Research Progress of Pyroptosis in Ophthalmic Diseases

Pyroptosis, also known as cell inflammatory necrosis, is a new way of programmed cell death discovered and confirmed in recent years, which is characterized by dependence on inflammatory caspase and the release of a large number of pro-inflammatory factors. GSDMD plays an irreplaceable role in the process of pyroptosis. Studies have shown that pyroptosis is widely involved in the development of infectious diseases, nervous system-related diseases and atherosclerotic diseases, and plays an important role. Recent studies have shown that cell death is involved in the central link of many eye diseases, especially dry eye, senile cataract and glaucoma. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the pathogenesis of cell death in eye diseases will help to provide new ideas for clinical prevention and treatment of eye diseases. The purpose of this paper is to explain the mechanism of cell death and its related role in some eye diseases.

Distribution of green algae micro-propagules and their function in the formation of the green tides in the coast of Qinhuangdao,the Bohai Sea, China

Since 2015, a novel green tide has been recurring in the coastal areas of Qinhuangdao at the western coast of the Bohai Sea in China, threatening the environment and ecosystem of the Beidaihe seaside holiday resort along the coast. Micro-propagules of the green algae including gametes, spores, micro-germlings and micro-vegetative fragments play an important role in the formation of green tides. They serve as a "seed source" of green macroalgae, and their distributions could reflect and influence the "algae source" of green tides. In this study,monthly surveys in the inshore and offshore areas of the Qinhuangdao coast were conducted from April to September 2016 and in January 2017 to investigate the tempo-spatial distribution patterns and the biomass variations of the green algae micro-propagules. The obtained results show that micro-propagules were mainly distributed in the inshore areas with a significantly decreasing abundance towards offshore areas. Their biomass was highest in July and August, and lowest in winter. The areas that were affected by the green tides showed a remarkably higher abundance of micro-propagules compared to other areas. These micro-propagules could serve as the "seed" source of green tides. Their distribution patterns indicate that the green tide in the coastal areas of Qinhuangdao originated locally.

Decadal characteristics of the floating Ulva and Sargassum in the Subei Shoal,Yellow Sea

The data of field surveys during 2009 to 2018 was analyzed to understand the seasonality and inter-annual variability of the floating Ulva and Sargassum in the Subei Shoal,the southwestern Yellow Sea of China on decadal scale.The floating Ulva biomass was consistently originated from the central region of the Subei Shoal in middle to late April,increased rapidly,drifted and extended into the offshore water in May and June.The average floating Ulva biomass in the shoal generally increased over the years with evident inter-annual fluctuations.In contrast,pelagic Sargassum was accumulated in the Subei Shoal and formed the spring bloom only in 2013,2017 and 2018,and the biomass was higher than the co-occurring Ulva during the survey in these three years.Compared to the raft-origin floating Ulva,genesis and development of the pelagic Sargassum was distinct.Based on the current research,the Sargassum biomass was exotic and often initiated in the offshore water in March,and intruded into the shoal in April and May.The analysis on the environmental parameters was inconclusive since multiple anthropogenic and non-indigenous factors could influence the green tides in this region.Further research covering both the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea is needed to trace the origin of the floating Sargassum and to understand the interactions between these two co-occurring seaweeds.

The contribution of attached Ulva prolifera on Pyropia aquaculture rafts to green tides in the Yellow Sea

Green tides caused by the unusual accumulation of high floating Ulva prolifera have occurred regularly in the Yellow Sea since 2007.The primary source of the Yellow Sea green tides is the attached algae on the Pyropia aquaculture rafts in the Subei Shoal.Ulva prolifera and Blidingia(Italic)sp.are the main species observed on Pyropia aquaculture rafts in the Subei Shoal.We found that U.prolifera has strong buoyancy and a rapid growth rate,which may explain why it is the dominant species of green tides that occur in the China's sea area of the Yellow Sea.The growth rate of floating U.prolifera was about 20%–31%d–1,which was much higher than Blidingia(Italic)sp.There were about 1.7×104 t of attached algae on the Pyropia aquaculture rafts in May 2012.We found that 39%of attached algae could float when the tide rose in the Subei Shoal,and U.prolifera accounted for 63%of the floating algae.Our analysis estimated that about 4000 t of attached U.prolifera floated into the surrounding waters of the Subei Shoal during the recycling period of aquaculture rafts.These results suggest that the initial floating biomass of large-scale green tides in the Yellow Sea is determined by the U.prolifera biomass attached to Pyropia aquaculture rafts,further impacting the scale of the green tide。

