Narrowing row spacing and adding inter-block promote the grain filling and flag leaf photosynthetic rate of wheat under enlarged drip tube spacing system.

Enlarging the lateral space of drip tubes saves irrigation equipment costs (drip tubes and bypass), but it will lead to an increased risk of grain yield heterogeneity between wheat rows. Adjusting wheat row spacing is an effective cultivation measure to regulate a row's yield heterogeneity. During a 2-year field experiment, we investigated the variations in yield traits and photosynthetic physiology by utilizing two different water- and fertilizer-demanding spring wheat cultivars (NS22 and NS44) under four kinds of drip irrigation patterns with different drip tube lateral spacing and wheat row spacing [① TR4, drip tube spacing (DTS) was 60 cm, wheat row horizontal spacing (WRHS) was 15 cm; ② TR6, DTS was 90 cm, WRHS was 15 cm; ③ TR6L, DTS was 90 cm, WRHS was 10 cm, inter-block spacing (IBS) was 35 cm; and ④ TR6S, DTS was 80 cm, WRHS was 10 cm, IBS was 25 cm]. The results showed that under 15-cm equal row spacing condition, after the number of wheat rows served by a single tube increased from four (TR4, control) to six (TR6), NS22 and NS44 exhibited a marked decline in yield. The decline of NS22 (9.93%) was higher than that of NS44 (9.04%), and both cultivars also showed a greater decrease in grain weight and average grain-filling rate (AGFR) of inferior grains (NS22: 23.19%, 13.97%; NS44: 7.78%, 5.86%) than the superior grains (NS22: 10.60%, 8.33%; NS44: 4.89%, 4.62%). After the TR6 was processed to narrow WRHS (from 15 to 10 cm) and add IBS (TR6L: 35 cm; TR6S: 25 cm), the grain weight per panicle (GWP) and AGFR of superior and inferior grains in the third wheat row (RW3) of NS22 and NS44 under TR6L increased significantly by 26.05%, 8.22%, 14.05%, 10.50%, 5.09%, and 5.01%, respectively, and under TR6S, they significantly increased by 20.78%, 9.91%, 16.19%, 9.28%, 5.01%, and 4.14%, respectively. The increase in GWP and AGFR was related to the increase in flag leaf area, net photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content, relative water content, actual photochemical efficiency of PSII, and photochemical quenching coefficient. Among TR4, TR6, TR6L, and TR6S, for both NS22 and NS44, the yield of TR6S was significantly higher than that of TR6 and TR6L. Furthermore, TR6S showed the highest economic benefit.

Downregulation of GPX8 in hepatocellular carcinoma: impact on tumor stemness and migration.

PURPOSE: GPX8, which is found in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen, is a member of the Glutathione Peroxidases (GPXs) family. Its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unknown. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the protein levels of GPX8 in HCC tissue microarrays. A short hairpin RNA lentivirus was used to knock down GPX8, and the main signaling pathways were investigated using transcriptome sequencing and a phosphorylated kinase array. The sphere formation assays, cloning-formation assays and cell migration assays were used to evaluate the stemness and migration ability of HCC cells. Identifying the GPX8-interacting proteins was accomplished through immunoprecipitation and protein mass spectrometry. RESULTS: The GPX8 protein levels were downregulated in HCC patients. Low expression of GPX8 protein was related to early recurrence and poor prognosis in HCC patients. GPX8 knockdown could enhance the stemness and migration ability of HCC cells. Consistently, Based on transcriptome analysis, multiple signaling pathways that include the PI3K-AKT and signaling pathways that regulate the pluripotency of stem cells, were activated after GPX8 knockdown. The downregulation of GPX8 could increase the expression of the tumor stemness markers KLF4, OCT4, and CD133. The in vivo downregulation of GPX8 could also promote the subcutaneous tumor-forming and migration ability of HCC cells. MK-2206, which is a small-molecule inhibitor of AKT, could reverse the tumor-promoting effects both in vivo and in vitro. We discovered that GPX8 and the 71-kDa heat shock cognate protein (Hsc70) have a direct interaction. The phosphorylation of AKT encouraged the translocation of Hsc70 into the nucleus and the expression of the PI3K p110 subunit, thereby increasing the downregulation of GPX8. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study demonstrate the anticancer activity of GPX8 in HCC by inactivating the Hsc70/AKT pathway. The results suggest a possible therapeutic target for HCC.

