Deficiency of nucleosome-destabilizing factor GLYR1 dampens spermatogenesis in mice.

Aberrant sperm morphology hinders sperm motility and causes male subfertility. Spermatogenesis, a complex process in male germ cell development, necessitates precise regulation of numerous developmental genes. However, the regulatory pathways involved in this process remain partially understood. We have observed the widespread expression of Glyr1, the gene encoding a nucleosome-destabilizing factor, in mouse testicular cells. Our study demonstrates that mice experiencing Glyr1 depletion in spermatogenic cells exhibit subfertility characterized by a diminished count and motility of spermatozoa. Furthermore, the rate of sperm malformation significantly increases in the absence of Glyr1, with a predominant occurrence of head and neck malformation in spermatozoa within the cauda epididymis. Additionally, a reduction in spermatocyte numbers across different meiotic stages is observed, accompanied by diminished histone acetylation in spermatogenic cells upon Glyr1 depletion. Our findings underscore the crucial roles of Glyr1 in mouse spermiogenesis and unveil novel insights into the etiology of male reproductive diseases.

Peiminine triggers ferroptosis to inhibit breast cancer growth through triggering Nrf2 signaling.

BACKGROUND: Peiminine (PMI) is an active alkaloid sourced from Fritillaria thunbergii, which has been shown to suppress the development of a variety of tumors. Whereas, the roles and precise mechanism of PMI in breast cancer (BC) development remain not been clarified. METHODS: The cytotoxic effect of PMI on MCF-10A and BC cell lines (MCF-7 and BT-549) were assessed by MTT and LDH release assay. Cell proliferation was evaluated by EdU staining. Levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione (GSH) activity and iron assay were measured by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits, respectively. Transmission Electron Microscope was performed to observe mitochondrial morphological structure. Immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and western blot were conducted to examine protein levels, respectively. Xenograft model was used to confirm cellular findings. RESULTS: PMI treatment reduced the viability and enhanced LDH level of MCF-7 and BT-549 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, and further suppressed cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Subsequently, PMI administration resulted in significant increases of ROS, MDA and iron levels, reduction of GSH activity as well as mitochondrial shrinkage and GPX4 reduction, while all these phenomena could be rescued by ferrostatin-1. Mechanistically, PMI treatment led to promoted Nrf2 expression and its nuclear translocation, as well as it's downstream protein HO-1 and NQO1 expressions. Notably, ML-385, a Nrf2 specific inhibitor, greatly reversed the anti-tumor effects and pro-ferroptosis role of PMI in BC cells. CONCLUSION: Taking these finding together, PMI could stimulate ferroptosis to inhibit BC tumor growth by activating Nrf2-HO-1 signaling pathway.

[Application of Fe3[KG-*2/5]O4/Mulberry Stem Biochar Effects on Soil Arsenic Species and Rice Arsenic Content].

The passivation effect of Fe3O4/mulberry pole biochar (Fe-MBC) prepared at different carbonization temperatures on soil available arsenic content was studied through soil culture experiments, and Fe-MBC-800 (prepared by carbonization at 800℃) with good passivation effect was selected and characterized. The effects of 1%-7% (mass fraction of biochar to soil) Fe-MBC-800, MBC-800, and Fe3O4 on soil pH value, soil electrical conductivity, soil arsenic form, rice biomass, and total arsenic (As) content in rice were studied using a pot experiment. The results showed that:①Fe-MBC-800 successfully loaded Fe3O4, and its main functional groups were C=O double bond, O-H bond, C-O bond, and Fe-O bond. The specific surface areas of Fe-MBC-800, MBC-800, and Fe3O4 were 209.659 m2·g-1, 517.714 m2·g-1, and 68.025 m2·g-1, respectively. ②The addition of Fe-MBC-800 could increase the soil pH value, decrease the soil EC value, increase the content of residual arsenic in soil, and reduce the content of water-soluble arsenic and available arsenic in the soil. Under the treatment using 7% Fe-MBC-800 (ω) amendments, the content of water-soluble arsenic and available arsenic in the soil decreased by 81.6% and 56.33%, respectively. ③When the addition ratio of Fe-MBC-800 in the soil was 5%-7%, it could promote the growth of rice plants, increase rice biomass, and reduce the bioaccumulation of arsenic by between 62.5% and 68.75%.

