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Plastic film is widely produced and applied in many daily applications. Although it provides many benefits to human activity, the disposal of commercial plastics has always been a serious problem as it will contribute to landfilling issues and environmental pollution. Bioplastic film was invented to resolve part of this issue, as most of the plastic film produced from natural sources is biodegradable. However, the biodegradability and characteristics of the film are highly dependent on the type of raw material, production procedure, and chemical composition. In this study, extracted kapok cellulose was acetylated into cellulose acetate (CA) with various levels of acetic acid (17.5, 20, and 22.5 mL), acetic anhydride (5, 7.5, and 10 mL) and acetylation time (30, 45 and 60 min). The Box–Behnken design was applied to evaluate the quality of the produced film. The design showed that the level of acetic acid has a strong impact on CA's yield, acetic anhydride has a greater influence on tensile strength, and CA's solubility has a stronger connection with the acetylation time. All modeling equations developed were validated with the coefficient of determination, R2 more than 0.6. The optimized factor levels for the ductile-like film on acetic acid, acetic anhydride, and acetylation time are 20.530 mL, 9.546 mL, and 55.45 min, respectively. Whereas for brittle-like film, the optimized factor level is 22.399 mL, 10 mL, and 60 min, respectively. The ductility and brittleness of a plastic film can be modified by adjusting these level factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thalassemia is a highly prevalent hematologic disease in Guizhou, China. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of thalassemia in couples at childbearing age and assess the neonatal risk of thalassemia in this subpopulation. A cohort of 4481 couples at childbearing age were recruited for thalassemia carrier screening by both traditional hematological tests and next-generation sequencing. Of them, 1314 (14.66%) thalassemia carriers were identified, including 857 (9.76%) α-thalassemia, 391 (4.36%) β-thalassemia, and 48 (0.54%) composite α and β-thalassemia. A total of 12 α-globin gene alterations and 16 β-globin mutations were detected, including four novel thalassemia mutations. SEA was the most common α-thalassemia genotype (26.86%), CD41–42 the most common β-thalassemia genotype (36.57%), and αα/− α3.7 + CD41–42 the most common composite α- and β-thalassemia genotype (18.75%). Ethnically, the Zhuang had the highest rate of thalassemia gene carriers among the ethnic groups. Geographically, Qiannan had the highest rate of thalassemia gene carriers. In addition, 38 of the 48 couples with composite α- and β-thalassemia were high-risk thalassemia carriers, and 4 carrying the -SEA/αα gene needed fertility guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Zambia, as well as many other African and non-Western cultures, the extent and kind of children's chores may contribute to their learning, yet often also conflict with their schooling. In the moderation analysis we present in this manuscript, we aimed to explore the interactive effects of schooling and chores on children's mathematics performance at different levels of math knowledge and computational skill, taking into account how the assessment questions were presented. The sample consisted of 1,535 children (719 girls) living in rural and peri-urban communities in Zambia who were administered the Zambia Achievement Test (ZAT). We categorized the 60 items of the ZAT by their targeted content knowledge, sizes of the numbers involved, and forms of representation. Our results showed that chores supported the development of very basic mathematics skills and knowledge in children who had less schooling, but also significantly lowered the performance of students who were in school once their school attendance rose above certain levels. Moreover, this interaction between chores and school attendance was observed predominantly in girls, with a lesser effect of chores on boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazelnut oil is a valuable product which can be used in various applications not limited to food processing, cosmetic product, and pharmaceutical industry. Traditionally, heating process is used to remove the moisture in various nuts and seeds prior to oil extraction stage in the industry which is relatively energy consuming. In this study, osmotic dehydration which is normally used as a pretreatment in fruit dehydration process was applied as a low-energy moisture removal method during the ultrasound-assisted extraction of oil from hazelnut. The effects of ultrasound amplitude, concentration of osmotic solution, and dehydration time on the yield and characteristics of hazelnut oil obtained were investigated in this study. Concentration of osmotic solution and dehydration time showed more significant effects on