Exposure to Violence in Social Unrest, Resilience, and Mental Health of Older People in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVE: Older adults are prone to the negative effects of exposure to violence on their mental health. This study aimed to examine the impact of exposure to violence during social unrest and the role of resilience in the mental health of older people. DESIGN: A total of 1,203 people aged 65 years or older were randomly selected for a telephone survey using the random digit dialing numbering method in Hong Kong. MEASUREMENTS: A 13-item scale was developed to measure exposure to violence. The Chinese versions of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and the Startle, Physiological Arousal, Anger, and Numbness scales for measuring mental health status were adopted in the survey. RESULTS: The results showed that the more frequently older people were exposed to information, the more negative mental health status they had. However, exposure to witnessing and experiencing violence was not significantly associated with mental health status. Older adults' level of resilience had a moderating effect between exposure to information and mental health, whereas the effect of exposure to information on mental health was stronger for respondents with lower resilience. CONCLUSION: This study showed that emotional problems caused by exposure to related information among older people should be properly addressed during massive social unrest and conflict. Their resilience capacity is an important moderating factor. Future interventions and support services should focus on enhancing the resilience of older people to better equip them with overcoming problems related to macro-social issues.

Genome-wide association analysis discovered new loci and candidate genes associated with low-phosphorus tolerance based on shoot mineral elements concentrations in soybean.

Phosphorus (P) deficiency is one of the major limitations for soybean production. Moreover, it has been well reported P and other mineral elements function interdependently or antagonistically to control nutrients homeostasis in plants. Thus, it is urgently needed to understand the genetic mechanism of the accumulation of mineral elements in response to low-P stress. In this study, to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and candidate genes controlling the accumulation of mineral elements suffering low-P stress in seedling stage of soybean plants, we measured concentrations of mineral elements, including P, Zn, Fe, Mn, Mg and Ca, in shoots of 211 soybean accessions under normal phosphorus (+P) and low phosphorus (-P) conditions in two hydroponic experiments. And genome-wide association study (GWAS) using high density NJAU 355K SoySNP array and concentrations of five of these mineral elements except P was performed. A total of 36 SNPs distributed on 13 chromosomes were identified to be significantly associated with low-P tolerance, and nine SNPs on chromosome 10 formed a SNP cluster. Meanwhile, the candidate gene GmFeB1 was found to serve as a negative regulator element involved in soybean P metabolism and the haplotype1 (Hap1) of GmFeB1 showed significantly higher shoot Fe concentration under -P condition than that of Hap2. In summary, we uncover 36 SNPs significantly associated with shoot mineral elements concentrations under different P conditions and a soybean low-P related gene GmFeB1, which will provide additional genetic information for soybean low-P tolerance and new gene resources for P-efficient soybean varieties breeding.

Functional study and elite haplotype identification of soybean phosphate starvation response transcription factors GmPHR14 and GmPHR32.

Phosphorus (P) is one of the important mineral elements required for plant growth and development. However, because of the low mobility in soil, P deficiency has been an important factor limiting soybean production. Here, we identified 14 PHR (phosphate starvation response) genes in soybean genome and verified that two previously unreported GmPHR members, GmPHR14 and GmPHR32, were involved in low-P stress tolerance in soybean. GmPHR14 and GmPHR32 were present in two diverged branches of the phylogenic tree. Both genes were highly expressed in roots and root nodules and were induced by P deficiency. GmPHR14 and GmPHR32 both were expressed in the nucleus. The 211 amino acids in the N terminus of GmPHR32 were found to be required for the transcriptional activity. Overexpressing GmPHR14 or GmPHR32 in soybean hairy roots significantly increased roots and shoots dry weight under low-P condition, and overexpressing GmPHR14 additionally significantly increased roots P concentration under low-P condition. GmPHR14 and GmPHR32 were polymorphic in soybean population and the elite haplotype2 (Hap2) for both genes was preferentially present in improved cultivars and showed significantly higher shoots dry weight under low-P condition than the other two haplotypes. These results suggested GmPHR14 and GmPHR32 both positively regulated low-P responses in soybean, and would shed light on the molecular mechanism of low-P stress tolerance. Furthermore, the identified elite haplotypes would be useful in P-efficient soybean breeding. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-022-01301-z.

