Design, Synthesis, Antifungal Activity, and Action Mechanism of Pyrazole-4-carboxamide Derivatives Containing Oxime Ether Active Fragment As Succinate Dehydrogenase Inhibitors.

The dearomatization at the hydrophobic tail of the boscalid was carried out to construct a series of novel pyrazole-4-carboxamide derivatives containing an oxime ether fragment. By using fungicide-likeness analyses and virtual screening, 24 target compounds with theoretical strong inhibitory effects against fungal succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) were designed and synthesized. Antifungal bioassays showed that the target compound E1 could selectively inhibit the in vitro growth of R. solani, with the EC50 value of 1.1 µg/mL that was superior to that of the agricultural fungicide boscalid (2.2 µg/mL). The observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that E1 could reduce mycelial density and significantly increase the mitochondrial number in mycelia cytoplasm, which was similar to the phenomenon treated with boscalid. Enzyme activity assay showed that the E1 had the significant inhibitory effect against the SDH from R. solani, with the IC50 value of 3.3 µM that was superior to that of boscalid (7.9 µM). The mode of action of the target compound E1 with SDH was further analyzed by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies. Among them, the number of hydrogen bonds was significantly more in the SDH-E1 complex than that in the SDH-boscalid complex. This research on the dearomatization strategy of the benzene ring for constructing pyrazole-4-carboxamides containing an oxime ether fragment provides a unique thought to design new antifungal drugs targeting SDH.

Effects of seasonal precipitation regimes on microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activity during shrub foliar litter decomposition in a subtropical forest.

Elucidating the mechanisms underlying microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activity responses to the seasonal precipitation regime during foliar litter decomposition is highly important for understanding the material cycle of forest ecosystems in the context of global climate change; however, the specific underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Hence, a precipitation manipulation experiment involving a control (CK) and treatments with decreased precipitation in the dry season and extremely increased precipitation in the wet season (IE) and decreased precipitation in the dry season and proportionally increased precipitation in the wet season (IP) was conducted in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in China from October 2020 to October 2021. The moisture, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzyme activities of foliar litter from two dominant shrub species, Phyllostachys violascens and Alangium chinense, were measured at six stages during the dry and wet seasons. The results showed that (1) both IE and IP significantly decreased the microbial biomass carbon and microbial biomass nitrogen content and the activities of ß-1,4-glucosidase, ß-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase, acid phosphatase and cellulase in the dry season, while the opposite effects were observed in the wet season. (2) Compared with those of IE, the effects of IP on foliar litter microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activity were more significant. (3) The results from the partial least squares model indicated that extracellular enzyme activity during foliar litter decomposition was strongly controlled by the foliar litter water content, microbial biomass nitrogen, the ratio of total carbon to total phosphorus, foliar litter total carbon, and foliar litter total nitrogen. These results provide an important theoretical basis for elucidating the microbial mechanisms driving litter decomposition in a subtropical forest under global climate change scenarios.

Silicon in paddy fields: Benefits for rice production and the potential of rice phytoliths for biogeochemical carbon sequestration.

Silicon (Si) biogeochemical cycling is beneficial for crop productivity and carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural ecosystem, thus offering a nonnegligible role in alleviating global warming and food crisis. Compared with other crops, rice plants have a greater quantity of phytolith production, because they are able to take up a lot of Si. However, it remains unclear on Si supply capacity of paddy soils across the world, general rice yield-increasing effect after Si fertilizer addition, and factors affecting phytolith production and potential of phytolith C sequestration in paddy fields. This study used a meta-analysis of >3500 data from 87 studies to investigate Si supply capacity of global paddy soils and elaborate the benefits of Si regarding rice productivity and phytolith C sequestration in paddy fields. Analytical results showed that the Si supply capacity of paddy soils was insufficient in the major rice producing countries/regions. Dealing with this predicament, Si fertilization was an effective strategy to supply plant-available Si to improve rice productivity. Our meta-analysis results further revealed that Si fertilization led to the average increasing rate of 36 % and 39 % in rice yield and biomass, which could reach up to 52 % and 46 % with the increasing doses of Si fertilizer, respectively. Especially, this strategy also improved the potential of phytolith C sequestration through the increased phytolith content and rice biomass, despite that this potential might have a decline in old paddy soils (≥ 7000 year) compared to in young paddy soils (≤ 1000 year) due to the slow migration and dissolution of phytoliths at millennial scale. Our findings thus indicate that a deep investigation on the benefits of Si in agroecosystem will further improve our understanding on regulating crop production and the potential of biogeochemical C sequestration within phytoliths in global cropland.

