Parental Autonomy Granting, Peer Attachment and Problematic Internet Use Among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Effect of School Climate.

While the correlation between parental autonomy granting and adolescents' problematic Internet use (PIU) has been confirmed, the processes underlying this connection have not been thoroughly investigated. Drawing on the ecological systems theory, this study sought to investigate the mediating mechanism of peer attachment and the moderating mechanism of school climate that link parental autonomy granting to PIU. A two-wave longitudinal design was employed with a time interval of six months. The participants were 852 adolescents who attended three middle schools located in Guangdong Province, China. Self-report questionnaires were used to obtain data on demographics, parental autonomy granting, peer attachment, school climate, and PIU. The findings indicated that peer attachment significantly mediated the link between parental autonomy granting and adolescent PIU. A positive school climate significantly moderated the influence of parental autonomy granting on peer attachment and the influence of peer attachment on PIU. Specifically, the association between parental autonomy granting and peer attachment and the association between peer attachment and PIU were more pronounced when the school climate was perceived to be positive. This research underscores the possible significance of peer attachment in the association between parental autonomy granting and PIU and offers valuable insights for mitigating the negative outcomes of PIU.

[Effects of mixed broadleaved tree species with pure Pinus massoniana plantation on soil microbial necromass carbon and organic carbon fractions]. / é©¬å°¾æ¾çº¯æž—æ··äº¤æ”¹é€ å¯¹åœŸå£¤å¾®ç”Ÿç‰©æ®‹ä½“ç¢³å’Œæœ‰æœºç¢³ç»„åˆ†çš„å½±å“.

Mixing native broadleaved tree species is a widely used method for renovating Pinus massoniana plantations. Soil microbial necromass carbon and organic carbon fractions are important parameters for evaluating the impacts of tree species mixing and soil organic carbon (SOC) stability. However, their responses to the mixing and renovation of P. massoniana plantation has not been understood yet. Here, we selected a pure P. massoniana plantation (PP) and a mixed P. massoniana and Castanopsis hystrix plantation, with ages of 16 (MP16) and 38 years (MP38), respectively, as the research objects. We quantified soil physical and chemical properties, microbial necromass carbon content, and organic carbon components at different soil layers to reveal whether and how the introduction of C. hystrix into P. massoniana plantation affected soil microbial necromass carbon and organic carbon components. The results showed that the mixed P. massoniana and C. hystrix plantation significantly reduced fungal necromass carbon content and the ratio of fungal/bacterial necromass carbon in the 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm soil layers. There were no significant differences in microbial necromass carbon contents, bacterial necromass carbon contents, and their contributions to SOC among the different plantations. The contribution of fungal necromass carbon to SOC was higher than that of bacterial necromass carbon in all plantation types. The contribution of soil mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) to SOC was higher than that of occluded particulate organic carbon (oPOC) and light-free particulate organic carbon (fPOC) for all plantation types. Mixing the precious broadleaved tree species (i.e., C. hystrix) with coniferous species (P. massoniana) significantly increased MAOC content and the contribution of MAOC, oPOC, and fPOC to SOC in the 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm soil layers. The MAOC of MP38 was significantly higher than that of PP in all soil layers and the MAOC of MP38 stands were significantly higher than MP16 stands in the 20-40 cm, 40-60 cm, and 60-100 cm soil layers, indicating that hybridization enhanced SOC stability and that the SOC of MP38 stands were more stable than MP16 stands. SOC and total nitrogen contents were the main environmental factors driving the changes in soil microbial necromass carbon, while soil total nitrogen and organically complexed Fe-Al oxides were the primary factors affecting organic carbon fraction. Therefore, SOC stability can be enhanced by introducing native broadleaved species, such as C. hystrix, during the management of the P. massoniana plantation.

Activation of Bivalent Gene POU4F1 Promotes and Maintains Basal-like Breast Cancer.

Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) is the most aggressive molecular subtype of breast cancer with worse prognosis and fewer treatment options. The underlying mechanisms upon BLBC transcriptional dysregulation and its upstream transcription factors (TFs) remain unclear. Here, among the hyperactive candidate TFs of BLBC identified by bioinformatic analysis, POU4F1 is uniquely upregulated in BLBC and is associated with poor prognosis. POU4F1 is necessary for the tumor growth and malignant phenotypes of BLBC through regulating G1/S transition by direct binding at the promoter of CDK2 and CCND1. More importantly, POU4F1 maintains BLBC identity by repressing ERα expression through CDK2-mediated EZH2 phosphorylation and subsequent H3K27me3 modification in ESR1 promoter. Knocking out POU4F1 in BLBC cells reactivates functional ERα expression, rendering BLBC sensitive to tamoxifen treatment. In-depth epigenetic analysis reveals that the subtype-specific re-configuration and activation of the bivalent chromatin in the POU4F1 promoter contributes to its unique expression in BLBC, which is maintained by DNA demethylase TET1. Together, these results reveal a subtype-specific epigenetically activated TF with critical role in promoting and maintaining BLBC, suggesting that POU4F1 is a potential therapeutic target for BLBC.

Generation of mitochondrial replacement monkeys by female pronucleus transfer.

Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are maternally inherited and have the potential to cause severe disorders. Mitochondrial replacement therapies, including spindle, polar body, and pronuclear transfers, are promising strategies for preventing the hereditary transmission of mtDNA diseases. While pronuclear transfer has been used to generate mitochondrial replacement mouse models and human embryos, its application in non-human primates has not been previously reported. In this study, we successfully generated four healthy cynomolgus monkeys ( Macaca fascicularis) via female pronuclear transfer. These individuals all survived for more than two years and exhibited minimal mtDNA carryover (3.8%-6.7%), as well as relatively stable mtDNA heteroplasmy dynamics during development. The successful establishment of this non-human primate model highlights the considerable potential of pronuclear transfer in reducing the risk of inherited mtDNA diseases and provides a valuable preclinical research model for advancing mitochondrial replacement therapies in humans.

Etomidate inhibits tumor growth of glioblastoma by regulating M1 macrophage polarization.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a common primary central nervous system tumor. Although the multimodal integrated treatment for GBM has made great progress in recent years, the overall survival time of GBM is still short. Thus, novel treatments for GBM are worth further investigation and exploration. This study aimed to investigate the effects of etomidate on GBM tumor growth and the underlying mechanism. A xenograft tumor model was established and treated with etomidate to assess tumor growth. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay evaluated the positive rate of Ki67 cells in tumor tissues. Cell counting kit (CCK)-8 and EdU assays accessed the cell viability and proliferation. Immunofluorescence (IF) staining detected the distribution of macrophage markers in tumor tissues. The percentages of M1- and M2-like macrophages in tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and co-culture system (macrophages and GBM cells) were detected using flow cytometry. Macrophage polarization-related genes were measured using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Etomidate treatment inhibited the tumor growth, and increased the CD86+ cells but decreased the CD206+ cells in TAMs. The gene expression of M1 markers was increased in TAMs of etomidate-treated mice, whereas that of M2 markers was decreased. Moreover, etomidate treatment increased the number of CD86+ M1-like macrophages co-cultured with tumor cells but decreased that of CD206+ M2-like macrophages, with the upregulation of M1 markers and downregulation of M2 markers. Etomidate inhibited GBM tumor growth by promoting M1 macrophage polarization, suggesting a new insight into the clinical treatment of GBM.

The social network perspective on power system co-evolution: responses to "double carbon target" realization in China.

