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Background: Accumulation studies found that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a predominant cell in tumor microenvironment (TME), which function essentially during tumor progression. By releasing bioactive molecules, including circRNA, small extracellular vesicles (sEV) modulate immune cell functions in the TME, thereby affecting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression. Nevertheless, biology functions and molecular mechanisms of M2 macrophage-derived sEV circRNAs in NSCLC are unclear. Methods: Cellular experiments were conducted to verify the M2 macrophage-derived sEV (M2-EV) roles in NSCLC. Differential circRNA expression in M0 and M2-EV was validated by RNA sequencing. circFTO expression in NSCLC patients and cells was investigated via real-time PCR and FISH. The biological mechanism of circFTO in NSCLC was validated by experiments. Our team isolated sEV from M2 macrophages (M2Ms) and found that M2-EV treatment promoted NSCLC CP, migration, and glycolysis. Results: High-throughput sequencing found that circFTO was highly enriched in M2-EV. FISH and RT-qPCR confirmed that circFTO expression incremented in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. Clinical studies confirmed that high circFTO expression correlated negatively with NSCLC patient survival. Luciferase reporter analysis confirmed that miR-148a-3p and PDK4 were downstream targets of circFTO. circFTO knockdown inhibited NSCLC cell growth and metastasis in in vivo experiments. Downregulating miR-148a-3p or overexpressing PDK4 restored the malignancy of NSCLC, including proliferation, migration, and aerobic glycolysis after circFTO silencing. Conclusion: The study found that circFTO from M2-EV promoted NSCLC cell progression and glycolysis through miR-148a-3p/PDK4 axis. circFTO is a promising prognostic and diagnostic NSCLC biomarker and has the potential to be a candidate NSCLC therapy target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: B vitamins play essential roles in brain development and functionality; however, the effects of their deficiency during early life on mental health are not thoroughly understood. Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of a maternal deficiency of vitamin B6, B9 (folate), and B12 on behavioral changes in adult offspring. Methods: Female C57BL/6 J mice were put on a diet lacking vitamin B6, B9, B12, or the above three vitamins from pregnancy to weaning. The growth and developmental characteristics of both the pregnant mothers and offspring were collected. In the adult offspring, the serum levels of neuroactive substances were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The level of BDNF and dimethylated lysine 9 on histone H3 (H3K9me2) was detected by immunohistochemical staining. In addition, their depressive-like behaviors, anxiety-like behaviors, and sociability were recorded using sucrose preference, a forced swim, social interaction, tail suspension, and open field tests. Results: The maternal deficiency of the three B vitamins delayed offspring development. Compared to the controls, all of the groups showed decreased serum levels of 5-HT and neuropeptide Y. In the groups with deficiency of B9 or the three B vitamins, there were significant changes in sociability and social novelty preference. In groups with deficiencies in B9, B12, or all three B vitamins, the expression levels of BDNF and H3K9me2 in the hippocampus were significantly decreased. Conclusions: Maternal deficiencies of the major B vitamins caused changes in social behaviors in adult mice accompanied with epigenetic alterations in the brain and changes in the serum levels of neuroactive substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pullulanase (EC 3.2.1.41) is a starch-debranching enzyme in the α-amylase family and specifically cleaves α-1,6-glycosidic linkages in starch-type polysaccharides, such as pullulan, β-limited dextrin, glycogen, and amylopectin. It plays a key role in debranching and hydrolyzing starch completely, thus bring improved product quality, increased productivity, and reduced production cost in producing resistant starch, sugar syrup, and beer. Plenty of researches have been made with respects to the discovery of either thermophilic or mesophilic pullulanases, however, few examples meet the demand of industrial application. This review presents the progress made in the recent years from the first aspect of characteristics of pullulanases. The heterologous expression of pullulanases in different microbial hosts and the methods used to improve the expression effectiveness and the regulation of enzyme production are also described. Then, the function evolution of pullulanases from a protein engineering view is discussed. In addition, the immobilization strategy using novel materials is introduced to improve the recyclability of pullulanases. At the same time, we indicate the trends in the future research to facilitate the industrial application of pullulanases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of human society, the shortcomings of the existing transportation system become increasingly prominent, so people hope to use advanced technology to achieve intelligent transportation. However, the recognition rate of most methods of detecting video vehicles is too low and the process is complicated. This paper uses machine learning theory to design a variety of pattern classifiers, including Adaboost, SVM, RF, and SVR algorithms, to classify vehicles. Support vector regression (SVR) is a support vector regression algorithm based on the basic principles of support vector machine (SVM) and then generalized to the regression problem. This paper proposes a short-term traffic flow prediction model based on SVR and optimizes SVM parameters to form an improved SVR short-term traffic flow prediction model. It can be obtained from experiments that the classification error rate of support vector regression (SVR) is the lowest (3.22%). According to the prediction of morning and night peak hours, this paper concludes that the MAPE of SVR is reduced by 19.94% and 42.86%, respectively, and the RMSE is reduced by 29.71% and 47.22%, respectively. Experiments show that the improved algorithm can obtain the optimal parameter combination of SVR faster and better and can effectively improve the accuracy of traffic flow prediction. The target tracking pedestrian counting method proposed in this paper has significantly improved the counting accuracy. The calculation of HOG features can be further expanded, such as the selection of neighborhoods when calculating HOG features, and finally a more efficient pedestrian counting framework is implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Carbon nanotubes/polymerizable ionic liquid copolymer (CNTs/PIL) provides nucleation sites and inhibits the combination of microcellular structures. The increase in evaporate time improves the conductive network of composite foams. Electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) and specific EMI SE of the composite foam displays 69.9 dB and 211.5 dB/(g cm−3). Polarization, conduction and magnetic loss attenuate microwave energy.Lightweight microcellular polyurethane (TPU)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/ nickel-coated CNTs (Ni@CNTs)/polymerizable ionic liquid copolymer (PIL) composite foams are prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS). CNTs and Ni@CNTs modified by PIL provide more heterogeneous nucleation sites and inhibit the aggregation and combination of microcellular structure. Compared with TPU/CNTs, the TPU/CNTs/PIL and TPU/CNTs/Ni@CNTs/PIL composite foams with smaller microcellular structures have a high electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE). The evaporate time regulates the microcellular structure, improves the conductive network of composite foams and reduces the microcellular size, which strengthens the multiple reflections of electromagnetic wave. The TPU/10CNTs/10Ni@CNTs/PIL foam exhibits slightly higher SE values (69.9 dB) compared with TPU/20CNTs/PIL foam (53.3 dB). The highest specific EMI SE of TPU/20CNTs/PIL and TPU/10CNTs/10Ni@CNTs/PIL reaches up to 187.2 and 211.5 dB/(g cm−3), respectively. The polarization losses caused by interfacial polarization between TPU substrates and conductive fillers, conduction