[Effects of Different Land Use Typess on the Molecular Ecological Network of Soil Bacteria].

The bacterial community composition in four land-use types was determined and the visualized bacterial network was constructed by 16S rDNA Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology and a molecular ecological network method. The results show that Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, Cyanobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Firmicutes, Nitrospirae, and Chlorobi are the main bacteria in this area. The number of nodes of urban green land, paddy field, and dry field bacteria networks is higher, and that of natural forest land is lower. The number of connections and average connectivity of dry fields are the highest; following are those of urban green land and paddy field, and those of natural forest land are the lowest. The four bacterial networks are dominated by positive correlation, and the ratio of competition relationship is TL > LD > HT > ST. The average network path and modularity of the soil bacteria networks of paddy field and dry land are small, while the average connectivity and clustering coefficient are higher. Some flora of Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria play an important role in the soil bacterial network in this area. The classification of operational taxonomic units is different among the key nodes of different bacterial molecular ecological networks, and there is almost no overlap. The relative abundance of bacteria of some key nodes in the four bacterial networks is low (<1%), and these are not the main bacteria in this area. The soil microflora in dry land are mainly affected by TP (P<0.05), the soil microflora in paddy field were mainly affected by clay, silt, and water content (P<0.05), and that in natural forest land and urban green land were mainly affected by C/N (P<0.05). The above results show that different land-use patterns lead to changes in soil physical and chemical properties and the interaction between soil bacteria species. The bacterial network of dry land soil is larger and the relationship between species is more complex. The bacteria in different land-use types are mainly cooperative, and the competition is weak. Compared with other land-use types, there is stronger competition between the bacteria in natural forest soil. The soil bacteria in paddy field and dry land are the most sensitive to the external environment, respond more quickly, and the community structure is easier to change. The response of soil bacteria in natural forest land and urban green land is slower, and the disturbance of environmental factors does not affect the whole bacterial ecological network in a short time, and thus the community structure is more stable. Some bacteria have the phenomenon of species role transformation between networks. The abundance and community distribution of microorganisms cannot indicate the strength of their connectivity between network nodes; low-abundance bacteria in soil play an important role in the construction of bacterial networks.

Association between obesity and clinical prognosis in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

BACKGROUND: It is well established that obesity is a disease of sustained low-grade inflammation. However, it is currently unknown if obesity plays a role in the clinical manifestations and prognosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether obesity played a role in clinical manifestations and prognosis in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: This is a retrospective multicenter clinical study. A total of 96 patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled from Dongguan People's Hospital, Nanfang hospital and the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University between 23 January and 14 February 2020. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from medical records. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was defined as oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) ≤ 300 mmHg. We grouped patients through the body mass index (BMI). Associations were examined using the t test, χ2 test and multivariate logistic forward regression test. RESULTS: Patients with BMI <  24 were significantly younger (P = 0.025) with lower creatine kinase (P = 0.013), lower diastolic pressure blood (P = 0.035), lower serum creatinine (P = 0.012), lower lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.001) and higher platelet count (P = 0.002). The BMI level was 20.78 ± 3.15 in patients without pneumonia compared with the patients with pneumonia (23.81 ± 3.49, P = 0.001). For patients without ARDS, an average BMI level of 22.65 ± 3.53 was observed, significantly lower than patients with ARDS (24.57 ± 3.59, P = 0.022). The mean BMI was 22.35 ± 3.56 in patients experienced with relieving the clinical symptoms or stable condition by radiographic tests, lower than patients with disease exacerbation with 24.89 ± 3.17 (P = 0.001). In addition, lymphocyte count (r = - 0.23, P = 0.027) and platelet count (r = - 0.44, P < 0.001) were negatively correlated with BMI. While hemoglobin (r = 0.267, P = 0.008), creatine kinase (r = 0.331, P = 0.001), serum creatinine (r = 0.424, P < 0.001) and lactate dehydrogenase (r = 0.343, P = 0.001) were significantly positive correlated with BMI. Multivariate analysis showed that older age (OR = 1.046, P = 0.009) and BMI ≥ 24 (OR = 1.258, P = 0.005) were independent risk factors associated ICU admission while BMI ≥ 24 (OR = 4.219, P = 0.007) was independent risk factor associated with radiographic disease exacerbation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found BMI was significantly associated with clinical manifestations and prognosis of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. For patients with increased risk, clinicians should intervene promptly to avoid disease progression.

Identification of a Combined RNA Prognostic Signature in Adenocarcinoma of the Lung.