Hypoxia-induced miR-5100 promotes exosome-mediated activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts and metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The invasion-metastasis cascade in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is predominantly caused by the interaction between tumor cells and tumor microenvironment, including hypoxia as well as stromal cells. However, the mechanism of hypoxia-activated tumor-stroma crosstalk in HNSCC metastasis remains to be deciphered. Here, we demonstrated that HIF1α was upregulated in HNSCC specimens compared with adjacent normal tissues, whose overexpression was associated with lymph node metastasis and predicted unfavorable prognosis. HIF1α expression correlated positively with the levels of miR-5100 as well as α-SMA, the marker of CAFs. Hypoxia/HIF1α regulated transcriptionally miR-5100 to promote the degradation of its target gene QKI, which acts as a tumor suppressor in HNSCC. Hypoxic HNSCC-derived exosomal miR-5100 promoted the activation of CAFs by orchestrating QKI/AKT/STAT3 axis, which further facilitated HNSCC metastasis. Additionally, miR-5100 derived from plasma exosomes indicated HNSCC malignant progression. In conclusion, our findings illuminate a novel HIF1α/miR-5100/QKI pathway in HNSCC metastasis, and suggest that miR-5100 might be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for HNSCC.

Inhibition of platelet adhesion to exposed subendothelial collagen by steric hindrance with blocking peptide nanoparticles.

The inhibition of platelet adhesion to collagen in exposed vessels represents an innovative approach to the treatment of atherosclerosis and thrombosis. This study aimed to engineer peptide-based nanoparticles that prevent platelet binding to subendothelial collagen by engaging with collagen with high affinity. We examined the interactions between integrin α2/ glycoprotein VI/ von Willebrand factor A3 domain and collagen, as well as between the synthesized peptide nanoparticles and collagen, utilizing molecular dynamics simulations and empirical assays. Our findings indicated that the bond between von Willebrand factor and collagen was more robust. Specifically, the sequences SITTIDV, VDVMQRE, and YLTSEMH in von Willebrand factor were identified as essential for its attachment to collagen. Based on these sequences, three peptide nanoparticles were synthesized (BPa: Capric-GNNQQNYK-SITTIDV, BPb: Capric-GNNQQNYK-VDVMQRE, BPc: Capric-GNNQQNYK-YLTSEMH), each displaying significant affinity towards collagen. Of these, the BPa nanoparticles exhibited the most potent interaction with collagen, leading to a 75% reduction in platelet adhesion.

Divergent soil P accrual in ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal trees: insights from a common garden experiment in subtropical China.

Tree species establish mycorrhizal associations with both ectomycorrhizal (EM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM), which play crucial roles in facilitating plant phosphorus (P) acquisition. However, little attention has been given to the effects of EM and AM species on soil P dynamics and the underlying mechanisms in subtropical forests, where P availability is typically low. To address this knowledge gap, we selected two EM species (Pinus massoniana - PM and Castanopsis carlesii - CC) and two AM species (Cunninghamia lanceolata - Chinese fir, CF and Michelia macclurei - MM) in a common garden established in 2012 in subtropical China. We investigated soil properties (e.g., pH, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and dissolved organic nitrogen), soil P fractions, phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), enzyme activities, foliar manganese (Mn) concentration, and foliar nutrients and stoichiometry. Our findings revealed that soils hosting EM species had higher levels of resin P, NaHCO3-Pi, extractable Po, total P, and a greater percentage of extractable Po to total P compared to soils with AM species. These results indicate that EM species enhance soil P availability and organic P accumulation in contrast to AM species. Moreover, EM species exhibited higher P return to soil (indicated by higher foliar P concentrations) when compared to AM species, which partly explains higher P accumulation in soils with EM species. Additionally, resin P showed a positive correlation with acid phosphatase (ACP) activity, whereas no correlation was found with foliar Mn concentration, which serves as a proxy for the mobilization of sorbed soil P. Such findings indicate that organic P mineralization has a more substantial impact than inorganic P desorption in influencing P availability in soils hosting both EM and AM species. In summary, our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of mycorrhizal associations on soil P accumulation in subtropical forests and provide valuable insights into plant-soil interactions and their role in P cycling in regions with limited P availability.

Trade-off in the partitioning of recent photosynthate carbon under global change.

