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Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MPKs) play important role in response to environmental stress as crucial signal receptors or sensors. Our previous study indicated that salt stress acts as a positive factor to stimulate the production of pharmacodynamic metabolites in the medicinal plant Glycyrrhiza uralensis. Currently, little is known about the MPK gene family and their functions in the medicinal plant G. uralensis.Identification, comprehensive bioinformatic analysis, expression profiling, and response pattern under salt stress of the G. uralensis GuMPK gene family.Genome-wide investigation and expression profiling of the MPK gene family in G. uralensis, and their phylogenetic relationships, evolutionary characteristics, gene structure, motif distribution, promoter cis-acting element, and expression pattern under salt stress in two different salt-tolerant Glycyrrhiza species were performed.A total of 20 G. uralensis GuMPK genes were identified and categorized into five groups, and had conserved gene structure and motif distribution. Expression profiling of GuMPK genes suggested their potentially diverse functions in plant growth and in response to phytohormones and environmental stress, particularly GuMPK1, 2, 5, and 10 as key components for G. uralensis in response to abiotic stress. Further expression analysis under NaCl treatment in two different salt-tolerant Glycyrrhiza species displayed the MPKs' different response patterns, emphasizing the role of MPK2, 5, 7, and 16 as potentially crucial genes for Glycyrrhiza to respond to salt stress.Our results provide a genome-wide identification and expression profiling of MPK gene family in G. uralensis, and establish the foundation for screening key responsive genes and understanding the potential function and regulatory mechanism of GuMPKs in salt responsiveness.

Background Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), a saponin compound often used as a flavoring agent, can elicit anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects, and alleviate aging. However, the specific mechanism by which GA alters immune cell populations to produce these beneficial effects is currently unclear. Results In this study, we systematically analyzed single-cell sequencing data of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from young mice, aged mice, and GA-treated aged mice. Our in vivo results show that GA reduced senescence-induced increases in macrophages and neutrophils, and increased numbers of lymphoid lineage subpopulations specifically reduced by senescence. In vitro, GA significantly promoted differentiation of Lin−CD117+ hematopoietic stem cells toward lymphoid lineages, especially CD8+ T cells. Moreover, GA inhibited differentiation of CD4+ T cells and myeloid (CD11b+) cells by binding to S100 calcium-binding protein 8 (S100A8) protein. Overexpression of S100A8 in Lin− CD117+ hematopoietic stem cells enhanced cognition in aged mice and the immune reconstitution of severely immunodeficient B-NDG (NOD.CB17-Prkdcscid/l2rgtm1/Bcgen) mice. Conclusions Collectively, GA exerts anti-aging effects by binding to S100A8 to remodel the immune system of aged mice.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is crucial for energy metabolism, oxidative stress, DNA damage repair, longevity regulation, and several signaling processes. To date, several NAD+ synthesis pathways have been found in microbiota and mammals, but the potential relationship between gut microbiota and their hosts in regulating NAD+ homeostasis remains largely unknown. Here, we showed that an analog of the first-line tuberculosis drug pyrazinamide, which is converted by nicotinamidase/pyrazinamidase (PncA) to its active form, affected NAD+ level in the intestines and liver of mice and disrupted the homeostasis of gut microbiota. Furthermore, by overexpressing modified PncA of Escherichia coli, NAD+ levels in mouse liver were significantly increased, and diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was ameliorated in mice. Overall, the PncA gene in microbiota plays an important role in regulating NAD+ synthesis in the host, thereby providing a potential target for modulating host NAD+ level.

Canals play a vital role in water supply, irrigation, flood control, electricity generation, and shipping. However, in seasonally frozen regions, canal slopes often suffer from damage as a result of frost heave. This research focused on the Hadashan Water Conservancy Hub, investigated the factors influencing frost heave through laboratory and field tests, and examined the effectiveness of three types of slope protection structures—insulation boards, concrete lining, and gravel. The results indicate that temperature and soil water content are important factors influencing frost heave. This research tested the effectiveness of an optimized concrete lining structure—articulated molded concrete—in protecting canal slopes against frost heave. This structure can protect the slope from frost damage, and has the ability to adjust to frost heave and thaw deformation. The results of the study will provide a reliable reference for the design of protection of canal slopes against frost heave in cold regions.

We construct, analyze, and numerically validate a class of conservative discontinuous Galerkin (DG) schemes for the Schrodinger-Poisson equation. The proposed schemes all shown to conserve both mass and energy. For the semi-discrete DG scheme the optimal L2 error estimates are provided. Efficient iterative algorithms are also constructed to solve the second-order implicit time discretization. The presented numerical tests demonstrate the method’s accuracy and robustness, confirming that the conservation properties help to reproduce faithful solutions over long time simulation.

