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The patient, a 55-year-old female presenting with spinal deformity and exertional dyspnea, was referred to the hospital. Radiographic evaluation of her spine revealed an “S”-shaped scoliosis with a Cobb angle measuring 68°, indicative of severe scoliosis. Despite receiving medication for expectoration, postoperative symptoms including chest tightness, breathlessness, and ineffective coughing persisted and progressively worsened. Subsequent chest CT scans demonstrated extensive atelectasis, and pharmacological interventions proved to be ineffective. Considering the patient’s clinical condition, we implemented airway clearance technique (ACT) along with prone ventilation to optimize cough effectiveness and mitigate atelectasis formation. The airway clearance techniques (ACT) employed include nebulization, continuous positive expiratory pressure (CPEP), and continuous high frequency oscillation (CHFO). Chest CT imaging confirmed that ACT substantially alleviated the patient’s pulmonary atelectasis. Moreover, blood gas analysis indicated significant improvements in both the PaO2/FiO2 ratio and base excess of whole blood. Follow-up evaluation 1 year post-discharge revealed a favorable prognosis for the patient. We anticipate that our experience utilizing these novel therapeutic modalities will provide valuable insights for clinicians managing similar complications.

Scrotal circumference is an important reproductive index of breeding rams, which has a high genetic correlation with ejaculation volume and semen quality. In this study, the scrotal circumference of 1353 male Hu sheep at different stages of development was measured and descriptive statistical analysis was performed. The results showed that the coefficient of variation of scrotal circumference at each stage was greater than 10%, and its heritability were moderately to high, ranging from 0.318 to 0.719. We used PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing to scan the polymorphisms of the IGFALS gene, and performed association analysis with the circumference of the scrotum at different stages. We identified a synonymous mutation g.918 G > C in exon 1 of the IGFALS gene, and this mutation was significantly associated with scrotal circumference at 100, 120, 140, 160 and 180 days (p

The body size traits are major traits in livestock, which intuitively displays the development of the animal’s bones and muscles. This study used PCR amplification, Sanger sequencing, KASPar genotyping, and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) to analyze the Single-nucleotide polymorphism and expression characteristics of Argonaute RISC catalytic component 2 (AGO2) and Plectin (PLEC) genes in Hu sheep. Two intron mutations were found in Hu sheep, which were AGO2 g.51700 A > C and PLEC g.23157 C > T, respectively. Through association analysis of two mutation sites and body size traits, it was found that AGO2 g.51700 A > C mainly affects the chest and cannon circumference of Hu sheep of while PLEC g.23157 C mainly affects body height and body length. The combined genotypes of AGO2 and PLEC genes with body size traits showed SNPs at the AGO2 g.51700 A > C and PLEC g.23157 C > T loci significantly improved the body size traits of Hu sheep. In addition, the AGO2 gene has the highest expression levels in the heart, rumen, and tail fat, and the PLEC gene is highly expressed in the heart. These two loci can provide new research ideas for improving the body size traits of Hu sheep.

Background: Despite the practical importance of addressing the drug user’s sleep problems to enhance the efficacy of treatment and rehabilitation, little is known about whether and how history of childhood maltreatment relates to this issue. This study takes an evolutionary perspective to investigate the associations between history of childhood maltreatment and sleep problems in adults with drug abuse via their emotion regulation difficulties, future-oriented coping, and anxiety.Methods: Participants were 604 male adults with drug abuse between the ages of 18–58 years (M = 36.20, SD = 8.17) in a drug rehabilitation centre in China. In addition to bivariate correlation analysis, path analysis was conducted to examine goodness-of-fit of the conceptual model, controlling for the effect of demographic characteristics.Results: Thirty-two percent of participants (n = 194) reported poor sleep quality (PSQI > 5), whereas sleep disturbance (81.3%), daytime dysfunction (77.3%), and sleep latency (66.5%) were the three most common problems among them. Correlation analysis supported the hypothesised positive correlations between poor sleep quality and childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation difficulties, and anxiety, and a negative correlation with future-oriented coping. Results of path analysis showed a significant indirect effect of childhood maltreatment on sleep problems via both emotion regulation difficulties and anxiety, whereas such effects via both future-oriented coping and anxiety were statistically nonsignificant.Conclusions: The findings suggest life history theory is applicable to understanding drug users’ sleep problems, and interventions regarding both emotion regulation difficulties and anxiety can lessen the risk posed by childhood maltreatment on sleep problems.

As a cell proliferation regulator involved in wide biological processes in plants, GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR (GIF) controls different tissues development. However, whether GIF participates in fruit development remains unclear. According to transcriptome data, we identified PbGIF1 was highly expressed during fruit development in cytokinins induced parthenocarpy pear. In the present study, the biofunction of PbGIF1 was initially verified. Overexpression of PbGIF1 promoted fruit size of transgenic tomato. The size of flesh fruit was not affected by cell expansion but the cell proliferation was promoted by overexpressing PbGIF1. The accelerated cell proliferation process was also observed in PbGIF1-overexpressed transgenic pear fruit calli. The transcriptional regulation of cytokinins on PbGIF1 was further confirmed by exogenous CPPU treatments in pear fruitlets. To investigate the underlying mechanism, the cytokinins-responded factor, PbRR1, was further focused on. The results of Yeast-one-hybrid assay suggested that PbRR1 can bind to the promoter sequence of PbGIF1. The transcriptional activation of PbRR1 on PbGIF1 was also confirmed by Dual-Luciferase assays. Taken together, the results showed that cytokinins control pear fruit development via the transcriptional activation of PbGIF1 by PbRR1.

Scientific evaluation of pear maturity is important for commercial reasons. Near-infrared spectroscopy is a non-destructive method that could be used for rapid assessment of pear maturity. The aim of this study was to develop a reasonable and effective method for the assessment of Starkrimson pear maturity using near-infrared technology. Partial least squares regression and five classification methods were used for analysis of the data. Among the indices used with the competitive adaptive reweighting–partial least squares regression method for quantitation, the visual ripeness index had the best modeling effect (Rp2: 0.87; root mean square error of prediction: 0.39). The classification model constructed with the visual ripeness index and post-ripeness score gave a cross-validation neural network model with the best classification effect and the highest accuracy (classification accuracy: 88.7%). The results showed that combination of quality indices with near-infrared spectroscopy was effective for rapidly evaluating the maturity of Starkrimson pears.

