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Pectin contributes greatly to cell wall phosphorus (P) remobilization. However, it is currently unclear whether the methylesterification degree of the pectin, which is related to the activity of pectin methylesterases (PMEs), is also involved in this process. Here, we demonstrated that elevated PME activity can facilitate the remobilization of P deposited in the cell wall. P-deficient conditions resulted in the reduction of root cell wall P content. This reduction was more pronounced in Nipponbare than in Kasalath, in company with a significant increment of the PME activity, indicating a possible relationship between elevated PME activity and cell wall P remobilization. This hypothesis was supported by in vitro experiments, as pectin with lower methylesterification degree had higher ability to release inorganic P (Pi) from insoluble FePO4. Furthermore, among the 35 OsPME members in rice, only the expression of OsPME14 showed a relationship with PME activity. In addition, transgenic rice lines overexpressing OsPME14 had increased PME activity, released more P from the root cell wall, and more resistant to P deficiency. In conclusion, PMEs enhance P remobilization in P-starved rice by increasing PME activity in Nipponbare, which in turn helps to remobilize P from the cell wall, and thus makes more available P.

The Zhongguancun area was formerly an old river way for the Yongding River, which was known to Beijing residents as “Zhong Wan er (or Middle Bay).” As early as the Ming Dynasty, the area’s picturesque scenery attracted palace eunuchs looking for the perfect burial grounds, thus becoming a sought-after eunuch cemetery. As eunuchs were called “Zhong Guan er (or Chinese officials),” the modern-day innovation hub derived its name, dropping the ‘er’ and becoming “Zhong Guan Cun.”

To decrease critical micelle concentration (CMC), improve stability, and keep high drug-loading capacity, three pH-sensitive mixed micelles applied for anticancer drug controlled delivery were prepared by the mixture of polymers poly (N,N-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PDEAEMA-PPEGMA) and polycaprolactone-b-poly (poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PCL-PPEGMA), which were synthesized and confirmed by 1H NMR and gel permeation chromatographic (GPC). The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of the prepared mixed micelles were low, and the micellar sizes and zeta potentials of the blank mixed micelles demonstrated good pH-responsive behavior. Combined experimental techniques with dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation, the particle sizes, zeta potentials, drug loading content (LC), encapsulation efficiency (EE), aggregation morphologies, and doxorubicin (DOX) distribution of the mixed micelles were investigated, and the high DOX-loading capacity of the mixed micelles was found. Both in vitro DOX release profiles and DPD simulations of the DOX dynamics release process exhibited less leakage and good stability in neutral conditions and accelerated drug release behavior with a little initial burst in slightly acidic conditions. Cytotoxicity tests showed that the polymer PDEAEMA-PPEGMA and the blank mixed micelles had good biocompatibility, and DOX-loaded mixed micelles revealed certain cytotoxicity. These results suggest that the drug-loaded mixed micelles that consisted of the two polymers PDEAEMA-PPEGMA and PCL-PPEGMA can be new types of pH-responsive well-controlled release anticancer drug delivery mixed micelles.

Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 have attracted wide attention from researchers in the field of immunotherapy. PD-1/PD-L1 have been shown to exist in many types of cells in addition to T lymphocytes, and studies have accordingly extended from their suppressive effect on T cell activation and function to examining their role in other cells. In this review, we summarize recent research on PD-1/PD-L1 in macrophages, with the aim of furthering our understanding of PD-1/PD-L1 and their detailed roles in macrophages. This information may provide additional insights for researchers, enrich the basic theory of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy, and thus ultimately benefit more patients.