water removal as compared with ultrasound amplitude. Higher oil yield of 93% was achieved with the introduction of osmotic dehydration as pretreatment without negative impacts on quality of oil as compared with 88% oil yield in extraction without dehydration aid. The values for quality of oil obtained were in the range of 25–40 g/100 g oil, 0.5–1.1 g/100 g oil, and 2–6 mEq/kg for iodine, free fatty acid, and peroxide values, respectively. All the values were in the range of edible oil standard. Therefore, osmotic dehydration is a promising pretreatment method to enhance oil yield during extraction process in food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, most of the researches focus on enhancing the oil yield by adjusting the various process parameters or searching for alternative techniques. There is only limited information on investigating the effects of various extraction parameters on kinetic mechanism during oil extraction. The mechanism data can provide additional information to the industry when optimization is needed. Previous work had investigated the effect of ultrasound in extraction process. The main purposes of this study are to apply osmotic dehydration as pretreatment and to investigate the effects of ultrasound amplitude, concentration of osmotic dehydration, and dehydration time on extraction mechanism of hazelnut oil. The kinetic modeling showed that So and Macdonald model was more suitable to describe the mechanism of hazelnut oil extraction with higher R2 values ranged from 0.944 to 0.987 as compared with Perez et al. model. The results showed that applying 30% ultrasound amplitude in dehydration stage could increase the mass transfer coefficient for diffusion step (kd) from 0.019 to 0.044 min−1 due to cavitation effect. Besides, 15% concentration of osmotic solution could limit the diffusion step with lowest kd value of 0.055 min−1 as compared with 5 and 10% concentrations due to blocking of surface by solute in higher concentration of osmotic solution. Lastly, increasing the dehydration time from 45 to 150 min could enhance the oil diffusion process with kd values increased from 0.058 to 0.075 min−1 due to lower moisture content in sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the processes involved in scaling technologically-mediated pedagogical innovations has moved into understanding how wider contexts relate to qualitative outcomes (depth, shift in reform ownership and spread). Understanding patterns in this relationship has been complicated by the diverse outcomes for a single innovation. This study examined the processes involved in scaling innovations, using the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory to view process as object, relating outcomes with the roles played by stakeholders in multiple layers of the school ecosystem (teachers, school leaders and cross-school personnel). The idea of multiple meanings in language facilitated the conceptualization of qualitatively different roles and outcomes. Multiple school cases (from different innovations) underwent cross-case comparison to create a typology of approaches to scaling. Three scaling models—sets of role combinations and related outcomes, were described: (1) Tech-Tools and Artifacts En Masse focused on across-the-board adoption of technology. (2) Deep Roots selected a core team to overhaul teaching approaches, with accompanying structural changes (in schedule, personnel involvement and professional learning communities). (3) Networks established partnerships among schools from the onset. The roles for each ecosystem level, for each model, were further explicated to relate roles and outcomes. This study emphasizes the importance of foregrounding the process objects—the meta-level—of scaling, articulating the processes that affect outcomes. The models offer school leaders and those involved in innovation implementation (e.g., innovation designers, academic consultants, teacher educators working across schools) a framework to dialog, evaluate existing implementation strategies, and articulate next steps in school innovation trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a major cause of vision loss. Diabetes patients with mild macular edema and good visual acuity are often observed carefully so that treatment can be instituted when central vision is threatened. Optimal frequency of monitoring of these patients is unknown. Our study aimed to gather more information to determine a safe interval for monitoring of patients with eyes that were not undergoing active treatment for DME and to correlate outcomes with clinical risk factors. Methods: Study population: Ninety-seven eyes with optical coherence tomography (OCT) evidence of DME of 97 patients with diabetes. Study procedures: Retrospective review of medical records and macular OCT scans at a 6–12-month interval. Primary outcomes: Change in visual acuity and change in central subfield thickness (CSFT) between the initial and follow-up OCT