loss caused by conductive network of fillers and magnetic loss caused by Ni@CNT synergistically attenuate the microwave energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the performance of graphene (Gra) modified with ethoxycarbonyl ionic liquid (IL), chain mobility and crystallization kinetics of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), a series of PLLA nanocomposites have been prepared using solution-cast method. IL can improve the dispersion of Gra in PLLA matrix and the samples containing IL have higher growth rate of PLLA spherulite than neat PLLA does. PLLA/IL/Gra and PLLA/2Gra exhibit the same relaxation strength and time of αN relaxation that corresponds to the longest normal mode motion at 110−140 °C. PLLA/IL/Gra shows a faster crystallization rate than PLLA/2Gra does, which might be attributed to the Gra-imidazolium cation interaction in IL modified Gra, the significant dispersion effect of IL at Gra surface, and the increase of nuclei density of PLLA/IL/Gra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to extend the application of epoxy vitrimer, 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (CHDA) was used as a co-curing agent and structure modifier for sebacic acid (SA) cured diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy vitrimer to tailor the mechanical properties of epoxy vitrimers with 1,5,7-triazabicylo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD) as a transesterification catalyst. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of vitrimer increased gradually with the increase in CHDA content. Vitrimers behaved from elastomer to tough and hard plastics were successfully achieved by varying the feed ratio of CHDA to SA. Both the Young’s modulus and storage modulus increased apparently with the increase in CHDA content. Stress relaxation measurement indicated that more prominent stress relaxation occurred at elevated temperatures and the stress relaxation decreased with the increase of CHDA content due to the reduced mobility of the vitrimer backbone. The vitrimers showed excellent recyclability as evidenced by the unchanged gel fraction and mechanical properties after compression molded for several times. With tunable mechanical properties, the epoxy vitrimers may find extensive potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new crystalline luminescent sodium gallium borate, namely, NaGaBO(OH) (1), has been successfully synthesized through a surfactant-thermal method, and characterized by single-crystal X-ray structural analysis, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Crystal data for 1: monoclinic, C2/ c, a = 9.9918(8) Å, b = 8.4550(8) Å, c = 26.596(3) Å, β = 94.279(6), V = 2240.6(3), Z = 4. Compound 1 displays a 3D framework and contains two different oxoboron framework building blocks, namely BO(OH) and BO(OH) units, linked by oxo bridges or by tetrahedral Ga centres. To date, the use of surfactant media in the synthesis of metal borates is relatively unexplored. Compounds 1 emits blue luminescence. UV-Vis spectral investigation indicates that 1 is a wide-band-gap semiconductor. Our results offer a new opportunity to grow diverse crystalline metal borates using surfactant-thermal strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of initial tension on mechanics of adhered graphene blisters is investigated by extending Hencky's solution to cases with an initial tension. The system parameters including maximum blister deflection, pressure difference across the membrane, and critical delamination pressure under various initial tensions are modeled and calculated. The dependences of critical pressure on the radius and depth of etched microcavity are also demonstrated and compared with the previous work which does not consider the initial tension. The results show that the added adhesion energy between monolayer graphene membrane and SiO substrate can reach 0.0954 J/m with a reported maximum initial tension of 2.4 N/m taken into account, which accounts for 21.2 % of the measured average value 0.45 J/m. Thus, the initial tension should be considered in further adhesion energy measurements of graphene/substrate interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The asymmetric reduction of ethyl acetoacetate (EAA) to ethyl ( R)-3-hydroxybutyrate [( R)-EHB] using immobilized Acetobacter sp. CCTCC M209061 cells was successfully conducted in a hydrophilic ionic liquid (IL)-containing system. The best one of all the tested watermiscible ILs was 1-(hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium hydrochloride (COHMIM·Cl). In COHMIM·Cl-aqueous buffer hybrid system, it was found that the optimal IL concentration, substrate and co-substrate concentration, reaction temperature, buffer pH and shaking rate were 0.5mol/L, 45 mmol/L, 80 mmol/L, 35°C, pH 5.5 and 200 rpm, respectively. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the initial reaction rate, the yield and the product e.e. reached 4.90 µmol/min, 95.3 and > 99.0%, respectively, which were much higher than the corresponding values reported previously. The efficient biocatalytic process mediated by the immobilized cells was feasible on 500 mL preparative scale, and the biocatalysts showed good operational stability and could be recycled for at least 10 batches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that surface plasmon resonance (SPR) can selectively enhance the photoluminescence (PL) from nearby chromophores with a single emission peak at an appropriate distance. Here, we combine white light-emitting CdS quantum dot nanocrystals containing band-edge and surface-state emissions simultaneously with Ag nanoparticles and study the interaction between them. It is found that the surface-state emission is always enhanced while the band-edge emission quenched regardless of the SPR wavelength of Ag nanoparticles. This phenomenon reveals that the SPR of Ag nanoparticles is not enhancing the emission from a wavelength-matched state. We propose that the surface plasmon of Ag nanoparticles is first excited by the energy of the band-edge emission and then the excited energetic electrons transfer to the surface-state of CdS. Through this energy transfer process, the surface-state emission is enhanced and band-edge emission quenched. This investigation can not only deliver understanding of the complicated interaction between metallic nanoparticles and nearby multi-emission-peak contained chromophores, but it also has potential applications in tuning the color temperature of white light-emitting materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly[methyl methacrylate(81)/butyl acrylate(19)] copolymer was exposed to atmosphere of humidity for various times. The normal α and ρ peak, a third LL peak is observed in thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) spectra of the copolymer. The α peak corresponds to the glass transition, the ρ peak originates from the detrapping of trapped carriers in the bulk amorphous structure, and the LL peak can be attributed to the charge detrapping related to the liquid-liquid transition of the copolymer. The three peaks all move to lower temperature with an increase of the moisture content, indicating that the flexible moisture content not only has an effect of plasticization on the glass transition and liquid-liquid transition, but also makes the trap depth of ρ peak shallower. The trap depth of ρ peak is affected by the introduction of moisture content and the degree of hydration of the copolymer. Based on analysis of calculated results, it was confirmed that the relaxation time of LL peak obeys VF equation when temperature is below T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) inhibits FSH-stimulated follicle growth and aromatase activity. The three fold higher serum AMH in PCOS patients may account for the increased number of small follicles and androgen level. We attempted to determine whether polymorphisms in AMH gene were associated with PCOS in Chinese han population. Methods: A case-control study involving 475 PCOS patients and 512 normoovulatory women was conducted. Rs10407022 and rs8112524 were two tagging SNPs selected according to the HapMap database. Taqman assay was used for rs8112524 genotyping, and PCR-RFLP method for rs10407022. Results: No significant difference was found in genotypic or allelic distributions of both of the two