Two new species of the genus Pholcus (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Taihang Mountains, China, with first report of the female of Pholcus oculosus

Two new species of the genus Pholcus from Taihang Mountains, China, are reported: Pholcus papilionis sp. n. and P. suboculosus sp. n. The female P. oculosus Zhang & Zhang, 2000 is reported for the first time

Quantitative susceptibility mapping using multi-channel convolutional neural networks with dipole-adaptive multi-frequency inputs

Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) quantifies the distribution of magnetic susceptibility and shows great potential in assessing tissue contents such as iron, myelin, and calcium in numerous brain diseases. The accuracy of QSM reconstruction was challenged by an ill-posed field-to-susceptibility inversion problem, which is related to the impaired information near the zero-frequency response of the dipole kernel. Recently, deep learning methods demonstrated great capability in improving the accuracy and efficiency of QSM reconstruction. However, the construction of neural networks in most deep learning-based QSM methods did not take the intrinsic nature of the dipole kernel into account. In this study, we propose a dipole kernel-adaptive multi-channel convolutional neural network (DIAM-CNN) method for the dipole inversion problem in QSM. DIAM-CNN first divided the original tissue field into high-fidelity and low-fidelity components by thresholding the dipole kernel in the frequency domain, and it then inputs the two components as additional channels into a multichannel 3D Unet. QSM maps from the calculation of susceptibility through multiple orientation sampling (COSMOS) were used as training labels and evaluation reference. DIAM-CNN was compared with two conventional model-based methods [morphology enabled dipole inversion (MEDI) and improved sparse linear equation and least squares (iLSQR) and one deep learning method (QSMnet)]. High-frequency error norm (HFEN), peak signal-to-noise-ratio (PSNR), normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE), and the structural similarity index (SSIM) were reported for quantitative comparisons. Experiments on healthy volunteers demonstrated that the DIAM-CNN results had superior image quality to those of the MEDI, iLSQR, or QSMnet results. Experiments on data with simulated hemorrhagic lesions demonstrated that DIAM-CNN produced fewer shadow artifacts around the bleeding lesion than the compared methods. This study demonstrates that the incorporation of dipole-related knowledge into the network construction has a potential to improve deep learning-based QSM reconstruction

The Optimal Timing of Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation in HIV-Infected Patients with Cryptococcal Meningitis: A Multicenter Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

The optimal timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with cryptococcal meningitis (HIV/CM) is controversial. We designed a clinical trial to inves-tigate the optimal timing for ART initiation in HIV/CM patients. This will be a multicenter, prospective, and randomized clinical trial. Each enrolled patient will be randomized into either the early ART arm or the deferred ART arm. We will compare the mortality and incident rates of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome between the two arms. We hope to elucidate the optimal timing for ART initiation in HIV/CM patients

Effect of salt stress on growth and physiological parameters of sorghum genotypes at an early growth stage

404-411Physiological regulation affects plant salinity tolerance. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of salt stress on the physiological regulation in sorghum at early growth stage. Two sorghum genotypes (GT), Bayeqi (salt-tolerant) and PL212 (salt-sensitive), were grown in an artificial climate chamber with a nutrition solution containing 0，80, 160, and 240 mM NaCl. Results showed that salt-tolerant sorghum had enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes including catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and increased stress-related osmolytes including free amino acids, and reducing and soluble sugars. Furthermore, ion regulation plays an important role in the osmotic adjustment. Results also suggest that K+/Na+ and Ca2+/Na+ ratios are associated with tolerance under salt-stressed environments and higher Na+ and lower K+ and Ca2+ concentrations are deleterious to sorghum growth. As a result, under salt-stressed environments, the salt-tolerant sorghum GT had better growth performance than salt-sensitive sorghum GT, which was evidenced by a greater plant high, leaf area, leaf fresh weight, and root fresh weight. Overall, under salt-stressed environments, the salt-tolerant sorghum GT had better growth performance including yield than salt-sensitive sorghum GT, which was evidenced by a greater plant high, leaf area, leaf fresh weight, and root fresh weight

Recent Progress in Multifunctional Graphene-Based Nanocomposites for Photocatalysis and Electrocatalysis Application

The global energy shortage and environmental degradation are two major issues of concern in today’s society. The production of renewable energy and the treatment of pollutants are currently the mainstream research directions in the field of photocatalysis. In addition, over the last decade or so, graphene (GR) has been widely used in photocatalysis due to its unique physical and chemical properties, such as its large light-absorption range, high adsorption capacity, large specific surface area, and excellent electronic conductivity. Here, we first introduce the unique properties of graphene, such as its high specific surface area, chemical stability, etc. Then, the basic principles of photocatalytic hydrolysis, pollutant degradation, and the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 are summarized. We then give an overview of the optimization strategies for graphene-based photocatalysis and the latest advances in its application. Finally, we present challenges and perspectives for graphene-based applications in this field in light of recent developments

Daidzin decreases blood glucose and lipid in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice

Purpose: To investigate the ameliorative effect of daidzin (DZ) on diabetes in streptozotocin (STZ)- induced diabetic Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice, with a view to determining its usefulness in the treatment of diabetes.Methods: The effect of DZ (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) on blood glucose was investigated in both normal and STZ-induced diabetic mice with glibenclamide (3 mg/kg) and metformin (400 mg/kg) as positive control, respectively. Serum or hepatic levels of lipid, proinflammatory factors, malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured. Glucosidase activity assay and glucose uptake by C2C12 myotubes were performed in vitro and the expression of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in C2C12 cells was determined by western blot.Results: DZ (200 and 400 mg/kg) did not decrease fasting blood glucose in normal mice but inhibited starch-induced postprandial glycemia. Oral administration of 400 mg/kg of DZ for 14 days significantly decreased mouse blood glucose (p < 0.01), as well as serum total cholesterol (TC, p < 0.01), triglycerides (TG, p < 0.01), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c, p < 0.01) levels in STZ-induced hyperglycemic mice and improved oral glucose tolerance. The serum and hepatic activity of SOD was enhanced (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively) while MDA level decreased (p < 0.001). Blood concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6, p < 0.001), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α, p < 0.01), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1, p < 0.01) were also significantly reduced. In vitro glucosidase activity results showed that DZ inhibited α-glucosidase with IC50 values of 82, 98 and 389 μg/mL for α- glucosidase from S. cerevisiae, Rhizopus sp. and rat intestines, respectively. It also stimulated glucose uptake and GLUT4 membrane translocation in C2C12 myotubes at 20 μM (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Oral administration of DZ is effective in alleviating diabetic hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and inflammation. Inhibition of α-glucosidase and stimulation of glucose consumption by muscles may account for its inhibitory effect on blood glucose.Keywords: Daidzin, Diabetes, Inflammation, Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Malondialdehyde (MDA), Glucosidase, C2C12 myotubes, Glucose transporte