Fat mass and obesity-associated protein regulates RNA methylation associated with spatial cognitive dysfunction after chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.

RNA methylation can epigenetically regulate learning and memory. However, it is unclear whether RNA methylation plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of Vascular dementia (VD). Here, we report that expression of the fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO), an RNA demethylase, is downregulated in the hippocampus in models of VD. Through prediction and dual-luciferase reporters validation studies, we observed that miRNA-711 was upregulated after VD and could bind to the 3'-untranslated region of FTO mRNA and regulate its expression in vitro. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP)-qPCR assay and functional study confirmed that Syn1 was an important target gene of FTO. This suggests that FTO is an important regulator of Syn1. FTO upregulation by inhibition of miR-711 in the hippocampus relieves synaptic association protein and synapse deterioration in vivo, whereas FTO downregulation by miR-711 agomir in the hippocampus leads to aggravate the synapse deterioration. FTO upregulation by inhibition of miR-711 relieves cognitive impairment of rats VD model, whereas FTO downregulation by miR-711 deteriorate cognitive impairment. Our findings suggest that FTO is a regulator of a mechanism underlying RNA methylation associated with spatial cognitive dysfunction after chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.

Effect of the red uniform on the judgment of position or movement used in Wushu Routine, evaluated by practitioners of the modality.

In the artistic sports program, the referee' scores directly determine the final results of the athletes. Wushu is a artistic sport that has a Chinese characteristic and has the potential to become an official competition at the Summer Olympic. In this study we tested whether a red uniform color affects Wushu Routine practitioners' ratings of athletes' position or movement of Wushu Routine. We also tested whether the effect varied depending on the gender of the athlete and the practitioner, and depending on whether female practitioners were in the ovulation phase of their menstrual cycle. Male (Experiment 1: N = 72) and female (Experiment 1: N = 72; Experiment 2: N = 52) participants who major in Wushu Routine were recruited to take a referee's perspective and rate the movement quality of male and female athletes wearing red or blue uniforms. The results of Experiment 1 showed that both male and female athletes wearing red uniform (compared to blue uniform) received higher ratings (p = .002, η2 = .066; p = .014, η2 = .043), and the red effect was especially strong when male practitioners rated female athletes (p = .002, η2 = .069). The results of Experiment 2, in an all-female sample, showed that in most cases there was no difference in ratings made by women in the ovulation and non-ovulation phases of their menstrual cycle, with the exception of their ratings of male athletes wearing red; in this condition, women gave higher ratings when they were in the ovulation phase of their cycle (p = .026). The results suggest that there is a red effect in an artistic sport like Wushu Routine, in which gender and the female menstrual cycle play an important role.

Lockdown effects of the COVID-19 on the spatio-temporal distribution of air pollution in Beijing, China.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, China enacted a series of strict policies, which reduced anthropogenic activities to a near standstill. This provided a precious window to explore its effects on the spatio-temporal distribution of air pollution in Beijing, China. In this study, continuous wavelet transforms and spatial interpolation methods were used to explore the spatiotemporal variations in air pollutants and their lockdown effects. The results indicate that except O3, the annual average concentration of NO2, PM2.5 and SO2 showed a decreasing trend during 2016 and 2019; NO2, PM2.5 and SO2 show a trend of "low in summer and high in winter"; the diurnal variation of NO2 concentration was mainly related to the rush hours of traffic volume, with the first peak at the morning peak (7:00), and then accumulating gradually to second peak (22:00). The continuous wavelet analysis shows that PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 had four primary periods, while O3 only had two primary periods. The high NO2 concentration areas were mainly in Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang and Fengtai, while the low concentration areas were located in the northern areas, such as Miyun and Huairou; the PM2.5 concentration decreased from south to north; this characteristic presented more obviously in winter. Compared to the pre-lockdown, NO2 and SO2 decreased considerably during lockdown, whereas PM2.5 and O3 increased dramatically. The contribution rates of transportation activities to the NO2, O3, PM2.5 and SO2 were estimated be 9.4 % ∼ 17.2 %, -76.4 % ∼ -42.9 %, -39.5 % ∼ -22.8 % and 5.7 % ∼ 43.7 %, respectively; the contribution rates of industrial activities were 19.9 % ∼ 26.7 %, 7.8 % ∼ 30.9 %, 1.6 % ∼ 36.2 % and -10.5 % ∼ 15.9 %, respectively. Considering meteorological factors, we inferred that pauses in anthropogenic activities indeed help improving air pollution, but it is difficult to offset the impact of extreme weather. These findings can enhance our understanding on the sources of air pollution, and can therefore provide insights on urban air pollution mitigation.

