High-throughput lipidomics analysis to discover lipid biomarkers and profiles as potential targets for evaluating efficacy of Kai-Xin-San against APP/PS1 transgenic mice based on UPLC-Q/TOF-MS.

Lipid metabolism has a significant function in the central nervous system and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related senile disease characterized by central nerve degeneration. The pathological development of AD is closely related to lipid metabolism disorders. To reveal the influence of Kai-Xin-San (KXS) on lipid metabolism in APP/PSI transgenic mice and potential therapeutic targets for treating AD, brain tissue samples were collected and analyzed by high-throughput lipidomics based on UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. The collected raw data were processed by multivariate data analysis to discover the potential biomarkers and lipid metabolic profiles. Compared with the control wild-type mouse group, nine potential lipid biomarkers were found in the AD model group, of which seven were up-regulated and two were down-regulated. Orally administrated KXS can reverse the changes in these potential biomarkers. Compared with the model group, a total of six differential metabolites showed a recovery trend and may be potential targets for KXS to treat AD. This study showed that high-throughput lipidomics can be used to discover the perturbed pathways and lipid biomarkers as potential targets to reveal the therapeutic effects of KXS.

Serum cystatin C level is associated with carotid intima-media thickening and plaque.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Chronic kidney disease has recently been shown to be a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and carotid intima-media thickness has been widely used as a biomarker for early detection of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to confirm whether carotid thickening and carotid plaque are associated with preclinical chronic kidney disease in individuals without clinical cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study on participants from Maanshan City, China. All participants underwent carotid ultrasonography. Kidney function was measured using cystatin C, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and blood uric acid. Demographics and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases were obtained from each participant. RESULTS: A total of 927 subjects were surveyed; 453 (48.87%) were men and 474 (51.13%) were women. A total of 525 (56.63%) of the participants were found to have carotid thickening of which 281 (53.52%) were men and 244 (46.48%) were women. Kidney function was strongly associated with carotid thickening and plaque in the unadjusted analysis. However, cystatin C was the only measure of kidney function that was significantly associated with carotid thickening and plaque in the adjusted analysis (in order to select risk factors from sex, age, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, apolipoprotein A, apolipoprotein B, cystatin C, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, blood uric, estimated GFR). CONCLUSION: Cystatin C, an alternative measure of kidney function, was more strongly associated with carotid thickening and plaque than other measures of kidney function.

Machine learning for identifying tumor stemness genes and developing prognostic model in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer presents a formidable challenge, marked by its debilitating nature and often dire prognosis. Emerging evidence underscores the pivotal role of tumor stem cells in exacerbating treatment resistance and fueling disease recurrence in gastric cancer. Thus, the identification of genes contributing to tumor stemness assumes paramount importance. Employing a comprehensive approach encompassing ssGSEA, WGCNA, and various machine learning algorithms, this study endeavors to delineate tumor stemness key genes (TSKGs). Subsequently, these genes were harnessed to construct a prognostic model, termed the Tumor Stemness Risk Genes Prognostic Model (TSRGPM). Through PCA, Cox regression analysis and ROC curve analysis, the efficacy of Tumor Stemness Risk Scores (TSRS) in stratifying patient risk profiles was underscored, affirming its ability as an independent prognostic indicator. Notably, the TSRS exhibited a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer. Furthermore, leveraging algorithms such as CIBERSORT to dissect immune infiltration patterns revealed a notable association between TSRS and monocytes and other cell. Subsequent scrutiny of tumor stemness risk genes (TSRGs) culminated in the identification of CDC25A for detailed investigation. Bioinformatics analyses unveil CDC25A's implication in driving the malignant phenotype of tumors, with a discernible impact on cell proliferation and DNA replication in gastric cancer. Noteworthy validation through in vitro experiments corroborated the bioinformatics findings, elucidating the pivotal role of CDC25A expression in modulating tumor stemness in gastric cancer. In summation, the established and validated TSRGPM holds promise in prognostication and delineation of potential therapeutic targets, thus heralding a pivotal stride towards personalized management of this malignancy.