Two drifting paths of Sargassum bloom in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during 2019-2020

The macroalgal blooms of floating brown algae Sargassum horneri are increasing in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during the past few years.However,the annual pattern of Sargassum bloom is not well characterized.To study the developing pattern and explore the impacts from hydro-meteorologic environment,high resolution satellite imageries were used to monitor the distribution,coverage and drifting of the pelagic Sargassum rafts in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from September 2019 to August 2020.Sargassum blooms were detected from October 2019 to June 2020 and presented two successive drifting paths that both initiated from around 37°N.The first path spanned smaller spatial scale and shorter period,starting with a bloom of 3 km^(2) distribution area near the eastern tip of Shandong Peninsula in late October 2019 and drifted southwards,hit the Pyropia aquaculture area in early January 2020,then vanished in the northwest of East China Sea(ca.32°N)around end of January.The second path began with a large distribution area of 23000 km^(2) east of 123°E in late January 2020,firstly moved southwards in the central Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea(north of 29°N)till late April,then turned northwards with monsoon wind and vanished from late June to August.The mean sea surface temperature of 8℃ to 20℃ in the Sargassum bloom areas corresponded to in situ observed temperature range for vegetative growth and floating of S.horneri.There was no observed floating Sargassum blooms during July through September in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.The results indicate that floating S.horneri is unable to complete life cycle in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea,and provide insights to the future management of Sargassum blooms.Further studies are needed to validate the pattern and source of annual Sargassum bloom in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.

Modeling Multi-Targets Sentiment Classification via Graph Convolutional Networks and Auxiliary Relation

Existing solutions do not work well when multi-targets coexist in a sentence.The reason is that the existing solution is usually to separate multiple targets and process them separately.If the original sentence has N target,the original sentence will be repeated for N times,and only one target will be processed each time.To some extent,this approach degenerates the fine-grained sentiment classification task into the sentence-level sentiment classification task,and the research method of processing the target separately ignores the internal relation and interaction between the targets.Based on the above considerations,we proposes to use Graph Convolutional Network(GCN)to model and process multi-targets appearing in sentences at the same time based on the positional relationship,and then to construct a graph of the sentiment relationship between targets based on the difference of the sentiment polarity between target words.In addition to the standard target-dependent sentiment classification task,an auxiliary node relation classification task is constructed.Experiments demonstrate that our model achieves new comparable performance on the benchmark datasets:SemEval-2014 Task 4,i.e.,reviews for restaurants and laptops.Furthermore,the method of dividing the target words into isolated individuals has disadvantages,and the multi-task learning model is beneficial to enhance the feature extraction ability and expression ability of the model.

Bacterial and archaeal communities in deep sea waters near the Ninetyeast Ridge in Indian Ocean

Depth-dependent distribution patterns of bacterial and archaeal communities in deep sea water column around the Ninetyeast Ridge in the Indian Ocean were investigated using 16S rRNA gene profiling.Sampling was conducted at the northern Ninetyeast Ridge(1°59.89′N–9°59.70′S,87°58.90′E–88°00.03′E)from September to November 2016 where samples were collected from the bathyal(1000 m)to bathypelagic depths(>4000 m)in four different stations.A total of 1565405 clean data falling into 6712 bacterial OTUs and 1452727 clean data falling into 806 archaeal OTUs based on 97%similarity level were analyzed.Most of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences were affiliated with Gammaproteobacteria,followed by Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidia.The archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences mostly affiliated to Nitrososphaeria(Thaumarchaeota)dominated with relative abundances ranging from 52.68%to 97.2%,followed by Thermoplasmata(Euryarchaeota).Vertical partitioning of bacterial and archaeal communities among different water layers was observed.Canonical correspondence analysis(CCA)and Spearman’s correlations revealed that depth(P=0.003),dissolved oxygen(P=0.019),and nitrite(P=0.033)were the main environmental factors affecting bacterial community structure at genus level in the Ninetyeast Ridge.On the other hand,the first two CCA axes accounted for 74.4%of the explained total variance,it seems that the archaeal communities at genus level were heavily influenced by the environmental variables including depth,dissolved oxygen(DO),nitrite,salinity,phosphate,ammonia,nitrate,and silicate,but none of them exhibited any significant correlation on the structuring(P>0.1).