There may be trade-offs in the allocation patterns of recent photosynthetic carbon (RPC) allocation in response to environmental changes, with a greater proportion of RPC being directed towards compartments experiencing limited resource availability. Alternatively, the allocation of RPC could shift from sources to sinks as plants processing excess photosynthates. It prompts the question: Does the pattern of RPC allocation vary under global changes? If so, is this variation driven by optimal or by residual C allocation strategies? We conducted a meta-analysis by complicating 273 pairwise observations from 55 articles with 13 C or 14 C pulse or continuous labeling to assess the partitioning of RPC in biomass (leaf, stem, shoot, and root), soil pools (soil organic C, rhizosphere, and microbial biomass C) and CO2 fluxes under elevated CO2 (eCO2 ), warming, drought and nitrogen (N) addition. We propose that the increased allocation of RPC to belowground under sufficient CO2 results from the excretion of excess photosynthates. Warming led to a significant reduction in the percentage of RPC allocated to shoots, alongside an increase in roots allocation, although this was not statistically significant. This pattern is due to the reduced water availability resulting from warming. In conditions of drought, there was a notable increase in the partitioning of RPC to stems (+7.25%) and roots (+36.38%), indicative of a greater investment of RPC in roots for accessing water from deeper soil. Additionally, N addition led to a heightened allocation of RPC in leaves (+10.18%) and shoots (+5.78%), while reducing its partitioning in soil organic C (-8.92%). Contrary to the residual C partitioning observed under eCO2 , the alterations in RPC partitioning in response to warming, drought, and N supplementation are more comprehensively explained through the lens of optimal partitioning theory, showing a trade-off in the partitioning of RPC under global change.

Turing Instability of Liquid-Solid Metal Systems.

The classical Turing morphogenesis often occurs in nonmetallic solution systems due to the sole competition of reaction and diffusion processes. Here, this work conceives that gallium (Ga) based liquid metals (LMs) possess the ability to alloy, diffuse, and react with a range of solid metals (SMs) and thus should display Turing instability leading to a variety of nonequilibrium spatial concentration patterns. This work discloses a general mechanism for obtaining labyrinths, stripes, and spots-like stationary Turing patterns in the LM-SM reaction-diffusion systems (GaX-Y), taking the gallium indium alloy and silver substrate (GaIn-Ag) system as a proof of concept. It is only when Ga atoms diffuse over Y much faster than X while X reacts with Y preferentially, that Turing instability occurs. In such a metallic system, Ga serves as an inhibitor and X as an activator. The dominant factors in tuning the patterning process include temperature and concentration. Intermetallic compounds contained in the Turing patterns and their competitive reactions have also been further clarified. This LM Turing instability mechanism opens many opportunities for constructing microstructure systems utilizing condensed matter to experimentally explore the general morphogenesis process.

Effects of vegetation restoration on the concentrations of multiple metal elements in post-mining soils.

Vegetation restoration is vital for soil ecological restoration in post-mining areas, but a global-scale quantitative assessment of its effects on soil metal elements is lacking. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis with 2308 paired observations collected from 137 publications to evaluate vegetation restoration effects on the concentrations of 17 metal elements, namely K, AK (available K), Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Al, Cr, Co, Ni, Cd, Sb, Hg, and Pb in post-mining soils. We found that (1) vegetation restoration significantly increased the concentrations of K, AK, Ca, Mg and Co by 43.2, 42.5, 53.4, 53.7, and 137.2%, respectively, but did not affect the concentrations of Na, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Al, Cr, Ni, Cd, Sb, Hg, and Pb; (2) the effects of vegetation restoration on soil metal concentration were seldom impacted by vegetation type, while soil depth only affected the responses of AK, Cd, and Pb concentrations to vegetation restoration, and leaf type only impacted the responses of Ca and Ni concentrations to vegetation restoration; (3) latitude, elevation, restoration year, climate, and initial soil properties were also important moderator variables of vegetation restoration effects, but their impacts varied among different metals. Overall, our results clearly showed that vegetation restoration in posting-mining areas generally have a positive effect on the concentrations of nutrient elements but did not influence that of toxic elements, which provides useful information for the restoration and reconstruction of soil ecosystem in post-mining areas.

Global patterns and drivers of lead concentration in inland waters.

