays a major role in the biocontrol of Chinese cabbage clubroot via direct effect and defense stimulation.

Bacillus subtilis XF-1 is a well-investigated biocontrol agent against the biotrophic Plasmodiophora brassicae Woron., the causal agent of clubroot disease of cruciferous crops. The present study demonstrates that XF-1 could efficiently control clubroot disease via leaf spraying and provides an understanding of the biocontrol mechanisms. High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HTPLC) analysis indicated the presence of fengycin-type cyclopeptides in the supernatant. A ppsB deletion mutant of XF-1 resulted in no fengycin production, significantly reduced the lysis rate of testing spores in vitro and the primary infection rate of root hair in vivo, and decreased the protection value against clubroot disease under the greenhouse conditions. Confocal laser scanning microscopy proved that fengycin was not required for leaf internalization and root colonization. Moreover, the expression level of the ppsB gene in XF-1 was regulated by its cell density in root during interaction with P. brassicae. In addition, the ΔppsB mutant of XF-1 could not efficiently control disease because it led to a lower activation level of the jasmonic acid and salicylic acid signaling pathways in roots, which are necessary for the plant defense reaction upon pathogen invasion. Altogether, the present study provides a new understanding of specific cues in the interaction between B. subtilis and P. brassicae as well as insights into the application of B. subtilis in agriculture.

miR-223-3p mediates the diabetic kidney disease progression by targeting IL6ST/STAT3 pathway.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD), the most pervasive complication in diabetic patients, has become a major health threat to the aging population. Our previous miRNA profiling identified hsa-miR-223-3p as a dysregulated miRNA in the DKD samples, which may serve as a biomarker for DKD diagnosis. However, the specific mechanism of miR-223-3p in the pathogenesis of DKD remains to be elucidated. In this study, we first verified that miR-223-3p level was significantly decreased in the in vitro cell model and in vivo db/db DKD model, accompanied with endothelial cell damage. Importantly, inhibiting the expression of miR-223-3p exacerbated high-glucose induced damages in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) and Human Renal Glomerular Endothelial Cells (HRGECs), while miR-223-3p overexpression showed the opposite effect. We further demonstrated that miR-223-3p associated with IL6T mRNA and attenuated the progression of DKD by suppressing the downstream STAT3 activation, indicative of the implication of miR-223-3p/IL6T/STAT3 axis in the pathogenesis of DKD.

Sliding Phase Transition in Ferroelectric van der Waals Bilayers.

We address the sliding thermodynamics of van der Waals-bonded bilayers by continuum electromechanics. We attribute the robustness of the ferroelectricity recently observed in h-BN and WTe_{2} bilayers to large in-plane stiffness of the monolayers. We compute the electric susceptibility and specific heat in a mean-field self-consistent phonon approximation. We compare critical temperatures and electric switching fields with the observed values.

SERS-based error calibration of a TMB-H2O2 colorimetric system.

3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB)-H2O2 is widely used as an effective colorimetric system, in which the color reaction is implemented with peroxidase-catalyzed TMB oxidation by H2O2 that usually measured UV-vis absorption spectra or Raman spectra. However, its low accuracy significantly limits its application. Blue charge transfer complex (CTC), which is the product of TMB and H2O2 reaction and is used as the basis for partial colorimetric methods, usually causes colorimetric error owing to changes in the UV-vis absorption and Raman spectra during TMB oxidation under various environmental conditions (catalyst type, temperature, H2O2 concentration). Herein, we propose a surface-enhanced Raman spectrum (SERS)-based error calibration method to improve the accuracy of the TMB-H2O2 colorimetric system. It is found that under 633 nm laser excitation, TMB has three Raman peaks at 1189, 1335 and 1609 cm-1 in the single-electron oxidation phase, and these peaks disappear completely in the two-electron oxidation phase. By comparing these Raman peaks, we can conveniently obtain the actual process information during TMB oxidation. Using the proposed method, the accuracy of the TMB-H2O2 colorimetric system improved by more than 15%. Importantly, this SERS-based TMB-H2O2 error calibration method will open a new horizon for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and other biomedical applications.