ER<i>β</i>as a Prognostic Factor for Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastasis

Estrogen plays an important role in the development of some cancers. However, previous studies on the influence of estrogen on colorectal cancer (CRC) have had conflicting conclusions, and there have been few reports on estrogens and liver metastasis. The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic impact of estrogens on CRC with liver metastasis. Eighty-six patients with CRC including 43 synchronous liver metastases were studied. Estrogen receptor β (ERβ) levels were assayed by immunohistochemistry in liver metastasis, CRC and adjacent normal tissues. Serum estrogen levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. The correlation between staining, clinicopathological parameters, and prognostic power were analyzed statistically. Significant differences were found in ERβ expression between liver metastasis (P = 0.012) and CRC (P = 0.002) compared to adjacent normal tissues. Serum estrogen levels in patients with liver metastases were significantly lower than those without liver metastasis (P = 0.012). The 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 80%, 40%, 33% and 22%, respectively for the 43 patients with liver metastasis;and 94%, 63%, 49% and 49%, respectively for patients with positive ERβ in liver metastasis tissues, and 68%, 21%, 21% and 10%, respectively for those with negative ERβ (log-rank;P = 0.018). Cox regression test showed that ER beta (P = 0.029) were detected as the independent prognostic factors for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer. In conclusion, the present study suggests that ERβ may be a prognostic factor for synchronous liver metastasis of colorectal cancer.

Photosynthetic physiologies of phytoplankton in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean during the spring inter-monsoon

Phytoplankton physiologies are dynamic and have sensitive responses to the ambient environment. In this paper, we examine photosynthetic physiologies of phytoplankton communities with Phyto-PAM in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean during the spring inter-monsoon. Environmental parameters were measured to investigate the coupling between phytoplankton photosynthetic physiologies and their habitats. During the cruise, the water column was highly stratified. The mixed layer extended to about 75 m and was characterized by high temperature (>28°C) and low nutrient level. The Fv/Fm values and chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations were lower at the surface, as consequences of nutrient depletion and photo-inhibition. Subsurface Chl a maximum (SCM) occurred between 75 and 100 m, and had the highest Fv/Fm values. The formation of SCM was a balance between nutrient availability and light limitation. The SCM may contribute significantly to pelagic food web and primary production in the water column. Phytoplankton in different layers encountered different light, trophic and hydrographic dynamics and evolved distinct photosynthetic characteristics. Despite of co-limitation of nutrient limitation and photo-inhibition, phytoplankton in the surface layer showed their acclimation to high irradiance, had lower light utilization efficiencies (α: 0.061±0.032) and could exploit a wide range of light irradiance. Whereas, phytoplankton in the SCM layers presented the highest light utilization efficiencies (α: 0.146±0.48), which guaranteed higher photosynthetic capacities under low light level. These results provide insights into phytoplankton photo-adaption strategies in this less explored region.

Preliminary analysis of echolocation signals produced by fleeing Irrawaddy dolphins(Orcaella brevirostris)

In this study, echolocation signals were recorded from a wild Irrawaddy dolphin(Orcaella brevirostris) in shallow water in the Bay of Brunei. During sound recording, a small fishing boat engine startled a nearby Irrawaddy dolphin and began chasing it on two occasions. Variations in the acoustic parameters were detected. When the Irrawaddy dolphin was startled and chased, the sound pressure level, number of click trains per minute, pulse number, and average inter-pulse interval(PI) per click train were all affected. The PI increased and exhibited a slight downward trend during the chase. The increase in PI indicated an increase in the inspection distance as the dolphin escaped. Thus, Irrawaddy dolphins may adapt their echolocation signals to stand out from ambient noise in the wild and to improve their search efforts in potentially risky situations. Appropriate management of the burst noise around the dolphins is important.

