Association of serum cystatin C level and major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Recurrent acute myocardial infarction requiring unplanned percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is one of the major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after PCI. There is a continuing controversy about the association between serum cystatin C, a biomarker for the evaluation of renal function, and the prognosis of ACS patients following PCI. The retrospective study evaluated the association between serum cystatin C level and MACE in ACS patients after PCI. Methods: Data were retrieved for 330 patients with ACS for primary PCI in a single center. Serum cystatin C levels were measured before PCI. All patients underwent regular follow-ups after PCI, and the studied endpoint was MACE, defined as the need for a repeat revascularization in the heart. The predictive value of serum cystatin C for MACE was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis was applied to evaluate the dose-response relationship between serum cystatin C level and MACE in ACS patients following PCI. Results: After a median follow-up of 63 months (range, 1-148 months), 121 of the 330 patients experienced MACE. Compared to patients who did not have MACE, patients who had MACE showed a significant decrease in serum cystatin C levels (0.99±0.32 vs. 1.15±0.78 mg/L, P=0.03). In multivariate regression analysis, serum cystatin C level was an independent risk factor for MACE. According to the serum cystatin C level, patients were divided into 4 categories, Cox regression analysis illustrated that the second quartile of serum cystatin C level indicated an increased risk of MACE in patients with PCI for primary ACS compared to the highest quartile [Q2: adjusted hazard ratio (HR) =2.109; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.193-3.727; P=0.01]. RCS analysis showed a significant U-shaped dose-response relationship between cystatin C level and MACE in patients with PCI for ACS (P for non-linearity =0.004). Conclusions: These results indicated an association between serum cystatin C level and post-PCI MACE in ACS patients.

The U-shape Association between Population Agglomeration and Individual Depression: the Role of Dialect Diversity.

Depression is a relevant mental illness affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. As urbanization accelerates, agglomeration of populations has altered individual social network distances and life crowding, which in turn affects depressive prevalence. However, the association between depression and population agglomeration (PA) remains controversial. This study aims to explore whether and how PA could influence individual depression. Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2018, the empirical results showed that there was a U-shaped association between PA and individual CES-D scores. As PA increases, the risk of depression first decreases and then increases. CES-D was lowest at moderate aggregation. Dialect diversity (DD) was positively related to the incidence of individual depression. The higher the DD, the higher the risk of depression. Meanwhile, DD also played a moderating role in the association between PA and individual depression. Our observations suggest that the optimistic level of agglomeration for individual mental health is within 1500 to 2000 persons per square kilometer.

A systematic analysis and review of soil organic carbon stocks in urban greenspaces.

Urban greenspaces typically refer to urban wetland, urban forest and urban turfgrass. They play a critical role in carbon sequestration by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere; however, their capacity to retain and store carbon in the form of soil organic carbon (SOC) varies significantly. This study provides a systematic analysis and review on the capacity of different urban greenspace types in retaining and storing SOC in 30 cm soil depth on a global scale. Data came from 78 publications on the subject of SOC stocks, covering different countries and climate zones. Overall, urban greenspace types exerted significant influences on the spatial pattern of SOC stocks, with the highest value of 18.86 ± 11.57 kg m-2 (mean ± standard deviation) in urban wetland, followed by urban forest (6.50 ± 3.65 kg m-2), while the lowest mean value of 4.24 ± 3.28 kg m-2 was recorded in urban turfgrass soil. Soil organic carbon stocks in each urban greenspace type were significantly affected by climate zones, management/environmental settings, and selected soil properties (i.e. soil bulk density, pH and clay content). Furthermore, our analysis showed a significantly negative correlation between SOC stocks and human footprint in urban wetland, but a significantly positive relationship in urban forest and urban turfgrass. A positive correlation between SOC stocks and human footprint indicates that increased human activity and development can enhance SOC stocks through effective management and green infrastructure. Conversely, a negative correlation suggests that improper management of human activities can degrade SOC stocks. This highlights the need for sustainable practices to maintain or enhance SOC accumulation in urban greenspaces.