scans. Results: There was no significant change from median baseline visual acuity 6/9 (inter-quartile range 6/6–6/12) or from median baseline CSFT (290 μm, inter-quartile range 270–312 μm) over a median duration of 8 months (inter-quartile range 7–10 months). The numbers of eyes where CSFT had increased ≥ 25 μm, reduced ≥ 25 μm, or remained unchanged were 16 (16%), 6 (6%), and 74 (76%), respectively. Patients with hemoglobin A1c ≥ 8.5% were 5.7 times more likely to develop central subfield thickening (95% CI 1.1–30.1, P = 0.038). Conclusions: Majority of eyes with DME on OCT had stable CSFT without treatment over a median duration of 8 months. Hemoglobin A1c may be useful for risk stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitragyna speciosa Korth (M. speciosa) has been widely used as a recreational product, however, there are growing concerns on the abuse potentials and toxicity of the plant. Several poisoning and fatal cases involving kratom and mitragynine have been reported but the underlying causes remain unclear. The human ether-a-go-go-related gene 1 (hERG1) encodes the pore-forming subunit underlying cardiac rapidly delayed rectifier potassium current (IKr). Pharmacological blockade of the IKr can cause acquired long QT syndrome, leading to lethal cardiac arrhythmias. This study aims to elucidate the mechanisms of mitragynine-induced inhibition on hERG1a/1b current. Electrophysiology experiments were carried out using Port-a-Patch system. Quantitative RT-PCR, Western blot analysis, immunofluorescence and co-immunoprecipitation methods were used to determine the effects of mitragynine on hERG1a/1b expression and hERG1-cytosolic chaperones interaction. Mitragynine was found to inhibit the IKr current with an IC50 value of 332.70 nM. It causes a significant reduction of the fully-glycosylated (fg) hERG1a protein expression but upregulates both core-glycosylated (cg) expression and hERG1a-Hsp90 complexes, suggesting possible impaired hERG1a trafficking. In conclusion, mitragynine inhibits hERG1a/1b current through direct channel blockade at lower concentration, but at higher concentration, it upregulates the complexation of hERG1a-Hsp90 which may be inhibitory towards channel trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Birth weight is a strong determinant of infant short- and long-term health outcomes. Family socioeconomic position (SEP) is usually positively associated with birth weight. Whether this association extends to abnormal birth weight or there exists potential mediator is unclear. Methods: We analyzed data from 14,984 mother-infant dyads from the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess the associations of a composite family SEP score quartile with macrosomia and low birth weight (LBW), and examined the potential mediation effect of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) using causal mediation analysis. Results: The prevalence of macrosomia and LBW was 2.62% (n = 392) and 4.26% (n = 638). Higher family SEP was associated with a higher risk of macrosomia (OR 1.30, 95% CI 0.93–1.82; OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.11–2.11; and OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.15–2.20 for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th SEP quartile respectively) and a lower risk of LBW (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.55–0.86; OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.61–0.94; and OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.48–0.77 for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th SEP quartile respectively), compared to the 1st SEP quartile. We found that pre-pregnancy BMI did not mediate the associations of SEP with macrosomia and LBW. Conclusions: Socioeconomic disparities in fetal macrosomia and LBW exist in Southern China. Whether the results can be applied to other populations should be further investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitragynine is a major component isolated from Mitragyna speciosa Korth or kratom, a medicinal plant known for its opiate-like and euphoric properties. Multiple toxicity and fatal cases involving mitragynine or kratom have been reported but the underlying causes remain unclear. P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a multidrug transporter which modulates the pharmacokinetics of xenobiotics and plays a key role in mediating drug-drug interactions. This study investigated the effects of mitragynine on P-gp transport activity, mRNA, and protein expression in Caco-2 cells using molecular docking, bidirectional assay, RT-qPCR, Western blot analysis, and immunocytochemistry techniques, respectively. Molecular docking simulation revealed that mitragynine interacts with important residues at the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) site of the P-gp structure but not with the residues from the substrate binding site. This was consistent with subsequent experimental work as mitragynine exhibited