Diverse effector and regulatory functions of fibro/adipogenic progenitors during skeletal muscle fibrosis in muscular dystrophy

Fibrosis is a prominent pathological feature of skeletal muscle in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The commonly used disease mouse model, mdx ^5cv , displays progressive fibrosis in the diaphragm but not limb muscles. We use single-cell RNA sequencing to determine the cellular expression of the genes involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) production and degradation in the mdx ^5cv diaphragm and quadriceps. We find that fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) are not only the primary source of ECM but also the predominant cells that express important ECM regulatory genes, including Ccn2, Ltbp4, Mmp2, Mmp14, Timp1, Timp2, and Loxs. The effector and regulatory functions are exerted by diverse FAP clusters which are different between diaphragm and quadriceps, indicating their activation by different tissue microenvironments. FAPs are more abundant in diaphragm than in quadriceps. Our findings suggest that the development of anti-fibrotic therapy for DMD should target not only the ECM production but also the pro-fibrogenic regulatory functions of FAPs.

Transcriptomic responses to thermal stress in hybrid abalone (Haliotis discus hannai ♀ × H. fulgens ♂)

China is the world’s largest abalone producing country. Currently, summer mortality caused by high temperature, is one of the biggest challenges for abalone aquaculture industry. The hybrid abalone (Haliotis discus hannai ♀ × H. fulgens ♂) was conferred on the “new variety”. It has heterosis for thermal tolerance and has been cultured at large-scale in southern China. In this study, a transcriptome analysis was performed to identify the related genes in this hybrid abalone under thermal stress and recovery stage. Compared to control group (18°C), a total of 75, 2173, 1050, 1349, 2548, 494, and 305 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at 21°C, 24°C, 27°C, 30°C, 32°C, 29°C, and 26°C, respectively. In this study, 24°C is the critical temperature at which the abalone is subjected to thermal stress. With the temperature rising, the number of stress-responsive genes increased. During the temperature recovering to the optimum, the number of stress-responsive genes decreased gradually. Thus, this hybrid abalone has a rapid response and strong adaptability to the temperature. Under the thermal stress, the abalone triggered a complicated regulatory network including degrading the misfolded proteins, activating immune systems, negative regulation of DNA replication, and activating energy production processes. The more quickly feedback regulation, more abundant energy supply and more powerful immune system might be the underlying mechanisms to fight against thermal stress in this hybrid abalone. These findings could provide clues for exploring the thermal-response mechanisms in abalone. The key genes and pathways would facilitate biomarker identification and thermal-tolerant abalone breeding studies.

Non-native Plant Species Invasion Increases the Importance of Deterministic Processes in Fungal Community Assembly in a Coastal Wetland

Fungal communities are essential to the maintenance of soil multifunctionality. Plant invasion represents a growing challenge for the conservation of soil biodiversity across the globe, but the impact of non-native species invasion on fungal diversity, community structure, and assembly processes remains largely unknown. Here, we examined the diversity, community composition, functional guilds, and assembly process of fungi at three soil depths underneath a native species, three non-native species, and a bare tidal flat from a coastal wetland. Plant species was more important than soil depth in regulating the diversity, community structure, and functional groups of fungi. Non-native species, especially Spartina alterniflora, increased fungal diversity, altered fungal community structure, and increased the relative abundance of saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi in coastal wetland soils. Stochastic processes played a predominant role in driving fungal community assembly, explaining more than 70% of the relative contributions. However, compared to a native species, non-native species, especially S. alterniflora, reduced the relative influence of stochastic processes in fungal community assembly. Collectively, our results provide novel evidence that non-native species can increase fungal diversity, the relative abundance of saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi, and deterministic processes in the assembly of fungi in coastal wetlands, which can expand our knowledge of the dynamics of fungal communities in subtropical coastal wetlands.

Incidences, causes and risk factors of unplanned reoperations within 30 days of spine surgery: a single-center study based on 35,246 patients

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

Unplanned reoperation, a quality indicator in spine surgery, has not been sufficiently investigated in a large-scale, single-center study.

PURPOSE

To assess the incidences, causes, and risk factors of unplanned reoperations within 30 days of spine surgeries in a single-center study.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective observational study.

PATIENT SAMPLE

A cohort of 35,246 patients who underwent spinal surgery in our hospital were included.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The rates, chief reasons, and risk factors for unplanned reoperations within 30 days of spine surgery.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed the data for patients who underwent spine surgeries for degenerative spinal disorders, tumor, or deformity and had subsequent unplanned operations within 30 days at a single tertiary academic hospital from January 2016 to July 2021. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the incidences, causes, and risk factors.

RESULTS

Out of 35,246 spinal surgery patients, 297 (0.84%) required unplanned reoperations within 30 days of spine surgery. Patients with a thoracic degenerative disease (3.23%), spinal tumor (1.63%), and spinal deformity (1.50%) had significantly higher rates of reoperation than those with atlantoaxial (0.61%), cervical (0.65%), and lumbar (0.82%) degenerative disease. The common causes for reoperation included epidural hematoma (0.403%), wound infections (0.148%), neurological deficit (0.108%), and pedicle screw malposition (0.077%). Unplanned reoperations were classified as hyperacute (45.45%), acute (30.98%), subacute (15.82%), or chronic (7.74%). Univariate analysis indicated that 20 clinical factors were associated with unplanned reoperation (p<.05). Multivariate Poisson regression analysis revealed that anemia (p<.001), osteoporosis (p=.048), ankylosing spondylitis (p=.008), preoperative foot drop (p=.011), deep venous thrombosis (p<.001), and previous surgical history (p<.001) were independent risk factors for unplanned spinal reoperation.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of unplanned spinal reoperations was 0.84%. The chief common causes were epidural hematoma, wound infections, neurological deficit, and pedicle screw malposition. Anemia, osteoporosis, ankylosing spondylitis, preoperative foot drop, deep venous thrombosis, and previous surgical history led to an increased risk of unplanned reoperation within 30 days of spine surgery.

Comparative mitogenomes provide new insights into phylogeny and taxonomy of the subfamily Xenocyprinae (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae)

Xenocyprinae is a cyprinid subfamily that not only has a discrete geographic distribution but also has a long history dating to the Early Miocene. However, it is controversial whether systematic classification and some species validity of Xenocyprinae exist, as well as its phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history. In the present study, we first reviewed the description and taxonomic history of Xenocyprinae, and then the complete mitochondrial genome of Distoechodon compressus, an endemic and locally distributed species belonging to Xenocyprinae, was sequenced and annotated. Finally, all the mitogenomes of Xenocyprinae were compared to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationship and estimate the divergence time. The results showed that the mitogenomes are similar in organization and structure with 16618–16630 bp length from 12 mitogenomes of eight species. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the monology of Xenocyprinae and illustrated three clades within the Xenocyprinae to consist of ambiguous generic classification. Plagiognathops is a valid genus located at the base of the phylogenetic tree. The genus Xenocypris was originally monophyletic, but X. fangi was excluded. Divergence time estimation revealed that the earliest divergence within Xenocyprinae occurred approximately 12.1 Mya when Plagiognathops separated from the primitive Xenocypris. The main two clades (Xenocypris and (Distoechodon + Pseudobrama + X. fangi)) diverged 10.0 Mya. The major divergence of Xenocyprinae species possibly occurred in the Middle to Late Miocene and Late Pliocene, suggesting that speciation and diversifications could be attributed to the Asian monsoon climate. This study clarifies some controversial issues of systematics and provides essential information on the taxonomy and phylogeny of the subfamily Xenocyprinae.

The regulation of antiviral activity of interferon epsilon

Interferon epsilon (IFN-ε) is a type I IFN. Some biological properties has been identified in many species, such as antiproliferative, anti-tumor, and antiviral effects, of IFN-ε, which are much weaker than those of IFN-α, have also been revealed. It has been shown to play a role in mucosal immunity and bacterial infection and in the prevention of certain sexually transmitted diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This paper reviews the known activity of IFN-ε, particularly in some viruses. In general, this review provides a better understanding of effective IFN-ε treatment in the future.

