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Abstract The genus Flavivirus comprises numerous emerging and re‐emerging arboviruses causing human illness. Vaccines are the best approach to prevent flavivirus diseases. But pathogen diversities are always one of the major hindrances for timely development of new vaccines when confronting unpredicted flavivirus outbreaks. We used West Nile virus (WNV) as a model to develop a new live‐attenuated vaccine (LAV), WNV‐poly(A), by replacing 5ʹ portion (corresponding to SL and DB domains in WNV) of 3ʹ‐UTR with internal poly(A) tract. WNV‐poly(A) not only propagated efficiently in Vero cells, but also was highly attenuated in mouse model. A single‐dose vaccination elicited robust and long‐lasting immune responses, conferring full protection against WNV challenge. Such “poly(A)” vaccine strategy may be promising for wide application in the development of flavivirus LAVs because of its general target regions in flaviviruses.

To explore the signal transmission mechanism of the arbuscular mycorrhizal network against root rot of Salvia miltiorrhiza. In this experiment, the arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal network was established among Salvia miltiorrhiza plants, and a two plant three-compartment culture model was established. The root of the donor Salvia miltiorrhiza was inoculated with the pathogenic fungi Fusarium solani. The changes of hormone signals such as jasmonic acid and salicylic acid and the expression of related defense genes in the recipient Salvia miltiorrhiza plants in different periods were measured, to study the underground disease resistance signal transmission mechanism among medicinal plants. Salvia miltiorrhiza can transmit the signal of resistance to root rot through the jasmonic acid pathway; When plants suffer from disease stress, the content of JA increases significantly, and the increase of JA content will inhibit the content of SA in plants; The gene expression of PR-10 gene in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza with arbuscular mycorrhizal network infected by pathogenic fungi was 17.56 times higher than that inoculated only with pathogenic fungi; Changes in hormone content will also cause changes in the expression of related defense genes, such as SnRK2 is inhibited by ABA in the signal transduction pathway, while JA and ABA show antagonistic changes after inoculation of pathogenic fungi in Salvia miltiorrhiza, so JA may positively regulate the expression of SnRK2 gene. Plants can transmit signals through AM hyphal network after being stressed by the pathogen Fusarium solani. In the arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal network, JA has important significance for the signal transmission of resistance to root rot and disease resistance of Salvia miltiorrhiza, which can make Salvia miltiorrhiza ready for stress resistance and improve the stress resistance of Salvia miltiorrhiza. This experiment is of great significance to further analyze the signal transmission mechanism of the arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome the disadvantages of inhomogeneous microstructures and poor mechanical properties of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloys, a novel technique of hybrid deposition and synchronous micro-rolling is proposed. The micro-rolling leads to equiaxed prior β grains, thin discontinuous intergranular a, and equiaxed primary α, in contrast to the coarse columnar prior β grains without the application of micro-rolling. The recrystallization by micro-rolling results in discontinuous intergranular α via the mechanism of strain and interface-induced grain boundary migration. The evolution of α globularization, driven by a solute concentration gradient, starts from the sub-boundary until the formation of equiaxed primary α. Simultaneous strengthening and toughening are achieved, which means an increase in yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, fracture elongation, and work hardening rate. The formation of α recrystallization leads to more fine grain boundaries to strengthen the yield strength, and the improvement of ductility is due to the better-coordinated deformation ability of discontinuous intergranular α and equiaxed primary α. As a result, the fracture mode in micro-rolling changes from intergranular type to transgranular type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the optimal methods for the protoplast preparation and regeneration of Hirsutella sinensis by optimizing the limiting factors. Results: During the treatment of enzymatic protoplast preparation, mycelium cultured for 7 days was the optimal start material. The maximum protoplast preparation rate of 4.3 × 107 protoplasts/g fresh weight (FW) was obtained after 0.5 h treatment of 1 mg/ml mixed lytic enzymes in KH2PO4-K2HPO4 buffer (pH 5.5) with 0.6 M KCl at 18 °C. As for the protoplast regeneration, the maximum protoplast regeneration rate reached 12.32% through 5 × 103 protoplasts mL−1 cultivated for 20 days in the regeneration medium with 0.6 M mannitol and 1.5% agar. Conclusions: The preparation and regeneration of H. sinensis protoplasts was firstly established based on process optimization and it provided a foundation for the study of H. sinensis mutagenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active fluids comprised of autonomous spinning units injecting energy and angular momentum at the microscopic level represent a promising platform for active materials design. The complexity of the accessible dynamic states is expected to dramatically increase in the case of chiral active units. Here, we use shape anisotropy of colloidal particles to introduce chiral rollers with activity-controlled curvatures of their trajectories and spontaneous handedness of their motion. By controlling activity through variations of the energizing electric field, we reveal emergent dynamic phases, ranging from a gas of spinners to aster-like vortices and rotating flocks, with either polar or nematic alignment of the particles. We demonstrate control and reversibility of these dynamic states by activity. Our findings provide insights into the onset of spatial and temporal coherence in a broad class of active chiral systems, both living and synthetic, and hint at design pathways for active materials based on self-organization and reconfigurability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first report on the coating of diamond