Diversity and Functional Distribution Characteristics of Myxobacterial Communities in the Rhizosphere of Tamarix chinensis Lour in Ebinur Lake Wetland, China.

Soil salinity and desertification are seriously threatening the ecological environment of Ebinur Lake Wetland. Myxobacteria are the main soil microbes in this wetland. However, it is still unclear if the myxobacterial community structure and diversity can improve the ecological environment of Ebinur Lake Wetland by regulating soil nutrient cycling. Therefore, based on high-throughput sequencing of 16SrRNA gene technology, the composition, function, and diversity of the myxobacterial community in the rhizosphere of Tamarix chinensis Lour in Ebinur Lake Wetland were studied. Rhizosphere soil samples were collected from 10 sampling sites (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, and S10) for three months (April, July, and October) to explore the main biotic and abiotic factors affecting the diversity and functions of myxobacterial communities. The results revealed that diversity of myxobacterial communities was mainly influenced by the seasons. The diversity of myxobacterial communities was significantly higher in the month of July, as compared to April and October. FAPROTAX functional prediction revealed that, in addition to predation or parasitic functions, myxobacteria were mainly involved in ecological functions, such as nitrite respiration, nitrite ammonification, and nitrogen respiration. The Spearman correlation analysis of the diversity and function of myxobacteria and bacteria showed that there were significant positive correlations between myxobacteria diversity, function, and bacterial diversity. The co-occurrence analysis of myxobacteria and bacterial networks showed that over time, myxobacteria interacted differently with different bacterial networks and jointly regulated the microbial community in the rhizosphere of Tamarix chinensis Lour through predation or cooperation. The redundancy analysis of soil physicochemical factors as well as the myxobacterial community showed that electrical conductivity, exchangeable calcium, and exchangeable potassium were the most important abiotic factors affecting the diversity, structure, and function of the myxobacterial community. These results reveal that myxobacteria may play important roles in degrading nitrogen compounds and regulating the activity of soil microorganisms. This study provides theoretical support for the ecological restoration of Ebinur Lake Wetland and lays the foundation for the future development and utilization of myxobacteria resources.

Composition and diversity of the fungal community in the rhizosphere soil of halophytic vegetation in Ebinur Lake wetland.

The Ebinur Lake wetland in Xinjiang is a typical wetland, comprising a desert ecosystem with rich soil microbial resources, especially soil fungi in the inter-rhizosphere regions of the wetland plants. This study aimed to clarify the diversity and community structures of the inter-rhizosphere soil fungi of plants in areas of high salinity in the Ebinur Lake wetland and their correlations with environmental factors, as little is currently known on this topic. The diversity and differences in the community structures of fungi associated with 12 salt-tolerant plant species in the Ebinur Lake wetland were investigated using 16S rRNA sequencing. Correlations between the fungi and environmental factors, specifically, the physiochemical characteristics of the soil, were evaluated. The results showed that fungal diversity was highest in the rhizosphere soil of Haloxylon ammodendron, followed by H. strobilaceum. The dominant fungal groups were found to be Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, and the dominant genus was Fusarium. Redundancy analysis revealed significant associations between total nitrogen, electrical conductivity, and total potassium in the soil and both the diversity and abundance of the fungi (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the abundance of fungi of all genera in the rhizosphere soil samples were found to be strongly correlated with environmental physicochemical factors such as available nitrogen and phosphorus. These findings provide data and theoretical support for a better understanding of the ecological resources of fungi in the Ebinur Lake wetland.

High-Efficient Vacuum Ultraviolet-Ozone Assist-Deposited Polydopamine for Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-Coated Pure Zn toward Biodegradable Cardiovascular Stent Applications.

