Effects of different irrigation methods on micro-environments and root distribution in winter wheat fields

The irrigation method used in winter wheat fields affects micro-environment factors, such as relative humidity（RH） within canopy, soil temperature, topsoil bulk density, soil matric potential, and soil nutrients, and these changes may affect plant root growth.An experiment was carried out to explore the effects of irrigation method on micro-environments and root distribution in a winter wheat field in the 2007–2008 and 2008–2009 growing seasons.The results showed that border irrigation（BI）, sprinkler irrigation（SI）, and surface drip irrigation（SDI） had no significant effects on soil temperature.Topsoil bulk density, RH within the canopy, soil available N distribution, and soil matric potential were significantly affected by the three treatments.The change in soil matric potential was the key reason for the altered root profile distribution patterns.Additionally, more fine roots were produced in the BI treatment when soil water content was low and topsoil bulk density was high.Root growth was most stimulated in the top soil layers and inhibited in the deep layers in the SDI treatment, followed by SI and BI, which was due to the different water application frequencies.As a result, the root profile distribution differed, depending on the irrigation method used.The root distribution pattern changes could be described by the power level variation in the exponential function.A good knowledge of root distribution patterns is important when attempting to model water and nutrient movements and when studying soil-plant interactions.

Mutual regulation of microglia and astrocytes after Gas6 inhibits spinal cord injury

Invasive inflammation and excessive scar formation are the main reasons for the difficulty in repairing nervous tissue after spinal cord injury.Microglia and astrocytes play key roles in the spinal cord injury micro-environment and share a close interaction.However,the mechanisms involved remain unclear.In this study,we found that after spinal cord injury,resting microglia(M0)were polarized into pro-inflammatory phenotypes(MG1 and MG3),while resting astrocytes were polarized into reactive and scar-forming phenotypes.The expression of growth arrest-specific 6(Gas6)and its receptor Axl were significantly down-regulated in microglia and astrocytes after spinal cord injury.In vitro experiments showed that Gas6 had negative effects on the polarization of reactive astrocytes and pro-inflammatory microglia,and even inhibited the cross-regulation between them.We further demonstrated that Gas6 can inhibit the polarization of reactive astrocytes by suppressing the activation of the Yes-associated protein signaling pathway.This,in turn,inhibited the polarization of pro-inflammatory microglia by suppressing the activation of the nuclear factor-κB/p65 and Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling pathways.In vivo experiments showed that Gas6 inhibited the polarization of pro-inflammatory microglia and reactive astrocytes in the injured spinal cord,thereby promoting tissue repair and motor function recovery.Overall,Gas6 may play a role in the treatment of spinal cord injury.It can inhibit the inflammatory pathway of microglia and polarization of astrocytes,attenuate the interaction between microglia and astrocytes in the inflammatory microenvironment,and thereby alleviate local inflammation and reduce scar formation in the spinal cord.

Revealing the role of electrode potential micro-environments in single Mn atoms for carbon dioxide and oxygen electrolysis

Elucidation the relationship between electrode potentials and heterogeneous electrocatalytic reactions has attracted widespread attention.Herein we construct the well-defined Mn single-atom(MnSA)catalyst with four N-coordination through a simple thermal pyrolysis preparation method to investigate the electrode potential micro-environments effect on carbon dioxide reduction reactions(CO_(2)RR)and oxygen reduction reactions(ORR).MnSA catalysts generate higher CO production Faradaic efficiency of exceeding 90%at-0.9 V for CO_(2)RR and higher H_(2)O_(2)yield from 0.1 to 0.6 V with excellent ORR activity.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations based on constant potential models were performed to study the mechanism of MnSA on CO_(2)RR.The thermodynamic energy barrier of CO_(2)RR is lowest at-0.9 V vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE).Similar DFT calculations on the H_(2)O_(2)yield of ORR showed that the H_(2)O_(2)yield at 0.2 V was higher.This study provides a reasonable explanation for the role of electrode potential micro-environments.

