bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immunohistochemical assessment and clinical, histopathologic, and molecular correlates of membranous somatostatin type-2A receptor expression in high-risk pediatric central nervous system tumors
Authors: Lazow Margot A. , Fuller Christine , Trout Andrew T. , Stanek Joseph R. , Reuss Jaime , Turpin Brian K. , Szabo Sara , Salloum Ralph
Published: November 2022

Introduction

177Lu-DOTATATE, a radionuclide therapy that binds somatostatin type-2A receptors (SST2A), has demonstrated efficacy in neuroendocrine tumors and evidence of central nervous system (CNS) penetration, supporting potential expansion within pediatric neuro-oncology. Understanding the prevalence of SST2A expression across pediatric CNS tumors is essential to identify patients who may benefit from somatostatin receptor-targeted therapy and to further elucidate the oncogenic role of SST2A.

Methods

SST2A immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on tumor specimens and interpreted by an experienced pathologist (blinded), utilizing semi-quantitative scoring of membranous expression within viable tumor. Immunoreactive cell percentage was visually scored as 0 (none), 1 (<10%), 2 (10-50%), 3 (51-80%), or 4 (>80%). Staining intensity was scored as 0 (none), 1 (weak), 2 (moderate), or 3 (strong). Combined scores for each specimen were calculated by multiplying percent immunoreactivity and staining intensity values (Range: 0-12).

Results

A total of 120 tumor samples from 114 patients were analyzed. Significant differences in SST2A IHC scores were observed across histopathologic diagnoses, with consistently high scores in medulloblastoma (mean ± SD: 7.5 ± 3.6 [n=38]) and meningioma (5.7 ± 3.4 [n=15]), compared to minimal or absent expression in ATRT (0.3 ± 0.6 [n=3]), ETMR (1.0 ± 0 [n=3]), ependymoma (grades I-III; 0.2 ± 0.7 [n=27]), and high-grade glioma (grades III-IV; 0.4 ± 0.7 [n=23]). Pineoblastoma (3.8 ± 1.5 [n=4]) and other embryonal tumors (2.0 ± 4.0 [n=7]) exhibited intermediate, variable expression. Among medulloblastomas, SST2A IHC scores were higher in non-SHH (8.5 ± 3.1) than SHH (5.0 ± 3.3) molecular subgroups (p=0.033). In a subset of paired primary and recurrent specimens from four patients, SST2A IHC scores remained largely unchanged.

Discussion

High membranous SST2A expression was demonstrated in medulloblastoma, meningioma, and some rarer embryonal tumors with potential diagnostic, biologic, and therapeutic implications. Somatostatin receptor-targeted therapy such as 177Lu-DOTATATE deserves further investigation in these highly SST2A-expressing pediatric CNS tumors.
Correlation between the severity of COVID-19 vaccine-related adverse events and the blood group of the vaccinees in Saudi Arabia: A web-based survey
Authors: Almalki Ohoud S. , Khalifa Amany S. , Alhemeidi Ozouf F. , Ewis Ashraf A. , Shady Abeer M. , Abdelwahab Sayed F.
Published: November 2022

Background: Recent epidemiological studies have reported an association between the ABO blood group and the acquisition, symptom severity, and mortality rate of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the association between the ABO blood group antigens and the type and severity of COVID-19 vaccine-related adverse reactions has not been elucidated.

Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study in Saudi Arabia from February to April 2022. The study cohort included adults who had received or were willing to receive at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine of any type. We used Chi-square test to assess the association between the ABO blood groups and vaccine-related adverse reactions. p values of <0.05 were considered significant.

Results: Of the 1180 participants, approximately half were aged 18–30 years old, 69.2% were female, and 41.6% reported their blood group as O. The most frequent COVID-19 vaccine-related adverse reactions were fatigue (65%), pain at the injection site (56%), and headache (45.9%). These adverse reactions demonstrated significant correlations with the education level (p = 0.003) and nationality (p = 0.018) of the participants following the first dose, with gender (p < 0.001) following the second dose, and with the general health status (p < 0.001) after all the doses. Remarkably, no correlation was observed between the severity of the vaccine-related adverse reactions and ABO blood groups.

Conclusion: Our findings do not support a correlation between the severity of COVID-19 vaccine-related adverse reactions and the ABO blood groups of the vaccinees. The creation of a national database is necessary to account for population differences.
Low-dose ganciclovir ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis through inhibiting macrophage STING activation in mice
Authors: Gong Lin-Kong , Yang Xiaodong , Yang Juan , Wu Shu , Chen Yue , Zhang Jiang-Tao , Wang Zhi-Hong , Chen Li-Hua , Xing Chungen , Liu Tong
Published: November 2022