Zinc is a prospective metal for biodegradable cardiovascular stent applications, but the excessively released Zn2+ during degradation remains a huge challenge in biocompatibility. Considerable efforts have been made to develop a high-efficient surface modification method, while maintaining adhesion strength, mechanical support, and vascular compatibility. Biomimetic polydopamine (PDA) can adhere to Zn tightly, subsequently achieving robust chemical bonds with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) coating. However, the deposition of PDA on Zn depends on the controlled conditions such as a sensitive pH and a long period of time. Herein, we introduce vacuum ultraviolet-ozone (VUV/O3) assist-deposition technology to accelerate the polymerization of PDA on pure Zn, which shortens the process to 40 min at a moderate pH of 8.5 and improves the deposition rate by 1-2 orders of magnitude under sufficient active oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, PLGA/PDA coating enhances the corrosion resistance, and their effective protection maintains the mechanical properties after long-term corrosion. Moreover, the controlled Zn2+ release contributes to the superior in vitro biocompatibility, which inhibits the hemolysis rate and smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. The enhanced endothelial cell (EC) proliferation is promising to promote the re-endothelialization, avoiding in-stent restenosis and neointimal hyperplasia. Such modified Zn might be a viable candidate for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Factors that predict the technical difficulty during endoscopic full-thickness resection of a gastric submucosal tumor.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR) is widely accepted for the treatment of gastric submucosal tumors (SMTs). However, technical difficulties sometimes occur. The aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy of EFTR for gastric SMTs and to explore risk factors for technical difficulty. METHODS: the clinical data of patients who received EFTR for gastric SMTs was retrospectively collected from April 2011 to September 2019. Efficacy was defined as an en bloc resection. Difficult EFTR was defined as a procedure time ≥ 120 minutes and/or the occurrence of major adverse events, such as major bleeding, abdominal pain or peritonitis. Finally, risk factors for technical difficulty of EFTR such as gender, age, tumor location, size, symptomatic, regular, outgrowth, operator experience and pathology were analyzed in a univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: one hundred SMTs were removed by EFTR. The average surgery time was 75.73 ± 45.9 (range: 20-250) minutes and the average tumor size was 16.23 ± 7.73 (range: 6-40) mm. With regard to efficacy, en bloc resection was achieved in 98 cases (98 %). A total of ten patients (9.9 %) had complications, namely two intra-operative bleeding, one delayed bleeding and seven patients had abdominal pain (overt peritonitis). EFTR was ceased in one patient due to massive intra-operative bleeding and conversion to laparoscopic surgery was necessary. One patient required laparoscopic surgery due to delayed bleeding, and other complications were resolved with a conservative treatment. A total of 18 cases (17.8 %) encountered a difficult EFTR: tumor size ≥ 3 cm (p = 0.008) and location at the gastric corpus (p = 0.007) were risk factors for a difficult EFTR according to the logistic analysis. CONCLUSION: EFTR is safe and effective for the treatment of gastric SMTs. Tumor size of ≥ 3 cm and location at the gastric corpus are risk factors for a difficult EFTR.

Mean Activity Coefficients of KCl in KCl + SrCl2 + H2O Ternary System at 288.15 K Determined by EMF Method.

In this work, the studies of thermodynamic mean activity coefficients of KCl in the KCl-SrCl2-H2O ternary system have been made. A cell without liquid junction battery cell, K-ISE|KCl(mA), SrCl2(mB)|Cl-ISE, was used to study the activity coefficients in this mixed system KCl-SrCl2-H2O at 288.15 K by the electromotive force method. The total ionic strengths ranges are 0.0100-1.0000 mol·kg-1 with different ionic strength fractions yb of SrCl2, that is, yb = (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8). The results show that the K-ISE and Cl-ISE have a good Nernst response. Accordingly, the electromotive forces of the mixed system were measured by using the ion selective electrode listed above, and the mean activity coefficients are also determined with Nernst equation. Using the activity coefficient data, the mixed ion interaction parameters θK,Sr and ψK,Sr,Cl of Pitzer equations at 288.15 K were fitted by Matlab with linear regression method, respectively. Furthermore, those parameters were applied to calculate the values of the mean activity coefficients of SrCl2. Finally, the osmotic coefficients, water activity, and the excess Gibbs free energy of this system were evaluated by Pitzer's equations.

Silk fibroin film-coated MgZnCa alloy with enhanced in vitro and in vivo performance prepared using surface activation.