Depression prediction based on LassoNet-RNN model: A longitudinal study.

Depression has become a widespread health concern today. Understanding the influencing factors can promote human mental health as well as provide a basis for exploring preventive measures. Combining LassoNet with recurrent neural network (RNN), this study constructed a screening model ,LassoNet-RNN, for identifying influencing factors of individual depression. Based on multi-wave surveys of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) dataset (11,661 observations), we analyzed the multivariate time series data and recognized 27 characteristic variables selected from four perspectives: demographics, health-related risk factors, household economic status, and living environment. Additionally, the importance rankings of the characteristic variables were obtained. These results offered insightful recommendations for theoretical developments and practical decision making in public health.

Impact analysis of meteorological variables on PM2.5 pollution in the most polluted cities in China.

With the continuous promotion of urbanization in China, air pollution problems have become increasingly prominent in recent years. Various factors, such as emissions, meteorology, and physical and chemical reactions, jointly affect the severity of PM2.5 pollution to a large extent. This study selected five meteorological variables (planetary boundary layer height (PBLH), wind speed (WS), temperature(T), water vapor mixing ratio(Q), and precipitation (PCP)) for perturbation, and 21 different scenarios were set up. In this study, the effects of changes in a single meteorological variable on the pollutants produced in the area were represented by subtracting the baseline scenario (i.e., without perturbation of meteorological variables) simulated in January 2017 separately from each post-disturbance scenario. The results showed that Handan (HD) has the highest annual mean PM2.5 concentration of 85.75 µg/m3 in 2017, while all cities in study area exceeded the secondary concentration limit of urban atmospheric particulate matter. The correlation coefficient (R) between the simulation values of models and the actual monitoring values ranges from 0.41 to 0.74, indicating good model performance and acceptable simulation errors. PBLH (±10%-±20%), WS(±10%-±20%), and PCP(±10%-±20%) all showed a single adverse effect among the five meteorological variables, meaning that a reduction in these three factors led to an increase in PM2.5 concentrations. However, T (±1 K-±1.5 K) and Q (±10%-±20%) could indicate a positive impact under certain conditions. From the sensitivity calculations of single meteorological variables, it is clear that WS, PBLH, and PCP show a highly linear trend in all cities at the 0.01 level of significance. The hypothesis that T changes linearly in 10 cities in the study area is valid, while for Q, the hypothesis that Q changes linearly only occurs in Shijiazhuang and Baoding. When different meteorological variables are disturbed, there are significant spatial differences in the main affected areas of PM2.5 concentrations. By discussing the impact of meteorological variable disturbance on air quality in critically polluted cities in China, this study identified the meteorological variables that can substantially affect PM2.5 concentration. The more complex T and Q should be considered when formulating relevant emission measures.

The Impact of Environmental and Host Factors on Human Cystic Echinococcosis: A County-Level Modeling Study in Western China.

Human cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a parasitic disease caused by tapeworms from the Echinococcus granulosus genus, potentially affected by the environment and host animals. West China is one of the most endemic areas of human CE nation and worldwide. The current study identifies the crucial environmental and host factors of human CE prevalence in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and non-Qinghai-Tibet Plateau regions. An optimal county-level model was used to analyze the association between key factors and human CE prevalence within the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Geodetector analysis and multicollinearity tests identify key factors, and an optimal model is developed through generalized additive models. In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, four key factors were identified from the 88 variables, such as maximum annual precipitation (Pre), maximum summer normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), Tibetan population rate (TibetanR), and positive rates of Echinococcus coproantigen in dogs (DogR). Based on the optimal model, a significant positive linear relationship was observed between maximum annual Pre and human CE prevalence. A probable U-shaped curve depicts the non-linear relationship between maximum summer NDVI and the human CE prevalence. Human CE prevalence possesses significant positive non-linear relationships with TibetanR and DogR. Human CE transmission is integrally affected by environmental and host factors. This explains the mechanism of human CE transmission based on the pathogen, host, and transmission framework. Therefore, the current study provides references and innovative ideas for preventing and controlling human CE in western China.

