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Nutrients play important roles in the growth and development of most plant species. However, in perennial trees, the function of nutrients in different genotypes is poorly understood. Three different nutrient levels (low, sufficient, and high nutrient levels) were applied to two contrasting Eucalyptus urophylla cultivars (a high-growth cultivar ZQUA44 and a low-growth cultivar ZQUB15), and growth and expression levels were analyzed. Although the growth traits of both genotypes under nutrient starvation treatment were much lower than under abundant nutrients, tree height, crown width, and biomass of different ZQUA44 tissues were much higher than those of ZQUB15 at all three nutrient levels. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) clustered into six subclusters based on their expression patterns, and functional annotation showed that the DEGs involved in glutathione metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis may be responsible for nutrient starvation across different genotypes, while the DEGs involved in carotenoid biosynthesis and starch and sucrose metabolism may have a range of functions in different genotypes. The DEGs encoding the MYB-related family may be responsible for nutrient deficiency in all genotypes, while B3 may have different functions in different genotypes. Our results demonstrate that different genotypes may form different pathways to coordinate plant survival when they face abiotic stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree branches affect the planting density and basal scab, which act as important attributes in the yield and quality of trees. Eucalyptus urophylla is an important pioneer tree with characteristics of strong adaptability, fast growth, short rotation period, and low disease and pest pressures. In this study, we collected ZQUC14 and LDUD26 clones and compared their transcriptomes and metabolomes from mature xylem, phloem, and developing tissues to identify factors that may influence branch development. In total, 32,809 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 18 gibberellin (GA) hormones were detected in the five sampled tissues. Searches of the kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways identified mainly genes related to diterpenoid biosynthesis, plant MAPK signaling pathways, plant hormone signal transduction, glycerolipid metabolism, peroxisome, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, ABC transporters, and brassinosteroid biosynthesis. Furthermore, gene expression trend analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis revealed 13 genes likely involved in diterpenoid biosynthesis, including five members of the 2OG-Fe(II) oxygenase superfamily, four cytochrome P450 genes, and four novel genes. In GA signal transduction pathways, 24 DEGs were found to positively regulate branch formation. These results provide a comprehensive analysis of branch development based on the transcriptome and metabolome, and help clarify the molecular mechanisms of E. urophylla. • Genes for branch development in E. urophylla have been detected. • The GA 20 contents varied greatly among the different segments. • Metabolites and nucleotide sequence of the enzymes in GA regulatory pathways related to branching were identified. • Reorientation of branching in forest trees can alter yield and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a single-product, periodic-review dual sourcing inventory system with demand and supply uncertainty, where the replenishment lead times can be arbitrary and the expedited supplier has a shorter lead time with a higher unit price than the regular supplier, unmet demand is fully backlogged. Even for the general dual sourcing problem without supply risks, the optimal stochastic policy has been unknown for over 50 years and several simple heuristics have been proposed in the literature. Moreover, the consideration of supply uncertainty brings another challenge, where the objective functions characterized by the dynamic programming recursions are not convex in the ordering quantities. Fortunately, a powerful transformation skill is recently proposed to successfully address the problem above and shows that the value-to-go function is convex. In this article, we design a Linear Programming greedy (LP-greedy) heuristic based on the quadratic approximation of convex value-to-go function and convert the problem into a convex optimization problem during each period. In an extensive simulation study, two sets of test instances from the literature are employed to compare the performance of our LP-greedy heuristic with that of some well-known policies in dual sourcing system, including Tailored base-surge, Dual index, Best vector base-stock. In addition, to assess the effectiveness of our heuristic, we construct a lower bound to the exact system. The lower bound is based on an information-relaxation approach and involves a penalty function derived from the proposed heuristic. We show that our proposed LP-greedy heuristic performs better than other heuristics in the dual sourcing problem and it is nearly optimal (within 3%) for the majority of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a supply chain system consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer who requires RFID technology to eliminate inventory misplacement errors. The demand is uncertain and RFID read rates are imperfect. To better align their incentives, the manufacturer can make up her additional cost stemmed from RFID adoption through two compensatory schemes: Wholesale price premium (PR) and cost sharing (CS). Our analysis shows that under PR, the manufacturer surcharges a premium higher