Search

Systematic tests of longitudinal compression, bending, longitudinal shear, and longitudinal tensile strength of bamboo were conducted to study the variation of mechanical properties and the height-diameter ratio of bamboo. The predictive relations of mechanical properties and height-diameter ratio were fitted by linear regression analysis. The results showed that the mechanical properties of longitudinal compression, bending, longitudinal shear, and longitudinal tensile strength of bamboo increased with the increase of the height-diameter ratio. In this paper, the method of deducing the relationship between mechanical properties and height-diameter ratio of bamboo through the linear fitting relationship between mechanical properties and height-diameter ratio was shown to have high applicability and accuracy for bamboo. This paper has a certain reference value for the evaluation of mechanical properties of bamboo and has a certain practical value for reducing the testing cost.

Macro-defect free (MDF) gypsum is characterized by high strength and has the potential designed to advanced functionalization materials. However, the application of MDF gypsum is still limited by its poor water resistance. Here, we propose to modify the gypsum surface to hydrophobicity at molecule scale by adding potassium methylsilicate. The compressive strength, softening coefficients, and water absorption were subjected to rigorous testing, while elucidating the underlying mechanisms of water resistance enhancement through micro-structural analysis and organic-inorganic interactions. The results show that when adding 0.25% potassium methylsilicate, the wet compressive strength, softening coefficients are increased by 30.1%, 28%, respectively. And potassium methylsilicate can change the gypsum surface to hydrophobicity, which delaying the initial rapid water absorption stage and decrease both the 2 h and 24 h water absorption. The addition of potassium methylsilicate leads to a reduction in the dried compressive strength, attributed to the decrease in intrinsic dihydrate crystal strength. Upon the introduction of potassium methylsilicate, there is a transformation in gypsum crystal morphology from strip-like to lamellar structures. This alteration is accompanied by the formation of a potassium methylsilicate film coats the surface of gypsum, impeding water-gypsum contact. The potassium methylsilicate film coats on the surface of gypsum, which hinders the contact of water and gypsum.

Bi2212 high-temperature superconducting films (HTSFs) have garnered significant interest as a potential material for the development of high-Tc microwave and terahertz (THz) devices due to their intrinsic Josephson effect. This work presents the utilization of the polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) -assisted sol-gel dip coating (PSGDC) method for the large-scale production of Bi2212 HTSFs. Initially, Bi2212 HTSFs were prepared on a small-scale single crystal (001)-oriented SrTiO3 substrates, and comprehensive characterization of their phase purity, crystal structure, surface morphology, microstructure, stress state, and transport properties was conducted as a foundation for further analysis. By optimizing the crystallization conditions and PVP content, the Bi2212 HTSF achieved improved performance, including a higher onset superconducting transition temperature (Tc, onset) of 94 K, zero-resistance temperature (Tc, zero) of 86 K, and a critical current density (Jc) of 6.8 × 104 A/cm2 under a zero magnetic field at 2 K. Subsequently, the optimized process was applied to successfully prepare a large-scale Bi2212 HTSF with a diameter of 50 mm, exhibiting uniform phase composition, surface morphology, and superconducting properties, expanding the potential applications of Bi2212 HTSFs.

In this study, a novel polysaccharide liposome was prepared using garlic polysaccharides, soybean lecithin and cholesterol and structurally characterized. The optimal preparation conditions of garlic polysaccharide liposomes were determined by single-factor and response surface tests using the film-material ratio, lipid-drug ratio and ultrasonic time as factors and the encapsulation efficiency as response values. The obtained liposomes were characterized in terms of micromorphology, particle size, UV spectrum, IR spectrum and stability. The results showed that the optimal preparation conditions of garlic polysaccharide liposomes were as follows: Film-material ratio of 4:1, lipid-drug ratio of 24:1, ultrasonic time of 14 min, with the maximum encapsulation efficiency of 61.00%±0.73%. The obtained liposomes appeared as spherical vesicles with uniform dispersion and good stability. Their particle size, polymer dispersity index and zeta potential were 213.50±1.85 nm, 0.187±0.005 and −21.07±1.27 mV, respectively. UV and IR spectra confirmed that garlic polysaccharides were successfully encapsulated into the lipid material through electrostatic interactions, without the formation of new chemical bonds. After 28 days of storage at 4 ℃, the particle size of garlic polysaccharide liposomes increased from 211.13±0.54 nm to 225.70±0.65 nm, the PDI increased from 0.187±0.003 to 0.236±0.001, and the encapsulation efficiency decreased from 60.96%±0.32% to 56.97%±0.74%, exhibiting a relative stability. Therefore, the garlic polysaccharide liposomes prepared in this study had high encapsulation efficiency, small particle size, good dispersion and high stability, which could provide a reference for the development of garlic polysaccharide derivatives.

