The balance between growth and defense in response to nearby or canopy shading in heliotropic plants has been deeply understood. However, the adaptive traits developed by shade-tolerant plants through long-term evolution remain unclear. In this study, the typical shade-tolerant medicinal plant Anoectochilus roxburghii was used as the experimental material.(1) Different planting densities were set, including 8 cm(row spacing) × 8 cm(plant spacing), 6 cm × 6 cm, 4 cm × 4 cm, and 2 cm × 2 cm, to monitor the individual plant responses to nearby shading.(2) Different light environments, including blue light∶red light=3∶2(B3R2), blue light∶red light∶far-red light=3∶2∶1(B3R2FR1), blue light∶red light∶far-red light=3∶2∶2(B3R2FR2), and blue light∶red light∶far-red light=3∶2∶4(B3R2FR4), were set to monitor the morphological and physiological changes in plants in response to actual shading conditions. The results showed that:(1) Moderate increases in planting density helped optimize morphological traits such as stem diameter and leaf area. This not only slightly increased biomass but also significantly improved SOD activity in both leaves and stems, as well as lignin content in stems, thereby enhancing the plant's defense capabilities.(2) Increasing the far-red light in the light environment negatively regulated the plant height of A. roxburghii, which was contrary to the typical shade-avoidance response observed in heliotropic plants. However, it significantly enhanced SOD and POD activity in both stems and leaves, as well as lignin content in stems. Furthermore, it reduced the incidence and disease index of stalk rot, effectively defending against biotic stress. Therefore, the shade-tolerant plant A. roxburghii has specific adaptive strategies for shading conditions. Reasonable dense planting or light environment modulation can synergistically improve yield, medicinal quality, and resistance of A. roxburghii. This study provides a theoretical foundation and technical support for optimizing the regional deployment and cultivation strategies of ecological planting for Chinese medicinal materials.
Orchidaceae/genetics* ; Light ; Plant Leaves/physiology* ; Sunlight ; Adaptation, Physiological/radiation effects* ; Plant Proteins/genetics*

Microbial denitrification is a major pathway for nitrogen removal from water bodies. However, denitrification is often difficult to continue when there is a lack of microbially available organic matter in the water body to serve as electron donors. In recent years, studies have shown that some denitrifying bacteria can directly utilize photoelectrons generated by sunlight-excited semiconductor minerals or natural organic matter for denitrification without the need for bioavailable organic matter as electron donors. This process is defined as microbial photoelectrotrophic denitrification. The discovery of microbial photoelectrotrophic denitrification phenomenon reshapes the previous knowledge about the chemoheterotrophic mode of denitrifying bacteria and broadens the pathway of nitrogen removal by the new photoelectrotrophic metabolism, which is of great significance to our understanding and exploration of sunlight-driven nitrogen cycling process. In this paper, we comprehensively sort out the existing research reports in the field of microbial photoelectrotrophic denitrification, systematically summarize the principle and the current research progress of microbial photoelectrotrophic denitrification, deeply analyze the problems and challenges faced by this technology, and make an outlook on the future research directions and application prospects of this technology, providing a reference for the further research and application of this technology.
Denitrification/physiology* ; Nitrogen/isolation & purification* ; Bacteria/metabolism* ; Sunlight ; Phototrophic Processes

Background. Prolonged sun exposure without adequate sun protection places outdoor workers such as traffic enforcers at risk for skin cancer. Data on knowledge, attitude, and practices amongst traffic enforcers are currently unavailable, hence the need for research on this matter.

Objectives. 1) To evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices of traffic enforcers on sun exposure and sun protection, 2) To identify any association with sociodemographic characteristics, and 3) To determine whether knowledge and attitude are correlated with sun-protective practices.

Method. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2019 among traffic enforcers in Pasig City, Philippines thru a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the sociodemographic profile of the respondents while the Fisher's exact/Chi-square test was used to determine the association between sociodemographic variables and adequacy of knowledge, attitude, and practices. Pearson's rho was used to determine the degree of association between knowledge, attitude, and practices.

