Generally, straw return can reduce soil freezing depth and inhibit soil evaporation in cold/dry agricultural regions. However, when crushed corn straw is returned with thoroughly mixed with the topsoil (0–20 cm), the influence on water and heat flux during soil freezing and thawing is still unclear. In this study, two years straw return experiments of total 9 treatments for 3 straw returns (1.6, 0.8 kg m−2, no return) and 3 autumn irrigation amounts (180, 135, 90 mm) were conducted in 27 lysmeters with bottomless. Spatial and temporal dynamics of water and heat within soil profiles were continuously observed for freezing and thawing period. The results showed that straw return inhibited the decrease and increase of soil temperature during the freeze-thaw period. Furthermore, straw return reduced the freezing rate and delayed the complete thawing date. Results showed that effect of straw return on soil temperature and water were affected obviously by irrigation amount. Finally, straw return can restrained soil evaporation after soil thawing completely, and the soil unfrozen water content and the total water content were higher for treatments with the straw return to topsoil. Our findings can enhance the understanding to soil temperature and water dynamics for freeze-thaw period.
Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the main cause of heart failure in diabetic patients. Oxidative stress is considered to be one of the most important mechanisms. Thus, treatments targeting oxidative stress may represent suitable strategies for the effective prevention of DCM. Nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factor responsible to oxidative stress, goes to nuclei and binds to antioxidant response elements of promoters of several antioxidant genes. Metallothionein (MT) is a protein that can bind heavy metal ions such as zinc (Zn) and also a potent scavenger of free radicals because of its high thiol contents. Genetically overexpressing either Nrf2 or MT specifically in the heart protects from DCM. In addition, we also showed that induction of MT with Zn or activation of Nrf2 with sulforaphane (SFN) also partially protects from DCM. Here we further explore whether up-regulation of both simultaneously with Zn and SFN combination would provide a better protection against DCM than either alone. OVE26 mouse is one genetic type 1 diabetic model with the diabetes onset at 3 weeks old and survival more than one year without insulin treatment, so it is very good model for diabetic complication study. 5-week old OVE26 mice were confirmed with hyperglycemia and then treated with SFN (0.5 mg/kg) and/or Zn (5 mg/kg) for 18 weeks. 23-week old OVE26 mice showed typical DCM, reflected by cardiac dysfunction and remodeling fibrosis by echocardiography and collagen staining, along significantly oxidative damage, and inflammatory responses using western blotting and real-time PCR. Treatment of OVE26 mice either with SFN or Zn significantly prevented the development of DCM, along with up-regulating Nrf2 function and overexpressing MT protein, respectively, but the best protection from DCM is in the SFN/Zn group. Therefore, combined use of SFN with Zn may provide a better protection against DCM than SFN or Zn alone for diabetic patients. Disclosure J. Wang: None. W. Wang: None. L. Cai: None. Funding American Diabetes Association (1-15-BS-018, 1-18-IBS-082 to L.C.)
It has been nearly 35 months since the COVID-19 outbreak. The pathogen SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into several variants. Among them, Omicron is the fifth variant of concern which have rapidly spread globally during the past 8 months. Omicron variant shows different characteristics from previous variants, which is highly infectious, highly transmissible, minimally pathogenic, vaccine and antibody tolerant; however, it is less likely to cause severe illness, resulting in fewer deaths. Omicron has evolved into five main lineages, including BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, and BA.5. Before BA.5, Omicron BA.2 sublineage was the dominant strain all over the world for several months. The experience of prevention and treatment against BA.2 is worth studying and learning for overcoming other Omicron subvariants. Although the Omicron subvariant BA.2 is significantly less severe than that caused by ancestral strains, it is still far more dangerous than influenza, and its long-term sequelae are unknown. Effective treatments are currently limited; therefore, effective defense may be the key to controlling the epidemic today, rather than just “living with” the virus.