In various practical applications, such as autonomous vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle navigation, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) are commonly used for positioning. However, traditional GNSS positioning methods are often affected by disturbances due to external observational conditions. For instance, in areas with dense buildings, tree cover, or tunnels, GNSS signals may be obstructed, resulting in positioning failures or decreased accuracy. Therefore, improving the accuracy and stability of GNSS positioning in these complex environments is a critical concern. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-sensor fusion framework based on multi-frame residual optimization for GNSS/INS/LiDAR to address the challenges posed by complex satellite environments. Our system employs a novel residual detection and optimization method for continuous-time GNSS within keyframes. Specifically, we use rough pose measurements from LiDAR to extract keyframes for the global system. Within these keyframes, the multi-frame residuals of GNSS and IMU are estimated using the Median Absolute Deviation (MAD) and subsequently employed for the degradation detection and sliding window optimization of the GNSS. Building on this, we employ a two-stage factor graph optimization strategy, significantly improving positioning accuracy, especially in environments with limited GNSS signals. To validate the effectiveness of our approach, we assess the system’s performance on the publicly available UrbanLoco dataset and conduct experiments in real-world environments. The results demonstrate that our system can achieve continuous decimeter-level positioning accuracy in these complex environments, outperforming other related frameworks.

ObjectiveThis research aims to investigate whether peripheral biomarkers might differentiate individuals with Tourette syndrome (TS) from those without the condition.MethodsA broad range of databases was searched through November 2022. This study employed a systematic literature review and subsequent meta-analysis of case-control studies that assessed the aberration of biomarkers of patients with TS and controls.ResultsA total of 81 studies were identified, out of which 60 met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Following a meticulous screening procedure to determine the feasibility of incorporating case–control studies into the meta-analysis, 13 comparisons were statistically significant [CD3+ T cell, CD4+ T cell, CD4+ T cell to CD8+ T cell ratio, NK-cell, anti-streptolysin O antibodies, anti-DNase antibodies, glutamic acid (Glu), aspartic acid (Asp), ferritin (Fe), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), vitamin D, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)]. Publication bias was found for anti-streptolysin O antibodies. Suggestive associations were evidenced for norsalsolinol (NSAL), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and S100B.ConclusionIn this study, we present empirical evidence substantiating the link between several peripheral biomarkers and the early diagnosis of TS. Larger and more standardized studies are necessary to replicate the observed results, elucidate the specificity of the biomarkers for TS, and evaluate their precision for use in clinical settings.

With the exponential growth of network resources, recommendation systems have become successful at combating information overload. In intelligent recommendation systems, the prediction of click-through rates (CTR) plays a crucial role. Most CTR models employ a parallel network architecture to successfully capture explicit and implicit feature interactions. However, the existing models ignore two aspects. One limitation observed in most models is that they focus only on the interaction of paired term features, with no emphasis on modeling unary terms. The second issue is that most models input characteristics indiscriminately into parallel networks, resulting in network input oversharing. We propose a disentangled self-attention neural network based on information sharing (DSAN) for CTR prediction to simulate complex feature interactions. Firstly, an embedding layer transforms high-dimensional sparse features into low-dimensional dense matrices. Then, the disentangled multi-head self-attention learns the relationship between different features and is fed into a parallel network architecture. Finally, we set up a shared interaction layer to solve the problem of insufficient information sharing in parallel networks. Results from experiments conducted on two real-world datasets demonstrate that our proposed method surpasses existing methods in predictive accuracy.

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is frequently observed in patients undergoing radiotherapy for thoracic malignancies, constituting a significant complication that hampers the effectiveness and utilization of tumor treatments. Ionizing radiation exerts both direct and indirect detrimental effects on cellular macromolecules, including DNA, RNA and proteins, but the impact of oxidized RNA in RILI remains inadequately explored. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can repair injured tissues, and the reparative potential and molecular mechanism of MSCs in treating RILI remains incompletely understood. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of action of three distinct sources of MSCs, including human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs), bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), in thoracically irradiated mice. Comparative analysis revealed that all three types of MSCs exhibited the ability to mitigate radiation-induced inflammatory infiltration, alveolar hemorrhage, and alveolar wall thickening in the lung tissue of the mice. MSCs also attenuated RILI by decreasing inflammatory factors, upregulating anti-inflammatory factor expression, and reducing collagen accumulation. Immunohistochemical results showed that all three MSCs reduced radiation-induced cell apoptosis and promoted the regeneration of lung tissue cells. The analysis of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroyguanosine (8-OHG) content indicated that MSCs possess reparative properties against radiation-induced oxidative damage in lung tissue. The study provides evidence that UCMSCs are a more appropriate therapeutic option for RILI compared to BMSCs and ADSCs. Additionally, MSCs effectively reduce the accumulation of oxidized RNA in RILI, thereby, presenting a unique avenue for investigating the underlying mechanism of MSC-based treatment for RILI.

Abstract Background Dysbiotic gut microbiome, genetically predisposed or chemically disrupted, has been linked with insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) including autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D) in both humans and animal models. However, specific IDD-inducing gut bacteria remain to be identified and their casual role in disease development demonstrated via experiments that can fulfill Koch’s postulates. Results Here, we show that novel gut pathobionts in the Muribaculaceae family, enriched by a low-dose dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) treatment, translocated to the pancreas and caused local inflammation, beta cell destruction and IDD in C57BL/6 mice. Antibiotic removal and transplantation of gut microbiota showed that this low DSS disrupted gut microbiota was both necessary and sufficient to induce IDD. Reduced butyrate content in the gut and decreased gene expression levels of an antimicrobial peptide in the pancreas allowed for the enrichment of selective members in the Muribaculaceae family in the gut and their translocation to the pancreas. Pure isolate of one such members induced IDD in wildtype germ-free mice on normal diet either alone or in combination with normal gut microbiome after gavaged into stomach and translocated to pancreas. Potential human relevance of this finding was shown by the induction of pancreatic inflammation, beta cell destruction and IDD development in antibiotic-treated wildtype mice via transplantation of gut microbiome from patients with IDD including autoimmune T1D. Conclusion The pathobionts that are chemically enriched in dysbiotic gut microbiota are sufficient to induce insulin-dependent diabetes after translocation to the pancreas. This indicates that IDD can be mainly a microbiome-dependent disease, inspiring the need to search for novel pathobionts for IDD development in humans. Video Abstract

B-class MADS-box genes are sufficient for the specification of petals and stamens; however, the role of Tomato MADS-box protein 6 (TM6) in seed formation in pear remains largely unknown. In this study, PbTM6a and PbTM6b, characterized as negative regulators of the response to GA4+7, were identified as classic B-class MADS-box genes. Additionally, both of the genes encoding proteins carried the highly conserved MADS-box domain, and showed high expression levels in anther, petal and filament of 'Dangshansu'. Overexpression of PbTM6a in tomato reduced the number of seeds per fruit. Analysis of the anatomical structure of floral organs revealed that the reduction in seed number in transgenic fruits might be attributed to an obstacle of pollen release due to strongly formed stomium and limited ovary space of ovule development. Moreover, triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and in vitro germination tests of pollen grains indicated that PbTM6a overexpression reduced pollen viability and germination rates. Reciprocal crosses showed that the reduction in seed number in transgenic fruits was dominantly caused by the decreased fertility of pollen grains. Subsequent scanning electron microscopy showed that sterile pollen grains were caused by abnormal pollen grains. Additionally, the reduced levels of jasmonic acid (JA), abscisic acid (ABA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and gibberellin A3 (GA3) in transgenic stamens contributed to the development of sterile pollen. Collectively, our results reveal the role of PbTM6a genes in controlling male infertility and broaden our understanding of the mechanism underlying the function of B-class MADS-box genes in pear.

