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Electrostatic charge of solid particles can cause problems in many handling processes and need to be evaluated in terms of charge levels and charge polarity. An inductive charge sensor is suitable for the evaluation of both levels and distributions of particle charges at the same time. However, the performance of charge sensing is critically subject to its signal process, which can result in huge errors. One of error sources is drifting of the baseline tracked, which leads raw signals generated by the sensor to be distorted. Especially in determining polarity and quantity of bipolar charges, the distorted signal leads to significant biases and errors in charge measurements, when the number of particles measured is big. Currently, the existing correction algorithms cannot produce a satisfied result in baseline tracking. In this paper, the baseline drifting problem for the charge signals has been explored according to the types of charge polarity. For unipolar charge signals, charge polarity and quantity are determined directly by a poles-pairing method without any further baseline correction. For bipolar charge signals, a new method in baseline tracking and correction has been developed based on dynamic time warping algorithm. Further optimization by a double-check process is used to remove the ‘small hump’ errors in the signal. With the results of the charge measurements, this new method shows significant advantages on accuracy and efficiency of charge detection compared to the other existing methods.

In this paper, a new species of the genus Rosa from China, Rosa tomurensis L. Luo, C. Yu & Q. X. Zhang, is described and illustrated. In the past, R. tomurensis was considered as a variety of Rosa laxa. After years of field investigation, introduction and cultivation, comparison and measurement of plant specimens, our research team found that R. tomurensis has stable characters, and its morphological characteristics, sporopollen, chromosome karyotype and genome are obviously different from R. laxa. Therefore, it is confirmed that R. tomurensis is an independent species in Rosa.

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is a major poultry pathogen that can induce Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD) in chickens, causing serious economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) act as a vital role in resisting microbial pathogenesis and maintaining cellular mechanism. Our previous miRNAs sequencing data showed gga-miR-24-3p expression level was significantly increased in MG-infected chicken lungs. The aim of this study is to reveal the cellular mechanism behind the MG-HS infection. We found that gga-miR-24-3p was significantly upregulated and Ras-related protein-B (RAP1B) was downregulated in chicken fibroblast cells (DF-1) with MG infection. Dual luciferase reporting assay and rescue assay confirmed that RAP1B was the target gene of gga-miR-24-3p. Meanwhile, overexpressed gga-miR-24-3p increased the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and significantly inhibited cell proliferation as well as promoted MG-infected DF-1 cell apoptosis, whereas inhibition of gga-miR-24-3p had the opposite effect. More importantly, the results of overexpression and knockdown of target gene RAP1B demonstrated that the presence of RAP1B promoted cell proliferation and it saved the reduced or increased cell proliferation caused by overexpression or inhibition of gga-miR-24-3p. Furthermore, the overexpression of gga-miR-24-3p could significantly inhibit the expression of MG-HS adhesion protein. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that DF-1 cells can resist MG-HS infection through gga-miR-24-3p/RAP1B mediated decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis, which provides a new mechanism of resistance to MG infection in vitro.

Controlling proper RNA pool for nuclear export is important for accurate gene expression. ZFC3H1 is a key controller that not only facilitates nuclear exosomal degradation, but also retains its bound polyadenylated RNAs in the nucleus upon exosome inactivation. However, how ZFC3H1 retains RNAs and how its roles in RNA retention and degradation are related remain largely unclear. Here, we found that upon degradation inhibition, ZFC3H1 forms nuclear condensates to prevent RNA trafficking to nuclear speckles (NSs) where many RNAs gain export competence. Systematic mapping of ZFC3H1 revealed that it utilizes distinct domains for condensation and RNA degradation. Interestingly, ZFC3H1 condensation activity is required for preventing RNA trafficking to NSs, but not for RNA degradation. Considering that no apparent ZFC3H1 condensates are formed in normal cells, our study suggests that nuclear RNA degradation and retention are two independent mechanisms with different preference for controlling proper export RNA pool—degradation is preferred in normal cells, and condensation retention is activated upon degradation inhibition.