Background: DNA methylation can change rapidly to regulate the expression of stress-responsive genes. Previous studies have shown that there are significant differences in the cold resistance of winter rapeseed (Brassica rapa L.) after being domesticated in different selection environments; however, little is known about the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of its cold resistance formation. Methods: Four winter rapeseed materials (‘CT-2360’, ‘MXW-1’, ‘2018-FJT’, and ‘DT-7’) domesticated in different environments were selected to analyze the DNA methylation level and pattern changes under low temperature using methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism technology with 60 primer pairs. Results: A total of 18 pairs of primers with good polymorphism were screened, and 1426 clear bands were amplified, with 594 methylation sites, accounting for 41.65% of the total amplified bands. The total methylation ratios of the four materials were reduced after low-temperature treatment, in which the DNA methylation level of ‘CT-2360’ was higher than that of the other three materials; the analysis of methylation patterns revealed that the degree of demethylation was higher than that of methylation in ‘MXW-1’, ‘2018-FJT’, and ‘DT-7’, which were 22.99%, 19.77%, and 24.35%, respectively, and that the methylation events in ‘CT-2360’ were predominantly dominant at 22.95%. Fifty-three polymorphic methylated DNA fragments were randomly selected and further analyzed, and twenty-nine of the cloned fragments were homologous to genes with known functions. The candidate genes VQ22 and LOC103871127 verified the existence of different expressive patterns before and after low-temperature treatment. Conclusions: Our work implies the critical role of DNA methylation in the formation of cold resistance in winter rapeseed. These results provide a comprehensive insight into the adaptation epigenetic regulatory mechanism of Brassica rapa L. to low temperature, and the identified differentially methylated genes can also be used as important genetic resources for the multilateral breeding of winter-resistant varieties.

Abstract Background Perineal ultrasound as a non-invasive method for the diagnosis of female stress urinary incontinence has attracted more and more attention. However, the criteria for stress urinary incontinence in women using perineal ultrasound have not been fully established. Our study aimed to evaluate characteristics of the urethral spatial movement with perineal ultrasonography. Methods A total of 136 female patients with stress urinary incontinence and 44 controls were enrolled. Stress urinary incontinence was diagnosed using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form, medical history and physical examination, and severity was assessed using a 1 h pad test. We described the mobility of four equidistant points (A–D) located along the urethra length. The retrovesical and urethral rotation angles were measured using perineal ultrasonography at rest and during the maximal Valsalva maneuver. Results Patients with stress urinary incontinence showed a more significant vertical movement at Points A, B and C than controls. The mean variations in the retrovesical angle were significantly larger in patients with stress urinary incontinence at rest and during the Valsalva maneuver than in controls (21.0 ± 16.5° vs. 14.7 ± 20.1°, respectively). The cut-off value for the retrovesical angle variation was 10.7° with 72% sensitivity and 54% specificity. There was a receiver-operating characteristic curve area of 0.73 and 0.72 for Points A and B, respectively. A cut-off of 10.8 mm, and 9.4 mm provided 71% sensitivity and 68% specificity and 67% sensitivity and 75% specificity, respectively. Conclusions The spatial movement of the bladder neck and proximal urethra, and variations in the retrovesical angle may be correlated with clinical symptoms and facilitate to the assessment of SUI.

Abstract Objectives To investigate if different methods of pancreatoduodenectomy (with or without pyloric preservation) would have different impacts on postoperative nutrition and body composition changes among pancreatic cancer patients. Methods Demographic and clinicopathological data, perioperative data were collected, body composition (e.g. skeletal muscle cross‐sectional area [CSA], visceral fat area [VFA]) were evaluated with abdominal CT before and after surgery. Sarcopenia patients' proportion changes were also recorded. Results The hospital stay in the PRPD group was significantly less than that in the PPPD group (p

Abstract Biochemical correlates of stochastic single-cell fates have been elusive, even for the well-studied mammalian cell cycle. We monitored single-cell dynamics of the ERK and Akt pathways, critical cell cycle progression hubs and anti-cancer drug targets, and paired them to division events in the same single cells using the non-transformed MCF10A epithelial line. Following growth factor treatment, in cells that divide both ERK and Akt activities are significantly higher within the S-G2 time window (~ 8.5–40 h). Such differences were much smaller in the pre-S-phase, restriction point window which is traditionally associated with ERK and Akt activity dependence, suggesting unappreciated roles for ERK and Akt in S through G2. Simple metrics of central tendency in this time window are associated with subsequent cell division fates. ERK activity was more strongly associated with division fates than Akt activity, suggesting Akt activity dynamics may contribute less to the decision driving cell division in this context. We also find that ERK and Akt activities are less correlated with each other in cells that divide. Network reconstruction experiments demonstrated that this correlation behavior was likely not due to crosstalk, as ERK and Akt do not interact in this context, in contrast to other transformed cell types. Overall, our findings support roles for ERK and Akt activity throughout the cell cycle as opposed to just before the restriction point, and suggest ERK activity dynamics may be more important than Akt activity dynamics for driving cell division in this non-transformed context.