Evaluation of o-xylene and other volatile organic compounds removal using a xylene-acclimated biotrickling filter.

In this study, performance evaluation for the gas-phase o-xylene removal using a xylene-acclimated biotrickling filter (BTF) was conducted. Substrate interactions during aerobic biodegradation of three poorly soluble compounds, both individually and in paired mixtures (namely, o-xylene and ethyl acetate, o-xylene and dichloromethane, which are common solvents used by pharmaceutical industry), were also investigated. Experimental results indicate that a maximum elimination capacity of 99.3 g x m(-3) x h(-1) (70% removal) was obtained at an o-xylene loading rate of 143.0 g x m(-3) x h(-1), while the top packing layer (one-third height of the three packing layers) only contributed about 13% to the total elimination capacity. Kinetic constants for o-xylene biodegradation and the pattern of o-xylene removal performance along the height of the BTF were obtained through the modified Michaelis-Menten kinetics and convection-diffusion reaction model, respectively. A reduction of removal efficiency in o-xylene (83.2-74.5% removal at a loading rate of 40.3 g x m(-3) x h(-1) for the total volatile organic compound (VOC) loading rate of 79 g x m(-3) x h(-1)) in the presence of ethyl acetate (100% removal) was observed, while enhanced o-xylene removal efficiency (71.6-78.6% removal at a loading rate of 45.1 g x m(-3) x h(-1) for the total VOC loading rate of 90 g x m(-3) x h(-1)) was achieved in the presence of dichloromethane (35.6% removal). This work shows that a BTF with xylene-acclimated microbial consortia has the ability to remove several poorly soluble compounds, which would advance the knowledge on the treatment of pharmaceutical VOC emissions.

Case Report: Semi-Ex Vivo Hepatectomy Combined with Autologous Liver Transplantation for Alveolar Echinococcosis in Children.

Hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a zoonotic disease caused by the metacestode of Echinococcus multilocularis. Although surgical resection is the optimal treatment for hepatic AE, some patients with hepatic AE located in special introhepatic sites cannot be radically cured by conventional surgery. Here, we report that a 10-year-old female patient was admitted to the hospital with occupying liver lesions for 6 months. Computed tomography examination showed irregular mixed-density masses in the right lobe and caudate lobe of the liver, with partial invasion of the right hepatic artery, right hepatic vein, and right branch of the portal vein. The patient was preoperatively diagnosed with hepatic AE, which cannot be cured by conventional liver lobectomy. The patient underwent semi-ex vivo liver resection with autologous liver transplantation (second hepatic portal reconstruction, posterior hepatic inferior vena cava repair, and hepatic artery repair) and biliary-intestinal anastomosis. After hospital discharge, she has kept living a healthy life without disease recurrence for 13 months until the end of the last follow-up. This case shows that semi-ex vivo hepatectomy with autologous liver transplantation might be a feasible and safe choice for certain patients with AE located in special introhepatic sites, which has provided novel experiences for the surgical treatment of hepatic AE.

Superstrong, Lightweight, and Exceptional Environmentally Stable SiO2@GO/Bamboo Composites.

