Orbital- and millennial-scale Asian winter monsoon variability across the Pliocene-Pleistocene glacial intensification.

Intensification of northern hemisphere glaciation (iNHG), ~2.7 million years ago (Ma), led to establishment of the Pleistocene to present-day bipolar icehouse state. Here we document evolution of orbital- and millennial-scale Asian winter monsoon (AWM) variability across the iNHG using a palaeomagnetically dated centennial-resolution grain size record between 3.6 and 1.9 Ma from a previously undescribed loess-palaeosol/red clay section on the central Chinese Loess Plateau. We find that the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene AWM was characterized by combined 41-kyr and ~100-kyr cycles, in response to ice volume and atmospheric CO2 forcing. Northern hemisphere ice sheet expansion, which was accompanied by an atmospheric CO2 concentration decline, substantially increased glacial AWM intensity  and its orbitally oscillating amplitudes across the iNHG. Superposed on orbital variability, we find that millennial AWM intensity fluctuations persisted during both the warmer (higher-CO2) late Pliocene and colder (lower-CO2) early Pleistocene, in response to both external astronomical forcing and internal climate dynamics.

Concurrent Asian monsoon strengthening and early modern human dispersal to East Asia during the last interglacial.

The relationship between initial Homo sapiens dispersal from Africa to East Asia and the orbitally paced evolution of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM)-currently the largest monsoon system-remains underexplored due to lack of coordinated synthesis of both Asian paleoanthropological and paleoclimatic data. Here, we investigate orbital-scale ASM dynamics during the last 280 thousand years (kyr) and their likely influences on early H. sapiens dispersal to East Asia, through a unique integration of i) new centennial-resolution ASM records from the Chinese Loess Plateau, ii) model-based East Asian hydroclimatic reconstructions, iii) paleoanthropological data compilations, and iv) global H. sapiens habitat suitability simulations. Our combined proxy- and model-based reconstructions suggest that ASM precipitation responded to a combination of Northern Hemisphere ice volume, greenhouse gas, and regional summer insolation forcing, with cooccurring primary orbital cycles of ~100-kyr, 41-kyr, and ~20-kyr. Between ~125 and 70 kyr ago, summer monsoon rains and temperatures increased in vast areas across Asia. This episode coincides with the earliest H. sapiens fossil occurrence at multiple localities in East Asia. Following the transcontinental increase in simulated habitat suitability, we suggest that ASM strengthening together with Southeast African climate deterioration may have promoted the initial H. sapiens dispersal from their African homeland to remote East Asia during the last interglacial.

Longevity-Associated Transcription Factor ATF7 Promotes Healthspan by Suppressing Cellular Senescence and Systematic Inflammation.

Aging is characterized by persistent low-grade systematic inflammation, which is largely responsible for the occurrence of various age-associated diseases. We and others have previously reported that long-lived people (such as centenarians) can delay the onset of or even escape certain major age-related diseases. Here, by screening blood transcriptome and inflammatory profiles, we found that long-lived individuals had a relatively lower inflammation level (IL6, TNFα), accompanied by up-regulation of activating transcription factor 7 (ATF7). Interestingly, ATF7 expression was gradually reduced during cellular senescence. Loss of ATF7 induced cellular senescence, while overexpression delayed senescence progress and senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) secretion. We showed that the anti-senescence effects of ATF7 were achieved by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling and increasing histone H3K9 dimethylation (H3K9me2). In Caenorhabditis elegans, ATF7 overexpression significantly suppressed aging biomarkers and extended lifespan. Our findings suggest that ATF7 is a longevity-promoting factor that lowers cellular senescence and inflammation in long-lived individuals.

Heterologous expression of Zygophyllum xanthoxylon zinc finger protein gene (ZxZF) enhances the tolerance of poplar photosynthetic function to drought stress.

