Factors associated with urinary retention after vaginal delivery under intraspinal anesthesia: a path analysis model.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Women who have intraspinal anesthesia for delivery are more likely to experience postpartum urinary retention (PUR), which, if not recognized and treated promptly, can result in long-term urinary dysfunction. Many factors influencing PUR have been proposed, but no study has been conducted to investigate the relationship between them. This study is aimed at determining the influencing factors of PUR and to explore the relationship between them. METHODS: A prospective, cross-sectional survey using self-made questionnaires was conducted among 372 puerperae in a Grade A hospital in Guangzhou, China, from April to September 2022. SPSS25.0 and AMOS24.0 were used for data analysis, and a path analysis model was established to determine the relationship between the influencing factors. RESULTS: The incidence of PUR was 49.85%. Residence, the level of postpartum pain, and the change of postnatal urination position had a direct effect on PUR. Episiotomy and analgesic duration have both direct and indirect effects on PUR. Forceps delivery, perineal edema and oxytocin had an indirect effect on PUR. Variables could influence the occurrence of PUR by mediating the analgesic duration, episiotomy, postpartum pain level, and postnatal urination position changes. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an empirical model to illustrate the relationship between PUR and related factors in women who delivered under intraspinal anesthesia. In future management, more attention should be paid to women who live in cities, have higher levels of postpartum pain, longer analgesic duration, higher grade of perineal edema, and received episiotomy, forceps delivery, and oxytocin during labor.

3-Methyl-4-nitrophenol Exposure Deteriorates Oocyte Maturation by Inducing Spindle Instability and Mitochondrial Dysfunction.

3-methyl-4-nitrophenol (PNMC), a well-known constituent of diesel exhaust particles and degradation products of insecticide fenitrothion, is a widely distributed environmental contaminant. PNMC is toxic to the female reproductive system; however, how it affects meiosis progression in oocytes is unknown. In this study, in vitro maturation of mouse oocytes was applied to investigate the deleterious effects of PNMC. We found that exposure to PNMC significantly compromised oocyte maturation. PNMC disturbed the spindle stability; specifically, it decreased the spindle density and increased the spindle length. The weakened spindle pole location of microtubule-severing enzyme Fignl1 may result in a defective spindle apparatus in PNMC-exposed oocytes. PNMC exposure induced significant mitochondrial dysfunction, including mitochondria distribution, ATP production, mitochondrial membrane potential, and ROS accumulation. The mRNA levels of the mitochondria-related genes were also significantly impaired. Finally, the above-mentioned alterations triggered early apoptosis in the oocytes. In conclusion, PNMC exposure affected oocyte maturation and quality through the regulation of spindle stability and mitochondrial function.

TET Family Members Are Integral to Porcine Oocyte Maturation and Parthenogenetic Pre-Implantation Embryogenesis.

The ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzyme family, which includes TET1/2/3, participates in active DNA demethylation in the eukaryotic genome; moreover, TET1/2/3 are functionally redundant in mice embryos. However, the combined effect of TET1/2/3 triple-gene knockdown or knockout on the porcine oocytes or embryos is still unclear. In this study, using Bobcat339, a specific small-molecule inhibitor of the TET family, we explored the effects of TET enzymes on oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis in pigs. Our results revealed that Bobcat339 treatment blocked porcine oocyte maturation and triggered early apoptosis. Furthermore, in the Bobcat339-treated oocytes, spindle architecture and chromosome alignment were disrupted, probably due to the huge loss of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC)and concurrent increase in 5-methylcytosine (5mC). After Bobcat339 treatment, early parthenogenetic embryos exhibited abnormal 5mC and 5hmC levels, which resulted in compromised cleavage and blastocyst rate. The mRNA levels of EIF1A and DPPA2 (ZGA marker genes) were significantly decreased, which may explain why the embryos were arrested at the 4-cell stage after Bobcat339 treatment. In addition, the mRNA levels of pluripotency-related genes OCT4 and NANOG were declined after Bobcat339 treatment. RNA sequencing analysis revealed differentially expressed genes in Bobcat339-treated embryos at the 4-cell stage, which were significantly enriched in cell proliferation, cell component related to mitochondrion, and cell adhesion molecule binding. Our results indicated that TET proteins are essential for porcine oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis, and they act by mediating 5mC/5hmC levels and gene transcription.