We provide a framework for the analysis of the direct discontinuous Galerkin (DDG) methods for multi-dimensional convection–diffusion equations subject to various boundary conditions. A key tool is the global projection constructed by the DDG scheme applied to an associated elliptic problem. Such projection is well-defined for a class of diffusive flux parameters, and the optimal projection error in $$L^2$$ is obtained with an arbitrary locally regular partition of the domain and for an arbitrary degree of polynomials. This results in the optimal $$L^2$$ error for the DDG method to the elliptic problem, and further leading to the optimal $$L^2$$ error for the DDG method to the convection–diffusion problem.

Because of a large number of macrophages and its secreted pro-inflammatory factors in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the present study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of 630-nm LED exposure on monocytes/macrophages and its anti-inflammatory effect. The THP-1 monocytes and PMA-induced THP-1 macrophages (THP-1 macrophages) were employed and irradiated by 630-nm LED for different time and times, and then measure the pro-inflammatory cytokines production by RT-qPCR and Milliplex MAP Multiplex assay, the proteins involved in inflammation pathway and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in the cells were detected by Western blot and DCFH-DA method. The exposure dose of red LED (15.3 J/cm2, 30.6 J/cm2) were determined as no-influence on the cell proliferation, the pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1β mRNAs, and secretions in supernatant of THP-1 macrophages were significantly decreased after LED exposure. The ROS production was blocked in THP-1 monocytes and THP-1 macrophages after treatment of LED. Finally, the phosphorylated NF-κB proteins which involved in inflammation pathway significantly decreased, and its inhibitors Nrf2 were slightly upregulated. The effects of LED anti-inflammation response are dependent on the mechanism of inhibiting ROS level and regulating NF-κB signaling pathways by increasing Nrf2 expression in the cells. It is suggested that 630-nm LED could decrease pro-inflammation in immune cells, and it may be a beneficial adjunct therapy in relieving inflammation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The present study deals with the preparation of the powder metallurgy (P/M) Ti-22Al-25Nb (at.%) alloys with fine microstructure from pre-alloyed powders by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The SPS process was carried out at temperatures ranging from 950 to 1200 °C with pressures range of 35-80 MPa for 10-20 min followed by furnace cooling. The effects of SPS parameters on the microstructure, densification, phase composition and mechanical properties of the P/M Ti-22Al-25Nb alloys were discussed. The results revealed that all the SPS alloys were composed of B2 grains and O phases in the B2 grain interior, and a small amount of α2 phase mainly distributed along B2 grain boundaries. The P/M Ti-22Al-25Nb alloy sintered at 950 °C/80 MPa/10 min exhibited the best combination of mechanical properties at room temperature with the elongation, yield strength and tensile strength of 9.38%, 933.57 and 990.01 MPa, respectively. In addition, the fracture mechanism at room temperature of the P/M Ti-22Al-25Nb alloy sintered at 950 °C/80 MPa/10 min was determined to be a mixed fracture mechanism with a combination of brittle fracture and ductile fracture.

The powder metallurgy (P/M) Ti-22Al-25Nb alloy obtained by spark plasma sintering (SPS) of Ti-22Al-25Nb prealloyed powders at 950 °C/80 MPa/10 min (α2 + B2 + O three-phase region) was adopted as the starting material to systematically investigate the evolution of microstructure, phase transition, B2 grain size uniformity and microhardness with solution temperature and holding time. The solution treatment was conducted at temperatures from 940 to 1100 °C (α2 + B2 + O, α2 + B2 and B2 phase regions) and holding times range of 10-120 min (10, 30, 60, and 120 min). After solution treatment, the microhardness of the alloy was measured. The results showed that the microstructure and microhardness of the alloy were closely related to the solution temperature and holding time. The B2 phase grain size and its uniformity increased with the increase in the solution temperature and holding time, and the microhardness decreased with the growth of the grains. The P/M Ti-22Al-25Nb alloy tested at 940 °C/10 min had the best performance, exhibiting three phases of α2 + B2 + O and a grain size of 43.57 μm. The microhardness was 359.52 ± 3.73 HV. In addition, the grain growth activation energy and grain growth index of different solution temperatures and holding times were obtained by linear fitting, and the relationship between the B2 grain size and the solution temperature and holding time was further established.

A novel polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropyle (PVDF-HFP)/graphene (GE) tubular nanofiber membrane (TNM) for application in continuous oil/water separation was firstly fabricated in this study. The obtained PVDF-HFP/GE TNMs showed outstanding mechanical properties due to the reinforcement of polyester braided tube. In addition, the effect of GE concentrations on membrane structure and performance was investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, hydrophobicity, pore size and its distribution, porosity and liquid entrance pressure. The results showed that, the prepared TNMs had ideal membrane structure and performance with moderate addition of GE. When the GE concentration was 0.03 wt%, the obtained TNMs exhibited a superior selective wettability and could achieve separating surfactant- stabilized water-in-oil emulsion with a remarkable separation rate and separation efficiency.

