Evaluation of the Pollination Efficiency of Apple Trees by Osmia excavata Alfken (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae).

The mason bee Osmia excavata Alfken is an apple pollinating insect widely distributed in northern China, in order to effectively utilize the mason bee and improve the pollination rate of apples, there is a need to evaluate the pollination efficiency of the bees. This study evaluated the pollination efficiency of the mason bee on apple orchards in Jinan and Yantai, Shandong Province, China. The study compared natural pollination areas and pollination areas with different release densities of O. excavata in terms of the effects of bee density, timing of pollination, and distance effects on fruit set rate, fruit shape index, fruit shape skewness, fruit soluble solids content, and fruit firmness. The optimal release density of bees was 6000 cocoons per hectare, resulting in the highest fruit setting rate of apple lateral flowers. From 07:00 to 14:00 was the best time for bee pollination. The optimal distance of hives from apple trees for pollination by O. excavata was 60 m. Single fruit weight was significantly higher and fruit unsymmetrical rate, partial slope and hardness were all significantly lower at the release densities of 6000 or 12000 cocoons per hectare compared with 3000 cocoons per hectare or under natural pollination conditions. There was no significant difference in the content of soluble solids under different release densities. Thus, the radius of 60 m from the hive was the effective pollination range and 6000 cocoons per hectare of mason bees could ensure the fruit quality of apple.

LncRNA EPIC1 promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of gallbladder cancer cells by interacting with LET.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) EPIC1 (epigenetically-induced lncRNA1) is likely involved in human cancer by promoting cell cycle progression. Our study was carried out to investigate the involvement of EPIC1 in gallbladder cancer (GBC). METHODS: Expression levels of EPIC1 in two types of tissues (GBC and paracancerous) and plasma were measured by performing qPCR. GBC-SD and SGC-996 cells were transfected with low expression in tumor (LET) and EPIC1 expression vectors. RESULTS: The present study found that EPIC1 was upregulated in tumor tissues than in paracancerous tissues of GBC patients, and plasma levels of EPIC1 were significantly correlated with levels of EPIC1 in tumor tissues. LncRNA LET was downregulated in tumor tissues than in paracancerous tissues and was inversely correlated with EPIC1 in both tumor tissues and paracancerous tissues. Overexpression of EPIC1 led to downregulated LET, and LET overexpression also mediated the downregulation of EPIC1. EPIC1 led to accelerated GBC cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis. Overexpression of LET played opposites roles. In addition, LET overexpression attenuated the effects of EPIC1 overexpression on cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA EPIC1 promoted proliferation and inhibited apoptosis of GBC cells by interacting with LET.

Advances in Growth Factor Delivery for Bone Tissue Engineering.

Shortcomings related to the treatment of bone diseases and consequent tissue regeneration such as transplants have been addressed to some extent by tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Tissue engineering has promoted structures that can simulate the extracellular matrix and are capable of guiding natural bone repair using signaling molecules to promote osteoinduction and angiogenesis essential in the formation of new bone tissues. Although recent studies on developing novel growth factor delivery systems for bone repair have attracted great attention, taking into account the complexity of the extracellular matrix, scaffolding and growth factors should not be explored independently. Consequently, systems that combine both concepts have great potential to promote the effectiveness of bone regeneration methods. In this review, recent developments in bone regeneration that simultaneously consider scaffolding and growth factors are covered in detail. The main emphasis in this overview is on delivery strategies that employ polymer-based scaffolds for spatiotemporal-controlled delivery of both single and multiple growth factors in bone-regeneration approaches. From clinical applications to creating alternative structural materials, bone tissue engineering has been advancing constantly, and it is relevant to regularly update related topics.