Soil pH, total phosphorus, climate and distance are the major factors influencing microbial activity at a regional spatial scale

Considering the extensive functional redundancy in microbial communities and great difficulty in elucidating it based on taxonomic structure, studies on the biogeography of soil microbial activity at large spatial scale are as important as microbial community structure. Eighty-four soil samples were collected across a region from south to north China (about 1,000 km) to address the questions if microbial activity displays biogeographic patterns and what are driving forces. These samples represented different soil types, land use and climate. Redundancy analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling clearly revealed that soil microbial activities showed distinct differentiation at different sites over a regional spatial scale, which were strongly affected by soil pH, total P, rainfall, temperature, soil type and location. In addition, microbial community structure was greatly influenced by rainfall, location, temperature, soil pH and soil type and was correlated with microbial activity to some extent. Our results suggest that microbial activities display a clear geographic pattern that is greatly altered by geographic distance and reflected by climate, soil pH and total P over large spatial scales. There are common (distance, climate, pH and soil type) but differentiated aspects (TP, SOC and N) in the biogeography of soil microbial community structure and activity

Reelin Is Involved in Transforming Growth Factor-β1-Induced Cell Migration in Esophageal Carcinoma Cells

Reelin (RELN), which is a glycoprotein secreted by Cajal-Retzius cells of the developing cerebral cortex, plays an important role in neuronal migration, but its role in cell migration and cancer metastasis is largely unclear. Here, we showed that cell motility was significantly increased in KYSE-510 cells by TGF-β1 treatment. Moreover, TGF-β1 decreased RELN mRNA expression and overexpression of Reelin at least partly reversed TGF-β1-induced cell migration in KYSE-30 cells. Furthermore, this negative regulation of Reelin expression by TGF-β1 was through Snail, one transcription factor which was induced by TGF-β1 in KYSE-510 cells. RELN promoter activity was reduced in parallel with the induction of Snail after TGF-β1 treatment and Snail suppressed both RELN promoter activity and expression through binding to E-box sequences in the RELN promoter region in ESCC cells. Knockdown of RELN induced cell migration in KYSE-510 cells, together with the increase of mesenchymal markers expression. Taken together, Reelin is an essential negative regulator in the TGF-β1-induced cell migration process, and is suppressed by TGF-β pathway at the transcriptional level through Snail regulation. Therefore, the correlation of Reelin and TGF-β pathway was critical in cancer metastasis, and Reelin could be one potential anti-metastasis target in future clinical practice

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Alterations to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition is driven by warming at specific elevations

Background Global warming can alter plant productivity, and community composition which has consequences for soil-plant associated microorganisms. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are distributed widely and form symbiotic relationships with more than 80% of vascular plants and play a key role in nutrient cycling processes at the ecosystem scale. Methods A simulated warming experiment at multiple elevations (3,000, 3,500, 3,800, and 4,170 m) was conducted utilizing an in-situ open-top chamber (OTC) for exploring the effect of global warming on AMF community structure in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). This region has been identified as one of the most sensitive areas to climatic changes. Soil DNA was extracted and sequenced using next the Mi-Seq platform for diversity profiling. Results AMF richness was higher under the simulated warming chamber, however this only occurred in the elevation of 3,500 m. Warming did not alter other AMF alpha diversity indices (e.g. Shannon, Ace, and Simpson evenness index). Glomus and Acaulospora were the dominate AMF genera as assessed through their relative abundance and occurrence in control and warming treatments at the different elevations. Conclusion Warming changed significantly AMF community. The effects of warming on AMF community structure varied depend on elevations. Moreover, the occurrences of AMF in different genera were also presented the different responses to warming in four elevations

Adsorption of low-concentration ammonium onto vermiculite from hebei province, China

Vermiculite is a common layered silicate clay mineral which has good adsorption and ionexchange properties, and which is used to remove pollutants from groundwater. The adsorption by vermiculite from Heibei Province, China, of low-concentration ammonium in water was assessed here to evaluate the effects of adsorption time, particle size, adsorbent dose, pH, and temperature. Using Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy, the concentration of NH4 at 1430 cm was evaluated after ammonium was adsorbed by vermiculite. Based on Langmuir-model analysis, the adsorption capacity ofthe Chinese vermiculite (in the particle-size range 0.025-0.075 mm) for ammonium was 18 mg/g after 3 h of equilibration. Optimal adsorption occurred at pH 6-7 and 60°, which is different from that at high ammonium concentrations. Smaller particle-size fractions showed greater degrees of adsorption. Increase in Mg , K , or Na concentrations influenced ammonium adsorption and, therefore, indicated that cation exchange was the mechanism for ammonium uptake from low-concentration solutions