Climate warming impacts chewing Spodoptera litura negatively but sucking Corythucha marmorata positively on native Solidago canadensis.

Insect-plant interactions are among importantly ecological processes, and rapid environmental changes such as temperature and resource fluctuations can disrupt long-standing insect-plant interactions. While individual impacts of climate warming, atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, and plant provenance on insect-plant interactions are well studied, their joint effects on insect-plant interactions are less explored in ecologically realistic settings. To this end, we performed five experiments with native and invasive Solidago canadensis populations from home and introduced ranges and two insect herbivores (leaf-chewing Spodoptera litura and sap-sucking Corythucha marmorata) in the context of climate warming and N deposition. We determined leaf defensive traits, feeding preference, and insect growth and development, and quantified the possible associations among climate change, host-plant traits, and insect performance with structural equation modeling. First, native S. canadensis populations experienced higher damage by S. litura but lower damage by C. marmorata than invasive S. canadensis populations in the ambient environment. Second, warming decreased the leaf consumption, growth, and survival of S. litura on native S. canadensis populations, but did not affect these traits on invasive S. canadensis populations; warming increased the number of C. marmorata on native S. canadensis populations via direct facilitation, but decreased that on invasive S. canadensis populations via indirect suppression. Third, N addition enhanced the survival of S. litura on native S. canadensis populations, and its feeding preference and leaf consumption on invasive S. canadensis populations. Finally, warming plus N addition exhibited non-additive effects on insect-plant interactions. Based on these results, we tentatively conclude that climate warming could have contrasting effects on insect-plant interactions depending on host-plant provenance and that the effects of atmospheric N deposition on insects might be relatively weak compared to climate warming. Future studies should focus on the molecular mechanisms underlying these different patterns.

Characterization and Immunogenicity of Recombinant A. flavus Uox Modified by Co/EDTA Carbon Dots.

BACKGROUND: Uricase (Uox) is a major drug in gout and a supplementary drug in cancer treatment. Because allergic reactions caused by Uox limit its clinical application,10% Co/EDTA was used to chemically modify Uox from A. flavus to reduce its immunogenicity. METHODS: The immunogenicity of Uox and 10% Co/EDTA-Uox was examined by determining the antibody titer and concentration of IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-ß in quail and rat serum. Moreover, we examined the pharmacokinetics of 10% Co/EDTA-Uox in rats and acute toxicity in mice. RESULTS: The concentration of UA decreased from 771.85 ±180.99 to 299.47 ±20.37 µmoL/L（p<0.01） in the hyperuricemia model of quails injected by 10% Co/EDTA-Uox. Two-way immuno-diffusion electrophoresis revealed that 10% Co/EDTA-Uox did not produce antibody, whereas the antibody titer against Uox was 1:16. The concentrations of four cytokines in the 10% Co/EDTA-Uox group were significantly lower than in Uox group (p < 0.01)； The titer of IgG and IgM against 10% Co/EDTA-Uox was significantly lower than that against Uox at different serum dilutions (p < 0.0001). The pharmacokinetic data indicated that the half-life time of 10% Co/EDTA- Uox( 69.315h) was significantly longer than that of Uox(13.4 h)（p<0.01）. The tissue section of the liver, heart, kidney, and spleen revealed no toxicity in Uox and 10% Co/EDTA- Uox groups. CONCLUSION: 10% Co/EDTA-Uox possesses little immunogenicity, a long half-life time, and a highly efficient degradation of UA.

[Spatio-temporal Variation Characteristics Monitored by Remotely Sensed Technique of PM2.5 Concentration and Its Influencing Factor Analysis in Sichuan Basin, China].

The spread of atmospheric pollutants in the Sichuan Basin is difficult because of its unique topography, static wind, high humidity, and other meteorological conditions. Owing to the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, PM2.5 pollution in the region is becoming increasingly severe, and the Sichuan Basin has become one of the key areas of national air pollution prevention and control. In this study, based on the remote sensing inversion product of PM2.5 concentration, spatial autocorrelation and gray correlation analyses are used to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and influencing factors of PM2.5 concentration in the Sichuan Basin. The results show that PM2.5 concentration has significant spatial aggregation; the high-high aggregation types are concentrated, low-low aggregation types are more dispersed, and coniferous forest has a significantly higher inhibitory effect on the absorption of PM2.5 than the shrub, grassland, and other vegetation types. The main meteorological factors affecting PM2.5 concentration in the Sichuan Basin are wind speed and temperature; population density and economic scale are the main human-activity factors affecting PM2.5 concentration in the Sichuan Basin, and the change in the industrial structure and scale also has a certain influence on the PM2.5 concentration.

