Soil salinity regulates spatial-temporal heterogeneity of seed germination and seedbank persistence of an annual diaspore-trimorphic halophyte in northern China.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Seed heteromorphism is a plant strategy that an individual plant produces two or more distinct types of diaspores, which have diverse morphology, dispersal ability, ecological functions and different effects on plant life history traits. The aim of this study was to test the effects of seasonal soil salinity and burial depth on the dynamics of dormancy/germination and persistence/depletion of buried trimorphic diaspores of a desert annual halophyte Atriplex centralasiatica. METHODS: We investigated the effects of salinity and seasonal fluctuations of temperature on germination, recovery of germination and mortality of types A, B, C diaspores of A. centralasiatica in the laboratory and buried diaspores in situ at four soil salinities and three depths. Diaspores were collected monthly from the seedbank from December 2016 to November 2018, and the number of viable diaspores remaining (not depleted) and their germinability were determined. RESULTS: Non-dormant type A diaspores were depleted in the low salinity "window" in the first year. Dormant diaspore types B and C germinated to high percentages at 0.3 and 0.1 mol L-1 soil salinity, respectively. High salinity and shallow burial delayed depletion of diaspore types B and C. High salinity delayed depletion time of the three diaspore types and delayed dormancy release of types B and C diaspores from autumn to spring. Soil salinity modified the response of diaspores in the seedbank by delaying seed dormancy release in autum and winter and by providing a low-salt concentration window for germination of non-dormant diaspores in spring and early summer. CONCLUSIONS: Buried trimorphic diaspores of annual desert halophyte A. centralasiatica exhibited diverse dormancy/germination behavior in respond to seasonal soil salinity fluctuation. Prolonging persistence of the seedbank and delaying depletion of diaspores under salt stress in situ primarily is due to inhibition of dormancy-break. The differences in dormancy/germination and seed persistence in the soil seedbank may be a bet-hadging strategy adapted to stressful temporal and spatial heterogeneity, and allows A. centralasiatica to persist in the unpredictable cold desert enevironment.

Progress in methods for the detection of viable Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a prevalent enteric bacterium and a necessary organism to monitor for food safety and environmental purposes. Developing efficient and specific methods is critical for detecting and monitoring viable E. coli due to its high prevalence. Conventional culture methods are often laborious and time-consuming, and they offer limited capability in detecting potentially harmful viable but non-culturable E. coli in the tested sample, which highlights the need for improved approaches. Hence, there is a growing demand for accurate and sensitive methods to determine the presence of viable E. coli. This paper scrutinizes various methods for detecting viable E. coli, including culture-based methods, molecular methods that target DNAs and RNAs, bacteriophage-based methods, biosensors, and other emerging technologies. The review serves as a guide for researchers seeking additional methodological options and aiding in the development of rapid and precise assays. Moving forward, it is anticipated that methods for detecting E. coli will become more stable and robust, ultimately contributing significantly to the improvement of food safety and public health.

Hypoxia-induced circRTN4IP1 promotes progression and glycolysis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Hypoxia is one of the hallmarks of solid tumors, especially in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). CircRNAs are reported to be tightly connected to hypoxia and also have essential roles in cancer progression. However, many circRNAs implicated in hypoxia-mediated HCC progression are still unclear and require further exploration. In this study, a hypoxia cell model was structured by exposing cells to hypoxia conditions (1% O2) and normoxia conditions (21% O2) as a control. The effects of hypoxia and normoxia on cell viability, migration, invasion, and glycolysis were examined. The expressions of circRNARTN4IP1 under hypoxia were identified. Finally, molecular mechanisms and biological function of circRTN4IP1 were explored. We confirmed that hypoxia treatment facilitated capacities of proliferation, migration, invasion, and glycolysis in tumor cells. Hypoxia induced a significant increase expression of circRTN4IP1 in cells. Functionally, knockdown of circRTN4IP1 inhibited cell malignant progression and glycolysis under hypoxia HCC cells. Mechanistically, HIF1A targeted the promoter region of circRTN4IP1 and positively regulated the expression of circRTN4IP1. In addition, circRTN4IP1 targeted miR-532-5p/G6PC3 axis. In short, hypoxia induced activation of the HIF1A/circRTN4IP1/miR-532-5p/G6PC3 signaling axis, which promoted proliferation, migration, invasion, and glycolysis of HCC cells. This study may reveal a possible mechanism driving the progression of hypoxia HCC, so as to find potential effective candidates for targeting hypoxia microenvironment therapy.

Wogonoside attenuates liver fibrosis by triggering hepatic stellate cell ferroptosis through SOCS1/P53/SLC7A11 pathway.

Wogonoside (WG) is a flavonoid chemical component extracted from Scutellaria baicalensis, which exerts therapeutic effects on liver diseases. Ferroptosis, a novel form of programmed cell death, regulates diverse physiological/pathological processes. In this study, we attempted to investigate a novel mechanism by which WG mitigates liver fibrosis by inducing ferroptosis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). A CCl4 -induced mouse liver fibrosis model and a rat HSC line were employed for in vivo and in vitro experiments, both treated with WG. Firstly, the levels of the fibrotic markers α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and α1(I)collagen (COL1α1) were effectively decreased by WG in CCl4 -induced mice and HSC-T6 cells. Additionally, mitochondrial condensation and mitochondrial ridge breakage were observed in WG-treated HSC-T6 cells. Furthermore, ferroptotic events including depletion of SLC7A11, GPX4 and GSH, and accumulation of iron, ROS and MDA were discovered in WG-treated HSC-T6 cells. Intriguingly, these ferroptotic events did not appear in hepatocytes or macrophages. WG-elicited HSC ferroptosis and ECM reduction were dramatically abrogated by ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1), a ferroptosis inhibitor. Importantly, our results confirm that SOCS1/P53/SLC7A11 is a signaling pathway which promotes WG attenuation of liver fibrosis. On the contrary, WG mitigated liver fibrosis and inducted HSC-T6 cell ferroptosis were hindered by SOCS1 siRNA and pifithrin-α (PFT-α). These findings demonstrate that SOCS1/P53/SLC7A11-mediated HSC ferroptosis is associated with WG alleviating liver fibrosis, which provides a new clue for the treatment of liver fibrosis.

Feeling and Calculation: The Impact of Lay Rationalism Thinking Mode on Mental Budgeting.

Mental budgeting is a cognitive process that helps individuals control consumption expenditures. Previous literature has shown that mental budgeting is influenced by people's cognitive capabilities and emotions, which indicates a potential influence of thinking modes on mental budgeting. Under the view of lay rationalism, the present three studies investigated the relationship between thinking modes (i.e., calculation-based thinking and feeling-based thinking) and mental budgeting, as well as the moderating effect of product types that participants consume. It was found that, first, the scores of lay rationalism, which indicate calculation-based thinking, were positively correlated with the mental budgeting levels of college students (Study 1a) and newcomers in the workplace (Study 1b); second, the activation of calculation-based thinking (vs. feeling-based thinking) decreased participants' consumption willingness (Study 2); and third, the calculation-based thinking exhibited a stronger binding effect in participants who consumed only hedonic products than in participants who consumed only utilitarian products (Study 2). The results demonstrated the effects of lay rationalism thinking mode and product types on mental budgeting, which highlighted different implications for consumers and merchants. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03689-5.

Analysis of transcriptional regulators HpaR1 and Clp regulating the expression of glycoside hydrolase-encoding gene in the Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris.

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) is a vascular pathogen that causes black rot in host. It is an important model strain for studying the interaction between the phytopathogen and plants. In Xcc, global transcription regulator HpaR1 that belongs to the GntR family regulates many cellular processes such as the movement and synthesis of extracellular polysaccharides and extracellular enzymes, and is associated with hypersensitive response (HR) and pathogenicity. On the other hand, the global transcriptional regulator Clp regulates the secretion and synthesis of extracellular enzymes and extracellular polysaccharides, and is associated with the pathogenicity of Xanthomonas. Previous studies have shown that both HpaR1 and Clp bind to the promoter region of the glycoside hydrolase encoding gene (named ghy gene). This study investigates the molecular mechanism of the co-regulation of HpaR1 and Clp on the expression of ghy gene. Through electrophoresis mobility shift assay (EMSA), we found that both HpaR1 and Clp bind to the promoter regions of gene ghy in vitro. Both HpaR1 and Clp also bind to the promoter regions of gene ghy in vivo by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. DNase I footprinting and 5'-RACE assays showed that both HpaR1 and Clp bind to the -35 region upstream of the ghy promoter. The HpaR1 binding site was located upstream of the Clp binding site. RT-qPCR and in vitro transcription assays showed that HpaR1 negatively while Clp positively regulates the transcription of gene ghy. Furthermore, HpaR1 inhibits the activation of Clp on the transcription of gene ghy in vitro. Our findings indicate that HpaR1 and Clp exhibit opposite effect on the transcription of gene ghy. It is speculated that HpaR1 may regulate the expression of gene ghy by inhibiting the activity of RNA polymerase.

Dynamics of the diaspore and germination stages of the life history of an annual diaspore-trimorphic species in a temperate salt desert.

MAIN CONCLUSION: Individuals of the annual halophyte Atriplex centralasiatica produce three kinds of diaspores that differ in dispersal, dormancy/germination response and type of seed bank formed, which likely is a bet-hedging strategy in the rainfall-unpredictable environment on the semi-arid, saline Ordos Plateau in Inner Mongolia, China. Seasonal fluctuations in environmental conditions provide germination cues for the establishment of seedlings at the right time and place to ensure plant survival and population regeneration. Diaspore heteromorphism is a phenomenon in which diaspores with stark qualitative differences in morphology and ecology are produced by the same maternal plant. Germination responses and dispersal times of the annual halophyte Atriplex centralasiatica were examined to determine the role of diaspore heteromorphism in its adaptation to salt desert conditions. A. centralasiatica is a tumbleweed that produces three types of diaspores that differ in morphology and ecophysiology. The relative potential dispersal ability and intensity of dormancy of the three diaspore types was type A (fan-shaped diaspores with yellow fruits) < type B (fan-shaped diaspores with black fruits) < type C (globular diaspores with black fruits). In the field, type A retained high germinability, but all of them were depleted from the (transient) soil seedbank in the first growing season. Types B and C cycled between dormancy and nondormancy, and 0 and > 90.0% remained in the soil seedbank 2 years after dispersal, respectively. The dormancy, dispersal and salt tolerance of type B diaspores were intermediate between those of A and C. Type A exhibited low dispersal-nondormancy, type B exhibited intermediate dispersal-intermediate dormancy and type C exhibited high dispersal ability-high dormancy. In the unpredictable salt desert habitat, the functional differences in germination and dispersal of the three diaspores act as a bet-hedging mechanism and ensure population establishment in different years by spreading germination over time and space.

PilG and PilH antagonistically control flagellum-dependent and pili-dependent motility in the phytopathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris.

BACKGROUND: The virulence of the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) involves the coordinate expression of many virulence factors, including surface appendages flagellum and type IV pili, which are required for pathogenesis and the colonization of host tissues. Despite many insights gained on the structure and functions played by flagellum and pili in motility, biofilm formation, surface attachment and interactions with bacteriophages, we know little about how these appendages are regulated in Xcc. RESULTS: Here we present evidence demonstrating the role of two single domain response regulators PilG and PilH in the antagonistic control of flagellum-dependent (swimming) and pili-dependent (swarming) motility. Using informative mutagenesis, we reveal PilG positively regulates swimming motility while and negatively regulating swarming motility. Conversely, PilH negatively regulates swimming behaviour while and positively regulating swarming motility. By transcriptome analyses (RNA-seq and RT-PCR) we confirm these observations as PilG is shown to upregulate many genes involved chemotaxis and flagellar biosynthesis but these similar genes were downregulated by PilH. Co-immunoprecipitation, bacterial two-hybrid and pull-down analyses showed that PilH and PilG were able to interact with district subsets of proteins that potentially account for their regulatory impact. Additionally, we present evidence, using mutagenesis that PilG and PilH are involved in other cellular processes, including chemotaxis and virulence. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, we demonstrate that for the conditions tested PilG and PilH have inverse regulatory effects on flagellum-dependent and pili-dependent motility in Xcc and that this regulatory impact depends on these proteins influences on genes/proteins involved in flagellar biosynthesis and pilus assembly.

Responses of community structure and diversity to nitrogen deposition and rainfall addition in contrasting steppes are ecosystem-dependent and dwarfed by year-to-year community dynamics.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Long-term studies to disentangle the multiple, simultaneous effects of global change on community dynamics are a high research priority to forecast future distribution of diversity. Seldom are such multiple effects of global change studied across different ecosystems. METHODS: Here we manipulated nitrogen deposition and rainfall at levels realistic for future environmental scenarios in three contrasting steppe types in Mongolia and followed community dynamics for 7 years. KEY RESULTS: Redundancy analyses showed that community composition varied significantly among years. Rainfall and nitrogen manipulations did have some significant effects, but these effects were dependent on the type of response and varied between ecosystems. Community compositions of desert and meadow steppes, but not that of typical steppe, responded significantly to rainfall addition. Only community composition of meadow steppe responded significantly to nitrogen deposition. Species richness in desert steppe responded significantly to rainfall addition, but the other two steppes did not. Typical steppe showed significant negative response of species richness to nitrogen deposition, but the other two steppes did not. There were significant interactions between year and nitrogen deposition in desert steppe and between year and rainfall addition in typical steppe, suggesting that the effect of the treatments depends on the particular year considered. CONCLUSIONS: Our multi-year experiment thus suggests that responses of community structure and diversity to global change drivers are ecosystem-dependent and that their responses to experimental treatments are dwarfed by the year-to-year community dynamics. Therefore, our results point to the importance of taking annual environmental variability into account for understanding and predicting the specific responses of different ecosystems to multiple global change drivers.

Effects of climate warming and prolonged snow cover on phenology of the early life history stages of four alpine herbs on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Much research has focused on plant responses to ongoing climate change, but there is relatively little information about how climate change will affect the early plant life history stages. Understanding how global warming and changes in winter snow pattern will affect seed germination and seedling establishment is crucial for predicting future alpine population and vegetation dynamics. METHODS: In a 2-year study, we tested how warming and alteration in the snowmelt regime, both in isolation and combination, influence seedling emergence phenology, first-year growth, biomass allocation, and survival of four native alpine perennial herbs on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. KEY RESULTS: Warming promoted seedling emergence phenology of all four species and biomass per plant of two species but reduced seedling survival of three species. Prolonged snow cover partly mediated the affects of warming on Primula alpicola (survival and biomass), Pedicularis fletcheri (phenology, biomass, and root:shoot ratio) and Meconopsis integrifolia (survival). For the narrowly distributed species M. racemosa, seedling growth was additively decreased by warming and prolonged snow cover. CONCLUSIONS: Both warming and alteration of the snow cover regime can influence plant recruitment by affecting seedling phenology, growth, and survival, and the effects are largely species-specific. Thus, climate change is likely to affect population dynamics and community structure of the alpine ecosystem. This is the first experimental demonstration of the phenological advancement of seedling emergence in the field by simulated climate warming.

Level of Platelet Distribution Width and Outcome Prediction in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury.

BACKGROUND: This study examines the clinical utility of the level of increased platelet distribution width (PDW) as a predictor of outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 120 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were recruited. Age, gender, PDW, and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores were measured. These patients were divided into two groups based on their 30-day outcomes. Receiver operating curves (ROCs) were generated to identify predictors of 30-day mortality. RESULTS: One hundred twenty patients with traumatic brain injury were enrolled in this study, 89 males (74.2%) and 31 females (25.8%) with a median age of 49.5 (19 - 89) years. The in-hospital mortality rate was 10.8% (n = 13). PDW levels in non-surviving patients were higher than in surviving patients. The higher the PDW, the lower the GSC score. The area under the curve (AUC) for PDW levels with regard to predicting 30-day mortality was 0.88 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.78 to 0.97; p < 0.001). There was correlation between PDW level and GCS score (r = -0.30, 95% confidence interval (CI), - 0.46 to - 0.13; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PDW levels were associated with injury severity and mortality in patients with severe TBI.

The Effect of Minimally Invasive Hematoma Aspiration on the JNK Signal Transduction Pathway after Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Rats.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of minimally invasive hematoma aspiration (MIHA) on the c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) signal transduction pathway after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). METHODS: In this experiment, 300 adult male Wistar rats were randomly and averagely divided into sham-operated group, ICH group and MIHA group. In each group, 60 rats were used in the detection of indexes in this experiment, while the other 40 rats were used to replace rats which reached the exclusion criteria (accidental death or operation failure). In ICH group and MIHA group, ICH was induced by injection of 70 µL of autologous arterial blood into rat brain, while only the rats in MIHA group were treated by MIHA 6 h after ICH. Rats in sham-operated group were injected nothing into brains, and they were not treated either, like rats in ICH group. In each group, six rats were randomly selected to observe their Bederson's scales persistently (6, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 h after ICH). According to the time they were sacrificed, the remaining rats in each group were divided into 3 subgroups (24, 72, 120 h). The change of brain water content (BWC) was measured by the wet weight to dry weight ratio method. The morphology of neurons in cortex was observed by the hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The expressions of phospho-c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (pJNK) and JNK in peri-hematomal brain tissue were determined by the immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting (WB). RESULTS: At all time points, compared with the ICH groups, the expression of pJNK decreased obviously in MIHA groups (p < 0.05), while their Bederson's scales and BWC declined, and neuron injury in the cortex was relieved. The expression level of JNK was not altered at different groups. The data obtained by IHC and WB indicated a high-level of consistency, which provided a certain dependability of the test results. CONCLUSION: The JNK signal transduction pathway could be activated after intracerebral hemorrhage, with the expressions of pJNK increasing. MIHA could relieve the histo-pathological damage of nerve cells, reducing brain edema and neurological deficits, and these neuroprotective effects might be associated with suppression of JNK signal transduction pathway.

Lax decision criteria lead to negativity bias: evidence from the emotional stroop task.

Negativity bias means that negative information is usually given more emphasis than comparable positive information. Under signal detection theory, recent research found that people more frequently and incorrectly identify negative task-related words as having been presented originally than positive words, even when they were not presented. That is, people have lax decision criteria for negative words. However, the response biases for task-unrelated negative words and for emotionally important words are still unclear. This study investigated response bias for these two kinds of words. Study 1 examined the response bias for task-unrelated negative words using an emotional Stroop task. Proportions of correct recognition to negative and positive words were assessed by non-parametric signal detection analysis. Participants have lower (i.e., more lax) decision criteria for task-unrelated negative words than for positive words. Study 2 supported and expanded this result by investigating participants' response bias for highly emotional words. Participants have lower decision criteria for highly emotional words than for less emotional words. Finally, possible evolutionary sources of the response bias were discussed.

Isolation and characterization of Stenotrophomonas pavanii GXUN74707 with efficient flocculation performance and application in wastewater treatment.

The identification of microorganisms with excellent flocculants-producing capability and optimization of the fermentation process are necessary for the wide-scale application of bioflocculants. Therefore, we isolated and identified a highly efficient flocculation performance strain of Stenotrophomonas pavanii GXUN74707 from the sludge. The optimal fermentation and flocculation conditions of strain S. pavanii GXUN74707 was in fermentation medium with glucose and urea as the carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, at pH 7.0 for 36 h, which treatment of kaolin suspension with 0.5 mL of the fermentation broth resulted in a flocculation rate of 99.0%. The bioflocculant synthesized by strain S. pavanii GXUN74707 was found mainly in the supernatant of the fermentation broth. Chemical analysis revealed that the pure bioflocculant consisted of 79.70% carbohydrates and 14.38% proteins. The monosaccharide components of MBF-GXUN74707 are mainly mannose (5.96 µg/mg), galactose (1.86 µg/mg), and glucose (1.73 µg/mg). Infrared spectrometric analysis showed the presence of carboxyl (COO-), hydroxyl (-OH) groups. The SEM images showed clumps of rod-shaped bacteria with adhesion of extracellular products. Furthermore, the strain decolored dye wastewater containing direct black, direct blue, and Congo red by 89.2%, 95.1%, 94.1%, respectively. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) removal rates after treatment of aquaculture wastewater with the fermentation broth were 68% and 23%, respectively. This study is the first to report the performance and application of strain Stenotrophomonas pavanii in wastewater flocculation. The results indicate that strain S. pavanii is a good candidate for the production novel bioflocculants and demonstrates its potential industrial practicality in biotechnology processes.

A deep-learning-based framework for identifying and localizing multiple abnormalities and assessing cardiomegaly in chest X-ray.

Accurate identification and localization of multiple abnormalities are crucial steps in the interpretation of chest X-rays (CXRs); however, the lack of a large CXR dataset with bounding boxes severely constrains accurate localization research based on deep learning. We created a large CXR dataset named CXR-AL14, containing 165,988 CXRs and 253,844 bounding boxes. On the basis of this dataset, a deep-learning-based framework was developed to identify and localize 14 common abnormalities and calculate the cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) simultaneously. The mean average precision values obtained by the model for 14 abnormalities reached 0.572-0.631 with an intersection-over-union threshold of 0.5, and the intraclass correlation coefficient of the CTR algorithm exceeded 0.95 on the held-out, multicentre and prospective test datasets. This framework shows an excellent performance, good generalization ability and strong clinical applicability, which is superior to senior radiologists and suitable for routine clinical settings.

Bone morphogenetic protein-7 ameliorates cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury via inhibiting oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis.

Previous studies have indicated that bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) is neuroprotective against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury. The present study was undertaken to determine the molecular mechanisms involved in this effect. Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to 2 h of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), followed by 24 h of reperfusion. BMP-7 (10-4 g/kg) or vehicle was infused into rats at the onset of reperfusion via the tail vein. Neurological deficits, infarct volume, histopathological changes, oxidative stress-related biochemical parameters, neuronal apoptosis, and apoptosis-related proteins were assessed. BMP-7 significantly improved neurological and histological deficits, reduced the infarct volume, and decreased apoptotic cells after cerebral ischemia. BMP-7 also markedly enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and reduced the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in IR rats. In addition, Western blot analysis indicated that BMP-7 prevented cytochrome c release, inhibited activation of caspase-3, caspase-9 and caspase-8. Our data suggested that BMP-7 has protective effects against cerebral IR injury in rats, and the neuroprotective effects may be attributed to attenuating oxidative stress and inhibiting neuronal apoptosis.

The Relationship and Influencing Factors between Endangered Plant Tetraena mongolica and Soil Microorganisms in West Ordos Desert Ecosystem, Northern China.

Soil microorganisms play crucial roles in improving nutrient cycling, maintaining soil fertility in desert ecosystems such as the West Ordos desert ecosystem in Northern China, which is home to a variety of endangered plants. However, the relationship between the plants-microorganisms-soil in the West Ordos desert ecosystem is still unclear. Tetraena mongolica, an endangered and dominant plant species in West Ordos, was selected as the research object in the present study. Results showed that (1) there were ten plant species in the Tetraena mongolica community, belonging to seven families and nine genera, respectively. The soil was strongly alkaline (pH = 9.22 ± 0.12) and the soil nutrients were relatively poor; (2) fungal diversity was more closely related to shrub diversity than bacterial and archaeal diversity; (3) among the fungal functional groups, endomycorrhizal led to a significant negative correlation between shrub diversity and fungal diversity, because endomycorrhizal had a significant positive effect on the dominance of T. mongolica, but had no significant effect on other shrubs; (4) plant diversity had a significant positive correlation with the soil inorganic carbon (SIC), total carbon (TC), available phosphorus (AVP) and available potassium (AVK). This study revealed the effects of soil properties and soil microorganisms on the community structure and the growth of T. mongolica and provided a theoretical basis for the conservation of T. mongolica and the maintenance of biodiversity in desert ecosystems.

Biotic and abiotic drivers of ecosystem multifunctionality: Evidence from the semi-arid grasslands of northern China.

Ecosystem functioning plays a crucial role in maintaining human welfare. Terrestrial ecosystems provide multiple ecosystem services simultaneously, such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water purification, and biodiversity conservation, known as ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). However, the mechanisms by which biotic and abiotic factors, and their interactions regulate EMF in grasslands are unclear. We conducted a transect survey to illustrate the single and combined effects of biotic factors (including plant species diversity, trait-based functional diversity, community-weighted mean (CWM) of traits, and soil microbial diversity) and abiotic factors (including climate and soil) on EMF. Eight functions were investigated, including aboveground living biomass and litter biomass, soil bacterial biomass, fungal biomass, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi biomass, and soil organic carbon storage, total carbon storage and total nitrogen storage. We detected a significant interactive effect between plant species diversity and soil microbial diversity on the EMF; Structural equation model showed that soil microbial diversity indirectly affected EMF by regulating plant species diversity. These findings highlight the importance of the interaction effect of above- and below-ground diversity on EMF. Both plant species diversity and functional diversity had similar explanatory power for the variation in EMF, implying that niche differentiation and multifunctional complementarity among plant species and traits are essential in regulating the EMF. Furthermore, the effects of abiotic factors on EMF were stronger than those of biotic factors via direct and indirect pathways affecting above- and below-ground biodiversity. As a dominant regulator, the soil sand content was negatively correlated with EMF. These findings indicate the vital role of abiotic mechanisms in affecting EMF, and deepen our understanding of the single and combined effects of biotic and abiotic factors on EMF. We conclude that soil texture and plant diversity, representing crucial abiotic and biotic factors, respectively, are important determinants of the EMF of grasslands.

The signs of computer tomography combined with artificial intelligence can indicate the correlation between status of consciousness and primary brainstem hemorrhage of patients.

Background: For patients of primary brainstem hemorrhage (PBH), it is crucial to find a method that can quickly and accurately predict the correlation between status of consciousness and PBH. Objective: To analyze the value of computer tomography (CT) signs in combination with artificial intelligence (AI) technique in predicting the correlation between status of consciousness and PBH. Methods: A total of 120 patients with PBH were enrolled from August 2011 to March 2021 according to the criteria. Patients were divided into three groups [consciousness, minimally conscious state (MCS) and coma] based on the status of consciousness. Then, first, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman rank correlation test were used on the factors: gender, age, stages of intracerebral hemorrhage, CT signs with AI or radiology physicians, hemorrhage involving the midbrain or ventricular system. We collected hemorrhage volumes and mean CT values with AI. Second, those significant factors were screened out by the Mann-Whitney U test and those highly or moderately correlated by Spearman's rank correlation test, and a further ordinal multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to find independent predictors of the status of consciousness. At last, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn to calculate the hemorrhage volume for predictively assessing the status of consciousness. Results: Preliminary meaningful variables include hemorrhage involving the midbrain or ventricular system, hemorrhage volume, grade of hematoma shape and density, and CT value from Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman rank correlation test. It is further shown by ordinal multinomial logistic regression analysis that hemorrhage volume and hemorrhage involving the ventricular system are two major predictors of the status of consciousness. It showed from ROC that the hemorrhage volumes of <3.040 mL, 3.040 ~ 6.225 mL and >6.225 mL correspond to consciousness, MCS or coma, respectively. If the hemorrhage volume is the same, hemorrhage involving the ventricular system should be correlated with more severe disorders of consciousness (DOC). Conclusion: CT signs combined with AI can predict the correlation between status of consciousness and PBH. Hemorrhage volume and hemorrhage involving the ventricular system are two independent factors, with hemorrhage volume in particular reaching quantitative predictions.

How do topics and emotions develop in elementary school children? A text mining perspective based on free-writing text over 6 years.

Free-text data with long duration and continuity have great potential for studying environmental concerns and emotional expressions in child development. Based on ecosystem theory, using topic modeling and sentiment analysis in text mining to mine 4556 free-text writing data from first to sixth grade in elementary school, this study aims to reveal concerned topics' evolutionary trends and sentiment expression differences in topics during elementary school children's development. The results show the following: (1) Children prefer to focus on the topics of school and family in elementary school; (2) With the growth of grades, the proportion of family topics continues to decline, while that of social culture topics keeps rising; (3) When describing school, family, social culture, and interest, children mostly express negative emotions, and when describing peers and ability they mostly express positive emotions; (4) As the grade increases, the emotional expression on social culture topics become negative, while that on ability and interest topics become positive, and there are more differences in emotion expression between topics in junior and senior elementary grades. Discussion and conclusion are discussed at the end.