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Expanding the enzymatic toolbox for the green synthesis of valuable molecules is still of high interest in synthetic chemistry and the pharmaceutical industry. Chiral thiiranes are valuable sulfur-containing heterocyclic compounds, but relevant methods for their enantioselective synthesis are limited. Herein, we report a biocatalytic thionation strategy for the enantioselective synthesis of thiiranes, which was developed based on the halohydrin dehalogenase (HHDH)-catalyzed enantioselective ring-opening reaction of epoxides with thiocyanate and a subsequent nonenzymatic rearrangement process. A novel HHDH was identified and engineered for enantioselective biocatalytic thionation of various aryl- and alkyl-substituted epoxides on a preparative scale, affording the corresponding thiiranes in up to 43 % isolated yield and 98 % ee. Large-scale synthesis and useful transformations of chiral thiiranes were also performed to demonstrate the utility and scalability of the biocatalytic thionation strategy.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant tumor in women worldwide. Metastasis is the main cause of BC-related death. The specific mechanism underlying BC metastasis remains obscure. Recently, PRSS22 was discovered to be involved in tumor development, however, its detailed biological function and regulatory mechanism in BC are unclear. Here, we characterized that PRSS22 expression is upregulated in BC tissues compared with non-tumorous breast tissues. Dual luciferase assays, bioinformatics analyses and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays indicated that transcription factor E2F1 directly binds to the PRSS22 promoter region and activates its transcription. Functionally, upregulation of PRSS22 promoted invasion and metastasis of BC cells in vitro and in vivo, whereas knockdown of PRSS22 inhibited its function. Mechanistically, the combination of PRSS22 and ANXA1 protein in BC cells was first screened by protein mass spectrometry analysis, and then confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and western blot assays. Co-overexpression of PRSS22 and ANXA1 could promote BC cell migration and invasion. We further demonstrated that PRSS22 promotes the cleavage of ANXA1 and in turn generates an N-terminal peptide, which initiates the FPR2/ERK signaling axis to increase BC aggressiveness.

To explore the differences between oral and intestinal microorganisms of 860 children aged 1-6 years in Nanjing city.Eight hundred and sixty children aged 1-6 years who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. 860 saliva samples and equivalent stool samples were collected. Microbial DNA was extracted and amplified using PCR. High-throughput sequencing was performed using Miseq sequencer, and bioinformatics analysis was performed to compare the differences of oral and intestinal microflora. SPSS 20.0 software package was used to perform the statistical analysis.At phylum level, Bacteroidetes (39.98%), Proteobacteria (25.32%) and Firmicutes (21.78%) were the most common microbes in oral cavity, while Firmicutes (45.21%) and Bacteroidetes (37.21%) were the most abundant microbes in the gut. At genus level, the top three microbes in the oral cavity included Prevotella(26.11%), Neisseria (12.39%), Porphyromonas(10.13%), while the top three microbes in the gut included Bacteroidetes(20.11%), Prevotella (9.13%), and Faecalibacterium (5.13%). There were significant alpha and beta differences in oral and intestinal microbial diversity.Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria are the dominant species in the oral cavity, while Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are the dominant species in the gut. There are significant differences in species composition and abundance between oral and intestinal microorganisms.

To investigate the related factors of black tooth stain in primary teeth of 3~5 years old children and caries status of primary dentition in these children.From December 2019 to August 2020, 182 3~5 years old children with black tooth stain and 200 children without pigmentation were investigated by oral examination and questionnaire survey to their guardians, while caries status , distribution range of the pigment, factors associated with black tooth stain were evaluated. SPSS 20.0 software package was used for data analysis.Children with black tooth stain had fewer dental caries. The lingual surfaces of the mandibular anterior teeth were the most affected sites. Factors associated with black tooth stain were foods with soy sauce and brushing teeth with parents' help.There is a negative correlation between the occurrence of primary dentition caries and blacktooth stain, but there is no significant correlation between formation of black tooth stain and most environmental factors.

We investigated the responses of leaf and individual traits, growth, and fluorescence characteristics of seedlings of two dominant species of broad-leaved Korean pine forest in Changbai Mountain,本研究选择长白山阔叶红松林优势树种红松和蒙古栎幼苗为对象,研究其植株形态、生长和光合荧光特性对5种光谱处理的响应。结果表明: 红松与蒙古栎的形态结构与生长主要受蓝光与紫外B区(UV-B)辐射调控。滤除蓝光后两种幼苗的植株叶面积比和相对生长速率均显著降低,而滤除UV-B辐射显著增加了红松的叶面积比和相对生长速率,分别上升了41.8%和47.7%,降低了蒙古栎的株高、总叶面积和生物量积累。滤除UV-B辐射显著降低了2种幼苗的光合荧光调节能力,红松的下降幅度较低,其非调节性耗散的量子产量(