Characteristics of H7N9 avian influenza pneumonia: a retrospective analysis of 17 cases.

BACKGROUND: H7N9 avian influenza is an infection of public health concern, in part because of its high mortality rate and pandemic potential. AIMS: To describe the clinical features of H7N9 avian influenza and the response to treatment. METHODS: Clinical, radiological and histopathological data, and treatment-related of H7N9-infected patients hospitalised during 2014-2017 were extracted and analysed. RESULTS: A total of 17 H7N9 patients (three females; mean age, 58.4 ± 13.7 years) was identified; of these six died. All patients presented with fever and productive cough; four patients had haemoptysis and 13 had chest distress and/or shortness of breath. Early subnormal white blood cell count and elevation of serum liver enzymes were common. Multilobar patchy shadows, rapid progression to ground-glass opacities, air bronchograms and consolidation were the most common imaging findings. Histopathological examination of lung tissue of three patients who died showed severe alveolar epithelial cell damage, with inflammatory exudation into the alveolar space and hyaline membrane formation; widened alveolar septae, prominent inflammatory cell infiltration; and hyperplasia of pneumocytes. Viral inclusions were found in the lung tissue of two patients. All patients received antiviral drugs (oseltamivir ± peramivir). Four patients carried the rs12252-C/C interferon-induced transmembrane protein-3 (IFITM3) genotype, while the others had the C/T genotype. CONCLUSIONS: H7N9 virus infection causes human influenza-like symptoms, but may rapidly progress to severe pneumonia and even death. Clinicians should be alert to the possibility of H7N9 infection in high-risk patients. The presence of the IFITM3 rs12252-C genotype may predict severe illness.

Knockout of SlMAPK3 enhances tolerance to heat stress involving ROS homeostasis in tomato plants.

BACKGROUND: High temperature is a major environmental stress that limits plant growth and agriculture productivity. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are highly conserved serine and threonine protein kinases that participate in response to diverse environmental stresses in plants. A total of 16 putative SlMAPK genes are identified in tomato, and SlMAPK3 is one of the most extensively studied SlMAPKs. However, the role of SlMAPK3 in response to heat stress is not clearly understood in tomato plants. In this study, we performed functional analysis of SlMAPK3 for its possible role in response to heat stress. RESULTS: qRT-PCR analyses revealed that SlMAPK3 relative expression was depressed by heat stress. Here, wild-type (WT) tomato plants and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated slmapk3 mutant lines (L8 and L13) were used to investigate the function of SlMAPK3 in response to heat stress. Compared with WT plants, slmapk3 mutants exhibited less severe wilting and less membrane damage, showed lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents, and presented higher both activities and transcript levels of antioxidant enzymes, as well as elevated expressions of genes encoding heat stress transcription factors (HSFs) and heat shock proteins (HSPs). CONCLUSIONS: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated slmapk3 mutants exhibited more tolerance to heat stress than WT plants, suggesting that SlMAPK3 was a negative regulator of thermotolerance. Moreover, antioxidant enzymes and HSPs/HSFs genes expression were involved in SlMAPK3-mediated heat stress response in tomato plants.

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated SlNPR1 mutagenesis reduces tomato plant drought tolerance.

