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An integrated process uses an anaerobic baffled reactor combined with a fully mixed reactor (ABR-CSTR) as a test carrier for low-carbon, high-ammonia nitrogen (NH

A finite element model based on solid mechanics was developed with ABAQUS to study the material flow in whole process of friction stir welding (FSW), with the technique of tracer particles. Simulation results indicate that the flow pattern of the tracer particles around the pin is spiral movement. There are very different flow patterns at the upper and lower parts of the weld. The material on the upper surface has the spiral downward movement that is affected by the shoulder and the lower material has the spiral upward movement that is affected by the pin. The velocity of the material flow on the periphery of the stirring pin is higher than that at the bottom of the stirring pin. The material can be rotated with a stirring pin a few times, agreeing well with the previous experimental observation by tungsten tracer particles.

Adding small nanoparticles (NPs) into polymer melt can lead to a non-Einstein-like decrease in viscosity. However, the underlying mechanism remains a long-standing unsolved puzzle. Here, for an all-polymer nanocomposite formed by linear polystyrene (PS) chains and PS single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs), we perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations and experimental rheology measurements. We show that with a fixed (small) loading of the SCNP, viscosity reduction (VR) effect can be largely amplified with an increase in matrix chain length \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$N$$\end{document}N, and that the system with longer polymer chains will have a larger VR. We demonstrate that such \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$N$$\end{document}N-dependent VR can be attributed to the friction reduction experienced by polymer segment blobs which have similar size and interact directly with these SCNPs. A theoretical model is proposed based on the tube model. We demonstrate that it can well describe the friction reduction experienced by melt polymers and the VR effect in these composite systems., Addition of small nanoparticles into polymer melt can lead to decrease in viscosity but the underlying mechanism for such viscosity reduction remains unclear. Here, the authors investigate the reduction in viscosity by large-scale molecular dynamics simulation and experimental rheology measurements for an all-polymer nanocomposite formed by linear polystyrene chains and PS single-chain nanoparticle.

The influence of nanofillers on the crystal transformation from crystal form II to form I of isotactic polybutene-1(PB-1) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), in situ wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. Two types of silicate clay both having one-dimensional structure, halloysite nanotube (HNT) and palygorskite (PGS), were used as nanofillers of PB-1. PGS accelerates the transformation from crystal form II to I for PB-1 more efficiently than HNT, which is attributed to the lattice match of crystal structure between PGS and form I as confirmed by the WAXD and SAXS tests. Moreover, hydrophobically modified clays MPGS and MHNT were used to improve the miscibility between nanoparticle and PB-1. However, transformation kinetics study indicates that the acceleration effect of MPGS is greatly decreased due to the shield of lattice match although the miscibility of the composites is improved, while that of MHNT is increased due to the improvement of miscibility. These results provide direct evidence that the existence of crystallographic relationships is another important factor to accelerate the crystal transformation from form II to I in PB-1.

A new strategy that integrates the targeting group and response moiety together for the preparation of mitochondrial probe was developed. Bioimaging studies have shown that for the first time, the newly designed probe HDFL-Cys can first accumulate in mitochondria and then react with the analyte., Mitochondria are vital organelles that not only produce cellular energy but also participate in many biological processes. Recently, various fluorescent probes have been developed for mitochondrial imaging. However, due to the lack of suitable dyes or strategies, it is difficult for most reported mitochondrial targeting probes to prove whether the analytes they detected are from mitochondria. In addition, positive charge on mitochondrial probes can seriously affect the mitochondrial environment. To address these issues, we herein put forward a novel strategy for probe design based on a smart NIR dye (HDFL) for mitochondrial targeting detection. Compared to general mitochondrial targeting probes that are modified with a target site and a reaction site, the new strategy is to combine the two sites together for a mitochondrial probe that would provide accurate detection of analytes in mitochondria without interference. As a proof of concept, we synthesized a mitochondrial-targetable probe HDFL-Cys for cysteine. Bioimaging studies have shown that the new type of probe HDFL-Cys can first accumulate in mitochondria and then react with the analyte (cysteine) accompanied by the departure of the targeting group (lipophilic cation moieties). Thus, it can specifically detect the analyte in mitochondria without interference from extra-mitochondrial analytes. We anticipate that the new strategy based on the novel NIR dye HDFL may be a potential platform for developing desirable ratiometric fluorescent probes for mitochondrial imaging.

Polo-like kinase 2 (Plk2) is a potential target for the treatment of cancer, which displays an important role in tumor cell proliferation and survival. In this report, according to the analysis of critical amino acid residue differences among Plk1, Plk2 and Plk3, and structure-based drug design strategies, two novel series of selective Plk2 inhibitors based on tetrahydropteridin chemical scaffold were designed and synthesized to target two specific residues, Lys86 and Tyr161 of Plk2. All compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against Plk1-Plk3 and the cellular inhibition activity on six different human cancer cell lines. All efforts led to the identification of the most potent compounds C2 (3.40 nM against Plk2) and C21 (4.88 nM against Plk2) from the first and second series of selective Plk2 inhibitors respectively. Additionally, the selectivity of C21 over Plk1/3 was significantly increased with the selectivity indexes of 12.57 and 910.06. Moreover, most of our compounds exhibited antitumor activity in the nanomolar range in the MTT assay, indicating that our compounds, especially C2 and C21 could be promising Plk2 inhibitors for further anticancer research.

