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Rose root rot disease caused by Pythium helicoides Dreehsler has brought heavy damage to cut rose production in Japan, and il has became apparent that Rosa mullijlora showed resistance to this disease. Hoses have been bred by interspecies crossing with Rosa species including of R. mullijlora, and many progenies of R. mullijlora have been bred as determined cluster-flowered roses. However, the genetic architecture of this resistance remains. So, in this study, four kinds of R. mullijlora and 21 rose cultivars that have been clarified in the cross-fertilization genealogy with R. mullijlora were used as plant materials, and ihe inheritability of resistance to root rot disease was investigated. Four kinds of R. mullijlora had all high resistance, and ihe resistance to root rot disease in R. mullijlora was inherent eliaraeteristic of species. Five varieties not less tlian 50% in relatedness with R. mullijlora were shown as varied ' resistant' and 'moderately resistant. Therefore, ihe inherent resistant characteristic in R. mullijlora was not controlled by single major gene, and ihe resislibility in R. mullijlora was not cytoplasmic but nuclear heredity. Although there was significant neUive relation between relative root rot severity and relatedness with R. mullijlora, the variance of relative root rot severity had tendency to expand as relatedness with R. mullijlora reduced. This result, therefore, indicated that the contingency of resistance expression increased as the relaledness with R. mullijlora was reduced. The varieties having low degree of relaledness with R. mullijlora had similar relative root rot severity with R. mullijlora. These results indicated llial we would be able to select resistant roses from progenies crossed with R. mullijlora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence indicated that aberrantly expressed microRNAs play critical roles in the initiation and progression of human cancers. However, the underlying functions of miR-493 in human melanoma remains unknown. Here, our study found that miR-493 expression was downregulated in human melanoma tissues and cells. Overexpression of miR-493 suppressed cell proliferation and cell cycle in human melanoma cell line A375. IRS4 was defined as a target for downregulation by miR-493 and was confirmed by luciferase assay. We also found that knockdown of IRS4 counteracted the proliferation promotion by miR-493 inhibitor. In summary, these results demonstrated that miR-493 acts as a tumor suppressor and inhibits cell proliferation and cell cycle in human melanoma by directly targeting IRS4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biomass yield and mesophilic anaerobic digestion performance of Pennisetum hybrid that were collected at different harvest periods and cutting frequencies were investigated. Results indicated that chemical composition, biomass yield, and specific methane yield of Pennisetum hybrid were significantly influenced by harvest period and cutting frequency. The contents of total solids, volatile solids, carbon, cellulose, lignin and starch increased with a prolonged harvest period, whereas the nitrogen and crude protein content decreased. Specific methane yields decreased considerably from 280 to 119 mL/g VS with a prolonged harvest period, whereas the biomass yield per hectare increased. A maximum dry matter yield of 41.63 t/ha was achieved when the Pennisetum hybrid was harvested in October. When the cutting frequencies increased from twice to three times per year, the specific methane yields increased as the biomass yield decreased. Because of the reverse trend of anaerobic digestion performance and biomass yield with different harvest periods and cutting frequencies, the methane yield per hectare increased with prolonged harvest period and decreased cutting frequency. A maximum area-specific methane yield of 4,466  m3 was obtained; the corresponding energy production per hectare was approximately 169.71 Gj. Methane yield from the Pennisetum hybrid in southern China suggested that this grass could be an alternative feedstock for biogas production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Material flow analysis (MFA) was applied to study the process of biogas production from switchgrass using a mid-temperature (35 ± 1 °C) batch anaerobic digestion process. The flow distributions of energy and material, including carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), were analyzed, as were the material and energy conversion efficiencies. The results showed that biogas and CH4 production were 268.80 and 135.31 NmL gVS-1 added, respectively, and the average CH4 content in biogas was 50.34%. Based on the MFA of the anaerobic digestion process, 30.6%, 3.6%, and 65.8% of C was converted into biogas, biogas slurry, and biogas residue, respectively; and 11.7% and 88.3% of N was converted into biogas slurry and biogas residue, respectively. The conversion efficiencies of the material and energy from switchgrass to biogas were 36.1% and 30.1%. Because of the low conversion efficiencies of matter and energy during biogas production, it is necessary to strengthen the secondary use of the fermentation residue. This study provides a basis for the optimization of the anaerobic digestion process and efficient utilization of resources and energy of energy-grass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) is a flavoprotein that catalyzes two-electron reduction and detoxification of quinones and its derivatives. NQO1 catalyzes reactions that have a protective effect against redox cycling, oxidative stress and neoplasia. High expression of NQO1 is associated with many solid tumors including those affecting the colon, breast and pancreas; however, its role in the progression of ovarian carcinoma is largely undefined. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological significance of high NQO1 expression in serous ovarian carcinoma. Methods: NQO1 protein expression was assessed using immunohistochemical (IHC) staining in 160 patients with serous ovarian carcinoma, 62 patients with ovarian borderline tumors and 53 patients with benign ovarian tumors. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect NQO1 mRNA expression levels. The correlation between high NQO1 expression and clinicopathological features of ovarian carcinoma was evaluated by Chi-square and Fisher's exact test. Overall survival (OS) rates of all of ovarian carcinoma patients were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: NQO1 protein expression in ovarian carcinoma cells was predominantly cytoplasmic. Strong, positive expression of NQO1 protein was observed in 63.8% (102/160) of ovarian carcinomas, which was significantly higher than in borderline serous tumors (32.3%, 20/62) or benign serous tumors (11.3%, 6/53). Importantly, the rate of strong, positive NQO1 expression in borderline serous tumors was also higher than in benign serous tumors. High expression of NQO1 protein was closely associated with higher histological grade, advanced clinical stage and lower OS rates in ovarian carcinomas. Moreover, multivariate analysis indicated that NQO1 was a significant independent prognostic factor, in addition to clinical stage, in patients with ovarian carcinoma. Conclusions: NQO1 is frequently upregulated in ovarian carcinoma. High express in of NQO1 protein may be an effective biomarker for poor prognostic evaluation of patients with serous ovarian carcinomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the realization of modulation transfer spectroscopy on the D2 transition of 133Cs for frequency stabilization of the 852 nm distributed Bragg reflector diode lasers. Proper modulation frequency, optimal pump and probe beam power are investigated according to the peak-to-peak amplitude and the slope of the modulation transfer spectroscopy signals. The laser frequency can be locked robustly for more than one day. The beat signal between two independent lasers has a frequency drift of 716 kHz at 5000 s. The result shows that the fractional frequency instability of the locked laser falls below 5  ×  10−11 at 1000 s averaging time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]