Editorial: Targeting nucleotide metabolism for enhancing antitumor immunity.

Editorial

Pregnancy outcomes in different stages of systemic lupus erythematosus among Chinese women — a retrospective cohort study

Objectives: To analyze the outcomes of pregnancies and risk factors in Chinese women with different stages of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Material and methods: A total of 55 conceptions in 52 patients with SLE between Jan 2007 and Jan 2019 were retrospected systematically from a general hospital graded 3A in China. Medical records provided us a good way to retrieve the clinical parameters and lab data of patients.Results: Pregnant women with SLE activity had significant hyperimmunoglobulin, hypocomplement, low platelet counts, high erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and 24-h urine protein. Hydroxychloroquine had been used to reduce the rates of SLE activity in pregnant women. Logistic regression analysis showed low platelet counts, hypocomplement and 24-h urine protein were significantly correlated with fetal loss. Compared to those in stable stage, the active SLE patients have more risks of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, thrombocytopenia, lupus nephritis and placental infarction, and have worse fetal outcomes, including the higher rate of fetal loss, preterm and asphyxia neonatorum.Conclusions: Different stages of SLE during pregnancy are closely related to maternal and fetal outcomes. It is imperative to provide SLE women with pregnancy consultation and regular multispecialty care

Threshold Effect Analysis of Influence of Age on Live Birth Rate in Poor Ovarian Response Patients Treated by Assisted Reproductive Technology

BackgroundPregnancy outcome in patients with poor ovarian response (POR) has always been one of the difficult problems in reproductive medicine, but there is few threshold effect analysis of influence of age on live birth rate in POR patients treated by assisted reproductive technology (ART) .ObjectiveTo analyze the threshold effect of influence of age on live birth rate in POR patients treated by ART.MethodsAmong 19 185 women who received routine in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) and embryo transplantation in Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, the First People's Hospital of Shangqiu and Fertility Support Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from August 2014 to December 2018, 3 337 patients with POR were selected, and received controlled ovarian stimulation, embryo transplantation by IVF/ICSI and luteal support therapy. The incidence of live birth was analyzed. Univariate and multivariate Logistic analyses were used to analyze the influence of age on live birth in POR patients treated by ART. Moreover, smooth curve fitting and threshold effect analysis were conducted.ResultsOf the 3 337 cases, 1 134 obtained a live birth, the other 2 203 did not, achieving a rate of live birth of 33.98% (1 134/3 337) . Multivariate Logistic analysis result showed that, age was independently associated with live birth in POR patients treated by ART〔OR=0.920, 95%CI (0.902, 0.939) , P<0.01〕. Smooth curve fitting showed that, age was negatively correlated with live birth rate in POR patients treated by ART, but the correlation was not simple linear. Threshold effect analysis results showed that, 32 years old was the threshold for decrease of live birth rate in POR patients treated by ART, namely age did not affect the live birth rate in those ≤32 years old〔OR=1.000, 95%CI (0.998, 1.012) , P=0.38〕, but the live birth rate decreased as age grew in those over 32 years old〔OR=0.800, 95%CI (0.799, 0.823) , P<0.01〕.ConclusionAge was an independent influencing factor of live birth in POR patients treated by ART. The live birth rate may decrease as age grows in these patients over 32 years old

Distinct biogeographic patterns for archaea, bacteria, and fungi along the vegetation gradient at the continental scale in Eastern China

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in mSystems 2 (2017): e00174-16, doi:10.1128/mSystems.00174-16.The natural forest ecosystem in Eastern China, from tropical forest to boreal forest, has declined due to cropland development during the last 300 years, yet little is known about the historical biogeographic patterns and driving processes for the major domains of microorganisms along this continental-scale natural vegetation gradient. We predicted the biogeographic patterns of soil archaeal, bacterial, and fungal communities across 110 natural forest sites along a transect across four vegetation zones in Eastern China. The distance decay relationships demonstrated the distinct biogeographic patterns of archaeal, bacterial, and fungal communities. While historical processes mainly influenced bacterial community variations, spatially autocorrelated environmental variables mainly influenced the fungal community. Archaea did not display a distance decay pattern along the vegetation gradient. Bacterial community diversity and structure were correlated with the ratio of acid oxalate-soluble Fe to free Fe oxides (Feo/Fed ratio). Fungal community diversity and structure were influenced by dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and free aluminum (Ald), respectively. The role of these environmental variables was confirmed by the correlations between dominant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and edaphic variables. However, most of the dominant OTUs were not correlated with the major driving variables for the entire communities. These results demonstrate that soil archaea, bacteria, and fungi have different biogeographic patterns and driving processes along this continental-scale natural vegetation gradient, implying different community assembly mechanisms and ecological functions for archaea, bacteria, and fungi in soil ecosystems.This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 41520104001), the 111 Project, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

An alternative method of Bakri balloon placement for postpartum hemorrhage after vaginal delivery