Micro-structured targets can be employed to enhance the coupling of laser energy to the high energy density plasma. Here we report on experimental measurement of enhanced proton beam energy from laser-driven micro-wire array (MWA) targets along the backward direction. An ultra-intense (∼2×1020W/cm2) laser pulse of ∼ 40 fs pulse duration interacts with the MWA structure and induces large population of energetic electrons. The enhanced sheath field efficiently accelerates protons both transversely and longitudinally. The spectrometers record proton cut-off energy of around 16 MeV and temperature 813keV along the backward direction, which is 20%−60% higher than that of a flat target under commensurate laser conditions. Comparison with particle-in-cell simulations suggests that the enhancement originates from the increased temperature and population of the hot electrons within the micro-wires. These measurements provide a direct probe of the high energy density plasma condition in laser-driven solid targets and a useful benchmark for further studies on laser-driven micro-structured targets.

The performance of laser-driven ion accelerators is intimately linked to the structure of the target. Here, laser-proton acceleration from a 3D-printed microwire-array target boosts the conversion efficiency and cut-off energy compared to a flat foil.

Garlic saccharides have prebiotic activity, but the association between their function and structure is still poorly known. In present study, four different garlic saccharides were obtained from garlic polysaccharides (GPs) after acidolysis by ultrafiltration. Obtained GPs were constituted by different monosaccharides, among which fructose and glucose were the main components, while galactose was a major component of GPs-U6. All four saccharides were partly degraded by the simulated digestive system, and most could reach the large intestine to be utilized by the gut microbiota. Except for GPs-U6, the other three garlic saccharide fractions had good prebiotic activity in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, GPs-U0.3 with lower molecular weight (Mw) showed better prebiotic activity, including promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium, Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group and Phoscolarctobacterium, and inhibiting the growth of potentially harmful bacteria. In addition, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Pathway enrichment analysis showed that GPs-U0.3 could reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Overall, this findings of the present study revealed the digestive properties of GPs, as well as the potential association between their chemical structures and fermentation characteristics by gut microbiota. Thus, it can be stated that GPs-U0.3 can be used as potential prebiotics in functional foods, which provides a theoretical basis for the targeted preparation of functionalized garlic saccharides.

This study explored the potential of garlic polysaccharides (GPs) as a carrier for synthesizing GP-Zn (II) complexes to supplement Zn. According to the response surface analysis, the optimal preparation conditions were: mass ratio of GPs to Zn2+ 1:0.21, temperature 53 °C, pH 5.9 and time 148.75 min, with the maximum chelation rate of 90.11%. The chelation of GPs and Zn2+ involved OH/CO/OCO groups, increased crystallinity and altered absorption peaks of circular dichroism spectra, with a higher thermal stability, particle size and negative zeta potential. Compared with inorganic zinc salts, supplementation of GP-Zn (II) complexes showed enhance zinc supplementation effects in Zn-deficient mice model: increased body weight, organ index and Zn (II) levels in serum and liver, enhanced Superoxidedismutase (SOD) activity and alkaline phosphatase activity, decreased NO content and Malondialdehyde (MDA) content and improved colon and testicular morphology. Therefore, GP-Zn (II) complex can be used as a potential zinc supplement for Zn-deficient individuals.

A plant growing in nature is not an individual, but it holds an intricate community of plants and microbes with relatively stable partnerships. The microbial community has recently been demonstrated to be closely linked with plants since their earliest evolution, to help early land plants adapt to environmental threats. Mounting evidence has indicated that plants can release diverse kinds of signal molecules to attract beneficial bacteria for mediating the activities of their genetics and biochemistry. Several rhizobacterial strains can promote plant growth and enhance the ability of plants to withstand pathogenic attacks causing various diseases and loss in crop productivity. Beneficial rhizobacteria are generally called as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that induce systemic resistance (ISR) against pathogen infection. These ISR-eliciting microbes can mediate the morphological, physiological and molecular responses of plants. In the last decade, the mechanisms of microbial signals, plant receptors, and hormone signaling pathways involved in the process of PGPR-induced ISR in plants have been well investigated. In this review, plant recognition, microbial elicitors, and the related pathways during plant-microbe interactions are discussed, with highlights on the roles of root hair-specific syntaxins and small RNAs in the regulation of the PGPR-induced ISR in plants.

Thousands of genetic variants have been associated with lupus, but causal variants and mechanisms are unknown. Here, the authors combine a massively parallel reporter assay with genome-wide ChIP experiments to identify risk variants with allelic enhancer activity mediated through transcription factor binding.

