A diffusion tensor imaging-based multidimensional study of brain structural changes after long-term high-altitude exposure and their relationships with cognitive function.

Background: Brain structure changes after long-term adaptation to the high-altitude environment; however, related studies are few, results are in consistent, and long-term effects on cognitive function and pathophysiological mechanisms are unclear. Therefore, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to investigate the damage to white matter fiber tracts and correlations between brain structural abnormalities and cognitive function.

Methods: Forty healthy Han people living on the high-altitude and 40 healthy Han people living on the plains were enrolled in this study and underwent magnetic resonance imaging, emotional state assessment, and cognitive function tests.

Cognitive Impairment Mechanisms in High-Altitude Exposure: Proteomic and Metabolomic Insights.

High-altitude exposure can adversely affect neurocognitive functions; however, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Why and how does high-altitude exposure impair neurocognitive functions, particularly sleep? This study seeks to identify the molecular markers and mechanisms involved, with the goal of forming prevention and mitigation strategies for altitude sickness. Using serum proteomics and metabolomics, we analyzed blood samples from 23 Han Chinese plain dwellers before and after six months of high-altitude work in Tibet.

Bioactivities evaluation of an endophytic bacterial strain Bacillus tequilensis QNF2 inhibiting apple ring rot caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea on postharvest apple fruits.

Apple ring rot, one of the most common apple postharvest diseases during storage, is caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea. Presently, the disease management is primarily dependent on chemical fungicide application. Here we demonstrated an endophyte bacterium Bacillus tequilensis QNF2, isolated from Chinese leek (Allium tuberosum) roots considerably suppressed B.

Pseudomonas protegens volatile organic compounds inhibited brown rot of postharvest peach fruit by repressing the pathogenesis-related genes in Monilinia fructicola.

Brown rot, caused by Monilinia fructicola, is considered one of the devasting diseases of pre-harvest and post-harvest peach fruits, restricting the yield and quality of peach fruits and causing great economic losses to the peach industry every year. Presently, the management of the disease relies heavily on chemical control. In the study, we demonstrated that the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of endophyte bacterial Pseudomonas protegens QNF1 inhibited the mycelial growth of M.

PEBP4 deficiency aggravates LPS-induced acute lung injury and alveolar fluid clearance impairment via modulating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common clinical syndrome, which often results in pulmonary edema and respiratory distress. It has been recently reported that phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein 4 (PEBP4), a basic cytoplasmic protein, has anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects, but its relationship with ALI remains undefined so far. In this study, we generated PEBP4 knockout (KO) mice to investigate the potential function of PEBP4, as well as to evaluate the capacity of alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) and the activity of phosphatidylinositide 3-kinases (PI3K)/serine-theronine protein kinase B (PKB, also known as AKT) signaling pathway in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI mice models.

Role of purinergic signalling in obesity-associated end-organ damage: focus on the effects of natural plant extracts.

Obesity has become one of the major public health problems in both the developing and developed countries. Recent studies have suggested that the purinergic signalling is involved in obesity-associated end-organ damage through purine P1 and P2 receptors. In the search for new components for the treatments of obesity, we and other researchers have found much evidence that natural plant extracts may be promising novel therapeutic approaches by modulating purinergic signalling.

Helicobacter pylori-induced NAT10 stabilizes MDM2 mRNA via RNA acetylation to facilitate gastric cancer progression.

Background: N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C), a widespread modification in human mRNAs that is catalyzed by the N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) enzyme, plays an important role in promoting mRNA stability and translation. However, the biological functions and regulatory mechanisms of NAT10-mediated ac4C were poorly defined.

Methods: ac4C mRNA modification status and NAT10 expression levels were analyzed in gastric cancer (GC) samples and compared with the corresponding normal tissues.

Endophytic bacterium suppresses mycelial growth of and decreases its pathogenicity to postharvest fruits.

Apple ( Borkh.), one of the most economically important fruits widely consumed worldwide, has been suffering from apple ring rot caused by , which dramatically affects its quality and yield. In the present study, we demonstrated that , isolated from Chinese leek (), significantly suppressed the mycelial growth and propagation of , respectively, further displayed a considerably inhibitory effect on the apple ring rot of postharvest fruits.

Association of and polymorphisms in gene and osteoarthritis risk: evidence from a meta-analysis.

Multiple studies have investigated the association of () gene polymorphisms and osteoarthritis (OA) risk, but failed to reach a consistent conclusion. Therefore, this study was designed to elucidate the association of polymorphisms and OA by a meta-analysis approach. Literature retrieval was carried out on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang databases.

Phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein 4 deficiency exacerbates carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis by regulating the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Liver fibrosis is a pathological process which can progress to hepatocirrhosis, even hepatocellular carcinoma. Phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein 4 (PEBP4) is a secreted protein involved in regulating many molecular pathways, whereas its roles in diseases including hepatic fibrosis remain undefined. The nuclear factor-κappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway has been found to be involved in the development of liver fibrosis.

Graph neural networks and cross-protocol analysis for detecting malicious IP addresses.

An internet protocol (IP) address is the foundation of the Internet, allowing connectivity between people, servers, Internet of Things, and services across the globe. Knowing what is connecting to what and where connections are initiated is crucial to accurately assess a company's or individual's security posture. IP reputation assessment can be quite complex because of the numerous services that may be hosted on that IP address.

Metformin suppresses proliferation and differentiation induced by BMP9 AMPK signaling in human fetal lung fibroblast-1.

Adenosine monophosphosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and its activator metformin were found to be involved in the regulation of fibroblast activation and pulmonary fibrosis. However, the regulatory mechanism has been undetermined. Recently, AMPK has been reported to exert its effect through inhibiting bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway.

The heat shock protein 20 gene editing suppresses mycelial growth of and decreases its pathogenicity to postharvest apple fruits.

Apple ring rot caused by is an essential and prevalent disease in the apple orchard in China. Our previous study demonstrated that dimethyl trisulfide (DT) from Chinese leek () significantly suppressed the mycelial growth of and inhibited the incidence of apple ring rot postharvest. However, the mechanism underlying the inhibitory role of DT against is not fully understood.

Endophytic Bacterium From Chinese Leek Suppressed Apple Ring Rot on Postharvest Apple Fruit.

Apple ring rot caused by is an economically significant plant disease that spreads across the apple production areas in China. The pathogen infects apple fruits during the growing season and results in postharvest fruits rot during storage, which brings about a huge loss to plant growers. The study demonstrated that an endophytic bacterium isolated from Chinese leek () significantly suppressed the mycelial growth, severely damaging the typical morphology of , and exerted a high inhibition of 84.

Efficacy of Dimethyl Trisulfide on the Suppression of Ring Rot Disease Caused by and Induction of Defense-Related Genes on Apple Fruits.

Apple ring rot caused by is prevalent in main apple-producing areas in China, bringing substantial economic losses to the growers. In the present study, we demonstrated the inhibitory effect of dimethyl trisulfide (DT), one of the main activity components identified in Chinese leek () volatile, on the apple ring rot on postharvest fruits. In experiment, 250 μL/L DT completely suppressed the mycelia growth of .

Integrated Analysis of miRNAs Associated With Sugarcane Responses to Low-Potassium Stress.

Sugarcane is among the most important global crops and a key bioenergy source. Sugarcane production is restricted by limited levels of available soil potassium (K). The ability of plants to respond to stressors can be regulated by a range of microRNAs (miRNAs).

Genome survey sequencing and characterization of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in Platostoma palustre (Blume) A.J.Paton (Chinese mesona).

Platostoma palustre (Blume) A.J.Paton is an annual herbaceous persistent plant of the Labiatae family.

Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 Regulatory Subunit Associated Protein 3: Potential Functions and Implications for Development and Disease.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) regulatory subunit associated protein 3 (CDK5RAP3, also named as C53 or LZAP) was initially identified as a binding protein of CDK5 activator p35. To date, CDK5RAP3 has been reported to interact with a range of proteins involved in cellular events ranging from cell cycle, apoptosis, and invasion to UFMylation modification and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Owing to its crucial roles in cellular processes, CDK5RAP3 is demonstrated to be not only an active participant in embryonic and mammalian tissue development, but also a key regulator in the onset and progress of human cancers such as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, gastric cancer, hepatocellular cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer and breast cancer.

Comparative phylogenetic analysis of CBL reveals the gene family evolution and functional divergence in Saccharum spontaneum.

Background: The identification and functional analysis of genes that improve tolerance to low potassium stress in S. spontaneum is crucial for breeding sugarcane cultivars with efficient potassium utilization. Calcineurin B-like (CBL) protein is a calcium sensor that interacts with specific CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs) upon plants' exposure to various abiotic stresses.

Application of the Inverted Classroom Model for Teaching Pathophysiology to Chinese Undergraduate Medical Students: Usability Study.

Background: The inverted classroom model differs from the traditional teaching model as it reverses the pattern of knowledge transfer and internalization. In recent years, this new teaching model has received much attention in undergraduate medical education. Pathophysiology is a course in the undergraduate Chinese medical curriculum that is critical in bridging basic medical science and clinical medicine.

OPG/TRAIL ratio as a predictive biomarker of mortality in patients with type A acute aortic dissection.

Following hospital discharge, patients with type A acute aortic dissection (TA-AAD) may present an increase in mortality risk. However, little is known about specific biomarkers associated with post-discharge survival, and there is a paucity of prognostic markers associated with TA-AAD. Here, we identify nine candidate proteins specific for patietns with TA-AAD in a cross-sectional dataset by unbiased protein screening and in-depth bioinformatic analyses.

Exogenous BMP9 promotes lung fibroblast HFL-1 cell activation via ALK1/Smad1/5 signaling .

Bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP9) has recently been described as a crucial regulator in modulating fibroblast-type cell activation. Activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK1) is a high affinity receptor for BMP9 that exerts its role via Smad1/5. However, the functional roles of BMP9 in activating lung fibroblasts and the underlying signaling pathway are not completely understood.

Genome-wide identification and transcriptional analysis of ammonium transporters in Saccharum.

Ammonium transporters (AMTs) are plasma membrane proteins that exclusively transport ammonium/ammonia. It is essential for the nitrogen demand of plantsby AMT-mediated acquisition of ammonium from soils. The molecular characteristics and evolutionary history of AMTs in Saccharum spp.