[Effects of Different Microbial Fertilizers on Soil Quality and Maize Yield in Coastal Saline Soil].

Microbial fertilizers have the characteristics of high efficiency and environmental protection in improving saline soils, and the application of functional microbial fertilizers is of great significance for the green abatement of saline barriers and the improvement of soil quality in coastal areas. The experiment was based on moderately saline soil in the coastal area of Hebei Province, with corn as the indicator crop, on the basis of conventional chemical fertilizer application. Different microbial fertilizer treatments, namely, T1 （conventional chemical fertilizer 750 kg·hm + compound microbial agent 75 kg·hm）, T2 （conventional chemical fertilizer 750 kg·hm + 300 kg·hm）, T3 （conventional chemical fertilizer 750 kg·hm + 300 kg·hm）, T4 （conventional chemical fertilizer 750 kg·hm + organic silicon fertilizer 600 kg·hm）, T5 （conventional chemical fertilizer 750 kg·hm + bio-organic fertilizer 600 kg·hm）, T6 （conventional fertilizer 750 kg·hm + active microalgae 15 kg·hm）, and CK （only fertilizer 750 kg·hm）, were used for these seven treatments, to study the effects of different microbial fertilizers on soil nutrients, salinity, bacterial community, and corn yield and economic efficiency during two critical periods （V12 stage and maturity stage） of corn.

Density and row spacing of short-season cotton suitable for machine picking in the cotton region of Yellow River Basin.

To determine the suitable planting density and row spacing of short-season cotton suitable for machine picking in the Yellow River Basin of China, we conducted a two-year field experiment in Dezhou during 2018-2019. The experiment followed a split-plot design, with planting density (82500 plants·hm and 112500 plants·hm) as the main plots and row spacing (equal row spacing of 76 cm, wide-narrow row spacing of 66 cm+10 cm, equal row spacing of 60 cm) as the subplots. We examined the effects of planting density and row spacing on growth and development, canopy structure, seed cotton yield and fiber quality of short-season cotton.

Development and validation of a nomogram model for predicting the risk of gallstone recurrence after gallbladder-preserving surgery.

Background: The high incidence of gallstone recurrence was a major concern for laparoscopic gallbladder-preserving surgery. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors for gallstone recurrence after gallbladder-preserving surgery and to establish an individualized nomogram model to predict the risk of gallstone recurrence.

Methods: The clinicopathological and follow-up data of 183 patients who were initially diagnosed with gallstones and treated with gallbladder-preserving surgery at our hospital from January 2012 to January 2019 were retrospectively collected.

mediates stomatal movement in response to drought stress by repressing expression.

Drought stress limits plant development and reproduction. Multiple mechanisms in plants are activated to respond to stress. The MYC2 transcription factor is a core regulator of the jasmonate (JA) pathway and plays a vital role in the crosstalk between abscisic acid (ABA) and JA.

High expression of PDGFA predicts poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Platelet-derived growth factor A (PDGFA), the most known member of PDGF family, plays a crucial role in occurrence and progression of different tumors. However, PDGFA expression and its clinical significance in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are not clear. The present study aimed to assess the expression and prognostic value of PDGFA in ESCC.

Impact of B-mode-ultrasound-guided transhepatic and transperitoneal cholecystostomy tube placement on laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Background: B-mode-ultrasound-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) may be performed by a transhepatic or transperitoneal approach, called percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PHGD) and percutaneous transperitoneal gallbladder drainage (PPGD), respectively. We compared the impact of PC related to the route of catheter placement on subsequent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC).

Aim: To compare the impact of PC related to the route of catheter placement on subsequent LC.

Transforming growth factor-β and peripheral regulatory cells are negatively correlated with the overall survival of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To understand the cellular and molecular changes in peripheral blood that can lead to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and provide new methods for its diagnosis and treatment.

Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from the peripheral blood of HCC patients and normal controls and then analyzed by flow cytometry. The percentage of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)+ regulatory cells (Tregs) in the peripheral blood was measured, and the expression of TGF-β was also determined.

