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Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a situation where glucose intolerance is found in pregnant women without a previous diagnosis of diabetes. The role of Kruppel-like factor 9 (KLF9) has not been investigated in GDM, which constituted the aim of our study. HTR8/SVneo cells were induced by high glucose (HG) and pregnant mice were treated with streptozocin (STZ) to establish GDM model in vitro and in vivo, respectively. The expression level of KLF9 was detected by real-time PCR, immunohistochemical staining, and Western blot. Cell viability, apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress were investigated by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), TUNEL, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and oxidative stress detection kits, respectively. The interaction of KLF9 with dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 2 (DDAH2) was predicted by bioinformatic tools and confirmed by luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). The expression of KLF9 was increased in the placental tissues of GDM patients and HG-induced HTR8/SVneo cells. Silencing of KLF9 increased cell viability, reduced cell apoptosis, and suppressed inflammation and oxidative stress in HG-induced HTR8/SVneo cells. KLF9 could bind to DDAH2 promoter and negatively regulate DDAH2 expression. Inhibition of DDAH2 partly weakened the effects of KLF9 silencing on cell apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. The suppressive effects of KLF9 silencing on blood glucose and insulin concentration in vivo were also abolished by DDAH2 knockdown. In conclusion, we provided evidence that interference of KLF9 could hinder the development of GDM by alleviating cell apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress through upregulating DDAH2, which might instruct the targeting therapies against GDM. Abbreviations: KLF9: Kruppel-like factor 9; DDAH2: dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 2 ; GDM: gestational diabetes mellitus; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; CCK-8: cell counting kit-8; ChIP: chromatin immunoprecipitation; sh: short hairpin; HG: high glucose; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; DAPI: 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; IL-6: Interleukin-6; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; ROS: reactive oxygen species; MDA: malondialdehyde; SOD: superoxide dismutase; wt: wild-type; mut: mutant

Senescence, a highly programmed process, largely determines yield and quality of crops. However, knowledge about the onset and progression of leaf senescence in crop plants is still limited. Here, we report that salt-induced protein (salT), a new gene, may be involved in leaf senescence. Overexpressing salT could prolong the duration of leaves with higher concentrations of chlorophyll compared with the wild type. Moreover, overexpression of salT could delay the senescence of rice leaves though the inhibition of senescence associated genes (SAGs). Overall, the characterization of salT suggested that it is a new gene affecting the leaf senescence induced by natural and dark conditions.

The correct article title is presented above. Page 2, last paragraph, line 8: the term "duo tou" has been corrected in the last paragraph of Introduction section.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is an important oil crop in the world. In order to fulfill the requirement of mechanized harvesting and raised production, it is highly desirable to gain a better understanding of the regulatory networks controlling the main agronomic traits of this crop. In this study, we obtained a natural mutant of rapeseed with more main stems named as dt (duo tou, meaning more main stems in Chinese). The dt mutant exhibits abnormal differentiation of stems, increased leaves, and decreased plant height. Phenotype and tissue section analysis showed that abnormal development of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) led to the dt phenotype. Genes that participated in SAM activity maintenance, cytokinin biosynthesis, and signal transduction displayed greatly variation at transcriptional level, which was associated with the high level of cytokinin in the dt mutant. These results provide desirable material for improving the breeding and production of Brassica napus.

Concentration monitoring is essential for quality control of crystallizations. This work establishes the technical feasibility of Ultraviolet (UV) fiber spectroscopy for on-line concentration measurement of anti-solvent crystallization of β-artemether, where ethanol was selected as solvent and water was used as anti-solvent. The orthogonal signal correction (OSC) algorithm was selected to preprocess the UV spectra, and the results showed that the wavelength shift of UV maximum absorbance of β-artemether in ethanol+water solvent mixtures can be effectively eliminated by OSC algorithm. Then models for prediction of β-artemether concentration based on Lambert–Beer law were developed, and the models were verified by comparison between the training set and the validation set, as well as its directly application to the anti-solvent crystallization process of β-artemether. The results show that the model is suitable for on-line concentration measurement of anti-solvent crystallization of β-artemether, with reasonable accuracy and precision.

A novel organic−inorganic hybrid with two polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles covalently attached to perylene diimide (PDI) via a rigid 1,4-phenylene linkage (POSS-PDI-POSS) was designed and synthesized to examine the effect of bulky and well-defined nanoparticle side chains on the self-assembly behavior of PDI derivatives. The molecules were self-assembled directly by slow evaporation of a cast drop from solution in tetrahydrofuran to give rise to uniform crystalline nanobelts with dimensions typically of 0.2 mm × 1 μm × 50 nm. The phase behavior and crystal structure of the sample were then elucidated via a combination of different experimental techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) in transmission electron microscopy (TEM), polarized light microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. One-dimensional (1D) WAXD and DSC revealed that only one crystalline phase exists. Based on the 2D WAXD fiber ...

The solubility of β-artemether in methanol + water and ethanol + water was measured over the temperature range from (288.85 to 331.95) K under atmospheric pressure using a gravimetric method. The experimental data were satisfactorily correlated with a modified empirical logarithmic equation. The experimental solubility data show good agreement with the calculated values. The relative average deviations (RADs) between the experimental and calculated values are less than 3 %.

Rapeseed is one of important oil crops in China. Better understanding of the regulation network of main agronomic traits of rapeseed could improve the yielding of rapeseed. In this study, we obtained an influrescence mutant that showed a fusion phenotype, similar with the Arabidopsis clavata-like phenotype, so we named the mutant as Bnclavata-like (Bnclv-like). Phenotype analysis illustrated that abnormal development of the inflorescence meristem (IM) led to the fused-inflorescence phenotype. At the stage of protein abundance, major regulators in metabolic processes, ROS metabolism, and cytoskeleton formation were seen to be altered in this mutant. These results not only revealed the relationship between biological processes and inflorescence meristem development, but also suggest bioengineering strategies for the improved breeding and production of Brassica napus.