Population differentiation in the dominant species(Ulva prolifera)of green tide in coastal waters of China

Since 2015,green tides with Ulva prolifera as the dominant species in the Qinhuangdao coastal waters have continued to occur.In this study,the relationship between green tides in Qinhuangdao and the Yellow Sea(setting sites in Rudong and Qingdao)was evaluated by genetic analyses of U.prolifera.Single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)markers were used to analyze genetic diversity and genetic relationships among groups.Genetic differentiation was lower among floating U.prolifera populations in Rudong and Qingdao than in Qinhuangdao.The floating U.prolifera population had higher genetic diversity and polymorphism levels in Qingdao and Rudong than in Qinhuangdao.Physiological experiments showed that the growth rate and net buoyancy of floating U.prolifera were highest in Qinhuangdao and Qingdao,respectively,under the same environmental conditions(temperature and light).Overall,these findings showed that U.prolifera populations in the Qinhuangdao and Yellow Sea green tides(Rudong and Qingdao)differ significantly at the molecular and physiological levels.Therefore,the Qinhuangdao green tide is not correlated with the Yellow Sea green tide and has a different origin and development mode.This study provides insight into the mechanism underlying green tide blooms in coastal waters of China.

The distribution of phytoplankton size and major influencing factors in the surface waters near the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula

The waters near the Antarctic Peninsula have always been a study hot spot because of their variable and unique oceanographic conditions.To determine the distribution and possible influencing factors on phytoplankton size and abundance near the Antarctic Peninsula,a large-scale survey was conducted during the austral summer of2018.Samples were collected in 27 stations located in the Drake Passage(DP),South Shetland Islands(SSI),and South Orkney Islands(SOI).Phytoplankton communities were described using chlorophyll a(Chl a),flow cytometry and light microscopy to cover a size range from pico-to microphytoplankton.Nanophytoplankton,especially small nanophytoplankton(2-6μm)with abundance ranging from 0.66×10^(3) cells/mL to 8.46×10^(3) cells/mL,was predominant throughout the study area.Among different regions,there was an obvious size shift.The proportion of picophytoplankton near the Elephant Island(EI)and DP was higher than other regions,and larger cells were found mainly in east of SOI.The distribution of phytoplankton abundance detected by flow cytometry was not completely consistent with Chl a concentrations due to the contribution of larger cells to Chl a.Possible influencing factors on the phytoplankton size distribution were discussed.The properties of water masses such as temperature and salinity can influence the phytoplankton size distribution.Correlation analysis revealed that only picophytoplankton is significantly correlated with salinity.Light and Fe availability might affect phytoplankton abundance and size distribution especially near the waters of SSI and EI in this study.It was also speculated that the abundance of cryptophytes is possibly related to ice melting.

Endovascular therapy in acute anterior circulation large vessel occlusive patients with a large infarct core(ANGEL-ASPECT):protocol of a multicentre randomised trial

Background The benefit of stroke thrombectomy for large infarct core still lacks robust randomised controlled studies.Aim To demonstrate the design of a clinical trial on endovascular therapy for acute anterior circulation large vessel occlusion(LVO)patients with large infarct core volume.Design ANGEL-ASPECT is a multicentre,prospective,randomised,open-label,blinded End-point trial to evaluate whether best medical management(BMM)combined with endovascular therapy improves neurological functional outcomes as compared with BMM alone in acute LVO patients with Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score(ASPECTS)of 3-5 on non-contrast CT or infarct core volume range of 70-100 mL(defined as rCBF<30%on CT perfusion or ADC<620 on MRI)up to 24 hours from symptom onset or last seen well.Study outcomes The primary efficacy outcome is 90(±7)days modified Rankin Scale.Symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage within 48 hours from randomisation is the primary safety outcome.Discussion The ANGEL-ASPECT trial will screen patients with large infarct core(ASPECTS 3-5 or 70-100 mL)through image evaluation criteria within 24 hours and explore the efficacy and safety of endovascular therapy compared with BMM.

