1. The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) as a new method of ecological monitoring is widely applied. Although eDNA can provide important information on the distribution and biomass of particular taxa, an organism’s DNA sequences remain unaltered throughout its existence, which complicates identifying crucial events, including reproduction, with high accuracy. We thus examined DNA methylation as a novel source of information from eDNA, considering that methylation patterns of eggs and sperm released during reproduction differ from those of somatic tissues. 2. Despite its potential applications, little is known about eDNA methylation, including its stability and methods for detection and quantification. Therefore, we conducted tank experiments and performed methylation analysis targeting 18S rDNA through bisulfite amplicon sequencing. 3. Methylation of eDNA was not affected by degradation and was equivalent to the rate of genomic DNA from somatic tissues. Unmethylated DNA, which is abundant in the ovary, was detected in eDNA during reproductive activity of fish. 4. These results indicate that eDNA methylation is a stable signal reflecting genomic methylation and demonstrate that germ cell-specific methylation patterns can be used as markers for detecting reproductive activity.

Global associations of macronutrient supply and asthma disease burden Duan Ni1,2,3, Alistair M. Senior3,4,5, David Raubenheimer3,4, Stephen J. Simpson3,4, Laurence Macia3,6,7, Ralph Nanan1,2,3,*1 Sydney Medical School Nepean, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia2 Nepean Hospital, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia3 Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia4 School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia5 Sydney Precision Data Science Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia6 School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia7 Sydney Cytometry Core Research Facility, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney and Centenary Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia* Correspondence:Ralph [email protected] Medical School Nepean, The University of Sydney.Nepean Hospital, Level 5, South Block, Penrith NSW, 2751, AustraliaTelephone: +61 2 4734 1614Fax: +61 2 4734 1144To the Editor,We read with interest the work by Shin et al. 1, investigating the global disease burden of allergic disorders. They showed that the age-standardized prevalence of asthma has decreased over time on a global level.Following a similar theme, we curated asthma disease burden, macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate and fat) supply and gross domestic product (GDP) data around the globe (Supplementary Methods). Our analysis found that in parallel to changes in asthma disease burden, GDP per capita 2 has increased, and the global nutritional landscape has also changed (Figure 1A-B). Both socioeconomic status and nutritional factors, are emerging critical confounders for asthma1. However, so far, most studies have neglected to consider their correlations and interactions, including among nutrients within diets (Figure 1C-E). They instead focused on individual parameters alone, like specific diets or foods 3. Here, we adopted a recently published approach 2 to systematically interrogate the relationship between nutrient supply, a good proxy of food environment, socioeconomic status and asthma disease burden at a global scale over time. We focused on macronutrient supplies and their interactions, considering their important associations with many facets of health.Various multi-response generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) were used to analyze the effects on asthma disease burden from macronutrient supplies and GDP over time (Supplementary Methods). In all analyses, a model considering the interactions of macronutrient supply and GDP, and an additive effect of time was favoured (Supplementary Table 1, 3). This suggested combinatory effects of macronutrients on asthma and the impacts of socioeconomic changes.The most recent year with all data available, 2018, is shown as a representative (Figure 1F-G, Supplementary Table 1-2). In brief, predicted association between asthma prevalence and macronutrient supplies were visualized using response surfaces on macronutrient supply plots. We focused on the fat (x -axis) and carbohydrate (y -axis) supplies while holding protein at 25%, 50% and 75% quantiles of global supply. Across the response surfaces, red indicated higher asthma disease burden, while blue indicated lower.In our modelling, carbohydrate supply was most strongly associated with increases of asthma prevalence rates, while fat supply had the opposite effects (Figure 1F). This is reflected by the purple isocaloric line, along which the total energy from macronutrients remained constant but increasing fat:carbohydrate ratio decreased the allergy prevalence. Protein supply conferred less influences. Similar patterns were found for asthma incidences (Figure 1G, Supplementary Table 3-4) independent of gender (Supplementary Figure 1-2) and were not confounded by the total macronutrient energy supply, as changing total energy while holding fat:carbohydrate ratio constant (red radial in figures) minimally impacted asthma disease burden.This represents the first study to link asthma to global food environment. Our results imply a driving role of carbohydrate supply for the asthma disease burden, after adjusting for the plausible interactions between macronutrients, total energy supply and socioeconomic status.Interestingly, previous studies found that ketogenic diets, low in carbohydrates, might ameliorate established asthma 4, supporting our findings that ketogenic-like food environments are associated with lower asthma disease burden. Although further in-depth investigations are needed, diet quality might be an intriguing explanation for the positive association between carbohydrate supply and asthma. For example, high- and ultra-processed foods low in fibre have been found to be related to asthma development 3,5, while we have previously shown that dietary fibre exhibited a strong immune regulatory influence, protecting against asthma6.Hence, future studies in more depth are warranted to investigate the associations between macronutrient supply and asthma, including also other related socioeconomic and environmental factors. Such studies will be critical for guidance to future clinical research and practice and public health interventions.Figure 1. Association of global macronutrient supply and asthma disease burden. A. Age-standardized asthma prevalence (blue) and incidence rate (red) of both sexes as functions of year. B.Global GDP per capita (in US dollars, black) and supplies of carbohydrate (green), protein (red) and fat (brown) as functions of year. C-E. Correlations among variables for global data from 1990-2018 (C ) and for different countries in 1990 (D ) and 2018 (E ). Correlation coefficients are shown. F-G.Predicted effects of macronutrient supply on age-standardized asthma prevalence rate (F ) and incidence rate (G ) of both sexes (See Supplementary Information for statistics and interpretation).

