[Effects of Biochar and Soil Conditioner on Coastal Barren Saline-alkali Soil].

This study aimed to quantify the biological improvement and availability from a soil amendment substance for barren severe saline-alkali soils. A field experiment was conducted to apply biochar (B) and soil conditioner (C) rich in humic substances to pioneer crops and oil sunflower planted in the coastal barren severe saline-alkali area of the North China Low Plain. The six treatments included single or combined application of two-level biochar rates (0 and 1.25 kg·m-2) and three-level soil conditioner rates (0, 0.83, and 1.66 kg·m-2) at the start of the experiment. Soil samples were collected at 30 cm per layer and sampling from 0 to 90 cm after the oil was collected. The results revealed that the application of biochar increased the saline concentration of the 0-30 cm and 60-90 cm soil layers, whereas the soil conditioner significantly decreased the saline concentration of the 0-30 cm soil layers. Neither biochar nor conditioner showed a significant impact on soil pH. Biochar exhibited varying impacts on soil nutrients, that is, significantly inhibiting soil nitrification, which resulted in soil NO3--N decreasing while NH4+-N increased significantly, along with no significant impact on soil organic matter content (SOM) in the 0-90 cm soil profile. The application of soil conditioner exerted positive effects on improving SOM in the 0-30 cm layer and NO3--N in the 0-90 cm soil depth when the conditioner rate was at 1.66 kg·m-2. Either the sole application or the co-application of biomass and conditioner, along with their interaction, exhibited an increasing trend for the NH4+-N, available phosphorus (Olsen-P), and available potassium (Kex) contents, also seen in the 0-90 cm soil profile, although the increase effect for the three nutrients was primarily attributed to biochar. Soil conditioner was more effective in increasing SOM and reducing saline in the 0-30 cm soil layer. The application of a higher amount of conditioner accelerated soil nitrification, whereas biochar was applied essentially as a nitrification inhibitor. Therefore, the co-application of biochar with soil conditioner would be an effective practice for improving soil fertility, preventing soil nitrification, and deterring nitrate leaching, as well as reducing saline for topsoil, which would be a basis for developing soil amendments to control saline and a fertile soil environment for pioneer crops planted in coastal barren severe saline-alkali areas.

Inhibition of glioma by adenovirus KGHV500 encoding anti-p21Ras scFv and carried by cytokine-induced killer cells.

Ras gene mutation or overexpression can lead to tumorigenesis in multiple kinds of cancer, including glioma. However, no drugs targeting Ras or its expression products have been approved for clinical application thus far. Adenoviral gene therapy is a promising method for the treatment of glioma. In this study, the human glioma cell line U251 was co-cultured with recombinant adenovirus KGHV500, and the anti-tumor effects of KGHV500 were determined by MTT, scratch test, Transwell invasion, and apoptosis assays. Then, KGHV500 was delivered via the intravenous injection of CIK cells into glioma xenografts. Tumor volume, ki67 proliferation index, apoptosis levels, and anti-p21Ras scFv expression were tested to evaluate targeting ability, anti-tumor efficacy, and safety. We found that the KGHV500 exhibited anti-tumor activity in U251 cells and increased the intracellular expression of anti-p21Ras scFv compared with that in the control groups. CIK cells delivered KGHV500 to U251 glioma cell xenografts and enhanced anti-tumor activity against glioma xenografts compared to that produced by the control treatment. In conclusion, targeting Ras is a useful therapeutic strategy for gliomas and other Ras-driven cancers, and the delivery of anti-p21Ras scFv by recombinant adenovirus and CIK cells may play an essential role in the therapy of Ras-driven cancers.