Ganciclovir (GCV) is a prodrug nucleoside analogue and is clinically used as antiviral drug for the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and other infections. Based on the potential anti-inflammatory activity of GCV, this study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of ganciclovir on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC), which may involve cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathways. Our results demonstrated that incubation of GCV (50 μM) inhibited cGAS-STING pathway in macrophage RAW264.7 cells. Then, it was found that intestinal cGAS-STING pathways were upregulated in UC patients, Crohn’s disease colitis (CD) patients, and DSS-induced colitis mice. Intraperitoneal injection of low-dose GCV (10 mg/kg/day) attenuated DSS-induced colitis and abdominal pain in mice. GCV treatment significantly inhibited the upregulation of cGAS-STING pathway in DSS-induced colitis mice. Moreover, DSS-induced colitis and gut dysbiosis was markedly attenuated in STING deficient mice compared with that of wild-type (WT) mice. Finally, there was lacking therapeutic effect of GCV on DSS-induced colitis in STING deficient mice. Together, our results indicated that low-dose GCV ameliorated DSS-induced UC in mice, possibly through inhibiting STING signaling in colonic macrophages, indicating that GCV may be useful for the treatment of UC.
Meropenem for children with severe pneumonia: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Tian Xue , Dong Lei , Jiang Ting-Ting , Tang Bo-Hao , Wang Ze-Ming , Wu Yue-E , You Dian-Ping , Bi Jing , Qian Su-Yun , Qi Hui , Shen A-Dong
Published: November 2022

Background: Pneumonia, caused by infection or other factors, seriously endangers the health of children. Meropenem is an effective broad-spectrum antibiotic using in the treatment of infectious diseases. In the therapy of pneumonia, meropenem is mostly employed for the treatment of moderate to severe pneumonia. Previously, we established a population pharmacokinetics (PPK) model for meropenem in pediatric severe infection and simulated the control rate of the time during which the free plasma concentration of meropenem exceeds the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is 70% of the dosing interval (70% fT > MIC). Therefore, we plan to conduct a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the efficacy and safety between conventional regimen and model regimen for meropenem in pediatric severe pneumonia.

Methods: One hundred patients (aged 3 months to 15 years) will be recruited in this RCT. They will be assigned randomly (at a 1:1 ratio) to a conventional treatment group (20 mg/kg, q8h, with 0.5–1 h infusion) and a model treatment group (20 mg/kg, q8 h, with 4 h infusion). The primary outcome will be 70% fT > MIC. Secondary outcomes will be the prevalence of meropenem therapy failure, duration of antibiotic therapy, changes in levels of inflammatory indicators, changes in imaging examination results, and prevalence of adverse events. Ethical approval of our clinical trial has been granted by the ethics committee of Beijing Children’s Hospital ([2022]-E-133-Y). This trial has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200061207).

Discussion: Based on our previous PPK data, we have designed this RCT. It is hoped that it will promote rational use of antibacterial drugs in children suffering from severe pneumonia.

Clinical Trial Registration: http://www.chictr.org.cn identifier, ChiCTR2200061207.
Distinct common signatures of gut microbiota associated with damp-heat syndrome in patients with different chronic liver diseases
Authors: Pan Yuqing , Guo Jianchun , Hu Na , Xun Yunhao , Zhang Binbin , Feng Qin , Chen Si , Li Xiaojing , Liu Qiaohong , Hu Yiyang , Zhao Yu
Published: November 2022

Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are prevalent in China. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, damp-heat (DH) syndrome is common in chronic liver disease. However, the biological characteristics related to quantitative diagnosis remain to be determined. This study aimed to identify the consistent alterations in the gut microbiota associated with DH syndrome in patients with CHB or NAFLD.

Methods: A total of 405 individuals were recruited, of which 146 were participants who met the consistent TCM diagnosis by three senior TCM physicians and were typical syndromes. All participants were required to provide fresh stool and serum samples. The gut microbiota was assessed by fecal 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and the serum metabolite profiles of participants were quantified by an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) system. DH syndrome-related bacteria taxa were identified based on the 146 individuals with typical syndromes and validated in all 405 volunteers.

Results: The results showed that CHB and NAFLD patients with typical TCM DH syndrome had consistently elevated serum total bile acid (TBA) levels. Significant alterations in microbial community were observed according to TCM syndromes identification. A total of 870 microbial operational taxonomic units and 21 serum metabolites showed the same variation trends in both the CHB and NAFLD DH syndrome groups. The functional analysis predicts consistent dysregulation of bile acid metabolism. Five genera (Agathobacter, Dorea, Lachnospiraceae_NC2004_group, Subdoligranulum, and unclassified_c__Clostridia) significantly decreased in abundance in patients with DH syndrome. We utilize these five genera combined with TBA to construct a random forest classifier model to predict TCM diagnosis. The diagnostic receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) areas for DH syndrome were 0.818 and 0.791 in internal tenfold cross-validation and the test set based on all 405 individuals, respectively.

Conclusion: There are common signatures of gut microbiota associated with DH syndrome in patients with different chronic liver diseases. Serum TBA combined with DH-related genera provides a good diagnostic potential for DH syndrome in chronic liver disease.
Protein phosphatase 2A regulates xanthine oxidase-derived ROS production in macrophages and influx of inflammatory monocytes in a murine gout model
Authors: Elsayed Sandy , Elsaid Khaled A.
Published: November 2022

Background: Gout is a common arthritis, due to deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals which results in IL-1β secretion by tissue-resident macrophages. Xanthine oxidase (XO) catalyzes uric acid (UA) production and in the process, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated which contributes to NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) may be involved in regulating inflammatory pathways in macrophages. The objective of this study was to investigate whether PP2A regulates gout inflammation, mediated by XO activity modulation. We studied UA and ROS generations in MSU stimulated murine bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) in response to fingolimod phosphate, a PP2A activator, and compared its anti-inflammatory efficacy to that of an XO inhibitor, febuxostat.