Organic acid content is one of the most important factors influencing fruit flavors. The predominant organic acid in most pear cultivars is malic acid, but the mechanism controlling its accumulation remains unclear. In this study, by comparing gene expression levels and organic acid contents, we found that the expression of PbPH5, which encodes a P3A-ATPase, is highly correlated with malic acid accumulation in four different pear species, with correlation coefficients of 0.932**, 0.656*, 0.900**, and 0.518* (*, P

In animal husbandry, feed efficiency is a crucial economic trait. In this study, the general linear model was used to perform association analysis for various genotypes and feed conversion ratio (FCR)-related traits. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of SHISA3 and RFC3 mRNA levels in 10 tissues from 6 sheep. The results showed that SNPs in the NC_040257.1:c.625 T > C and NC_040261.1:g.9905 T > C were analyzed whether they were associated to feed efficiency parameters in Hu sheep (body weight, feed intake, average daily growth, and feed conversion ratio). NC_040257.1:c.625 T > C was shown to be significantly associated with body weight at 80, 100, and 120 days as well as feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05), whereas NC_040261.1:g.9905 T > C was found to be significantly associated with average daily weight gain from 80-140 days (ADG80-140) and FCR (P < 0.05). In Hu sheep, the CC genotypes of SHISA3 and RFC3 were the most common genotypes related to feed efficiency traits. Furthermore, the feed conversion ratio of the combined genotypes TTSHISA3-CCRFC3, TTSHISA3-CTRFC3, TTSHISA3-TTRFC3, CTSHISA3-CCRFC3 and CTSHISA3-CTRFC3 was significantly better than the FCR of CCSHISA3-TTRFC3. RT-qPCR results showed that the expression levels of SHISA3 were lower in the lung than in spleen, kidney, muscle and lymph (P < 0.05), and RFC3 was the lung had a highly significant higher expression level than the heart, liver, spleen, and muscle (P < 0.01). In conclusion, SHISA3 and RFC3 polymorphisms can be used as genetic markers for improving feed conversion efficiency in Hu sheep.

Abstract Background Decrease in anthocyanin content results in the loss of red color in leaves, petals and receptacles during development. The content of anthocyanin was affected by the biosynthesis and degradation of anthocyanin. Compared with the known detailed mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis, the degradation mechanism is not fully investigated. It is vital to study the degradation mechanism of anthocyanin in pear for promoting the accumulation of anthocyanin and inhibiting the red fading in pear. Results Here, we reported that laccase encoded by PbLAC4-like was associated with anthocyanin degradation in pear. The expression pattern of PbLAC4-like was negatively correlated with the content of anthocyanin during the color fading process of pear leaves, petals and receptacles. Phylogenetic analysis and sequence alignment revealed that PbLAC4-like played a vital role in anthocyanin degradation. Thus, the degradation of anthocyanin induced by PbLAC4-like was further verified by transient assays and prokaryotic expression. More than 80% of anthocyanin compounds were degraded by transiently over-expressed PbLAC4-like in pear fruitlet peel. The activity of crude enzyme to degrade anthocyanin in leaves at different stages was basically consistent with the expression of PbLAC4-like. The anthocyanin degradation ability of prokaryotic induced PbLAC4-like protein was also verified by enzyme activity assay. Besides, we also identified PbMYB26 as a positive regulator of PbLAC4-like. Yeast one-hybrid and dual luciferase assay results showed that PbMYB26 activated PbLAC4-like expression by directly binding to the PbLAC4-like promoter. Conclusions Taken together, the PbLAC4-like activated by PbMYB26, was involved in the degradation of anthocyanin, resulting in the redness fading in different pear tissues.

Abstract Electrochemical modification of animal skin is a new material preparation method and new direction of research exploration. In this study, under the action of the electric field using NaCl as the supporting electrolyte, the effect of electrolysis on Glycyl-glycine(GlyGl), gelatin(Gel) and Three-dimensional rawhide collagen(3DC) were determined. The amino group of GlyGl is quickly eliminated within the anode region by electrolysis isolated by an anion exchange membrane. Using the same method, it was found that the molecular weight of Gel and the isoelectric point of the Gel decreased, and the viscosity and transparency of the Gel solution obviously changed. The electrolytic dissolution and structural changes of 3DC were further investigated. The results of TOC and TN showed that the organic matter in 3DC was dissolved by electrolysis, and the tissue cavitation was obvious. A new approach for the preparation of collagen-based multi-pore biomaterials by electrochemical method was explored.

Many endoperoxide-containing natural products have been isolated, but the biosynthesis of the endoperoxides remains unclear. Here, the authors report the structural and functional analysis of the NvfI endoperoxidase that catalyzes the formation of fumigatonoid A in the biosynthesis of novofumigatonin, and show that it does not employ tyrosyl radical in the reaction.

The red color of the pear peel in red-skinned European pear is due to the accumulation of anthocyanins. Numerous transcription factors play pivotal roles in anthocyanin biosynthesis, with zinc finger proteins frequently implicated in the regulation of this process via MYB10, as documented in earlier studies. In this article, we identified a zinc finger protein gene, named PbZAT12, that does not rely on PbMYB10, to regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis. The PbZAT12 protein was localized within the nucleus and exhibited a positive influence on the accumulation of anthocyanins in the peel of ‘Red Zaosu’ pears. Moreover, overexpression of PbZAT12 resulted in a significant up-regulation of PbDFR, PbANS, and PbUFGT expression levels in pear fruitlets. Y1H assays demonstrated a direct binding ability of PbZAT12 to proPbDFR, proPbANS, and proPbUFGT, which was supported by a dual luciferase assay, indicating its potential to activate the transcriptional activity of these promoters. However, in contrast to its effect on the aforementioned promoters, PbZAT12 did not exhibit an activation of PbMYB10. In summary, our findings suggest that a zinc finger transcription factor, PbZAT12, exerts a positive influence on anthocyanin biosynthesis in pear fruit through direct upregulation of the expression levels of PbDFR, PbANS, and PbUFGT.