[Spatiotemporal variation and driving factors of growing season NDVI in the Tibetan Pla-teau, China.] / 青藏高原植被生长季NDVIæ—¶ç©ºå˜åŒ–ä¸Žå½±å“å› ç´ .

It is important to understand the response of vegetation to climate change in Tibetan Pla-teau (TP), an ecological barrier for China and Asia. The spatiotemporal variation of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of vegetation growing season were analyzed based on the gro-wing season NDVI retrieved from MOD09A1. The relationship between NDVI and climate factors was analyzed by combining the data of meteorological stations in TP from 2001 to 2018. The results showed that NDVI in the growing season showed a slow upward trend during the study period. There was substantial interannual variation of NDVI in different climate regions. The fluctuation magnitude of NDVI value was plateau humid climate region>semi-humid climate region>semi-arid climate region>arid climate region. The proportion of area with increasing and decreasing NDVI in humid climate region, semi-humid climate region, arid climate region, semi-arid climate region on TP were 1.4% and 1.9%, 4.9% and 1.5%, 16.4% and 0.8%, 7.0% and 2.0%, respectively. The areas of increasing NDVI in arid and semi-arid climate region was significantly larger than humid and semi-humid region. Temperature was the leading factor affecting the change of NDVI in humid and semi-humid region. The impact of precipitation on NDVI was significantly stronger than that of other climate factors in arid region. The impact of air temperature in growing season on NDVI was stronger than that of precipitation and relative humidity.

Warming delays the phenological sequences of an autumn-flowering invader.

Phenology can play an important role in driving plant invasions; however, little is known about how climate warming, nitrogen (N) deposition, and invasion stages influence the phenological sequences of autumn-flowering invaders in a subtropical climate. Accordingly, we conducted an experiment to address the effects of experimental warming, N-addition, and community types on the first inflorescence buds, flowering, seed-setting, and dieback of invasive Solidago canadensis. Warming delayed the onset of first inflorescence buds, flowering, seed-setting, and dieback; N-addition did not influence these four phenophases; community types influenced the onset of first seed-setting but not the other phenological phases. Seed-setting was more sensitive to experimental manipulations than the other phenophases. The onset of first inflorescence buds, flowering, and seed-setting was marginally or significantly correlated with ramet height but not ramet numbers. Our results suggest that future climate warming might delay the phenological sequences of autumn-flowering invaders and some phenophases can shift with invasion stages.

A congeneric comparison shows that experimental warming enhances the growth of invasive Eupatorium adenophorum.

Rising air temperatures may change the risks of invasive plants; however, little is known about how different warming timings affect the growth and stress-tolerance of invasive plants. We conducted an experiment with an invasive plant Eupatorium adenophorum and a native congener Eupatorium chinense, and contrasted their mortality, plant height, total biomass, and biomass allocation in ambient, day-, night-, and daily-warming treatments. The mortality of plants was significantly higher in E. chinense than E. adenophorum in four temperature regimes. Eupatorium adenophorum grew larger than E. chinense in the ambient climate, and this difference was amplified with warming. On the basis of the net effects of warming, daily-warming exhibited the strongest influence on E. adenophorum, followed by day-warming and night-warming. There was a positive correlation between total biomass and root weight ratio in E. adenophorum, but not in E. chinense. These findings suggest that climate warming may enhance E. adenophorum invasions through increasing its growth and stress-tolerance, and that day-, night- and daily-warming may play different roles in this facilitation.

Simulated warming differentially affects the growth and competitive ability of Centaurea maculosa populations from home and introduced ranges.

Climate warming may drive invasions by exotic plants, thereby raising concerns over the risks of invasive plants. However, little is known about how climate warming influences the growth and competitive ability of exotic plants from their home and introduced ranges. We conducted a common garden experiment with an invasive plant Centaurea maculosa and a native plant Poa pratensis, in which a mixture of sand and vermiculite was used as a neutral medium, and contrasted the total biomass, competitive effects, and competitive responses of C. maculosa populations from Europe (home range) and North America (introduced range) under two different temperatures. The warming-induced inhibitory effects on the growth of C. maculosa alone were stronger in Europe than in North America. The competitive ability of C. maculosa plants from North America was greater than that of plants from Europe under the ambient condition whereas this competitive ability followed the opposite direction under the warming condition, suggesting that warming may enable European C. maculosa to be more invasive. Across two continents, warming treatment increased the competitive advantage instead of the growth advantage of C. maculosa, suggesting that climate warming may facilitate C. maculosa invasions through altering competitive outcomes between C. maculosa and its neighbors. Additionally, the growth response of C. maculosa to warming could predict its ability to avoid being suppressed by its neighbors.