Evolution of spatial-temporal differentiation pattern and decoupling relationship between provincial health resources and medical pressure in China / 中国卫生政策研究

Objective:To clarify the spatio-temporal characteristics and changing trends of provincial health resources and medical pressure,and to provide suggestions for the high-quality development of medical and health services in China.Methods:Based on the panel data of 31 provincial administrative units from 2010 to 2020,a comprehensive evaluation system of provincial health resources and medical pressure was constructed.The global entropy method and exploratory spatial analysis were used to reveal the spatio-temporal differentiation and correlation pattern,and the Tapio decoupling index was illustrated to explain the evolution characteristics and trends.Results:During the observation period,health resources and medical pressure in the vast majority of provinces in China rose steadily,with positive spatial correlation and agglomeration,and a close relationship with economic development and population demand;the mainstream decoupling state of the country shifted from a negative decoupling to a positive decoupling,with an obvious progressive decoupling trend,and the development of regional health continued to improve.Conclusions and suggestions:Provinces need to take into account the status quo of health development in their own provinces,focus on the spatio-temporal coupling of elements and structures,and optimize the structure of health resource allocation and enhance the resilience of the health system as a means of bringing into play the comparative advantages of the regional health system.

The Influence of Merged County-based Medical Community on the Conscientiousness of Physicians in Township Health Centers:the Mediating Role of Emotional Feeling / 中国医院管理

Objective Based on the affective events theory,explore the influence of the cmerged county-based medical community reform on the conscientiousness of physicians in township health centers and its internal mechanism,and provide references for improving their conscientiousness.Methods Self-designed questionnaire was used to conduct the survey,including the basic personal information,physician's conscientiousness,county-based integrated service delivery networks and efficacy emotional feeling.Select physicians from 23 township health centers of 2 merged county-based medical community in Hubei Province as the investigation objects and use structural equation model to analyze the the influence of compact county-based integrated service delivery networks on the conscientiousness.Results The county-based integrated service delivery networks efficacy had a positive impact on the emotional feeling.Emotional feeling had a positive impact on the conscientiousness.The county-based integrated service delivery networks efficacy on the was conscientiousness 0.044,while the indirect effect was 0.236,and the ratio of indirect effect to the total effect was 84.3%.Conclusions The emotional feeling plays a fully mediating role between county-based integrated service delivery networks efficacy and physician's conscientiousness of township health centers.

GWAS and Meta-QTL Analysis of Yield-Related Ear Traits in Maize.

Maize ear traits are an important component of yield, and the genetic basis of ear traits facilitates further yield improvement. In this study, a panel of 580 maize inbred lines were used as the study material, eight ear-related traits were measured through three years of planting, and whole genome sequencing was performed using the maize 40 K breeding chip based on genotyping by targeted sequencing (GBTS) technology. Five models were used to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on best linear unbiased estimate (BLUE) of ear traits to find the best model. The FarmCPU (Fixed and random model Circulating Probability Unification) model was the best model for this study; a total of 104 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected, and 10 co-location SNPs were detected simultaneously in more than two environments. Through gene function annotation and prediction, a total of nine genes were identified as potentially associated with ear traits. Moreover, a total of 760 quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with yield-related traits reported in 37 different articles were collected. Using the collected 760 QTL for meta-QTL analysis, a total of 41 MQTL (meta-QTL) associated with yield-related traits were identified, and 19 MQTL detected yield-related ear trait functional genes and candidate genes that have been reported in maize. Five significant SNPs detected by GWAS were located within these MQTL intervals, and another three significant SNPs were close to MQTL (less than 1 Mb). The results provide a theoretical reference for the analysis of the genetic basis of ear-related traits and the improvement of maize yield.

