Search

A two-step method was developed to evaluate potato resistance to black scurf caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Tuber piece inoculum was first conducted in the laboratory, which was also first reported in this study. After inoculation with pathogen discs and culture for 48 h, the necrotic spots on the inoculated potato pieces were generated and measured by the crossing method. Further evaluation was conducted through field experiments using a wheat bran inoculum method. The wheat bran inoculum was placed into the pit dispersedly and surrounded seed tubers. Each cultivar or line was subjected to five treatments of 0-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-g soil inoculum. The results showed that 2-4 g of wheat bran inoculum was the optimum for identifying tuber black scurf resistance. The laboratory scores positively correlated with the incidence and severity of black scurf in the field. According to the results in the laboratory, relatively resistant cultivars could be selected for further estimation of tuber black scurf resistance in field experiments. It is a practical and effective screening method for rapid identification of resistant potato germplasm, which can reduce workload in the field, shorten time required for identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of renal Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis (LN). A total of 58 renal tissue samples from patients with LN, seven normal renal tissue samples from patients with non-glomerular hematuria and 37 renal tissue samples from patients with minimal change nephropathy were collected. The expression of EBV-latent membrane protein-1 (EBV-LMP1) and EBV-encoded RNA 1 (EBER-1) in the renal tissue was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH), respectively. The sera levels of anti-nuclear antibody as well as antibodies to extractable nuclear antigen in patients with LN were also measured. An equivalence test showed that the results from the IHC and the ISH analyses had strong agreement. The positive rates of renal EBER-1 and EBV-LMP1 in the LN patients were significantly higher than those of the normal and minimal change nephropathy patients (P<0.001), while no significant difference was identified between those of the normal and minimal change nephropathy groups (P>0.05). The positive rates of EBV-LMP1 and EBER-1 in the renal tissues of patients with LN were not determined to be significantly different between the relapse (immunosuppressant-treated) and initial onset (non-treated) patients, between the patients with and without concurrent infection, and among the patients with different age ranges (P>0.05). The proportion of LN patients positive for anti-Sm antibody was significantly higher in the renal EBV-positive group than in the EBV-negative group (P<0.05), while the proportions of LN patients positive for the other autoantibodies that were examined were not identified to be significantly different between these two groups (P>0.05). The present study shows that renal EBV infection may contribute to the pathogenesis of LN by inducing anti-Sm antibody production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effects of two magnetic clouds on hourly cosmic-ray intensity profiles in the Forbush decrease events in November 2004 observed by 47 ground-based neutron-monitor stations. By using a wavelet decomposition, the start time of the main phase in a Forbush decrease event can be defined, and then clearer definitions of initial phase, main phase, and recovery phase are proposed. Our analyses suggest that the main phase of this Fd event precedes the arrival time of the first magnetic cloud by about three hours, and the Fds observed at the majority (39/47) of the stations were found to originate from the sheath region as indicated by large fluctuations in magnetic field vectors at 19:00 UT on 7 November 2004, regardless of the station location. In addition, about 45% of the onset times of the recovery phase in the Forbush decreases took place at 04:00 UT on 10 November, independent of the station position. The results presented here support the hypothesis that the sheath region between the shock and the magnetic cloud, especially the enhanced turbulent magnetic field, results in the scattering of cosmic-ray particles, and causes the following Forbush decreases. Analysis of variation profiles from different neutron monitors reveals the global simultaneity of this Forbush decrease event. Moreover, we infer that the interplanetary disturbance was asymmetric when it reached the Earth, inclined to the southern hemisphere. These results provide several observational constraints for more detailed simulations of the Forbush decrease events with time-dependent cosmic-ray modulation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The asymmetry of H α line profiles is an important characteristic in the spectral observations of chromospheric flares, as well as one of the important observational facts of the dynamical process in solar flares. Based on the observed data of the solar spectrograph of Purple Mountain Observatory, some typical asymmetric H α line profiles are presented. Taking the effects of the nonthermal excitation and ionization of hydrogen atoms into consideration, the asymmetry characteristics of H α line profiles under different atmospheric models are calculated, and a semi-empirical study on the observed line profiles is thereby made. The results indicate that the downward motion of the chromospheric condensation region can cause the red and blue asymmetries of H α spectra. We have tried to reproduce the observed asymmetry characteristics in specific flares. It is found that, besides the energy flux of nonthermal particles, the magnitude of spectral index and the height of the velocity field affect the line profile, the flare''s atmospheric background model also has some influence on the line profile. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) test is used in both basic biological research and assisted reproduction to identify oocytes likely to be developmentally competent. However, the underlying molecular mechanism targeted by the BCB test is still unclear. To explore this question, we first confirmed that BCBpositive porcine oocytes had higher rates of meiotic maturation, better rates of cleavage and development into blastocysts, and lower death rates. Subsequent single-cell transcriptome sequencing on porcine germinal vesicle (GV)-stage oocytes identified 155 genes that were significantly differentially expressed between BCB-negative and BCB-positive oocytes. These included genes such as cdc5l, ldha, spata22, rgs2, paip1, wee1b, and hsp27, which are enriched in functionally important signaling pathways including cell cycle regulation, oocyte meiosis, spliceosome formation, and nucleotide excision repair. In BCB-positive GV oocytes that additionally had a lower frequency of DNA double-strand breaks, the CDC5L protein was significantly more abundant. cdc5l/CDC5L inhibition by short interference (si)RNA or antibody microinjection significantly impaired porcine oocyte meiotic maturation and subsequent parthenote development. Taken together, our single-oocyte sequencing data point to a potential new role for CDC5L in porcine oocyte meiosis and early embryo development, and supports further analysis of this protein in the context of the BCB test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth hormone (GH)-releasing peptides (GHRP), a class of synthetic peptidyl GH secretagogues, have been reported to exert a cardioprotective effect on cardiac ischemia. However, whether GHRP have a beneficial effect on chronic heart failure (CHF) is unclear, and the present work aims to clarify this issue. At 9 wk after pressure-overload CHF was created by abdominal aortic banding in rats, one of four variants of GHRP (GHRP-1, -2, and -6 and hexarelin, 100 µg/kg) or saline was injected subcutaneously twice a day for 3 wk. Echocardiography and cardiac catheterization were performed to monitor cardiac function and obtain blood samples for hormone assay. GHRP treatment significantly improved left ventricular (LV) function and remodeling in CHF rats, as indicated by increased LV ejection fraction, LV end-systolic pressure, and diastolic posterior wall thickness and decreased LV end-diastolic pressure and LV end-diastolic dimension. GHRP also significantly alleviated development of cardiac cachexia, as shown by increases in body weight and tibial length in CHF rats. Plasma CA, renin, ANG II, aldosterone, endothelin-1, and atrial natriuretic peptide were significantly elevated in CHF rats but were significantly decreased in GHRP-treated CHF rats. GHRP suppressed cardiomyocyte apoptosis and increased cardiac GH secretagogue receptor mRNA expression in CHF rats. GHRP also decreased myocardial creatine kinase release in hypophysectomized rats subjected to acute myocardial ischemia. We conclude that chronic administration of GHRP alleviates LV dysfunction, pathological remodeling, and cardiac cachexia in CHF rats, at least in part by suppressing stress-induced neurohormonal activations and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title compound, C19H18Br2O8, was synthesized in an anhydrous medium at 293 K. The five-membered ring adopts an envelope conformation. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 2.6 (1)°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]