Registration of multi-modal images under a complex background combining multiscale features extraction and semantic segmentation

Multi-modal imaging technology has a very broad application value in target recognition and other fields, and image registration is one of its key technologies. In this paper, a multi-modal image registration algorithm that combines multiscale features extraction and semantic segmentation is proposed to achieve accurate registration of polarized images and near-infrared images under complex backgrounds. A classical convolutional neural network ResNet is employed to capture the robust feature descriptors, and a convolutional neural network with an attention mechanism is trained to filter out the irrelevant feature points. Further, the two multi-modal images can be further registered. The experimental results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

[Detection and analysis of intestinal flora diversity in patients with complex anal fistula]

Objective: To explore the possibility that the intestinal flora profile in complex anal fistula patients is different to that of healthy controls. This was assessed by sequencing of 16S rDNA in fecal samples from cohorts representing these populations. Methods: Fecal samples were collected from 30 complex anal fistula patients and 30 matched healthy controls. Patients were included if they met the diagnostic criteria of cryptoglandular anal fistula and had exhibited symptoms for more than 3 months. Complex anal fistula is diagnosed under the following circumstances: if the fistula in question spans 2/3 or more of the diameter of the anal sphincter; if there are more than two external orifices or fistula tracks; or if recurrence is observed after previous anal fistula surgery. Patients were excluded if there were comorbities including inflammatory bowel disease (as assessed by colonoscopy), chronic diarrhea, chronic constipation, diabetes, gastrointestinal malignancies, liver/ kidney dysfunction, or cognitive impairment. Patients whose anal fistulas were caused by Crohn's disease, trauma, special infections (such as actinomycosis and tuberculosis) were also excluded, as were those who had used antibiotics, prebiotics, or probiotics that may affect intestinal microecology in the month prior to the study. Total bacterial genomic DNA was extracted by PCR amplification of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA sequences. High-throughput sequencing and data analysis were performed on the Illumina Miseq platform. Finally, operational taxonomic unit (OTU) clustering, alpha diversity and LEfSE data analysis were carried out. The larger the Chao or ACE index is, the higher the species abundance of the microflora is expected to be. Similarly, a smaller value for the Simpson index or a larger value for the Shannon index indicates greater microflora diversity. There was no statistically significant difference in gender, age, body mass index (BMI), drinking history, or smoking history between the two groups (P>0.05), indicating that they were comparable. Results: The α-diversity analysis including ACE, Chao, Shannon and Simpson indexes indicated a richer diversity of intestinal microflora in complex anal fistula patients than in healthy controls. In both patients and controls, OUT cluster analysis demonstrated that 93.4%±32.0% and 87.4%±41.2% of sequences were from Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes spp., respectively. On a genus level, samples from anal fistula patients showed a greater abundance of Prevotella spp. (4.9%±7.4% vs. 0.1%±1.1%, P<0.001), Megamonas (3.9%±8.2% vs. 0.5%±4.2%, P<0.05) and Lachnospira (2.6%±5.7% vs. 0.1%±3.4%, P<0.05), while showing a lesser abundance of Proteobacteria spp. (0.02%±4.2% vs. 9.3%±14.4%, P<0.01), Enterococcus (0.02%±2.3% vs. 9.3%±19.6%, P<0.05), Bacteroides (24.7%±9.9% vs. 29.8%±9.1%, P<0.05) and Klebsiella (0.4%±4.2% vs. 3.9%±7.3%, P<0.05) compared with healthy controls. Intestinal flora diversity in the complex anal fistula group was richer than in controls, as indicated by a higher ACE index (293.30±44.00 vs. 218.75±33.83, t=102.069, P<0.001), a higher Chao index (318.40±41.99 vs. 250.00±46.38, t=77.818, P=0.028), a higher Shannon index (3.36±0.29 vs. 2.43±0.34, t=9.657, P=0.001), and a lower Simpson index (0.103±0.013 vs. 0.131±0.013, t=5.551, P=0.046). LDA effect size analysis suggests that the main strains of Veillonellaceae, Selenemondales and Negativicutes, which all belong to the phylum Firmicutes, have the greatest influence on the above difference (LDA>4). Conclusions: The diversity of intestinal flora in patients with complex anal fistula is greater than in healthy controls, suggesting that these bacteria or their metabolites may be involved in the occurrence and development of anal fistulas.

[Risk factors for recurrence and survival analysis in locally advanced T4a papillary thyroid carcinoma after R0 resection]

Objective: To investigate the treatment outcomes and risk factors of postoperative recurrence in T4a papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Methods: A total of 185 patients with locally advanced T4a PTC treated in Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2006 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including 127 females and 58 males, aged between 18 and 80 years, with 74 patients aged over 55 years. According to AJCC thyroid tumor staging, 111 cases were stage I (T4aN0M0 26 cases, T4aN1aM0 35 cases, and T4aN1bM0 50 cases) and 74 cases were stage Ⅲ (T4aN0M0 29 cases, T4aN1aM0 19 cases, and T4aN1bM0 26 cases). Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the overall survival and the recurrence-free rate, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses on the clinical data were performed. Results: Recurrent laryngeal nerve invasion was observed in 150 cases, trachea invasion in 61 cases, esophagus invasion in 30 cases, and laryngeal structure invasion in 10 cases. Postoperative follow-up periods were 24-144 months, with an average of 68.29 months. Of the 185 patients, 18 (9.73%) had recurrences or metastases, including 9 cases (4.86%) died of recurrences or metastases. The 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were respectively 95.21% and 93.10%. The 5-year and 10-year disease-free survival rates were respectively 89.65% and 86.85%. Univariate analysis showed that age of onset, tumor diameter, preoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, esophageal invasion and cervical lymph node metastasis were the risk factors for postoperative recurrence of T4a PTC(all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy (OR=3.27, 95%CI: 1.11-9.61, P=0.032) and lateral cervical lymph node metastasis (OR=4.71, 95%CI: 1.19-18.71, P=0.027) were independent risk factors for T4a PTC recurrence. Survival rate of patients with T4a PTC involving only the recurrent laryngeal nerve or the outer tracheal membrane was significantly better than that of patients with tracheal invasion (P<0.05). Conclusions: T4a PTC patients with R0 resection can still achieve good efficacy. Preoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and lateral cervical lymph node metastasis are independent risk factor for postoperative recurrence in the patients.

Germicide Fenaminosulf Promots Gall Formation of Zizania latifolia without directly affecting the growth of endophytic fungus Ustilago esculenta

Zizania latifolia is a popular aquatic vegetable in China because of its enlarged edible stems resulting from persistent infection by a fungal endophyte, Ustilago esculenta. Fenaminosulf (FM) is a germicide that can be used to improve agricultural crop yields. In Z. latifolia fields, appropriate spraying of FM not just controls diseases, but also promotes an earlier harvest of Z. latifolia. In this study, we show that the timing of gall formation was advanced and the plant's yield was increased significantly under a high concentration treatment of FM. Yet FM had a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of U. esculenta in vitro, while the transcript levels of mating-type alleles, cell metabolism-related genes and chitin synthase genes were all substantially downregulated. Through a transcriptome analysis, we investigated changes in gene expression of the host Z. latifolia and fungal endophyte U. esculenta in response to FM. FM directly affected the growth of Z. latifolia by altering the expression level of genes involved in plant-pathogen interactions, plant hormone signal transduction and some metabolism pathways. By contrast, FM had little effect on U. esculenta growing inside of Z. latifolia. Collectively, our results provide a more in-depth understanding of the molecular processes that promote gall formation in Z. latifolia, while also identifying potential targets for genetic manipulation to improve the yield and quality of Z. latifolia, in a safer and more effective way.

Berberine Attenuates IL-1β-Induced Damage of Nucleus Pulposus Cells via Activating the AMPK/mTOR/Ulk1 Pathway

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a chronic progressive condition mainly caused by excessive inflammatory cytokines. Berberine (BBR) exerts anti-inflammatory effect on diseases and protective effect against IDD. However, the mechanism is not uncertain. This study is aimed at investigating the molecular mechanism of BBR on IDD. Nucleus pulposus (NP) cells were treated with BBR at different concentrations. The IDD rat model was established by acupuncture. The effect of BBR on interleukin- (IL-) 1β-induced cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8 assay and BrdU staining. The role of BBR in IL-1β-induced apoptosis, autophagy repression, and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation was measured by Annexin/PI staining, immunofluorescence, and immunoblot. The effect of BBR on IDD was investigated in rat. Our findings showed that BBR restored cell growth and attenuated apoptosis in IL-1β-induced NP cells. BBR also prevented the IL-1β-induced ECM degradation through regulating ECM-related enzymes and factors. Additionally, BBR significantly activated autophagy repressed by IL-1β. Autophagy stimulated by BBR was diminished by the inhibition of the AMPK/mTOR/Ulk1 signaling pathway. In vivo study also showed BBR attenuated intervertebral disc degeneration. BBR could attenuate NP cells apoptosis and ECM degradation induced by IL-1β through autophagy by the AMPK/mTOR/Ulk1 pathway. This study suggests BBR might function as an AMPK activator to alleviate IDD progression.

