A Conscious Resting State fMRI Study in SLE Patients Without Major Neuropsychiatric Manifestations

Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is one of the main causes of death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Signs and symptoms of NPSLE are heterogeneous, and it is hard to diagnose, and treat NPSLE patients in the early stage. We conducted this study to explore the possible brain activity changes using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in SLE patients without major neuropsychiatric manifestations (non-NPSLE patients). We also tried to investigate the possible associations among brain activity, disease activity, depression, and anxiety. In our study, 118 non-NPSLE patients and 81 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. Rs-fMRI data were used to calculate the regional homogeneity (ReHo) in all participants. We found decreased ReHo values in the fusiform gyrus and thalamus and increased ReHo values in the parahippocampal gyrus and uncus. The disease activity was positively correlated with ReHo values of the cerebellum and negatively correlated with values in the frontal gyrus. Several brain areas showed correlations with depressive and anxiety statuses. These results suggested that abnormal brain activities might occur before NPSLE and might be the foundation of anxiety and depression symptoms. Early detection and proper treatment of brain dysfunction might prevent the progression to NPSLE. More studies are needed to understand the complicated underlying mechanisms

Serum Fetuin-A Associates with Type 2 Diabetes and Insulin Resistance in Chinese Adults

Previous studies have demonstrated that fetuin-A is related to insulin resistance among subjects with normal glucose tolerance but not patients with type 2 diabetes. There are limited data available concerning fetuin-A and insulin resistance in Chinese. We aimed to study the association of fetuin-A with insulin resistance among participants with or without type 2 diabetes in a large sample size of adults aged 40 and older.A community-based cross-sectional study was performed among 5,227 Chinese adults. The average age of our study was 61.5±9.9 years. Serum fetuin-A concentrations were not significantly different between male and female (296.9 vs. 292.9 mg/l, p = 0.11). Compared with the lowest quartile, the highest quartile of serum fetuin-A revealed a significant higher proportion of type 2 diabetic patients (34.8% vs. 27.3%, p<0.0001). In the multinomial logit models, the risk of type 2 diabetes was associated with each one quartile increase of serum fetuin-A concentrations when referenced not only to normal glucose tolerance (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.07-1.43, p = 0.004) but also to impaired glucose regulation (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.08-1.44, p = 0.003, respectively), after adjustment for age, sex, community, current smoking, and current drinking. The logistic regression analysis showed that fetuin-A were associated with elevated HOMA-IR and fasting serum insulin both among the participants with or without type 2 diabetes in the full adjusted analysis. There was no significant association between elevated serum fetuin-A concentrations and impaired glucose regulation (all p≥0.12).Higher fetuin-A concentrations were associated with type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance in middle aged and elderly Chinese

Agropyron mongolicum Keng&rsquo;s Growth in Response to Nitrogen Addition Is Linked to Root Morphological Traits and Nitrogen-Use Efficiency

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plant development and growth, and increased N deposition is affecting the diversity and productivity of plants. The objective of this study was to explore the growth response of Agropyron mongolicum Keng to N addition and to determine whether N-induced changes in soil-available nutrients have indirect impacts on the biomass of A. mongolicum via the regulation of root morphological traits and NUE. We conducted a pot experiment subjecting A. mongolicum to five N addition levels (0, 0.8, 1.6, 2.4, and 4.0 g N m&minus;2 yr&minus;1) under greenhouse conditions. N was provided through urea [CO(NH2)2] delivered with two equal applications and added at the seeding and tillering stages. The results showed that the total biomass response of A. mongolicum to increasing N addition appeared unimodal-shaped with an N saturation threshold at 3.20 g N m&minus;2 yr&minus;1. The total biomass was significantly and positively correlated with the root surface area (RSA), volume (RV), length (RL), forks number (RF), N-uptake efficiency (NUpE), and N-utilization efficiency (NUtE) (p &lt; 0.05). N-induced changes in soil-available nutrients had an indirect impact on the total biomass of A. mongolicum via the regulation of root morphological traits and NUE

Nitrogen fertilization and CO2 concentration synergistically affect the growth and protein content of Agropyron mongolicum

Background The nitrogen (N) and protein concentrations in plant tissues exposed to elevated CO2 (eCO2) generally decline , such declines in forage grass composition are expected to have negative implications for the nutritional and economic value of grass. Plants require N for the production of a photosynthetically active canopy and storage proteins in the tissues, whose functionality will strongly influence productivity and quality. The objective of this study was to investigate whether eCO2 plus N-fertilization increases growth and N nutrition of Agropyron mongolicum, and the dependence of this improvement on the coordination between root and leaf development. Methods We analyzed A. mongolicum from field-grown within the open-top chambers (OTCs) facility under two atmospheric CO2 (ambient, 400 ± 20 µmol mol−1, aCO2, and elevated, 800 ± 20 µmol mol−1, eCO2) and three N-fertigation treatments (control, low N-fertigation , and high N-fertigation) for two months. Results Elevated CO2 plus N-fertigation strongly increased shoot and root biomass, and the nitrogen and protein concentrations of A. mongolicum compared to those plants at aCO2 levels. Increased N content in leaves and reduced specific leaf area (SLA) at a high N supply could alleviate photosynthetic acclimation to eCO2 and drive the production of greater shoot biomass with the potential for higher photosynthesis, productivity, and nutritional quality. The increased root length (RL), the ratio of total aboveground N taken up per RL (TN/RL), stomatal conductance (Gs), and transpiration rate (Tr) contribute to the transpiration-driven mass flow of N, consequently increasing N uptake by roots. In addition, a smaller percentage of N remained as unassimilated nitrate ( ${\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$ NO 3 − ) under eCO2, indicating that assimilation of ${\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$ NO 3 − into proteins was not inhibited by eCO2. These findings imply that grass productivity and quality will enhance under anticipated elevated CO2 concentration when effective management measures of N-fertilization are employed

<i>Agropyron mongolicum</i> Keng’s Growth in Response to Nitrogen Addition Is Linked to Root Morphological Traits and Nitrogen-Use Efficiency

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plant development and growth, and increased N deposition is affecting the diversity and productivity of plants. The objective of this study was to explore the growth response of Agropyron mongolicum Keng to N addition and to determine whether N-induced changes in soil-available nutrients have indirect impacts on the biomass of A. mongolicum via the regulation of root morphological traits and NUE. We conducted a pot experiment subjecting A. mongolicum to five N addition levels (0, 0.8, 1.6, 2.4, and 4.0 g N m−2 yr−1) under greenhouse conditions. N was provided through urea [CO(NH2)2] delivered with two equal applications and added at the seeding and tillering stages. The results showed that the total biomass response of A. mongolicum to increasing N addition appeared unimodal-shaped with an N saturation threshold at 3.20 g N m−2 yr−1. The total biomass was significantly and positively correlated with the root surface area (RSA), volume (RV), length (RL), forks number (RF), N-uptake efficiency (NUpE), and N-utilization efficiency (NUtE) (p A. mongolicum via the regulation of root morphological traits and NUE

Novel Umami Peptides from <i>Hypsizygus marmoreus</i> and Interaction with Umami Receptor T1R1/T1R3

Umami peptides are important taste components of foods. In this study, umami peptides from Hypsizygus marmoreus hydrolysate were purified through ultrafiltration, gel filtration chromatography, and RP-HPLC, and then identified using LC-MS/MS. The binding mechanism of umami peptides with the receptor, T1R1/T1R3, was investigated using computational simulations. Five novel umami peptides were obtained: VYPFPGPL, YIHGGS, SGSLGGGSG, SGLAEGSG, and VEAGP. Molecular docking results demonstrated that all five umami peptides could enter the active pocket in T1R1; Arg277, Tyr220, and Glu301 were key binding sites; and hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction were critical interaction forces. VL-8 had the highest affinity for T1R3. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that VYPFPGPL (VL-8) could be steadily packed inside the binding pocket of T1R1 and the electrostatic interaction was the dominant driving force of the complex (VL-8-T1R1/T1R3) formation. Arg residues (151, 277, 307, and 365) were important contributors to binding affinities. These findings provide valuable insights for the development of umami peptides in edible mushrooms