In this paper, we design, analyze, and numerically validate positive and energy-dissipating schemes for solving the time-dependent multi-dimensional system of Poisson–Nernst–Planck equations, which has found much use in the modeling of biological membrane channels and semiconductor devices. The semi-implicit time discretization based on a reformulation of the system gives a well-posed elliptic system, which is shown to preserve solution positivity for arbitrary time steps. The first order (in time) fully-discrete scheme is shown to preserve solution positivity and mass conservation unconditionally, and energy dissipation with only a mild O(1) time step restriction. The scheme is also shown to preserve the steady-states. For the fully second order (in both time and space) scheme with large time steps, solution positivity is restored by a local scaling limiter, which is shown to maintain the spatial accuracy. These schemes are easy to implement. Several three-dimensional numerical examples verify our theoretical findings and demonstrate the accuracy, efficiency, and robustness of the proposed schemes, as well as the fast approach to steady-states.

BackgroundCell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) has opened up new approaches for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), and it is often used as the second-tier test for high-risk pregnant women in detecting trisomy (T) 21, T18, and T13 after serum biochemistry screening. This study aims to discuss the clinical performance of NIPT as an alternative first-tier screening test for pregnant women in detecting T21, T18, T13, and sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) in China.MethodsA total of 42,924 samples were recruited. The cell-free plasma DNA was directly sequenced. Each of the chromosome aneuploidies of PPV was analyzed. A total of 22 placental samples were acquired, including 14 FP and 8 TP samples. The placental verification of FP NIPT results was performed.ResultsAmong 42,924 samples, 281 (0.65%) positive cases, including 87 of T21, 31 of T18, 22 of T13, and 141 of SCAs were detected. For the detection of T21, the positive predictive value (PPV) was 78.46%, for trisomy 18, 62.96%, for trisomy 13, 10.00%, for SCAs, 47.22% in the total samples. For trisomy 21, the PPV was 86.67%, for trisomy 18, 80.00%, for trisomy 13, 20.00%, for SCAs, 56.52% in advanced maternal age (AMA) women. The PPV of T21 increased with age. For T18, the PPV showed an overall upward trend. For T13 and SCAs, PPV was raised first and then lowered. Placental verification of false positive (FP) NIPT results confirmed confined placental mosaicism(CPM) was the reason for false positives.ConclusionsThis study represents the first time that NIPT has been used as a first-tier screening test for fetal aneuploidies in a pilot city with large clinical samples in China. We propose that NIPT could replace serum biochemistry screening as a first-tier test.

A novel discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is developed to solve time-dependent bi-harmonic type equations involving fourth derivatives in one and multiple space dimensions. We present the spatial DG discretization based on a mixed formulation and central interface numerical fluxes so that the resulting semi-discrete schemes are $L^2$ stable even without interior penalty. For time discretization, we use Crank-Nicolson so that the resulting scheme is unconditionally stable and second order in time. We present the optimal $L^2$ error estimate of $O(h^{k+1})$ for polynomials of degree $k$ for semi-discrete DG schemes, and the $L^2$ error of $O(h^{k+1} +(\Delta t)^2)$ for fully discrete DG schemes. Extensions to more general fourth order partial differential equations and cases with non-homogeneous boundary conditions are provided. Numerical results are presented to verify the stability and accuracy of the schemes. Finally, an application to the one-dimensional Swift-Hohenberg equation endowed with a decay free energy is presented., Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures

In this work, polypropylene (PP) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated by thermal-induced phase separation method. The influence of cold-stretched and hot-stretched treatment on the morphology and permeability of the PP hollow fiber membranes was investigated. The results showed that there were cracks and crystalline particulate structures on the outer and inner surfaces of the stretched PP hollow fiber membranes, which were not isolated but linked together through fiber-like connections. Compared to the original PP hollow fiber membrane, the mean pore sizes, the porosities, the hydrophobicity and water entry pressure of the stretched PP hollow fiber membranes improved significantly. When applied in conjunction with a vacuum system, the PP hollow fiber membranes could continuously remove oils from water surface, and separate surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions, as well. The initial kerosene fluxes of the hot-stretched PP hollow fiber membrane were higher than that of the membranes prepared from original PP hollow fibers or cold-stretched PP hollow fibers. The permeate fluxes of the hot-stretched PP hollow fiber membrane for all different emulsion separations were higher than those of the original PP hollow fiber membrane. There could be seen no emulsion droplet in the optical micrographs after separation, indicating that the water-in-oil emulsions were effectively separated in one-step method.