Qualitative Analysis and Componential Differences of Chemical Constituents in Lysimachiae Herba from Different Habitats (Sichuan Basin) by UFLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS

Lysimachiae Herba (LH), called Jinqiancao in Chinese, is an authentic medical herb in Sichuan Province often used in the prescription of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, in recent years, there has been a lack of comprehensive research on its chemical components. In addition, the landform of Sichuan Province varies greatly from east to west and the terrain is complex and diverse, which has an important influence on the chemical constituents in LH. In this study, ultrafast liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-triple TOF-MS/MS) was used to analyze the samples of LH from eight different habitats in Sichuan Basin. The constituents were identified according to the precise molecular weight, the fragment ions of each chromatographic peak and the retention time of the compound obtained by high-resolution mass spectrometry, combined with software database searches, standard comparisons and the related literature. Differential chemical constituents were screened using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and t-tests. The results showed that a total of 46 constituents were identified and inferred, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, amino acids, tannins, fatty acids and coumarins; the fragmentation pathways of the main constituents were preliminarily deduced. According to the variable importance in projection (VIP) and p-values, four common differential constituents were screened out, 2-O-galloylgalactaric acid, quercetin 3-O-xylosyl-rutinoside, nicotiflorin and kaempferol 3-rutinosyl 7-O-alpha-l-rhamnoside. This study provides basic information for the establishment of a comprehensive quality evaluation system for LH.

A new surgical approach for the treatment of scapular glenoid fractures- Axillary approach: A single center case series

Background

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of the scapular glenoid fractures by a new surgical approach (Axillary approach) through follow-up studies.

Method

We retrospectively analyzed the prospectively collected data from 11cases of glenoid fractures were treated by open reduction and internal fixation through a Axillary approach approach between July 2019 and October 2020. All patients were required to conform to regular follow up postoperatively. X-ray film and CT scan was applied to all cases. The Constant score system, the UCLA score system and DASH score system were used to evaluate functional results.

Results

All patients achieved bone union. At the final follow-up, the mean Constant score was 92.5 ± 3.0 (range 85–97) points and the mean UCLA score was 33.5 ± 1.6 (range 31–36) points. According to the UCLA score system, two patients achieved excellent results and one patients had good results. The mean DASH scores were 7.7 ± 3.2 (range 4–12). Compared with the preoperative functional score, it was significantly improved (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

The axillary approach as a new method for scapular glenoid fractures (especially the fracture of the lower half of the scapular glenoid) has achieved desired results, and it can provide new options for clinical treatment.

Level of evidence

Level III; Development or Validation of Outcome Instrument© 2018 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. All rights reserved.

•

The axillary approach as a new method for scapular glenoid fractures.

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Through more than 1 year of case collection, we found that the therapeutic effect is positive.

•

It is a recommended method in clinical treatment.

The Global Regulator PhoU Positively Controls Growth and Butenyl-Spinosyn Biosynthesis in Saccharopolyspora pogona

Butenyl-spinosyn, a highly effective biological insecticide, is produced by Saccharopolyspora pogona. However, its application has been severely hampered by its low yield. Recent studies have shown that PhoU plays a pivotal role in regulating cell growth, secondary metabolite biosynthesis and intracellular phosphate levels. Nevertheless, the function of PhoU remains ambiguous in S. pogona. In this study, we investigated the effects of PhoU on the growth and the butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis of S. pogona by constructing the mutants. Overexpression of phoU increased the production of butenyl-spinosyn to 2.2-fold that of the wild-type strain. However, the phoU deletion resulted in a severe imbalance of intracellular phosphate levels, and suppression of the growth and butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis. Quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis, distinctive protein detection and mass spectrometry revealed that PhoU widely regulated primary metabolism, energy metabolism and DNA repair, which implied that PhoU influences the growth and butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis of S. pogona as a global regulator.

The complete linear mitochondrial genome of the hydrozoan jellyfish Cladonema multiramosum Zhou et al., 2022(Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Cladonematidae)

In this study, we sequenced and analyzed the complete mitochondrial genome of Cladonema multiramosum Zhou et al., 2022 from Fujian, China. The length of the linear mitochondrial genome is 15164 bp, containing 13 protein-coding genes (cox2, atp8, atp6, cox3, nad2, nad5, nad6, nad3, nad4L, nad1, nad4, cob, cox1), two tRNAs (trnM and trnW) and 2 rRNAs (12S and 16S). The arrangement of mitogenomes show some little differences in different hydrozoan groups. The phylogenetic analysis of 13 protein coding genes (PCGs) in Cnidarians showed that C. multiramosum was closely related to Cladonema pacificum.

Current Strategies for the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Modulating the Tumor Microenvironment via Nano-Delivery Systems: A Review

Liver cancer remains a global health challenge with a projected incidence of over one million cases by 2025. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common primary liver cancer, accounting for about 90% of all liver cancer cases. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is the internal and external environment for tumor development, which plays an important role in tumorigenesis, immune escape and treatment resistance. Knowing that TME is a unique setting for HCC tumorigenesis, exploration of strategies to modulate TME has attracted increasing attention. Among them, the use of nano-delivery systems to deliver therapeutic agents to regulate TME components has shown great potential. TME-modulating nanoparticles have the advantages of protecting therapeutic agents from degradation, enhancing the ability of targeting HCC and reducing systemic toxicity. In this article, we summarize the TME components associated with HCC, including cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), extracellular matrix (ECM), endothelial cells and immune cells, discuss their impact on the HCC progression, and highlight recent studies on nano-delivery systems that modulate these components. Finally, we also discuss opportunities and challenges in this field.

[Comparison of distal pancreatectomy with celiac axis resection and sub-adventitial divestment technique for locally advanced or borderline resectable pancreatic body cancer]

Objective: To compare the outcomes of modified Appleby procedure and sub-adventitial divestment technique for locally advanced or borderline resectable pancreatic body cancer. Methods: A total of consecutive 58 patients(33 males and 25 females) who were diagnosed as locally advanced or borderline resectable pancreatic body cancer and underwent distal pancreatectomy at Pancreas Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between September 2013 and May 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The age(M(IQR)) was 62(9)years(range: 43 to 79 years). Thirty-one patients underwent distal pancreatectomy with celiac axis resection (DP-CAR) and 27 patients underwent distal pancreatectomy with sub-adventitial divestment technique(SDT). Perioperative parameters and follow-up data of these patients were analyzed. Quantitative data were compared with Wilcoxon test while categorical variables were compared with χ2 test or Fisher's exact test. Survival results were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier survival method with a Log-rank test. Results: There were no differences in age,gender,body mass index,abdominal symptoms,comorbidity or preoperative serum CA19-9 between two groups(all P>0.05). Obvious preoperative weight loss was more common in the group of SDT(48.1%(13/27) vs. 19.4%(6/31),χ²=5.431,P=0.020). Longer operative time(310(123) minutes vs. 254(137)minutes, Z=2.277,P=0.023),higher rate of combined organ resection(41.9%(13/31) vs. 14.8%(4/27),χ²=5.123,P=0.041) and longer postoperative hospital stay(15(10) days vs. 11(5)days,Z=2.292,P=0.022) were observed in the group of DP-CAR. Moreover,rate of overall morbidities was also higher (71.0%(22/31) vs. 29.6%(8/27),χ2=9.876,P=0.003),implicated by clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula(61.3%(19/31) vs. 29.6%(8/27),χ2=5.814,P=0.020) in the DP-CAR group. Tumor size of the DP-CAR group was bigger(4.9(1.5)cm vs. 4.0(1.2)cm,Z=2.343,P=0.019) but no difference was seen between the DP-CAR group and SDT group in R0+R1(<1 mm) resection rate (84.0%(21/25) vs. 90.0%(18/20),P=0.678) and LNR(12.0(23.0)% vs. 9.0(18.0)%,Z=1.238,P=0.216),as well as median disease free survival(11.7 months vs. 11.4 months,Z=0.019,P=0.892) and median overall survival(16.3 months vs. 13.7 months,Z=0.172,P=0.679). Conclusions: Both DP-CAR and distal pancreatectomy with SDT are relatively safe and feasible for locally advanced or borderline resectable pancreatic body cancer. Compared with arterial resection,SDT may contribute to lower rates of postoperative complications and shorter duration of hospitalization,but no significant benefit is seen in long-term survival.

