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The origin of low non-radiative recombination in perovskites was not well-understood. Here, authors apply electric field to manipulate ferroelastic lattice deformation to study non-radiative recombination and strain in twinning tetragonal phase, achieving an increased open-circuit voltage to 1.26 V.

The kernel serves as the storage organ and harvestable component of maize, and it plays a crucial role in determining crop yield and quality. Understanding the molecular and genetic mechanisms of kernel development is of considerable importance for maize production. In this study, we obtained a mutant, which we designated defective kernel 407 (dek407), through ethyl methanesulfonate mutagenesis. The dek407 mutant exhibited reduced kernel size and kernel weight, as well as delayed grain filling compared with those of the wild type. Positional cloning and an allelism test revealed that Dek407 encodes a nitrate transporter 1/peptide transporter family (NPF) protein and is the allele of miniature 2 (mn2) that was responsible for a poorly filled defective kernel phenotype. A transcriptome analysis of the developing kernels showed that the mutation of Dek407 altered the expression of phytohormone-related genes, especially those genes associated with indole-3-acetic acid synthesis and signaling. Phytohormone measurements and analysis indicated that the endogenous indole-3-acetic acid content was significantly reduced by 66% in the dek407 kernels, which may be the primary cause of the defective phenotype. We further demonstrated that natural variation in Dek407 is associated with kernel weight and kernel size. Therefore, Dek407 is a potential target gene for improvement of maize yield.

Heavy carbon (C) doping is of great significance for semi-insulating GaN in power electronics. However, the doping behaviors, especially the atomic configurations and related self-compensation mechanisms, are still under debate. Here, with the formation energy as the input parameter, the concentrations of C defects with different atomic configurations are calculated by taking the configurational entropy into account. The result shows that the concentrations of tri-carbon complexes (CNCiCN, where Ci refers to interstitial carbon) and dicarbon complexes (CNCGa) cannot be neglected under heavy doping conditions. The concentration of CNCiCN can even exceed that of CN at sufficiently high doping levels. Especially, we suggest that it is the tri-carbon complex CNCiCN, instead of the commonly expected CGa, that acts as the self-compensation centers in semi-insulating GaN under heavy C doping conditions. The results provide a fresh look on the long-standing problem about the self-compensation mechanisms in C doped GaN.

Abstract Background Phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins (PEBPs) constitute a common gene family found among animals, plants and microbes. Plant PEBP proteins play an important role in regulating flowering time, plant architecture as well as seed dormancy. Though PEBP family genes have been well studied in Arabidopsis and other model species, less is known about these genes in perennial trees. Results To understand the evolution of PEBP genes and their functional roles in flowering control, we identified 56 PEBP members belonging to three gene clades (MFT-like, FT-like, and TFL1-like) and five lineages (FT, BFT, CEN, TFL1, and MFT) across nine Rosaceae perennial species. Structural analysis revealed highly conserved gene structure and protein motifs among Rosaceae PEBP proteins. Codon usage analysis showed slightly biased codon usage across five gene lineages. With selection pressure analysis, we detected strong purifying selection constraining divergence within most lineages, while positive selection driving the divergence of FT-like and TFL1-like genes from the MFT-like gene clade. Spatial and temporal expression analyses revealed the essential role of FT in regulating floral bud breaking and blooming in P. mume. By employing a weighted gene co-expression network approach, we inferred a putative FT regulatory module required for dormancy release and blooming in P. mume. Conclusions We have characterized the PEBP family genes in nine Rosaceae species and examined their phylogeny, genomic syntenic relationship, duplication pattern, and expression profiles during flowering process. These results revealed the evolutionary history of PEBP genes and their functions in regulating floral bud development and blooming among Rosaceae tree species.

Prunus mume is one of the most important woody perennials for edible and ornamental use. Despite a substantial variation in the flowering phenology among the P. mume germplasm resources, the genetic control for flowering time remains to be elucidated. In this study, we examined five blooming time-related traits of 235 P. mume landraces for 2 years. Based on the phenotypic data, we performed genome-wide association studies, which included a combination of marker- and gene-based association tests, and identified 1,445 candidate genes that are consistently linked with flowering time across multiple years. Furthermore, we assessed the global transcriptome change of floral buds from the two P. mume cultivars exhibiting contrasting bloom dates and detected 617 associated genes that were differentially expressed during the flowering process. By integrating a co-expression network analysis, we screened out 191 gene candidates of conserved transcriptional pattern during blooming across cultivars. Finally, we validated the temporal expression profiles of these candidates and highlighted their putative roles in regulating floral bud break and blooming time in P. mume. Our findings are important to expand the understanding of flowering time control in woody perennials and will boost the molecular breeding of novel varieties in P. mume.

Mei (Prunus mume) is a woody tree that produces ornamental blossoms which symbolize spring in East Asia. Here, Zhang et al. resequence wild and domesticated mei to reveal considerable admixture and introgression from other Prunus species and identify loci associated with floral traits.

Glycosylation mediated by Family-1 UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) plays crucial roles in plant growth and adaptation to various stress conditions. Prunus mume is an ideal crop for analyzing flowering for its early spring flowering characteristics. Revealing the genomic and transcriptomic portfolio of the UGT family in P. mume, a species in which UGTs have not yet been investigated, is therefore important. In this study, 130 putative UGT genes were identified and phylogenetically clustered into 14 groups. These PmUGTs were distributed unevenly across eight chromosomes and 32 tandem duplication and 8 segmental duplication pairs were revealed. A highly conserved intron insertion event was revealed on the basis of intron/exon patterns within PmUGTs. According to RNA-seq data, these PmUGTs were specifically expressed in different tissues and during the bud dormancy process. In addition, we confirmed the differential expression of some representative genes in response to abscisic acid treatment. Our results will provide important information on the UGT family in P. mume that should aid further characterization of their biological roles in response to environmental stress.