dicing blades with metallic glass (MG) coating to reduce chipping when used to cut Si, SiC, sapphire, and patterned sapphire substrates (PSS). The low coefficient-of-friction (CoF) of Zr-based MG-coated dicing blades was shown to reduce the number and size of chips, regardless of the target substrate. Overall, SiC, sapphire and PSS were most affected by chipping, due to the fact that higher cutting forces were needed for the higher hardness of SiC, sapphire and PSS. Compared to the bare blade, the MG coating provided the following reductions in chipping area: Si (~ 23%), SiC (~ 36%), sapphire (~ 45%), and PSS (~ 33%). The proposed coating proved particularly effective in reducing chips of larger size (> 41 µm in chipping width), as indicated by an ~ 80% reduction when cutting sapphire. Small variations in kerf angle and depth demonstrate the durability of the coated blades, which would no doubt enhance consistency in dicing performance and extend the blade lifespan. Finite-element modeling revealed significant reductions in tensile stress and elastic–plastic deformation during dicing, thanks to a lower CoF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigated the effect of thermal-treatment under an Ar atmosphere on the structural evolution of silicon oxycarbide-derived carbons (SiOC-DCs) by adjusting the temperature from 1200 to 2100°C , which will be characterized by means of N2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction, Raman and transmission electron microscopy techniques, and studied their CO2 capture performances. The results show that the structure of SiOC-DCs varied regularly with treatment temperature. The porosity and crystallinity of the as-received sample are almost stable when the thermal-treatment temperature is < 1500°C . Subsequently, increasing the temperature (especially up to 1800°C ) will lead to an obvious improvement in the carbon crystallinity at the cost of pore structure breakage, which can be characterized by a quick decrease in the surface area and total pore volume of SiOC-DCs. Interestingly, the as-received SiOC-DC sample exhibits good CO2 capture performance at 0°C under ambient pressure, up to 3.16 mmol g–1. The thermal-treatment process under an Ar atmosphere in the range of 1200–1500°C could further help in increasing the CO2 adsorption ability by increasing the ultra-micropore ( d < 0.6 nm ) volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Hi-C technology is one of the most popular tools for studying 3D genome organization, due to sequencing cost, the resolution of most Hi-C datasets are coarse and cannot be used to link distal regulatory elements to their target genes. Here we develop HiCPlus, a computational approach based on deep convolutional neural network, to infer high-resolution Hi-C interaction matrices from low-resolution Hi-C data. We demonstrate that HiCPlus can impute interaction matrices highly similar to the original ones, while only using 1/16 of the original sequencing reads. We show that the models learned from one cell type can be applied to make predictions in other cell or tissue types. Our work not only provides a computational framework to enhance Hi-C data resolution but also reveals features underlying the formation of 3D chromatin interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean sprouts, a traditional vegetable in Asia, are gaining popularity in the United States. Soybean sprout demand has been supplied by natto (a Japanese soyfood) cultivars that share some seed characteristics with sprout cultivars. However, natto seeds do not meet all requirements of sprouts and are rejected by sprout manufacturers. The objectives of this study were to evaluate important seed and sprout traits as potential selection criteria in breeding sprout soybeans and to study the storage effect on soybean sprout quality. Almost all genotypes produced thicker and longer hypocotyls and higher fresh-sprouts than ‘MFS-561’, a commercial soybean sprout variety. Hypocotyl length ranged from 13.8 to 16.2 cm. Four fungi genera Bipolarissp., Cercospora sp., Botrytissp. and Caethomium sp. were isolated from seeds. Cracked cotyledons and abnormal seedlings were the two main constraints affecting soybean sprout quality. Correlation coefficients among all traits indicated that percentage and weight of high- and average-quality sprouts would determine sprout yield. Acceptable yield and several traits were recommended to be used simultaneously while breeding superior sprout soybean cultivars. Good sprout varieties should produce high-quality sprouts [48%, average-quality sprouts\38%, low-quality sprouts\14%, sprout yield [5.7 g/g seed, hypocotyl thickness [1.6 cm and hypocotyl length [13 cm. One-year seed storage at room temperature reduced sprout quality. V09-3876 and V12-1939 had superior seed and sprout traits and are promising lines for further evaluation for sprout production. Seed storage over time affects seed germination and seedling vigor, and fungi on seed can cause reduced seed quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solid-liquid method was used to prepare the continuous casting of copper cladding aluminium by liquid aluminum alloy and solid copper, and the interfacial phase formation of Al-Cu bimetal at different pouring temperatures (700, 750, 800 °C) was investigated by means of metallograph, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) methods. The results showed that the pouring temperature of aluminum melt had an important influence on the element diffusion of Cu from the solid Cu to Al alloy melt and the reactions between Al and Cu, as well as the morphology of the Al-Cu interface. When the pouring temperature was 800 °C, there were abundant Al-Cu intermetallic compounds (IMCs) near the interface. However, a lower pouring temperature (700 °C) resulted in the formation of cavities which was detrimental to the bonding and mechanical properties. Under the conditions in this study, the good metallurgical bonding of Al-Cu was achieved at a pouring temperature of 750 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron is generally regarded as an unavoidable impurity in Al-Si casting alloys. The acicular Al3Fe and β-Al5FeSi (or Al9Si2Fe2) are common iron-containing intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in conventional structure which have a detrimental impact on the mechanical properties. In this paper, ultrasonic field (USF) was applied to modify acicular iron phases in