The introduction of dual carbon targets will significantly impact power system development. Despite this, there is currently limited research on achieving system evolution and transition while ensuring safety, low-carbon output, and efficiency, as well as quantitatively analyzing the resulting changes dual carbon targets will have on the power system. Co-evolution of the power system offers a solution to balance the impact of dual carbon goals and enhance interaction among system entities, thereby facilitating the achievement of these goals. Our study focuses on constructing an evolutionary topological network by analyzing the dynamic evolution rule of power systems. We investigate the co-evolution pattern of power systems by analyzing the relationship between the role of power system agents and their dynamic structures. Furthermore, we analyze the future structural changes of power systems, which can provide theoretical support for achieving dual carbon goals in the power system. Our findings highlight key measures to promote synergistic evolution, including increasing energy storage capabilities, stabilizing renewable energy supply, breaking inter-provincial barriers in electricity transmission, and developing a multi-level intelligent power system. Through link analysis, we discover that future power systems will maintain a mild coordination among agents rather than implementing large-scale realignment and reconfiguration. We posit that overcoming obstacles can be achieved by fostering cohesion between the network and agents through technological innovation and widespread market diffusion to drive co-evolution.

Application of Hashin-Shtrikman bounds homogenization model for frequency analysis of imperfect FG bio-composite plates.

Despite abundant theoretical investigations on the dynamic behavior of functionally graded (FG) structures, the study on frequency analysis of FG bio-composite structures is limited. FG bio-composite materials due to their biocompatibility potentials and good material properties can be applied in biomedical applications, especially dental implants. In this investigation, a natural frequency response of the FG bio-composite plate is analyzed within the framework of the newly developed refined higher-order shear deformation plate theory. Additionally, the imperfection impact on frequency behavior is evaluated while three imperfection distribution patterns are taken into account. The constitutive materials of FG bio-composite plate are Hydroxyapatite and Titanium. The effective material properties of the structure are determined with the help of the upper Hashin-Shtrikman bounds homogenization model. In continuation, to solve the derived governing equations of imperfect FG bio-composite plate, Galerkin's analytical method is employed. Also, the precision of the used theory is validated, the obtained outcomes are compared and an acceptable matching is found. Later, the sensitivity of different considerable variables is comprehensively assessed and discussed.

Tumour circular RNAs elicit anti-tumour immunity by encoding cryptic peptides.

Emerging data have shown that previously defined noncoding genomes might encode peptides that bind human leukocyte antigen (HLA) as cryptic antigens to stimulate adaptive immunity1,2. However, the significance and mechanisms of action of cryptic antigens in anti-tumour immunity remain unclear. Here mass spectrometry of the HLA class I (HLA-I) peptidome coupled with ribosome sequencing of human breast cancer samples identified HLA-I-binding cryptic antigenic peptides that were noncanonically translated by a tumour-specific circular RNA (circRNA): circFAM53B. The cryptic peptides efficiently primed naive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in an antigen-specific manner and induced anti-tumour immunity. Clinically, the expression of circFAM53B and its encoded peptides was associated with substantial infiltration of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells and better survival in patients with breast cancer and patients with melanoma. Mechanistically, circFAM53B-encoded peptides had strong binding affinity to both HLA-I and HLA-II molecules. In vivo, administration of vaccines consisting of tumour-specific circRNA or its encoded peptides in mice bearing breast cancer tumours or melanoma induced enhanced infiltration of tumour-antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells, which led to effective tumour control. Overall, our findings reveal that noncanonical translation of circRNAs can drive efficient anti-tumour immunity, which suggests that vaccination exploiting tumour-specific circRNAs may serve as an immunotherapeutic strategy against malignant tumours.

Low-Electronegativity Mn-Contraction of PtMn Nanodendrites Boosts Oxygen Reduction Durability.