The epidemicity of bacteria facultatively associated with eukaryotes, involves not only housekeeping genes but also genes linked with the pathogenesis and symbiosis. Here, by characterizing both housekeeping (rpoB and 16S rRNA gene) and nodulation (nodD) genes, we explore processes shaping epidemic patterns of facultative microsymbionts from rhizosphere soils of faba bean in three ecoregions. Although total bacterial communities in rhizosphere were not significantly differentiated across ecoregions, rpoB amplicon sequencing uncovered that Rhizobium laguerreae and Rhizobium anhuiense were predominant in different samples with contrasting pH or salt content. However, R. anhuiense can outcompete R. laguerreae in certain sterilized soils where R. laguerreae originally dominated, and viceversa. Contrasting bacterial taxa associated with either R. laguerreae or R. anhuiense in soils. The biogeographical pattern of nodD was more clear than that of rhizobial species in both rhizosphere soils and nodules. Competitive nodulation experiments demonstrated a hierarchical selection on nodD genotypes and their genomic backgrounds by faba bean cultivars. Taken together, abiotic and biotic factors in soils and the selection by legume hosts are either indirectly or directly involved in shaping rhizobial species-level taxonomic biogeography, which however cannot be used to infer spatial patterns of nodulation gene.

Summary: Electron donor-acceptor (D-A)-type molecules are the most widely employed two-photon scaffolds. Unfortunately, current D-A-type fluorophores suffer from serious solvent-dependent emission wavelength and brightness, thwarting their use for high-fidelity imaging in complicated biological systems. Herein, with single-atom replacement and acceptor fusing in acedan (6-acetyl-2-(dimethylamino)naphthalene), we devise a new class of D-A type fluorophore (TPQL dyes). Our design results in TPQL fluorophores with a slight emission redshift (ΔλTPQL1 < 32 nm versus ΔλAcedan-NH2 = 91 nm) and high brightness (εΦTPQL1 = 7,600 to 6,923 versus εΦAcedan-NH2 = 7,372 to 1,314) in different solvent systems. Such features not only provide bright and unbiased fluorescent images of TPQL fluorophores in the cell but also bring deeper tissue penetration and greater signal-to-background ratios in tissue. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, using probe TPQL-N3 and TPQL-APN, we monitor the dynamic changes of H2S and APN during zebrafish liver development with high fidelity to the best of our knowledge.

Receiving nodulation and nitrogen fixation genes does not guarantee rhizobia an effective symbiosis with legumes. Here, variations in gene content were determined for three Sinorhizobium species showing contrasting symbiotic efficiency on soybeans. A nitrate-reduction gene cluster absent in S. sojae was found to be essential for symbiotic adaptations of S. fredii and S. sp. III. In S. fredii, the deletion mutation of the nap (nitrate reductase), instead of nir (nitrite reductase) and nor (nitric oxide reductase), led to defects in nitrogen-fixation (Fix- ). By contrast, none of these core nitrate-reduction genes were required for the symbiosis of S. sp. III. However, within the same gene cluster, the deletion of hemN1 (encoding oxygen-independent coproporphyrinogen III oxidase) in both S. fredii and S. sp. III led to the formation of nitrogen-fixing (Fix+ ) but ineffective (Eff- ) nodules. These Fix+ /Eff- nodules were characterized by significantly lower enzyme activity of glutamine synthetase indicating rhizobial modulation of nitrogen-assimilation by plants. A distant homologue of HemN1 from S. sojae can complement this defect in S. fredii and S. sp. III, but exhibited a more pleotropic role in symbiosis establishment. These findings highlighted the lineage-dependent optimization of symbiotic functions in different rhizobial species associated with the same host.

A facile one-pot method is proposed for the fabrication of yolk-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles with high special surface area. The particle size can be well controlled by moderately tuning some experimental parameters.

Aim Most culture-independent studies of bacterial biogeography have been at genus or higher taxonomic levels, although many important processes mediated by bacteria are at the strain or species level, such as the competitive nodulation of rhizobia on legumes. Here, at the intra-species level, we characterized the structural variation in rhizobial populations in soybean rhizosphere under field conditions across 32 sampling sites in three eco-regions. Location North-east (Heilongjiang), north (Hebei–Shandong) and south (Jiangxi) China. Methods The intra-species diversity of rhizobia in soybean rhizospheres was investigated by rpoB pyrosequencing. Soybean nodule isolates were characterized using repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism of 16S-23S intergenic sequences and rpoB PCR sequencing. Patterns and processes of biogeography of identified rhizobia were studied. Results Significant biogeographical patterns of rhizosphere rhizobia at the species level were found, and the abundant species in the rhizosphere were generally the dominant microsymbionts in soybean nodules. The distribution of rhizobial species in the rhizosphere across eco-regions correlated with combined effects of spatial, vegetative, edaphic and climatic variables. Gene flow and genetic differentiation analyses revealed that there was no dispersal limitation among geographical populations of the same rhizobial species, and drift or subsequent diversification might be involved in shaping the biogeographical pattern in addition to environmental factors. Main conclusions These results constitute the first report of the existence of rhizobial biogeography in legume rhizospheres at the species level, contrasting with most studies, which focused on nodule isolates. The method developed in this study could be used to uncover, at high resolution, the diversity of local rhizobial populations in soils. This information is crucial for choosing suitable strains or species as inoculants for a specific legume host under local field conditions. Moreover, a similar strategy could be used to study other bacteria with important ecological functions.