Dynamics of spatial and temporal population structure of Pyricularia oryzae in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: To gain a better understanding of how Pyricularia oryzae population shifts is important for selecting suitable resistance genes for rice breeding programs. However, the relationships between P. oryzae pathogenic dynamics, geographic distribution, rice varieties, and timeline are not well studied. RESULTS: Resistance genes Piz-5, Pi9(t), Pi12(t), Pi20(t), Pita-2, and Pi11 showed stable resistance to the Taiwan rice blast fungus over 8 years of observations. Furthermore, 1749 rice blast isolates were collected from 2014 to 2021 and categorized into five pathotype clusters based on their correlation analysis between the geographic sources and virulence of Lijiangxintuanheigu monogenic lines. A detailed map of their distributions in Taiwan is presented. Isolates collected from the western region of Taiwan had greater pathotype diversity than those from the east region. Isolates collected from the subtropical region had greater diversity than those from the tropical region. Rice cultivars carrying Pik alleles were highly susceptible to pathotype L4. Cultivars with Piz-t were highly susceptible to pathotype L5, and those with Pish were highly susceptible to pathotype L1. The geographical distribution of each pathotype was distinct, and the population size of each pathotype fluctuated significantly each year. CONCLUSION: The regional mega cultivars significantly impact the evolution of Pyricularia oryzae in Taiwan within the span of 8 years. However, the annual fluctuation of pathotype populations likely correlate to the rising annual temperatures that selected pathotype clusters by their optimal growth temperature. The results will provide useful information for effective disease management, and enable the R-genes to prolong their function in the fields. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

[Research Progress on the Application of Goel Technique in Craniovertebral Junction Anomalies].

Craniovertebral junction anomalies are a group of diseases characterized by the pathological changes of occipital bone,atlantoaxial bone,cerebellar tonsil,surrounding soft tissue,and nervous system,which are caused by a variety of factors.Chiari malformation is a common type of craniovertebral junction anomalies,the conventional surgical therapy of which is posterior fossa decompression.Currently,scholars represented by Goel have proposed a new theory on the classification,pathogenesis,and treatment of Chiari malformation based on posterior atlantoaxial fixation (Goel technique).This article introduces the progress in Goel technique,aiming to provide reference for the clinical work.

HS-SPME coupled with GC-MS for elucidating differences between the volatile components in wild and cultivated Atractylodes chinensis.

INTRODUCTION: Atractylodes chinensis is a Chinese herb that is used in traditional medicine; it contains volatile components that have enormous potential for pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic applications. The destruction of wild resources demands significant improvement in the quality of artificial cultivation of Atractylodes chinensis. However, little is known about the compositional differences in the volatile substances derived from the wild and cultivated varieties of Atractylodes chinensis. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the specific components of Atractylodes chinensis and analyse the similarities and differences between the volatile components and metabolic pathways in the wild and cultivated varieties. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Metabolomic analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed following the extraction of volatile components from Atractylodes chinensis using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). RESULTS: A total of 167 volatile metabolites were extracted, and 137 substances were matched with NIST and Wiley databases. Among them, 76 compounds exhibited significant differences between the two sources; these mainly included terpenes, aromatics, and esters. KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the differential metabolites were primarily involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, terpene biosynthesis, and limonene and pinene degradation; all these pathways have geranyl diphosphate (GDP) as the common link. CONCLUSION: The total content of volatile substances extracted from wild Atractylodes chinensis was 2.5 times higher than that from the cultured variety; however, each source had different dominant metabolites. This study underscores the necessity for protecting wild Atractylodes chinensis resources, while enhancing the quality of cultivated Atractylodes chinensis.

Research Progress on the Application of Goel Technique in Craniovertebral Junction Anomalies / 中国医学科学院学报

Craniovertebral junction anomalies are a group of diseases characterized by the pathological changes of occipital bone,atlantoaxial bone,cerebellar tonsil,surrounding soft tissue,and nervous system,which are caused by a variety of factors.Chiari malformation is a common type of craniovertebral junction anomalies,the conventional surgical therapy of which is posterior fossa decompression.Currently,scholars represented by Goel have proposed a new theory on the classification,pathogenesis,and treatment of Chiari malformation based on posterior atlantoaxial fixation (Goel technique).This article introduces the progress in Goel technique,aiming to provide reference for the clinical work.