Platinum metal (PtM, M=Ni, Fe, Co) alloys catalysts show high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity due to their well-known strain and ligand effects. However, these PtM alloys usually suffer from a deficient ORR durability in acidic environment as the alloyed metal is prone to be dissolved due to its high electronegativity. Herein, we report a new class of PtMn alloy nanodendrite catalyst with low-electronegativity Mn-contraction for boosting the oxygen reduction durability of fuel cells. The moderate strain in PtMn, induced by Mn contraction, yields optimal oxygen reduction activity at 0.53 A mg-1 at 0.9 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Most importantly, we show that relative to well-known high-electronegativity Ni-based Pt alloy counterpart, the PtMn nanodendrite catalyst experiences less transition metals' dissolution in acidic solution and achieves an outstanding mass activity retention of 96 % after 10,000 degradation cycles. Density functional theory calculation reveals that PtMn alloys are thermodynamically more stable than PtNi alloys in terms of formation enthalpy and cohesive energy. The PtMn nanodendrite-based membrane electrode assembly delivers an outstanding peak power density of 1.36 W cm-2 at a low Pt loading and high-performance retention over 50 h operations at 0.6 V in H2 -O2 hydrogen fuel cells.

Economical Production of Phenazine-1-carboxylic Acid from Glycerol by Pseudomonas chlororaphis Using Cost-Effective Minimal Medium.

Phenazine compounds are widely used in agricultural control and the medicine industry due to their high inhibitory activity against pathogens and antitumor activity. The green and sustainable method of synthesizing phenazine compounds through microbial fermentation often requires a complex culture medium containing tryptone and yeast extract, and its cost is relatively high, which greatly limits the large-scale industrial production of phenazine compounds by fermentation. The aim of this study was to develop a cost-effective minimal medium for the efficient synthesis of phenazine compounds by Pseudomonas chlororaphis. Through testing the minimum medium commonly used by Pseudomonas, an ME medium for P. chlororaphis with a high production of phenazine compounds was obtained. Then, the components of the ME medium and the other medium were compared and replaced to verify the beneficial promoting effect of Fe2+ and NH4+ on phenazine compounds. A cost-effective general defined medium (GDM) using glycerol as the sole carbon source was obtained by optimizing the composition of the ME medium. Using the GDM, the production of phenazine compounds by P. chlororaphis reached 1073.5 mg/L, which was 1.3 times that achieved using a complex medium, while the cost of the GDM was only 10% that of a complex medium (e.g., the KB medium). Finally, by engineering the glycerol metabolic pathway, the titer of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid reached the highest level achieved using a minimum medium so far. This work demonstrates how we systematically analyzed and optimized the composition of the medium and integrated a metabolic engineering method to obtain the most cost-effective fermentation strategy.

Differential Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Pulmonary Nodules in CT Images Based on Multitask Learning.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence-based aided diagnostic systems for pulmonary nodules can be divided into subtasks such as nodule detection, segmentation, and benign and malignant differentiation. Most current studies are limited to single-target tasks. However, aided diagnosis aims to distinguish benign from malignant pulmonary nodules, which requires the fusion of multiple-scale features and comprehensive discrimination based on the results of multiple learning tasks. OBJECTIVE: This study focuses on the aspects of model design, network structure, and constraints and proposes a novel model that integrates the learning tasks of pulmonary nodule detection, segmentation, and classification under weakly supervised conditions. METHODS: The main innovations include the following three aspects: (1) a two-dimensional sequence detection model based on a ConvLSTM (Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory) network and U-shaped structure network is proposed to obtain the context space features of image slices fully; (2) a differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules based on multitask learning is proposed, which uses the annotated data of different types of tasks to mine the potential common features among tasks; and (3) an optimization strategy incorporating prior knowledge of computed tomography images and dynamic weight adjustment of multiple tasks is proposed to ensure that each task can efficiently complete training and learning. RESULTS: Experiments on the LIDC-IDRI and LUNA16 datasets showed that our proposed method achieved a final competition performance metric score of 87.80% for nodule detection and a Dice similarity coefficient score of 83.95% for pulmonary nodule segmentation. CONCLUSION: The cross-validation results of the LIDC-IDRI and LUNA16 datasets show that our model achieved 87.80% of the final competition performance metric score for nodule detection and 83.95% of the DSC score for pulmonary nodule segmentation, representing the optimal result for that dataset.

CD146 promotes malignant progression of breast phyllodes tumor through suppressing DCBLD2 degradation and activating the AKT pathway.