As a transgenic type 1 diabetic model, OVE26 mice develop diabetic nephropathy (DN) with the feature close to advanced DN in human, which makes it a valuable rodent model to study DN. Nevertheless, sexual differences in renal lesions, especially dynamic progression with different ages, remain undefined in OVE26 mice. To explore these issues, male and female OVE26 and wild type nondiabetic FVB mice at 4-, 12-, 24 - and 36-weeks old were used (N=6). Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) was detected to evaluate renal function. Renal histopathology and immunochemical and Western blotting protein expression of inflammation, tubular epithelial-myofibroblast transdifferentiation and fibrosis markers were examined. In FVB mice, blood glucose, triglyceride, UACR and podocytes numbers were constant during aging and comparable in male and female. Age-dependent slightly increase of glomerular mesangial matrix, inflammatory cells infiltration and renal fibrosis were observed in FVB mice. Compared with the age- and sex- matched FVB mice, male OVE26 mice developed hyperglycemia, mesangial matrix accumulation and increased trend of triglyceride at 4-week-old and albuminuria, glomerular enlargement, and upregulations of TGF-β1, α-SMA at 12 weeks old. Significant loss of podocytes, tubular dilation, collagen accumulation, increased trend of macrophage and T lymphocytes infiltrations, and increased protein levels of TNF-α, ICAM and fibronectin in kidney were observed in 24-week old male OVE26 mice. Compared with age-matched male OVE26 mice, female OVE26 mice had significant hypertriglyceridemia, worse renal function and kidney lesions at older age, including higher UACR and sustained loss of podocytes at age of 24 weeks; more inflammatory cells infiltration and renal fibrosis at age of 36 weeks. Our findings suggest the sexual difference in the progression of DN in OVE26 mice to provide evidence for researchers to properly select the age and sex of OVE26 mice in the future type 1 DN study. Disclosure W. Wang: None. L. Cai: None.
Background Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is the most prevalent form of chronic kidney disease (CKD), marked by diverse pathological patterns and variable prognostic outcomes. Nutritional indexes are crucial for disease assessment and prognosis prediction. This study investigates associations between nutritional indexes and renal function in patients with IgAN. Methods A cohort of 736 adults diagnosed with IgAN, who underwent renal biopsy at the First Hospital of Jilin University between January 2010 and October 2022, was examined. Clinical and laboratory data were reviewed, and four nutritional indexes were calculated: controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score, geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI), body mass index (BMI), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI). Cox-proportional hazard analysis evaluated factors associated with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Results Patients with ESRD showed significantly lower GNRI (91.84 vs. 98.94, p < 0.001) and median PNI (41.90 vs. 46.30, p < 0.001), with higher median CONUT score (2.00 vs. 1.00, p = 0.001) compared to those without ESRD. PNI, GNRI, and CONUT scores correlated significantly with C2 in MEST-C classification. Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated increased ESRD probability in individuals with specific thresholds of PNI, GNRI, or CONUT scores. Additionally, GNRI emerged as an independent predictor of ESRD (hazard ratio: 0.963, 95% CI: 0.940–0.979, p < 0.001), along with platelet count, serum creatinine, eGFR (CKD-EPI), and triglyceride levels. Conclusion GNRI, PNI, and CONUT scores hold potential in reflecting IgAN severity and predicting ESRD risk. GNRI especially may serve as a valuable tool for identifying high-risk individuals for ESRD in IgAN.
(1) BACKGROUND: 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO) is involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). In the present study, we investigated whether 12-LO inhibition may ameliorate type-2 DN (T2DN) by interfering with insulin resistance (IR); (2) METHODS: Rat glomerular mesangial cells, glomeruli and skeletal muscles were isolated and used in this study. Kidney histological changes were confirmed by periodic-acid Schiff staining; mRNA expression was detected by competitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; and the protein level was determined by Western blot and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively; (3) RESULTS: The inhibition of 12-LO attenuated microalbuminuria (MAU) increases in type-2 diabetic rats, but not in type-1 diabetic rats. Infusion of 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12(S)-HETE) significantly increased the expression of angiotensin II (Ang II) and Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1R), but decreased the expression of AT1R-associated protein (ATRAP) in rat glomeruli, compared to the control. An in vitro study revealed that both 12(S)-HETE and insulin upregulated AT1R expression in rat mesangial cells. In the presence of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor, SB202190, the 12(S)-HETE-induced ATRAP reduction was significantly abolished. Interestingly, 12-LO inhibition did not influence AT1R expression in type-1 diabetic rats, but significantly abolished the increased AT1R and Ang II expression in glomeruli of type-2 diabetic rats. Furthermore, the inhibition of 12-LO significantly corrected impaired insulin sensitivity and fast serum insulin level, as well as the p-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) reduction in skeletal muscle of type-2 diabetic rats; (4) CONCLUSION: The inhibition of 12-LO potentially ameliorated MAU by preventing IR through the downregulation of glomerular AT1R expression in T2DN.