Whether lung ultrasound (LUS) can be used for pathogenic diagnosis remains controversial. This study was conducted to clarify whether ultrasound has diagnostic value for etiology.A total of 135 neonatal pneumonia patients with an identified pathogen were enrolled from the newborn intensive care units of 10 tertiary hospitals in China. The study ran from November 2020 to December 2021. The infants were divided into various groups according to pathogens, time of infection, gestational age, and disease severity. The distribution of pleural line abnormalities, B-line signs, and pulmonary consolidation, as well as the incidence of air bronchogram and pleural effusion based on LUS, were compared between these groups.There were significant differences in pulmonary consolidation. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of severe pneumonia based on the extent of pulmonary consolidation were 83.3% and 85.2%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the identification of mild or severe pneumonia based on the distribution of pulmonary consolidation was 0.776.LUS has good performance in diagnosing and differentiating the severity of neonatal pneumonia but cannot be used for pathogenic identification in the early stages of pneumonia.

In this interview, the Okinawa-born filmmaker/artist Chikako Yamashiro looks back at the artistic trajectories and creative processes of her representative moving-image works since the 2000s, which...

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe and fatal clinical syndrome characterized by high blood pressure and vascular remodeling in the pulmonary arterioles, which is also a rapidly progressing disease of the lung vasculature with a poor prognosis. Although PAH medication made great advances in recent years, the efficacy and safety of the medication are unsatisfactory. Therefore, we aimed to update and expand previous studies to explore the efficacy and safety of PAH-targeted medications. Methods: Relevant articles were searched and selected from published or publicly available data in PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, PsycInfo, and MEDLINE (from inception until October 1st, 2020). To assess the efficacy and safety of PAH therapies, five efficacy outcomes [6-minute walking distance (6MWD), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), WHO functional class (WHO FC) improvement, clinical worsening, death] and two safety outcomes [adverse events (AEs), serious adverse events (SAEs)] were selected. And 6MWD was regarded as the primary efficacy outcome. Results: 50 trials included with 10 996participants were selected. In terms of efficacy, all targeted drugs were more effective than placebo. For 6MWD, Bosentan + Sildenafil, Sildenafil, Bosentan + Iloprost were better than others. Bosentan + Iloprost and Bosentan + Sildenafil were better for mPAP. Bosentan + Iloprost and Ambrisentan + Tadalafil were more effective in improving WHO FC. Bosentan + Tadalafil and Bosentan + Iloprost had the Ambrisentan probability to reduce the incidence of clinical worsening. It is demonstrated that Ambrisentan had clear benefits in reducing all-cause mortality. In terms of safety, no therapies had been shown to reduce the incidence of SAEs significantly, and Ambrisentan + Tadalafil significantly increased the incidence of AEs. Conclusions: Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) + Endothelin Receptor Antagonists (ERA) seems to be better therapy for PAH. Prostacyclin analogs (ProsA) + ERA appear promising, though additional data is warranted. Registration PROSPERO CRD42020218818.

Background: Whether Lung ultrasound (LUS) can be used for pathogenic diagnosis is still controversial. This was conducted to test the accuracy and reliability of ultrasound in the diagnosis of pneumonia and to clarify whether ultrasound has diagnostic value for the etiology. Methods: A total of 135 neonatal pneumonia patients with an identified pathogen and 50 newborns with normal lungs in the newborn intensive care unit of 10 tertiary hospitals in China were enrolled. The study ran from November 2020 to December 2021. The infants were divided into various groups according to pathogens, the time of infection, the gestational age, the severity of the disease. The distribution of pleural line abnormalities, pulmonary edema, and pulmonary consolidation, as well as the incidence of air bronchogram and pleural effusion based on LUS, were compared between the above groups and between the pneumonia and healthy control groups. Results: There were significant differences in pulmonary consolidation. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of severe pneumonia based on the extent of pulmonary consolidation were 83.3% and 85.2%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the identification of mild or severe pneumonia based on the distribution of pulmonary consolidation was 0.776. Conclusion: Lung ultrasound has good performance in differentiating the severity of neonatal pneumonia, but cannot be used for pathogenic diagnosis.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant tumor in women worldwide. Metastasis is the main cause of BC-related death. The specific mechanism of BC metastasis remains obscure. Recently PRSS22 was discovered to be involved in tumor development. However, its detailed biological function and regulation mechanism in BC remain unclear. Here, we characterized that the PRSS22 expression level was upregulated in BC tissues compared with non-tumorous breast tissues. Dual Luciferase assays, bioinformatics analyses and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays indicated that the transcription factor E2F1 directly bounded to the PRSS22 promoter region and activated its transcription. Functionally, upregulation of PRSS22 promoted invasion and metastasis of BC cells in vitro and in vivo, whereas knockdown of PRSS22 elicited inhibition function. Mechanistically, the combination of PRSS22 and ANXA1 protein in BC cells was firstly screened by protein mass spectrometry analyses, and then confirmed by Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assays and Western blot assays. Co-overexpression of PRSS22 and ANXA1 could promote migration and invasion in BC cells. We further demonstrated that PRSS22 could promote the cleavage of ANXA1 and produce a N-terminal peptide, which could initiate the FPR2/ERK signaling axis to increase the aggressiveness of BC.

