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Background: Amyloid β (Aβ) has been established as a key factor for the pathological changes in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and cellular senescence is closely associated with aging and cognitive impairment. However, it remains blurred whether, in the AD brains, Aβ accelerates the neuronal senescence and whether this senescence, in turn, impairs the cognitive function. This study aimed to explore the expression of senescence-associated genes in the hippocampal tissue from young to aged 5XFAD mice and their age-matched wild type (WT) mice to determine whether senescent neurons are present in the transgenic AD mouse model. Methods: The 5XFAD mice and age-matched wild type mice, both raised from 1 to 18 months, were enrolled in the study. The senescence-associated genes in the hippocampus were analyzed and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cognitive performance of the mice was evaluated by Y-maze and Morris water maze tests. Oligomeric Aβ (oAβ) (1–42) was applied to culture primary neurons to simulate the in vivo manifestation. Aging-related proteins were detected by Western blotting analysis and immunofluorescence. Results: In 5XFAD mice, of all the DEGs, the senescence-associated marker p16 was most significantly increased, even at the early age. It was mainly localized in neurons, with a marginal expression in astrocytes (labeled as glutamine synthetase), nil expression in activated microglia (labeled as Iba1), and negatively correlated with the spatial cognitive impairments of 5XFAD mice. oAβ (1–42) induced the production of senescence-related protein p16, but not p53 in vitro, which was in line with the in vivo manifestation. Conclusions: oAβ-accelerated neuronal senescence may be associated with the cognitive impairment in 5XFAD mice. Senescence-associated marker p16 can serve as an indicator to estimate the cognitive prognosis for AD population.

The study purpose is to analyze changes in the mental health structure and its disorders among students who receive online education. The research involved 23 students (6 boys and 17 girls, average age 18 years). The study covers the period from October 2019 to September 2020. The participating students underwent the assessment using a Telegram before and after quarantine when they studied under the conventional full-time program. Additionally, they were tested during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 when they received online training. The results showed that study participants did not experience stress, depression, or anxiety before switching to online training. However, shifting to online learning mode, students under study experienced an increase in the stress level by 55.4%. Moreover, the study also showed that the stress level among students increased after returning from online to full-time training. However, the indicators had a lesser extent (by 40.2%, p = 0.0031). During online training, the number of students who did not experience stress and students with a mild stress level decreased. Meantime, students who faced stress reactions increased four times (p = 0.029). However, the study did not indicate any significant changes in anxiety levels among students.

The objective of this study is to investigate plantar loads characteristics of habitual forefoot strike runners while running on different surfaces. Twenty-six runners (age: 28.2 ± 6.8 y, height: 172.9 ± 4.1 cm, weight: 67.7 ± 9.6 kg, BMI (body mass index): 22.6 ± 2.8 kg/m2, running age: 5.0 ± 4.2 y, running distance per week: 14.6 ± 11.7 km) with habitual forefoot strike participated in the study. Runners were instructed to run at 3.3 ± 0.2 m/s on three surfaces: grass, synthetic rubber and concrete. An in-shoe pressure measurement system was used to collect and analyze plantar loads data. Running on the synthetic rubber surface produced a lower plantar pressure in the lateral forefoot (256.73 kPa vs. 281.35 kPa, p = 0.006) than running on concrete. Compared with the concrete surface, lower pressure−time integrals were shown at the central forefoot (46.71 kPa⋅s vs. 50.73 kPa⋅s, p = 0.001) and lateral forefoot (36.13 kPa⋅s vs. 39.36 kPa⋅s, p = 0.004) when running on the synthetic rubber surface. The different surfaces influence plantar loads of habitual forefoot strikers and runners should choose appropriate overground surface to reduce the risk of lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries.