than the tag cost, whereas under CS, the retailer will bear the entire tag cost. Because profit margin is proportionally allocated to the firms at the same ratio under PR and without RFID at the break-even point, their incentives to adopt RFID under PR are perfectly aligned. Surprisingly, under CS, further increase in RFID read rates can benefit the retailer but hurts the manufacturer. Further, the manufacturer prefers PR, whereas the retailer prefers CS when the tag cost is small; but both prefer PR when the cost is medium. Contrary to previous findings, the retailer's incentive for RFID adoption under CS is stronger than the first-best level; the reverse is true for the manufacturer. Finally, CS improves the supply chain efficiency over PR but cannot coordinate the chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental caries remains one of the most pervasive infectious disease around the world. Protection against dental caries can be achieved experimentally by eliciting salivary IgA targeting surficial antigens of S. mutans, however, no such a vaccine has been launched for human use yet. Live vectored vaccines hold the greatest feasibility to induce potent and long-lasting immunity in the host. The FDA approved intranasal cold-adapted influenza vaccine has been used in clinical settings for many years. The vaccine can not only induce broad adaptive immune responses especially mucosal immunity, but the member strains can also circumvent existing immunity, presenting promising candidates for live vectored anti-caries vaccine. Moreover, the genetic techniques for modification of cold-adapted influenza viruses are well developed and widely applicable. Thus, we hypothesize that effective anti-caries vaccine can be developed with the backbone of cold-adapted influenza viruses by inserting specific antigenic identifier sequences of S. mutans into the viral genome, which is anticipated to protect against dental caries in humans with easy inoculation. The immune efficacies of recombinant cold-adapted influenza viruses expressing exogenous antigens have been verified by in vivo experiments for multiple infectious diseases, giving us great confidence to validate the safety properties and protection effect with this chimeric vaccine in animals or even humans. Existing data suggests that the live anti-caries vaccine may help improve public oral health by controlling the caries disease itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of concentrated growth factor exudate (CGFe) on human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) stimulated by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. From the peripheral blood of healthy donors, CGFe was prepared according to the Sacco protocol after 7 days of incubation. The hPDLCs were cultured by a tissue explant method and identified with anti-vimentin and anti-cytokeratin antibodies. Cells were subjected to four different treatments: i) Control; ii) TNF-α (10 ng/ml); iii) CGFe (concentration 50%); and iv) CGFe+TNF-α. The proliferation of hPDLCs was measured with Cell Counting Kit-8 assays. Osteogenic differentiation and mineralization were determined by Alizarin Red S staining, alkaline phosphatase activity, western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. CGFe enhanced cell proliferation and upregulated ALP activity, the mineralization level, and osteogenic-associated osteocalcin, runt-related transcription factor 2 and Osterix gene expression in hPDLCs under inflammatory conditions induced by TNF-α. The present study demonstrated that CGFe enhanced hPDLC proliferation and osteogenic differentiation in the presence of TNF-α-induced inflammation. As CGFe can be obtained from the venous blood of patients, it generates no immune reaction. Thus, it is more economical and beneficial to use CGFe in clinical periodontal regeneration practice than synthetic growth factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) exudate on the proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and mineralization of human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) in vitro. In the present study PRF was obtained with permission, from the peripheral blood of healthy donors and PRF exudates were collected on the 7th day of incubation. hPDLCs were obtained from healthy premolars, cultured by a tissue explant method and identified with anti-vimentin and anti-cytokeratin antibodies. PRF exudates were added to hPDLCs in different concentrations to evaluate cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation. The proliferation of hPDLCs was measured using a colorimetric assay. Osteogenic differentiation and mineralization were determined by Alizarin red staining, alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP), western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Cell proliferation was enhanced by addition of the PRF exudate, which also promoted the formation of mineralized matrix nodules and upregulated ALP activity and osteoblast-associated levels of osteocalcin, runt-related transcription factor and osterix gene expression. As these stimulatory effects occurred in a dose-dependent manner, it was concluded that high concentrations of the PRF exudate served an essential role in the proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and mineralization of hPDLCs in vitro. The present study demonstrated that PRF exudate enhanced hPDLC proliferation, induced the osteoblastic differentiation of hPDLCs into mineralized tissue-formation cells in vitro, and may therefore provide potential benefits for periodontal tissue engineering; contributing to the primary processes of periodontal tissue regeneration. From the perspective of both economics and biology, PRF has