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Zhang, Qiong, Wu, Fang-Yuan, Huang, Yao-Heng, Ma, Jin-Lin, Yang, Shi-Xiong (2022): Camellia piloflora (Theaceae), a new yellow camellia from Guangxi, South China. Phytotaxa 574 (2): 179-184, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.574.2.7, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.574.2.7

Camellia rostrata S.X.Yang & S.F.Chai is described and illustrated as a new species from Guangxi, China. It is morphologically closest to C. debaoensis R.C.Hu & Y.Q.Liufu, but can be easily distinguished by its abaxially glabrous leaf surface, 1.0−1.5(−2.0) cm long pedicel, powdery puberulent inner surface of bracteoles, sepals, and petals, sparsely pubescent inner filaments base, and triangle globose or ellipsoid capsule with pointed beak. The conservation status of this new species was assessed as Critically Endangered (CR).

Camellia zhaiana S.X. Yang (Theaceae) is a recently described species reported from Guangxi, China. It was proposed as a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. In this study, we report and characterize the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of C. zhaiana using Illumina pair-end sequencing data. This is the first report of a cp genome of a species classified in Camellia section. Longipedicellata. The cp genome of C. zhaiana is 156,627 bp in length and includes a large single-copy region (LSC, 86,196 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC, 18,281 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,075 bp). The genome contains 135 genes, including 40 tRNA, eight rRNA, and 87 protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed a strongly supported sister relationship between C. zhaiana and C. longipedicellata, which is a species classified in sect. Longipedicellata. These data support the previous systematic findings of C. zhaiana and advance the bioinformatics of the genus Camellia.

Background CD4+ T cells are critical effectors of anti-tumor immunity, but how tumor cells influence CD4+ T cell effector function is not fully understood. Tumor cell-released autophagosomes (TRAPs) are being recognized as critical modulators of host anti-tumor immunity during tumor progression. Here, we explored the mechanistic aspects of TRAPs in the modulation of CD4+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Methods TRAPs isolated from tumor cell lines and pleural effusions or ascites of cancer patients were incubated with CD4+ T cells to examine the function and mechanism of TRAPs in CD4+ T cell differentiation and function. TRAPs-elicited CD4+ T cells were tested for their suppression of effector T cell function, induction of regulatory B cells, and promotion of tumorigenesis and metastasis in a mouse model. Results Heat shock protein 90α (HSP90α) on the surface of TRAPs from malignant effusions of cancer patients and tumor cell lines stimulated CD4+ T cell production of IL-6 via a TLR2–MyD88–NF-κB signal cascade. TRAPs-induced autocrine IL-6 further promoted CD4+ T cells secretion of IL-10 and IL-21 via STAT3. Notably, TRAPs-elicited CD4+ T cells inhibited CD4+ and CD8+ effector T cell function in an IL-6- and IL-10-dependent manner and induced IL-10-producing regulatory B cells (Bregs) via IL-6, IL-10 and IL-21, thereby promoting tumor growth and metastasis. Consistently, inhibition of tumor autophagosome formation or IL-6 secretion by CD4+ T cells markedly retarded tumor growth. Furthermore, B cell or CD4+ T cell depletion impeded tumor growth by increasing effector T cell function. Conclusions HSP90α on the surface of TRAPs programs the immunosuppressive functions of CD4+ T cells to promote tumor growth and metastasis. TRAPs or their membrane-bound HSP90α represent important therapeutic targets to reverse cancer-associated immunosuppression and improve immunotherapy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40425-019-0646-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Figure S1. Effect of TRAPs on differentiation of CD4+ T cells. Figure S2. Comparison of LC3B+ EVs and LC3B− EVs in instructing CD4+ T cells. Figure S3 TRAPs induce Akt/p38/NF-κB/STAT3 activation in CD4+ T cells via the TLR2–MyD88 pathway. Figure S4 IL-10 and IL-21 production by TRAPs-induced CD4+ T cells occurs via autocrine IL-6. Figure S5 Hsp90α on TRAPs is essential for the induction of IL-6 secretion from CD4+ T cells. Figure S6. The secretion of cytokines from TRAPs-induced CD4+ T cells (TTRAP) mediate IL-10-producing B cell differentiation. Figure S7 Evaluation of Beclin-1 expression in B16F10 cells. Figure S8 Depletion of selected cellular subsets during tumor growth. (DOCX 2.11 mb)

Table S1. Clinical and demographic characteristics of the patients presenting with malignant pleural effusions or ascites. Table S2. Antibodies used in flow cytometry. Table S3. Primer sequences for qPCR used in our study. Table S4. Antibodies used for immunoblotting. (DOCX 25 kb)

Two novel N-substituted anchoring porphyrins (ZnPAtz and ZnPAim) have been devised and synthesized. Moreover, these two anchoring porphyrins were linked to the TiO2 semiconductor through carboxyl groups and then a zinc porphyrin ZnP was bound to the anchoring porphyrin using a zinc-to-ligand axial coordination approach. The different performances of these assemblies were compared with single anchoring porphyrin devices ZnPAtz and ZnPAim. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of the new supramolecular solar cells sensitized by ZnP-ZnPAx (x = tz, im) has been improved. The ZnP-ZnPAtz-based DSSCs provided the highest photovoltaic efficiency (1.86%). Fundamental studies showed that incorporation of these assemblies promote light-harvesting efficiency.

This paper presents an intelligent fault diagnostic approach for a steer-by-wire (SBW) system. A rough set model is utilized to reduce the redundant information. On the base of the reduction, the classifying rules can be extracted. A radical basis function (RBF) neural network optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is designed to learn the fault rules that are extracted from the reduction of the redundant information. The proposed approach is simulated in MATLAB. Simulation results show that the proposed intelligent fault diagnostic algorithm provides a higher level of diagnostic accuracy than the approach without any optimization.

In this paper, based on the one-dimensional (1D) optical superlattice model, we calculate the average reflectivities (ARs) of leaded ancient pottery (AP) made within the last 2000 years, and find that for incident light with a suitable wavelength, the AR of the leaded AP increases monotonously with the increase in the layer number of the silvery glaze (SG) media. Based on this property, we propose an optical nondestructive method for identifying the age of leaded AP by detecting the AR. By using the exhaust algorithm and the discriminant function of variance, we obtain the optimal wavelength range of the incident light to identify the ages of the leaded AP. It is found that in the visible light band, if we choose green light with a wavelength range of 540–540.1 nm as the incident light, leaded AP made within the last 2000 years can be identified swiftly and precisely by detecting the ARs. This will be useful for designing optical instruments for the fast nondestructive identification of the ages of leaded AP.