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The enhancement factor of the Raman signal in nanojunctions under the plasmon-induced electromagnetic field can be tuned by (1) the conformation of nanojunctions; (2) the conductivity of the ligands/matrices; (3) the irradiation intensity.

Salamanders are unique among tetrapods in their ability to regenerate their limbs throughout life. Like other poikilothermic amphibians, salamanders also show a remarkable capacity to survive long periods of starvation. Whether the physiological reserves necessary for tissue regeneration are preserved or sacrificed in starved salamanders is unknown. In the current study, we maintained Iberian ribbed newts ( Pleurodeles waltl) under extreme physiological stress to assess the extent of regeneration and identify the molecular and cellular changes that may occur under such conditions. After 19 months of complete food deprivation, the animals exhibited extensive morphological and physiological adaptations but remained behaviorally active and vigilant. Autophagy was elevated in different tissues and the transformed gut microbiota indicated remodeling of the intestinal tract related to autophagy. Upon limb amputation in animals starved for 21 months, regeneration proceeded with progenitor cell proliferation and migration, leading to limb blastema formation. However, limb outgrowth and patterning were substantially attenuated. Blockage of autophagy inhibited cell proliferation and blastema formation in starved animals, but not in fed animals. Hence, tissue autophagy and the regenerative response were tightly coupled only when animals were under stress. Our results demonstrate that under adverse conditions, salamanders can exploit alternative strategies to secure blastema formation for limb regeneration.

Background: In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the heads and tails of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (AS) is used in treating different diseases due to their different pharmaceutical efficacies. The underline mechanisms, however, have not been fully explored. Objective: Novel mechanisms responsible for the discrepant activities between AS heads and tails were explored by a combined strategy of transcriptomes and metabolomics. Method:: Six pairs of the heads and tails of AS roots were collected in Min County, China. Total RNA and metabolites, which were used for RNA-seq and untargeted metabolomics analysis, were respectively isolated from each AS sample (0.1 g) by Trizol and methanol reagent. Subsequently, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and discrepant pharmaceutical metabolites were identified for comparing AS heads and tails. Key DEGs and metabolites were quantified by qRT-PCR and targeted metabolomics experiment. Results: Comprehensive analysis of transcriptomes and metabolomics results suggested that five KEGG pathways with significant differences included 57 DEGs. Especially, fourteen DEGs and six key metabolites were related to the metabolic regulation of Phenylpropanoid biosynthesis (PB) pathway. Results of RT-qPCR and targeted metabolomics indicated that higher levels of expression of crucial genes in PB pathway, such as PAL, CAD, COMT and peroxidase in the tail of AS, were positively correlated with levels of ferulic acid-related metabolites. The average content of ferulic acid in tails (569.58±162.39 nmol/g) was higher than those in the heads (168.73 ± 67.30 nmol/g) (P˂0.01); Caffeic acid in tails (3.82 ± 0.88 nmol/g) vs heads (1.37 ± 0.41 nmol/g) (P˂0.01), and Cinnamic acid in tails (0.24 ± 0.09 nmol/g) vs heads (0.14 ± 0.02 nmol/g) (P˂0.05). Conclusion: Our work demonstrated that overexpressed genes and accumulated metabolites derived from PB pathway might be responsible for the discrepant pharmaceutical efficacies between AS heads and tails.

At the start of this interview, Professor Jin recounts how she abandoned her ambition to becomea physician and ended up teaching and researching clinical linguistics at a British university for18 years. She emphasises the crucial role of intercultural communication (IC) in both foreignlanguage education and the ‘internationalisation’ of universities; in connection with the former, sherecommends some ways for EFL teachers to promote intercultural communication competence(ICC) in their TESOL practices; regarding the latter, she points out that for a university to be‘internationalised’, true IC is indispensable as it can bring all partners (i.e. academic, administrative,technical staff and students) up to a level where they understand, empathize and appreciate eachother. In her current role as Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in the City Universityof Macau, she has been leading a group of faculty members to work on proposals to establish AppliedLinguistics programmes for BA, MA and PhD levels, in order to support the infrastructure of futureworkforces in Macau and the Greater Bay Area. Additionally, in the Chinese EFL context, she discussesseveral key issues concerning teaching English to young learners and to older learners (aged 50and above). Finally, she offers some advice regarding how to balance the teaching, research, andadministrative responsibilities expected of a faculty member in the field of applied linguistics.