Gastric cancer remains the second most common tumor in China. Modified-Bu-zhong-yi-qi decoction (mBYD) as an adjuvant therapy for gastric cancer patients after chemotherapy could significantly prolong the survival time of patients. However, the potential anticancer mechanism for mBYD has not been well characterized. Here, we conducted a comprehensive study of mBYD on a gastric cancer xenograft model with MFC cells in 615 mice and patients. Our results showed that the survival times of the 5-FU + mBYD and mBYD groups were significantly longer than that of the control group. Moreover, the 5-FU + mBYD group had a longer survival time than the 5-FU group. Flow cytometry revealed that the value of CD4+/CD8+ in the mBYD group increased and that the proportions of CD8+PD-1+ T cells and PD-1+Treg cells were decreased when compared to the control group. Compared with the 5-FU group, CD8+PD-1+ T cells and Treg cells were both decreased when 5-FU was combined with mBYD. Further analysis showed that mBYD inhibited PD-L1 expression by the PI3K/AKT pathway in gastric cancer. An in vitro study also showed that mBYD directly promoted the proliferation, activation and cytotoxicity of T lymphocytes. Meanwhile, mBYD reduced the upregulation of CD8+PD-1+ T cells induced by chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer. In conclusion, mBYD could modulate peripheral immunity and suppress the immune escape of tumors, which may be a promising therapy for gastric cancer.

We report here a single-benzene based fluorescent framework, amino-terephthalonitrile, denoted SB-Fluor. This scaffold displays versatile emission wavelength tunability via structure modification, covering the full visible light spectrum, both in the solution and solid state. Moreover, one molecule, SBF3, exhibits polymorphism-dependent reversible mechanochromic luminescence.

This paper reports the clinical and genetic characteristics of a case of combined pituitary hormone deficiency type Ⅰ (CPHD1) caused by POU domain, class 1, transcription factor 1 (POU1F1) gene variation. A 2 years and 3 months old girl mainly presented with short stature, special facial features of prominent forehead, enophthalmos, and short mandible, loose skin, central hypothyroidism, complete growth hormone deficiency, and anterior pituitary hypoplasia. Gene analysis identified a novel heterozygous mutation, c.889C > T (p.R297W), in POU1F1 gene, and this locus of her parents was wild-type. This mutation was analyzed as a possible pathogenic variant according to the guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, which has not been previously reported in the literature and conforms to the autosomal dominant inheritance. This child was diagnosed with CPHD1. Her height increased by 19.8 cm and showed a catch-up growth trend after one year of combined treatment with growth hormone and euthyrox. This study enriches the mutation spectrum of POU1F1 gene and has important significance for the diagnosis and classification of combined pituitary hormone deficiency.

Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a severe liver disease, which influences the health of people worldwide. However, the specific mechanism of the disease remains unknown, and effective treatments are still lacking. It was reported that Nuclear enriched abundant transcript 1 (NEAT1) obviously was up-regulated in NAFLD model. But the role and underlying mechanism of NEAT1 in NAFLD is unclear. Methods HepG2 cells were treated by free fatty acids (FFA) and C57BL/6J mice were treated by high-fat diet to establish NAFLD in vitro and in vivo models, respectively. Cell transfection was applied to regulate the expression of NEAT1, ROCK1, and miR-146a-5p. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were used for measuring expression of protein and mRNA level, respectively. Dual luciferase assay was used to detect the target relationship. Oil Red O staining was used to measure the lipid accumulation. HE staining was used for observing pathological feature of liver tissues. Results High levels of NEAT1 and ROCK1, and low level of miR-146a-5p were identified in NAFLD models. NEAT1 could target miR-146a-5p to promote ROCK1 expression. Knockdown of NEAT1, overexpression of miR-146a-5p and knockdown of ROCK1 inhibited lipid accumulation through activating AMPK pathway. Conclusion NEAT1 may regulate NAFLD through miR-146a-5p targeting ROCK1, and further affect AMPK/SREBP pathway. This study may provide a new thought for the treatment of NAFLD.

Development of a facile but high-efficient small organic molecule-based photothermal therapy (PTT) in the in vivo transparent window (800–900 nm) has been regarded as a minimally invasive and most promising strategy for potential clinical cancer treatment. Phthalocyanine (Pc) molecules with remarkable photophysical and photochemical properties as well as high extinction coefficients in the near-infrared region are highly desirable for PTT, but as far satisfying single-component Pc-based PTT within the in vivo transparent window (800–900 nm) has very rarely been reported. Herein, inspired by the self-assembly algorithm of natural bacteriochlorophylls c, d, and e, biomimetic self-assembling tetrahexanoyl Pc Bio-ZnPc with outstanding light-harvesting capacity was demonstrated to exhibit excellent PTT efficacy evidenced by both in vitro and in vivo results, within the biological transparent window.

To assess the difference in the metabolomics profiles of follicular fluid between older and younger reproductive-aged women.The retrospective study was conducted at the Centre of Reproduction and Genetics, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China and comprised patient data related to the period between July and October 2015. Follicular fluid was obtained from male-factor infertility women aged 28-35 years as the younger group A, and those aged 35-42 years as the older group B. The subjects were undergoing in vitro fertilization / intracytoplasmic sperm injection and were retrospectively analysed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry. The fragments were structurally identified using debris' information obtained from fragmented ion scans to identify the different compounds.Of the 55 cases studied, 28(51%) were in group A with a mean age of 29.57 ± 2.92 years, and 27(49%) were in group B with a mean age of 39.19±2.95 years. Compared with the group A, four types of compounds, hormones, licithin, lysophospholipids, and protein degradation fragments, were expressed significantly differentially in group B (p0.05 each). Nicotine glucuronide and phosphatidylcholine were found only in Group B follicular fluid.The components of follicular fluid and relative contents were found changed with ageing.