Abstract Forest biomass is an important component of terrestrial carbon pools. However, how climate, biodiversity, and structural attributes co‐determine spatiotemporal variation in forest biomass remains not well known. We aimed to shed light on these drivers of forest biomass by measuring diversity and structural attributes of tree species in 400‐m2 plots located every 100 m along a 4200‐m elevational gradient in the eastern Himalayas. We applied structural equation models to test how climate, species richness, structural attributes, and their interactions influence forest biomass. Importantly, species richness was a stronger driver of biomass than environmental and structural attributes such as annual air temperature or stem density. Integrating the availability of energy and the demand for water, potential evapotranspiration was more strongly correlated with biomass than water availability, likely due to the strong influence of the Indian summer monsoon. Thus, interactions between climate and tree community composition ultimately control how much carbon is stored in woody biomass across bioclimatic gradients. This fundamental understanding will support predictive efforts of the forest carbon sink in this hydroclimatically important region and help preserving regional forests as a potent natural solution for climate change mitigation.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin disorders among children. Disease etiology involves genetic and environmental factors, with 29 independent AD risk loci enriched for risk allele-dependent gene expression in the skin and CD4+ T cell compartments. We investigated the potential epigenetic mechanisms responsible for the genetic susceptibility of CD4+ T cells. To understand the differences in gene regulatory activity in peripheral blood T cells in AD, we measured chromatin accessibility (an assay based on transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing, ATAC-seq), nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1 (NFKB1) binding (chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing, ChIP-seq), and gene expression levels (RNA-seq) in stimulated CD4+ T cells from subjects with active moderate-to-severe AD, as well as in age-matched non-allergic controls. Open chromatin regions in stimulated CD4+ T cells were highly enriched for AD genetic risk variants, with almost half of the AD risk loci overlapping AD-dependent ATAC-seq peaks. AD-specific open chromatin regions were strongly enriched for NF-κB DNA-binding motifs. ChIP-seq identified hundreds of NFKB1-occupied genomic loci that were AD- or control-specific. As expected, the AD-specific ChIP-seq peaks were strongly enriched for NF-κB DNA-binding motifs. Surprisingly, control-specific NFKB1 ChIP-seq peaks were not enriched for NFKB1 motifs, but instead contained motifs for other classes of human transcription factors, suggesting a mechanism involving altered indirect NFKB1 binding. Using DNA sequencing data, we identified 63 instances of altered genotype-dependent chromatin accessibility at 36 AD risk variant loci (30% of AD risk loci) that might lead to genotype-dependent gene expression. Based on these findings, we propose that CD4+ T cells respond to stimulation in an AD-specific manner, resulting in disease- and genotype-dependent chromatin accessibility alterations involving NFKB1 binding.

Enhancers shape gene expression patterns and are involved in disease pathogenesis. Here the authors demonstrate a strategy to screen functional regulatory elements for non-coding RNAs ― illustrated with miR-146a ― and link autoimmune disease risk genetic variants to autoimmune disease etiology.

Here, we report the recent progress on the front end developed for the 100 PW-class laser facility. Using 3 stages of optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) based on lithium triborate (LBO) crystals, we realized a 5.26 J/0.1 Hz amplified output with a bandwidth over 200 nm near the center wavelength of 925 nm. After the compressor, we obtained a pulse duration of 13.4 fs. As the compression efficiency reached 67%, this OPCPA front end could potentially support a peak power of 263 TW at a repetition rate of 0.1 Hz. To the best of our knowledge, among all the 100 TW-level OPCPA systems, it shows the widest spectral width, the shortest pulse duration, and it is also the first OPCPA system working at a repetition-rate mode.

Fructans and oligofructose are usually used as prebiotics without any limitation in functional food or food ingredients. The degree of polymerization (DP) of polysaccharides affects the utilization of probiotics. Garlic is rich in fructans. The objective of this study was to extract and purify polysaccharides from garlic, analyze its composition, hydrolyze them using HCl, and then evaluate the prebiotic potential of the garlic neutral polysaccharides (GPs) before and after hydrolysis. GPs were 6.57 × 103 Da with a composition of fructose and glucose at a ratio of 4:1. After acid hydrolysis, low molecular weight fraction in garlic oligofructose (GOs) may be eliminated through ultrafiltration. The content of oligosaccharides with an average DP < 10 increased from 15 to 75%. GPs and GOS had a stronger resistance to acid conditions in human stomach than fructooligosaccharide, and GOs showed better prebiotic properties on the growth of lactobacilli than GPs. This study evaluates the prebiotic potential of the garlic frutctans and oligosaccharides mixtures obtained by acid hydrolysis, which may be used as an ingredient in functional food and nutraceutical products.

Chinese garlic powder (GP) is exported to all countries in the world, but the excess of microorganisms is a serious problem that affects export. The number of microorganisms has a serious impact on the pricing of GP. It is very important to detect and control the microorganism in GP. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contamination and drug resistance of microorganisms during the processing of GP. We used metagenomics and Illumina sequencing to study the composition and dynamic distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), but also the microbial community in three kinds of garlic products from factory processing. The results showed that a total of 126 ARG genes were detected in all the samples, which belonged to 11 ARG species. With the processing of GP, the expression of ARGs showed a trend to increase at first and then to decrease. Network analysis was used to study the co-occurrence patterns among ARG subtypes and bacterial communities and ARGs.