BACKGROUND: As a rapid-progressing tumor, breast malignant phyllodes tumors (PTs) are challenged by the lack of effective therapeutic strategies and suitable prognostic markers. This study aimed to clarify the role and mechanism of CD146 on promoting PTs malignant progression, and to identify a novel prognosis marker and treatment target of breast malignant PTs. METHODS: The expression and prognostic significance of CD146 in PTs was detected through single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), immunostaining, real-time PCR and other methodologies. Functional experiments including proliferation assay, colony formation assay, transwell assay, and collagen contraction assay were conducted to validate the role of CD146 in malignant progression of PTs. The efficacy of anti-CD146 monoclonal antibody AA98 against malignant PTs was corroborated by a malignant PT organoid model and a PT patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model. Transcriptome sequencing, proteomic analysis, co-immunoprecipitation, and pull-down assay was employed to identify the modulating pathway and additional molecular mechanism. RESULTS: In this study, the scRNA-seq analysis of PTs disclosed a CD146-positive characteristic in the α-SMA+ fibroblast subset. Furthermore, a progressive elevation in the level of CD146 was observed with the malignant progression of PTs. More importantly, CD146 was found to serve as an independent predictor for recurrence in PT patients. Furthermore, CD146 was found to augment the viability and invasion of PTs. Mechanistically, CD146 acted as a protective "shield" to prevent the degradation of Discoidin, CUB, and LCCL domain-containing protein 2 (DCBLD2), thereby activating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway and enhancing malignant behaviors of PT cells. In the malignant PT organoid and PDX model, a significant suppression of malignant PT growth was observed after the application of AA98. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that CD146 served as an efficacious marker for predicting PT malignant progression and showed promise as a prognosis marker and treatment target of breast malignant PTs. The study further unveiled the essential role of the CD146-DCBLD2/PI3K/AKT axis in the malignant progression of PTs.

Nanoparticles (NPs)-mediated lncBCMA silencing to promote eEF1A1 ubiquitination and suppress breast cancer growth and metastasis.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in cancer metastasis. Exploring metastasis-associated lncRNAs and developing effective strategy for targeted regulation of lncRNA function in vivo are of utmost importance for the treatment of metastatic cancer, which however remains a big challenge. Herein, we identified a new functional lncRNA (denoted lncBCMA), which could stabilize the expression of eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A1 (eEF1A1) via antagonizing its ubiquitination to promote triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) growth and metastasis. Based on this regulatory mechanism, an endosomal pH-responsive nanoparticle (NP) platform was engineered for systemic lncBCMA siRNA (siBCMA) delivery. This NPs-mediated siBCMA delivery could effectively silence lncBCMA expression and promote eEF1A1 ubiquitination, thereby leading to a significant inhibition of TNBC tumor growth and metastasis. These findings show that lncBCMA could be used as a potential biomarker to predict the prognosis of TNBC patients and NPs-mediated lncBCMA silencing could be an effective strategy for metastatic TNBC treatment.