Al-12%Si-2%Fe and Al-2%Fe alloys. The results show that the USF applied to Al-Fe alloys caused the morphological transformation of both primary and eutectic Al3Fe from acicular to blocky and granular without changes in their composition. In the case of Al-Si-Fe alloys, ultrasonic treatment led to both morphological and compositional conversion of the ternary iron IMCs. When the USF was applied, the acicular β-Al9Si2Fe2 was substituted by star-like α-Al12Si2Fe3. The modification rate of both binary and ternary iron IMCs relates to the USF treatment duration. The undercooling induced by the ultrasonic vibration contributes to the nucleation of intermetallics and can explain the transformation effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, the available treatments for long bone nonunion (LBN) are removing of focus of infection, bone marrow transplantation as well as Ilizarov methods etc. Due to a high percentage of failures, the treatments are complex and debated. To develop an effective method for the treatment of LBN, we explored the use of human autologous bone mesenchymal stems cells (hBMSCs) along with extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT). Materials and Methods: Sixty three patients of LBN were subjected to ESWT treatment and were divided into hBMSCs transplantation group (Group A, 32 cases) and simple ESWT treatment group (Group B, 31 cases). Results: The patients were evaluated for 12 months after treatment. In Group A, 14 patients were healed and 13 showed an improvement, with fracture healing rate 84.4%. In Group B, eight patients were healed and 13 showed an improvement, with fracture healing rate 67.7%. The healing rates of the two groups exhibited a significant difference (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference for the callus formation after 3 months treatment (P > 0.05). However, the callus formation in Group>0.05). A was significantly higher than that in the Group B after treatment for 6, 9, and 12 months (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Autologous bone mesenchymal stems cell transplantation with ESWT can effectively promote the healing of long bone nonunions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural, vibrational, and electronic properties of GaAs nanowires have been studied in the metastable wurtzite phase via Resonant Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements in diamond anvil cells under hydrostatic conditions between 0 and 23 GPa. The direct band gap E0 and the crystal field split-off gap E0 + Δ of wurtzite GaAs increase with pressure and their values become close to those of zinc-blende GaAs at 5 GPa, while being reported slightly larger at lower pressures. Above 21 GPa, a complete structural transition from the wurtzite to an orthorhombic phase is observed in both Raman and X-ray diffraction experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by Taichi, we proposed rigid-flexible coupling concept and herein developed a highly promising solid polymer electrolyte comprised of poly (ethylene oxide), poly (cyano acrylate), lithium bis(oxalate)borate and robust cellulose nonwoven. Our investigation revealed that this new class solid polymer electrolyte possessed comprehensive properties in high mechanical integrity strength, sufficient ionic conductivity (3 × 10-4 S cm-1) at 60°C and improved dimensional thermostability (up to 160°C). In addition, the lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4)/lithium (Li) cell using such solid polymer electrolyte displayed superior rate capacity (up to 6 C) and stable cycle performance at 80°C. Furthermore, the LiFePO4/Li battery could also operate very well even at an elevated temperature of 160°C, thus improving enhanced safety performance of lithium batteries. The use of this solid polymer electrolyte mitigates the safety risk and widens the operation temperature range of lithium batteries. Thus, this fascinating study demonstrates a proof of concept of the use of rigid-flexible coupling solid polymer electrolyte toward practical lithium battery applications with improved reliability and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercapacitors, as one of alternative energy devices, have been characterized by the rapid rate of charging and discharging, and high power density. But they are now challenged to achieve their potential energy density that is related to specific capacitance. Thus it is extremely important to make such materials with high specific capacitances. In this report, we have gained homogenous Ni(OH)2 on graphene by efficiently using of a facile and effective electrostatic induced stretch growth method. The electrostatic interaction triggers advantageous change in morphology and the ordered stacking of Ni(OH)2 nanosheets on graphene also enhances the crystallization of Ni(OH)2. When the as-prepared Ni(OH)2/graphene composite is applied to supercapacitors, they show superior electrochemical properties including high specific capacitance (1503 F g-1 at 2 mV s-1) and excellent cycling stability up to 6000 cycles even at a high scan rate of 50 mV s-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient electrocatalysts for many heterogeneous catalytic processes in energy conversion and storage systems must possess necessary surface active sites. Here we identify, from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, that controlling charge density redistribution via the atomic-scale incorporation of heteroatoms is paramount to import surface active sites. We engineer the deterministic nitrogen atoms inserting the bulk material to preferentially expose active sites to turn the inactive material into a sufficient electrocatalyst. The excellent electrocatalytic activity of N-In2O3 nanocrystals leads to higher performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) than the DSCs fabricated with Pt. The successful strategy provides the rational design of transforming abundant materials into high-efficient electrocatalysts. More importantly, the exciting discovery of turning the commonly used transparent conductive oxide (TCO) in DSCs into counter electrode material means that except for decreasing the cost, the device structure and processing techniques of DSCs can be simplified in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanisms underlying the retention of inorganicNin acidic forest soils in southern China are not well understood. Here, we simultaneously quantified the