Fluid transport in porous media based on differences in filter media morphology and biofilm growth in bioreactors.

To elucidate the effect of pore structure on bioclogging and seepage flow in bioreactors, we used X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) to investigate the changes in seepage flow of porous media in zeolite, gravel and ceramsite bioreactors with biofilm growth by injecting a non-ionic contrast medium iohexol. Based on the X-CT images using a ball-and-stick model, the highest average pore radius (R‾) and the average pore throat radius (r‾) in the ceramsite column were found under the initial conditions, which facilitated its permeability. The pore and throat of the gravel column were small and homogeneous relatively. Biofilm growth decreased the pore and pore throat in the columns. The total throat area of zeolite, gravel and ceramsite columns declined by 74%, 73% and 79% respectively. The zeolite column had the highest average pore throat, which contributed to its maximum conductivity subsequently after biofilm growth. Further, the fractal dimensions of the pore structure increased with biofilm growth, especially in the zeolite and ceramsite columns. The heterogeneity of the porous media was reinforced by the biofilm growth in the zeolite and ceramsite columns due to their higher heterogeneity initially. We also observed that an increase in heterogeneity of porous medium amplified the preferential flow and flow heterogeneities, especially in the zeolite and ceramsite columns.

Pen Yan Jing Tablets Alleviates Pelvic Inflammatory Disease by Inhibiting Akt/NF-κB Pathway.

Purpose: Pen Yan Jing tablets (PYJ), a Chinese patent medicine, has being used for pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) effectively. This study was designed to explore the underlying mechanisms of PYJ for treating PID. Methods: A rat model of PID was established by mixed bacteria liquid plus mechanical damage. After PYJ treatment, the morphology of uteri and extent of pelvic adhesion were observed. The pathological changes were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The protein expressions of CD68, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were quantitated by immunohistochemistry. A cell model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages was performed. The cell proliferation and NO level were measured by CCK-8 and Griess method, respectively. The tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were detected by ELISA. The protein kinase B (Akt)/nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathway-related protein expressions were assayed by western blot or immunofluorescence. Results: PYJ alleviated pelvic adhesion and inflammatory lesions of uteri in PID rats. PYJ down-regulated protein expressions of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, MCP-1, COX-2, p-Akt, p-IκB kinaseα/ß (p-IKKα/ß), p-IκBα, p65, and p-p65 in uteri of PID rats. Moreover, PYJ medicated serum inhibited abnormal cell proliferation, NO release, levels of TNF-α and IL-6, nuclear translocation of p65, and protein expressions of p-Akt, p-p65 and p-IκBα in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Conclusions: Taken together, PYJ may alleviates PID through inhibiting Akt/NF-κB pathway.

High Throughput Sequencing Analysis of Exosomal miRNA Expressions in Early-Onset Preeclampsia Patients.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to screen for differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs in peripheral blood samples of early-onset preeclampsia and normal pregnant patients using high-throughput sequencing methods and explore their effects on the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples from 5 patients with early-onset preeclampsia and 5 normal pregnant women (control group) were enrolled. Then, exosomes were extracted from each sample, and the procedure was replicated three times. An Illumina HiSeq4000 sequencing platform was used to analyze exosomal miRNAs in all samples before comparison. The target genes and signaling pathway predictions and the biological function enrichments of significant and differentially expressed miRNAs were assessed using Miranda and Starbase software, as well as GO and KEGG databases. RESULTS: Compared with the control, patients in the early-onset preeclampsia group had 65 significantly and differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs in their peripheral blood samples. The results have shown that of the 65 differentially expressed miRNAs, 17, including has-miR-6855, has-miR-7151, and has-miR-6777, were up-regulated, and 48, including has-miR-1247, has-miR-29B2, and has-miR-941, were down-regulated (p < 0.05). The Miranda and TargetScanS algorithms predicted a total of 2,231 target genes from the differentially expressed miRNAs. The Go and KEGG analyses showed that the principal biological function of these target genes was the regulation of Ras protein signal transduction, histone modification, GTPase-mediated signal transduction, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß. Additionally, the results also showed that the major pathways involved in the regulation of these functions were the PI3K Akt, MAPK, tumor necrosis factor, and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant differences in the expression profiles of exosomal miRNAs between early-onset preeclampsia patients and normal pregnant women. These differentially expressed miRNAs may not only play an important regulatory role in the occurrence of early-onset preeclampsia but also participate in its pathophysiological process through genetic regulation of a variety of biological functions and signal pathways.

