Biochar immobilized plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria enhanced the physicochemical properties, agronomic characters and microbial communities during lettuce seedling.

Spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is the by-products of mushroom production, which is mainly composed of disintegrated lignocellulosic biomass, mushroom mycelia and some minerals. The huge output and the lack of effective utilization methods make SMS becoming a serious environmental problem. In order to improve the application of SMS and SMS derived biochar (SBC), composted SMS (CSMS), SBC, combined plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR, Bacillus subtilis BUABN-01 and Arthrobacter pascens BUAYN-122) and SBC immobilized PGPR (BCP) were applied in the lettuce seedling. Seven substrate treatments were used, including (1) CK, commercial control; (2) T1, CSMS based blank control; (3) T2, T1 with combined PGPR (9:1, v/v); (4) T3, T1 with SBC (19:1, v/v); (5) T4, T1 with SBC (9:1, v/v); (6) T5, T1 with BCP (19:1, v/v); (7) T6, T1 with BCP (9:1, v/v). The physicochemical properties of substrate, agronomic and physicochemical properties of lettuce and rhizospheric bacterial and fungal communities were investigated. The addition of SBC and BCP significantly (p < 0.05) improved the total nitrogen and available potassium content. The 5% (v/v) BCP addiction treatment (T5) represented the highest fresh weight of aboveground and underground, leave number, chlorophyll content and leaf anthocyanin content, and the lowest root malondialdehyde content. Moreover, high throughput sequencing revealed that the biochar immobilization enhanced the adaptability of PGPR. The addition of PGPR, SBC and BCP significantly enriched the unique bacterial biomarkers. The co-occurrence network analysis revealed that 5% BCP greatly increased the network complexity of rhizospheric microorganisms and improved the correlations of the two PGPR with other microorganisms. Furthermore, microbial functional prediction indicated that BCP enhanced the nutrient transport of rhizospheric microorganisms. This study showed the BCP can increase the agronomic properties of lettuce and improve the rhizospheric microbial community.

Changes of serofast status in HIV negative asymptomatic neurosyphilis patients after treatment.

Serofast status after therapy in syphilis patients is a common phenomenon. A proportion of patients who have serofast status exhibit abnormal cerebrospinal fluid test results, which can be defined as asymptomatic neurosyphilis (ANS); however, it remains unclear whether ANS patients can achieve serological cure after anti-neurosyphilis treatment as quickly as other serofast patients. In this study, non-treponemal pallidum antibody serological responses were studied in ANS and serofast control patients, and the cumulative rates of serological cure in the ANS group were 9.6, 22.1, 25.9, and 30.2% in 3, 6, 9, and 12 month after treatment, which were statistically higher than those of the serofast control group. The change gap in serological cure rates was even more pronounced within 6 months after treatment, but the majority of ANS patients had no change in serofast status at 12 months after treatment. Our study indicates that anti-neurosyphilis therapy can partially change the serofast status. As serofast status cannot easily be changed even under neurosyphilis treatment in the majority of patients, the pathogenesis of this condition needs further research.

A coumarin lignanoid from the stems of Kadsura heteroclita.

Coumarinlignan (1), possessing a unique coumarin-containing lignan skeleton, was isolated from the stems of Kadsura heteroclita. Its structure and absolute configuration were determined by spectroscopic techniques, especially 2D NMR and X-ray crystallographic data analyses. The proposed biosynthetic pathway is discussed. This new compound showed good anti-HBV activity against HBeAg and HBsAg, and moderate anti-fibrotic and neuroprotective activities.

Resveratrol induces human K562 cell apoptosis, erythroid differentiation, and autophagy.

Resveratrol (Res) is a naturally occurring phytoalexin with apoptotic and inducing-glob effects in leukemic cells, but the potential induction of erythroid differentiation in cells is not fully understood. Here, we investigated the effects of Res on human erythro-megakaryoblastic leukemia cell line K562. Among the treated cells, proliferation was inhibited and the occurrence of cell apoptosis and cell death were detected. Erythroid differentiation assay was explored, and we found that Res could increase the expression of glycophorin A (GPA), HBA1, HBB, and γ-globin genes and enforced the expression of GPA, CD71, and Band3 proteins. Res also induced K562 cell autophagy when the concentration of Res was increased up to 50 or 100 µM. Our findings suggested that Res possesses the potency not only inducing apoptosis but also inducing erythroid differentiation and autophagy in K562 cells. These results provide that Res may be a therapeutic candidate for chronic myelogenous leukemia treatment.

Clinical study on Kangquan Recipe (康泉方) for benign prostatic hyperplasia patients: a randomized controlled trial / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effectiveness and safety of Kangquan Recipe (康泉方, KQR) for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and six BPH patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group (53 cases) and the control group (53 cases) according to a random number table. The treatment group was given KQR orally; the control group was given cernilton orally. After 24-week treatment, the clinical effect and safety were evaluated using the International Prostatic Symptom Score (I-PSS), quality of life (QOL), maximum flow rate (Qmax), average flow rate (Qave), residual urine volume (RUV), total prostatic volume (TPV), etc.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment, the score of I-PSS was decreased from 16.9±5.6 to 12.5±4.6 in the treatment group, significantly lower compared with the control group; the levels of Qmax and Qave were from 10.9±3.5 to 15.6±4.5 and 5.4±2.1 to 7.3±2.5 (mL/s) in the treatment group, significantly higher compared with the control group; the levels of RUV and TPV were from 70.8±28.2 to 35.2±21.8 and 37.2±16.9 to 30.1±10.8 (mL) in the treatment group, significantly lower compared with the control group (all P<0.05). The incidence rate of adverse reaction was similar between the two groups (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>KQR is effective and safe for the treatment of BPH.</p>

[Study on the association of clinical characteristic, CD4+ and level of HIV viral load among 690 initial HIV-infection].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the correlation between CD4+ cell count, HIV viral load (VL) and clinical characteristics among patients when HIV-1 was tested positive and initial AIDS diagnosis was made. METHODS: 690 HIV-infected cases from Beijing Di-Tan Hospital were included and under a cross sectional study while SPSS statistical method was used. RESULTS: The 690 HIV-infected cases would include 458 males and 232 females with age range from 2-72 years (mean age as 35.3). The modes of transmission showed that: homosexual contact taking up 17.5% while heterosexual was 16.7%. Most of the homosexual-infected ones lived in Beijing and most of them had bachelor or master's degrees. 19.4% of the transmission happened between heterosexual/bisexual couples, suggesting that HIV was transmitted through the "bridge population" while the rest were infected by contaminated blood/plasma. Many of the cases were identified when they lately visited the pre-operation surveillance point in the hospital. Serious immunodeficiency symptoms or signs were discovered as: CD4+ count < 50 cell/microl, serious opportunistic infections including pneumocystosis pulmonary, cerebral toxoplasmosis and cryptococcal meningitis. Higher frequencies of diseases seen were dermotosis, pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infection, hepatitis and digestive tract moniliasis. CONCLUSION: Because of the late identification of the disease, serious immuo-suppression situation often appeared, suggesting that there was an urgent need to improve STD/AIDS knowledge on those HIV (+) people so they might have an early access to accept medical care.