Transplantation of submerged macrophytes has been widely used to improve water quality in restoring shallow lakes in China. However, in some lakes, small omnivorous fish predominated the fish assemblages and fed mainly on submerged macrophytes. Despite significant research examining grazing selectivity in herbivorous fishes, macrophyte feeding preferences of small omnivorous fishes are poorly understood. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to examine the effects of a prolific small omnivorous bitterling fish Acheilognathus macropterus on the relative growth rate (RGR) and biomass of submerged macrophytes (Ceratophyllum demersum, Myriophyllum spicatum, Vallisneria denseserrulata, and Hydrilla verticillata). Our results showed that the presence of A. macropterus significantly increased nutrient concentrations (e.g. total nitrogen and total phosphorus). The RGR of C. demersum in the bitterling-present treatment was significantly lower than the controls, in the presence of other macrophyte species. Further, total biomass of the four species of macrophytes in the fish-present mesocosms was markedly lower than in the fish-absent treatment, suggesting considerable consumption of macrophytes by bitterling. Moreover, the percent biomass of V. denserrulata and H. verticillata were significantly enhanced by the presence of bitterling. Our findings suggest that A. macropterus may increase nutrient concentrations through excretion and reduce the biomass and RGR of certain submerged macrophytes which may shift macrophyte community structure via selective grazing.

The advertising industry depends on an effective assessment of the impact of advertising as a key performance metric for their products. However, current assessment methods have relied on either indirect inference from observing changes in consumer behavior after the launch of an advertising campaign, which has long cycle times and requires an ad campaign to have already have been launched (often meaning costs having been sunk). Or through surveys or focus groups, which have a potential for experimental biases, peer pressure, and other psychological and sociological phenomena that can reduce the effectiveness of the study. In this paper, we investigate a new approach to assess the impact of advertisement by utilizing low-cost EEG headbands to record and assess the measurable impact of advertising on the brain. Our evaluation shows the desired performance of our method based on user experiment with 30 recruited subjects after watching 220 different advertisements. We believe the proposed SVM method can be further developed to a general and scalable methodology that can enable advertising agencies to assess impact rapidly, quantitatively, and without bias.

Background. Compared with the well-studied 5-methylcytosine (m5C) in DNA, the role and topology of epitranscriptome m5C remain insufficiently characterized. Results. Through analyzing transcriptome-wide m5C distribution in human and mouse, we show that the m5C modification is significantly enriched at 5′ untranslated regions (5′UTRs) of mRNA in human and mouse. With a comparative analysis of the mRNA and DNA methylome, we demonstrate that, like DNA methylation, transcriptome m5C methylation exhibits a strong clustering effect. Surprisingly, an inverse correlation between mRNA and DNA m5C methylation is observed at CpG sites. Further analysis reveals that RNA m5C methylation level is positively correlated with both RNA expression and RNA half-life. We also observed that the methylation level of mitochondrial RNAs is significantly higher than RNAs transcribed from the nuclear genome. Conclusions. This study provides an in-depth topological characterization of transcriptome-wide m5C modification by associating RNA m5C methylation patterns with transcriptional expression, DNA methylations, RNA stabilities, and mitochondrial genome.

Halenia elliptica D.Don (Gentianaceae) is one of the genuine medicinal species in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Here we report the first chloroplast (cp) genome of H. elliptica using Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform. The length of its complete cp genome is 153,341 bp, containing four sub-regions; a large single-copy region (LSC) of 82,811 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,278 bp, which are separated by a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs) of 26,126bp each. The complete cp genome of H. elliptica contains 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The overall GC content of the cp genome is 38.1%. The phylogenetic analysis, based on 15 cp genomes, suggested that H. elliptica is closely related to Halenia corniculata (L.) Cornaz and Swertia species.

Opisthopappus taihangensis (Ling) Shih is a monotypic species (Anthemideae, Asteraceae) and an endemic endangered plant of China. In this study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of O. taihangensis using Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform. The total length of O. taihangensis chloroplast genome is 151,089 bp, including a large single-copy region of length 82,877 bp, a small single-copy region of length 18304 bp, and a pair of 24,954-bp inverted repeat regions. The chloroplast genome of O. taihangensis has 132 genes, including 87 protein-coding, eight ribosomal RNA, and 37 transfer RNA genes. The overall GC content of the whole genome was 37.5%. The phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship between O. taihangensis and Chrysanthemum boreale.

