Bronchobiliary fistula after traumatic liver rupture: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Bronchobiliary fistulas are rare and difficult to treat. Peacock first reported this entity in 1850 while treating a patient with hepatic encopresis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 67-year-old Chinese male patient presented to the outpatient clinic with a complaint of coughing up phlegm with chest tightness for 4 days with symptoms of intermittent bilirubin sputum with a sputum volume of about 500 ml per day but no symptoms of abdominal pain or jaundice and no yellow urine or steatorrhea. The examination revealed cyanosis of the lips and mouth, barrel chest, low breath sounds on the right side, and a large number of wet rales heard in both lungs. The imaging investigations were suggestive of bronchobiliary fistula. Therefore, the patient was operated on and discharged with no perioperative complications. CONCLUSION: Bronchobiliary fistula should be considered diagnostically in patients with known liver disease who also experience trauma or medical treatment and cough up bile-colored sputum, regardless of the presence of concurrent infections, and in conjunction with radiological expertise to identify it. Here, we report a case of bronchobiliary fistula and a brief review of the literature on it.

Effects of nitrogen addition on rhizosphere priming: The role of stoichiometric imbalance.

Nitrogen (N) input has a significant impact on the availability of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in the rhizosphere, leading to an imbalanced stoichiometry in microbial demands. This imbalance can result in energy or nutrient limitations, which, in turn, affect C dynamics during plant growth. However, the precise influence of N addition on the C:N:P imbalance ratio and its subsequent effects on rhizosphere priming effects (RPEs) remain unclear. To address this gap, we conducted a 75-day microcosm experiment, varying N addition rates (0, 150, 300 kg N ha-1), to examine how microbes regulate RPE by adapting to stoichiometry and maintaining homeostasis in response to N addition, using the 13C natural method. Our result showed that N input induced a stoichiometric imbalance in C:N:P, leading to P or C limitation for microbes during plant growth. Microbes responded by adjusting enzymatic stoichiometry and functional taxa to preserve homeostasis, thereby modifying the threshold element ratios (TERs) to cope with the C:N:P imbalance. Microbes adapted to the stoichiometric imbalance by reducing TER, which was attributed to a reduction in carbon use efficiency. Consequently, we observed higher RPE under P limitation, whereas the opposite trend was observed under C or N limitation. These results offer novel insights into the microbial regulation of RPE variation under different soil nutrient conditions and contribute to a better understanding of soil C dynamics.

Effects of maize straw and its biochar application on soil organic carbon chemical composition and carbon degradation genes in a Moso bamboo forest.

We investigated the effects of maize straw and its biochar application on soil organic carbon chemical composition, the abundance of carbon degradation genes (cbhI) and the composition of cbhI gene community in a Moso bamboo forest, to provide the theoretical and scientific basis for enhancing carbon sequestration. We conducted a one-year field experiment in a subtropical Moso bamboo forest with three treatments: control (0 t C·hm-2), maize straw (5 t C·hm-2), and maize straw biochar (5 t C·hm-2). Soil samples were collected at the 3rd and 12th months after the treatment. Soil organic carbon chemical composition, the abundance and community composition of cbhI gene were determined by solid-state 13C NMR, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, and high-throughput sequencing, respectively. The results showed that compared with the control, maize straw treatment significantly increased the content of O-alkyl C and decreased aromatic C content, while maize straw biochar treatment showed an opposite effect. Maize straw treatment significantly increased the abundance of cbhI gene and the relative abundance of Penicillium, Gaeumannomyces and Marasmius. However, maize straw biochar treatment reduced the abundance of this gene. The relative abundance of dominant cbhI in soils was positively correlated with the content of O-alkyl C and negatively correlated with the content of aromatic C. Results of redundancy analysis showed that maize straw treatment had a significant effect on the microbial community composition of cbhI gene by changing soil O-alkyl C content, while maize straw biochar affected the microbial community composition of cbhI gene by changing soil pH, organic carbon, and aromatic C content. Maize straw biochar treatment was more effective in increasing soil organic carbon stability and reducing microbial activity associated with carbon degradation in the subtropical Moso bamboo forest ecosystem compared with maize straw treatment. Therefore, the application of biochar has positive significance for maintaining soil carbon storage in subtropical forest ecosystems.

Deciphering the dual role of bacterial communities in stabilizing rhizosphere priming effect under intra-annual change of growing seasons.