Methods: BMDMs were stimulated with MSU, GM-CSF/IL-1β or nigericin ± fingolimod (2.5 μM) or febuxostat (200 μM) and UA levels, ROS, XO, and PP2A activities, Xdh (XO) expression and secreted IL-1β levels were determined. PP2A activity and IL-1β in MSU stimulated BMDMs ± N-acetylcysteine (NAC) (10 μM) ± okadaic acid (a PP2A inhibitor) were also determined. M1 polarization of BMDMs in response to MSU ± fingolimod treatment was assessed by a combination of iNOS expression and multiplex cytokine assay. The in vivo efficacy of fingolimod was assessed in a murine peritoneal model of acute gout where peritoneal lavages were studied for pro-inflammatory classical monocytes (CMs), anti-inflammatory nonclassical monocytes (NCMs) and neutrophils by flow cytometry and IL-1β by ELISA.

Results: Fingolimod reduced intracellular and secreted UA levels (p < 0.05), Xdh expression (p < 0.001), XO activity (p < 0.001), ROS generation (p < 0.0001) and IL-1β secretion (p < 0.0001), whereas febuxostat enhanced PP2A activity (p < 0.05). NAC treatment enhanced PP2A activity and reduced XO activity and PP2A restoration mediated NAC’s efficacy as co-treatment with okadaic acid increased IL-1β secretion (p < 0.05). Nigericin activated caspase-1 and reduced PP2A activity (p < 0.001) and fingolimod reduced caspase-1 activity in BMDMs (p < 0.001). Fingolimod reduced iNOS expression (p < 0.0001) and secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α (p < 0.05). Fingolimod reduced CMs (p < 0.0001), neutrophil (p < 0.001) and IL-1β (p < 0.05) lavage levels while increasing NCMs (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Macrophage PP2A is inactivated in acute gout by ROS and a PP2A activator exhibited a broad anti-inflammatory effect in acute gout in vitro and in vivo.
Blocking VCAM-1 ameliorates hypertensive cardiac remodeling by impeding macrophage infiltration
Authors: Qiu Ze-Yang , Yu Wei-Jia , Bai Jie , Lin Qiu-Yue
Published: November 2022

Cardiac remodeling is an important mechanism of heart failure, which frequently results from leukocyte infiltration. Vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) plays a critical role in leukocyte adhesion and transmigration. However, the importance of VCAM-1 in the development of angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cardiac remodeling remains unclear. Wild-type (WT) mice were infused with Ang II (1,000 ng/kg/min) for 14 days and simultaneously treated with VCAM-1 neutralizing antibody (0.1 or 0.2 mg) or IgG control. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and cardiac function were detected by a tail-cuff and echocardiography. Cardiac remodeling was evaluated by histological staining. Adhesion and migration of bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) were evaluated in vitro. Our results indicated that VCAM-1 levels were increased in the serum of patients with heart failure (HF) and the hearts of Ang II-infused mice. Furthermore, Ang II-caused hypertension, cardiac dysfunction, hypertrophy, fibrosis, infiltration of VLA-4+ BMMs and oxidative stress were dose-dependently attenuated in mice administered VCAM-1 neutralizing antibody. In addition, blocking VCAM-1 markedly alleviated Ang II-induced BMMs adhesion and migration, therefore inhibited cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and fibroblast activation. In conclusion, the data reveal that blocking VCAM-1 ameliorates hypertensive cardiac remodeling by impeding VLA-4+ macrophage infiltration. Selective blockage of VCAM-1 may be a novel therapeutic strategy for hypertensive cardiac diseases.
Disturbing effect of cepharanthine on valve interstitial cells calcification via regulating glycolytic metabolism pathways
Authors: Xie Fei , Han Juanjuan , Wang Dashuai , Liu Peng , Liu Chao , Sun Fuqiang , Xu Kang
Published: November 2022