Abstract Background Parthenocarpy results in traits attractive to both consumers and breeders, and it overcomes the obstacle of self-incompatibility in the fruit set of horticultural crops, including pear (Pyrus bretshneider). However, there is limited knowledge regarding the genetic and molecular mechanisms that regulate parthenogenesis. Results Here, in a transcriptional comparison between pollination-dependent fruit and GA4-induced parthenocarpy, PbCYP78A6 was identified and proposed as a candidate gene involved in parthenocarpy. PbCYP78A6 is similar to Arabidopsis thaliana CYP78A6 and highly expressed in pear hypanthia. The increased PbCYP78A6 expression, as assessed by RT-qPCR, was induced by pollination and GA4 exposure. The ectopic overexpression of PbCYP78A6 contributed to parthenocarpic fruit production in tomato. The PbCYP78A6 expression coincided with fertilized and parthenocarpic fruitlets development and the expression of fruit development-related genes as assessed by cytological observations and RT-qPCR, respectively. PbCYP78A6 RNA interference and overexpression in pear calli revealed that the gene is an upstream regulator of specific fruit development-related genes in pear. Conclusions Our findings indicate that PbCYP78A6 plays a critical role in fruit formation and provide insights into controlling parthenocarpy.

The marbling fat regulates the flavor of mutton and measures the fat density in the loin eye and is the most important parameter of carcass grading. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship of rumen microbiota and mutton marbling grade. One hundred and eighty-seven feedlot-finished Hu male lambs (Age: 180 day; Final BW: 46.32 ± 6.03 kg) were slaughtered, and ruminal contents and marbling grade were collected. Ruminal microbial DNA extraction and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to investigate microbial composition and to predict microbial metabolic pathways. The animal cohort was then grouped based on marbling grades [low marbling (LM), marbling grade ≤ 1; Medium marbling (MM), 1 < marbling grade ≤ 3; High Marbling (HM), 3 < marbling grade ≤ 5] and intramuscular fat-associated microorganisms were pinpointed using LEfSe and random forest classification model. Intramuscular fat content had significantly differences among the three groups (P < 0.05), and was significantly correlated with VFAs profiling. HM sheep showed a higher abundance of one bacterial taxon (Kandleria), and two taxa were overrepresented in the MM sheep (Pseudobutyrivibrio and Monoglobus), respectively. In addition, the main intramuscular fat deposition pathway was found to involve peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) fatty acid synthesis. By studying the effect of the ruminal microbiome on the marbling of sheep, the present study provides insights into the production of high-quality mutton.

Excessive fat deposition in the tail of sheep will affect its feed efficiency, which will increase the feeding cost. The purpose of this study was to identify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of RAP1GAP and rBAT genes by PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing, the SNPs were genotyped by KASP genotyping assays to evaluate their association with tail fat deposition traits. The results showed that two intronic mutations of g.13561 G > A and g.1460 T > C were found in RAP1GAP and rBAT, respectively. There were three genotypes of GG, AG, AA and CC, CT and TT at these two loci, respectively. Association analysis showed that g.13561 G > A of RAP1GAP was associated with tail width, tail fat weight and relative tail fat weight (P < 0.05). The g.1460 T > C of rBAT was associated with tail width and tail fat weight (P < 0.05). Different combinations of genotypes also differed significantly with tail fat deposition traits. In the tail fat tissue, the expression levels of RAP1GAP gene was significantly higher in small-tailed sheep than in big-tailed sheep, and the expression levels of rBAT gene was significantly higher in big-tailed sheep than in small-tailed sheep. In the liver, the expression levels of RAP1GAP and rBAT gene was significantly higher at 6 months than at 0 and 3 months. In conclusion, RAP1GAP and rBAT polymorphisms can be used as a candidate molecular marker to reduce tail fat deposition in sheep.

Fat deposition is an important economic trait that is closely related to feed efficiency and carcass performance in livestock. In this study, the fat deposition-related traits of 1,293 Hu sheep were measured and descriptive statistical analysis was conducted. The results showed that the coefficient of variation of all fat deposition-related traits was higher than 24%. In addition, single nucleotide polymorphisms and the expression characteristics of TRAPPC9 (encoding trafficking protein particle complex subunit 9) and BAIAP2 (encoding brain-specific Angiogenesis inhibitor 1-associated protein 2) genes in Hu sheep were detected using PCR amplification, Sanger sequencing, KASPar genotyping, and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). The associations between SNPs and fat deposition-related traits were also analyzed. Two intronic mutations, TRAPPC9 g.57654 A > G and BAIAP2 g.46061 C > T, were identified in Hu sheep. The result of association analysis showed that TRAPPC9 g.57654 A > G and BAIAP2 g.46061 C > T were both significantly associated with the weight of tail fat, tail fat relative weight (body weight), and tail fat relative weight (carcass) (P < 0.05). Comprehensive effects analysis showed that there were significant differences between the combined genotypes and tail fat and perirenal fat deposition. Moreover, qRT-PCR analysis showed that TRAPPC9 and BAIAP2 are widely expressed, and their expression levels were significantly higher in the small-tail group compared with those in the big-tail group (P < 0.01). These results provided important candidate molecular markers that could be used in strategies to reduce tail fat deposition in Hu sheep.

Graphene is a superior active material in energy storages due to its exceptional properties, such as high specific area, high electrical conductivity, and excellent chemical stability. Currently, the large-scale preparation of graphene powder constitutes a research hotspot. Usually, the as-prepared graphene powders was used directly leading to poor dispersion which greatly affects the electrode's properties. Thus, one crucial application problem which needs to be solved urgently is how to obtain ultrahigh concentration and stable dispersion of single-layer graphene. Therefore, in this work, we prepared successfully a single-layer reduced graphene oxide (RGO) powder by expansion-oxidation-expansion process. The RGO paste was obtained through high-speed ball-milling technology, offering ultrahigh concentration (27 mg/mL) and high stability. Meanwhile, the above-mentioned paste be combined with LiFePO4 (LFP) towards obtaining cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. LFP@RGO demonstrated an excellent discharge capacity of 168.3 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C, and maintained 99.9% of capacity after 100 cycles at 0.5 C. Herein, we demonstrated an effective way to prepare the ultrahigh concentration, and stable dispersion of single-layer graphene paste in the field of energy storage and conversion.