[Preparation of Magnetic Iron Oxide/Mulberry Stem Biochar and Its Effects on Dissolved Organic Carbon and Arsenic Speciation in Arsenic-Contaminated Soils].

In this study, original mulberry-biochar (M-BC) and magnetic iron oxide/mulberry stem biochar (Fe-BC) materials were prepared and characterized using mulberry stems as the raw material. The effects of carbonized temperature of Fe-BC and M-BC on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and arsenic(As) speciation in soil leaching solutions were studied using soil incubation experiments. The results showed that:① Fe-BC was mainly composed of Fe3O4 and was magnetic, and the main functional groups were a C＝O double bond, O-H bond, C-O bond, and Fe-O bond. The point of zero charge values (pHzpc) of Fe-BC-400, Fe-BC-500, and Fe-BC-600 were 8.92, 8.74, and 9.19, respectively, and the specific surface areas of Fe-BC-400, Fe-BC-500, and Fe-BC-600 were 447.412, 482.697, and 525.708 m2·g-1, respectively. ② With the increase in the carbonization temperature of M-BC and Fe-BC, the ρ(DOC) of soil leaching solution decreased 11.6-315.6 mg·L-1 and 78-365.6 mg·L-1, respectively. The DOC concentration of soil leaching solution was negatively correlated with soil EC. On day 35 of the incubation experiments, compared with that in soil after incubation without biochar (control), the As concentration of the soil leaching solution with Fe-BC-600 decreased by 55.96%, and there was no significant correlation between the As concentration of the soil leaching solution and the DOC concentration of the soil. ③ The available As concentration on day 35 in soil after incubation with Fe-BC was lower than that of the control group; the available As concentration on day 35 in soil incubated with Fe-BC-600 was reduced by 39.21%. ④ The residue As concentration on day 35 in soil incubated with M-BC decreased by 17.76%-49.11%. The residue As content on day 35 in soil incubated with Fe-BC-600 increased by 80%. Fe-BC-600 was most beneficial to reduce the DOC concentration and the available As content in soil leaching solution and increased the residue As content, thus reducing the bioavailability of soil arsenic. Therefore, this study can provide a theoretical basis for magnetic iron oxide/biochar remediation in arsenic-contaminated soil.

[Recurrence Rate and Risk Factors of Atypical Meningioma:a Meta-analysis].

Objective To systematically review the overall status of postoperative recurrence in patients with atypical meningiomas. Methods China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wanfang Database,Chinese Biomedical Literature Database,VIP Database,PubMed,Embase,Web of Science,and Cochrane Library were searched for collection of the relevant literature on the recurrence of atypical meningioma from database establishment to July 2021.Two investigators independently screened the literature,extracted data,and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies,and then performed a meta-analysis by using R 5.0. Results A total of 29 studies involving 3122 patients were included in this study.The meta-analysis showed that the overall postoperative recurrence rate of atypical meningioma was 38%.The subgroup analysis showed that the tumor recurrence rate of patients ≥60 years old and<60 years old was 51% and 40%,respectively,with no significant difference.The tumor recurrence rates in male and female patients were 42% and 44%,respectively,which showed no significant difference.The recurrence rates of the patients with parasagittal meningiomas,brain tissue infiltration,Ki-67>8%,mitotic count ≥6/10 high-power fields,and tissue necrosis were 52%,47%,63%,53%,and 69%,respectively.The recurrence rate after subtotal tumor resection was as high as 58%,and the patients who received radiotherapy had higher tumor recurrence rate than that those who did not receive radiotherapy (38% vs.29%,P=0.007). Conclusions The current evidence demonstrates that atypical meningioma has a high recurrence rate after surgery.It is essential to pay more attention and take corresponding measures to improve the tumor-free survival rate of the patients.

Assessing and assuring interoperability of a genomics file format.