Vanadium electrolyte is one of the most critical materials for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRB). Reducing the cost of vanadium electrolyte and improving its performance are ongoing research priorities for VRB. Currently, the control of the cost of vanadium electrolyte mainly relies on the development of new processes and optimization of traditional processes. Improving the performance of electrolytes mainly involves two aspects: mass transfer and charge transfer, such as introducing additives, optimizing supporting electrolytes, and developing new electrode catalysts. This article reviews the progress in improving the performance of VRB in the past 10 years, including three main aspects: the preparation of electrolytes, the influence of mass transfer on battery performance, and the influence of charge transfer on battery performance. Further discussed the impact of different factors on the improvement of VRB performance. Finally, summarized the challenges faced by VRB in performance improvement and commercial applications, and made suggestions for future research and development of VRB.

The fluorescence quenching of multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials has remained a formidable challenge due to the strong π-π packing and intense intermolecular aggregation. To this end, we have designed MR-TADF molecules modified with adamantane with large spatial hindrance, named BN-Ad, to mitigate the intermolecular π-π stacking be-tween the rigid planar skeletons and prevent aggregation-caused quenching. Photoelectric properties of BN-Ad in solutions and thin films were systematically investigated, and the electroluminescence properties were characterized by fabricating organic light-emitting diode devices (OLEDs). The optimized device employing BN-Ad exhibited a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) of 32.3% peaking at 500 nm with a small full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of only 35 nm. When the doping ratio in-creased to 50 wt%, the EQEmax can still be maintained at 11.2% with a slightly red-shifted emission peak at 508 nm and moderately widened FWHM of 53 nm.

This paper presents a prediction-based dynamic range (DR) compensation technique in continuous-time (CT) delta -sigma modulator (DSM) with digital-domain noise coupling (DNC) structure. A digital prediction technique is proposed to address the issue of maximum stable amplitude (MSA) loss caused by DNC. The proposed prediction method has been shown to significantly extend the MSA of CT DSM with DNC. Moreover, through the extension of MSA, the DR and SNDR is significantly improved. A CTDSM with proposed compensation achieves a SNDR of 85.1dB at -1dBFS and a DR of 89dB.

Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) are a diverse family of non-enveloped dsDNA viruses that infect the skin and mucosal epithelia. Persistent HPV infections can lead to cancer frequently involving integration of the virus into the host genome, leading to sustained oncogene expression and loss of capsid and genome maintenance proteins. Microhomology-mediated double-strand break repair, a DNA double-stranded breaks repair pathway present in many organisms, was initially thought to be a backup but it’s now seen as vital, especially in homologous recombination-deficient contexts. Increasing evidence has identified microhomology (MH) near HPV integration junctions, suggesting MH-mediated repair pathways drive integration. In this comprehensive review, we present a detailed summary of both the mechanisms underlying MH-mediated repair and the evidence for its involvement in HPV integration in cancer. Lastly, we highlight the involvement of these processes in the integration of other DNA viruses and the broader implications on virus lifecycles and host innate immune response.