Background Trisomy 8 mosaicism has a wide phenotypic variability, ranging from mild dysmorphic features to severe malformations. This report concluded a female pregnant woman with trisomy 8 mosaicism, and carefully cytogenetic diagnoses were performed to give her prenatal diagnostic information. This report also provides more knowledge about trisomy 8 mosaicism and the prenatal diagnostic for clinicians. Case presentation In this present study, we reported one case of pregnancy woman with trisomy 8 mosaicism. Noninvasive prenatal testing prompted an abnormal Z-score, but further three dimension color ultrasound result suggested a single live fetus with no abnormality. The phenotypic of the pregnant woman was normal. Based on our results, there were no abnormal initial myeloid cells (− 4), which suggested that the patient had no blood diseases. The peripheral blood karyotype of the patient was 47,XX,+ 8[67]/46,XX [13], and karyotype of amniotic fluid was 46, XX. The next generation sequencing (NGS) result suggested that the proportions of trisomy 8 in different tissues were obviously different; and 0% in amniotic fluid. Last, the chromosomes of the patient and her baby were confirmed using chromosome microarray analysis (CMA), and the results were arr[GRCh37](8) × 3,11p15.5p13(230750–33,455,733) × 2 hmz and normal. Conclusions This pregnancy woman was trisomy 8 mosaicism, but the phenotypic was normal, and also the fetus was normal. Carefully cytogenetic diagnoses should be performed for prenatal diagnose.

Background The underlying physiological mechanisms associated with aging are still complex and unclear. As a very important tissue of human body, the circulatory system also plays a very important role in the process of aging. In this study, we use the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) method to identify differentially expressed proteins in plasma for humans and monkeys between young and aged. Western blotting and behavioral experiment in mice were performed to validate the expression of the candidate protein. Results Between the young / the old humans and the young / the old monkeys 74 and 69 proteins were found to be differently expressed, respectively. For the human samples, these included 38 up-regulated proteins and 36 down-regulated proteins (a fold change ≥1.3 or ≤ 0.667, p value ≤0.05).For the monkey samples, 51 up-regulated proteins and 18 down-regulated proteins (a fold change ≥1.3 or ≤ 0.667, p value ≤0.05). KEGG pathway analysis revealed that phagosome, focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway were the most common pathways involved in aging. We found only IGFBP4 protein that existed in up-regulated proteins in aged both for human and monkey. In addition, the differential expression of IGFBP4 was validated by western blot analysis and IGFBP4 treatment mimicked aging-related cognitive dysfunction in mice. Conclusions This first, the integrated proteomics for the plasma protein of human and monkey reveal one protein-IGFBP4, which was validated by western blotting and behavioral analysis can promote the process of aging. And, iTRAQ analysis showed that proteolytic systems, and inflammatory responses plays an important role in the process of aging. These findings provide a basis for better understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in aging.

Background Pregnancy complications could lead to maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosing and managing complications have been associated with good outcomes. The placenta was an important organ for development of pregnancy complications. Thus, non-invasive prenatal testing technologies could detect genetic variations, such as aneuploidies and sub-chromosomal copy number variations, reflecting defective placenta by maternal plasma cffDNAs. Maternal cffDNAs had been proved to derive from trophoblast cells of placenta. Results In order to find out the relationship between genetic variations and pregnancy complications, we reviewed NIPT results for subchromosomal copy number variations in a cohort of 3890 pregnancies without complications and 441 pregnancies with pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) and placenta implantation abnormalities (PIA). For GDMs, we identified three CNV regions containing some members of alpha- and beta-defensins, such as DEFA1, DEFA3, DEFB1. For PIHs, we found three duplication and one deletion region including Pcdhα, Pcdhβ, and Pcdhγ, known as protocadherins, which were complicated by hypertensive disorders. For PPROMs and PIAs, we identified one and two CNV regions, respectively. SFTPA2, SFTPD and SFTPA1, belonging to surfactant protein, was considered to moderated the inflammatory activation within the fetal extra-embryonic compartment, associated to duration of preterm prelabor rupture of fetal membranes, while MEF2C and TM6SF1 could be involved in trophoblast invasion and differentiation. Conclusions Our findings gave a clue to correlation between genetic variations of maternal cell-free DNAs and pregnancy complications. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13039-019-0451-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Lung cancer is the second most common cancer with an extremely poor overall survival rate. Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression play many important roles in human cancer, and one of the potential mechanisms underlying this is alternative mRNA maturation at its 3′ untranslated regions (3′-UTRs). Methods Cancer tissues and paired adjacent normal lung tissues from 26 patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were analyzed by in vitro transcription-sequencing alternative polyadenylation sites (IVT-SAPAS). 41,773,101 reads in average were obtained from each paired sample. A potential regulation of Cleavage Stimulation Factor Subunit 2 (CSTF2) on 3′UTR length of genes was tested in H460 cells. Results 1439 (10.26%) genes showed up-regulated expression and 1364 (9.72%) genes showed down-regulated expression in lung cancer tissue versus normal lung tissue, and shorten 3′UTR in cancer tissue was detected in cancer tissues collected from 96.2% (25/26) patients, indicating lung cancer tend to have shortened 3′UTRs of these identified genes. KEGG analysis showed 1855 genes with shorten 3′UTR were enriched in mTOR signaling, ubiquitin mediated proteolysis and RNA degradation. Knocking down CSTF2 expression in H460 cells results in 3′UTR elongation of genes that was identified to be with shortened length in cancer tissues. Conclusion Alternative polyadenylation (APA) site-switching of 3′UTRs is prevalent in NSCLC, and CSTF2 may serve as an oncogene regulates the 3′UTR length of cancer related genes in NSCLC. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12967-019-1986-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Polyurethane/graphene (PU/GE) hollow fiber membranes made of a chemically foamed PU/GE spongy layer and inner reinforced poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) tubular braids were prepared by a one-step online chemically foamed method. Online chemical foaming involved the simultaneous formation of membrane pores with reaction to form PU by controlling the reaction rate. The hydrophobicity and lipophilicity of the membrane were increased by the introduction of GE, which as a heterogeneous bubble nucleating agent increased the bubble density. The properties of PU/GE hollow fiber membranes were investigated by testing of the micro-morphology, contact angles of different liquids, oil/water separation and membrane reusability. The experimental results showed that when GE was introduced into the foaming solutions, the hydrophobicity of the prepared membrane was increased and the thermal stability of the membrane was improved. With the increase in GE content, the pore size, porosity and pure oil flux of the chemically foamed PU/GE hollow fiber membranes first decreased and then increased, and the inverse change was observed with the liquid osmotic pressure. When GE content was 1.8 wt%, PU/GE hollow fiber membranes exhibited superior membrane performance, with separation efficiency as high as 90% and high flux (143 L·m−2·h−1 at −0.5 bar). The PU/GE hollow fiber membrane could be applied to continuous oil/water separation experiments. In addition, PU/GE hollow fiber membranes showed durability and reusability, and the flux recovery rate was kept above 90%.