Identifying key genes for diabetic kidney disease by bioinformatics analysis.

BACKGROUND: There are no reliable molecular targets for early diagnosis and effective treatment in the clinical management of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). To identify novel gene factors underlying the progression of DKD. METHODS: The public transcriptomic datasets of the alloxan-induced DKD model and the streptozotocin-induced DKD model were retrieved to perform an integrative bioinformatic analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) shared by two experimental animal models. The dominant biological processes and pathways associated with DEGs were identified through enrichment analysis. The expression changes of the key DEGs were validated in the classic db/db DKD mouse model. RESULTS: The downregulated and upregulated genes in DKD models were uncovered from GSE139317 and GSE131221 microarray datasets. Enrichment analysis revealed that metabolic process, extracellular exosomes, and hydrolase activity are shared biological processes and molecular activity is altered in the DEGs. Importantly, Hmgcs2, angptl4, and Slco1a1 displayed a consistent expression pattern across the two DKD models. In the classic db/db DKD mice, Hmgcs2 and angptl4 were also found to be upregulated while Slco1a1 was downregulated in comparison to the control animals. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we identified the common biological processes and molecular activity being altered in two DKD experimental models, as well as the novel gene factors (Hmgcs2, Angptl4, and Slco1a1) which may be implicated in DKD. Future works are warranted to decipher the biological role of these genes in the pathogenesis of DKD.

First report of Aloe root and stem rot caused by Phytophthora palmivora in Yunnan Province, China.