Tumor cell-derived autophagosomes (DRibbles)-activated B cells induce specific naïve CD8+ T cell response and exhibit antitumor effect.

Dendritic cell (DC) vaccine has been proved to be an effective way in cancer immunotherapy in both preclinical and clinical studies. However, limitations in DC isolation and culture have hampered its practice and promoted the development of other antigen-presenting cells (APCs) sources to fulfill that role. Our previous studies have shown that B cells loaded by tumor cell-derived autophagosomes, which we named as DRibbles (defective ribosomal products-containing blebs), could reactivate DC-induced effector T cell response. In this study, the roles of DRibble-loaded B cells in priming naïve CD8+ T cell responses and controlling tumors were investigated. We found that high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) on DRibbles was involved in DRibble-induced B cell activation, and the DRibble-triggered B cell phagocytosis via the caveolae-mediated endocytosis pathway. By using OT-I mouse-derived T cells, we demonstrated that DRibble-loaded B cells could activate specific naïve CD8+ T cells in vitro and ex vivo. In a tumor-bearing mouse model, DRibble-loaded B cells elicited systemic antitumor immunity and significantly suppressed the tumor growth. Moreover, the antitumor efficacy of DRibble-loaded B cells was enhanced when they were combined with CpG and anti-CD40 stimulation. These results suggest that DRibble-loaded B cells represent a viable and practical therapeutic vaccination strategy that might have important clinical implications for tumor immunotherapy.

A study into the species sensitivity of green algae towards imidazolium-based ionic liquids using flow cytometry.

The sensitivity of individual organisms towards toxic agents is an important indicator of environmental pollution. However, organism-specific quantification of sensitivity towards pollutants remains a challenge. In this study, we determined the sensitivity of Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) and Scenedesmus quadricauda (S. quadricauda) towards three ionic liquids (ILs), 1-alkyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chlorides [Cnmim][Cl] (n = 4,6,8). We kept all external parameters constant to identify the biotic parameters responsible for discrepancies in species sensitivity, and used flow cytometry to determine four conventional endpoints to characterise cell viability and cell vitality. Our results demonstrate that after exposure to the ILs, cell proliferation was inhibited in both species. At the same time, the cell size, complexity and membrane permeability of both algae also increased. However, while Chl a synthesis by S. quadricauda was inhibited, that of C. vulgaris was enhanced. S. quadricauda has evolved a metabolic defense that can counteract the decreased esterase activity that has been shown to occur in the presence of ILs. While it is likely that S. quadricauda was less sensitive than C. vulgaris to the ILs because of this metabolic defense, this alga may also exhibit better membrane resistance towards ILs.

Systematic identification and characterization of porcine snoRNAs: structural, functional and developmental insights.

Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are 50- to 300-nt non-coding RNAs that are involved in critical cellular events, including rRNA/snRNA modification and splicing, ribosome genesis, telomerase formulation and cell proliferation. The identification of snoRNAs in the pig, which is a widely consumed commercial organism that also has important functions in medicine and biology, will enrich the snoRNA kingdom and provide evolutionary clues about snoRNAs. In this study, we performed a systematic identification of snoRNAs in Sus scrofa and obtained 120 candidate snoRNAs, 65 of which were predicted via sequencing from our constructed cDNA library. The others were obtained by computational screening. The primary structural features examined included the sequence length, GC content, conservation of common box motifs and nucleotide diversity. The results indicate that the primary features of H/ACA box snoRNAs are opposite to those of C/D box snoRNAs. Subsequently, based on chromosomal location and host gene determination, we assigned 91 snoRNAs to nine genome organization modes. Gene duplications and translocations are considered to contribute to the high abundant organization in evolution. Functional information about our novel snoRNAs, such as putative targets, modification sites and guide sequences, was predicted by orthologue alignment. A comparative analysis of predicted targets and possible modified loci on U6 snRNA and 5.8S and 18S rRNAs among five species revealed that targets of snoRNA are conserved among species. Furthermore, we performed a quantitative analysis of six representative snoRNA genes in two pig breeds during different developmental stages. Interestingly, all six snoRNAs from one breed expressed in a similar pattern over the tested time points; however, these same six genes had different expression patterns in the other pig breed. Specifically, expression of all six snoRNAs declined significantly from 65 to 90 days post-coitus (dpc) and then increased slightly during adulthood in Tongcheng pigs, whereas the expression of the same six genes increased slowly from 65 dpc until adulthood in Landrace pigs. This expression pattern suggests that most housekeeping, non-coding RNAs from a single pig breed may be similarly expressed during development. Our study adds to the knowledge about the snoRNA family by providing the first genome-wide study of porcine snoRNAs. The comparative analysis of snoRNAs from different pig breeds gave us evolutionary insight into the function of snoRNAs.