The rhizosphere priming effect (RPE) is a widely observed phenomenon affecting carbon (C) turnover in plant-soil systems. While multiple cropping and seasonal changes can have significant impacts on RPE, the mechanisms driving these processes are complex and not yet fully understood. Here, we planted maize in paddy soil during two growing seasons having substantial temperature differences [May-August (warm season, 26.6 °C) and September-November (cool season, 23.1 °C)] within the same calendar year in southern China to examine how seasonal changes affect RPEs and soil C. We identified sources of C emissions by quantifying the natural abundance of 13C and determined microbial metabolic limitations or efficiency and functional genes related to C cycling using an enzyme-based biogeochemical equilibrium model and high-throughput quantitative PCR-based chip technology, respectively. Results showed that microbial metabolism was mainly limited by phosphorus in the warm season, but by C in the cool season, resulting in positive RPEs in both growing seasons, but no significant differences (9.02 vs. 6.27 mg C kg-1 soil day-1). The RPE intensity remained stable as temperature increased (warm season compared to a cool season), which can be largely explained by the simultaneous increase in the abundance of functional genes related to both C degradation and fixation. Our study highlights the simultaneous response and adaptation of microbial communities to seasonal changes and hence contributes to an understanding and prediction of microbially mediated soil C turnover under multiple cropping systems.

Soil microbial community structure dynamics shape the rhizosphere priming effect patterns in the paddy soil.

Microbial community structure plays a crucial part in soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition and variation of rhizosphere priming effects (RPEs) during plant growth. However, it is still uncertain how bacterial community structure regulates RPEs in soil and how RPE patterns respond to plant growth. Therefore, we conducted an experiment to examine the RPE response to plant growth and nitrogen (N) addition (0 (N0), 150 (N150), and 300 (N300) kg N ha-1) using the 13C natural abundance method in a C3 soil (paddy soil) - C4 plant (maize, Zea mays L.) system; we then explored the underlying biotic mechanisms using 16S rRNA sequencing techniques. Networks were constructed to identify keystone taxa and to analyze the correlations between network functional modules of bacterial community and C decomposition. The results indicated that negative and positive RPEs occurred on Day 30 and Day 75 after maize planting, respectively. Bacterial community structure significantly changed and tended to shift from r-strategists toward K-strategists with changing labile C: N stoichiometry and soil pH during plant growth stages. The different network modules of bacterial community were aggregated in response to RPE pattern variation. Caulobacteraceae, Bacillus, and Chitinophagaceae were keystone taxa on Day 30, while Gemmatimonas, Candidatus Koribacter, and Xanthobacteraceae were keystone taxa on Day 75. Moreover, keystone taxa with different C utilization strategies were significantly different between the two growth stages and related closely to different RPE patterns. This study provides deeper insights into the network structure of bacterial communities corresponding to RPE patterns and emphasizes the significance of keystone taxa in RPE variation.

Porphyrindiene-Based Tandem Diels-Alder Reaction for Preparing Low-Symmetry π-Extended Porphyrins with Push-Pull Skeletons.

Tandem Diels-Alder reactions of masked porphyrindienes (i.e., sulfolenoporphyrins) with benzoquinones and stilbenes, followed by aromatization, have been developed to load porphyrin with mixed annulation units (i.e., terphenyl and naphthoquinone), furnishing the low-symmetry π-extended porphyrins (DxAy) with push-pull skeletons. All low-symmetrical chromophores display panchromatic absorption spectra, which look like a spectral combination of symmetrical congeners (D4/A4) in a certain ratio. Among them, tD2A2 with trans-arrangement of push/pull units possesses the largest maximum centered at 766 nm with the onset around 900 nm. The fusion of the electron-deficient naphthoquinone moiety on the porphyrin core results in the approximately quantitative regulation of the Eox1 and HOMOs (i.e., 0.10-0.13 V increase for the Eox1 and 0.14-0.16 eV decrease for the HOMOs per naphthoquinone unit). In brief, this work provides a new way to construct low-symmetry π-extended porphyrins with tunable properties resorting to the ratios and locations of the annulated push-pull units.

The ROCK Tool: A Novel Method for the Structural Exploration of Schemata.

Information stored in the human memory is organized in the form of mental schemata. In this paper we report on the Reproduction of Categorical Knowledge (ROCK) tool, a novel method for uncovering the structure of mental schemata of memorized information. The tool applies serial reproduction and hierarchical clustering to magnify memory bias and uncover inner configurations of fragmented information, using strength of association. We conducted behavioral experiments to test the validity of the tool. Experiment 1a demonstrated that the schematic structure of personality traits uncovered by the ROCK tool highly matched those described by the Big Five theory. This finding was replicated in Experiment 1b, focusing on a lower-level personality dimension extroversion with results aligned with personality theories. Experiment 2 assessed the ROCK tool using artificial stimuli with a pre-defined structure, created using a Markov chain model. Participants acquired the structure of the stimuli through an implicit learning procedure, and the ROCK tool was used to assess their level of recall. The results showed that the learned structure was identical to the designed structure of the stimuli. The results from both studies suggest that the ROCK tool could effectively reveal the structure of mental schemata.

