BackgroundIncreasing evidence suggests that gut microbiota play a role in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. The composition and functional capacity of gut microbiota associated with breast cancer have not been studied systematically.MethodsWe performed a comprehensive shotgun metagenomic analysis of 18 premenopausal breast cancer patients, 25 premenopausal healthy controls, 44 postmenopausal breast cancer patients, and 46 postmenopausal healthy controls.ResultsMicrobial diversity was higher in breast cancer patients than in controls. Relative species abundance in gut microbiota did not differ significantly between premenopausal breast cancer patients and premenopausal controls. In contrast, relative abundance of 45 species differed significantly between postmenopausal patients and postmenopausal controls: 38 species were enriched in postmenopausal patients, including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp_1_1_55, Prevotella amnii, Enterococcus gallinarum, Actinomyces sp. HPA0247, Shewanella putrefaciens, and Erwinia amylovora, and 7 species were less abundant in postmenopausal patients, including Eubacterium eligens and Lactobacillus vaginalis. Acinetobacter radioresistens and Enterococcus gallinarum were positively but weakly associated with expression of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; Shewanella putrefaciens and Erwinia amylovora were positively but weakly associated with estradiol levels. Actinomyces sp. HPA0247 negatively but weakly correlated with CD3+CD8+ T cell numbers. Further characterization of metagenome functional capacity indicated that the gut metagenomes of postmenopausal breast cancer patients were enriched in genes encoding lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, iron complex transport system, PTS system, secretion system, and beta-oxidation.ConclusionThe composition and functions of the gut microbial community differ between postmenopausal breast cancer patients and healthy controls. The gut microbiota may regulate or respond to host immunity and metabolic balance. Thus, while cause and effect cannot be determined, there is a reproducible change in the microbiota of treatment-naive patients relative to matched controls.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-018-0515-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Research Highlights: This study carried out a feasibility analysis on the tree height extraction of a planted coniferous forest with high canopy density by combining terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) image–based point cloud data at small and midsize tree farms. Background and Objectives: Tree height is an important factor for forest resource surveys. This information plays an important role in forest structure evaluation and forest stock estimation. The objectives of this study were to solve the problem of underestimating tree height and to guarantee the precision of tree height extraction in medium and high-density planted coniferous forests. Materials and Methods: This study developed a novel individual tree localization (ITL)-based tree height extraction method to obtain preliminary results in a planted coniferous forest plots with 107 trees (Metasequoia). Then, the final accurate results were achieved based on the canopy height model (CHM) and CHM seed points (CSP). Results: The registration accuracy of the TLS and UAV image-based point cloud data reached 6 cm. The authors optimized the precision of tree height extraction using the ITL-based method by improving CHM resolution from 0.2 m to 0.1 m. Due to the overlapping of forest canopies, the CSP method failed to delineate all individual tree crowns in medium to high-density forest stands with the matching rates of about 75%. However, the accuracy of CSP-based tree height extraction showed obvious advantages compared with the ITL-based method. Conclusion: The proposed method provided a solid foundation for dynamically monitoring forest resources in a high-accuracy and low-cost way, especially in planted tree farms.

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Background: Currently, there are many studies researched the associations between maternal serum inflammatory indicators (i.e. ferritin, C-reactive protein [CRP], C3 and C4) and preterm birth (PTB). The results, however, are inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the relationship between maternal serum inflammatory indicators and PTB in a nested case-control (NCC)study. Methods: A NCC study was conducted by Guangxi Birth Cohort Study which enrolled a total of 6203 pregnant women between 5 0/7 and 34 6/7 weeks of gestational age (wGA) from six cities in China between 2015 and 2016. There were 206women who delivered preterm (< 37 0/7 wGA), and 412 women who delivered term birth, those women were matched by maternal age, birth place, gender of infants, and wGA at blood collection. The inflammatory indicators were quantified by immunoturbidimetric methods. Results: Highest quartile concentrations of all inflammatory indicators were determined versus median. After adjusting for maternal age, high levels of CRP (CRP > 16.60 mg/L) are related to the risk of PTB (OR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.02-4.56, p = 0.044) in the first trimester. The association of C3 was extremely related to those who delivered PTB (OR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.14-5.64, p = 0.023) in the first trimester. Moreover, no significant associations were found in C4 (p = 0.079) and ferritin (p = 0.067) between PTB. Conclusions: Elevated concentrations of CRP and C3 in the first trimester were associated with increased risk of PTB. Inflammatory indicators may act a pivotal part in early diagnosis and prognosis of PTB.

2020. Effects of ecological restoration on soil properties of the aeolian sandy land around Lhasa, southern Tibetan Plateau. Ecosphere 11(1):e03009.Abstract. The ecological restoration of aeolian sandy land has not only improved the function of ecosystem services, such as wind prevention and sand fixation, but has also indirectly reduced the regional economic losses caused by sandstorms. However, the interaction between vegetation and soil properties after natural and artificial restoration of the sandy land in southern Tibetan Plateau has not been sufficiently studied. In the present study, we selected four vegetation types, including artificial forest (A), revegetated shrub (B), natural shrub (C), and natural grassland (D), in the sandy land in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River basin, Tibet, China, and investigated the changes in soil particle size and nutrients at depths of 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm, finally examining the potential relationships between soil properties and leaf nutrients. Our results indicated that in the topsoil (0-20 cm), the natural shrub (C) and natural grassland (D) have greater silt content, recorded as 50.77% and 62.16%, respectively, compared to the artificial forest (A) and revegetated shrub (B). Natural grassland (D) had the highest silt content and the lowest soil bulk density (SBD) among the four vegetation types. There was no significant difference in the soil organic matter (SOM) in the topsoil of the different vegetation types. However, at the depth of 20-40 cm, the SOM content of the different vegetation types was in the following order: natural grassland (D) (23.37 g/ kg) > natural shrub (C) (17.42 g/kg) > revegetated shrub (B) (14.85 g/kg) > artificial forest (A) (8.43 g/kg). The ammonium nitrogen content in the revegetated shrub (B) was higher compared to the other vegetation types. The SOM content was significantly correlated with the total phosphorus (TP) and available phosphorus (AP) of the sandy land. The leaf total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus exhibited a positive correlation with SBD, AP, and available potassium. These findings can provide useful information to optimize the patterns of natural and artificial restoration for controlling desertification in similar eco-regions.

Our results suggest that the RGS14 polymorphism is involved in the etiology of nephrolithiasis and thus may be a genetic marker for nephrolithiasis.

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