The ZxZF transcription factor (TF) of Zygophyllum xanthoxylon (Bunge) Maxim, an extremely drought-resistant woody plant, is a C2H2 zinc finger protein. Studies have shown that C2H2 zinc finger proteins play important roles in activating stress-related genes and enhancing plant resistance. However, their function in regulating plant photosynthesis under drought stress is not well understood. Since poplar is an important greening and afforestation tree species, it is particularly important to cultivate excellent drought-tolerant varieties. The ZxZF transcription factor (TF) was heterogeneously expressed in Euroamerican poplar (Populus × euroameracana cl.'Bofengl') by genetic transformation. Based on the mechanism and potential function of poplar photosynthesis regulated by ZxZF under drought stress, transcriptomic and physiological determinations were used to reveal the important role of this gene in improving the drought resistance of poplar. The results showed that the overexpression of ZxZF TF in transgenic poplars could improve the inhibition of Calvin cycle by regulating stomatal opening and increasing the concentration of intercellular CO2. The chlorophyll content, photosynthetic performance index, and photochemical efficiency of transgenic lines under drought stress were significantly higher than those of the wild type (WT). The overexpression of ZxZF TFs could alleviate the degree of photoinhibition of photosystems II and I under drought stress and maintain the efficiency of light energy capture and the photosynthetic electron transport chain. The transcriptomic data also showed that differentially expressed genes between the transgenic poplar and WT under drought stress were primarily enriched in metabolic pathways related to photosynthesis, such as photosynthesis, photosynthesis-antenna protein, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, and photosynthetic carbon fixation, and the downregulation of genes related to chlorophyll synthesis, photosynthetic electron transport and Calvin cycle were alleviated. In addition, the overexpression of ZxZF TF can alleviate the inhibition of NADH dehydrogenase-like (NDH) cyclic electron flow of the poplar NDH pathway under drought stress, which plays an important role in reducing the excess pressure of electrons on the photosynthetic electron transport chain and maintaining the normal photosynthetic electron transport. In summary, the overexpression of ZxZF TFs can effectively alleviate the inhibition of drought on the assimilation of carbon in poplar and have a positive impact on light energy capture, the orderly transport of photosynthetic electron transport chain and the integrity of the photosystem, which is highly significant to acheivean in-depth understanding of the function of ZxZF TFs. This also provides an important basis for the breeding of new transgenic poplar varieties.

Eccentricity-paced geomagnetic field and monsoon rainfall variations over the last 870 kyr.

Whether there are links between geomagnetic field and Earth's orbital parameters remains unclear. Synchronous reconstructions of parallel long-term quantitative geomagnetic field and climate change records are rare. Here, we present 10Be-derived changes of both geomagnetic field and Asian monsoon (AM) rainfall over the last 870 kyr from the Xifeng loess-paleosol sequence on the central Chinese Loess Plateau. The 10BeGM flux (a proxy for geomagnetic field-induced 10Be production rate) reveals 13 consecutive geomagnetic excursions in the Brunhes chron, which are synchronized with the global records, providing key time markers for Chinese loess-paleosol sequences. The 10Be-derived rainfall exhibits distinct ~100 kyr glacial-interglacial cycles, and superimposed precessional (~23 kyr) cycles that match with those in Chinese speleothem δ18O record. We find that changes in the geomagnetic field and AM rainfall share a common ~100 kyr cyclicity, implying a likely eccentricity modulation of both the geomagnetic field and climate.

Revealing the effects of ligands of silver nanoclusters on the interactions between them and ctDNA: Abstraction to visualization.

Silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) have been widely applied in the field of biology, drug therapy and cell imaging in the last decade. In order to study the biosafety of AgNCs, GSH-AgNCs and DHLA-AgNCs were synthesized using glutathione (GSH) and dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) as ligands, and their interactions with calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) from abstraction to visualization were studied. The results of spectroscopy, viscometry and molecular docking demonstrated that GSH-AgNCs mainly bound to ctDNA in a groove mode, while DHLA-AgNCs were both groove and intercalation binding. Fluorescence experiments suggested that the quenching mechanism of both AgNCs to the emission of ctDNA-probe were both in static mode, and thermodynamic parameters demonstrated that the main forces between GSH-AgNCs and ctDNA were hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces, while hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic forces contributed to the binding of DHLA-AgNCs to ctDNA. The binding strength demonstrated that DHLA-AgNCs bound to ctDNA more strongly than that of GSH-AgNCs. The results of circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy reflected small effects of both AgNCs on the structure of ctDNA. This study will support the theoretical foundation for the biosafety of AgNCs and have a guiding significance for the preparation and application of AgNCs.

Competing endogenous RNA network construction based on long non-coding RNAs, microRNAs, and mRNAs related to fat deposition in Songliao black swine.