Microbial metabolic efficiency functions as a mediator to regulate rhizosphere priming effects.

Microbial metabolic efficiency (MME), a key physiological property that indicates the allocation of carbon (C) to microbial growth, is surely one potential pathway involved in the regulation of priming effect within soil systems. However, the function and mechanism concerning the regulation of the rhizosphere priming effects (RPE) by MME in plant-soil systems remain unclear. In this study, we performed a pot experiment that included two soil types (paddy soil and lou soil), two plant species (sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and maize [Zea mays L.]) and three stages of growth (big trumpet, blooming and mature stage) to investigate the MME mechanism of RPE. Both positive (up to 76% at the big trumpet stage) and negative (down to -11% at the mature stage) RPE were observed. A shift in related enzyme activities and microbial biomass indicated that the 'microbial activation' and 'microbial nitrogen (N) mining' hypotheses functioned together at first. The 'preferential substrate utilization' hypothesis then functioned at the latter two stages. After that, according to a correlation analysis method, the MME was introduced to regulate the RPE: the availability of soil C and N and the microbial biomass jointly shaped the microbial C: N imbalance (MIC:N), and the microbes then regulated their MME based on the MIC:N, thus, regulating the RPE. Specifically, the lower MME induced by a higher MIC:N was responsible for a greater RPE at the big trumpet stage across all the planted treatments, while a higher MME induced by a lower MIC:N was responsible for the lower or negative RPE at the blooming and mature stages. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the MME shaped by MIC:N functions as a mediator to regulate the RPE in planted soil.

Microbial mechanism of biochar addition on nitrogen leaching and retention in tea soils from different plantation ages.

The effect of biochar additions on N leaching and retention in tea soils and its microbial mechanism are still unclear. In this study, effects of biochar additions at rates of 0, 3% and 6% on N leaching, N retention and microbial responses in two tea soils with 20- and 60-year plantation ages were investigated under application with 15N-labeled urea. The results showed that cumulative mass of leached NH4+-N, NO3--N and TN was reduced by 20.9%-91.9%, 35.1%-66.9% and 40.0%-72.8% under biochar additions, respectively. The retention of TN in soil was increased by 1.2%-5.8% under biochar amendment. Fertilizer-N in the leachate was reduced by 28.8%-62.1%, while fertilizer-N retention in the soils was enhanced by 3.2%-23.9% with biochar application. Biochar addition of 6% showed the highest mitigation of N leaching and enhancement of TN retention across the two soils. Biochar additions increased soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities and changed the bacterial community composition, indicating that biochar addition increased the microbial N requirement, stimulated soil N cycling, including nitrification and denitrification processes, and enhanced microbial N immobilization in the tea soils. Those microbial responses to biochar addition were higher in 60-year-old soil relative to 20-year-old soil, leading to a higher enhancement of N retention and mitigation of N leaching. Soil pH was the prime factor that influenced soil microbes, and it strongly correlated with microbial biomass, enzyme activity, the relative abundance of dominant phyla and α-diversity indices. Therefore, the enhancement of microbial biomass, activity and shifts of bacterial community composition related to N cycling in response to biochar additions that increased the soil pH could be an important mechanism to better understand the biochar-induced N leaching mitigation and N retention enhancement in tea soils under different plantation ages.

Regio- and Enantioselective Friedel-Crafts Benzhydrylation of Indoles in Carbocyclic Ring with ortho-Quinomethanes: Access to Chiral Diarylindolylmethanes.

The functionalization of indoles in the carbocyclic ring has been achieved via organocatalytic enantioselective Friedel-Crafts benzhydrylation of hydroxyindoles with in situ generated ortho-quinomethanes in oil-water biphases, allowing an efficient access to varied diarylindolylmethanes with a wide substrate scope. The high yields, excellent stereoselectivities, mild conditions, low catalyst loading, and easy scalability also demonstrated the interest of this novel methodology.

Asymmetric copper-catalyzed fluorination of cyclic ß-keto esters in a continuous-flow microreactor.

A highly enantioselective homogeneous fluorination of cyclic ß-keto esters catalyzed by diphenylamine linked bis(oxazoline)-Cu(OTf)2 complexes has been established in a continuous flow microreactor. The microreactor allowed an efficient transformation with reaction times ranging from 0.5 to 20 min, and the desired products were afforded in high yields (up to 99%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) at a low catalyst loading of 1 mol%.

Prediction of future carbon footprint and ecosystem service value of carbon sequestration response to nitrogen fertilizer rates in rice production.