Sesquiterpenoids are a major type of compound found in Solanum lyratum (S. lyratum). The present study aimed to investigate whether sesquiterpenoids from S. lyratum demonstrated cytotoxicity against the MCF-7, HCT-8, A-549, SGC-7901 and BEL-7402 cell lines, and the mechanism of solajiangxin H and lyratol D, which exhibited high cytotoxicity against SGC-7901 cells (half maximal inhibitory concentration, IC50=4.8 and 5.9 µg/ml), was associated with mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. The results of the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay indicated that 15 sesquiterpenoids had cytotoxicity against the aforementioned cultured cells. The results of DAPI staining and western blot analysis, used to study the anticancer mechanisms of solajiangxin H and lyratol D in SGC-7901 cells, suggested that solajiangxin H and lyratol D induced the apoptosis of SGC-7901 cells significantly (P

Mineral element contents, combined with multivariate analysis, were used for the identification and classification of foodborne pathogens from a common genus (Rhodococcus equi, Staphylococcus spp., Listeria spp., Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Escherichia coli, Enterobacter sakazakii, Yersinia enterocolitica and Vibrio spp.). 45 macro- and trace mineral elements of 30 foodborne pathogens were determined by a semiquantitative inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SQ-ICP-MS) technique. The elemental analysis identified 10 significant elements (28Si, 43Ca, 57Fe, 47Ti, 52Cr, 55Mn, 66Zn, 88Sr, 137Ba and 208Pb) by ANOVA in different types of pathogens. Principal component analysis (PCA) reduced the 10 variables to 6 principal components which could explain 98.40% of the total variance. The classification models constructed by the Fisher linear discriminant analysis (Fisher LDA) and back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) achieved correctly classified rates of 86.9% and 91.3%, respectively. The results indicated that the combination of multi-metal element composition determination and multivariate analysis can be used as fingerprint to quickly identify and classify foodborne pathogens.

The cationic substitution of [La3+-Na+] for [Ba2+-Ba2+] pairs in the Eu2+ doped Ba3P4O13 (BPO) phosphors is designed to investigate the effect on Eu valence state and photoluminescence properties. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis demonstrates the successful incorporation of La3+ and Na+ into BPO, forming Ba2.94-2xLaxNaxP4O13 (BLNPO). Eu3+ ions doped in BLNPO host can only be partly reduced to Eu2+ state under a reducing atmosphere and the reduction mechanism is proposed. BLNPO: Eu exhibits a blue-green broad emission band derived from Eu2+ and a series of sharp emission lines from 570 to 720 nm assigned to the electron transition of 5D0→7FJ (J = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) of Eu3+. The emission colors of the BLNPO: Eu phosphors can be tuned from blue-green to white and eventually to orange via regulating [La3+-Na+] content. Through this strategy, color-tunable white light emission is successfully achieved and optimized in single-phase BLNPO host, which enables the BLNPO: Eu phosphors to be potential color-tunable phosphor candidates for WLEDs.

The coexistence of thin and thick lamellae of form II in isotactic polybutylene-1 (PB-1) was obtained by isothermal crystallization at high temperature (100 °C) and subsequent cooling, and then the transformation from coexisted thin and thick lamellae of form II to form I was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), in-situ wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), to understand the dependence of lamellar thickness on the transformation from form II to form I. It is seen that the transformation of thick lamellae is always superior to that of thin lamellae. The crystal transformation time is shortened to ∼ 48 h for the samples with only thick lamellae of form II, which also weakens the retardance of form II to form I transition at late stage. By directly observing the crystalline morphology via POM, we find that crystalline form II formed at higher isothermal temperatures possesses loose and irregular spherulites, which facilitates the transition in contrast with the dense and regular spherulites formed at lower temperatures. Moreover, the large temperature difference during cooling from higher isothermal temperature to room temperature also accelerates the transformation due to increasing internal stress. Our work builds up connections among the crystalline morphology, the lamellar thickness, and the transformation behavior, which may help understand the crystalline transformation from form II to form I in PB-1.

Fluorescent dyes have enabled much progress in the broad range of biomedical fields. However, many commercially available dyes suffer from small Stokes shifts, resulting in poor signal-to-noise ratio and self-quenching on current microscope configurations. In this work, we have developed a general method to significantly increase the Stokes shifts of common fluorophores. By simply appending a 1,4-diethyl-decahydro-quinoxaline (DQ) moiety onto the conjugated structure, we introduced a vibronic backbone that could facilely expand the Stokes shifts, emission wavelength, and photostability of 11 different fluorophores by more than 3-fold. This generalizable method could significantly improve the imaging efficiency of commercial fluorophores. As a demonstration, we showed that the DQ derivative of hemicyanine generated 5-fold signal in mouse models over indocyanine green. Furthermore, the DQ-modified fluorophores could pair with their parent molecules to conduct one-excitation, multiple emission imaging, allowing us to study the cell behavior more robustly. This approach shows promise in generating dyes suitable for super-resolution microscopy and second window near-infrared imaging.