Potential involvement of the microbiota-gut-brain axis in the neurotoxicity of triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) in the marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) larvae

Triphenyl phosphate (TPhP), a prevalent pollutant in the aquatic environment, has been reported to induce neurotoxicity (e.g., a suppression in locomotor activity) in fish larvae, posing a great threat to fish populations. However, the underlying mechanism was not fully revealed. In this study, the Oryzias melastigma larvae (21 dph) were exposed to waterborne TPhP (20 and 100 μg/L) for 7 days and a decreased locomotor activity was found. After exposure, the brain transcriptome and communities of gut microbiota were investigated to explore the potential mechanism underlying the suppressed locomotor activity by TPhP. The results showed that 1160 genes in the brain were dysregulated by TPhP, of which 24 genes were identified as being highly associated with the neural function and development (including nerve regeneration, neuronal growth and differentiation, brain ion homeostasis, production of neurotransmitters and etc), suggesting a general impairment in the central nervous system. Meanwhile, TPhP caused disorders in the gut microbiota. The relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, which can influence the brain functions of host via the microbiota-gut-brain axis, were significantly altered by TPhP. Furthermore, the Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed positive correlations between the intestinal genera Ruegeria, Roseivivax and Nautella and the dysregulated brain genes by TPhP. These results suggest that TPhP might impair the central nervous system of the O. melastigma larvae not only directly but also through the microbiota-gut-axis (indirectly), contributing to the suppressed locomotor activity. These findings enrich our mechanistic understanding of the toxicity of TPhP in fish larvae and shed preliminary light on the involvement of microbiota-gut-brain axis in the neurotoxicity of environmental pollutants.

An efficient method of inducing differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into primitive endodermal cells

Primitive Endoderm (PrE) is an extraembryonic structure derived from inner cell mass (ICM) in the blastocysts. Its interaction with the epiblast is critical to sustain embryonic growth and embryonic pattern. In this study, we reported a simple and efficient method to induce the differentiation of mouse Embryonic Stem Cells (mESCs) into PrE cells. In the process of ESC monolayer adherent culture, 1 μM atRA and 10 μM CHIR inducers were used to activate RA and Wnt signaling pathways respectively. After 9 days of differentiation, the proportion of PrE cells was up to 85%. Further studies indicated that Wnt signaling pathway acted as a switch that RA induces mESCs differentiation between SMC and PrE cell. In the presence of only RA signaling, mESCs adopted the fate of smooth muscle cells (SMCs); Simultaneous activation of the Wnt signaling pathway changed the differentiation fate of mESCs into PrE cells. This efficient induction method can provide new cellular resources and models for relevant studies of PrE.

Modification of sodium aescinate into a safer, more stable and effective water-soluble drug by liposome-encapsulation: an in vitro and in vivo study

Sodium aescinate (SA) is often used for intravenous (IV) injection owing to its anti-inflammatory, anti-exudative, increasing venous tension, improving blood circulation and reducing swelling activities. However, the clinical application of SA is limited by strong irritation, short half-life and low bioavailability. To overcome these defects, we intended to modify SA by encapsualing it with liposomes . SA was mixed with a proper amount of phospholipid and lyophilized to prepare the liposome of sodium aescinate for injection (SA-Lip-I). Its physical properties, cumulative release and dilution stability were evaluated in vitro. Its pharmacodynamic characteristics were evaluated. Safety of SA-Lip-I was evaluated in terms of hemolysis, IV irritation and acute toxicity. The mean particle size of SA-Lip-I was 117.33±0.95 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) was 0.140±0.017, Zeta potential was -30.34±0.23 mv, The cumulative release of SA-Lip at 12 h was more than 80%, which met the release requirements of nanoparticles. SA-Lip-I was well stable in the four mediators and met the clinical medication requirements. In addition, SA-Lip-I had better efficacy than the SA-I and has a significant difference. Furthermore, SA-Lip-I did not induce hemolysis at 37°C, and produced by far milder venous irritation as compared with SA-I. In addition, LD50 of SA-Lip-I was 2.12 fold that of the commercial SA-I, with no obvious side effects.The modified SA-Lip-I is a promising preparation which can reduce the irritation and toxic side effects, improve the treatment effect to a certain extent, but greatly alleviate pain of the patient during treatment, achieving the optimal curative effect.

Complexity of Spider Dragline Silk

The tiny spider makes dragline silk fibers with unbeatable toughness, all under the most innocuous conditions. Scientists have persistently tried to emulate its natural silk spinning process using recombinant proteins with a view toward creating a new wave of smart materials, yet most efforts have fallen short of attaining the native fiber’s excellent mechanical properties. One reason for these shortcomings may be that artificial spider silk systems tend to be overly simplified and may not sufficiently take into account the true complexity of the underlying protein sequences and of the multidimensional aspects of the natural self-assembly process that give rise to the hierarchically structured fibers. Here, we discuss recent findings regarding the material constituents of spider dragline silk, including novel spidroin subtypes, nonspidroin proteins, and possible involvement of post-translational modifications, which together suggest a complexity that transcends the two-component MaSp1/MaSp2 system. We subsequently consider insights into the spidroin domain functions, structures, and overall mechanisms for the rapid transition from disordered soluble protein into a highly organized fiber, including the possibility of viewing spider silk self-assembly through a framework relevant to biomolecular condensates. Finally, we consider the concept of “biomimetics” as it applies to artificial spider silk production with a focus on key practical aspects of design and evaluation that may hopefully inform efforts to more closely reproduce the remarkable structure and function of the native silk fiber using artificial methods.

First Report of Cercospora rodmanii Causing Leaf and Petiole Lesions on Water Hyacinth in China

The rapid spread and colonization of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) leads to a series of serious environmental problems for water bodies, prompting microbiologists to develop effective mycoherbicides to alleviate the water hyacinth population (Julien et al. 2001). In September 2020, numerous leaftip diebacks and petiole rots of water hyacinth, with 40 to 50% incidence, were observed within an area of 2 ha (ca. 2 km) mat on Jinjiang River tributary, Fujian, China. Ten infected leaf samples were collected and symptomatic tissues were cut into small pieces, surface disinfected in 75% ethanol followed by 0.1% MgCl2 solution and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Pure cultures (Isolates J1 and J5) were obtained and their colonies on PDA appeared as white villi with wrinkled surfaces and dense colorless mycelium on the upper surface, while they were dark olivaceous-gray at the bottom. Internal mycelium consisted of septate, branched, smooth hyphae. There lacked stromata. Conidiophores were solitary to 2 to 5 in loose fascicles, thick-walled, conically truncated, 40 to 80 × 5 to 8 µm. Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal, 30 to 150 × 4 to 6 µm, slightly protuberant, apical and lateral. Conidia were solitary, hyaline, acicular to obclavate, slightly curved, acute at the apex, 50 to 80 ×3 to 6 µm, indistinctly 1 to 3 septate. Genomic DNA from the two isolates was extracted for PCR, and the internal transcribed spacers (ITS), calmodulin (CAL), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF), actin (ACT), histone H3 (H3) and chitin synthase (CHS) were amplified and sequenced using the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4, CL1/CL2A, EF1Fd/EF1Rd, ACT1Fd/ACT1Rd, CYLH3F/CYLH3R and CHS-79F/CHS-345R (Weir et al. 2012; White et al. 1990), respectively. The ITS (MZ436974-MZ436975), CAL (MZ519385-MZ519386), TEF (OK340826-OK340827), ACT (OK340824-OK340825), H3 (OK340828-OK340829) and CHS (MZ519387-MZ519388) sequences were deposited in GenBank. A phylogenetic tree based on concatenated sequences of ITS-CAL-TEF-ACT-H3-CHS from the genus Cercospora was constructed using a maximum likelihood method, showing that the present isolates and Cercospora rodmanii formed a monophyletic group with 99% bootstrap support. Therefore, the fungus was identified as C. rodmanii (Groenewald et al. 2013; Nguanhom et al. 2015). To test Koch's postulates, petioles of a set of 20 water hyacinth seedlings of 30 to 40 days old were wounded using a sterile needle and then spray-inoculated with 20 μl of the spore suspension of each isolate at 106 CFU/ml. Another set of 20 seedlings inoculated with sterile distilled water served as the controls. Inoculated plants were kept in 50-liter plastic tanks and maintained in a greenhouse at room temperature 22 to 28°C with a relative humidity of 80 to 85%. After 7 to 20 days, lesions were observed on the inoculated leaves but not on the control leaves. The same fungus was reisolated and identified by microscopy and PCR-sequencing. The pathogenicity test was conducted twice. Cercospora rodmanii and C. piaropi have been reported on water hyacinth in America, Brazil, México, and Zambia (Charudattan et al. 1985; Montenegro-Calderón, 2011; Moran, 2015). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. rodmanii causing leaf and petiole lesions on water hyacinth in China. This report will help identify indigenous plant pathogens in China and develop a novel bioherbicide strategy for control of water hyacinth.