Temporal variability of atmospheric particulate matter and chemical composition during a growing season at an agricultural site in northeastern China

This study presents the observations of PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations at an agricultural site from April to October 2012 in Dehui city,China.Ambient air was sampled by filter-based samplers and online PM monitors.The filter samples were analyzed to determine the abundance of ionic/inorganic elements,organic carbon（OC） and elemental carbon（EC）.The daily PM10 concentrations varied significantly over the monitoring period,with an average of168 ± 63（in the range of 52-277） μg/m^3 during the land preparation/planting period（26 April-15 June）,85 ± 65（36-228） μg/m^3 during the growing season（16 June-25 September）,and 207 ±88（103-310） μg/m^3 during the harvest period（26 September-31 October）.PM2.5 accounted for44%,56%and 66%of atmospheric PM10 during these periods,respectively.The PM10 diurnal variation showed a distinct peak from 16：00 to 21：00（LST） during the growing and harvesting seasons,while a gradual increase throughout the daytime until 17：00 was observed during tilling season.Mineral dust elements（Al,Ca,Fe,and Mg） dominated the PM10 chemical composition during the tilling season;OC,NO3^-,SO4^（2-） and NH4~＋ during the growing season;and carbonaceous species（i.e.,OC and EC） during the harvesting season.Our results indicate that the soil particles emitted by farm tillage and organic matter released from straw burning are the two most significant sources of PM10 emissions contributing to the recurring high pollution events in this region.Therefore,development of agricultural PM inventories from soil tillage and straw burning is prioritized to support air quality modeling.

Comprehensive and high-resolution emission inventory of atmospheric pollutants for the northernmost cities agglomeration of Harbin-Changchun,China:Implications for local atmospheric environment management

Using a bottom-up estimation method,a comprehensive,high-resolution emission inventory of gaseous and particulate atmospheric pollutants for multiple anthropogenic sectors with typical local sources has been developed for the Harbin-Changchun city agglomeration(HCA).The annual emissions for CO,NO_(x),SO_(2),NH_(3),VOC S,PM_(2.5),PM 10,BC and OC during 2017 in the HCA were estimated to be 5.82 Tg,0.70 Tg,0.34 Tg,0.75 Tg,0.81 Tg,0.67 Tg,1.59 Tg,0.12 Tg and 0.26 Tg,respectively.For PM 10 and SO_(2),the emissions from industry processes were the dominant contributors representing 54.7%and 49.5%,respectively,of the total emissions,while 95.3%and 44.5%of the total NH_(3)and NO x emissions,respectively,were from or associated with agricultural activities and transportation.Spatiotemporal distributions showed that most emissions(except NH_(3))occurred in November to March and were concentrated in the central cities of Changchun and Harbin and the surrounding cities.Open burning of straw made an important contribution to PM_(2.5)in the central regions of the northeastern plain during autumn and spring,while domestic coal combustion for heating purposes was significant with respect to SO_(2)and PM_(2.5)emissions during autumn and winter.Furthermore,based on Principal Component Analysis and Multivariable Linear Regression model,air temperature,relative humidity,electricity and energy consumption,and the urban and rural population were optimized to be representative indicators for rapidly assessing the magnitude of regional atmospheric pollutants in the HCA.Such indicators and equations were demonstrated to be useful for local atmospheric environment management.

Integrated analysis of multi-tissues lipidome and gut microbiome reveals microbiota-induced shifts on lipid metabolism in pigs