Performance and dynamic characteristics of microbial communities in an internal circulation reactor for treating brewery wastewater.

A laboratory-scale internal circulation (IC) anaerobic reactor fed with brewery wastewater was operated at 35 degrees C + 1 degrees C. The influent was pumped into the bottom of the IC reactor by a pulse pump, whereas the effluent was drawn from the upper outlet and allowed to flow into the effluent tank. The biogas volume was recorded using a gas container connected to a biogas metre. The results indicated that the maximum organic loading rate (OLR) of the IC reactor was 19.5 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/m3/day; at which point, the dominant archaeal populations found in the sludge using the polymerase chain reaction with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis were Methanosaeta species. The COD removal efficiencies of the reactor exceeded 85%, with a maximum specific methane production rate of 210 mL CH4/g volatile suspended solids (VSS)/day and a coenzyme F420 content of 0.16 micromol/g VSS, respectively. The main archaeal species in the sludge samples at different OLRs varied greatly, as compared with the organisms in the inoculated sludge. The dominant archaeal species in the treated sludge at low OLRs were Methanosarcina species, whereas those at high OLRs were Methanosaeta species.

[Non-real-time endobronchial bronchoscopy ultrasound assisted transbronchial lung biopsy in diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of non-real-time endobronchial bronchoscopy ultrasound(EBUS) assisted transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) in diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPL). METHODS: One hundred and five patients [68 males and 37 females, mean age (59 ± 12) years, ranged from 39 - 81 years] with PPL confirmed by computered tomography (CT) were recruited in this study between June 1st 2011 and March 1st 2012. All cases received bronchoscopy examinations and presented with roughly normal results. Fifty-four cases received EBUS examinations. For peripheral lesions with accessible EBUS images, blind biopsy was performed with biopsy forceps through pathways of the ultrasonic probe after the retreat of the probe. In those cases without accessible EBUS images, blind biopsy was performed based on the localization by image data. The other 51 cases without EBUS testing underwent blind biopsy on the localization by image data. Positive rates of pathological diagnosis of the 2 groups were compared. Analysis was by χ(2)-test. RESULTS: In 54 patients who received EBUS examinations, 76% (41/54) of PPLs were detected performed by EBUS. The positive rate of the EBUS assisted TBLB group was 67% (36/54), compared with 45% (23/51) in the general TBLB group. There was a better diagnostic rate (P < 0.05) in the EBUS assisted TBLB group than the general TBLB group. Thirteen patients without accessible EBUS images obtained negative pathological results. The diagnosis rate of EBUS assisted TBLB on lesions with ≤ 30 mm minimum diameter was 44% (8/18), lower than 78% (28/36) on lesions with > 30 mm minimum diameter (P < 0.05). In terms of diagnosis rate on lesions with ≤ 30 mm minimum diameter, EBUS assisted TBLB was 44% (8/18), higher than 12% (2/17) of TBLB alone (P < 0.05). As for lesions with > 30 mm minimum diameter, diagnosis rate of EBUS assisted TBLB was 52% (28/54) and TBLB alone was 41% (21/51), representing insignificant difference (P > 0.05). In the EBUS assisted TBLB group, we performed 269 blind biopsies, with an average of 4.8 times per case, whereas the general TBLB group required 398 times, with an average of 7.8 times per case. EBUS assisted TBLB decreased the operation times of blind biopsy (P < 0.05) to acquire adequate and appropriate specimen. Complications of biopsy occurred in this study included slight haemoptysis (61/105, 58.1%), chest pain (25/105, 23.8%) and pneumothorax (2/105, 1.9%). Patients with these complications recovered spontaneously without special managements. CONCLUSIONS: Non-real-time EBUS assisted TBLB could improve diagnostic positive rate without increasing operational risk. In most cases, the blind biopsy did not succeed if EBUS failed to detect the lesions. The success rate of non-real-time EBUS assisted TBLB was related to the minimum diameter of PPL. In terms of diagnosis rate on lesions with ≤ 30 mm minimum diameter, EBUS assisted TBLB was higher than TBLB alone. As for lesions with >30mm minimum diameter, there was no significant difference in the diagnosis rate between these 2 groups. EBUS assisted TBLB decreased the times of blind biopsy process (P < 0.05) to obtain adequate and appropriate specimen.

