ABSTRACT Recent studies have shown that two common methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase ( MTHFR ) gene polymorphisms (C677T and A1298C) might correlate with thyroid dysfunction, but the results remain inconsistent. We carried out a meta-analysis aiming to assess the relationship of both polymorphisms with thyroid dysfunction. The PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), CBMdisc (China Biology Medicine disc), WeiPu and Wanfang databases were searched up to September 2021. Case-control and cohort studies on MTHFR polymorphism and thyroid dysfunction were identified. Eight studies from six publications were finally included in our meta-analysis, including 817 patients and 566 controls. After pooled analysis, we found that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of hypothyroidism (TT vs. CC+CT/recessive model: OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.02-4.20, P = 0.04; TT vs. CC/homozygote model: OR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.13-4.86, P = 0.02), while trial sequential analysis (TSA) revealed that it could be a false positive result. The MTHFR A1298C polymorphism was related to a decreased risk of hypothyroidism (C vs. A/allele model: OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.44-0.92, P = 0.02; CC vs. AC+AA/recessive model: OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.22-0.79, P = 0.007; CC vs. AA/homozygote model: OR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.25-0.85, P = 0.02), which was conclusive according to TSA. The results of this meta-analysis suggest that MTHFR A1298C seems to be a protective factor for hypothyroidism, while the MTHFR C677T polymorphism may be a risk factor. However, more well-designed studies with larger sample sizes are needed to obtain more reliable results of the association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and hypothyroidism.

ABSTRACT Grafting is an important means to overcome the obstacles of continuous cropping of solanaceous vegetables. The objective of this subject was to evaluate the performance of different rootstocks in grafted tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under coconut coir cultivation. This research was carried out on a scion ‘Ruifen 882’ grafted onto four rootstocks (‘Guangzhen 1’, ‘Zhenai 1’, ‘Ganzhen 1’, and ‘Guozhen 1’) in comparison with non-grafted and self-grafted ‘Ruifen 882’ plants. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse environment and adopted the casing grafting method with three replicates; 20 plants per replicate were employed in a randomized block design. The following variables were analyzed: graft survival rate, growth parameters (plant height, stem diameter, fresh and dry weight of above-ground part and under-ground part, root-shoot ratio and strong seedling index), physiological characteristics (chlorophyll and mineral element contents), fruit yield, and fruit quality (hardness, soluble solid, soluble sugar, titratable acid, vitamin C and lycopene). The results of growth monitoring indicated that grafting could improve the growth and development of tomato plants at the seedling stage and ‘Ruifen 882’/‘Guozhen 1’ (R/GUO) had high grafting survival rate of nearly 98%, which is close to the self-grafted plants. Physiological analysis showed that R/GUO and ‘Ruifen 882’/‘Zhenai 1’ (R/ ZA) significantly increased the chlorophyll content and absorption of K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Na, Mn and Cu. On fruit yield, grafts ‘Ruifen 882’/‘Ganzhen 1’ (R/GAN) and R/GUO had better performance. Comprehensive analysis showed that the best results for tomato scion growth, development, fruit quality and yield were observed with the graft combination R/GUO.

Abstract In the era of climate change, due to increased incidences of a wide range of various environmental stresses, especially biotic and abiotic stresses around the globe, the performance of plants can be affected by these stresses. After oxygen, silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust. It is not considered as an important element, but can be thought of as a multi-beneficial quasi-essential element for plants. This review on silicon presents an overview of the versatile role of this element in a variety of plants. Plants absorb silicon through roots from the rhizospheric soil in the form of silicic or monosilicic acid. Silicon plays a key metabolic function in living organisms due to its relative abundance in the atmosphere. Plants with higher content of silicon in shoot or root are very few prone to attack by pests, and exhibit increased stress resistance. However, the more remarkable impact of silicon is the decrease in the number of seed intensities/soil-borne and foliar diseases of major plant varieties that are infected by biotrophic, hemi-biotrophic and necrotrophic pathogens. The amelioration in disease symptoms are due to the effect of silicon on a some factors involved in providing host resistance namely, duration of incubation, size, shape and number of lesions. The formation of a mechanical barrier beneath the cuticle and in the cell walls by the polymerization of silicon was first proposed as to how this element decreases plant disease severity. The current understanding of how this element enhances resistance in plants subjected to biotic stress, the exact functions and mechanisms by which it modulates plant biology by potentiating the host defence mechanism needs to be studied using genomics, metabolomics and proteomics. The role of silicon in helping the plants in adaption to biotic stress has been discussed which will help to plan in a systematic way the development of more sustainable agriculture for food security and safety in the future.

