Alleviation of Both Water and Nutrient Limitations is Necessary to Accelerate Ecological Restoration of Waste Rock Tips

Hard rock quarries are commonly located close to national parks and special areas of conservation and are generally regarded as visually intrusive. Consequently, restoration strategies that effectively accelerate natural plant regeneration processes are required. Slate waste tips present extreme conditions for plant establishment with multiple potential limiting factors (e.g., lack of organic matter, nutrients, and poor water retention). In this study, we investigated ecological strategies to accelerate natural regeneration at the largest slate quarry in Europe. A field experiment was conducted to assess ecosystem restoration using a contrasting set of native woody species. Treatments included amendments of waste tips with: polyacrylamide gel to increase water‐holding capacity; mineral fertilizer to increase nutrient supply; and two treatments that increased both (organic waste or boulder clay addition). Ecosystem recovery was evaluated through above‐ and below‐ground productivity (plant and microbial, respectively) and soil analyses. Neither increasing nutrient supply (with mineral fertilizer) nor water‐holding capacity (with polyacrylamide gel) was sufficient, alone, to improve plant establishment. However, both boulder clay and organic waste amendment significantly enhanced plant growth. There was a marked positive interaction in the effects on tree growth of the amendment with organic waste and boulder clay. Large interactions occurred between tree species and substrate amendments. The growth of N₂‐fixing species was strongly favored over non‐fixers where there was no addition of material increasing soil nitrogen supply, whereas the growth advantage of pioneer species over non‐pioneers was greatest with fertilizer, organic waste, or clay additions. Organic waste addition had the greatest positive impact on soil processes.     

Distinguishing enzyme structures from non-enzymes without alignments

The ability to predict protein function from structure is becoming increasingly important as the number of structures resolved is growing more rapidly than our capacity to study function. Current methods for predicting protein function are mostly reliant on identifying a similar protein of known function. For proteins that are highly dissimilar or are only similar to proteins also lacking functional annotations, these methods fail. Here, we show that protein function can be predicted as enzymatic or not without resorting to alignments. We describe 1178 high-resolution proteins in a structurally non-redundant subset of the Protein Data Bank using simple features such as secondary-structure content, amino acid propensities, surface properties and ligands. The subset is split into two functional groupings, enzymes and non-enzymes. We use the support vector machine-learning algorithm to develop models that are capable of assigning the protein class. Validation of the method shows that the function can be predicted to an accuracy of 77% using 52 features to describe each protein. An adaptive search of possible subsets of features produces a simplified model based on 36 features that predicts at an accuracy of 80%. We compare the method to sequence-based methods that also avoid calculating alignments and predict a recently released set of unrelated proteins. The most useful features for distinguishing enzymes from non-enzymes are secondary-structure content, amino acid frequencies, number of disulphide bonds and size of the largest cleft. This method is applicable to any structure as it does not require the identification of sequence or structural similarity to a protein of known function.     

Molecular basis for substrate recognition and septum cleavage by AtlA,the major N-acetylglucosaminidase of Enterococcus faecalis

The cleavage of septal peptidoglycan at the end of cell division facilitates the separation of the two daughter cells. The hydrolases involved in this process (called autolysins) are potentially lethal enzymes that can cause cell death; their activity, therefore, must be tightly controlled during cell growth. In Enterococcus faecalis, the N-acetylglucosaminidase AtlA plays a predominant role in cell separation. atlA mutants form long cell chains and are significantly less virulent in the zebrafish model of infection. The attenuated virulence of atlA mutants is underpinned by a limited dissemination of bacterial chains in the host organism and a more efficient uptake by phagocytes that clear the infection. AtlA has structural homologs in other important pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella typhimurium, and therefore represents an attractive model to design new inhibitors of bacterial pathogenesis. Here, we provide a 1.45 Å crystal structure of the E. faecalis AtlA catalytic domain that reveals a closed conformation of a conserved β-hairpin and a complex network of hydrogen bonds that bring two catalytic residues to the ideal distance for an inverting mechanism. Based on the model of the AtlA–substrate complex, we identify key residues critical for substrate recognition and septum cleavage during bacterial growth. We propose that this work will provide useful information for the rational design of specific inhibitors targeting this enterococcal virulence factor and its orthologs in other pathogens.     