Osteogenic differentiation of valve interstitial cells (VICs) directly leads to aortic valve calcification, which is a common cardiovascular disease caused by inflammation and metabolic disorder. There is still no ideal drug for its treatment and prevention. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect and molecular mechanism of cepharanthine (CEP), a natural product, on inhibiting the osteogenic differentiation of VICs. First, CCK8 assay was used to evaluate cell viability of CEP on VICs. CEP concentration of 10 μM was the effective dose with slight cytotoxicity, which was used for further study. The alizarin red staining analysis showed that CEP significantly inhibited calcium deposition caused by osteogenic medium related calcification induction. In order to explore the anti-calcification molecular mechanism of CEP, transcriptome and metabolome were synchronously used to discover the possible molecular mechanism and target of CEP. The results showed that CEP inhibited valve calcification by regulating the glycolytic pathway. The molecular docking of CEP and selected key factors in glycolysis showed significant binding energies for GLUT1 (−11.3 kcal/mol), ENO1 (−10.6 kcal/mol), PKM (−9.8 kcal/mol), HK2 (−9.2 kcal/mol), PFKM (−9.0 kcal/mol), and PFKP (−8.9 kcal/mol). The correlation analysis of RUNX2 expression and cellular lactate content showed R2 of 0.7 (p < 0.001). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that CEP inhibited osteoblastic differentiation of VICs by interfering with glycolytic metabolisms via downregulation of the production of lactate and glycolysis-associated metabolites.
Endothelial dysfunction due to the inhibition of the synthesis of nitric oxide: Proposal and characterization of an in vitro cellular model
Authors: Silva Fernanda Cardoso da , Araújo Bruna Juber de , Cordeiro Carina Santos , Arruda Vinícius Marques , Faria Bruno Quintanilha , Guerra Joyce Ferreira Da Costa , Araújo Thaise Gonçalves De , Fürstenau Cristina Ribas
Published: November 2022

The vascular endothelium plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of vascular homeostasis, mediated by vasoactive molecules produced by endothelial cells. The balance between vasoconstrictor and vasodilator biomolecules is what guarantees this equilibrium. Therefore, an increase in the bioavailability of vasoconstrictors along with a reduction in vasodilators may indicate a condition known as endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial dysfunction is marked by an inflammatory process and reduced activity of vasoprotective enzymes, being characterized by some factors like the reduction of the bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) and increase in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), pro-inflammatory and vasoconstrictor molecules. This condition is a predictive marker of several cardiovascular diseases (e.g., atherosclerosis, hypertension, and diabetes). Research is affected by the scarcity of suitable in vitro models that simulate endothelial dysfunction. The goal of this study was to induce an in vitro condition to mimic endothelial dysfunction by inhibiting NO synthesis in cells. Thymus-derived endothelial cells (tEnd.1) were treated with different concentrations of L-NAME (from 1 to 1,000 μM) for different times (12, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h without and with retreatment every 24 h). Cell viability, nitrite concentration, p22phox, NOX2, NOX4, IL-6, and ACE genes expression and lipid peroxidation were evaluated. The results indicate that the treatment with 100 μM L-NAME for 72 h without retreatment reduced NO concentration and NOX4 gene expression while increasing ACE expression, thus mimicking reduced vascular protection and possibly increased vasoconstriction. On the other hand, treatment with 100 μM L-NAME for 96 h with retreatment reduced the concentration of NO and the expression of the p22phox gene while increasing the expression of the IL-6 and ACE genes, mimicking the increase in inflammation and vasoconstriction parameters. Based on these results, we thus propose that both 100 μM L-NAME for 72 h without retreatment and 100 μM L-NAME for 96 h with retreatment may be used as models for in vitro endothelial dysfunction according to the purpose of the study to be conducted.
Comparative genomic analysis of the aldehyde dehydrogenase gene superfamily in Arabidopsis thaliana – searching for the functional key to hypoxia tolerance
Authors: Guan Yufeng , Tanwar Umesh Kumar , Sobieszczuk-Nowicka Ewa , Floryszak-Wieczorek Jolanta , Arasimowicz-Jelonek Magdalena
Published: November 2022

Flooding entails different stressful conditions leading to low oxygen availability for respiration and as a result plants experience hypoxia. Stress imposed by hypoxia affects cellular metabolism, including the formation of toxic metabolites that dramatically reduce crop productivity. Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) are a group of enzymes participating in various aspects of plant growth, development and stress responses. Although we have knowledge concerning the multiple functionalities of ALDHs in tolerance to various stresses, the engagement of ALDH in plant metabolism adjustment to hypoxia is poorly recognized. Therefore, we explored the ALDH gene superfamily in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Genome-wide analyses revealed that 16 AtALDH genes are organized into ten families and distributed irregularly across Arabidopsis 5 chromosomes. According to evolutionary relationship studies from different plant species, the ALDH gene superfamily is highly conserved. AtALDH2 and ALDH3 are the most numerous families in plants, while ALDH18 was found to be the most distantly related. The analysis of cis-acting elements in promoters of AtALDHs indicated that AtALDHs participate in responses to light, phytohormones and abiotic stresses. Expression profile analysis derived from qRT-PCR showed the AtALDH2B7, AtALDH3H1 and AtALDH5F1 genes as the most responsive to hypoxia stress. In addition, the expression of AtALDH18B1, AtALDH18B2, AtALDH2B4, and AtALDH10A8 was highly altered during the post-hypoxia-reoxygenation phase. Taken together, we provide comprehensive functional information on the ALDH gene superfamily in Arabidopsis during hypoxia stress and highlight ALDHs as a functional element of hypoxic systemic responses. These findings might help develop a framework for application in the genetic improvement of crop plants.
Identification and validation of quantitative trait loci for chlorophyll content of flag leaf in wheat under different phosphorus treatments
Authors: Yang Bin , Chen Nan , Dang Yifei , Wang Yuzhi , Wen Hongwei , Zheng Jun , Zheng Xingwei , Zhao Jiajia , Lu Jinxiu , Qiao Ling
Published: November 2022

