Abstract A number of emerging studies suggest that air pollutants such as hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) and ammonia (NH 3 ) may cause a decline in spermatozoa motility. The impact and underlying mechanisms are currently unknown. Boar spermatozoa ( in vitro ) and peripubertal male mice ( in vivo ) were exposed to H 2 S and/or NH 3 to evaluate the impact on spermatozoa motility. Na 2 S and/or NH 4 Cl reduced the motility of boar spermatozoa in vitro. Na 2 S and/or NH 4 Cl disrupted multiple signaling pathways including decreasing Na + /K + ATPase activity and protein kinase B (AKT) levels, activating Adenosine 5′-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN), and increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) to diminish boar spermatozoa motility. The increase in ROS might have activated PTEN, which in turn diminished AKT activation. The ATP deficiency (indicated by reduction in Na + /K + ATPase activity), transforming growth factor (TGF β ) activated kinase-1 (TAK1) activation, and AKT deactivation stimulated AMPK, which caused a decline in boar spermatozoa motility. Simultaneously, the deactivation of AKT might play some role in the reduction of boar spermatozoa motility. Furthermore, Na 2 S and/or NH 4 Cl declined the motility of mouse spermatozoa without affecting mouse body weight gain in vivo. Findings of the present study suggest that H 2 S and/or NH 3 are adversely associated with spermatozoa motility.
Chromatographic procedure (HPLC-ELSD) has been established for simultaneous identification and quantification of C21 steroid saponins(Cynanversicosides A-D)in traditional Chinese medicine,Radiy cynanchi Atrati.It was utilized to investigate the content difference of steroidal saponins in two kinds of herbs used as Radix cynanchi Atrati,Cynanchum atratum Bge.and C.versicolor Bge.,and to distinguish Radix cynanchi Atrati from counterfeits.The results indicated that the contents of C21 steroid saponins in Radix cynanchi Atrati varied significantly from habitat to habitat and this procedure is effective to identify this material from counterfeits.This method is convenient,sensitive,accurate and effective.
AbstractINTRODUCTION: Cardiac arrest (CA), characterized by its heterogeneity, poses challenges in patient management. This study aimed to identify clinical subphenotypes in CA patients to aid in patient classification, prognosis assessment, and treatment decision-making. METHODS: For this study, comprehensive data were extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) 2.0 database. We excluded patients under 16 years old, those not initially admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), or treated in the ICU for less than 72 hours. A total of 52 clinical parameters relevant to CA patients were selected for analysis. These included demographic data, vital signs, and laboratory parameters. After an extensive literature review and expert consultations, key factors such as temperature (T), sodium (Na), creatinine (CR), glucose (GLU), heart rate (HR), PaO2/FiO2 ratio (P/F), hemoglobin (HB), mean arterial pressure (MAP), platelets (PLT), and white blood cell count (WBC) were identified as the most significant for cluster analysis. Consensus cluster analysis was utilized to examine the mean values of these routine clinical parameters within the first 24 hours post-ICU admission to categorize patient classes. Furthermore, in-hospital and 28-day mortality rates of patients across different CA subphenotypes were assessed using multivariate logistic and Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: After applying exclusion criteria, 719 CA patients were included in the study, with a median age of 67.22 years (IQR: 55.50-79.34), of whom 63.28% were male. The analysis delineated two distinct subphenotypes: Subphenotype 1 (SP1) and Subphenotype 2 (SP2). Compared to SP1, patients in SP2 exhibited significantly higher levels of P/F, HB, MAP, PLT, and Na, but lower levels of T, HR, GLU, WBC, and CR. SP2 patients had a notably higher in-hospital mortality rate compared to SP1 (53.01% for SP2 vs. 39.36% for SP1, P < 0.001). 28-day mortality decreased continuously for both subphenotypes, with a more rapid decline in SP2. These differences remained significant after adjusting for potential covariates (adjusted OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.26–2.64, P = 0.002; HR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.40–2.41, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study successfully identified two distinct clinical subphenotypes of CA by analyzing routine clinical data from the first 24 hours following ICU admission. SP1 was characterized by a lower rate of in-hospital and 28-day mortality when compared to SP2. This differentiation could play a crucial role in tailoring patient care, assessing prognosis, and guiding more targeted treatment strategies for CA patients.
Protein, starch, and their components are important for wheat grain yield and end-products, which are affected by wheat grain development. Therefore, QTL mapping and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of grain protein content (GPC), glutenin macropolymer content (GMP), amylopectin content (GApC), and amylose content (GAsC) were performed on wheat grain development at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after anthesis (DAA) in two environments using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of 256 stable lines and a panel of 205 wheat accessions. A total of 29 unconditional QTLs, 13 conditional QTLs, 99 unconditional marker-trait associations (MTAs), and 14 conditional MTAs significantly associated (p < 10-4) with four quality traits were found to be distributed on 15 chromosomes, with the phenotypic variation explained (PVE) ranging from 5.35% to 39.86%. Among these genomic variations, three major QTLs [QGPC3B, QGPC2A, and QGPC(S3|S2)3B] and SNP clusters on the 3A and 6B chromosomes were detected for GPC, and the SNP TA005876-0602 was stably expressed during the three periods in the natural population. The QGMP3B locus was detected five times in three developmental stages in two environments with 5.89%-33.62% PVE, and SNP clusters for GMP content were found on the 3A and 3B chromosomes. For GApC, the QGApC3B.1 locus had the highest PVE of 25.69%, and SNP clusters were found on chromosomes 4A, 4B, 5B, 6B, and 7B. Four major QTLs of GAsC were detected at 21 and 28 DAA. Most interestingly, both QTL mapping and GWAS analysis indicated that four chromosomes (3B, 4A, 6B, and 7A) were mainly involved in the development of protein, GMP, amylopectin, and amylose synthesis. Of these, the wPt-5870-wPt-3620 marker interval on chromosome 3B seemed to be most important because it played an important role in the synthesis of GMP and amylopectin before 7 DAA, in the synthesis of protein and GMP from 14 to 21 DAA, and in the development of GApC and GAsC from 21 to 28 DAA. Using the annotation information of IWGSC Chinese Spring RefSeq v1.1 genome assembly, we predicted 28 and 69 candidate genes for major loci from QTL mapping and GWAS, respectively. Most of them have multiple effects on protein and starch synthesis during grain development. These results provide new insights and information for the potential regulatory network between grain protein and starch synthesis.
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