N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) has been implicated in the development of central nervous system and brain diseases such as brain tumors, ischemic stroke and neurodegenerative disorders. However, it remains unclear that the spatiotemporal distribution of NDRG2 in the human fetal brain. In this study, we examined the expression pattern of NDRG2 in different regions of human fetal brain at 16-28 gestational weeks (GWs) by using RT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. Firstly, RT-PCR revealed that mRNA of NDRG2 was detected in the human brain regions of fetuses at 16-28 GWs such as medulla oblongata (MdO), mesencephalon (MeE), cerebellum (Cbl), frontal lobe (Fr), ventricular (VZ)/subventricular zone (SVZ) and hippocampus (hip), and the expressions of NDRG2 mRNA in these human fetal brain regions were increased with gestational maturation. Furthermore, western blot and immunohistochemistry results revealed that at 28 GWs, the expression of NDRG2 protein was restricted to the MdO's olivary nucleus, MeE's aqueduct, cerebellar internal granular layers, cerebral cortex of the Fr, VZ/SVZ of lateral ventricle, and hippocampal dentate gyrus, and highest expression in the VZ/SVZ, and lowest in the MeE. Finally, double immunohistochemistry results showed that NDRG2 in the MdO, Cbl and VZ/SV at 28 GWS was mainly expressed in neurons (NeuN positive cells), and in some astrocytes (GFAP positive cells). Taken together, these results suggest that NDRG2 is mainly expressed in human fetal neurons of various brain regions during development, which may be involved in neuronal growth and maturation.

The effects of interference intensity on soil respiration (R研究轻度干扰和重度干扰对亚热带米槠人促更新林土壤总呼吸、异养呼吸的影响.结果表明:与轻度干扰米槠林相比,重度干扰林的土壤呼吸及其各组分均下降,其中,自养呼吸(

Lung cancer is one of the most fatal cancers due to its high metastatic rate. Traditional Chinese medicine has been used in cancer patients for decades to improve quality of life and prolong survival time. The present study used a novel Qiyusanlong (QYSL) decoction composed of 10 kinds of Chinese medicine including astragalus membranaceus (Huangqi), polygonatumod oratum (yuzu), scolopendra (tianlong), pberetima (dilong), solanum nigrum (longkui), herbahedyotis (baihushecao), semen coicis (yiyiren), euphorbia helioscopia (zeqi), curcuma longa (eshu) and tendril-leaved fritillary bulb (chuanbei). The effects and function of the QYSL decoction remain to be elucidated. The present study established a mouse xenograft model using Lewis lung carcinoma cell injection and administered different doses of QYSL decoction to the mice. It was demonstrated that the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin (DDP) and QYSL decoction repressed lung tumor growth, and the inhibitory effect of DDP was more significant. Furthermore, QYSL decoction and DDP modulated the expression of regulatory proteins in the Wnt/β‑catenin pathway, including Wnt1, Wnt2, Wnt5a and glycogen synthase kinase 3β, detected by western blotting, and affected the signals of cluster of differentiation 44 variation 6 and Survivin in tumor tissues, examined via immunohistochemistry. The combination of QYSL decoction and DDP enhanced the inhibitory effect. These data demonstrated that the QYSL decoction repressed lung tumor development via the Wnt/β‑catenin pathway. The therapeutic effect of QYSL decoction alone was milder compared with DDP, however the combination of QYSL decoction and chemotherapy exhibited an increased the rapeutic effect compared with the treatments administered alone. These findings revealed the function of QYSL decoction as a lung cancer treatment and provided insight for a novel lung cancer therapy.

Licochalcone A (LicA) is a chalcone extracted from liquorice which has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for many generations. Increased glucose consumption and glycolytic activity are important hallmarks of cancer cells, and hexokinase 2 (HK2) upregulation is a major contributor to the elevation of glycolysis. Recently, the antitumor activities of LicA have been reported in various cancers; however, its effect on tumor glycolysis in gastric cancer and the underlying mechanisms are completely unknown. In vitro, cell proliferation and clonogenic survival were substantially inhibited after LicA treatment. LicA reduced HK2 expression, and both glucose consumption and lactate production in gastric cancer cells were significantly suppressed. Mechanistic investigations revealed that multiple signaling pathways including Akt, ERK and NF‑κB were suppressed by LicA. Further studies demonstrated that the inhibition of glycolysis by LicA was mainly attributed to the blockade of the Akt signaling pathway, and the suppression of glycolysis was substantially attenuated when Akt was exogenously overexpressed. In addition to the role in the inhibition of glycolysis, reduction in HK2 was confirmed to be involved in the induction of cell apoptosis. The apoptosis induced by LicA was substantially impaired after HK2 overexpression in gastric cancer cells. The in vivo experiment showed that MKN45 xenograft growth was markedly delayed after LicA treatment and HK2 expression in LicA‑treated tissues was markedly decreased. All of these data demonstrated that blockade of the Akt/HK2 pathway was the underlying mechanism required for LicA to exert its biological activities in glycolysis inhibition and apoptosis induction.