Abstract Background For bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass, phenolics derived from pretreatment have been generally considered as highly inhibitory towards enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. As phenolics are produced from lignin degradation during pretreatment, it is likely that the pretreatment will exert a strong impact on the structure of phenolics, resulting in varied levels of inhibition of the bioconversion process. Despite the extensive studies on pretreatment, it remains unclear how pretreatment process affects the properties of generated phenolics and how the inhibitory effect of phenolics from different pretreatment varies on enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Results In this study, the structural properties of phenolic compounds derived from four typical pretreatment [dilute acid (DA), liquid hot water pretreatment (LHW), ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) and alkaline pretreatment (AL)] were characterized, and their effect on both enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation were evaluated. The inhibitory effect of phenolics on enzymatic hydrolysis followed the order: AFEX > LHW > DA > AL, while the inhibitory effect of phenolics on Zymomonas mobilis 8b strain fermentation followed the order: AL > LHW > DA > AFEX. Interestingly, this study revealed that phenolics derived from AFEX showed more severe inhibitory effect on enzymatic hydrolysis than those from the other pretreatments at the same phenolics concentrations (note: AFEX produced much less amount of phenolics compared to AL and DA), while they exhibited the lowest inhibitory effect on fermentation. The composition of phenolics from different pretreatments was analyzed and model phenolics were applied to explore the reason for this difference. The results suggested that the amide group in phenolics might account for this difference. Conclusions Pretreatment process greatly affects the properties of generated phenolics and the inhibitory effects of phenolics on enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. This study provides new insight for further pretreatment modification and hydrolysate detoxification to minimize phenolics-caused inhibition and enhance the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation.

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of the dual energy CT measured iodine concentration and total iodine content with blood measured thyroid parameters. Methods Forty-three patients with normal thyroid function at our hospital from August 2017 to October 2019 were included in this retrospective study. Dual energy CT was used to scan the neck of thyroid patients. The mean iodine concentration and thyroid tissue volume were measured to calculate the total iodine content of the thyroid. Relevant tests of triiodothyronine (FT3), total triiodothyronine (TT3), total thyroxine (TT4), free thyroxine (FT4), and thyroid hormone (TSH) were conducted. The correlation of the thyroid mean iodine concentration and total iodine content with blood-measured thyroid function was analysed. Result The total iodine content in the thyroid was positively correlated with FT3 but negatively correlated with TSH. The mean iodine concentration of the thyroid was positively correlated with both FT3 and TT3. Conclusion The thyroid iodine content measured by dual energy CT can be used to determine the human iodine nutritional status and evaluate thyroid function, which will facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases.

With the rapid growth of Internet data, the performance of big data processing platforms is attracting more and more attention. In Spark, cache data are replaced by the Least Recently Used (LRU) Algorithm. LRU cannot identify the cost of cache data, which leads to replacing some important cache data. In addition, the placement of cache data is random, which lacks a measure to find efficient cache servers. Focusing on the above problems, a remote cache management framework (RCM) for the Spark platform was proposed, including a cache weight generation module (CWG), cache replacement module (CREP), and cache placement module (CPL). CWG establishes initial weights from three main factors: the response time of the query database, the number of queries, and the data size. Then, CWG reduces the old data weight through a time loss function. CREP promises that the sum of cache data weights is maximized by a greedy strategy. CPL allocates the best cache server for data based on the Kuhn-Munkres matching algorithm to improve cooperation efficiency. To verify the effectiveness of RCM, RCM is implemented on Redis and deployed on eight computing nodes and four cache servers. Three groups of benchmark jobs, PageRank, K-means and WordCount, is tested. The result of experiments confirmed that compared with MCM, SACM and DMAOM, the execution time of RCM is reduced by 42.1% at most.

Background and objective: Cancer is a life-threatening disease worldwide and current standard therapy cannot fulfill all clinical needs. Chinese herbal injections have been widely used for cancer in Chinese and Western hospitals in China. This study aimed to apply evidence mapping in order to provide an overview of the clinical application of Chinese herbal injections in cancer care based on randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.Methods and results: Seven databases were systematically searched for eligible randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses for ten Chinese herbal injections used in cancer treatment and covered in the Chinese national essential health insurance program. Excel 2016 and RStudio were used to integrate and process the data.In total 366 randomized controlled trials and 48 systematic reviews and meta-analyses were included in the evidence mapping of herbal medicines including; Compound Kushen, Shenqi Fuzheng, Aidi, Kangai, Kanglaite, Xiaoaiping, Cinobufacin, Brucea javanica oil emulsion, Polyporus polysaccharide injection, and Astragalus polysaccharide for injection. Health insurance restricts the scope of clinical application for these herbal injections. The numbers of studies published increased, especially around 2013–2015. The most studied cancer types were lung cancer (118, 32.2%), colorectal cancer (39, 10.7%), and gastric cancer (39, 10.7%), and the most used injections were Compound Kushen (78, 21.3%), Shenqi Fuzheng (76, 20.8%), and Aidi (63, 17.2%). The most consistently reported benefits were observed for Compound Kushen, Shenqi Fuzheng, Aidi, and Kangai for tumor response, quality of life, myelosuppression, and enhancing immunity.Conclusion: The current evidence mapping provides an overview of the outcomes and effects of Chinese herbal injections used in cancer care, and offers information on their clinical application which warrants further evidence-based research in order to inform clinical and policy decision-making.

‘Yunnan’ quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) is used as the dwarfing rootstock for pear (Pyrus spp.). Here, we reported that the sugar contents in mature ‘Zaosu’ pear fruit grafted on ‘Yunan’ quince (Z/Q) were higher than that in ‘Zaosu’ pear fruit grafted on ‘Duli’ (Pyrus betulifolia) (Z/D). To investigate the underlying mechanism, the leaf photosynthetic capacity and the leaf-to-fruit assimilate transport capacity were initially analyzed. The leaf photosynthetic capacity was similar between Z/Q and Z/D, but the assimilate transport capacity was greater for Z/Q than for Z/D. Sugar transporters mediate the distribution of assimilates; therefore, changes in PbSWEET transcriptional patterns were examined. PbSWEET6 was highly expressed in Z/Q fruit. Thus, the PbSWEET6 function related to assimilate transport was further verified. Sucrose and glucose contents increased in transgenic tomato fruit and pear fruit calli overexpressing PbSWEET6. Taken together, these results suggest that ‘Yunnan’ quince positively regulated fruit sugar contents by influencing the flow of PbSWEET6-involved assimilates in the scion.

Abstract Background As a class of natural antioxidants in plants, fruit flavonol metabolites are beneficial to human health. However, the regulatory networks for flavonol biosynthesis in most fruits are largely unknown. Previously, we reported a spontaneous pear bud sport ‘Red Zaosu’ (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.) with a high flavonoid content in its fruit. The identification of the flavonol biosynthetic regulatory network in this mutant pear fruit is crucial for elucidating the flavonol biosynthetic mechanism in fruit. Results Here, we demonstrated the PbMYB12b positively regulated flavonols biosynthesis in ‘Red Zaosu’ fruit. Initially, we investigated the accumulation patterns of four major quercetin glycosides and two major isorhamnetin glycosides in the fruit of ‘Red Zaosu’ and its wild-type ‘Zaosu’. A PRODUCTION OF FLAVONOL GLYCOSIDES (PFG)-type MYB transcription factor PbMYB12b was also screened for because of its correlation with flavonol accumulation in pear fruit. The biofunction of PbMYB12b was verified by transient overexpression and RNAi assays in pear fruit and young leaves. Overexpression of PbMYB12b enhanced the biosynthesis of quercetin glycosides and isorhamnetin glycosides by positively regulating a general flavonoids biosynthesis gene PbCHSb and a flavonol biosynthesis gene PbFLS. This finding was also supported by dual-luciferase transient expression assay and transient β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter assay. Conclusions Our study indicated that PbMYB12b positively regulated flavonol biosynthesis, including four major quercetin glycosides and two major isorhamnetin glycosides, by promoting the expression of PbCHSb and PbFLS in pear fruit.