MOTIVATION: Bioinformatics software tools operate largely through the use of specialized genomics file formats. Often these formats lack formal specification, making it difficult or impossible for the creators of these tools to robustly test them for correct handling of input and output. This causes problems in interoperability between different tools that, at best, wastes time and frustrates users. At worst, interoperability issues could lead to undetected errors in scientific results. RESULTS: We developed a new verification system, Acidbio, which tests for correct behavior in bioinformatics software packages. We crafted tests to unify correct behavior when tools encounter various edge cases-potentially unexpected inputs that exemplify the limits of the format. To analyze the performance of existing software, we tested the input validation of 80 Bioconda packages that parsed the Browser Extensible Data (BED) format. We also used a fuzzing approach to automatically perform additional testing. Of 80 software packages examined, 75 achieved less than 70% correctness on our test suite. We categorized multiple root causes for the poor performance of different types of software. Fuzzing detected other errors that the manually designed test suite could not. We also created a badge system that developers can use to indicate more precisely which BED variants their software accepts and to advertise the software's performance on the test suite. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Acidbio is available at https://github.com/hoffmangroup/acidbio. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

First report of Pythium aristosporum causing root rot on rice seedling in Taiwan.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the principle staple crops in the World and its production can be severely damaged by Pythium species. Several Pythium species including P. afertile, P. arrhenomanes, P. dissotocum, P. elongatum, P. spinosum, have been recorded to cause rice seedling root rot in Taiwan (List of Plant Diseases in Taiwan edited by Tzean et al., 2019). During the survey of rice seedling diseases, we identified a new species of Pythium that causes seedling root rot on rice in commercial nursery trays in two nursery fields in 2019 in Taichung, Taiwan. Stunting and root rot symptom were found on the affected plants and up to 20% seedlings in a nursery tray showed similar symptoms. To isolate the pathogen, symptomatic roots were surface sterilized with 75% ethanol for 1 min and rinsed in sterile water. The margin of lesion was cut off, placed on 1.5% water agar and incubated at 28 ℃. After 24 h, the hyphal tips of a white colony growing from the diseased region were transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Koch's postulates were fulfilled by inoculating the germinated rice seeds with mycelia. Rice seeds of O. sativa var. Tainan11 (TN11) were treated with 75% ethanol and then 1.2% NaOCl for 15 min. The sterilized seeds were soaked in sterile water under dark condition for 3 days and the water was replaced every day. Five of the pre-germinated seeds with 2~5 mm embryonic shoot were placed in a sterile petri-dish and inoculated with 3-ml mycelial suspension (OD600 = 0.045) prepared by blending the mycelia of a 3-days PDA culture using an Oster 10 speed blender 6640 (Oster, USA). The seeds-mycelia were then covered with sterilized soil mixture of Akadama soil and rice husk (1:1, volume to volume) and incubated in a growth chamber at 28 ℃. Seven days post-inoculation, the inoculated seedlings showed stunting with short and necrotic roots (Fig. S1). The pathogen was reisolated from the diseased seedlings and identified with morphology and molecular methods. For morphological characterization, the pathogen was cultured on V8 agar to produce oogonia and zoospore (Chamswarng and Cook 1985). Globose oogonia with multiple antheridia (1-5 per oogonium), inflated filamentous sporangia, vesicle with abundant zoospores, main hypha with up to 6.57 µm wide and mature aplerotic oospores with diameter 24.35-30.81 µm (average= 27.22 µm; n=20) were observed (Fig. S1) that are similar to the descriptions for P. aristosporum (van der Plaats-Niterink 1981). Genomic DNA was extracted with CTAB method (Wang and White 1997) and the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and gene region of ß-tubulin (tub) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (cox II) were amplified with published primers (Villa et al., 2006). The obtained sequences were submitted to GenBank (accession nos: OL701302 (ITS), OL763269 (tub), and OL763270 (cox II); Fig. S2). Phylogenetic relationships between this Pythium pathogen and other 55 Pythium isolates, including the type species of P. aristosporum (ATCC11101), were conducted with the concatenated sequences of tub and cox II and analyzed by Bayesian interference (Fig. S3). Based on the tree built with tub and cox II sequences, this pathogen was identified as P. aristosporum that has not been reported in rice and other plants in Taiwan. It was observed in laboratory assays that this pathogen caused significant root-rot symptoms on several major rice varieties grown in Taiwan, including TN11, Tainung67 and Kaoshiung139. It may potentially cause severe crop loss in rice production, especially in nurseries. This identification provides important information on rice disease management.

Myeloperoxidase: a new target for the treatment of stroke?