BACKGROUND: NPR1, nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related gene 1, is a master regulator involved in plant defense response to pathogens, and its regulatory mechanism in the defense pathway has been relatively clear. However, information about the function of NPR1 in plant response to abiotic stress is still limited. Tomato is the fourth most economically crop worldwide and also one of the best-characterized model plants employed in genetic studies. Because of the lack of a stable tomato NPR1 (SlNPR1) mutant, little is known about the function of SlNPR1 in tomato response to biotic and abiotic stresses. RESULTS: Here we isolated SlNPR1 from tomato 'Ailsa Craig' and generated slnpr1 mutants using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Analysis of the cis-acting elements indicated that SlNPR1 might be involved in tomato plant response to drought stress. Expression pattern analysis showed that SlNPR1 was expressed in all plant tissues, and it was strongly induced by drought stress. Thus, we investigated the function of SlNPR1 in tomato-plant drought tolerance. Results showed that slnpr1 mutants exhibited reduced drought tolerance with increased stomatal aperture, higher electrolytic leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels, and lower activity levels of antioxidant enzymes, compared to wild type (WT) plants. The reduced drought tolerance of slnpr1 mutants was further reflected by the down-regulated expression of drought related key genes, including SlGST, SlDHN, and SlDREB. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, the data suggest that SlNPR1 is involved in regulating tomato plant drought response. These results aid in further understanding the molecular basis underlying SlNPR1 mediation of tomato drought sensitivity.

ABA signaling rather than ABA metabolism is involved in trehalose-induced drought tolerance in tomato plants.

MAIN CONCLUSION: Trehalose increased drought tolerance of tomato plants, accompanied by reduced water loss and closed stomata, which was associated with the upregulated ABA signaling-related genes expression, but not in ABA accumulation. Drought is one of the principal abiotic stresses that negatively influence the growth of plant and yield. Trehalose has great agronomic potential to improve the stress tolerance of plants. However, little information is available on the role of ABA and its signaling components in trehalose-induced drought tolerance. The aim of this study is to elucidate the potential mechanism by which trehalose regulates ABA in response to drought stress. In this study, 6-week-old tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Ailsa Craig) plants were treated with 0 or 15.0 mM trehalose solution. Results showed that trehalose treatment significantly enhanced drought tolerance of tomato plants, accompanied by encouraged stomatal closure and protected chloroplast ultrastructure. Compared with controls, trehalose-treated plants showed lower hydrogen peroxide content and higher antioxidant enzymes activities, which contributed to alleviate oxidative damage caused by drought. Moreover, trehalose treatment decreased ABA content, which was followed by the downregulation of ABA biosynthesis genes expression and the upregulation of ABA catabolism genes expression. In contrast, exogenous trehalose upregulated transcript levels of ABA signaling-related genes, including SlPYL1/3/4/5/6/7/9, SlSnRK2.3/4, SlAREB1/2, and SlDREB1. These results suggested that trehalose treatment enhanced drought tolerance of tomato plants, and it's ABA signaling rather than ABA metabolism that was involved in trehalose-induced drought tolerance in tomato plants. These findings provide evidence for the physiological role of trehalose and bring about a new understanding of the possible relationship between trehalose and ABA.

A novel microRNA miR-1165-3p as a potential diagnostic biomarker for allergic asthma.

CONTEXT: A further examination of a novel miRNA,miR-1165-3p as a biomarker for asthma, which was previously implicated in helper T cells (Th2) in a murine asthma model. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether serum miR-1165-3p can serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker for allergic asthma. METHODS: Serum miR-1165-3p was quantified via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in asthmatic and control samples. Serum miR-1165-3p levels were compared between groups and the clinical diagnostic abilities of miR-1165-3p were evaluated. The analyses utilized included a student's t test, one-way ANOVA, and the generation of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Serum miRNA-1165-3p levels were significantly elevated in asthmatics when compared to the healthy controls. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity of serum miR-1165-3p were found to be 83% and 68.2%. Additionally, serum miR-1165-3p levels were also found to be significantly elevated in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) or allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that serum miR-1165-3p can potentially be utilized as a noninvasive biomarker that is able to aid in the diagnosis and characterization of allergic asthma.