Novel serum microRNAs panel on the diagnostic and prognostic implications of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To determine a panel of serum microRNAs (miRNAs) that could be used as novel biomarkers for diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: We initially screened 9 out of 754 serum miRNAs by TaqMan Low Density Array in two pooled samples respectively from 35 HCC and 35 normal controls, and then validated individually by RT-qPCR in another 114 patients and 114 controls arranged in two phases. The changes of the selected miRNAs after operation and their prognostic value were examined.

Methylation-Mediated Silencing of GATA5 Gene Suppresses Cholangiocarcinoma Cell Proliferation and Metastasis.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the most common hepatic and biliary malignancies, accounting for about 3% of all gastrointestinal tumors. GATA5 is a transcription factor capable of suppressing the development of various human cancer types. Transcriptional inactivation and CpG island (CGI) methylation of GATA3 and GATA5, two members of the GATA family of transcription factors, have been observed in some human cancers.

Effect of nitrogen deficiency on ascorbic acid biosynthesis and recycling pathway in cucumber seedlings.

L-Ascorbic acid (AsA, ascorbate) is one of the most abundant natural antioxidants, and it is an important factor in the nutritional quality of cucumber. In this work, key enzymes involved in the ascorbic acid biosynthesis and recycling pathway in cucumber seedlings under nitrogen deficiency were investigated at the levels of transcription and enzyme activity. The activities of myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX) and transcript levels of MIOXs increased dramatically, while the activities of ascorbate oxidase (AO) and glutathione reductase (GR) and transcript levels of AOs and GR2 decreased significantly in N-limited leaves, as did the ascorbate concentration, in nitrogen-deficient cucumber seedlings.

RyR2 modulates a Ca2+-activated K+ current in mouse cardiac myocytes.

In cardiomyocytes, Ca2+ entry through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) binds to and activates RyR2 channels, resulting in subsequent Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and cardiac contraction. Previous research has documented the molecular coupling of small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (SK channels) to VDCCs in mouse cardiac muscle. Little is known regarding the role of RyRs-sensitive Ca2+ release in the SK channels in cardiac muscle.

Expression of GLP-1R protein and its clinical role in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma tissues.

The study investigates the expression and clinical role of GLP-1R in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) tissues. ICC tissue, tissue around tumour and normal liver tissue samples from 176 ICC patients were investigated for GLP-1R expression by immunohistochemistry and western blots. Expression levels were correlated to clinical variables and to the postoperative outcome.

Effect of the GLP-1 analog exendin-4 and oxaliplatin on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cell line and mouse model.

The influence of Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and Exendin-4 on development of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is evaluated in the study. In vitro tests, including acute toxicity test, cell colony formation assays, cells proliferation and apoptosis, transwell assay, were performed. An ICC in situ tumor animal model was established.

Alpha-fetoprotein: the predictor of microvascular invasion in solitary small hepatocellular carcinoma and criterion for anatomic or non-anatomic hepatic resection.

Background/aims: This study aimed to identify the preoperative predictors of microvascular invasion (MVI) in solitary small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and evaluate their application in surgical treatment.

Methodology: We retrospectively analyzed 161 patients with solitary small HCC who underwent curative hepatic resection. Overall and disease-free survival rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank test.

Preoperative predictors of short-term survival after hepatectomy for multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To investigate preoperative factors associated with poor short-term outcome after resection for multinodular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to assess the contraindication of patients for surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 162 multinodular HCC patients with Child-Pugh A liver function who underwent surgical resection. The prognostic significance of preoperative factors was investigated by univariate analysis using the log-rank test and by multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model.

Patients with multiple hepatocellular carcinomas within the UCSF criteria have outcomes after curative resection similar to patients within the BCLC early-stage criteria.

Background: Surgical strategies for the treatment of multiple hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) remain controversial. This study compared the prognostic power of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) criteria with the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) early-stage criteria.