Proteome and microbiota analyses characterizing dynamic coral-algae-microbe tripartite interactions under simulated rapid ocean acidification

Ocean acidification (OA) is a pressing issue currently and in the future for coral reefs. The importance of maintenance interactions among partners of the holobiont association in the stress response is well appreciated; however, the candidate molecular and microbial mechanisms that underlie holobiont stress resilience or susceptibility remain unclear. Here, to assess the effects of rapid pH change on coral holobionts at both the protein and microbe levels, combined proteomics and microbiota analyses of the scleractinian coral Galaxea fascicularis exposed to three relevant OA scenarios, including current (pH_T = 8.15), preindustrial (pH_T = 8.45) and future IPCC-2100 scenarios (pH_T = 7.85), were conducted. The results demonstrated that pH changes had no significant effect on the physiological calcification rate of G. fascicularis in a 10-day experiment; however, significant differences were recorded in the proteome and 16S profiling. Proteome variance analysis identified some of the core biological pathways in coral holobionts, including coral host infection and immune defence, and maintaining metabolic compatibility involved in energy homeostasis, nutrient cycling, antibiotic activity and carbon budgets of coral-Symbiodiniaceae interactions were key mechanisms in the early OA stress response. Furthermore, microbiota changes indicate substantial microbial community and functional disturbances in response to OA stress, potentially compromising holobiont health and fitness. Our results may help to elucidate many complex mechanisms to describe scleractinian coral holobiont responses to OA and raise interesting questions for future studies.

Morphological and molecular features of early regeneration in the marine annelid Ophryotrocha xiamen

Regeneration capability varies in the phylum Annelida making them an excellent group to investigate the differences between closely related organisms. Several studies have described the process of regeneration, while the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear, especially during the early stage (wound healing and blastema formation). In this study, the newly identified Ophryotrocha xiamen was used to explore the early regeneration. The detailed morphological and molecular analyses positioned O. xiamen within 'labronica' clade. We analyzed the morphological changes during regeneration process (0-3 days post amputation) and molecular changes during the early regeneration stage (1 day post amputation). Wound healing was achieved within one day and a blastema formed one day later. A total of 243 DEGs were mainly involved in metabolism and signal transduction. Currently known regeneration-related genes were identified in O. xiamen which could help with exploring the functions of genes involved in regeneration processes. According to their conserved motif, we identified 8 different Hox gene fragments and Hox5 and Lox2 were found to be absent in early regeneration and during regular growth. Our data can promote further use of O. xiamen which can be used as an experimental model for resolving crucial problems of developmental biology in marine invertebrates.

[Comparative clinical efficacy analysis of pancreatoduodenectomy for distal bile duct and pancreatic head cancer: a report of 1 005 cases]

Objective: To compare and analyze the clinical efficacy of pancreaticoduodenectomy for distal bile duct cancer and pancreatic head cancer. Methods: Clinical data of 1 005 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy and postoperative pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of distal bile duct cancer and pancreatic head cancer at the Pancreas Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2016 to December 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 112 cases in the distal bile duct cancer group, 71 males and 41 females,with age (M(IQR)) of 65(15) years(range: 40 to 87 years); 893 cases in the pancreatic head cancer group, 534 males and 359 females,with age of 64(13)years(range: 16 to 91 years). The differences between clinicopathological characteristics and postoperative overall survival of the two groups were analyzed by χ² test, Fisher's exact probability method, rank sum test or log-rank test, respectively. The difference in postoperative overall survival between the two groups was compared using Kaplan-Meier method after propensity score matching (1∶1). Results: Compared with the pancreatic head cancer group,the distal bile duct cancer group had shorter operative time (240.0(134.0) minutes vs. 261.0(97.0) minutes, Z=2.712, P=0.007),less proportion of combined venous resection (4.5% (5/112) vs. 19.4% (173/893), χ²=15.177,P<0.01),smaller tumor diameter (2.0(1.0) cm vs. 3.0(1.5) cm,Z=10.567,P<0.01),higher well/moderate differentiation ratio (51.4% (56/112) vs. 38.0% (337/893), χ²=7.328, P=0.007),fewer positive lymph nodes (0(1) vs. 1(3), Z=5.824, P<0.01),and higher R0 resection rate (77.7% (87/112) vs. 38.3%(342/893), χ²=64.399, P<0.01),but with a higher incidence of overall postoperative complications (50.0% (56/112) vs. 36.3% (324/892), χ²=7.913,P=0.005),postoperative pancreatic fistula (28.6% (32/112) vs. 13.9% (124/893), χ²=16.318,P<0.01),and postoperative abdominal infection (21.4% (24/112) vs. 8.6% (77/892), χ²=18.001,P<0.01). After propensity score matching, there was no statistical difference in postoperative overall survival time between patients in the distal bile duct cancer group and the pancreatic head cancer group (50.6 months vs. 35.1 months,Z=1.640,P=0.201),and multifactorial analysis showed that tumor site was not an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of patients in both groups after matching (HR=0.73,95%CI:0.43 to 1.23,P=0.238). Conclusions: Patients with distal bile duct cancer are more likely to benefit from early diagnosis and surgical treatment than patients with pancreatic head cancer,but with a relative higher postoperative complication rates. The different tumor origin site is not an independent risk factor for prognosis of patients with distal bile duct cancer and pancreatic head cancer after propensity score matching.

WSV056 Inhibits Shrimp Nitric Oxide Synthase Activity by Downregulating Litopenaeus vannamei Sepiapterin Reductase to Promote White Spot Syndrome Virus Replication

Sepiapterin reductase (Spr) plays an essential role in the biosynthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), a key cofactor of multiple enzymes involved in various physiological and immune processes. Suppression of Spr could result in BH4 deficiency-caused diseases in human and murine models. However, information on the biological function of Spr in invertebrates is limited. In this study, two Sprs (CG12116 and Sptr) from Drosophila melanogaster were found to be downregulated in transgenic flies overexpressing white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) immediate-early protein WSV056. CG12116 and Sptr exerted an inhibitory effect on the replication of the Drosophila C virus. A Litopenaeus vannamei Spr (LvSpr) exhibiting similarity of 64.1–67.5% and 57.3–62.2% to that of invertebrate and vertebrate Sprs, respectively, were cloned. L. vannamei challenged with WSSV revealed a significant decrease in LvSpr transcription and Spr activity in hemocytes. In addition, the BH4 co-factored nitric oxide synthase (Nos) activity in shrimp hemocytes was reduced in WSSV-infected and LvSpr knockdown shrimp, suggesting WSSV probably inhibits the LvNos activity through LvSpr downregulation to limit the production of nitric oxide (NO). Knockdown of LvSpr and LvNos caused the reduction in NO level in hemocytes and the increase of viral copy numbers in WSSV-infected shrimp. Supplementation of NO donor DETA/NO or double gene knockdown of WSV056 + LvSpr and WSV056 + LvNos recovered the NO production, whereas the WSSV copy numbers were decreased. Altogether, the findings demonstrated that LvSpr and LvNos could potentially inhibit WSSV. In turn, the virus has evolved to attenuate NO production via LvSpr suppression by WSV056, allowing evasion of host antiviral response to ensure efficient replication.

[Mechanism of high frequency rTMS on cognitive function in cerebral ischemic rats based on RNA sequencing]

Objective: To clarify the effect of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on cognitive function in cerebral ischemic rats, and to explore its underlying mechanism by RNA sequencing. Methods: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats underwent transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). According to the Bederson score, 10 rats with a score of 1-3 were excluded, and the remaining 20 rats were then randomly divided into the tMCAO group (n=10) and the rTMS group (n=10). Meanwhile, 10 rats with sham operation were assigned to the sham group (n=10). Rats in the rTMS group received 20 Hz rTMS from day 7 to day 28 after surgery. From day 28 to day 33 after the operation, Morris water maze test was performed to detect the cognitive function of rats in each group. The cortical tissues around the infarcts from the rTMS tMCAO groups were taken for RNA sequencing analysis, with 3 rats in each group. Results: The escape latency of rats in the rTMS group[ (53±4)s] and the group [(51±5)s] were significantly shorter than that of the tMCAO group[ (58±4)s, P<0.05)]. The times that the rats crossed the original platform in 60 seconds in the rTMS group[2.5 (1.5-3.0)] and sham group[3.0 (1.5-3.0)] were more than that of the tMCAO group [1.0(0.5-1.5)] (P<0.05). RNA sequencing detected 16 significantly differentially expressed genes, including 9 up-regulated genes and 7 down-regulated genes. GO analysis showed that the functions of up-regulated genes were mainly concentrated in the processes of chemical homeostasis and cell metal ion homeostasis. While the functions of down-regulated genes mainly enriched in the inflammatory response. Conclusion: Twenty Hz rTMS can improve the cognitive function of rats with cerebral infarction, and its underlying mechanism may be related to maintaining chemical and metal ion homeostasis and regulating the polarization of microglia to reduce neuroinflammation.

