Selection and evaluation of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria from grapevine rhizospheres for use as biofertilizers

Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) have the ability to solubilize insoluble phosphorus (P) and release soluble P. Extensive research has been performed with respect to PSB isolation from the rhizospheres of various plants, but little is known about the prevalence of PSB in the grapevine rhizosphere. In this study, we aimed to isolate and identify PSB from the grapevine rhizosphere in five vineyards of Northwest China, to characterize their plant-growth-promoting (PGP) traits, evaluate the effect of stress on their phosphate-solubilizing activity (PSA), and test their ability to stimulate the growth of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon. From the vineyard soils, 66 PSB isolates were screened, and 10 strains with high PSA were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. Sequence analysis revealed that these 10 strains belonged to 4 genera and 5 species: Bacillus aryabhattai, B. megaterium, Klebsiella variicola, Stenotrophomonas rhizophila, and Enterobacter aerogenes. The selected PSB strains JY17 (B. aryabhattai) and JY22 (B. aryabhattai) were positive for multiple PGP traits, including nitrogen fixation and production of indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophores, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, chitinase, and protease. JY17 and JY22 showed strong PSA under stress conditions of high pH, high salt, and high temperature. Therefore, these two isolates can be used as biofertilizers in saline-alkaline soils. The inoculation with PSB significantly facilitated the growth of V. vinifera cv. Cabernet Sauvignon under greenhouse conditions. Use of these PSB as biofertilizers will increase the available P content in soils, minimize P-fertilizer application, reduce environmental pollution, and promote sustainable agriculture

Oral Chinese Herbal Medicine for Treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the main causes of heart failure and could increase death, hospitalization, and rehospitalization rate. The effect of conventional medicine treatment (CMT) is limited; meanwhile, the combination of CMT and Oral Chinese Herbal Medicine (OCHM) represents exciting adjunctive therapies. In this study, we ascertained the therapeutic effect of OCHM in combination with CMT for dilated cardiomyopathy by using meta-analysis methods for controlled clinical trials. We searched studies from five databases and extracted data from these studies. We also assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. We evaluated the following outcome measures to estimate the prognosis in patients with DCM: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD), stroke volume (SV), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and overall efficacy. The result showed that OCHM combined with CMT for the improvement of therapeutic effect in DCM patients. However, the evidence remains weak due to the small sample size, high clinical heterogeneity, and poor methodological quality of the included trials. Further, large sample size and well-designed trials are needed

Selection and evaluation of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria from grapevine rhizospheres for use as biofertilizers

Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) have the ability to solubilize insoluble phosphorus (P) and release soluble P. Extensive research has been performed with respect to PSB isolation from the rhizospheres of various plants, but little is known about the prevalence of PSB in the grapevine rhizosphere. In this study, we aimed to isolate and identify PSB from the grapevine rhizosphere in five vineyards of Northwest China, to characterize their plant-growth-promoting (PGP) traits, evaluate the effect of stress on their phosphate-solubilizing activity (PSA), and test their ability to stimulate the growth of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon. From the vineyard soils, 66 PSB isolates were screened, and 10 strains with high PSA were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. Sequence analysis revealed that these 10 strains belonged to 4 genera and 5 species: Bacillus aryabhattai, B. megaterium, Klebsiella variicola, Stenotrophomonas rhizophila, and Enterobacter aerogenes. The selected PSB strains JY17 (B. aryabhattai) and JY22 (B. aryabhattai) were positive for multiple PGP traits, including nitrogen fixation and production of indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophores, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, chitinase, and protease. JY17 and JY22 showed strong PSA under stress conditions of high pH, high salt, and high temperature. Therefore, these two isolates can be used as biofertilizers in saline-alkaline soils. The inoculation with PSB significantly facilitated the growth of V. vinifera cv. Cabernet Sauvignon under greenhouse conditions. Use of these PSB as biofertilizers will increase the available P content in soils, minimize P-fertilizer application, reduce environmental pollution, and promote sustainable agriculture

Unlocking the Transcriptomes of Two Carcinogenic Parasites, Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini

The two parasitic trematodes, Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini, have a major impact on the health of tens of millions of humans throughout Asia. The greatest impact is through the malignant cancer ( = cholangiocarcinoma) that these parasites induce in chronically infected people. Therefore, both C. sinensis and O. viverrini have been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Group 1 carcinogens. Despite their impact, little is known about these parasites and their interplay with the host at the molecular level. Recent advances in genomics and bioinformatics provide unique opportunities to gain improved insights into the biology of parasites as well as their relationships with their hosts at the molecular level. The present study elucidates the transcriptomes of C. sinensis and O. viverrini using a platform based on next-generation (high throughput) sequencing and advanced in silico analyses. From 500,000 sequences, >50,000 sequences were assembled for each species and categorized as biologically relevant based on homology searches, gene ontology and/or pathway mapping. The results of the present study could assist in defining molecules that are essential for the development, reproduction and survival of liver flukes and/or that are linked to the development of cholangiocarcinoma. This study also lays a foundation for future genomic and proteomic research of C. sinensis and O. viverrini and the cancers that they are known to induce, as well as novel intervention strategies

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM