Previous studies have revealed the impact of emotion on conflict processing. The present study was conducted to investigate whether cognitive control in the affective domain is also affected by emotion. Emotional face-word and body-word Stroop tasks were explored and contrasted, and both behavioural and electrophysiological measures were recorded. Behavioural results showed that both tasks replicated previous robust interference effects. At the physiological level, the two tasks showed dissociable neural activity in the early attention and perception stages. It was also found that the face-word task evoked more pronounced N1 and P2 amplitudes than the body-word task. However, the two tasks evoked comparable N450 amplitudes. At later processing stages, positive slow potentials were modulated by target emotion and congruency. In addition, time-frequency analyses also revealed that the face-word task induced enhanced theta activity compared to the body-word task at both early and later stages of processing. The present findings provide support for the dual competition framework and suggest the dynamic modulation of emotion on cognitive control in the affective domain.

Quercetin is an important dietary flavonoid present in fruits and vegetables and has attracted attention because of its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Inflammation and oxidative stress play important roles in posttraumatic cardiomyocyte apoptosis, which contributes to secondary cardiac dysfunction. This study investigates the protective effect of quercetin on trauma-induced secondary cardiac injury and the mechanisms involved. Widely accepted nonlethal mechanical trauma models were established. In vivo, cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction in rats were assessed using TUNEL staining and a biological mechanic experiment system. In vitro, cell viability, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and [Ca(2+)]i of H9c2 cells were detected using an MTT assay, ELISA, and 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate and fluo-4 acetoxymethyl ester assays respectively. Quercetin pretreatment (20 mg/kg i.p.; 0.5 h before trauma) significantly improved posttraumatic cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction. Pretreatment with quercetin (20 μM; 24 h before trauma plasma addition) significantly attenuated trauma-induced viability decreases, TNF-α increases, ROS overproduction and [Ca(2+)]i overload in H9c2 cells. In conclusion, quercetin may reverse posttraumatic cardiac dysfunction by reducing cardiomyocyte apoptosis through the suppression of TNF-α increases, ROS overproduction and Ca(2+) overload in cardiomyocytes, representing a potential preventive approach for the treatment of secondary cardiac injury after mechanical trauma.

There is broad evidence indicating that contextual information influence the processing of emotional stimuli. However, attachment theory suggests that attachment styles contribute to the ways in which people perceive emotional events. To shed light on whether the processing of body expressions during different emotional scenes is modulated by attachment styles, attachment-related electrophysiological differences were measured using event-related potentials. For avoidantly attached group, our results suggested that larger N170 amplitudes were educed by neutral bodies than angry bodies, which was found only in neutral scene. Moreover, significant differences were found in P300 amplitudes in response to angry bodies compared with neutral ones only during angry scene. However, securely and anxiously attached individuals were associated with larger P300 amplitudes in response to angry bodies versus neutral ones in both emotional scenes. The current study highlights the characteristics of cognitive processing of attachment styles on body expressions during different emotional scenes, with the variation of N170 and P300 amplitude in different emotional scenes as the best example.

This study was conducted to investigate (1) the association between solid fuel use for cooking and cognitive function; (2) the moderating effects of gender and residential area on cognitive scores among solid fuel users; and (3) the effects of solid fuel use on cognitive decline among different gender and age subgroups in 2011-2018. A total of 5140 Chinese middle-aged and elderly participants were successfully followed for 7 years (2011-2018). Solid fuel use was self-reported as using solid fuel for cooking at home, and cognitive function was assessed by 4 parts: episodic memory, time orientation, numerical ability and picture drawing. After adjusting for covariates, solid fuel users had lower cognitive scores, and the moderation effects of gender and residence on cognitive function were significant among the solid fuel users. In addition, compared with the group of clean fuel users, solid fuel users had a faster decline rate of cognitive function among the subgroups of female and elderly people.

Lymphocytes are some of the most motile cells of vertebrates, constantly navigating through various organ systems. Their specific positioning in the body is delicately controlled by site-specific directional cues such as chemokines. While it has long been suspected that an intrinsic molecular pilot, akin to a ship's pilot, guides lymphocyte navigation, the nature of this pilot is unknown. Here we show that the TIPE (TNF-α-induced protein 8-like) family of proteins pilot lymphocytes by steering them toward chemokines. TIPE proteins are carriers of lipid second messengers. They mediate chemokine-induced local generation of phosphoinositide second messengers, but inhibit global activation of the small GTPase Rac. TIPE-deficient T lymphocytes are completely pilot-less: they are unable to migrate toward chemokines despite their normal ability to move randomly. As a consequence, TIPE-deficient mice have a marked defect in positioning their T lymphocytes to various tissues, both at the steady-state and during inflammation. Thus, TIPE proteins pilot lymphocytes during migration and may be targeted for the treatment of lymphocyte-related disorders.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the main causes of cancer deaths globally. Immunotherapy is becoming increasingly important in the cure of advanced HCC. Thus it is essential to identify biomarkers for treatment response and prognosis prediction. We searched publicly available databases and retrieved 465 samples of genes from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and 115 tumor samples from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Meanwhile, we used the ImmPort database to determine the immune-related genes as well. Weighted gene correlation network analysis, Cox regression analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis were used to identify the key immune related genes (IRGs) which are closely related to prognosis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was implemented to explore the difference of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway between Immune high- and low-risk score groups. Finally, we made a prognostic nomogram including Immune-Risk score and other clinicopathologic factors. A total of 318 genes from prognosis related modules were identified through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). 46 genes were strongly linked to prognosis after univariate Cox analysis. We constructed a seven genes prognostic signature which showed powerful prediction ability in both training cohort and testing cohort. 16 significant KEGG pathways were identified between high- and low- risk score groups using GSEA analysis. This study identified and verified seven immune-related prognostic biomarkers for the patients with HCC, which have potential value for immune modulatory and therapeutic targets.

Application of phosphorus (P), a major plant nutrient, as fertilizer is critical to maintain P level for crop production and yield in most cultivated soils. While, it may impact the dynamics, limited studies have examined the long-term effects of fertilization on P fractions in a soil profile in Mollisol. A long-term field experiment was conducted at the State Key Experimental Station of Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hailun county, Heilongjiang Province, China. A sequential fractionation procedure was used to determine the effect of fertilizer (types) treatments including no fertilizer (CK), chemical fertilizer (NPK), chemical fertilizer plus straw (NPK + S) and pig manure (OM) on fractions of P and their distribution within 0-100 cm soil profiles. Unlike CK treatment, the long-term application of fertilizers increased the concentration and accumulation of total and available P in 0-20 and 0-40 cm soil depths than deeper soils, respectively. The phosphorus activity coefficient (PAC) ranged from 1.5 to 13.8% within 0-100 cm soil depth. The largest PAC value was observed under OM treatment at 0-40 cm soil depth and under NPK + S treatment at 40-100 cm soil depth. The Ca2-P and Ca8-P concentrations increased significantly by 0.5-7.5 times and 0.5-10.4 times, respectively in OM treatment with the largest value in 0-40 cm soil depth over CK treatment. The Al-P concentration under NPK + S and OM treatments increased throughout the soil profile. The OM treatment increased all Po concentrations in the 0-40 cm soil depth, while NPK and NPK + S treatments increased labile organic P, moderately labile organic P, and highly stable organic P in the 0-20 cm soil depth. Thus, the application of fertilizer and straw, or organic manure may enhance inorganic and organic P pool in a Mollisol in Northeast China. Thus, organic manure application in the subsoil as a potential P source and their impact should be considered in developing management practices and policies regarding nutrient management.

Previous reports on the association between retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were controversial. This study aimed to investigate the association between the serum RBP4 levels and occurrence of NAFLD in Chinese population. In total, 2938 participants aged 40-75 years were involved in this community-based cross-sectional study. General information, lifestyle factors, serum levels of RBP4 and the presence of NAFLD were determined. Patients with NAFLD had significantly higher concentrations of RBP4 (37.9 ± 6.8 μg/ml) than did non-NAFLD controls (35.0 ± 6.7 μg/ml) (P < 0.001). The odds ratios (ORs) of NAFLD for the highest (vs. lowest) quartile of RBP4 were 1.884 (95% CI: 1.391, 2.551) for females (P < 0.001), and 2.107 (95% CI: 1.357, 3.273) for male participants (P < 0.01) after adjusting for related factors. The serum RBP4 levels were positively associated with the prevalence of NAFLD in middle-aged and elderly Chinese people, and Homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), trunk fat, the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), fasting insulin, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) might be implicated in the pathogenesis of RBP4 in NAFLD.

Culturally diverse Tibetans (Ü-Tsang, Kham and Ando) harboring a unique molecular mechanism that allows them to successfully adapt to hypoxic environments in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have been a subject of great interest in medical genetics, linguistics, archeology and forensic science. However, forensic characteristics and genetic variations of the Y-chromosomal 27-marker haplotype included in the Yfiler Plus system in the Ü-Tsang and Kham Tibeto-Burman-speaking Tibetans remain unexplored. Thus, we genotyped 27 Y-STRs in 230 Shigatse Ü-Tsang Tibetans (SUT) and 172 Chamdo Kham Tibetans (CKT) to investigate the forensic characterization and genetic affinity of Chinese Tibetan Highlanders. The haplotype diversities were 0.999962028 in SUT and 0.999796002 in CKT. Forensic diversity measures indicated that this 27-Y-STR amplification system is appropriate for routine forensic applications, such as identifying and separating unrelated males in deficiency paternity cases, male disaster victims and missing person identification and determining male components in sexual assault cases. Moreover, the genetic relationships among 63 worldwide populations (16,282 individuals), 16 Asian populations, and 21 Chinese populations were analyzed and reconstructed using principal component analysis, multidimensional scaling plots and a phylogenetic tree. Considerable genetic differences were observed between Tibetan populations and other geographically/ethnically diverse populations (Han Chinese). Our studied SUT and CKT have a genetically closer relationship with Gansu Ando Tibetans than with other Asians. In total, our analyses indicated that subpopulation structures exist among Asian and Chinese populations, and population-specific reference databases should be established for forensic applications.

miRNAs are endogenous regulatory factors that play pivotal roles in post-transcriptional regulation. However, their specific roles in early somatic embryogenesis (SE) remain unclear. Study of the SE system is fundamental for clarifying the molecular mechanisms in Dimocarpus longan. We identified 289 known miRNAs from 106 different miRNA families and 1087 novel miRNAs during early longan SE, including embryogenic callus (EC), incomplete pro-embryogenic culture (ICpEC), globular embryo (GE), and non-embryogenic callus (NEC). The abundances of known miRNAs were concentrated in GE. The differentially expression (DE) miRNAs showed five expression patterns during early SE. Largely miRNAs were expressed highly and specially in EC, ICpEC, and GE, respectively. Some miRNAs and putative target genes were enriched in lignin metabolism. Most potential targets were related to the pathways of plant hormone signal transduction, alternative splicing, tyrosine metabolism and sulfur metabolism in early longan SE. The regulatory relationships between dlo-miR166a-3p and DlHD-zip8, dlo-miR397a and DlLAC7, dlo-miR408-3p and DlLAC12 were confirmed by RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The expression patterns of eight DE miRNAs detected by qRT-PCR were consistent with RNA-seq. Finally, the miRNA regulatory network in early SE was constructed, which provided new insight into molecular mechanism of early SE in longan.

To compare the psychological stress level and hair cortisol level of people living with HIV (PLWH) with those without HIV in China, a total of 220 participants were initially enrolled in the study, including 200 PLWH and 20 people living without HIV. Psychological stress level, including quality of life, anxiety, perceived stress and psychological resilience, was self-reported in both groups with related scales. The cortisol in hair was extracted and assessed by LC-APCI-MS/MS method. Propensity score matching analysis was performed to balance the baseline covariates of the two groups, whereas the difference in psychological stress level and hair cortisol level between the two groups was compared. Furthermore, the associations between psychological stress level and cortisol level were examined. Two comparison groups were matched by 1:3 propensity score matching, which yielding 20 people living without HIV and 60 PLWH. Ultimately, in regarding to the psychological stress, the levels of the anxiety (34 vs. 26, p < 0.001), perceived stress (38.5 vs. 33, p = 0.001) and psychological resilience (31 vs. 26, p = 0.004) were higher among PLWH than those living without HIV, but the people without HIV showed higher quality of life (109 vs.116, p < 0. 001). The hair cortisol level (34.66 vs. 21.61, p = 0.002) in PLWH was higher than those living without HIV. However, there were no significant associations between psychological stress level and cortisol level (p > 0.05). The PLWH showed higher level of psychological stress and cortisol than those without HIV. No relationship was seen between psychological stress level and cortisol level in PLWH.

Insulin resistance (IR) is associated with a variety of cardiovascular diseases, but there are few studies on the correlation between IR and calcified aortic stenosis (CAS). In this study, the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, which reflects IR, was used to investigate the correlation between IR and CAS. The study included 183 elderly patients who were diagnosed with CAS by transthoracic echocardiography. The patients were matched 1:1 according to age and sex, and elderly patients who were hospitalized during the same period and underwent transthoracic echocardiography without aortic stenosis were included as the control group. The relationship between the TyG index and CAS was analyzed by a multivariable logistic regression model, curve fitting and trend test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the TyG index as a continuous variable was negatively associated with CAS (P < 0.001); trend tests and curve fitting further supported this association. Our study showed that the TyG index was negatively associated with CAS in elderly patients, which may be related to the impairment of insulin receptors and signaling pathways in IR.

WD repeat domain 5 (WDR5) plays an important role in various biological functions through the epigenetic regulation of gene transcription; however, its role in bladder cancer remains largely unknown. Our study investigated the role of WDR5 in bladder cancer and demonstrated that WDR5 was upregulated in bladder cancer tissues, and elevated WDR5 protein levels positively correlated with advanced tumor stage and poor survival. Through gain or loss of function, we demonstrated that WDR5 promoted proliferation, self-renewal and chemoresistance to cisplatin in bladder cancer cells in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, WDR5 regulated various functions in bladder cancer by mediating the transcription of cyclin B1, cyclin E1, cyclin E2, UHMK1, MCL1, BIRC3 and Nanog by histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation. Therefore, we have discovered that WDR5 plays an important role in bladder cancer suggesting that WDR5 is a potential biomarker and a promising target in the treatment of bladder cancer.

Non-CODIS STRs, with high polymorphism and allele frequency difference among ethnically and geographically different populations, play a crucial role in population genetics, molecular anthropology, and human forensics. In this work, 332 unrelated individuals from Sichuan Province (237 Tibetan individuals and 95 Yi individuals) are firstly genotyped with 21 non-CODIS autosomal STRs, and phylogenetic relationships with 26 previously investigated populations (9,444 individuals) are subsequently explored. In the Sichuan Tibetan and Yi, the combined power of discrimination (CPD) values are 0.9999999999999999999 and 0.9999999999999999993, and the combined power of exclusion (CPE) values are 0. 999997 and 0.999999, respectively. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), principal component analysis (PCA), multidimensional scaling plots (MDS) and phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that Sichuan Tibetan has a close genetic relationship with Tibet Tibetan, and Sichuan Yi has a genetic affinity with Yunnan Bai group. Furthermore, significant genetic differences have widely existed between Chinese minorities (most prominently for Tibetan and Kazakh) and Han groups, but no population stratifications rather a homogenous group among Han populations distributed in Northern and Southern China are observed. Aforementioned results suggested that these 21 STRs are highly polymorphic and informative in the Sichuan Tibetan and Yi, which are suitable for population genetics and forensic applications.

Previous studies have highlighted the role of genetic predispositions in disease, and several genes had been identified as important in Crohn's disease (CD). However, many of these genes are likely rare and not associated with susceptibility in Chinese CD patients. We found 294 shared identical variants in the CD patients of which 26 were validated by Sanger sequencing. Two heterozygous IFN variants (IFNA10 c.60 T > A; IFNA4 c.60 A > T) were identified as significantly associated with CD susceptibility. The single-nucleotide changes alter a cysteine situated before the signal peptide cleavage site to a stop code (TGA) in IFNA10 result in the serum levels of IFNA10 were significantly decreased in the CD patients compared to the controls. Furthermore, the IFNA10 and IFNA4 mutants resulted in an impairment of the suppression of HCV RNA replication in HuH7 cells, and the administration of the recombinant IFN subtypes restored DSS-induced colonic inflammation through the upregulation of CD4(+) Treg cells. We identified heterozygous IFNA10 and IFNA4 variants as a cause of impaired function and CD susceptibility genes in Chinese patients from multiple center based study. These findings might provide clues in the understanding of the genetic heterogeneity of CD and lead to better screening and improved treatment.

Trehalose is a natural disaccharide that is found in a diverse range of organisms but not in mammals. Autophagy is a process which mediates the sequestration, lysosomal delivery and degradation of proteins and organelles. Studies have shown that trehalose exerts beneficial effects through inducing autophagy in mammalian cells. However, whether trehalose or other saccharides can activate autophagy in keratinocytes is unknown. Here, we found that trehalose treatment increased the LC3-I to LC3-II conversion, acridine orange-stained vacuoles and GFP-LC3B (LC3B protein tagged with green fluorescent protein) puncta in the HaCaT human keratinocyte cell line, indicating autophagy induction. Trehalose-induced autophagy was also observed in primary keratinocytes and the A431 epidermal cancer cell line. mTOR signalling was not affected by trehalose treatment, suggesting that trehalose induced autophagy through an mTOR-independent pathway. mTOR-independent autophagy induction was also observed in HaCaT and HeLa cells treated with sucrose or raffinose but not in glucose, maltose or sorbitol treated HaCaT cells, indicating that autophagy induction was not a general property of saccharides. Finally, although trehalose treatment had an inhibitory effect on cell proliferation, it had a cytoprotective effect on cells exposed to UVB radiation. Our study provides new insight into the saccharide-mediated regulation of autophagy in keratinocytes.

Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes and is often considered immunogenic cancer. Toll-like receptor-related genes are expressed differently in most types of cancer, depending on the immune microenvironment inside cancer, and the key function of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) for melanoma has not been fully elucidated. Based on multi-omics data from TCGA and GEO databases, we first performed pan-cancer analysis on TLR, including CNV, SNV, and mRNA changes in TLR-related genes in multiple human cancers, as well as patient prognosis characterization. Then, we divided melanoma patients into three subgroups (clusters 1, 2, and 3) according to the expression of the TLR pathway, and explored the correlation between TLR pathway and melanoma prognosis, immune infiltration, metabolic reprogramming, and oncogene expression characteristics. Finally, through univariate Cox regression analysis and LASSO algorithm, we selected six TLR-related genes to construct a survival prognostic model, divided melanoma patients into the training set, internal validation set 1, internal validation set 2, and external validation set for multiple validations, and discussed the correlation between model genes and clinical features of melanoma patients. In conclusion, we constructed a prognostic survival model based on TLR-related genes that precisely and independently demonstrated the potential to assess the prognosis and immune traits of melanoma patients, which is critical for patients' survival.