Comparison of the efficacy and safety of different doses of atropine for myopic control in children: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: To comprehensively reassess the efficacy and safety of different concentrations of atropine for retarding myopia progression and seek the most appropriate therapeutic concentration for clinical practice. Methods: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals (VIP) and China National Knowledege Infrastructure (CNKI) from their inception to 23 March 2023, to obtain eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies that had atropine in at least one treatment arm and placebo/no intervention in another arm. We evaluated the risk of bias of the RCTs according to the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration for RCTs and quality of cohort studies by the Newcastle‒Ottawa Scale. Weighted mean difference (WMD), 95% confidence interval were calculated for meta-analysis. All data analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.3, STATA 12.0 and SPSS 26.0 software. Results: A total of 44 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Weighted mean difference (WMD) were 0.73 diopters (D), 0.65 D, 0.35 D per year in refraction progression (χ 2 = 14.63, I 2 = 86.3%; p < 0.001) and -0.26 mm, -0.37 mm, -0.11 mm per year in axial length progression (χ 2 = 5.80, I 2 = 65.5%; p = 0.06) for high (0.5%-1%), moderate (0.1%-0.25%), and low (0.005%-0.05%) dose atropine groups, respectively. Logarithmic dose‒response correlations were found between atropine and their effect on change of refraction, axial length, accommodation and photopic pupil diameter. Through these curves, we found that atropine with concentrations ≤0.05% atropine resulted in a residual value of accommodation of more than 5 D and an increase in pupil diameter no more than 3 mm. Higher doses of atropine resulted in a higher incidence of adverse effects, of which the incidence of photophobia was dose-dependent (r = 0.477, p = 0.029). Conclusion: Both the efficacy and risk of adverse events for atropine treatment of myopia were mostly dose dependent. Comprehensively considered the myopia control effect and safety of each dose, 0.05% may be the best concentration of atropine to control myopia progression at present, at which myopia is better controlled and the side effects are tolerable. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/#recordDetails, CRD42022377705.

Noninvasive grading of glioma brain tumors using magnetic resonance imaging and deep learning methods.

PURPOSE: Convolutional Neural Networks (ConvNets) have quickly become popular machine learning techniques in recent years, particularly in the classification and segmentation of medical images. One of the most prevalent types of brain cancers is glioma, and early, accurate diagnosis is essential for both treatment and survival. In this study, MRI scans were examined utilizing deep learning techniques to examine glioma diagnosis studies. METHODS: In this systematic review, keywords were used to obtain English-language studies from the Arxiv, IEEE, Springer, ScienceDirect, and PubMed databases for the years 2010-2022. The material needed for review was then collected from the articles once they had been chosen based on the entry and exit criteria and in accordance with the research's goal. RESULTS: Finally, 77 different academic articles were chosen. According to a study of published articles, glioma brain tumors were discovered, categorized, and segmented utilizing a coordinated approach that included image collecting, pre-processing, model design and execution, and model output evaluation. The majority of investigations have used publicly accessible photo databases and already-trained algorithms. The bulk of studies have employed Dice's classification accuracy and similarity coefficient metrics to assess model performance. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that glioma segmentation has received more attention from researchers than glioma detection and classification. It is advised that more research be done in the areas of glioma detection and, particularly, grading in order to be included in systems that support medical diagnosis.

Multifunctional trade-off and compensation mechanism of arable land under the background of rural revitalization: a case study in the West Mountain Regions of Hubei Province.

Exploring the spatial relationship and ecological compensation mechanism of each function of arable land in poor mountainous areas is important to promote rural revitalization and enhance arable land protection. Taking the mountainous region of Western Hubei (MRWH) as an example, this study quantified the "three living" functions of arable land and its secondary functions. Using the root mean square deviation method to calculate the trade-off index, a quantitative method can more scientifically reflect the trade-off relationship between arable land functions and measure the overall ecological compensation. Studies have shown that (1) the value of the production function exhibits a growing and subsequently a falling trend, whereas the value of living function and ecological function exhibits an increasing trend over time, with an average functional value of 5310, 220 and 6496 million yuan, respectively. The spatial pattern of the "three living" functional values decreases from west to east. Among them, water conservation and soil conservation function values show a high distribution in the south and low in the north, gas purification and agricultural pollution functional values show a scattered spatial pattern, and the value of other functions shows an increasing trend from southeast to northwest; (2) among the primary functions, the trade-off between production and ecological functions is the strongest, decreasing, and then increasing over time, with an average trade-off index of 0.89. Among the secondary functions, there is the most obvious trade-off between the food supply function and the five ecological functions, which requires coordination; (3) overall, the total amount of ecological compensation has shown an upward trend, with priority areas for level I ecological compensation increasing year by year. Optimized compensation zones and potential compensation zones are concentrated in the northwest, ecological balance zones are located in the central part, and optimized development compensation zones and key development compensation zones are located in the southeast. According to the research, MRWH is oriented to ecological function, followed by the production function, supplemented by the living function. Green agriculture should be vigorously developed and ecological function space should be compressed by strictly limiting the excessive expansion of production activities. Promoting the improvement of production function through ecological function, while exploring the potential value of living function. Ecological compensation in strict accordance with the priority of ecological compensation, zoning. Realizing cross-regional cooperation, low compensation areas drive high compensation areas to achieve sustainable development of arable land.