‘Standardized patients’ in teaching the communication skill of history-taking to four-year foreign medical undergraduates in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology

Abstract Background Many foreign students have difficulty taking histories from Chinese patients, especially in clinical context of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The efficacy of using standardized patients to prepare foreign students for communicating with Chinese patients and taking their histories was evaluated in this study. Methods Ninety-four four-year foreign students were assigned to one of three clinical sub-departments (gynaecology, obstetrics, and reproductive endocrinology) to practice history-taking; after practicing in one sub-department, the students were then crossed over to a different department. The histories were taken from real patients in the sub-departments of obstetrics and reproductive endocrinology and from standardized patients in the sub-department of gynaecology. Prior to contact with real patients in the sub-department of reproductive endocrinology, the students practised with standardized patients. The quality levels of the case reports generated in the three departments were compared by repeated measures ANOVA. The attitudes, satisfaction and suggestions of the students were also investigated through a questionnaire. Results The local Chinese language spoken by the patients was thought to be the most common difficulty students (76.7%) encountered while taking patient histories. Two-thirds and one-third of the students were interested in taking histories from standardized and real patients, respectively. Most students (94.2%) thought that working with standardized patients was useful for practising communication skills with Chinese patients. The total scores of the case reports were significantly different among the three groups (P < 0.001), and compared with case reports collected from real patients, case reports collected from standardized patients were of better quality. However, the quality of the case reports taken from real patients was better when the case reports were generated by students who had previous practice with standardized patients than when they were generated by students lacking such experience (P < 0.001). Conclusions Standardized patient training for practising history-taking can be included as part of the clinical training curriculum for foreign medical undergraduates in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in China

Intercropping Gramineae Herbage in Semiarid Jujube Cultivar ‘LingwuChangzao’ (<i>Ziziphus jujuba</i> Mill. <i>cv</i>. LingwuChangzao) Orchard Improves Productivity, Plant Nutritional Quality, and Soil Quality

Forest-grass intercropping has great advantages in exploiting the potential of biological resources, improving the productivity of agriculture. Nevertheless, research on intercropping of ‘LingwuChangzao’ (Ziziphus jujuba Mill. cv. LingwuChangzao) with Gramineae herbage is less frequently reported. In this study, we measured the land equivalent ratio (LER), the nutritional quality of fruit and forage, and soil properties when ‘LingwuChangzao’ jujube was intercropped with Gramineae herbage compared to when grown in a corresponding monoculture, using clean tillage as a control. The results indicated that ‘LingwuChangzao’ jujube/Gramineae herbage intercropping significantly improved the LER in the system, the appearance traits, and the quality of jujube fruit (e.g., the total soluble solids, soluble sugar, vitamin C, anthocyanin, and flavonoids). Conversely, some nutritional quality indicators, such as dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, and neutral detergent fiber of forage, were lower than the corresponding monoculture. The physical properties in the soil improved with increased soil water content, electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, etc. Further, intercropping systems had significant effects on soil organic carbon fractions and most of the C-N cycling enzyme activities. Redundancy analyses (RDA) revealed that electrical conductivity and total nitrogen were the dominant soil factors that influenced the C-N cycling enzyme activities and four soil organic carbon fractions correlated with C-N cycling soil enzyme activities. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that ‘LingwuChangzao’ jujube/Gramineae herbage intercropping significantly altered C-N cycling enzyme activities by driving the soil physicochemical properties and soil organic carbon fractions. Our findings show how to improve the productivity of ‘LingwuChangzao’ jujube and they provide insights into the mechanisms underlying healthy, biodiverse soils in agroecosystems