Overexpression of a Populus trichocarpa H+-pyrophosphatase gene PtVP1.1 confers salt tolerance on transgenic poplar

The Arabidopsis vacuolar H(+)-pyrophosphatase (AVP1) has been well studied and subsequently employed to improve salt and/or drought resistance in herbaceous plants. However, the exact function of H(+)-pyrophosphatase in woody plants still remains unknown. In this work, we cloned a homolog of type I H(+)-pyrophosphatase gene, designated as PtVP1.1, from Populus trichocarpa, and investigated its function in both Arabidopsis and poplar. The deduced translation product PtVP1.1 shares 89.74% identity with AVP1. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR analyses revealed a ubiquitous expression pattern of PtVP1.1 in various tissues, including roots, stems, leaves and shoot tips. Heterologous expression of PtVP1.1 rescued the retarded-root-growth phenotype of avp1, an Arabidopsis knock out mutant of AVP1, on low carbohydrate medium. Overexpression of PtVP1.1 in poplar (P. davidiana × P. bolleana) led to more vigorous growth of transgenic plants in the presence of 150 mM NaCl. Microsomal membrane vesicles derived from PtVP1.1 transgenic plants exhibited higher H(+)-pyrophosphatase hydrolytic activity than those from wild type (WT). Further studies indicated that the improved salt tolerance was associated with a decreased Na(+) and increased K(+) accumulation in the leaves of transgenic plants. Na(+) efflux and H(+) influx in the roots of transgenic plants were also significantly higher than those in the WT plants. All these results suggest that PtVP1.1 is a functional counterpart of AVP1 and can be genetically engineered for salt tolerance improvement in trees.

Folic acid supplementation and dietary folate intake, and risk of preeclampsia

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Folic acid supplementation has been suggested to reduce the risk of preeclampsia. However, results from few epidemiologic studies have been inconclusive. We investigated the hypothesis that folic acid supplementation and dietary folate intake before conception and during pregnancy reduce the risk of preeclampsia.

SUBJECTS/METHODS

A birth cohort study was conducted in 2010-2012 at the Gansu Provincial Maternity & Child Care Hospital in Lanzhou, China. A total of 10,041 pregnant women without chronic hypertension or gestational hypertension were enrolled.

RESULTS

Compared with nonusers, folic acid supplement users had a reduced risk of preeclampsia (OR=0.61, 95% CI: 0.43-0.87). A significant dose-response of duration of use was observed among women who used folic acid supplemention during pregnancy only (P-trend=0.007). The reduced risk associated with folic acid supplement was similar for mild or severe preeclampsia and for early- or late-onset preeclampsia, although the statistical significant associations were only observed for mild (OR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.30-0.81) and late-onset (OR=0.60, 95% CI: 0.42-0.86) preeclampsia. The reduced risk associated with dietary folate intake during pregnancy was only seen for severe preeclampsia (OR=0.52, 95% CI: 0.31-0.87, for the highest quartile of dietary folate intake compared with the lowest).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study results suggest that folic acid supplementation and higher dietary folate intake during pregnancy reduce the risk of preeclampsia. Future studies are needed to confirm the associations.

A Case Report of Spontaneous Lesser Omental Haemorrhage

Spontaneous rupture of the lesser omental artery in the absence of identifiable causes is rare. We describe a case of abdominal apoplexy secondary to a spontaneous lesser omental artery rupture. A 73-year-old woman presented to our emergency department for acute abdominal pain with persistent nausea and vomiting. Abdominal examination revealed mild epigastric tenderness but no signs of peritonitis. Computed tomography of the abdomen suggested a massive volume of blood in the peritoneal and pelvic cavity. The diagnosis was made by exploratory laparotomy revealing haemoperitoneum, a haematoma in the lesser omentum near the antrum with an active bleeder. Choices of investigation modality for diagnosis and treatment are discussed. (Hong Kong j.emerg.med. 2015;22:53-56)

A new approach to construct bulk and size-dependent continuous binary solution phase diagrams of alloys

In this work, we report a new approach to construct both bulk and size-dependent continuous binary solution phase diagrams (e.g. the Au–Ag system) by combining ab initio molecular dynamics simulation and nanothermodynamics modeling.