Abstract Background The wide spread of carbapenem-resistance clones of Acinetobacter baumannii has made it a global public problem. Some studies have shown that the prevalence of Acinetobacter baumannii clones can change over time. However, few studies with respect to the change of epidemiological clones in Acinetobacter baumannii during Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) were reported. This study aims to investigate the molecular epidemiology and resistance mechanisms of Acinetobacter baumannii during COVID-19. Results A total of 95 non-replicated Acinetobacter baumannii isolates were enrolled in this study, of which 60.0% (n = 57) were identified as carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB). The positive rate of the bla OXA−23 gene in CRAB isolates was 100%. A total of 28 Oxford sequence types (STs) were identified, of which the most prevalent STs were ST540 (n = 13, 13.7%), ST469 (n = 13, 13.7%), ST373 (n = 8, 8.4%), ST938 (n = 7, 7.4%) and ST208 (n = 6, 6.3%). Differently, the most widespread clone of Acinetobacter baumannii in China during COVID-19 was ST208 (22.1%). Further study of multidrug-resistant ST540 showed that all of them were carrying bla OXA−23 , bla OXA−66 , bla ADC−25 and bla TEM−1D , simultaneously, and first detected Tn2009 in ST540. The bla OXA−23 gene was located on transposons Tn2006 or Tn2009. In addition, the ST540 strain also contains a drug-resistant plasmid with msr(E), armA, sul1 and mph(E) genes. Conclusion The prevalent clones of Acinetobacter baumannii in our organization have changed during COVID-19, which was different from that of China. ST540 strains which carried multiple drug-resistant mobile elements was spreading, indicating that it is essential to strengthen the molecular epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannii.

Ischemic stroke (IS) is a severe condition regulated by complex molecular alterations. This study aimed to identify potential nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) metabolism-associated diagnostic markers of IS and explore their associations with immune dynamics. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) were employed to identify key gene modules on the GEO dataset (GSE16561). LASSO regression was used to identify diagnostic genes. A diagnostic model was then developed using the training dataset, and its performance was assessed using a validation dataset (GSE22255 dataset). Associations between hub genes and immune cells, immune response genes, and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes were assessed by ssGSEA. A regulatory network was constructed using mirBase and TRRUST databases. A total of 20 NAD+ metabolic genes exhibited noteworthy expression variations. Within the module notably associated with NAD+ metabolism, 19 specific genes were included in the diagnostic model, which was validated on the GSE22255 dataset (AUC: 0.733). There were significant disparities in immune cell populations, immune response genes, and HLA gene expression, all of which were associated with the hub genes. A regulatory network composed of 153 edges and 103 nodes was constructed. This study advances our understanding of IS by providing insights into NAD+ metabolism and gene interactions, contributing to potential diagnostic innovations in IS.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the psychological stress experienced by frontline medical staff during the Yangbi Earthquake and to understand how coping strategies and social support influence stress responses.MethodsFrom days 3 to 14 post-earthquake, online questionnaires were administered to frontline medical staff to assess perceived social support, coping strategies, and psychological stress responses using the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Trait Coping Strategies Questionnaire (TCSQ), and Stress Response Questionnaire (SRQ). Data analysis included correlation analysis to explore relationships between variables, multiple linear regression to identify key predictors of stress, and path analysis to determine direct and indirect effects.ResultsA total of 253 valid questionnaires were analyzed, with a participant composition of 81.82% females and 18.18% males, and the majority being nurses (62.06%). Psychological stress responses varied by gender and age, with females and older age groups showing higher physical stress responses (P < 0.05). Correlation and regression analyses indicated that negative coping and lower levels of social support were associated with increased stress responses (P < 0.05). Path analysis revealed that intra-family and extra-family support influenced stress responses directly and indirectly through coping strategies (P < 0.05).ConclusionThis study suggests that perceived social support directly influences stress responses in frontline medical personnel during disasters, with coping strategies mediating this effect. Future research should explore these dynamics over time through longitudinal studies.

The orexin system regulates a variety of physiological functions, including the sleep-wake cycle, addiction, foraging behavior, stress and cognitive functioning. Orexin levels in central and peripheral are related to the pathogenesis of many diseases, most notably the narcolepsy, eating disorders, stress-related psychiatric disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, it has been reported that the orexin system is distinctly sexually dimorphic, and is strongly associated with neuropsychiatric disorders. In this review, we analyzed advancements in the sex differences in the orexin system and their connection to psychoneurological conditions. Considering the scarcity of research in this domain, more research is imperative to reveal the underlying mechanisms.

Myeloid sarcoma (MS) occurs in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In rare cases, MS can represent a form of blast transformation in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), myelodysplastic neoplasms (MDS), or MDS/MPN. The most frequent chromosomal alterations in MS are t(8;21) or inv(16), with other alterations being reported. Cases of MS in Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)-positive MDS with fibrosis are exceedingly rare. Here, we describe such a case. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a JAK2 V617F mutation-positive MDS case occurring concurrently with MS involving the posterior aspect of the left seventh rib. No clear association has been previously demonstrated between the intramedullary AML cytogenetics and extramedullary disease occurrence. Interestingly, samples from the intramedullary MDS and extramedullary mass in this patient presented the same JAK2 V617F mutation. Following a treatment regimen of azacitidine and venetoclax, the patient achieved complete remission. The chest CT scan showed that the seventh posterior rib mass disappeared. This case provides valuable information for the potential future treatment of this disease.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) affects 13–33% of males and 6–9% of females globally and poses significant treatment challenges, including poor adherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and residual excessive sleepiness (RES). This review aims to elucidate the emerging interest in pharmacological treatments for OSAS, focusing on recent advancements in this area. A thorough analysis of extensive clinical trials involving various drugs, including selective dopamine reuptake inhibitors, selective norepinephrine inhibitors, combined antimuscarinic agents, and orexin agonists, was conducted. These trials focused on ameliorating respiratory metrics and enhancing sleep quality in individuals affected by OSAS. The studied pharmacological agents showed potential in improving primary outcomes, notably the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). These improvements suggest enhanced sleep quality and symptom management in OSAS patients. With a deeper understanding of OSAS, pharmacological interventions are emerging as a promising direction for its effective management. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of drug research in OSAS, highlighting the potential of these treatments in addressing the disorder’s complex challenges.