In wheat, the leaf chlorophyll content in flag leaves is closely related to the degree of phosphorus stress. Identifying major genes/loci associated with chlorophyll content in flag leaves under different phosphorus conditions is critical for breeding wheat varieties resistant to low phosphorus (P). Under normal, medium, and low phosphorus conditions, the chlorophyll content of flag leaves was investigated by a double haploid (DH) population derived from a cross between two popular wheat varieties Jinmai 47 and Jinmai 84, at different grain filling stages. Chlorophyll content of the DH population and parents decreased gradually during the S1 to the S3 stages and rapidly at the S4 stage. At the S4 stage, the chlorophyll content of the DH population under low phosphorus conditions was significantly lower than under normal phosphate conditions. Using a wheat 15K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel, a total of 157 QTLs were found to be associated with chlorophyll content in flag leaf and were identified under three phosphorus conditions. The phenotypic variation explained (PVE) ranged from 3.07 to 31.66%. Under three different phosphorus conditions, 36, 30, and 48 QTLs for chlorophyll content were identified, respectively. Six major QTLs Qchl.saw-2B.1, Qchl.saw-3B.1, Qchl.saw-4D.1, Qchl.saw-4D.2, Qchl.saw-5A.9 and Qchl.saw-6A.4 could be detected under multiple phosphorus conditions in which Qchl.saw-4D.1, Qchl.saw-4D.2, and Qchl.saw-6A.4 were revealed to be novel major QTLs. Moreover, the closely linked SNP markers of Qchl.saw-4D.1 and Qchl.saw-4D.2 were validated as KASP markers in a DH population sharing the common parent Jinmai 84, showed extreme significance (P <0.01) in more than three environments under different phosphorus conditions, which has the potential to be utilized in molecular marker-assisted breeding for low phosphorus tolerance in wheat.
Establishment of in vitro regeneration system and molecular analysis of early development of somatic callus in Capsicum chinense and Capsicum baccatum
Authors: Shu Huangying , Zhang Yu , He Chengyao , Altaf Muhammad Ahsan , Hao Yuanyuan , Liao Daolong , Li Lin , Li Caichao , Fu Huizhen , Cheng Shanhan , Zhu Guopeng , Wang Zhiwei
Published: November 2022

Regeneration is extremely important to pepper genetic development; however, the molecular mechanisms of how the callus reactivates cell proliferation and promotes cell reprogramming remain elusive in pepper. In the present study, C. baccatum (HNUCB81 and HNUCB226) and C. chinense (HNUCC22 and HNUCC16) were analyzed to reveal callus initiation by in vitro regeneration, histology, and transcriptome. We successfully established an efficient in vitro regeneration system of two cultivars to monitor the callus induction of differential genotypes, and the regenerated plants were obtained. Compared to C. chinense, there was a higher callus induction rate in C. baccatum. The phenotype of C. baccatum changed significantly and formed vascular tissue faster than C. chinense. The KEGG enrichment analysis found that plant hormone transduction and starch and sucrose metabolism pathways were significantly enriched. In addition, we identified that the WOX7 gene was significantly up-regulated in HNUCB81 and HNUCB226 than that in HNUCC22 and HNUCC16, which may be a potential function in callus formation. These results provided a promising strategy to improve the regeneration and transformation of pepper plants.
Pseudopollen in Camellia oleifera and its implications for pollination ecology and taxonomy
Authors: Yuan Bin , Yuan Jing-Kun , Huang Cheng-Gong , Lian Jia-Rui , Li Yi-Huan , Fan Xiao-Ming , Yuan De-Yi
Published: November 2022

Background and aims

In 1997, Tsou described the special differentiation of the connective tissues of some species of Theaceae to produce single-celled powders with unique patterns called pseudopollen. The purpose of this study was to investigate the morphological structure of the pseudopollen of Camellia oleifera (Theaceae) and to study the morphology of pseudopollen in seven other Camellia species.

Methods

Scanning electron microscopy, paraffin section, light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, histochemistry.

Key result

C. oleifera pseudopollen was similar to normal pollen in macroscopic morphology but different microscopically. The normal pollen was starch-rich and yellow, with mostly reticulate exine ornamentation. In contrast, the pseudopollen was a white powder, single-celled and rich in protein, with parallel unbranched ridge lines on the outer wall, and originated from the parenchyma of the connective tissues. There are also differences in the micro-characteristics of normal and pseudopollen among different species in Camellia.