Abstract Background: Water stress is one of the serious abiotic stresses that negatively influences the growth, development and production of sugarcane in arid and semi–arid regions. However, silicon (Si) has been applied as an alleviation strategy subjected to environmental stresses. Methods: In this experiment, Si was applied as soil irrigation in sugarcane plants to understand the mitigation effect of Si against harmful impact of water stress on photosynthetic leaf gas exchange. Results: In the present study we primarily revealed the consequences of low soil moisture content, which affect overall plant performance of sugarcane significantly. Silicon application reduced the adverse effects of water stress by improving the net photosynthetic assimilation rate (Anet) 1.35–18.75%, stomatal conductance to water vapour (gs) 3.26–21.57% and rate of transpiration (E) 1.16–17.83%. The mathematical models developed from the proposed hypothesis explained the functional relationships between photosynthetic responses of Si application and water stress mitigation. Conclusions: Silicon application showed high ameliorative effects on photosynthetic responses of sugarcane to water stress and could be used for mitigating environmental stresses in other crops, too, in future.

RESUMO OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo é investigar a expressão de Id-1 em tecidos de adenocarcinoma colorretal em humanos e investigar sua correlação com os parâmetros patológicos clínicos de câncer colorretal. MÉTODOS: Os níveis de expressão de proteína e mRNA Id-1 em 50 amostras de tecido colorretal normal e 50 amostras de tecido de adenocarcinoma colorretal foram detectados através de reação em cadeia de polimerase precedida de transcrição reversa e western blot. Além disso, a proteína Id-1 foi detectada através de imuno-histoquímica. A correlação entre a expressão de Id-1 e características clínico-patológicas foi analisada. RESULTADOS: O nível de expressão de mRNA Id-1 em tecidos de adenocarcinoma colorretal e tecidos colorretais normais foi de 0,96 ± 0,03 versus 0,20 ± 0,04, respectivamente; a diferença foi estatisticamente significativa (P= 0,011). Além disso, a expressão da proteína Id-1 foi maior em tecidos de adenocarcinoma colorretal do que em tecidos colorretais normais (0,82 ± 0,04 versus 0,31 ± 0,02, P= 0,020). Além disso, a taxa de expressão positiva de proteínas Id-1 foi maior em tecidos de adenocarcinoma colorretal do que em tecidos colorretais normais (72,00% vs. 24,00%, X2=23,431, p=0,000). A expressão de Id-1 foi correlacionada com a profundidade da invasão tumoral, estágio TNM, metástases linfonodais, invasão vascular e metástase hepática (P<0,01). Todavia, essa expressão não se correlacionou com o tamanho do tumor e graus de diferenciação (P>0,05). CONCLUSÃO: A alta expressão de Id-1 em tecidos de adenocarcinoma colorretal desempenham um importante papel no processo do câncer, e é esperado que se torne um novo indicador de monitoramento de tumores para o diagnóstico clínico, tratamento e estimativa de prognóstico.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the expression of Id-1 in human colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues and explore its correlation with the clinical pathological parameters of colorectal cancer. METHODS: The Id-1 mRNA and protein expression levels of 50 specimens of normal colorectal tissues and 50 specimens of colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues were detected using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot. Furthermore, Id-1 protein was detected using immunohistochemistry. The correlation between the expression of Id-1 and clinicopathologic features was analyzed. RESULTS: The mRNA expression level of Id-1 in colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues and normal colorectal tissues was 0.96 ± 0.03 vs. 0.20 ± 0.04, respectively; and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.011). Furthermore, Id-1 protein expression was higher in colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues than in normal colorectal tissues (0.82 ± 0.04 vs. 0.31 ± 0.02, P=0.020). In addition, the positive protein expression rate of Id-1 was higher in colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues than in normal colorectal tissues (72.00% vs. 24.00%, X2=23.431, P=0.000). The expression of Id-1 was correlated with the depth of tumor invasion, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, vessel invasion, and liver metastasis (P<0.01). However, this expression was not correlated with tumor size and differentiation degrees (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The high Id-1 expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma tissues play an important role in the process of cancer, and is expected to become a new tumor monitoring indicator for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis judgment.