MiRNA-548ah, a potential molecule associated with transition from immune tolerance to immune activation of chronic hepatitis B.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to identify the differently expressed microRNA (miRNA) molecules and target genes of miRNA in the immune tolerance (IT) and immune activation (IA) stages of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). METHODS: miRNA expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) at the IT and IA stages of CHB were screened using miRNA microarrays and authenticated using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) were used to analyze the significant functions and pathways of possible target genes of miRNAs. Assays of the gain and loss of function of the miRNAs were performed to verify the target genes in THP-1 cell lines. The luciferase reporter test was used on 293T cells as direct targets. RESULTS: Significantly upregulated miR-548 and miR-4804 were observed in the miRNA microarrays and confirmed by RT-PCR in PBMCs at the IT and IA stages of CHB. GO and KEGG analysis revealed that MiR-548 and miR-4804 could be involved in numerous signaling pathways and protein binding activity. IFNγR1 was predicted as a target gene and validated as the direct gene of MiR-548. Significant negative correlation was found between the miR-548ah and mRNA levels of IFN-γR1 in CHB patients. CONCLUSIONS: The abnormal expression profiles of miRNA in PBMCs could be closely associated with immune activation of chronic HBV infection. miR-548, by targeting IFN-γR1, may represent a mechanism that can facilitate viral pathogenesis and help determine new therapeutic molecular targets.

A novel hybrid model based on two-stage data processing and machine learning for forecasting chlorophyll-a concentration in reservoirs.

The accurate and efficient prediction of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration is crucial for the early detection of algal blooms in reservoirs. Nevertheless, predicting Chl-a concentration in multivariate time series poses a significant challenge due to the complex interrelationships within the aquatic environment and the discrete and non-stationary nature of online monitoring of water quality data. To address the aforementioned issue, this paper proposes a novel prediction model named SGMD-KPCA-BiLSTM (SKB) for predicting Chl-a concentration. The model combines two-stage data processing and machine learning (ML). To capture nonlinear relationships in multivariate time series data, the optimal data subset is determined by combining symplectic geometry mode decomposition (SGMD) and kernel principal component analysis (KPCA). This subset is then input into a bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) model, and the model's hyperparameters are optimized using the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) to improve the accuracy of predictions. The performance of the model was evaluated at Qiaodian Reservoir in Shandong, China. To assess its superiority, the evaluation criteria included the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean absolute error (MAE), coefficient of determination (R2), frequency histograms of the prediction error, and the Taylor diagram. The prediction performance of five single models, namely the back-propagation (BP) neural network, support vector regression (SVR), long short-term memory (LSTM), convolutional neural network with long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM), and BiLSTM, as well as three hybrid models, namely SGMD-LSTM, SGMD-KPCA-LSTM, and SGMD-BiLSTM, were compared against the SKB model. The results demonstrated that the SKB model performs best in predicting Chl-a concentration (R2 = 96.19%, RMSE = 1.05, MAE = 0.65, MAPE = 0.08). It significantly reduced the prediction error compared to other models for comparison. Furthermore, the multi-step predictive capabilities of the SKB model are also discussed. The analysis shows a decline in predictive performance with larger prediction time steps, and the SKB model exhibits slightly superior performance compared to the other model at corresponding prediction intervals. The model has significant advantages in terms of its ability to accurately predict the non-smooth and nonlinear Chl-a sequences observed by the online monitoring system. This study presents a potential solution for controlling and preventing reservoir eutrophication, as well as an innovative approach for predicting water quality.

Non-O1, Non-O139 Vibrio cholerae Bacteremia in an Autoimmune Pancreatitis Patient.

Over 200 different serogroups of Vibrio cholerae based on O-polysaccharide specificity have been described worldwide, including the two most important serogroups, O1 and O139. Non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae serogroups generally do not produce the cholera-causing toxin but do sporadically cause gastroenteritis and extra-intestinal infections. Recently, however, bloodstream infections caused by non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae are being increasingly reported, and these infections are associated with high mortality in immunocompromised hosts. We describe a case of non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae bacteremia in a patient with autoimmune pancreatitis and stenosis of the intra- and extrahepatic bile ducts. The clinical manifestations of bacteremia were fever and mild digestive symptoms. The blood cultures showed V. cholerae, which was identified as a non-O1, non-O139 serogroup by slide agglutination tests and PCR. The bloodstream infection of the patient was likely caused by the consumption of contaminated seafood at a banquet. The patient recovered after the administration of a third-generation cephalosporin. Non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae infection presents with or without gastrointestinal manifestations; close attention should be paid to the possibility of disseminated non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae infection in high-risk patients.