Development of lightweight structural materials from fast-growing bamboos is of great significance to building a sustainable society. However, previously developed structural bamboos by delignification combined with densification would easily fail under large external loading after exposure to water due to structure collapse, severely limiting their practical applications. Here, we demonstrate an ultrastrong and exceptional environmentally stable bamboo composite consisting of a graphene oxide (GO)/bamboo core and hierarchical SiO2 protection layer. The GO/bamboo composite exhibits ultrahigh tensile strength (641.6 MPa), superb flexural strength (428.4 MPa), and excellent toughness (17.5 MJ/m3), which are increased by about 480, 250, and 360% compared with natural bamboo, respectively. As a result, the specific tensile strength of the GO/bamboo composite is up to 513.3 MPa·cm3/g due to its low density (1.25 g/cm3), outperforming engineering structural materials such as aluminum alloys, steels, and titanium alloys. These large improvements benefit from the well-preserved bamboo scaffold and the strong hydrogen bonds between bamboo fibers and GO nanosheets. On the other hand, the SiO2@GO/bamboo composite shows superhydrophobicity due to the construction of hierarchical SiO2 layers, which endows it with outstanding water resistance. Moreover, the bamboo composite shows an ultralow coefficient of thermal expansion (≈2.3 × 10-6 K-1), indicating its excellent dimensional stability. Considering the ultrahigh mechanical performance and outstanding environmental stability, the developed lightweight SiO2@GO/bamboo composite is hopeful to be a green and sustainable structural material for practical engineering applications.

[Combined three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy plus transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and surgical intervention for portal vein tumor thrombus in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical therapeutic efficacies of combined three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) plus transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: A total of 145 HCC patients with tumor thrombus in portal vein were divided randomly into 2 groups. Group A (n = 64) was treated with surgical intervention alone while group B (n = 81) underwent 3DCRT plus TACE. The gross tumor volume (GTV) was defined as PVTT only. RESULTS: Survival rates of group A at year 1 and 2 were 40.3% and 21.9% with a mean survival time (MST) of 15.2 months while that of group B were 41.2% and 22.5% with a MST of 15.8 months. The total effective rates of groups A and B was 40.6% (28/64) and 44.4% (36/81) respectively. CONCLUSION: The therapeutic efficacy of 3DCRT plus TACE is similar to that of surgical intervention.

High-Performance Bamboo Steel Derived from Natural Bamboo.

It is highly desirable to develop green and renewable structural materials from biomaterials to replace synthetic materials involved from civil engineering to aerospace industries. Herein, we put forward a facile but effective top-down strategy to convert natural bamboo into bamboo steel. The fabrication process of bamboo steel involves the removal of lignin and hemicellulose, freeze-drying followed by epoxy infiltration, and densification combined with in situ solidification. The prepared bamboo steel is a super-strong composite material with a high specific tensile strength (302 MPa g-1 cm3), which is higher than that (227 MPa g-1 cm3) of conventional high specific strength steel. The bamboo steel demonstrates a high tensile strength of 407.6 MPa, a record flexural strength of 513.8 MPa, and a high toughness of 14.08 MJ/m3, which is improved by 360, 290, and 380% over those of natural bamboo, respectively. Particularly, the mechanical properties of the bamboo steel are the highest among the biofiber-reinforced polymer composites reported previously. The well-preserved bamboo scaffolds assure the integrity of bamboo fibers, while the densification under high pressure results in a high-fiber volume fraction with an improved hydrogen bonding among the adjacent bamboo fibers, and the epoxy resin impregnated enhances the stress transfer because of its chemical crosslinking with cellulose molecules. These endow the bamboo steel with superior mechanical performance. Furthermore, the bamboo steel demonstrates an excellent thermal insulating capability with a low thermal conductivity (about 0.29 W/mK). In addition, the bamboo steel shows a low coefficient of thermal expansion (about 6.3 × 10-6 K-1) and a very high-dimensional stability to moisture attack. The strategy of fabricating high-performance bamboo steel with green and abundant natural bamboo as raw materials is highly attractive for the sustainable development of structural engineering materials.