ObjectiveTo explore the correlations between diabetic nephropathy (DN) and serum levels of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4), iron, transferrin (Tf), and ferritin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).MethodsAccording to the urinary albumin excretion rate(UAER) or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) levels, a total of 123 patients with T2DM were separately divided into normoalbuminuria (NO), microalbuminuria (MI), macroalbuminuria (MA) groups, and G1 (eGFR ≥ 90 mL/min), G2 (eGFR ≤ 60 mL/min to < 90 mL/min), and G3 groups (eGFR< 60 mL/min), with 33 healthy participants as the control (HC). The differences in serum GPX4, ACSL4, iron, Tf, and ferritin levels between groups were compared, and the relationships between these levels were analysed. The independent correlations between UAER or DN severity and serum GPX4, ACSL4, iron, Tf, and ferritin levels were analysed by multiple linear and multinomial logistic regression, respectively.ResultsTo the patients with T2DM, with the increase in UAER levels, GPX4, iron, and Tf levels gradually decreased, whereas ACSL4 levels increased, meanwhile with the decrease in eGFR levels, GPX4 and Tf levels gradually decreased, whereas ACSL4 levels increased. UAER were independently and positively correlated with ACSL4 [β = 17.53, 95% confidence interval (CI; 11.94, 23.13)] and negatively correlated with GPX4 [β = −1.633, 95% CI (−2.77, -0.496)] and Tf [β = −52.94, 95% CI (-95.78, −10.11)].The NO and MI groups were considered as reference groups, respectively. The severity of DN was negatively correlated with serum GPX4 [odds ratio (OR) = 0.925 and 0.902, p =0.015 and 0.001], and Tf (OR = 0.109 and 0.119, p =0.043 and 0.034), and positively correlated with ACSL4 (OR = 1.952 and 1.865, both p

ABSTRACTSARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants have become the predominantly strain in most countries. However, the neutralizing activity of the human serum after Omicron-based vaccine booster against different SARS-CoV-2 variants is poorly understood. Here, we developed an update Omicron vaccine (SCoK-Omicron), based on the RBD-Fc fusion protein vaccine (SCoK) and RBD domain of Omicron BA.1. To assess cross-variant neutralizing activity in adults, 25 volunteers that have received three doses of SCoK and 25 volunteers with two doses of CoronaVac (inactive vaccine) were further boosted with a dose updated vaccine (SCoK-Omicron). The results of pseudovirus neutralization assays demonstrated that the booster potently induced the high-level of neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 Wild type, Delta and Omicron subvariants in adults. Further assays of single point mutations showed that K444T, L452R, N460K, or F486V was key mutations to cause immune evasion. Together, these data suggest that SCOK-Omicron can be used as a booster vaccine candidate in adults receiving subunit protein or inactivated vaccine in response to the epidemic of COVID-19 Omicron subvariants, and the mutation K444T, L452R, N460K, or F486V needs to be considered in future vaccine design.

Introduction: Neuropathic pain remains a prevalent and challenging condition to treat, with current therapies often providing inadequate relief. Ozone therapy has emerged as a promising treatment option; however, its mechanisms of action in neuropathic pain remain poorly understood.Methods: In this study, we investigated the effects of ozone treatment on gene expression and metabolite levels in the brainstem and hypothalamus of a rat model, using a combined transcriptomic and metabolomic approach.Results: Our findings revealed significant alterations in key genes, including DCST1 and AIF1L, and metabolites such as Aconitic acid, L-Glutamic acid, UDP-glucose, and Tyrosine. These changes suggest a complex interplay of molecular pathways and region-specific mechanisms underlying the analgesic effects of ozone therapy.Discussion: Our study provides insights into the molecular targets of ozone treatment for neuropathic pain, laying the groundwork for future research on validating these targets and developing novel therapeutic strategies.

The linking of ethacrynic acid with ethylenediamine and 1,4-butanediamine gave EDEA and BDEA, respectively, as membrane-permeable divalent pro-inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase (GST). Their divalent glutathione conjugates showed subnanomolar inhibition and divalence-binding to GSTmu (GSTM) (PDB: 5HWL) at ∼0.35 min−1. In cisplatin-resistant SK-OV-3, COC1, SGC7901 and A549 cells, GSTM activities probed by 15 nM BDEA or EDEA revealed 5-fold and 1.0-fold increases in cisplatin-resistant SK-OV-3 and COC1 cells, respectively, in comparison with the susceptible parental cells. Being tolerable by HEK293 and LO2 cells, BDEA at 0.2 μM sensitised resistant SK-OV-3 and COC1 cells by ∼3- and ∼5-folds, respectively, released cytochrome c and increased apoptosis; EDEA at 1.0 μM sensitised resistant SK-OV-3 and A549 cells by ∼5- and ∼7-fold, respectively. EDEA at 1.7 μg/g sensitised resistant SK-OV-3 cells to cisplatin at 3.3 μg/g in nude mouse xenograft model. BDEA and EDEA are promising leads for probing cellular GSTM and sensitising cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancers.