Magnesium and its alloys have generated considerable interest as one of the most promising biodegradable metals for biomedical bone implants. However, the enormous challenges are to improve their rapid corrosion excessively as well as to endow them with biocompatibility and biosafety. Herein, we introduce a natural silk fibroin protein coating to control the corrosion resistance and enhance the biocompatibility of MgZnCa alloy. To obtain a robust and reliable coated structure, different surface-activation processes are employed to increase the available functional groups on MgZnCa surfaces before coating. Compared to oxygen plasma activation, our unique vacuum ultraviolet-ozone (VUV/O3) activation method is effective in realizing uniform silk fibroin films as a protective barrier on MgZnCa alloy surfaces, and the nanoscratch test verified the superior adhesion strength of the silk fibroin-coated magnesium alloy structure. Long-term immersion results combined with electrochemical tests showed the preferable in vitro anticorrosion behavior and a low degradation rate of coated Mg alloy (1/8 times that of uncoated Mg alloy). Cell adhesion and cytotoxicity tests demonstrated that silk fibroin-coated MgZnCa presented improved biocompatibility with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. An animal study involving silk fibroin-coated MgZnCa implanted on one side of a rabbit spine for 180 days showed remarkably improved in vivo corrosion resistance, with 1/18 times the degradation rate of uncoated MgZnCa. These results not only comprehensively confirmed the validity of the VUV/O3-activation method as a coating strategy but also implied the tremendous potential of the modified Mg alloy for application as a degradable biomedical implant material. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: MgZnCa alloy is a promising material in clinical implantation. Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural organic material with biocompatibility and biodegradability. To date, the combination of SF and MgZnCa alloy has exhibited considerable prospects for orthopedic applications. The realization of a direct coating is an enormous challenge because strong chemical bonds cannot be easily formed between organic and inorganic materials. To solve this bottleneck, we proposed a unique vacuum ultraviolet-ozone (VUV/O3) surface-activation method for the first time to modify the Mg alloy surface before SF coating, which significantly enhanced both in vitro and in vivo performance, such as superior biocompatibility and remarkably improved corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys (∼1/18 the in vivo degradation rate of uncoated MgZnCa).

[Plasma tissue factor and tissue factor pathway inhibitor levels in acute myocardial infarction patients with no-reflow during percutaneous coronary intervention].

OBJECTIVE: To compare plasma tissue factor (TF) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) levels before, immediately and 24 hours after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with or without no-reflow. METHODS: Plasma TF and TFPI in AMI patients underwent PCI were measured by enzyme linked immunoadsorbent (ELISA) before, immediately and 24 hours after PCI. RESULTS: The levels of TF and TFPI of no-reflow patients (n = 17) were significantly higher than those of reflow patients (n = 36) at baseline, immediately and 24 hours after PCI [TF: (275.3 +/- 46.2) ng/L vs. (236.8 +/- 44.3) ng/L, (332.7 +/- 41.3) ng/L vs. (282.3 +/- 38.7) ng/L, (315.5 +/- 47.8) ng/L vs. (248.1 +/- 46.9) ng/L; TFPI: (165.2 +/- 38.4) microg/L vs. (128.5 +/- 18.7) microg/L, (176.3 +/- 36.8) microg/L vs. (135.6 +/- 20.3) microg/L, (149.8 +/- 31.7) microg/L vs. (118.7 +/- 19.2) microg/L; all P < 0.01]. Plasma TF was significantly increased in both groups (all P < 0.01) immediately post PCI and the TF was still higher than that before PCI in no-reflow patients (P < 0.05) and returned to baseline level in reflow patients at 24 hours after PCI (P > 0.05), TFPI levels were similar before and after PCI in both groups (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Plasma tissue factor and tissue factor pathway inhibitor might play important roles in the development of no-reflow during PCI in AMI patients.

[Analysis of a family pedigree with primary shunt hyperbilirubinaemia].

OBJECTIVE: To identify whether primary shunt hyperbilirubinaemia is a genetic disorder or not and the pattern of the inheritance. METHOD: Clinical case data were studied with analysis of family pedigree of a case. RESULTS: Although the patient with primary shunt hyperbilirubinaemia presented an elevated unconjugated serum bilirubin, anemia and splenomegaly, the patient also presented decline of amount of peripheral white cells and normal amount of reticulocytes. The mature erythrocytes in peripheral blood and bone marrow were irregular in shape and size. There were also some target-, rod-, and mouth-shaped peripheral red cells in blood smear. With analysis of family pedigree, we can find that there were some patients with the primary shunt hyperbilirubinaemia in every generation of the family with equal distribution in male and female. The pattern of inheritance was transmitted from one generation to the next generation directly. Almost any manifestation of the disease may be found in adult patients, but the severity of the disorder was not the same among these patients. CONCLUSIONS: The primary shunt hyperbilirubinaemia is a genetic disease; its pattern of inheritance is autosomal dominant. It is suggested that the disease of primary shunt hyperbilirubinaemia could be renamed as hereditary shunt hyperbilirubinaemia.