Garlic (Allium sativum) is an important vegetable crop that is widely used in cooking and medicine. The greening phenomenon of garlic severely decreases the quality of garlic and hinders garlic processing. To study the mechanism of garlic greening, comprehensive full-length transcript sets were constructed. We detected the differences in greening between Pizhou (PZ) garlic and Laiwu (LW) garlic that were both stored at −2.5°C and protected from light at the same time. The results showed that 60,087 unigenes were respectively annotated to the NR, KEGG, GO, Pfam, eggNOG and Swiss Prot databases, and a total of 30,082 unigenes were annotated. The analysis of differential genes and differential proteins showed that PZ garlic and LW garlic had 923 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), of which 529 genes were up regulated and 394 genes were downregulated. Through KEGG and GO enrichment analysis, it was found that the most significant way of enriching DEGs was the phenylpropane metabolic pathway. Proteomics analysis found that there were 188 differentially expressed proteins (DAPs), 162 up-regulated proteins, and 26 down-regulated proteins between PZ garlic and LW garlic. The content of 10 proteins related to phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in PZ garlic was significantly higher than that of LW garlic. This study explored the mechanisms of garlic greening at a molecular level and further discovered that the formation of garlic green pigment was affected significantly by the phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway. This work provided a theoretical basis for the maintenance of garlic quality during garlic processing and the future development of the garlic processing industries.

Abstract Background Glioma is considered one of the most common tumors and has a poor prognosis. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be strongly linked to various human tumors including glioma. In this study, we investigated a new anticancer miRNA, miR-346, to determine the effects and mechanism of miR-346 and its downstream target gene NFIB on tumors. Methods Lentivirus transfection, real-time PCR, western blotting, immunohistochemistry, cell proliferation assays, and mouse experiments were used to examine the relationship between miR-346 and its regulation of NFIB in glioma cells. Results The expression of miR-346 was downregulated in glioma cells. Overexpression of miR-346 arrested the cell cycle of glioma cells and inhibited their proliferation in vitro and in vivo. NFIB was a direct target of miR-346, whose expression was reduced by the miRNA. Overexpression of NFIB reversed all tested functions of miR-346. Conclusion miR-346 inhibited the growth of glioma cells by targeting NFIB and may be a new prognostic and diagnostic biomarker for glioma.

Abstracts Background Overexpressed PES1 promotes carcinogenesis in various types of malignant tumors. However, the biological role and clinical significance of PES1 in pancreatic cancer are still unexplored. Methods The expression level of PES1 in pancreatic cancer cell lines and pancreatic cancer patient samples was determined using Western Blotting analysis, RT-qPCR analysis, immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of tissue microarray, and the GEPIA web tool. MTS assay, colony formation assay, and xenograft tumor assay were used to evaluate the tumor growth ability of pancreatic cancer cells. Results We established that the expression of PES1 was abnormally increased in pancreatic cancer tissues and led to poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients. We also found that PES1 was responsible for promoting cell growth and contributed to bromodomain and cancer cell resistance to extra-terminal (BET) inhibitors in pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, we showed that PES1 interacted with BRD4 to enhance c-Myc expression, which is the primary cause of cancer cell resistance to BET inhibitors in pancreatic cancer. Finally, CDK5 inhibitors were proven to destabilize PES1 and overcome cancer cell resistance to BET inhibitors in pancreatic cancer cells. Conclusions We have shown that PES1 could be one of the promoting factors of tumor growth and a prognosis-related protein of pancreatic cancer. Targeting PES1 with CDK5 inhibitors might help overcome cancer cell resistance to BET inhibitors in pancreatic cancer cells.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, food-driven allergic disease resulting in eosinophilic esophageal inflammation. We recently found that EoE susceptibility is associated with genetic variants in the promoter of CAPN14, a gene with reported esophagus-specific expression. CAPN14 is dynamically up-regulated as a function of EoE disease activity and after exposure of epithelial cells to interleukin-13 (IL-13). Herein, we aimed to explore molecular modulation of CAPN14 expression. We identified three putative binding sites for the IL-13-activated transcription factor STAT6 in the promoter and first intron of CAPN14. Luciferase reporter assays revealed that the two most distal STAT6 elements were required for the ∼10-fold increase in promoter activity subsequent to stimulation with IL-13 or IL-4, and also for the genotype-dependent reduction in IL-13-induced promoter activity. One of the STAT6 elements in the promoter was necessary for IL-13-mediated induction of CAPN14 promoter activity while the other STAT6 promoter element was necessary for full induction. Chromatin immunoprecipitation in IL-13 stimulated esophageal epithelial cells was used to further support STAT6 binding to the promoter of CAPN14 at these STAT6 binding sites. The highest CAPN14 and calpain-14 expression occurred with IL-13 or IL-4 stimulation of esophageal epithelial cells under culture conditions that allow the cells to differentiate into a stratified epithelium. This work corroborates a candidate molecular mechanism for EoE disease etiology in which the risk variant at 2p23 dampens CAPN14 expression in differentiated esophageal epithelial cells following IL-13/STAT6 induction of CAPN14 promoter activity.

