Anthropogenic effects on soils in the eastern Tibetan Plateau revealed by geochemical elemental characteristics.

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) constitutes a fragile and sensitive ecological environment, which is vulnerable to global climate change and human activities. To investigate the anthropogenic effects on the TP's environmental system is valuable for guiding human responses and adaptations to future environmental changes. In this study, we detailedly analyzed the geochemical elements of four representative soil sections developed on loess from Ganzi, Jinchuan, Aba, and Chuanzhusi in the eastern TP.

Cryopreservation of herbaceous Asteraceae seeds: Effects of seed reserves on seed germination and seedling regrowth.

Carbohydrate, lipid and protein, the three main storage reserves of seeds, are the main sources of raw materials and energy for seed germination and early growth stage of seedlings. In this study, the seed of 16 Asteraceae herbaceous ornamentals were used to compare the changes in seed germination, seedling growth indexes and four major storage reserves of seeds before and after cryopreservation. After cryopreservation, seed germination and seedling growth were preserved in most species (11/16), while one species showed significantly improved post-thaw germination and four had decreased germination.

A comparative plastomic analysis of var. (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chow and implication of the origin of Chinese jujube.

Comparative plastomics can be used to explicitly dissect various types of plastome variation. In the present study, the plastome variation pattern of var. (also called sour jujube) and its phylogenomic relationship with Chinese jujube were investigated.

Developing an improved UHPLC method for impurity profile analysis of ceftriaxone using analytical quality by design.

In this study, we developed a new reversed-phase ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) method for comprehensively measuring impurities in ceftriaxone. The method was developed based on the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (ChP) HPLC method, which is limited by the lack of selectivity to potential impurities and a long running time. Screening experiments showed that octylamine concentration, mobile phase pH, and organic phase ratio were critical method parameters.

Trade-offs and synergistic relationships of ecosystem services under land use change in Xinjiang from 1990 to 2020: A Bayesian network analysis.

Ecosystem service value (ESV) refers to the value of benefits provided by the ecosystem to people, and can reflect the quality of regional ecological environment. There have been few studies on ESV in arid regions experiencing dramatic land use changes. Also, many past ESV studies have obtained distorted results by using a simple linear function to examine the trade-offs between driving factors.

Heavy Metal Pollution and Risk Assessment of Surface Dust in the Arid NW China.

High concentrations of heavy metals (HMs) in urban surface dust (USD) can be extremely hazardous to urban ecology and human health. Oasis cities are located at the edge of deserts and are more exposed to salt/sandstorms, and they face a significantly higher accumulation of USD than wet or semi-humid areas. However, systematic studies on the pollution and risk assessment of HMs in USD in oasis cities have rarely been conducted.

Genetic diversity and population dynamic of var. (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chow in Central China.

Phylogeographic research concerning Central China has been rarely conducted. Population genetic and phylogeography of var. (also called sour jujube) were investigated to improve our understanding of plant phylogeographic patterns in Central China.

The Right-Skewed Distribution of Fine-Root Size in Three Temperate Forests in Northeastern China.

Trees can build fine-root systems with high variation in root size (e.g., fine-root diameter) and root number (e.

Berbamine Suppresses the Growth of Gastric Cancer Cells by Inactivating the BRD4/c-MYC Signaling Pathway.

Purpose: Berbamine (Ber), a bioactive constituent extracted from a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been shown to exhibit broad inhibitory activity on a panel of cancer cell types. However, its effects and the underlying molecular mechanisms on gastric cancer (GC) remain poorly understood.

Methods: The anti-growth activity of Ber on two GC cell lines and normal gastric epithelial cell line were evaluated using MTS and clone formation assay.

MicroRNA-126 Level Increases During Exercise Rehabilitation of Heart Failure with a Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Objective: To evaluate the changes of plasma levels of miR-126 in heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients undergoing an exercise rehabilitation intervention.

Methods: miR-126 levels in plasma were compared between 60HFpEF patients and 30 healthy volunteers. HFpEF patients underwent exercise rehabilitation for 12 weeks.

Light-induced degradation of rhodamine B by tellurium quantum dots.

Tellurium quantum dots (Te QDs) were prepared using bulk tellurium as the precursor. Te QDs can be a highly active photocatalyst for boosting the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The morphology and composition of Te QDs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

Ultrathin two-dimensional polydopamine nanosheets for multiple free radical scavenging and wound healing.

Novel 2D polydopamine nanosheets were successfully prepared by using a simple but effective "bottom-up" synthesis method. The ultrathin polydopamine nanosheets exhibit excellent multiple free radical scavenging activities including DPPH˙ and ABTS˙+ free radicals, especially O2˙-. Full-thickness skin defect regeneration was accelerated by treatment with the nanosheets.

Association between provincial income levels and drug prices in China over the period 2010-2017.

In the past decade, the Chinese central government has made sweeping reforms to national pharmaceutical policies. However, provincial authorities have retained control over most drug procurement procedures, potentially leading to cross-province differences in drug prices. The objectives of this study were to (i) examine drug price trends in 31 Chinese provinces and municipalities between 2010 and 2017; (ii) evaluate the association between provincial income levels and drug prices over this period; and (iii) compare the results for Chinese state-owned, Chinese private, and multinational pharmaceutical firms.

Phillygenin, a MELK Inhibitor, Inhibits Cell Survival and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

Introduction: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the leading causes of cancer, with the lowest 5-year survival rate of all cancer types. Given the fast metastasis of PC and its resistance to surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and combinations thereof, it is imperative to develop more effective anti-PC drugs. Phillygenin (PHI) has been reported to exert anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Development of Mandarin speech test materials for civilian pilots in China.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

[Automatic Segmentation of Anatomical Areas in X-ray Images Based on Fully Convolutional Networks].

Objective: Medical image segmentation is a key step in medical image processing. An architecture of fully convolutional networks was proposed to realize automatic segmentation of anatomical areas in X-ray images.

Methods: Enlightened by the advantages of convolutional neural networks on features extraction, fully convolutional networks consisting of 9 layers were designed to segment medical images.

Synthesis and Near Infrared Luminescence Properties of a Series of Lanthanide Complexes with POSS Modified Ligands.

A polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) modified 8-hydroxyquinoline derivative (denoted as Q-POSS) was synthesized and used as a ligand to coordinate with lanthanide ions to obtain a series of lanthanide complexes Ln(Q-POSS)₃ (Ln = Er, Yb, Nd). The as-prepared lanthanide complexes have been characterized by FT-IR, UV⁻Vis, and elemental analysis. All these complexes showed the characteristic near-infrared (NIR) luminescence originated from the corresponding lanthanide ions under excitation.

[Using Parallel Convolutional Neural Networks for Treatment Position Recognition in X-ray Images].

Treatment position recognition in medical images is a key technique in medical image processing. Due to the excellent performance of convolutional neural networks on features extraction and classification, an architecture of parallel convolutional neural networks is proposed to recognize treatment positions in X-ray images, which uses convolution kernels of different sizes to extract local features of different sizes in these images. The experimental analysis shows that parallel convolution neural networks, which can extract representative image features with more dimensions, are competent to classify and recognize treatment positions in medical images.

[Efficacy and safety of simulated artificial pancreas in modulating stress hyperglycemia in critically ill patients: a prospective randomized controlled study].

Objective: To explore efficacy and safety of simulated artificial pancreas in modulating stress hyperglycemia in critically ill patients.

Methods: A prospective randomized controlled study was performed. Seventy-two critically ill patients with stress hyperglycemia, aged 18-85 years, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score over 15, two consecutive random blood glucose 11.

Polyphosphoric acid-induced perylene probe self-assembly and label-free fluorescence turn-on detection of alkaline phosphatase.

A label-free fluorescence turn-on strategy for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) detection was established based on its enzymatic catalyzed hydrolysis of polyphosphoric acid (PPA, an anionic polymer) that had been utilized for aggregation with our homemade positively charged perylene derivative (Probe-1) via noncovalent interactions. The disaggregation caused turn-on fluorescence signal which was recovered by the released Proble-1 molecules whose original strong fluorescence in an aqueous buffer solution had been quenched due to their previous aggregation induced by PPA. Such method presents its great advantages of free labeling, convenience and simplicity, cost effectiveness, high selectivity, and high sensitivity, with a detection limit of 0.

Screening and identification of potential biomarkers and establishment of the diagnostic serum proteomic model for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndromes of tuberculosis.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Chemotherapy is the mainstay of modern tuberculosis (TB) control. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can enhance the effect of anti-TB drug, promote the absorption of the foci in the lung and reduce drug toxicity. In TCM, the determination of treatment is based on ZHENG (also called TCM syndrome).

Serum complement C4b, fibronectin, and prolidase are associated with the pathological changes of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection can activate the immune system, leading to characteristic pathological changes such as inflammatory granuloma, caseous necrosis, and cavity formation.

Methods: Clinical data of 187 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) were analyzed using statistical methods, while serum levels of complement C4b (C4b), fibronectin (FN), and prolidase (PEPD) were detected using the ELISA method among the control, minimal PTB, moderate PTB, and advanced PTB groups.

Results: We found significantly higher levels of serum C4b and PEPD (P = 0.

Screening and identification of six serum microRNAs as novel potential combination biomarkers for pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis.

Background: It is very difficult to prevent pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) due to the lack of specific and diagnostic markers, which could lead to a high incidence of pulmonary TB. We screened the differentially expressed serum microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB.

Methods: In this study, serum miRNAs were screened using the Solexa sequencing method as the potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB.

Discovery and identification of serum potential biomarkers for pulmonary tuberculosis using iTRAQ-coupled two-dimensional LC-MS/MS.

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a chronic disease. Currently, there are no sufficiently validated biomarkers for early diagnosis of TB infection. In this study, a panel of potential serum biomarkers was identified between patients with pulmonary TB and healthy controls by using iTRAQ-coupled 2D LC-MS/MS technique.

The discovery and identification of a candidate proteomic biomarker of active tuberculosis.

Background: Noninvasive and convenient biomarkers for early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) remain an urgent need. The aim of this study was to discover and identify potential biomarkers specific for TB.

Methods: The surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) combined with weak cation exchange (WCX) magnetic beads was used to screen serum samples from 180 cases of TB and 211 control subjects.