Early life experiences have a disproportionate impact on individuals’ fitness, but most research has focused on the effects of single experiences, or stressors, often under controlled conditions. Protecting natural populations that must contend with co-occurring stressors requires a better understanding of how multiple early-life stressors affect the health and ecology of natural systems. However, the complexity of such research has limited its advancement. To address this challenge, human studies adopted cumulative risk models that predict adult health risk based on early adversity exposure. We propose a novel framework on how to adapt such models to assess the health and ecology of natural populations. In this framework we detail how and when to develop various types of cumulative early adversity (CEA) indices for wild populations. We then use a case study to demonstrate that such indices can predict pup survival and adult longevity in a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer). Our results highlight that CEA indices yield unique insights and improve model fit. With this framework we hope to spur further investigations on the impact of cumulative adversity in natural systems, which is critical to inform conservation and management in the Anthropocene.

Community assembly provides the foundation for applications in biodiversity conservation, climate change, invasion ecology, restoration ecology, and synthetic ecology. Predicting and prioritizing community assembly outcomes remains challenging. We address this challenge via a mechanism-free LOVE (Learning Outcomes Via Experiments) approach suitable for cases where little data or knowledge exist: we carry out actions (randomly-sampled combinations of species additions), measure abundance outcomes, and then train a model to predict arbitrary outcomes of actions, or prioritize actions that would yield the most desirable outcomes. When trained on <100 randomly-selected actions, LOVE predicts outcomes with 2-5% error across datasets, and prioritizes actions for maximizing richness, maximizing abundance, or minimizing abundances of unwanted species, with 94-99% true positive rate and 12-83% true negative rate across tasks. LOVE complements existing approaches for community ecology by providing a foundation for additional mechanism-first study, and may help address numerous ecological applications.

Aggressive Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Although it is very easy to calculate the 1st moment and 2nd moment values of the geometric distribution with the methods available in existing books and other articles, it is quite difficult to calculate moment values larger than the 3rd order. Because in order to find these moment values, many higher order derivatives of the geometric series and convergence properties of the series are needed. The aim of this article is to find new formulas for characteristic function of the geometric random variable (with parameter p) in terms of the Apostol-Bernoulli polynomials and numbers, and the Stirling numbers. This characteristic function characterizes the geometric distribution. Using the Euler’s identity, we give relations among theis characteristic function, the Apostol-Bernoulli polynomials and numbers, and also trigonometric functions including sin w and cos w . A relations between the characteristic function and the moment generating function is also given. By using these relations, we derive new moments formulas in terms of the Apostol-Bernoulli polynomials and numbers. Moreover, we give some applications of our new formulas.

We selected 15 sheep-grazed sand pastures along increasing grazing intensity to study fine scale biomass patterns of main fractions (green biomass, litter) and that of plant species and functional groups (life forms and social behaviour types). We classified them into five grazing intensity levels based on stocking rate, proximity to drinking and resting places, and the number of droppings and other tracks of grazing animals. We formulated three study questions: i) How does increasing intensity of sheep grazing affect the amount of green biomass, species richness and their relationship in sand pastures? ii) How does increasing intensity of sheep grazing affect the biomass of perennial and short-lived graminoids and forbs? iii) How does disturbance value (expressed in the biomass ratio of disturbance tolerant and ruderal species) change along the gradient of grazing intensity? A unimodal relationship between green biomass and species richness was detected. Along the grazing intensity gradient, we found an increasing trend for species richness; significant differences for green biomass (decreasing trend) and litter (decreasing trend), moreover for graminoids (decreasing trend), and short-lived forbs (increasing trend). We found an increasing amount of disturbance tolerant and ruderal species with increasing grazing intensity. We concluded that stocking rate and proximity to drinking and resting places jointly affected vegetation and created an uneven pattern for composition and amount of biomass in all grazing intensity levels. Our findings might be instructive for pastures in densely populated regions which are prone to the encroachment of disturbance-tolerant and ruderal species.