Fuke Qianjin Capsule (FKQJ) is a common TCM compound formula in the treatment of gynecological inflammation-related diseases. This study intends to explore and establish a bioassay method to further improve its quality control. The bioassay method for the determination of anti-inflammatory biopotency was established based on its inhibitory activity on recombinant human cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an active target of FKQJ in the treatment of female pelvic inflammatory disease. We firstly established chemical fingerprint of 20 batches of FKQJ by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography to identify the components and analyze the chemical similarities. The similarity within different batches of FKQJ was relatively high. The values of similarity of the 19 batches were between 0.973 and 0.995, while one batch’s similarity value was 0.813. Celecoxib, a selective inhibitor of COX-2, was chosen as the positive control drug in COX-2 activity assay to establish an anti-inflammatory biopotency detection method based on parallel line test of qualitative response. The methodological investigation showed that the method possessed good repeatability and precision. Secondly, the anti-inflammatory biopotency of 20 batches of FKQJ for inhibiting COX-2 was determined. The results showed that the biopotency of different batches of FKQJ ranged from 676 U/μg to 1310 U/μg, with average value of 918 U/μg and RSD of 16.7%. Based on multiple linear regression analysis, we found that three contents were highly correlated with the anti-inflammatory biopotency, while chlorogenic acid was validated of the strongest anti-inflammatory activity in vitro. Compared with chemical detection, bioassay can better reflect the quality fluctuation of different batches of products and correlate the known pharmacodynamic targets. The supplement of the bioassay method based on chemical evaluation is helpful to improve the quality control ability of Chinese patent medicine and ensure its clinical efficacy is stable and controllable.

Culex tritaeniorhynchus Gile is a major vector of Japanese encephalitis in China. The population genetics study is crucial as it helps understanding the epidemiological aspects of mosquito-brone di...

In this study, we consider the classical online scheduling problem with rejection on identical parallel machines. In particular, a series of independent jobs arriving online over time will be scheduled on the identical machines with the flexibility of rejection, which implies that each job is either rejected with a penalty cost or accepted and scheduled on one of the identical machines. In addition, the knowledge of each job Jj, including the processing time pj, release date rj, and penalty cost ej, is disclosed upon arrival of this job. Our goal is to minimize the total completion time of the accepted jobs plus the total penalty cost of the rejected jobs. For this problem, we provide a deterministic polynomial time online algorithm named as Delayed Shortest Processing Time with Rejection, shortly as DSPTR. For the sake of analyzing the competitive ratio of DSPTR, we introduce an interesting and efficient approach entitled as “Peeling Onion”. By means of “Peeling Onion”, we demonstrate that DSPTR is a 2-competitive online algorithm and the bound is tight. We believe that the introduction of the analysis approach “Peeling Onion” could also be applied to other online optimization problems and yield a new perspective on competitive analysis in general.

In order to set up a reliable prediction system for the tumor grade and prognosis in glioma patients, we clarify the complicated crosstalk of Annexin A2 (ANXA2) with Glypican 1 (GPC1) and demonstrate whether combined indexes of ANXA2 and GPC1 could improve the prognostic evaluation for glioma patients. We found that ANXA2-induced glioma cell proliferation in a c-Myc-dependent manner. ANXA2 increased the expression of GPC1 via c-Myc and the upregulated GPC1 further promoted the c-Myc level, forming a positive feedback loop, which eventually led to enhanced proliferation of glioma cells. Both mRNA and protein levels of ANXA2 were upregulated in glioma tissues and coincided with the overexpression of GPC1. Besides, we utilized tissue microarrays (TMAs) and immunohistochemistry to demonstrate that glioma patients with both high expression of ANXA2 and GPC1 tended to have higher rate of tumor recurrence and shorter overall survival (OS). In conclusion, the overexpression of ANXA2 promotes proliferation of glioma cells by forming a GPC1/c-Myc positive feedback loop, and ANXA2 together with its downstream target GPC1 could be a potential “combination biomarker” for predicting prognosis of glioma patients.

Utility model patent quality is vital for emerging countries to cultivate a strong domestic market and increase openness. Given China’s high-quality development, this study incorporates enterprise utility model patent quality and export domestic value-added rate (DVAR) into a unified analysis framework to explore their relationship using authorized patent data and financial and customs data of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2002 to 2014. The utility model patent data used to support this study’s findings were provided by the Incopat Patent Database, while the enterprise financial data and customs data were supplied by the RESSET Database. The empirical results show that: (i) utility model patent quality significantly contributes to enterprises’ export DVAR; (ii) factor-intensive heterogeneous analysis indicates that the utility model patent quality of capital-intensive enterprises has a more significant promotion effect on DVAR; (iii) the price–cost markup and the relative price of intermediate goods are crucial domestic channels for utility model patent quality to promote DVAR; and (iv) market segmentation moderates the mediating role of the domestic intermediate relative price. Therefore, the government should further improve the utility model system, focus on increasing domestic market advantages, and develop industry-specific patent guidance policies. This study contributes to the literature by exploring the influence of utility model patent quality on enterprises’ DVAR using an optimized utility model quality index, providing policy references for optimizing China’s utility model patent system and upgrading the import gains of enterprises. However, this study has some limitations, and future research should strengthen the subdivision of utility model patents in different industries and explore the economic performance of the combination of inventions and utility models.

This study places itself at the intersection between essay film, landscape film (fūkei eiga), and Okinawa. It aims to understand how such an intersection contributes to rethinking independent (docu...

In this work, we investigate online bicriteria algorithms that consider both coverage and cost in the team formation problem, which selects a set of experts with the objective of maximizing the difference of two set functions f − l , where function f is non-negative normalized monotone approximately submodular, and function l is non-negative linear. By exploiting the problem's combinatorial structure, we present three bicriteria algorithms along with their corresponding competitive analysis. The first two algorithms handle the cases where function f is γ-weakly submodular, and strictly γ-weakly submodular, respectively. The last algorithm is more general by integrating the first two with extra parameters introduced.

Background. Several recent genome-wide association studies suggested insomnia and anemia may share some common genetic components. We thus examined whether adults with anemia had higher odds of having insomnia relative to those without anemia in a cross-sectional study and a meta-analysis. Methods. Included in this cross-sectional study were 12,614 Chinese adults who participated in an ongoing cohort, the Kailuan Study. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels below 12.0 g/dL in women and 13.0 g/dL in men. Insomnia was assessed using the Chinese version of the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). A total AIS score ≥6 was considered insomnia. The association between anemia and insomnia was assessed using a logistic regression model, adjusting for potential confounders such as age, sex, chronic disease status, and plasma C-reactive protein concentrations. A meta-analysis was conducted using the fixed effects model to pool results from our study and three previously published cross-sectional studies on this topic in adult populations. Results. Individuals with anemia had greater odds of having insomnia (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03–1.70) compared with individuals without anemia. A significant association persisted after we excluded individuals with chronic inflammation, as suggested by C-reactive protein levels >1 mg/L (adjusted OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.22–2.32). The meta-analysis results, including 22,134 participants, also identified a positive association between anemia and insomnia (pooled OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.22–1.57). Conclusions. The presence of anemia was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of having insomnia in adults. Due to the nature of the cross-sectional study design, results should be interpreted with caution.

Radioactive contamination, especially the pollution of uranium, is threatening the ecological environment. How to efficient and quickly remove the uranium from the environment is a problem to be solved. In this study, the dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide embellished titanium dioxide composite (DTAB/TiO2) was synthesized as an adsorbent to adsorb uranium from water. The DTAB/TiO2 composite was composed of nanoparticles and presented a spherical morphology of rough surface. The removal of U(VI) on DTAB/TiO2 was a monolayer adsorption process and the removal process was dependent on solution pH. The capture of U(VI) enhanced with the increase of temperature, indicating an endothermic process. According to the Langmuir model, the removal capacity of DTAB/TiO2 for U(VI) reached 108.4 mg/g. The surface oxygen-containing functional groups, especially hydroxyl groups, played a crucial role in the capture of U(VI). This work can provide useful information for the cleanup of uranium and expand the application of surfactants.

Novel visible-light-driven heterostructure semiconductors are considered as promising photocatalysts for the elimination of environmental organic pollutants. Herein, a solvent-assisted low-temperature in situ calcination strategy was developed to fabricate type II BiOIO

Background and purpose Pulmonary hypertension related to pulmonary fibrosis is classed as WHO Group III, one of the most common groups which lacks effective treatment options. In this study, we aimed to uncover the underlying mechanisms, particularly the involvement of the BMP9/BMPR2/SMAD signalling pathway, in this subtype of pulmonary hypertension. Experimental approach Male Sprague Dawley rats were used to establish a model of pulmonary hypertension with pulmonary fibrosis, induced by bleomycin. Haemodynamic and lung functions were measured, along with histological and immunohistochemical examinations. Primary cultures of rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) were analysed with western blots, apoptosis assays and immunohistochemistry. Key results Early (7 days) after bleomycin treatment of rats, pulmonary arterial thickening and severe loss of pulmonary arterial endothelium were observed, followed (14 days) by increased right ventricular systolic pressure and right ventricular hypertrophy. Marked down-regulation of the BMP9/BMPR2/SMAD signalling pathway was markedly down-regulated in lung tissues from bleomycin-treated rats (throughout the 7- to 35-day treatment period) and bleomycin-treated rat PMVECs, along with excessive cell apoptosis and loss of pulmonary arterial endothelium. Treatment with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 9 (rhBMP9) attenuated these aspects of bleomycin-induced pulmonary hypertension, by restoring disrupted BMP9/BMPR2/SMAD signalling. Conclusion and implications In bleomycin-treated rats, early and persisting suppression of the BMP9/BMPR2/SMAD signalling pathway triggered severe loss of pulmonary arterial endothelium and subsequent pulmonary arterial vascular remodelling, contributing to the development of pulmonary hypertension. Therapeutic approaches reinforcing BMP9/BMPR2/SMAD signalling might be ideal strategies for this subtype of pulmonary hypertension. Linked articles This article is part of a themed issue on Risk factors, comorbidities, and comedications in cardioprotection. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v178.1/issuetoc.

This study aims to present a method for matching the stiffness and damping of a magneto-rheological (MR) air suspension system that will ensure optimal ride comfort of a road vehicle traveling on roads with different roughness and speeds. The authors study the matching of the damping coefficient with the damping ratio, and obtain the adjustment range of the damping coefficient. Based on the linearization of the air spring, a suspension model with adjustable stiffness and adjustable damping has been established. To improve the ride comfort of the vehicle and to control the dynamic deflection and dynamic load, the optimal matching of stiffness and damping under different working conditions has been analyzed by using the stepwise optimal solution method. Then, the authors design four stiffness levels and five damping levels, and propose the parameter matching scheme of the MR air suspension system. The theoretical analysis shows that the proposed scheme can improve vehicle vertical dynamic performance. Four levels of adjustment for the width of the orifice between the air spring and auxiliary chamber and six levels of adjustment for the MR damper have been designed respectively. The findings of this study will inform other studies on vibration control.

A novel endogenous actinobacteria strain, designated TRM 66187T, was isolated from Lycium ruthenicum sampled at Alar, Xinjiang, Northwest PR China, and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences affiliated strain TRM 66187T with the genus Streptomyces . The whole-cell sugar pattern of TRM 66187T consisted of galactose, glucose and ribose. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H4) and MK-9(H6). Major cellular fatty acids were iso-C14:0, iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0 and anteiso-C16:0. The detected polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and two unidentified polar lipids. The G+C content of strain TRM 66187T was 71.8 mol%. Results of phylogenetic analysis showed that strain TRM 66187T had 98.48% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the closest described species Streptomyces qinglanensis DSM 42035T. The average nucleotide identity value between strain TRM 66187T and the closest related strain Streptomyces qinglanensis DSM 42035T was calculated to be 77.2%. The digital DNA–DNA hybridization value between them was 22.4%. Multilocus sequence analyses based on five housekeeping genes (atpD, gyrB, recA, rpoB and trpB) also indicated that strain TRM 66187T should be assigned to the genus Streptomyces . On the basis of evidence from this polyphasic study, strain TRM 66187T should be designated as representing a novel species of the genus Streptomyces , for which the name Streptomyces lycii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TRM 66187T (=LMG 31493T=CCTCC AA 2018094T).

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers around the world. We demonstrate that SPIN1 is upregulated and associated with poor prognosis in GC. SPIN1 sustains GC cell proliferation via activation of MDM2‐p21‐E2F1 signaling pathway by binding to H3K4me3 of the MDM2 promoter. E2F1 could directly bind to the SPIN1 promoter and activate its transcription, forming a positive feedback loop., Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers around the world. Searching for specific gene expression changes during the development of GC could help identify potential therapy targets. We previously showed that the histone code reader SPIN1 may act as an oncogene in breast cancer. At present, the biological function and regulation of SPIN1 in GC remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that SPIN1 is upregulated in GC tissues, compared with nontumorous gastric tissues. Increased expression of SPIN1 is closely associated with poor prognosis for patients with GC. Increased SPIN1 expression enhances GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and promotes cell cycle progression. Mechanically, SPIN1 sustains GC cell proliferation via activation of the MDM2‐p21‐E2F1 signaling pathway by binding to H3K4me3 of the MDM2 promoter region. Interestingly, E2F1 could directly bind to the SPIN1 promoter and activate its transcription, thus forming a positive feedback loop. Our data suggest that SPIN1 plays an important role in the development of GC and could be used as a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for GC.

