Discovery of seed germinating fungi (Mycetinis scorodonius) from Gastrodia elata Bl. f. glauca S. chow in Changbai Mountain and examination of their germination ability.

Multi-generational asexual reproduction of Gastrodia elata Bl. will cause seedling species degeneration. Sexual reproduction of Gastrodia elata Bl. seed is an effective method to solve the problem of degeneration. The development of Gastrodia elata Bl. seeds cannot be separated from the germination fungus. However, there are few strains of germination fungus in production, and there is also the problem of species degradation in application for many years. It is very important for the sexual reproduction of Gastrodia elata Bl. to isolate more new strains of excellent germination fungus from the origin. This study used the Gastrodia elata Bl. f. glauca S. chow seeds germination vegetative propagation corms capture method to isolate its symbiotic germination fungus, and comprehensively identified the species of germination fungus by colony morphology, ITS, sporocarps regeneration and germination function, and compared the growth characteristics and germination ability with other germination fungus (Mycena purpureofusca, Mycena dendrobii and Mycena osmundicola). The germination fungus was isolated from the vegetative propagation corms of Gastrodia elata Bl. f. glauca S. chow seeds and named GYGL-1. After comprehensive identification, GYGL-1 was Mycetinis scorodonius. Compared with other germination fungus, GYGL-1 has fast germination speed, vigorous growth, and high germination ability for Gastrodia elata Bl. f. glauca S. chow seeds. Innovated the isolation method of Gastrodia elata Bl. seeds germination fungus, obtained the regenerated sporocarps of the germination fungus, and discovered that Mycetinis scorodonius has a new function of germinating Gastrodia elata Bl. f. glauca S. chow seeds, enriching the resource library of Gastrodia elata Bl. germination fungus.

Highly stretchable polyvinyl alcohol composite conductive hydrogel sensors reinforced by cellulose nanofibrils and liquid metal for information transmission.

Conductive hydrogels have received widespread attention in the field of flexible sensors. However, a single network structure inside the hydrogel sensor usually makes it difficult to bear larger mechanical loadings, greatly limiting practical applications. Developing a recoverable conductive hydrogel sensor with high toughness and adaptability is still challenging. Herein, a high-performance polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based conductive composite hydrogel was constructed, assisted by green cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), magnesium chloride (MgCl2), ethylene glycol (EG), and liquid metal (LM). The synergistic effects between CNFs and LM enhanced the network structure inside the recoverable hydrogel. This resulted in an excellent tensile strength of 3.86 MPa with an elongation at break of as high as 918.4 % and compressive strength of 4.04 MPa at 80 % strain. In addition, the conductive network composed of MgCl2 and LM endowed the hydrogel good electrical conductivity. Moreover, it could be used as a flexible strain sensor for various application scenarios, e.g., micro-stress monitoring (water droplet falling) and information encryption transmission of Morse code. Such uniqueness will provide a design strategy for developing a new generation of hydrogel sensors.

High-performance composite elastomers with abundant heterostructures for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption with ultrabroad bandwidth.

Two-dimensional (2D) MXene has attracted vast attention in electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA), but there remains a contradiction between maintaining impedance matching and enhancing dielectric loss. Herein, the multi-scale architectures of ecoflex/2D MXene (Ti3C2Tx)@zero-dimensional CoNi sphere@one-dimensional carbon nanotube composite elastomers were successfully constructed by simple liquid-phase reduction and thermo-curing method. The binding between the hybrids as fillers and ecoflex as a matrix greatly enhanced the EWA capability of the obtained composite elastomer and improved its mechanical properties. Owing to its good impedance matching, abundant heterostructures, and synergistic electrical and magnetic losses, this elastomer exhibited an excellent minimum reflection loss of -67 dB at 9.46 GHz under a thickness of 2.98 mm. In addition, its ultrabroad effective absorption bandwidth reached 6.07 GHz. This achievement will pave the way for the exploitation of multi-dimensional heterostructures as high-performance electromagnetic absorbers with superior EWA ability.

Anti-freezing, recoverable and transparent conductive hydrogels co-reinforced by ethylene glycol as flexible sensors for human motion monitoring.