Bifidobacterium breve Protects the Intestinal Epithelium and Mitigates Inflammation in Colitis via Regulating the Gut Microbiota-Cholic Acid Pathway.

In this study, we aimed to explore the protective effects of Bifidobacterium in colitis mice and the potential mechanisms. Results showed that Bifidobacterium breve (B. breve) effectively colonized the intestinal tract and alleviated colitis symptoms by reducing the disease activity index. Moreover, B. breve mitigated intestinal epithelial cell damage, inhibited the pro-inflammatory factors, and upregulated tight junction (TJ)-proteins. Gut microbiota and metabolome analysis found that B. breve boosted bile acid-regulating genera (such as Bifidobacterium and Clostridium sensu stricto 1), which promoted bile acid deconjugation in the intestine. Notably, cholic acid (CA) was closely associated with the expression levels of inflammatory factors and TJ-proteins (p < 0.05). Our in vitro cell experiments further confirmed that CA (20.24 ± 4.53 pg/mL) contributed to the inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor-α expression (49.32 ± 5.27 pg/mL) and enhanced the expression of TJ-proteins (Occludin and Claudin-1) and MUC2. This study suggested that B. breve could be a probiotic candidate for use in infant foods.

Consistency of chronotype measurements is affected by sleep quality, gender, longitude, and latitude.

Chronotype has received increasing research attention. However, there remains some confusion about the influence of gender, age, sleep quality, insomnia severity, longitude, and latitude on the consistency of the chronotype measured by the different tools. Chronotype measurement indicators were collected from 421 participants. The midpoint of sleep for actigraphy (MSF_A), sleep diary (MSF_D), and Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) (MSFsc) on free days and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ) scores were used to measure the chronotype. In addition, demographic information, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were also collected. A significant correlation was identified between the questionnaires (MSF_D, MSFsc, rMEQ) and actigraphy (MSF_A) as measures of chronotype. MSF_A was associated with sleep latency and sleep disturbance in the PSQI subdimensions. The correlation between MS_D and sleep disturbance was significant. Both rMEQ and MSFsc were significantly correlated with PSQI (total scores and daytime dysfunction) and ISI. The consistency of all chronotype measurements for the questionnaires and actigraphy was influenced by gender. Among them, MSF_D is also affected by age, while only the latitude and sleep disturbance effect was found in the MSFsc. The influence of age, gender, sleep quality, and latitude should be emphasized when measuring the chronotype using self-reported methods.

Social Capital and Mental Wellbeing of Older People Migrating along with Adult Children in Shenzhen, China.

The phenomenon of 'older people migrating along' (OPMA) with adult children is a unique outcome of social changes that have occurred in China. These individuals generally experience different challenges and needs associated with mental wellbeing. However, there is limited research on the relationship between the social capital and mental health of OPMA in China. This study aims to examine the mental health status of OPMA and the effects of bonding social capital and bridging social capital on their mental wellbeing in China by conducting a quantitative research survey among 399 OPMA participants. We found that bonding social capital correlated to only one indicator of mental wellbeing, subjective happiness. Bridging social capital had significant relationships with four mental health indicators, namely, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), subjective happiness, and life satisfaction. Through strengthening bridging social capital, these older adults can benefit from more opportunities for participation in formal or informal organizations in their communities and improve their mental wellbeing.

Postharvest fruit quality of tomatoes influenced by an ethylene signaling component during long-term cold storage.