low permeability across the cell monolayer but inhibited digoxin transport at 10 μM, similar to quinidine. The reduction of P-gp activity in vitro was further contributed by the downregulation of mRNA and protein expression of P-gp. In summary, mitragynine is likely a P-gp inhibitor in vitro but not a substrate. Hence, concurrent administration of mitragynine-containing kratom products with psychoactive drugs which are P-gp substrates may lead to clinically significant toxicity. Further clinical study to prove this point is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated academic and behavioral outcomes of internationally adopted children and the associations between these outcomes and age at adoption, time spent in the adoptive family, and parenting. At two time points (T1 and T2, ~15 months apart), we examined early academic skills (school readiness), and parent-reported behavioral adjustment (internalizing and externalizing behavior) and adaptive functioning of a sample of 75 children (45.9% boys, mean age = 5.17 years) adopted from Russia into US families. We also collected parents' self-assessments of their parenting at T1. Children who were adopted at a younger age showed higher levels of early academic skills. Correlations between age at adoption and other outcomes were overall small and mostly non-significant. However, adoptees' academic and behavioral progress differed notably in several respects. Specifically, adoptees improved in early academic skills over time, whereas, as a group, their adaptive functioning and behavioral adjustment remained stable within the normal range. Early academic skills were not related to behavioral adjustment at each time point and over time. The time spent in the adoptive family was positively related to early academic skills at T2. Whereas outcomes showed little to no relation to parenting as reported by mother and father separately, higher discrepancies between mothers' and fathers' reports of positive parenting were related to higher levels of behavioral symptoms and lower levels of adaptive skills at T2. These differential results may be explained in part by drawing upon the notion of dissociated domains of psychological and sociocultural adaptation and acculturation, outlined in the immigration literature. These results also bring to light the possible importance of between-parent consistency in parenting for adoptees' behavioral outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, after the expression of a pyruvate carboxylase gene ( PYC) cloned from Meyerozyma guilliermondii in a marine-derived yeast Yarrowia lipolytica SWJ-1b, a transformant PG86 obtained had much higher PYC activity than Y. lipolytica SWJ-1b. At the same time, the PYC gene expression and citric acid (CA) production by the transformant PG86 were also greatly enhanced. When glucose concentration in the medium was 60.0 g L, CA concentration formed by the transformant PG86 was 34.02 g L, leading to a CA yield of 0.57 g g of glucose. During a 10-L fed-batch fermentation, the final concentration of CA was 101.0 ± 1.3 g L, the yield was 0.89 g g of glucose, the productivity was 0.42 g L h and only 5.93 g L reducing sugar was left in the fermented medium within 240 h of the fed-batch fermentation. HPLC analysis showed that most of the fermentation products were CA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal and spatial variations of the light absorption coefficient, a( λ), were investigated in the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary (i.e., Jamaica Bay, Hudson/Raritan Bay, and Inner Harbor) from August 2008 through June 2009 to characterize the bio-optical characteristics of the estuary. The nonalgal particles (NAP) made a constant light absorption contribution of 18 ± 6% (mean ± standard deviation) (440 nm) over the entire estuary. Covariation among chlorophyll a, total suspended solid, and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) was not observed, indicating optical complexity of the estuary. Two optical domains were observed: a phytoplankton-dominated regime (Jamaica Bay) and a CDOM dominated regime (Inner Harbor and Hudson/Raritan Bay). Specific absorption coefficient a( λ) decreased with increasing chlorophyll a; this was due to the large cell sizes of diatoms based on package effect analysis. The sources of CDOM and NAP were terrestrial and of in situ origins, respectively. The slopes of CDOM ( S) and NAP ( S) of the estuary were reported for the first time. Overall, this study provided the most complete characterization of light absorption for the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary, which will provide critical parameters and insights to build/refine remote sensing models for monitoring water quality in the estuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The INU1 gene encoding an exo-inulinase from the marine-derived yeast Candida membranifaciens subsp. flavinogenie W14-3 was cloned and characterized. It had an open