Differences in the Composition of Vaginal Microbiota between Women Exhibiting Spleen-Deficiency Syndrome and Women with Damp-Heat Syndrome, Two of the Most Common Syndromes of Vaginitis in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Spleen-deficiency syndrome and damp-heat syndrome are the two most common syndromes of vaginitis in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Although it is known that the vaginal microbiota is closely associated with vaginitis, present studies have not fully elucidated the relationship between the composition of the vaginal microbiome and type of TCM syndrome because of the limitations in the present reductionist approaches. Samples of vaginal secretions were collected from patients with bacterial vaginitis and healthy subjects with spleen-deficiency syndrome and damp-heat syndrome, in order to analyze the constitution of the vaginal microflora using 16S rRNA sequencing methods that encompass taxonomic units, alpha diversity rarefaction curves, and principal component analyses. This prospective study indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the composition of the vaginal microbiome between patients with spleen-deficiency syndrome and patients with damp-heat syndrome. Streptococcus was the dominant microbiota in patients with spleen-deficiency syndrome. This can serve as a biomarker for differentiating spleen-deficiency syndrome and damp-heat syndrome. In addition, as indicated by the findings on the samples, patients with bacterial vaginitis of dominant abundance in Pseudomonadaceae might be prone to manifest spleen-deficiency syndrome, while patients with bacterial vaginitis of dominant abundance in Prevotella might be prone to manifest damp-heat syndrome. These present findings can provide a new approach to acquire a scientific understanding of the syndromes of TCM, which in turn would benefit the development of personalized medicine, in terms of ancient medicine and complex biological systems.

Effect of Total Flavones from Cuscuta Chinensis on Anti-Abortion via the MAPK Signaling Pathway.

For centuries, the Chinese herb Cuscuta chinensis has been applied clinically for abortion prevention in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Total flavones extracted from Cuscuta chinensis (TFCC) are one of the active components in the herb and also display anti-abortion effect similar to the unprocessed material. However, how TFCC exerts the anti-abortion effect remains largely unknown. In this study, we aim at characterizing the anti-abortion effects of TFCC and its underlying molecular mechanism in vitro and in vivo using human primary decidua cells and a mifepristone-induced abortion model in rat, respectively. The damage to the decidua caused by mifepristone in vivo was reversed by TFCC treatment in a dosage-dependent manner. High dosage of TFCC significantly upregulated the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and prolactin receptor (PRLR) in decidua tissue but downregulated the expression of p-ERK. Furthermore, we detected higher level of p-ERK and p-p38 in primary decidua cells from spontaneous abortion while treatment by TFCC downregulated their expression. Our results suggest TFCC mediates its anti-abortion effect by interfering with MAPK signaling pathway.

[Alteration of Th17 cells, immunoglobins and complements levels in peripheral blood of patients with refractory recurrent aphthous ulcer].

PURPOSE: To observe the levels of Th17 cells, immunoglobins and complements in peripheral blood of patients with refractory recurrent aphthous ulcer (refractory RAU) patients. METHODS: Totally, 30 patients with refractory RAU and 21 healthy controls were enrolled into this study. Flow cytometry was performed to determine the frequency of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood. Immune scatter turbidimetry was adopted to measure the levels of IgA, IgG, IgM, IgE, C3 and C4 in the peripheral blood. Meanwhile, the correlations between the frequency of Th17 cells and the levels of immunoglobins or complements were analyzed. SPSS17.0 software package was used to analyze the date. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the percentage of Th17 cells (CD3+CD8-IL17+) in all CD4+T cells was significantly increased in the refractory RAU group (P<0.01). Similarly, the levels of IgG, IgA, IgE in the refractory RAU group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in the levels of IgM, C3 and C4 between the refractory RAU group and control group. There was negative correlation between the frequency of Th17 cells and the level of IgA (r=-0.477, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The levels of Th17 cells, immunoglobins and complements in refractory RAU patients are significantly different from healthy human, which may play an important role in the pathogenesis of refractory RAU. There may be some relationship between Th17 cells and the change of humoral immunity in refractory RAU.

Resummed Differential Cross Sections for Top-Quark Pairs at the LHC.

We present state of the art resummation predictions for differential cross sections in top-quark pair production at the LHC. They are derived from a formalism which allows the simultaneous resummation of both soft and small-mass logarithms, which endanger the convergence of fixed-order perturbative series in the boosted regime, where the partonic center-of-mass energy is much larger than the mass to the top quark. We combine such a double resummation at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic^{'} (NNLL^{'}) accuracy with standard soft-gluon resummation at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy and with next-to-leading-order calculations, so that our results are applicable throughout the whole phase space. We find that the resummation effects on the differential distributions are significant, bringing theoretical predictions into better agreement with experimental data compared to fixed-order calculations. Moreover, such effects are not well described by the next-to-next-to-leading-order approximation of the resummation formula, especially in the high-energy tails of the distributions, highlighting the importance of all-orders resummation in dedicated studies of boosted top production.

Transverse-momentum resummation for top-quark pairs at hadron colliders.

