Defect in an immune regulator gene BrSRFR1 leads to premature leaf senescence in Chinese cabbage

Leaf senescence is the final stage of leaf development, where the nutrients and energy of senescent leaves are redistributed to developing tissues or organs for plant growth, reproduction, and defense. Outer leaves are photosynthetic organs that usually senesce at the late heading stage in Chinese cabbage, and premature leaf senescence often reduces leafy head yield and quality. In this study, 11 premature leaf senescence mutants were screened from an ethyl methanesulfonate-mutagenized population of the double haploid line ‘FT' in Chinese cabbage. At the early heading stage, the mutants exhibited edge yellowing within its outer leaves, and at the mature stage, its leafy head weight decreased significantly. Genetic analysis revealed that the mutated trait of all 11 mutants corresponds to single gene recessive inheritance. Semi-diallel cross tests showed that 5 of the 11 were allelic mutants. MutMap and Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR genotyping revealed that BraA01g001400.3C was the candidate gene, which is orthologous of Arabidopsis SUPPRESSOR OF rps4-RLD 1, encoding an immune regulator, so we named it as BrSRFR1. All the BrSRFR1 in the five allelic mutants exhibited single nucleotide polymorphisms at different positions on their exons and led to premature translation termination, which confirmed that defect in BrSRFR1 led to premature leaf senescence. These results verify the role of Br SRFR1 on leaf senescence and provide a new insight into the mechanisms of leaf senescence in Chinese cabbage, which reveals a novel function of SRFR1 in plant development.

Plasma-Lyte 148: A clinical review

AIM To outline the physiochemical properties and specific clinical uses of Plasma-Lyte 148 as choice of solution for fluid intervention in critical illness, surgery and perioperative medicine.METHODS We performed an electronic literature search from Medline and Pub Med(via Ovid), anesthesia and pharmacology textbooks, and online sources including studies that compared Plasma-Lyte 148 to other crystalloid solutions. The following keywords were used: "surgery", "anaesthesia", "anesthesia", "anesthesiology", "anaesthesiology", "fluids", "fluid therapy", "crystalloid", "saline", "plasma-Lyte", "plasmalyte", "hartmann's", "ringers" "acetate", "gluconate", "malate", "lactate". All relevant articles were accessed in full. We summarized the data and reported the data in tables and text. RESULTS We retrieved 104 articles relevant to the choice of Plasma-Lyte 148 for fluid intervention in critical illness, surgery and perioperative medicine. We analyzed the data and reported the results in tables and text.CONCLUSION Plasma-Lyte 148 is an isotonic, buffered intravenous crystalloid solution with a physiochemical composition that closely reflects human plasma. Emerging data supports the use of buffered crystalloid solutions in preference to saline in improving physicochemical outcomes. Further large randomized controlled trials assessing the comparative effectiveness of PlasmaLyte 148 and other crystalloid solutions in measuring clinically important outcomes such as morbidity and mortality are needed.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of lignocaine: A review

Lignocaine is an essential drug on World Health Organisation essential drug list, considered efficacious, safe and cost-effective for any health-care system. Despite its ubiquitous use in medicine and surgery, there are few detailed reviews of its pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Being an amide-type local anesthetic and Class 1b antiarrhythmic, lignocaine is most frequently used clinically for its anesthetic and antiarrhythmic benefits. However, lignocaine has important antinociceptive, immuno-modulating, and antiinflammatory properties. Information pertaining to the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of lignocaine was examined by performing a literature search of Pub Med, Embase and MEDLINE(via Ovid), pharmacology textbooks and online sources. We present a focused synopsis of lignocaine's pharmacological composition, indications for use and mechanisms of action, focusing on its anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulating and analgesia effects. In addition we review the dosing regimes and infusion kinetics of lignocaine in the clinical setting. Finally, we review the evidence for ligocaine's modulation of the inflammatory response during major surgery and its specific effects on cancer recurrence. These indirect effects of local anesthetics in tumor development may stem from the reduction of neuroendocrine responses to the stress response elicited by major surgery and tissue damage, enhanced preservation of immune-competence, in addition to opioid-sparing effects of modulating tumor growth.