Nanotechnology-Based Drug Delivery System for Anticancer Active Ingredients from Traditional Chinese Medicines: A Review

The variable dosage forms of most traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) could be disadvantaged by low selectivity, poor biological distribution, limited bioavailability with low efficacy, and some adverse effects. These issues limit the control of clinical pharmacodynamics of the antitumor active components. With the progress of science and technology, many new polymer materials and new technologies have emerged, such as nanotechnology, cyclodextrin inclusion, solid dispersion, microcapsule and microsphere technologies. These new technologies provide a good basis for exploring novel TCM dosage forms for overcoming the shortcomings. The increased numbers of new technologies have been used to study TCM dosage forms with remarkable achievements. In this review paper, we will provide a systematic overview of the new dosage forms of nano-formulations and co-medications in relation to nano-delivery systems in an attempt to provide useful references for practical application of active antitumor ingredients from the TCMs.

Ultrafast-Response/Recovery Flexible Piezoresistive Sensors with DNA-Like Double Helix Yarns for Epidermal Pulse Monitoring

A key challenge in textile sensors is to adequately solve the hysteresis for more broad and exacting applications. Unlike the conventional strategy in integrating elastic polymers into the textile, the hysteretic issue is critically addressed here through the structural design of yarns to provide a twisting force. The underlying mechanism is fully discussed based on theory and modeling, which are in good agreement with experimental data. Impressively, the pressure sensor outperforms almost all reported textile-based sensors in terms of recovery index, which refers to the ability to overcome the lagged deformation reflected by the hysteresis (5.3%) and relaxation time (2 ms). Besides, the sensor superiority is also demonstrated by way of its ultrafast response time (2 ms). Thanks to these merits, this pressure sensor is demonstrated to be capable of monitoring epidermal pulses and meanwhile shows great potential to advance the standardization and modernization of pulse palpation in traditional Chinese medicine.

A silk composite fiber reinforced by telechelic-type polyalanine and its strengthening mechanism

A telechelic-type polyalanine was doped in silkworm silk fibroins to prepare reinforced composite fibers, which exhibited 42% and 51% higher mechanical properties than silk-only fibers in terms of tensile strength and toughness, respectively.

First report of powdery mildew on Astragalus sinicus (Chinese milk vetch) caused by Erysiphe trifoliorum in China

Astragalus sinicus L., (Chinese milk vetch) is a traditional leguminous green manure that plays a significant role in maintaining paddy soil fertility to enhance yield and the quality of rice in China. It is also found in gardens, roadsides, farms, fields, riverbanks, open wastelands, and is often used as livestock feed. From February 2019 to 2021, severe powdery mildew infections were observed on hundreds of A. sinicus grown in gardens and at roadsides of Fuzhou city, China. The disease incidence was up to 100% on leaves and stems of A. sinicus. White superficial fungal colonies (circular to irregular patches) were present on both sides of the leaves. Hyphae were flexuous to straight, branched, 4 to 8 µm in width, and septate. Hyphal appressoria were lobulate and solitary or in opposite pairs. Conidiophores were erect and straight, hyaline, and 60 to 120 × 8 to 10 µm (n=30). Foot cell was cylindrical, straight to slightly curved, 22 to 38 × 8 to 10 µm, followed by two to three shorter cells. Conidia were cylindrical-oval to doliiform, 30 to 48 × 13.5 to 24 μm with a length/width ratio of 1.6 to 2.4 (n = 30), formed singly, and without fibrosin bodies. Conidial germ tubes were produced subterminal position. No chasmothecia were found in the collected samples. The morphological characteristics of asexual structures were consistent with the descriptions of E. trifoliorum (Wallr.) U. Braun in Braun and Cook (2012). To verify the identification of the pathogen, the ITS and the part of large subunit (LSU) rDNA gene of the isolates were amplified using ITS1/ITS4 and LSU1/ LSU2 primers (Scholin et al. 1994 and White et al. 1990, respectively) and sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: MZ021332, MZ021333; LSU: MZ021334, MZ021335). In BLASTn searches, the ITS and LSU sequences were 99 to 100% identical with those of E. trifoliorum parasitic on Lathyrus magellanicus (LC010015), Medicago littoralis (LC270860), Melilotus officinalis (LC009924) and Trifolium spp., (MN216308, KY660821), as well as E. baeumleri (Bradshaw et al. 2021) on Vicia nigricans (LC010014). Pathogenicity test was performed by gently pressing a diseased leaf onto 10 young leaves of three healthy potted plants, while three non-inoculated plants were used as controls. All plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 20 to 25°C, without humidity control, and natural light. Symptoms developed 7 days after inoculation, whereas the control leaves remained symptomless. The morphology of the fungus on the inoculated leaves was identical to that observed on the originally diseased leaves. Powdery mildew on A. sinicus has been reported as E. pisi and E. polygoni from Korea and China (Shin, 2000; Tai 1979), respectively. Amano (1986) listed E. pisi and Microsphaera astragali (now E. astragali) on A. sinicus from China and Japan. To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew caused by E. trifoliorum on A. sinicus in China and in general. E. astragali is the most common and widespread powdery mildew species on Astragalus spp. (Braun and Cook 2012) and would be expected on A. sinicus, but this species is genetically clearly different from E. trifoliorum (Bradshaw et al. 2021). The E. trifoliorum complex (clade) is composed of several morphologically well-distinguishable species, besides E. trifoliorum also including E. baeumleri (on Vicia spp.), E. hyperici (on Hypericum spp.), and E. euonymi (on Euonymus spp.), but based on a combination of sequence plus host identity, the collection on A. sinicus can be assigned to E. trifoliorum (Bradshaw et al. 2021). The information in this study extended the host range of E. trifoliorum as well as future studies on A. sinicus in relation to powdery mildew outbreaks in China. References: Amano (Hirata), K. 1986. Host Range and Geographical Distribution of the Powdery Mildew Fungi. Japan Scientific Societies Press, Tokyo, 741 pp. Bradshaw, M., et al. 2021. Mycologia. (In press) Braun, U., Cook, R. T. A. 2012. Taxonomic Manual of the Erysiphales (Powdery Mildews), CBS Biodiversity Series No. 11. CBS, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Scholin, C. A., et al. 1994. J. Phycol. 30:999. Shin, H.D. 2000. Erysiphaceae of Korea. National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Suwon, Korea, 320 pp. Tai, F.L. 1979. Sylloge Fungorum Sinicorum. Sci. Press, Acad. Sin., Peking, 1527 pp. White, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Medical Image Recognition Technology in the Effect of Substituting Soybean Meal for Fish Meal on the Diversity of Intestinal Microflora in Channa argus

Purpose

To study the application of medical image recognition technology based on backpropagation neural network (BPNN) in the effect of soybean meal replacing fish meal on intestinal microbial diversity of Channa argus and to evaluate the application value of this intelligent algorithm, Channa argus was fed with different contents of soybean meal instead of fish meal.

Methods

After intestinal samples were collected and bacteria were isolated, microscopic imaging was performed, and the images were classified and identified. BPNN was constructed to perform denoising, smoothing, and segmentation.

Results

After BPNN processing, the bacteria were completely separated from the original image background, and the bacteria was in the closed state, which was beneficial to feature extraction and species recognition. If there were 2 hidden layer nodes, the segmentation accuracy of bacterial microscopic images was the highest, up to 97.3%. With the replacement ratio of fish meal increased, the species of intestinal microbiome gradually enriched, and the relative abundance of intestinal microbiome was higher after fish meal was completely replaced by soybean meal (replacement). The intestinal microbial enzyme activities were affected by different fish meal and soybean meal contents in the diet. The glutamate transaminase and adenosine deaminase activities were increased after the replacement and were higher than those before the replacement, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Replacement of fish meal with soybean meal has a significant effect on the intestinal flora diversity of Channa argus, and there is a close relationship between them. The image recognition technology based on BPNN has high recognition rate and segmentation accuracy for microbiological microscopic images.

A New Protocruzia Species (Ciliophora: Protocruziida) Isolated From the Mariana Trench Area

A new species of Protocruzia, isolated from the deep-sea Pacific Ocean (>3,000-m depth) in the vicinity of the Mariana Trench, is described based on morphological and molecular data. The systematic status of the ciliate genus Protocruzia has long been highly ambiguous, and Protocruzia species have been assigned to an independent class until recently. In the present study, we described Protocruzia marianaensis sp. n. as a small (25–32 × 14–17 μm in vivo) drop-shaped ciliate, with longitudinal furrows along the ciliary rows on the right side, six adoral membranelles, eight somatic kineties, and one macronucleus comprising 7–11 nuclear globules. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from small subunit rRNA gene sequences revealed that seven Protocruzia species in the phylogenetic tree formed a fully supported clade representing an independent class. Protocruzia marianaensis sp. n. was established to be most closely related to Protocruzia adhaerens, with a sequence similarity of 96.64%, and was found to be able to survive at both atmospheric pressure and hydrostatic pressure of 320 bar, thereby indicating effective barotolerance.