Abstract Lignin is the most abundant aromatic substrate on Earth and its valorization technologies are still under developed. Depolymerization and fragmentation are the predominant preparatory strategies for valorization of lignin to chemicals and fuels. However, due to the structural heterogeneity of lignin, depolymerization and fragmentation typically result in diverse product species, which require extensive separation and purification procedures to obtain target products. For lignin valorization, bacterial-based systems have attracted increasing attention because of their diverse metabolisms, which can be used to funnel multiple lignin-based compounds into specific target products. Here, recent advances in lignin valorization using bacteria are critically reviewed, including lignin-degrading bacteria that are able to degrade lignin and use lignin-associated aromatics, various associated metabolic pathways, and application of bacterial cultures for lignin valorization. This review will provide insight into the recent breakthroughs and future trends of lignin valorization based on bacterial systems.

Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy is a nondestructive, rapid, real-time analysis of technical detection methods with an important reference value for producers and consumers. In this study, the feasibility of using FT-NIR spectroscopy for the rapid quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis of ‘Zaosu’ and ‘Dangshansuli’ pears is explored. The quantitative model was established by partial least squares (PLS) regression combined with cross-validation based on the spectral data of 340 pear fresh fruits and synchronized with the reference values determined by conventional assays. Furthermore, NIR spectroscopy combined with cluster analysis was used to identify varieties of ‘Zaosu’ and ‘Dangshansuli’. As a result, the model developed using FT-NIR spectroscopy gave the best results for the prediction models of soluble solid content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA) of ‘Dangshansuli’ (residual prediction deviation, RPD: 3.272 and 2.239), which were better than those developed for ‘Zaosu’ SSC and TA modeling (RPD: 1.407 and 1.471). The results also showed that the variety identification of ‘Zaosu’ and ‘Dangshansuli’ could be carried out based on FT-NIR spectroscopy, and the discrimination accuracy was 100%. Overall, FT-NIR spectroscopy is a good tool for rapid and nondestructive analysis of the internal quality and variety identification of fresh pears.

Abstract Background Although various pre-treatment methods have been developed to disrupt the structure of lignocellulosic biomass, high dosage of cellulases is still required to hydrolyze lignocellulose to fermentable sugars. Enzyme recycling via recycling unhydrolyzed solids after enzymatic hydrolysis is a promising strategy to reduce enzyme loading for production of cellulosic ethanol. Results To develop effective enzyme recycling method via recycling unhydrolyzed solids, this work investigated both enzymatic hydrolysis kinetics and enzyme adsorption kinetics on dilute acid and dilute alkali pre-treated corn stover (CS). It was found that most of the hydrolysable biomass was hydrolyzed in the first 24 h and about 40% and 55% of the enzymes were adsorbed on unhydrolyzed solids for dilute alkali-CS and dilute acid-CS, respectively, at 24 h of enzymatic hydrolysis. Lignin played a significant role in such adsorption and lignin materials derived from dilute acid-CS and dilute alkali-CS possessed different enzyme adsorption properties. Enzyme recycling was performed by recycling unhydrolyzed solids after 24 h enzymatic hydrolysis for five successive rounds, and successfully reduced 40% and 50% of the enzyme loadings for hydrolysis of dilute alkali-CS and for hydrolysis of dilute acid-CS, respectively. Conclusions This study presents that the enzymes adsorbed on the unhydrolyzed solids after short-time hydrolysis could be recycled effectively for efficient enzymatic hydrolysis. Lignin derived from dilute acid-CS has higher enzyme adsorption capacity than the lignin derived from dilute alkali-CS, which led to more enzymes recycled. By applying the enzyme recycling strategy developed in this study, the enzyme dosage needed for effective cellulose hydrolysis can be significantly reduced.

High-precision localization through multi-sensor fusion has become a popular research direction in unmanned driving. However, most previous studies have performed optimally only in open-sky conditions; therefore, high-precision localization in complex urban environments required an urgent solution. The complex urban environments employed in this study include dynamic environments, which result in limited visual localization performance, and highly occluded environments, which yield limited global navigation satellite system (GNSS) performance. In order to provide high-precision localization in these environments, we propose a vision-aided GNSS positioning method using semantic information by integrating stereo cameras and GNSS into a loosely coupled navigation system. To suppress the effect of dynamic objects on visual positioning accuracy, we propose a dynamic-simultaneous localization and mapping (Dynamic-SLAM) algorithm to extract semantic information from images using a deep learning framework. For the GPS-challenged environment, we propose a semantic-based dynamic adaptive Kalman filtering fusion (S-AKF) algorithm to develop vision aided GNSS and achieve stable and high-precision positioning. Experiments were carried out in GNSS-challenged environments using the open-source KITTI dataset to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The results indicate that the dynamic-SLAM algorithm improved the performance of the visual localization algorithm and effectively suppressed the error spread of the visual localization algorithm. Additionally, after vision was integrated, the loosely-coupled navigation system achieved continuous high-accuracy positioning in GNSS-challenged environments.

Asian pear: Plant hormones induce seedless fruit Various hormonal, anatomical and genetic changes explain how a plant hormone can induce pears to make seedless fruit without fertilization. Lingfei Xu and colleagues from Northwest A&F University in Yangling, China, studied the effect of plant growth hormones known as gibberellins on fruit development in the Dangshansuli pear, Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd. They found that spraying a mixture of two gibberellins, known as GA4+7, on unpollinated flowers produced seedless mature fruits of a normal size, whereas treatment with another gibberellin, GA3, yielded fruit that died before harvest. Analyses of gene expression, hormone levels and cell growth in the developing pear fruits showed that applying GA4+7 to unpollinated flowers generated many of the same effects as pollination. The findings could aid in future commercial production of this popular Asian fruit.