We develop a framework for a systematic resummation of the transverse momentum distribution of top-quark pairs produced at hadron colliders based on effective field theory. Compared to Drell-Yan and Higgs production, a novel soft function matrix is required to account for the soft gluon emissions from the final states. We calculate this soft function at the next-to-leading order, and perform the resummation at the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. We compare our results with parton shower programs and with the experimental data at the Tevatron and the LHC. We also discuss the implications for the top quark charge asymmetry.

Transverse parton distribution functions at next-to-next-to-leading order: the quark-to-quark case.

We present a calculation of the perturbative quark-to-quark transverse parton distribution function at next-to-next-to-leading order based on a gauge invariant operator definition. We demonstrate for the first time that such a definition works beyond the first nontrivial order. We extract from our calculation the coefficient functions relevant for a next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic Q(T) resummation in a large class of processes at hadron colliders.

Searching for anomalous top quark production at the early LHC.

We present a detailed study of the anomalous top quark production with subsequent decay at the LHC induced by model-independent flavor-changing neutral-current couplings, incorporating the complete next-to-leading order QCD effects. Our results show that, taking into account the current limits from the Tevatron, the LHC with √s=7 TeV may discover the anomalous coupling at 5σ level for a very low integrated luminosity of 61 pb⁻¹. The discovery potentials for the anomalous couplings at the LHC are examined in detail. We also discuss the possibility of using the charge ratio to distinguish the tug and tcg couplings.

[Impact of land-use type changes on soil nitrification and ammonia-oxidizing bacterial community composition].

A comparative study was conducted to determine nitrification potentials and ammonia-oxidizing bacterial (AOB) community composition in 0-20 cm soil depth in adjacent native forest,natural grassland, and cropland soils on the Tibetan Plateau, by incubation experiment and by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rDNA, respectively. Cropland has the highest nitrification potential and nitrate concentration among the three land-use types (LUT), approximately 9 folds and more than 11 folds than that of the forests and grasslands, respectively. NO3(-) -N accounted for 70%-90% of inorganic N in cropland soil, while NH4(+) -N was the main form of inorganic N in forest and grassland soils. Nitrification potentials and nitrate concentrations showed no significant difference between native forest and grassland soils. The native forest showed the lowest nitrification potentials and the lowest AOB diversity and community composition among the three LUT. Conversions from natural grasslands to croplands remarkably decreased the AOB diversity and composition, but croplands remain high similarity in AOB community composition compared with grasslands. The minimal and the lowest diversity of AOB in native forests directly resulted to the lowest nitrification potentials compared to natural grasslands and croplands. From the fact of the highest nitrification potentials and nitrate concentrations in croplands indicated that there were the most substantial AOB with higher activity and priority. The results provide evidence that changes of land-use type can affect both soil nitrogen internal cycling process, the diversity, community and activity of AOB, which further affect soil environment quality and the long-term sustainability of ecosystems.

[Immunoreactivity of monoclonal anti-p21Ras antibody KGH-R1 in colorectal benign and malignant lesions].

AIM: To investigate the immunoreactivity of monoclonal anti-p21ras antibody KGH-R1 in colorectal benign and malignant lesions. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining was performed using monoclonal anti-p21ras antibody KGH-R1 prepared in our laboratory, in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded colorectal samples including normal colorectal tissues, colorectal inflammatory polyps, colorectal low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, colorectal high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, invasive colorectal carcinomas and corresponding adjacent tissues. Immunoreactivity of monoclonal antibody KGH-R1 was evaluated by percentage of positive cells and histological score (HSCORE). RESULTS: Immunostaining was found in 64.89% (61/94) of invasive colorectal adenocarcinomas with an average of 97.28% of carcinoma cells positive and average of 178.98 of HSCOREs. 60.24% (50/83) of colorectal high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia demonstrated immunostaining with KGH-R1, the average percentage of positive cells was 95.08%, the average HSCOREs was 156.38. 64.58% (31/48) of colorectal low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia demonstrated immunoreactivity with KGH-R1, the average percentage of positive cells was 82.52%, the average HSCOREs was 103.03. 39.97% (29/73) of colorectal inflammatory polyps showed immunoreactivity with KGH-R1, the average percentage of positive cells was 17.78%, the average HSCOREs was 18.66. 46.67% (21/45) of normal colorectal tissues showed immunostaining, but the immunoreactivity was very weak, the average percentage of positive cells was 2.64%, the average HSCOREs was 2.64. The the average percentage of positive cells and the average HSCOREs in invasive colorectal carcinomas had no statistical significance with adjacent high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, but were higher than that in adjacent low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia. Weak immunostaining was found in 23.53% (20/85) of adjacent normal colorectal tissues. CONCLUSION: Suggested in this study that monoclonal anti-p21ras antibody KGH-R1 has a high immunoreactivity with invasive colorectal carcinomas and may be a potential therapeutic antibody in the future.