Exploring choices of early nutritional support for patients with sepsis based on changes in intestinal microecology.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis exacerbates intestinal microecological disorders leading to poor prognosis. Proper modalities of nutritional support can improve nutrition, immunity, and intestinal microecology. AIM: To identify the optimal modality of early nutritional support for patients with sepsis from the perspective of intestinal microecology. METHODS: Thirty patients with sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit of the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, China, between 2019 and 2021 with indications for nutritional support, were randomly assigned to one of three different modalities of nutritional support for a total of 5 d: Total enteral nutrition (TEN group), total parenteral nutrition (TPN group), and supplemental parenteral nutrition (SPN group). Blood and stool specimens were collected before and after nutritional support, and changes in gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and immune and nutritional indicators were detected and compared among the three groups. RESULTS: In comparison with before nutritional support, the three groups after nutritional support presented: (1) Differences in the gut bacteria (Enterococcus increased in the TEN group, Campylobacter decreased in the TPN group, and Dialister decreased in the SPN group; all P < 0.05); (2) different trends in SCFAs (the TEN group showed improvement except for Caproic acid, the TPN group showed improvement only for acetic and propionic acid, and the SPN group showed a decreasing trend); (3) significant improvement of the nutritional and immunological indicators in the TEN and SPN groups, while only immunoglobulin G improved in the TPN group (all P < 0.05); and (4) a significant correlation was found between the gut bacteria, SCFAs, and nutritional and immunological indicators (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: TEN is recommended as the preferred mode of early nutritional support in sepsis based on clinical nutritional and immunological indicators, as well as changes in intestinal microecology.

Evaluation of relative water use efficiency (RWUE) at a regional scale: a case study of Tuhai-Majia Basin, China.

Enhancing water use efficiency (WUE) is the key approach to maintain sustainable water resource supply. Due to the complexity of the water cycle, accurate estimation of WUE at the regional scale is a challenging task. Here we presented a framework of relative water use efficiency (RWUE). According to the linkage between RWUE and land use types, assessment of WUE at a regional scale could be performed operationally. This approach was evaluated in a study area, Tuhai-Majia Basin, North China. Based on remote sensing-derived evapotranspiration (ET) and land use data, regional WUE were assessed accordingly. The mean RWUE of agriculture, ecosystem and total basin in 2005 was 60.12, 30.07 and 62.5%, respectively. Spatial analysis showed that the agricultural WUE played the dominant role in water-saving of the study area; water management of unused land (RWUE of 2005 was 5.46%), especially wetland protection and other unused land development, will contribute significantly to ecological RWUE improvement. Temporal analysis indicated that there was considerable inter-annual variability in RWUE time series profiles. The agricultural interlude period might be important for enhancing WUE in the Tuhai-Majia Basin. In general, the results indicated that the RWUE-based method was an efficient and simple method to evaluate WUE at regional scale.

Spatial Heterogeneity and Influencing Factors of HFRS Epidemics in Rural and Urban Areas: A Study in Guanzhong Plain of Shaanxi Province, China.