Background Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for fetal aneuploidies by scanning cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma is rapidly becoming a first-tier aneuploidy screening test in clinical practices. With the development of whole-genome sequencing technology, small subchromosomal deletions and duplications that could not be detected by conventional karyotyping are now able to be detected with NIPT technology. Methods In the present study, we examined 8141 single pregnancies with NIPT to calculate the positive predictive values of each of the chromosome aneuploidies and the subchromosomal microdeletions and microduplications. Results We confirmed that the positive predictive values (PPV) for trisomy 13, trisomy 18, trisomy 21, and sex chromosome aneuploidy were 14.28%, 60%, 80%, and 45.83%, respectively. At the same time, we also found 51 (0.63%) positive cases for chromosomal microdeletions or microduplications but only 13 (36.11%) true-positive cases. These results indicate that NIPT for trisomy 21 detection had the highest accuracy, while accuracy was low for chromosomal microdeletion and microduplications. Conclusions Therefore, it is very important to improve the specificity, accuracy, and sensitivity of NIPT technology for the detection of subchromosomal microdeletions and microduplications.

We propose a high order discontinuous Galerkin method for solving nonlinear Fokker---Planck equations with a gradient flow structure. For some of these models it is known that the transient solutions converge to steady-states when time tends to infinity. The scheme is shown to satisfy a discrete version of the entropy dissipation law and preserve steady-states, therefore providing numerical solutions with satisfying long-time behavior. The positivity of numerical solutions is enforced through a reconstruction algorithm, based on positive cell averages. For the model with trivial potential, a parameter range sufficient for positivity preservation is rigorously established. For other cases, cell averages can be made positive at each time step by tuning the numerical flux parameters. A selected set of numerical examples is presented to confirm both the high-order accuracy and the efficiency to capture the large-time asymptotic.

Poly(p-phenylene terephthamide) (PPTA) hollow fiber membrane with outstanding thermal and chemical stability (endures above 60 °C and almost any organic solvents) has been fabricated by dry–wet spinning method for the first time. The heat and solvent resistance as well as anti-fouling performances was studied in this paper. The properties of thermal stability were characterized by pure water flux, mechanical strength, FTIR, and pore size distribution, and the properties of chemical resistance were characterized by organic solvent flux. The results showed that PPTA hollow fiber membrane was a kind of inner and outer dual-skin layer structure. The flux was stable in hot water and organic solvents, which indicated that the membrane structure hardly changed. The average pore size was slightly increased during high-temperature experiment. Moreover, the properties of anti-fouling were characterized by simulated activated sludge filtration. The fouled PPTA membranes were cleaned by ultrasonic, citric acid, and alkali treatments, and the membrane surface was detected by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results showed that the effect of the citric acid treatment was more preferable to the other ways, which indicated that the inorganic substance was easily adsorbed on the membrane surface compared with organic substance. Therefore, PPTA hollow fiber membrane exhibited the excellent anti-fouling performance by the reason of strong hydrophilicity and electronegativity.

Arabidopsis plant that is doubly mutant for the de novo methylases DRM1 and DRM2 (drm1/drm2) produce larger and heavier callus than wild type (WT) plants when cultivated on callus induce medium (CIM) for a given period of time. This trend is observed both in seedlings and explants, which indicates that both DRM1 and DRM2 are involved in callus formation. Furthermore, the gene expression analysis revealed that the BBM expression was continuously increased with CIM cultivation, and the expression level was significantly higher in the drm1/drm2 mutants than WT. And the anti-stress response genes have altered in the drm1/drm2 mutants compared with WT, These data suggest that DNA methylation and corresponding genes play an important role in callus formation .