Flaveria bidentis (L.) Kuntze (Asteraceae) is one of the most hazardous invasive alien plant species and spread rapidly in China. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of F. bidentis was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform. The results showed that the length of chloroplast genome of F. bidentis is 152, 230 bp, including a small single-copy region (18,362 bp), a large single-copy region (83,798 bp) and two inverted repeat regions (25,035 bp). The chloroplast genome contains 115 unique genes, including 81 protein-coding genes, four rRNA genes, and 30 tRNA genes. In total, we found 32 tandem repeats, 34 dispersed repeats and 36 SSRs in the chloroplast genome of F. bidentis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that F. bidentis was in an independent clade and did not belong to the tribe Heliantheae Cass.

Background: Early diagnosis assumes a vital role in an effective treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Most of the current studies can only make an AD diagnosis after the manifestation of typical clinical symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate typical and other biomarkers of AD to find a possible early biomarker. Methods: A total of 14 5XFAD mice (at 3 and 6 months old), with 14 age-matched wild-type (WT) mice as control, were enrolled in this case-control study. Morris water maze test was performed to evaluate the cognitive function; buried food pellet test and olfactory maze test were employed to investigate the olfactory function; immunofluorescence to detect amyloid deposition and positron emission tomography to examine 2-deoxy-2-(18F) fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]-FDG) uptake in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Results: With the increasing age, cognitive performance (P = 0.0262) and olfactory function were significantly deteriorated (day 1 P = 0.0012, day 2 P = 0.0031, day 3 P = 0.0160, respectively) and the (18F)-FDG uptake was markedly decreased in multi-cerebral regions including the olfactory bulb (P < 0.0001), hippocampus (P = 0.0121), and cerebral cortex (P < 0.0001). Of note, in 3-month-old 5XFAD mice, a significant decline of (18F)-FDG uptake in the olfactory bulb was found when compared with that of age-matched WT mice (P = 0.023) while no significant difference was present when the uptakes in other cerebral regions were compared. Conclusions: The decline of (18F)-FDG uptake in the olfactory bulb occurs earlier than other incidents, serving as an earlier in vivo biological marker of AD in 5XFAD mice and making early diagnosis of AD possibly.

Paulownia fortunei is a widely cultivated economic forest tree species that is susceptible to infection with phytoplasma, resulting in Paulownia witches’ broom (PaWB) disease. Diseased P. fortunei is characterized by stunted growth, witches’ broom, shortened internodes, and etiolated and smaller leaves. To understand the molecular mechanism of its pathogenesis, we applied isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry approaches to study changes in the proteomes of healthy P. fortunei, PaWB-infected P. fortunei, and PaWB-infected P. fortunei treated with 15 mg·L−1 or 75 mg·L−1 dimethyl sulfate. We identified 2969 proteins and 104 and 32 differentially abundant proteins that were phytoplasma infection responsive and dimethyl sulfate responsive, respectively. Based on our analysis of the different proteomes, 27 PaWB-related proteins were identified. The protein-protein interactions of these 27 proteins were analyzed and classified into four groups (photosynthesis-related, energy-related, ribosome-related, and individual proteins). These PaWB-related proteins may help in developing a deeper understanding of how PaWB affects the morphological characteristics of P. fortunei and further establish the mechanisms involved in the response of P. fortunei to phytoplasma.

Background Humans often display irrational choice and decision-making due to the frame effect. However, it is unclear whether this irrational choice and decision-making will increase during the aging process. Methods The present research explored development and aging of risky-seeking and rational decision-making with 232 younger adults and 120 older adults. The experiment was a 2 (Age:younger adult and old adult) × 2 (Frame: positive and negative) × 2 (Relevance: lower level and higher level), with the risky probability as a control variable and the decision-making scores as dependent variables. Results The results revealed that older adults demonstrated much more irrational decision-making (framing effect). In the detail, the risky decision-making score of the older adults in the positive framing was 5.13 ± 2.12, and 6.55 ± 1.05 in the negative framing [F (1, 118) = 21.470, P = 0.000; η2 = 0.156], while the risky decision-making score of the younger adults in the positive framing was 3.18 ± 2.49, and 5.00 ± 2.41 in the negative framing [F (1, 230) = 31.260, P = 0.000; η 2 = 0.121]. Meanwhile, the older adults showed risk seeking for the life-death scenario [F (1, 350) = 4.820, P = 0.029]. Conclusions These results suggested that the hypofunction in orbital and medial prefrontal cortex and amygdale in older adults might be the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, the susceptibility to expected value (EV) of the older adults might decrease although their scores in risky probability understanding were not significantly different from the younger adults. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2014.03.008