Myeloperoxidase is an important inflammatory factor in the myeloid system, primarily expressed in neutrophils and microglia. Myeloperoxidase and its active products participate in the occurrence and development of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke, including damage to the blood-brain barrier and brain. As a specific inflammatory marker, myeloperoxidase can be used in the evaluation of vascular disease occurrence and development in stroke, and a large amount of experimental and clinical data has indicated that the inhibition or lack of myeloperoxidase has positive impacts on stroke prognosis. Many studies have also shown that there is a correlation between the overexpression of myeloperoxidase and the risk of stroke. The occurrence of stroke not only refers to the first occurrence but also includes recurrence. Therefore, myeloperoxidase is significant for the clinical evaluation and prognosis of stroke. This paper reviews the potential role played by myeloperoxidase in the development of vascular injury and secondary brain injury after stroke and explores the effects of inhibiting myeloperoxidase on stroke prognosis. This paper also analyzes the significance of myeloperoxidase etiology in the occurrence and development of stroke and discusses whether myeloperoxidase can be used as a target for the treatment and prediction of stroke.

Two genomic regions of a sodium azide induced rice mutant confer broad-spectrum and durable resistance to blast disease.

Rice blast, one of the most destructive epidemic diseases, annually causes severe losses in grain yield worldwide. To manage blast disease, breeding resistant varieties is considered a more economic and environment-friendly strategy than chemical control. For breeding new resistant varieties, natural germplasms with broad-spectrum resistance are valuable resistant donors, but the number is limited. Therefore, artificially induced mutants are an important resource for identifying new broad-spectrum resistant (R) genes/loci. To pursue this approach, we focused on a broad-spectrum blast resistant rice mutant line SA0169, which was previously selected from a sodium azide induced mutation pool of TNG67, an elite japonica variety. We found that SA0169 was completely resistant against the 187 recently collected blast isolates and displayed durable resistance for almost 20 years. Linkage mapping and QTL-seq analysis indicated that a 1.16-Mb region on chromosome 6 (Pi169-6(t)) and a 2.37-Mb region on chromosome 11 (Pi169-11(t)) conferred the blast resistance in SA0169. Sequence analysis and genomic editing study revealed 2 and 7 candidate R genes in Pi169-6(t) and Pi169-11(t), respectively. With the assistance of mapping results, six blast and bacterial blight double resistant lines, which carried Pi169-6(t) and/or Pi169-11(t), were established. The complementation of Pi169-6(t) and Pi169-11(t), like SA0169, showed complete resistance to all tested isolates, suggesting that the combined effects of these two genomic regions largely confer the broad-spectrum resistance of SA0169. The sodium azide induced mutant SA0169 showed broad-spectrum and durable blast resistance. The broad resistance spectrum of SA0169 is contributed by the combined effects of two R regions, Pi169-6(t) and Pi169-11(t). Our study increases the understanding of the genetic basis of the broad-spectrum blast resistance induced by sodium azide mutagenesis, and lays a foundation for breeding new rice varieties with durable resistance against the blast pathogen.

Association Between Serum Human Epididymis Protein 4 Levels and Cardiovascular Events in Obese Patients with Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer have a higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). We aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum human epididymal protein 4 (HE4) levels and cardiovascular events in obese patients with breast cancer. METHODS: Serum HE4 levels in 316 obese patients with breast cancer were measured at baseline and then prospectively followed up for approximately 36 months. The prognostic value of serum HE4 for predicting cardiovascular events was analyzed by the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: Serum HE4 was significantly associated with CVD history after adjustment for confounding factors (OR= 1.50; 95% CI 1.23-3.43; P=0.038) using multivariable logistic regression analysis. The multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis suggested that serum HE4 had an independent prognostic value for predicting cardiovascular events in patients with breast cancer (HR=2.21, 95% CI 1.60-5.13, P<0.001). Additionally, sensitivity analysis showed that the independent association still existed. Stratified analysis showed that this relationship was not affected by chemoradiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Serum HE4 is significantly related to cardiovascular events and poses good prognostic value for predicting cardiovascular events in obese patients with breast cancer. Serum HE4 may be a valuable indicator for the early detection of cardiovascular complications in obese patients with breast cancer.

Multifunctional Nanoparticles Loaded with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibitors and MED1 siRNA to Inhibit Breast Cancer Progression by Targeting Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Breast Cancer Cells.