Homogeneous-reinforced (HR) polyvinyl chloride (PVC) hollow fiber membranes consisting of coating and matrix layers were fabricated via coating process. The mixtures of polymer solutions were uniformly coated on the homogeneous PVC matrix membrane which was prepared by melt-spinning method. The influence of various pre-wetting solutions on interface structure and performance of HR membranes were investigated. The results showed that the HRPVC membranes had a dense and smooth outer surface with no obvious pores. A dense interface was formed in the HR membrane between the coating layer and the matrix membrane without pre-wetting process. Due to the filling of the pores of the outer edge of the matrix membrane by pre-wet solutions, the HRPVC hollow fiber membranes formed porous interface in the coating process. The pure water flux of the pre-wet HR membranes was higher than that of the un-pre-wet HR membrane, but lower than that of the matrix membrane. The optimum properties of HRPVC membranes were obtained as the ethanol weight fraction reached 60 wt% in the pre-wet solutions. In the optimum pre-wetting conditions, the tensile strength of HRPVC hollow fiber membranes was 9.5 MPa, while the elongation-at-break value was 97.4 %.

A cost effective and efficient alternative counter electrode (CE) to replace commercially existing platinum (Pt)-based CEs for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is necessary to make DSSCs competitive. Herein, we report the large-area growth of molybdenum telluride (MoTe2) thin films by sputtering-chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on conductive glass substrates for Pt-free CEs of DSSCs. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), Tafel curve analysis, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results showed that the as-synthesized MoTe2 exhibited good electrocatalytic properties and a low charge transfer resistance at the electrolyte-electrode interface. The optimized MoTe2 CE revealed a high power conversion efficiency of 7.25% under a simulated solar illumination of 100 mW cm−2 (AM 1.5), which was comparable to the 8.15% observed for a DSSC with a Pt CE. The low cost and good electrocatalytic properties of MoTe2 thin films make them as an alternative CE for DSSCs.

As a multi-stage disorder, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is quickly becoming one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases worldwide. Thus, a non-invasive, serum-based diagnostic platform is eagerly awaited. The goal of this study was to identify a serum-based biomarker panel using a predictive protein-based algorithm that is able to confidently distinguish AD patients from control subjects. One hundred and fifty-six patients with AD and the same number of gender- and age-matched control participants with standardized clinical assessments and neuroimaging measures were evaluated. Serum proteins of interest were quantified using a magnetic bead-based immunofluorescent assay, and a total of 33 analytes were examined. All of the subjects were then randomized into a training set containing 70% of the total samples and a validation set containing 30%, with each containing an equal number of AD and normal samples. Logistic regression and random forest analyses were then applied to develop a desirable algorithm for AD detection. The random forest method was found to generate a more robust predictive model than the logistic regression analysis. Furthermore, an eight-protein-based algorithm was found to be the most robust with a sensitivity of 97.7%, specificity of 88.6%, and AUC of 99%. Our study developed a novel eight-protein biomarker panel that can be used to distinguish AD and control multi-source candidates regardless of age. It is hoped that these results provide further insight into the applicability of serum-based screening methods and contribute to the development of lower-cost, less invasive methods for diagnosing AD and monitoring progression.

Homogeneous braid reinforced (HBR) cellulose acetate (CA) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated through dry–wet spinning process which consisted of CA separation layer and CA hollow tubular braids. The performance of various CA concentration membranes were characterized in terms of pore size distribution, pure water flux (PWF), protein solution flux (PSF), mechanical strength, and membrane morphologies were observed by a scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the HBR CA hollow fiber membranes, especially with high CA concentration in the dope solutions, possessed dense and smooth outer surface. The tensile strength of HBR CA hollow fiber membranes which exceeded 11 MPa mainly depended on the tubular braids. With the increase of CA concentration, the tensile strength and bursting strength of the membranes increased. In addition, there was effective interfacial bonding state between the separation layer and the tubular braid when the CA concentration was higher than 10 wt%. The increase of CA concentration brought about the decrease of membrane pore size and the increase of protein rejection. Considering the PWF, rejection and stable PSF, the best CA concentration in the dope solutions was 10 wt%. Then the membrane fouling and cleaning processes for the activated sludge solution were studied by comparing with reinforced polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membrane. The lower flux decline in the filtration of activated sludge solution and higher recovery in the flux indicated that the HBR CA hollow fiber membrane had better anti-fouling properties than the PVDF membrane.