Sibling relationships’ effects on social–emotional competence were investigated among elementary school children experiencing changing family structures. The study involved 965 students (ages 10–12 years; 472 boys, 503 girls; N5th grades = 510, N6th grades = 465) in a developed province in China. Sibling relationships and social–emotional competence showed a significant positive association. Sibling rivalry, conflict, and power contrast hindered children’s self-awareness, decision making, and interpersonal skills. Positive sibling relationships (e.g., sibling intimacy) were positively correlated with and predictive of social–emotional competence in children from multi-child families. Sibling intimacy best explained children’s social–emotional competence and predicted the development of social–emotional competence dimensions. Sibling intimacy aspects—pro-sociality, affect, companionship, and admiration—primarily predicted social–emotional competence.

Background: Percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) is traditionally performed under general anesthesia with trans-esophageal echocardiography guidance. Intracardiac echo (ICE) guided LAAO closure is increasing in clinical use. The ICE catheter is crossed into LA via interatrial septum (IAS) after the septum is dilated with LAAO delivery sheath. This step can be time-consuming and requires significant ICE catheter manipulation increasing the risk of cardiac perforation. Pre-emptive septal balloon dilation can potentially help with the advancement of ICE in LA. Objective: Evaluate the effect of pre-dilation of IAS with an 8 mm balloon on ease of crossing the ICE catheter, fluoroscopy time for crossing, and overall procedure time. Methods: The Piedmont LAAO registry was used to identify consecutive patients undergoing LAAO. The initial 25 patients where balloon dilation of IAS was performed served as the experimental cohort, and the 25 consecutive patients prior to that in whom balloon dilation was not performed, served as controls. For the experimental group, after a trans-septal puncture, the sheath was retracted to the right atrium with guide wire still in the LA. An 8x40 mm Evercoss™ over the wire balloon was inflated across the IAS. The ICE catheter was then crossed into the LA using the fluoroscopic landmark of the guide wire and the ICE imaging. The sheath was then advanced along the ICE catheter via the transseptal puncture (TSP) and the procedure continued. Follow up CT imaging was obtained in 4-8 weeks. Results: Each group included 25 patients. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics. All procedures were performed successfully with the use of conscious sedation and ICE guidance. There was a significant reduction in overall procedure time, fluoroscopy time, and time for trans-septal puncture to ICE in LA. There was no difference in the size of the acute residual interatrial shunt as measured via ICE or size and presence of iatrogenic ASD at follow up. Conclusion: Balloon dilation of TSP is safe and associated with increased efficiencies in ICE guided LAAO procedures.

Background Functional tricuspid regurgitation (FTR) is correlated with more symptoms and higher mortality. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) on FTR in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) and bradycardia. Methods Consecutive patients with a pacemaker indication who underwent successful LBBAP were identified between July 2018 and March 2023. Patients who met the following criteria were included: 1) persistent AF; 2) mean heart rate (HR) < 60 bpm; 3) moderate or severe FTR. The severity of FTR was graded qualitatively with a multi-integrative approach, classified into three grades: mild = 1, moderate = 2, and severe = 3. FTR improvement was defined as adding at least one grade of FTR level. Echocardiographic parameters were followed up for one week and 6 months. Results There were 29 patients enrolled. 17 (59%) patients were moderate FTR and 12 (41%) patients were severe FTR at baseline. The paced QRS duration showed no difference compared to baseline (112.9 ± 13.9 vs 113.8 ± 29.1 ms, P=0.856). The paced HR was 65.4 ± 6.9 bpm, was significantly higher than that of baseline (46.7 ± 8.0 bpm) (P <0.001). The VP percentage at one week was 85.9 ± 20.6%, and remained stable during 6 months follow-up (81.0 ± 19.2%) (P=0.159). One week after LBBAP, 15 (52%) patients had FTR improvement. The mean FTR degree was decreased from 2.4 ± 0.5 to 1.9 ± 0.7, P<0.001. Six months after LBBAP, 13 (45%) patients remained with FTR improvement. The mean FTR degree was decreased from 2.4 ± 0.5 to 2.0 ± 0.8, P<0.001. Conclusion LBBAP was able to improve FTR in persistent AF patients with bradycardia.