3D numerical simulation of avascular tumour growth:effect of hypoxic micro-environment in host tissue

A three-dimensional （3D） mathematical model of tumour growth at the avascular phase and vessel remodelling in host tissues is proposed with emphasis on the study of the interactions of tumour growth and hypoxic micro-environment in host tissues. The hybrid based model includes the continuum part, such as the distributions of oxygen and vascular endothelial growth factors （VEGFs）, and the discrete part of tumour cells （TCs） and blood vessel networks. The simulation shows the dynamic process of avascular tumour growth from a fewinitial cells to an equilibrium state with varied vessel networks. After a phase of rapidly increasing numbers of the TCs, more and more host vessels collapse due to the stress caused by the growing tumour. In addition, the consumption of oxygen expands with the enlarged tumour region. The study also discusses the effects of certain factors on tumour growth, including the density and configuration of pre- existing vessel networks and the blood oxygen content. The model enables us to examine the relationship between early tumour growth and hypoxic micro-environment in host tissues, which can be useful for further applications, such as tumour metastasis and the initialization of tumour angiogenesis.

Packaging Bags with the Function of Micro-environment Modification

Three kinds of packaging bags composited with barrier film and moisture absorbents were designed in order to find out how to create an internal micro-environment with low O2content and relative humidity( RH). Peanuts with different moisture contents were filled into packaging bags and stored in an environmental chamber for a certain period of time. An RH recorder was sealed in each bag and the RH inside the bag was recorded. The moisture contents of peanuts before and after storage were measured as well.It is found that peanuts with moisture content of 13% can reduce O2content inside the bag by the aerobic respiration,achieving the self modified atmosphere packaging( MAP) effect. A microenvironment with lower RH can be created by using super-absorbent fiber( SAF) or mineral bag as the moisture absorbent. The moisture contents of peanuts stored in the bags with SAF and mineral bag as moisture absorbent decreased from 13% to 10. 5%and 11. 3%,respectively. SAF is a promising material of packaging bags composited with barrier film,in which a low RH and high CO2content can be created.

Integrated and dual-responsive lipopeptide nanovector with parallel effect to tumor and micro-environment regulation by efficient gene and drug co-delivery

The integrated lipopeptide(RVA)/gene complexes are fabricated with bi-directional regulation on tumor cells and micro-environment.After self-assembling and target coating modification,the poly(γ-glutamic acid)(γ-PGA)/RVA nano-vectors can sequentially respond to pH&redox stimuli,and guarantee efficient therapeutic gene delivery and control release of all-trans retinoic acid.The design provides a facile but promising strategy to treat refractory cancers.

Extensive exploration of T cell heterogeneity in cancers by single cell sequencing

Human T cells are a highly heterogeneous population and can recognize a wide variety of antigens by their T cell receptors(TCRs). Tumor cells display a large repertoire of antigens that serve as potential targets for recognition,thus making T cells in the tumor micro-environment more complicated. Making a connection between TCRs and the transcriptional information of individual T cells will be interesting for investigating clonal expansion within T cell populations under pathologic conditions. Advances in single cell RNA-sequencing(scRNA-seq) have allowed for comprehensive analysis of T cells. In this review, we briefly describe the research progress on tumor microenvironment T cells using single cell RNA sequencing, and then discuss how scRNA-seq can be used to resolve immune system heterogeneity in health and disease. Finally, we point out future directions in this field and potential for immunotherapy.

Implication of gut microbiome in immunotherapy for colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer(CRC) constitutes the third most frequently reported malignancy in the male population and the second most common in women in the last two decades. Colon carcinogenesis is a complex, multifactorial event, resulting from genetic and epigenetic aberrations, the impact of environmental factors, as well as the disturbance of the gut microbial ecosystem. The relationship between the intestinal microbiome and carcinogenesis was relatively undervalued in the last decade. However, its remarkable effect on metabolic and immune functions on the host has been in the spotlight as of recent years. There is a strong relationship between gut microbiome dysbiosis, bowel pathogenicity and responsiveness to anti-cancer treatment;including immunotherapy. Modifications of bacteriome consistency are closely associated with the immunologic response to immunotherapeutic agents. This condition that implies the necessity of gut microbiome manipulation. Thus, creatingan optimal response for CRC patients to immunotherapeutic agents. In this paper, we will review the current literature observing how gut microbiota influence the response of immunotherapy on CRC patients.

