ABA-auxin cascade regulates crop root angle in response to drought.

Enhancing drought resistance through the manipulation of root system architecture (RSA) in crops represents a crucial strategy for addressing food insecurity challenges. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays important roles in drought tolerance; yet, its molecular mechanisms in regulating RSA, especially in cereal crops, remain unclear. In this study, we report a new mechanism whereby ABA mediates local auxin biosynthesis to regulate root gravitropic response, thereby controlling the alteration of RSA in response to drought in cereal crops.

Red Blood Cell Distribution Width Predicts Mortality in Hospitalized Patients with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome.

Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging epidemic infectious disease with high mortality rate. This study aimed to investigate the association of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and mortality risk in hospitalized SFTS patients.

Methods: Clinical data of SFTS patients was retrospectively collected from three hospitals between October 2010 and August 2022.

Root hairs facilitate rice root penetration into compacted layers.

Compacted soil layers adversely affect rooting depth and access to deeper nutrient and water resources, thereby impacting climate resilience of crop production and global food security. Root hair plays well-known roles in facilitating water and nutrient acquisition. Here, we report that root hair also contributes to root penetration into compacted layers.

Association of liver function and prognosis in patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

Objectives: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an epidemic emerging infectious disease with high mortality rate. We investigated the association between liver injury and clinical outcomes in patients with SFTS.

Methods: A total of 291 hospitalized SFTS patients were retrospectively included.

Clinical outcomes of treatment-naïve HBeAg-negative patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection with low serum HBsAg and undetectable HBV DNA.

Serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) level < 100 IU/ml and undetectable hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA have been recently proposed as an alternate endpoint of "partial cure" in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We investigated clinical outcomes of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative CHB patients with HBsAg <100 IU/ml and undetectable HBV DNA. Treatment-naïve HBeAg-negative CHB patients with undetectable HBV DNA and normal alanine aminotransferase were retrospectively included from three institutions.

Ethylene regulates auxin-mediated root gravitropic machinery and controls root angle in cereal crops.

Root angle is a critical factor in optimizing the acquisition of essential resources from different soil depths. The regulation of root angle relies on the auxin-mediated root gravitropism machinery. While the influence of ethylene on auxin levels is known, its specific role in governing root gravitropism and angle remains uncertain, particularly when Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) core ethylene signaling mutants show no gravitropic defects.

An easy-to-use AIHF-nomogram to predict advanced liver fibrosis in patients with autoimmune hepatitis.

Background: The evaluation of liver fibrosis is essential in the management of patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). We aimed to establish and validate an easy-to-use nomogram to identify AIH patients with advanced liver fibrosis.

Methods: AIH patients who underwent liver biopsies were included and randomly divided into a training set and a validation set.

Roles of auxin response factors in rice development and stress responses.

Auxin signalling plays a key role in various developmental processes ranging from embryogenesis to senescence in plants. Auxin response factor (ARF), a key component of auxin signalling, functions by binding to auxin response element within promoter of auxin response genes, activating or repressing the target genes. Increasing evidences show that ARFs are crucial for plant response to stresses.

Clinical features of chronic hepatitis B patients with lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: The clinical features have been well described in obese chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, little is known about the clinical features of lean CHB-NAFLD patients.

Methods: The study retrospectively included treatment-naïve CHB patients who underwent ultrasound between 2015 and 2021.

Gadd45 in Preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-induced complex of multiple pathological changes. Numerous stresses during pregnancy, including hypoxia, immune activation, inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress were reported as contributing factors to the preeclamptic pathology. Seeking common sensors of various stressors in preeclampsia is of new interest and can potentially benefit in disease prevention and treatment.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is associated with 28-day mortality in patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

Objectives: To determine the association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with 28-day mortality in patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS).

Methods: A single-centre retrospective analysis was performed in an emergency department from January 01, 2018, to June 30, 2021. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to investigate the prognostic factors associated with 28-day mortality.

Risk Factors of Fatal Outcome of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19.

Background: Few studies reported the risk factors of fatal outcome of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to identify the independent risk factors associated with fatal outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Methods: The clinical data of 109 consecutive COVID-19 patients including 40 (36.

Dynamic SARS-CoV-2-specific B-cell and T-cell responses following immunization with an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine.

Objective: The dynamic adaptive immune responses elicited by the inactivated virus vaccine CoronaVac remain elusive.

Methods: In a prospective cohort of 100 healthcare professionals naïve for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) who received two doses of CoronaVac, we analysed SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular responses at four different timepoints, including before vaccination (T1), 2 weeks after the first dose (T2), 2 weeks after the booster dose (T3), and 8-10 weeks after the booster dose (T4). SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies, serum neutralizing activities, peripheral B cells, CD4 and CD8 T cells and their memory subsets were simultaneously measured in this cohort.

Aqueous Rechargeable Li /Na Hybrid Ion Battery with High Energy Density and Long Cycle Life.

The practical application of aqueous rechargeable batteries is hampered by the low energy density and poor cycle stability, which mostly arises from the corrosion of cathode current collector, exfoliation of active material, and narrow electrochemical stability window of aqueous electrolyte. A light-weight and low-cost cathode current collector composed of graphite and carbon nanotube coated on nylon membrane exhibiting corrosion resistance and strong adhesion is developed. Also, a modified aqueous electrolyte with the addition of urea whose window is expanded to ≈3.

Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 infection among frontline health care workers in Wuhan during COVID-19 outbreak.

Introduction: As an emerging infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread throughout worldwide. Health care workers (HCWs) on frontline directly participated in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of COVID-19 patients are at high risk of getting infected with the highly infectious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, a total of 222 medical staff went to Wuhan city for support.

Temporal association between carbapenems usage and antimicrobial resistance in gram-negative bacteria at a tertiary hospital in Nanjing, China.

In this study, we investigated the temporal association between carbapenems usage and antimicrobial resistance among major Gram-negative bacteria, using the data of quarterly carbapenems consumptions and percentages of antibiotic resistance for Gram-negative bacteria from inpatients from 2013 to 2017 in a tertiary hospital from Jiangsu Province, China. First, carbapenems consumption showed an increasing trend in the past 5 years, accompanied with the rising rates of A. baumannii and P.

A High-Energy and Long-Life Aqueous Zn/Birnessite Battery via Reversible Water and Zn Coinsertion.

Aqueous rechargeable Zn/birnessite batteries have recently attracted extensive attention for energy storage system because of their low cost and high safety. However, the reaction mechanism of the birnessite cathode in aqueous electrolytes and the cathode structure degradation mechanics still remain elusive and controversial. In this work, it is found that solvation water molecules coordinated to Zn are coinserted into birnessite lattice structure contributing to Zn diffusion.

Corticosteroid treatment in severe COVID-19 pneumonia: two cases and literature review.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia, firstly reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, has rapidly spread around the world with high mortality rate among critically ill patients. The use of corticosteroids in COVID-19 remains a major controversy. Available evidences are inconclusive.

The gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio predicts liver inflammation in chronic hepatitis B with normal or mildly elevated alanine transaminase.

Background: The gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) to platelet ratio (GPR) was proposed as a novel index for predicting liver inflammation in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We aimed to investigate GPR for predicting significant liver inflammation in CHB patients with normal (≤1×upper limit of normal, ULN) or mildly elevated (≤2×ULN) alanine transaminase (ALT).

Methods And Methods: 431 treatment-naïve CHB patients with normal or mildly elevated ALT who underwent liver biopsy were enrolled.

Plateletcrit as a potential index for predicting liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B.

Noninvasive tests (NITs) for liver fibrosis are highly needed for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We aimed to investigate whether plateletcrit (PCT) could be used as a NIT in predicting liver fibrosis for CHB patients. Five hundred and sixty-seven treatment-naïve CHB patients with available liver biopsies were included.

The Easy Liver Fibrosis Test (eLIFT) for predicting advanced liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Objective: The easy liver fibrosis test (eLIFT) is a novel index to assess advanced liver fibrosis in chronic liver diseases. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of eLIFT for advanced liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

Methods: A total of 294 CHB patients with liver biopsy were enrolled.

HBeAg Negativity Is Associated With More Advanced Liver Fibrosis in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B: A Propensity Score-Matching Analysis.

Background: Serum hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) status is associated with the progression of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The authors aimed to investigate the relationship between HBeAg status and liver pathology in CHB patients.

Methods: A total of 683 treatment-naive CHB patients who had undergone liver biopsy were retrospectively enrolled from 2 medical centers.

IBR5 Regulates Leaf Serrations Development via Modulation of the Expression of .

Biodiversity in plant shape is mainly attributable to the diversity of leaf shape, which is largely determined by the transient morphogenetic activity of the leaf margin that creates leaf serrations. However, the precise mechanism underlying the establishment of this morphogenetic capacity remains poorly understood. We report here that INDOLE-3-BUTYRIC ACID RESPONSE 5 (IBR5), a dual-specificity phosphatase, is a key component of leaf-serration regulatory machinery.