First report of Phytopythium vexans causing root rot on Macadamia integrifolia in China.

Soil-borne plant-pathogenic Phytopythium spp. can cause root rot and damping off on important plant species, resulting in serious economic loss. A survey in October 2021 identified soil-borne diseases occurring on Macadamia integrifolia in Yunnan Province, China. Microbes were isolated from necrotic roots of 23 trees with root rot symptoms by growing on cornmeal-based oomycete-selective 3P (Haas 1964) and P5APR (Jeffers and Martin, 1986) media at 24ºC in the dark for 7 days. Of the 56 single-hyphal isolates obtained, 18 were morphologically similar to Phytopythium vexans (van der Plaats-Niterink 1981; de Cock et al. 2015). Isolates LC04 and LC051 were selected for molecular analyses. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (CoxII) gene were PCR-amplified using universal primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and oomycete-specific primers Cox2-F/Cox2-RC4 (Choi et al. 2015), respectively. The PCR products were sequenced with the amplification primers and sequences were lodged in Genbank (Accession no. OM346742, OM415989 for ITS, OM453644, OM453643 for CoxII for isolates LC04 and LC051, respectively). The top BLAST hit in the Genbank nr database for all four sequences was Phytopythium vexans (>99% identity). A maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed with analogous concatenated ITS and CoxII sequences from either type or voucher specimens of 13 Phytopythium species in the same phylogenetic clade as P. vexans (Table 1; Bala et. al 2010). Isolates LC04 and LC051 grouped most closely to P. vexans, with LC051 basal and sister to LC04 and P. vexans voucher specimen CBS119.80 with 100% support (Fig. 1). Millet seed inoculated with agar pieces colonized by P. vexans LC04 and LC51 was used to fulfill Koch's postulates (Li et al. 2015) in a completely randomized experimental design. Four 6-month-old M. integrifolia var. Keaau (660) seedlings were transplanted into pasteurized commercial potting mix containing 0.5% (w/w) inoculum. Plants were grown in free draining pots and watered once a day. At 14 days post-inoculation, roots were discolored compared to control plants inoculated with millet seed mixed with agar plugs lacking P. vexans (Fig. 2). By 30 days post-inoculation, infected roots were discolored with obvious decay and reduction in root system size. Control plants were symptomless. P. vexans was successfully re-isolated from two lesioned roots from each plant. The infection experiment was done twice, demonstrating that P. vexans LC04 and LC51 caused root disease on M. integrifolia. P. vexans causes root rot, damping-off, crown rot, stem rot or patch canker on economically important trees in many parts of the world, including seven plant species in China (Farr and Rossman 2022). This is the first report of pathogenic P. vexans on M. integrifolia in China. Reports of pathogenic P. vexans on multiple hosts in several parts of the world suggest it should be considered a quarantine risk and included in risk mitigation or pest management plans that include other species of Phytopythium, or species of Pythium or Phytophthora, to which P. vexans has many similarities (de Cock et al. 2015).

