Search

Abstract Background In edentulous jaws, factors such as the number of implants, cross-arch distribution, and the angle among implants may affect the accuracy of the implant impression. This study explored factors influencing the accuracy of implant abutment-level digital impressions using stereophotogrammetry in edentulous jaws. Methods Two standard all-on-4 and all-on-6 models of edentulous jaws were constructed in vitro. In the stereophotogrammetry group (PG), the implant digital impression was made using stereophotogrammetry and saved as an STL file. In the conventional group (CNV), the impression was made using the open-tray splint impression technique. An electronic and optical 3D measuring instrument was used to scan the standard model and the conventional plaster model to obtain STL files. Using 3D data processing software (GOM Inspect Pro, Zeiss), the distance and angle between the abutments in the CNV impression and the PG impression were measured and compared with the data from the standard model. Results The distance deviation in the PG and the CNV was 145 ± 196 μm and 96 ± 150 μm, respectively, with a significant difference (P

Abstract DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired by a hierarchically regulated network of pathways. Factors influencing the choice of particular repair pathways, however remain poorly characterized. Here we develop an Integrated Classification Pipeline (ICP) to decompose and categorize CRISPR/Cas9 generated mutations on genomic target sites in complex multicellular insects. The ICP outputs graphic rank ordered classifications of mutant alleles to visualize discriminating DSB repair fingerprints generated from different target sites and alternative inheritance patterns of CRISPR components. We uncover highly reproducible lineage-specific mutation fingerprints in individual organisms and a developmental progression wherein Microhomology-Mediated End-Joining (MMEJ) or Insertion events predominate during early rapid mitotic cell cycles, switching to distinct subsets of Non-Homologous End-Joining (NHEJ) alleles, and then to Homology-Directed Repair (HDR)-based gene conversion. These repair signatures enable marker-free tracking of specific mutations in dynamic populations, including NHEJ and HDR events within the same samples, for in-depth analysis of diverse gene editing events.

Abstract Background An interdisciplinary treatment simulation and smile design before a complex esthetic rehabilitation is important for clinicians’ decision-making and patient motivation. Meanwhile, intervention and interaction are necessary for dental specialists in these complex rehabilitations. However, it is difficult to visualize an interdisciplinary treatment plan by using the conventional method, especially when orthognathic surgery is involved, thus hindering communication between dental specialists. This research aims to establish a 3D digital workflow of interdisciplinary treatment simulation to solve this problem. Methods An interdisciplinary 3D digital workflow of simulated treatment plan for complex esthetic rehabilitation was established. Eleven patients were enrolled and illustrated with their treatment plans using 3D treatment simulation, as well as 2D digital smile design (DSD) plus wax-up. Visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to rate the intuitiveness, understanding, and satisfaction or help between the two methods by patients and dental specialists. Results According to the ratings from the patients, 3D treatment simulation showed obvious advantages in the aspects of intuitiveness (9.7 ± 0.5 vs 6.4 ± 1.4) and treatment understanding (9.1 ± 0.8 vs 6.6 ± 1.5), and the satisfaction rates were also higher (9.0 ± 0.6 vs 7.1 ± 1.8). Dental specialists regarded the 3D digital plans as more intuitive (8.9 ± 0.8 vs 5.9 ± 1.0) and useful to understand the plans from the other specialists (8.9 ± 0.7 vs 6.1 ± 1.0) and helpful to their own treatment plans (8.7 ± 0.9 vs 5.9 ± 1.4). Conclusions The interdisciplinary 3D digital treatment simulation helps both patients and dental specialists to improve treatment understanding, and facilitates dental specialists for decision-making before complex esthetic rehabilitation. Trial registration This study was registered in the National Clinical Trials Registry under the identification number MR-11-20-002862. This is an observational study in which we did not assign the intervention.