Ethylene production is essential for improving cold resistance of postharvest tomatoes. However, the role of ethylene signaling pathway in maintaining fruit quality during long-term cold storage remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated that a partial loss of function in ethylene signaling by mutation of Ethylene Response Factor 2 (SlERF2), worsened fruit quality during cold storage, as determined by visual characterization, and physiological analyses of membrane damage and reactive oxygen species metabolism. In addition, the transcriptions of genes related to abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and signaling were also altered by SlERF2 gene in response to cold storage. Furthermore, mutation of SlERF2 gene compromised cold-induced expression of genes in the C-repeat/dehydration-responsive binding factor (CBF) signaling pathway. Therefore, it's concluded that an ethylene signaling component, SlERF2 contributed to the regulations of ABA biosynthesis and signaling, as well as CBF cold signaling pathway, ultimately affecting the fruit quality during long-term cold storage of tomatoes.

Novel Z-scheme MgFe2O4/Bi2WO6 heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride: Mechanistic insight, degradation pathways and density functional theory calculations.

In this study, a new Z-scheme MgFe2O4/Bi2WO6 heterojunction was successfully prepared by hydrothermal and wet ball milling process. The results of the study showed that after 90 min of visible light exposure, the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) by 25%-MgFe2O4/Bi2WO6 heterojunction was as high as 95.82%, and the highest photocatalytic rate (0.0281 min-1) was 4.61 and 3.43 times higher than that of pure Bi2WO6 (0.0061 min-1) and MgFe2O4 (0.0082 min-1), respectively. Furthermore, spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to provide additional evidence of the presence of a Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism between MgFe2O4 and Bi2WO6. We investigated the effects of initial TCH concentration, pH, coexisting ions and different water sources on the efficiency of photocatalytic degradation of TCH in composite samples. The recovery experiments demonstrated that the MgFe2O4/Bi2WO6 composites had good stability and repeatability. A series of experimental results showed that 25%-MgFe2O4/Bi2WO6 had a larger specific surface area, better ultraviolet and visible absorbance, superior charge transfer and higher efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pair separation. This paper provides new ideas for the design and preparation of new Z-scheme heterojunctions and has great prospects for practical applications in the field of wastewater treatment.

Gut microbiota-bile acid crosstalk regulates murine lipid metabolism via the intestinal FXR-FGF19 axis in diet-induced humanized dyslipidemia.

BACKGROUND: Diet-induced dyslipidemia is linked to the gut microbiota, but the causality of microbiota-host interaction affecting lipid metabolism remains controversial. Here, the humanized dyslipidemia mice model was successfully built by using fecal microbiota transplantation from dyslipidemic donors (FMT-dd) to study the causal role of gut microbiota in diet-induced dyslipidemia. RESULTS: We demonstrated that FMT-dd reshaped the gut microbiota of mice by increasing Faecalibaculum and Ruminococcaceae UCG-010, which then elevated serum cholicacid (CA), chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), and deoxycholic acid (DCA), reduced bile acid synthesis and increased cholesterol accumulation via the hepatic farnesoid X receptor-small heterodimer partner (FXR-SHP) axis. Nevertheless, high-fat diet led to decreased Muribaculum in the humanized dyslipidemia mice induced by FMT-dd, which resulted in reduced intestinal hyodeoxycholic acid (HDCA), raised bile acid synthesis and increased lipid absorption via the intestinal farnesoid X receptor-fibroblast growth factor 19 (FXR-FGF19) axis. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies implicated that intestinal FXR is responsible for the regulation of lipid metabolism in diet-induced dyslipidemia mediated by gut microbiota-bile acid crosstalk. Video Abstract.

Whole-tumor radiomics analysis of T2-weighted imaging in differentiating neuroblastoma from ganglioneuroblastoma/ganglioneuroma in children: an exploratory study.

