New insights into SUMOylation and NEDDylation in fibrosis.

Fibrosis is the outcome of any abnormal tissue repair process that results in normal tissue replacement with scar tissue, leading to persistent tissue damage and cellular injury. During the process of fibrosis, many cytokines and chemokines are involved, and their activities are controlled by post-translational modifications, especially SUMOylation and NEDDylation. Both these modifications entail a three-step process of activation, conjugation, and ligation that involves three kinds of enzymes, namely, E1 activating, E2 conjugating, and E3 ligase enzymes.

[Risk factors for embolism in children with refractory pneumonia and construction of a nomogram model for prediction of embolism].

Objectives: To study the risk factors for embolism in children with refractory pneumonia (RMPP) and to construct a nomogram model for prediction of embolism.

Methods: This retrospective study included 175 children diagnosed with RMPP at Children's Hospital Affiliated toZhengzhou University from January 2019 to October 2023. They were divided into two groups based on the presence of embolism: the embolism group (=62) and the non-embolism group (=113).

[Voluntary wheel running exercise regulates microglia polarization in hippocampus through STAT3 signal pathway to inhibit depression-like behavior induced by chronic stress in rats].

This paper was aimed to investigate the effect of voluntary wheel running exercise on depression-like behavior induced by chronic water immersion restraint stress (CWIRS) and the underlying mechanism. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats received CWIRS to induce depression-like behavior and 4-week voluntary wheel running exercise. Meanwhile, the rats were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or STAT3 over-expression vector (pcDNA-STAT3) by intracerebroventricular injection.

Sea-level rise will reduce net CO uptake in subtropical coastal marshes.

Coastal marshes have a significant capacity to sequester carbon; however, sea-level rise (SLR) is expected to result in prolonged flooding and saltwater intrusion in coastal regions. To explore the effects of SLR projections on net CO uptake in coastal marshes, we conducted a "double-check" investigation, including the eddy covariance (EC) measurements of the CO fluxes in subtropical coastal marshes along inundation and salinity gradients, in combination with a mesocosm experiment for analyzing CO flux components under waterlogging and increased salinity conditions. During the same measurement periods, the net ecosystem CO exchange (NEE based on the EC dataset) in an oligohaline marsh was higher than that in a low-elevation mesohaline marsh, whereas the NEE was lower than that in a high-elevation freshwater marsh.

[Manual Acupuncture Stimulation of Paired Acupoints Can Relieve Sleep Disorder Possibly by Upregulating Pineal Melatonin Protein and Its Receptor mRNA Levels in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus in Insomnia Rats].

Objective: To observe the effect of manual acupuncture stimulation of paired "Baihui" (GV 20)+ "Shenmen" (HT 7), GV 20+ "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6), and GV 20+ non-acupoint on expression of melatonine (MT) and suprachiasmatic melatonin receptor 1 (MT) and melatonin receptor 2 (MT) mRNAs in insomnia rats, so as to explore their action difference and the underlying mechanism in improving insomnia.

Methods: Male SD rats were randomly divided into normal control (=12), mo-del (=8), GV 20+HT 7(=12), GV 20+SP 6(=11), and GV 20+ non-acupoint (=10) groups. The insomnia model was established by intraperitoneal injection of Para-chlorophenylalanine suspension (50 mg/mL, 50 mg/100 g), once daily for 2 days.

[Effects of Herbal-cake-separated Moxibustion on Blood Lipid Protein Levels and Expression of Toll-like Receptor and Nuclear Factor Genes in Atherosclerotic Plaques in Hyperglycemia Rabbits].

Objective: To observe the effect of herbal cake-separated moxibustion on blood lipid-apoprotein levels and the expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR 2), TLR 4 and nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB) mRNAs in atherosclerotic (AS) vulnerable plaques of hyperglycemia rabbits, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of atherosclerosis.

Methods: Sixty New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into 5 groups: control, model, direct moxibustion, herbal-cake-separated moxibustion and medication groups(＝12 rabbits in each group). The AS vulnerable plaque model was established by high-fat forage feeding plus balloon-induced abdominal aorta injury and gene transfection of Ad 5-p 53 recombinant vector.

Ecophysiological response of native and exotic salt marsh vegetation to waterlogging and salinity: Implications for the effects of sea-level rise.

The ecophysiological characteristics of native Phragmites australis and exotic Spartina alterniflora grown under waterlogging and salinity were investigated to explore their adaptation potential to sea level rise. The seasonal course of phenotypic traits, photosynthetic activity and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of P. australis did not change remarkably under shallow flooding, whereas these variables were sensitive to increasing salinity.

[A comparative analysis of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis with or without abnormal findings on cranial magnetic resonance imaging].

Objective: To investigate the clinical features of children with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis with normal or abnormal cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings via a comparative analysis.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 33 children with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. The clinical features and prognosis were compared between the children with normal and abnormal cranial MRI findings.

[Effect of Acupuncture Stimulation of Different Acupoint Combinations on Sleep and Expression of Circadian and Bmal 1 Genes in Hypothalamus of Insomnia Rats].

Objective: To observe the effect of manual acupuncture stimulation (MAS) of "Baihui"(GV 20)-"Shenmen"(HT 7)or GV 20-"Sanyinjiao"(SP 6) on sleep and expression of circadian rhythm genes ( and Bmal 1) in the hypothalamus in insomnia rats, so as to select a better acupoint group for insomnia.

Methods: A total of 53 SD rats were randomly divided into normal control (=12),insomnia model (=8), GV 20-HT 7(=12), GV 20-SP 6(=11),and GV 20-non-acupoint (=10) groups. The insomnia model was established by intraperitoneal injection of p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA,500 mg/kg,100 mg/mL) once daily for 2 days.

[Correlation Among Soil Organic Carbon, Soil Inorganic Carbon and the Environmental Factors in a Typical Oasis in the Southern Edge of the Tarim Basin].

We analyzed the differentiation among the environmental factors and soil organic/inorganic carbon contents of irrigated desert soil, brown desert soil, saline soil and aeolian sandy soil by classical statistics methods, and studied the correlation between soil carbon contents and the environmental factor by redundancy analysis (RDA) in a typical oasis of Yutian in the southern edge of the Tarim Basin. The results showed that the average contents of soil organic carbon and soil inorganic carbon were 2.51 g · kg⁻¹ and 25.

Changes in spatial patterns of Caragana stenophylla along a climatic drought gradient on the Inner Mongolian Plateau.

Few studies have investigated the influence of water availability on plant population spatial patterns. We studied changes in the spatial patterns of Caragana stenophylla along a climatic drought gradient within the Inner Mongolian Plateau, China. We examined spatial patterns, seed density, "nurse effects" of shrubs on seedlings, transpiration rates and water use efficiency (WUE) of C.

[Effects of receptor interacting protein 140 on the biological activity of glia cells].

Objective: To explore the effects of receptor interacting protein (RIP) 140 gene overexpression upon the in vitro proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration of microglioma cells.

Methods: The BV-2 RIP140 overexpression model (BV-2-1) was constructed by Lipofection and G418 selection, then validated by real-time PCR and Western blotting. The proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration potencies were compared between BV-2-1 and its parents by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, flow cytometry and Transwell chamber.

Inhibitory effect of propylene glycol mannate sulfate on growth of rabbit lens epithelial cells in vitro.

Aim: To investigate the inhibitory effect of rabbit lens epithelial cell (RLEC) survival and growth by propylene glycol mannate sulfate (PGMS) on the rabbit capsular bag in vitro.

Methods: Capsular bags were prepared from rabbit eyes after extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) and incubated in 0.2, 0.