[Response of Soil Fungal Community to Biochar Application Under Different Irrigation Water Salinity].

Saline water irrigation can alleviate the shortage of freshwater resources in the northwest arid zone, but long-term saline water irrigation can damage the soil fungal community structure. To alleviate the harm caused by salinity, biochar is used as a soil amendment to improve the soil fungal community structure. To investigate the intrinsic link between biochar application and the structural diversity of fungal communities in saline soils, two irrigation water salinity levels were set:0.35 dS·m-1 (fresh water) and 8.04 dS·m-1 (saline water). At each irrigation water salinity, two levels of biochar application were set:0 t·hm-2 (no application) and 3.7 t·hm-2 (application). High-throughput sequencing results showed that compared to that under fresh water irrigation, saline water irrigation increased fungal community species diversity and decreased fungal community species richness; biochar application under saline water irrigation reduced soil fungal community species diversity and species richness. The dominant fungal phyla in the soils of each treatment were Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Glomeromycota, Rozellomycota, and Cysticercales, and the dominant genera were Gibberella, Chaetomium, Sarocladium, Stachybotrys, and Fusarium. Compared to that under freshwater irrigation, saline water irrigation significantly increased the relative abundance of Basidiomycota and Chytridiomycota and significantly decreased the relative abundance of Ascomycota and Rozellomycota. The application of biochar under saline irrigation significantly increased the relative abundance of Ascomycota and Sarocladium but significantly decreased the relative abundance of Basidiomycota, Chaetomium, and Fusarium. LEfSe analysis showed that under the condition of no biochar application, saline irrigation reduced the number of potential biomarkers of fungal communities, whereas the application of biochar under the condition of saline irrigation increased the number of potential biomarkers of fungal communities. These results indicated that the application of biochar can improve the saline soil environment and fungal community structure and provide a theoretical basis for reasonable brackish water irrigation and soil fertilization in arid areas.

Head and neck carcinoma in children: A clinicopathological study of 42 cases.

Background/purpose: Cancer is an important part of the global burden of childhood diseases. Head and neck carcinoma in children is rare and related research is limited. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological features of childhood head and neck carcinoma. Materials and methods: Forty-two cases of childhood head and neck carcinoma treated in our institution were reviewed and analyzed. Results: Median age overall was 11 years. Twenty-three patients (54.8%) were male and 19 (45.2%) were female. Parotid gland location was most common (54.8%). Mucoepidermoid carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma were the most common histological types (57.1% and 11.9%, respectively). Two patients had a history of bone marrow transplantation and two had a history of odontogenic keratocyst. The recurrence rate after treatment was 8.6%. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and treatment and close follow-up of childhood head and neck carcinoma are warranted to prevent recurrence and improve clinical outcome.

[Effects of electroacupuncture on insulin resistance in patients with knee arthroplasty].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of electroacupuncture on the improvement of insulin resistance after knee joint replacement based on the combined spinal and epidural anesthesia and postoperative epidural analgesia. METHODS: Eighty patients with insulin resistance but normal blood glucose were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, 40 cases in each group.Both groups of patients underwent combined spinal and epidural anesthesia and postoperative epidural analgesia for knee arthroplasty. On the basis of the treatment,electroacupuncture (EA) was applied during the operation and within 1 month after the operation in the observation group, and EA was used at Hegu (LI 4), Qihai (CV 6), Zhongwan (CV 12), Pishu (BL 20), Shenshu (BL 23), etc. once every other day. The control group was not treated with electroacupuncture. Fasting blood glucose and fasting insulin were recorded 30 min before surgery (T0), immediately (T1), 1 d (T2), 3 d (T3), 7 d (T4) and 1 month (T5) after surgery, and the insulin resistance (IR) index was calculated. RESULTS: Compared with those at T0 time point, the IR index of the control group at T1, T3, T4 and T5 time points and the observation group at T1, T4, T5 time points were lower (all P<0.05). Compared with the control group at the same time point, the IR index of the T1 and T5 time points in the observation group was significantly lower (both P<0.05), and it was lower than the insulin resistance standard. CONCLUSION: Combined spinal and epidural anesthesia and postoperative epidural analgesia can improve short-term insulin resistance. Combined with EA, the improvement of insulin resistance is more obviously and longer.

Involvement of spinal SIRT1 in development of chronic constriction injury induced neuropathic pain in rats.

It is known that the epigenetic process of histone acetylation is involved in the neuropathic pain. The aim of this study was to determine whether sirtuin type 1 (SIRT1), an NAD+ dependent deacetylase, affected allodynia and hyperalgesia in neuropathic pain. The neuropathic pain model was established by ligature of the right sciatic nerve to induce chronic constriction injury (CCI) in rats. Histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity was increased and, and histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity was declined in tissue of the spinal dorsa horn in CCI rates by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The persistent hyperalgesia and allodynia caused by CCI were associated with downregulation of SIRT1 and upregulation of acetylated-H3 (Ac-H3) in tissue of the spinal cord by Western blot assay, which was reversed after intrathecal injection of SIRT1 agonist SRT1720. SRT1720 treatment achieved analgesic through inhibiting the acetylation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and blocking the releases of the inflammatory factors including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin (IL)-6 by means of Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-PCR), respectively. Taken together, these data suggest that SIRT1 in the spinal cord plays an important role in the neuropathic pain in the rat model.

Inhibition of hypoxia and serum deprivation-induced apoptosis by salvianolic acid in rat mesenchymal stem cells.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence and mechanism of salvianolic acid B (SalB) on apoptosis inhibition in rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) induced by hypoxia and serum deprivation (hypoxia/SD). METHODS: SalB concentration of 0.1, 1, 10 or 100 mg/L (drug groups) were investigated for their ability to inhibit apoptosis in rat BMSCs. BMSCs in both the apoptosis model and drug groups were cultured under hypoxic conditions for 6 h, after which cell apoptosis and change in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were detected using flow cytometry. Activation of caspase-3 was detected using western blot analysis. RESULTS: Hypoxia/SD induced apoptosis in rat BMSCs. The early apoptosis rate was lower in the drug groups compared to the apoptosis model group (P < 0.05). SalB was found to inhibit the reduction in MMP and decrease the activation of caspase-3. CONCLUSION: 0.1, 1 and 10 mg/L of SalB inhibits activation of caspase-3 and early apoptosis of rat BMSCs induced by hypoxia/SD and could therefore enhance the survival rate of grafted stem cells.

Current progress of research on pharmacologic actions of salvianolic acid B.

As one of the main water-soluble composites of Radix Salviae, salvianolic acid B is a phenolic acid ingredient of the Chinese drug, which is rich content in the herb and has strong pharmaceutical activity. It is used to treat cardiocerebral vascular diseases, antagonize hepatic/renal fibrosis, prevent cancer, and promote stem cell proliferation and differentiation. In the researches of its acting mechanisms, rather deepened studies have been carried out for its application on cardiocerebral vascular diseases, but that for others are rather fewer.