A new sodium europium carbonate hydrate, Na3Eu(CO3)3•6H2O, has been prepared using the hydrothermal method, and its structure was determined by single crystal X-Ray diffraction analysis for the first time. It crystallizes in the polar hexagonal space group P6(3) with a = 11.382(9) Å, c = 5.989(5) Å, V = 672.06(9) ų, Z = 2, Mr = 509.06, Dc = 2.516 g/cm³, F(000) = 492, μ(MoKα) = 4.84 mm-1, R1 = 0.015 and wR = 0.038. The structure features a three-dimensional (3D) framework composed of planar (CO3)2- triangles, Eu3+ ions and Na+ ions, which delimits 1D infinite chains with a hexangular star appearance along the c-axis. The IR spectrum and the self-activated photoluminescence properties were studied. Under the excitation of near UV light (395nm), it shows strong red emission at 618 nm with a lifetime of 348.7 μs. Present research indicates that Na3Eu(CO3)3•6H2O is a promising red phosphor for white light-emitting diodes.

Single crystal of rare-earth polyphosphate Tm(PO3)3 has been grown under high temperature molten-salt method and structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Using the four-dimensional superspace formalism for aperiodic structures, we performed the crystal structure refinement of Tm(PO3)3 as (3+1)-dimensional incommensurately modulated structure with monoclinic superspace group C2/c(0, 0.358, 0)s0 and α = 14.0620 (12) Å, b = 6.6612 (6) Å, c = 10.0191 (9) Å, β = 127.6043 (9)°, V = 743.51 (11) ų, Z = 4, Mr = 405.8, Dc = 3.626 g/cm³, F(000) = 744, μ(MoKα) = 12.60 mm'¹, R = 0.048 and ωR = 0.050. The structure features infinite chains of corner-sharing PO4 tetrahedra which are affected by positional modulation running along the b-axis. The final structure model was reasonable and did not show any unusual features.

ABSTRACT Tillage systems can influence C sequestration by changing aggregate formation and C distribution within the aggregate. This study was undertaken to explore the impact of no-tillage without straw (NT-S) and with straw (NT+S), and moldboard plow without straw (MP-S) and with straw (MP+S), on soil aggregation and aggregate-associated C after six years of double rice planting in a Hydragric Anthrosol in Guangxi, southwest of China. Soil samples of 0.00-0.05, 0.05-0.20 and 0.20-0.30 m layers were wet-sieved and divided into four aggregate-size classes, >2 mm, 2.00-0.25 mm, 0.25-0.053 and <0.053 mm, respectively, for measuring aggregate associated C and humic and fulvic acids. Results showed that the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in bulk soil was 40.2-51.1 % higher in the 0.00-0.05 m layer and 11.3-17.0 % lower in the 0.05-0.20 m layer in NT system (NT+S and NT-S) compared to the MP system (MP+S and MP-S), respectively. However, no statistical difference was found across the whole 0.00-0.30 m layer. The NT system increased the proportion of >2 mm aggregate fraction and reduced the proportion of <0.053 mm aggregates in both 0.00-0.05 and 0.05-0.20 m layers. The SOC concentration, SOC stock and humic and fulvic acids within the >0.25 mm macroaggregate fraction also significantly increased in the 0.00-0.5 m layer in NT system. However, those within the 2.00-0.25 mm aggregate fraction were significantly reduced in the 0.05-0.200 m layer under NT system. Straw incorporation increased not only the SOC stock in bulk soil, but also the proportion of macroaggregate, aggregate associated with SOC and humic and fulvic acids concentration within the aggregate. The effect of straw on C sequestration might be dependent on the location of straw incorporation. In conclusion, the NT system increased the total SOC accumulation and humic and fulvic acids within macroaggregates, thus contributing to C sequestration in the 0.00-0.05 m layer.