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry technology and high-throughput metabolomics for deciphering the preventive mechanism of mirabilite on colorectal cancer via the modulation of complex metabolic networks.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly virulent and malignant disease and always accompanied by metabolic disorders. Currently, there are no effective therapeutic drugs for the treatment of CRC. High-throughput metabolomics approaches have been used to unveil the metabolic pathways related to several diseases. In this study, ultra-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry-based high-throughput metabolomics was used for deciphering the potential preventive mechanism of mirabilite on CRC via the modulation of the associated metabolic disorders; a total of 28 differential biomarkers, including indole acetaldehyde, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, hypoxanthine, retinal, retinal ester, linoleic acid, stearic acid, 6-deoxocastasterone, 2-hydroxybutyric acid and LysoPC, were identified in the APCmin/+ mice. These differential biomarkers are involved in the tryptophan metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids. Note that these biomarkers and their disturbed metabolic pathways were also regulated by mirabilite. It has been found that the prevention of CRC by mirabilite is mainly associated with tryptophan metabolism; this study shows that high-throughput metabolomics can reveal the perturbed metabolic disorders targeted in the action mechanism of drug treatment.

[Effect of Biochar on Ammonia Volatilization from Soils of Different Surface Conditions].

In order to explore the effect of biochar on the volatilization of ammonia in different surface soils, through the field test method, the responsiveness changes of ammonia volatilization, ammonium nitrogen, and urease were studied under the influence of biochar and crop cultivation. The study set six treatments:CK+, BC0.5+, and BC4.5+ (the biochar applied at 0, 0.5, 4.5 kg·(m2·a)-1, respectively, under the condition of crop cultivation), and CK-, BC0.5-, and BC4.5- (the biochar applied at 0, 0.5, 4.5 kg·(m2·a)-1, respectively, under the condition of bare land). The results showed that under the condition of crop cultivation, the ammonia volatilization of the BC4.5+ and BC0.5+ treatments increased in 4 days, then significantly decreased by 9.95%-61.80% and 7.97%-50.52% (P<0.05), respectively, with respect to CK+. However, compared with CK-, the ammonia volatilization of the BC4.5- and BC0.5- treatments increased by 40.02%-93.15% and 28.09%-57.45% (P<0.05), respectively. For the same amount of biochar application, the ammonia volatilization of the crop-planting soil was significantly lower than that of the bare land, and BC4.5+ and BC0.5+ declined by 27.10%-92.10% and 13.17%-83.45%(P<0.05), respectively, compared with the BC4.5- and BC0.5-, and there was no significant difference between CK+ and CK-. The above results indicated that biochar-mediated soil ammonia volatilization was inhibited by the surface cover. Moreover, with respect to CK+, the maximum increase rates of the contents of ammonium nitrogen and urease in the BC4.5+ and BC0.5+ treatments were orderly at 69.25% and 72.73% and 93.61% and 90.56% (P<0.05), but the soil ammonia volatilization decreased in the same period. The biggest decline of the soil NH4+-N and urease content of BC4.5- and BC0.5- were 63.78% and 95.70% and 78.38% and 92.64% (P<0.05), respectively. Simultaneously, the soil ammonia volatilization rose in the bare land compared with CK-. Therefore, the soil ammonia volatilization was inversely related to soil NH4+-N and urease under the influence of biochar, and the effect of crop planting was more profound.

Identifying quality-markers from Shengmai San protects against transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease using chinmedomics approach.

BACKGROUND: Shengmai San (SMS), a Chinese classic herbal formula, has been widely used for the treatment of Qi-Yin deficiency syndrome in Asia. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that SMS improves the cognitive function. However, the quality markers (Q-markers) for SMS still need further research. PURPOSE: Using chinmedocmics strategy to systematically evaluate the efficacy of SMS in the treatment of APPswe/PS1dE9 (APP/PS1) transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to discover the efficacy-related Q-markers. METHODS: The effect of SMS on APP/PS1 mice was evaluated by behavioral test, immunohistochemistry and urine metabolic profile, and the urine marker metabolites associated with SMS treatment of AD were characterized using metabolomics method. In the premise of efficacy, Serum Pharmacochemistry of Traditional Chinese Medicine was applied to investigate the in vivo constituents of SMS. A correlation analysis between marker metabolites of therapeutic effects and serum constituents was completed by chinmedomics approach. RESULTS: SMS had a therapeutic effect on APP/PS1 mice, and 34 potential urine biomarkers were reversed by SMS treatment. A total of 17 in vivo constituents were detected, including 14 prototype components and 3 metabolites. The correlation analysis showed that eight constituents were extremely correlated with protective effects of SMS in AD, and considered as potential Q-markers of SMS, including schisandrin, isoschisandrin, angeloylgomisin Q, gomisin D, angeloylgomisin H, gomisin M2, ginsenoside F1, 20(R)-ginsenoside Rg3. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that chinmedomics is novel strategy for discovering the potential effective constituents from herbal formula, which are recognized as Q-markers.