gross N transformation rates of various subtropical acidic forest soils located in southern China (southern soil) and those of temperate forest soils located in northern China (northern soil). We found that acidic southern soils had significantly higher gross rates ofN mineralization and significantly higher turnover rates but a much greater capacity for retaining inorganicN than northern soils. The rates of autotrophic nitrification and NH3 volatilization in acidic southern soils were significantly lower due to low soil pH. Meanwhile, the relatively higher rates of NO3 - immobilization into organic N in southern soils can counteract the effects of leaching, runoff, and denitrification. Taken together, these processes are responsible for the N enrichment of the humid subtropical forest soils in southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional crystalline β-MnO2 usually exhibits poor electrochemical activities due to the narrow tunnels in its rutile-type structure. In this study, we synthesized a novel 2D β-MnO2 network with long-range order assembled by β-MnO2 nanowires and demonstrated that the novel 2D β-MnO2 network exhibits enhanced electrochemical performances. The 2D network is interwoven by crossed uniform β-MnO2 nanowires and the angle between the adjacent nanowires is about 606. Such a novel structure makes efficient contact of β-MnO2 with electrolyte during the electrochemical process, decreases the polarization of the electrode and thus increases the discharge capacity and high-rate capability. The specific capacitance of the obtained 2D β-MnO2 network is 453.0 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex environmental conditions can significantly affect bacterial genome size by unknown mechanisms. The So0157-2 strain of Sorangium cellulosum is an alkaline-adaptive epothilone producer that grows across a wide pH range. Here, we show that the genome of this strain is 14,782,125 base pairs, 1.75-megabases larger than the largest bacterial genome from S. cellulosum reported previously. The total 11,599 coding sequences (CDSs) include massive duplications and horizontally transferred genes, regulated by lots of protein kinases, sigma factors and related transcriptional regulation co-factors, providing the So0157-2 strain abundant resources and flexibility for ecological adaptation. The comparative transcriptomics approach, which detected 90.7% of the total CDSs, not only demonstrates complex expression patterns under varying environmental conditions but also suggests an alkaline-improved pathway of the insertion and duplication, which has been genetically testified, in this strain. These results provide insights into and a paradigm for how environmental conditions can affect bacterial genome expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreaticojejunostomy is the key procedure of pancreaticoduodenectomy. Our study introduced a new pancreaticojejunal (PJ) anastomosis named "papillary-like main pancreatic duct invaginated" pancreaticojejunostomy. Nighty-two patients underwent pancreaticojejunostomy with either conventional duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy or the new "papillary-like main pancreatic duct invaginated" techniques were analyzed retrospectively from January 2010 to September 2012. The incidence of pancreatic fistula was 15.7% (8/51) for the "papillary-like main pancreatic duct invaginated" group and 19.5% (8/41) for the duct-to-mucosa fashion respectively. It is noteworthy that the rate of grade B/C postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) in the "papillary-like main pancreatic duct invaginated" group was significantly lower than that of the duct-to-mucosa group (P = 0.039). There were no differences in the incidence of postoperative morbidity and mortality such as postoperative hemorrhage, delayed gastric emptying or remnant pancreatitis. The "papillary-like main pancreatic duct invaginated" pancreaticojejunostomy could provide a feasible option to pancreatic surgeons for patients with normal soft pancreas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N-Terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is an important marker for heart failure that reflects ventricular volume expansion, ventricular overload and the degree of cardiac injury. To establish a sensitive and simple detection method for it in serum, a regeneration-free immunosensor with novel Fab fragment monoclonal antibodies was prepared. The sensor detected NT-proBNP from 0.04 to 2.5 ng/ml with a limit of 0.03 ng/ml. The immunosensor is therefore a simple, cost-effective method to detect NT-proBNP and the proposed immunoassay system would enable other proteins to be detected and open new opportunities for protein diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the world's most important non-grain food crop and is central to global food security. It is clonally propagated, highly heterozygous, autotetraploid, and suffers acute inbreeding depression. Here we use a homozygous doubled-monoploid potato clone to sequence and assemble 86% of the 844-megabase genome. We predict 39,031 protein-coding genes and present evidence for at least two genome duplication events indicative of a palaeopolyploid origin. As the first genome sequence of an asterid, the potato genome reveals 2,642 genes specific to this large angiosperm clade. We also sequenced a heterozygous diploid clone and show that gene presence/absence variants and other potentially deleterious mutations occur frequently and are a likely cause of inbreeding depression. Gene family expansion, tissue-specific expression and recruitment of genes to new pathways contributed to the evolution of tuber development. The potato genome sequence provides a platform for genetic improvement of this vital crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (PST), is one of the most important diseases of common wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.). China has the largest stripe rust epidemic areas in the world and yield losses can be large. Aegilops tauschii Coss, the D-genome progenitor of common wheat, includes two subspecies, tauschii and strangulata (Eig) Tzvel. The ssp. strangulata accession AS2388 is highly resistant to the prevailing physiological races of PST in China, and possesses a single dominant gene for stripe rust resistance. In order to tag this gene, AS2388 was crossed with the highly susceptible ssp. tauschii accession AS87. The parents, F plants, and F families were tested at adult plant stage in field trials with six currently prevailing races. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers were used to identify molecular markers linked to the resistance gene. SSR markers Xwmc285 and Xwmc617 were linked to the resistance gene on chromosome arm 4DS flanking it at 1.7 and 34.6 cM, respectively. Based on the chromosomal location, this gene temporarily designated as YrAS2388 is probably novel. The resistance in Ae. tauschii AS2388 was partially expressed in two newly developed synthetic hexaploid backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