Flaviolin-Like Gene Cluster Deletion Optimized the Butenyl-Spinosyn Biosynthesis Route in Saccharopolyspora pogona

Reduction and optimization of the microbial genome is an important strategy for constructing synthetic biological chassis cells and overcoming obstacles in natural product discovery and production. However, it is of great challenge to discover target genes that can be deleted and optimized due to the complicated genome of actinomycetes. Saccharopolyspora pogona can produce butenyl-spinosyn during aerobic fermentation, and its genome contains 32 different gene clusters. This suggests that there is a large amount of potential competitive metabolism in S. pogona, which affects the biosynthesis of butenyl-spinosyn. By analyzing the genome of S. pogona, six polyketide gene clusters were identified. From those, the complete deletion of clu13, a flaviolin-like gene cluster, generated a high butenyl-spinosyn-producing strain. Production of this strain was 4.06-fold higher than that of the wildtype strain. Transcriptome profiling revealed that butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis was not primarily induced by the polyketide synthase RppA-like but was related to hypothetical protein Sp1764. However, the repression of sp1764 was not enough to explain the enormous enhancement of butenyl-spinosyn yields in S. pogona-Δclu13. After the comparative proteomic analysis of S. pogona-Δclu13 and S. pogona, two proteins, biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BccA) and response regulator (Reg), were investigated, whose overexpression led to great advantages of butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis. In this way, we successfully discovered three key genes that obviously optimize the biosynthesis of butenyl-spinosyn. Gene cluster simplification performed in conjunction with multiomics analysis is of great practical significance for screening dominant chassis strains and optimizing secondary metabolism. This work provided an idea about screening key factors and efficient construction of production strains.

First Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Podosphaera xanthii on Sigesbeckia orientalis in China

Sigesbeckia orientalis L., (St Paul's wort) is an annually grown natural herb of Asteraceae with a long therapeutic history for a wide range of inflammation-related diseases in China (Zhong et al. 2019). In June 2020, typical symptoms of powdery mildew were observed on 30% of wild S. orientalis plants grown along the roadsides and gardens in Minjiang University, Fuzhou, China. Circular to irregular white powdery fungal colonies were observed on both surfaces of the leaves and young stems, causing necrosis and premature senescence. Fungal hyphae were epigenous, flexuous to straight, branched, and septate. Appressoria on the hyphae were nipple-shaped or nearly absent. Conidiophores were straight, 30 to 210× 8 to 12 μm, and produced 3 to 7 immature conidia in chains with a crenate outline. Foot-cells were cylindrical, 45 to 75 ×10 to 12 μm, followed by 1 to 2 shorter cells. Conidia were hyaline, ellipsoid-ovoid to barrel-shaped, 25 to 38 × 18 to 23 μm with distinct fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were produced from a lateral position on the conidia. Chasmothecia were not observed on the infected leaves. Based on anamorph characteristics, fungus was identified as Podosphaera xanthii (Castagne) U. Braun & N. Shishkoff (Braun and Cook 2012). For molecular identification, total genomic DNA was extracted (Mukhtar et al. 2018) from fungal colonies on infected leaves of five collections separately. For each DNA sample, the part of LSU and ITS regions were amplified using primers LSU1/LSU2 and ITS1/ITS4 (Scholin et al. 1994; White et al. 1990), respectively. A BLAST search revealed 100 % sequences similarity with P. xanthii sequences reported on Ageratum conyzoides (KY274485), Eclipta prostrata (MT260063), Euphorbia hirta (KY388505), Sonchus asper (MN134013), and Verbena bonariensis (AB462804). Representative sequences (ITS: MZ613309; LSU: MZ614707) of an isolate were deposited in GenBank. The phylogenetic analysis also grouped the obtain sequences into P. xanthii clade. Pathogenicity was confirmed by gently pressing the infected leaves onto young leaves of five healthy one-month-old S. orientalis plants, while three non-inoculated plants were used as controls. All plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25 ± 2°C. After, seven days, white powdery colonies were observed on inoculated plants, whereas controls remained mildew-free. On inoculated leaves, the fungus was morphologically and molecularly identical to the fungus on the original specimens. P. xanthii has been reported as a significant damaging pathogen on a wide range of plants in China (Farr and Rossman 2021). To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew caused by P. xanthii on S. orientalis in China as well as worldwide. S. orientalis is one of the most important commercial Chinese medicinal herbs and the occurrence of powdery mildew is a threat to its production, quality, and marketability. References: Braun, U., and Cook, R. T. A. 2012. The Taxonomic Manual of the Erysiphales (Powdery Mildews). CBS Biodiversity Series 11: CBS. Utrecht, The Netherlands. Farr, D. F., and Rossman, A. Y. 2021. Fungal Databases. Syst. Mycol. Microbiol. Lab., USDA ARS, 9 October 2021. Mukhtar, I., et al. 2018. Sydowia.70:155. Scholin, C. A., et al. 1994. J. Phycol. 30:999. White, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA. Zhong, Z., et al., 2019. Chin. Med. (U. K.) 14, 1-12. 10.1186/s13020-019-0260-y.

[Surgical diagnosis and treatment of adult huge undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver]

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of adult undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver (UESL). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 5 patients with UESL who underwent surgical resection and were pathologically confirmed from January 2005 to December 2020 at the First and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. All the patients were female aged from 49 to 77 years old. Preoperative CT showed a solid cystic mass with low density and a slight density of cord like septum. Imaging findings were misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma or cystadenocarcinoma. CA125 was higher in 3 patients,and AFP in all patients was normal. Results: All patients were treated by surgery. The mean diameter of tumor was 20.2 cm (range:15.0 to 30.0 cm). All five patients had vimentin expression in immunohistochemistry. Three cases underwent complete resection of the tumor and achieved R0 resection,2 of them had tumor free survival until the end of the follow-up (89 and 55 months),the other 1 case died from renal cell carcinoma 158 months later. The remaining 2 cases were radically resected,but the tumors were ruptured during operation,and relapsed after 2 months and 19 months respectively. The overall survival was 3 and 26 months respectively. Conclusions: Radical hepatectomy is the first choice for treatment of UESL. Intraoperative tumor rupture should be avoided and implant metastasis is a major factor affecting the prognosis of UESL.

Bacterioferritin: a key iron storage modulator that affects strain growth and butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis in Saccharopolyspora pogona

Background

Butenyl-spinosyn, produced by Saccharopolyspora pogona, is a promising biopesticide due to excellent insecticidal activity and broad pesticidal spectrum. Bacterioferritin (Bfr, encoded by bfr) regulates the storage and utilization of iron, which is essential for the growth and metabolism of microorganisms. However, the effect of Bfr on the growth and butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis in S. pogona has not been explored.

Results

Here, we found that the storage of intracellular iron influenced butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis and the stress resistance of S. pogona, which was regulated by Bfr. The overexpression of bfr increased the production of butenyl-spinosyn by 3.14-fold and enhanced the tolerance of S. pogona to iron toxicity and oxidative damage, while the knockout of bfr had the opposite effects. Based on the quantitative proteomics analysis and experimental verification, the inner mechanism of these phenomena was explored. Overexpression of bfr enhanced the iron storage capacity of the strain, which activated polyketide synthase genes and enhanced the supply of acyl-CoA precursors to improve butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis. In addition, it induced the oxidative stress response to improve the stress resistance of S. pogona.

Conclusion

Our work reveals the role of Bfr in increasing the yield of butenyl-spinosyn and enhancing the stress resistance of S. pogona, and provides insights into its enhancement on secondary metabolism, which provides a reference for optimizing the production of secondary metabolites in actinomycetes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-021-01651-x.