The study aims to examine the relationship between digital play addiction tendency and four different dimensions of aggression:physical aggression and relational aggression toward others,self-directed aggression and aggression against objects.The research was conducted to understand the effects of digital games on children’s behavior at a time when children are increasingly exposed to digital games.The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between early childhood aggression in children and the tendency for addiction to digital gaming.Quantitative research methodologies such as surveys and relational designs were preferred for the study.744 children between the ages of 4-6 constituted the participants of the study.Through parent assessments,information about children’s aggressive tendencies and addiction to digital gaming was gathered.To analyze the data the model was created with PLS path modeling.Then, convergent and discriminant validity was tested to evaluate the measurement model.Finally, the structural model was evaluated by using bootstrapping analysis.In conclusion, this study examined the relationship between the tendency for digital play addiction and aggression in early childhood and found a positive relationship between these factors.These findings may help us understand the potential effects of children’s digital game use and addiction on their social behavior and provide important clues for promoting healthier digital media use.

Introduction: Cryoablation therapy for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) to treat paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is well established. A novel 28 mm cryoballoon system designed to operate under low pressure to safely reach a lower nadir temperature and maintain constant balloon size during cooling has not been prospectively studied in a large patient population for safety and efficacy. The FROZEN AF (NCT04133168) trial was an international multi-center, open-label, prospective, single-arm study on the safety and performance of a novel cryoballoon system for treatment of PAF. Methods and Results: The study enrolled patients at 44 sites in 10 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. Subjects were indicated for PVI treatment of PAF and had failed or were intolerant of 1 or more antiarrhythmic drugs. Procedural outcomes were defined based on the 2017 HRS consensus statement. Follow-up was performed at 7 days, 3, 6, and 12 months. Data are reported as mean±SD or Median (IQR). PVI was performed with a 28mm cryoballoon in 325 drug refractory PAF patients. Complete PVI was achieved in 95.7% of patients. In cryoablation lesions longer than 60s, 60.1% of PV isolations required only a single cryoballoon application. Procedure related complications included: phrenic nerve palsy [transient 4 (1.2%), persistent 0 (0.0%)], cardiac tamponade/perforation 2 (0.6%), and air embolism 1 (0.3%). Freedom from documented atrial arrhythmia recurrence at 12 months was 79.9% (AF 82.7%, AFL 96.5%, AT 98.1%), Antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) were continued or re-initiated in 26.8% of patients after the 3-month blanking period. Additionally, an extension arm enrolled 50 pts for treatment with 28/31mm variable size cryoballoon. A single temporary PNP occurred in this group, which resolved prior to discharge. Freedom from documented recurrence at 12 months in these pts was 82.0%. Conclusions: This novel cryoballoon may facilitate PVI to treat PAF, providing more options to address the variety of anatomy present in patients with PAF. This cryoballoon system was safe and effective for treatment of patients with drug refractory or drug intolerant PAF.

A 62-year-old female with multiple sclerosis in remission was admitted for electrophysiological study due to persistent tachycardia episodes. Patient had been experiencing heart palpitations for 30 years, symptoms intensified post-respiratory infection in 2018, leading to daily arrhythmia by 2023. Holter monitoring revealed supraventricular tachycardia (115-120 bpm), with subsequent hospital telemetry confirming frequent arrhythmia. The diagnostic process, guided by intracardiac echocardiography, uncovered an aneurysmal interatrial septum. Ablation procedures targeting an aneurysmal interatrial septum successfully terminated arrhythmia, confirmed by follow-up over six months. The case underscores the importance of intracardiac echocardiography in navigating challenging cardiac anatomy during electrophysiological interventions.