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has endangered global health, the world economy, and societal values. Despite intensive measures taken around the world, morbidity and mortality remain high as many countries face new waves of infection and the spread of new variants. Worryingly, more and more variants are now being identified, such as 501Y.V1 (B.1.1.7) in the UK, 501Y.V2 (B.1.351) in South Africa, 501Y.V3 in Manaus, Brazil, and B.1.617/B.1.618 in India, which could lead to a severe epidemic rebound. Moreover, some variants have a stronger immune escape ability. To control the new SARS-CoV-2 variant, we may need to develop and redesign new vaccines repeatedly. So it is important to investigate how our immune system combats and responds to SARS-CoV-2 infection to develop safe and effective medical interventions. Objectives: In this study, we performed a longitudinal and proteome-wide analysis of antibodies in the COVID-19 patients to revealed some immune processes of COVID-19 patients against SARS-CoV-2 and found some dominant epitopes of a potential vaccine. Methods: Microarray assay, Antibody depletion assays, Neutralization assay. Results: We profiled a B-cell linear epitope landscape of SARS-CoV-2 and identified the epitopes specifically recognized by either IgM, IgG, or IgA. We found that epitopes more frequently recognized by IgM are enriched in non-structural proteins. We further identified epitopes with different immune responses in severe and mild patients. Moreover, we identified 12 dominant epitopes eliciting antibodies in most COVID-19 patients and identified five key amino acids of epitopes. Furthermore, we found epitope S-82 and S-15 are perfect immunogenic peptides and should be considered in vaccine design. Conclusion: This data provide useful information and rich resources for improving our understanding of viral infection and developing a novel vaccine/neutralizing antibodies for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2.

The graphene-like ZnO(gZnO) monolayer systems have been experimentally and theoretically widely studied. And recently, more specifically the preparation of Co-doped two-dimensional ZnO. In this work, the stability, band structures and absorption spectrum of Co doping gZnO monolayer systems with the varying doping concentrations and strains have been investigated by using the first-principles plane-wave ultra-soft pseudopotential method based on the density functional theory. The results show that the Co doped gZnO monolayer systems are stable. The band gap is narrowed by Co doping, and becomes narrower with the increase of doping concentration, in addition to that the band gap is narrowed as the strain increases. The estimated Curie temperature（Tc) value is about 695 K. The covalent bond becomes stronger and the ionic bond becomes weaker as Co doing concentration increases. The absorption spectrum has a red-shift by Co doping, and heavier doping level leads to more significant red-shift, meanwhile, the absorption spectrum has a blue-shift as the strain increases. This results may be helpful for the designing of new-type gZnO-based spintronic materials and optical devices.

Abstract Background To determine an appropriate dose of, and immunization schedule for, a vaccine SCoK against COVID‐19 for an efficacy study; herein, we conducted randomized controlled trials to assess the immunogenicity and safety of this vaccine in adults. Methods These randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled phase 1 and 2 trials of vaccine SCoK were conducted in Binhai District, Yan City, Jiangsu Province, China. Younger and older adult participants in phase 1 and 2 trials were sequentially recruited into different groups to be intramuscularly administered 20 or 40 μg vaccine SCoK or placebo. Participants were enrolled into our phase 1 and 2 studies to receive vaccine or placebo. Results No serious vaccine‐related adverse events were observed in either trial. In both trials, local and systemic adverse reactions were absent or mild in most participants. In our phase 1 and 2 studies, the vaccine induced significantly increased neutralizing antibody responses to pseudovirus and live SARS‐CoV‐2. The vaccine induced significant neutralizing antibody responses to live SARS‐CoV‐2 on day 14 after the last immunization, with NT50s of 80.45 and 92.46 in participants receiving 20 and 40 μg doses, respectively; the seroconversion rates were 95.83% and 100%. The vaccine SCoK showed a similar safety and immunogenicity profiles in both younger participants and older participants. The vaccine showed better immunogenicity in phase 2 than in phase 1 clinical trial. Additionally, the incidence of adverse reactions decreased significantly in phase 2 clinical trial. The vaccine SCoK was well tolerated and immunogenic.

As an increasing number of governments require the disclosure of companies’ compensation information, compensation management is becoming an important part of internal management in the construction industry. Although the literature has shown that disclosing a high CEO-to-employee pay ratio will cause various effects on the decision-making of a company’s potential investors, there is little evidence on the neural basis of such effects. Given that previous neuroscience studies have shown that the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is associated with altruistic behaviors, this study used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to explore the role of the right TPJ in the effects of the CEO-to-employee pay ratio on potential investors’ perceived investment potential in the construction industry. The results show that enhancing activity in the right TPJ significantly reduced the perceived investment potential of female participants, especially those with no investment experience, when the company’s CEO-to-employee pay ratio is high compared to when the pay ratio is medium. This effect was not observed in male participants. The mechanisms underlying these effects of tDCS in the right TPJ on the perceived investment potential were also explored. The main contribution of this study lies in its pioneering exploration of the neural basis of investment decision-making regarding the CEO-to-employee pay ratio. Additionally, it reveals individual feature-based differences in the role of the TPJ in investment decision-making and its possible mechanisms.

Unethical behavior is discovered that is more contagious than ethical behavior. This article attempts to propose one of the possible underlying mechanisms—people may have underconfidence bias in information updating due to motivated reasoning, and such bias exhibits in a different direction compared to the overconfident bias documented in the literature on ethical environment, which generate the asymmetric pattern in contagion. This study designs an experiment which relates the unethical behavior to social learning, where a series of subjects with private information about penalty decide sequentially whether to conduct unethical behavior publicly. This study adopts a quantal response equilibrium to construct a structural model for estimation of the bias. In total, 162 university students participated in our experiment and the results confirm the asymmetric patterns that people rely more on others’ precedent decisions rather than their private signal; therefore, the bias facilitates the contagion. This study also tests two punishment systems in the experiment and the results suggest a policy: slightly increasing penalties for the “followers” in the early stages would effectively suppress the contagion.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the use of foreign languages affects individuals’ dishonesty. We recruited native Chinese speakers who can speak English as a foreign language at universities in China, and they were randomly assigned to a native language (NL) or foreign language (FL) condition. Participants in each condition were required to finish the same tasks, in which they would benefit more from lying; the tasks were administered in either Chinese or English. We conducted one die-roll game in Study 1 and one cheap-talk sender-receiver game in Study 2. In both Study 1 and Study 2, we found that the proportion of lying was significantly lower in the FL condition than in the NL condition. Our results imply that the FL effect on dishonesty may be due to the cognitive load of communicating in a FL.