Wearable flexible sensors based on conductive hydrogels have received extensive attention in the fields of electronic skin and smart monitoring. However, conductive hydrogels contain a large amount of water, which greatly affects their performances in harsh environments. It is therefore necessary to prepare hydrogel sensors that are stable at low temperatures. Herein, metal ions (MgCl2) and ethylene glycol (EG) were combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to obtain a conductive PVA/EG hydrogel with tensile strength and elongation at break of 1.1 MPa and 442.3 %, respectively, which could withstand >6000-fold its own weight. The binary solvent system composed of water and EG contributed to the excellent anti-freezing properties and long-term storage (>1 week), flexibility, and stability of the hydrogel even at -20 °C. The wearable PVA/EG hydrogel as a flexible sensor possessed desirable sensing performances with a competitive GF value of 0.725 and fatigue resistance (50 cycles) when used to monitor various human motions and physiological signals. Overall, this hydrogel sensor shows strong potential for application in the fields of human motion monitoring, written information sensing, and information encryption and transmission.

The relationship between baseline axial length and axial elongation in myopic children undergoing orthokeratology.

PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation between the baseline axial length (AL) and axial elongation in myopes undergoing orthokeratology (ortho-k). METHODS: This was a retrospective study. During the 1-year follow-up, 1176 children (aged 8-14 years) were included and divided into an ortho-k group (n = 588) and a single-vision spectacle group (n = 588). The ortho-k group participants (8-11 years of age) who completed the 3-year follow-up (n = 150) were further divided into three subgroups stratified by their baseline AL: subgroup 1 (AL < 24.5 mm), subgroup 2 (24.5 ≤ AL < 26 mm) and subgroup 3 (AL ≥ 26 mm). AL was measured at baseline and during the annual visit. RESULTS: The ortho-k group exhibited slower 1-year axial elongation (39% reduction) than the spectacle group. The 1-year axial elongation was negatively correlated with initial age in both groups. A negative association between 1-year axial elongation and baseline AL was observed in the ortho-k group but not in the spectacle group. However, this relationship only existed in ortho-k participants 8-11 years of age. For the younger ortho-k participants who completed the 3-year follow-up, the annual axial elongation was significantly higher in subgroup 1 for the first and second years but not in the third year compared with subgroups 2 and 3. CONCLUSION: Axial elongation was negatively correlated with baseline AL in the ortho-k group. Children aged 8-11 years with longer baseline AL (≥24.5 mm) demonstrated slower annual axial elongation during the first 2 years of ortho-k treatment, which may provide insight into establishing individual guidelines for controlling myopia using ortho-k in children with different baseline characteristics.

Novel loci and pathways significantly associated with longevity.

Only two genome-wide significant loci associated with longevity have been identified so far, probably because of insufficient sample sizes of centenarians, whose genomes may harbor genetic variants associated with health and longevity. Here we report a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of Han Chinese with a sample size 2.7 times the largest previously published GWAS on centenarians. We identified 11 independent loci associated with longevity replicated in Southern-Northern regions of China, including two novel loci (rs2069837-IL6; rs2440012-ANKRD20A9P) with genome-wide significance and the rest with suggestive significance (P < 3.65 × 10(-5)). Eight independent SNPs overlapped across Han Chinese, European and U.S. populations, and APOE and 5q33.3 were replicated as longevity loci. Integrated analysis indicates four pathways (starch, sucrose and xenobiotic metabolism; immune response and inflammation; MAPK; calcium signaling) highly associated with longevity (P ≤ 0.006) in Han Chinese. The association with longevity of three of these four pathways (MAPK; immunity; calcium signaling) is supported by findings in other human cohorts. Our novel finding on the association of starch, sucrose and xenobiotic metabolism pathway with longevity is consistent with the previous results from Drosophilia. This study suggests protective mechanisms including immunity and nutrient metabolism and their interactions with environmental stress play key roles in human longevity.

cDNA-AFLP analysis reveals heat shock proteins play important roles in mediating cold, heat, and drought tolerance in Ammopiptanthus mongolicus.

Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim.ex kom.) Cheng F. is the only evergreen broadleaf shrub endemic to the desert of central Asian and it can survive at drought, salt, and alkali stress. It is believed that A. mongolicus is an important germplasm containing abiotic-tolerance genes. In order to identify drought-, cold-, and heat-responsive genes and to gain a better understanding of stress responses in A. mongolicus, genome-wide investigation of drought-, cold-, and heat-responsive genes was performed in A. mongolicus using cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism. Selective amplification with 240 primer combinations generated 5,000 differentially expressed transcript derived fragments (TDFs). Of these, 201 TDFs with differential expression patterns were excised from gels, reamplified by PCR, and sequenced. The gene expression patterns of 11 regulated genes were further investigated by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. Sequencing and similarity analysis revealed that TDFs present homologies chiefly with proteins involved in various abiotic and biotic stress and developmental responses. The information presented in this study reveals that heat shock proteins play an active role in mediating drought, cold, and heat tolerance in A. mongolicus.

[(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate regulates expression of apoptotic genes and protects cultured human lens epithelial cells under hyperglycemia].

(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the most abundant component in green tea, has a potent anti-apoptotic activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of EGCG and their molecular mechanisms on high glucose-induced apoptosis of human lens epithelial cells (HLEB-3). HLEB-3 cells were exposed to various concentrations of glucose and EGCG. Cell death was assessed by MTT assay and flow cytometry using annexin V and propidium iodide. The expression of the Bcl-2 family, c-fos, c-myc and p53 was measured by real-time PCR. EGCG decreased the Bcl-2/Bax expression stimulated by a high glucose. Moreover, EGCG suppressed the high glucose-induced expression of c-fos, c-myc and p53. These findings suggest that EGCG protects HLEB-3 cells from high glucose-induced apoptosis by regulating the gene expression of the Bcl-2 family, c-fos, c-myc and p53. Thus, EGCG may have a potential protective effect against diabetic cataract formation.

Conductive keratoplasty: an approach for the correction of residual hyperopia in post-lasik pseudophakia.

Although there are many formulae for the calculation of intraocular lens power in the eyes with previous kerato-refractive surgeries, unexpected refractive bias still exists. Hyperopic bias is particularly disliked because it affects both uncorrected distance and near visual acuity. Surgical treatment of the residual hyperopia for the eyes with both laser in situ keratomileusis and cataract surgery remains to be a big problem. Conductive keratoplasty has been shown to be an effective, safe and predictable method for low and moderate hyperopia in the pseudophakic eyes or in the eyes with kerato-refractive surgeries. However, the efficacy and safety of conductive keratoplasty in the correction of residual hyperopia after both corneal and lens refractive surgeries has not been reported. Herein, we reported the surgical correction with conductive keratoplasty for cases of residual hyperopia with/without astigmatism after previous laser in situ keratomileusis for high myopia and following phacoemulsification combined with posterior intraocular lens implantation for complicated cataract.

[Conductive keratoplasty for presbyopia and two years follow-up].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of conductive keratoplasty (CK) for presbyopia and 2 years follow-up. METHODS: This study is prospective clinical trial. CK was performed on 34 patients for presbyopia, in which 26 hyperopic patients underwent binocular operations and 8 emmetropic patients underwent monocular operation. The following-up time was 24 months. RESULTS: At 24 months postoperatively, for the hyperopia group, binocular uncorrected near visual acuity (33 cm) (5-logMAR) (4.63 ± 0.12) was increased significantly (t = 9.237, P < 0.001) compared pre-operatively (4.06 ± 0.15); binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity (4.99 ± 0.02) was significantly increased (t = 6.718, P < 0.05) compared pre-operatively (4.82 ± 0.21); for the emmetropia group, binocular uncorrected near visual acuity (33 cm) (5-logMAR) (4.68 ± 0.16) was increased significantly (t = 10.413, P < 0.001) compared pre-operatively (4.13 ± 0.18); binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity was same as pre-operative one; compared pre-operatively (+0.97 ± 0.63D), manifest refractive spherical equivalent was decreased significantly (P < 0.001) to peak value (-1.21 ± 1.00) D at 1 week, and then regressed to a relative plateau (-0.40 ± 0.70) D at 24 months; the regressive rate was decreased from (+0.35 ± 0.44) D/month at 1 month postoperatively to (+0.01 ± 0.01) D/months at 24 months postoperatively. Contrast sensitivity and glare sensitivity, intraocular pressure, tear break-up time, endothelial cell count, central corneal thickness, stereopsis function and best corrected visual acuity were not significantly changed. CONCLUSIONS: For treatment of presbyopia, CK appeared to be safe, effective, refractive-predictable and controllable, and relatively stable at 24 months post-operatively. More long-time follow-up is necessary for further evaluation.