SNPs, rs10407022 and rs8112524, between PCOS women and controls. LH level and progesterone level were significantly higher in rs8112524 AA genotype in PCOS group ( P = 0.012, 0.014 respectively). TA haplotype might enhance susceptibility to PCOS ( P = 0.013, OR = 4.996, 95 % CI = 2.001-5.251), and GA haplotype might be protective ( P = 0.000, OR = 0.117, 95 % CI = 0.049-0.417). Conclusions: Although individual TagSNPs in AMH gene do not affect susceptibility to PCOS, haplotypes of the two SNPs were associated with PCOS risk, as TA haplotype might enhance susceptibility to PCOS and GA inversely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall runoff is a critical hydrological process related to soil erosion and agricultural non-point pollution. In this study, 25 simulation experiments on rainfall were carried out in five runoff plots. Rape ( Brassica campestris) was planted on the downslope of the plots. Experiments were conducted when the vegetation coverage reached 80%. Each plot was subjected to five rainfall events differing in intensity. The results showed: (1) the runoff coefficients of overland flow and subsurface flow were less than 0.6 and 0.005, respectively; (2) the discharge of overland flow was the quadratic function of time; (3) runoff coefficient was the function of slope gradient and rainfall intensity. When the slope gradient increased from 8.7% to 46.6%, the runoff coefficient of overland flow first increased and then decreased. The runoff coefficient reached the maximum when the slope gradient was within the range of 17.6%-36.4%; and (4) the process of subsurface flow generation included the increasing phase and recession phase. Discharge was a logarithm function of time in the increasing phase, and an exponential function in the recession phase. Runoff coefficient of subsurface flow decreased first and then increased when the slope gradient varied from 8.7% to 46.6% and was not correlated with rainfall intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to optimize the laser-tungsten inert arc (TIG) welding process of cemented carbide to steel, a novel combined model consisting of circular disk source, line source, and double ellipsoidal TIG heat source was put forward to simulate the deep penetration phenomena and bead profile. In contrast, laser heat source model was validated using macrostructure analysis results. The effects of the circular disk of radius and the material properties on the bead profile were discussed. For mechanism surface formation, surface depression or humps was discussed based on the high-speed photography technique to verify bead profile characterization. The results manifested that in the model, the circular disk radius played a key role in the formation of bead profile. And the penetration coefficient chiefly affected the root of weld and the keyhole formation. During the hybrid welding, the main forces influencing the surface depression or humping were intrinsic stress from coefficient of thermal expansion gradient, surface tension, buoyancy force, stirring action, and shock waves at the end of the keyhole. Before the solidification of the upper part of the melt, the melt was driven by the fluctuated plasma, plumes, or other forces. While the amount of melt filling the back welds metal of keyhole was larger than that caused by plume losses and the shrinkage of weld metal, the humps came into being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model was put forward to simulate the electromagnetic phenomena and fluid field in plasma arc occurring during the low-current microplasma arc welding (low-current micro-PAW) process. The effects of the nozzle neck-in and welding current of micro-plasma arc on the arc electromagnetic field distribution were discussed. Finally, under the condition of different welding current, welding voltage, arc length, shield gas flow rate, and plasma flow rate, welding experiments of image sampling were carried out. Three types of microplasma arc, namely, needle plasma arc, columnar plasma arc, and opening model plasma arc, are founded by experiment. Based on the unified model, a thorough investigation of the low-current microplasma arc characteristics during the micro-PAW process was conducted. It was found that the process parameters have significant effects on the microplasma arc and the distributions of current density and electromagnet force distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall simulations have been conducted to study the soil erosion process of purple soil in two cultivation practices—contour cultivation and downslope cultivation. Results showed that under the two cultivation practices, the surface runoff can be described by the logarithmic function formula. In the initial period of rainfall, the amount of runoff increased with the rainfall duration and 20 minutes later it became relatively constant. The changing process of soil erosion rate may be described by the logarithmic function formula. The erosion rate increased with the rainfall duration and 20 minutes later it also became constant. Under downslope cultivation condition, the soil erosion rate increased more significantly than that under contour cultivation condition in the case of gentle rainfall intensity, and there is no obvious difference in erosion rate for downslope cultivation and contour cultivation practices. However, with increasing rainfall intensity the soil erosion rate under the downslope cultivation condition could be more than 30 times that under the contour cultivation condition. But this kind of difference would be reduced to some extent in the case of heavy rain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a rapid development of road systems and an associated drastic increase in number of automobiles, the traffic has induced more and more obvious environmental pollution such as noise, dust, emission and heavy metal contamination. Lead, as one of the most harmful heavy metal contaminants, can execute a significant impact on soil quality and plant growth, depending on its form, as well as its transport and accumulation in soil. This paper describes the source and characteristics of Pb contaminant in soil along a road, and reviews the results of research on remediation of Pb-contaminated soils, aiming at identifying promising approaches to soil remediation along roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tudor domain containing 1 (TDRD1) is a member of the TDRD family and plays an important role in embryogenesis and gametogenesis. A detailed study of the characteristics of chicken TDRD1 can lay a foundation for the study of chicken spermatogonia stem cell formation and spermatogenesis. We cloned 2117 bp upstream fragment of TDRD1 promoter and constructed a series of recombinant vectors with different length deletions. The dual-luciferase experiments reveal that the upstream region of – 161 to 0 bp was its core transcription promoter region. Bioinformatics analysis predicted the possible binding of Transcription Factor 7 Like 2 (TCF7L2) and Zinc Finger E-Box-Binding Homeobox 1(ZEB1) transcription factors in the core region. The transcriptional activity of TDRD1 was significantly decreased after mutation of TCF7L2-binding site, while that of TDRD1 was significantly increased after mutation of ZEB1-binding site. Further, ChIP experiments verified that TCF7L2 enriched in the TDRD1 core transcriptional initiation region, suggesting that TCF7L2 and ZEB1 play an important role in the regulation of TDRD1. In summary, the region from – 161 to 0 bp is the core promoter region of TDRD1; ZEB1 and TCF7L2 bind to the TDRD1 promoter region and TCF7L2 activates the transcription of TDRD1 gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Odd-chain fatty acids (OCFAs) have been reported to possess pharmacological activity and have been used in the manufacture of agricultural and industrial chemicals. We here provided a new method to increase the OCFAs content in oil produced by Rhodococcus opacus PD630 through addition of 1-propanol to the fermentation media. The OCFAs in oil of R. opacus PD630 are primarily pentadecanoic acid (C15:0), heptadecanoic acid (C17:0) and heptadecenoic acid (C17:1). After adding 0.5–1.5% (v/v) 1-propanol, the production of oil increased from 1.27 g/L to 1.31–1.61 g/L, and the OCFAs content in oil increased by 46.7–55.1%. Metabolic intermediates determination and