Plant functional traits are closely associated with key ecological processes and ecosystem functions. Recent studies have demonstrated that plant functional traits, especially physiological traits, can be successfully derived from hyperspectral images. Plant physiological traits are frequently quantified either as area-based content [μg cm−2] or mass-based concentration [mg g−1 or %]. However, it remains unclear whether the two metrics of traits can be quantified using remote sensing approaches. We quantified area- and mass-based foliar physiological traits to compare the prediction accuracy of the two metrics based on leaf spectra using partial least squares regression (PLSR) at a grassland monoculture experiment. These two metrics were then scaled up to canopy traits, respectively, based on leaf area index (LAI) and biomass to test their performance at the canopy level. The canopy physiological traits with high prediction accuracy (R2 ≥ 0.60) were selected for mapping using the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based UHD185 spectrometer. Biomass and LAI were also estimated and mapped using the PLSR method. The mapped leaf traits (canopy traits divided by the corresponding LAI), were used to explore the relationships between the interspecific and intraspecific variations in leaf physiological traits and ecosystem productivity (i.e., aboveground biomass). The results showed that the retrieval of leaf physiological traits using leaf spectra and canopy spectra or remote sensing was better performed on an area basis rather than a mass basis, especially for the physiological traits related to photosynthesis. Model selection results also indicted that remotely sensed physiological traits (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, carbon, nitrogen, and leaf mass per area (LMA)) and their intraspecific variations (coefficient variation (CV) for a single trait and functional richness (FRic) for multiple traits) were significant predictors of community aboveground biomass across grassland monocultures. Our study highlights the potential of hyperspectral images for trait mapping and estimating ecosystem productivity at large scales. Our findings also provide a vital insight for disentangling the links of functional traits and intra- and interspecific trait variations to key ecological processes and functions.

Plants can naturally interact with beneficial rhizobacteria to mediate defense responses against foliar pathogen infection. However, the mechanisms of rhizobacteria-mediated defense enhancement remain rarely clear. In this study, beneficial rhizobacterial strain Pseudomonas fluorescens DN16 greatly increased the resistance of cucumber plants against Botrytis cinerea infection. RNA-sequencing analyses showed that several polyamine-associated genes including a thermospermine (TSpm) synthase gene (CsACL5) and polyamine catabolic genes (CsPAO1, CsPAO5, and CsCuAO1) were notably induced by DN16. The associations of TSpm metabolic pathways with the DN16-mediated cucumber defense responses were further investigated. The inoculated plants exhibited the increased leaf TSpm levels compared with the controls. Accordantly, overexpression of CsACL5 in cucumber plants markedly increased leaf TSpm levels and enhanced defense against B. cinerea infection. The functions of TSpm catabolism in the DN16-mediated defense responses of cucumber plants to B. cinerea were further investigated by pharmacological approaches. Upon exposure to pathogen infection, the changes of leaf TSpm levels were positively related to the enhanced activities of polyamine catabolic enzymes including polyamine oxidases (PAOs) and copper amine oxidases (CuAOs), which paralleled the transcription of several defense-related genes such as pathogenesis-related protein 1 (CsPR1) and defensin-like protein 1 (CsDLP1). However, the inhibited activities of polyamine catabolic enzymes abolished the DN16-induced cucumber defense against B. cinerea infection. This was in line with the impaired expression of defense-related genes in the inoculated plants challenged by B. cinerea. Collectively, our findings unraveled a pivotal role of TSpm catabolism in the regulation of the rhizobacteria-primed defense states by mediating the immune responses in cucumber plants after B. cinerea infection.

Abstract Contact property is now becoming to be a key factor for achieving high performance and high reliability in GaN-based III-V semiconductor devices. Energetic ion sputter, as an effective interface probe, is widely used to profile the metal/GaN contacts for interfacial analysis and process optimization. However, the details of ion-induced interfacial reaction, as well as the formation of sputter by-products at the interfaces are still unclear. Here by combining state-of-the-art Ar+ ion sputter with in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ex-situ high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), we have observed clearly not only the ion-induced chemical state changes at interface, but also the by-products at the prototypical Ti/GaN system. For the first time, we identified the formation of a metallic Ga layer at the GaOx/GaN interface. At the Ti/GaOx interface, TiCx components were also detected due to the reaction between metal Ti and surface-adsorbed C species. Our study reveals that the corresponding core level binding energy and peak intensity obtained from ion sputter depth profile should be treated with much caution, since they will be changed due to ion-induced interface reactions and formation of by-products during ion bombardment.