A novel actinomycete, designated strain TRM 66233T, was isolated from Apocynum venetum L. collected from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences affiliated strain TRM 66233T with the genus Streptomyces . Strain TRM 66233T showed a high similarity value to Streptomyces bikiniensis NRRL B-1049T (98.07 %) based on the 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic tree. The whole-cell sugar pattern of TRM 66233T consisted of glucose, galactose, mannose and ribose. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H2), MK-9(H6), MK-9(H8) and MK-9(H10). The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and four unidentified lipids. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0, C16 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0. The G+C content of the DNA was 70.35 mol%. The DNA–DNA relatedness and average nucleotide identity values as well as evolutionary distances based on multilocus (atpD, gyrB, recA, rpoB and trpB) sequences between strain TRM 66233T and closely related type strains were significantly lower than the recommended threshold values. The whole-genome average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain TRM 66233T and S. bikiniensis NRRL B-1049T were 78.86 and 23.2 %, respectively. On the basis of evidence from this polyphasic study, strain TRM 66233T should represent a novel species of the genus Streptomyces , for which the name Streptomyces apocyni sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TRM 66233T (=CCTCC AA 2019056T=LMG 31559T).

The 18O/16O (and 15N/14N) ratio of natural nitrate (NO3-) and nitrite (NO2-) can be used to extract valuable information about their source and fate as environmental contaminants, their metabolism as macronutrients in plants and animals, and their behavior in the N biogeochemical cycle. We developed an accurate, precise, sensitive (minimum sample size: 0.2 μg NO3--equivalent), and reliable (minimal oxygen exchange, loss, or gain) method to selectively isolate and purify nitrate and nitrite from natural water, soil, air, and plant materials by strong anion exchange (SAX) for low- to normal-salinity samples or strong cation exchange (SCX) for high-salinity samples, followed by quantitative conversion to their respective benzyl esters, which can be separated and individually analyzed for δ18O (and potentially δ15N) by gas chromatography (GC)/pyrolysis/GC/isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). The method compares favorably with the currently popular bacterial denitrification and chemical reduction methods, in terms of sensitivity and reliability, and has the potential to simultaneously measure δ15N and δ18O of nitrate and nitrite from natural samples of various origins.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were demonstrated to play important roles in gene regulation and cancer progression. However, the functional roles of lncRNAs and the detailed mechanisms underlying gastric cancer (GC) progression remain largely unclear. Here, we identified a novel cancer-related lncRNA, termed lncRNA GCMA (Gastric Cancer metastasis-associated lncRNA), which was upregulated in GC tissues with lymph node metastasis (LNM) compared with tissues without LNM. High expression of GCMA was significantly associated with poor prognosis of patients with GC. Luciferase assays, bioinformatics analyses and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays indicated that SP1 transcription factor directly bound to the GCMA promoter region and activated its transcription. Functionally, upregulation of GCMA dramatically promoted GC cells proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro, whereas knockdown of GCMA elicited the opposite function. Consistently, stable knockdown of GCMA inhibited tumor proliferation, invasion and metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, by using bioinformatics analyses, RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays, luciferase assays and western-blot assays, GCMA was demonstrated to function as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) via competitively absorbing miR-124 and miR-34a to upregulate slug and snail, thereby induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and GC cell metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, these results demonstrate that GCMA functions as an oncogenic lncRNA that may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for GC and shed new lights on targeted therapy of GC in the future.

Information about plant photosynthetic carbon assimilation, physiology, and biochemistry is locked in the 18O/16O ratios of the individual positions of higher plants carbohydrates but is under-utilized, because of the difficulty of making these determinations. We report the extension of the wet chemistry approach we used to access the 18O/16O ratio of O-3 of glucose with a novel GC/Pyrolysis/IRMS-based method, to determine the 18O/16O ratios of O-4, O-5, and O-6. The O atoms (OH groups) at positions 1, 2, 5, and 6 of glucose were protected by acetonation (converting to 1,2;5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-glucofuranose, DAGF). The DAGF was then converted to 6-bromo-6-deoxy-1,2;3,5-di-O-isopropylidene-glucofuranose (6-bromoDAGF) with the simultaneous removal of O-6 with N-bromosuccinimide and triphenylphosphine. The DAGF was also methylated at O-3 with CH3I under the catalysis of NaH to 3-methylDAGF, which was then deacetonated to 1,2-O-isopropylidene-3-O-methyl-glucofuranose (3-methylMAGF). O-5 and O-6 were then removed as a whole from 3-methylMAGF by I2 oxidization under the catalysis of Ph3P and imidazole. Isotope mass balance was then applied to calculate the 18O/16O of O-5 and O-6 as a whole and O-6, respectively. Sampling at different stages of substrate conversion to product and applying a Rayleigh-type fractionation model were employed, when quantitative conversion of substrate was unachievable to calculate the δ18O of the converted substrate. Quantitative conversion of glucose with phenylhydrazine to phenylglucosazone also allowed for the calculation of δ18O2 by applying isotope mass balance between the two. A C4 starch-derived glucose intramolecular δ18O profile is now determined: O-3 is relatively enriched (by 12.16 mUr), O-4 is relatively depleted (by 20.40-31.11 mUr), and O-2 is marginally enriched (by 2.40 mUr) against the molecular average.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), have been shown to enhance the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal cells (MCs) and to promote bone formation. BMP6 is known to play an important role in the process of MCs towards osteogenic differentiation by virtue of their osteoinductive and cell type specific proliferative activity. However, the molecular mechanism relate to BMP6 osteoinductive activity is still unclear and continues to warrant further investigation. Msx2 is a member of the homeobox gene family of transcription factors and promotes calcification. Hence, we wondered if it might also play a role in BMP6-induced osteogenesis. In this study, two mouse mesenchymal cell lines were treated with BMP6, adenovirus-Msx2 (Ad-Msx2) or adenovirus-siMsx2 (Ad-siMsx2). Based on the results of mRNA and protein expression, it was indicated that BMP6 could enhance the expression of Msx2 and activate the phosphorylation of Smad 1/5/8, p38 and ERK1/2. Being transfected by Ad-Msx2, the BMP6-induced activation of phosphorylation was significantly promoted. On the contrary, two cell lines transfected by Ad-siMsx2 presented an inhibited expression of three phosphorylated proteins even after being induced by BMP6. The evaluation of ALP, OPN, OC and calcium deposits revealed the osteogenic results those were corresponding to the results of mRNA and protein. Taken together, these findings can be a novel viewpoint for the understanding of the mechanisms of BMP6-induced osteogenesis and provide therapeutic targets of bone defect., Highlights • BMP6 could promote the expression of Msx2 and enhance osteogenic differentiation of MCs. • Over-expressed Msx2 could reinforce the activation of Smad/MAPK signaling pathway which is triggered by BMP6. • Msx2 may play a key role in BMP6-induced osteogenesis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by a relapsing and remitting pattern. The remission phase may last weeks to years. It remains unclear what specific factors can cause the disease to exist the remission phase and enter an activated state. IL-10 is a cytokine best known for its anti-inflammatory roles. We hypothesized that IL-10 might have a role in suppressing disease flares in UC remission patients. Unexpectedly, we found that UC remission patients with higher serum IL-10 levels presented faster progression to disease flares. Subsequently, we found that exogenous IL-10 could significantly reduce the level of CD4 and CD8 T cell proliferation. On the other hand, IL-10 significantly elevated the viability of activated CD4 and CD8 T cells. Interestingly, it appeared that the IL-10-mediated pro-survival effects were more pronounced in CD8 T cells than in CD4 T cells and were able to promote the survival of activated T cells when administered prior to cell activation. To examine whether IL-10 in the serum of UC patients was able to enhance T cell survival, we separated UC remission patients into Low, Intermediate, and High groups based on the serum IL-10 level. The native serum from High IL-10 patients, but not the native serum from Low IL-10 patients, could significantly increase the viability of activated T cells. In conclusion, we demonstrated that high IL-10 level at the remission phase was associated with shorter duration of remission, possibly due to IL-10-mediated effects on T cell survival.

Objective. To investigate the intervention effect and mechanism of Aconite and Angelica sinensis on myocardial ischemia rats with Yang deficiency and blood stasis. Methods. SPF-class SD rats were randomly divided into low-dose and high-dose groups. Each group was divided into control group, model group, and drug-administered group (FZ, DG, FG; 1 : 0.5, 1 : 1, 1 : 2). A rat model was prepared by intraperitoneal injection of hydrocortisone and isoproterenol plus cold stimulation. Each group was given corresponding decoction or distilled water for 14 days. The behavioral changes of rats in each group were observed. The morphological changes of rats cardiomyocytes were observed by HE staining. The average optical density (MOD value) and percentage of positive cells of Bcl-2, Bax, and Akt were determined by immunohistochemical staining method, and PEIs were calculated. Western blot and RT-PCR were used to determine the expression of PI3K, Caspase-3, Akt protein, and gene expression. Results. The compatibility of Aconite and Angelica sinensis improved the morphology of rat cardiomyocytes, increased the PEI values of Akt and Bcl-2 protein, and decreased the PEI values of Bax protein (P<0.01). The compatibility reduced the expression of Caspase-3 protein of rat myocardium and increased the protein expression of p-Akt, PI3K, and p-PI3K (P<0.01). The compatibility also significantly reduced the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA and increased the expression of PI3K mRNA and Akt mRNA (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the effect of high-dose FG (1 : 2) group is the best. Conclusions. The method of preparing a rat model of myocardial ischemia with Yang deficiency and blood stasis was feasible. The compatibility of Aconite and Angelica sinensis reduced myocardial fibrosis and inflammatory reaction, protected ischemic cardiomyocytes, and reduced myocardial injury, whose mechanism may be related to the regulation of PI3K/Akt pathway. The compatible group had better intervention effects than Aconite or Angelica sinensis alone. The best one was high-dose FG (1 : 2).