Objective To evaluate the clinical application of damage control surgery (DCS) in patients with sacrococcygeal deep decubitus ulcers complicated by sepsis. Methods We conducted a 3-year retrospective clinical study of 32 patients with deep sacrococcygeal bedsores and sepsis admitted from January 2018 to January 2021. According to the concept of DCS, the wound was temporarily closed with vacuum sealing drainage after primary debridement, and a local rhomboid flap was designed to repair the wound in the second stage. Finally, the clinical therapeutic effect was observed. Results Twenty-nine patients were treated with skin flap translocation and were cured clinically. Specifically, the skin flap survived in 27 of the 29 patients after the first translocation attempt (success rate of 93.1%). One patient developed incisional dehiscence, and one patient developed a hydrocele under the skin flap. Conclusions Application of DCS in patients with sacrococcygeal deep decubitus ulcers complicated by sepsis improves the therapeutic success rate and reduces the risks of the operation and complication rate. It has unique advantages and is worthy of clinical promotion.

It is widely known that the feedback from a decision outcome may evoke emotions like regret, which results from a comparison between the gain the decision-maker has made and the gain he/she might make. Less is known about how search behavior is linked to feedback in a sequential search task such as searching for jobs, employees, prices, investments, disinvestments, or other items. What are the neural responses once subjects decide to stop searching and receive the feedback that they stopped too early or too late compared with the optimal stopping time? In an experimental setting of a search task, we found that the feedback-related negativity (FRN) induced by the feedback from stopping too late was more negative than stopping too early, suggesting that subjects might experience stronger regret when stopping too late. Subjects preferred to stop searching earlier if the last feedback was that they stopped too late, and vice versa, although they did not always benefit more from such adjustment. This might reflect general patterns of human learning behavior, which also manifests in many other decisions. Gender differences and risk attitudes were also considered in the study.

M. micrantha has caused huge ecological damage and economic losses worldwide due to its rapid growth and serious invasion. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of its rapid growth and environmental adaption remain unclear. Here, we performed transcriptome and small RNA sequencing with five tissues of M. micrantha to dissect miRNA-mediated regulation in M. micrantha. WGCNA and GO enrichment analysis of transcriptome identified the gene association patterns and potential key regulatory genes for plant growth in each tissue. The genes highly correlated with leaf and stem tissues were mainly involved in the chlorophyll synthesis, response to auxin, the CAM pathway and other photosynthesis-related processes, which promoted the fast growth of M. micrantha. Importantly, we identified 350 conserved and 192 novel miRNAs, many of which displayed differential expression patterns among tissues. PsRNA target prediction analysis uncovered target genes of both conserved and novel miRNAs, including GRFs and TCPs, which were essential for plant growth and development. Further analysis revealed that miRNAs contributed to the regulation of tissue-specific gene expression in M. micrantha, such as mmi-miR396 and mmi-miR319. Taken together, our study uncovered the miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks and the potential vital roles of miRNAs in modulating the rapid growth of M. micrantha.

Socially responsible investment (SRI) is an emerging philosophy that integrates social and environmental impacts into investment considerations, and it has gradually developed into an important form of investment. Previous studies have shown that both financial and non-financial motivations account for SRI behaviors, but it is unclear whether the non-financial motive to adopt SRI derives from investors’ altruism. This study uses neuroscientific techniques to explore the role of altruism in SRI decision-making. Given that existing evidence has supported the involvement of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) in altruism and altruistic behaviors, we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to temporarily modulate activity in the rTPJ and tested its effect on charitable donations and SRI behaviors. We found that anodal stimulation increased the subjects’ donations, while cathodal stimulation decreased them, suggesting that tDCS changed the subjects’ levels of altruism. More importantly, anodal stimulation enhanced the subjects’ willingness to make SRIs, while cathodal stimulation did not have a significant impact. These findings indicate that altruism plays an important role in SRI decision-making. Furthermore, cathodal stimulation changed the subjects’ perceived effectiveness of charitable donation but not that of socially responsible fund. This result may help explain the inconsistent effects of cathodal stimulation on charitable donations and SRI behaviors. The main contribution of our study lies in its pioneering application of tDCS to conduct research on SRI behaviors and provision of neuroscientific evidence regarding the role of altruism in SRI decision-making.

It is a well-documented phenomenon that individuals stop searching earlier than predicted by the optimal, risk-neutral stopping rule, leading to inefficient searches. Individuals' search behaviors during making investment decisions in financial markets can be easily affected by their peers. In this study, we designed a search game in a simplified experimental stock market in which subjects were required to search for the best sell prices for their stocks. By randomly assigning subjects into pairs and presenting them with real-time information on their peers' searches, we investigated the effects of peers' decisions on search behaviors. The results showed that two subjects in the same group with real-time peer information learned and engaged in similar search behaviors. However, this peer effect did not exist when subjects had access to feedback information on the ex-post best response. In addition, we found that the presence of information about peers' decisions alone had no significant impact on search efficiency, whereas access to both information on peers' decisions and feedback information significantly improved subjects' search efficiency.