Fruit set and development occur following successful fertilization. Parthenocarpy, a valuable trait in some self-incompatible species, produces seedless fruit without fertilization. Gibberellin (GA) is a crucial hormone in fruit-set regulation and development. While investigating the development of parthenocarpy in pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.), we determined that GA 20-oxidases (GA20ox) may play key roles in seedless pear fruit development. Sequence analysis revealed three PbGA20ox genes: PbGA20ox1, PbGA20ox2, and PbGA20ox3. We analyzed the expression patterns of candidate genes and found that PbGA20ox2 levels significantly changed in pollinated fruits. Tissue-specific expression assays revealed that PbGA20ox2 is highly expressed in young fruit and leaves. Subcellular localization assays showed it was located in the cytoplasm, nucleus, and plasma membrane. Overexpressed PbGA20ox2 tomato plants were taller and had longer hypocotyls and internodes, and the emasculated flowers produced parthenocarpic fruit. In pear, the transient overexpression of PbGA20ox2 promoted fruit development and delayed the drop of nonpollinated fruit. Furthermore, the fruit of PbGA20ox2-overexpressing tomato and transient PbGA20ox2-overexpressing pear had increased GA4 (but not GA3 and GA1) contents. This result provided evidence that PbGA20ox2 was necessary for GA4-dependent pear fruit development. Our study revealed that PbGA20ox2 altered the GA biosynthetic pathway and enhanced GA4 synthesis, thereby promoting fruit set and parthenocarpic fruit development.

ABSTRACT Calorie restriction (CR) is accompanied by self-imposed daily restriction of food intake and an extended fasting period between meals. The impact of restricting feeding to the dark or light phase on the effects of CR remains elusive. Here, light-fed CR mice showed physiological changes, such as muscle loss, concomitant with changes in the gut microbiota structure and composition. After switching to ad libitum access to food, light-fed mice had a period of food-craving behavior and short-lived physiological changes, while dark-fed mice displayed lasting changes in fat accumulation, glucose metabolism, intestinal barrier function, and systemic inflammatory markers. Moreover, the gut microbiota was modulated by when the food was consumed, and the most abundant Lactobacillus operational taxonomic unit (OTU) promoted by CR was enhanced in dark-fed mice. After switching to ad libitum feeding, the gut microbiota of dark-fed mice returned to the state resembling that of mice fed normal chow ad libitum, but that of light-fed mice was still significantly different from the other two groups. Together, these data indicate that for CR, restricting food consumption to the active phase brought better metabolic phenotype associated with potentially beneficial structural shifts in the gut microbiota. IMPORTANCE Aberrant feeding patterns whereby people eat more frequently throughout the day and with a bias toward late-night eating are prevalent in society today. However, whether restriction of food to daytime in comparison to nighttime, coupled with restricted calorie intake, can influence gut microbiota, metabolism, and overall health requires further investigation. We surveyed the effects of the shift in feeding time on gut microbiota and metabolic phenotype in calorie-restricted mice and found that avoiding eating during the rest period may generate more beneficial effects in mice. This work strengthens the evidence for using “when to eat” as an intervention to improve health during calorie restriction.

The presence of toxic degradation products in lignocellulosic hydrolysate typically reduced fermentation rates and xylose consumption rate, resulting in a decreased ethanol productivity. In the present study, Zymomonas mobilis 8b was investigated for high cell density fermentation with cell recycling to improve the ethanol productivity in lignocellulosic hydrolysate. The fermentation performances of Z. mobilis 8b at various conditions were first studied in yeast extract-tryptone medium. It was found that nutrient level was essential for glucose and xylose co-fermentation by Z. mobilis 8b and high cell density fermentation with cell recycling worked well in yeast extract-tryptone medium for 6 rounds fermentation. Z. mobilis 8b was then studied in enzymatic hydrolysates derived from dilute acid (DA) pretreated corn stover (CS) and ammonia pretreated CS for high cell density fermentation with cell recycling. Ethanol productivity obtained was around three times higher compared to traditional fermentation. Ethanol titer and metabolic yield were also enhanced with high cell density fermentation. Z. mobilis 8b cells showed high recyclability in ammonia pretreated CS hydrolysate.

Akkermansia muciniphila is potential probiotic in that its type strain ATCC BAA-835 has beneficial effects upon obesity and diabetes. However, whether A. muciniphila can improve inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which is a form of chronic intestinal dysbiosis, is unknown. Hence, we used an isolated murine A. muciniphila strain (designated 139) and A. muciniphila type strain ATCC, to investigate their anti-inflammatory properties in cell models and in Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS)-induced chronic colitis of mice. In vitro, the two A. muciniphila strains exerted similar anti-inflammatory properties as they both reduced IL-8 production by TNF-α-stimulated HT-29 cells. However, neither of the strains showed capacity to increase the differentiation of regulatory T (Treg)-cells from CD4+ T cell populations significantly. In vivo, both A. muciniphila strains exerted anti-inflammatory effects on chronic colitis as they improved clinical parameters including spleen weight, colon inflammation index, and colon histological score. They also down-regulated the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α and IFN-γ in the colon of mice. However, the anti-inflammatory effects of strain ATCC were stronger than strain 139 in that ATCC significantly reduced spleen weight, colon inflammation index, and fecal lipocalin-2 content in mice with chronic colitis, while strain 139 was not. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota was observed in mice with chronic colitis. Both A. muciniphila strains facilitated the normalization of the gut microbiota. The specific capacity of strain ATCC to modulate the differentiation of Tregs as well as increase production of short chain fatty acids, demonstrated strain-specific characteristics for these two A. muciniphila strains. This study suggests the potential beneficial effect of A. muciniphila on IBD and the importance of the future study of the function of A. muciniphila at the strain-level.

Bleached kraft pulp of hardwood was pretreated in a NaOH-thiourea aqueous solution to modify the bulk and softness of the cellulose fibers with minimal reduction in paper strength. The effects of soaking time, fiber concentration, alkali dosage, and freezing time were evaluated through single factor experiments. The optimal conditions were determined to be a soaking time of 15 min, fiber concentration of 15%, alkali dosage of 9%, and freezing time of 75 min. Under the optimal conditions, the bulk and softness of the treated cellulose fibers were increased by 28.7% and 21.6%, respectively, compared with those of untreated cellulose fibers. The tensile and burst indices were only reduced by 1.2% and 5.1%, respectively, under these conditions. Also, there were almost no effects on the polymerization degree, the thermostability, and the structure of the functional groups or crystalline regions.

Parthenocarpy, the production of seedless fruit without fertilization, has a variety of valuable qualities, especially for self-incompatible species, such as pear. To explore whether melatonin (MT) induces parthenocarpy, we used ‘Starkrimson’ pear as a material for morphological observations. According to our results, exogenous MT promoted the expansion and division of the mesocarp cells in a manner similar to hand pollination. However, the seeds of exogenous MT-treated fruit were undeveloped and aborted later in the fruit-setting stage. To further investigate how MT induced parthenocarpy, we studied changes of related hormones in the ovaries and found that MT significantly increased the contents of the gibberellins (GAs) GA3 and GA4. Thus, paclobutrazol (PAC), a GA-biosynthesis inhibitor, was used to study the relationship between GAs and MT. In addition, spraying MT after treatment with PAC did not increase GA content nor lead to parthenocarpy. Through a transcriptome analysis, we discovered that MT can cause significant upregulation of PbGA20ox and downregulation of PbGA2ox. However, no significant difference was observed in PbGA2ox compared with the control after PAC and MT applications. Thus, MT induces parthenocarpy by promoting GA biosynthesis along with cell division and mesocarp expansion in pear.