Lipid metabolism is very important for meat quality in pigs.Accumulating evidence shows that gut microbiota can contribute to this physiological process.However,the gut microbiota that function in lipid metabolism and adipogenesis remains unclear.Here,we compared the characteristics of fat deposition and gut microbial community between Laiwu pigs and Duroc(LandraceYorkshire)(DLY)pigs.Fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT)was performed to determine the possible impact of gut microbiota on lipid metabolism in pigs.An integrated analysis of the gut microbiome and lipidome of the small intestine,plasma,and liver was conducted to investigate the effects of FMT on host lipid metabolism.The comparative analysis of the gut microbiome showed higher abundance of Bacteroidetes(P=0.0018)while lower abundance of Firmicutes(P=0.012)in Laiwu pigs,and the microbial composition can be transferred from Laiwu pigs into DLY pigs.Transmission electron microscope and Oil red-O staining were performed to analyze the effects of FMT on lipid deposition in liver,the main target organ for lipid metabolism.The results showed that FMT significantly increased the number of lipid droplets(P=0.0035)and lipid accumulation(P=0.0026)in liver.Furthermore,integrated multi-tissues lipidome analysis demonstrated that the fatty acyls and glycerophospholipids were significantly increased(P<0.01)in intestine and liver,while glycerolipids and fatty acyls were reduced(P<0.01)in plasma.In the small intestine,FMT increased(P<0.01)the relative abundance of polyketides and prenol lipids but reduced(P<0.01)the saccharolipids.Correlation analysis revealed the potential interactions between microbiota and lipid metabolites.Together,our results indicated that the gut microbiota may regulate the lipid metabolism and enhance the accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver of pigs.

Local PM_(10) and PM_(2.5) emission inventories from agricultural tillage and harvest in northeastern China

Mineral particles or particulate matters（PMs） emitted during agricultural activities are major recurring sources of atmospheric aerosol loading.However,precise PM inventory from agricultural tillage and harvest in agricultural regions is challenged by infrequent local emission factor（EF） measurements.To understand PM emissions from these practices in northeastern China,we measured EFs of PM_（10） and PM_（2.5） from three field operations（i.e.,tilling,planting and harvesting） in major crop production（i.e.,corn and soybean）,using portable real-time PM analyzers and weather station data.County-level PM_（10） and PM_（2.5） emissions from agricultural tillage and harvest were estimated,based on local EFs,crop areas and crop calendars.The EFs averaged（107 ± 27）,（17 ± 5） and 26 mg/m^2 for field tilling,planting and harvesting under relatively dry conditions（i.e.,soil moisture 〈15%）,respectively.The EFs of PM from field tillage and planting operations were negatively affected by topsoil moisture.The magnitude of PM_（10） and PM_（2.5） emissions from these three activities were estimated to be 35.1 and 9.8 kilotons/yr in northeastern China,respectively,of which Heilongjiang Province accounted for approximately45%.Spatiotemporal distribution showed that most PM_（10） emission occurred in April,May and October and were concentrated in the central regions of the northeastern plain,which is dominated by dryland crops.Further work is needed to estimate the contribution of agricultural dust emissions to regional air quality in northeastern China.

Guided bone regeneration in long-bone defect with a bilayer mineralized collagen membrane

Bone regeneration for large,critical-sized bone defects remains a clinical challenge nowadays.Guided bone regeneration(GBR)is a promising technique for the repair of multiple bone defects,which is widely used in oral and maxillofacial bone defects but is still unsatisfied in the treatment of long bone defects.Here,we successfully fabricated a bilayer mineralized collagen/collagen(MC/Col)-GBR membrane with excellent osteoinductive and barrier function by coating the MC particles prepared via in situ biomimetic mineralization process on one side of a sheet-like pure collagen layer.The aim of the present study was to investigate the physicochemical properties and biological functions of the MC/Col film,and to further evaluate its bone regeneration efficiency in large bone defect repair.Fouriertransform infrared spectra and X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the presence of both hydroxyapatite and collagen phase in the MC/Col film,as well as the chemical interaction between them.stereo microscope,scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscope showed the uniform distribution of MC particles in the MC/Col film,resulting in a rougher surface compared to the pure Col film.The quantitative analysis of surface contact angle,light transmittance and tensile strength demonstrated that the MC/Col film have better hydrophilicity,mechanical properties,light-barrier properties,respectively.In vitro macrophage co-culture experiments showed that the MC/Col film can effectively inhibit macrophage proliferation and fusion,reducing fibrous capsule formation.In vivo bone repair assessment of a rabbit critical segmental radial defect proved that the MC/Col film performed better than other groups in promoting bone repair and regeneration due to their unique dual osteoinductive/barrier function.These findings provided evidence that MC/Col film has a great clinical potential for effective bone defect repair.