Global prevalence of turnover intention among intensive care nurses: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nurse turnover is considered a major cause of nurse shortage, representing problems for health care systems in terms of both quality and cost of care for patients, and intention to leave is the strongest practical predictor variable of actual turnover. AIM: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims at exploring the global prevalence of turnover intention in intensive care nurses. DESIGN: This was a systematic literature review. METHODS: A systematic review of empirical quantitative studies on turnover intention in nurses of intensive care units (ICUs), published in English till March 2021, was conducted. The databases PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, and CINAHL were searched. Eligible studies were observational or descriptive studies that reported the prevalence of turnover intention among nurses in all types of ICUs. The quality of studies was assessed using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. A random effect meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence of turnover intention among ICU nurses. RESULTS: We identified 18 cross-sectional studies investigating a total of 23 140 intensive care nurses from 23 countries. The intention to leave rate was ranged from 3.0% to 75.0%. The pooled prevalence of turnover intention was 27.7% (95% confidence interval: 21.6%-34.3%). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis showed that more than 27% of the intensive care nurses had the intention to leave worldwide. In the current context of nursing shortage, efforts should be made to improve conditions for this important group of care providers. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The prevalence of turnover intention is relatively high among intensive care nurses. Nurse managers should take this intention seriously, as the intention to leave may lead to an actual decision to leave the profession.

The association between dairy products consumption and prostate cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the relationship between the consumption of dairy products and the risk of prostate cancer. We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases for relevant articles and identified a total of thirty-three cohort studies between 1989 and 2020. The qualities of included studies were assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Pooled adjusted relative risks (RR) with 95 % CI were calculated. We performed subgroup analyses stratified by dairy type, prostate cancer type, follow-up years, treatment era, collection times, adjustment for confounders and geographic location. In the subgroup analysis stratified by prostate cancer type, the pooled RR were 0·98 (95 % CI 0·94, 1·03) in the advanced group, 1·10 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·24) in the non-advanced group and 0·92 (95 % CI 0·84, 1·00) in the fatal group. In the dose-response analysis, a positive association for the risk of prostate cancer was observed for total dairy products 400 g/d (RR: 1·02; 95 % CI 1·00, 1·03), total milk 200 g/d (RR: 1·02; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·03), cheese 40 g/d (RR: 1·01; 95 % CI 1·00, 1·03) and butter 50 g/d (RR: 1·03; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·05). A decreased risk was observed for the intake of whole milk 100 g/d (RR: 0·97; 95 % CI 0·96, 0·99). Our meta-analysis suggests that high intakes of dairy products may be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer; however, since many of the studies were affected by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening bias, additional studies with an adjustment of PSA screening are needed.

Association between spiritual care competency and perceived professional benefit among nurses: A cross-sectional study.

AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the status quo of nurses' spiritual care competency and their relationship with perceived professional benefit. BACKGROUND: Spiritual care has always been considered a vitally important part of holistic nursing. Understanding the spiritual care competency of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic can help nursing managers understand the weak links in spiritual care practice and improve the quality of nursing service. As a positive emotional experience and cognitive evaluation of the profession, perceived professional benefit can serve to adjust work pressure, relieve job burnout and promote an individual's overall growth. However, the relationship between perceived professional benefit among nurses and spiritual care competency remains unclear. METHODS: A total of 372 nurses were recruited from 15 separate Chinese hospitals. An online questionnaire was used to assess nurses' sociodemographic, spiritual care competency and perceived professional benefit. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson's correlation analysis, t test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple stepwise linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The total mean score of spiritual care competency (99.43 ± 21.10) among nurses was found to be moderate. Nurses' spiritual care competency was positively correlated with perceived professional benefit (P < .01). The multiple stepwise linear regression model (n = 372) had an explained variance (R2 = 0.218) and showed that perceived professional benefit and the manner of receiving spiritual training were the main influencing factors of nurses' spiritual care competency (P < .001). CONCLUSION: The study findings indicated that nurses need to improve their spiritual care competency by improving their perceived professional benefit. IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGERS: Our study evaluated the spiritual care competency of nurses and explored the correlation between perceived professional benefit and spiritual care competency among nurses. The results of this study can help nursing managers to carry out relevant interventions, thus improving nurses' spiritual care competency and optimizing the quality of nursing.