High-throughput lipidomics reveal mirabilite regulating lipid metabolism as anticancer therapeutics.

Altered lipid metabolism is an emerging hallmark of cancers. Mirabilite has a therapeutic effect on colorectal cancer (CRC); however, its metabolic mechanism remains unclear. This study aims to explore the potential therapeutic targets of mirabilite protection against colorectal cancer in APCmin/+ mice model. Oral administration of mirabilite was started from the ninth month, while the same dosage of distilled water was given to both the control group and the model group. Based on lipidomics, we collected serum samples of all mice at the 20th week and used a non-targeted method to identify the lipid biomarkers of CRC. Compared with C57BL/6J mice, the metabolic profile of CRC model mice was significantly disturbed, and we identified that 25 lipid-related biomarkers, including linoleic acid, 2-hydroxybutyric acid, 6-deoxocastasterone, hypoxanthine, PC(16:1), PC(18:4), and retinyl acetate, were associated with CRC. According to the abovementioned results, there were six lipid molecules with significant differences that can be used as new targets for handling of CRC through six metabolic pathways, namely, linoleic acid metabolism, retinol metabolism, propanoate metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids and purine metabolism. Compared with the model group, the metabolic profiles of these disorders tend to recover after treatment. These results indicated that the lipid molecules associated with CRC were regulated by mirabilite. In addition, we identified seven key lipid molecules, of which four had statistical significance. After administration of mirabilite, all disordered metabolic pathways showed different degrees of regulation. In conclusion, high-throughput lipidomics approach revealed mirabilite regulating the altered lipid metabolism as anticancer therapeutics.

High-throughput lipidomics characterize key lipid molecules as potential therapeutic targets of Kaixinsan protects against Alzheimer's disease in APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still a major problem nowadays. Under the circumstance of many chemical drugs have poor effects on AD, traditional Chinese medicine has become a hot spot for us due to its multi-target and multi-path advantages. To explore the potential therapeutic targets of Kaixinsan (KXS) protects against AD in APP/PS1 transgenic mice model. All mice were divided into three groups: control group, model group and KXS group. Orally given KXS from two month old, and the control and model groups were given the same dose of distilled water. We collected all mice's serum samples at the 12th month age to determine the lipid markers of AD by compare with the model and control groups in full-scan analysis based on high-throughput serum lipidomics technology. Then we found the lipid molecules called back by KXS from the KXS protects against AD. Compared with the control group, the metabolic profile of the model mice was obviously disordered, and we identified 16 lipid-related biomarkers associated with AD. After KXS treatment, the metabolic profiles of these disorders tended to recover compared with the model group. And we identified eight key lipid molecules, of which four had statistical significance. We found that the main perturbation pathways related to AD were linoleic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism. All these metabolic pathways showed different degrees of rotation after KXS administration. Through the pathways analysis, we found 4 lipids molecules with significant differences, which could be used as new targets for the treatment of AD.

Network pharmacology combined with functional metabolomics discover bile acid metabolism as a promising target for mirabilite against colorectal cancer.