Breast cancer is still threatening many people' lives, hence novel targeted therapies are urgently required to improve the poor outcome of breast cancer patients. Herein, our study aimed to explore the potential of nanoparticles (NPs)-loaded with VEGF inhibitors and MED1 siRNA for treatment of the disorder. PEG and MTC conjugates were synthesized by ion gelation, and equipped with VEGF inhibitor (siV) and MED1 (siD) siRNA (MT/PC/siV-D NPs). The size and morphology of the NPs were detected by TEM. Agarose gel experiment was performed to detect drug encapsulation rate and NPs stability. Zeta potential was assessed by immunofluorescence assay and cell uptake was detected by fluorescence analysis. After cancer cells were treated with NPs or PBS, cell proliferation and invasion were evaluated with VEGF and MED1 expression was detected by Western blot and RT-qPCR analyses. Animal model was conducted to confirm the role of NPs in tumor growth. Results showed that, the MT/PC/siV-D NPs exhibited great stability, drug encapsulation and internalization ability. The combined NPs caused decreased proliferation and invasion of tumor cells, inducing M2 macrophages to re-polarize to M1 type with declined expression of VEGF and MED1. Moreover, the NPs remarkably alleviated breast tumor progression. The multifunctional NPs equipped with EGF inhibitors and MED1 siRNA can inhibit tumor progression by targeting TAMs and cancer cells during breast cancer.

[Remediation Performance via the Passivation of a Porous Biomorph Genetic Composite of α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4/C Using a Bamboo Template on As(â ¤) Contaminated Soils].

Red soil from Guangxi, China was selected as the background soil, and a porous biomorphic genetic composite of α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4/C comprising a bamboo template (PBGC-Fe/C) was used as a passivator to remediate As(Ⅴ) contaminated soils. The performance of PBGC-Fe/C was characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results showed that PBGC-Fe/C could improve the passivation effect of As(Ⅴ) from the contaminated soils compared with a single passivation material. Under the conditions of a 5% dose addition, 25% water content, and particle size of 100 mesh, the stability rates of PBGC-Fe/C on As(Ⅴ) contaminated soils with different concentrations of 500 mg·kg-1 and 1000 mg·kg-1 could reach 80.95% and 73.49%, respectively. The porous biomorphic genetic composite of bamboo charcoal provided a large number of adsorption sites for As(Ⅴ), and the acidity of the soil was favorable for the remediation of As(Ⅴ) via passivation. Moreover, PBGC-Fe/C could not only adsorb and fix As(Ⅴ), but also promoted the stabilization of As species. Chemical complexation and ion exchange played major roles in this passivation process.

[Passivation and Remediation Effects and Mechanisms of Plant Residual Modified Materials on Lead-Contaminated Soils].

The specific characteristics and mechanism of passivation of Pb in soil were studied using HAP/C composite (PBGC-HAP/C) as passivation, and using proportion of PBGC-HAP/C, particle size and type of passivator, soil moisture content, soil pH value of Pb, and particle size of the material as influencing factors. The results showed that with an increase in dosage of the passivator and passivation time, the passivation effect increases gradually. Reducing the particle size of the passivator is beneficial to improving the passivation effect. pH has a greater impact on passivation, with the passivation effect obviously rising with increased pH, and the passivation rate in an alkaline environment can reach above 99%. An increase in water content is beneficial to the improvement of the passivation effect, but the contribution is not significant. Through comparative analysis of the XPS, XRD, and FT-IR of materials before and after passivation, the results indicated that the passivation of PBGC-HAP/C to Pb is mainly through direct and indirect effects. Direct effects include physical adsorption, chemical complexation, electrostatic interaction, ion exchange, and precipitation; the indirect effect is mainly enhanced by increasing the pH value of the organic matter.

[Removal of Pb2+ from Aqueous Solution by Magnesium-Calcium Hydroxyapatite Adsorbent].