high-order curvature-compensated BiCMOS bandgap voltage reference using piecewise-exponential compensation technique is presented in this paper. The circuit utilizes a variable gain current mirror to realize exponential compensation as well as a common emitter amplifier with local feedback to achieve a second correction. Implemented in 0.5-μm BCD process, the proposed voltage reference consumes a supply current of 17.5 μA at 2.5 V. A temperature coefficient(TC) of 1.3 ppm/°C, PSRR of more than 76 dB at low frequencies and a line regulation of 160 ppm/V from 2.5 to 5 V are easily achieved, which make it applied widely in portable equipments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors are equally effective compared to nonselective NSAIDs for the prevention of heterotopic ossification (HO) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) is still unclear. We carried out a comprehensive search strategy, in which only randomised controlled trials were included. Two reviewers independently assessed methodological quality and extracted outcome data. Analyses were performed using Stata version 10.0. Four eligible randomised controlled trials totalling 808 patients were included. Meta-analysis results showed that no statistically significant difference was found in overall incidence of HO (RR 1.08; 95% CI 0.71-1.64), incidence of moderate severe HO (Brooker II and III) (RR 0.83; 95% CI 0.48-1.42) and any grade of Brooker classification between two groups. In summary, the selective COX-2 inhibitors are equally effective as nonselective NSAIDs for the prevention of HO after THA. Considering the gastrointestinal side effects of nonselective NSAIDs, we recommend selective COX-2 inhibitors for the prevention of HO after THA. However, future well-designed, randomised controlled trials are still needed to further confirm our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B7-H3, a member of the B7-family molecules, plays an important role in adaptive immune responses, and was shown to either promote or inhibit T-cell responses in various experimental systems. B7-H3 was expressed in some human cancers and correlated with poor outcome of cancer patients. However, its exact role in cancer is not known. In the present study, we studied the expression of B7-H3 in the pathologic specimens of 102 patients treated for colorectal carcinoma (CRC) by immunohistochemistry. Strong B7-H3 expression was found in cancer tissues from 54.3% CRC patients, while minimal expression was found in adjacent normal colorectal tissues. Higher B7-H3 expression in tumor positively correlated with a more advanced tumor grade. In addition, consistent with a role of B7-H3 in suppressing tumor immune surveillance, the expression of B7-H3 in cancer cells negatively correlated with the intensity of tumor infiltrating T lymphocytes in both tumor nest and tumor stroma. Furthermore, we found that the level of soluble B7-H3 in sera from CRC patients was higher than healthy donors. TNF-α, an important cancer-promoting inflammatory molecule, was subsequently found to significantly increase the release of soluble B7-H3 in colon cancer cell lines. Therefore, our data suggest that both soluble and membranous B7-H3 proteins are involved in colon cancer progression and evasion of cancer immune surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity of food-grade soybeans is critical for utilization of genetic resources in cultivar development, germplasm enhancement, and end-product commercialization. The objective of this study was to assess seed quality attributes and phenotypic variability among 54 U.S. and 51 Asian food-grade cultivars and breeding lines. The results showed greater genetic diversity of protein content, calcium content, seed hardness, and seed size uniformity than other quality traits in both small- and large-seeded genotypes evaluated in this study. Among the small-seeded soybeans, the U.S. genotypes were more diverse and exhibited higher swell ratio and oil content but lower stone seed ratio and protein content than Asian accessions. Among the large-seeded accessions, U.S. genotypes had higher stone seed ratio and oil content but lower swell ratio and protein content, and were less diverse than Asian genotypes. The characterization of diverse food-grade soybeans will facilitate parent selection in specialty soybean breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene contains a functional polymorphism (Val158Met) affecting the activity of the enzyme, and the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene contains a VNTR polymorphism (MAOA-uVNTR) that affects the transcription of the gene. COMT and MAOA each contribute to the enzymatic degradation of dopamine and noradrenaline. Prefrontal cortical (PFC) function, which plays an important role in individual cognitive abilities, including intelligence, is modulated by dopamine. Since our previous association studies between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and these two functional polymorphisms consistently showed the low activity alleles were preferentially transmitted to inattentive ADHD boys, the goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the interaction between COMT Val158Met and MAOA-uVNTR may affect the intelligence in a clinical sample of Chinese male ADHD subjects ( n = 264). We found that the COMT × MAOA interaction significantly predicted full scale (FSIQ) and performance (PIQ) IQ scores ( P = 0.039, 0.011); the MAOA-uVNTR significantly predicted FSIQ, PIQ and verbal IQ (VIQ) ( P = 0.009, 0.019, 0.038); COMT Val158Met independently had no effect on any of the IQ scores. Only the COMT × MAOA interaction for PIQ remained significant after a Bonferroni correction. Among all combined genotypes, the valval-3R genotype predicted higher intelligence, (average 106.7 ± 1.6, 95% C.I. 