To reduce the refining energy consumption of chemi-mechanical pulping, treatment with NaOH-thiourea-urea aqueous solution was studied in this work. By means of single-factor experiments, the effects of alkali dosage, soaking time, and freezing time were evaluated. It was found that the optimal conditions were an alkali dosage of 8%, soaking time of 45 min, and freezing time of 105 min. The results revealed that refining energy consumption could be reduced by approximately 40% under optimal conditions compared with that of alkaline peroxide mechanical pulp, while other pulping or paper-making properties were similar. There were no significant effects on the structure of the functional groups, the crystalline region of the pulp, or the whole structure of the treated wood chips. However, damage to single wood fibers on the chips treated in NaOH-thiourea-urea aqueous solution was more obvious.

Anthocyanin contributes to the coloration of pear fruit and enhances plant defenses. Members of the ethylene response factor (ERF) family play vital roles in hormone and stress signaling and are involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Here, PbERF22 was identified from the lanolin-induced red fruit of ‘Zaosu’ pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.) using a comparative transcriptome analysis. Its expression level was up- and down-regulated by methyl jasmonate and 1-methylcyclopropene plus lanolin treatments, respectively, which indicated that PbERF22 responded to the jasmonate- and ethylene-signaling pathways. In addition, transiently overexpressed PbERF22 induced anthocyanin biosynthesis in ‘Zaosu’ fruit, and a quantitative PCR analysis further confirmed that PbERF22 facilitated the expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic structural and regulatory genes. Moreover, a dual luciferase assay showed that PbERF22 enhanced the activation effects of PbMYB10 and PbMYB10b on the PbUFGT promoter. Therefore, PbERF22 responses to jasmonate and ethylene signals and regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis. This provides a new perspective on the correlation between jasmonate−ethylene crosstalk and anthocyanin biosynthesis.

In this work, wet strength paper was prepared from quantitative filter paper pretreated with NaOH-thiourea-urea aqueous solution. The effects of alkali concentration, soaking time, freezing time, and washing time were evaluated through single factor experiments. The optimum conditions were found to be an alkali concentration of 8%, soaking time of 2 seconds, freezing time of 15 minutes, and washing time of 10 minutes. Under these conditions, the wet tensile strength of the modified paper could be increased to 33% of the dry tensile strength and 400% of the wet tensile strength of the body paper. Also, the wet burst strength could be improved to 200% of the dry burst strength and 2400% of the wet burst strength of the body paper. However, there were no significant effects on the structure of the functional groups or crystalline region. Also, there was no toxic material released during the treatment, and the treatment solution was recyclable and environmentally friendly.

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported an error in Fig. 3 and Table 2.

Aroma affects the sensory quality of fruit and, consequently, consumer satisfaction. Melatonin (MT) is a plant growth regulator used to delay senescence in postharvest fruit during storage; however, its effect on aroma of pear fruit remains unclear. In this study, we assessed the effects of 0.1 mmol L−1 MT on volatiles and associated gene expression in the fruit of pear cultivars ‘Korla’ (Pyrus brestschneideri Rehd) and ‘Abbé Fetel’ (Pyrus communis L.). MT mainly affected the production of C6 aromatic substances in the two varieties. In ‘Korla’, MT inhibited expression of PbHPL, and reduced hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) activity and content of hexanal and (E)-hex-2-enal. In contrast, MT inhibited activity of lipoxygenase (LOX), reduced expression of PbLOX1 and PbLOX2, promoted PbAAT gene expression, increased alcohol acyltransferase (AAT) activity, and increased propyl acetate, and hexyl acetate content in ‘Abbé Fetel’ that similarly led to the reduction in content of hexanal and (E)-hex-2-enal. Content of esters in ‘Abbé Fetel’ pear increased with increasing postharvest storage period. Although mechanisms differed between the two varieties, effects on aroma volatiles mediated by MT were driven by expression of genes encoding LOX, HPL, and AAT enzymes.

In this work, the thermomechanical pulp of Pinus massoniana was pretreated with a NaOH/thiourea/urea aqueous solution to promote fiber bonded area and to increase paper strength. The effects of pulp concentration, alkali dosage, dipping time, and freezing time were evaluated through single factor experiments. The optimum conditions were found to be 15% pulp consistency, 8% NaOH, a dipping time of 15 min, and a freezing time of 60 min. Under these conditions, the paper tensile and burst index of treated pulp increased nearly 100%, and the bulk also was reduced by 10%, but there were no significant effects on folding.

Nanofibrillated celluloses (NFCs) have recently drawn much attention because of their exceptional physicochemical properties. However, the existing preparation procedures either produce low yields or severely degrade the cellulose and, moreover, are not energy efficient. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel process using ultrasonic homogenization to isolate fibrils from bamboo fiber (BF) with the assistance of negatively charged entities. The obtained samples were characterized by the degree of substitution (DS) of carboxymethyl, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that an NFC yield could be obtained above 70% through this route. The enzyme hydrolysis could enhance the surface charge of the fiber, and mechanical activation facilitates an increase in the DS. The disintegrating efficiency of the cellulose fibrils significantly depended on the input power of ultrasonication and the DS. FT-IR spectra confirmed the occurrence of the carboxymethylation reaction based on the appearance of the characteristic signal for the carboxyl group. From XRD analysis, it was observed that the presence of the carboxyl groups makes the isolation more efficient attributed to the ionic repulsion between the carboxylate groups of the cellulose chains.

The synthesis of anthocyanin in pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) fruit is regulated by light. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of pear fruit coloring mediated by upstream light-signaling regulators. Here, the photoresponse factors CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC (COP) 1.1 and 1.2 were cloned from ‘Red Zaosu’ peel to study their functions in pear fruit coloring. The overexpression vectors pBI121-PbCOP1.1 and pBI121-PbCOP1.2 were constructed to analyze their effects on anthocyanin synthesis in pear fruit. A protein sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that PbCOP1 proteins are highly homologous with those of other species. An analysis of tissue differential expression showed that the greatest expression levels of PbCOP1s occurred in the leaves. Their expression levels increased in the leaves during development, when the leaves changed from red to green. The overexpression of PbCOP1s in the peel resulted in reduced anthocyanin synthesis at the injection sites. A quantitative PCR analysis of the injection sites showed that PbCOP1.1 significantly inhibited the expression of the anthocyanin synthesis-related genes CHI, DFR, UFGT2, bHLH3, HY5 and GST. Based on the above results, we hypothesize that PbCOP1.1 is an anthocyanin synthetic inhibitory factor of pear coloration.