Abstract Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a kind of malignancies to impact human health. It has been reported that aberrant toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling may contribute to the development and progression of HCC, especially TLR4. MiR-122, which extensively involved in hepatitis virus infection and the apoptosis of hepatoma cells, might be decreased in HCC patients livers. The hypothesis of this study was whether miR-122 plays a role in inflammatory pathways through regulating TLR4 expression in hepatoma cells. Methods The expression of miR-122 in the tissues of HCC patients compared to controls in TCGA datasets was analyzed. The relationship between miR-122 and TLR4 was detected in HCC cell lines by increasing/decreasing miR-122 expression. The target of miR-122 on TLR4 was confirmed by luciferase reporter assays. The proliferation of HCC cells and production of proinflammatory cytokines were measured with miR-122 upregulation and inhibition. Results We found that the expression of miR-122 was decreased in HCC tissues and showed the diagnostic capacity for HCC in TCGA datasets. MiR-122 and TLR4 expression have negative correlation in normal liver cells and HCC cells. Upregulation of miR-122 significantly inhibited TLR4 expression in hepatoma cells, including in hepatoma cells with the induction of LPS, while knocking down miR-122 increased TLR4 expression. By screening potential miR-122 targets among TLR4, we found that there was a putative miR-122 target in TLR4 3′UTR. Mutations in the nt1603-nt1609 region of TLR4 3′UTR abandoned the impact of miR-122 on TLR4 expression. Over-expression/down-expression of miR-122 could influence the proliferation and the expression of natural immune factors. Conclusions MiR-122 might target TLR4 and regulate host innate immunity in hepatoma cells, which revealed a new molecular mechanism of miR-122 on the regulation of innate immunity.

Abstract This study aimed to improve the magnetofection of MG-63 osteoblasts by integrating the use of a novel uniform magnetic field with low molecular weight polyethylenimine modified superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (PEI-SPIO-NPs). The excellent characteristics of PEI-SPIO-NPs such as size, zeta potential, the pDNA binding and protective ability were determined to be suitable for gene delivery. The novel uniform magnetic field enabled polyethylenimine-modified superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles/pDNA complexes (PEI-SPIO-NPs/pDNA complexes) to rapidly and uniformly distribute on the surface of MG-63 cells, averting local transfection and decreasing disruption of the membrane caused by the centralization of positively charged PEI-SPIO-NPs, thereby increasing the effective coverage of magnetic gene carriers during transfection, and improving magnetofection efficiency. This innovative uniform magnetic field can be used to determine the optimal amount between PEI-SPIO-NPs and pDNA, as well as screen for the optimal formulation design of magnetic gene carrier under the homogenous conditions. Most importantly, the novel uniform magnetic field facilitates the transfection of PEI-SPIO-NPs/pDNA into osteoblasts, thereby providing a novel approach for the targeted delivery of therapeutic genes to osteosarcoma tissues as well as a reference for the treatment of other tumors.

Poleroviruses are positive-sense, single-stranded viruses. In this study, we describe the identification of a novel polerovirus isolated from soybean displaying curled leaves. The complete viral genome sequence was identified using high-throughput sequencing and confirmed using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. Its genome organization is typical of the members of genus Polerovirus, containing seven putative open reading frames (ORFs). The full genome is composed of single-stranded RNA of 5822 nucleotides in length, with the highest nucleotide sequence identity (79.07% with 63% coverage) for cowpea polerovirus 2 (CPPV2). Amino acid sequence identities of the protein products between the virus and its relatives are below the threshold determined by the International Committee of Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) for species demarcation, and this strongly supports this virus’ status as a novel species, for which the name soybean chlorotic leafroll virus (SbCLRV) is proposed. Recombination analysis identified a recombination event in the ORF5 of the 3’ portion in the genome. Phylogenetic analyses of the genome and encoded protein sequences revealed that the new virus is closely related to phasey bean mild yellows virus, CPPV2 and siratro latent polerovirus. Subsequently, we demonstrated the infectivity of SbCLRV in Nicotiana benthamiana via infectious cDNA clone generation and agroinoculation.

Data in this article are associated with the research article “Ampholytic ion-exchange materials coated with small zwitterion for high-efficacy purification of ionizable soluble biomacromolecules” (Rao et al., 2018) [1]. This article provided data on how to design ampholytic ion-exchange material (AIEM) for the purification of ionizable soluble biomacromolecules for both high activity yields and favorable homogeneity, with two uricases as protein models and a plasmid as DNA model. Data were made publicly available for further analyses.

Background: Inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis of myofibroblasts is becoming one of the promising and effective ways to treat hypertrophic scar. ABT-263, as an orally bioavailable BCL-2 family inhibitor, has showed great antitumor characteristics by targeting tumor cell apoptosis. The objective of this study was to explore whether ABT-263 could target apoptosis of overactivated myofibroblasts in hypertrophic scar.Methods:In vivo, we used ABT-263 to treat scars in a rabbit ear scar model. Photographs and ultrasound examination were taken weekly, and scars were harvested on day 42 for further Masson trichrome staining. In vitro, the expression levels of BCL-2 family members, including prosurvival proteins, activators, and effectors, were detected systematically in hypertrophic scar tissues and adjacent normal skin tissues, as well as in human hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFs) and human normal dermal fibroblasts (HFBs). The roles of ABT-263 in apoptosis and proliferation of HSFs and HFBs were determined by annexin V/PI assay, CCK-8 kit, and cell cycle analysis. Mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated by JC-1 staining and the expression of type I/III collagen and α-SMA was measured by PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining. Furthermore, immunoprecipitation was performed to explore the potential mechanism.Results:In vivo, ABT-263 could significantly improve the scar appearance and collagen arrangement, decrease scar elevation index (SEI), and induce cell apoptosis. In vitro, the expression levels of BCL-2, BCL-XL, and BIM were significantly higher in scar tissues and HSFs than those in normal skin tissues and HFBs. ABT-263 selectively induced HSFs apoptosis by releasing BIM from binding with prosurvival proteins. Moreover, ABT-263 inhibited HSFs proliferation and reduced the expression of α-SMA and type I/III collagen in a concentration- and time- dependent manner.Conclusion: HSFs showed increased mitochondrial priming with higher level of proapoptotic activator BIM and were primed to death. ABT-263 showed great therapeutic ability in the treatment of hypertrophic scar by targeting HSFs.