103.7–109.8 for FSIQ), and the valval-4R predicted lower intelligence (average 98.0 ± 2.3, 95% C.I. 93.5–102.6 for FSIQ). These results suggest that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between intelligence and dopaminergic activity in our sample. Our finding that gene–gene interaction between COMT and MAOA predicts the intelligence of ADHD boys in China is intriguing but requires replication in other samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese bayberry ( Myrica rubra) is a fruit crop with cultivars producing fruit ranging from white (Shuijing, SJ) to red (Dongkui, DK) and dark red-purple (Biqi, BQ), as a result of different levels of anthocyanin accumulation. Genes encoding the anthocyanin biosynthesis enzymes chalcone synthase, chalcone isomerase, flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase (F3′H), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) and UDP-glucose:flavonoid 3- O-glucosyltransferase (UFGT), as well as MrMYB1, a R2R3 MYB transcription factor homologous to known activators of anthocyanin biosynthesis, were isolated from ripe fruit of BQ. Differences in mRNA abundance of MrF3H, MrF3′H, MrDFR1, MrANS and MrUFGT were highly correlated with differential accumulation of anthocyanins between cultivars, suggesting coordinated regulation by transcription factors. The transcript level of MrMYB1 was strongly associated with the anthocyanin content in ripe fruit of the three cultivars, as well as different anthocyanin containing tissues of BQ fruit. Fruit bagging strongly inhibited anthocyanin accumulation in fruit as well as the expression of all anthocyanin biosynthetic genes and MrMYB1. Over-expression of MrMYB1 stimulated both anthocyanin accumulation and activated an Arabidopsis-DFR promoter in tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum). MrMYB1d, an allele with a 1 bp deletion at nucleotide 30 of coding sequence, was observed in SJ and DK fruit, suggesting that a nonsense mutation of the MYB1 protein may be responsible for no or low expression of MYB1 in the white and red fruit. These results show that coordinated expression of multiple biosynthetic genes is involved in anthocyanin accumulation in Chinese bayberry fruit, and this is regulated by MrMYB1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  This paper proposed a new high-order curvature compensation technique for a new bandgap voltage reference structure using the temperature characteristics of current gain β and emitter bandgap narrowing factor ΔE G of a lateral NPN bipolar transistor. The new structure can produce two voltage references, which are 1.209 and 2.418 V, respectively. The simulation results show that the temperature coefficients of the two output voltage are 0.52 ppm/°C, the PSRR is more than 60 dB for frequencies at 10 kHz, and the circuit dissipates 0.18 mW with 5-V supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Three independent techniques have been used to investigate the interaction between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and xanthoxylin (XT). UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy measurements showed that there is a XT-BSA complex formed with an overall binding constant of K=1.01×105 L⋅mol−1. Spectroscopic techniques including synchronous fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) were used to assess the structural effects of XT binding on BSA. The FT-IR experiments showed that there is a decrease of the amount of α-helix from 50.2 to 48.1% and an increase of the β-sheet from 32.9 to 36.9% in the XT-BSA complex. In addition, XT binds to site I of the protein with a distance of 2.07 nm between tryptophan residues and XT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study on a ribonucleic acid (RNA)-splicing mutation in TRAPPC2 gene identified in a large Chinese family with X-linked spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda (SEDT). The proband of the family is a 38-year-old man who has been experiencing chronic pain at joints that bear weight. Family members were subjected to blood analysis in which genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted and total RNA was isolated. It concludes that clear quantitative genotype-phenotype correlation for the mutation of TRAPPC2 gene is yet to be determined.

Growth factor independence 1 (GFI1) is important for maturation of mammalian lymphocytes and neutrophils and maintenance of adult hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The role of GFI1 in embryonic hematopoiesis is less well characterized. Through an enhancer trap screen and bioinformatics analysis, we identified a zebrafish homolog of Gfi1 (named gfi1.1) and analyzed its function during embryonic development. Expression of both an endogenous gfi1.1 gene and a GFP reporter gene inserted near its genomic locus was detected in hematopoietic cells of zebrafish embryos. Morpholino (MO) knockdown of gfi1.1 reduced expression of scl, lmo2, c-myb, mpo, rag1, gata1 and hemoglobin alpha embryonic-1 (hbae1), as well as the total amount of embryonic hemoglobin, but increased expression of pu.1 and l-plastin. Under the same conditions, MO injection did not affect the markers involved in vascular and pronephric development. Conversely, overexpression of gfi1.1 via mRNA injection enhanced expression of gata1 but inhibited expression of pu.1. These findings suggest that Gfi1.1 plays a critical role in regulating the balance of embryonic erythroid and myeloid lineage determination, and is also required for the differentiation of lymphocytes and granulocytes during zebrafish embryogenesis.Cell Research (2008) 18:677–685. doi: 10.1038/cr.2008.60; published online May 27 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ripening fruit of two loquat ( Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) cultivars with different levels of lignin accumulation provide an intriguing example of lignification in flesh tissue. Increase in firmness as a result of lignification in ripening red-fleshed Luoyangqing (LYQ) fruit was confirmed, whereas white-fleshed Baisha (BS) fruit softened without lignification. Six cDNAs associated with the lignification pathway, i.e. EjPAL1, EjPAL2 (phenylalanine ammonia lyase, PAL, EC 4.3.1.5), Ej4CL (4-coumarate: coenzyme A ligase, 4CL, EC 6.2.1.12), EjCAD1, EjCAD2 (cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, CAD, EC 1.1.1.195) and EjPOD (peroxidase, POD), were cloned from flesh tissue of LYQ fruit. Expression