Using a fragment-based drug design strategy, two biomedical interesting fragments, resveratrol and coumarin were linked to design a series of novel human monoamine oxidase (hMAO) inhibitors with a scaffold of 3-((E)-3-(2-((E)-styryl)phenyl)acryloyl)-2H-chromen-2-one, which demonstrated a very interesting selectivity profile against hMAO-A and hMAO-B: some compounds with this scaffold are selective hMAO-A inhibitors, whereas some are selective hMAO-B inhibitors. The small changes in the substituents of the coumarin moiety led to this interesting selectivity profile. The most potent selective hMAO-B inhibitor D7 has a selectivity ratio of 20.93, with an IC₅₀ value of 2.78 μM, similar or better than selegiline (IC₅₀ = 2.89 μM), a selective hMAO-B inhibitor currently in the market for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Our modeling study indicates that Tyr 326 of hMAO-B (or corresponded Ile 335 of hMAO-A) may be the determinant for the specificity of these compounds. The selectivity profile of compounds reported herein suggests that we can further develop both selective hMAO-A and hMAO-B inhibitors based on this novel scaffold.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with elevated levels of hMAO-B in the brain, and MAO-B has been recognized a successful target for developing anti-PD drugs. Herein we report rasagiline derivatives as novel potent and selective hMAO-B inhibitors. They were designed by employing fragment-based drug design strategy to link rasagiline and hydrophobic fragments, which may target a hydrophobic pocket in the entrance cavity of hMAO-B. Different linkers such as -OCH2-, -SCH2-, -OCH2CH2-, -OCH2CH2O-, -OCH2CH2CH2O- were tried. A promising selective hMAO-B inhibitor D14 with similar inhibitory activity as rasagiline and improved isoform selectivity was yielded. The selectivity profile of compounds reported herein suggests that we can further develop more potent hMAO-B inhibitors with high isoform selectivity through this strategy.

Receiving nodulation and nitrogen fixation genes does not guarantee rhizobia an effective symbiosis with legumes. Here, variations in gene content were determined for three Sinorhizobium species showing contrasting symbiotic efficiency on soybeans. A nitrate-reduction gene cluster absent in S. sojae was found to be essential for symbiotic adaptations of S. fredii and S. sp. III. In S. fredii, the deletion mutation of the nap (nitrate reductase), instead of nir (nitrite reductase) and nor (nitric oxide reductase), led to defects in nitrogen-fixation (Fix

Traditional Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been recognized as a valuable method to characterize and classify kinds of microorganisms. In this study, combined with multivariate statistical analysis, synchrotron radiation-based FTIR (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy was applied to identify and discriminate ten foodborne bacterial strains. Our results show that the whole spectra (3000–900 cm−1) and three subdivided spectral regions (3000–2800, 1800–1500 and 1200–900 cm−1, representing lipids, proteins and polysaccharides, respectively) can be used to type bacteria. Either the whole spectra or the three subdivided spectra are good for discriminating the bacteria at levels of species and subspecies, but the whole spectra should be given preference at the genus level. The findings demonstrate that SR-FTIR microspectroscopy is a powerful tool to identify and classify foodborne pathogenic bacteria at the genus, species and subspecies level.

According to the problem of drag reduction on bionic jet surface, a rectangular jet surface model which is similar to shark branchial shape was built, and numerical simulation was processed by using SST k-ω turbulence model, moreover, influence of jet hole size on the drag reduction performance of jet surface was studied. The results show that: the effect of flow length of rectangular jet hole on the drag reduction is remarkable, with the increase of flow length, fluid friction resistance of the jet surface decreases, the maximum drag reduction rate was 14.38%, and the results of numerical simulation was verified by carrying out experiments. The jet fluid decreases the sweep on the wall of mainstream high speed fluid, which increases the thickness of jet surface boundary layer, thereby reducing the surface friction of the jet hole downstream.

The synthesis of a new liquid crystal thiophene monomer of (E)-4-(6-(3-(thiophen-3-yl)- acryloyloxy) hexyloxy) biphenyl-4’-ethylbenzoate (LC-M) is presented. The chemical structure of this monomer and intermediate compounds was characterized by FT-IR and1H-NMR. The phase behavior was investigated by polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. LC-M showed nematic threaded and schlieren textures on heating and cooling cycles.

In order to investigate the genetic differentiation of Sinorhizobium strains nodulating Glycine max and related microevolutionary mechanisms, three housekeeping genes ( SMc00019 , truA , and thrA ) and 16 symbiosis-related genes on the chromosome (7 genes), pSymA (6 genes), and pSymB (3 genes) were analyzed. Five distinct species were identified among the test strains by calculating the average nucleotide identity (ANI) of SMc00019-truA-thrA : Sinorhizobium fredii , Sinorhizobium sojae , Sinorhizobium sp. I, Sinorhizobium sp. II, and Sinorhizobium sp. III. These species assignments were also supported by population genetics and phylogenetic analyses of housekeeping genes and symbiosis-related genes on the chromosome and pSymB. Different levels of genetic differentiation were observed among these species or different replicons. S. sojae was the most divergent from the other test species and was characterized by its low intraspecies diversity and limited geographic distribution. Intergenic recombination dominated the evolution of 19 genes from different replicons. Intraspecies recombination happened frequently in housekeeping genes and symbiosis-related genes on the chromosome and pSymB, whereas pSymA genes showed a clear pattern of lateral-transfer events between different species. Moreover, pSymA genes were characterized by a lower level of polymorphism and recombination than those on the chromosome and pSymB. Taken together, genes from different replicons of rhizobia might be involved in the establishment of symbiosis with legumes, but these symbiosis-related genes might have evolved differently according to their corresponding replicons.