There is concern for variations of the carbon footprint (CF) and ecosystem service value of carbon sequestration (ESVCS) related to nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate in rice production under future climate change. To explore possible future ecological effects of N fertilizer rate, a DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) model combined with Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) projections (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) were used to predict the CF and ESVCS of rice production. The model was validated by a two-year field experiment, and then seven N fertilizer levels (0, 75, 150, 190, 225, 300, and 375 kg N/ha) were set for prediction from 2015 to 2050. The validation results indicated a good fit between the DNDC-simulated and observed data of GHG emission and rice yield. Under RCP 8.5, the mean CF was 4.5-8.7% higher and the average ESVCS was 3.6-7.4% lower than those under RCP 4.5. The effects of N fertilizer rate on CF and ESVCS were consistent between the two climate change scenarios. In both RCPs, it was found that CF and ESVCS were mainly influenced by N fertilizer rate due to the latter's effect on CH4 emissions and crop carbon fixation. CH4 was the main contributor to CF during 2015-2050, accounting for 43.9-58.3% of the total CF. Agricultural inputs were also large contributors to CF, and N fertilizer increased the indirect GHG emissions by 24.6-122.2% compared with no N fertilization treatment. Among the studied N fertilizer rates, 190 kg N/ha was the optimal rate, obtaining the lowest CF and highest ESVCS. These results indicate that, under future climate change, an N fertilizer rate of 190 kg N/ha could achieve a trade-off between high yield, reduction of CF, and improvement of ESVCS in rice production.

Regioselective catalytic asymmetric N-alkylation of isoxazol-5-ones with para-quinone methides.

A highly regioselective and enantioselective N-alkylation of isoxazol-5-ones with para-quinone methides promoted by bi-functional squaramide catalysts was developed. This unexpected asymmetric N-addition of isoxazolinones afforded a series of enantioenriched N-diarylmethane substituted isoxazolinones with high yields and enantioselectivities (up to 97 : 3 er). This reaction not only provides a useful approach for intermolecular chiral C-N bond formation but also demonstrates the immense potential of isoxazol-5-ones as N-nucleophiles in catalytic asymmetric reactions.

S-Adenosylmethionine-Dependent Methyltransferase Helps Pichia caribbica Degrade Patulin.

Patulin contamination not only is a menace to human health but also causes serious environmental problems worldwide due to the synthetic fungicides that are used to control it. This study focused on investigating the patulin degradation mechanism in Pichia caribbica at the molecular level. According to the results, P. caribbica (2 × 106 cells/mL) was able to degrade patulin from 20 µg/mL to an undetectable level in 72 h. The RNA-seq data showed patulin-induced oxidative stress and responses in P. caribbica. The deletion of PcCRG1 led to a significant decrease in patulin degradation by P. caribbica, whereas the overexpression of PcCRG1 accelerated the degradation of patulin. The study identified that PcCRG1 protein had the ability to degrade patulin in vitro. Overall, we demonstrated that the patulin degradation process in P. caribbica was more than one way; PcCRG1 was an S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase and played an important role in the patulin degradation process in P. caribbica.

Effect of nitrogen fertilizer rates on carbon footprint and ecosystem service of carbon sequestration in rice production.

Optimizing nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs in agroecosystems may be an effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving carbon (C) sequestration. Using a system boundary that started at seeding and ended at harvesting, a field experiment was established in Zhejiang, Southern China, to evaluate the effects of N fertilizer rates (0, 75, 150, 225, 300, and 375 kg N/ha) on the C footprint and ecosystem service of C sequestration in a single-crop rice production and to identify optimal N fertilizer application rates for balancing low C footprint, high ecosystem service values of C sequestration, and high rice yield. The results showed that increased N fertilizer application improved rice grain yields, but that rates above 225 kg N/ha (grain yield: 9.35 Mg/ha/crop season) had little, or even a negative, impact on rice yield. The C footprint and total GHG emissions of rice production positively correlated with N fertilizer rates. On average, methane emissions from rice paddy soils, as regulated by N fertilizer input, were the main component of total GHG emissions, which accounted for 49.5% of the total C footprint. The ecosystem service values of C sequestration changed from positive (661-233 US$/ha/crop season) to negative (-345 US$/ha/crop season) as N fertilizer rates increased, indicating that paddy fields transitioned from a net C sink at N fertilizer rates between 0 and 300 kg N/ha to a net C source at 375 kg N/ha. Within this limited system boundary, the 225 kg N/ha rate was determined to be a sustainable N fertilizer application rate for achieving high grain yield, mitigating GHG emissions, and improving C sequestration in a single-crop rice production system.