Identification of DELLA Genes and Key Stage for GA Sensitivity in Bolting and Flowering of Flowering Chinese Cabbage

Flowering Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. utilis Tsen et Lee) is an important and extensively cultivated vegetable in south China, and its stalk development is mainly regulated by gibberellin (GA). DELLA proteins negatively regulate GA signal transduction and may play an important role in determining bolting and flowering. Nevertheless, no systematic study of the DELLA gene family has been undertaken in flowering Chinese cabbage. In the present study, we found that the two-true-leaf spraying of gibberellin A3 (GA3) did not promote bolting but did promote flowering, whereas the three-true-leaf spraying of GA3 promoted both bolting and flowering. In addition, we identified five DELLA genes in flowering Chinese cabbage. All five proteins contained DELLA, VHYNP, VHIID, and SAW conserved domains. Protein-protein interaction results showed that in the presence of GA3, all five DELLA proteins interacted with BcGID1b (GA-INSENSITIVE DWARF 1b) but not with BcGID1a (GA-INSENSITIVE DWARF 1a) or BcGID1c (GA-INSENSITIVE DWARF 1c). Their expression analysis showed that the DELLA genes exhibited tissue-specific expression, and their reversible expression profiles responded to exogenous GA3 depending on the treatment stage. We also found that the DELLA genes showed distinct expression patterns in the two varieties of flowering Chinese cabbage. BcRGL1 may play a major role in the early bud differentiation process of different varieties, affecting bolting and flowering. Taken together, these results provide a theoretical basis for further dissecting the DELLA regulatory mechanism in the bolting and flowering of flowering Chinese cabbage.

Photochemical treatment of an actual municipal wastewater by means of UV, potassium persulfate and iron

The photochemical treatment of an actual municipal wastewater (MWW) from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Kazakhstan has been studied in the present work. The MWW has been taken after mechanical treatment stage and characterized. The photochemical treatment included the use of the photo-Fenton-like process in the batch photoreactor with a UV irradiation at 254 nm for 120 min. Experiments have been done without adjusting the initial pH of wastewater, which was around 7.7. Potassium persulfate (K2S2O8) was activated by means of UV and ferric ions, which led to generation of highly oxidative sulfate and peroxymonosulfate radicals. The concentration of Fe2+ ions ranged from 20 to 100 ppm, while the concentration of K2S2O8 was in between 5 and 25 mmol/L. 83% removal of total organic carbon (TOC) was achieved after 120 min of treatment using 15 mmol/L K2S2O8 and 20 ppm Fe2+, while 75% removal of total carbon (TC) was observed at 15 mmol/L K2S2O8 and 100 ppm Fe2+. As the carboxylic acids are common organic intermediates after photochemical treatment, the presence of formate and acetate anions in effluents were further detected on the ion chromatography.

Influence of Solution Combination for Postharvest Treatment Stage on Vase Life of Cut Hydrangea Flowers (Hydrangea macrophylla cv. ‘Verena’)

Vase life is one of the most important factors that determines the marketability of cut flowers and is greatly affected by the water balance. The vase life of cut hydrangea flowers varies greatly depending on the postharvest solution management. Therefore, this study investigated the vase life of freshly harvested hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Verena’) according to the three types of preservative solutions (tap water (TW), 1% Chrysal Professional Ⅲ (CPⅢ), 2% sucrose + 250 mg/L 8-hydroxquinoline + 100 mg/L citric acid (SHQC)) and the combination solutions (pretreatment; TW, 0.1% Chrysal RVB (RVB), Floralife Quick Dip (FQ), transport; TW, CPⅢ, Floralife Clear (FC), preservative; CPⅢ, FC) for each distribution stage (pretreatment–transport–consumer). In the preservative comparison experiment, compared with the control, SHQC and CPⅢ significantly increased the vase life in 2019 (0.7 days, 3.4 days) and 2020 (1.4 days, 3.1 days), respectively. In the comparative experiment, by solution combination, the group (RVB, FQ) using the pretreatment significantly extended the vase life by 5.9 days and 4.6 days compared with the TW. These results confirm the importance of preservative solutions and pretreatment, suggesting that appropriate pretreatment and preservatives should be used to improve the marketability of cut hydrangea flowers.

