Abstract To explore a new method for the detection of soluble solids content (SSC) in apples, the reflectance spectra of apples with different SSC were obtained based on hyperspectral imaging technology in this paper, and fractal measurement of the reflection spectrum curve was carried out based on fractal theory, for using fractal dimension to quantitatively reflect its SSC. The results show that the samples with different SSC have little difference in fractal dimension, and are not sensitive to the change of apple SSC, which cannot show an obvious linear relationship. It can be considered to conduct a study on discrimination with obvious differences between spectral curves, such as variety discrimination and damage discrimination.

OBJECTIVE: The occurrence of cryptic Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome translocation is rare in BCR-ABL1-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCR-ABL1+ ALL) and is of unknown significance in the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) era. METHODS: We retrospectively studied a series of adult patients receiving TKI-based therapy to evaluate the prognostic impact of the normal karyotype (NK) (n=22) in BCR-ABL1+ ALL by comparison with the isolated Ph+ karyotype (n=54). RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in clinical characteristics and complete remission rate between the two groups. Compared with the isolated Ph+ group, the NK/BCR-ABL1+ group had a higher relapse rate (55.0% versus 29.4%, p=0.044). Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were significantly shorter in the NK/BCR-ABL1+ group than in the isolated Ph+ group [median OS: 24.5 versus 48.6 (months), p=0.013; median DFS: 11.0 (months) versus undefined, p=0.008]. The five-year OS and DFS for patients with NK/BCR-ABL1+ were 19.2% and 14.5%, respectively; those for patients with isolated Ph+ were 49.5% and 55.7%, respectively. Thirty-four (44.7%) patients underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in this study. Among the patients who received allo-HSCT, the median OS and DFS in the NK/BCR-ABL+ group (n=9) were 35.5 and 27.5 months, respectively, while those in the isolated Ph+ group (n=25) were undefined. There was a trend of significant statistical difference in the OS between the two subgroups (p=0.066), but no significant difference in the DFS. Multivariate analysis revealed that NK was independently associated with worse OS and DFS in BCR-ABL1+ ALL patients [Hazard ratio (HR) 2.256 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.005-5.066), p=0.049; HR 2.711 (95% CI, 1.319-5.573), p=0.007]. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the sub-classification of an NK could be applied in the prognostic assessments of BCR-ABL1+ ALL. In addition, allo-HSCT should be actively performed to improve prognosis in these patients.

BACKGROUND: Prunella vulgaris L. is a medical plant cultivated in sloping, sun-shaded areas in China. Recently, owing to air-environmental stress, especially drought stress strongly inhibits plant growth and development, the appropriate fertilizer supply can alleviate these effects. However, these is little information about their effects on P. vulgaris growing in arid and semi-arid areas with limited water and fertilizer supply. RESULTS: In this study, water stress decreased the photosynthetic pigment contents, inhibited photosynthetic efficiency, induced photodamage in photosystem 2 (PS2), and decreased leaf instantaneous WUE (WUEi). The decreased net photosynthetic rate (Pn) under medium drought stress compared with the control might result from stomatal limitations. However, fertilizer supply improved photosynthetic capacity by increasing the photosynthetic pigment contents and enhancing photosynthetic efficiency under water deficit. Moreover, medium fertilization also increased WUEi under the two water conditions, but fertilizer supply did little to alleviate the PS2 photodamage caused by drought stress. Hence, drought stress was the primary limitation in the photosynthetic process of P. vulgaris seedlings, while the photosynthetic characteristics of the seedlings exhibited positive responses to fertilizer supply. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate fertilizer supply is recommended to improve photosynthetic efficiency, enhance WUEi and alleviate photodamage under drought stress.

Prunella vulgaris L. (Labiatae) contains a variety of structurally diverse natural products, primarily rosmarinic acid (RA), ursolic acid (UA) and oleanolic acid (OA), which possess a wide array of biological properties. In the present study, P. vulgaris was harvested at three developmental stages (vegetative, full-flowering and mature-fruiting stages), dissected into stem and leaf tissues and assayed for chemical contents using high performance liquid chromatography. Significant changes in the concentrations of the major secondary metabolites (RA, UA and OA) were observed at the different development stages. The highest concentrations of RA, UA and OA were found at the full-flowering stage (15.83 mg/g dry weight (DW) RA, 1.77 mg/g DW UA and 0.65 mg/g DW OA). Among the different aerial parts of the plant, the concentrations of RA, UA and OA were higher in the leaves than in the stems at the different developmental stages. These results suggest that the full-flowering stage is characterized by the highest concentrations of bioactive compounds. Therefore, this stage may be the optimum point for harvesting P. vulgaris plants. In additional, the leaves of P. vulgaris demonstrated higher RA, UA and OA concentrations than the stems, suggesting higher utilization potential.