Background: Obesity is a principal risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Natural plants and/or foods play an important role in the management of obesity. Acalypha australis L. (AAL) is a kind of potherb popular among Asian populations, and it is also consumed as a food ingredient and traditional herbal medicine. Objective: We investigated the effects of water extract from AAL on high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese mice and 3T3-L1 adipocytes to develop a new functional food material. Design: Nine-week-old male mice were randomly divided into control (chow diet, n = 6) and HFD (n = 30) group. From 12-weeks onward, mice in the HFD group were further separated into model (saline, 6 mL/kg), simvastatin (0.11 mg/mL, 6 mL/kg), and AAL treatment (low, middle, and high dosage: 300, 600, and 900 mg/kg) group, with 6 animals per group, while mice in the control group were treated with saline (6 mL/kg). Food intake, body/fat weight, liver/kidney indexes, and lipid profiles were determined. Tissues were fixed with formalin for pathological examination. Western blotting and PCR were performed to evaluate the protein and mRNA expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Oil Red O staining was used to determine lipid accumulation. Results: AAL administration significantly suppressed body weight gain, and reduced fat pad weight and Lee’s index in obese mice, but had no effect on liver/kidney index. AAL also reduced serum cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-C and increased HDL-C levels. Histological analysis revealed that AAL significantly ameliorated lipid accumulation in the liver and subcutaneous adipose tissue. In vitro, Oil Red O staining showed that AAL inhibited adipose differentiation by down-regulating the gene and protein expression of PPARγ and C/EBPα. AAL also reversed HFD-induced intestinal dysbacteriosis. Conclusion: AAL water-soluble extract has a significant anti-adipogenic effect in the HFD-induced obese mice model.

The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, is an economically important insect that synthesizes large amounts of silk proteins in its silk gland to make cocoons. In recent years, germline transformation strategies advanced the bioengineering of the silk gland as an ideal bioreactor for mass production of recombinant proteins. However, the yield of exogenous proteins varied largely due to the random insertion and gene drift caused by canonical transposon-based transformation, calling for site-specific and stable expression systems. In the current study, we established a targeted in-fusion expression system by using the transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN)-mediated targeted insertion to target genomic locus of sericin, one of the major silk proteins. We successfully generated chimeric Sericin1-EGFP (Ser-2A-EGFP) transformant, producing up to 3.1% (w/w) of EGFP protein in the cocoon shell. With this strategy, we further expressed the medically important human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) and the protein yield in both middle silk glands, and cocoon shells reached to more than 15-fold higher than the canonical piggyBac-based transgenesis. This natural Sericin1 expression system provides a new strategy for producing recombinant proteins by using the silkworm silk gland as the bioreactor.

Sex determination is a hierarchically-regulated process with high diversity in different organisms including insects. The W chromosome-derived Fem piRNA has been identified as the primary sex determination factor in the lepidopteran insect, Bombyx mori, revealing a distinctive piRNA-mediated sex determination pathway. However, the comprehensive mechanism of silkworm sex determination is still poorly understood. We show here that the silkworm PIWI protein BmSiwi, but not BmAgo3, is essential for silkworm sex determination. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated depletion of BmSiwi results in developmental arrest in oogenesis and partial female sexual reversal, while BmAgo3 depletion only affects oogenesis. We identify three histone methyltransferases (HMTs) that are significantly down-regulated in BmSiwi mutant moths. Disruption one of these, BmAsh2, causes dysregulation of piRNAs and transposable elements (TEs), supporting a role for it in the piRNA signaling pathway. More importantly, we find that BmAsh2 mutagenesis results in oogenesis arrest and partial female-to-male sexual reversal as well as dysregulation of the sex determination genes, Bmdsx and BmMasc. Mutagenesis of other two HMTs, BmSETD2 and BmEggless, does not affect piRNA-mediated sex determination. Histological analysis and immunoprecipitation results support a functional interaction between the BmAsh2 and BmSiwi proteins. Our data provide the first evidence that the HMT, BmAsh2, plays key roles in silkworm piRNA-mediated sex determination.