Development of a deep pathomics score for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Tumor recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) impedes the curative chance for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. This study aimed to develop a deep pathomics score (DPS) for predicting tumor recurrence after liver transplantation using deep learning. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two datasets of 380 HCC patients who underwent LT were enrolled. Residual convolutional neural networks were used to identify six histological structures of HCC. The individual risk score of each structure and DPS were derived by a modified DeepSurv network. Cox regression analysis and Concordance index were used to evaluate the prognostic significance. The cellular exploration of prognostic immune biomarkers was performed by quantitative and spatial proximity analysis according to three panels of 7-color immunofluorescence. RESULTS: The overall classification accuracy of HCC tissue was 97%. At the structural level, immune cells were the most significant tissue category for predicting post-LT recurrence (HR 1.907, 95% CI 1.490-2.440). The C-indices of DPS achieved 0.827 and 0.794 in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Multivariate analysis for recurrence-free survival (RFS) showed that DPS (HR 4.795, 95% CI 3.017-7.619) was an independent risk factor. Patients in the high-risk subgroup had a shorter RFS, larger tumor diameter and a lower proportion of clear tumor borders. At the cellular level, a higher infiltration of intratumoral NK cells was negatively correlated with recurrence risk. CONCLUSIONS: This study established an effective DPS. Immune cells were the most significant histological structure related to HCC recurrence. DPS performed well in post-LT recurrence prediction and the identification of clinicopathological features.

Arabidopsis AGAMOUS-LIKE16 and SUPPRESSOR OF CONSTANS1 regulate the genome-wide expression and flowering time.

Flowering transition is tightly coordinated by complex gene regulatory networks, in which AGAMOUS-LIKE 16 (AGL16) plays important roles. Here, we identified the molecular function and binding properties of AGL16 and demonstrated its partial dependency on the SUPPRESSOR OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) function in regulating flowering. AGL16 bound to promoters of more than 2,000 genes via CArG-box motifs with high similarity to that of SOC1 in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Approximately 70 flowering genes involved in multiple pathways were potential targets of AGL16. AGL16 formed a protein complex with SOC1 and shared a common set of targets. Intriguingly, only a limited number of genes were differentially expressed in the agl16-1 loss-of-function mutant. However, in the soc1-2 knockout background, AGL16 repressed and activated the expression of 375 and 182 genes, respectively, with more than a quarter bound by AGL16. Corroborating these findings, AGL16 repressed the flowering time more strongly in soc1-2 than in the Col-0 background. These data identify a partial inter-dependency between AGL16 and SOC1 in regulating genome-wide gene expression and flowering time, while AGL16 provides a feedback regulation on SOC1 expression. Our study sheds light on the complex background dependency of AGL16 in flowering regulation, thus providing additional insights into the molecular coordination of development and environmental adaptation.

RNF219 Promotes Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Progression by Activating the NF-κB Pathway.

In Southeast Asia, the prevalence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is high; however, the molecular mechanism governing the progression of NPC is unclear. The results of the present study revealed upregulation of ring finger protein 219 (RNF219) expression in NPC tissues and cells. Overexpression of RNF219 enhanced NPC cell invasion, migration, and proliferation; whereas knockdown of RNF219 had the opposite effects. Mechanistically, RNF219 activated the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway, mainly reflected by increased p65 nuclear translocation, and increased NF-κB pathway target gene expression. NF-κB pathway inhibition in cells overexpressing RNF219 resulted in reduced invasion, migration, and proliferation, confirming that progression of NPC was promoted by RNF219-mediated NF-κB pathway activation. In addition, the expression of RNF219 correlated positively with the activity of the NF-κB pathway, verifying that RNF219 regulates the activity of the NF-κB pathway in the clinical setting. Our results identified a novel therapeutic target that could promote the development of novel treatments for NPC.

