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AimCoronary artery lesion (CAL) is a common yet serious complication in children with Kawasaki disease. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influencing factors of CAL in children with Kawasaki disease, to provide reference for the clinical treatment and care of children with Kawasaki disease.DesignA retrospective cohort study.MethodsChildren with Kawasaki disease treated in a tertiary hospital in China between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2022 were selected. The characteristics and clinical data of children with Kawasaki disease were analyzed. Spearman’s correlation analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between CAL and the characteristics of children with Kawasaki disease. A logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of CAL in children with Kawasaki disease.ResultsIn total, 185 children with Kawasaki disease were included; the incidence of CAL in children with Kawasaki disease was 18.38%. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that gender (r = 0.504), age (r = 0.611), duration of fever ≥10 days (r = 0.579), hemoglobin (Hb) (r = 0.623), and C-reactive protein (CRP) (r = 0.558) were all correlated with the CAL in children with Kawasaki disease (all p

Abstract There is a high level of conservation of tryptophans within the active site architecture of the cellulase family, whereas the function of the four tryptophans in the catalytic domain of Cel7A is unclear. By mutating four tryptophan residues in the catalytic domain of Cel7A from Penicillium piceum (PpCel7A), the binding affinity between PpCel7A and p‐nitrophenol‐d‐cellobioside (pNPC) was reduced as determined by Michaelis–Menten constants, molecular dynamics simulations, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, PpCel7A variants showed a reduced level of cellobiohydrolase (CBH) activity against cellulose analogs or natural cellulose. Therefore, it could be concluded four tryptophan residues in Cel7A played a critical role in substrate binding. Mutagenesis results indicated that the W390 stacking interactions at the −2 site played an essential role in facilitating substrate distortion to the −1 site. As soon as the function was altered, the mutation would inevitably affect the catalytic activity against the natural substrate. Interestingly, no clear relationship was found between the CBH activity of PpCel7A variants against pNPC and Avicel. p‐Nitrophenol contains many electrophilic groups that may result in overestimation of the binding constant between tryptophan residues and pNPC in comparison with the natural substrate. Consequently, screening improved cellulase using cellulose analogs would divert attention from the target direction for lignocellulose biorefinery. Clarifying mechanism of catalytic diversity on the natural cellulose or cellulose analogs may give better insight into cellulase screening and selecting strategy.

Abstract Background Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rodin (TKS) is a promising commercial alternative natural rubber (NR) yielding plant. Cultivating TKS with a high NR content is an important breeding target, and developing molecular markers related to NR content can effectively accelerate the breeding process of TKS. Results To construct a high-density SNP genetic map and uncover genomic regions related to the NR content in TKS, an F1 mapping population of TKS was constructed by crossing two parents (l66 and X51) with significant differences in NR contents. The NR content of the F1 plants ranged from 0.30 to 15.14% and was distributed normally with a coefficient of variation of 47.61%, indicating quantitative trait inheritance. Then, employing whole-genome resequencing (WGR), a TKS genetic linkage map of 12,680 bin markers comprising 322,439 SNPs was generated. Based on the genetic map and NR content of the F1 population, six quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for NR content with LOD > 4.0 were identified on LG01/Chr01 and LG06/Chr06. Of them, the 2.17 Mb genomic region between qHRC-C6-1 and qHRC-C6-2 on ChrA06, with 65.62% PVE in total, was the major QTL region. In addition, the six QTLs have significant additive genetic effects on NR content and could be used to develop markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in TKS with a high NR content. Conclusion This work constructed the first high-density TKS genetic map and identified the QTLs and genomic regions controlling the NR content, which provides useful information for fine mapping, map-based cloning, and MAS in TKS.

The small GTPases of the Rho family are known to regulate various biological processes in filamentous fungi. In this study, we investigated the impact of deleting Rho proteins on the growth and cellulase production of Trichoderma reesei. Our findings revealed that deletion of cdc42 led to the most severe growth defect and impaired cellulase production. Conversely, overexpression of cdc42 resulted in a hyperbranched phenotype, significantly enhancing cellulase production. Furthermore, the cdc42-overexpressing (OCdc42) strain showed an increased expression of multiple cellulase genes and Rho GTPase genes. Analysis of the secretome in the OCdc42 strain unveiled an increased abundance and diversity of extracellular proteins compared to the parent strain. These discoveries provide valuable insights into the functionality of Rho GTPases in T. reesei and offer potential targets for engineering fungi to improve plant biomass deconstruction in biorefineries.

This paper investigates how the government stabilizes economic growth from the perspective of government expenditure. We contribute a method to identify the government expenditure aimed at stabilizing growth and empirically examine it using a dataset of economic growth targets. We find that when the economy encounters adverse shocks, government expenditure increases significantly by 1.1 percentage points on average for every one percentage point increase in the growth target. We document the following patterns of stabilizing growth: (1) government increases expenditure on economic affairs rather than on other functions; (2) government expenditure is financed by current revenue; and (3) it is a temporary behavior to stabilize growth. This paper also suggests that stabilizing growth by increasing government expenditure is a global phenomenon.