Objectives: We developed a new Bakri balloon tamponade (BBT) placement technique after vaginal delivery, which aimed to be faster without balloon slippage. This study compared the new method with standard placement of BBT in women with postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) after vaginal delivery. Material and methods: This study was undertaken of women who underwent vaginal delivery at the obstetrics and gynecology departments of the Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Hospital for Women and Children, and Si Chuan JINXIN Women and Children Hospital between January 2014 and December 2020. Women who underwent BBT for PPH were grouped according to placement method into the old-BBT group and the new-BBT group. Results: Of 20487 childbirths by vaginal delivery, 512 (2.50%) had PPH, 77 women underwent BBT (old-BBT n = 28, new-BBT n = 49). Background characteristics were similar except prothrombin time (PT, p < 0.01) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT, p < 0.004) were lower in the new-BBT group than the old-BBT group. The operation time was shorter in the new-BBT group (p < 0.001) with less bleeding (p < 0.003) and saline injection (p < 0.001). A balloon slippage was less likely (p < 0.008) and postoperative bleeding (p < 0.01), transfusion rate (p < 0.03), transfusion volume (p < 0.002), and hospital stay was lower in the new-BBT group (p < 0.015). Multivariate analysis suggested PT (OR = 0.039, 95% CI: 0.002–0.730, p < 0.030), international normalized ratio (OR = 8.244, 95% CI: 3.807–17.850, p < 0.009), and BBT method (OR = 5.200, 95% CI: 1.745-15.493, p < 0.003), were associated with requiring a blood transfusion. Conclusions: This method of BBT placement reduced operation time, balloon slippage, bleeding, and hospital stay in women with PPH after vaginal delivery

Effects of water stress on starch synthesis and accumulation of two rice cultivars at different growth stages

Rice is a water intensive crop and soil water conditions affect rice yield and quality. However, there is limited research on the starch synthesis and accumulation of rice under different soil water conditions at different growth stages. Thus, a pot experiment was conducted to explore the effects of IR72 (indica) and Nanjing (NJ) 9108 (japonica) rice cultivars under flood-irrigated treatment (CK, 0 kPa), light water stress treatment (L, -20 ± 5 kPa), moderate water stress treatment (M, -40 ± 5 kPa) and severe water stress treatment (S, -60 ± 5 kPa) on the starch synthesis and accumulation and rice yield at booting stage (T1), flowering stage (T2) and filling stage (T3), respectively. Under LT treatment, the total soluble sugar and sucrose contents of both cultivars decreased while the amylose and total starch contents increased. Starch synthesis-related enzyme activities and their peak activities at mid-late growth stage increased as well. However, applying MT and ST treatments produced the opposite effects. The 1000-grain weight of both cultivars increased under LT treatment while the seed setting rate increased only under LT3 treatment. Compared with CK, water stress at booting stage decreased grain yield. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed that LT3 got the highest comprehensive score while ST1 got lowest for both cultivars. Furthermore, the comprehensive score of both cultivars under the same water stress treatment followed the trend of T3 > T2 > T1, and NJ 9108 had a better drought-resistant ability than IR72. Compared with CK, the grain yield under LT3 increased by 11.59% for IR72 and 16.01% for NJ 9108, respectively. Overall, these results suggested that light water stress at filling stage could be an effective method to enhance starch synthesis-related enzyme activities, promote starch synthesis and accumulation and increase grain yield

Nemo-like kinase drives Foxp3 stability and is critical for maintenance of immune tolerance by regulatory T cells

Summary: The Foxp3 transcription factor is a crucial determinant of both regulatory T (TREG) cell development and their functional maintenance. Appropriate modulation of tolerogenic immune responses therefore requires the tight regulation of Foxp3 transcriptional output, and this involves both transcriptional and post-translational regulation. Here, we show that during T cell activation, phosphorylation of Foxp3 in TREG cells can be regulated by a TGF-β activated kinase 1 (TAK1)-Nemo-like kinase (NLK) signaling pathway. NLK interacts and phosphorylates Foxp3 in TREG cells, resulting in the stabilization of protein levels by preventing association with the STUB1 E3-ubiquitin protein ligase. Conditional TREG cell NLK-knockout (NLKΔTREG) results in decreased TREG cell-mediated immunosuppression in vivo, and NLK-deficient TREG cell animals develop more severe experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Our data suggest a molecular mechanism, in which stimulation of TCR-mediated signaling can induce a TAK1-NLK pathway to sustain Foxp3 transcriptional activity through the stabilization of protein levels, thereby maintaining TREG cell suppressive function. : The maintenance of Foxp3 expression is critical for correct TREG cell function. Fleskens et al. demonstrate a molecular mechanism in which TCR engagement can stabilize Foxp3 protein expression through TAK1-NLK-regulated phosphorylation, thereby maintaining TREG cell suppressive function. Keywords: Foxp3, phosphorylation, regulatory T cell, NLK, TCR, ubiquitination, immune toleranc

