OR-022 Effects of aerobic exercise on the hemodynamics and structure of the common carotid artery in obese adolescents

Objective With the population of obese adolescents increases dramatically, a series of cardiovascular diseases, especially atherosclerotic, are triggered by obese which seriously threatens the life and health of teenagers. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise intervention on the hemodynamics and structure of the common carotid artery in obese adolescents. Methods  Forty obese adolescents (18 ± 2years) were randomly assigned into the experimental group (EG; n = 20) and control group (CG; n = 20). EG undertook 12 weeks of aerobic exercise training (AET), CG had not any exercise intervention. The carotid artery of both CG and EG were examined and compared. Carotid artery responses were assessed in both groups. Color doppler ultrasound was used to determine the tube diameter and axial flow of the common carotid before and after exercise intervention. The heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were simultaneously measured on the left brachial artery by a sphygmomanometer. Results Compared with CG, there were improvements of EG in peripheral resistance (22.90±6.70 VS 29.58±8.71. p＜0.01) and Systolic blood pressure (123.57±7.36 VS 130.25±6.79. p＜0.05) were verified after AET, except diastolic blood pressure. Following AET, blood flow velocity (0.28±0.05 VS 0.21±0.05. p＜0.01) and wall shear stress (6.25±0.90 VS 4.97±1.54. p＜0.05) increased prominently, which were also significant differences only in EG. In contrast, the vascular diameter demonstrated consistently upper compared with CG, but no differences between EG and CG. Conclusions  Regular aerobic exercise lasting 12 weeks could effectively change the dynamic parameters of the common carotid artery in obese adolescents, but no changes in arterial diameter. These findings indicated that 12 weeks of aerobic exercise can induce some changes of the common carotid artery blood flow within the circulation function in a short time. But the changing in common carotid arteries structure is needed after a long-term blood flow to the stimulation

Increase in cotton yield through improved leaf physiological functioning under the soil condition of reduced chemical fertilization compensated by the enhanced organic liquid fertilization

IntroductionLow agricultural nutrient input efficiency remains a significant impediment for crop production globally. To address this issue in cotton agroecosystems, there is a need to develop sustainable crop nutrient management strategies to achieve high crop yields. We hypothesized that organic liquid fertilizer (OF) combined with reduced chemical fertilizer (CF) would enhance cotton yield by improving leaf functioning and soil properties. However, the underlying mechanism and its related process is poorly understood.MethodsThis study explored the effects of OF combined with reduced CF on cotton yield, physiology and soil properties. Treatments included a single application of CF (CF: N, P2O5 and K2O applied at 228, 131 and 95 kg ha−1) and combined applications of OF and CF (OF0.6−OF1.4) in the following ratios: OF0.6, OF+60% CF; OF0.8, OF+80% CF; OF1.0, OF+100% CF; OF1.2, OF+120% CF; OF1.4, OF+140% CF. Results and discussionThe result showed that compared with CF, OF0.8, OF1.0 and OF1.2 increased soil organic matter (SOM) content by 9.9%, 16.3% and 23.7%, respectively. Compared with CF, the OF0.6, OF0.8, OF1.0, and OF1.2 treatments increased leaf area (LA) by 10.6−26.1%, chlorophyll content (Chl content) by 6.8−39.6%, and the efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) light energy (Y(II)), electron transfer rate of PSII (ETR) and photochemical quenching (qP) by 3.6−26.3%, 4.7−15.3% and 4.3−9.8%, respectively. The OF0.8 treatment increased net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs) and transpiration rate (E) by 22.0%, 27.4% and 26.8%, respectively, resulting in higher seed cotton yield. The seed cotton yield and economic coefficient were positively correlated with Pn, E, Gs and Y(II) from the full boll stage to the boll opening stage. In summary, the OF0.8 treatment can maintain a high SOM content and photosynthetic performance with reduced chemical fertilizer input without sacrificing yield. The integration of OF+80% CF (OF0.8) is a promising nutrient management strategy for highly efficient cotton production under mulch drip irrigation systems

MESSENGER observations of Alfvénic and compressional waves during Mercury's substorms