MADS-box transcription regulators play important roles in plant growth and development. However, very few MADS-box genes have been isolated in the genus Taraxacum, which consists of more than 3000 species. To explore their functions in the promising natural rubber (NR)-producing plant Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS), MADS-box genes were identified in the genome of TKS and the related species Taraxacum mongolicum (TM; non-NR-producing) via genome-wide screening. In total, 66 TkMADSs and 59 TmMADSs were identified in the TKS and TM genomes, respectively. From diploid TKS to triploid TM, the total number of MADS-box genes did not increase, but expansion occurred in specific subfamilies. Between the two genomes, a total of 11 duplications, which promoted the expansion of MADS-box genes, were identified in the two species. TkMADS and TmMADS were highly conserved, and showed good collinearity. Furthermore, most TkMADS genes exhibiting tissue-specific expression patterns, especially genes associated with the ABCDE model, were preferentially expressed in the flowers, suggesting their conserved and dominant functions in flower development in TKS. Moreover, by comparing the transcriptomes of different TKS lines, we identified 25 TkMADSs related to biomass formation and 4 TkMADSs related to NR content, which represented new targets for improving the NR yield of TKS.

To overcome rubber tree (RT) tissue culture explant source limitations, the current study aimed to establish a new Hevea brasiliensis somatic embryogenesis (SE) system, laying the technical foundation for the establishment of an axillary-bud-based seedling regeneration system. In this study, in vitro plantlets of Hevea brasiliensis Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences 917 (CATAS 917) were used as the experimental materials. Firstly, the optimum conditions for axillary bud swelling were studied; then, the effects of phenology, the swelling time of axillary buds (ABs), and medium of embryogenic callus induction were studied. Plantlets were obtained through somatic embryogenesis. Flow cytometry, inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR molecular marker) and chromosome karyotype analysis were used to study the genetic stability of regenerated plants along with budding seedlings (BSs) and secondary somatic embryo seedlings (SSESs) as the control. The results show that the rubber tree’s phenology period was mature, and the axillary bud induction rate was the highest in the 2 mg/L 6-benzyladenine (6-BA) medium (up to 85.83%). Later, 3-day-old swelling axillary buds were used as explants for callogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. The callus induction rate was optimum in MH (Medium in Hevea) + 1.5 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) + 1.5 mg/L 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) + 1.5 mg/L Kinetin (KT) + 70 g/L sucrose (56.55%). The regenerated plants were obtained after the 175-day culture of explants through callus induction, embryogenic callus induction, somatic embryo development, and plant regeneration. Compared with the secondary somatic embryo seedling control, axillary bud regeneration plants (ABRPs) were normal diploid plants at the cellular and molecular level, with a variation rate of 7.74%.

Mastitis is one of the most common and significant infectious diseases in dairy cattle and is responsible for significant financial losses for the dairy industry globally. An important pathogen of bovine mastitis, Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) has a high infection rate, requires a long course of treatment, and is difficult to cure. Bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) are the first line of defense of the mammary gland, and their natural immune system plays a critical role in resisting M. bovis infection. This study aimed to explore and demonstrate the regularity of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) activation during M. bovis infection and their function during M. bovis mastitis. An in vitro model of M. bovis-induced mastitis showed that the expression of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α increased significantly following infection. M. bovis infection also upregulated the expression of TLR1/2/6 on the cell membrane and TLR3/9 in the cytoplasm. There is a crosstalk effect between TLR1–TLR2 and TLR2–TLR6. Furthermore, M. bovis infection was found to activate the TLR1/2/6/9/MyD88/NF-κB and TLR3/TRIF/IRF signal transduction pathways, which in turn activate inflammatory factors. These findings lay the theoretical foundation for understanding the pathogenesis of M. bovis, permitting the development of effective measures for preventing and controlling M. bovis mastitis.

Inappropriate organic fertilizer application may cause serious environmental risks, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses. To achieve a win–win for high yield and environmental protection in organic agriculture, it was essential to demonstrate the relationship between the organic fertilizer input, rice yields, and risks of N and P losses. Based on a rice and green manure cropping rotation field experiment in the Yangtze River Delta of China, the effects of organic fertilization rates on the dynamics of surface water N and P concentrations and rice grain yields were determined. The results showed that the N (total N, ammonium-nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen) and P (total P and dissolved P) concentrations in surface water immediately and greatly reached the highest values 1 day after basal fertilization and topdressing fertilization. Then, the N and P concentrations sharply decreased and were maintained at a relatively low level. The initial 3 and 7 days after organic fertilization were the high-risk periods for controlling N and P runoff losses. The surface water N and P concentrations had a positive correlation with the organic fertilization rate in high-risk periods. Besides, the effects of organic fertilization on surface water P concentrations existed longer than those of N concentrations. The rice grain yields increased with the increase in organic fertilization rates, but high organic fertilizer input (>225 kg N per hectare) did not increase the grain yield. Meanwhile, the high organic fertilizer input had the highest risks for N and P losses. Therefore, in organic rice farming, organic fertilization rates with 150~200 kg N per hectare are the optimal organic fertilizer input, with relatively high grain yields and low N and P losses.

We employ the complex method to research the integrality of the Fisher equations with degree three. We obtain the sufficient and necessary condition of the integrable of the Fisher equations with degree three and the general meromorphic solutions of the integrable Fisher equations with degree three, which improves the corresponding results obtained by Feng and Li (2006), Guo and Chen (1991), and Ağırseven and Öziş (2010). Moreover, all wg,1(z) are new general meromorphic solutions of the Fisher equations with degree three for c=±3/2. Our results show that the complex method provides a powerful mathematical tool for solving a large number of nonlinear partial differential equations in mathematical physics.