Monitoring of Cell Membrane Microenvironment Based on DNA Nanodevices

The cell membrane is a critical barrier for cellular homeostasis,integral to signaling and intercellular communication,and vital for understanding cellular functions and disease mechanisms.Investigating its microenvironment is crucial for uncovering the molecular basis of physiological and pathological processes associated with the cell membrane,driving the development of bioanalytical toolkits capable of dynamically monitoring the cell surface microenvironment.With the continuous advancement of functional nucleic acids and dynamic DNA nanotechnology,DNA nanodevices with controllable nanosized geometry,specific molecular recognition,and selective membrane-localization properties offer a versatile platform for probing the cell membrane microenvironment.In this review,we summarize the current biosensing and membrane-anchoring mechanisms of DNA nanodevices and highlight their use in studying key cell membrane events,including membrane lipid dynamics,transmembrane transport,receptor dimerization,and signal transduction.Furthermore,we discuss the challenges and potential future applications of DNA nanodevices in advancing cell membrane biology research and biomedical applications.

Advances in the role of circulating tumor cell heterogeneity in metastatic small cell lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer(SCLC),a highly aggressive malignancy,is rapidly at an extensive stage once diagnosed and is one of the leading causes of death from malignancy.In the past decade,the treatment of SCLC has largely remained unchanged,and chemotherapy remains the cornerstone of SCLC treatment.The therapeutic value of adding immune checkpoint inhibitors to chemotherapy for SCLC is low,and only a few SCLC patients have shown a response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.Circulating tumor cells(CTCs)are tumor cells shed from solid tumor masses into the peripheral circulation and are key to tumor metastasis.Single-cell sequencing has revealed that the genetic profiles of individual CTCs are highly heterogeneous and contribute to the poor outcome and prognosis of SCLC patients.Theoretically,phenotypic analysis of CTCs may be able to predict the diagnostic significance of new potential targets for metastatic tumors.In this paper,we will discuss in depth the heterogeneity of CTCs in SCLC and the value of CTCs for the diagnosis and prognosis of SCLC and as relevant tumor markers in metastatic SCLC.

Advances in the understanding of the intestinal micro-environment and inflammatory bowel disease

The human gastrointestinal tract accommodates an entire micro-environment for divergent physiologic processes,the dysbiosis of this micro-ecology has a strong inter-action with the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD).In the past few years,with the advances in the understanding of microbiome,its metabolites and further application of next generation sequencing,analysis of dynamic alteration of gut micro-environment was realized,which provides numerous information beyond simple microbiota structure or metabolites differences under chronic colitis status.The subsequent intervention strategies targeting the modulation of intestinal micro-environment have been explored as a potential therapy.In this review,we will summarize the recent knowledge about multi-dimensional dysbiosis,the inter-action between fungus and bacteria under inflamed mucosa,and the clinical application of probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation as a promising therapeutic approach in IBD.

Impact of micro-environmental factors on survival, reproduction and distribution of Oncomelania hupensis snails

Background:Schistosomiasis japonica is a chronic parasitic disease that seriously harms people's health.Oncomelonia hupensis is the only intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum.Jhe micro-environmental factors surrounding the snail have a great impact on the survival,growth and reproduction of 0.hupensis,but there are few relevant systematic analyses until the present.This scoping review aims to identify and summarize the micro-environmental factors that greatly affect 0.hupensis,and to find gaps in research thus to provide directions for future in-depth studies.