Tuberculosis remains a global threat to public health, and dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis leads to long-term medication that is harmful to the human body. M. tuberculosis isocitrate lyase (MtICL), which is absent in host cells, is a key rate-limiting enzyme of the glyoxylic acid cycle and is essential for the survival of dormant M. tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate natural compounds as potential MtICL inhibitors through docking and experimental verification. Screening of the TCMSP database library was done using Discovery Studio 2019 for molecular docking and interaction analysis, with the putative inhibitors of MtICL, 3-BP, and IA as reference ligands. Daphnetin (MOL005118), with a docking score of 94.8 and -CDOCKER interaction energy of 56 kcal/mol, was selected and verified on MtICL in vitro and M. smegmatis; daphnetin gave an IC50 of 4.34 μg/mL for the MtICL enzyme and an MIC value of 128 μg/mL against M. smegmatis, showing enhanced potential in comparison with 3-BP and IA. The interactions and essential amino acid residues of the protein were analyzed. In summary, natural daphnetin may be a promising new skeleton for the design of inhibitors of MtICL to combat dormant M. tuberculosis.

The crystal structures and martensitic transformation of Ti50Ni50−xPtx alloys (x = 0, 6.25, 8.33, 10.42, 12.5, 18.75, 25) were studied by means of density functional theory (DFT). The computational results indicate that the lattice parameters of Ti-Ni-Pt alloys continuously increase with increasing the Pt content. It is found that at ≤ 12.5 at.% Pt, the martensite structure is monoclinic B19′ phase, and the energy differences between parent and martensite phases (ΔE) decrease slightly with a minimum observed at 6.25 at.% Pt. However, when the Pt content is increased to around 15 at.%, the most stable martensite phase is the orthorhombic B19 structure, and the ΔE increases sharply with Pt concentration. It was found that the phase transition temperatures are closely related to the energy differences ΔE between parent and martensite phases. The electronic structures of martensite B19 and B19′ phases are also discussed.

Data in this article are associated with the research article “Highthroughput estimation of specific activities of enzyme/mutants in cell lysates through immunoturbidimetric assay of proteins” (Yang et al., 2017) [1]. This article provided data on how to develop an immunoturbidimetric assay (ITA) of enzyme/mutants as proteins in cell lysates in high-throughput (HTP) mode together with HTP assay of their activities to derive their specific activities in cell lysates for comparison, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa arylsulfatase (PAAS) and Bacillus fastidious uricase (BFU) plus their mutants as models. Data were made publicly available for further analyses.

Altruistic punishment of social norm violations plays a crucial role in maintaining widespread cooperation in human societies, and punitive behavior has been suggested to be related to the activity level of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). This study used unilateral and bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate how modulating the activity of the DLPFC affects cooperation and punishment in a 3-player prisoner’s dilemma. We found that none of the unilateral stimulations changed the participants’ cooperation behaviors, while left anodal/right cathodal stimulation increased the participants’ cooperation. For punitive behavior, we found that all unilateral stimulations (i.e., right anodal, right cathodal, left anodal, left cathodal) and bilateral stimulations (i.e., right anodal/left cathodal, left anodal/right cathodal) significantly decreased the punishment imposed by the cooperators toward the defectors. In addition, right anodal stimulation significantly decreased the participant’s third-party punishment (TPP) imposed by the cooperators toward the defectors. The other three unilateral stimulations also significantly decreased the participant’s TPP imposed by the cooperators toward the defectors, but only when the punishment was revealed to the punished person. Our findings indicate that the mechanisms of selfishness and negative emotions suggested by previous studies probably interact with different stimulations: for anodal stimulations, the mechanism of negative emotions may overwhelm the mechanism of selfishness, while for cathodal stimulations, the mechanism of selfishness may be more dominant than the mechanism of negative emotions.

Many studies have discussed the neural basis of asset bubbles. They found that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) played an important role in bubble formation, but whether a causal relationship exists and the mechanism of the effect of the DLPFC on bubbles remains unsettled. Using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), we modulated the activity of the DLPFC and investigated the causal relationship between the DLPFC and the asset bubble in the classical learning-to-forecast experiment. 126 subjects were randomly divided into three groups and received different stimulations (left anodal/right cathodal, right anodal/left cathodal, or sham stimulation), respectively. We also conducted a 2-back task before and after stimulation to measure changes in subjects’ cognitive abilities and explore in detail the cognitive mechanism of the effect of DLPFC stimulation on asset bubbles. Based on our results, we found that the bubble of the left anodal/right cathodal stimulation group was significantly smaller than that of the sham stimulation group. In the meantime, subjects performed significantly better in the 2-back task after left anodal/right cathodal stimulation but not right anodal/left cathodal or sham stimulation, which is consistent with their performance in the learning-to-forecast experiment, supporting the cognitive mechanism to some extent. Furthermore, we examined different forecasting rules across individuals and discovered that the left anodal/right cathodal stimulation group preferred the adaptive learning rule, while the sham and right anodal/left cathodal stimulation groups adopted a pure trend-following rule that tended to intensify market volatility aggressively.

Neuroimaging studies have indicated a correlation between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity and deceptive behavior. We applied a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device to modulate the activity of subjects’ DLPFCs. Causal evidence of the neural mechanism of deception was obtained. We used a between-subject design in a signaling framework of deception, in which only the sender knew the associated payoffs of two options. The sender could freely choose to convey the truth or not, knowing that the receiver would never know the actual payment information. We found that males were more honest than females in the sham stimulation treatment, while such gender difference disappeared in the right anodal/left cathodal stimulation treatment, because modulating the activity of the DLPFC using right anodal/left cathodal tDCS only significantly decreased female subjects’ deception.