transcriptome analysis revealed that R. opacus assimilated 1-propanol through methylmalonyl-CoA pathway. When the nitrogen source was limited, propionyl-CoA was converted to propionyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) which could be used as primer during the elongation of fatty acid synthesis. Then OCFAs were produced when odd number of propionyl-ACP was incorporated in the cycles of fatty acid synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been high demands of high-quality, highly efficient processing methodologies on "difficult-to-cut" titanium alloys. The current methods for dealing with this kind of materials are mainly mechanical cutting ones. However, because of high processing costs, poor surface qualities, and restrictive machining operations, the costs of mechanical cutting methods are high. Electrical discharge machining (EDM), because of its flexibility, was considered as a supplement. However, serious difficulties arose while machining titanium alloys by EDM. Because of low thermo-conductivity of titanium alloys, the liquid temperature in gap between electrode and workpiece rose quickly after a series of pulse discharges. The high temperature of gap liquid usually led to gap liquid breakdown strength to decline. The consequence was discharging pulses tended out to be stable arc pulses or short pulses, burning workpiece surface and wearing electrode. The machining process became unstable. The low thermal conductivity of titanium alloys was the inherent property which could be hardly changed, and at present, the only way to settle the hard-to-cut problem of machining titanium alloys by EDM was to seek a way to keep gap liquid breakdown strength not go down so fast but still be suitable for effective pulse discharges. To solve this problem, this paper first listed three conditions to be met and analyzed the reasons to affect gap liquid breakdown strength in detail and concluded with three factors, gap distance, amount of chips left in gap, and gap liquid deionization after pulse discharges and then came up with a proposition to the problem. Technically, the proposition was accomplished by constructing a multiple-variable adaptive control system in which gap servo-voltage proportional to gap distance was in charge of discharging extent of pulses, electrode-discharging time decided the amount of chips produced in an electrode discharging cycle, and pulse-off time decided gap liquid deionization after discharges. These variables were timely regulated to keep the liquid breakdown strength suitable for discharging and meanwhile avoiding arcing in machining. The verification test demonstrated that the multivariable control system really helped electrical discharge machining titanium alloys in severe machining situations and proved its usefulness in applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally the performance of a pedestrian detector will decrease rapidly, when it is trained on a fixed training set but applied to specific scenes. The reason is that in the training set only a few samples are useful for the specific scenes while other samples may disturb the accurate detections. Traditional methods solve this problem by transfer learning which suffer the problem of keeping source samples or artificially labeling a few samples in the detection phase. In this paper, we propose a new method to bypass these defects by predicting pedestrian classifier for each sample in the detection phase. A classifier regression model is trained in the source domain in which each sample has a proprietary classifier. In the detection phase, a pedestrian classifier is predicted for each candidate window in an image. Thus, for the samples in the target domain, the pedestrian classifiers are different. Our main contributions are: (1) a new adaptive detector without keeping source samples or labeling a few new target samples; (2) a new dimensionality reduction method for classifier vector which simultaneously ensures the performance of both reconstruction and classification; (3) a two-stage regression neural model which can handle the high-dimensional regression problem effectively. Experiments prove that our method can achieve the state-of-the-art results on two pedestrian datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decidualization of human endometrial stromal cells (hESCs) is essential for the maintenance of pregnancy, which depends on the fine-tuned regulation of hESCs survival, and its perturbation contributes to pregnancy loss. However, the underlying mechanisms responsible for functional deficits in decidua from recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) patients have not been elucidated. Here, we observed that JAZF1 was significantly downregulated in stromal cells from RSA decidua. JAZF1 depletion in hESCs resulted in defective decidualization and cell death through apoptosis. Further experiments uncovered G0S2 as a important driver of hESCs apoptosis and decidualization, whose transcription was repressed by JAZF1 via interaction with G0S2 activator Purβ. Moreover, the pattern of low JAZF1, high G0S2 and excessive apoptosis in decidua were consistently observed in RSA patients. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that JAZF1 governs hESCs survival and decidualization by repressing G0S2 transcription via restricting the activity of Purβ, and highlight the clinical implications of these mechanisms in the pathology of RSA. JAZF1 regulates human endometrial stromal cells survival and decidualization by restricting the activity of Purβ, which induces the expression of G0S2, a factor that is involved in the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in recurrent spontaneous abortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SERS intensity of analytes is primarily influenced by the density and distribution of hotspots, which are often difficult to manipulate or regulate. In this study, cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]), a kind of rigid macrocyclic molecule, was introduced to achieve ~ 1-nm nanogap between gold nanoparticles to increase the density of SERS hotspots. Three kinds of estrogens (estrone (E1), bisphenol A (BPA), and hexestrol (DES)) which are molecules with weak SERS signals were targeted in the hotspots by CB[8] to further improve the sensitivity and selectivity of SERS. It was demonstrated that CB[8] can link gold nanoparticles together through carbonyl groups. In addition, the host–guest interaction of CB[8] and estrogens was proved from the nuclear magnetic resonance hydrogen and infrared spectra. In the presence of CB[8], the SERS intensities of E1, BPA, and DES were increased to 19-fold, 74-fold, and 4-fold, respectively, and the LOD is 3.75 µM, 1.19 µM, and 8.26 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed SERS method was applied to actual milk sample analysis with recoveries of E1 (85.0 ~ 112.8%), BPA (83.0 ~ 103.7%), and DES (62.6 ~ 132.0%). It is expected that the proposed signal enlarging strategy can be applied to other analytes after further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural analogs of enzyme substrates involved in plant hormone biosynthesis can either inhibit or enhance hormone-related responses depending on their specific chemical characteristics. Ethylene is an important gaseous phytohormone regulating a myriad of physiological and developmental processes. The substrate of the ethylene biosynthesis key enzyme ACC oxidase (ACO), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate acid (ACC), is the direct precursor of ethylene. Previous studies have identified a series of ACC analogs as ethylene antagonists competitively binding with ACO. Here, this study identified methyl 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylate (methyl-ACC), a structural analog of ACC, as an agonist of ethylene response in plants. Methyl-ACC triggered enhanced ethylene-related responses in plants similar to the effects of ACC, such as restrained root elongation, increased root hair number, promoted dark-induced leaf senescence, and accelerated ripening of postharvest tomato fruit. A higher amount of ethylene release was detected from the tomato leaves treated with methyl-ACC than from the mock control. These bioactivities of methyl-ACC render it a potential plant growth regulator (PGR) for the agricultural and postharvest industries. RT-qPCR