Predicting survival and prognosis of postoperative breast cancer brain metastasis: a population-based retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer in women and a proportion of patients experiences brain metastases with poor prognosis. The study aimed to construct a novel predictive clinical model to evaluate the overall survival (OS) of patients with postoperative brain metastasis of breast cancer (BCBM) and validate its effectiveness. METHODS: From 2010 to 2020, a total of 310 female patients with BCBM were diagnosed in The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, and they were randomly assigned to the training cohort and the validation cohort. Data of another 173 BCBM patients were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) database as an external validation cohort. In the training cohort, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression model was used to determine the fundamental clinical predictive indicators and the nomogram was constructed to predict OS. The model capability was assessed using receiver operating characteristic, C-index, and calibration curves. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to evaluate clinical effectiveness of the risk stratification system in the model. The accuracy and prediction capability of the model were verified using the validation and SEER cohorts. RESULTS: LASSO Cox regression analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis, molecular subtype, tumor size, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and lung metastasis were statistically significantly correlated with BCBM. The C-indexes of the survival nomogram in the training, validation, and SEER cohorts were 0.714, 0.710, and 0.670, respectively, which showed good prediction capability. The calibration curves demonstrated that the nomogram had great forecast precision, and a dynamic diagram was drawn to increase the maneuverability of the results. The Risk Stratification System showed that the OS of low-risk patients was considerably better than that of high-risk patients ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The nomogram prediction model constructed in this study has a good predictive value, which can effectively evaluate the survival rate of patients with postoperative BCBM.

Precise Strain Tuning Boosts Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation.

Strain engineering has been utilized as an effective approach to regulate the binding of reaction intermediates and modify catalytic behavior on noble metal nanocatalysts. However, the continuous, precise control of strain for a depiction of strain-activity correlation remains a challenge. Herein, Pd-based nanooctahedrons coated with two Ir overlayers are constructed, and subject to different postsynthetic treatments to alter the amount of H intercalated into Pd core for achieving three different surface strains (o-Pd/Ir-1.2%, o-Pd/Ir-1.7%, and o-Pd/Ir-2.1% NPs). It is demonstrated that the catalytic performances of o-Pd/Ir NPs display a volcano-shaped curve against strains toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Specifically, o-Pd/Ir-1.7% NPs exhibit superior catalytic performance with a mass activity of 9.38 A mgIr -1 at -0.02 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, 10.8- and 18.8-fold higher than those of commercial Pt/C and Ir/C, respectively, making it one of the most active HER electrocatalysts reported to date. Density function theory calculations verify that the moderate tensile strain on Ir(111) surfaces plays a pivotal role in optimizing the H binding energy. This work highlights a new strategy for precise control over the surface strain of nanocrystals for more efficient electrocatalysis.

Comparative life cycle assessment of ammonia production by coke oven gas via single and coproduction processes.

As an abundant H2-rich byproduct from coking production, coke oven gas (COG) is a favorable feedstock for ammonia production. Recently, three COG-based ammonia processes have been applied, including single process, coproduction of ammonia with methanol, and coproduction of ammonia with liquefied natural gas (LNG). To systematically evaluate the environmental impacts of three COG routes, a comparative life cycle assessment was conducted with industrial data. Besides, the effects of ammonia synthesis pressure and electricity sources to the total LCA result were discussed. The results indicate that the environmental impacts of COG-based single ammonia route are mainly generated from ammonia production stage, accounting for 69.63 % of the overall normalized results, in which electricity and COG are the dominated contributors. Therefore, employing electricity from renewables like wind, solar, hydro and nuclear could dramatically mitigate the environmental impacts with a reduction of 36.3 %-70.7 % in most environmental indicators. Scenario analysis proves that reducing synthesis pressure from 31.4 MPa to 15 MPa does not show remarkable environmental benefits as expected since higher pressure is more conducive to ammonia synthesis. In comparison with coal based and natural gas-based ammonia routes, COG routes have obvious energy-saving benefit. In three COG-based ammonia routes, the two coproduction routes accounted for 49.1 % and 78.6 % of the energy depletion as single production due to highly efficient utilization of resources and energy. Coproduction of ammonia with methanol route exhibits better environmental performance than these in coproduction of ammonia with LNG route. Therefore, coproduction of ammonia with methanol route is more favorable in COG to ammonia processes. This study intends to provide a valuable reference for COG utilization and ammonia production options through the life cycle aspect.