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Aims Phytohormones are a group of signal compounds that regulate plant growth, development, health and plant-soil interactions. We aimed to investigate the distribution and controlling factors of a diverse set of phytohormones found in the plant-soil continuum. Methods Twenty phytohormones belonging to seven categories were studied in maize roots, rhizosphere and bulk soil with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. In addition, the microbiomes shaped by gamma-sterilization and reinoculation were analyzed using high throughput sequencing. Results We found three major distribution patterns of the 17 phytohormones detected along the root-soil continuum. In the first of these, the phytohormones were predominant in roots, followed by rhizosphere and then by bulk soil. In the second pattern, concentrations of the phytohormones were smallest in the rhizosphere. While, in the third pattern, concentrations of the phytohormones were greatest in the rhizosphere. The concentrations of the phytohormones were closely related to those of root phytohormone or roots biomass as well as relative abundances of wide range of microbial taxa. Conclusions The results indicated that the distribution patterns of six categories of phytohormones in the root-soil continuum are driven by a balance between the production and uptake by the roots and the production, utilization and degradation by the soil microbiome in a phytohormone-specific manner.

For hemodialysis patients at high risk of bleeding, a regional anticoagulant can be used, such as citrate or nafamostat mesylate (NM). The objective of this study was to evaluate NM as an alternative to citrate for anticoagulation in hemodialysis patients at high risk of bleeding. This retrospective single-center study included consecutive patients in our dialysis center treated with either citrate or NM anticoagulation for hemodialysis from January 2022 to December 2023.The primary outcome was major clotting, defined as premature dialysis due to extracorporeal circuit clotting. The secondary outcome was the incidence of a major bleeding episode during or after hemodialysis. In total, 651hemodialysis sessions were performed in 196 patients and were compared (289 citrate and 362 NM anticoagulation). A lower number of premature dialysis due to clotting occurred in the NM sessions compared to citrate sessions (0.84% vs.5.19%,  = 0.001). NM was associated with a lower risk of major clotting compared with citrate during treatment (OR:0.063; CI: 0.008-0.475;  = 0.007). Regarding second outcome, no more major bleeding events related to NM occurred compared to citrate. Among hemodialysis patients with high risk of bleeding, anticoagulation with NM, compared with citrate anticoagulation, provided relatively better efficacy, with no bleeding increment. NM is a valid alternative to citrate for hemodialysis patients at high risk of bleeding.

Steered by the resource-based view theory, this study scrutinizes the impact of the dimensions of Intellectual Capital (IC)—human capital, structural capital, and relational capital (RC)—on sustainable growth (SG) with the mediating role of Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA). We gathered data from 2010 to 2017 of 90 listed firms of China and Pakistan, respectively, and applied EVIEWS. The results indicate that IC plays a significant role in the SG of Chinese and Pakistani firms. IC has a significant influence on differentiation strategy (DS) in Chinese firms whereas only RC has an insignificant influence on DS in Pakistani firms. IC has a significant influence on cost leadership strategy (CLS) in Pakistani firms whereas structural and RC have an insignificant influence on the SG of Chinese firms. In terms of the mediating role, DS partially mediates the relationship between IC and SG in Pakistani firms while it only fully mediates the path between RC and SG in Chinese firms. CLS partially mediates the relationship between IC and SG in Chinese firms while it fully mediates the association between human capital and SG in Pakistani firms. This study recommends Chinese and Pakistani firms to encourage investment in IC to gain SCA and SG in the turbulent markets. To concise, this research advises Chinese firms to invest a satisfactory amount in human capital as compared with structural and RC. However, Pakistani firms should focus on IC to gain SCA and SG.

Intellectual capital has been grabbed the attention of researchers due to its momentous role in sustainable competitive advantage and organizational success. There is a growing catalog of related assessments, publications and reviews that display the direct and indirect role of intellectual capital in business success and profitability. Despite the bourgeoning literature, studies have not yet unleashed the influence of each dimension of intellectual capital; human capital, structural capital and customer capital on SMEs' efficiency with financial resources as a moderator. The present study fills the gap and assesses if financial resources strengthen the paths between the dimensions of intellectual capital and SMEs' efficiency. A survey method was used and collected evidence from 264 Chinese SMEs. The findings exhibit that human capital directly enhances SMEs' efficiency but the presence of financial resources as a moderator weakens the influence. However, social capital and customer capital do not directly improve SMEs' efficiency but financial resources reinforce the paths social and customer capital and SMEs efficiency. This research recommends that owners and managers of SMEs need to use their financial resources complementary with structural and customer capital while human capital should be used exclusively.