revealed a generally upregulated expression of the ethylene biosynthesis genes in detached tomato leaves under methyl-ACC treatment. In vivo and in vitro enzymatic activity analyses showed that methyl-ACC had no obvious effect on the total ACO activity in detached tomato leaves nor on the activity of recombinant SlACO1, the predominantly expressed ACO family member in this tissue. This study offers a promising new PGR and adds to the current knowledge on the structure–function-regulation relationship of compounds associated with ethylene biosynthesis. The mechanism by which methyl-ACC exerts its function is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercaptopurine intolerance is an adverse effect of mercaptopurine administration in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). NUDT15 variants have emerged as major determinants of mercaptopurine intolerance, especially in the Asian population. Two variants, c.55_56insGAGTCG in exon 1 and c.415C > T in exon 3, were commonly detected in the same allele, named NUDT15*1/*2. Although rare, compound heterozygous mutations also occur, with the two variants on different alleles (NUDT15*3/*6), which may confer tolerance to considerably lesser mercaptopurine dosage. Sanger sequencing or pyrosequencing can determine the NUDT15 variants but not the phase. Here, we designed an allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) with locked nucleic acid-modified primers. A cohort of 63 patients harboring heterozygous c.55_56insGAGTCG and c.415C > T NUDT15 variations was selected for haplotyping using AS-PCR. Of the 63 patients, 60 harbored the NUDT15*1/*2 variant and three harbored compound heterozygous mutations, including two NUDT15*3/*6 and one NUDT15*2/*7 variants. These findings suggest that AS-PCR can determine NUDT15 diplotype and identify patients with compound heterozygous NUDT15 variants, which may enable precise genetic diagnosis of NUDT15. Nevertheless, a larger clinical trial is required to understand the clinical significance of NUDT15*3/*6 in pediatric patients with ALL because of its low incidence rate and challenges in detecting this variant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The available face descriptors are always generated by a hand-designed pooling scheme or without a pooling process. We propose to learn a pooling scheme for high-level features. First, we obtain the local features on the densely sampled points on a face image. Then, a weighted-sum pooling is used to obtain the high-level feature of a block of this face image. By learning the pooling weights, the structure information of local features is integrated into the high-level feature of the block. At the same time, a linear transformation is learned to reduce the dimension of this high-level feature. Our main contribution is the method of learning the pooling scheme, which can capture the structure information between the local features in a block. This structure information includes the facial structures and contours. The experiments on multiple face datasets confirm the efficiency and effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Leguminosae constitutes the second largest family of plants in the world. In the face of global climate change and reduction of cultivated land area, legumes have been attached more importance to feed the future in light of their nutritional values and environmental benefits. However, the yields of legume crops have thus far been far below their theoretical potentials. Despite that hybrid breeding and gene editing technologies have hold great promises to the improvement of crops, they are generally difficult to apply in legumes because of the anatomical constraints for making hybrids in these species and the low transformation efficiency impeding gene modifications. Mutation technologies, as an alternative, can speed up breeding and facilitate functional genomic studies in legume species, yet mutant screening technique remains a major challenge in this field. In this review, we detail the currently available mutant library resources in major legume crops following a brief introduction of the methods of mutation induction. We then revisit the current mainstream technologies for mutant screening, with focus on the new emerging next-generation sequencing-based approaches. Overall, this review provides a collection of information that dedicates to assisting legume researchers and breeders to more easily find and better utilize mutant resources for the improvement of these crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of 1,2,3-triazolium-functionalized PCL-b-PEG block copolymer (PCL-b-PEG(IL)) on crystallization behavior and kinetics of PLA was systematically studied by DSC, POM and XRD. A small amount of micelle of aggregated PCL-b-PEG(IL) containing ionic clusters and a large number of disaggregated PCL-b-PEG(IL) can significantly improve the chain segment mobility of PLA. The glass transition temperature and cold crystallization temperature of PLA gradually decreased with the increase in PCL-b-PEG(IL) or PCL-b-PEG content. Compared with PCL-b-PEG, PCL-b-PEG(IL) decreases the Tg of PLA more obviously because of the strong plasticizing effect of PCL-b-PEG(IL). More importantly, the isothermal crystallization kinetics results manifested that the synergistic effect of heterogeneous nucleation agent of ionic clusters of PCL-b-PEG(IL) and chain mobility promoter of PEG chain segment can enhance the crystallization ability of PLA at all crystallization temperature. The 5 mass% PCL-b-PEG(IL) can induce high amount of stable α-form crystal of PLA after annealing treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global prevalence of iron deficiency-induced “hidden hunger” highlights a critical health concern, underscoring the pressing need to improve iron nutrition through safe and efficient means, such as increasing iron intake from plant-based foods. Yellow Stripe-Like (YSL) genes play a crucial role in long-distance iron transport between source and sink tissues in plants. Here, we report on the analysis of YSL family genes in the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), an iron-rich legume crop. We identified 9 YSL genes in the common bean genome using BLAST and HMM methods. Gene duplication analysis revealed that PvYSL7a and PvYSL7b originated through tandem duplication events. Structural analysis noted an absence of conservative motifs in PvYSL3b and PvYSL7a, which led to distinct predicted 3D protein structures. Leveraging publicly available RNA-seq data from developing bean pods, the expression patterns of PvYSL genes alongside pod and seed development were analyzed. Notably, PvYSL7a and PvYSL7b, as well as PvYSL1a and PvYSL1b, exhibited diverged expression patterns in seeds, signifying their functional divergence in this tissue. Moreover, PvYSL3a and PvYSL3b exhibited divergent expression patterns in both pod walls and seeds during pod development, underscoring their distinct roles in facilitating iron transportation between pods and seeds. This study provides valuable insights into the gene regulatory basis of iron accumulation in bean pods and seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The g factors and the hyperfine structure constants of the Cr and Mn centers in silicon are theoretically investigated using the perturbation formulas of these parameters for 3 d ions in tetrahedra. In the calculations, both the contributions from the crystal-field and charge transfer mechanisms are taken into account based on the cluster approach. The calculated results show agreement with the observed values. It is found that the relative importance of the charge transfer contributions to the g-shift Δ g = g − g (where g = 2.0023 is the spin-only value) increases significantly with increasing the valence state of the impurity ion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza is an acute viral respiratory disease that can also cause gastroenteritis-like symptoms, such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Immune dysfunction of adipose tissue is involved in the occurrence and prognosis of influenza viral pneumonia. In this study, we analyzed intestinal and adipose immune responses in mice infected with influenza virus and found that the impairment of intestinal and adipose immunity to influenza virus infection could be reversed by treatment