The anaerobic fermentation of crop straw and animal wastes is increasingly used for the biogas and green energy generation, as well as reduction of the environmental pollution. The anaerobic cofermentation of corn stalks inoculated by cow dung was found to achieve higher biogas production and cellulose biodegradation. In this study, the effect of mixing corn stalks with cow dung at five different fermentation stages (0, 7, 15, 23, and 31 days of the total fermentation cycle of 60 days) on the further cofermentation process was explored, in order to optimize the corn straw utilization rate and biogas production capacity. In addition, the straw microstructure evolution was investigated by the SEM and XRD methods to identify the optimal conditions for the straw biodegradation process enhancement. The five test groups exhibited nearly identical total biogas productivity values but strongly differed by daily biogas yields (the maximal biogas generation rate being 524.3 ml/d). Based on the degradation characteristics of total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), and lignocellulose, groups #1 and #3 (0 and 15 days) had the most significant degradation rates of VS (43.73%) and TS (42.07%), respectively, while the largest degradation rates of cellulose (62.70%) and hemicellulose (50.49%) were observed in group #4 (23 days) and group #1 (0 days), respectively. The SEM analysis revealed strong microstructural changes in corn stalks after fermentation manifested by multiple cracks and striations, while the XRD results proved the decrease in peak intensity of cellulose 002 crystal surface and the reduced crystallinity after cofermentation. The results of this study are assumed to be quite instrumental to the further optimization of the corn stalk anaerobic digestion by inoculation with digested manure for lignocellulose degradation enhancement and biogas productivity improvement.

Anaerobic digestion of Chinese cabbage waste was investigated through a pilot-scale two-stage digester at a mesophilic temperature of 37 °C. In the acidification digester, the main product was acetic acid, with the maximum concentration of 4289 mg·L − 1 on the fourth day, accounting for 50.32% of total volatile fatty acids. The oxidation reduction potential (ORP) and NH 4 + -N level decreased gradually with hydraulic retention time (HRT) of acidification. In the second digestion phase, the maximum methanogenic bacterial concentration reached 9.6 × 10 10 ml − 1 at the organic loading rate (OLR) of 3.5–4 kg VS·m − 3 , with corresponding HRT of 12–16 days. Accordingly, the optimal biogas production was 0.62 m 3 ·(kg VS) − 1 , with methane content of 65%–68%. ORP and NH 4 + -N levels in the methanizer remained between − 500 and − 560 mV and 2000–4500 mg·L − 1 , respectively. Methanococcus and Methanosarcina served as the main methanogens in the anaerobic digester.

Fertilizer application efficiently increases crop yield, but may result in phosphorus (P) accumulation in soil, which increases the risk of aquatic eutrophication. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation is a potential method to enhance P uptake by plant and to reduce fertilizer input requirements. However, there has been limited research on how much P application could be reduced by AMF inoculation. In this study, a pot experiment growing asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) was designed to investigate the effects of AMF inoculation and six levels of soil Olsen-P (10.4, 17.1, 30.9, 40.0, 62.1, and 95.5 mg kg−1 for P0, P1, P2, P3, P4 and P5 treatments, respectively) on root colonization, soil spore density, and the growth and P uptake of asparagus. The highest root colonization and soil spore density were both obtained in the P1 treatment (76% and 26.3 spores g−1 soil, respectively). Mycorrhizal dependency significantly (P < 0.05) decreased with increasing soil Olsen-P. A significant correlation (P < 0.01) was observed between mycorrhizal P uptake and root colonization, indicating that AMF contributed to increased P uptake and subsequent plant growth. The quadratic equations of shoot dry weight and soil Olsen-P showed that AMF decreased the P concentration of soil required for maximum plant growth by 14.5% from 67.9 to 59.3 mg Olsen-P kg−1. Our results suggested that AMF improved P efficiency via increased P uptake and optimal growth by adding AMF to the suitable P fertilization.

A novel fast-growing poplar wood, Populus ussuriensis Kom, was prepared into wood-polymer composite by the in situ polymerization of methyl methacrylate and styrene through a vacuum/pressure and subsequent catalyst-thermal process. scanning electron microscopy observation, FTIR, X-ray diffraction, dynamic mechanical analysis, and thermogravimetric/derivative thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the resulted polymer well filled up wood cell lumen in an amorphous form and reinforced wood matrix, which resulted in the improvement of glass transition temperature, storage modulus, and thermal stability of wood. The decay resistance and dimensional stability of wood were also improved. Such wood-based composite could be potentially used as reinforced material in construction fields. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013

The understanding of health has deepened with social development, scientific improvement, and environmental changes. The focus has changed from disease-oriented to health-oriented viewpoint. Hence, it is important to evaluate health using objective and accurate criteria. The four-diagnosis methods and syndrome differentiation are focused on differences among individuals according to the yin, yang, qi, and blood conditions. These differences are closely related to the constitution of a subject. The promotion of constitution identification among healthy and subhealthy groups and patients is beneficial for subjects to understand their body characteristics. It is important in daily health cultivation and disease prevention. Digital and objective information of a subject is acquired by the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Four-Diagnosis Auxiliary Apparatus efficiently and accurately. The automatic extraction and recognition of all the information is an important step in the diagnosis and constitution identification process by TCM.