Echocardiographic evaluation of pressure overload-induced cardiac remodeling in mice using different ultrasound machines / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the results of echocardiographic evaluation of pressure overload-induced cardiac remodeling in mice using different ultrasound machines.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighteen C57 BL/6 mice were randomly divided into the sham-operated and the transverse aortic constriction (TAC) groups (n=9). Eight weeks after the operation, the cardiac function of TAC group was evaluated using Siemens ultrasonic instrument with 15L8 probe and the differences between the awake and anesthetized states were compared. The heart rate, left ventricular (LV) dimensions, systolic and diastolic functions were measured in both sham-operated and TAC groups using the Siemens ultrasonic instrument and a high-resolution ultrasonic imaging system for small animals (Vevo 770).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the mice in wakefulness, the anesthetized mice showed significantly decreased heart rate and LV fractional shortening (P<0.001) and markedly increased LV end diastolic diameter and LV end systolic diameter (P<0.05). Both machines sensitively detected the cardiac remodeling of TAC mice in comparison with the sham-operated group. Compared with Siemens machine, Vevo 770 provided a higher resolution of 2D and M mode echocardiography with clearer Doppler frequency image of the mitral valve flow for evaluation of the LV diastolic function.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Both machines are suitable for evaluating cardiac remodeling induced by pressure overload independent of anesthesia, though anesthesia depresses cardiac function. Vevo 770 is optimal to evaluate LV diastolic function in mice.</p>

Molecular imaging of thrombus with microbubbles targeted to alphavbeta3-integrin using an agarose flow chamber model / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the binding ability of microbubbles targeted to alphavbeta3-integrin (MBp) for thrombus-targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasound.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Targeted microbubbles were prepared by conjugating the monoclonal antibody against alphavbeta3-integrin to lipid shell of the microbubble via the avidin-biotin bridges. Equivalent isotype control microbubbles (MB) or targeted ultrasound microbubbles (MBp) were randomly added into the flow chamber. After a 30-min incubation with the thrombus fixed in an agarose flow chamber model, the thrombus was washed with a continuous flow of PBS solution (15 cm/s) for 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 min, followed by thrombus imaging using contrast-enhanced ultrasound and measurement of the video intensity (VI) values of the images.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The VI of the thrombus in MBp group was reduced by 28%-66%, while that in control MB group was decreased by 87%-94%, and the VI values of the thrombus group were significantly greater in former group at each of the time points (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MBP has good targeting ability to the thrombus with resistance to the shear stress after adhesion to the thrombus. In vitro evaluation of the thrombus-binding capability of the targeted microbubble (MBp) by simulating the shear stress in vivo can be helpful for predicting the in vivo effects of ultrasonic molecular imaging using MBp.</p>

Effect of polyethylene oxide on red blood cell velocity in rat cremaster microcirculation / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the drag-reducing effect of polyethylene oxide (PEO) on the velocity of red blood cells in rat cremaster microcirculation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Blood samples were collected from 6 Wistar male rats (100-110 g) via the post-orbital venous plexus. The red blood cells were separated by centrifugation and labeled by fluorescinisothiocyate (FITC). After successful establishment of cremaster model, the labeled red blood cells were injected into the jugular vein, and the microcirculation was observed and recorded under fluorescence microscope. The hemodynamic parameters and microcirculation video was recorded every 4 min since 4 min before PEO or normal saline injection. Both PEO (10 ppm) and normal saline was injected into the same rat in random sequence at a constant rate of 3.5 ml/h for 20 min followed by observation for another 20 min. The velocity of the labeled-red blood cells was determined by IPP 6.0 software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with normal saline, PEO significantly increased the velocity of the red blood cells in the rat cremaster microcirculation (498.7-/+182.89 microm/s vs 773.54-/+308.27 microm/s, P=0.012). No significant changes in the heart rate and arterial blood pressure were observed during the experiment (P=0.836, P=0.420).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PEO at an extremely low concentration can significantly increase the velocity of the red blood cells in rat cremaster microcirculation and produces no significant impact on heart rate and arterial blood pressure.</p>