with puerarin, a medicinal compound isolated from Pueraria lobata (called "gegen" in Chinese). We found that the lungs, small intestines (duodenum, ileum, jejunum) and large intestines (colon and rectum) of infected mice showed obvious inflammatory lesions, with significantly increased levels of virus, inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-17, and tumor necrosis factor-α), Toll-like receptors 3, 4, and 9, and integrin αvβ3 and α4, and a decreased level of secreted IgA compared to the normal control group (NC) (P < 0.05-0.001). Influenza virus infected mesenteric lymph nodes and adipose tissue, and adipokines (leptin, visfatin, "chemerin", and adiponectin) of lung and mesenteric adipose tissue were dysregulated. Puerarin treatment reversed the impairment of the intestinal and adipose immune responses in mice infected with influenza virus. Our findings suggest that influenza virus can infect adipose tissue and lead to intestinal adipose immune dysfunction in normal-weight mice and that the impairment of the intestinal and adipose immune response to influenza virus infection can be reversed by puerarin treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the ultra-large induced strain of ferroelectric polymers has been achieved under an electric field near breakdown strength, the high driving voltage has been a long-standing obstacle for their safety applications in the actuator, transducer, wearable devices. To resolve this issue, novel core–shell structured CNT–Al2O3 nanoparticles grown via atomic layer deposition are utilized to improve the electromechanical properties of P(VDF-TrFE)-based nanocomposites under low applied fields. The electric coercive field (Ec) of nanocomposites substantially decreased with increase in fillers, giving rise to the boosted polarization and induced strain at low electric field. Accordingly, the nanocomposite with 1.1 wt% CNT–Al2O3 exhibited a 600% increase in transverse induced strain than that of the neat P(VDF-TrFE). For an identical induced strain, the required driving voltage of the nanocomposite could be effectively reduced by up to 200%. By numerically calculating electric field distribution and polarization, it was revealed that the higher ferroelectric property and lower driving voltage resulted from the enhanced interfacial polarization and the reduced field intensity to switch the polarization of the nanocomposites. This study provides a new route to improve the performance of ferroelectric polymers and holds great promise for using ferroelectric nanocomposites with low operating voltage in practical applications, including portable microfluidic and electronic devices. To reduce the driving voltage, a novel core–shell structured CNT–Al2O3 nanoparticle filler was utilized to improve the electromechanical properties of P(VDF-TrFE)-based nanocomposites under the low applied electric field. The introduction of CNT–Al2O3 filler in nanocomposite could significantly reduce the required electric field intensity for switching the polarization. Owning to its lowest Ec and higher polarization, the transverse induced strain of 1.1 wt% nanocomposite increased by 600% than that of the neat P(VDF-TrFE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pea (Pisum sativum L.), a cool-season legume crop grown in more than 85 countries, is the second most important grain legume and one of the major green vegetables in the world. While pea was historically studied as the genetic model leading to the discovery of the laws of genetics, pea research has lagged behind that of other major legumes in the genomics era, due to its large and complex genome. The evolving climate change and growing population have posed grand challenges to the objective of feeding the world, making it essential to invest research efforts to develop multi-omics resources and advanced breeding tools to support fast and continuous development of improved pea varieties. Recently, the pea researchers have achieved key milestones in omics and molecular breeding. The present review provides an overview of the recent important progress including the development of genetic resource databases, high-throughput genotyping assays, reference genome, genes/QTLs responsible for important traits, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phenomic atlases of various tissues under different conditions. These multi-faceted resources have enabled the successful implementation of various markers for monitoring early-generation populations as in marker-assisted backcrossing breeding programs. The emerging new breeding approaches such as CRISPR, speed breeding, and genomic selection are starting to change the paradigm of pea breeding. Collectively, the rich omics resources and omics-enable breeding approaches will enhance genetic gain in pea breeding and accelerate the release of novel pea varieties to meet the elevating demands on productivity and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron nitride (BN) nanosheets are promising support materials for catalysts. A series of TiO2–BN enabled electrospun nanofibers were synthesized for the photocatalytic treatment of ibuprofen and secondary wastewater effluent under visible light. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the existence of B–O–Ti bonds between the BN nanosheets and TiO2 nanofibers, resulting in energy rearrangement, narrowed band gaps, and enhanced light utilization efficiency of the TiO2–BN nanocomposites in the visible light spectrum. Transient photocurrent measurements revealed that the BN enhanced the transport of photogenerated holes from the bulk TiO2 nanofibers to its surface, resulting in more efficient separation and less recombination of the charge carriers. A kinetic study of ibuprofen degradation indicated the enhanced photocatalytic performance of TiO2–BN catalysts with a higher BN content in the nanocomposites. The kinetic rate constant of the TiO2–10% BN catalysts was 10 times higher than that of the pure TiO2 nanofibers. The degradation of organic contaminants in wastewater followed the same trend as ibuprofen and improved with increasing BN content. The stability of the TiO2–BN nanocomposites as an effective solar photocatalyst was demonstrated by multiple cycles of wastewater treatment. The results proved that TiO2–BN is an appealing photocatalyst under visible light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in both environmental impact and potential beneficial uses of produced water (PW) has increased with growth in unconventional oil and gas production, especially in semi-arid regions, e.g. the Permian Basin, the most productive tight-oil region in the USA. Characterization of PW compositional variability is needed to evaluate environmental impact, treatment, and reuse potential. Geochemical variability of PW from Guadalupian (Middle Permian) to Ordovician formations was statistically and geostatistically evaluated in the western half of the Permian Basin (Delaware Basin, Central Basin Platform, and Northwest Shelf) using the US Geological Survey's Produced Waters Geochemical Database and the New Mexico Water and Infrastructure Data System. Mean total dissolved solids (TDS) of PW increased with depth in the Delaware Basin and Central Basin Platform to the Delaware and Wolfcamp formations (Guadalupian age). Mean TDS decreased with further increases in depth. In contrast, the mean salinity of PW was significantly higher within the shallow, younger formations (largest mean TDS in the Artesia Formation); TDS decreased with depth below Guadalupian age formations in the Northwest Shelf. Kriged contour maps of TDS and major ions illustrated spatial variability across the three geo-structural regions as a function of depth. The occurrence of meteoric waters in upper and deeper formations across the three regions was significant, and was attributed to Laramide Orogeny and Basin and Range extension uplifting and tilting effects and recent water flooding. These results quantify PW composition variability, and suggest that upon treatment, PW would support some uses such as onsite reuse and mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A new rust resistance gene Ruv2 was fine-mapped in cowpea to a 193-kb region on chromosome 2, which harboured 23 predicted gene models enriched with NBS-type genes.Abstract: ZN016 is a landrace vegetable cowpea highly resistant to rust. Two