Results. A total of 178 traffic enforcers with a 100% response rate participated in the study. 94.4% had adequate knowledge and 93.8% had a desirable attitude as opposed to 46.1% who had adequate sun-protective practices. Adequate knowledge was found to be significant when obtained from television (51.19% at p=0.018), with the respondents being least knowledgeable about proper sunscreen use. Only a few had the desired positive attitude that sunscreen is not an added expense at 39.89%. The most common methods of sun protection were the wearing of sunglasses (82.02%), long-sleeved clothing (68.54%), and the wearing of a wide-brimmed hat (65.17%). Reapplication of sunscreen was the least common at 32.02%. Those with an adequate sun-protective practice obtained their knowledge from social media (48.78% at p=0.003). Adequacy of knowledge when compared to actual practice noted that there were more respondents with poor knowledge translating to poor practice (9.38% at p=0.019). There was insufficient evidence to state associations between the sociodemographic profile and knowledge, attitude, or practice. Correlations between knowledge, attitude, and practices on sun exposure and sun-protective practices were found to be weak.

Conclusion. Most of the traffic enforcers who partici pated in this study had adequate knowledge and a desirable attitude on sun exposure and sun protection but had inadequate sun-protective practices, emphasizing the need to investigate other factors that hinder translation of adequate knowledge and attitude to adequate practice. Occupational health policies need to be implemented to reduce the harmful effects of UV radiation in high-risk populations such as traffic enforcers.

BACKGROUND: Lack of sunlight exposure is the primary reason for the worldwide epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. Although recommended sunlight exposure guidelines exist, there is no evidence regarding whether current guidelines are optimal for increasing vitamin D levels among individuals with vitamin D deficiency.METHODS: Sixty Korean adults aged 20–49 years with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels of < 20 ng/mL were randomly assigned to three groups: sunlight exposure (n = 20), vitamin D supplementation groups (n = 20), and daily living (n = 20) for 1 month. The sunlight exposure group had sunlight exposure on 20% to 30% of their body surface areas for 30–60 minutes per day, 3 times a week during the summer season. Vitamin D supplementation was prescribed with 800 IU/day of vitamin D. The serum levels of 25(OH)D were measured at baseline and at 1-month follow-up examinations.RESULTS: The largest change in serum 25(OH)D was observed among the vitamin D supplementation group (+3.5 ng/mL, P < 0.001). The sunlight exposure group showed a slight increase in serum 25(OH)D level, but the absolute increase was less than one-third that of the vitamin D supplementation group (+0.9 ng/mL, P = 0.043). Only two participants in the sunlight exposure reached serum concentrations of 25(OH)D ≥ 20 ng/mL at follow-up. The daily living group showed no difference in vitamin D levels (−0.7 ng/mL, P = 0.516).CONCLUSION: Sunlight exposure was not sufficient to overcome vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency in the current study subjects. Effectiveness of current sunlight exposure guidelines among various populations should be reassessed in larger clinical studies.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Research Information Service Identifier: KCT0002671
Adult ; Body Surface Area ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Information Services ; Seasons ; Solar System ; Sunlight ; Vitamin D Deficiency ; Vitamin D ; Vitamins

PURPOSE: We determined whether elevated serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was related to prevalence, location, type, length, and recurrence of pterygium in a population from the Republic of Korea.METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional dataset, the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008–2011), was used in this study. All participants were > 30 years of age and underwent the ALP test and ophthalmic evaluation (n = 22,359). One-way analysis of variance, the chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test were used to compare characteristics and outcomes among participants. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the possible associations between serum ALP levels and various types of pterygium. Data were adjusted for known risk factors for development of pterygium and ALP elevation (age, sex, residence, sunlight exposure, drinking, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, BMI, AST, ALT, vitamin D, and HDL).RESULTS: The overall prevalence of pterygium was 8.1%, and participants with pterygium had higher levels of serum ALP (p < 0.001). Participants with higher serum ALP had a significantly higher prevalence of all types of pterygium than those in the lower serum ALP quartiles. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that ALP was associated with the prevalence of pterygium (odds ratio [OR], 1.001; p = 0.038). Trend analysis between the OR and ALP quartiles revealed a linear trend in overall prevalence and in the intermediate type of pterygium. Subgroup analysis revealed a stronger correlation in participants > 50 years of age. One-way analysis of variance revealed an association between the size of pterygium and serum ALP quartile levels. Serum ALP was not associated with recurrence of pterygium.CONCLUSIONS: Increased serum ALP was associated with the prevalence and size of pterygium.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dataset ; Drinking ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Nutrition Surveys ; Prevalence ; Pterygium ; Recurrence ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Sunlight ; Vitamin D