Ferritinophagy-mediated iron competition in RUTIs: Tug-of-war between UPEC and host.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the main pathogen of recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTIs). Urinary tract infection is a complicated interaction between UPEC and the host. During infection, UPEC can evade the host's immune response and retain in bladder epithelial cells, which requires adequate nutritional support. Iron is the first necessary trace element in life and a key nutritional factor, making it an important part of the competition between UPEC and the host. On the one hand, UPEC grabs iron to satisfy its reproduction, on the other hand, the host relies on iron to build nutritional immunity defenses against UPEC. Ferritinophagy is a selective autophagy of ferritin mediated by nuclear receptor coactivator 4, which is not only a way for the host to regulate iron metabolism to maintain iron homeostasis, but also a key point of competition between the host and UPEC. Although recent studies have confirmed the role of ferritinophagy in the progression of many diseases, the mechanism of potential interactions between ferritinophagy in UPEC and the host is poorly understood. In this paper, we reviewed the potential mechanisms of ferritinophagy-mediated iron competition in the UPEC-host interactions. This competitive relationship, like a tug-of-war, is a confrontation between the capability of UPEC to capture iron and the host's nutritional immunity defense, which could be the trigger for RUTIs. Therefore, understanding ferritinophagy-mediated iron competition may provide new strategies for exploring effective antibiotic alternative therapies to prevent and treat RUTIs.

Amino Acid Availability Determines Plant Immune Homeostasis in the Rhizosphere Microbiome.

Microbes possess conserved microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) that are recognized by plant receptors to induce pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). Despite containing the same MAMPs as pathogens, commensals thrive in the plant rhizosphere microbiome, indicating they must suppress or evade host immunity. Previous work found that bacterial-secreted gluconic acid is sufficient to suppress PTI. Here, we show that gluconic acid biosynthesis is not necessary for immunity suppression by the beneficial bacterial strain Pseudomonas simiae WCS417. We performed a forward genetic screen with EMS-mutagenized P. simiae WCS417 and a flagellin-inducible CYP71A12pro:GUS reporter as a PTI readout. We identified a loss of function mutant in ornithine carbamoyltransferase argF, which is required for ornithine conversion to arginine, that cannot suppress PTI or acidify the rhizosphere. Fungal pathogens use alkalization through production of ammonia and glutamate, and arginine biosynthetic precursors, to promote their own growth and virulence. While a ΔargF mutant has a growth defect in the rhizosphere, we found that restoring growth with exogenous arginine resulted in rhizosphere alkalization in a mutant that cannot make gluconic acid, indicating that arginine biosynthesis is required for both growth and acidification. Furthermore, blocking bacterial arginine, glutamine, or proline biosynthesis through genetic mutations or feedback inhibition by adding corresponding amino acids, resulted in rhizosphere alkalization. Untargeted metabolomics determined that ornithine, an alkaline molecule, accumulates under conditions associated with rhizosphere alkalization. Our findings show that bacterial amino acid biosynthesis contributes to acidification by preventing accumulation of ornithine and the resulting alkalization. IMPORTANCE Understanding how microbiota evade and suppress host immunity is critical to our knowledge of how beneficial microbes persist in association with a host. Prior work has shown that secretion of organic acids by beneficial microbes is sufficient to suppress plant immunity. This work shows that microbial amino acid metabolism is not only critical for growth in the plant rhizosphere microbiome, but also for regulation of plant rhizosphere pH, and, consequentially, regulation of plant immunity. We found that, in the absence of microbial glutamate and arginine metabolism, rhizosphere alkalization and microbial overgrowth occurs. Collectively, our findings suggest that, by regulating nutrient availability, plants have the potential to regulate their immune homeostasis in the rhizosphere microbiome.