The production of secondary metabolites, while important for bioengineering purposes, presents a paradox in itself. Though widely existing in plants and bacteria, they have no definite physiological roles. Yet in both native habitats and laboratories, their production appears robust and follows apparent metabolic switches. We show in this work that the enzyme-catalysed process may improve the metabolic stability of the cells. The latter can be responsible for the overall metabolic behaviours such as dynamic metabolic landscape, metabolic switches and robustness, which can in turn affect the genetic formation of the organism in question. Mangrove-derived Streptomyces xiamenensis 318, with a relatively compact genome for secondary metabolism, is used as a model organism in our investigation. Integrated studies via kinetic metabolic modelling, transcriptase measurements and metabolic profiling were performed on this strain. Our results demonstrate that the secondary metabolites increase the metabolic fitness of the organism via stabilizing the underlying metabolic network. And the fluxes directing to NADH, NADPH, acetyl-CoA and glutamate provide the key switches for the overall and secondary metabolism. The information may be helpful for improving the xiamenmycin production on the strain.

Biomass gasification is one of the most promising technologies to exploit energy from renewable biomass. In this paper, brief introduction of the mechanism of biomass gasification technology and the application status of biomass gasification was described in detail. The research progress of biomass gasification technology in China is reviewed. Finally, the features of these technologies are analyzed and the problems that the biomass gasification technology needs to solve and the research direction of this technology are pointed out.

Its a commonly used method to predict layer by using seismic attributes, especially for some of the less well control channel sand bodies whose role is more important. Putaohua reservoir in Gaotaizi oilfield mainly develop shallow water delta front subaqueous distributary channel sand bodies which has narrow rivers and thin sand bodies, meanwhile, the existing well density is difficult to control the trend and boundary of the channel. By using seismic forward modeling analysis techniques, this paper researched the differences of seismic reflection characteristics among different geological model of channel sand bodies, then , further pointed out the methods of channel sand prediction by using the peak number attribute and analyzed the predictive effect. The results show that this method can effectively improve the prediction accuracy of thin interbedded reservoir.

To achieve effective symbiosis with legume, rhizobia should fine-tune their background regulation network in addition to activating key genes involved in nodulation (nod) and nitrogen fixation (nif). Here, we report that an ancestral zinc finger regulator, MucR1, other than its paralog, MucR2, carrying a frameshift mutation, is essential for supporting nitrogen fixation of Sinorhizobium fredii CCBAU45436 within soybean nodules. In contrast to the chromosomal mucR1, mucR2 is located on symbiosis plasmid, indicating its horizontal transfer potential. A MucR2 homolog lacking the frameshift mutation, such as the one from S. fredii NGR234, can complement phenotypic defects of the mucR1 mutant of CCBAU45436. RNA-seq analysis revealed that the MucR1 regulon of CCBAU45436 within nodules exhibits significant difference compared with that of free-living cells. MucR1 is required for active expression of transporters for phosphate, zinc, and elements essential for nitrogenase activity (iron, molybdenum, and sulfur) in nodules but is dispensable for transcription of key genes (nif/fix) involved in nitrogen fixation. Further reverse genetics suggests that S. fredii uses high-affinity transporters to meet the demand for zinc and phosphate within nodules. These findings, together with the horizontal transfer potential of the mucR homolog, imply an intriguing evolutionary role of this ancestral regulator in supporting nitrogen fixation.

Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) plays an important role in regulating vascular remodeling during cardiovascular diseases. Apelin is the endogenous ligand for the G-protein-coupled receptor APJ and plays an important role in the cardiovascular system. However, the mechanisms of apelin on apoptosis of VSMCs have not been elucidated. Using a culture of human VSMCs as a model for the study of apoptosis, the relationship between apelin and apoptosis of human VSMCs and the signal pathway involved were investigated. Using western blotting, we confirmed that VSMCs could express APJ. To evaluate the possible role of apelin in VSMC apoptosis, we assessed its effect on apoptosis of human VSMCs. The results showed that apelin inhibited human VSMCs apoptosis induced by serum deprivation. Suppression of APJ with small-interfering RNA (siRNA) abolished the anti-apoptotic activity of apelin. Apelin increased Bcl-2 protein expression, but decreased Bax protein expression. An increase in activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) and Akt (a downstream effector of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase) was shown after apelin stimulation. Suppression of APJ with siRNA abolished the apelin-induced activation of ERK and Akt. LY294002 (a PI3-K inhibitor) blocked apelin-induced activation of Akt and abolished the apelin-induced antiapoptotic activity. Our study suggests that apelin suppresses serum deprivation-induced apoptosis of human VSMCs, and that the anti-apoptotic action is mediated through the APJ/PI3-K/Akt signaling pathways.