PURPOSE: To examine the potential of whole-tumor radiomics analysis of T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) in differentiating neuroblastoma (NB) from ganglioneuroblastoma/ganglioneuroma (GNB/GN) in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 102 children with peripheral neuroblastic tumors, comprising 47 NB patients and 55 GNB/GN patients, which were randomly divided into a training group (n = 72) and a test group (n = 30). Radiomics features were extracted from T2WI images, and feature dimensionality reduction was applied. Linear discriminant analysis was used to construct radiomics models, and one-standard error role combined with leave-one-out cross-validation was used to choose the optimal radiomics model with the least predictive error. Subsequently, the patient age at initial diagnosis and the selected radiomics features were incorporated to construct a combined model. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curve (CIC) were applied to evaluate the diagnostic performance and clinical utility of the models. RESULTS: Fifteen radiomics features were eventually chosen to construct the optimal radiomics model. The area under the curve (AUC) of the radiomics model in the training group and test group was 0.940 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.886, 0.995] and 0.799 (95%CI 0.632, 0.966), respectively. The combined model, which incorporated patient age and radiomics features, achieved an AUC of 0.963 (95%CI 0.925, 1.000) in the training group and 0.871 (95%CI 0.744, 0.997) in the test group. DCA and CIC demonstrated that the radiomics model and combined model could provide benefits at various thresholds, with the combined model being superior to the radiomics model. CONCLUSION: Radiomics features derived from T2WI, in combination with the age of the patient at initial diagnosis, may offer a quantitative method for distinguishing NB from GNB/GN, thus aiding in the pathological differentiation of peripheral neuroblastic tumors in children.

Steam explosion pretreatment enhancing enzymatic digestibility of overground tubers of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus L.).

Introduction: Tiger nut (TN) is recognized as a high potential plant which can grow in well-drained sandy or loamy soils and provide food nutrients. However, the overground tubers of TN remain unutilized currently, which limits the value-added utilization and large-area cultivation of this plant. Methods: In the present study, the overground tubers of TN were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis to produce fermentable sugars for biofuels production. Steam explosion (SE) was applied to modify the physical-chemical properties of the overground tubers of TN for enhancing its saccharification. Results and discussion: Results showed that SE broke the linkages of hemicellulose and lignin in the TN substrates and increased cellulose content through removal of hemicellulose. Meanwhile, SE cleaved inner linkages within cellulose molecules, reducing the degree of polymerization by 32.13-77.84%. Cellulose accessibility was significantly improved after SE, which was revealed visibly by the confocal laser scanning microscopy imaging techniques. As a result, enzymatic digestibility of the overground tubers of TN was dramatically enhanced. The cellulose conversion of the SE treated TN substrates reached 38.18-63.97%, which was 2.5-4.2 times higher than that without a SE treatment. Conclusion: Therefore, SE pretreatment promoted saccharification of the overground tubers of TN, which paves the way for value-added valorization of the TN plants.

IRF4 is Correlated with the Conversion to a Th17-Like Phenotype in Regulatory T Cells from the Malignant Pleural Effusion.

BACKGROUND: RORγt+Foxp3+ (Th17-like) Tregs are a plastic Treg subset implicated in immune-related diseases; however, the mechanism of Treg phenotypic transformation in malignant pleural effusion (MPE) has not been elucidated. METHODS: The percentage of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Helios+ and RORγt+Foxp3+ Tregs from peripheral blood and pleural effusion mononuclear cells were measured. The level of interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) mRNA expression was detected by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The effects of IRF4 on the induction of Tregs from patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were evaluated in vitro. Correlation assays between IRF4 expression and the frequency of RORγt+Foxp3+ Tregs were performed. RESULTS: The frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Helios+ Tregs and CD4+RORγt+ Th17 cells was both increased in the MPE of NSCLC patients. The group of double-positive Foxp3+RORγt+ Treg phenotype were identified in the pleural effusion. A significant increase in the frequency of Foxp3+RORγt+ Tregs was found in MPE compared with the non-malignant pleural effusion (NPE). Compared to NPE, the relative level of IRF4 expression was increased in the MPE. IRF4 expression was positively associated with the frequency of Foxp3+RORγt+ Tregs in the PE. In vitro, the level of Helios mRNA and protein expression was reduced in induced Tregs following IRF4 over-expression. Additionally, the level of RORγt protein expression was substantially increased. However, ectopic Helios expression in induced Tregs reversed the effects induced by enhanced IRF4 expression. CONCLUSION: IRF4 may serve as a potential molecule that promotes the conversion of regulatory T cells from MPE to a Th17-like phenotype by modulating Helios.