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The aim of this study was to explore how the mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX) pathway alleviates photoinhibition in chilled tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seedlings. Chilling induced photoinhibition in tomato seedlings despite the increases in thermal energy dissipation and cyclic electron flow around PSI (CEF-PSI). Chilling inhibited the function of PSII and blocked electron transport at the PSII acceptor side, however, it did not affect the oxygenevolving complex on the donor side of PSII. Upregulation of the AOX pathway protects against photoinhibition by improving PSII function and photosynthetic electron transport in tomato seedlings under chilling stress. The AOX pathway maintained the open state of PSII and the stability of the entire photosynthetic electron transport chain. Moreover, the protective role of the AOX pathway on PSII was more important than that on PSI. However, inhibition of the AOX pathway could be compensated by increasing CEF-PSI activity under chilling stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early identification and prediction of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) play an important role in the disease prevention and control. However, suitable models are different in regions due to the differences in geography, social economy factors. We collected data associated with daily reported HFMD cases and weather factors of Zibo city in 2010~2019 and used the generalised additive model (GAM) to evaluate the effects of weather factors on HFMD cases. Then, GAM, support vectors regression (SVR) and random forest regression (RFR) models are used to compare predictive results. The annual average incidence was 129.72/100 000 from 2010 to 2019. Its distribution showed a unimodal trend, with incidence increasing from March, peaking from May to September. Our study revealed the nonlinear relationship between temperature, rainfall and relative humidity and HFMD cases and based on the predictive result, the performances of three models constructed ranked in descending order are: SVR > GAM> RFR, and SVR has the smallest prediction errors. These findings provide quantitative evidence for the prediction of HFMD for special high-risk regions and can help public health agencies implement prevention and control measures in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the central cross crack problem is investigated for a long cylindrical high-temperature superconductor under electromagnetic forces. The distributions of both the current density and the magnetic flux density in the cylinder are obtained analytically in either the Bean or the Kim critical state model for both the zero-field cooling and the field cooling magnetization processes. Based on the finite element method, lots of the stress intensity factors at the crack tips for decreasing magnetic fields are numerically calculated. Numerical results obtained show that the field cooling activation process has more significant influence on the stress intensity factors than the zero-field cooling activation process, and that for every activation process, as the applied field decreases, the superconducting cylinder is most dangerous when the currents in the crack region are just be influenced. The safety of the superconducting cylinder with a cross crack depends on not only the magnetic process but also the crack length. Additionally, the introduced dimensionless parameter p in the Kim model has different effects on the stress intensity factors obtained from the most dangerous field and from the trapped field. The present study should be helpful to the design and application of high-temperature superconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ras related C3 botulinum toxin substrate (RAC) play a key role in dealing with abiotic stresses in plants. The full-length open reading frame of a TaRAC was firstly cloned from wheat. Bioinformatic analysis and expression profile analysis of the TaRAC gene were carried out. The results indicated that the full-length open reading frame of TaRAC was 594bp which encoded 197 amino acid residues. The genomic TaRAC gene had no introns. The protein encoded by the TaRAC gene consisted of a small GTPase Rho family domain profile. Blast and phylogenetic analysis showed that the protein encoded by TaRAC shared the identity with RAC from corn (Zea mays L.). The result of qRT-PCR showed that expression of TaRAC gene was significantly tissue-specific. The result of qRT-PCR showed that TaRAC in the seeds was significantly higher than the expression of gene expression after soaking germination. The sensitivity of this gene to abscisic acid (ABA) significantly increased. TaRAC gene may play an important role in seed dormancy during germination, which could be used to improve the preharvest sprouting (PHS) resistance of wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chancre self‐healing is an important clinical feature in the early stages of syphilis infection. Wound healing may involve an important mechanism by the migration of fibroblasts filling the injured lesion. However, the specific mechanism underlying this process is still unknown. Objectives: We aimed to analyse the role of Tp0136 in the migration of fibroblasts and the related mechanism. Methods: The migration ability of fibroblasts was detected by a wound‐healing assay. RT‐PCR and ELISA detected the expression of MCP‐1, IL‐6 and MMP‐9. TLR4 expression was detected by RT‐PCR. The protein levels of CCR2 and relevant signalling pathway molecules were measured by Western blotting. Results: Tp0136 significantly promoted fibroblast migration. Subsequently, the levels of MCP‐1 and its receptor CCR2 were increased in this process. The migration of fibroblasts was significantly inhibited by an anti‐MCP‐1 neutralizing antibody or CCR2 inhibitors. Furthermore, studies demonstrated that Tp0136 could activate the ERK/JNK/PI3K/NF‐κB signalling pathways through TLR4 activity and that signalling pathways inhibitors could weaken MCP‐1 secretion and fibroblast migration. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that Tp0136 promotes the migration of fibroblasts by inducing MCP‐1/CCR2 expression through signalling involving the TLR4, ERK, JNK, PI3K and NF‐κB signalling pathways, which could contribute to the mechanism of chancre self‐healing in syphilis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Tongue cancer is a common malignant tumor in the oral and maxillofacial region, most of which is squamous cell carcinoma. Cisplatin (DDP) is one of the chemotherapy drugs for patients with tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). However, DDP resistance has become a major obstacle to its clinical application. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) KCNQ1 overlapping transcript 1 (KCNQ1OT1) on DDP resistance of tongue cancer and the underlying mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The levels of KCNQ1OT1, miR-124-3p, and tripartite motif containing 14 (TRIM14) were detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The maximum size of tumor (MTS) assay was used to detect the cell survival rates. Furthermore, the cell proliferation was detected by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Transwell assay was performed to detect the cell migration and invasion. Western blot assay was used to detect the protein levels of Vimentin, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and TRIM14. The functional targets of KCNQ1OT1 and miR-124-3p, miR-124-3p and TRIM14 were predicted by starBase 3.0 and TargetScan. The relationship between KCNQ1OT1 and miR-124-3p was confirmed by Dual-Luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and RNA pull-down. Further, the relationship between miR-124-3p and TRIM14 was verified by Dual-Luciferase reporter assay. Animal experiment revealed the effect of KCNQ1OT1 on DDP resistance of tongue cancer cells in vivo. RESULTS: KCNQ1OT1 was upregulated in DDP-resistant tongue cancer tissues and cells, and mainly expressed in cytoplasm. Functionally the knockdown of KCNQ1OT1 inhibited the survival rate, proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT of the DDP-resistant tongue cancer cells. Of note, miR-124-3p acted as a target of KCNQ1OT1 and KCNQ1OT1 could reduce the expression of miR-124-3p. Moreover, miR-124-3p targeted TRIM14 and the downregulation of TRIM14 reduced the DDP resistance of tongue cancer cells. Importantly, KCNQ1OT1 regulated the TRIM14 expression by targeting miR-124-3p. Furthermore, KCNQ1OT1 knockdown reduced the DDP-resistant tumor growth and weight through the miR-124-3p/TRIM14 axis in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA KCNQ1OT1 promotes the DDP resistance of tongue cancer by sponging miR-124-3p to regulate TRIM14 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed serious challenges. It is vitally important to further clarify the epidemiological characteristics of the COVID-19 outbreak for future study and prevention and control measures. Epidemiological characteristics and spatial− temporal analysis were performed based on COVID-19 cases from 21 January 2020 to 1 March 2020 in Shandong Province, and close contacts were traced to construct transmission chains. A total of 758 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported in Shandong. The sex ratio was 1.27: 1 (M: F) and the median age was 42 (interquartile range: 32–55). The high-risk clusters were identified in the central, eastern and southern regions of Shandong from 25 January 2020 to 10 February 2020. We rebuilt 54 transmission chains involving 209 cases, of which 52.2% were family clusters, and three widespread infection chains were elaborated, occurring in Jining, Zaozhuang and Liaocheng, respectively. The geographical and temporal disparity may alert public health agencies to implement specific measures in regions with different risk, and should attach importance on how to avoid household and community transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of average power and pulse duration of pulsed laser welding on weld dimensions, microstructure, microhardness and pitting corrosion resistance of 21% Cr ferritic stainless steel. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to observe the microstructure of the fusion zone. Microhardness tests and electrochemical measurements were carried out to study the mechanical and pitting corrosion properties, respectively. Results show that the depth of welds dropped firstly and then increased with the pulse duration. The grain size in the fusion zone and heat affected zone (HAZ), and the width of HAZ all increased with the average power, but changed little with the pulse duration. The microhardness of welds decreased with the average power but almost kept constant when the pulse duration was lower than 5 ms. The pitting corrosion resistance of welded joints was weakened with the increase of pulse duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]