In Liu and Yu (SIAM J Numer Anal 50(3):1207---1239, 2012), we developed a finite volume method for Fokker---Planck equations with an application to finitely extensible nonlinear elastic dumbbell model for polymers subject to homogeneous fluids. The method preserves positivity and satisfies the discrete entropy inequalities, but has only first order accuracy in general cases. In this paper, we overcome this problem by developing uniformly accurate, entropy satisfying discontinuous Galerkin methods for solving Fokker---Planck equations. Both semidiscrete and fully discrete methods satisfy two desired properties: mass conservation and entropy satisfying in the sense that these schemes are shown to satisfy the discrete entropy inequality. These ensure that the schemes are entropy satisfying and preserve the equilibrium solutions. It is also proved the convergence of numerical solutions to the equilibrium solution as time becomes large. At the finite time, a positive truncation is used to generate the nonnegative numerical approximation which is as accurate as the obtained numerical solution. Both one and two-dimensional numerical results are provided to demonstrate the good qualities of the schemes, as well as effects of some canonical homogeneous flows.

In this work, we design, analyze and test a local discontinuous Galerkin method for solving the Burgers---Poisson equation. This model, proposed by Whitham [Linear and nonlinear waves, 1974] as a simplified model for shallow water waves, admits conservation of both momentum and energy as two invariants. The proposed numerical method is high order accurate and preserves two invariants, hence producing solutions with satisfying long time behavior. The $$L^2$$ L 2 -stability of the scheme for general solutions is a consequence of the energy preserving property. The optimal order of accuracy for polynomial elements of even degree is proven. A series of numerical tests is provided to illustrate both accuracy and capability of the method.

As protoplasts have the characteristics of no cell walls, rapid population growth, and synchronicity, they are useful tools for research in many fields, especially cellular biology (Table 1). This article is an overview that focuses on the application of protoplasts to investigate the mechanisms of dedifferentiation, including changes in hormone signals, epigenetic changes, and organelle distribution during the dedifferentiation process. The article also emphasizes the wide range of uses for protoplasts in studying protein positions and signaling during different stresses. The examples provided help to show that protoplast systems, for example the mesophyll protoplast system of Arabidopsis, represent promising tools for studying developmental biology. Meanwhile, specific analysis of protoplast, which comes from different tissue, has specific advantages and limitations (Table 2), and it can provide recommendations to use this system.

Dedifferentiation is an important cellular process in plant development. Successful in vitro culture of plant tissues for micropropagation and transgenic plant development depend on dedifferentiation and redifferentiation of explants. However, the molecular basis of dedifferentiation is not well understood. To elucidate the dedifferentiation mechanism, microarray analysis was carried out to study the transcriptome changes associated with dedifferentiation in the petiole of Arabidopsis thaliana. Analysis of global gene expression profiles allowed us to identify key developmental genes that showed differential expression during the dedifferentiation process. LBD29 was selected as one of the candidate genes that regulate the process of lateral root initiation in Arabidopsisthaliana. The role of the LBD29/ASL16 gene in effecting dedifferentiation of pericycle cells and lateral root formation is discussed.

ASYMMERTIC LEAVES2-LIKE38 (ASL38/LBD41), isolated from Arabidopsis, is a member of the LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARY DOMAIN gene family. We reported that ASL38 might be involved in the dorsoventral determination in extremely folded or crinkly leaves of 35S:ASL38.cockscomb plants; suggesting ASL38 is a transcript factor, and regulates a number of genes that are involved in the morphogenesis and development of plants. To verify this speculation, in this work, we constructed the binary vector pBI121–pMD-18T, which contained the GFP and coding sequences of ASL38, and introduced them into cockscomb via Agrobacterium tumefaciens. We found that ASL38-GFP fusion protein was localized in discrete subnuclear bodies, indicating ASL38 might be a nuclear protein and function as a transcription factor. In modification of flowering plants, many potentially useful genes that are involved in the pathways associated with flower and plant morphology have been cloned. Transcription factors regulating plant development and biosynthetic or regulatory genes involved in plant hormones are common candidates. If 35S:ASL38 cockscomb plants are altered in morphology, these morphological modifications could pave the foundation for the selection of novel flower varieties. As it was speculated by us, in this work, we showed that these 35S:ASL38 cockscomb flowered earlier and their flowers were turned into multiple column patterns, when compared with wild-type cockscomb. Moreover, leaves of some 35S:ASL38 plants revealed lobed and dissected patterns, and extremely, two leaf blades were developed on the same petiole; which was never found in wild-type cockscomb. Together, these morphological modifications of cockscomb indicate that we have successfully attained some novel lines of cockscombs. These lines can have potential practical applications.

ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2-LIKE38/LBD41 gene of Arabidopsis is a member of the ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2 (AS2)/LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES (LOB) domain gene family. To explore ASL38 function, we transformed 35S:ASL38 constructs into cockscomb (Celosia plumosus) plants via Agrobacterium tumefaciens and obtained T1 35S:ASL38 plants. The extremely folded or crinkly leaves were seen in these T1 cockscomb plants. The anatomical analysis of these malformed leaf blades indicated that adaxial cells revealed abaxialized traits, which were never seen in those of wild-type plants. These results suggested that ectopic expression of ASL38 might lead to alternations of dorsoventrality in folded or crinkly leaves of 35S:ASL38 cockscomb. In general, all data showed that ASL38 might be involved in dorsoventral determination in lateral organ development of plants.