The principles of DNS data analysis and the limitations of traditional DNS data analysis method were analyzed.According to the trend of the development of the IP network,an analysis technology based on the Hadoop towards huge amounts of DNS data was proposed.Also the architecture,implementation scheme and advantages of the technology scheme were described,then the effect of Hadoop DNS data analysis which applied in the telecom network was expounded.The research results can provide scientific reference for the development and optimization of the telecom network.

A new generalized linear mixed quantile model for panel data is proposed. This proposed approach applies GEE with smoothed estimating functions, which leads to asymptotically equivalent estimation of the regression coefficients. Random effects are predicted by using the best linear unbiased predictors (BLUP) based on the Tweedie exponential dispersion distributions which cover a wide range of distributions, including those widely used ones, such as the normal distribution, Poisson distribution and gamma distribution. A Taylor expansion of the quantile estimating function is used to linearize the random effects in the quantile process. The parameter estimation is based on the Newton-Raphson iteration method. Our proposed quantile mixed model gives consistent estimates that have asymptotic normal distributions. Simulation studies are carried out to investigate the small sample performance of the proposed approach. As an illustration, the proposed method is applied to analyze the epilepsy data.

Buckling-restrained braces play a critical role as the first-defendant line in dissipating seismic energy and are often used in concrete frame structures to ensure that the main beam–column members are “undamaged” or significantly elastic during medium earthquakes. The design of the reinforced concrete frame structures with buckling-restrained brace is generally based on the assumption of shear deformation of the structure. The conventional seismic design considers the “second-defendant line design” based on the geometric relationship between the axial deformation and strength of buckling-restrained braces and stratified deformation. This article proposes iterative optimization of the buckling-restrained brace design method and layout scheme based on the nonlinear structural response of the calibrated numerical model, and then approximates the nonlinear structure scheme using a linear method. Time history analyses are performed to prove that the linear design method is highly conservative for estimating seismic intensity, and the proposed design method provides more efficient damage distributions in frame components. The results of the nonlinear performance evaluation and energy analysis indicate that the method proposed in this article can meet the performance design requirements achieving multi-performance criteria.

Three key points of SDN are decoupling of data plane and control plane，centralized control and open interfaces.Some carriers develop a SDN application system based on RR+ or PCE technology in order to achieve the centralized control function on traditional IP WAN.The architecture and development suggestions of the SDN application system were presented，and some typical functions，such as routing optimizing，traffic balanced scheduling，paths intelligent arrangement and so on，were described.

Soil microbial community changes imposed by the cumulative effects of root-secreted phenolic acids (PAs) promote soil-borne pathogen establishment and invasion under monoculture systems, but the disease-suppressive soil often exhibits less soil-borne pathogens compared with the conducive soil. So far, it remains poorly understood whether soil disease suppressiveness is associated with the alleviated negative effects of PAs, involving microbial degradation. Here, the long-term monoculture particularly shaped the rhizosphere microbial community, for example by the enrichment of beneficial Pseudomonas species in the suppressive soil and thus enhanced disease-suppressive capacity, however this was not observed for the conducive soil. In vitro PA-degradation assays revealed that the antagonistic Pseudomonas species, together with the Xanthomonas and Rhizobium species, significantly increased the efficiency of PA degradation compared to single species, at least partially explaining how the suppressive soil accumulated lower PA levels than the conducive soil. Pot experiments further showed that this consortium harboring the antagonistic Pseudomonas species can not only lower PA accumulation in the 15-year conducive soils, but also confer stronger Fusarium wilt disease suppression compared with a single inoculum with the antagonistic bacteria. Our findings demonstrated that understanding microbial community functions, beyond the single direct antagonism, facilitated the construction of active consortia for preventing soil-borne pathogens under intensive monoculture.

Green discoloration is one of the most important problems that cause low quality of product in the processing of garlic, which can be induced by low-temperature stress. But the mechanism of low temperature-induced green discoloration is poorly understood. In the present study, the control garlic and three low temperature-treated garlic samples (stored at 4°C with 10, 15, and 40 days, respectively) were used for genome-wide transcriptome profiling analysis. A total of 49280 garlic unigenes with an average length of 1337 bp were de novo assembled, 20231 of which were achieved for functional annotation. When being suffered from 10, 15, and 40 days of low-temperature treatment, an increased degree of discoloration was observed, and a total of 4757, 4401, and 2034 unigenes showed a differential expression, respectively. Finally, 5923 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found to respond to the low-temperature stress, of which 3921 were identified in at least two treatments. Among these stress-responsive unigenes, there were large numbers of enzyme-encoding genes, which significantly enriched the pathway “proteasome,” many genes of which are potentially involved in the garlic discoloration, such as 7 alliinase-encoding genes, 5 γ-glutamyltranspeptidase-encoding genes, and 1 δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase-encoding gene. These stress-responsive enzyme-encoding genes are possibly responsible for the low-temperature-induced garlic discoloration. The identification of large numbers of DEGs provides a basis for further elucidating the mechanism of low-temperature-induced green discoloration in garlic.