reading frame of 1,536 bp long encoding an inulinase. The coding region of it was not interrupted by any intron. The cloned gene encoded 512 amino acid residues of a protein with a putative signal peptide of 23 amino acids and a calculated molecular mass of 57.8 kDa. The protein sequence deduced from the inulinase gene contained the inulinase consensus sequences (WMNDPNGL), (RDP), ECP FS and Q. The protein also had six conserved putative N-glycosylation sites. The deduced inulinase from the yeast strain W14-3 was found to be closely related to that from Candida kutaonensis sp. nov. KRF1, Kluyveromyces marxianus, and Cryptococcus aureus G7a. The inulinase gene with its signal peptide encoding sequence was subcloned into the pMIRSC11 expression vector and expressed in Saccharomyces sp. W0. The recombinant yeast strain W14-3-INU-112 obtained could produce 16.8 U/ml of inulinase activity and 12.5 % (v/v) ethanol from 250 g/l of inulin within 168 h. The monosaccharides were detected after the hydrolysis of inulin with the crude inulinase (the yeast culture). All the results indicated that the cloned gene and the recombinant yeast strain W14-3-INU-112 had potential applications in biotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally accepted as universal, the construct of adaptive behavior differs in its manifestations across different cultures and settings. The Vineland-II (Sparrow et al. in Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second edn. AGS Publishing, Circle Pines, MN, ) was translated into Chitonga and adapted to the setting of rural Southern Province, Zambia. This version was administered to the parents/caregivers of 114 children (grades 3-7, mean age = 12.94, SD = 2.34). The relationships between these children's adaptive behavior, academic achievement and cognitive ability indicators are compared to those usually observed in US samples. Results reflect no association between adaptive behavior and cognitive ability indicators, but a strong relationship between high adaptive behavior and reading-related measures. Six case studies of children with high and low scores on the Vineland-II are presented to illustrate the possible factors affecting these outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of mouse oocyte vitrification on mitochondrial membrane potential and distribution were explored in this study. The collected mouse oocytes were randomly divided into vitrification and control groups. Ethylene glycol (EG) and dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) were used as cryoprotectants in the vitrification group. The mitochondrial function and distribution in the oocytes were examined by using the fluorescent probes, JC-1 and Mito Tracker green. The results showed that the ratio of red to green fluorescence in mouse oocytes was significantly decreased after thawing in the vitrification group as compared with the control group (1.28 vs. 1.70, P<0.05). The percentage of polarized distribution of the mitochondria in oocytes was conspicuously reduced in the vitrification group when compared with the control group (31% vs. 63%, P<0.05). It was suggested that vitrification significantly affects the mitochondrial function and distribution in oocytes and reduces the potential of oocyte fertilization and embryo development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosomal degradation pathway and plays a critical role in the homeostatic process of recycling proteins and organelles. Functional relationships have been described between apoptosis and autophagy. Perturbations in the apoptotic machinery have been reported to induce autophagic cell deaths. Inhibition of autophagy in cancer cells has resulted in cell deaths that manifested hallmarks of apoptosis. However, the molecular relationships and the circumstances of which molecular pathways dictate the choice between apoptosis and autophagy are currently unknown. This study aims to identify specific gene expression of rapamycin-induced autophagy and the effects of rapamycin when the autophagy process is inhibited. In this study, we have demonstrated that rapamycin is capable of inducing autophagy in T-47D breast carcinoma cells. However, when the autophagy process was inhibited by 3-MA, the effects of rapamycin became apoptotic. The Phlda1 gene was found to be up-regulated in both autophagy and apoptosis and silencing this gene was found to reduce both activities, strongly suggests that Phlda1 mediates and positively regulates both autophagy and apoptosis pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of Box-Behnken design to establish the optimum experimental condition of cake batter mixing is important because optimal mixing can ensure the dispersion of ingredients, and the incorporation and retention of air efficiently. A Box-Behnken with three factors such as mixing time, mixing speed, and cake loading was selected to observe the effects on batter density, cake density, hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness, and