Dispositional Mindfulness and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Emergency Nurses: Multiple Mediating Roles of Coping Styles and Emotional Exhaustion.

Objective: To explore the relationships between dispositional mindfulness (DM) and their post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) of emergency nurses, and the mediating effects of coping styles and emotional exhaustion (EE). Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted to collect data on DM, coping styles, EE, and PTSS among 571 emergency nurses from 20 hospitals in Chongqing, China. Correlation and structural equation models (SEMs) were used to evaluate the relationship among variables. Results: Emergency nurses with lower dispositional mindfulness, higher emotional exhaustion and preference for negative coping (NC) revealed more PTSS. The effect of NC on PTSS was partially mediated by emotional exhaustion. Negative coping and emotional exhaustion played concurrent and sequential mediating roles between dispositional mindfulness and PTSS. Conclusion: This study has made a significant contribution to existing literature. It was suggested to develop interventions aimed at enhancing mindfulness, reducing negative coping strategies, and alleviating emotional exhaustion, which may be effective at reducing or alleviating post-traumatic stress symptoms of emergency nurses.

Gut Microbiota Associated With Effectiveness And Responsiveness to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Improving Trait Anxiety.

Objective: Mindfulness-based interventions have been widely demonstrated to be effective in reducing stress, alleviating mood disorders, and improving quality of life; however, the underlying mechanisms remained to be fully understood. Along with the advanced research in the microbiota-gut-brain axis, this study aimed to explore the impact of gut microbiota on the effectiveness and responsiveness to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) among high trait anxiety populations. Design: A standard MBCT was performed among 21 young adults with high trait anxiety. A total of 29 healthy controls were matched for age and sex. The differences in gut microbiota between the two groups were compared. The changes in fecal microbiota and psychological indicators were also investigated before and after the intervention. Results: Compared with healthy controls, we found markedly decreased bacterial diversity and distinctive clusters among high trait anxiety populations, with significant overgrowth of bacteria such as Streptococcus, Blautia, and Romboutsia, and a decrease in genera such as Faecalibacterium, Coprococcus_3, and Lachnoclostridium. Moreover, MBCT attenuated trait anxiety and depression, improved mindfulness and resilience, and increased the similarity of gut microbiota to that of healthy controls. Notably, a high presence of intestinal Subdoligranulum pre-MBCT was associated with increased responsiveness to MBCT. Decreases in Subdoligranulum post-MBCT were indicative of ameliorated trait anxiety. The tryptophan metabolism pathways were significantly over-represented among high responders compared to low responders. Conclusion: The significantly increased diversity post-MBCT added evidence to gut-brain communication and highlighted the utility of mycobiota-focused strategies for promoting the effectiveness and responsiveness of the MBCT to improve trait anxiety. Clinical Trial Registration: chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR1900028389.

High-Quality Genome Assembly of Pseudopestalotiopsis theae, the Pathogenic Fungus Causing Tea Gray Blight.

Tea gray blight is one of the most serious foliar diseases of tea tree, caused by the plant-pathogenic fungus Pseudopestalotiopsis theae, which can affect production and quality of tea worldwide. We generated a highly contiguous, 50.41-Mbp genome assembly (N50 = 1.30 Mbp) of P. theae strain CYF27 by combining PacBio long-read and Illumina short-read sequencing technologies. We identified a total of 15,626 gene models, of which 1,038 genes encode putative secreted proteins. The high-quality genome assembly and annotation resource reported here will be useful for the study of fungal infection mechanisms and pathogen-host interaction.

Effects of air-abrasion pressure on mechanical and bonding properties of translucent zirconia.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the effects of different air-abrasion pressures on flexural strength and shear bond strength of a translucent zirconia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The translucent zirconia surface was treated with 50 µm abrasive alumina particles at different pressure: 0.1 MPa; 0.2 MPa; 0.3 MPa; 0.4 MPa; 0.5 MPa; untreated specimens were used as control group (n = 33). For each group, three-point bending test was used to evaluate the flexural strength, and surface characterizations were analyzed. Following adhesive bonding and water storage for 24 h, specimens were subdivided into groups baseline and aged (5000 thermocycles). Then, shear bond strength was measured and failure mode was recorded. Statistical analysis was performed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey test (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Increasing air-abrasion pressure (0.3 MPa, 0.4 MPa, and 0.5 MPa) decreased the flexural strength. Higher air-abrasion pressure resulted in rougher zirconia surfaces and caused more microcracks. The highest shear bond strength was obtained for zirconia surfaces abraded at 0.2 MPa (15.88 ± 2.70 MPa) and 0.3 MPa (14.32 ± 1.12 MPa). Aging did not decrease the strength for all groups except control group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Air-abrasion with 50 µm abrasive alumina particles at 0.2 MPa could achieve good strength for translucent zirconia ceramics while maintaining adequate and durable bonding with resin cement. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A total of 0.2 MPa is recommended for air-abrasion procedure applied before a dental restoration fabricated with translucent zirconia is bonded to resin cement.

Long-Read Genome Sequence Resource of Ascochyta versabilis Causing Leaf Spot Disease in Pseudostellaria heterophylla.

Ascochyta versabilis is the fungal pathogen that causes the severe leaf spot disease of Pseudostellaria heterophylla (Miq.) Pax, a vital Chinese herbal plant. Here, we deployed PacBio single-molecule real-time long-read sequencing technology to generate a near-complete genome assembly for the A. versabilis KC1 strain and obtained a total of 9.80 Gb raw reads. These reads were processed into a 41.05 Mb genome assembly containing 95 contigs with N50 of 1.70 Mb and a maximum length of 3.93 Mb. A total of 10,457 gene models, of which 1,004 encode putatively secreted proteins, were identified in the genome. This high-quality genome assembly and gene annotation resource will facilitate the institution of functional genetic studies aimed at providing a better insight into the infection mechanisms of A. versabilis to support the development of effective control strategies for leaf spot disease of P. heterophylla.

Virus-Induced Gene Silencing in Diploid and Tetraploid Potato Species.

Potato is the world's fourth largest food crop and a vegetatively propagated model polyploid plant. To facilitate genomic studies in potato, here we describe detailed protocols to silence genes in both diploid potato Solanum bulbocastanum and tetraploid potato cultivars such as Maris Bard, Arran Pilot, Ancilla, and Serrana using tobacco rattle virus (TRV)- or potato virus X (PVX)-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system, respectively. The established VIGS system represents an efficient and powerful approach for functional analysis of genes involved in growth, development, metabolism, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses in potato.

Facile synthesis of gold nanorods/hydrogels core/shell nanospheres for pH and near-infrared-light induced release of 5-fluorouracil and chemo-photothermal therapy.

We described a facile synthesis of pH and near-infrared (NIR) light dual-sensitive core/shell hybrid nanospheres, consisting of gold nanorods (GNR) as the core and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) as the shell, p(NIPAM-MAA). The resultant GNR/p(NIPAM-MAA) nanospheres showed a core/shell structure, with an average diameter of ∼110nm and a strong longitudinal surface plasmon band at NIR region. Due to the photothermal effect of GNR and pH/thermal-sensitive volume transition of p(NIPAM-MAA) hydrogels, the nanospheres with loading of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) by electrostatic interactions were developed as a smart carrier for pH- and photothermal-induced release of 5-FU. Experimental results testified that the cumulative release of 5-FU from nanospheres was markedly increased in a mild acidic medium. Moreover, a NIR light (808nm) irradiation triggered a greater and faster release of 5-FU, which was further testified by relevant results from in vitro cytotoxicity assay, in vivo tumor growth inhibition and histological images of ex vivo tumor sections. These results revealed significant applications of GNR/p(NIPAM-MAA) nanospheres in controlled release of anticancer agents and photothermal ablation therapy of tumor tissues, accompanied by synergistic effect of chem-photothermal therapy.

Small RNA profiling reveals phosphorus deficiency as a contributing factor in symptom expression for citrus huanglongbing disease.

Huanglongbing (HLB) is a devastating citrus disease that is associated with bacteria of the genus 'Candidatus Liberibacter' (Ca. L.). Powerful diagnostic tools and management strategies are desired to control HLB. Host small RNAs (sRNA) play a vital role in regulating host responses to pathogen infection and are used as early diagnostic markers for many human diseases, including cancers. To determine whether citrus sRNAs regulate host responses to HLB, sRNAs were profiled from Citrus sinensis 10 and 14 weeks post grafting with Ca. L. asiaticus (Las)-positive or healthy tissue. Ten new microRNAs (miRNAs), 76 conserved miRNAs, and many small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were discovered. Several miRNAs and siRNAs were highly induced by Las infection, and can be potentially developed into early diagnosis markers of HLB. miR399, which is induced by phosphorus starvation in other plant species, was induced specifically by infection of Las but not Spiroplasma citri that causes citrus stubborn-a disease with symptoms similar to HLB. We found a 35% reduction of phosphorus in Las-positive citrus trees compared to healthy trees. Applying phosphorus oxyanion solutions to HLB-positive sweet orange trees reduced HLB symptom severity and significantly improved fruit production during a 3-year field trial in south-west Florida. Our molecular, physiological, and field data suggest that phosphorus deficiency is linked to HLB disease symptomology.

[Determination of lactone components in chuanxiong by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography].

A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous determination of four main lactone components including senkyunolide-H, senkyunolide-I, sedanenolide and Z-ligustilide in Chuanxiong, a Chinese herbal medicine. The samples were pretreated using ultrasonic extraction, and 80% ethanol was used as extractant in the experiment. The chromatographic analysis was carried out using an XDB-C8 column and the mobile phase consisted of methanol-1% (volume fraction) acetic acid water (55:45-->100:0, v/v, in 15 min). The flow rate was 0. 8 mL/min. A diode array detector was used to detect the compositions and 280 nm was chosen as the detection wavelength. The whole process could be performed within 15 min. The operating curves were found to be linear over the ranges of 0.4 - 2.2 mg/L (r=0. 9992), 0.4 -2.2 mg/L (r=0.9979), 2.6 -7.8 mg/L (r=0. 9992) and 4.8 14.3 mg/L (r = 0.9998) and the detection limits (S/N = 3) were 0.024, 0.027, 0.018 and 0.011 microg for senkyunolide-H, senkyunolide-I, sedanenolide and Z-ligustilide, respectively. The recoveries of the four lactone components were found in the range of 96% - 108%. The rapid and accurate method has been successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of the four lactone components in Chuanxiong.