Untargeted and targeted mass spectrometry reveal the effects of theanine on the central and peripheral metabolomics of chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depression in juvenile rats.

l-theanine has been shown to have a therapeutic effect on depression. However, whether l-theanine has an excellent preventive effect on depression in children and adolescents and what its mechanism is have not been well explained. Given the complexity of the pathogenesis of depression, this study investigated the preventive effect and mechanism of l-theanine on depression in juvenile rats by combining serum and hippocampal metabolomic strategies. Behavioral tests, hippocampal tissue sections, and serum and hippocampal biochemical indexes were studied, and the results confirmed the preventive effect of l-theanine. Untargeted reversed-phase liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry and targeted hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry were developed to analyze the metabolism changes in the serum and hippocampus to screen for potential biomarkers related to l-theanine treatment. The results suggested that 28 abnormal metabolites in the serum and hippocampus that were considered as potential biomarkers returned to near-normal levels after l-theanine administration. These biomarkers were involved in various metabolic pathways, mainly including amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism. The levels of amino acids and neurotransmitters in the phenylalanine, tryptophan, and glutamic acid pathways were significantly reduced after l-theanine administration compared with chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced rats. In summary, l-theanine had a significant preventive effect on depression and achieved its preventive results on depression by regulating various aspects of the body, such as amino acids, lipids, and inflammation. This research systematically analyzed the mechanism of l-theanine in preventing depression and laid the foundation for applying l-theanine to prevent depression in children and adolescents.

The impact of natural environment on human alveolar echinococcosis: A township-level modeling study in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a lethal helminthic infection caused by the tapeworms Echinococcus multilocularis. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has the greatest endemicity of human AE globally, but the natural risk factors and its impact mechanism are still unclear. Generalized linear models and generalized additive models are used to select key linear and non-linear environmental factors associated with cases of AE. The interactive effect between different factors is identified using concurvity test. From fifty-nine variables analyzed, four key factors and one interaction term were identified associated with AE. Considering interaction terms between climatic and geographical landscape factors can significantly improve model fitting. Minimum winter precipitation, percentage of grassland cover, and minimum elevation have significant positive linear relationship with human AE incidence. The relationship between maximum summer precipitation and human AE is non-linear with high AE incidence associated with moderate precipitation. The interaction term of maximum summer precipitation and number of patches of grassland on human AE indicates that human AE incidence is highest when both factors were high. The climatic and landscape risk factors together are associated with the local transmission of human AE in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This study provides a scientific basis for human intervention in AE from fine-scale ecological environment.

Environment and COVID-19 incidence: A critical review.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented worldwide health crisis. Many previous research studies have found and investigated its links with one or some natural or human environmental factors. However, a review on the relationship between COVID-19 incidence and both the natural and human environment is still lacking. This review summarizes the inter-correlation between COVID-19 incidence and environmental factors. Based on keyword searching, we reviewed 100 relevant peer-reviewed articles and other research literature published since January 2020. This review is focused on three main findings. One, we found that individual environmental factors have impacts on COVID-19 incidence, but with spatial heterogeneity and uncertainty. Two, environmental factors exert interactive effects on COVID-19 incidence. In particular, the interactions of natural factors can affect COVID-19 transmission in micro- and macro- ways by impacting SARS-CoV-2 survival, as well as human mobility and behaviors. Three, the impact of COVID-19 incidence on the environment lies in the fact that COVID-19-induced lockdowns caused air quality improvement, wildlife shifts and socio-economic depression. The additional value of this review is that we recommend future research perspectives and adaptation strategies regarding the interactions of the environment and COVID-19. Future research should be extended to cover both the effects of the environment on the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19-induced impacts on the environment. Future adaptation strategies should focus on sustainable environmental and public policy responses.

The impact of geo-environmental factors on global COVID-19 transmission: A review of evidence and methodology.