Methods: Clinical and survival data of 162 multiple-HCC patients in Child-Pugh class A who underwent curative resection were retrospectively reviewed.

The underlying cellular mechanism in the effect of tetramethylpyrazine on the anion secretion of colonic mucosa.

The present study investigated the underlying cellular mechanism in the effect of ligustrazine (tetramethylpyrazine, TMP) on the anion secretion of colonic mucosa in rats using a short-circuit current (I(sc)) technique in conjunction with "tool drugs." (i) After a pretreatment of the tissues by bathing the bilateral surface with Cl(-)-free Krebs-Henseleit (K-H) solution for over an hour, a basolateral application of 1 mmol/l TMP produced an increase in I(sc), and the total charges transported for 30 min were about 8.7 +/- 1.

Effect of sodium ferulate on human colonic anion secretion and the underlying signaling mechanism.

The present study investigated the effect of ferulic acid, a compound purified from traditional Chinese herbal medicine Chuanxiong and Awei, on anion secretion by human colonic cells (T84) using the short circuit current (I(SC)) and microspectrofluorimetric technique. Basolateral administration of sodium ferulate (SF) produced a concentration-dependent increase of I(SC) in T84 cells with an EC50 of 1.2 mM.

Differential Cl- and HCO3- mediated anion secretion by different colonic cell types in response to tetromethylpyrazine.

Aim: Colonic epithelium is known to secrete both Cl(-) and HCO(3)(-), but the secretory mechanisms of different colonic cell types are not fully understood. The present study aimed to investigate the differential activation of Cl(-) and HCO(3)(-) secretion by tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) in human crypt-like cell line, T84, and villus-like cell line, Caco-2, in comparison to the TMP-induced secretory response in freshly isolated rat colonic mucosa.

Methods: Colonic epithelial anion secretion was studied by using the short circuit current (I(SC)) technique.

Effect of tetramethylpyrazine on exocrine pancreatic and bile secretion.

Aim: To investigate the effect of tetramethylpyrazine (ligustrazine, TMP) on the secretion of exocrine pancreas (and biliary).

Methods: In in vivo study, we investigated the effect of TMP on the secretion of pancreatic-bile juice (PBJ) in rats. Using human pancreatic duct cell line, CAPAN-1, combined with the short-circuit current (ISC) technique we further studied the effect of TMP on the pancreatic anion secretion.

Effect of Bak Foong pills on exocrine pancreatic-bile secretion.

We have recently demonstrated that Bak Foong Pills (BFP), a well-known Chinese medicine widely used for treating gynecological disorders, stimulates human colonic epithelial anion secretion, which was mediated by intracellular cAMP and Ca(2+). The present study further investigated the effect of BFP on exocrine pancreatic-bile secretion using in vivo and in vitro approaches. Duodenal infusion of BFP ethanol extract (1 g/kg) in rats produced increases in the volume and protein output of pancreatic-bile juice, but did not affect its pH.

Involvement of CFTR in uterine bicarbonate secretion and the fertilizing capacity of sperm.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a cAMP-activated chloride channel expressed in a wide variety of epithelial cells, mutations of which are responsible for the hallmark defective chloride secretion observed in cystic fibrosis (CF). Although CFTR has been implicated in bicarbonate secretion, its ability to directly mediate bicarbonate secretion of any physiological significance has not been shown. We demonstrate here that endometrial epithelial cells possess a CFTR-mediated bicarbonate transport mechanism.

Bak Foong Pills stimulate anion secretion across normal and cystic fibrosis pancreatic duct epithelia.

The present study examined the effect of Bak Foong Pills (BFP), an over-the-counter traditional Chinese medicine (China registration no. Z980035), on anion secretion and the underlying signaling pathways in normal and cystic fibrosis pancreatic duct cell lines, CAPAN-1 and CFPAC-1, respectively, using the short-circuit current technique. Apical addition of BFP ethanol extract (600 microg/ml) induced a fast transient I(SC) peak that was followed by a slower but more sustained increase in I(SC) in CAPAN-1 cells.