MErcury Surface, Space ENviroment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) magnetic field measurements during the substorm expansion phase in Mercury's magnetotail have been examined for evidence of low‐frequency plasma waves, e.g., Pi2‐like pulsations. It has been revealed that the By fluctuations accompanying substorm dipolarizations are consistent with pulses of field‐aligned currents near the high‐latitude edge of the plasma sheet. Detailed analysis of the By fluctuations reveals that they are near circularly polarized electromagnetic waves, most likely Alfvén waves. Soon afterward the plasma sheet thickened and MESSENGER detected a series of compressional waves. These Alfvénic and compressional waves have similar durations (10–20 s), suggesting that they may arise from the same source. Drawing on Pi2 pulsation models developed for Earth, we suggest that the Alfvénic and compressional waves reported here at Mercury may be generated by the quasi‐periodic sunward flow bursts in Mercury's plasma sheet. But because they are observed during the period with rapid magnetic field reconfiguration, we cannot fully exclude the possibility of standing Alfvén wave.Key PointsThe first observation of Pi2‐like pulsations during Mercury's substormAlfvénic and compressional waves were observed in the different regions of the plasma sheetWe proposed the sources for the plasma wavesPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113132/1/grl53278.pd

Online Three Dimensional Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Method for the Separation of Complex Samples

In this work, a novel online three dimensional liquid chromatography (3D-LC) system was first developed by effectively coupling of preseparation and comprehensive 2D-LC using a stop-flow interface, aiming at improving the separation of complex samples. The sample was separated into two or several fractions through the first dimensional separation, and then each fraction was transferred in an orderly way into the following comprehensive 2D-LC part for further analysis. More optimal conditions could be operated in the second and third dimensions according to the properties of each fraction. Thus, the resolution of the 3D-LC system was substantially improved. Analysis of soybean extract was taken as a proof-of-principle to demonstrate the powerful separation of the established 3D-LC system. The amide column was selected as the first dimension column. Weakly polar metabolites (such as lipids, aglycones, etc.) and polar metabolites (such as glycosides, etc.) were separated into different fractions. Fluorophenyl and C18 columns were used in the second and third dimensions of the 3D-LC system for further separation, respectively. There were 83 flavonoids characterized in the soybean extract, including many difficult to separate isomers and low-abundance flavonoids; in total, they were nearly 30% more than those identified in the comparative comprehensive 2D-LC approach. In conclusion, this 3D-LC system is flexible in construction and applicable to complex sample analysis

Modified metabolites mapping by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry using full scan/all ion Cheek for fragmentation/neutral loss acquisition

Modified metabolites play important roles in diagnostic monitoring, oxidative response and physiological regulation. Comprehensive analytical methods are greatly needed for improving the coverage of modified metabolites and studying their physiological function. Here, a novel nontargeted profiling method for mapping modified metabolites was developed by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry with full scan/all ion fragmentation/neutral loss (FS/AIF/NL) data acquisition. Modified metabolites were unbiasedly defined with less false positive results by mixed standards verification. Thirteen types of modified metabolites in urine were analyzed at the same time, and 198 of 307 modified metabolites at positive mode and 166 of 366 modified metabolites at negative mode were putatively identified. The modified metabolites profiling method was applied for investigating the metabolic differences between the patients with breast cancer and health controls. As a result, many modified metabolites with glu-curonidation, ribosylation and indole acetylation modification were significantly up-regulated in breast cancer and four modified metabolites including 7-methylguanosine, N-4-acetylcytidine, dihyroxy-1H-indole glucuronide I and indole-3-acetic acid-O-glucuronide were identified as potential biomarkers for the diagnose of breast cancer. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Simultaneous metabolomics and lipidomics analysis based on novel heart-cutting two-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Increasing metabolite coverage by combining data from different platforms or methods can improve understanding of related metabolic mechanisms and the identification of biomarkers. However, no one method can obtain metabolomic and lipidomic information in a single analysis. In this work, aiming at collecting comprehensive information on metabolome and lipidome in a single analytical run, we developed an on-line heart-cutting two-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (2D-LCMS) method. Complex metabolites from biological samples are divided into two fractions by using a precolumn. The first fraction is directly transferred and subjected to metabolomics analysis. Most lipids are retained on the precolumn until the mobile phases for lipidomics flow through; then they are subjected to lipidomics analysis. Up to 447 and 289 metabolites in plasma, including amino acids, carnitines, bile acids, free fatty acids, lyso-phospholipids, phospholipids, sphingomyelins etc. were identified within 30 min in the positive mode and negative mode, respectively. A comparison of the newly developed method with the conventional metabolomic and lipidomic approaches showed that approximately 99% features obtained by the two conventional methods can be covered with this 2D-LC method. Analytical characteristics evaluation showed the method had a wide linearity range, high sensitivity, satisfactory recovery and repeatability. These results demonstrate that this method is reliable, stable and well qualified in metabolomics analysis, particularly for large-scale metabolomics studies with small amount of samples. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Fertilizer Reduction Combined with Organic Liquid Fertilizer Improved Canopy Structure and Function and Increased Cotton Yield