In this study, a combination of network pharmacology and metabolomics was used to explore the mechanism by which mirabilite regulates bile acid metabolism in the treatment of colorectal cancer. The PharmMapper web server was applied to make preliminary predictions for the treatment targets of mirabilite and to predict the interaction between mirabilite and disease targets using Discovery Studio 2.5. Furthermore, the urine metabolic profile was analyzed by the UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technology. The original data were processed by Progenesis QI software and analyzed by multivariate pattern recognition, which allowed us to reveal the metabolic disturbance in colorectal cancer and explain the therapeutic effect of mirabilite. The network pharmacology results showed that mirabilite can act on the disease targets, and the sites of action include amino acid residues Arg-364 and Asp-533, as well as nucleotides TPC-11, DG-112 and DA-113. Based on metabolomics, potential biomarkers were found to lie in the relevant pathways of bile acid metabolism, such as taurine, chenodeoxycholic acid, cholic acid, and deoxycholic acid. The results showed that mirabilite could regulate the distribution of overall metabolic disturbance, and bile acid metabolism was the main targeted pathway. Additionally, we predicted the upstream targets by ingenuity pathway analysis and found that mirabilite played a significant role in regulating the bile acid-related biomarkers, which allowed comprehensive analysis of the effect of mirabilite on colorectal cancer. This study fully explained the role of mirabilite in inhibiting colorectal cancer, which mainly occurs through bile acid metabolism, via the approach of network pharmacology combined with functional metabolomics.

Gut microbiota as important modulator of metabolism in health and disease.

The human gastrointestinal tract colonizes a large number of microbial microflora, forms a host-microbiota co-metabolism structure with the host to participate in various metabolic processes in the human body, and plays a major role in the host immune response. In addition, the dysbiosis of intestinal microbial homeostasis is closely related to many diseases. Thus, an in-depth understanding of the relationship between them is of importance for disease pathogenesis, prevention and treatment. The combined use of metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics techniques for the analysis of gut microbiota can reveal the relationship between microbiota and the host in many ways, which has become a hot topic of analysis in recent years. This review describes the mechanism of co-metabolites in host health, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and bile acid metabolism. The metabolic role of gut microbiota in obesity, liver diseases, gastrointestinal diseases and other diseases is also summarized, and the research methods for multi-omics combined application on gut microbiota are summarized. According to the studies of the interaction mechanism between gut microbiota and the host, we have a better understanding of the use of intestinal microflora in the treatment of related diseases. It is hoped that the gut microbiota can be utilized to maintain human health, providing a reference for future research.

[Characteristics of Biochar-mediated N2O Emissions from Soils of Different Surface Conditions].

It was aimed to investigate the response to biochar addition on N2O gas production and emission in different surface conditions. To study the dynamic changes of soil N2O release, soil nitrate(NO3--N) and ammonium(NH4+-N), a field trials experiment was conducted from 2014 to 2015 in wheat and corn season, which contained three treatments[the blank control group (CK), biochar applied at 5 t·(hm2·a)-1(BC5) and 45 t·(hm2·a)-1(BC45), respectively] under crop cultivation(+) and non-cultivation(-) condition. The results indicated that:1 During the season of wheat growth, the soil N2O emissions of CK+, BC5+, BC45+ were 21.70-88.91, 21.42-130.09, 64.44-179.58 µg·(m2·h)-1 respectively, and that of BC45+ possessed a higher value than those of the other treatments(P<0.05). Compared with wheat winter period, the soil N2O emissions of the three treatments decreased evidently in wheat peak stage(returning green and jointing stage, booting and heading stage) (P<0.05), and the amplification of BC45+ reduced by 18.43% and 14.62% in comparison with CK+ and BC5+ in wheat booting and heading stages. In the early stage of maize growth, the soil N2O emissions of BC45+ were significantly increased compared with CK+ and BC5+(P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences among treatments of maize heading stage and mature stage. It showed that the biochar-mediated promotion effect of soil N2O emissions was effectively inhibited by crop growth and the increase of surface mulch. Besides, the result of soil N2O release in the same treatment had also confirmed this conclusion in bare land. 2 Under the conditions of wheat cultivation and homochronous non-cultivation, the soil NO3--N and NH4+-N contents of BC5+ and BC45+ treatments were raised with respect to CK+, but the values dropped significantly in wheat peak stage, especially for BC45+ treatment, with 96.44% and 69.40% decrease respectively. The soil inorganic nitrogen content of maize growth season had a similar trend in wheat season. Parallel to this result of the apparently falling soil NO3--N and NH4+-N concentrations, the soil N2O emissions of BC45+ also declined remarkably in peak stage. The decline in respiratory substrate caused by the increase of nitrogen uptake by crop growth, may be one of the reasons for the decrease of N2O emission. 3 In wheat growth season, the soil pH values of the biochar treatments were improved from 4.62 to 5.18. In maize season, the soil pH values ranged from 4.42 to 5.02. When the soil pH value was relatively low, the soil N2O emission was high, and vice versa. The soil N2O emission was partly influenced by the soil pH value.