Diagnosing MALT Gastric Lymphoma in Gastroenterologist’s Practice, a Clinical Observation

Aim. A clinical case description to highlight challenges in diagnosing MALT lymphoma presented in infiltrative ulcer-ative lesions.Key points. A 60-yo patient was admitted to the Loginov Moscow Clinical Scientific Centre with epigastric pain and an 18 kg weight loss over past 4 months. A history of repeated outpatient endoscopic examinations revealing subse-quently ulcerative and infiltrative ulcerative gastric lesions of unestablished origin. A complex examination combin-ing oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGDS), endosonography (EUS), multislice computed tomography (MSCT), morphological and immunohistochemical (IHC) assays elicited the MALT gastric lymphoma IIE stage involving para-gastric and intraperitoneal lymph nodes. The first treatment stage included line-1 eradication therapy, rabeprazole 20 mg x 2 times a day, amoxicillin 1000 mg x 2 times a day, clarithromycin 500 mg x 2 times a day, bismuth tripotas-sium dicitrate 240 mg x 2 times a day — for 14 days. Accounting for the process prevalence and stage, six courses of R-CHOP polychemotherapy (PCT) were ordered by haematologist.Conclusion. This observation demonstrates a targeted-biopsy endoscopic examination followed by morphological, IHC, EUS (for invasion depth) and MSCT (for process advancement) assays to be decisive in differential diagnosis of ulcerative and infiltrative ulcerative gastric lesions.

Debonding Techniques - A Review

BACKGROUND The overall success of orthodontic treatment depends on both bonding as well as debonding techniques. The debonding procedure in orthodontics consists of removal of the attachments (brackets, bondable tubes & buttons) as well as all the adhesive resin from the teeth without causing any permanent damage and to restore the teeth to their pre-treatment stage. The demand for more aesthetic appliance led to the introduction of direct bonding techniques and has made banded attachments almost obsolete in present-day orthodontics. These procedures should not be painful to the patient or damaging to enamel and to obtain these objectives a correct debonding technique is of fundamental importance. The debonding procedure is as essential as bonding for the overall success of the orthodontic treatment. In an attempt to increase the bond strength of orthodontic appliances, we have neglected the fact that these appliances have to be debonded at the end of the treatment. In orthodontics debonding refers to debracketing that is removal of brackets, bondable tubes, buttons, and the adhesive used to bond as well as to restore the form and surface of tooth to its best possible original form by avoiding any type of iatrogenic damage. For achieving such objectives, an accurate debonding procedure is of utmost importance, else it could be needlessly lengthy and painful to the patient and damaging to the enamel. Many researches have been carried out to conclude the best techniques for debonding which will give an ideal finish for the tooth when treatment is terminated. The debonding procedure is mostly done by mechanical means, but its technique should be varied according to the bracket material and type. KEY WORDS Debonding Techniques, Metal Brackets, Ceramic Brackets, Enamel Damage

Chemotherapy-Related Differences in Cognitive Functioning and Their Biological Predictors in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

The paper presents a study on the changes in cognitive functioning in patients undergoing chemotherapy with diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). The aim of the study was to answer the following two main research questions: Does the treatment stage differentiate the functioning of cognitive processes in patients with diagnosed MM and to what extent? Is it possible to treat biological factors (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and BDNF) as predictors of patients’ cognitive functioning? The patients were examined twice, before the treatment and after 4–6 cycles of chemotherapy. Selected neuropsychological research methods as well as experimental and clinical trials were employed to diagnose the patients’ general cognitive state, attention, memory, and executive functions. The level of biological factors was assessed with the ELISA test. The results show that the patients’ cognitive functioning was worse before the treatment than during the cytostatic therapy. It was also possible to predict the cognitive state of patients suffering from multiple myeloma based on a selected biological parameter (neurotrophin BDNF).