右美托咪定联合帕瑞昔布钠对老年腹腔镜胃癌手术患者应激反应、细胞免疫功能和认知功能的影响

摘要 目的：探讨帕瑞昔布钠和右美托咪定联合麻醉对老年腹腔镜胃癌手术患者细胞免疫功能、应激反应和认知功能的影响。方法：纳入2019年8月~2022年7月期间西安交通大学第二附属医院收治的150例老年腹腔镜胃癌手术患者。按照随机数字表法将患者分为帕瑞昔布钠组（n=50,帕瑞昔布钠）、右美托咪定组（n=50,右美托咪定）和联合组（n=50,右美托咪定联合帕瑞昔布钠）。对比三组临床指标、视觉模拟评分法（VAS）、简易精神状态检查表（MMSE）评分、术后认知功能障碍（POCD）发生率、应激反应指标[皮质醇（Cor）、肾上腺素（E）、促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）]、细胞免疫功能变化情况。结果：联合组的术后住院天数、肛门排气时间短于右美托咪定组、帕瑞昔布钠组（P<0.05）。联合组术后12 h、术后24 h、术后48 h VAS评分低于右美托咪定组、帕瑞昔布钠组（P<0.05）。联合组术后24 h、术后72 h MMSE评分高于右美托咪定组、帕瑞昔布钠组（P<0.05）。联合组的POCD发生率低于右美托咪定组、帕瑞昔布钠组（P<0.05）。三组术后1 d Cor、E、ACTH升高,但联合组低于帕瑞昔布钠组、右美托咪定组同期（P<0.05）。三组术后1 d CD8⁺升高,但联合组低于帕瑞昔布钠组、右美托咪定组同期;CD3⁺、CD4⁺、CD4⁺CD8⁺下降,但联合组高于帕瑞昔布钠组、右美托咪定组同期（P<0.05）。结论：右美托咪定联合帕瑞昔布钠应用于老年腹腔镜胃癌手术患者,镇痛效果显著,可减轻机体的应激反应、免疫抑制及对认知功能的损害。     

益肾活血汤联合百令胶囊对慢性肾功能衰竭患者肾功能、钙磷代谢和T淋巴细胞亚群的影响

摘要 目的：探讨益肾活血汤联合百令胶囊对慢性肾功能衰竭患者肾功能、钙磷代谢和T淋巴细胞亚群的影响。方法：选取2020年5月~2022年3月期间上海中医药大学附属曙光医院收治的102例慢性肾功能衰竭患者,按随机数字表法分为对照组（常规西医治疗）和观察组（常规西医治疗联合益肾活血汤和百令胶囊治疗）,各51例。两组均治疗8周。对比两组疗效及治疗前、治疗8周后中医证候积分、肾功能、钙磷代谢和T淋巴细胞亚群的变化。结果：观察组治疗8周后的临床总有效率为92.16%（47/51）,高于对照组的74.51%（38/51）（P<0.05）。治疗8周后,两组中医主证积分、次证积分均较治疗前下降,且相比于对照组,观察组更低（P<0.05）。治疗8周后,血肌酐、尿素氮、24 h尿蛋白在两组中均较治疗前下降,且观察组低于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗8周后,两组CD8⁺较治疗前下降,且观察组低于对照组（P<0.05）,而CD4⁺、CD3⁺、CD4⁺/CD8⁺均较治疗前升高,且观察组高于对照组（P<0.05）。治疗8周后,两组血磷、钙磷乘积下降,且观察组低于对照组（P<0.05）,血钙均升高,且观察组高于对照组（P<0.05）。结论：益肾活血汤联合百令胶囊治疗慢性肾功能衰竭患者,可提高肾功能,改善钙磷代谢和T淋巴细胞亚群,并缓解其临床症状,疗效确切,值得临床借鉴应用。     

