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The modern Gastroenterology have witnessed an essential stride since Helicobacter pylori was first found in the stomach and then its pathogenic effect was discovered. According to the researches conducted during the nearly 40 years, it has been found that this bacterium is associated with a natural history of many upper gastrointestinal diseases. Epidemiological data show an increased incidence of autoimmune disorders with or after infection with specific microorganisms. The researches have revealed that H. pylori is a potential trigger of gastric autoimmunity, and it may be associated with other autoimmune diseases, both innate and acquired. This paper reviews the current support or opposition about H. pylori as the role of potential triggers of autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune thyroiditis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, autoimmune liver diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as Sjogren’s syndrome, chronic urticaria and psoriasis, and tried to explain the possible mechanisms.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and highly lethal form of cancer. Although the etiologic role of Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) in the development of CRC has been elucidated, the specific tumor molecules involved in the progression of CRC induced by F. nucleatum have not been identified. This study investigated several miRNAs and genes involved in the progression of F. nucleatum-induced CRC by Affymetrix miRNA microarray technology and GeneChip Human Transcriptome Array 2.0. The results suggest that miR-4474 and miR-4717 are up-regulated in CRC tissues in response to F. nucleatum infection, compared with the control group (paracancerous tissues), while other genes associated with signaling pathways in cancer, including CREB-binding protein (CREBBP), STAT1, PRKACB, CAMK2B, JUN, TP53 and EWSR1, were dysregulated. Bioinformatic analysis identified CREBBP as the primary aberrantly expressed gene in F. nucleatum-induced CRC. Consistent with the microarray analysis results, real-time RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the expression of miR-4474/4717 was upregulated while that of CREBBP mRNA was downregulated in CRC patients infected with F. nucleatum. Additionally, CREBBP was identified as a novel target of miR-4474/4717. The results of this study suggest that miR-4474 and miR-4717 are involved in the progression of F. nucleatum-induced CRC by posttranscriptionally regulating the target gene CREBBP.

To study the antitumor effect of Xihuang pill (XHP) on the number of Treg cells in the tumor microenvironment of 4T1 breast tumor-bearing mice by PI3K/AKT/AP-1 pathway, a mouse model was established. Flow cytometry (FCM) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect the number of Treg cells in the tumor microenvironment; terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) was used to detect the apoptosis of Treg cells in tumor microenvironment. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression of PI3K, AKT, and AP-1 in Treg cells in tumor microenvironment; immunofluorescence (IF) and Western Blot (WB) were used to detect the protein expression of PI3K, AKT, and AP-1 in Treg cells in tumor microenvironment. Compared with the naive control group, the tumor weight in XHP groups decreased significantly ( P < 0.05 ); FCM and IHC results showed that the number of Treg cells in the tumor microenvironment decreased with the dose of XHP groups ( P < 0.05 ); TUNEL staining showed that the number of Treg cells in tumor microenvironment increased with the dose of XHP groups ( P < 0.05 ); RT-qPCR results showed that the mRNA expression of PI3K and AKT in Treg cells decreased with the dose of XHP groups, while RNA expression of AP-1 increased with the dose of XHP groups ( P < 0.05 ); IF and WB results showed that the protein expression of PI3K and AKT in Treg cells decreased with the dose of XHP groups and the protein expression of AP-1 increased with the dose of XHP groups ( P < 0.05 ). The results suggested that XHP decreased the number of Treg cells via inhibiting PI3K and AKT expression and upregulating AP-1 expression in Treg cells and then promoting the apoptosis of Treg cells. Thus, XHP could improve the immunosuppressive state of tumor microenvironment and reverse the immune escape to inhibit tumor growth.

Satellite technologies are essential for global conservation actions through providing continuous, real-time Earth monitoring. However, development of these technologies necessitates an increase in rocket launches, which introduces new threats to biodiversity. Here, we mapped rocket launch sites and assessed their threats on protected areas and terrestrial biodiversity. Our analysis revealed that over 90% launch sites are within areas where unprotected habitats excesses 50% and over 62% of operating sites are located within or near protected areas. The threats from rocket launches are potentially associated with biomes, coordinates, and proximity to oceans. In particular, threatened terrestrial species in Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests are more vulnerable to these risks compared to species in other biomes. Without strategic planning, the continued growth of rocket launches could create conflicts between technological development and conservation efforts, undermining the achievement of UN Biodiversity Goals.

Cerasus fengyangshanica is a wild flowering cherry endemic to Mount Fengyang, China. Here, we reported the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of C. fengyangshanica (GenBank accession number: MW160272). The cp genome was 157,964 bp long, with a large single-copy region (LSC) of 85,972 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 19,086 bp separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 26,453 bp. It encodes 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA genes. We also reconstructed the phylogeny of Prunus sensu lato using maximum likelihood (ML) method, including our data and previously reported cp genomes of related taxa. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that C. fengyangshanica is closely related with Prunus maximowiczii.