In this paper, the correlation between the chemical constituents of Chinese herbal medicines Daphnes Cortex and the ecological factors and soil factors was studied, which provided a reference for the selection of suitable areas for artificial cultivation of Daphne giraldii and wild tending. The geographic information system(GIS) was applied to obtain the ecological factor information of 23 collection sites of Daphnes Cortex, and the soil factor information was determined by the standard procedure in the soil test standard manual. Combining the information of 93 chemical constituents of Daphnes Cortex in 23 collection sites the correlation between components and ecological factors and soil factors was analyzed by statistical methods. The correlation analysis showed that the longitude, annual average rainfall, annual sunshine intensity, annual average temperature in the ecological factors, soil type, effective copper and pH value were the dominant factors affecting the chemical composition of Daphnes Cortex.
China ; Copper ; Daphne/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Geographic Information Systems ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Plants, Medicinal/chemistry* ; Rain ; Soil/chemistry* ; Sunlight ; Temperature

Pinellia ternata is a medicinal herb of Araceae, and its tubers are used as medicines. It is a common Chinese herbal medicine in China and has a large market demand. When exposing to strong light intensity and high temperature during the growth process, P. ternata withers in a phenomenon known as "sprout tumble", which largely limits tuber production. Shade can effectively delay sprout tumble formation and increase its yield, however the relevant regulation mechanism is unclear. DNA methylation, as a self-modifying response to environmental changes, is often involved in the regulation of plant growth and development. In this study, P. ternata grown under natural light and 90% shading were selected as the control group and the experimental group for genomic DNA methylation analysis by using methylate sensitive amplification polymorphism(MSAP). The results showed that a total of 617 loci were detected with 20 pairs of primers, of which 311 were in the natural light group and 306 in the shading group. The methylation sites in the light and shading groups accounted for 58.2% and 71.57%, respectively, and the methylation ratios in the methylation sites were 27.65% and 29.41%, respectively, indicating that shading significantly induced the genome DNA methylation of P. ternata. Compared to the natural light group, shading promoted 32.51% of the genes methylation, while inducing 16.25% gene demethylation. This study reveals the DNA methylation variation of P. ternata under shading conditions, which lays a preliminary theoretical foundation for further analysis of the mechanism of shading regulation of P. ternata growth from epigenetic level.
China ; DNA Methylation ; Darkness ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Pinellia/radiation effects* ; Plants, Medicinal/radiation effects* ; Sunlight

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of different shading conditions on the growth,physiological characteristics and biomass allocation of Polygonatum cyrtonema,which offered a theoretical basis for its cultivation.Different light environments(100%,80%,60% and 35% light transmittance) were simulated with shading treatments.Growth and photosynthetic indexes of P.cyrtonema were measured and the variances were analyzed.The results show that shading decreased superoxide anion radical(O-·2)production rate and hydrogen peroxide(H_2O_2) accumulation,kept the activity of SOD,POD and CAT enzyme at a high level.Furthermore,The content of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b,net photosynthetic rate(Pn),stomatal conductance(Gs),transpiration rate(Tr),maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem Ⅱ(Fv/Fm),photochemical quenching index(q P) and effective quantum yield of photosystem II(ΦPSⅡ) of P.cyrtonema were increased while the intercellular CO2 concentration(Ci),Foand NPQ were decreased by shading.Shading is beneficial to P.cyrtonema growth,can increase the total biomass P.cyrtonema.The allocation proportion of biomass on the aerial portion of P.cyrtonema increased but underground parts decreased with increasing shading conditions.In this study,P.cyrtonema can grow well in shading conditions,shading is beneficial to the formation of the yield and quality of the rhizomes of P.cyrtonema,especially in 65% light transmittance.
Biomass ; Chlorophyll ; Chlorophyll A ; Photosynthesis ; Plant Leaves ; Plant Stomata ; Plant Transpiration ; Polygonatum ; growth & development ; physiology ; Sunlight