Water bodies are important carriers for lead (Pb) biogeochemical cycling, which is a key pathway of Pb transport. Although existing studies on Pb loading in inland waters have developed rapidly, a quantitative assessment of the distribution patterns and drivers of Pb concentration in inland waters at the global scale remains unclear. Here, by analyzing 1790 observations collected from 386 independent publications, we assessed the spatial distribution and drivers of Pb concentration in inland waters worldwide. We found that (1) globally, the median of Pb concentration in inland waters was 5.81 µg L-1; (2) among different inland water types, Pb concentration was higher in rivers, and the highest Pb concentration was in industrial land in terms of land use type; (3) Pb concentration in inland waters were positively driven by potential evapotranspiration, elevation and road density; and (4) Pb concentration showed a negative relationship with absolute latitude, decreasing from tropic to boreal regions. Overall, our global assessment of the patterns and drivers of Pb concentration in inland waters contributed to a better understanding of the natural and anthropogenic attributions of Pb in the inland hydrological cycling.

Deubiquitinase YOD1 suppresses tumor progression by stabilizing E3 ligase TRIM33 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Ubiquitination is a reversible process that not only controls protein synthesis and degradation, but also is essential for protein transport, localization and biological activity. Deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) dysfunction leads to various diseases, including cancer. In this study, we aimed to explore the functions and mechanisms of crucial DUBs in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Based on bioinformatic analysis and immunohistochemistry detection, YOD1 was identified to be significantly downregulated in HNSCC specimens compared with adjacent normal tissues. Further analysis revealed that reduced YOD1 expression was associated with the malignant progression of HNSCC and indicated poor prognosis. The results of the in vitro and in vivo experiments verified that YOD1 depletion significantly promoted growth, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in HNSCC. Mechanistically, YOD1 inhibited the activation of the ERK/ß-catenin pathway by suppressing the ubiquitination and degradation of TRIM33, leading to the constriction of HNSCC progression. Overall, our findings reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the role of YOD1 in tumor progression and provide a novel potential therapeutic target for HNSCC treatment.

Development and pilot testing of a clinic implementation program delivering physical activity electronic referrals to cancer survivors.

Provider physical activity referrals are recommended for cancer survivors, though barriers exist to clinical system integration. To develop and test ActivityChoice, an electronic referral (eReferral) clinic implementation program referring cancer survivors to physical activity programs of their choice. In Phase 1, we conducted semi-structured interviews with Cancer Center clinicians (n = 4) and cancer-focused physical activity program leaders (n = 3) assessing adaptations needed to implement an eReferral previously designed for another context. In Phase 2, we pilot-tested clinician-delivered referrals to survivors in two 12-week Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles. We examined feasibility using descriptive statistics (clinicians' adoption and engagement, patient referrals, and physical activity program enrollment) and acceptability through semi-structured interviews with enrolled clinicians (n = 4) and referred patients (n = 9). ActivityChoice included a secure referral webform, text message/email referral confirmations, clinician training/booster sessions, visual reminders, and referrals to in-person or virtual group physical activity programs. Results for each PDSA cycle respectively included: 41% (n = 7) and 53% (n = 8) of clinicians adopted ActivityChoice; 18 and 36 patients were referred; 39% (n = 7) and 33% (n = 12) of patients enrolled in programs, and 30% (n = 4) and 14% (n = 5) of patients deferred enrollment. Patients and clinicians appreciated the referrals and choices. A printed handout describing both programs was added to the clinic workflow for Cycle 2, which yielded more referrals, but lower program enrollment rates. Clinic-based eReferrals to choices of physical activity programs were feasible and acceptable by clinicians and patients. Added clinic workflow support may facilitate referrals.

Physical activity can improve the health, quality of life, and longevity among cancer survivors. Patients want to receive physical activity referrals and guidance from their cancer care team, but clinicians lack the knowledge, resources, time, and methods to counsel and refer their patients to community-based physical activity programs. One solution is to create a comprehensive electronic referral (eReferral) system giving cancer care clinicians the tools to support and refer their patients. We developed a simple eReferral that allows clinicians to refer patients to existing, evidence-based physical activity programs led by qualified exercise professions, LIVESTRONG at the YMCA (in-person) and Fit Cancer (virtual). We pilot tested the system with clinicians in two 12-week cycles. Clinicians were excited about the program and like the options they had to offer patients while providing suggestions on how we could better integrate it into their work environment. Patients appreciated the referral from their trusted cancer care clinician and appreciated choices of an in-person and virtual program to accommodate their preferences. To improve patient referrals and enrollment in physical activity programs, a more detailed printed handout that explains the benefits of physical activity in survivorship and describes each of the programs in detail may be helpful.