greater clinical benefits than analogous growth factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants species in the genus Amorphophallus are of great economic importance, as they are the only plants known to produce glucomannan. Although southwestern China has been recognized as one of the origin centres of Amorphophallus, only a few studies assessing its genetic diversity have been reported. To aid in the utilization and conservation of Amorphophallus species, we evaluated the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among seven edible Amorphophallus species using three chloroplast DNA regions (rbcL, trnL and trnK-matK). The results showed that the genetic diversity at the population level was relatively low, with over half of the populations harbouring only one haplotype. The widely scattered species, A. konjac, had the largest genetic diversity, while the narrow endemic species, A. yuloensis, possessed only one haplotype. Phylogeny analysis identified three well-supported major lineages. Our study suggested that habitat fragmentation might be a driver of the genetic variation patterns within and between populations of Amorphophallus. A conservation strategy consisting of in situ conservation and germplasm collection is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Spacing has little or limited impact on average tree height and its heritability. [•] Spacing had significant effect on DBH and its heritability. [•] Denser spacing depressed heritability. [•] Initial spacing had large effect on age–age correlation for mature trees due to competition. [•] Good performing families caused genotype by spacing interactions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of concentrated growth factor exudate (CGFe) and TGF-β1 on the viability and osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). CGFe was prepared from the peripheral blood of healthy donors (obtained with informed consent). STRO-1+ hDPSCs were isolated from dental pulp tissues and treated in four groups: i) Control; ii) TGF-β1 (1 ng/ml); iii) 100% CGFe; and iv) TGF-β1 (1 ng/ml) + 100% CGFe group. hDPSC viability was measured via MTT assay. The osteogenic differentiation of hDPSCs was quantified via alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR assays. CGFe and TGF-β1 enhanced hDPSC viability, upregulated ALP activity, upregulated the expression of phosphorylated (p)-ERK1/2, p-JNK and p-p38 in hDPSCs, and promoted transcription and protein expression of osteogenic-related genes (bone sialoprotein, Runt-related transcription factor 2 and osteocalcin) in hDPSCs. The present study demonstrated that CGFe and TGF-β1 facilitated the viability and osteogenic differentiation of hDPSCs potentially through activation of the MAPK signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] New strategies are urgently needed for developing vaccines and/or anti-viral drugs against influenza viruses, because antigenic shift and drift inevitably occurs in circulating strains each year, and new strains resistant to anti-viral drugs have recently emerged. In our study, we designed and incorporated artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) into the NA segment of rescued influenza viruses to separately target two host genes, Cdc2-like kinase 1 (CLK1) and SON DNA binding protein (SON), which were found to play an essential role in virus replication. Mouse epithelial fibroblast (MEF) or human lung carcinoma A549 cells infected with engineered influenza PR8 viruses expressing amiR-30CLK1 (PR8-amiR-30CLK1) or amiR-93SON (PR8-amiR-93SON) had reduced expression of host proteins CLK1 and SON, respectively. All engineered influenza viruses functioned as attenuated vaccines, induced significantly higher antibody responses, and provided greater protective efficacy. In addition, they were found to be safe, based on the mouse weight changes and clinical signs observed. In contrast to the engineered viruses targeting SON, mice treated with engineered viruses targeting CLK1 recovered from weight loss and survived lethal infection by 6 h after lethal-dose PR8 infection, suggesting that our PR8-amiR-30CLK1 self-attenuated influenza virus (SAIV) could be used as a new therapeutic influenza vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrients play important roles in the growth and development of most plant species. However, in perennial trees, the function of nutrients in different genotypes is poorly understood. Three different nutrient levels (low, sufficient, and high nutrient levels) were applied to two contrasting Eucalyptus urophylla cultivars (a high-growth cultivar ZQUA44 and a low-growth cultivar ZQUB15), and growth and expression levels were analyzed. Although the growth traits of both genotypes under nutrient starvation treatment were much lower than under abundant nutrients, tree height, crown width, and biomass of different ZQUA44 tissues were much higher than those of ZQUB15 at all three nutrient levels. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) clustered into six subclusters based on their expression patterns, and functional annotation showed that the DEGs involved in glutathione metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis may be responsible for nutrient starvation across different genotypes, while the DEGs involved in carotenoid biosynthesis and starch and sucrose metabolism may have a range of functions in different genotypes. The DEGs encoding the MYB-related family may be responsible for nutrient deficiency in all genotypes, while B3 may have different functions in different genotypes. Our results demonstrate that different genotypes may form different pathways to coordinate plant survival when they face abiotic stresses.