BACKGROUND Adenocarcinoma of the lung is a type of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Clinical outcome is associated with tumor grade, stage, and subtype. This study aimed to identify RNA expression profiles, including long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and mRNA, associated with clinical outcome in adenocarcinoma of the lung using bioinformatics data. MATERIAL AND METHODS The miRNA and mRNA expression profiles were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and lncRNA expression profiles were downloaded from The Atlas of Noncoding RNAs in Cancer (TANRIC) database. The independent dataset, the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) accession dataset, GSE81089, was used. RNA expression profiles were used to identify comprehensive prognostic RNA signatures based on patient survival time. RESULTS From 7,704 lncRNAs, 787 miRNAs, and 28,937 mRNAs of 449 patients, four joint RNA molecular signatures were identified, including RP11-909N17.2, RP11-14N7.2 (lncRNAs), MIR139 (miRNA), KLHDC8B (mRNA). The random forest (RF) classifier was used to test the prediction ability of patient survival risk and showed a good predictive accuracy of 71% and also showed a significant difference in overall survival (log-rank P=0.0002; HR, 3.54; 95% CI, 1.74-7.19). The combined RNA signature also showed good performance in the identification of patient survival in the validation and independent datasets. CONCLUSIONS This study identified four RNA sequences as a prognostic molecular signature in adenocarcinoma of the lung, which may also provide an increased understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of this malignancy.

Sensitive fluorimetric assays for α-glucosidase activity and inhibitor screening based on ß-cyclodextrin-coated quantum dots.

A fluorescence method was established for a α-glucosidase activity assay and inhibitor screening based on ß-cyclodextrin-coated quantum dots. p-Nitrophenol, the hydrolysis product of the α-glucosidase reaction, could quench the fluorescence of ß-cyclodextrin-coated quantum dots via an electron transfer process, leading to fluorescence turn-off, whereas the fluorescence of the system turned on in the presence of α-glucosidase inhibitors. Taking advantage of the excellent properties of quantum dots, this method provided a very simple, rapid and sensitive screening method for α-glucosidase inhibitors. Two α-glucosidase inhibitors, 2,4,6-tribromophenol and acarbose, were used to evaluate the feasibility of this screening model, and IC50 values of 24 µM and 0.55 mM were obtained respectively, which were lower than those previously reported. The method may have potential application in screening α-glucosidase inhibitors.

[Intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection of testicular sperm: clinical outcome in azoospermia patients].

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) of testicular sperm improves the clinical outcome in patients with azoospermia. METHODS: We performed conventional intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for 66 patients diagnosed with azoospermia and IMSI for another 39 using testicular sperm selected at high magnification ( x 6000), and comparatively analyzed the clinical outcomes of the two techniques. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between conventional ICSI and IMSI in the rates of pregnancy (51.52% vs. 56.41%) and implantation (30.67% vs. 35.29%), although the rate of early abortion was lower in the IMSI than in the ICSI group (4.50% vs. 11.76%). CONCLUSION: IMSI of testicular sperm may effect a lower rate of early abortion than conventional ICSI in patients with azoospermia.

The prevalence of azoospermia factor microdeletion on the Y chromosome of Chinese infertile men detected by multi-analyte suspension array technology.

AIM: To develop a high-throughput multiplex, fast and simple assay to scan azoospermia factor (AZF) region microdeletions on the Y chromosome and establish the prevalence of Y chromosomal microdeletions in Chinese infertile males with azoospermia or oligozoospermia. METHODS: In total, 178 infertile patients with azoospermia (non-obstructed), 134 infertile patients with oligozoospermia as well as 40 fertile man controls were included in the present study. The samples were screened for AZF microdeletion using optimized multi-analyte suspension array (MASA) technology. RESULTS: Of the 312 patients, 36 (11.5%) were found to have deletions in the AZF region. The microdeletion frequency was 14% (25/178) in the azoospermia group and 8.2% (11/134) in the oligospermia group. Among 36 patients with microdeletions, 19 had deletions in the AZFc region, seven had deletions in AZFa and six had deletions in AZFb. In addition, four patients had both AZFb and AZFc deletions. No deletion in the AZF region was found in the 40 fertile controls. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of Y chromosomal microdeletions in Chinese infertile males with azoospermia or oligozoospermia. The MASA technology, which has been established in the present study, provides a sensitive and high-throughput method for detecting the deletion of the Y chromosome. And the results suggest that genetic screening should be advised to infertile men before starting assisted reproductive treatments.

[Detection of Y chromosome microdeletions in AZF region by liquid chip technology].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a liquid chip technology to detect Y chromosome microdeletions in Chinese infertile males with azoospermia or oligozoospermia. METHODS: Multiplex PCR and liquid chip technology were used to detect the Y chromosome microdeletions in AZF region in 178 infertile patients with azoospermia and 134 infertile patients with oligozoospermia as well as 40 fertile control men. RESULTS: Forty out of 312 patients (12.8%) were found to have deletions in AZF region. The microdeletion frequency was 14%(25/178) in the azoospermic group, 9.6%(11/114) in the oligospermic and 20%(4/20) in the severe oligospermic group. CONCLUSION: The authors developed a high-throughput, fast and simple assay to screen the AZF region microdeletions of Y chromosome.