Conclusion

There are great differences in morphological structure between C. oleifera and other species in Camellia normal pollen and pseudopollen; these results may indicate that the pseudopollen can be used as a taxonomic basis for Camellia, and the macroscopic similarity between pseudopollen and pollen and histochemical characteristics of pseudopollen can be a pollination strategy.
Regulating carbon and water balance as a strategy to cope with warming and drought climate in Cunninghamia lanceolata in southern China
Authors: Fang Xuan , Lin Tian , Zhang Biyao , Lai Yongru , Chen Xupeng , Xiao Yixin , Xie Yiqing , Zhu Jinmao , Yang Yusheng , Wang Jian
Published: November 2022

Human activities have increased the possibility of simultaneous warming and drought, which will lead to different carbon (C) allocation and water use strategies in plants. However, there is no conclusive information from previous studies. To explore C and water balance strategies of plants in response to warming and drought, we designed a 4-year experiment that included control (CT), warming (W, with a 5°C increase in temperature), drought (D, with a 50% decrease in precipitation), and warming and drought conditions (WD) to investigate the non-structural carbohydrate (NSC), C and nitrogen (N) stoichiometry, and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) of leaves, roots, and litter of Cunninghamia lanceolata, a major tree species in southern China. We found that W significantly increased NSC and starch in the leaves, and increased NSC and soluble sugar is one of the components of NSC in the roots. D significantly increased leaves’ NSC and starch, and increased litter soluble sugar. The NSC of the WD did not change significantly, but the soluble sugar was significantly reduced. The iWUE of leaves increased under D, and surprisingly, W and D significantly increased the iWUE of litter. The iWUE was positively correlated with NSC and soluble sugar. In addition, D significantly increased N at the roots and litter, resulting in a significant decrease in the C/N ratio. The principal component analysis showed that NSC, iWUE, N, and C/N ratio can be used as identifying indicators for C. lanceolata in both warming and drought periods. This study stated that under warming or drought, C. lanceolata would decline in growth to maintain high NSC levels and reduce water loss. Leaves would store starch to improve the resiliency of the aboveground parts, and the roots would increase soluble sugar and N accumulation to conserve water and to help C sequestration in the underground part. At the same time, defoliation was potentially beneficial for maintaining C and water balance. However, when combined with warming and drought, C. lanceolata growth will be limited by C, resulting in decreased NSC. This study provides a new insight into the coping strategies of plants in adapting to warming and drought environments.
Lexicon and attention-based named entity recognition for kiwifruit diseases and pests: A Deep learning approach
Authors: Zhang Lilin , Nie Xiaolin , Zhang Mingmei , Gu Mingyang , Geissen Violette , Ritsema Coen J. , Niu Dangdang , Zhang Hongming
Published: November 2022

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is a crucial step in mining information from massive agricultural texts, which is required in the construction of many knowledge-based agricultural support systems, such as agricultural technology question answering systems. The vital domain characteristics of Chinese agricultural text cause the Chinese NER (CNER) in kiwifruit diseases and pests to suffer from the insensitivity of common word segmentation tools to kiwifruit-related texts and the feature extraction capability of the sequence encoding layer being challenged. In order to alleviate the above problems, effectively mine information from kiwifruit-related texts to provide support for agricultural support systems such as agricultural question answering systems, this study constructed a novel Chinese agricultural NER (CANER) model KIWINER by statistics-based new word detection and two novel modules, AttSoftlexicon (Criss-cross attention-based Softlexicon) and PCAT (Parallel connection criss-cross attention), proposed in this paper. Specifically, new words were detected to improve the adaptability of word segmentation tools to kiwifruit-related texts, thereby constructing a kiwifruit lexicon. The AttSoftlexicon integrates word information into the model and makes full use of the word information with the help of Criss-cross attention network (CCNet). And the PCAT improves the feature extraction ability of sequence encoding layer through CCNet and parallel connection structure. The performance of KIWINER was evaluated on four datasets, namely KIWID (Self-annotated), Boson, ClueNER, and People’s Daily, which achieved optimal F1-scores of 88.94%, 85.13%, 80.52%, and 92.82%, respectively. Experimental results in many aspects illustrated that methods proposed in this paper can effectively improve the recognition effect of kiwifruit diseases and pests named entities, especially for diseases and pests with strong domain characteristics
Shading decreases lodging resistance of wheat under different planting densities by altering lignin monomer composition of stems
Authors: Luo Yongli , Chang Yonglan , Li Chunhui , Wang Yuanyuan , Cui Haixing , Jin Min , Wang Zhenlin , Li Yong
Published: November 2022

To clarify the influences of shading stress and planting density on the lignin monomer composition of wheat stems and their relationship with lodging resistance, Lodging resistant variety Shannong 23 (SN23) and lodging sensitive variety Shannong 16 (SN16) were grown during 2018−2019 and 2019−2020 growing seasons. The planting densities were 150 × 104 plants ha-1 (D1), 225 × 104 plants ha-1 (D2) and 300 × 104 plants ha-1 (D3). At the jointing stage, an artificial shading shed was used to simulate shading stress. Then the effects of shading on stem morphological characteristics, lignin monomer composition and lodging resistance of wheat under different planting densities were studied. Results indicate that shading at the jointing stage increased the length of basal internodes and the plant height and moved the height of center of gravity (CG) upward. Moreover, the stem diameter and the wall thickness decreased by 0.10−0.53 mm and 0.18−0.40 mm, respectively. The stem filling degree was reduced accordingly. As indicated by the correlation analysis and the stepwise regression analysis, shading-induced lodging mainly resulted from changes in the stem morphological characteristics and lignin accumulation. The influential magnitude of these factors was ordered as follows: stem filling degree, wall thickness, lignin content, contents and proportions of monomers S and H, and length of the second internode. The expression abundance of TaPAL, TaCOMT, TaCCR, and TaCAD declined in response to shading stress and high planting density. As a result, the distribution ratios of photosynthetic carbon sources to lignin monomers S, G and H were changed. The lignin content of stems on the day 42 after the jointing stage decreased by 18.48%. The monomer S content decreased, while the content and proportion of monomer H increased, thus weakening the breaking strength of wheat stems.
Integrated transcriptomic and metabolic analyses provide insights into the maintenance of embryogenic potential and the biosynthesis of phenolic acids and flavonoids involving transcription factors in Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carr.
Authors: Wang Junchen , Zhang Lifeng , Qi Liwang , Zhang Shougong
Published: November 2022