脓毒症患者发生凝血功能紊乱的临床特征及预后影响因素分析

摘要 目的：探究脓毒症患者发生凝血功能紊乱的临床特征及预后影响因素。方法：选择2019年9月~2023年1月本院收治的80例脓毒症患者为本次研究对象,对所有患者开展凝血功能检验,并依据检验结果,将患者分为凝血功能异常组（n=60）及正常组（n=20）,分析凝血功能障碍异常及正常患者临床特征、凝血功能障碍异常及正常患者病情严重程度,并依据脓毒症患者预后,将其分为存活组（n=64）及死亡组（n=16）脓毒症患者预后的单因素与多因素Logistic回归分析。结果：凝血功能正常组及异常组平均动脉压、体温、白细胞计数（WBC）、纤维蛋白原（FIB）、凝血酶时间（TT）指标水平无较大差异（P＞0.05）,与凝血功能正常组比较,凝血功能异常组患者呼吸、脉率、降钙素原（PCT）、C反应蛋白（CRP）指标水平相对较高,部分凝血活酶时间（APTT）、凝血酶原时间（PT）指标水平相对较长,PLT指标水平相对较高（P＜0.05）;与凝血功能正常的脓毒症患者相比较,凝血功能异常患者急性肾损伤（AKI）及急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）发生率、急性生理与慢性健康评分（APACHE Ⅱ）及急性生理功能评分（SOFA）评分更高,住ICU时间均相对较长（P＜0.05）,机械通气及住院时间比较（P＞0.05）;脓毒症患者预后影响因素分析中,结果显示,年龄、体质量指数（BMI）、性别、糖尿病史、高血压病史均未对脓毒症患者预后产生较大影响（P＞0.05）,PT、PCT、APTT、CRP、SOFA评分及APACHE Ⅱ评分对脓毒症预后产生严重影响,死亡组患者各指标水平均高于存活组（P＜0.05）;将影响脓毒症患者预后的单因素予以赋值,纳入Logistic回归分析,以PCT、PT、APTT、CRP、SOFA、APACHE Ⅱ 评分为自变量,结果显示,PCT、PT、CRP、SOFA、APACHE Ⅱ 评分是影响脓毒症患者预后的独立危险因素（P＜0.05）。结论：脓毒症患者发生凝血功能紊乱会对临床相关指标产生影响,从而增加疾病严重程度,依据脓毒症患者预后,研究结果显示,PT、PCT、CRP、SOFA及APACHE Ⅱ评分均会对脓毒症患者预后产生不良影响,检验上述指标水平,可为临床评估脓毒症预后提供一定参考价值。     

对比分析IPS e.max Press铸瓷高嵌体与普兰梅卡CADCAM系统制作的高嵌体修复后牙牙体缺损的效果

摘要 目的：本研究旨在探讨对比分析IPS e.max Press铸瓷高嵌体与普兰梅卡CADCAM系统制作的高嵌体修复后牙牙体缺损的效果。方法：以2021年8月-2022年8月我院诊治的60例（86颗）后牙牙体缺损患者为研究对象,采用随机数字表法将其分为研究组（给予普兰梅卡CADCAM系统制作的高嵌体修复）和对照组（给予IPS e.max Press铸瓷高嵌体修复）各30例,对比两组修复前及修复1年后咀嚼功能、牙龈情况、RANK、CXCL16水平、IL-6、IL-8水平,统计修复结果及美牙效果满意度。结果：（1）修复前,两组咀嚼功能比较无差异（P＞0.05）;修复1年后,研究组咀嚼功能优于对照组（P＜0.05）;（2）修复前,两组牙龈指数、菌斑指数评分比较无差异（P＞0.05）;修复1年后,研究组牙龈指数、菌斑指数评分优于对照组（P＜0.05）;（3）修复前,两组RANK、CXCL16水平比较无差异（P＞0.05）;修复1年后,研究组RANK、CXCL16水平低于对照组（P＜0.05）;（4）修复前,两组IL-6、IL-8水平比较无差异（P＞0.05）;修复1年后,研究组IL-6、IL-8水平与对照组比较（P＞0.05）;（5）修复1年后,研究组修复体边缘适合性、修复体邻面解剖形态优于对照组（P＜0.05）;两组修复体表面及边缘着色、修复体折裂与固位比较,差异不显著（P＞0.05）;（6）修复1年后,研究组美牙效果满意度优于对照组（P＜0.05）。结论：与IPS e.max Press铸瓷高嵌体相比,普兰梅卡CADCAM系统制作的高嵌体修复后牙牙体缺损的效果更佳,能够提高咀嚼功能,改善牙龈指数,提高美牙效果满意度。