Background. Sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains a major cause of death despite progress in prevention and intervention of cardiac diseases. The most common cause of non-ischemic SCD in young individuals in Northern Finland is primary myocardial fibrosis (PMF). Methods. Fingesture study consists of 5,869 systematically autopsied subjects with SCD from Northern Finland collected from 1998 to 2017. Nonischemic etiology was the cause of SCD in 1477 (25%) subjects out of which primary myocardial fibrosis was the cause of SCD in 184 (12%) subjects (65% men, median age 55±16 years). Medico-legal autopsies in PMF subjects showed no other noncardiac organ changes or prior diseases that could have caused myocardial fibrosis detected at gross dissection and histological analyses. We examined the ante mortem ECG and medical history of the subjects to discover preceding symptoms and ECG changes. Results. Prior health care contact in electronic health record system was found for 89 (48%) subjects and ECG was available for 52 (28%) subjects; 20 subjects both medical history and ECG were available. We observed that transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) was the most common symptom recorded and was reported by 33 (37%) subjects. ECG was abnormal in 38 (73%) subjects. Fragmented QRS (fQRS) complex was found in 26 (50%) subjects. Other ECG findings were prolonged QTc (>450ms in men and >470ms in women) in 10 (19%), T-inversions in 4 (8%), pathological Q-waves in 3 (6%), and prolonged QRS (> 110 ms) in 3 subjects. Vast majority, 87% of subjects had either TLOC or abnormal ECG. Only 7 subjects with ECG or ERS history available had normal ECG and did not have previous TLOC. Conclusions. Most subjects with PMF had abnormal ECG or previous TLOC. The results suggest that the combination should generate careful cardiovascular examination in order to detect underlying myocardial disease and possibly prevent SCD.

Ten state wildlife management agencies in the United States, including six within the Southeast, have delayed their spring wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hunting season since 2017 by five or more days to address concerns related to the potential effects of hunting on wild turkey seasonal productivity. One hypothesis posits that if the spring hunting season is too early, there may be insufficient time for males to breed hens before being harvested, thus leading to reduced seasonal productivity. We conducted an experiment to determine if delaying the wild turkey hunting season by two weeks in south-middle Tennessee would affect various reproductive rates. In 2021 and 2022, the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission experimentally delayed the spring hunting season to open 14 days later than the traditional date (the Saturday closest to 1 April) in Giles, Lawrence, and Wayne counties. We monitored reproductive rates from 2017 to 2022 in these three counties as well as two adjacent counties, Bedford and Maury, that were not delayed. We used a Before-After-Control-Impact design to analyze the proportion of hens nesting, clutch size, hatchability, nest success, poult survival, and hen survival with linear mixed-effect models and AIC model selection to detect relationships between the 14-day delay and reproductive parameters. We detected no relationship (P > 0.05) between the 14-day delay and any individual reproductive parameter. The traditional Tennessee start date had been in place since 1986 while the turkey harvest increased exponentially and more recently stabilized. Our data indicate that moving the start of the hunting season from a period prior to peak nest initiation to two weeks later to coincide with peak nest initiation and the onset of incubation resulted in similar levels of productivity in wild turkey flocks in south-middle Tennessee.

Plant-soil feedback (PSF), the reciprocal interaction between plants and their soil environment, is a fundamental ecological process that influences coexistence and functional structure in plant communities. Current theory establishes that PSF may enhance diversity or lead to exclusion depending on whether soil conditioning disproportionately benefits heterospecific or conspecific individuals. However, a more complete picture of the impact of PSF requires understanding how PSF synergizes with competition. To that end, here we propose an integrated mathematical model combining trait-based competition and soil-explicit PSF. Contrary to the current paradigm, we find that soil conditioning that disproportionately favors conspecific individuals can promote coexistence. Additionally, we show that priority effects are common when soil-conditioning species differ in their edaphic preferences. These effects can allow species with large differences in competitive ability to coexist under certain soil conditions. Our results provide testable predictions tying community-level functional patterns in plant communities to PSF and competition.

Abstract Objective: We sought to evaluate the left atrial (LA) strain parameters of maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients before and after dialysis by two dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D- STI), and to explore the effect of volume load change on LA function. Methods: 76 patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis (HD) were enrolled in the study protocol. The median duration of dialysis was 24.0 (7.5, 59.5) months. In addition, 30 healthy subjects were selected as control group. Comprehensive echocardiography was performed immediately before and after hemodialysis to compare the changes in left atrial function. Results: Regarding LA strain parameters in patients of pre-HD, the median (25th, 75th) LA reservoir, LA conduit, and LA contractile reserve were 28.0 (23.0, 34.5), -15.5 (-10.0, -21.5),-12.0 (-9.0, -16.0) respectively; the post-HD were 26.0 (21.0, 29.0), -12.0 (-9, -15.5), -12.5 (-9, -15.5) respectively; and controls were 43.0 (36.0, 48.0), -24.0 (-18.0, -32.0), -17.0 (-15.0, -22.0) respectively. The left atrial strain parameters before HD were lower than controls, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The reservoir function and conduit function of LA strain decreased after hemodialysis, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Regarding the contraction of LA, the differences between pre- and post-HD were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: New echocardiographic parameters, such as left atrial strain, can quantitatively evaluate the changes in left atrial function before and after hemodialysis in ESRD patients, which can provide valuable information for the overall cardiac evaluation in this specific population.