First Report of Powdery Mildew Caused by Golovinomyces ambrosiae on Bidens pilosa in China

Bidens pilosa L., (spanish needle), is a wild, flowering plant of Asteraceae, that is grown in gardens, fields, roadsides, and riverbanks in Fuzhou, China. It is also used in traditional folk medicine for a broad range of ailments in China. In March 2019 and 2020, hundreds of B. pilosa growing along the roadsides, and gardens in the districts of Minhou and Jinshan were observed to be severely affected by a powdery mildew with approximately 80% disease incidence. Symptoms appeared as circular to irregular small white, powdery patches, typically on the adaxial sides of leaves and progressed to coalescent colonies on the leaves. As the disease developed, the infected leaves became wilted and senesced. Mycelia on leaves were superficial and solitary appressoria were slightly to distinctly nipple-shaped. Conidiophores were erect, 120 to 230 × 10 to 12 µm, and produced two to five conidia in chains with a sinuate outline. Foot-cells were erect, cylindrical, and 60 to 110 μm long. Conidia were hyaline, ellipsoid to barrel-shaped, 26 to 40 × 18 to 24 μm, and devoid of distinct fibrosin bodies. Germ tubes were long and produced at the perihilar position of the conidia. No chasmothecia were observed. Morphological characteristics overlapped with Golovinomyces ambrosiae, G. cichoracearum, and G. spadiceus (Braun and Cook 2012) on hosts within the Asteraceae tribe Heliantheae (Takamatsu et al. 2013). For molecular identification, ITS and IGS regions as well as partial LSU of two representative collections (MJU-IM019- MJU-IM020), were amplified using ITS1/ITS4, IGS-12a/ NS1R and LSU1/LSU2 primers (Carbone & Kohn, 1999; Scholin et al. 1994; White et al. 1990), respectively. The resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: MW965777, MW965778; LSU: MW965787, MW965788; IGS: MW981256, MW981257). A BLAST search revealed 99 to 100 % sequence similarity to G. ambrosiae sequences (KX987303, AB769421, AB077689, AB769426, AB077643, and AB769425). Phylogenetic analysis of ITS, LSU and IGS also grouped obtained sequences within the G. ambrosiae complex (Qiu et al. 2020). Pathogenicity was confirmed through inoculation by gently pressing infected leaves onto leaves of five healthy, potted, young B. pilosa plants, while five non-inoculated plants served as controls. All plants were maintained in a greenhouse at 25 ± 2°C. Inoculated plants developed symptoms after 7 to 10 days, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The morphology of the resulting fungus on inoculated plants was identical to that originally observed on diseased plants. Podosphaera spp., have been reported on B. pilosa (Farr & Rossman 2021) from North America, Africa, and Asia. To our knowledge, this is the first report of powdery mildew caused by G. ambrosiae on B. pilosa in China and Asia. Wild populations of B. pilosa may be the primary source of powdery mildew inoculum for commercial Asteraceae members and may warrant consideration in the control of this disease. References: Braun, U., and Cook, R. T. A. 2012. Taxonomic Manual of the Erysiphales (Powdery Mildews), CBS Biodiversity Series No. 11. CBS, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Carbone, I., and Kohn, L. M. 1999. Mycologia 91:553. Farr, D. F., and Rossman, A. Y. 2021. Fungal Databases. Syst. Mycol. Microbiol. Lab., USDA ARS, 18 April 2021. Qiu, P. L., et al. 2020. BMC Microbiol. 20:1. Scholin, C. A., et al. 1994. J. Phycol. 30:999. Takamatsu, S., et al. 2013. Mycologia 105:1135. White, T. J., et al. 1990. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Gut microbial communities associated with phenotypically divergent populations of the striped stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Walker, 1863)

Chilo suppressalis (Walker, 1863) is a serious stem borer of rice and water-oat plants, and has phenotypically diverged into rice and water-oat populations. Insect gut microbiota plays an important role in the host life and understanding the dynamics of this complicated ecosystem may improve its biological control. The effect of diet and gut compartments on the gut microflora of divergent populations of C. suppressalis is not fully clear. Herein, we characterized the gut microbiota of C. suppressalis populations fed on two hosts (i.e., water-oats fruit pulps and rice seedlings), by sequencing the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Gut bacterial communities showed variation in relative abundance among C. suppressalis populations fed on water-oats fruit pulps or rice seedlings. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes became the predominant phyla, and Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcaceae and Halomonadaceae were the predominant family in all C. suppressalis populations. The highest bacteria diversity was found in the midgut of the rice population fed on water-oat fruit pulps. Bacterial communities in the midgut were more diverse than those in the hindgut. The bacterial genera distribution showed great differences due to diet types and gut compartments among populations. Our results demonstrated that the host plants tested had a considerable impact on gut bacterial composition of C. suppressalis populations. Additionly, the unique gut morphology and physiological conditions (viz., oxygen content, enzymes) also contributed to variation in microbiomes. In conclusion, our study provided an important insight into investigation of insect-bacteria symbioses, and biocontrol of this species and other related lepidopterans.

[Application of left-sided uncinate process first approach in pancreaticoduodenectomy]

Objective: To evaluate the value of left-sided uncinate process first approach in pancreaticoduodenectomy. Methods: The clinical data of 152 patients who underwent the left-sided uncinate process first approach during pancreaticoduodenectomy at Pancreas Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2020 to December 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 64 females and 88 males,with age(M(Q_R)) of 62.0(14.7)years(range:16.0 to 84.0 years). The clinical date of 117 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy without using left-sided uncinate process first approach in the same period was selected as the control group,including 65 females and 52 males,with age of 64.0(13.0) years(range:13.0 to 84.0 years). Fisher exact probability method and t test were used to compare the data between the two groups,rank sum test was used for comparison of continuous variables between the two groups. Results: Pancreaticoduodenectomy was successfully performed in 152 patients in left-sided uncinate process first approach group. The operation time was 222.5(77.0) minutes(range:117.0 to 480.0 minutes),the time of uncinate process resection from left-side(the time from jejunum dissection to complete dissociation of the uncinate process) was 11.0(4.5) minutes(range:7.5 to 20.0 minutes),the time of pancreatic head resection (the time from jejunum dissection to pancreaticoduodenal specimen removal) was 26.0(8.5) minutes(range:20.0 to 41.0 minutes),the intraoperative blood loss was 200(150) ml(range:50 to 800 ml),and the intraoperative blood transfusion rate was 9.2% (14/152). Postoperative conditions:The postoperative hospital stay was 12 (9) d(range:6 to 55 d),the overall incidence of postoperative complications was 59.9%(91/152),and there was no perioperative death. Pathological results:The R0 resection rate of periampullary malignant tumor was 64.3%(77/112),with negative rate of uncinate process margin was 91.1%(102/112). The R0 resection rate of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma was 46.9%,with negative rate of uncinate process margin was 89.1%(57/64). Compared with the non-left-sided uncinate process first approach group(222.5(77.0) minutes, 9.2%(14/152)),the left-sided uncinate process first approach group had shorter operation time(246.0(94.0) minutes) (Z=3.964,P<0.01),less intraoperative blood loss (18.8%(22/117))(Z=4.843,P<0.01),and lower intraoperative blood transfusion rate(χ²=5.248,P=0.029). However,there were no significant differences between two groups in postoperative hospital stay(Z=1.682,P=0.093),postoperative overall complications(P=0.549),R0 resection rate of periampullary malignant tumor(χ²=2.012,P=0.156),and negative rate of uncinate process margin(χ²=2.108,P=0.147). Conclusions: The "left-sided uncinate process first approach" could completely resect uncinate process under a direct vision,especially when the uncinate process was behind the superior mesenteric artery or beyond the left lateral margin of the superior mesenteric artery. The "left-sided uncinate process first approach" might increase the negative rate of uncinate process margin and R0 resection rate for periampullary malignant tumor.

Influential factors of subacromial impingement syndrome after hook plate fixation for acromioclavicular joint dislocation: A retrospective study

Subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) after hook plate fixation for acromioclavicular joint (AC) dislocation was the most common complication. However, the researches on its' influential factors were rare. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors by analyzing the influencing factors of postoperative SIS and minimize the incidence of SIS in clinical surgery.We retrospectively analyzed the prospectively collected data from 330 consecutive patients with AC joint dislocation between August 2014 and August 2017 at our institute. The SIS was presented as the dependent variable at the last follow-up when the internal fixation was removed. The independent variables included age, gender, body-mass index (BMI), smoking status, alcohol consumption, type of injury, Rockwood Classification, site of injury, operation time, injury-to-surgery, the distance between the hook body and the acromion (DBA), the depth of hook tip (DHT), the distance between the hook plate and the humeral head (DHH), the distance between the acromion and the humeral head (DAH), the hook plate angle (AHP) and acromial shape. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent influential factors of SIS.A total of 312 cases were included and 18 cases were lost. The follow-up rate was 94.5%. In without SIS group, there were 225 cases (123 males and 102 females). In with SIS group, a total of 87 cases were included (56 males and 31 females). The incidence of SIS was 27.8%. DHT (OR = 9.385, 95% CI = 4.883 to 18.040, P < .001) and DBA (OR = 2.444, 95% CI = 1.591 to 3.755, P < .001) were the significant independent risk factor for SIS of AC dislocation treat with hook plate. DAH (OR = 0.597, 95% CI = 0.396 to 0.900, P = .014) and acromial shape with flat and straight (OR = 0.325, 95% CI = 0.135 to 0.785, P = .012) were also independent factors of SIS, but they were all protective.The SIS had a high incidence in fixation of clavicular hook plate for AC dislocation. DHT and DBA were two independent risk factors, DAH and acromial shape with flat and straight were two independent protective factors for SIS. In clinical surgery, we should avoid risk factors to reduce the incidence of SIS.