[Antisense oligonucleotide targeting survivin gene induces cell apoptosis in salivary mucoepidermoid carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: to determine the effects of survivin antisense oligonucleotide (ASODN) on the expression levels of survivin mRNA and human mucoepidermoid carcinoma cell line (highly metastatic Mc3) apoptosis and to explore the feasibility of survivin gene as the mucoepidermoid carcinoma therapeutic targets. METHODS: the survivin ASODN was designed and synthesized and then respectively transfected into Mc3 cells. The morphological changes of the Mc3 cells were observed 24, 48 and 72 h after transfection by inverted microscope and the apoptosis rate detected by flow cytometry. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to detect the effect of the transfection on cell poliferation, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) method for analysis of apoptotic index, and semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect the expression of survivin. RESULTS: in survivin ASODN transfection group, there was less Mc3 cells than in other groups. The suspended cells dropping from the wall increased and showed typical apoptotic changes and time-dependent. Mc3 cell apoptosis rate in survivin ASODN transfection group transfected for 24, 48, 72 h was 12.96%, 14.43%, 22.69%, respectively, which were significantly higher than in other groups (P < 0.01) and time-dependent (P < 0.05). The inhibitory rate of Mc3 cells in survivin ASODN transfection group was 22.35%, 39.04%, 43.46%, which were significantly higher than other groups (P < 0.01) and time-dependent (P < 0.05). The apoptosis index (AI) of Mc3 cells in survivin ASODN transfection group was 11.038%, 12.172%, 18.900%, significantly higher than other groups (P < 0.01) and time-dependent (P < 0.05). The survivin mRNA levels in Mc3 cells were 0.739 ± 0.008, 0.668 ± 0.007, 0.500 ± 0.006, and the relative inhibition rate in these cells was 18.21%, 26.06%, 44.82%, significantly lower than other groups (P < 0.01) and time-dependent manner (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: survivin ASODN could inhibit the proliferation of Mc3 cells and induce the apoptosis of Mc3 cells. It also can inhibit the expression of survivin mRNA. Survivin can be used as a gene therapy targets for mucoepidermoid carcinoma.

Two-loop divergences of QCD scattering amplitudes with massive partons.

We provide a complete description of the two-loop infrared singularities of scattering amplitudes with an arbitrary number of massive and massless partons in non-Abelian gauge theories. To this end, we calculate the two universal functions that completely specify the structure of three-parton correlations in the soft anomalous-dimension matrix at two-loop order in closed analytic form. Both functions are found to be suppressed like O(m(4)/s(2)) in the limit of small parton masses, in accordance with mass factorization theorems. On the other hand, they are unsuppressed near the threshold for pair production of two heavy particles. As an application, we calculate the two-loop anomalous-dimension matrix for qq --> tt near threshold and show that it is not diagonal in the s-channel singlet-octet basis.

[Expression and clinic pathological significance of survivin mRNA and protein in salivary gland tumors].

PURPOSE: The study is aimed to determine the expression of survivin mRNA in salivary gland tumors and its significance in the development and progress of salivary gland tumors. METHODS: The expression of survivin mRNA both in benign and malignant salivary gland tumor tissues and in peripheral tissues was identified by in situ hybridizations assay with the prepared tissue chips. The data were analyzed by Chi-square test and rank sum test using SPSS10.0 software package. RESULTS: The difference in the expression of survivin mRNA was significant between benign and malignant salivary gland tumors (P<0.05). But not significant between the gland tissues around the tumors and malignant tumors (P>0.05). The difference in the expression of survivin mRNA in malignant salivary gland tumor was significant in the pathological grade, lymph node status and relapse of the tumor (P<0.05), but not significant in gender, age of the patients and size of the tumors (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of survivin mRNA is associated with clinic pathological characteristics of the malignant salivary gland tumors. Survivin mRNA may play a crucial role in earlier diagnosis and prognosis of the malignant salivary gland tumors.