The original version of this Article contained an error in the Data Availability Statement. The accession code indicated ‘53V’ and should have read ‘5X3V’. This has been corrected in both PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Growth of the meadow-forming macrophyte Vallisneria denseserrulata is often negatively impacted as result of shading by the canopy-forming Hydrilla verticillata. Grazing by the herbivorous cyprinid Megalobrama amblycephala is thought to control H. verticillata. We hypothesized that M. amblycephala would prefer H. verticillata over V. denseserrulata, and that where the latter is grazed, its growth will not be wholly compromised, due in part to the efficiency with which it is metabolized by the grazer. In a pond experiment, macrophytes were planted with monocultures of H. verticillata and V. denseserrulata, and in mixed cultures of the two species, with and without grazing by M. amblycephala. The results showed that in the absence of fish, the growth rate of V. denseserrulata was significantly reduced in the presence of H. verticillata. In the mixture, M. amblycephala had a significant negative effect on the growth of H. verticillata but not on V. denseserrulata. Grazing was associated with reductions in plant height, plant fresh weight and leaf fresh weight but the leaf number, maximum root length, maximum blade width, root weight and stem weight in V. denseserrulata increased. The food utilization ratio of M. amblycephala was significantly higher when grazing solely on V. denseserrulata than when grazing on H. verticillata or the mixture. Our results imply that V. denseserrulata is protected from overgrazing by the ability of M. amblycephala to make more effective metabolic use of ingested material than for H. verticillata. Furthermore, M. amblycephala is beneficial to V. denseserrulata in reducing competition from H. verticillata.

This paper proposes a new hybrid modulation mode (HMM) to eliminate the zero-crossing distortion of grid current and enable reactive power provision for a H6 configuration PV (photovoltaic) grid-tied inverter. The common mode voltage, leakage current, and efficiency for the proposed approach are also analyzed. In order to improve grid frequency tracking a novel frequency self-adaptive proportional-integral-resonant (FSAPIR) controller is implemented which reduces error for changes in grid frequency. The proposed approach provides the basis for accurately adjusting the active and reactive current without error to improve the grid support capability of the inverter. Theoretical analysis, simulation, and experiment verify the newly proposed modulation mode and controller.

T-cell identity is established by the expression of a clonotypic T-cell receptor (TCR), generated by somatic rearrangement of TCRα and β genes. The properties of the TCR determine both the degree of self-reactivity and the repertoire of antigens that can be recognized. For CD8 T cells, the relationship between TCR identity—hence reactivity to self—and effector function(s) remains to be fully understood and has rarely been explored outside of the H-2b haplotype. We measured the affinity of three structurally distinct CD8 T-cell-derived TCRs that recognize the identical H-2 Ld-restricted epitope, derived from the Rop7 protein of Toxoplasma gondii. We used CD8 T cells obtained from mice generated by somatic cell nuclear transfer as the closest approximation of primary T cells with physiological TCR rearrangements and TCR expression levels. First, we demonstrate the common occurrence of secondary rearrangements in endogenously rearranged loci. Furthermore, we characterized and compared the response of Rop7-specific CD8 T-cell clones upon Toxoplasma gondii infection as well as effector function and TCR signalling upon antigenic stimulation in vitro. Antigen-independent TCR cross-linking in vitro uncovered profound intrinsic differences in the effector functions between T-cell clones. Finally, by assessing the degree of self-reactivity and comparing the transcriptomes of naive Rop7 CD8 T cells, we show that lower self-reactivity correlates with lower effector capacity, whereas higher self-reactivity is associated with enhanced effector function as well as cell cycle entry under physiological conditions. Altogether, our data show that potential effector functions and basal proliferation of CD8 T cells are set by self-reactivity thresholds.