resilience. The mixing times ranged from 6 to 20 min, mixing speeds from 90 to 120 rpm, and cake loadings from three to five cakes. A total of 15 runs of experiments where three levels attributed to each factor at high, central and low, and with additional three replicated center points were conducted. Using goal settings for each response based on quality parameters attained from the best definition of each response to achieve high cake quality, an optimum and feasible experimental condition of batter mixing was obtained at 9 min of mixing time, 90 rpm of mixing speed, and three cakes loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the thermal responses under the non-thermal equilibrium cold environmental conditions, a laboratory study was conducted in climate chamber. The local skin temperatures and thermal sensation of 20 subjects were recorded at 10 min intervals for 90 min under air temperatures of 7.4, 9.1, 11 and 15 °C. The results show that both local skin temperatures and mean skin temperature decrease not only with the drop of ambient air temperature but also with the exposure time. Local thermal sensation and overall the thermal sensation have the similar temperature-varying and time-varying characteristics. Predicted mean vote (PMV) model cannot correctly predict the thermal sensation under non-thermal equilibrium cold environment. The correlation between local thermal sensation and local skin temperatures shows that thermal sensation is closely related to skin temperature. Skin temperature is an effective indicator of thermal sensation. A linear relationship model between overall thermal sensation and mean skin temperature, considering both ambient temperature and exposure time, was established in the non-thermal equilibrium cold environment, which makes the evaluation of thermal sensation more objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the actual measured well depth, azimuth and oblique angles, a novel interpolation method to obtain the well axis is developed. The initial stress of drill string at the reference state consistent with well axis can be obtained from the curvature and the tortuosity of well axis. By using the principle of virtual work, the formula to compute the equivalent load vector of the initial stress was derived. In the derivation, the natural (curvilinear) coordinate system was adopted since both the curvature and the tortuosity were generally not zero. A set of displacement functions fully reflecting the rigid body modes was used. Some basic concepts in the finite element analysis of drill string were clarified. It is hoped that the proposed method would offer a theoretical basis for handling the geometric nonlinear problem of the drill string in a 3-D large displacement wellbore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preemptive lamivudine in lymphoma patients undergoing intensive chemotherapy can effectively prevent chemotherapy-related HBV reactivation. Nevertheless, the safety profile after withdrawal of lamivudine and the impact of rituximab-containing chemotherapy on HBV reactivation has not been defined. To illustrate the necessity of prolonged surveillance after cessation of preemptive lamivudine in lymphoma patients treated with rituximab and chemotherapy, four patients with B-cell NHL carrying HBV received rituximab plus CHOP. Preemptive lamivudine therapy was administered 1 week before chemotherapy until 4 weeks after completion of chemotherapy. Serial serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin, and HBV-DNA levels were prospectively monitored in three patients. The fourth patient was closely monitored for ALT. The HBV DNA was checked after development of clinical overt hepatitis. The peripheral blood CD20+ B-lymphocyte counts were analyzed periodically in two patients. All of the three patients studied prospectively had virological relapses with surgence of HBV DNA 6-8 months after completion of rituximab-plus-CHOP (R+CHOP) therapy. Two of the three patients had biochemical relapses and one of them developed severe hepatitis. Sequencing for HBV polymerase gene in these patients failed to show evident emergence of lamivudine-resistant mutations. The fourth patient developed a hepatitis flare-up 6 months after completion of chemotherapy. The CD20+ lymphocytes were totally depleted when HBV DNA started to increase. Delayed HBV reactivation can occur in lymphoma patients receiving R+CHOP after withdrawal of preemptive lamivudine. More protracted lamivudine therapy may be an alternative to close monitoring following chemotherapy, and further studies are needed to define optimal duration of lamivudine therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conditions were established for efficient plant regeneration from four freshmarket cultivars of Lycopersicon esculentum. In order to increase the yield of viable protoplasts which are able to sustain cell divisions, the donor plants are preconditioned