Objective: The Guanzhong Plain of Shaanxi Province is a severely afflicted hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) epidemic area, while HFRS prevalence has decreased in most epidemic areas in China. Little information is available regarding the leading fine-scale influencing factors in this highly HFRS-concentrated area and the roles of natural environmental and socioeconomic factors. To investigate this, two regions in the Guanzhong Plain, that is, the Chang'an District and Hu County, with similar geographical environments, different levels of economic development, and high epidemic prevalence, were chosen as representative areas of the HFRS epidemic. Methods: Maximum entropy models were constructed based on HFRS cases and fine-scale influencing factors, including meteorological, natural environmental, and socioeconomic factors, from 2014 to 2016. Results: More than 95% of the HFRS cases in the study area were located in the northern plains, which has an altitude of less than 800 m, with topography contributed 84.1% of the impact on the spatial differentiation of the HFRS epidemic. In the northern plains, precipitation and population density jointly affected the spatial differentiation of the HFRS epidemic, with contribution rates of 60.7% and 28.0%, respectively. By comparing the influencing factors of the northern plains of Chang'an District and Hu County, we found that precipitation and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dominated the HFRS epidemic in the relatively developed Chang'an District, while land-use type, temperature, precipitation and population density dominated the HFRS epidemic in the relatively undeveloped Hu County. Conclusion: Topography was the primary key factor for HFRS prevalence in the Chang'an District and Hu County, and the spatial differentiation of HFRS was dominated by precipitation and population density in the northern plains. Compared with the influencing factors of the relatively developed Chang'an District, the developing Hu County was more affected by socioeconomic factors. When formulating targeted HFRS epidemic prevention and control strategies in the targeted areas, it is crucial to consider the local economic development state and combine natural environmental factors, including the meteorological environment and vegetation coverage.

Characterization of oral and gut microbiome and plasma metabolomics in COVID-19 patients after 1-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Due to the outbreak and rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), more than 160 million patients have become convalescents worldwide to date. Significant alterations have occurred in the gut and oral microbiome and metabonomics of patients with COVID-19. However, it is unknown whether their characteristics return to normal after the 1-year recovery. METHODS: We recruited 35 confirmed patients to provide specimens at discharge and one year later, as well as 160 healthy controls. A total of 497 samples were prospectively collected, including 219 tongue-coating, 129 stool and 149 plasma samples. Tongue-coating and stool samples were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing, and plasma samples were subjected to untargeted metabolomics testing. RESULTS: The oral and gut microbiome and metabolomics characteristics of the 1-year convalescents were restored to a large extent but did not completely return to normal. In the recovery process, the microbial diversity gradually increased. Butyric acid-producing microbes and Bifidobacterium gradually increased, whereas lipopolysaccharide-producing microbes gradually decreased. In addition, sphingosine-1-phosphate, which is closely related to the inflammatory factor storm of COVID-19, increased significantly during the recovery process. Moreover, the predictive models established based on the microbiome and metabolites of patients at the time of discharge reached high efficacy in predicting their neutralizing antibody levels one year later. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to characterize the oral and gut microbiome and metabonomics in 1-year convalescents of COVID-19. The key microbiome and metabolites in the process of recovery were identified, and provided new treatment ideas for accelerating recovery. And the predictive models based on the microbiome and metabolomics afford new insights for predicting the recovery situation which benefited affected individuals and healthcare.

Enhancement of substrate solubilization and hydrogen production from kitchen wastes by pH pretreatment.

Pretreatment at different pHs was adopted in this study to enhance the substance solubilization and hydrogen production from kitchen wastes through anaerobic digestion. After a pretreatment set at pH = 13, solubilization of kitchen wastes improved substantially as the concentration of soluble carbohydrate, soluble protein, lipids and soluble chemical oxygen demand increased by 283.1%, 203.2%, 259.1% and 108.2%, respectively, as compared with those of the control. The maximum hydrogen production potential reached 105.38 mL/g VS after the pretreatment, which was 2.66 times that of the control. Furthermore, butyric acid and acetic acid were the major components in the total metabolites after fermentation, while propionic acid had a relatively low concentration. Finally, the concentration of exoprotein and exopolysaccharide within extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) kept increasing during the initial 14 and 9 hours, respectively, then decreased afterwards. However, the concentration of DNA increased throughout the whole stage. The total EPS might indirectly indicate the anaerobic digestion process. These findings may represent a feasible method for high-quality treatment of kitchen wastes.

Effects of sepsis and its treatment measures on intestinal flora structure in critical care patients.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a common disease in intensive care units, with high morbidity and mortality. Intestinal microecology plays a vital part in the development and progression of this disease, possibly because sepsis and its treatment cause specific changes in the composition of the intestinal flora. AIM: To investigate the characteristics of intestinal flora disturbance in sepsis patients treated with antibiotics. METHODS: In this prospective comparative study, we enrolled ten patients with sepsis (sepsis group), hospitalized in the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the General Hospital, Ningxia Medical University, China (a class IIIa general hospital) from February 2017 to June 2017; ten patients without sepsis hospitalized in the same period (non-sepsis group) and ten healthy individuals (control group) were also enrolled. Fecal samples collected from the three groups were subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing and the intestinal flora diversity, structure, and composition were determined. Additionally, the dynamics of the intestinal flora diversity, structure, and composition in sepsis patients were investigated via 16S rRNA gene sequencing of samples collected 0 d, 3 d, and 7 d after admittance to the intensive care unit. Correlations between the serum levels of procalcitonin, endotoxin, diamine oxidase, and D-lactic acid and the intestinal flora composition of sepsis patients were also investigated. RESULTS: Compared with the healthy control group, sepsis and non-sepsis patients showed reduced intestinal flora α-diversity and a distinct flora structure, with Firmicutes as the dominant phylum, and significantly decreased proportions of Bacteroidetes, as well as Prevotella and Lachnospira, among other genera. Of note, the proportion of Enterococcus was significantly increased in the intestinal tract of sepsis patients. Interestingly, the α-diversity in the sepsis group decreased gradually, from days 1 to 7 of treatment. However, pairwise comparisons showed that both the diversity and structure of the intestinal flora were not significantly different considering the three different time points studied. Curiously, the serum levels of procalcitonin, endotoxin, diamine oxidase, and D-lactic acid in sepsis patients correlated with the prevalence of various bacterial genera. For example, the prevalence of Ruminococcus was positively correlated with serum procalcitonin, endotoxins, and diamine oxidase; similarly, the prevalence of Roseburia was positively correlated with serum procalcitonin, endotoxins, and D-lactic acid. CONCLUSION: Sepsis patients in intensive care units show dysbiosis, lasting for at least 1 wk.

Polymorphisms in MC4R gene and correlations with economic traits in cattle.

MC4R contributes to the control of food intake and energy expenditure, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MC4R gene have clearly been associated with backfat depth, feed intake and growth rate in pig. Our objectives were to scan the complete coding region by sequencing in samples from eight cattle breeds, to estimate the frequency of the SNPs in the MC4R gene and to determine if individual genotypes were associated with several economic traits. Five polymorphisms were detected at position 19 (C/A), 20 (A/T), 83(T/C), 128 (G/A), and 1069 (G/C), and the last one was significantly associated with backfat thickness value (P < 0.01, n = 245). The linkage disequilibrium analysis indicated that the SNP markers C19A, A20T, T83C and G128A were completely linked (r (2) = 1).

Three new phenolic glycosides and a new triterpenoid from the stems of Scolopia chinensis.

Three new phenolic glycosides, scolochinenosides C-E ( 1- 3), and a new triterpenoid, scolopianate A ( 4), were isolated from the stems of SCOLOPIA CHINENSIS, along with 15 known compounds. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by means of extensive spectroscopic and chemical methods. Compound 3 contains a novel highly oxygenated lactone bridge ring attached at the aglycone. Six lanostane triterpenoids ( 10- 15) were discovered for the first time in a species other than GANODERMA LUCIDUM (Polyporaceae). In addition, the phenolic glycosides were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against snake venom phosphodiesterase I.

[Study on canopy spectral characteristics of paddy polluted by heavy metals].