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) techniques have been established for micropropagation or basic research related to plant development in many conifer species. The frequent occurrence of non-embryogenic callus (NEC) during SE has impose constraints on the application of somatic embryogenesis SE in Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carr, but the potential regulatory mechanisms are poorly understood. In this study, integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were performed in embryogenic callus (EC) and NEC originating from a single immature zygotic embryo to better decipher the key molecular and metabolic mechanisms required for embryogenic potential maintenance. The results showed that a total of 13,842 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in EC and NEC, among which many were enriched in plant hormone signal transduction, starch and sucrose metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, and the biosynthesis of amino acids pathways. Metabolite profiling showed that 441 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were identified in EC and NEC. Both EC and NEC had vigorous primary metabolic activities, while most secondary metabolites were upregulated in NEC. Many totipotency-related transcription factor (TF) genes such as BBMs, WUSs, and LEC1 showed higher expression levels in EC compared with NEC, which may result in the higher accumulation of indole 3-acetic acid (IAA) in EC. NEC was characterized by upregulation of genes and metabolites associated with stress responses, such as DEGs involved in jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ETH) biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways, and DEGs and DAMs related to phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis. We predicted and analyzed TFs that could target several key co-expressed structural DEGs including two C4H genes, two CcoAOMT genes and three HCT genes involved in phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis. Based on the targeted relationship and the co-expression network, two ERFs (Lk23436 and Lk458687), one MYB (Lk34626) and one C2C2-dof (Lk37167) may play an important role in regulating phenolic acid and flavonoid biosynthesis by transcriptionally regulating the expression of these structural genes. This study shows an approach involving integrated transcriptomic and metabolic analyses to obtain insights into molecular events underlying embryogenic potential maintenance and the biosynthesis mechanisms of key metabolites involving TF regulation, which provides valuable information for the improvement of SE efficiency in L. kaempferi.
Elevated CO2 enhanced water use efficiency of wheat to progressive drought stress but not on maize
Authors: Cao Qingjun , Li Gang , Liu Fulai
Published: November 2022

Global rising atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) and drought stress exert profound influences on crop growth and yield. The objective of the present study was to investigate the responses of leaf gas exchange and plant water use efficiency (WUE) of wheat (C3) and maize (C4) plants to progressive drought stress under ambient (a[CO2], 400 ppm) and elevated (e[CO2], 800 ppm) atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) was used to evaluate soil water status in the pots. Under non-drought stress, e[CO2] increased the net photosynthetic rate (An) solely in wheat, and dry matter accumulation (DMA), whereas it decreased stomatal conductance (gs) and water consumption (WC), resulting in enhanced WUE by 27.82% for maize and 49.86% for wheat. After onset of progressive soil drying, maize plants in e[CO2] showed lower FTSW thresholds than wheat, at which e.g. gs (0.31 vs 0.40) and leaf relative water content (0.21 vs 0.43) starts to decrease, indicating e[CO2] conferred a greater drought resistance in maize. Under the combination of e[CO2] and drought stress, enhanced WUE was solely found in wheat, which is mainly associated with increased DMA and unaffected WC. These varied responses of leaf gas exchange and WUE between the two species to combined drought and e[CO2] suggest that specific water management strategies should be developed to optimize crop WUE for different species in a future drier and CO2-enriched environment.
Exploring the multidimensional relationships between educational situation perception, teacher support, online learning engagement, and academic self-efficacy in technology-based language learning
Authors: Pan Xiaoquan
Published: November 2022

The study explored the multidimensional relationships between educational situation perception, teacher support, online learning engagement and academic self-efficacy in technology-based language learning in a sample of Chinese undergraduate students, and meanwhile examined the mediating effects of academic self-efficacy and teacher support. A total of 392 (126 male and 266 female) Chinese university students reported on their perceived educational situation, teacher support, online learning engagement, and academic self-efficacy. Results showed that educational situation perception was significantly and positively associated with teacher support, online learning engagement and academic self-efficacy; teacher support and academic self-efficacy was positively correlated with online learning engagement. More importantly, academic self-efficacy as well as teacher support mediated the relationship between educational situation perception and online learning engagement. These findings extended previous research by considering both the external factors (i.e., educational situation; teacher support) and the internal factors (i.e., academic self-efficacy) of influencing students’ online learning engagement in technology-based language learning, thereby contributing to enhancing our understanding of the joint drive of the inherent and extrinsic power mechanisms. This study highlighted the following aspects: (1) strengthening the consideration of the key elements of the educational situation; (2) clarifying the pivotal position of intelligent technology in educational situations; and (3) emphasizing the reconstruction of intelligence teaching ecology driven by learning activities. Besides, this study indicated the significance of elevating teachers’ awareness, willingness and capacity of the substantial supports in enhancing students’ online learning engagement and would inform that the future research on the connotation and ways of teacher support should be responding to technology-based learning environments.
Shareholder personal risk and firm risk: An empirical analysis of share pledges and firm debt policies
Authors: Xia Jiahui , Wu Zhanchi , Zhang Rongwu , Chen Xiangyi , Zhang Rui
Published: November 2022