Studies on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission indicate that geo-environmental factors have played a significant role in the global pandemic. However, there has not been a systematic review on the impact of geo-environmental factors on global COVID-19 transmission in the context of geography. As such, we reviewed 49 well-chosen studies to reveal the impact of geo-environmental factors (including the natural environment and human activity) on global COVID-19 transmission, and to inform critical intervention strategies that could mitigate the worldwide effects of the pandemic. Existing studies frequently mention the impact of climate factors (e.g., temperature and humidity); in contrast, a more decisive influence can be achieved by human activity, including human mobility, health factors, and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). The above results exhibit distinct spatiotemporal heterogeneity. The related analytical methodology consists of sensitivity analysis, mathematical modeling, and risk analysis. For future studies, we recommend highlighting geo-environmental interactions, developing geographically statistical models for multiple waves of the pandemic, and investigating NPIs and care patterns. We also propose four implications for practice to combat global COVID-19 transmission.

The impact of environmental factors on human echinococcosis epidemics: spatial modelling and risk prediction.

BACKGROUND: Human echinococcosis is affected by natural environmental factors, and its prevalence shows a distinct geographical distribution. Western China has the highest endemicity of human echinococcosis worldwide, but the spatial pattern and environmental determinants of echinococcosis are still unclear. METHODS: Hot/cold spot analysis was used to investigate the spatial distribution of human echinococcosis prevalence. Geodetector was used to identify key natural factors, and a structured additive regression model was used to analyse the relationship between natural factors and human echinococcosis prevalence and spatially predict echinococcosis epidemics. RESULTS: Hot spots for human echinococcosis prevalence include western and southeastern parts of Tibet Autonomous Region (henceforth Tibet) and the border areas between Tibet and the provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan. Spatial effects are crucial when modelling epidemics, and relative humidity, altitude and grassland area ratio were found to have the most evident effects on echinococcosis epidemics. The relationship between these three factors and echinococcosis prevalence was non-linear, and echinococcosis risk was higher in areas with high relative humidity, high altitude, and a high ratio of grassland to other land use types. The prevalence that was predicted from the investigated environmental factors was generally higher than the actual prevalence, and more epidemic hot spots were predicted for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan than the rest of western China. These results indicate that prevention and control measures may effectively reduce echinococcosis prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the prevention and control of human echinococcosis should be prioritized in the hot spots identified here, through the rational allocation of limited medical resources to where they are most needed. Furthermore, the spatial epidemiological modelling methods used in this study can be employed in future studies on echinococcosis and similar diseases.

Research Advances in the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease with Polysaccharides of Danggui-Shaoyao-San.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common progressive neurodegenerative disease. In recent years, the research on the treatment of AD with Chinese medicine is increasing and the results are optimistic, which may provide some new options for the treatment of AD. Existing animal and clinical studies have found that Danggui Shaoyao San (DSS), which has been used in gynecological diseases, is effective in the treatment of AD. As the main component of DSS, macromolecular polysaccharide plays an indispensable role in the treatment of AD. In addition to anti-inflammatory, anti-neuronal injury, and immune regulation, polysaccharides extracted from Danggui Shaoyao San (p-DSS) also have good activities in hypoglycemia, and participate in the physiological regulation of ubiquitination, iron metabolism, intestinal flora, estrogen, and autophagy. Given that there is little systematic analysis of p-DSS, this paper reviews the possible mechanism of p-DSS in the treatment of AD, so as to provide reference for further research.