Correction of extreme hyperopia: artisan iris-fixated intraocular lens implantation for pseudophakia after clear lens extraction.

A 22-year-old patient suffering from both-side extreme hyperopia with amblyopia was corrected with an Artisan iris-fixated intraocular lens (IOL) implantation followed to clear lens extraction (CLE) with posterior chamber (PC)-IOL implantation. The preoperative refraction values were +17.75DS -1.50DC × 168° for the right eye and +17.25DS -0.75DC × 8° for the left eye. The uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) was 20/200 bilaterally and the spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) was 20/50 bilaterally. One year after Artisan iris-fixated IOL implantation, bilateral BSCVA was 20/50 with a refraction of +1.25DS -0.75DC × 13° for the right eye and +1.50DS -1.00DC × 55° for the left eye. The outcomes of an Artisan iris-fixated IOL implantation followed to CLE with PC-IOL implantation were encouraging for the correction of extreme hyperopia. Long term follow-up examinations were necessary for further determination of the efficacy and safety of this combinational procedure.

[Clinical evaluation on the coaxial 1.8 mm microincision cataract surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To study and compare the outcomes of coaxial 1.8 mm microincision phacoemulsification with conventional coaxial 3 mm small-incision cataract surgery. METHODS: A randomized prospective study was conducted on 89 patients with age-related cataract: coaxial 1.8 mm microincision cataract surgery (MICS group) was performed in 45 cases (45 eyes), and coaxial 3 mm small-incision cataract surgery (SICS group) was performed in 44 cases (44 eyes). Statistical analysis was taken with the data of 40 cases (40 eyes) in the MICS group and 40 cases (40 eyes) in the SICS group. The average ultrasound power (AVE) and effective phacoemulsification time (EPT) were recorded during the operation. Visual acuity, endothelial cell density and cornea thickness were compared at intervals of 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery. In addition, surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) was analyzed. Statistic analysis was taken by student's t test and chi square test. RESULTS: There was no significant difference on AVE and EPT (P > 0.05) between these two groups. One day after the surgery, the MICS group showed better uncorrected visual acuity (0.16 ± 0.14) as compared to the SICS group (0.23 ± 0.12). The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences on best corrected visual acuity, endothelial cell density and cornea thickness between these two groups. One week, 1 month and 3 months after the surgery, SIA was (0.62 ± 0.28) D, (0.48 ± 0.28) D, (0.47 ± 0.25) D, (0.40 ± 0.24) D in the MICS group, and (1.27 ± 0.65) D, (1.18 ± 0.59) D, (1.02 ± 0.56) D, (0.79 ± 0.48) D in the SICS group, respectively. The differences between the MIC and SICS groups were statistically significant (P < 0.01). SIA decreased significantly and became stable 1 week after surgery in MICS group, while the similar tendency appeared one month after the surgery in the SICS group. CONCLUSIONS: Coaxial 1.8 mm microincision cataract surgery could significantly reduce SIA and obtain more stable astigmatism status. This suggests that the coaxial MICS phacoemulsification surgery could get earlier visual rehabilitation postoperatively.