Ivermectin (IVM) is a widely used antiparasitic agent and acaricide. Despite its high efficiency against nematodes and arthropods, IVM may pose a threat to the environment due to its ecotoxcity. In this study, degradation of IVM by a newly isolated bacterium Aeromonas taiwanensis ZJB-18,044 was investigated. Strain ZJB-18,044 can completely degrade 50 mg/L IVM in 5 d with a biodegradation ability of 0.42 mg/L/h. Meanwhile, it exhibited high tolerance (50 mg/L) to doramectin, emamectin, rifampicin, and spiramycin. It can also efficiently degrade doramectin, emamectin, and spiramycin. The IVM degradation of strain ZJB-18,044 can be inhibited by erythromycin, azithromycin, spiramycin or rifampicin. However, supplement of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation, can partially recover the IVM degradation. Moreover, strain ZJB-18,044 cells can pump out excess IVM to maintain a low intracellular IVM concentration. Therefore, the IVM tolerance of strain ZJB-18,044 may be due to the regulation of the intracellular IVM concentration by the activated macrolide efflux pump(s). With the high IVM degradation efficiency, A. taiwanensis ZJB-18,044 may serve as a bioremediation agent for IVM and other macrolides in the environment. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10532-020-09909-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A novel strategy for preparing universal antifogging and antimicrobial coating is reported by the means of one-step coating and Ag nanoparticle (AgNP) formation in situ. A series of hydrophilic glycopolymers including poly(

Background: The roots of Panax species are widely used in the East because of their high medicinal and economic value. They are similar in plant morphology and chemical composition, but have quite differences in medicinal properties and efficacy, therefore, genetic diversity and variety identification of Panax species is particularly important. Methods: We screened 7 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) database of Panax species in NCBI. Using these markers test SSR polymorphism in Panax species. Results: Seven SSR markers could successfully identify Panax ginseng, Panax quinquefolium, Panax notoginseng, and their commercial products. Among three ginseng varieties, garden ginseng, forest ginseng, and wild ginseng, the polymorphism of EST-SSR markers decreased gradually, which may be related to age and environment. Two pairs of EST-SSR primers can specifically identify three ginseng cultivars. The phylogenetic relationships analysis showed that Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolium were closer than Panax notoginseng. Compared with wild ginseng, the relationship between the garden ginseng and the forest ginseng was closer. Conclusion: SSR molecular markers have high repeatability and can be used as reliable molecular markers for genetic diversity and variety identification of Panax species.

Within the last two decades, a series of novel therapeutic nucleic acids entered research and clinical evaluation. Their differences both in biophysical properties as well as in mode and site of biological action provide polymer-based carriers with new delivery challenges. Recent tailor-made designs of polymeric carriers are reviewed that were optimized for nucleic acid cargos such as plasmid DNA, siRNA, and micro RNA, mRNA, or genome-modifying nucleic acids. The specific requirements for the various therapeutic cargos are discussed. Future directions include dynamic bioresponsive polymers as components of nanomachines, multifunctional sequence-defined carriers for evolution-based selective optimization, and organic-inorganic multicomponent nanoassemblies.

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the fecal microbiome and serum metabolites in 16 Xuebijing (XBJ)-injected rats after heat stroke using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics. Eighteen rats were divided into the control group (CON), heat stroke group (HS), and XBJ group. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing results revealed that the abundance of Bacteroidetes was overrepresented in the XBJ group compared to the HS group, while Actinobacteria was underrepresented. Metabolomic profiling showed that the pyrimidine metabolism pathway, pentose phosphate pathway, and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway were upregulated in the XBJ group compared to the HS group. Taken together, these results demonstrated that heat stroke not only altered the gut microbiome community structure of rats but also greatly affected metabolic functions, leading to gut microbiome toxicity.

We present a new method of mapping projections onto dynamic scenes by using multiple high-speed projectors. The proposed method controls the intensity in a pixel-parallel manner for each projector. As each projected image is updated in real time with low latency, adaptive shadow removal can be achieved for a projected image even in a complicated dynamic scene. Additionally, our pixel-parallel calculation method allows a distributed system configuration so that the number of projectors can be increased by networked connections for high scalability. We demonstrated seamless mapping onto dynamic scenes at 360 fps by using ten cameras and four projectors.

Aim Gastrodia elata and Radix aconiti lateralis preparrata are respectively named as Tian-Ma and Fu-Zi (TF) in Chinese. We explored the active components against rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from an extensively used couplet of Chinese herbs, Gastrodia elata and Radix aconiti lateralis preparata (TF) via untargeted metabolomics and network pharmacological approaches. Methods Water extracts of TF were mixed at ratios 1:1, 3:2 and 2:3 (w/w). Ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was then utilized as metabolomics screening. Human Metabolome (http://www.hmdb.ca/) and Lipidmaps (http://www.lipidmaps.org/) databases were used to annotate detected compounds. Further identification of vital genes and important pathways associated with the anti-RA properties of the TF preparations was done via network pharmacology, and verified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results Four key compounds involved in unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis and isoflavonoid biosynthesis were identified through metabolomics analyses. Three key components of TF associated with anti-RA activity were linoleic acid, daidzein, and daidzin. Results of RT-qPCR revealed that all 3 tested TF couplets (1:1, 3:2, and 2:3) markedly suppressed the transcription of PTGS2. These results were consistent with our network pharmacological predictions. Conclusions The anti-RA properties of Tian-Ma and Fu-Zi are associated with the inhibition of arachidonic acid metabolism pathway.