China has a long history of pig breeding and a number of local breeds. The Songliao Black pig, bred in China in 2009, shows high variation in backfat thickness and therefore is well-suited to fat deposition research. Fat deposition is a complex trait, and the underlying regulatory factors are not fully characterized. In this study, the molecular basis of fat deposition traits was evaluated by comparisons between three individuals with extremely high-backfat thickness and three with extremely low-backfat thickness selected from 53 gilts. Subcutaneous adipose tissues of the back were collected for strand-specific library RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and small RNA-seq. We identified 13 184 mRNAs, 2046 long non-coding (lnc)RNAs, and 494 micro (mi)RNAs by high-throughput sequencing. Furthermore, we detected 150 differentially expressed mRNAs, 66 differentially expressed lncRNAs, and eight differentially expressed miRNAs. A functional enrichment analysis indicated that these genes are involved in multiple fat metabolism-related pathways, including positive regulation of fat cell differentiation, and fat digestion and absorption. We used various algorithms (miRanda, TargetScan, and RNAhybrid) to predict targeting relationships and constructed a competing endogenous RNA network containing seven lncRNAs, three miRNAs, and six mRNAs. All these genes were differentially expressed between the extremely high and low backfat thickness groups or enriched in pathways related to fat metabolism. Our results provide insight into the regulatory mechanisms by which non-coding RNAs and their target genes influence backfat deposition in pigs. Furthermore, our newly constructed competing endogenous RNA (lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA) network provides a basis for further exploration of fat deposition traits and non-coding RNA functions.

Trx CDSP32-overexpressing tobacco plants improves cadmium tolerance by modulating antioxidant mechanism.

The effects of overexpression of the thioredoxin-like protein CDSP32 (Trx CDSP32) on reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism in tobacco leaves exposed to cadmium (Cd) were studied by combining physiological measures and proteomics technology. Thus, the number of differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in plants overexpressing the Trx CDSP32 gene in tobacco (OE) was observed to be evidently lower than that in wild-type (WT) tobacco under Cd exposure, especially the number of down-regulated DEPs. Cd exposure induced disordered ROS metabolism in tobacco leaves. Although Cd exposure inhibited the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and l-ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and the expression of proteins related to the thioredoxin-peroxiredoxin (Trx-Prx) pathway, the increase in the activities of peroxidase (POD), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) and their protein expression levels played an important role in the physiological response to Cd exposure. Notably, Trx CDSP32 was observed to alleviate the decrease in the expression and activities of SOD and CAT caused by Cd exposure and enhance the function of POD. Trx CDSP32 was observed to increase the H2O2 scavenging capacity of the ascorbic acid-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle and Trx-Prx pathway under Cd exposure, and it can especially regulate 2-Cys peroxiredoxin (2-Cys Prx) protein expression and thioredoxin peroxidase (TPX) activity. Thus, overexpression of the Trx CDSP32 gene can alleviate the oxidative damage that occurs in tobacco leaves under Cd exposure by modulating antioxidant defense systems.

Eccentricity-paced monsoon variability on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau in the Late Oligocene high CO2 world.

Constraining monsoon variability and dynamics in the warm unipolar icehouse world of the Late Oligocene can provide important clues to future climate responses to global warming. Here, we present a ~4-thousand year (ka) resolution rubidium-to-strontium ratio and magnetic susceptibility records between 28.1 and 24.1 million years ago from a distal alluvial sedimentary sequence in the Lanzhou Basin (China) on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau margin. These Asian monsoon precipitation records exhibit prominent short (~110-ka) and long (405-ka) eccentricity cycles throughout the Late Oligocene, with a weak expression of obliquity (41-ka) and precession (19-ka and 23-ka) cycles. We conclude that a combination of eccentricity-modulated low-latitude summer insolation and glacial-interglacial Antarctic Ice Sheet fluctuations drove the eccentricity-paced precipitation variability on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau in the Late Oligocene high CO2 world by governing regional temperatures, water vapor loading in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the Asian monsoon intensity and displacement.

Global warming-induced Asian hydrological climate transition across the Miocene-Pliocene boundary.

Across the Miocene-Pliocene boundary (MPB; 5.3 million years ago, Ma), late Miocene cooling gave way to the early-to-middle Pliocene Warm Period. This transition, across which atmospheric CO2 concentrations increased to levels similar to present, holds potential for deciphering regional climate responses in Asia-currently home to more than half of the world's population- to global climate change. Here we find that CO2-induced MPB warming both increased summer monsoon moisture transport over East Asia, and enhanced aridification over large parts of Central Asia by increasing evaporation, based on integration of our ~1-2-thousand-year (kyr) resolution summer monsoon records from the Chinese Loess Plateau aeolian red clay with existing terrestrial records, land-sea correlations, and climate model simulations. Our results offer palaeoclimate-based support for 'wet-gets-wetter and dry-gets-drier' projections of future regional hydroclimate responses to sustained anthropogenic forcing. Moreover, our high-resolution monsoon records reveal a dynamic response to eccentricity modulation of solar insolation, with predominant 405-kyr and ~100-kyr periodicities between 8.1 and 3.4 Ma.

