catena-Poly[[tetra­aqua­zinc(II)]-μ-2,2′-dihydr­oxy-5,5′-diazenediyldibenzoato]

In the title compound, [Zn(C14H8N2O6)(H2O)4]n, the 2,2′-dihydr­oxy-5,5′-diazenediyldibenzoate ligand acts as a carboxyl­ate bridge, leading to the formation of a polymeric chain running along the [10] direction. The ZnII atom is hexa-coordinated in a distorted octa­hedral geometry by six O atoms [Zn—O = 2.055 (4)–2.132 (3) Å] from two carboxylate ligands and four water mol­ecules. The crystal packing is stabilized by inter­molecular O—H⋯O, O—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, and two π–π inter­actions. The centroid–centroid distances are 3.803 (16) and 3.804 (17) Å

Bacterial Community Structure of Pinus Thunbergii Naturally Infected by the Nematode Bursaphelenchus Xylophilus

Pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is a devastating disease in conifer forests in Eurasia. However, information on the effect of PWD on the host microbial community is limited. In this study, the bacterial community structure and potential function in the needles, roots, and soil of diseased pine were studied under field conditions using Illumina MiSeq coupled with Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved states (PICRUSt) software. The results showed that the community and functional structure of healthy and diseased trees differed only in the roots and needles, respectively (p < 0.05). The needles, roots, and soil formed unique bacterial community and functional structures. The abundant phyla across all samples were Proteobacteria (41.9% of total sequence), Actinobacteria (29.0%), Acidobacteria (12.2%), Bacteroidetes (4.8%), and Planctomycetes (2.1%). The bacterial community in the healthy roots was dominated by Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Rhizobiales, whereas in the diseased roots, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Burkholderiales were dominant. Functionally, groups involved in the cell process and genetic information processing had a higher abundance in the diseased needles, which contributed to the difference in functional structure. The results indicate that PWD can only affect the host bacteria community structure and function in certain anatomical regions of the host tree

Bacterial Community Structure of Pinus Thunbergii Naturally Infected by the Nematode Bursaphelenchus Xylophilus

Pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is a devastating disease in conifer forests in Eurasia. However, information on the effect of PWD on the host microbial community is limited. In this study, the bacterial community structure and potential function in the needles, roots, and soil of diseased pine were studied under field conditions using Illumina MiSeq coupled with Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved states (PICRUSt) software. The results showed that the community and functional structure of healthy and diseased trees differed only in the roots and needles, respectively (p <0.05). The needles, roots, and soil formed unique bacterial community and functional structures. The abundant phyla across all samples were Proteobacteria (41.9% of total sequence), Actinobacteria (29.0%), Acidobacteria (12.2%), Bacteroidetes (4.8%), and Planctomycetes (2.1%). The bacterial community in the healthy roots was dominated by Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Rhizobiales, whereas in the diseased roots, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Burkholderiales were dominant. Functionally, groups involved in the cell process and genetic information processing had a higher abundance in the diseased needles, which contributed to the difference in functional structure. The results indicate that PWD can only affect the host bacteria community structure and function in certain anatomical regions of the host tree.Peer reviewe

Bacterial Community Structure of Pinus Thunbergii Naturally Infected by the Nematode Bursaphelenchus Xylophilus

Pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is a devastating disease in conifer forests in Eurasia. However, information on the effect of PWD on the host microbial community is limited. In this study, the bacterial community structure and potential function in the needles, roots, and soil of diseased pine were studied under field conditions using Illumina MiSeq coupled with Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved states (PICRUSt) software. The results showed that the community and functional structure of healthy and diseased trees differed only in the roots and needles, respectively (p < 0.05). The needles, roots, and soil formed unique bacterial community and functional structures. The abundant phyla across all samples were Proteobacteria (41.9% of total sequence), Actinobacteria (29.0%), Acidobacteria (12.2%), Bacteroidetes (4.8%), and Planctomycetes (2.1%). The bacterial community in the healthy roots was dominated by Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Rhizobiales, whereas in the diseased roots, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Burkholderiales were dominant. Functionally, groups involved in the cell process and genetic information processing had a higher abundance in the diseased needles, which contributed to the difference in functional structure. The results indicate that PWD can only affect the host bacteria community structure and function in certain anatomical regions of the host tree

Etiological Analysis of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Single-Center Eight-Year Clinical Experience in South China