profiles of the six corresponding genes differed greatly in different tissues, and during fruit development and ripening in both LYQ and BS cultivars. Associated activities of PAL, 4CL, CAD, and POD enzymes were also measured. CAD and POD enzyme activities and the expression of EjCAD1 and EjPOD genes were most closely associated temporally with lignification of loquat flesh tissue. Levels of EjCAD1 transcripts were particularly aligned with changes in lignification during ripening as modified either by ethylene treatment or low temperature conditioning. The two PAL genes showed different expression patterns during fruit development, with EjPAL1 strongly expressed in mature fruit and EjPAL2 only expressed in early stages of development. In addition, EjCAD1 expression was stimulated by low temperature and may contribute to low temperature injury in the fruit. Our integrated data on lignin, monolignol precursors, and associated enzymes and genes, provide a consistent model of fruit lignification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering two assumptions on the molecular state, i.e. the S-wave Λ̄–K- and S-wave Σ̄0–K- molecular states, we study the possible decays of N̄X(1625) that include N̄X(1625)→K-Λ̄,π0p̄,ηp̄,π-n̄. Our results indicate that (1) if N̄X(1625) is the Λ̄–K- molecular state, K-Λ̄ is the main decay mode of N̄X(1625), and the branching ratios of the rest decay modes are tiny; (2) if N̄X(1625) is the Σ̄0–K- molecular state, the branching ratio of N̄X(1625)→K-Λ̄ is one or two orders smaller than that of N̄X(1625)→π0p̄,ηp̄,π-n̄. Thus the search for N̄X(1625)→π0p̄,ηp̄,π-n̄ will be helpful to shed light on the nature of N̄X(1625). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mercaptoacetic acid (MAA)-modified cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticle was synthesized in aqueous solution and used as an oligonucleotide label for the electrochemical detection of nopaline synthase (NOS) terminator gene sequence. The carboxyl groups on the surface of the CdS nanoparticle can be easily covalently linked with NH2-modified NOS oligonucleotide probe sequences. The target ssDNA sequence was fixed onto the electrode surface by covalently linking to a mercaptoethanol self-assembled gold electrode, and the DNA hybridization of target ssDNA with probe ssDNA was accomplished on the electrode surface. The CdS nanoparticles anchored on the hybrids were dissolved in the solution by the oxidation with HNO3 and further detected by a sensitive differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetric method. The detection results can be used for monitoring the hybridization, and the NOS target sequence was satisfactorily detected in the approximate range from 8.0 × 10−12 to 4.0 × 10−9 mol L−1 with a detection limit of 2.75 × 10−12 mol L−1 (3 σ). The established method extended the nanoparticle-labeled electrochemical DNA analysis to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) specific sequence samples with higher sensitivity and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine bacterial community composition in rhizosphere of plants colonizing on mine tailings and phylogenetic differences between subcommunities resistant to different metals, we constructed four clone libraries of 16S rDNA sequences. One was amplified directly from tailing microbial DNA (named as Ci library) and three from cultures on the plates containing of 0.5 mM CdCl2 (Cd library), 2 mM Pb (NO3)2 (Pb library), and without any metals (Cw library). In total, nine bacterial divisions and two unclassified groups were identified from 352 clones of these libraries. Ci clones covered eight divisions, whereas all cultivable clones only covered four divisions. Thus, Ci library provided more phylogenetic diversity than cultivable libraries. However, the microbes represented by the cultivable clones were more similar to previously described bacteria than those represented by Ci clones. All Ci clones were not found in three cultivable libraries. Cd library were exclusively Gram-negative bacteria of Acinetobacter, Ralstonia, Comamonas, and Chryseobacterium. Meanwhile, dominant Gram-positive bacteria in Pb library, Paenibacillus and Bacillus, were also not found in Cd library. Our data indicate that phylogenetic structure was very different from those in acid mine drainage. Meanwhile, tailings harbored phylogenetically distinct subcommunities resistant to Pb and Cd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endemic fluorosis was investigated and studied in the west region of the Songnen plain, Northeast China in 2001–2002. The results showed that the fluorine distribution in aquatic environment was that the fluorine concentrations in the lake water and unconfined ground water were higher than that in the river water and confined ground water. The lake water (Alkali lake) is connected with unconfined ground water. In unconfined ground water, from the east and southeast areas to the west and the northwest areas of the plain, fluorine concentration fluctuated with high and low alternatively. The fluorine in the water comes from the weathering of rocks and minerals in the mountains and hills around the Songnen Plain. The main influence factors of the fluorine distribution in aquatic environment are discussed. Unconfined ground water containing high fluorine is used as drinking water. In this region, the fluorine concentration in drinking water is evidently correlated to the morbidity of dental and skeletal fluorosis. High fluorine concentration in drinking water has endangered human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel Nylon-6 fiber with the anti-adhesion of seaweeds was prepared for the use of fishnet by the technique of graft modification. The modification was performed by UV radiation-induced graft polymerization of Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) onto Nylon-6 fibers, and to form crosslinked PAA hydrogels on the surface of them. The structure of the anti-adhesion fibers was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The mechanical properties and water retention capacity were measured, respectively. Three kinds of seaweeds (Chlorella, Dunaliella and Chrysophyte) were employed to evaluate the inhibitory effects on the adhesion. The results showed that Nylon-6 fibers modified by PAA hydrogels had a strong effect on the adhesion of the three kinds of seaweeds. The effects were improved with the increase of the grafting amount. Results