Effectiveness of bacterial infection-related cytokine profile (BIRCP) determination for monitoring pathogen infections in children with hemopathy in the bone marrow inhibition phase

Serum cytokine profiles were analyzed before and after infection in children with hemopathy in the bone marrow inhibition phase to explore the utility of cytokine variations for detecting infections. Serum Th1/Th2 cytokine levels, including tumor necrosis factor, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and interferon, were quantitatively determined by cytometric bead array technology in 480 cases (230 children) of children with hemopathy in the bone marrow inhibition phase with signs of infection, such as fever, and without, to establish baseline and affected levels for comparison with healthy control children. We used the cytokine profile of infected, blood culture-positive children to establish a bacterial infection-related cytokine profile (BIRCP) for predicting infections by pathogens in blood culture-negative children. Overall, 82.9% of children with Gram-negative bacterial infections were accompanied by marked increases of IL-6 and IL-10 levels [>10 times (means ± SD)], whereas only a mild increase of IL-6 levels occurred in Gram-positive bacteria-infected children [>2 times (means ± SD)] and only a mild increase of IFN-γ levels occurred in fungal culture-positive children [>2 times (means ± SD)]. Gram-positive bacterial and fungal infections did not cause a marked increase in IL-6 or IL- 10 levels. The effective rate (86.05%, N = 43) of infectious cases predicted by BIRCP was significantly higher than that obtained using traditional methods for selecting antibiotics based on clinical indications (65.45%, N = 55, P < 0.05). In summary, BIRCP can be used to predict the infections by pathogens in children with hemopathy and to select appropriate antibiotics.

Protective effect of ginsenoside against acute renal failure via reduction of renal oxidative stress and enhanced expression of ChAT in the proximal convoluted tubule and ERK1/2 in the paraventricular nuclei

Generation of reactive oxygen species significantly contributes to the pathogenesis of acute renal failure (ARF) induced by myoglobin release. Ginsenosides (GS), the principal active ingredients of ginseng, is considered as an extremely good antioxidative composition of Chinese traditional and herbal drugs. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of ginsenoside in rats with ARF on the changes of cholinergic nervous system in the kidney as well as on the involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) in the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei (PVN). In our assay, glycerol-induced acute renal failure in rats was employed to study the protective effects of ginsenoside. Our results indicated that the treatment of ARF rats with ginsenosides for 48 h significantly reduced lipid peroxidation, restored the superoxide dismutase (SOD) level. Meanwhile, the obvious increase of choline acetyltransferase-immunoreactivity (ChAT-IR) in the proximal convoluted tubular cells (PCT) was observed by immunohistochemistry in ARF+GS group. The same effect was also observed in the changes of p-ERK1/2-IR in the hypothalamic paraventricular nuclei. Our results suggest that ginsenoside administered orally may have a strong renal protective effect against glycerol-induced ARF, reduce the renal oxidative stress, and ginsenoside can also activate the cholinergic system in PCT, simultaneously MAPK signal pathway in the PVN was also activated.

New edge coherent mode providing continuous transport in long-pulse H-mode plasmas

An electrostatic coherent mode near the electron diamagnetic frequency (20-90 kHz) is observed in the steep-gradient pedestal region of long pulse H-mode plasmas in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, using a newly developed dual gas-puff-imaging system and diamond-coated reciprocating probes. The mode propagates in the electron diamagnetic direction in the plasma frame with poloidal wavelength of ∼8  cm. The mode drives a significant outflow of particles and heat as measured directly with the probes, thus greatly facilitating long pulse H-mode sustainment. This mode shows the nature of dissipative trapped electron mode, as evidenced by gyrokinetic turbulence simulations.

Maternal immunization promotes the immune response of neonates towards hepatitis B vaccine

Infants infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) face the risk of developing severe complications. Unfortunately, in spite of universal vaccination programmes, 5% or more of vaccinated newborns still do not achieve protective levels of anti-hepatitis B virus surface antigen titres (anti-HBs). The aim of this study was to use animal experiments and population-based research to determine whether maternal vaccination against HBV affects the outcome of neonatal vaccination. Six sows and 53 newborn piglets were used for this study and randomly assigned to the vaccination group (three 20 μg doses of recombinant HBV vaccine). All the piglets were followed up to 10 weeks of age, and peripheral blood was withdrawn for measurement of anti-HBs. A cross-sectional study was also conducted on 449 mothers with infants. A structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic, medical and maternal data, and their peripheral blood was collected for measurement of anti-HBs. The results of animal experiments demonstrated that nonvaccinated piglets born to vaccinated sows and nonvaccinated piglets born to nonvaccinated sows were negative for anti-HBs. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the titres of anti-HBs in vaccinated piglets born to vaccinated sows were significantly higher than in vaccinated piglets born to nonvaccinated sows (P < 0.05). In a population-based study, a cumulative logistic regression analysis showed that the strongest influences on neonatal anti-HBs titres were delay of the first vaccination dose [OR = 3.02(95% CI: 1.72-5.30)] and maternal anti-HBs titres [OR = 2.48(95% CI: 2.03-3.04)]. In conclusion, high maternal anti-HBs titres can enhance the response to HBV vaccination in infants.