by incubation at 25°C in the dark for 18 hours, followed by a cold treatment at 4°C in the dark for the last 6 hours, prior to protoplast isolation. Browning of the dividing cell colonies can be prevented by culturing protoplasts in 100 μl droplets of low-melting agarose, surrounded by liquid medium. Alternatively, protoplasts can be cultured in liquid medium. In both procedures the plating efficiencies and percentage of shoot regeneration are increased, only when dilutions were performed with auxin-free culture medium. Shoot regeneration is obtained by using a two step procedure: initiation of greening of microcalli on a medium containing 0.2 M mannitol and 7.3 mM sucrose, which is followed by shoot development on a mannitol-free medium containing 0.5 M sucrose. In this way, plants can be regenerated within 3 months from the hybrid cultivars Bellina, Abunda, Sonatine and also from the true seedline Moneymaker. The latter one showed the highest regeneration frequency (30%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pks gene cluster encodes enzymes responsible for the synthesis of colibactin, a genotoxin that has been shown to induce DNA damage and contribute to increased virulence. The present study investigated the prevalence of pks in clinical K. pneumoniae isolates from a national surveillance program in Taiwan, and identified microbiological and molecular factors associated with pks-carriage. The pks gene cluster was detected in 67 (16.7%) of 400 isolates from various specimen types. Multivariate analysis revealed that isolates of K1, K2, K20, and K62 capsular types (p < 0.001), and those more susceptible to antimicrobial agents (p = 0.001) were independent factors strongly associated with pks-carriage. Phylogenetic studies on the sequence type (ST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns indicated that the pks-positive isolates belong to a clonal group of ST23 in K1, a locally expanding ST65 clone in K2, a ST268-related K20 group, and a highly clonal ST36:K62 group. Carriage of rmpA, iutC, and ybtA, the genes associated with hypervirulence, was significantly higher in the pks-positive isolates than the pks-negative isolates (95.5% vs. 13.2%, p < 0.001). Further studies to determine the presence of hypervirulent pks-bearing bacterial populations in the flora of community residents and their association with different disease entities may be warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of flexible optoelectronic devices has accelerated the development of semiconducting polymeric materials. We seek to replace conventional expensive semiconducting photodetector materials with our cost-effective composite system. We demonstrate in this work the successful fabrication of a photoconductive composite film of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) mixed with NaYF4:Yb,Er nanophosphors that exhibited a ultrahigh photoresponse to infrared radiation. The high photocurrent measured was enabled by the unique upconversion properties of NaYF4:Yb,Er nanophosphors, where low photon energy infrared excitations are converted to high photon energy visible emissions that are later absorbed by P3HT. Here we report, a significant 1.10 × 105 times increment of photocurrent from our photoconductive composite film upon infrared light exposure, which indicates high optical-to-electrical conversion efficiency. Our reported work lays the groundwork for the future development of printable, portable flexible and functional photonic composites for light sensing and harvesting, photonic memory devices, and phototransistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification and molecular profiling of early metastases remains a major challenge in cancer diagnostics and therapy. Most in vivo imaging methods fail to detect small cancerous lesions, a problem that is compounded by the distinct physical and biological barriers associated with different metastatic niches. Here, we show that intravenously injected rare-earth-doped albumin-encapsulated nanoparticles emitting short-wave infrared light (SWIR) can detect targeted metastatic lesions in vivo, allowing for the longitudinal tracking of multi-organ metastases. In a murine model of basal human breast cancer, the nanoprobes enabled whole-body SWIR detection of adrenal gland microlesions and bone lesions that were undetectable via contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) as early as, respectively, three weeks and five weeks post-inoculation. Whole-body SWIR imaging of nanoprobes functionalized to differentially target distinct metastatic sites and administered to a biomimetic murine model of human breast cancer resolved multi-organ metastases that showed varied molecular profiles at the lungs, adrenal glands and bones. Real-time surveillance of lesions in multiple organs should facilitate pre-therapy and post-therapy monitoring in preclinical settings., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing financial interests.