Honokiol Crosses BBB and BCSFB, and Inhibits Brain Tumor Growth in Rat 9L Intracerebral Gliosarcoma Model and Human U251 Xenograft Glioma Model

BACKGROUND: Gliosarcoma is one of the most common malignant brain tumors, and anti-angiogenesis is a promising approach for the treatment of gliosarcoma. However, chemotherapy is obstructed by the physical obstacle formed by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). Honokiol has been known to possess potent activities in the central nervous system diseases, and anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor properties. Here, we hypothesized that honokiol could cross the BBB and BCSFB for the treatment of gliosarcoma. METHODOLOGIES: We first evaluated the abilities of honokiol to cross the BBB and BCSFB by measuring the penetration of honokiol into brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid, and compared the honokiol amount taken up by brain with that by other tissues. Then we investigated the effect of honokiol on the growth inhibition of rat 9L gliosarcoma cells and human U251 glioma cells in vitro. Finally we established rat 9L intracerebral gliosarcoma model in Fisher 344 rats and human U251 xenograft glioma model in nude mice to investigate the anti-tumor activity. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We showed for the first time that honokiol could effectively cross BBB and BCSFB. The ratios of brain/plasma concentration were respectively 1.29, 2.54, 2.56 and 2.72 at 5, 30, 60 and 120 min. And about 10% of honokiol in plasma crossed BCSFB into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In vitro, honokiol produced dose-dependent inhibition of the growth of rat 9L gliosarcoma cells and human U251 glioma cells with IC(50) of 15.61 µg/mL and 16.38 µg/mL, respectively. In vivo, treatment with 20 mg/kg body weight of honokiol (honokiol was given twice per week for 3 weeks by intravenous injection) resulted in significant reduction of tumor volume (112.70±10.16 mm(3)) compared with vehicle group (238.63±19.69 mm(3), P = 0.000), with 52.77% inhibiting rate in rat 9L intracerebral gliosarcoma model, and (1450.83±348.36 mm(3)) compared with vehicle group (2914.17±780.52 mm(3), P = 0.002), with 50.21% inhibiting rate in human U251 xenograft glioma model. Honokiol also significantly improved the survival over vehicle group in the two models (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study provided the first evidence that honokiol could effectively cross BBB and BCSFB and inhibit brain tumor growth in rat 9L intracerebral gliosarcoma model and human U251 xenograft glioma model. It suggested a significant strategy for offering a potential new therapy for the treatment of gliosarcoma

A Novel RFID-Based Sensing Method for Low-Cost Bolt Loosening Monitoring

In coal mines, bolt loosening in the cage guide is affected by the harsh environmental factors and cage hoist vibration, leading to significant threats to work safety. It is crucial, to this effect, to successfully detect the status of multipoint bolts of guide structures. This paper proposes a system to monitor bolt status in harsh environments established based on the RFID technique. A proof-of-concept model was demonstrated consisting of a bolt gearing system, passive UHF RFID tags, a reader, and monitoring software. A tinfoil metal film is fixed on the retaining plate and an RFID tag bonded to a large gear, with the bolt to be detected fixed in the center of a smaller gear. The radio-frequency signal cannot be received by the reader if the tag is completely obscured by the tinfoil, and if the bolt is loose, the tag’s antenna is exposed when the gear revolves. A radio-frequency signal that carries corresponding bolt’s information is transmitted by the RFID tag to the RFID reader due to coil coupling, identifying loose bolt location and reporting them in the software. Confirmatory test results revealed that the system indeed successfully detects bolt loosening and comparative test results (based on a reed switch multipoint bolt loosening monitor system) provided valuable information regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed system

Wetland Mapping Using HJ-1A/B Hyperspectral Images and an Adaptive Sparse Constrained Least Squares Linear Spectral Mixture Model

In this study, we proposed an adaptive sparse constrained least squares linear spectral mixture model (SCLS-LSMM) to map wetlands in a sophisticated scene. It includes three procedures: (1) estimating the abundance based on sparse constrained least squares method with all endmembers in the spectral library, (2) selecting “active” endmember combinations for each pixel based on the estimated abundances and (3) estimating abundances based on the linear spectral unmixing algorithm only with the adaptively selected endmember combinations. The performances of the proposed SCLS-LSMM on wetland vegetation communities mapping were compared with the traditional full constrained least squares linear spectral mixture model (FCLS-LSMM) using HJ-1A/B hyperspectral images. The accuracy assessment results showed that the proposed SCLS-LSMM obtained a significantly better performance with a systematic error (SE) of –0.014 and a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.087 for Reed marsh, and a SE of 0.004 and a RMSE of 0.059 for Weedy meadow, compared with the traditional FCLS-LSMM. The proposed methods improved the unmixing accuracies of wetlands’ vegetation communities and have the potential to understand the process of wetlands’ degradation under the impacts of climate changes and permafrost degradation