The application of organic liquid fertilizer combined with chemical fertilizer is one of the key technologies used to simultaneously improve cotton yield and efficiently utilize resources. However, organic fertilizer is usually applied once as a base fertilizer during production, and few studies have been conducted on topdressing with water during the growth period. Therefore, in this study, Xinluzao 74 was used as the experimental material, and a single fertilizer application (CF) was used as a control in 2019–2020 under the conditions of integrated control of water and fertilizer with mulch drip irrigation. Five combinations of reduction in chemical fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer (OF1, OF2, OF3, OF4, and OF5) were used to investigate the influences of chemical fertilizer combined with organic liquid fertilizer on the leaf area index (LAI), canopy openness (DIFN), mean foliage tilt angle (MTA), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), canopy apparent photosynthesis (CAP), and yield and quality of cotton. The results show that among the different fertilization treatments, the OF2 treatment had the best results, not only ensuring a suitable LAI (4.8) and maintaining a large DIFN (0.1) but also increasing the light transmittance of the middle and lower canopies (0.02–0.03). At the same time, CAP increased significantly compared with that in the CF treatment, with an average increase of 12.8%. The high value lasted for a long time, and the late decay stage remained at 8.9 μmol m−2 s−1. The ratio of the population respiration rate to total photosynthesis (CR/TCAP) decreased significantly, with an average decrease of 13.5%. Compared with that in CF, the lint yield increased by 27.0% in the other treatments. The correlation analysis showed that lint yield was positively correlated with the relative chlorophyll content (SPAD value), PAR transmittance (PARU) and CAP in the upper canopy (p < 0.05) and significantly negatively correlated with PAR transmittance (PARM) in the middle canopy and PAR transmittance (PARD) and CR/TCAP in the lower canopy (p < 0.05). Therefore, under mulch drip irrigation, the OF2 treatment (OF + 80% CF) improved the canopy structure of cotton at the late growth stage, increased the population photosynthetic rate, and increased lint yield significantly; thus, this approach can be used as an effective fertilization method to achieve the goal of decreasing costs and increasing efficiency in cotton production

Comprehensive two-dimensional chromatography for analyzing complex samples: recent new advances

Comprehensive two dimensional chromatography (C2DC) including comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC), comprehensive two dimensional liquid chromatography (LC x LC) and comprehensive two dimensional supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC x SFC) has become an effective tool to separate complex samples. GC x GC is suitable for the separation of volatile and semi-volatile compounds while LC x LC and SFC x SFC for semi-and non-volatile compounds. This review highlights the fundamental advances of C2DC on the interface techniques, orthogonality and data handling in recent years. The C2DC methods were applied in petrochemicals, medicines, foods, metabolomics, environment, etc

Molecular interaction study of flavonoids with human serum albumin using native mass spectrometry and molecular modeling

Noncovalent interactions between proteins and small-molecule ligands widely exist in biological bodies and play significant roles in many physiological and pathological processes. Native mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a new powerful tool to study noncovalent interactions by directly analyzing the ligand-protein complexes. In this work, an ultrahigh-resolution native MS method based on a 15-T SolariX XR Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer was firstly used to investigate the interaction between human serum albumin (HSA) and flavonoids. Various flavonoids with similar structure were selected to unravel the relationship between the structure of flavonoids and their binding affinity for HSA. It was found that the position of the hydroxyl groups and double bond of flavonoids could influence the noncovalent interaction. Through a competitive experiment between HSA binding site markers and apigenin, the subdomain IIA (site 1) of HSA was determined as the binding site for flavonoids. Moreover, a cooperative allosteric interaction between apigenin and ibuprofen was found from their different HSA binding sites, which was further verified by circular dichroism spectroscopy and molecular docking studies. These results show that native MS is a useful tool to investigate the molecular interaction between a protein and its ligands

Phenotypes/endotypes-driven treatment in asthma

Purpose of review Target therapy is the necessary step towards personalized medicine. The definition of asthma phenotypes and underlying mechanisms (endotypes) represent a key point in the development of new asthma treatments. Big data analysis, biomarker research and the availability of monoclonal antibodies, targeting specific cytokines is leading to the rapid evolution of knowledge. In this review, we sought to outline many of the recent advances in the field. Recent findings Several attempts have been made to identify asthma phenotypes, sometimes with contrasting results. More success has been obtained concerning the pathogenetic mechanism of specific asthma patterns with the consequent identification of biomarkers and development of effective ad hoc treatment. Summary We are in the middle of an extraordinary revolution of our mode of thinking about and approaching asthma. All the effort in the identification of clusters of patients with different disease clinical patterns, prognosis and response to treatment is closely linked to the identification of endotypes (Th2-low and Th2-high). This approach has allowed the development of the specific treatments (anti IgE, Anti IL5 and IL5R) that are now available and is leading to new ones