Interactions between Two Kinds of Gold Nanoclusters and Calf Thymus Deoxyribonucleic Acid: Directions for Preparations to Applications.

Gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have shown promising applications in biotherapy owing to their ultrasmall size and unique molecular-like properties. In order to better guide the preparations and applications of AuNCs, dihydrolipoic acid-protected AuNCs (DHLA-AuNCs) and glutathione-protected AuNCs (GSH-AuNCs) were selected as models and the interactions between them and calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) were studied in detail. The results showed that there was a small difference in the binding mechanisms and forces between both AuNCs and ctDNA. The quenching mechanisms of both AuNCs to (ctDNA-HO) were completely different. The binding constants indicated that the binding strength between DHLA-AuNCs and ctDNA was greater than those of GSH-AuNCs. The conformation investigations showed that GSH-AuNCs had a greater impact on the conformation of ctDNA, and both AuNCs were more inclined to interact with the A-T base pairs of ctDNA. These results indicate that the surface ligand had a significant effect on the interactions between AuNCs and DNA and might also further affect the applications of AuNCs, and these results could guide the preparations of AuNCs. For DHLA-AuNCs, their good biocompatibility made them a potential candidate for application in imaging, drug treatment, sensing, and so on. The resulting base accumulation of ctDNA and weak interactions made GSH-AuNCs have great potential for application in gene therapy, which was consistent with the current reports on the applications of these two AuNCs. This work has pointed out the directions for the preparations and applications of AuNCs.

Identification of Long Non-Coding RNAs Involved in Porcine Fat Deposition Using Two High-Throughput Sequencing Methods.

Adipose is an important body tissue in pigs, and fatty traits are critical in pig production. The function of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in fat deposition and metabolism has been found in previous studies. In this study, we collected the adipose tissue of six Landrace pigs with contrast backfat thickness (nhigh = 3, nlow = 3), after which we performed strand-specific RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) based on pooling and biological replicate methods. Biological replicate and pooling RNA-seq revealed 1870 and 1618 lncRNAs, respectively. Using edgeR, we determined that 1512 genes and 220 lncRNAs, 2240 genes and 127 lncRNAs were differentially expressed in biological replicate and pooling RNA-seq, respectively. After target gene prediction, we found that ACSL3 was cis-targeted by lncRNA TCONS-00052400 and could activate the conversion of long-chain fatty acids. In addition, lncRNA TCONS_00041740 cis-regulated gene ACACB regulated the rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid oxidation. Since these genes have necessary functions in fat metabolism, the results imply that the lncRNAs detected in our study may affect backfat deposition in swine through regulation of their target genes. Our study explored the regulation of lncRNA and their target genes in porcine backfat deposition and provided new insights for further investigation of the biological functions of lncRNA.

Validation of the Reference Genes for the Gene Expression Studies in Different Cell Lines of Pig.

Reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction is one of the important methods to investigate gene expression in cells and tissues. However, if the data cannot be normalized with appropriate reference genes, the results may be unreliable. In this study, we detected the expression of 15 reference genes in three pig cell lines. The results showed that SDHA and ALDOA were the most stable reference genes in 3D4/21 cells. TOP2B, TBP, and PPIA were the most stable reference genes in PK-15 cells. SDHA and ALDOA were the most stable reference genes in IPEC-J2 cells. In addition, each cell line only needs to use two reference genes to standardize the expression of target genes. Taken together, this study provides a reference for different pig cell lines to select reference genes and also provides a theoretical basis for the use of these cell lines in related functional researches.

Novel DNA methylation markers of PRRSV-specific antibodies and their intergenerational transmission from pregnant sows to piglets.

The main strategy for preventing porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is vaccination. However, current commercial porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) vaccines have limited effectiveness and may even cause infections in pigs. The identification of stable molecular markers associated with immune responses to PRRSV vaccination in pigs provides a new approach for PRRS prevention. DNA methylation, the most stable epigenetic molecular marker related to PRRSV vaccination, has not been investigated. In the current research, we used whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) to investigate DNA methylation in pregnant sows that received PRRSV vaccination and their piglets with high and low PRRSV-specific antibody levels. By performing methylation data analysis and basing on our previous transcriptomic studies, we identified several differentially methylated genes (DMGs) that are involved in the pathways of inflammatory and immune responses. Among the DMGs, ISG15, MX1, SERPINE1, GNG11 and IFIT3 were common hub genes in the two generations. MX1 and GNG11 were located in quantitative trait loci related with PRRSV antibody titer and PRRSV susceptibility, respectively. These results suggest that PRRSV vaccination in sows induces DNA methylation changes in genes and DNA methylation changes occur through intergenerational transmission. The novel DNA methylation markers and target genes observed in our study provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of immune responses to PRRSV vaccination across two pig generations.

Variations in Microbial Diversity and Metabolite Profiles of Female Landrace Finishing Pigs With Distinct Feed Efficiency.

To enhance pig production, feed efficiency (FE) should be improved; however, the mechanisms by which gut microbes affect FE in pigs have not been fully elucidated. To investigate the differences between the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota associated with low and high FE, microbial compositions were characterized using 16S rRNA sequencing, functional annotations were performed by shotgun metagenomics, and metabolomic profiles were created by GC-TOF-MS from female Landrace finishing pigs with low and high feed conversion ratios (FCRs). Lactobacillus was enriched in the gut microbiota of individuals with low FCRs (and thus high FE), while Prevotella abundance was significantly higher in individuals with high FCRs (and thus low FE). This may be linked to carbohydrate consumption and incomplete digestion. The activity of pathways involved in the metabolism of cofactors and vitamins was greater in pigs with lower FE. We also identified differences in pyruvate-related metabolism, including phenylalanine and lysine metabolism. This suggests that pyruvate metabolism is closely related to microbial fermentation in the colon, which in turn affects glycolysis. This study deepens our understanding of how gut microbiota are related to pig growth traits, and how regulating microbial composition could aid in improving porcine FE. However, these results need to be validated using a larger pig cohort in the future.

Identification of Potential Candidate Genes From Co-Expression Module Analysis During Preadipocyte Differentiation in Landrace Pig.

Preadipocyte differentiation plays an important role in lipid deposition and affects fattening efficiency in pigs. In the present study, preadipocytes isolated from the subcutaneous adipose tissue of three Landrace piglets were induced into mature adipocytes in vitro. Gene clusters associated with fat deposition were investigated using RNA sequencing data at four time points during preadipocyte differentiation. Twenty-seven co-expression modules were subsequently constructed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses revealed three modules (blue, magenta, and brown) as being the most critical during preadipocyte differentiation. Based on these data and our previous differentially expressed gene analysis, angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) was identified as a key regulator of preadipocyte differentiation and lipid metabolism. After inhibition of ANGPTL4, the expression of adipogenesis-related genes was reduced, except for that of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which was negatively regulated by ANGPTL4 during preadipocyte differentiation. Our findings provide a new perspective to understand the mechanism of fat deposition.

The multiple effects of hydrogen sulfide on cadmium toxicity in tobacco may be interacted with CaM signal transduction.

Soilless culture experiments with tobacco were conducted to explore how the signal molecule H2S (0.3, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 µM) alleviated the toxicity of Cd2+ (50 mg/L). The results suggested that photosynthesis was enhanced as H2S improved the tobacco ΦPSII, ETR, Photo, Cond, and Tr, and that by increasing the NPQ, it consumed considerable amount of energy to enhance plant resistances during Cd2+ exposure. Furthermore, H2S increased the gene transcription of NtSOD3, NtPOD1, and CAT1, to enhance antioxidant enzyme activity, which reduces the generation of the reactive oxygen protective membrane integrity. Additionally, H2S increased the gene expression of the tobacco PC genes, Pr2 and Pr8 promoted the formation of the Cd2+ complexes and transportation to the vacuole, resulting in improved Cd-ATPase gene expression, away from organelles, to alleviate the Cd2+ poison. Furthermore, H2S regulated the relative absorption of K+ and Ca2+, which antagonized the Cd2+, and reduced its transportation to the aboveground plant material. Finally, the expression level of CaM increased with the application of H2S, and was highly correlated with the fitted results of a variety of resistance indicators, thereby indicating that H2S regulatory resistance mechanisms might be associated with Ca2+ signal transduction.

Establishment of ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for measuring plasma caffeine concentration / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To establish an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for plasma caffeine concentration detection, and to explore the clinical value of caffeine therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in the treatment of premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS).Method:Take the plasma sample in a centrifuge tube, add the caffeine deuterated isotope internal standard, then add the protein precipitant, vortex the mixture thoroughly, and centrifuge the supernatant to enter the mass spectrometry analysis. The mobile phase were methanol and water, gradient elution; the column temperature was 45 ℃, the method was established using Shimadzu LC-30AD-CL liquid system and AB SCIEX 4500 QTRAP mass spectrometer, and the sensitivity, specificity, linearity, accuracy imprecision, matrix effect, and carry-over of the method were evaluated. Sample from 30 patients diagnosed with neonatal RSD were collected in the Department of Neonatology of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from February to April 2021, then detected the trough concentration of caffeine in premature infants with RDS after taking the same dose of caffeine to assess the impact of individual variation on caffeine drug concentration.Results:The detection limit of caffeine was 0.02 μg/ml, and the lowest limit of quantification was 0.05 μg/ml. It showed good linearity ( R2=0.9986, R>0.99) in the concentration range from 1.0 to 100.0 μg/ml, specificity (recovery rate of 85.52%-114.12%), accuracy (recovery rate 85.97%-114.53%), intra-day and inter-day imprecision ( CV 6.01%-11.28%), matrix effects and carryover pollution were negligible. The trough concentration of 30 preterm infants with RSD after taking the same dose of caffeine (10 mg/kg) was (25.45±11.61) μg/ml, and the coefficient of variation was 44.88%. Conclusion:This study established an accurate and reliable UPLC-MS/MS method with low sample consumption to monitor the blood concentration of caffeine; caffeine TDM has certain clinical application value, which can be used to assist RDS diagnosis and treatment and improve the efficacy of caffeine.

Orbital climate variability on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau across the Eocene-Oligocene transition.

The first major build-up of Antarctic glaciation occurred in two consecutive stages across the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT): the EOT-1 cooling event at ~34.1-33.9 Ma and the Oi-1 glaciation event at ~33.8-33.6 Ma. Detailed orbital-scale terrestrial environmental responses to these events remain poorly known. Here we present magnetic and geochemical climate records from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau margin that are dated precisely from ~35.5 to 31 Ma by combined magneto- and astro-chronology. These records suggest a hydroclimate transition at ~33.7 Ma from eccentricity dominated cycles to oscillations paced by a combination of eccentricity, obliquity, and precession, and confirm that major Asian aridification and cooling occurred at Oi-1. We conclude that this terrestrial orbital response transition coincided with a similar transition in the marine benthic δ18O record for global ice volume and deep-sea temperature variations. The dramatic reorganization of the Asian climate system coincident with Oi-1 was, thus, a response to coeval atmospheric CO2 decline and continental-scale Antarctic glaciation.

Hydrogen sulfide mediated alleviation of cadmium toxicity in Phlox paniculata L. and establishment of a comprehensive evaluation model for corresponding strategy.

A laboratory experiment was performed to evaluate the potential role of H2S on cadmium (Cd) toxicity in Phlox paniculata L. Seeds pretreated with 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 mM NaHS as a donor of H2S for 24 h and subsequently exposed to 100, 200, and 300 µM CdCl2 for 26 days had significantly higher germination rate compared with Cd alone. Meanwhile, 2-year-old seedlings sprayed with 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 µM NaHS were grown in soil with 0.3, 0.6, and 1.2 mg/kg CdCl2, respectively. We observed that H2S decreased Cd accumulation in leaves and elevated Cd concentration in roots. Cd toxicity in seedlings resulted in a substantial increase in Cd-induced overproduction of malondialdehyde (MDA), Cd accumulation, and electrolyte leakage. Meanwhile, addition of NaHS increased photosynthetic performance compared with Cd alone. Exogenous H2S significantly elevated biomass, improved antioxidant enzyme activities, and reduced ABA content compared with Cd alone. H2S also plays an important role in the ABA signaling pathway during stress. Notably, NaHS promoted Cd uptake by Phlox paniculate L. from soil. The prediction model of H2S for increasing plant resistance and reducing soil Cd pollution was established by factor analysis method based on comprehensive evaluation of plant stress physiology.