[Effects of Biochar on Surface Albedo and Soil Respiration in Suburban Agricultural Soil].

Biochar application to soils is currently considered as a means of mitigating climate change by sequestering C, which withdraws CO2 from the atmosphere and consequently influences the trend of global climate change. However, only a few studies have been done on surface albedo variations on farmland, it might be true that the application of biochar to soil could induce a radiative forcing by changing the surface albedo. Based on this background, this study aiming at the characterization of seasonal changes in albedo on the farmland both with plants and without plants, and its effect on soil temperature, soil moisture, soil respiration and soil organic carbon fractions. There were 3 major treatments in the experiment with 3 repetition of each major treatment, namely, CK (the control treatment), BC0.5 (biochar applied at 0.5 kg·(m2·a)-1) and BC4.5 (biochar applied at 4.5 kg·(m2·a)-1). Each major treatment contained 2 sub-treatments, which were crop cultivation (+) and non-cultivation (-). The experiment results showed that in the early stage of crop growth (maize seedling stage to jointing stage, wheat seedling stage to winter period), the surface albedo of BC4.5+and BC0.5+significantly decreased compared with CK +(P<0.05). The biggest surface albedo decline rates of BC4.5 + and BC0.5 + in winter wheat season were 23.7%, 17.9% and 44.5%, 44.9% in summer maize season. The leaf area index of each treatment was remarkably correlated with the surface albedo. The shadow produced by the development of crop canopy structure would cover the change of surface color induced by the input of biochar. Under the condition of bare land, the surface albedo of biochar treatment was significantly decreased compared with the control treatment(P<0.05). Compared with the control treatments, the soil CO2 flux of the biochar treatments was significantly increased(P<0.05). With the extension of time, the growth rate of soil CO2 flux of biochar treatment was decreased gradually. The increase from BC4.5 + to CK + was gradually reduced from 276.7% to 36.1%, and the increase of BC4.5-from to CK-was significantly reduced from 163.5% to 39.8%. The increase of soil CO2 flux could be derived from the mineralization of the readily decomposed carbon fractions in the biochar-soil system. The decrease of surface albedo caused by the input of biochar had no direct effect on soil respiration, and the input of biochar could reduce the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. This result could provide a foundation for the verification of the chemical and biological stability of biochar.

[Effect of chronoexercise on circadian expression of clock genes].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the molecular biological mechanism of chronoexercise regulating circadian. METHODS: Expressions of mPer1 and mPer2 in the diencephalon of golden hamster were determined 2 hours after acute exhaustive exercise (circadian time 6) by quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: Chronoexercise at CT6 significantly decreased expressions of mPer1 and mPer2 in the diencephalon of golden hamster. CONCLUSION: Inhibitory effect of chronoexercise on Per1 and Per2 mRNA levels in the diencephalon of golden hamster at CT6 may be achieved transcription-translation-based autoregulatory negative feedback loop.