Aloe genus plants are perennial evergreen herb belonging to Liliaceae family which is widely used in food, medicine, beauty, and health care (Kumar et al. 2019). In August 2021, symptoms of root and stem rot was observed in approximately 20% of Aloe vera plantings in Yuanjiang County, Yunnan Province, China (23° 64' 53" N, 101° 99' 84" E). The most typical symptoms were stem and root rot, browning and necrosis of vascular tissues, gradual greening, and reddish-browning of leaves from bottom to top, abscission, and eventual plant death (Fig. S1). Therefore, to isolate and identify the pathogen, the plants showing the above symptoms were collected. The plant tissues were cut from the edges of root and stem lesions, followed by disinfection with 75% ethanol for 1 min, rinsed three times with sterilized distilled water, and cut into 3 × 3 mm small squares after excision of marginal tissues. The tissues were transferred to the oomycetes selective medium (Liu et al. 2022) and incubated at 28 °C in the dark for 3~5 days, and suspected colonies were purified. The colonies were then inoculated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA), V8-juice agar (V8), and oatmeal agar (OA) medium plates for morphological characteristics. Finally, 18 isolates with the same colonial and morphological characteristics were obtained from 30 lesioned tissue and one of them was named as ARP1. On PDA, V8 and OA medium plates, the ARP1 colonies were white. On PDA plate, the mycelia were dense and the colonies were petal-like; on V8 plate, the mycelia were cashmere and the colonies were radial or star-like. Whereas, on OA plate, the mycelia were cotton-like and the colonies were fluffy and radial (Fig. S2 A~C). Mycelium did not have septum with high branching and swelling. Sporangia were abundant, semi-papillate, varying in shape from ovoid-ellipsoid to long-ellipsoid, 18-26 × 45-63 µm (average: 22 × 54 µm, n = 30), sporangia released numerous zoospores from the papillate after maturation. The chlamydospores were spherical, 20-35 µm in diameter (average: 27.5 µm, n = 30) (Fig. S2 D~F). These morphological features were like those of the pathogenic species of the oomycetes (Chen et al. 2022). For the molecular characterization, the genomic DNA of the isolate was extracted using the cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide method, and the translation elongation factor 1α (tef-1α) (Stielow et al. 2015), ß-tubulin (ß-tub) (Kroon et al. 2004) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (White et al. 1990) of isolated strain ARP1 were amplified using primer pairs EF1-1018F/EF1-1620R, TUBUF2/TUBUR1 and ITS1/ITS4, respectively. The tef-1α, ß-tub genes and ITS region of ARP1 were directly sequenced and their sequence information was deposited in GenBank under accession numbers OQ506129, OQ506127 and OQ449628. ARP1 was clustered on the same evolutionary branch with Phytophthora palmivora (Fig. S3). To confirm the pathogenicity of ARP1, the main root of A. vera was wounded to 1 cm long and 2 mm deep with a scalpel blade followed by inoculation with 50 ml suspension of ARP1 zoospores at a concentration of 1 × 106 spores / ml per potted plant, and an equal volume of water as control. All inoculated plants were placed in the greenhouse at 28°C, 12 h / 12 h light / dark. After 15 dpi, the inoculated plants showed typical symptoms of wilted and drooping leaves and stem and root rot, same as observed in the field condition (Fig. S4). After inoculation with ARP1, a strain with the same morphological and molecular characteristics as the original isolate was re-isolated, confirming Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. palmivora causing root and stem rot of A. vera in the study region. This disease could be a potential risk for aloe production and therefore appropriate management measures should be taken.

The Epidemiology of Tinea Capitis in Guangxi Province, China.

The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiological characteristics and pathogen spectrum of tinea capitis in Guangxi, southern China. A multicenter prospective descriptive study was conducted in 8 hospitals across Guangxi. From January 2019 to July 2022, one hundred seventy-one (171) patients diagnosed with tinea capitis were included. Demographic data, risk factors, and fungal data were collected. If necessary, species were further identified by morphological or molecular sequencing in the central laboratory. Of the 171 cases of tinea capitis, 74.3% occurred in patients aged 2-8 years. Children with tinea capitis were mainly boys (59.6%) and were more likely than adults to have a history of animal contact (44.2% vs. 33.3%) and zoophilic dermatophyte infection (76.9% vs. 46.7%, P = 0.008). The adults were mainly female (53%) and were more likely than children to have a history of infection with anthropophilic organisms (53.3% vs. 18.9%). The causative agents of tinea capitis in Guangxi were diverse, and the most common pathogen was Microsporum canis (M. cani, n = 98, 62%), followed by Trichophyton mentagrophytes (T. mentagrophytes n = 18, 11.4%) and Trichophyton tonsurans (T. tonsurans n = 12, 7.6%). In addition, tinea capitis caused by Nannizzia incurvata (N. incurvata) and Trichophyton verrucosum (T. verrucosum) was detected in the study. Notably, the proportion of patients with kerion in the study was 41.5% (n = 71), and most of those patients were children (n = 68), especially neglected children living in the rural mountainous areas of Guangxi, where they were unable to receive timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment. In conclusion, the causative agents of tinea capitis in Guangxi, South China, are diverse, and the incidence of kerion is high, indicating that diagnosis and treatment modalities in the region remain grossly inadequate. Clinicians and policy-makers should collaborate to adopt public health strategies to control the disease.

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens AK-12 Helps Rapeseed Establish a Protection against Brevicoryne brassicae.