from the mechanical analysis revealed that the tensile strength of the modified fibers decreased, however, the ratio of elongation increased with the increase of the grafting amount. The novel fibers also showed a good water retention capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usefulness of half-Heusler (HH) alloys as thermoelectrics has been mainly limited by their relatively large thermal conductivity, which is a key issue despite their high thermoelectric power factors. In this regard, Bi-containing half-Heusler alloys are particularly appealing, because they are, potentially, of low thermal conductivity. One such a material is ZrCoBi. We prepared pure and Ni-doped ZrCoBi by a solid-state reaction. To evaluate thermoelectric potential we measured electrical resistivity (ρ = 1/σ) and thermopower (σ) up to 1000 K and thermal conductivity (κ) up to 300 K. Our measurements indicate that for these alloys resistivity of approximately a few mΩ cm and thermopower larger than a hundred µV K-1 are possible. Low κ values are also possible. On the basis of these data we conclude that this system has a potential to be optimized further, despite the low power factors (α²σT) we have currently measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mo3Sb7, crystallizing in the Ir3Ge7 type structure, has poor thermoelectric (TE) properties due to its metallic behavior. However, by a partial Sb-Te exchange, it becomes semiconducting without noticeable structure changes and so achieves a significant enhancement in the thermopower with the composition of Mo3Sb5Te2. Meanwhile, large cubic voids in the Mo3Sb5Te2 crystal structure provide the possibility of filling the voids with small cations to decrease the thermal conductivity by the so-called rattling effect. As part of the effort to verify this idea, we report herein the growth as well as measurements of the thermal and electrical transport properties of Mo3Sb5.4Te1.6 and Ni0.06Mo3Sb5.4Te1.6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently the Babar Collaboration reported a new cs̄ state, DsJ(2860), and the Belle Collaboration observed DsJ(2715). We investigate the strong decays of the excited cs̄ states using the 3 P 0 model. After comparing the theoretical decay widths and decay patterns with the available experimental data, we are inclined to conclude that: (1) DsJ(2715) is probably the 1-(13 D 1) cs̄ state, although the 1-(23 S 1) assignment is not completely excluded; (2) DsJ(2860) seems unlikely to be the 1-(23 S 1) and 1-(13 D 1) candidate; (3) to consider DsJ(2860) either as a 0+(23 P 0) or as a 3-(13 D 3) cs̄ state is consistent with the experimental data; (4) the experimental search of DsJ(2860) in the channels Dsη, DK*, D*K and Ds *η will be crucial to distinguish the above two possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  A dual complex pole-zero cancellation (DCPC) frequency compensation technique with gain enhanced stage (GES) for three-stage amplifier is proposed in this paper. It uses one pair of complex zeros to cancel one pair of complex poles, resulting in feature that the frequency response of three-stage amplifier exhibits that of a single-pole system. Meanwhile, the effective transconductance of output stage can be greatly increased by several times which are equal to gain of GES, and the power dissipation can be decreased when a GES is introduced. Thus the gain-bandwidth (GBW) is expected to be increased about 10 times compared to the conventional nested miller compensation (NMC) approach. Moreover, this technique requires only one very small compensation capacitor even when driving a large load capacitor. A GBW of 1.23 MHz, DC gain of 111 dB, PM of 86° and power dissipation of 0.29 mW can be achieved for a load capacitor of 500 pF with a single Miller compensation capacitor of 14 pF at a ± 1 V supply in a standard 0.6-μm CMOS technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study on the problem of controllability in infinite delay systems. A fixed point theorem is used to study the controllability in the system. A compact map or homotopy is constructed to illustrate if there is an a priori bound, established by means of a Liapunov functional or applying an integral inequality, on all possible solutions of the companion control system. Such a delay factor can essentially improve the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the system in many aspects.

In order to improve the training speed of multilayer feedforward neural networks (MLFNN), we propose and explore two new fast backpropagation (BP) algorithms obtained: (1) by changing the error functions, in case using the exponent attenuation (or bell impulse) function and the Fourier kernel function as alternative functions; and (2) by introducing the hybrid conjugate-gradient algorithm of global optimization for dynamic learning rate to overcome the conventional BP learning problems of getting stuck into local minima or slow convergence. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the modified error functions since the training speed is faster than that of existing fast methods. In addition, our hybrid algorithm has a higher recognition rate than the Polak-Ribieve conjugate gradient and conventional BP algorithms, and has less training time, less complication and stronger robustness than the Fletcher-Reeves conjugate-gradient and conventional BP algorithms for real speech data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model based on the Biot theory for simulating coupled hydro-dynamic behavior in saturated-unsaturated porous media was utilized with integration of the inertial coupling effect between the solid-fluid phases of the media into the model. Stationary instability and dispersivity of wave propagation in the media in one-dimensional problem were analyzed. The effects of the following factors on stationary instability and dispersivity were discussed. They are the viscous and inertial couplings between the solid and the fluid phases, compressibility of the mixture composed of solid grains and pore fluid, the degree of saturation, visco-plastic (rate dependent inelastic) constitutive behavior of the solid skeleton under high strain rate. The results and conclusion obtained by the present work will provide some bases or clues for overcoming the difficulties in numerical modelling of wave propagation in the media subjected to strong and shock loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]