Light field (LF) imaging enables new possibilities for digital imaging, such as digital refocusing, changing of focus plane, changing of viewpoint, scene-depth estimation, and 3D scene reconstruction, by capturing both spatial and angular information of light rays. However, one main problem in dealing with LF data is its sheer volume. In this context, efficient compression methods are needed for such a particular type of content. In this paper, we propose a content-based LF image-compression method with Gaussian process regression to improve the compression efficiency and accelerate the prediction procedure. First, the LF image is fed to the intra-frame codec of HEVC. In the prediction procedure, the prediction units (PUs) are classified as non-homogenous texture units, homogenous texture units, and visually flat units, based on the content property of the LF image. For each category, we design a corresponding Gaussian process regression (GPR)-based prediction method. Moreover, we propose a classification mechanism to exactly decide to which category the current PU belongs, so as to adjust the trade-off between the computational burden and the LF image coding efficiency. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed LF image compression method is superior to several other state-of-the-art compression methods in terms of different quality metrics. Furthermore, the proposed method can also achieve a good visual quality of views rendered from decoded LF contents.

Background Accumulating evidence demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) played important regulatory roles in many cancer types. However, the role of lncRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) progression remains unclear. Methods RT-qPCR assay was performed to detect the expression of HNF1A-AS1 in gastric cancer tissues and the non-tumourous gastric mucosa. Overexpression and RNA interference approaches were used to investigate the effects of HNF1A-AS1 on GC cells. Insight into competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanisms was gained via bioinformatics analysis, luciferase assays and an RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay, RNA-FISH co-localisation analysis combined with microRNA (miRNA)-pulldown assay. Results This study displayed that revealed expression of HNF1A-AS1 was associated with positive lymph node metastasis in GC. Moreover, HNF1A-AS1 significantly promoted gastric cancer invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. In addition, HNF1A-AS1 was demonstrated to function as a ceRNA for miR-30b-3p. HNF1A-AS1 abolished the function of the miRNA-30b-3p and resulted in the derepression of its target, PIK3CD, which is a core oncogene involved in the progression of GC. Conclusion This study demonstrated that HNF1A-AS1 worked as a ceRNA and promoted PI3K/AKT signalling pathway-mediated GC metastasis by sponging miR-30b-3p, offering novel insights of the metastasis mechanism in GC.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), with a moderate band gap (∼2.7 eV), high chemical and thermal stability, has been the hotspot in environmental photocatalysis. However, its performance is still u...

We consider an online stochastic unrelated machines scheduling problem. Specifically, a set of jobs arriving online over time must be randomly scheduled on the unrelated machines, which implies that the information of each job, including the release date and the weight, is not known until it is released. Furthermore, the actual processing time of each job is disclosed upon completion of this job. In addition, we focus on unrelated machines, which means that each job has a processing speed on every machine. Our goal is to minimize the expected total weighted completion time of all jobs. In this paper, we present a randomized selection algorithm for this problem and prove that the competitive ratio is a constant. Moreover, we show that it is asymptotic optimal for the online stochastic uniform machines scheduling problem when some parameters are bounded. Moreover, our proof does not require any probabilistic assumption on the job parameters.

Water pollution due to organic dyes and radionuclides is a challenging issue to the modern world. Cheap and efficient adsorbents are needed for their removal from wastewaters. Carbon-doped magnesium oxide (C-MgO) and calcium carbonate (C-CaCO3) were synthesized by the in situ hydrothermal treatment of Mg(OH)2 and Ca(OH)2 with carbon, and applied for the removal of eriochrome black T (EBT) at pH = 2.0 and uranium (U(VI)) at pH = 6.0. The Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacities of C-MgO (3.62 × 10−4 mol/g for EBT and 8.10 × 10−4 mol/g for U(VI)) were higher than those of C-CaCO3 (2.53 × 10−4 mol/g for EBT and 5.92 × 10−4 mol/g for U(VI)). The high adsorption capacity of C-MgO was also evidenced with DFT calculations which showed that the sorption energies (ΔE) of C-MgO for EBT (20.62 kcal/mol) and U(VI) (63.41 kcal/mol) were higher than those of C-CaCO3 for EBT (10.21 kcal/mol) and U(VI) (34.29 kcal/mol). In all cases, the electrostatic interactions were involved in the adsorption process. The sorption kinetic data followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The results demonstrate that both C-MgO and C-CaCO3 are reusable and can be effectively applied for the elimination of EBT and U(VI) from wastewater.