Conductive keratoplasty for symptomatic presbyopia following monofocal intraocular lens implantation.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the visual outcomes of conductive keratoplasty for relief of symptomatic presbyopia of pseudophakia with monofocal intraocular lens implantation. DESIGN: It was a prospective clinical study and set in Eye Center, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University. PARTICIPANTS: This study comprised 27 eyes from 27 patients with presbyopia symptom. METHODS: The patients received conductive keratoplasty via monovision approach after monofocal intraocular lens implantation and were followed up at 1 week and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcomes including uncorrected near visual acuity, uncorrected distance visual acuity, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, manifest refraction spherical equivalent, keratometric astigmatism, contrast and glare sensitivity, spherical aberration and pseudoaccommodation were evaluated. RESULTS: Twelve months after conductive keratoplasty, the binocular uncorrected near visual acuity was significantly improved from logMAR 0.88 ± 0.16 preoperatively to logMAR 0.30 ± 0.13 (P < 0.05); the binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity and best spectacle-corrected visual acuity remained unchanged; manifest refraction spherical equivalent was significantly reduced from 0.01 ± 0.68 D preoperatively to -1.68 ± 0.39 D (P < 0.05); spherical aberration was increased from 0.266 ± 0.204 µm preoperatively to 0.358 ± 0.277 µm (P < 0.05), and pseudoaccommodation was from 1.38 ± 0.38 D to 1.73 ± 0.61 D (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Conductive keratoplasty is a safe and effective method for relief of symptomatic presbyopia of pseudophakia with monofocal intraocular lens implantation.

Change in outflow pathway of porcine eyes in vitro by nonpenetrating filtering surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To study the change in different outflow pathways of porcine eyes in vitro by nonpenetrating filtering surgery. DESIGN: Experimental study. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-four enucleated porcine eyes were studied. METHODS: Deep sclerectomy was performed on isolated porcine eyes (Group 1A), then the superficial scleral flap was watertight sealed (Group 1B), and finally the oracles and the exterior wall of the Schlemm canal were watertight sealed (Group 1C). In another series of experiments, deep sclerectomy was performed with the scleral lake volume of 4 mm × 4 mm × 0.5 mm (Group 2A), 4 mm × 2 mm × 0.5 mm (Group 2B), and 4 mm × 1 mm × 0.5 mm (Group 2C), respectively; then the superficial scleral flap was watertight sealed. The control eye (Groups 1D and 2D) underwent creation and watertight sealing of a superficial scleral flap. Intraocular pressure (IOP) and outflow facility were determined preoperatively and postoperatively. RESULTS: Compared with the preoperative value, IOP was decreased and outflow facility was increased in Groups 1A, 1B, and 1C (p < 0.05). In deep sclerectomy, the outflow facility was decreased by more than 0.18 µL/min/mm Hg after the conjunctival pathway was blocked. After the oracles and external wall of the Schlemm canal were blocked, the outflow facility decreased further by more than 0.09 µL/min/mm Hg but was still 0.06 µL/min/mm Hg higher than before surgery. There was a positive linear correlation between the deep sclerectomy volume and the ratio of IOP decrease or outflow facility increase postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Deep sclerectomy can increase the outflow of porcine eyes in vitro. The major factors maintaining the postoperative outflow increase include the subconjunctival pathway, the functional deep scleral lake, and the opening of the Schlemm canal.

Endostar, a recently introduced recombinant human endostatin, inhibits proliferation and migration through regulating growth factors, adhesion factors and inflammatory mediators in choroid-retinal endothelial cells.

Retinal neovascularization is one of the leading causes for complete blindness in a number of diseases around the world. Endostar, a recently introduced recombinant human endostatin, has been considered as one of the most valuable anti-angiogenic agents. In this study, we demonstrate that Endostar inhibits both the proliferation of the choroid-retinal endothelial cells through limiting the progression of the cell cycle and their migration. Furthermore, Endostar induces the expression of the pigment epithelial-derived factor (PEDF) and suppresses the expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the fibroblast growth factor (FGF). Endostar also reduces the expression of the inflammatory mediator tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). These findings reveal an integrated role of Endostar in the program of retinal vascular control and highlight its significant potential for broad clinical application.

Observation on in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry of matrix metalloproteinases in rat pancreas.

In situ hybridization and immunocytochemical techniques were employed to examine the expression of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (MMP-1) and to identify the pattern of its distribution in rat pancreas. The results indicated that the signal of MMP-1 mRNA and MMP-1 positive immunoreaction were detected in some fiberoblasts around interlobular ducts and exocrine cell in margin acinus of some lobules, but the signal of MMP-1 mRNA and MMP-1 positive immunoreaction could not be detected in most of other acinus and islets of pancreas. It is concluded that the expression of MMP-1 in above cells of rat might play an important role in acinar proliferation and differentiation of rat pancreatic tissues.