The First Case of Ischemia-Free Kidney Transplantation in Humans

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) has been considered an inevitable event in organ transplantation since the first successful kidney transplant was performed in 1954. To avoid IRI, we have established a novel procedure called ischemia-free organ transplantation. Here, we describe the first case of ischemia-free kidney transplantation (IFKT). Materials and Methods: The kidney graft was donated by a 19-year-old brain-dead donor. The recipient was a 47-year-old man with end-stage diabetic nephropathy. The graft was procured, preserved, and implanted without cessation of blood supply using normothermic machine perfusion. Results: The graft appearance, perfusion flow, and urine production suggested that the kidney was functioning well-during the whole procedure. The creatinine dropped rapidly to normal range within 3 days post-transplantation. The levels of serum renal injury markers were low post-transplantation. No rejection or vascular or infectious complications occurred. The patient had an uneventful recovery. Conclusion: This paper marks the first case of IFKT in humans. This innovation may offer a unique solution to optimizing transplant outcomes in kidney transplantation

Biomechanics and Utility of Shallow Soil Fixation by Sabina Valgaris Ant. Roots in Arid and Semiarid Soils

Aim: To investigate the biomechanical ability and utility of Sabina valgaris Ant. roots for soil fixation in arid and semiarid coal mining regions. Methods: Direct rapid shear and tensile strengths of shallow soil (~1.5 m) root samples were examined at 12.5 kPa, 25 kPa, 50 kPa, and 100 kPa. Results: Soil samples exhibited mean water content of 4.34 % and dry density of 1.35 g/cm3, though saturated soil (46 %) water content was 17.2 %. Cohesion of Sabina valgaris root-soil composites gradually increased with root diameter (P0.05). Friction coefficients of soil-root and soil-soil interfaces were similar, obeying Mohr-Coulomb theory and exhibiting a sclerotic curve. Shear strength of Sabina valgaris Ant. roots were consistently higher than pure soil. In practical applications, the change in tensile forces of Sabina valgaris Ant. roots with plant growth stage are considerable, with lower tensile forces observed during the animated period than in early growth. Conclusion: Increasing root diameter improves tensile properties of shallow soils. These findings indicate that Sabina valgaris Ant. is an appropriate plant for achieving soil fixation and erosion prevention in arid and semiarid regions, though further study will be required to determine their wider applicability

Market opportunities do not explain the ability of herders to meet livelihood objectives over winter on the Mongolian Plateau

Drylands under pastoral land use are considered one of the most vulnerable social-ecological systems to global climate change, but the abilities of different adaptive strategies to adapt to the impacts of different extreme weather events on herders’ livelihood have received little attention in the drylands. Herders on the Mongolian Plateau (MP; including Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China and Mongolia), have had a long history of adapting climatic variability and extreme weather events. However, it is unclear how changes such as increased levels of infrastructure and market integration affect the ability of herders to achieve the two key livelihood objectives: the minimisation of the death and abortion rates of livestock in the winter. Here, we used remotely sensed and household survey data to map, model and explore the climate exposure and sensitivity of herders in the settled area (Inner Mongolia of China) and nomadic area (Mongolia) in the winter of 2012–2013. We aimed to quantify the multi-scaled characteristics of both climate exposure and sensitivity through the lens of key adaptive strategies utilized by herders. Our results showed that the higher levels of infrastructure and market integration, and the lower levels of remoteness on the MP did not increase the herders' ability to achieve the two key livelihood objectives. Our results also suggested that exposure to the snow that is comparatively greater than the long-term average (cumulative exposure) may be more important in determining the social-ecological vulnerability than absolute exposure. We suggested that neither the risk management strategies available to these herders, nor the demographic variables, could compensate for the mode of production governing the pastoral systems. Our study could provide further evidence for the complex and scaled nature of climate exposure and sensitivity, and the results imply that any analysis of the relationship between exposure, sensitivity and vulnerability of pastoral households to climate change in the drylands will require a multi-scaled and interdisciplinary approach

The Safety of Consuming Water Dropwort Used to Purify Livestock Wastewater Considering Accumulated Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes

Research is lacking on the health risks of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in water dropwort grown in livestock wastewater. Our results showed that antibiotics from livestock wastewater were absorbed and bioaccumulated by water dropwort. The concentration of antibiotics was higher in the roots than in the stems and leaves. The health-risk coefficients of antibiotics in water dropwort were below the threshold (6 to 7.75 × 1012 copies g−1, suggesting the potential risk of intaking ARGs in water dropwort cannot be ignored. Although the safety of consuming water dropwort used to purify livestock wastewater, considering accumulated antibiotics and ARGs, was assessed in this study, more studies should be conducted to ensure we fully understand the health risks

The complete chloroplast genome of Ilex ‘Emily Bruner’, Ilex cornuta ‘Burfordii’ × Ilex latifolia (Aquifoliaceae)

Ilex ‘Emily Bruner’ is an important economic plant with ornamental and ecological functions in southeastern China. In this study, we characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of ‘Emily Bruner’ to investigate its phylogenetic relationship. The entire cp genome of ‘Emily Bruner’ was 157,216 bp in length with 37.68% overall GC content, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 86,721 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,427 bp, which were separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 52,068 bp. The cp genome contained 135 genes, including 90 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on whole cp genome sequences showed that ‘Emily Bruner’ is closest to I. cornuta species

Differences in Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal under Different Temperatures in <i>Oenanthe javanica</i> Cultivars

Plant selection plays a critical role in phytoremediation. However, previous research has focused on comparing different plant species but has ignored different cultivars. Here, a laboratory experiment was performed to analyze the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removal performance of different cultivars of Oenanthe javanica, which are widely employed for phytoremediation in China. Seven cultivars were planted on simulated livestock wastewater with high N and P content prepared with compounds for 22 days in two artificial climate chambers with different temperatures. N and P contents were monitored to estimate the nutrient removal performance of the cultivars. ‘Suzhou Yuanye’ had the highest N removal ability at room temperature (45.33 ± 1.92%) and under cold stress (39.63 ± 2.15%) in 22 days, and it could also remove P effectively (99.32 ± 0.33% at room temperature and 77.50 ± 0.08% under cold stress). ‘Yixing Yuanye’ performed the best in P removal (97.90 ± 2.89% at room temperature and 99.57 ± 0.61% under cold stress). ‘Liyang Baiqin’ performed well in N removal only at room temperature (44.30 ± 1.03%). ‘Suqian Jianye’ had low removal efficiencies for both N and P. From the biomass and N content, we could conclude that the high N removal efficiency of ‘Suzhou Yuanye’ is due to high N assimilation of the plant. However, ‘Yixing Yuanye’ did not show higher P assimilation ability than other cultivars. Taken together, the selection of cultivars is important for phytoremediation projects using O. javanica, and ‘Suzhou Yuanye’ is much more suitable for phytoremediation than other cultivars

Melatonin Ameliorates MI-Induced Cardiac Remodeling and Apoptosis through a JNK/p53-Dependent Mechanism in Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus, a worldwide health threat, is considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The overall cardiovascular risk of diabetes is similar to the one having one myocardial infarction (MI) attack although the precise impact of diabetes on MI-induced myocardial anomalies remains elusive. Given that mortality following MI is much greater in diabetic patients compared to nondiabetic patients, this study was designed to examine the effect of melatonin on MI injury-induced myocardial dysfunction in diabetes. Adult mice were made diabetic using high-fat feeding and streptozotocin (100 mg/kg body weight) prior to MI and were treated with melatonin (50 mg/kg/d, p.o.) for 4 weeks prior to assessment of cardiac geometry and function. The MI procedure in diabetes displayed overt changes in cardiac geometry (chamber dilation and interstitial fibrosis) and functional anomalies (reduced fractional shortening and cardiomyocyte contractile capacity) in association with elevated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation and p53 level. Melatonin treatment markedly attenuated cardiac dysfunction and myocardial fibrosis in post-MI diabetic mice. Furthermore, melatonin decreased JNK phosphorylation, reduced p53 levels, and suppressed apoptosis in hearts from the post-MI diabetic group. In vitro findings revealed that melatonin effectively counteracted high-glucose/high fat-hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and contractile dysfunction through a JNK-mediated mechanism, the effects of which were impaired by the JNK activator anisomycin. In summary, our study suggests that melatonin protects against myocardial injury in post-MI mice with diabetes, which offers a new therapeutic strategy for the management of MI-induced cardiac injury in diabetes