Clinical analysis of rejection after pediatric kidney transplantation / 中华器官移植杂志

Objective:To explore the morbidity features and therapeutic outcomes of rejections in pediatric kidney transplantation (KT) recipients.Methods:Between January 2013 and June 2022, 360 children undergoing KT were recruited.The relevant clinical data were collected for examining the morbidity features and therapeutic outcomes of rejections.The serum levels of creatinine were compared among groups by non-parametric rank test.And Kaplan-Meier and Log-rank methods were employed for examining the incidence of rejection and comparing mortality-censored graft survival rates among patients with different times of rejection.Results:A total of 58 recipients had 82 incidents of rejection with a cumulative incidence of 6.3%, 9.2% and 11.3% at 3/6/12 months respectively.Among 50 incidents of biopsy-proved rejections, the types were T cell-mediated rejection [TCMR, 42.0%(21/50)], antibody-mediated rejection [20.0%(10/50), ABMR] and mixed rejection [38.0%(19/50)].Among 58 incidents of initial rejection, 69% had maintained graft function (MGF) and 31% impaired graft function (IGF) after anti-rejection regimens.Among 80.8%, 85.7% and 75% of recipients with clinical rejection, ABMR or borderline rejection while 36.4% in TCMR patients had MGF.Fifteen kidney allografts lost function in 58 recipients with rejection.Five-year death-censored graft survival was significantly lower in patients with two or more incidents of rejection (30.5%, 95% CI: 12.3%-75.4%) than in those without rejection (92.9%, 95% CI: 89.3%-96.6%) ( P<0.000 1) or with only one rejection (82.9%, 95% CI: 65.9%-100%)( P<0.001). Conclusions:The rejection rate remains high in KT children and it affects graft survival.And TCMR is more likely to cause impaired graft function.Recurrent rejections have a more pronounced impact upon graft survival.

Phenytoin sodium in the treatment of tacrolimus poisoning caused by paxlovid after kidney transplantation: a report of 2 cases / 中华器官移植杂志

This report describs 2 domestic cases of tacrolimus poisoning in kidney transplant recipients due to overexposure of tacrolimus caused by nirmatrelvir/ritonavir for SARS-CoV-2 infection.Phenytoin sodium is prescribed for inducing CYP3A enzyme.It is intended for providing references for formulating and adjusting treatment protocols for tacrolimus overexposure and related toxicity in kidney transplant recipients caused by nirmatrelvir/ritonavir.

Risk factors analysis of protein energy wasting in children with chronic kidney disease / 中华儿科杂志

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and risk factors of protein energy wasting (PEW) in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: Clinical data of 231 children with chronic kidney disease hospitalized in Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University from January 2018 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed to explore the incidence of PEW. According to the diagnostic criteria of CKDPEW, they were divided into a CKDPEW group and a non PEW group. The comparison between the groups was performed by independent-sample t test and Chi-squared test, and the risk factors were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression. Results: Among the 231 children, there were 138 males and 93 females, with a visiting age of 9.9 (7.9, 16.0) years; 6 cases were in stage 1, 14 cases in stage 2, 51 cases in stage 3, 36 cases in stage 4, and 124 cases in stage 5. A total of 30 children (13.0%) with CKD PEW were diagnosed at the age of 7. 1 (3.8, 13.2) years, including 1 case in stage 1, 1 case in stage 2, 5 cases in stage 3, 5 cases in stage 4, and 18 cases in stage 5. There were a total of 201 cases (87.0%) in the non PEW group, diagnosed at the age of 11.8 (8.5, 12.2) years, including 5 cases in stage 1, 13 cases in stage 2, 46 cases in stage 3, 31 cases in stage 4, and 106 cases in stage 5. The Chi-squared test and t test showed that the systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, birth weight and carbon dioxide binding capacity of the CKD PEW group were lower than those of the non PEW group ((109±22) vs. (120±20) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), (72±19) vs. (79±16) mmHg, (2.9±0.5) vs. (3.2±0.6) kg, (17±4) vs. (19±4) mmol/L,t=2.85, 2.14, 0.67, 2.63, all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that carbon dioxide binding capacity and birth weight were independent protective factors of CKDPEW in children (OR=0.81 and 0.36, 95%CI=0.73-0.90 and 0.17-0.77, respectively; both P<0.01); the risk of PEW in CKD children decreased by 0.187 times for every 1 mmol/L increment in carbon dioxide binding capacity, and 0.638 times for every 1 kg increment in birth weight. Conclusions: The incidence of protein energy expenditure in children with chronic kidney disease is lower than that in the previous researches. PEW can appear in CKD 1-2 stage, and attention should be paid to it in the early stage of CKD in clinical practice. Low birth weight CKD children are susceptible to PEW, and actively correcting metabolic acidosis can reduce the risk of CKDPEW.

The effects of Clostridium butyricum on Ira rabbit growth performance, cecal microbiota and plasma metabolome.

Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) can provide many benefits for animals' growth performance and gut health. In this study, we investigated the effects of C. butyricum on the growth performance, cecal microbiota, and plasma metabolome in Ira rabbits. A total of 216 Ira rabbits at 32 days of age were randomly assigned to four treatments supplemented with basal diets containing 0 (CG), 200 (LC), 400 (MC), and 600 mg/kg (HC) C. butyricum for 35 days, respectively. In comparison with the CG group, C. butyricum supplementation significantly improved the average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion rate (FCR) at 53 and 67 days of age (P < 0.05) and digestibilities of crude protein (CP) and crude fiber (CF) at 67 days of age (P < 0.05). The cellulase activity in the HC group was higher respectively by 50.14 and 90.13% at 53 and 67 days of age, than those in the CG groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, at 67 days of age, the diet supplemented with C. butyricum significantly increased the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobia at the phylum level (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the concentrations of different metabolites, such as amino acids and purine, were significantly altered by C. butyricum (P < 0.05). In addition, 10 different genera were highly correlated with 52 different metabolites at 53-day-old and 6 different genera were highly correlated with 18 different metabolites at 67-day-old Ira rabbits. These findings indicated that the C. butyricum supplementation could significantly improve the growth performance by modifying the cecal microbiota structure and plasma metabolome of weaned Ira rabbits.

Interferon regulatory factor-7 is required for hair cell development during zebrafish embryogenesis.

Interferon regulatory factor-7 (IRF7) is an essential regulator of both innate and adaptive immunity. It is also expressed in the otic vesicle of zebrafish embryos. However, any role for irf7 in hair cell development was uncharacterized. Does it work as a potential deaf gene to regulate hair cell development? We used whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) assay and morpholino-mediated gene knockdown method to investigate the role of irf7 in the development of otic vesicle hair cells during zebrafish embryogenesis. We performed RNA sequencing to gain a detailed insight into the molecules/genes which are altered upon downregulation of irf7. Compared to the wild-type siblings, knockdown of irf7 resulted in severe developmental retardation in zebrafish embryos as well as loss of neuromasts and damage to hair cells at an early stage (within 3 days post fertilization). Coinjection of zebrafish irf7 mRNA could partially rescued the defects of the morphants. atp1b2b mRNA injection can also partially rescue the phenotype induced by irf7 gene deficiency. Loss of hair cells in irf7-morphants does not result from cell apoptosis. Gene expression profiles show that, compared to wild-type, knockdown of irf7 can lead to 2053 and 2678 genes being upregulated and downregulated, respectively. Among them, 18 genes were annotated to hair cell (HC) development or posterior lateral line (PLL) development. All results suggest that irf7 plays an essential role in hair cell development in zebrafish, indicating that irf7 may be a member of deafness gene family.

A scoping review on strategies, influencing factors and evaluation of foreign stroke service system integration / 中华医院管理杂志

Objective:To summarize the strategies, influencing factors and evaluation methods of foreign stroke service system integration, so as to provide reference for the construction of integrated stroke service system in China.Methods:The scoping review method was used to search, screen and analyze the literature. Using search terms such as stroke and integration, a total of 7 527 articles from PubMed and other databases from 2000 to 2021 were obtained. The strategies, influencing factors, evaluation methods and results of stroke service system integration were extracted from the literature. The rainbow model of health integration was used to establish the literature analysis framework.Results:A total of 103 articles involved system integration strategies were included in the analysis, 49 articles involved integration influencing factors, and 32 articles involved integration evaluation. Stroke service system integration strategies included 3 categories and 13 forms, including service coverage, normative shaping and information technology integration. The influencing factors of integration included local stroke service resources, implementation ability, social development level and institutional environment. System integration evaluation included systematic evaluation and case evaluation.Conclusions:The goal of stroke service system integration is to improve the coverage, quality and efficiency of stroke services. The internal drive comes from market and technology. The three types of integration strategies have their own emphasis and are integrated with each other. They are deeply embedded in the regional resource, institutional and cultural environment. Their evaluation is facing the challenge of high situational and low universality.

Diagnosis and treatment of transplanted renal artery stenosis in 7 children from deceased donors / 中华器官移植杂志

Objective:To explore the diagnosis and treatment of transplanted renal artery stenosis(TRAS)in children.Methods:From January 2016 to August 2021, clinical data of 7 TRAS patients were collected.A definite diagnosis was confirmed by Doppler ultrasound and computed tomography angiography.Results:Patient age was significantly higher than donor age(11.9±3.7 vs 1.0±0.5 years, P<0.001); 5 patients had a widened diameter at stenotic grafted renal artery after intervention(1.98±0.47 vs 4.64±1.19 mm, P=0.002). A reduction in peak systolic flow velocity in stenotic segment of artery(463.3±90.6 vs 183.6±58.9 cm/s, P<0.001)and lower systolic blood pressure(137.2±15.5 vs 129.7±12.3 mmHg, P=0.029)were observed.Resistance index rose(0.38±0.22 vs 0.60±0.03, P=0.063). Significant difference of estimated glomerular filtration rate was observed at Week 4 post-operation as compared with pre-intervention.Two patients developed complications after intervention, including perirenal hematoma and stent-attached thrombus.Two patients were treated conservatively with a gradual increase in blood pressure and three antihypertensive drugs prescribed. Conclusions:Doppler ultrasound should be performed regularly after renal transplantation for detecting TRAS at an early stage in children.Interventional treatment is ideal for severe TRAS to improve perfusion and renal function.Clinicians should pay more attention to complications.

Adjuvant Radiotherapy After Minimally Invasive Surgery in Patients With Stage IA1-IIA1 Cervical Cancer.

To estimate whether adjuvant radiotherapy is necessary for patients with stage IA1-IIA1 cervical cancer after laparoscopic hysterectomy, 221 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Sixty-two of them were treated with laparoscopic hysterectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy (group A), 115 underwent open surgery (group B) and 44 received laparoscopic hysterectomy alone (group C). Results showed that the 3-year local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) rates of group A, B and C were 98.4%, 97.4% and 86.4%, respectively. The LRFS rates of group A and B surpassed C (A vs. B, p=0.634; A vs. C, p=0.011; B vs. C, p=0.006). The inter-group differences of 3-year overall survival (OS) and distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) were not statistically significant. In subgroup analysis of stage IB disease, the 3-year LRFS rates of group A, B and C were 100%, 98.8% and 83.1%, the 3-year OS rates of group A, B and C were 100%, 98.9% and 91.5%, respectively. The 3-year LRFS and OS rates of group A and B were significantly superior to group C (p<0.05). Our findings suggest that adjuvant radiotherapy can reduce the risk of recurrence for women with early-stage cervical cancer after laparoscopic hysterectomy and bring survival benefits for patients with stage IB disease.

Effect of host breeds on gut microbiome and serum metabolome in meat rabbits.

BACKGROUND: Gut microbial compositional and functional variation can affect health and production performance of farm animals. Analysing metabolites in biological samples provides information on the basic mechanisms that affect the well-being and production traits in farm animals. However, the extent to which host breeds affect the gut microbiome and serum metabolome in meat rabbits is still unknown. In this study, the differences in phylogenetic composition and functional capacities of gut microbiota in two commercial rabbit breeds Elco and Ira were determined by 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequencing. The alternations in serum metabolome in the two rabbit breeds were detected using ultra-performance liquid chromatography system coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOFMS). RESULTS: Sequencing results revealed that there were significant differences in the gut microbiota of the two breeds studied, suggesting that host breeds affect structure and diversity of gut microbiota. Numerous breed-associated microorganisms were identified at different taxonomic levels and most microbial taxa belonged to the families Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae. In particular, several short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) producing species including Coprococcus comes, Ruminococcus faecis, Ruminococcus callidus, and Lachnospiraceae bacterium NK4A136 could be considered as biomarkers for improving the health and production performance in meat rabbits. Additionally, gut microbial functional capacities related to bacterial chemotaxis, ABC transporters, and metabolism of different carbohydrates, amino acids, and lipids varied greatly between rabbit breeds. Several fatty acids, amino acids, and organic acids in the serum were identified as breed-associated, where certain metabolites could be regarded as biomarkers correlated with the well-being and production traits of meat rabbits. Correlation analysis between breed-associated microbial species and serum metabolites revealed significant co-variations, indicating the existence of cross-talk among host-gut microbiome-serum metabolome. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insight into how gut microbiome and serum metabolome of meat rabbits are affected by host breeds and uncovers potential biomarkers important for breed improvement of meat rabbits.