Organizational ambidexterity, defined as the simultaneously pursuit of both exploitation and exploration activities, is essential for organizations' survival, thrive and mature. However, the building of this capability is still ambiguous in prior literatures. This paper draws on the organizational learning theories, presents how two types of learning (i.e. strategic learning and business learning) and their interaction contribute to the dynamic evolutionary of organizational ambidexterity. We conducted longitudinal single case study on an outstanding Chinese high-tech firm (Huawei) by revealing its evolutionary journey. Our study reveals that exploration and exploitation are distinctive but also closely associated, and that organizational ambidexterity is accumulative and should be constructed across multiple levels. Representative strategic and business learning activities and principles are also identified.

The Internet has significantly changed information management in developed countries through creating pressures to improve communication systems and develop more user friendly environments for information sharing. Now the Internet is penetrating developing countries, changing information practices in various sectors. The Internet is changing traditional ways of conducting information business by establishing new sources of information and new methods of communication on a global basis. It has created pressure to update information/technology infrastructures. It has created competition by bringing many international and indigenous information technology vendors on to the same platform. It has helped policy makers take advantage of access to global sources of information. Discusses the role of the Internet and its impact on developing countries, including major issues associated with electronic information access and delivery. It focuses on the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, which are also information‐rich countries in the East‐Asia and South‐Asia regions respectively.

Library and information science education in China is in a period of transition. The changes in the social, economic and technological environment have introduced new requirements for the professional personnel. The growth of the information industry and the expansion of the labor market have motivated schools of library and information science to adjust their objectives, curriculum and knowledge structure in order to meet social needs. This article discusses the changing social environment in the 1990s and the challenges to professional education, and responses from schools. Based on the curriculum of 17 schools of library and information science in China provided at the Second Joint Annual Meeting of Deans held in 1995, the author provides data on required courses, specialized elective courses and non-specialized courses according to the frequency of each course appearing in the curriculum. The objectives are to determine the state-of-the-art structure of the knowledge base and to identify any consensus...

The current study demonstrates the effect of in-situ formation of polymer from vinyl monomers on the morphology and durability of wood. Mixed monomers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene (St) (1:1 molar ratio) were effectively vacuum/pressure impregnated into the cellular structure of a fast-growing poplar wood, Populus ussuriensis Kom, and then underwent a catalyst-thermal process to polymerize and form wood-polymer composite. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation shows that polymer converted from monomers almost filled up wood cell cavities. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis indicates that the polymer mainly physical interacted with wood matrix. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis suggests that the in-situ generated polymer mainly remained as an amorphous form in cell lumen. The block of wood cavities by polymer coupled with the water resistance of polymer resulted in remarkable improvement of decay resistance and dimensional stability of wood. Key words: Wood-polymer composite, characterization, morphology, durability, methyl methacrylate, styrene.

Lung cancer is the most frequent cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, but its molecular pathogenesis is poorly understood. The tumor suppressor candidate 3 (TUSC3) gene is located on chromosome 8p22 and is universally acknowledged as a cancer suppressor. However, our research has demonstrated that TUSC3 expression is significantly upregulated in non-small-cell lung cancer compared to benign controls. In this study, we analyzed the consequences of TUSC3 knockdown or overexpression on the biological functions of non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines. To identify the molecules and signaling pathways with which TUSC3 might interact, we completed immunoblotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, microarray, co-immunoprecipitation, and immunofluorescence assays. We demonstrated that TUSC3 knockdown leads to decreased proliferation, migration, and invasion, and reduced xenograft tumor growth of non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines, whereas opposite results were observed with overexpression of TUSC3. In addition, TUSC3 knockdown suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition by downregulating the expression of claudin-1, which plays an indispensable role in EMT progress. On the contrary, overexpression of TUSC3 significantly enhanced EMT progress by upregulating claudin-1 expression. Overall, our observations suggest that TUSC3 accelerates cancer growth and induces the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in non-small-cell lung cancer cells; we also identified claudin-1 as a target of TUSC3.