Calcium/calcineurin signaling is critical for normal cellular physiology. Abnormalities in this pathway cause many diseases, including podocytopathy; therefore, understanding the mechanisms that underlie the regulation of calcium/calcineurin signaling is essential. Here, we showed that critical components of calcium/calcineurin signaling, including TRPC6, PPP3CA, PPP3CB, PPP3R1, and NFATC3, are the targets of the microRNA-30 family (miR-30s). We found that these 5 genes are highly expressed as mRNA, but the level of the proteins is low in normal podocytes. Conversely, protein levels were markedly elevated in podocytes from rats treated with puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) and from patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). In both FSGS patients and PAN-treated rats, miR-30s were downregulated in podocytes. In cultured podocytes, PAN or a miR-30 sponge increased TRPC6, PPP3CA, PPP3CB, PPP3R1, and NFATC3 expression; calcium influx; intracellular Ca2+ concentration; and calcineurin activity. Moreover, NFATC3 nuclear translocation, synaptopodin degradation, integrin β3 (ITGB3) activation, and actin fiber loss, which are downstream of calcium/calcineurin signaling, were induced by miR-30 reduction but blocked by the calcineurin inhibitor FK506. Podocyte-specific expression of the miR-30 sponge in mice increased calcium/calcineurin pathway component protein expression and calcineurin activity. The mice developed podocyte foot process effacement and proteinuria, which were prevented by FK506. miR-30s also regulated calcium/calcineurin signaling in cardiomyocytes. Together, our results identify miR-30s as essential regulators of calcium/calcineurin signaling.

Septic associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) is common in the critically ill. Inadequate renal medullary tissue oxygenation has been linked to its pathogenesis. The aim of this preliminary study was to assess the feasibility of intermittent PuO monitoring using a blood gas analyzer in sepsis patients; to explore the effectiveness of time-weighted average PuO (PuO ) for predicting SA-AKI. A total of 76 consecutive adult patients who were admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU) from September 2023 to March 2024 were prospectively recruited. PuO was measured with a blood gas analyzer at 0h, 3h, and 6h after ICU admission. PuO was determined by the sum of the mean PuO values among consecutive time points multiplied by the period of time between consecutive time points and then dividing by the total time. All patients were followed throughout the ICU stay, and the development of SA-AKI during 48 h was evaluated. Approximately 23.68% developed AKI during the ICU stay. PuO was lower in patients who developed AKI. The ROC curve analysis revealed that lower PuO was associated with AKI development at the cutoff of <68 mmHg (area under the curve [AUC] 0.687;  = .008). In the logistic regression models, PuO lower than 68 mmHg was associated with the development of AKI, when adjusted by confounding factors (OR 8.20;  = .002). Measurement of PuO is feasible by collecting urine from a Foley catheter for analysis in a blood gas machine. 6h PuO had a significant independent predictive value for AKI.

Yuqiu Lu,1 Lingtian Weng,2 Tianmei Zhou31The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China; 2The First School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Tianmei Zhou, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Gucui Road No. 234, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China, Tel +8613388617507, Email [email protected]View the original paper by Dr Wang and colleagues

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235462.].[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235462.].

Detecting moving objects from the video is an important research topic in computer vision. In this paper, we first review some traditional methods for moving objects detection. Then, some related preliminaries about the subspace learning and the mixed norm are introduced due to their remarkable advantages shown in signal processing. Combing the mixed norm and the total variation, an effective regularized framework is proposed to achieve more pure foreground. Furthermore, by introducing the subspace learning, the model has lower computational complexity. An efficient method based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is then developed to deal with the proposed constrained minimization problem. Extensive experiments on the private and real-world datasets show that the proposed approach outperforms the existing state-of-the-art approaches, particularly for the cases with dynamic background, which indicates the worth to integrate the subspace learning, the ℓ2,1 mixed norm and total variation into a low-rank representation model.

Mitochondria in eukaryotic cells are derived from bacteria in evolution. Like bacteria, mitochondria contain DNA with unmethylated CpG motifs and formyl peptides, both of which have recently been shown to be damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) and induce immune response and cell injury. Based on the facts that circulating mitochondrial DAMPs (mtDAMPs) are increased in the patients of trauma or burn injury who also have proteinuria, that mtDAMPs can activate immune cells which in turn secrete glomerular permeability factors, that renal intrinsic cells express a variety of DAMP receptors, and that mtDAMPs can directly increase endothelial cell permeability in vitro, we hypothesized that mtDAMPs may be novel circulating factors inducing proteinuria and kidney injury. We tested this hypothesis by directly injecting mtDAMPs into rodents and examining urinary protein and kidney histology. We prepared mtDAMP samples, including mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and mitochondrial debris (MTD), from rodent liver. In mice, injection of mtDNA for 20 μg/ml initial concentration in circulation (much higher than the clinical range), did not cause any renal manifestations. However, an increased dose leading to 45 μg/ml initial concentration in circulation resulted in a transient, slight increase in urinary albumin. In rats, MTD injection resulting in 450 μg/ml initial concentration of MTD protein in circulation, which was much higher than the clinical range, caused mild, transient proteinuria and lung lesions. Multiple injections of such large amount of either mtDNA or MTD into rodents on 3 consecutive days also failed in inducing proteinuria and kidney injury. In summary, clinical levels of circulating mtDAMPs do not induce proteinuria and clinically irrelevant high levels of mtDAMPs cause only a transient and slight increase in urinary protein in rodents, suggesting that circulating mtDAMPs may not be responsible for the proteinuria and kidney injury in patients with trauma, burn injury, and other diseases.