Sculpturing solid polymer spheres into internal gridded hollow carbon spheres under controlled pyrolysis micro-environment

Porous carbon spheres with an internal gridded hollow structure and microporous shell have always been attractive as carbon hosts for electrochemical energy storage. Such carbon hosts can limit active species loss and enhance electronic conductivity throughout the entire framework. Herein, a synthesis approach of internal gridded hollow carbon spheres is developed from solid polymer spheres rather than originally gridded polymer spheres under a controlled pyrolysis micro-environment. The crucial point of this approach is the fabrication of a silica fence around solid polymer spheres, under which the free escaping of the pyrolysis gas will be partly impeded, thus offering a reconstitution opportunity for an internal structure of solid polymer spheres. As a result, the interior of carbon spheres is sculptured into a gridded hollow structure with microporous skin. Furthermore, the size and density of carbon-bridge grids can be modulated by altering the crosslinking degree of polymer spheres and varying pyrolysis conditions. Such gridded hollow carbon spheres show good performance as sulfur hosts for Li-S battery.

Investigation of a root zone heating system for greenhouse seedling and its effects on micro-environment

Under the extremely cold climatic condition,crops have to survive severe heat stress conditions,even if they are being kept in greenhouses.In the winter and spring of North China,the air and soil temperature is low inside the greenhouse,and when using a traditional heating system,the energy consumption is high.This paper reports on a study of different design solutions for a root zone heating system based on a kind of low temperature radiation material.Root zone heating systems offer increasing crop quality and productivity.A novel type of heat preservation and root zone heating system was applied in greenhouse seedling.And through multiple experiments,the effect of the root zone heating system on the ambient environment and seedbed surface was studied,and the heat preservation effect and heating uniformity were discussed.Results show that single-layer film covering on the root zone heating system can make the average temperature at night increase 1°C.And the average seedbed surface and substrate temperature can increase 11.3°C and 5.2°C,respectively.In conclusion,the root zone heating system can effectively improve the environmental temperature of seedling and the uniformity of heating is high,which provides a strong guarantee for high-quality seedling cultivation.

Substrate Stiffness and Topography Affect the Morphology of Human Fibroblasts in Mechanical Microenvironment

Hyperplastic scar is a common fibrotic disease that may ultimately lead to severe dysfunction anddeformity,causing physical and psychological distress.Therefore,we aim to evaluate the effect of the mechanicalmicroenvironment of scar substrates on the morphology of human fibroblasts(HFbs).The micro-modular fabrication technique was used to design a new cross-groove topology and to construct four elastic substrates withthe stiffness of 19.3 kPa and 90.1 kPa coupled with parallel groove and cross groove,respectively,to simulate themechanical microenvironment of skin wounds and scar tissues.The morphological changes in HFbs in differentsubstrates were observed,and the changes in the cell-long axis length,area,and the angle between cell-long axisand grooves were recorded.Immunofluorescence staining was performed to observe the distribution of microfilaments.The results indicated that substrate stiffness and topography affected the morphology of HFbs.The cellswere elongated in parallel grooves as well as in the area where cross grooves restricted groove length,the celllength was restricted,and the angle between the long axis and the groove was increased.The topography exertedno significant effect on the cell area,but the cell area increased with increasing the stiffness.The parallel groovepromoted the expression of the F-actin to a certain extent,and the fluorescence intensity of F-actin decreased withincreasing the stiffness.Studying the effect of the mechanical microenvironment of substrates on HFb morphologyis of great importance for understanding the mechanisms of scar formation and prevention.

Recent progress in fluorescent and colorimetric sensors for the detection of ions and biomolecules

Optical sensors are widely used in the field of analytical sensing and optical imaging because of their high sensitivity, fast response time, and technical simplicity. The advantages of sensors lay in their non- invasive approach within biological tissues and inherent reliability in fluorescence imaging tests. In recent years the development of optical sensors for the sensing of ions, neutral molecules and especially tumor micro-environment-related parameters has been an active research area. This review focuses on recent contributions concerning fluorescent or colorimetric sensors and is organized according to their target classifications.