Because of frequent mining, heavy metals are brought into environment like soils, water and atmosphere, resulting heavy metal contamination in the agricultural region beside mines. Heavy metals contamination causes vegetation stress like destruction of chloroplast structure, chlorophyll content decrease, blunt photosynthesis, etc. Spectral responses to changes in chlorophyll content and photosynthesis make it possible that remote sensing is applied in monitoring heavy metals stress on paddy plants. Field spectroradiometer was used to acquire canopy reflectance spectra of paddy plants contaminated by heavy metals released from local mining. The present study was conducted to (1) investigate discrimination of canopy reflectance spectra of heavy metal polluted and normal paddy plants; (2) extract spectral characteristics of contaminated paddy plants and compare them. By means of correlation analysis, sensitive bands (SB) were firstly picked out from canopy spectra. Secondly, on the basis of these sensitive bands, normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) were established, and then red edge position (REP) was extracted from canopy spectra via curve fitting of inverted Gaussian model. As a result of correlation analysis, 460, 560, 660 and 1 100 nm were considered respectively as sensitive band for Pb, Zn, Cu and As concentration in paddy leaves. Furthermore, heavy metal concentrations (Pb, Zn, Cu and As) were significantly correlated with NDVIs (Pb, NDV(510, 810); Zn, NDVI(510, 870; Cu, NDVI(660, 870); As, NDVI(510, 810)). Heavy metals were also significantly correlated with REP, however, the inflexion termed as spectral critical value (SCV) between low and high heavy metals concentrations should be considered during applying REP in remote sensing monitoring. Moreover, NDVI and REP are much better than SB in terms of capability of expressing spectral information. Therefore, heavy metals contamination in paddy plants can be remotely monitored via ground spectroradiometer when NDVI and REP are selected as spectral characteristics.

Endobronchial Ultrasound Combined with Clinical Data for Predicting Malignant Peripheral Pulmonary Lesions.

INTRODUCTION: This study was to develop a simple model for predicting malignancy of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) based on endobronchial ultrasonography (EBUS) and clinical findings. METHODS: Patients who had EBUS for PPLs were analyzed and compared on the EBUS imaging characteristics and clinical data. The malignancy prediction model was established by the logistic equation of probability of malignant PPL based on the data of 135 patients. The model was tested on an additional 50 patients for efficiency. RESULTS: Among 135 prospectively enrolled patients, 77 (57%) patients had malignant and 58 (43%) had benign lesions with the size of 36.5±19.9 mm. Univariate analysis demonstrated a significant (P<0.05) difference in the serum CEA (borderline 15 µg/mL) and smoking history between malignant and benign lesions but a non-significant (P>0.05) difference in age (50 years as the cutoff value) and history of extra-thoracic malignancies. Logistic analysis of multiple factors showed that smoking history, serum CEA, borderline, air bronchogram, heterogeneous echo, and anechoic areas were significant (P<0.02) risk factors for malignant lesions. The malignancy prediction model was established by the logistic equation of probability of malignant PPL (P) = l/[l+e-Z], where Z=-2.986+1.993X1+2.293X2+l.552X3+1.616X4-2.011X5+1.718X6, e is the base of the natural logarithm, X1 is the smoking history, X2 is the serum CEA, X3 is the borderline, X4 is the heterogenicity, X5 is the air bronchogram, and X6 is the anechoic area. The receiver operating characteristic curve had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.926 (95% confidence interval: 0.883-0.969). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 88.2% (30/34), 75.0% (12/16), and 92.0% (46/50), respectively, for the logistic equation to predict the malignancy. CONCLUSION: Endobronchial ultrasonography is a safe and practical method, and the model combining EBUS and clinical data can accurately predict the malignancy of peripheral pulmonary lesions.

Investigation of two Flacourtiaceae plants: Bennettiodendron leprosipes and Flacourtia ramontchi.

Investigations of two Flacourtiaceae plants, Bennettiodendron leprosipes and Flacourtia ramontchi, resulted in the isolation and structural elucidation of six new constituents including two phenolic glycosides ( 1 and 2), one lignan ( 3), two lignan glycosides ( 4 and 5), and a monoterpene glycoside ( 6), together with 22 known compounds ( 7- 28). The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. The selected isolates 1, 2, 8- 10, 22- 26, and some phenolic glycosides 29- 42 previously isolated from another Flacourtiaceae plant, Itoa orientalis, were tested against snake venom phosphodiesterase I (PDE I) activity. The result indicated that 22, 30, 32, 34, and 40 exhibited moderate inhibitory activities against PDE I with the values ranging from 13.15 to 20.86 %, and 1, 8, 10, 25, 31, 33, 35, 38, 39, and 41 showed weak inhibitory activity.