The types of microplastics, heavy metals, and adsorption environments control the microplastic adsorption capacity of heavy metals.

Anthropogenic development has released large amounts of microplastics (MPs), which are carriers of migratory heavy metals, into the environment, and heavy metal adsorption by MPs may have strong combined toxic effects on ecosystems. However, until now, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing these adsorption capacities of MPs has been lacking. Thus, we used 4984 experimental data points to systematically assess the factors influencing the adsorption strength of 8 types of MPs on 13 types of heavy metals. We found that (1) the types of MPs, heavy metals, and adsorption environments significantly impacted the heavy metal adsorption capacities of MPs; (2) polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) showed a higher adsorption capacity for lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) than did other MPs, by 2810.62 mg/kg and 2732.84 mg/kg, respectively; (3) the adsorption capacities of MPs for heavy metal were regulated by multiple variables, with heavy metal concentration, MP quality, solution amount, adsorption time, and pH being the most important; and (4) MPs had a higher adsorption capacity in aquatic environments (except for seawater) than which in soil environments. Overall, our study clearly showed that the types of heavy metals, adsorption environments, and MPs influenced the heavy metal adsorption capacities of MPs and may exacerbate their combined environmental toxicity, which would help better characterize the severity of MP pollution.

Global characteristics and drivers of sodium and aluminum concentrations in freshly fallen plant litter.

Plant litter is not only the major component of terrestrial ecosystem net productivity, the decomposition of which is also an important process for the returns of elements, including sodium (Na) and aluminum (Al), which can be beneficial or toxic for plant growth. However, to date, the global characteristics and driving factors of Na and Al concentrations in freshly fallen litter still remain elusive. Here, we evaluated the concentrations and drivers of litter Na and Al with 491 observations extracted from 116 publications across the globe. Results showed that (1) the average concentrations of Na in leaf, branch, root, stem, bark, and reproductive tissue (flowers and fruits) litter were 0.989, 0.891, 1.820, 0.500, 1.390, and 0.500 g/kg, respectively, and the concentrations of Al in leaf, branch, and root were 0.424, 0.200 and 1.540 g/kg, respectively. (2) mycorrhizal association significantly affected litter Na and Al concentration. The highest concentration of Na was found in litter from trees associated with both arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECM), followed by litter from trees with AM and ECM. Lifeform, taxonomic, and leaf form had significant impacts on the concentration of Na and Al in plant litter of different tissues. (3) leaf litter Na concentration was mainly driven by mycorrhizal association, leaf form and soil phosphorus concentration, while leaf litter Al concentration was mainly controlled by mycorrhizal association, leaf form, and precipitation in the wettest month. Overall, our study clearly assessed the global patterns and influencing factors of litter Na and Al concentrations, which may help us to better understand their roles in the associated biogeochemical cycles in forest ecosystem.

Ambient noise-based weakly supervised manhole localization methods over deployed fiber networks.

We present a manhole localization method based on distributed fiber optic sensing and weakly supervised machine learning techniques. For the first time to our knowledge, ambient environment data is used for underground cable mapping with the promise of enhancing operational efficiency and reducing field work. To effectively accommodate the weak informativeness of ambient data, a selective data sampling scheme and an attention-based deep multiple instance classification model are adopted, which only requires weakly annotated data. The proposed approach is validated on field data collected by a fiber sensing system over multiple existing fiber networks.

Hypoxic tumor-derived exosomal miR-21 induces cancer-associated fibroblast activation to promote head and neck squamous cell carcinoma metastasis.

BACKGROUND: Both microRNA-21-5p (miR-21) and the tumor microenvironment, including hypoxia and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), play a vital role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but whether there is an interaction and the specific regulatory mechanism between them in the process of metastasis is still unclear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the connection and regulatory mechanism of miR-21, hypoxia, and CAFs in HNSCC metastasis. METHODS: The underlying mechanisms of hypoxia inducible factor 1 subunit alpha (HIF1α) regulating miR-21 transcription, promoting exosome secretion, CAFs activation, tumor invasion, and lymph node metastasis were determined through quantitative real-time PCR, immunoblotting, transwell, wound healing, immunofluorescence, ChIP, electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay, co-culture model and xenografts experiments. RESULTS: MiR-21 promoted the invasion and metastasis of HNSCC in vitro and in vivo, whereas HIF1α knockdown inhibited these processes. HIF1α upregulated transcription of miR-21 and promoted the release of exosomes from HNSCC cells. Exosomes derived from hypoxic tumor cells were rich in miR-21, which induced NFs activation towards CAFs by targeting YOD1. Knockdown the expression level of miR-21 in CAFs prevented lymph node metastasis in HNSCC. CONCLUSION: Hypoxic tumor cell-derived exosomal miR-21 might be a therapeutic target to prevent or delay HNSCC invasion and metastasis.