A key molecule in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a 42-amino acid isoform of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ42), which is the most toxic element of senile plaques. In this study, to develop an edible, safe, low-cost vaccine for AD, a cholera toxin B subunit (CTB)-Aβ42 fusion protein was successfully expressed in silkworm pupae. We tested the silkworm pupae-derived oral vaccination containing CTB-Aβ42 in a transgenic mouse model of AD. Anti-Aβ42 antibodies were induced in these mice, leading to a decreased Aβ deposition in the brain. We also found that the oral administration of the silk worm pupae vaccine improved the memory and cognition of mice, as assessed using a water maze test. These results suggest that the new edible CTB-Aβ42 silkworm pupae-derived vaccine has potential clinical application in the prevention of AD.

Optimizing Route for Hazardous Materials Logistics (ORHML) belongs to a class of problems referred to as NP-Hard, and a strict constraint of it makes it harder to solve. In order to dealing with ORHML, an improved hybrid ant colony algorithm (HACA) was devised. To achieve the purpose of balancing risk and cost for route based on the principle of ACA that used to solve TSP, the improved HACA was designed. Considering the capacity of road network and the maximum expected risk limits, a route optimization model to minimize the total cost is established based on network flow theory. Improvement on route construction rule and pheromone updating rule was adopted on the basis of the former algorithm. An example was analyzed to demonstrate the correctness of the application. It is proved that improved HACA is efficient and feasible in solving ORHML.

Re-establishment of macrophyte communities is a key to restore eutrophic shallow lakes. The species composition of the plant communities may change rapidly during the recovery period. A basin in subtropical Lake Qinhu (China) was restored by biomanipulation including fish removal followed by planting of submerged macrophytes in 2011. In September-December 2011, dominance of Vallisneria spinulosa and Ceratophyllum demersum shifted to dominance of Myriophyllum spicatum. Meanwhile, the CPUE (catch per unit effort) showed that the number and biomass of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) demonstrated a marked increase. Stable isotope analyses revealed that grass carp preferred V. spinulosa and C. demersum to M. spicatum. We propose that grazing by grass carp was responsible for the observed shift in dominance towards M. spicatum but as alternative explanations are possible, further tests by controlled experiments are needed to draw firm conclusions.

In the title compound, C38H42N4O4·C2H6O, prepared via a spirolactam ring-formation reaction in a rhodamine dye, the xanthene ring system is approximately planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0014Å) and subtends dihedral angles of 88.10 (3) and 86.92 (4)° with the spirolactam (r.m.s. deviations = 0.0012 Å) and benzene rings, respectively. The crystal structure consists of chains parallel to [-101], formed via O—H...O interactions.

In the title complex, [Cu(C12H12N3O)2], the CuII ion is tetracoordinated by two N atoms and two O atoms from two bis-chelating 4-(1-iminoethyl)-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-olate ligands in a square-planar geometry. The two N atoms and two O atoms around the CuII atom are trans to each other, as the CuII atom lies on an inversion centre. The six-membered ring composed of the Cu, an O, an N and three C atoms of the ligand and the pyrazole ring is nearly planar, the largest deviation being 0.037 (4) Å for an N atom. In the crystal, weak intermolecular C—H...N hydrogen-bonding interactions link the molecules into chains along the c axis.

In the title compound, C37H40N4O2, the xanthene and spirolactam rings are almost planar, with r.m.s. deviations from the mean planes of 0.223 (2) and 0.057 (2) Å, respectively, and form a dihedral angle of 85.76 (3)°. The dihedral angle between the xanthene mean plane and the benzene ring is 87.16 (5)°. One of the two ethyl groups of one of the diethylamino groups is disordered over two sets of sites [0.76 (1):0.24 (1)].