Neuropeptides as the Shared Genetic Crosstalks Linking Periodontitis and Major Depression Disorder.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was at investigating the association between major depressive disorder (MDD) and periodontitis based on crosstalk genes and neuropeptides. METHODS: Datasets for periodontitis (GSE10334, GSE16134, and GSE23586) and MDD (GSE38206 and GSE39653) were downloaded from GEO. Following batch correction, a differential expression analysis was applied (MDD: ∣log2FC | >0 and periodontitis ∣log2FC | ≥0.5, p < 0.05). The neuropeptide data were downloaded from NeuroPep and NeuroPedia. Intersected genes were potential crosstalk genes. The correlation between neuropeptides and crosstalk genes in MDD and periodontitis was analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient. Subsequently, regression analysis was performed to calculate the differentially regulated link. Cytoscape was used to map the pathways of crosstalk genes and neuropeptides and to construct the protein-protein interaction network. Lasso regression was applied to screen neuropeptides, whereby boxplots were created, and receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The MDD dataset contained 30 case and 33 control samples, and the periodontitis dataset contained 430 case and 139 control samples. 35 crosstalk genes were obtained. A total of 102 neuropeptides were extracted from the database, which were not differentially expressed in MDD and periodontitis and had no intersection with crosstalk genes. Through lasso regression, 9 neuropeptides in MDD and 43 neuropeptides in periodontitis were obtained. Four intersected neuropeptide genes were obtained, i.e., ADM, IGF2, PDYN, and RETN. The results of ROC analysis showed that IGF2 was highly predictive in MDD and periodontitis. ADM was better than the other three genes in predicting MDD disease. A total of 13 crosstalk genes were differentially coexpressed with four neuropeptides, whereby FOSB was highly expressed in MDD and periodontitis. CONCLUSION: The neuropeptide genes ADM, IGF2, PDYN, and RETN were intersected between periodontitis and MDD, and FOSB was a crosstalk gene related to these neuropeptides on the transcriptomic level. These results are a basis for future research in the field, needing further validation.

Interaction of climate and socio-ecological environment drives the dengue outbreak in epidemic region of China.

Transmission of dengue virus is a complex process with interactions between virus, mosquitoes and humans, influenced by multiple factors simultaneously. Studies have examined the impact of climate or socio-ecological factors on dengue, or only analyzed the individual effects of each single factor on dengue transmission. However, little research has addressed the interactive effects by multiple factors on dengue incidence. This study uses the geographical detector method to investigate the interactive effect of climate and socio-ecological factors on dengue incidence from two perspectives: over a long-time series and during outbreak periods; and surmised on the possibility of dengue outbreaks in the future. Results suggest that the temperature plays a dominant role in the long-time series of dengue transmission, while socio-ecological factors have great explanatory power for dengue outbreaks. The interactive effect of any two factors is greater than the impact of single factor on dengue transmission, and the interactions of pairs of climate and socio-ecological factors have more significant impact on dengue. Increasing temperature and surge in travel could cause dengue outbreaks in the future. Based on these results, three recommendations are offered regarding the prevention of dengue outbreaks: mitigating the urban heat island effect, adjusting the time and frequency of vector control intervention, and providing targeted health education to travelers at the border points. This study hopes to provide meaningful clues and a scientific basis for policymakers regarding effective interventions against dengue transmission, even during outbreaks.

Capacity-Limited Na-M foil Anode: toward Practical Applications of Na Metal Anode.

The practical applications of Na metal anodes are severely plagued by unstable Na plating/stripping. Here the fabrication of Na-rich Na-M (M = Au, Sn, and In) alloy anodes is reported as promising alternatives to address this issue. As compared to metallic Na foil anodes, the alloy foils exhibit improved electrolyte/electrode interface and provide abundant sodiophilic sites for efficient Na plating, while the self-evolved porous Na-M structures accommodate volume variation on cycling. Among three alloy foils, the Na-Au system shows the most promising performance. Under practical conditions such as capacity-limited anodes (5 mAh cm-2 ) and large stripping/plating capacity (1.0 mAh cm-2 ), the Na0.9 Au0.1 anodes demonstrate stable plating/stripping over 350 h. The proof-of-concept full cells assembled with hard carbon or Prussian blue materials and this thin Na0.9 Au0.1 anode also have much elongated cycling life than for pristine Na metal anodes. These findings confirm that the rational design of Na-M alloy anodes can be a promising strategy to promote the development of Na metal batteries.

Remodeling of dermal collagen in photoaged skin using low-dose 5-aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy occurs via the transforming growth factor-ß pathway.