The principle aim of this essay is to illustrate how different phenomena is captured by different discretizations of the Hopf equation and general hyperbolic conservation laws. This includes dispersive schemes, shock capturing schemes as well as schemes for computing multi-valued solutions of the underlying equation. We introduce some model equations which describe the behavior of the discrete equation more accurate than the original equation. These model equations can either be conveniently discretized for producing novel numerical schemes or further analyzed to enrich the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations.

The weakly coupled WKB system captures high frequency wave dynamics in many applications. For such a system a level set method framework has been recently developed to compute multi-valued solutions to the Hamilton-Jacobi equation and evaluate position density accordingly. In this paper we propose two approaches for computing multi-valued quantities related to density, momentum as well as energy. Within this level set framework we show that physical observables evaluated in Jin et al. (J. Comput. Phys. 210(2):497---518, [2005]; J. Comput. Phys. 205(1):222---241, [2005]) are simply the superposition of their multi-valued correspondents. A series of numerical tests is performed to compute multi-valued quantities and validate the established superposition properties.

We introduce a level set method for the computation of multi-valued solutions of a general class of nonlinear first-order equations in arbitrary space dimensions. The idea is to realize the solution as well as its gradient as the common zero level set of several level set functions in the jet space. A very generic level set equation for the underlying PDEs is thus derived. Specific forms of the level set equation for both first-order transport equations and first-order Hamilton-Jacobi equations are presented. Using a local level set approach, the multi-valued solutions can be realized numerically as the projection of single-valued solutions of a linear equation in the augmented phase space. The level set approach we use automatically handles these solutions as they appear

We consider a two-dimensional convection model augmented with the rotational Coriolis forcing, centrifugal forcing as well as the quadratic potential V (x), ∂tU +( U − Ωx ⊥ ) · ∇xU = −ΩU ⊥ −∇xV , with a fixed Ω > 0 being the rotational frequency. This model arises in the semiclassical limit of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for Bose-Einstein condensates in a rotational frame. We investigate whether the action of dispersive rotational forcing complemented with the underlying potential prevents the generic finite time breakdown of the free nonlinear convection. We show that the rotating equations admit global smooth solutions for and only for a subset of generic initial configurations. Thus, the global regularity depends on whether the initial configuration crosses an intrinsic critical threshold, which is quantified in terms of the initial spectral gap associated with the 2 × 2 initial velocity gradient, λ2(0) − λ1(0) ,λ j (0) = λj (∇xU0) as well as the initial divergence, divx(U0). We also prove that for the case of isotropic trapping potential the smooth velocity field is periodic if and only if the ratio of the rotational frequency and the potential frequency is a rational number. The critical thresholds are also established for the case of repulsive potential. Finally the position density and the velocity field are explicitly recorded along the deformed flow map.

The nonlinear stability of stationary discrete shocks for the Lax-Friedrichs scheme approximating non-convex scalar conservation laws is proved without smallness restrictions on the initial perturbations provided that the summation of initial perturbation is zero. The long time behavior of the Lax-Friedrichs is also investigated for a rather broad class of initial data. The selection of the discrete weight function plays a crucial role. The detailed study of discrete error equations is a major technical involvement.

Background Genomic deletions are known to be widespread in many species. Variant sequencing-based approaches for identifying deletions have been developed, but their powers to detect those deletions that affect medium-sized regions are limited when the sequencing coverage is low. Results We present a cost-effective method for identifying medium-sized deletions in genomic regions with low genomic coverage. Two mate-paired libraries were separately constructed from human cancerous tissue to generate paired short reads (ditags) from restriction fragments digested with a 4-base restriction enzyme. A total of 3 Gb of paired reads (1.0× genome size) was collected, and 175 deletions were inferred by identifying the ditags with disorder alignments to the reference genome sequence. Sanger sequencing results confirmed an overall detection accuracy of 95%. Good reproducibility was verified by the deletions that were detected by both libraries. Conclusions We provide an approach to accurately identify medium-sized deletions in large genomes with low sequence coverage. It can be applied in studies of comparative genomics and in the identification of germline and somatic variants.

The Korteweg de Vries (KdV) equation is well known as an approximation model for small amplitude and long waves in di!erent physical contexts, but wave breaking phenomena related to short wavelengths are not captured in. In this work we consider a class of nonlocal dispersive wave equations which also incorporate physics of short wavelength scales. The model is identified by a renormalization of an infinite dispersive di!erential operator, followed by further specifications in terms of conservation laws associated with the underlying equation. Several well-known models are thus rediscovered. Wave breaking criteria are obtained for several models including the Burgers-Poisson system, the Camassa-Holm type equation and an Euler-Poisson system. The wave breaking criteria for these models are shown to depend only on the negativity of the initial velocity slope relative to other global quantities.