Studies of search behavior have shown that individuals stop searching earlier and accept a lower point than predicted by the optimal, risk-neutral stopping rule. This behavior may be related to individual risk preferences. Studies have also found correlativity between risk preferences and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). As risk attitude plays a crucial role in search behavior, we studied whether modulating the activity of DLPFC, by using a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device, can change individual search behavior. We performed a sequential search task in which subjects decided when to accept a point randomly drawn from a uniform distribution. A total of 49 subjects (23 females, mean age = 21.84 ± 2.09 years, all right-handed) were recruited at Zhejiang University from May 2017 to September 2017. They repeated the task in 80 trials and received the stimulation at the end of the 40th trial. The results showed that after receiving right anodal/left cathodal stimulation, subjects increased their searching duration, which led to an increase in their accepted point from 778.17 to 826.12. That is, the subjects may have changed their risk attitude to search for a higher acceptable point and received a higher benefit. In addition, the effect of stimulation on search behavior was mainly driven by the female subjects rather than by the male subjects: the female subjects significantly increased their accepted point from 764.15 to 809.17 after right anodal/left cathodal stimulation, while the male subjects increased their accepted point from 794.18 to 845.49, but the change was not significant.

Human beings are constantly exposed to two types of uncertainty situations, risk and ambiguity. Neuroscientific studies suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the orbital frontal cortex (OFC) play significant roles in human decision making under uncertainty. We applied the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device to modulate the activity of participants’ DLPFC and OFC separately, comparing the causal relationships between people’s behaviors and the activity of the corresponding brain cortex when confronted with situations of risk and ambiguity. Our experiment employed a pre–post design and a risk/ambiguity decision-making task, from which we could calculate the preferences via an estimation model. We found evidences that modulating the activity of the DLPFC using right anodal/left cathodal tDCS significantly enhanced the participants’ preferences for risk, whereas modulating the activity of the OFC with right anodal/left cathodal tDCS significantly decreased the participants’ preferences for ambiguity. The reverse effects were also observed in the reversed tDCS treatments on the two areas. Our results suggest that decision-making processes under risk and ambiguity are complicated and may be encoded in two distinct circuits in our brains as the DLPFC primarily impacts decisions under risk whereas the OFC affects ambiguity.

The emergence of severe cases of human influenza A (H7N9) viral infection in China in the spring of 2003 resulted in a global effort to rapidly develop an effective candidate vaccine. In this study, a cold-adapted (ca), live attenuated monovalent reassortant influenza H7N9 virus (Ah01/AA ca) was generated using reverse genetics that contained hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes from a 2013 pandemic A H7N9 isolate, A/Anhui/01/2013 virus (Ah01/H7N9); the remaining six backbone genes derived from the cold-adapted influenza H2N2 A/Ann Arbor/6/60 virus (AA virus). Ah01/AA ca virus exhibited temperature sensitivity (ts), ca, and attenuation (att) phenotypes. Intranasal immunization of female BALB/c mice with Ah01/AA ca twice at a 2-week interval induced robust humoral, mucosal, and cell-mediated immune responses in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the candidate Ah01/AA ca virus was immunogenic and offered partial or complete protection of mice against a lethal challenge by the live 2013 influenza A H7N9 (A/Anhui/01/2013). Protection was demonstrated by the inhibition of viral replication and the attenuation of histopathological changes in the challenged mouse lung. Taken together, these data support the further evaluation of this Ah01/AA ca candidate vaccine in primates.

Scatter-hoarding rodents are known to play a crucial role in the seed dispersal of many plant species. Numerous studies have indicated that both seed size and the energy content of seeds can affect rodent foraging behavior. However, seed size is usually associated with energy content per seed, making it difficult to isolate how seed size and energy affect rodent foraging preferences. This study used 99 treatments of artificial seeds (11 seed sizes×9 levels of energy content) to tease apart the effect of seed size and energy content on rodent seed-caching behavior. Both seed traits showed significant effects, but their details depended on the stage of the rodent foraging process. Seeds with higher energy content were harvested more rapidly while seed size only had a modest effect on harvest rate. However, after harvesting, seed size showed a much stronger effect on rodent foraging behavior. Rodents' choice of which seeds to remove and cache, as well as seed dispersal distance, seemed to reflect an optimal seed size. Our findings could be adapted in future studies to gain a better understanding of scatter-hoarding rodent foraging behavior, and the co-evolutionary dynamics between plant seed production and seed dispersers.

A series of new 2-phenyl-quinoline-4-carboxylic acid derivatives was synthesized starting from aniline, 2-nitrobenzaldehyde, pyruvic acid followed by Doebner reaction, amidation, reduction, acylation and amination. All of the newly-synthesized compounds were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and HRMS. The antibacterial activities of these compounds against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis), as well as one strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria were evaluated by the agar diffusion method (zone of inhibition) and a broth dilution method (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)), and their structure-activity relationships were obtained and discussed. The results revealed that some compounds displayed good antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, and Compounds 5a4 and 5a7 showed the best inhibition with an MIC value of 64 μg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus and with an MIC value of 128 μg/mL against Escherichia coli, respectively. The results of the MTT assay illustrated the low cytotoxicity of Compound 5a4.

For enzymatic analysis to quantify a substrate or enzyme, kinetic analysis of reaction curve can be integrated with a proper classical approach. For their integration, they should have consistent slopes and intercepts of linear response and an overlapped region of analyte quantities measurable under optimized conditions. To quantify a substrate after optimizations of tool enzyme activity and reaction duration, the equilibrium method works when the reaction is completed within the reaction duration; otherwise, kinetic analysis of reaction curve applies providing at least seven data with sufficient consumption of substrate. To quantify an enzyme after optimizations of initial substrate concentration and reaction duration, the classical initial rate method works when an estimated initial rate locates within the linear range; otherwise, kinetic analysis of reaction curve applies after the conversion of the quantification index with optimized parameters. This integration strategy has ideal linear ranges and practical efficiency for quantifying an enzyme at moderate substrate levels and for quantifying a substrate at moderate cost on tool enzyme; it has promise to simultaneous assays of multiple enzymes in one reaction vessel each time and ,thus, potential applications to concurrently quantify multiple serum enzymes, screen inhibitors against multiple enzyme targets, and detect multiple serum components by enzymeimmunoassay.