Abstract BackgroundPorcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a pathogen causing serious disease and resulting in severe economic losses in the swine industry. In recent years, although China has adopted a large-scale vaccine immunization strategy, many types of PEDV strains, including classical attenuated vaccine strains, have been discovered in the immunized pig herds. Therefore, monitoring the prevalence of different types of PEDV strains is particularly important for the production of pigs and the safety evaluation of related attenuated vaccines MethodsIn the study, a one-step real-time fluorescent reverse transcription PCR (one-step real-time RT-PCR) assay targeting 24-nucleotide deletion in the ORF1 region of three PEDV classical attenuated vaccine strains (derived from classical strains) was established, which could effectively distinguish PEDV classical attenuated vaccine strains and wild-type strains. ResultsIn our study, the RNA detection limits for PEDV wild-type strains and classical attenuated vaccine strains were 3.0×10 3 copies and 3.0×10 2 copies, respectively. This assay was highly specific for PEDV, with no cross-reactivity for other viruses, causing diarrheal disease. A total of 117 swine fecal samples were analysed by this established real-time RT-PCR assay, indicating that classical attenuated vaccine strains were present in the swine herds in Gansu province, China. Additionally, a pair of primers and two probes of the established assay can be placed in one reaction tube to distinguish PEDV classical attenuated vaccine strains and wild-type strains. ConclusionOur results provided an effective and cheap technology platform for clinical rapid identification testing and epidemiological investigations of PEDV wild-type strains and classical attenuated vaccine strains
Background: Cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs) are mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to assess the cardiovascular safety of new antidiabetic medications before entering the market. However, CVOTs often involve highly selective populations and results may not generalize to real-world settings. Methods: Our study aimed to synthesize observational studies to assess the generalizability of CVOTs to real-world settings. We systematically reviewed observational studies that emulated previous CVOTs for dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, and sodium glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors among patients with type 2 diabetes. We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases for observational studies that focused on trial emulation or cross-sectional studies that reported the proportion of real-world patients eligible for completed CVOTs. Two independent reviewers screened articles, extracted data, and assessed study concordance with randomized controlled trial (RCT) results. Results: Nineteen studies were included in our systematic review, including four cohort studies that emulated previous RCTs and 15 cross-sectional studies that evaluated trial eligibility. Results between RCTs and real-world data (RWD) were concordant for all drug classes in finding non-inferiority. The median eligibility percentage ranged from 13% to 31% for SGLT-2 inhibitor trials and 12% to 43% for GLP-1 receptor agonist trials. Conclusions: These results suggest that, while RCTs and RWD are concordant in their estimates, the trials lack representativeness. More research is needed on the replication of CVOTs using RWD to understand how different replication methods may impact findings.
The outcome for patients with recurrent and metastatic germ cell tumors can be dismal, and novel salvage therapies are required for these patients. Here we describe a case of metastatic germ cell tumor in which 30% of cells were positive for PD-L1. This tumor achieved a durable response to toripalimab, a monoclonal anti-PD-1 antibody. Follow-up for 36 months post-treatment confirmed no disease progression. Continuous remission was maintained even when treatment was interrupted after 18 months because of an immune-related adverse event (allergic rhinitis). Thus, toripalimab may be an alternative choice for salvage therapy in patients with recurrent and metastatic germ cell tumors.
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