Relationship between acute hypercarbia and hyperkalaemia during surgery

BACKGROUND The relationship between hyperkalaemia and metabolic acidosis is well described in the critical care setting;however,the relationship between acute respiratory acidosis and plasma potassium concentration is less well understood.In a controlled model of increasing levels of hypercarbia,we tested the hypothesis of whether increasing levels of hypercarbia are associated with changes in plasma potassium concentrations.AIM To determine whether increasing levels of hypercarbia are associated with changes in plasma potassium concentrations.METHODS We performed a post-hoc study examining changes in serum potassium in 24 patients who received increased levels of hypercarbia during cardiac surgery.Arterial blood gases and plasma concentrations of potassium were measured at baseline,3 min prior to,and then every 3 min for 15 min during the intervention of hypercarbia.The primary endpoint was the absolute change in serum K+at 15 min compared to the baseline K+value.The following secondary endpoints were evaluated:(1)The association between CO2 and serum K+concentration;and(2)The correlation between plasma pH and serum K+concentrations.RESULTS During the intervention,PaCO2 increased from 43.6 mmHg(95%CI:40.1 to 47.1)at pre-intervention to 83.9 mmHg(95%CI:78.0 to 89.8)at 15 min after intervention;P<0.0001.The mean(SD)serum potassium increased from 4.16(0.35)mmol/L at baseline to 4.28(0.33)mmol/L at 15 min(effect size 0.09 mol/L;P=0.22).There was no significant correlation between PaCO2 and potassium(Pearson’s coefficient 0.06;95%CI:-0.09 to 0.21)or between pH and potassium(Pearson’s coefficient-0.07;95%CI:-0.22 to 0.09).CONCLUSION Acute hypercarbia and subsequent respiratory acidaemia were not associated with hyperkalaemia in patients undergoing major surgery.

Quantitative discrimination of surface adsorbed NO_(x) species on CeO_(2) via spectrophotometry for SCR denitration investigation

CeO_(2)-based catalysts are widely investigated for selective catalytic reduction(SCR)of NO with NH3.Interaction of NO/O_(2) with CeO_(2) generally produces two surface species,i.e.,nitrates and nitrites.However,the explicit quantification of these two species is still unresolved.Herein,we reported that spectrophotometry characterization was effective in determining surface adsorbed NOx species on CeO_(2) by measuring the corresponding ions(NO_(2)-and NO_(3)^(-))dissolved in aqueous solution.Experimental results show that both nitrate(-NO_(3))and nitrite(-NO_(2))species can be quantitatively evaluated and the accuracy is verified by calibrating with NOx-TPD result.Exclusive transfer of adsorbed NOx from catalyst surface to aqueous solution is confirmed and the dissolution process can be accelerated by ultrasonic treatment.Moreover,useful information related to evolution of surface NOx species under various conditions(O_(2) treatment,different adsorption temperature and duration)and over different catalysts(Fe_(2)O_(3),MnO_(2) and MnOx—CeO_(2))are provided.The result of present study demonstrates the potential of spectrophotometry for quantitative discrimination of surface NOx species on CeO_(2) and other oxide-based materials,which is conducive to mechanism analysis of SCR reaction.

Effects of tourmaline on nitrogen removal performance and biofilm structures in the sequencing batch biofilm reactor

The effects of tourmaline on nitrogen removal performance and biofilm structures were comparatively investigated in two identical laboratory-scale sequencing batch biofilm reactors（SBBRs）（denoted SBBR1 and SBBR2） at different nitrogen loading rates（NLRs） varying from（0.24 ± 0.01） to（1.26 ± 0.02） g N/（L·day）. SBBR1 was operated in parallel with SBBR2, but SBBR1 was filled with polyurethane foam loaded tourmaline（TPU） carriers and another（SBBR2） filled with polyurethane foam（PU） carriers. Results obtained from this study showed that the excellent and stable performance of SBBR1 was obtained. Ammonia nitrogen removal and total nitrogen removal were higher in SBBR1 than that in SBBR2 with increase of NLR. At an NLR of（0.24 ± 0.01） g N/（L·day）, the majority of the spherical and elliptical bacteria were surrounded by the extracellular polymeric substance（EPS） and bacillus or filamentous bacteria in two SBBRs biofilms. When NLR increased to（1.26 ± 0.02） g N/（L·day）, the clusters were more obvious in the SBBR1 biofilm than that in the SBBR2 biofilm. Bacteria in SBBR1 were inclined to synthesis more EPS, and the formed EPS could protect the bacteria from free ammonia（FA） under extreme condition NLR（1.26 ± 0.02） g N/（L·day）. The results of polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis showed that the microbial community similarity in SBBR2 decreased more obviously than that in SBBR1 with the increase of NLR, which the microbial community in SBBR1 was relatively stable.

Dynamically reconfigurable subwavelength optical device for hydrogen sulfide gas sensing

The importance of tunable subwavelength optical devices in modern electromagnetic and photonic systems is indisputable.Herein,a lithography-free,wide-angle,and reconfigurable subwavelength optical device with high tunability operating in the near-infrared regions is proposed and experimentally demonstrated,based on a reversible nanochemistry approach.The reconfigurable subwavelength optical device basically comprises an ultrathin copper oxide(CuO)thin film on an optical thick gold substrate by utilizing the reversible chemical conversion of CuO to sulfides upon exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas.Proof-of-concept experimental results show that the maximal modulation depth of reflectance can be as high as 90%at the wavelength of 1.79μm with the initial thickness of CuO taken as 150 nm.Partially reflected wave calculations combined with the transfer matrix method are employed to analytically investigate the optical properties of the structure,which show good agreement with experimental results.We believe that the proposed versatile approaches can be implemented for dynamic control management,allowing applications in tunable photonics,active displays,optical encryption,and gas sensing.