[Effects of Biochar on Soil Organic Carbon of Eroded Cultivated Layer of Slope Farmland in Purple Hilly Area].

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon pool in the terrestrial ecosystem. It is not only the core index of cultivated land soil quality evaluation but also an important part of the global carbon cycle. In order to understand the response characteristics of SOC in the cultivated layer to the interaction of soil erosion and management measures, the eroded cultivated layer of typical purple soil slope farmland in the Three Gorges Reservoir area was the research object. The in-situ tests of five erosion degrees on sloping farmland were established using the shovel erosion simulation test method; taking no fertilizer (CK) as a control measure, two types of restorative management measures were set up, namely chemical fertilizer (F) and biochar+chemical fertilizer (BF), to clarify the differences in SOC content under different erosion degrees and management measures and to analyze the variation characteristics and interannual variation trend of SOC along the cultivated-layer profile. The results showed that:① BF significantly increased the soil organic carbon content in the cultivated layer of purple soil slope farmland; the SOC of BF was 90.25% and 23.84% higher than that of CK and F on average, respectively. Soil erosion significantly reduced the content of SOC (12.25%-27.74%) under CK measures, but there was no significant difference in the profile distribution of SOC under different erosion degrees. ② The SOC content in the surface layer (0-10 cm) of slope farmland was the highest, and the two measures had the most obvious effect on improving the SOC contents, which were 120.59% and 66.90%, respectively. ③ After three consecutive years of experiments, the SOC content in the cultivated-layer of slope farmland changed significantly. Under CK, the average annual loss of SOC was 12.52%, whereas under BF, the average annual increase in SOC content was 9.31%. ④ The correlation between SOC and soil physical and chemical properties was different in the various soil layers; the deeper the soil layer was, the weaker the correlation was. Therefore, biochar combined with chemical fertilizer (BF) was an important management measure to improve the erosive cultivated layer and enhance soil fertility for slope farmland in the purple hilly area. The results of this study can provide basic parameters for the rational regulation of cultivated layers and the improvement of soil fertility.

Effect of Arylmethylene Substitutions on Molecular Structure, Optoelectronic Properties and Photovoltaic Performance of Dithienocyclopentafluorene-Based Small-Molecule Acceptors.

Two dithienocyclopentafluorene-based small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) were developed that feature methylene-functionalized conjugated side chains, to study the effect of arylmethylene substitution and its number on structure, optoelectronic properties and device performance. Results showed that two SMAs have better absorption properties and planarity, lower bandgaps and higher LUMOs compared with the control SMA without conjugated side chains. The synthesized SMAs were tested in polymer solar cells for examples of their applicability. This work argues that the introduction of methylene-functionalized conjugated side chains has great potential in tuning molecular structure, optoelectronic properties, device physics and photovoltaic performance of SMAs.

Unveiling the Metabolic Profile of First-Episode Drug-Naïve Schizophrenia Patients: Baseline Characteristics of a Longitudinal Study Among Han Chinese.

Objective: Metabolic and other medical conditions are frequently comorbid with schizophrenia. As they might be the side-effects of antipsychotic treatment, studying first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia (FDSZ) provides a unique opportunity to investigate a direct pathogenic link between metabolic changes and schizophrenia. Here, we presented the methods and baseline unique metabolic profile of FDSZ patients without medical comorbidities unveiling subthreshold indices of metabolic disturbances. Method: Drug-naïve individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia but without any previous medical conditions were invited to participate in the study. Participants were submitted to structured psychiatric and cognitive assessments, laboratory and neuroimaging tests. Subjects will be followed after antipsychotic treatment at 6, 24 and 48 weeks. Results: During an 8-month-period, out of 103 patients presenting with first episode psychosis, 67 subjects (43.3% men, 56.7% women) were enrolled in the study. They had a mean ± SD age of 32.1 ± 8.7 years, with a mean BMI of 21.1 kg/m2 and 11.3 ± 3.6 years of schooling. Less than 1/3 reported a family history of mental illness. Upon laboratory assessment, 10.4%, 7.5%, and 11.9% of patients were identified with hyperhomocysteinemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hyperprolactinemia, respectively, with percentages of women relatively higher than men except for hypertriglyceridemia. Conclusions: First episode schizophrenia patients, especially women, present subclinical metabolic abnormalities, independent of antipsychotic treatment.