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired by a hierarchically regulated network of pathways. Factors influencing the choice of particular repair pathways, however remain poorly characterized. Here we develop an Integrated Classification Pipeline (ICP) to decompose and categorize CRISPR/Cas9 generated mutations on genomic target sites in complex multicellular insects. The ICP outputs graphic rank ordered classifications of mutant alleles to visualize discriminating DSB repair fingerprints generated from different target sites and alternative inheritance patterns of CRISPR components. We uncover highly reproducible lineage-specific mutation fingerprints in individual organisms and a developmental progression wherein Microhomology Mediated End-Joining (MMEJ) or Insertion events predominate during early rapid mitotic cell cycles, switching to distinct subsets of Non-Homologous End-Joining (NHEJ) alleles, and then to Homology-Directed Repair (HDR)- based gene conversion. These repair signatures enable marker-free tracking of specific mutations in dynamic populations, including NHEJ and HDR events within the same samples, for in-depth analysis of diverse gene editing events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insect brain is the central part of the neurosecretory system, which controls morphology, physiology, and behavior during the insect’s lifecycle. Lepidoptera are holometabolous insects, and their brains develop during the larval period and metamorphosis into the adult form. As the only fully domesticated insect, the Lepidoptera silkworm Bombyx mori experienced changes in larval brain morphology and certain behaviors during the domestication process. Hormonal regulation in insects is a key factor in multiple processes. However, how juvenile hormone (JH) signals regulate brain development in Lepidoptera species, especially in the larval stage, remains elusive. We recently identified the JH receptor Methoprene tolerant 1 (Met1) as a putative domestication gene. How artificial selection on Met1 impacts brain and behavioral domestication is another important issue addressing Darwin’s theory on domestication. Here, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of Bombyx Met1 caused developmental retardation in the brain, unlike precocious pupation of the cuticle. At the whole transcriptome level, the ecdysteroid (20- hydroxyecdysone, 20E) signaling and downstream pathways were overactivated in the mutant cuticle but not in the brain. Pathways related to cell proliferation and specialization processes, such as extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction and tyrosine metabolism pathways, were suppressed in the brain. Molecular evolutionary analysis and in vitro assay identified an amino acid replacement located in a novel motif under positive selection in B. mori, which decreased transcriptional binding activity. The B. mori MET1 protein showed a changed structure and dynamic features, as well as a weakened coexpression gene network, compared with B.mandarina. Based on comparative transcriptomic analyses, we proposed a pathway downstream of JH signaling (i.e., tyrosine metabolism pathway) that likely contributed to silkworm larval brain development and domestication and highlighted the importance of the biogenic amine system in larval evolution during silkworm domestication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deliberative governance of environmental issues indicates that environmental governance has undergone a transformation from relying on government authority for solutions to reaching consensus among participants. This can be regarded as an important strategy for the structural transformation of China’s environmental governance. In this paper, the practices of environmental deliberation in China are classified into four types by the attributes of environmental issues and the relationships of participants as: response-, autonomy-, consultation-, and supervision-based. On the basis of the government’s interests and motives to engage in environmental deliberations, we analyze its practice orientations from five perspectives: scope of issues, functions, participants, procedures, and methods. Then we point out that environmental deliberations have both public and instrumental governance motives, but the governance motive, which aims for governance effectiveness and social control, is more conspicuous. We further conclude that the value pursuit of deliberative democracy for public reasons is to some extent replaced by an instrumental deliberative motive that intends to address specific environmental issues, standardize public participation orderliness, safeguard social harmony and stability, strengthen organizational functions, provide consultation on environmental policies, and promote the implementation of those policies.

Abstract: The effects of lodging of rice plants from 20 d after full heading to maturity on yield and grain quality were investigated with a hybrid rice combination Liangyoupeijiu and a japonica rice cultivar CY-6. The results showed that, except for brown rice rate, almost all parameters for yield and grain quality including ratio of grain length to grain width, gelatinization temperature and gel consistency, were significantly influenced by lodging and thus deteriorated. Regression analysis suggested that, lodging one day earlier at the grain-filling stage could cause 2.66% to 2.71% of yield loss, 1.8 to 2.6 percentage points decrease of seed-setting rate, 0.26 to 0.32 g reduction of 1000-grain weight, 0.097 to 0.155 percentage point decline of milled rice rate, as well as 0.13 to 0.27 percentage point increase of chalky grain rate, and 0.021 to 0.024 percentage point rise of protein content, and subsequently lower the eating quality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses mainly on how to consolidate the legitimacy of local government. Some local practices and experiences have developed further than theories previously established in China,and offer lessons for good governance in Asia. One of the new methods is the "deliberative system"through which local governments seek innovations in governance and increases the legitimacy of their policies. This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of this mechanism, mainly based on our survey conducted in Wenlin city, Zhejiang province,Southeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an abstract of a study about the social structure evolution of Nanxun town in China. Aspects of social structure; Information on the employment of women in Nanxun; Changes in social organizations in the town.

The purified terephthalic acid (PTA) petrochemical wastewater molecular toxicity detected by use of Mouse Genome 430A 2.0 GeneChip was conducted in this research. The toxic dose to male mice was 0.03 g/(kg x d) of PTA in the wastewater. The mice liver total RNA was isolated as the temple for synthesis of cDNA and then the cDNA as the temple for synthesis of cRNA. Hybridizing the cRNA with the target genes on the gene chip, there were 232 genes expression levels up-regulated and 74 genes down-regulated discovered obviously. The foremost 40 genes for both the highest and the lowest expression levels involved endogenetic steroid and hormone metabolism, immune system, the leukocyte activity and inflammation, detoxification in liver, reproduction and growth hormone, regulation immune factors of anti-tumor and anti-infection and cancer to the mice sampled. The data suggest the PTA wastewater contained over 5 aromatics and their toxicities integrated were much higher than the pure chemical PTA. And the pure chemical PTA toxicities data cannot be used to evaluate the toxicity of the PTA wastewater instead.