Susceptibility to arecoline in male C57BL/6 J mice correlates with age factor.

Epidemiological investigations and clinical studies have confirmed that human chewing of betel nut is an addictive behavior, and the proportion of teenagers chewing betel nut is increasing. Previous studies have shown that adolescence shows higher sensitivity to many addictive substances compared with adulthood, and that adult susceptibility to addictive substances is usually changed after exposure to addictive substances during adolescence. However, there are no reports of age-related animal experiments on betel nut or dependence to its active ingredients. Therefore, the two-bottle choice (TBC) (experiment 1 and 2) and conditioned place preference (CPP) (experiment 3 and 4) models with mice were used in this study to explore age-related differences in intake and preference of arecoline, the alkaloid in betel nut with highest content, and to explore the effect of arecoline exposure during adolescence on the re-exposure of arecoline in adulthood in mice. The results of experiment 1 showed that the intake of 80 µg/ml arecoline in adolescent mice was significantly higher than that in adult mice. However, there was no significant difference between adult and adolescent mice in preference for arecoline at any tested concentration (5-80 µg/ml), which may be due to the significantly higher intake of total fluid in adolescent mice compared to adult mice. The preference of arecoline in adolescent mice peaked at 20 µg/ml, and in adult mice peaked at 40 µg/ml. The results of experiment 2 showed that oral arecoline (5-80 µg/ml) in mice during adolescence caused a significant increase in the intake (days 3-16) and preference (days 5-8) for 40 µg/ml arecoline in adulthood. The results of experiment 3 showed that the doses of 0.03 or 0.1 mg/kg of arecoline produced the highest CPP response in adolescent or adult mice, respectively. The results of experiment 4 showed that mice exposed to arecoline in adolescence had significantly increased the CPP scores induced by arecoline in adulthood compared to mice that were not exposed. These data suggested that adolescent mice were more sensitive to arecoline, and exposure of mice to arecoline during adolescence increased the susceptibility to arecoline in adulthood.

[Retracted] microRNA­7 regulates cell growth, migration and invasion via direct targeting of PAK1 in thyroid cancer.

Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that a data panel portraying cell migration and invasion assay data shown in Fig. 7C was strikingly similar to a panel that had appeared in another article by different authors at a different research institute, which had been submitted for publication earlier than the submission date of this article. Moreover, a large number of overlapping data panels were identified comparing the data in Figs. 4A and B and 7C and D. Owing to the fact that the contentious data in Fig. 7C in the above article were already under consideration for publication prior to its submission to Molecular Medicine Reports, the Editor has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [Molecular Medicine Reports 14: 2127-2134, 2016; DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2016.5477].

Vegetation restoration effects on soil carbon and nutrient concentrations and enzymatic activities in post-mining lands are mediated by mine type, climate, and former soil properties.

Vegetation restoration is a widely used, effective, and sustainable method to improve soil quality in post-mining lands. Here we aimed to assess global patterns and driving factors of potential vegetation restoration effects on soil carbon, nutrients, and enzymatic activities. We synthesized 4838 paired observations extracted from 175 publications to evaluate the effects that vegetation restoration might have on the concentrations of soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, as well as enzymatic activities. We found that (1) vegetation restoration had consistent positive effects on the concentrations of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, ammonia, nitrate, total phosphorus, and available phosphorus on average by 85.4, 70.3, 75.7, 54.6, 58.6, 34.7, and 60.4 %, respectively. Restoration also increased the activities of catalase, alkaline phosphatase, sucrase, and urease by 63.3, 104.8, 125.5, and 124.6 %, respectively; (2) restoration effects did not vary among different vegetation types (i.e., grass, tree, shrub and their combinations) or leaf type (broadleaved, coniferous, and mixed), but were affected by mine type; and (3) latitude, climate, vegetation species richness, restoration year, and initial soil properties are important moderator variables, but their effects varied among different soil variables. Our global scale study shows how vegetation restoration can improve soil quality in post-mining lands by increasing soil carbon, nutrients, and enzymatic activities. This information is crucial to better understand the role of vegetation cover in promoting the ecological restoration of degraded mining lands.