Rhizosphere microbial community construction during the latitudinal spread of the invader Chromolaena odorata.

The colonization of alien plants in new habitats is typically facilitated by microorganisms present in the soil environment. However, the diversity and structure of the archaeal, bacterial, and fungal communities in the latitudinal spread of alien plants remain unclear. In this study, the rhizosphere and bulk soil of Chromolaena odorata were collected from five latitudes in Pu' er city, Yunnan Province, followed by amplicon sequencing of the soil archaeal, bacterial, and fungal communities.

Leaf trait association in relation to herbivore defense, drought resistance, and economics in a tropical invasive plant.

Premise: Exploring how functional traits vary and covary is important to understand plant responses to environmental change. However, we have limited understanding of the ways multiple functional traits vary and covary within invasive species.

Methods: We measured 12 leaf traits of an invasive plant Chromolaena odorata, associated with plant or leaf economics, herbivore defense, and drought resistance on 10 introduced populations from Asia and 12 native populations from South and Central America, selected across a broad range of climatic conditions, and grown in a common garden.

Founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity contribute to invasion success of a genetically impoverished invader.

Multiple mechanisms may act synergistically to promote success of invasive plants. Here, we tested the roles of three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms-founder effects, post-introduction evolution and phenotypic plasticity-in promoting invasion of Chromolaena odorata. We performed a common garden experiment to investigate phenotypic diversification and phenotypic plasticity of the genetically impoverished invader in response to two rainfall treatments (ambient and 50% rainfall).

Exosomes in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Exosomes are small membranous vesicles that contain proteins, lipids, genetic material, and metabolites with abundant information from parental cells. Exosomes carry and deliver bioactive contents that can reprogram the functions of recipient cells and modulate the tumor microenvironment to induce pathological events through cell-to-cell communication and signal transduction. Tumor-derived exosomes (TDEs) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are involved in most aspects of cancer initiation, invasion, progression, immunoregulation, therapeutic applications, and treatment resistance.

Tests of alternative evolutionary models are needed to enhance our understanding of biological invasions.

Contents Summary 701 I. Introduction 701 II. Why we need an explicitly evolutionary perspective 702 III.

Species composition, functional and phylogenetic distances correlate with success of invasive Chromolaena odorata in an experimental test.

Biotic resistance may influence invasion success; however, the relative roles of species richness, functional or phylogenetic distance in predicting invasion success are not fully understood. We used biomass fraction of Chromolaena odorata, an invasive species in tropical and subtropical areas, as a measure of 'invasion success' in a series of artificial communities varying in species richness. Communities were constructed using species from Mexico (native range) or China (non-native range).

MiR-484 promotes non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression through inhibiting Apaf-1 associated with the suppression of apoptosis.

Increasing studies have indicated that the dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) are associated with tumorigenesis, development and even the poor prognosis of a variety of tumors, including the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here in our study, we found that miRNA-484 was expressed highly in NSCLC clinical tumor samples in comparison to the matched adjacent tissues. In addition, high and low expression of miRNA-484 was observed in NSCLC cell lines and lung normal cells, respectively.

Overexpression of lncRNA HOXA11-AS promotes cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition by repressing miR-200b in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Recent studies have verified that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) involved in many biological functions and play crucial roles in human cancers progression, the study aimed to detect the association between long non-coding RNA HOXA11-AS and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: The lncRNA HOXA11-AS expression levels were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays in 78 paired of tumor tissue and adjacent normal tissue samples in NSCLC patients. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank test was used to examine the association between lncRNA HOXA11-AS expression and the over survival time in NSCLC patients.

Valproic acid (VPA) enhances cisplatin sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cells via HDAC2 mediated down regulation of ABCA1.

Valproic acid (VPA) has been suggested to be a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACI). Our present study revealed that VPA at 1 mm, which had no effect on cell proliferation, can significantly increase the sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells to cisplatin (DDP). VPA treatment markedly decreased the mRNA and protein levels of ABCA1, while had no significant effect on ABCA3, ABCA7 or ABCB10.

IL-17 protein levels in both induced sputum and plasma are increased in stable but not acute asthma individuals with obesity.

Background: Obesity worsens asthma control partly through enhanced airway neutrophilia, altered lung mechanics and comorbidities, including obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease and depression. Although controversial, obesity may also cause poorer outcomes in acute asthma. IL-17 is associated with neutrophilic inflammation, steroid resistance and severe asthma, but its importance in the association between asthma and obesity is unknown.

Time lags between crown and basal sap flows in tropical lianas and co-occurring trees.

Water storage in the stems of woody plants contributes to their responses to short-term water shortages. To estimate the contribution of water storage to the daily water budget of trees, time lags of sap flow between different positions of trunk are used as a proxy of stem water storage. In lianas, another large group of woody species, it has rarely been studied whether stored water functions in their daily water use, despite their increasing roles in the carbon and water dynamics of tropical forests caused by their increasing abundance.

Utility of uric acid as a risk marker of extubation success in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The objective of this observational study was to determine whether there is an association between extubation success and uric acid in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with mechanical ventilation admitted to the intensive care units, and identify the risk markers for extubation success in COPD patients with mechanical ventilation.

Methods: Consecutive COPD patients with intubation were screened at baseline. The study included patients on mechanical ventilation (MV) for over 12 hours and who, in the process of weaning, were subjected to low-level pressure support.

The aflatoxin-detoxifizyme specific expression in mouse parotid gland.

The aflatoxin-detoxifizyme (ADTZ) gene derived from Armillariella tabescens was cloned into parotid gland-specific expression vector (pPSPBGPneo) to construct the parotid gland-specific vector expressing ADTZ (pPSPBGPneo-ADTZ). Transgenic mice were generated by microinjection and identified by using PCR and Southern blotting analysis. PCR and Southern blotting analysis showed that total six transgenic mice carried the ADTZ gene were generated.

Integrating novel chemical weapons and evolutionarily increased competitive ability in success of a tropical invader.

The evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis and the novel weapons hypothesis (NWH) are two non-mutually exclusive mechanisms for exotic plant invasions, but few studies have simultaneously tested these hypotheses. Here we aimed to integrate them in the context of Chromolaena odorata invasion. We conducted two common garden experiments in order to test the EICA hypothesis, and two laboratory experiments in order to test the NWH.

Clostridium difficile carriage in hospitalized cancer patients: a prospective investigation in eastern China.

Background: Clostridium difficile carriage has been considered as a potential source for the deadly infection, but its role in cancer patients is still unclear. We aimed to identify the clinical and immunological factors that are related to C. difficile carriage in Chinese cancer patients.

Azithromycin attenuates pulmonary inflammation and emphysema in smoking-induced COPD model in rats.

Introduction: The role of inflammation and immunity in COPD treatment is increasingly being recognized. The relationship between anti-inflammation/immunoregulation and emphysema in COPD lungs remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of azithromycin (Azm) on the development of emphysema in smoking-induced COPD in rats.

Evolutionary increases in defense during a biological invasion.

Invasive plants generally escape from specialist herbivores of their native ranges but may experience serious damage from generalists. As a result, invasive plants may evolve increased resistance to generalists and tolerance to damage. To test these hypotheses, we carried out a common garden experiment comparing 15 invasive populations with 13 native populations of Chromolaena odorata, including putative source populations identified with molecular methods and binary choice feeding experiments using three generalist herbivores.

Uric acid levels in obstructive sleep apnea patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background And Aims: The objective of this observational study was to determine whether there is an association between atrial fibrillation (AF) and uric acid and to identify the risk markers for AF in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Methods: Consecutive patients with newly diagnosed OSA were screened at baseline. The final study population consisted of 516 patients.

Generation and immunity testing of a recombinant adenovirus expressing NcSRS2-NcGRA7 fusion protein of bovine Neospora caninum.

Neospora caninum is the etiologic agent of bovine neosporosis, which affects the reproductive performance of cattle worldwide. The transmembrane protein, NcSRS2, and dense-granule protein, NcGRA7, were identified as protective antigens based on their ability to induce significant protective immune responses in murine neosporosis models. In the current study, NcSRS2 and NcGRA7 genes were spliced by overlap-extension PCR in a recombinant adenovirus termed Ad5-NcSRS2-NcGRA 7, expressing the NcSRS2-NcGRA7 gene, and the efficacy was evaluated in mice.

Risk factors and mortality of patients with nosocomial carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia.

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii is characterized by strictly aerobic, gram-negative, nonmotile, nonlactose-fermenting, oxidase-negative, catalase-positive coccobacilli, and the combination of its environmental resilience and its rapid development of resistance to multiple classes of antimicrobials renders it a successful nosocomial pathogen.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify specific risk factors and outcome of nosocomial pneumonia because of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB).

Methods: The retrospective study, set in a 1,500-bed referral and tertiary care hospital, was conducted to analyze the clinical and microbiologic data of patients with nosocomial pneumonia because of Acinetobacter baumannii (A baumannii) from January 2006 to December 2011.

The evolution of increased competitive ability, innate competitive advantages, and novel biochemical weapons act in concert for a tropical invader.

There are many non-mutually exclusive mechanisms for exotic invasions but few studies have concurrently tested more than one hypothesis for the same species. Here, we tested the evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis in two common garden experiments in which Chromolaena odorata plants originating from native and nonnative ranges were grown in competition with natives from each range, and the novel weapons hypothesis in laboratory experiments with leachates from C. odorata.

Synergistic interactions of CO2 enrichment and nitrogen deposition promote growth and ecophysiological advantages of invading Eupatorium adenophorum in Southwest China.

Global environmental change and ongoing biological invasions are the two prominent ecological issues threatening biodiversity worldwide, and investigations of their interaction will aid to predict plant invasions and inform better management strategies in the future. In this study, invasive Eupatorium adenophorum and native congener E. stoechadosmum were compared at ambient and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentrations combined with three levels of nitrogen (N; reduced, control and increased) in terms of growth, energy gain, and cost.