Aphids are a serious threat to rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) production, and cause unmanageable loss. Therefore, effective prevention and management strategies are urgently required to avoid losses. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens AK-12 isolated from a dead aphid with aphicidal activity was tagged with a green fluorescent protein through a natural transformation. The transformed strains were checked for stability and growth, and the best-performing strain was tested for its colonization inside and outside the rapeseed plant. The stability of AK-12-GFP reached more than 95%, and the growth curve was consistent with that of AK-12. After 30 days of treatment, the colonization of 1 × 106 CFU/g was recorded in rapeseed leaves. Interestingly, AK-12 reduced the aphid transmission rate compared with the control and improved the growth of the rapeseed seedlings. Meanwhile, the AK-12 strain also exhibited phosphorus, potassium-solubilizing, and nitrogen-fixing activity, and produced 2.61 µg/mL of IAA at 24 h. Regulation in the activity of four enzymes was detected after the AK-12 treatment. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) was recorded at a maximum of 86.84 U/g after 36 h, and catalase (CAT) decreased after 48 h; however, peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) reached the maximum within 12 h of AK-12 application. Additionally, important resistance genes related to these enzymes were upregulated, indicating the activation of a defense response in the rapeseed against aphids. In conclusion, defense enzymes and defense-related gene activation could improve the pest resistance in rapeseed, which has good application prospects for the future to be developed into biopesticide.

The prevalence of social frailty among older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Social frailty is a geriatric public health problem that deeply affects healthy aging. Currently, evidence on the prevalence and factors associated with social frailty in older adults remains unclear. Our study aims to estimate the prevalence and related factors of social frailty in older adults. This study retrieved nine electronic databases searched through July 5th, 2022. The prevalence of social frailty was pooled using Stata software. It was found that older adults suffered from a "moderate" level of social frailty. We found a higher prevalence of social frailty in the United Kingdom, Greece, Croatia, The Netherlands, and Spain, in people over 75 years, in hospitals, and during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We believed that countries, age, research sites, and the pandemic of COVID-19 were influencing factors of social frailty among older adults. These findings may provide a theoretical basis for the development of ameliorating social frailty among older adults.

Characterization of infected process and primary mechanism in rice Acuce defense against rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae.

KEY MESSAGE: Identification of infection process and defense response during M. oryzae infecting Acuce. Magnaporthe oryzae is a destructive rice pathogen. Recent studies have focused on the initial infectious stage, with a few studies conducted to elucidate the characteristics of the late infectious stages. This study aims to decipher the characteristics at different stages (biotrophic, biotrophy-necrotrophy switch (BNS), and necrotrophic) between the interaction of two M. oryzae-rice combinations and investigate the resistance mechanisms of rice to M. oryzae using cytological and molecular methods. The biotrophic phase of M. oryzae-LTH compatible interaction was found to be longer than that of M. oryzae-Acuce incompatible interaction. We also found that jasmonic acid (JA) signaling plays an important role in defense by regulating antimicrobial compound accumulation in infected Acuce via a synergistic interaction of JA-salicylic acid (SA) and JA-ethylene (ET). In infected LTH, JA-ET/JA-SA showed antagonistic interaction. Ibuprofen (IBU) is a JA inhibitor. Despite the above findings, we found that exogenous JA-Ile and IBU significantly alleviated blast symptoms in infected LTH at 36 hpi (biotrophic) and 72 hpi (BNS), indicating these two-time points may be critical for managing blast disease in the compatible interaction. Conversely, IBU significantly increased blast symptoms on the infected Acuce at 36 hpi, confirming that the JA signal plays a central role in the defense response in infected Acuce. According to transcriptional analysis, the number of genes enriched in the plant hormone signal pathway was significantly higher than in other pathways. Our findings suggested that JA-mediated defense mechanism is essential in regulating Acuce resistance, particularly during the biotrophic and BNS phases.