Suicide Attempts, Neurocognitive Dysfunctions and Clinical Correlates in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Schizophrenia Patients.

Background: Suicide is a common and complex symptom of schizophrenia that may be related to clinical variables and neurocognitive function. This study aimed to investigate the associated correlates of suicide attempts in Chinese middle-aged and elderly inpatients with schizophrenia, including demographic and clinical characteristics and cognitive level, which has not yet been reported. Methods: A total of 426 schizophrenia inpatients were recruited for this study. Clinical symptoms were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Neurocognitive function was measured by the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Results: The prevalence of suicide attempts in middle-aged and elderly Chinese schizophrenia patients was 13.3%. Female patients had a higher suicide rate than male patients. Patients with suicide attempts had significantly higher PANSS-positive subscores, depressive subscores, and RBANS-story recall than non-attempter patients (all p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression showed that gender, positive subscore, depressive subscore and RBANS-story recall (OR = 1.10-2.19, p < 0.05) were independently associated with suicide attempts in middle-aged and elderly schizophrenia patients. Conclusions: Our study showed that the rate of suicide attempts in Chinese middle-aged and elderly schizophrenia patients is high. Compared to non-attempters, there are less cognitive impairments, more clinical symptoms, and more female patients in the suicide attempters.

Efficient phosphorus removal by a novel halotolerant fungus Aureobasidium sp. MSP8 and the application potential in saline industrial wastewater treatment.

Efficient halotolerant phosphorus accumulation microorganisms are of great significance for the treatment of high-salt wastewater. In this study, a halotolerant fungus strain named MSP8 was isolated and identified as Aureobasidium sp. Salinity resistance results showed that strain MSP8 can resist the salinity from 0% to 17%, and 77.2% phosphorus removal was achieved at the optimal salinity of 5%. The strain also showed wide environmental adaptability (pH of 3-7; temperature of 20-30 °C). Batch tests and scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) characterization results verified the key role of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) secreted by MSP8 in phosphorus removal. The actual brewery and chemical wastewater treatments exhibited that above 53.5% of phosphorus can be removed by MSP8. The excellent adaptation of MSP8 made it a potential candidate for phosphorus removal especially in saline wastewater treatment.

Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status and Peer Relationships: Mediating Roles of Self-Esteem and Perceived Stress.

This study explored the relationships between subjective family socioeconomic status (FSES), self-esteem, perceived stress, and perceived peer relationships among Chinese adolescents. A total of 1,353 adolescents (age range: 15-19 years) were asked to complete a questionnaire. Mediation analysis revealed that subjective FSES influenced perceived peer relationships in three ways: first, through the mediating effect of perceived stress; second, through the mediating effect of self-esteem; and third, through the serial mediating effects of perceived stress and self-esteem. The results remained significant after controlling for parental education. In addition, a contrast analysis showed no significant differences in the mediating effects of self-esteem and perceived stress. Thus, we suggest that steps should be taken to improve adolescents' self-esteem and reduce their stress through training interventions and preventive measures, to help them improve their perceived peer relationships and reduce adverse effects associated with low subjective FSES.

Nitrogen removal bacterial strains, MSNA-1 and MSD4, with wide ranges of salinity and pH resistances.

Nitrogenous wastewater is difficult to treat using conventional microorganisms in high salinity and acidic/alkaline environments. Two halotolerant bacteria, heterotrophic nitrifying Stenotrophomonas sp. MSNA-1 and aerobic denitrifying Pseudomonas sp. MSD4, were isolated, and the amplification of functional genes provided the evidences of nitrogen removal performance. The results regarding salinity and pH resistance showed that strain MSNA-1 is robust at salinities of 0-15% and pH of 3-10. It can remove 51.2% of NH4+-N (180 mg/L) at salinity of 10% (pH: 7) and 49.2% of NH4+-N under pH 4 (salinity: 3%). For strain MSD4, it is robust at salinities of 0-10% and pH of 5-11. It can remove 62.4% of TN (100 mg/L) at salinity of 7% (pH: 7) and 72.2% of TN under pH 9 (salinity: 3%). Their excellent salinity and pH resistances make them promising candidates for treating nitrogenous wastewaters under extreme conditions with low operational cost.