Response-guided therapy is of limited use in developing countries because hepatitis C virus RNA detection by sensitive molecular methods is time- and labor-consuming and expen- sive. We evaluated early predictive efficacy of serum hepatitis C virus core antigen kinetics on sustained virologic response in patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus during pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment. For 478 patients recruited, hepatitis C virus RNAs were detected at baseline, and at weeks 4, 12, 24, 48, and 72 using Cobas TaqMan. Architect hepatitis C virus core antigen was performed at baseline, and weeks 4 and 12. Predictive values of hepatitis C virus core antigen on sustained virologic response were compared to hepatitis C virus RNA. In the first 12 weeks after treatment initiation the dynamic patterns of serum hepatitis C virus core antigen and hepatitis C virus RNA levels were similar in sustained virologic response, relapse, and null response patients groups. Although areas under the receiver operating characteristics curves of hepatitis C virus core antigen were lower than those of hepatitis C virus RNA at the same time points, modeling analysis showed that undetectable hepatitis C virus core antigen (rapid virological response based on hepatitis C virus core antigen) had similar positive predictive value on sustained virologic response to hepatitis C virus RNA at week 4 (90.4% vs 93.3%), and hepatitis C virus core antigen decrease greater than 1 log10 IU/mL (early virological response based on hepatitis C virus core antigen) had similar negative predictive value to hepatitis C virus RNA at week 12 (94.1% vs 95.Z%). Analysis on the validation group demonstrated a positive predictivevalue of 97.5% in rapid virological response based on hepatitis C virus core antigen and a negative predictive value of 100% in early virological response based on hepatitis C virus core antigen. In conclusion, hepatitis C virus core antigen is comparable to hepatitis C virus RNA in predicting sustained virologic response of chronic genotype 1 hepatitis C virus infected patients, and can be used to guide anti-hepatitis C virus treatment, especially in resource-limited areas.

The effects of Dangguibuxue Tang (DBT) on growth performance and immunity response in immunosuppressed broiler chicks were investigated in this study. 240 one-d-old broiler chicks (DaHeng S01) were randomly divided into 4 groups, 2.0% DBT-treatment (A), 0.5% DBT-treatment (B), cyclophosphamide-control (C), and control group (D). From 4 d to 7 d of age, chicks in group A, B and C were given cyclophosphamide (CY) at a dosage of 100mg/kg body weight (BW) daily by intraperitoneal injection to induce immunosuppression. Chicks in group D were given an equal volume of physiological saline daily by intraperitoneal injection and considered normal chicks. Groups A and B were supplemented with 2.0% or 0.5% of DBT in the drinking water from 8 d to 42 d of age. Groups C and D did not receive any additional medication. The results revealed that chicks from group B had lower feed:gain rate (FGR), lower total mortality, higher immunity organ indexes, higher levels of Newcastle disease (ND) antibody and infectious bursal disease (IBD) antibody, higher interleukin-2 and interleukin-6 levels, and greater lymphocyte proliferative responses to concanavalin A (ConA) during the experiment than those from group C. However, no significant difference in the immunity status in the two levels of DBT-treatment was observed. These results indicate that supplementation of 0.5% of DBT can improve both cellular immunity and humoral immunity in immunosuppressed broiler chicks.

The phylogenetic relationships of 15 taxa from Hystrix and the related genera Leymus (NsXm), Elymus (StH), Pseudoroegneria (St), Hordeum (H), Psathyrostachys (Ns), and Thinopyrum (E) were examined by using the Giemsa C-banded karyotype. The Hy. patula C-banding pattern was similar to those of Elymus species, whereas C-banding patterns of the other Hystrix species were similar to those of Leymus species. The results suggest high genetic diversity within Hystrix, and support treating Hy. patula as E. hystrix L., and transferring Hy. coreana, Hy. duthiei ssp. duthiei and Hy. duthiei ssp. longearistata to the genus Leymus. On comparing C-banding patterns of Elymus species with their diploid ancestors (Pseudoroegneria and Hordeum), there are indications that certain chromosomal re-arrangements had previously occurred in the St and H genomes. Furthermore, a comparison of the C-banding patterns of the Hystrix and Leymus species with the potential diploid progenitors (Psathyrostachys and Thinopyrum) suggests that Hy. coreana and some Leymus species are closely related to the Ns genome of Psathyrostachys, whereas Hy. duthiei ssp. duthiei, Hy. duthiei ssp. longearistata and some of the Leymus species have a close relationship with the E genome. The results suggest a multiple origin of the polyploid genera Hystrix and Leymus.