Etiology determination of neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) currently remains a worldwide common challenge on child health. We herein reported the etiology distribution feature in a cohort of 285 Chinese patients with NDDs. Although concrete NDD etiologies in 48.4% of the total patients could not be identified, genetic diseases (with the proportion of 35.8% in the total cases) including inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) and congenital dysmorphic diseases, constituted the commonest etiology category for NDDs in this study. The two key experimental technologies in pediatric metabolomics, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS), proved to be substantially helpful for the exploration of the NDD etiologies in this clinical investigation. The findings in this paper provided latest epidemiologic information on the etiology distribution of NDDs in Chinese, and the syndromic NDDs caused by citrin deficiency and the novel chromosomal karyotype, respectively, further expanded the etiology spectrum of NDDs

Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament dynamic profiles predict cognitive progression in individuals with de novo Parkinson’s disease

BackgroundNeurofilament light chain protein (NfL) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) reflects the severity of neurodegeneration, with its altered concentrations discovered in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PD-D).ObjectiveTo determine whether CSF NfL, a promising biomarker of neuronal/axonal damage, can be used to monitor cognitive progression in de novo Parkinson’s disease and predict future cognitive decline.MethodsA total of 259 people were recruited in this study, including 85 healthy controls (HC) and 174 neonatal PD patients from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI). Multiple linear regression and linear mixed effects models were used to examine the associations of baseline/longitudinal CSF NfL with cognitive decline and other CSF biomarkers. Kaplan–Meier analysis and log-rank test were used to compare the cumulative probability risk of cognition progression during the follow-up. Multivariate cox regression was used to detect cognitive progression in de novo PD.ResultsWe found PD patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) was higher than with normal cognition (PD-NC) in terms of CSF NfL baseline levels (p = 0.003) and longitudinal increase rate (p = 0.034). Both baseline CSF NfL and its rate of change predicted measurable cognitive decline in de novo PD (MoCA, β = −0.010, p = 0.011; β = −0.0002, p &lt; 0.001, respectively). The predictive effects in de novo PD patients aged &gt;65, male, ill-educated (&lt;13 years) and without carrying Apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) seemed to be more obvious and reflected in more domains investigated. We also observed that CSF NfL levels predicted progression in de novo PD patients with different cognitive diagnosis and amyloid status. After an average follow-up of 6.66 ± 2.54 years, higher concentration above the median of baseline CSF NfL was associated with a future high risk of PD with dementia (adjusted HR 2.82, 95% CI: 1.11–7.20, p = 0.030).ConclusionOur results indicated that CSF NfL is a promising prognostic predictor of PD, and its concentration and dynamics can monitor the severity and progression of cognitive decline in de novo PD patients

Neottia bifidus (Orchidaceae, Epidendroideae, Neottieae), a new mycoheterotrophic species from Guizhou, China

Neottia bifidus, a new mycoheterotrophic orchid, found in Maolan National Nature Reserve in Guizhou Province, China, is described and illustrated here. The new species is close to N. nidus-avis, N. kiusiana and N. papilligera but differs in having a finely pubescent rachis with fewer flowers, a finely pubescent pedicel, and a fishtail-shaped lip that is deeply bilobed to the middle of the lip, with the lobes diverging at an acute angle (45°) to each other and mesochile with many papillae. Additionally, N. bifidus is well supported as a new species by molecular phylogenetic results based on ITS and chloroplast genome. The chloroplast genome of the novelty, which contains an LSC region of 33,819 bp, SSC region of 5,312 bp and IRs of 46,762 bp was assembled and annotated. A key to mycoheterotrophic Neottia species in China is also provided

Specific Correlation between the Hegu Point (LI4) and the Orofacial Part: Evidence from an fMRI Study

Acupoint specificity is a foundational concept in acupuncture theory. It is closely related to the function of the acupoint. In this study, we sought to probe the central mechanisms of the specific correlation between LI4 and orofacial part in Bell’s palsy patients. In total, 36 patients with left Bell’s palsy were divided into three groups in random order, and each group received transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) at only one of three acupoints (LI4, ST6, and a sham point). A single-block fMRI design paradigm was applied to separately detect neural activity related to different stages of TEAS (prestimulation resting state, stimulation, and poststimulation resting state). Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired during TEAS. There were extensive neuronal activities in the LI4 and ST6 groups and significant differences between stimulation at real and sham points. Brain regions were activated more by real acupoint TEAS than by sham point TEAS. Brain regions that were activated with LI4 and ST6 were broadly overlapping and adjacent. Our results provide supplementary neuroimaging evidence for the existence of acupoint specificity. These results may confirm the central mechanisms of the specific correlation between the Hegu point and the orofacial part