Rosa tomurensis L. Luo, C. Yu & Q. X. Zhang (Figures 3, 4, 5) Type: — CHINA. Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Akesu Prefecture, Wensu County, Tuomuerfeng Natural Preservation Areas, in river valleys, ca. 1800m, 10 June 2017, L. Luo, C. Yu, Y. J. Sui, F. Yang & S. Zhao 171022 (holotype BJFC00107674!). Diagnosis: — R. tomurensis is different from R. laxa in the following characteristics: prickles are rare, single prickles are larger, and the tip of prickles is not curved significantly; leaf blade apex serrate only, subbase one-third entire; flowers often solitary, and single flowers are larger than R. laxa; receptacles purplish red, occasionally green; pedicels very long, purplish red or green; sepals are purplish red or green; hips are larger than R. laxa, often pendulous, hip apex without short neck; hip pedicels slightly inflated at base; sepals abaxially, receptacle and pedicel glandular or glandless together, the glands in the pedicel sometimes shed at anaphase. (Table 2). Description: —Shrubs, erect, 2.5–3 m tall, basal branching. Branchlets slender, brownish red; branchial spines are rare, scattered, rarely opposite, pale yellow and white, unequal in length, slender, broad at base, apex slightly downward curved. Leaflets 5–9, usually 7, elliptic, obovoid, ovoid or oblong, 0.6–2 × 0.5–1 cm, abaxially sparsely pilose, adaxially smooth; leaf margin simple serrate, often entire subbase one-third. Stipules usually wider, base mostly adnate to petiole, free portion ovate, triangulate, margin glandular spot. Flowers often solitary, sometimes 2–3 in corymbose cymes, (3) 3.5–6.5 (7) cm in diam; pedicel 1.5–3.5 cm, pedicel and calyx tube glabrous or tomentose and sparsely glandular hairs; bracts ovate, margin glandular teeth, abaxially with distinct midrib and lateral veins; sepals long lanceolate, margin entire, apex elongated widened into appendages, abaxially glandular and densely tomentose, adaxially densely pubescent, margin more densely; petals white, sparse pink,or pale pink, at bud stage, petal tips are often pink or pale pink. Hip subglobose or ovoid, red, shiny, 1–2.1cm in diam, 1.5–2 cm long, sepals persistent and spreading; fruit pedicel straight or bent. Distribution and habitat: —This species is produced in the Tuomuerfeng Natural Preservation Areas of Wensu County in Aksu Perfecture, the Pamir Plateau Mountain Area of Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Tajik Autonomous County of Taxkorgan in Kashgar Prefecture and the south slope of Duku Highway, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It borns in arid mountains, river valleys and riparian thickets, at elevations between 1700 m and 3000 m. The associated woody plants in this area are R. laxa, R. albertii, Berberis sp., Caragana sp., etc. Phenology: —Flowering from June to July, fruiting from August to October. Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to the distribution where the new species was first discovered. Paratypes: — CHINA. Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Akesu Prefecture, Wensu County, Tuomuerfeng Natural Preservation Areas, in river valleys, ca. 1800m, 24 September 2017, L. Luo, C. Yu, Y. J. Sui, F. Yang & S. Zhao 171023 (BJFC00107688!); the same locality, 8 June 2017, L. Luo, C. Yu, Y. J. Sui, F. Yang & S. Zhao 171024 (BJFC00107671!). Conservation status: —Based on currently available data, the species should be assigned to the ‘Data Deficient’ (DD) category of IUCN (2022). There is little human interference in this species’ distribution areas, so these populations are not easy to be destroyed., Published as part of Deng, Tong, Luo, Le, Yu, Chao, Zhang, Qi-Xiang, Liu, Xue-Sen & Deng, Ze-Yi, 2022, Rosa tomurensis, a new species of Rosa (Rosaceae) from China, pp. 169-177 in Phytotaxa 556 (2) on pages 174-175, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.556.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/6965990, {"references":["IUCN Standards and Petitions committee (2022) Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Version 15. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions Committee. Available from: https: // nc. iucnredlist. org / redlist / content / attachment _ files / RedListGuidelines. pdf (accessed 15 March 2022)"]}

Measuring immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), can rely on antibodies, reactive T cells and other factors, with T-cell-mediated responses appearing to have greater sensitivity and longevity. Because each T cell carries an essentially unique nucleic acid sequence for its T-cell receptor (TCR), we can interrogate sequence data derived from DNA or RNA to assess aspects of the immune response. This review deals with the utility of bulk, rather than single-cell, sequencing of TCR repertoires, considering the importance of study design, in terms of cohort selection, laboratory methods and analysis. The advances in understanding SARS-CoV-2 immunity that have resulted from bulk TCR repertoire sequencing are also be discussed. The complexity of sequencing data obtained by bulk repertoire sequencing makes analysis challenging, but simple descriptive analyses, clonal analysis, searches for specific sequences associated with immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, motif-based analyses, and machine learning approaches have all been applied. TCR repertoire sequencing has demonstrated early expansion followed by contraction of SARS-CoV-2-specific clonotypes, during active infection. Maintenance of TCR repertoire diversity, including the maintenance of diversity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 response, predicts a favourable outcome. TCR repertoire narrowing in severe COVID-19 is most likely a consequence of COVID-19-associated lymphopenia. It has been possible to follow clonotypic sequences longitudinally, which has been particularly valuable for clonotypes known to be associated with SARS-CoV-2 peptide/MHC tetramer binding or with SARS-CoV-2 peptide-induced cytokine responses. Closely related clonotypes to these previously identified sequences have been shown to respond with similar kinetics during infection. A possible superantigen-like effect of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has been identified, by means of observing V-segment skewing in patients with severe COVID-19, together with structural modelling. Such a superantigen-like activity, which is apparently absent from other coronaviruses, may be the basis of multisystem inflammatory syndrome and cytokine storms in COVID-19. Bulk TCR repertoire sequencing has proven to be a useful and cost-effective approach to understanding interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and the human host, with the potential to inform the design of therapeutics and vaccines, as well as to provide invaluable pathogenetic and epidemiological insights.