previous studies using mixed-spores inoculation suggested different modes of inheritance of rust resistance in ZN016. In this study, we initially developed a detached leaf assay with a purified single-rust isolate (Auv-LS). Using this approach, we assessed the inheritance of rust resistance in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population and an F2 population, both derived from the cross of “ZN016” and the susceptible cultivar “Zhijiang282.” A single dominant gene mode against Auv-LS was revealed in both populations. QTL mapping showed that this gene was coincident with the Ruv2 locus on LG7, one of the three resistance QTLs previously mapped based on mixed-spores inoculation data. Therefore, Ruv2 was considered as specifically against the rust isolate Auv-LS. Through an analysis of the RIL recombinants at Ruv2, we fine-mapped the gene to an ~ 0.45-cM interval between SNP markers 2_09656 and 2_00973, which corresponded to an ~ 193-kb region on chromosome 2 that harboured 23 predicted gene models enriched with NBS-type genes. Re-sequencing of the two parents revealed polymorphisms in four genes predictively to cause substantial protein structural changes, rendering them valuable candidate genes for future validation. Cross-species syntenic analysis indicated that Ruv2 may represent a novel rust resistance gene in food legumes. A cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences marker tightly linked to Ruv2 was developed to facilitate breeding. This work establishes a basis for map-based cloning of Ruv2 and breeding for rust resistance in cowpea and other legume crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil-rock mixtures (S-RM) are widely distributed in mountainous regions, and there are different genetic types and scales of S-RM slopes. The stability of these slopes is very important for slope safety during the construction and operation of engineering projects. Since the mechanical properties of an S-RM are mainly dominated by its random component, accurately investigating the structure of an S-RM slope is the fundamental basis for evaluating the mechanism of a landslide. In this paper, in situ direct shear tests are used to obtain the “soil” strength parameters of the S-RM, the microtremor survey method (MSM) is introduced to detect the S-RM slope and the numerical method of FEM is utilised to simulate the failure characteristics and stability of the S-RM slope. Based on the MSM, the strata structure and proportions of solitary rock blocks in the S-RM slope are investigated, and three possible models of the S-RM slope are established. By using the strength reduction method in numerical simulations, the potential failure surface and stability of a slope of homogeneous soil and that with solitary rock blocks are discussed. The study results show that the MSM is an effective method to estimate the proportion of rock blocks in the S-RM slope. The presence of solitary rock blocks makes the slope potential slide surface complicated. The factor of safety of the S-RM slope is higher than that of the homogeneous soil slope, the rock blocks at the toe of the slope are favourable for slope stability and the rock blocks near the surface of the slope squeeze the lower soil and improve the safety factor of the slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some anticonvulsant drugs are associated with cognitive ability in patients; Topiramate (TPM) is well known as an effective anticonvulsant agent applied in clinical settings. However, the effect of TPM on the cognitive function is rarely studied. In this study, we aimed to observe the effects of TPM on cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the d-galactose-induced aging mice by Ki-67 and doublecortin (DCX) immunohistochemistry. The study is divided into four groups including control, d-galactose-treated group, 25 and 50 mg/kg TPM-treated plus d-galactose-treated groups. We found, 50 mg/kg (not 25 mg/kg) TPM treatment significantly increased the numbers of Ki-67 cells and DCX immunoreactivity, and improved neuroblast injury induced by d-galactose treatment. In addition, we also found that decreased immunoreactivities and protein levels of antioxidants including superoxide dismutase and catalase induced by d-galactose treatment were significantly recovered by 50 mg/kg TPM treatment in the mice hippocampal DG ( P < 0.05). In conclusion, our present results indicate that TPM can ameliorate neuroblast damage and promote cell proliferation and neuroblast differentiation in the hippocampal DG via increasing SODs and catalase levels in the d-galactose mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ribavirin is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent that is used against RNA and DNA viruses and has been reported to inhibit infection by influenza A and B virus in vitro and in vivo. Studies have shown that ribavirin can lower convalescent antibody titers in young children hospitalized with influenza. Here, we report that ribavirin administration in juvenile mice significantly attenuated respiratory immune responses, production of total IgA and hemagglutinin (HA)-specific secretory IgA responses on the mucosal surface. In contrast, systemic IgG and IgA responses were not affected. Ribavirin significantly suppressed toll-like receptor 2 and 4 expression in the lung and decreased the level of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in lung tissues of mice infected with influenza virus. Our findings suggest ribavirin appears to be able to inhibit viral replication and, as a result, TLR and cytokine expression are not up-regulated, attenuating inflammation as well as the respiratory tract's immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reproductive isolation between rice of different ploidy levels is manifested as endosperm and embryo abortion in seeds produced by interploidy crosses. Genomic imprinting is considered to be the underlying mechanism establishing the post-zygotic hybridization barrier. We characterized disrupted seed development in reciprocal crosses between a diploid Japonica rice and a tetraploid Indica rice. Results: Triploid seeds from these crosses had aborted development and could not germinate in soil but could be rescued in culture medium with significantly more seeds developing to seedlings in the 4n × 2n (♀-♂) cross with excess maternal genomes than in the 2n × 4n cross with excess paternal genome. Consistent with previous findings, precocious endosperm cellularization and bigger embryos were observed in the seeds from the maternal excess cross, whereas absence of cellularization and arrested globular embryos were found in the seeds from the paternal excess cross, supporting the idea that endosperm cellularization is an important transition for embryo development. Moreover, we found that starch granules were persistently deposited in the pericarp parenchyma cells of the paternal excess cross, while pericarp starch gradually decreased and relocated to the developing endosperm in balanced and maternal excess crosses in which cellularization and starch deposition occur in endosperm, suggesting that parental genome balance influences pericarp starch relocation via cellularization and starch deposition. Loss of imprinting, or altered expression of imprinted genes and epigenetic regulators, OsFIE2 and OsMET1b were observed, implying the potential role of imprinting and epigenetic mechanisms in regulating the differential parental genome dosage effects on endosperm development. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that the maternal genome dosage promotes endosperm cellularization and the paternal genome dosage delays or inhibits cellularization via contributing different sets of imprinted genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tri-arm star-shaped oligomer with PEG arm and imidazolium-based ionic liquid moiety (TSIL) was introduced in poly(lactic acid) (PLA) blends, and the synergetic effects of PEG arm and IL moiety contained in the TSIL on the crystallization behaviors of PLA were investigated by DSC and POM. The results determined by DSC show that TSIL inhibits the crystallization of PLA when the mass content of TSIL in blend is as low as 1 mass%, while the crystallization process is accelerated greatly with increasing mass content of TSIL. As revealed by POM observations, the spherulitic morphology remains unchanged in TSIL/PLA blends and the nucleation and growth of spherulites are altered due to the different effects of PEG arm and IL moiety. The nucleation process is suppressed by IL moiety, while the growth rate of spherulites is improved because of the plasticizing effect of PEG arm. The synergistic effects of PEG arm and IL moiety contained in the TSIL also contribute to the acceleration of kinetics in non-isothermal crystallization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete 6243-nucleotide sequence of a cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) isolate from bottle gourd in Zhejiang province, China, was determined. A full-length cDNA clone of this isolate was constructed by inserting the cDNA between the 35S promoter and the ribozyme in the binary plasmid pCB301-CH. A suspension of an Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105 clone carrying this construct was highly infectious in Nicotiana benthamiana and bottle gourd. Another infectious clone containing the green fluorescence protein (GFP) reporter gene was also successfully constructed. This study is the first report of the efficient use of agroinoculation for generating CGMMV infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Normal hepatocytes exhibit low-affinity hexokinase (glucokinase [HKIV]), but during oncogenesis, there is a switch from HKIV to HKII expression. The aims of this study were to compare the immunoexpression of HKII in non-dysplastic cirrhosis (NDC), liver cell change/dysplasia in cirrhosis (LCD), HCC, and normal liver control tissues, and to correlate HKII expression with clinical and histopathological parameters. Design: Immunohistochemistry was performed on a liver cancer progression tissue array consisting of specimens from explants with cirrhosis, including 45 tissue samples with HCC, 108 without HCC, 143 with LCD, and 8 normal liver control tissues. HKII expression was quantified as positive pixel counts/square millimeter (ppc/mm) by image analysis. Results: There was a stepwise increase in HKII level from normal liver tissue to NDC, to LCD, and to HCC ( p = 0.001). HKII levels were significantly higher in areas of LCD versus NDC ( p ≤ 0.001), and in LCD and HCC versus NDC ( p = 0.007). HKII levels were similar in LCD and HCC ( p = 0.124). HKII levels were higher in grade 2-4 versus grade 1 HCCs ( p = 0.044), and in pleomorphic versus non-pleomorphic HCC variants ( p = 0.041). Higher levels of HKII expression in LCD and HCC versus NDC and in higher tumor grade remained significant in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Higher levels of HKII immunoexpression in LDC and HCC compared with NDC suggest that upregulation of HKII occurs during the process of hepatocarcinogenesis in humans. In HCC, higher levels of HKII are associated with more aggressive histological features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Many plant growth-promoting endophytes (PGPE) possessing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity can reduce the level of stress ethylene and assist their host plants cope with various biotic and abiotic stresses. However, information about the endophytic bacteria colonizing in the coastal halophytes is still very scarce. This study aims at isolating efficient ACC deaminase-producing plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacterial strains from the inner tissues of a traditional Chinese folk medicine Limonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze, a halophyte which has high economic and medicinal values grown in the coastal saline soils. Their PGP activity and effects on host seed germination and seedling growth under salinity stress were also evaluated. Methods: A total of 126 isolates were obtained from the surface sterilized roots, stems and leaves of L. sinense (Girard) Kuntze. They were initially selected for their ability to produce ACC deaminase as well as other PGP properties such as production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), N-fixation, and phosphate-solubilizing activities and subsequently identified by the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. For selected strains, seed germination, seedling growth, and flavonoids production in axenically growth L. sinense (Girard) Kuntze seedlings at different NaCl concentrations (0-500 mM) were quantified. Results: Thirteen isolates possessing ACC deaminase activity were obtained. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis showed them to belong to eight genera: Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Serratia, Arthrobacter, Streptomyces, Isoptericola, and Microbacterium. Inoculation with four of the selected ACC deaminase-producing strains not only stimulated the growth of the host plant but also influenced the flavonoids accumulation. All four strains could colonize and can be re-isolated from the host plant interior tissues. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that ACC deaminase-producing habitat-adapted symbiotic bacteria isolated from halophyte could enhance plant growth under saline stress conditions and the PGPE strains could be appropriate as bioinoculants to enhance soil fertility and protect the plants against salt stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor TrkB participate in diverse neuronal functions, including activity-dependent synaptic plasticity that is crucial for learning and memory. On binding to BDNF, TrkB is not only autophosphorylated at tyrosine residues but also undergoes serine phosphorylation at S478 by the serine/threonine kinase cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5). However, the in vivo function of this serine phosphorylation remains unknown. We generated knock-in mice lacking this serine phosphorylation (TrkbS478A/S478A mice) and found that the TrkB phosphorylation-deficient mice displayed impaired spatial memory and compromised hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). S478 phosphorylation of TrkB regulates its interaction with the Rac1-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor TIAM1, leading to activation of Rac1 and phosphorylation of S6 ribosomal protein during activity-dependent dendritic spine remodeling. These findings reveal the importance of Cdk5-mediated S478 phosphorylation of TrkB in activity-dependent structural plasticity, which is crucial for LTP and spatial memory formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on rain-runoff process in the peripheral mountainous area of the Sichuan Basin, which is regarded as a key ecological shelter, will contribute to flood control and environmental protection for the Upper Yangtze River Basin. In two typical catchments—the Fujiang River Catchment and the Wujiang River Catchment, rainfall simulations have been conducted to study the rain-runoff processes of yellow soil and limestone soil in three types of land use—forestland, farmland and grassland. Results showed that (1) within the same rainfall process, overland flow occurs first on farmland, then on grassland, and finally on forestland; (2) soil surface coverage has a great impact on the occurrence and amount of overland flow. The runoff amount can increase 2–4 times after the coverage is removed; (3) the infiltration before the occurrence of overland flow will decrease because of higher gravel contents of soil, but it takes no effect on infiltration once overland flow becomes stable; (4) the runoff coefficient of the limestone soil forestland is greater than that of the yellow soil forest land, but less than that of the farmland; (5) three empirical infiltration models, including Horton’ model, Kostiakov’ model, and modified Kostiakov’ model, were compared by using the observed results under rainfall simulation. The results showed that the Kostiakov’ model performed better than both the Horton’ model and modified Kostiakov model. According to the results of this research, the Kostiakov’s model can be used to simulate rainfall infiltration when water erosion is modeled in the peripheral mountainous area of the Sichuan Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Isolation of ACC Deaminase-Producing Habitat-Adapted Symbiotic Bacteria Associated With Halophyte Limonium Sinense (Girard) Kuntze and Evaluating Their Plant Growth-Promoting Activity Under Salt Stress" by Sheng Qin et al. that was published online on February 23, 2014 is presented.