To observe the effect of Jianpi Yangzheng Xiaozheng Recipe (JYXR) on the tumor inhibition rate of subcutaneous transplanted tumor gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 in BALB/c nude mice, and to study its molecular mechanism of apoptosis and autophagy.Gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 was subcutaneously inoculated to nude mice for preparing transplanted gastric cancer models. Totally 32 BALB/c nude mice were randomly divided into 4 groups according to random digit table, i.e., the negative control group, the positive control group, the high dose JYXR group, the low dose JYXR group, 8 in each group. Normal saline was administered to mice in the negative control group by gastrogavage. 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) at 2. 5 mg/kg was administered to mice in the positive control group by gastrogavage. JYXR at 85 and 43 g/kg was administered to mice in the high dose JYXR group and the low dose JYXR group by gastrogavage, once per day for 10 successive days. The effect of JYXR on the tumor inhibition rate of subcutaneous transplanted tumor was observed. Effects of JYXR on gene expression levels of Bax, Bcl-2, Fas, Cyclin D1, Cyclin D2, and Cyclin D3 in transplanted tumor were observed by real-time PCR. Effects of JYXR on protein expression levels of Procaspase-3, Procaspase-8, Procaspase-9, cleaved-PARP, Beclin-1, and LC3B were detected using Western blot.(1) Compared with the negative control group, the tumor weight was obviously reduced in the rest three groups (P0. 05). The tumor weight was higher in the high dose JYXR group and the low dose JYXR group than in the positive control group (P0. 05). (2) Results of RT-PCR indicated that, compared with the negative control group, expression levels of Bax were up-regulated, but expression levels of Bcl-2, Cyclin D1, Cyclin D2, and Cyclin D3 were down-regulated in the positive control group and JYXR groups (P0. 05). The expression level of Fas was up-regulated in the positive control group and the high dose JYXR group (P0. 05). Compared with the positive control group, expression levels of Fas, and Bax were all down-regulated, but expression levels of Bcl-2, Cyclin D2, and Cyclin D3 were all up-regulated in the high dose JYXR group and the low dose JYXR group (all P0. 05). The expression level of Cyclin D1 was down-regulated in the high dose JYXR group, but it was up-regulated in the low dose JYXR group ( both P0. 05). (3) Results of Western blot showed, compared with the negative control group, expression levels of Procaspase-3, Procaspase-8, and Procaspase-9 were down-regulated, but expression levels of cleaved-PARP, Beclin-1, and LC3B II were up-regulated in the high dose JYXR group and the low dose JYXR group (all P0.05). Compared with the negative control group, expression levels of Procaspase-3, Procaspase-8, Procaspase-9, and LC3B II were down-regulated, but expression levels of cleaved-PARP, Beclin-1, and LC3B I were up-regulated in the positive control group (all P0. 05).JYXR showed significant inhibition on subcutaneous transplanted tumor gastric cancer cell line MGC-803 in BALB/c nude mice. Its mechanism might be associated with activating apoptosis and autophagy correlated factors.

Metalloproteins have attracted momentous attentions for the treatment of many human diseases, including cancer, HIV, hypertension, etc. This article reviews the progresses that have been made in the field of drug development of metalloprotein inhibitors, putting emphasis on the targets of carbonic anhydrase, histone deacetylase, angiotensin converting enzyme, and HIV-1 integrase. Many other important metalloproteins are also briefly discussed. The binding and coordination modes of different marketed metalloprotein inhibitors are stated, providing insights to design novel metal binding groups and further novel inhibitors for metalloproteins.

The genus Bradyrhizobium has been considered to be a taxonomically difficult group. In this study, phylogenetics and evolutionary genetics analyses were used to investigate divergence levels among Bradyrhizobium strains nodulating soybeans in China. Eleven genospecies were identified by sequence analysis of three phylogenetic and taxonomic markers ( SMc00019 , thrA , and truA ). This was also supported by analyses of eight genes outside the symbiosis island (“off-island” genes; SMc00019 , thrA , truA , fabB , glyA , phyR , exoN , and hsfA ). However, seven genes inside the symbiosis island (“island” genes; nifA , nifH , nodC , nodV , fixA , trpD , and rhcC2 ) showed contrasting lower levels of nucleotide diversity and recombination rates than did off-island genes. Island genes had significantly incongruent gene phylogenies compared to the species tree. Four phylogenetic clusters were observed in island genes, and the epidemic cluster IV (harbored by Bradyrhizobium japonicum , Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens , Bradyrhizobium huanghuaihaiense , Bradyrhizobium liaoningense , Bradyrhizobium daqingense , Bradyrhizobium sp. I, Bradyrhizobium sp. III, and Bradyrhizobium sp. IV) was not found in Bradyrhizobium yuanmingense , Bradyrhizobium sp. II, or Bradyrhizobium elkanii . The gene flow level of island genes among genospecies is discussed in the context of the divergence level of off-island genes.

Land use/cover changes (LUCC) have been of great concern in global change research in recent years. Based on TM image data and other survey materials, this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of land use change along Coastal areas of the Pearl River Estuary in China during 1990-2005. The findings of this study were summarized as follows: Land use pattern changed dramatically during 1990-2005.Areas of built-up land increased by 2256.38km2 at an annual rate of 9.53%, increasing from 7.73% to 36.82% of the total amount. Arable land and woodland decreased by 1457.73km2 and 475.56 km2 respectively, mainly due to the expansion of industrial construction. Garden land and wetland showed only minor negative changes. Change of water was relatively stable and there was a little descending tendency. Relatively change ratio index (RCRI) was used to describe land use dynamic change situation of different region. During 1990-1995, Shenzhen had the largest RCRI (1.487), followed by Dongguan (1.458), the third was Zhuhai (1.227). Trends of RCRI change between 1995 and 2000 were quite similar with 1990-1995. It turned out to be land use changed more intensely in these three regions than that in Panyu and Zhongshan during 1990-2000. But during 2000-2005, Zhongshan and Panyu occupied the first and second place of RCRI, with the value of 1.309 and 1.098 respectively, showing that these regions have been become the investment hotspots after Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhuhai.