Effects of dynamic nitrogen application on rice yield and quality under straw returning conditions.

Rice cultivation in Jilin Province, China, encounters challenges associated with straw management and nitrogen fertilizer usage. This study explores the effects of dynamic nitrogen fertilizer application combined with straw incorporation on soil properties, rice yield, and quality. High-quality Japonica rice varieties, "Jihong 9″ and "Jinongda 853," were cultivated in a 3-year trial across different regions. Results showed that dynamic nitrogen fertilizer application under straw incorporation significantly improved soil properties, leading to increased yields. Over the years, the average yield in straw retuning (SR) was 10,566 kg/ha, surpassing conventional practices (CK) at 9939 kg/ha. SR exhibited higher effective tiller rates, spike numbers, and grain numbers per spike, contributing to enhanced yields. Quality analysis revealed that SR rice exhibited lower protein content, resulting in reduced chalkiness and improved taste quality, making it a more desirable option. These findings highlight the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural practices in optimizing rice production in Jilin Province.

Roflumilast, a phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, improves hyperoxia-induced lung injury via anti-inflammation.

Roflumilast is an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) and can suppress the hydrolysis of cAMP in inflammatory cells, conferring anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of roflumilast on hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury (HALI) in a rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into: control group; HALI group; 2.5 mg/kg roflumilast group; and 5 mg/kg roflumilast group. Rats were pressurized to 250 kPa with pure oxygen to induce lung injury. In the roflumilast groups, rats were orally administered with roflumilast at 2.5 or 5 mg/kg once before hyperoxia exposure and once daily for two days after exposure. Rats were sacrificed 72 hours after hyperoxia exposure. The lung tissues were collected for the detection of lung water content, inflammatory cytokines and NF-κB/p-NF-κB protein expression, and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was harvested for the measurement of protein concentration and lactate dehydrogenase activity. Results showed roflumilast at different doses could significantly reduce lung edema, improve lung pathology and reduce the expression of inflammatory cytokines in the lung. The protective effects seemed to be related to the dose of roflumilast. Our study indicates roflumilast has the potential as a medication for the treatment of HALI.

A Single Latent Plant Growth-Promoting Endophyte BH46 Enhances Houttuynia cordata Thunb. Yield and Quality.

Plant growth-promoting endophytes (PGPE) can effectively regulate plant growth and metabolism. The regulation is modulated by metabolic signals, and the resulting metabolites can have considerable effects on the plant yield and quality. Here, tissue culture Houttuynia cordata Thunb., was inoculated with Rhizobium sp. (BH46) to determine the effect of BH46 on H. cordata growth and metabolism, and elucidate associated regulatory mechanisms. The results revealed that BH46 metabolized indole-3-acetic acid and induced 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase to decrease ethylene metabolism. Host peroxidase synthesis MPK3/MPK6 genes were significantly downregulated, whereas eight genes associated with auxins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, and antioxidant enzymes were significantly upregulated. Eight genes associated with flavonoid biosynthesis were significantly upregulated, with the CPY75B1 gene regulating the production of rutin and quercitrin and the HCT gene directly regulating the production of chlorogenic acid. Therefore, BH46 influences metabolic signals in H. cordata to modulate its growth and metabolism, in turn, enhancing yield and quality of H. cordata.

(Z)-N-{(E)-10-[(2,6-Diisopropyl-phen-yl)-imino]-9,10-dihydro-phenanthren-9-yl-idene}-2,6-dimethyl-aniline.

The title compound, C(34)H(34)N(2), adopts a Z,E configuration with respect to the N=C-C=N backbone, with an N-C-C-N torsion angle of 41.1 (4)° The dihedral angle between the benzene rings in the 9,10-dihydro-phenanthrene moiety is 18.0 (1)°.

[Retracted] Long intergenic non­protein coding RNA 152 promotes multiple myeloma progression by negatively regulating microRNA­497.

Following the publication of this paper, an interested reader drew the authors' attention to the fact that several of the tumour images shown in Fig. 6B were strikingly similar to images that had appeared in another paper by different authors published at around the same time. The authors also admitted that the in vivo experiments reported in this study had been performed by a third party. Consequently, owing to a lack of confidence in the presented data, the authors requested that this paper be retracted from the Journal. The Editor was in agreement that the paper should be retracted. All authors agree with the retraction of this article, and the Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [the original article was published in Oncology Reports 40: 3763­3771, 2018; DOI: 10.3892/or.2018.6721].

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a population-based study.

We aimed to explore the clinicopathological features and survival-related factors for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Eligible data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database from 2004 to 2015. Totally, 4595 ICC patients were collected with a male to female ratio of nearly 1:1. The higher proportion of ICC patients was elderly, tumor size ≥ 5 cm and advanced AJCC stage. Most patients (79.2%) have no surgery, while low proportion of patients receiving radiotherapy (15.1%). The median survival was 7.0 months (range 0-153 months). The 5-year CSS and OS rates were 8.96% and 7.90%. Multivariate analysis found that elderly age (aged ≥ 65 years old), male, diagnosis at 2008-2011, higher grade, tumor size ≥ 5 cm, and advanced AJCC stage were independent factors for poorer prognosis; while API/AI (American Indian/AK Native, Asian/Pacific Islander) race, married, chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy were independent favorable factors in both CSS and OS. Furthermore, stratified analysis found that chemotherapy and radiotherapy improved CSS and OS in patients without surgery. Age, sex, race, years of diagnosis, married status, grade, tumor size, AJCC stage, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy were significantly related to prognosis of ICC. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy could significantly improve survival in patients without surgery.

The Effect of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphisms on the Clinical Efficacy of Perindopril Prescribed for Acute Myocardial Infarction in Chinese Han Patients.

Objective: Perindopril is an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor that is commonly used in the treatment of Chinese Han patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, there have been few studies on whether polymorphisms of the ACE gene affect the efficacy of perindopril or the prognosis of AMI patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship among the ACE rs121912703 (C>T), rs767880620 (C>A), and rs397514689 (C>T) gene polymorphisms and the prognosis of AMI patients and the clinical efficacy of perindopril in the treatment of AMI. Methods: The ACE genotypes at the rs121912703, rs767880620, and rs397514689 loci in 225 AMI patients treated with perindopril were determined by polymerase chain reaction/Sanger sequencing. Differences in cardiac structure, functional indicators, hemodynamic parameters, and related laboratory indicators were detected before and after treatment. Results: After administration of perindopril, improved ventricular remodeling in AMI patients with wild-type ACE was better than in patients with the ACE rs121912703, rs767880620, and rs397514689 minor variant alleles. The patients harboring wild-type ACE had lower systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure than the patients harboring the minor variant alleles (p < 0.01). The contents of serum ACE and Ang II (angiotensin II) in AMI patients carrying the wild-type ACE alleles were lower than those of patients harboring any of the minor variant alleles (p < 0.01). The 3-year survival time of AMI patients carrying the wild-type ACE alleles was markedly greater compared with AMI patients carrying the mutant genes (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Mutations at the ACE rs121912703, rs767880620, and rs397514689 loci affect the efficacy of perindopril on ventricular remodeling and hemodynamics in Chinese Han AMI patients. The 3-year survival of AMI patients harboring the variant alleles is less than that of the patients harboring the wild-type gene.

Long non-coding RNA DSCAM-AS1 accelerates the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma via sponging miR-338-3p.

Aberrant expression of long non-coding RNA DSCAM-AS1 (Down Syndrome Cell Adhesion Molecule antisense) has been observed in several cancers. However, the expression status, biological function and underling mechanism of DSCAM-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. The expression of DSCAM-AS1 was detected in HCC tissues and serum from both HCC patients and healthy controls. MTS, wound healing and transwell invasion assays were used to examine the effects of DSCAM-AS1 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in HCC cells, respectively. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) targeted DSCAM-AS1 was predicated by Starbase2.0 and identified using luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays. The xenograft mice were established to examine the effect DSCAM-AS1 on tumor growth in vivo. We found that DSCAM-AS1 was up-regulated in HCC tissues relative to adjacent non-tumor tissues. Serum levels of DSCAM-AS1 were higher in HCC patients than that in healthy controls. Increased DSCAM-AS1 was associated with poor prognosis. Knockdown of DSCAM-AS1 significantly inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Moreover, miR-338-3p was confirmed as a direct target of DSCAM-AS1 in HCC cells. The miR-338-3p inhibitor could partially reverse the inhibitory effect of DSCAM-AS1 depletion in HCC cells. DSCAM-AS1 positively regulated CyclinD1 and smoothened (SMO) expression (two targets of miR-338-3p) in HCC cells. Moreover, tumor growth was tremendously retarded in nude mice received injection of SMCC-7721 cells transfected with sh-DSCAM-AS1. Taken together, the present work suggested that DSCAM-AS1 functioned as an oncogenic lncRNA that promoted HCC progression by sponging miR-338-3p.

microRNA-26a-5p Promotes Proliferation and Migration of Osteosarcoma Cells by Targeting HOXA5 in vitro and in vivo.

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant tumor of bone. However, the underlying pathogenic mechanisms are still unclear. miR-26a was an endogenous non-coding small RNAs that have been showed to play a critical role in regulating varieties of biological and pathological processes. In this study, we will investigate the function of miR-26a-5p in osteosarcoma cells. METHODS: In this study, we explored the role of miR-26a-5p in osteosarcoma cell lines using qPCR, detected the proliferation, cell cycle and cell migration by CCK-8, PI and transwell. RESULTS: We found that compared with noncancerous cells, miR-26a-5p was highly expressed in osteosarcoma cell lines, especially in U2OS cells. Overexpression of miR-26a-5p promotes cell proliferation, cell cycle, and cell migration, but inhibits cell apoptosis. But down-regulation of miR-26a-5p in U2OS cells exhibits opposite effects. We also confirmed that miR-26a-5p directly targets HOXA5 in U2OS cells. Overexpression of HOXA5 reversed the effect of miR-26a-5p on cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. Besides, we showed in that knock-down of miR-26a-5p or overexpression of HOXA5 increased cell sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that highly expressed miR-26a-5p in osteosarcoma cells, and promotes proliferation and migration, but inhibits apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells by targeting HOXA5 which suggest that miR-26a-5p could serve as a novel therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.

Long intergenic non­protein coding RNA 152 promotes multiple myeloma progression by negatively regulating microRNA­497.

Long intergenic non­protein coding RNA 152 (LINC00152, also known as cytoskeleton regulator RNA) is reportedly involved in the development and progression of various types of human malignancy. However, the functional role of LINC00152 in multiple myeloma (MM) and the underlying molecular mechanisms have remained elusive. The present study aimed to investigate the role of LINC00152 in the genesis of MM and the potential molecular mechanisms. It was identified that the expression of LINC00152 was significantly upregulated in plasma cells from patients with MM vs. healthy subjects, and that a high expression of LINC00152 was correlated with a shorter overall survival in patients with MM. Functional assays demonstrated that knockdown of LINC00152 by transfecting MM cells with LINC00152­specific short hairpin RNA expression plasmids significantly inhibited cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, knockdown of LINC00152 promoted caspase­3/9 activity and apoptosis in MM cells. In addition, knockdown of LINC00152 significantly attenuated tumor growth in mice bearing a myeloma xenograft. A luciferase reporter assay indicated that microRNA (miR)­497 is a direct target of LINC00152, and its expression levels were inversely correlated with those of LINC00152 in MM tissues. Furthermore, repression of miR­497 partly abrogated the inhibitory effects of LINC00152 knockdown on MM cells. Collectively, the results indicated that LINC00152 has an oncogenic effect in MM by targeting miR­497, and may be a novel diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for MM.

Citrus aurantium Naringenin Prevents Osteosarcoma Progression and Recurrence in the Patients Who Underwent Osteosarcoma Surgery by Improving Antioxidant Capability.

Citrus aurantium is rich in flavonoids, which may prevent osteosarcoma progression, but its related molecular mechanism remains unclear. Flavonoids were extracted from C. aurantium and purified by reparative HPLC. Each fraction was identified by using electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Three main components (naringin, naringenin, and hesperetin) were isolated from C. aurantium. Naringenin inhibited the growth of MG-63 cells, whereas naringin and hesperetin had no inhibitory function on cell growth. ROS production was increased in naringin- and hesperetin-treated groups after one day of culture while the level was always lowest in the naringenin-treated group after three days of culture. 95 osteosarcoma patients who underwent surgery were assigned into two groups: naringenin group (NG, received 20 mg naringenin daily, n = 47) and control group (CG, received 20 mg placebo daily, n = 48). After an average of two-year follow-up, osteosarcoma volumes were smaller in the NG group than in the CG group (P > 0.01). The rate of osteosarcoma recurrence was also lower in the NG group than in CG group. ROS levels were lower in the NG group than in the CG group. Thus, naringenin from Citrus aurantium inhibits osteosarcoma progression and local recurrence in the patients who underwent osteosarcoma surgery by improving antioxidant capability.

MicroRNA-497 suppresses cell proliferation and induces apoptosis through targeting PBX3 in human multiple myeloma.

Aberrant expression of microRNA-497 (miRN-497) is implicated in development and progression of multiple types of cancers. However, the biological function and underlying mechanism of miR-497 in multiple myeloma (MM) remains unclear. Thus, we studied the potential biological roles of miR-497 in MM. The expression of miR-497 was examined in multiple myeloma and normal plasma cells by qRT-PCR. Biological functions of miR-497 were analyzed using cell proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle, apoptosis and luciferase assays in vitro, as well as via tumorigenicity in vivo analysis. Here, we observed reduced expression of miR-497 in MM plasma samples and cell lines. Ectopic expression of miR-497 dramatically suppressed cell proliferation and clonogenicity, as well as induced cell arrest at G0/G1 stage and apoptosis in vitro. Mechanistic investigation assays showed that Pre-B-cellleukemia transcription factor 3 (PBX3) was a novel and direct downstream target of miR-497. Interestingly, overexpression of PBX3 partially reverted the effect of miR-497 in MM cells. In xenograft model, overexpression of miR-497 inhibited tumorigenicity by repressing PBX3. These findings collectively suggested that miR-497 functioned as tumor suppressor in MM by directly targeting PBX3, supporting its utility as a novel and potential therapeutic agent for MM therapy.

Development of a new mini-invasive tumour hyperthermia probe using high-temperature water vapour.

A new mini-invasive hyperthermia probe using high-temperature water vapour for deep regional tumour treatment was developed in this paper. The vacuum insulation mechanism was incorporated into the probe to avoid heating damage to the normal tissues around the edge of the insertion path. To better understand the heat transfer behaviour in living tissues due to operation of the probe, theoretical models based on the Pennes' equation were established and two closed form analytical solutions under constant flux or temperature heating at the tip of probe were obtained. Parametric studies were performed to investigate the influence of various parameters on the temperature response of tissues heated by the probe. Further, several simulating experiments on the actual heating performance of the probe fabricated in this paper were conducted on the in vitro biological materials (fresh pork) and phantom gel. It was demonstrated that the probe can cause a high enough temperature over the treatment area to thermally destroy the tumour tissue in due time, while the temperature over the surrounding healthy tissues can be kept below a safe threshold value. This mini-invasive heating probe may have significant applications in future clinical tumour hyperthermia.

Selective freezing of target biological tissues after injection of solutions with specific thermal properties.

Cryosurgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that employs the destructive effect of freezing to eradicate undesirable tissues. This paper proposes a flexible method to control the size and shape of the iceball by injecting solutions with specific thermal properties into the target tissues, to enhance freezing damage to the diseased tissues while preserving the normal tissues from injury. The cryosurgical procedure was performed using a minimally invasive cryoprobe cooled by liquid nitrogen (LN2) to obtain deep regional freezing. Several needle thermocouples were applied simultaneously to record the transient temperature to detect the freezing effect on the tissues. Simulation experiments on biological tissue (fresh pork) were performed in vitro and four different liquids were injected into the test materials; these were distilled water, an aqueous suspension of aluminum nanoparticles in water, ethanol, and a 10% solution of the cryoprotective agent dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO). The experimental results demonstrate that the localized injection of an appropriate solution could enhance the tumor-killing effect without altering the freezing conditions. The study also suggests the potential value of combining cryosurgery with other therapeutic methods, such as electrical, chemical, and thermal treatments, to develop new clinical modalities in the near future.

Using electrical impedance detection to evaluate the viability of biomaterials subject to freezing or thermal injury.

This paper is aimed at comprehensively investigating the dynamic low-frequency electrical impedance (DLFI) of biological materials during the processes of freezing, thawing and heating, and combinations of them. Electrical impedance detection (EID) was proposed as a means of rapidly evaluating the viability of biological materials subject to freezing or thermal injury (processes expected to be significant in the practices of cryobiology and hyperthermia). Using two experimental setups, the DLFI for selected biological materials (fresh pork and fish) under various freezing and heating conditions was systematically measured and analyzed. Preliminary results demonstrate that damage that occurs to a biological material due to freezing or heating could result in a significant deviation in its electric impedance value from that of undamaged biomaterials. Monitoring impedance change ratios under various freezing and heating conditions may offer an alternative strategy for assessing the amount of damage sustained by biomaterials subject to cryosurgery, cryo-preservation and hyperthermia. Implementation of the present method in order to develop a new micro-analysis or biochip system is also suggested.