A novel magnesium-calcium hydroxyapatite adsorbent was prepared by the Sol-gel method with different proportions of Mg/(Ca+Mg) using Mg2+ as doped ions, and the removal characteristics and process mechanism of Pb2+ on the magnesium-calcium hydroxyapatite in an aqueous solutions were studied. The results show that the surface of the adsorbent is composed mainly of a hydroxyphosphonite compound[Pb10(PO4)6(OH)2], The morphological characteristics of the magnesium-calcium hydroxyapatite adsorbent surface was investigated as crystal structure changes from short rods to needle structures according to scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Testing at a temperature of 25℃ and pH of 5 showed that the adsorption of Pb2+ by magnesium-calcium hydroxyapatite reached equilibrium within 720 min. The adsorption capacity was determined to be 813.17 mg·g-1 at a dosage of 0.6 g·L-1. The thermodynamic test results of ΔGθ<0, ΔSθ>0, and ΔHθ>0 indicated that the adsorption process of Pb2+ by magnesium-calcium hydroxyapatite is a spontaneous process with endothermic reaction and entropy increments, and higher temperatures were considered be favorable for adsorption at a range of 25-45℃. The adsorption could be effectively described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. The equilibrium data were found to follow the Langmuir adsorption model. Material characterization and adsorption tests showed that surface complexation and dissolution-precipitation were the main mechanisms for the removal of Pb2+ by magnesium-calcium hydroxyapatite in an aqueous solution.

Can Aidi injection improve overall survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVES: Aidi injection can significantly improve clinical response and reduce radiochemotherapy related toxicity. Can Aidi injection improve the survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)? Therefore, to further reveal it, we systematically evaluated all related studies. METHODS: We collected all studies about Aidi injection for NSCLC in Medline, Embase, Web of Science(ISI), China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database(CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Full-Text Database(VIP), Wanfang, China Biological Medicine Database (CBM), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese clinical trial registry (Chi-CTR) and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO-ICTRP), and US-clinical trials (established to June 2016). We evaluated their quality according to the Cochrane evaluation handbook of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (5.1.0), extracted data following the PICO principles, and synthesized the data by meta-analysis. RESULTS: We included 25 RCTs involving 2662 patients with NSCLC which most studies had unclear risk of bias. The merged risk ratios (RR) values and their 95% CI of meta-analysis for objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were as following: 1.19(1.09-1.29) and 1.07(1.03-1.11). The merged RR values and their 95% CI of meta-analysis for the 1-, 2- and 3-year overall survival (OS) rate were as following: 1.23(1.14-1.33), 1.46(1.22-1.74) and 1.67(1.04-2.69). All differences were statistically significant. Subgroup analysis showed that Aidi injection plus different therapies had different effects on 1-, 2- and 3-year OS rate. Sensitivity analysis showed that the RR of ORR, DCR, 1- and 2- year OS rate had good stability, and 3-year OS rate had poor stability. CONCLUSIONS: Available evidences indicate that Aidi injection can significantly improve the clinical response and OS rates in patients with NSCLC and especially, the 1- and 2-year OS rate. But, Aidi injection plus different therapies had different effects on overall survival. It is still unclear whether Aidi injection can improve the PFS and HR.

[Adsorption Characteristics of Copper in Water by the Porous Biomorph-Genetic Composite of HAP/C with Eucalyptus Wood Template].

The specific characteristics and mechanism of adsorption of Cu(Ⅱ) were studied by using HAP/C composite (PBGC-HAP/C) as adsorbent, and using pH value of the solution system, initial concentration of Cu(Ⅱ) and particle size of the material as influential factors. The results showed that when the solution was weak acid (pH=5), the adsorption effect was the best; the increase of the initial concentration of the reaction system was not conducive to the enhancement of the adsorption effect; and the decrease of the particle size of the adsorbent facilitated the adsorption process. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model could accurately describe the adsorption process, and the calculated adsorption capacity(0.99, 1.93, 4.03 mg·g-1)was close to the experimental measured values(0.99, 1.93, 4.05mg·g-1); Langmuir model could fit the adsorption process very well, which indicated that adsorption was monolayer adsorption and the increase of temperature was conducive to adsorption. The thermodynamics test results of ΔGθ<0, ΔSθ>0 and ΔHθ>0 showed that the adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous. Through comparative analysis of the SEM, EDS, XRD and FTIR of materials before and after adsorption, the results indicated that the chemical complexation reaction of Cu(Ⅱ) with the oxygen functional groups on the surface of PBGC-HAP/C was the main purification mechanism, which was accompanied with physical adsorption, electrostatic adsorption and ion exchange.