Transient social-ecological dynamics reveal signals of decoupling in a highly disturbed Anthropocene landscape.

Understanding the transient dynamics of interlinked social-ecological systems (SES) is imperative for assessing sustainability in the Anthropocene. However, how to identify critical transitions in real-world SES remains a formidable challenge. In this study, we present an evolutionary framework to characterize these dynamics over an extended historical timeline. Our approach leverages multidecadal rates of change in socioeconomic data, paleoenvironmental, and cutting-edge sedimentary ancient DNA records from China's Yangtze River Delta, one of the most densely populated and intensively modified landscapes on Earth. Our analysis reveals two significant social-ecological transitions characterized by contrasting interactions and feedback spanning several centuries. Initially, the regional SES exhibited a loosely connected and ecologically sustainable regime. Nevertheless, starting in the 1950s, an increasingly interconnected regime emerged, ultimately resulting in the crossing of tipping points and an unprecedented acceleration in soil erosion, water eutrophication, and ecosystem degradation. Remarkably, the second transition occurring around the 2000s, featured a notable decoupling of socioeconomic development from ecoenvironmental degradation. This decoupling phenomenon signifies a more desirable reconfiguration of the regional SES, furnishing essential insights not only for the Yangtze River Basin but also for regions worldwide grappling with similar sustainability challenges. Our extensive multidecadal empirical investigation underscores the value of coevolutionary approaches in understanding and addressing social-ecological system dynamics.

The biological characteristics and infection dynamics of a novel H3N2 canine influenza virus genotype in beagles.

BACKGROUND: The canine influenza virus (CIV) outbreak has garnered considerable attention as it poses a significant threat to dog health. During the H3N2 CIV evolution in beagles, the virus formed a new clade after 2019 and gradually became more adaptable to other mammals. Therefore, successfully elucidating the biological characteristics and constructing a canine influenza infection model is required for CIV characterization. METHODS: We performed genetic analyses to examine the biological characteristics and infection dynamics of CIV. RESULTS: The genotype of our H3N2 CIV strain (from 2019 in Shanghai) belonged to the 5.1 clade, which is now prevalent in China. Using MDCK cells, we investigated viral cytopathic effects. Virus size and morphology were observed using transmission electron microscopy. Beagles were also infected with 104, 105, and 106 50% egg-infectious doses (EID50). When compared with the other groups, the 106 EID50 group showed the most obvious clinical symptoms, the highest virus titers, and typical lung pathological changes. Our results suggested that the other two treatments caused mild clinical manifestations and pathological changes. Subsequently, CIV distribution in the 106 EID50 group was detected by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunofluorescence (IF) staining, which indicated that CIV primarily infected the lungs. CONCLUSIONS: The framework established in this study will guide further CIV prevention strategies.

Metabolomics-based study of chemical compositions in cellulase additives derived from a tobacco-origin Bacillus subtilis and their impact on tobacco sensory attributes.

To enhance the quality of tobacco leaves and optimize the smoking experience, diverse strains of functional bacteria and their associated metabolites have been used in tobacco aging. Exogenous cellulase additives are frequently employed to facilitate the degradation of cellulose and other macromolecular matrices and enhance the quality of the tobacco product. However, little is known about how microbial metabolites present in exogenous enzyme additives affect tobacco quality. In this study, crude cellulase solutions, produced by a tobacco-originating bacterium Bacillus subtilis FX-1 were employed on flue-cured tobacco. The incorporation of cellulase solutions resulted in the reduction of cellulose crystallinity in tobacco and the enhancement of the overall sensory quality of tobacco. Notably, tobacco treated with cellulase obtained from laboratory flask fermentation demonstrated superior scent and flavor attributes in comparison to tobacco treated with enzymes derived from industrial bioreactor fermentation. The targeted and untargeted metabolomic analysis revealed the presence of diverse flavor-related precursors and components in the cellulase additives, encompassing sugars, alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, and others. The majority of these metabolites exhibited significantly higher levels in the flask group compared to the bioreactor group, probably contributing to a pronounced enhancement in the sensory quality of tobacco. Our findings suggest that the utilization of metabolic products derived from B. subtilis FX-1 as additives in flue-cured tobacco holds promise as a viable approach for enhancing sensory attributes, establishing a solid theoretical foundation for the potential development of innovative tobacco aging additives.

Health care workers' self-perceived meaning of residential care work.

BACKGROUND: Attracting and supporting a sustainable long-term care (LTC) workforce has been a persistent social policy challenge across the globe. To better attract and retain a sustainable LTC workforce, it is necessary to adopt a unified concept of worker well-being. Meaning of work is an important psychological resource that buffers the negative impacts of adverse working conditions on workers' motivation, satisfaction, and turnover intention. The aim of this study was to explore the positive meaning of care work with older people and its implications for health care workers' job satisfaction and motivation to work in the LTC sector. METHODS: This study adopted a qualitative descriptive design that pays particular attention to health care workers; such as nurses, personal care workers; as active agents of the meaning making and reframing of care work in LTC communities in a East Asia city. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty health care workers in LTC communities in Hong Kong. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. RESULTS: The research findings indicate that while health care workers perform demanding care work and experience external constraints, they actively construct positive meanings of care work with older people as a helping career that enables them to facilitate the comfortable aging of older people, build affectional relationships, achieve professional identity, and gain job security. CONCLUSIONS: This qualitative study explores how health care workers negotiate the positive meaning of older people care work and the implications of meaningful work for workers' job satisfaction and motivation to work in the LTC sector. The importance of a culturally sensitive perspective in researching and developing social policy intervention are suggested.

Mutations in the Pectin Methyltransferase QUASIMODO2 Influence Cellulose Biosynthesis and Wall Integrity in Arabidopsis.

Pectins are abundant in the cell walls of dicotyledonous plants, but how they interact with other wall polymers and influence wall integrity and cell growth has remained mysterious. Here, we verified that QUASIMODO2 (QUA2) is a pectin methyltransferase and determined that QUA2 is required for normal pectin biosynthesis. To gain further insight into how pectin affects wall assembly and integrity maintenance, we investigated cellulose biosynthesis, cellulose organization, cortical microtubules, and wall integrity signaling in two mutant alleles of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) QUA2, qua2 and tsd2 In both mutants, crystalline cellulose content is reduced, cellulose synthase particles move more slowly, and cellulose organization is aberrant. NMR analysis shows higher mobility of cellulose and matrix polysaccharides in the mutants. Microtubules in mutant hypocotyls have aberrant organization and depolymerize more readily upon treatment with oryzalin or external force. The expression of genes related to wall integrity, wall biosynthesis, and microtubule stability is dysregulated in both mutants. These data provide insights into how homogalacturonan is methylesterified upon its synthesis, the mechanisms by which pectin functionally interacts with cellulose, and how these interactions are translated into intracellular regulation to maintain the structural integrity of the cell wall during plant growth and development.

Real-time prediction of organ failures in patients with acute pancreatitis using longitudinal irregular data.

It is extremely important to identify patients with acute pancreatitis who are at high risk for developing persistent organ failures early in the course of the disease. Due to the irregularity of longitudinal data and the poor interpretability of complex models, many models used to identify acute pancreatitis patients with a high risk of organ failure tended to rely on simple statistical models and limited their application to the early stages of patient admission. With the success of recurrent neural networks in modeling longitudinal medical data and the development of interpretable algorithms, these problems can be well addressed. In this study, we developed a novel model named Multi-task and Time-aware Gated Recurrent Unit RNN (MT-GRU) to directly predict organ failure in patients with acute pancreatitis based on irregular medical EMR data. Our proposed end-to-end multi-task model achieved significantly better performance compared to two-stage models. In addition, our model not only provided an accurate early warning of organ failure for patients throughout their hospital stay, but also demonstrated individual and population-level important variables, allowing physicians to understand the scientific basis of the model for decision-making. By providing early warning of the risk of organ failure, our proposed model is expected to assist physicians in improving outcomes for patients with acute pancreatitis.

Characterization and evaluation of the cholesterol-lowering ability of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum HJ-S2 isolated from the intestine of Mesoplodon densirostris.

In this study, ten strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from the intestine of Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris),and their cholesterol-lowering activities in vitro and in vivo were investigated. The among these strains, HJ-S2 strain, which identified as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, showed a high in vitro cholesterol-lowering rate (48.82%). Strain HJ-S2 was resistant to acid and bile salts, with a gastrointestinal survival rate of more than 80%, but was sensitive to antibiotics. Strain HJ-S2 was found to be able to adhere to HT-29 cells in an adhesion test. The number of cell adhesion was 132.52. In addition, we also performed the cholesterol-lowering activities in vivo using high-fat diet feed mouse models. Our results indicated that HJ-S2 reduced total cholesterol (TC), total glycerol (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) levels while increasing the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) level. It also alleviated the lipid accumulation in high-fat diet feed mouse liver and pancreas. Hence, HJ-S2 demonstrated appropriate cholesterol-lowering ability and has the potential to be used as a probiotic in functional foods.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and blue dye methods in detection of sentinel lymph nodes following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in initially node positive breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies show that contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) using SonoVue has the potential to improve the performance of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients with early breast cancer. However, the evidence of SLNB using CEUS in patients converting from cN1 to cN0 after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is lacking. The aim of this prospective study is to evaluate the feasibility of CEUS using SonoVue for the identification of sentinel lymph node (SLN) and the value of the combination of CEUS and blue dye (BD) for SLNB in patients converting from cN1 to cN0 following NAC. METHODS: Patients with cytology-proven node positive breast cancer at the initial diagnosis (stage T1-T3N1M0) from January 2018 to January 2019, underwent NAC. Patients converting from cN1 to cN0 following NAC were enrolled and randomized into two groups for SLNB: the combination method group using CEUS and BD together, and the single BD method group. Then all patients underwent complete axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and primary breast surgery. Compared with the final pathological results, the identification rate, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, false negative rate, negative predictive value, positive predictive value were recorded and compared between two methods. RESULTS: A total of 400 patients with stage T1-T3N1M0 disease underwent NAC between January 2018 to January 2019, among which 134 (33.5%) patients had clinically negative node confirmed by imaging after NAC and randomized into two groups. Each group included 67 cases. In the combination method group, contrast-enhanced lymphatic vessels in 66 cases of 67 were clearly visualized by US soon after the periareolar injection of SonoVue and the SLNs were accurately localized. The identification rate of the combination method was 98.5%%, which was significantly higher than 83.6% (56/67) using the single BD method. The mean numbers of SLNs identified by the combination method was higher than that by the single BD method. Compared with pathological diagnosis, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, the positive predictive value, the negative predictive value, and the FNR of the combingation method were 84.4%, 100%, 89.4%, 100%, 75%, and 15.6%, respectively. In contrast, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, the positive predictive value, the negative predictive value, and the FNR using single blue dye were 73.9%, 100%, 89.3%, 100%, 84.6%, and 26.1%, respectively. The FNR using the combination method was significantly lower than that using single BD. CONCLUSION: Identification of SLNs in patients converting from cN1 to cN0 following NAC by CEUS is a technically feasible. The combination of CEUS and BD is more effective than BD alone for SLNB in patients converting from cN1 to cN0 following NAC.

Hemicellulose-Cellulose Composites Reveal Differences in Cellulose Organization after Dilute Acid Pretreatment.

Model hemicellulose-cellulose composites that mimic plant cell wall polymer interactions were prepared by synthesizing deuterated bacterial cellulose in the presence of glucomannan or xyloglucan. Dilute acid pretreatment (DAP) of these materials was studied using small-angle neutron scattering, X-ray diffraction, and sum frequency generation spectroscopy. The macrofibril dimensions of the pretreated cellulose alone were smaller but with similar entanglement of macrofibrillar network as native cellulose. In addition, the crystallite size dimension along the (010) plane increased. Glucomannan-cellulose underwent similar changes to cellulose, except that the macrofibrillar network was more entangled after DAP. Conversely, in xyloglucan-cellulose the macrofibril dimensions and macrofibrillar network were relatively unchanged after pretreatment, but the cellulose Iß content was increased. Our results point to a tight interaction of xyloglucan with microfibrils while glucomannan only interacts with macrofibril surfaces. This study provides insight into roles of different hemicellulose-cellulose interactions and may help in improving pretreatment processes or engineering plants with decreased recalcitrance.

Cellulose synthase complexes act in a concerted fashion to synthesize highly aggregated cellulose in secondary cell walls of plants.

Cellulose, often touted as the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, is a critical component of the plant cell wall and is synthesized by plasma membrane-spanning cellulose synthase (CESA) enzymes, which in plants are organized into rosette-like CESA complexes (CSCs). Plants construct two types of cell walls, primary cell walls (PCWs) and secondary cell walls (SCWs), which differ in composition, structure, and purpose. Cellulose in PCWs and SCWs is chemically identical but has different physical characteristics. During PCW synthesis, multiple dispersed CSCs move along a shared linear track in opposing directions while synthesizing cellulose microfibrils with low aggregation. In contrast, during SCW synthesis, we observed swaths of densely arranged CSCs that moved in the same direction along tracks while synthesizing cellulose microfibrils that became highly aggregated. Our data support a model in which distinct spatiotemporal features of active CSCs during PCW and SCW synthesis contribute to the formation of cellulose with distinct structure and organization in PCWs and SCWs of Arabidopsis thaliana This study provides a foundation for understanding differences in the formation, structure, and organization of cellulose in PCWs and SCWs.