In this study, the effect of soluble polysaccharides (SPs) derived from agricultural waste, rice straw, on fermentationassociated stresses (temperature and concentrations of glucose and ethanol) was investigated to achieve high-performance ethanol production. The increase in temperature and concentrations of glucose and ethanol significantly inhibited Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth and lowered ethanol fermentation efficiency. Flow cytometric assays indicated that SPs could alleviate membrane permeability damage caused by fermentation-associated stresses. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed that fermentation-associated stresses induced cell surface shrinkage, causing a decrease in the cell size, whereas SPs stimulated the formation of extracellular matrices (EMs), which made the cell surface smooth and the cell morphology regular. Cells with EMs induced by SPs could efficiently produce ethanol under severe stresses. As a result, the titer of ethanol in the fermentation with SPs was 1.40-fold (from 26.40 to 36.98 g/L) higher than that in the fermentation without SPs, suggesting the stress-alleviating effect of SPs on ethanol production.

Apelin, the ligand for the APJ receptor, is involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, whether serum apelin can predict the recurrence of AF after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has not been determined.A prospective cohort study was performed in patients with AF (but without structural heart disease) who were undergoing first-time PVI. Serum apelin-12 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Echocardiographic examination was performed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months after PVI. Patients were followed up for 6 months after PVI, and the association between baseline apelin-12 and AF recurrence (early recurrence: within 3 months after ablation; late recurrence: 3–6 months after ablation) was analyzed.A total of 61 patients were included in the study. Baseline serum level of apelin-12 was significant lower in patients with early (median [interquartile range]: 1844 [1607–2061] vs 2197 [1895–2455] ng/L, P = .01) and late (1639 [1524–1853] vs 1923 [1741–2303] ng/L, P = .02) AF recurrence compared with patients without these events. Results of Cox stepwise multivariate analysis demonstrated that lower baseline apelin-12 (<2265 ng/L) was independently associated with increased AF recurrence within 6 months after PVI (P < .05). The specificity and positive predictive value of apelin-12 for AF recurrence were significantly higher than those of baseline N-terminal brain proBNP (60.4% vs 28.6%, P < .001; 58.8% vs 34.4%, P = .01), although the sensitivity and negative predictive value were similar.Reduced baseline serum apelin-12 may be an independent risk factor for the recurrence of AF after PVI in patients without structural heart disease.

Dissolved solids released from biochar (DSRB), including organic and inorganic compounds, may affect the role of biochar as a soil amendment. In this study, the effects of DSRB on soil...