OBJECTIVES: Although the number of laboratory workers is constantly increasing every year, few studies have been conducted on the health and nutritional status of these research workers. This study determined the health status of laboratory workers by analyzing their anthropometric indices, dietary life, vitamin D status and blood clinical indices. METHODS: The subjects consisted of 100 female laboratory workers. This study investigated their diet, anthropometric indices, vitamin D status and blood clinical indices. The subjects were divided into two groups according to their duration of working in a laboratory (<1 year,≥1 year). RESULTS: The average age and body mass index (BMI) of subjects were 23.18 years and 21.51 kg/m2, respectively Those subjects with over 1 year employment (≥1 year) had a significantly higher waist-hip ratio than that of the subjects with the less than 1 year employment (<1 year). The mean serum vitamin D level of all the subjects was 10.04 ng/mL, which is close to a level of vitamin D deficiency. There was a significantly higher average intake of calories in the over 1 year employment group as compared to that of the less than 1 year employment group. The frequency of eating sweet snacks was significantly higher for the over 1 year employment group. The correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the serum 25-(OH)-vitamin D level and the time of exposure to sunlight, while dietary intake of vitamin D did not show correlation with the serum 25-(OH)-vitamin D level. However, the serum 25-(OH)-vitamin D level was also negatively correlated with both the percentage of body fat and visceral fat. CONCLUSIONS: Laboratory workers are a very high risk group in terms of their nutritional status of vitamin D. Therefore, they need greater time of exposure to sunlight as well as increasing their dietary consumption of vitamin D. In addition, it is important for laboratory worker to practice regular and balanced dietary habits in order to maintain a healthy life.
Adipose Tissue ; Body Mass Index ; Diet ; Eating ; Employment ; Female ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Nutritional Status ; Snacks ; Sunlight ; Vitamin D Deficiency ; Vitamin D ; Vitamins ; Waist-Hip Ratio

Urticaria is a common cutaneous disease characterized by recurrent and transient wheals and pruritus, sometimes accompanied angioedema. The classification of urticaria is based on the duration of the disease and whether extrinsic triggers are identified or not. Acute urticaria is usually occurred by specific causes, such as drug, food, and infection, etc. Therefore, acute urticaria can be remitted within 6 weeks just by avoiding the exposure to the causes. However, chronic urticaria defined as repeatedly occurred itchy wheals and/or angioedema for at least 6 weeks, has a significant effect on patients' quality of life. Chronic inducible urticaria can be triggered by various physical stimuli including dermographism, delayed pressure, cold, heat, cholinergic stimuli, sunlight, and exercise. Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is diagnosed when no specific extrinsic cause is identified in the patients. CSU due to autoimmune mechanism accounts for 30–50%, autologous serum skin test and anti-thyroid autoantibody can be evaluated. However, various physical stimuli, emotional or physical stress, drugs, particularly aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can exacerbate urticaria in 30–75% of patients with CSU. Allergic diseases and autoimmune diseases are more common in CSU patients than in general populations. To assess the severity of urticaria and to adjust treatment step, urticaria activity score over 7 days, calculated by the number of wheals and the severity of pruritus, is recommended by recent international guidelines.
Angioedema ; Aspirin ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Pruritus ; Quality of Life ; Skin Tests ; Sunlight ; Urticaria