Glioma accounts for the majority of primary malignant brain tumors in adults and is highly aggressive. Although various therapeutic approaches have been applied, outcomes of glioma treatment remain poor. MicroRNAs are a class of small noncoding RNAs that function as regulators of gene expression. Accumulating evidence shows that microRNAs are associated with tumorigenesis and tumor progression. In this study, we found that miR-105 is significantly downregulated in glioma tissues and glioma cell lines. We identified suppressor of Zeste 12 homolog as a novel direct target of miR-105 and showed that suppressor of Zeste 12 homolog protein levels were inversely correlated with the levels of miR-105 expression in clinical specimens. Overexpression of miR-105 inhibited cell proliferation, tumorigenesis, migration, invasion, and drug sensitivity, whereas overexpression of suppressor of Zeste 12 homolog antagonized the tumor-suppressive functions of miR-105. Taken together, our results indicate that miR-105 plays a significant role in tumor behavior and malignant progression, which may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of glioma and other cancers.

Beneficial rhizobacteria can inhibit foliar pathogen infection by activation of defense responses, yet it the mechanisms of rhizobacteria-induced disease resistance remain largely unknown. Here, inoculation of susceptible maize plants with Pseudomonas fluorescens MZ05 significantly reduced disease occurrence caused by the leaf pathogen Setosphaeria turcica. Gene expression profiles of MZ05-inoculated plants were investigated by RNA-sequencing analyses, showing that several differentially expressed genes were positively associated with the metabolic processes of benzoxazinoids. Accordantly, the inoculation with P. fluorescens MZ05 resulted in a significant increase in the levels of 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-2H-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one (DIMBOA) in the maize leaves. Furthermore, pre-inoculation with P. fluorescens MZ05 enhanced the transcription of two defense-related marked genes PAL and PR2a, as well as BX2 and GLU2, which are involved in DIMBOA biosynthesis, in pathogen-infected leaves. Defense responses in the inoculated plants were also greatly stronger and quicker than that in non-inoculated plants after pathogen attacks. However, virus-mediated silencing of BX2 or GLU2 remarkably attenuated the MZ05-induced effects, as evidenced by more disease occurrence and lower transcription of PAL and PR2a. Collectively, these findings indicated that the MZ05-induced increases of DIMBOA levels participated in the mediation of priming, which was the key mechanism in the rhizobacteria-induced host resistance.

Fructose and its polysaccharides are widely found in fruits and vegetables, with the Maillard reaction of fructose affecting food quality. This study aimed to investigate the Maillard reaction of fructose using a fructose–histidine model system. The reaction process was characterized using fluorescence spectroscopy and ultraviolet spectroscopy. The effects of temperature, initial reactant concentration, initial fructose concentration, initial histidine concentration, and initial pH value on the different stages of the Maillard reaction were studied. Reactant reduction, ultraviolet and fluorescence spectra, acetic acid content, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) content, and browning intensity were evaluated. The results showed that increasing the temperature and reactant concentration promoted the condensation reaction of fructose and amino acid in the early stage, the formation of intermediate products with ultraviolet absorption and fluorescence in the intermediate stage, and the formation of pigment in the final stage. The 5-HMF concentration decreased with increasing histidine concentration and initial pH value. Changes in the shape of ultraviolet and fluorescence spectra showed that the initial pH value affected not only the reaction rate, but also the intermediate product types. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging rate of the Maillard reaction products increased with increasing temperature, reactant concentration, and initial pH value.

In previous a study, we had developed a novel thermosensitive magnetic delivery system based on liposomes. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of this system for the co-delivery of both drugs and genes to the same cell and its anti-tumor effects on gastric cancer. Doxorubicin (DOX) and SATB1 shRNA vector were loaded into the co-delivery system, and in vitro DOX thermosensitive release activity, targeted gene silencing efficiency, targeted cellular uptake, in vitro cytotoxicity, as well as in vivo anti-tumor activity were determined. The results showed that this co-delivery system had desirable targeted delivery efficacy, DOX thermosensitive release and SATB1 gene silencing. Moreover, the co-delivery of DOX and SATB1 shRNA exhibited enhanced activity to inhibit gastric cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo, compared to single delivery. In conclusion, the novel thermosensitive magnetic drug and gene co-delivery system has promising application in combined chemotherapy and gene therapy for gastric cancer.

In the title compound, C10H8Cl2N2O2S·0.5H2O, the atoms in the oxadiazole ring are essentially coplanar (r.m.s. deviation 0.010 Å). The crystal structure is stabilized by intermolecular N—H...O hydrogen bonds involving the water molecule, which is situated on an a twofold rotation axis, and two organic molecules, leading to a thione tautomer in the solid state. The C atom attached to the oxadiazole ring adopts a typical sp3 hybridization. The dihedral angle between the mean plane of the benzene ring of the dichlorophenyl group and the mean plane of the oxadiazole ring is 74.18 (4)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by intermolecular N—H...O and O—H...S hydrogen bonds.