The seasonal changes of core bacterial community decide sewage purification in sub-plateau municipal sewage treatment plants.

The decline of sewage purification efficiency in winter is a frequent problem in sub-plateau municipal sewage treatment plants (MSTPs). Understanding the links between activated sludge (AS) bacterial community and sewage purification is crucial for exploring the cause of this problem. In this study, Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology was applied to investigate the seasonal changes of AS bacterial community in sub-plateau MSTPs. The sequencing result indicates that the bacterial community OTU number, diversity, and relative abundance in winter are significantly lower than that in summer samples. The discriminant linear effect size analysis (LEfSe) reveals that Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi members were enriched in summer AS, while Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were enriched in winter AS. The results indicate that different core bacterial community assembly was developed in summer and winter, respectively. The changes in bacterial community may be the reasons for the lower sewage purification efficiency in winter. Furthermore, redundancy analysis (RDA) shows that temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) are the principal factors that drive the seasonal changes in the core bacterial community diversity, richness and structure in sub-plateau MSTPs. Thus, the sub-plateau AS selects for a unique community assembly pattern and shapes the particular AS ecosystem. These results expand previous understanding and provide insight into the relationship between bacterial community and performance of sub-plateau MSTPs.

Structural and functional responses of bacterial and fungal communities to multiple heavy metal exposure in arid loess.

Concentration gradients of multiple heavy metals (HMs) in the arid loess region near a smelter were determined. In order to understand the response of soil microbes to multiple HM gradients, bacterial and fungal community structures and functions were analyzed using high-throughput RNA gene sequencing and the PICRUSt method. RDA/PCA analyses revealed that soil pH, HMs, and electrical conductivity (EC) jointly affected the bacterial communities in the soils. The soil microbial community structures responded differently to HMs, EC, and pH. High HMs increased the abundances of the bacterial phyla Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Deinococcus-Thermus, and Chloroflexi, and the genera Blastococcus, Rubrobacter, Quadrisphaera, and Tunicatimonas, whereas they decreased the abundances of the phyla Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria and the genera Streptomyces and Nocardioides. High EC and low pH decreased the abundance of most of the dominant bacterial phyla but increased the abundances of Firmicutes, Deinococcus-Thermus, and Nitrospirae. Furthermore, high HMs and EC reduced the numbers of soil-specific bacterial and fungal groups and drove the succession of certain groups that were highly resistant to increased HMs and EC. In addition, many bacterial and fungal groups exhibited different response patterns to each HM, implying that, in multiple HM-contaminated soils, HMs jointly shaped the microbial communities. PICRUSt analysis suggested that high HMs significantly decreased the total gene abundance and most KEGG modules in the soils. High EC and low pH significantly enhanced the abundances of several two-component system-, electron transfer-, and methanogenesis-related modules. We conclude that excessive multiple HMs and EC principally repressed the microbial activity and severely drove the gradient succession of bacterial and fungal communities in the arid loess region.

Indole-3-butyric acid mediates antioxidative defense systems to promote adventitious rooting in mung bean seedlings under cadmium and drought stresses.

In vitro experiments were performed to determine whether auxin can mediate the formation of adventitious roots in response to heavy metal and drought stresses using a model rooting plant, mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]. The treatments with CdCl2 or mannitol alone significantly inhibited the formation and growth of adventitious roots in mung bean seedlings. In contrast, when CdCl2 or mannitol was applied together with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), IBA considerably cancelled the inhibition of adventitious rooting by stresses. Treatment with CdCl2 or mannitol alone significantly increased the soluble protein and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents. CdCl2 and mannitol stress each induced differentially significant changes in the activities of antioxidative enzyme and antioxidant levels during adventitious rooting. Notably, both CdCl2 and mannitol stress strongly reduced the peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities and glutathione (GSH) and phenols levels. Catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were enhanced by CdCl2 but reduced by mannitol. CdCl2 increased the ascorbate acid (ASA) level, which was decreased by mannitol. Furthermore, when CdCl2 or mannitol was applied together with IBA, IBA counteracted the CdCl2- or mannitol-induced increase or decrease in certain antioxidants, MDA, and antioxidative enzymes. These results suggest that Cd and mannitol stress inhibition of adventitious rooting is associated with the regulation of antioxidative enzymes and antioxidants in cells to defense the oxidative stress. Moreover, IBA alleviates the effects of Cd and mannitol stress on the rooting process partially through the regulation of antioxidative defense systems.