Potential Defects and Improvements of Equivalent Uniform Dose Prediction Model Based on the Analysis of Radiation-Induced Brain Injury.

PURPOSE: To study the impact of dose distribution on volume-effect parameter and predictive ability of equivalent uniform dose (EUD) model, and to explore the improvements. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The brains of 103 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with IMRT were segmented according to dose distribution (brain and left/right half-brain for similar distributions but different sizes; V D with different D for different distributions). Predictive ability of EUDV D (EUD of V D ) for radiation-induced brain injury was assessed by receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC). The optimal volume-effect parameter a of EUD was selected when AUC was maximal (mAUC). Correlations between mAUC, a and D were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Both mAUC and a in brain and half-brain were compared by using paired samples t-tests. The optimal D V and V D points were selected for a simple comparison. RESULTS: The mAUC of brain/half-brain EUD was 0.819/0.821 and the optimal a value was 21.5/22. When D increased, mAUC of EUDV D increased, while a decreased. The mAUC reached the maximum value when D was 50-55 Gy, and a was always 1 when D ≥55 Gy. The difference of mAUC/a between brain and half-brain was not significant. If a was in range of 1 to 22, AUC of brain/half-brain EUDV55 Gy (0.857-0.830/0.845-0.830) was always larger than that of brain/half-brain EUD (0.681-0.819/0.691-0.821). The AUCs of optimal dose/volume points were 0.801 (brain D2.5 cc), 0.823 (brain V70 Gy), 0.818 (half-brain D1 cc), and 0.827 (half-brain V69 Gy), respectively. Mean dose (equal to EUDV D with a = 1) of high-dose volume (V50 Gy-V60 Gy) was superior to traditional EUD and dose/volume points. CONCLUSION: Volume-effect parameter of EUD is variable and related to dose distribution. EUD with large low-dose volume may not be better than simple dose/volume points. Critical-dose-volume EUD could improve the predictive ability and has an invariant volume-effect parameter. Mean dose may be the case in which critical-dose-volume EUD has the best predictive ability.

Recognition and treatment of adrenal crisis complicated with nephrotic syndrome in children / 中国小儿急救医学

Up to 60% of children with nephrotic syndrome may occur secondary adrenal insufficiency, and even adrenal crisis.Adrenal crisis is one of the serious complications of nephrotic syndrome in children.The mortality rate is high and it seriously threatens the life.Adrenal crisis is often lack of specific manifestations, and usually begin with gastrointestinal symptoms, accompanied by circulatory dehydration, neuropsychiatric symptoms, hyponatremia, hyperkalemia and hypoglycemia.Glucocorticoid replacement therapy is important.Active prevention can reduce the incidence of crisis and improve prognosis.

Modified technique of ureter implantation for urinary tract reconstruction in murine renal transplantation model / 中华器官移植杂志

Objective:To explore the application value of modified technique of ureter implantation in murine renal transplantation.Methods:Thirty left donor kidneys from BALB/c mice was transplanted into syngeneic mice. Cuff technique was applied for anastomosing kidney artery and vein. The procedure of ureter-bladder anastomoses shifted from implication-fixation-embedding to fixation-implication-embedding. Operative duration, recipient survival rate and complications were recorded.Results:Time for separating vessels, perfusion and excision of donor graft was (25±3) min, (10±6) s for warm ischemia and (25±5) min for cold ischemia. Time for separating recipient vessels was (12±5) min, (7±1) min for arterial anastomosis, (7±1) min for venous anastomosis, (13±2) min for ureter-bladder anastomosis, (5±1) min for right kidney excision and (5±1) min for abdominal closure. Operative duration was(77±3)min. Twenty-six recipients survived over 3 months. The successful operative rate was 86.7%.Conclusions:With a shorter learning curve, modified technique of ureter implantation is easier and faster so as to reduce the postoperative incidence of urinary tract complications during murine renal transplantation.