5-Aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) is known to be effective in the treatment of photoaged skin. However, the molecular mechanisms still remain elusive. Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) fluorescence is primarily located in the epidermis while ALA-PDT affects the dermal collagen, presumably by an indirect mechanism. This study aimed to investigate the molecular communication in low-dose ALA-PDT occurring between epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts. Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were performed to evaluate collagen expression and transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) signaling in human keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts. The impact on fibroblast proliferation was assessed by morphology and proliferating cell nuclear antigen immunofluorescence. Skin biopsies from mice were used to analyze the histological changes in dermal collagen and PpIX distribution. When fibroblasts were cocultured with keratinocytes treated with low-dose ALA-PDT, collagen synthesis and fibroblast proliferation were enhanced. Low-dose ALA-PDT stimulated TGF-ß1 expression in keratinocytes. Fibroblasts cocultured with low-dose ALA-PDT-treated keratinocytes also showed activation of the TGF-ß pathway. In vivo, PpIX fluorescence was densely distributed in photoaged mouse epidermis while collagen in the mouse dermis underwent remodeling. This study suggests that low-dose ALA-PDT can stimulate keratinocytes to release TGF-ß1, activating the TGF-ß pathway in dermal fibroblasts to remodel collagen in the dermis.

Rhizosphere-associated Pseudomonas induce systemic resistance to herbivores at the cost of susceptibility to bacterial pathogens.

Plant-associated soil microbes are important mediators of plant defence responses to diverse above-ground pathogen and insect challengers. For example, closely related strains of beneficial rhizosphere Pseudomonas spp. can induce systemic resistance (ISR), systemic susceptibility (ISS) or neither against the bacterial foliar pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pto DC3000). Using a model system composed of root-associated Pseudomonas spp. strains, the foliar pathogen Pto DC3000 and the herbivore Trichoplusia ni (cabbage looper), we found that rhizosphere-associated Pseudomonas spp. that induce either ISS and ISR against Pto DC3000 all increased resistance to herbivory by T. ni. We found that resistance to T. ni and resistance to Pto DC3000 are quantitative metrics of the jasmonic acid (JA)/salicylic acid (SA) trade-off and distinct strains of rhizosphere-associated Pseudomonas spp. have distinct effects on the JA/SA trade-off. Using genetic analysis and transcriptional profiling, we provide evidence that treatment of Arabidopsis with Pseudomonas sp. CH267, which induces ISS against bacterial pathogens, tips the JA/SA trade-off towards JA-dependent defences against herbivores at the cost of a subset of SA-mediated defences against bacterial pathogens. In contrast, treatment of Arabidopsis with the ISR strain Pseudomonas sp. WCS417 disrupts JA/SA antagonism and simultaneously primes plants for both JA- and SA-mediated defences. Our findings show that ISS against the bacterial foliar pathogens triggered by Pseudomonas sp. CH267, which is a seemingly deleterious phenotype, may in fact be an adaptive consequence of increased resistance to herbivory. Our work shows that pleiotropic effects of microbiome modulation of plant defences are important to consider when using microbes to modify plant traits in agriculture.

Boron-doped graphene as a metal-free catalyst for gas-phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde.

Boron-doped graphene samples (BGs) with tunable boron content of 0-2.90 at% were synthesized and directly used in the gas-phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde, and showed excellent performance. XPS results indicated that the graphitic sp2 B species (BC3) is the mainly boron dopant species incorporated in the graphene lattice, which could significantly improve the content of ketone carbonyl groups (C[double bond, length as m-dash]O) on the graphene. For instance, the contents of C[double bond, length as m-dash]O jumped from 1.93 to 4.19 at% while BC3 doped into the graphene lattice was only 0.35 at%. The C[double bond, length as m-dash]O is the active site of catalytic reaction, so BG has significantly improved catalytic activity. Compared to the un-doped graphene (G), the conversion of benzyl alcohol over BGs increased 2.35 times and the selectivity of benzaldehyde increased from 77.3% to 99.2%. Aerobic-anaerobic exchange experiments revealed that the superior catalytic performance of BG was achieved only under aerobic conditions. The study of the boron-doped carbocatalyst may also provide guidance for the design of surface modified carbon-based catalysts for the selective oxidation dehydrogenation of alcohols by regulating doping elements and their types.