Determination of 2-methoxyestradiol in serum samples and pharmaceutical preparations by silver nanoparticles-enhanced chemiluminescence.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exhibited better chemiluminescence (CL) catalysis activity and smaller nanoparticles have stronger catalysis ability in luminol-K3Fe(CN)6 system among the synthesized AgNPs of different size. 10±2 nm nanoparticles was used as catalysts to enhance the reaction sensitivity. It was found that the CL intensity of AgNPs-luminol-K3Fe(CN)6 was strongly inhibited in the presence of 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) and the relative CL intensity was in linear correlation with the concentration of 2-ME. Thus, the silver nanoparticles-enhanced CL method for the determination of 2-ME was developed. The proposed method has a detection limit (3 Sb/K) of 5.0×10(-10) mol L(-1) with a relative standard deviation of 0.75% for 5.0×10(-8) mol L(-1) 2-ME. The method was successfully applied for determination of 2-ME in human serum and pharmaceutical preparations. The possible CL reaction mechanism was also discussed briefly. Oxygen radicals played an important role in the catalytic process.

Sensitive determination of 2-methoxyestradiol in pharmaceutical preparations and serum samples using flow injection chemiluminescence.

A rapid and sensitive flow injection chemiluminescence (FI-CL) method is described for the determination of 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME) based on enhancement of the CL intensity from a potassium ferricyanide-calcein system in sodium hydroxide medium. The optimum conditions for the CL emission were investigated. Under optimized conditions, a linear calibration graph was obtained over the range 1.0 × 10(-8) to 1.0 × 10(-6) mol/L (r = 0.998) 2ME with a detection limit (3σ) of 5.4 × 10(-9) mol/L. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for 5.0 × 10(-7) mol/L 2ME was 1.7%. As a preliminary application, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of 2ME in injection solutions and serum samples. The possible CL mechanism was also proposed.

Involvement of abscisic acid in regulating antioxidative defense systems and IAA-oxidase activity and improving adventitious rooting in mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] seedlings under cadmium stress.

In vitro experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of abscisic acid (ABA) and Cd on antioxidative defense systems and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) oxidase during adventitious rooting in mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] seedlings. The exogenous ABA significantly enhanced the number and fresh weight of the adventitious roots. CdCl2 strongly inhibited adventitious rooting. Pretreatment with 10 µM ABA clearly alleviated the inhibitory effect of Cd on rooting. ABA significantly reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities, as well as the levels of glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (ASA) during adventitious rooting. ABA strongly increased IAA-oxidase activity during the induction (0-12 h) and expression (after 48 h) phases and increased the phenols levels. Cd treatment significantly reduced the activities of SOD, APX, POD, and IAA oxidase, as well as GSH level. Cd strongly increased ASA levels. ABA pretreatment counteracted Cd-induced alterations of certain antioxidants and antioxidative enzymes, e.g., remarkably rescued APX and POD activities, reduced the elevated SOD and CAT activities and ASA levels, and recovered the reduced GSH levels, caused by Cd stress. Thus, the physiological effects of the combination of ABA and Cd treatments were opposite of those obtained with Cd treatment alone, suggesting that ABA involved in the regulation of antioxidative defense systems and the alleviation of wounding- and Cd-induced oxidative stress.

A novel chemiluminescence assay of mitoxantrone based on diperiodatocuprate(III) oxidation.

A novel and strong chemiluminescence (CL) of luminol with diperiodatocuprate (K5[Cu(HIO6)2]) was observed in alkaline medium. After the addition of mitoxantrone (MTX) into this system, the CL intensity could be greatly inhibited by MTX. Based on the phenomenon, a sensitive CL method was established for analysis of MTX combining with flow injection technology. Under optimum experimental conditions, the CL intensity was linearly related to the logarithm concentration of MTX from 5.0×10(-9)-1.0×10(-7) g/ml with the detection limit of 1.1×10(-9) g/ml (S/N=3). The relative standard deviation was 1.2% for 5.0×10(-8) g/ml of MTX. The proposed method was successfully applied for determination of MTX in pharmaceutical preparations and biological fluids. The possible CL reaction mechanism was also discussed briefly.