An improved component modal synthesis-based nonproportional mistuning method (ICMS-NPMM) is proposed to investigate mistuned turbine blisks (MTBs) since the high-fidelity finite element models (HFEMs) involve large number of computations, which leads to low calculation efficiency. To reduce degrees of freedom and suppress the flutter of MTB, it is divided into mistuned blade structure and tuned disk structure, and the intentional mistuning is considered. Furthermore, the mistuned parameters, nonproportional mistuning, and complex loads are also considered. Firstly, the basic theory of ICMS-NPMM is investigated; secondly, the model of MTB is established via ICMS-NPMM; finally, the intentionally mistuned design of modal shape amplitudes (MSAs) is investigated via ICMS-NPMM. The results indicate that the calculation efficiency is enhanced via ICMS-NPMM relative to that of via HFEM. In addition, the sensitivity and the flutter are decreased; meanwhile, the amplitude fluctuations of MSAs are distinctly decreased and become comparatively smooth. This investigation provides an important guidance for the vibration characteristic study of complex mechanical structures in engineering practice.

In recent years, with the constant change in the global climate, the effect of climate factors on net primary productivity (NPP) has become a hot research topic. However, two opposing views have been presented in this research area: global NPP increases with global warming, and global NPP decreases with global warming. The main reasons for these two opposite results are the tremendous differences among seasonal and annual climate variables, and the growth of plants in accordance with these climate variables. Therefore, it will fail to fully clarify the relation between vegetation growth and climate changes by research that relies solely on annual data. With seasonal climate variables, we may clarify the relation between vegetation growth and climate changes more accurately. Our research examined the arid and semiarid areas in China (ASAC), which account for one quarter of the total area of China. The ecological environment of these areas is fragile and easily affected by human activities. We analyzed the influence of climate changes, especially the changes in seasonal climate variables, on NPP, with Climatic Research Unit (CRU) climatic data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite remote data, for the years 2000–2010. The results indicate that: for annual climatic data, the percentage of the ASAC in which NPP is positively correlated with temperature is 66.11%, and 91.47% of the ASAC demonstrates a positive correlation between NPP and precipitation. Precipitation is more positively correlated with NPP than temperature in the ASAC. For seasonal climatic data, the correlation between NPP and spring temperature shows significant regional differences. Positive correlation areas are concentrated in the eastern portion of the ASAC, while the western section of the ASAC generally shows a negative correlation. However, in summer, most areas in the ASAC show a negative correlation between NPP and temperature. In autumn, precipitation is less important in the west, as opposed to the east, in which it is critically important. Temperatures in winter are a limiting factor for NPP throughout the region. The findings of this research not only underline the importance of seasonal climate variables for vegetation growth, but also suggest that the effects of seasonal climate variables on NPP should be explored further in related research in the future.

Changes in vegetation phenology are key indicators of the response of ecosystems to climate change. Therefore, knowledge of growing seasons is essential to predict ecosystem changes, especially for regions with a fragile ecosystem such as the Loess Plateau. In this study, based on the normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） data, we estimated and analyzed the vegetation phenology in the Loess Plateau from 2000 to 2010 for the beginning, length, and end of the growing season, measuring changes in trends and their relationship to climatic factors. The results show that for 54.84% of the vegetation, the trend was an advancement of the beginning of the growing season （BGS）, while for 67.64% the trend was a delay in the end of the growing season （EGS）. The length of the growing season （LGS） was extended for 66.28% of the vegetation in the plateau. While the temperature is important for the vegetation to begin the growing season in this region, warmer climate may lead to drought and can become a limiting factor for vegetation growth. We found that increased precipitation benefits the advancement of the BGS in this area. Areas with a delayed EGS indicated that the appropriate temperature and rainfall in autumn or winter enhanced photosynthesis and extended the growth process. A positive correlation with precipitation was found for 76.53% of the areas with an extended LGS, indicating that precipitation is one of the key factors in changes in the vegetation phenology in this water-limited region. Precipitation plays an important role in determining the phenological activities of the vegetation in arid and semiarid areas, such as the Loess Plateau. The extended growing season will significantly influence both the vegetation productivity and the carbon fixation capacity in this region.

Silicon slag is a secondary refining by-product from industrial silicon. The content of industrial silicon in silicon slag is about 20   %, which has extremely high economic value. To better achieve the recovery and reuse of industrial silicon slag, the morphology of industrial silicon slag, the occurrence state of elements and especially the interfacial structure between silicon and slag were deeply studied. The results showed that the purity of silicon particles in silicon slag is high up to 99   %. The interface between silicon and slag is clear and there is no obvious two-phase transition zone, which is beneficial to realize the recycling of silicon by breaking the silicon slag. The dissociated silicon slag was screened out for melting and refining. The results showed that the silicon phase was separated from the slag phase. In this paper, the physical and chemical properties of industrial silicon slag were studied, which provides a theoretical basis for the efficient separation and recovery of silicon in the slag.

Vegetation restoration has been proposed as an effective method for increasing both plant biomass and soil carbon （C） stocks. In this study, 204 publications （733 observations） were analyzed, focusing on the effects of vegetation restoration on soil organic carbon （SOC） in China. The results showed that SOC was increased by 45.33%, 24.43%, 30.29% and 27.98% at soil depths of 0-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-60 cm and 〉 60 cm after vegetation restoration, respectively. Restoration from both cropland and non-cropland increased the SOC content. The conversion of non-cropland was more efficient in SOC accumulation than the conversion of cropland did, especially in 〉 40 cm layers. In addition, the conversion to planted forest led to greater SOC accumulation than that to other land use did. Conver- sion period and initial SOC content extended more influence on soil C accumulation as the main factors after vegetation restoration than temperature and precipitation did. The SOC content significantly increased with restoration period after long-term vegetation restoration （〉 40 yr）, indicating a large potential for further accumulation of carbon in the soil, which could mitigate climate change in the near future.