Membrane-based conceptual design of reuse water production from candy factory wastewater

Intense pressure on water resources has led to efforts to reuse reclaimed processing wastewater in the food industry. There are tight rules for water quality, but efficient separation technologies such as reverse osmosis possess good possibilities for water reuse. This study developed a membrane-based reuse water concept for wastewater from the candy industry emphasizing the pre-treatment stage in the concept to reduce fouling. The wastewater contained suspended solids, sugar compounds and the ingredients for candy gelation, which had a tendency to foul membranes, making pre-treatment essential for successful concept. Cross-rotational ultrafiltration, which featured enhanced fouling prevention for membranes, functioned well for the removal of challenging substances. Conventional filtration technologies were impractical due to a low flux, even when the viscosity of the wastewater was reduced using surfactants. The wastewater had a high chemical oxygen demand, meaning that there were a strong fouling potential for reverse osmosis membranes, but also high osmotic pressure. A spiral wound reverse osmosis functioned well when the wastewater was pre-treated, and it produced good quality water with respect to all the other studied parameters except the chemical oxygen demand. However, chemical oxygen demand rejection was 99% since the concentration in the wastewater was originally very high.

Humanized Care from the Perception of Oncology Patients from Southern Chile

Objective. This work sought to determine the perception of behaviors of humanized nursing care and its relation with sociodemographic and clinical variables in patients hospitalized in a Hemato-Oncology Department. Methods. Analytic cross-sectional study conducted with 51 patients hospitalized in the Hemato-Oncology Unit at Hospital Base Valdivia, Chile. A survey containing sociodemographic and clinical information was applied together with the questionnaire on Perception of Behaviors of Humanized Nursing Care 3rd version” -PBHNC 3v (32 items distributed in the categories: Qualities of nursing work, Openness to nurse-patient communication, and Willingness to care). Results. Of the participants, 51% were women, with mean age of 46.5±16.6 years; 54.9% were diagnosed with Lymphoma and 78.4% were in the treatment induction stage. In 30 of the 32 items of the instrument, > 90% of the participants evaluated compliance with the behavior of caring at level of “always”. By categories, it was observed that for “Willingness to care” there was significantly lower score among patients from 18 to 49 years of age (p=0.0455). For the category “Openness to nurse-patient communication” lower median score existed in patients with Myeloma (p=0.0043) and in patients in the Remission-Consolidation stage (p=0.0084). Days of hospitalization were associated significantly with the category “Willingness to care”, being lower with 16 days and more (p=0.0242). Conclusion. High frequency was observed of humanized-care behaviors and small differences in their assessment that were associated with demographic factors like age, and clinical factors, like diagnosis, treatment stage, and days of hospitalization.

Multi-Task Deep Learning Model for Classification of Dental Implant Brand and Treatment Stage Using Dental Panoramic Radiograph Images

It is necessary to accurately identify dental implant brands and the stage of treatment to ensure efficient care. Thus, the purpose of this study was to use multi-task deep learning to investigate a classifier that categorizes implant brands and treatment stages from dental panoramic radiographic images. For objective labeling, 9767 dental implant images of 12 implant brands and treatment stages were obtained from the digital panoramic radiographs of patients who underwent procedures at Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital, Japan, between 2005 and 2020. Five deep convolutional neural network (CNN) models (ResNet18, 34, 50, 101 and 152) were evaluated. The accuracy, precision, recall, specificity, F1 score, and area under the curve score were calculated for each CNN. We also compared the multi-task and single-task accuracies of brand classification and implant treatment stage classification. Our analysis revealed that the larger the number of parameters and the deeper the network, the better the performance for both classifications. Multi-tasking significantly improved brand classification on all performance indicators, except recall, and significantly improved all metrics in treatment phase classification. Using CNNs conferred high validity in the classification of dental implant brands and treatment stages. Furthermore, multi-task learning facilitated analysis accuracy.