Background and Purpose:: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and-γ (PPARα/γ) are known to play crucial roles in acute liver injury (ALI). Icariside Ⅱ (ICS Ⅱ), a natural flavonoid compound derived from Herba Epimedii, confers neuroprotection with PPARα/γ induction potency. This study was aimed to explore whether ICS Ⅱ has the capacity to protect against ALI, and if so what are the role of PPARα/γ in the beneficial effect of ICS Ⅱ on ALI. Experimental Approach: Mice challenged by D-galactosamine (GalN)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Kupffer cells (KCs) upon LPS insult were used as ALI models in vivo and in vitro. PPARα/γ-deficient mice and Sirt6-deficient mice were treated with ICS Ⅱ to validate the potential targets of ICS Ⅱ on ALI. Key results: ICS Ⅱ dose-dependently improved the survival rate and liver histology, decreased ALT and AST in D-galactosamine (GalN)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mice. Furthermore, ICS Ⅱ directly bound to PPARα/γ and increased their activities. The protective properties of ICS Ⅱ were counteracted when PPARα/γ were knocked out in GalN/LPS-induced mice and LPS-induced KCs, respectively. Mechanistically, ICS Ⅱ restored mitochondrial function, reduced oxidative stress and inflammation through activating PPARα/γ, which interacted with Sirt6 and inhibited NF-κB nuclear translocation. Intriguingly, ICS Ⅱ-evoked hepatoprotective effect and activation of PPARα/γ were largely blunted in Sirt6-deficient mice. Conclusions and implications: Our findings not only highlight PPARα/γ-SIRT6 signaling as a vital therapeutic target to combat ALI, but also reveal ICS Ⅱ may serve as a novel dual PPARα/γ agonist to safeguard ALI from the oxidation-inflammation vicious circle by coactivating SIRT6.

The sandy Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantation that as the boundary part of the Three North Shelterbelt Project in Northeast China has been well protected and prohibited disturbance more than ten years, and thus bring about lots of forest floor litter and then humus layer. While humus layer accumulation that could change the interface between litter and soil, its effects on litter and soil, and especially the interaction among them were still poorly understood. Hence, three different treatments that included remove all forest floor litter and humus, double forest floor litter and humus layer, and retain forest floor litter and humus original (no treatment) were conducted, and the physicochemistry properties and microbial communities were monitored. Results showed that the humus layer increased forest floor litter decomposition rate and its total carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus significantly, while it changed soil pH and nutrients differently and slightly. The abundances of bacterial groups at different taxonomic levels increased and while its diversity indexes decreased in litter when the humus layer existed, however, the fungi community both in litter and soil varied insignificantly. The humus layer not only increased remarkably the proportions of common OTUs between humus and litter, humus and soil compared to litter and soil both for fungi and bacteria, but also decreased the differences of the number of fungal and bacterial taxa statistics between litter and soil. It implied that the humus layer could act an important role in the recover process of degraded forest ecosystem.

This study conducted an investigation into the impact of different dosages of vitamin E supplementation on histopathological alterations, cognitive behaviors, and the expression of age-associated genes in the heart and hippocampus of aged mice. Mice at 12 months of age received varying doses of vitamin E (100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg) orally through gavage for 28 days. The results indicated that vitamin E supplementation improved working memory and spatial learning, reduced oxidative stress in the heart and brain tissues, and positively influenced the expression of SIRT1, Nrf2, and Calstabin2 genes. Interestingly, the efficacy of vitamin E was dose-dependent, with higher doses demonstrating more beneficial effects. The study also examined the influence of vitamin E on the activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as SOD and GPX, as well as the levels of MDA, a marker of oxidative stress, and found that vitamin E supplementation resulted in dose-related changes in these parameters. The findings also indicate that higher doses of vitamin E, particularly at 400 mg/kg, demonstrated more beneficial effects. However, the study emphasizes the need for further research to confirm these findings and to explore the potential clinical applications of vitamin E supplementation in addressing age-related conditions.