Determination of 15 phthalate esters in air by gas-phase and particle-phase simultaneous sampling

Based on previous research, the sampling and analysis methods for phthalate esters （PAEs） were improved by increasing the sampling flow of indoor air from 1 to 4 L/min, shortening the sampling duration from 8 to 2 hr. Meanwhile, through the optimization of chromatographic conditions, the concentrations of 9 additional PAE pollutants in indoor air were measured. The optimized chromatographic conditions required a similar amount of time for analysis as before, but gave high responsivity, the capability of simultaneously distinguishing 15 kinds of PAEs, and a high level of discrimination between individual sample peaks, as well as stable peak generation. The recovery rate of all gas-phase and particle-phase samples of the 15 kinds of PAEs ranged from 91.26% to 109.42%, meeting the quantitative analysis requirements for indoor and outdoor air sampling and analysis. For the first time, investigation of the concentration levels as well as characteristics of 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from four different traffic micro-environments （private vehicles, busses, taxis and subways） was carried out, along with validation of the optimized sampling and analytical method. The results show that all the 9 additional PAEs could be detected at relatively high pollution levels in the indoor air from the four traffic micro-environments. As none of the pollution levels of the 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from the 4 traffic micro-environments should be neglected, it is of great significance to increase the types of PAEs able to be detected in indoor air.

Transcription regulation by DNA methylation under stressful conditions in human cancer

Background： We aim to address one question： do cancer vs. normal tissue cells execute their transcription regulation essentially the same or differently, and why？ Methods： We utilized an integrated computational study of cancer epigenomes and transcriptomes of 10 cancer types, by using penalized linear regression models to evaluate the regulatory effects of DNA methylations on gene expressions. Results： Our main discoveries are： （i） 56 genes have their expressions consistently regulated by DNA methylation specifically in cancer, which enrich pathways associated with micro-environmental stresses and responses, particularly oxidative stress; （ii） the level of involvement by DNA methylation in transcription regulation increases as a cancer advances for majority of the cancer types examined; （iii） transcription regulation in cancer vs. control tissue cells are substantially different, with the former being largely done through direct DNA methylation and the latter mainly done via transcriptional factors; （iv） the altered DNA methylation landscapes in cancer vs. control are predominantly accomplished by DNMTI, TET3 and CBX2, which are predicted to be the result of persistent stresses present in the intracellular and micro-environments of cancer cells, which is consistent with the general understanding about epigenomic functions. Conclusions： Our integrative analyses discovered that a large class of genes is regulated via direct DNA methylation of the genes in cancer, comparing to TFs in normal cells. Such genes fall into a few stress and response pathways. As a cancer advances, the level of involvement by direct DNA methylation in transcription regulation increases for majority of the cancer types examined.

Multi-functional osteoclasts in matrix-based tissue engineering bone

The repair of bone defects,especially for the large segment of bone defects,has always been an urgent problem in orthopedic clinic and attracted researchers'attention.Nowadays,the application of tissue engineering bone in the repair of bone defects has become the research hotspot.With the rapid development of tissue engineering,the novel and functional scaffold materials for bone repair have emerged.In this review,we have summarized the multi-functional roles of osteoclasts in bone remodeling.The development of matrix-based tissue engineering bone has laid a theoretical foundation for further investigation about the novel bone regeneration materials which could perform high bioactivity.From the point of view on preserving pre-osteoclasts and targeting mature osteoclasts,this review introduced the novel matrix-based tissue engineering bone based on osteoclasts in the field of bone tissue engineering,which provides a potential direction for the development of novel scaffold materials for the treatment of bone defects.

Synthesis strategies for disulfide bond-containing polymer- based drug delivery system for reduction-responsive controlled release

Tumor micro-environment responsive drug delivery systems （DDSs） have been developed as a potential approach to reduce the side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Glutathione （GSH） has been supposed to the most significant signal of the difference between the normal tissue and the tumor cells, besides the media pH and temperature. In recent years, the reduction-responsive DDSs have attracted more and more attention for delivery of anti-cancer drugs, based on such physiological signal. Among them, disulfide bond-containing polymers have been designed as the main tool for the purpose. The recent progress in the synthesis strategies for the disulfide bond- containing polymer-based DDS is focused in the present review.