The impact of personal risk caused by controlling shareholders' equity pledges on the company's debt policy is an issue worth exploring. Using Chinese A-share listed companies from 2006 to 2020, this paper studies the impact of ultimate owner equity pledges on firm debt size and debt maturity structure and explores the mechanism of ultimate owner personal leverage on firms. The results show that the increase in ultimate owner stock pledges leads to higher financial leverage and a longer debt maturity structure for the company. In addition, the study reveals that the high personal leverage of the ultimate owner of the pledged equity is an influential mechanism driving the transfer of personal risk to the firm. In particular, even if a company's actual debt ratio is higher than its target debt ratio, equity pledges can prompt listed companies to increase their debt ratios and debt maturities, causing them to take on excessive debt risk and transfer the risk to creditors. It follows that the tunneling effect is a driving force of equity pledging and corporate debt policies. These results remain robust after the robustness test and endogenous test. The conclusions of this paper not only emphasize the impact of shareholders' personal risk on the firm but also provide a reference for investors' perception of firm risk.
Subliminal meaning-contingent attentional orienting: The role of attentional control setting based on displaywide features
Authors: Wang Huiyuan , Yang Jiajia , Gao Yulin , Zhang Ming
Published: November 2022

People’s subjective factors can affect the spatial allocation of attention, and objects that are more in line with people’s expectations are easier to attract attention. In the current study, we wanted to know whether the meaning-contingent spatial attentional orienting could occur at the subliminal level, that is, whether conscious awareness was needed, and which attentional control settings worked. The current study employed a modified spatial cueing paradigm and the cues were made imperceptible by backward masking. The results showed that the capture effects of the left and the right positions stemmed from the meaning-contingent attentional control setting based on displaywide features, while the inhibition effect of the lower position and the capture effect of the upper position stemmed from the abrupt onset of subliminal cues and their masks. It is concluded that the attentional orienting of meaning contingency could occur at the subliminal level, which was not restricted by conscious perception. In particular, the attentional control setting based on displaywide features played an important role in spatial attentional orienting, which was manifested in the consistent capture effects on the horizontal sides. This study refined and separated the spatial attentional orienting effects, supported the contingent involuntary attentional orienting hypothesis, and expanded its scope of application.
Examining continuance intention of online learning during COVID-19 pandemic: Incorporating the theory of planned behavior into the expectation–confirmation model
Authors: Li Li , Wang Qing , Li Jinhui
Published: November 2022

COVID-19 pandemic has tremendously affected many industries in the world, including higher education. To cope with changes in the pandemic, online learning has become a prevalent means for university students to receive education. Based on the expectation-confirmation model (ECM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aims to develop an integrated model, consisting of confirmation, perceived usefulness, satisfaction, perceived enjoyment, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and continuance intention instruments, to predict Chinese university students’ continuance intention toward online learning. Using convenience sampling, we enrolled full-time university students who have used online-learning platforms in November 2020. Data collected from 493 Chinese university students were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM) to test the model and hypotheses. All measurements of constructs used in this study are adapted by previous studies. The results show that perceived satisfaction, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were significantly associated with the continuance intention of online learning. Furthermore, the two components of the expectation–confirmation model (ECM), perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment, have a significant impact on the satisfaction of online learning. Notably, although confirmation of expectations had no direct impact on satisfaction, it was positively associated with perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. Implications and limitations were discussed.
Psychotherapy as making
Authors: McLeod John , Sundet Rolf
Published: November 2022

Historically, research and practice of psychotherapy have been conducted within conceptual frameworks defined in terms of theoretical models. These models are in turn guided by meta-theories about the purpose of psychotherapy and its place in society. An image of psychotherapy that underpins much contemporary practice is the idea that therapy operates as an intervention that involves the implementation and application of a pre-existing theoretical model or set of empirically validated procedures. The present paper introduces the idea that it may be valuable to regard psychotherapy not as an intervention but instead as a process of making, in the sense of offering a cultural space for the co-construction of meaningful and satisfying ways of living that draw on shared cultural resources. We offer an overview of what a therapy of making might look like, followed by an account of theoretical perspectives, both within the psychotherapy literature and derived from wider philosophical and social science sources, that we have found valuable in terms of making sense of this way of thinking about practice. Our conclusion is that we need something in addition to theory-specific and protocol-driven therapies, in order to be able to incorporate the unexpected, the not-before-met perspective, event or practice of living, and to be open towards the radically new, the given, and the unknown.