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Abstract The lack of knowledge about the mechanism of hyperoxia-induced intestinal injury has attracted considerable attention, due to the potential for this condition to cause neonatal complications. This study aimed to explore the relationship between hyperoxia-induced oxidative damage and ferroptosis in intestinal tissue and investigate the mechanism by which hyperoxia regulates inflammation through ferroptosis. The study systematically evaluated the effects of hyperoxia on oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, ferroptosis, and inflammation of intestinal epithelial cells both in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that ferroptosis was involved in intestinal oxidative damage caused by hyperoxia and was regulated by Nrf2. Moreover, hyperoxia-induced oxidative damage regulated inflammation through ferroptosis by upregulating the COX-2/PGE2/EP2 signaling pathway. These findings have important implications for future clinical prevention and therapeutic approaches to neonatal organ injury caused by hyperoxia treatment.

Abstract The role of gut microbiota (GM) dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of depression has received widespread attention, but the mechanism remains elusive. Corticosterone (CORT)-treated mice showed depression-like behaviors, reduced hippocampal neurogenesis, and altered composition of the GM. Fecal microbial transplantation from CORT-treated mice transferred depression-like phenotypes and their dominant GM to the recipients. Fecal metabolic profiling exposed remarkable increase of gut ceramides in CORT-treated and recipient mice. Oral gavage with Bifidobacterium pseudolongum and Lactobacillus reuteri could induce elevations of gut ceramides in mice. Ceramides-treated mice showed depressive-like phenotypes, significant downregulation of oxidative phosphorylation-associated genes, and hippocampal mitochondrial dysfunction. Our study demonstrated a link between chronic exposure to CORT and its impact on GM composition, which induces ceramides accumulation, ultimately leading to hippocampal mitochondrial dysfunction. This cascade of events plays a critical role in reducing adult hippocampal neurogenesis and is strongly associated with the development of depression-like behaviors.

In order to achieve its nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) accurate typing, this paper establishes a molecular diagnostic technique based on fluorescent quantitative PCR for accurate genotyping of the nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the rs755555 locus of the SLC39A13 gene. Firstly, Taqman fluorescent ARMS-PCR detection primers and probes were designed for the rs755555 locus and the internal reference gene peptidylprolyl isomerase A (PPIA). Secondly, positive control plasmids were constructed. Finally, based on genotyping accuracy, the primer and probe combinations were optimized, and the PCR reaction system and conditions for the detection reagents were optimized. The optimal primer and probe combination for the wild-type was: WF1, R1, FP1, PIRF5, PIRR5, PIRP5; the optimal combination for the mutant type was: FMF3, R1, FP1, PIRF5, PIRR5, PIRP5. The optimal reaction system for detecting samples was: 0.1 μL each of upstream and downstream primers and probes for the SLC39A13 gene, 0.1 μL each of upstream and downstream primers and probes for the internal standard, 10 μL PerfectStart Ⅱ Probe qPCR SuperMix UDG, 5.4 μL purified water, and 4 μL sample genome. The feasibility of this detection system was confirmed through reproducibility experiments and the detection of 70 samples. This provides a technical foundation for the development of a detection kit for the polymorphism at the rs755555 locus of the SLC39A13 gene.

In higher plants, the regulatory roles of cAMP (cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate) signaling remain elusive until now. Cellular cAMP levels are generally much lower in higher plants than in animals and transiently elevated for triggering downstream signaling events. Moreover, plant adenylate cyclase (AC) activities are found in different moonlighting multifunctional proteins, which may pose additional complications in distinguishing a specific signaling role for cAMP. Here, we have developed rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) transgenic plants that overexpress an inducible plant-origin AC activity for generating high AC levels much like that in animal cells, which served the genetic model disturbing native cAMP signaling as a whole in plants. We found that overexpression of the soluble AC activity had significant impacts on the contents of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and stress phytohormones, i.e. jasmonic acid (JA), abscisic acid (ABA), and salicylic acid (SA) in the transgenic plants. Acute induction of the AC activity caused IAA overaccumulation, and upregulation of TAA1 and CYP83B1 in the IAA biosynthesis pathways, but also simultaneously the hyper-induction of PR4 and KIN2 expression indicating activation of JA and ABA signaling pathways. We observed typical overgrowth phenotypes related to IAA excess in the transgenic plants, including significant increases in plant height, internode length, width of leaf blade, petiole length, root length, and fresh shoot biomass, as well as the precocious seed development, as compared to wild-type plants. In addition, we identified a set of 1465 cAMP-responsive genes (CRGs), which are most significantly enriched in plant hormone signal transduction pathway, and function mainly in relevance to hormonal, abiotic and biotic stress responses, as well as growth and development. Collectively, our results support that cAMP elevation impacts phytohormone homeostasis and signaling, and modulates plant growth and development. We proposed that cAMP signaling may be critical in configuring the coordinated regulation of growth and development in higher plants.

In order to solve the problems of low efficiency and cumbersome process of Pichia pastoris genetic manipulation, secretory genetic manipulation tools were constructed and optimized to improve their industrial production and application value. Firstly, the α-amylase was employed as the reporter protein, and the non-integrated expression plasmid was constructed by fusing the self-replicating sequence. Secondly, endogenous signal peptides that best match the target protein were quickly screened and evaluated using universal primers and POE-PCR. Finally, a nutrition-dependent screening marker was constructed with phosphite as the sole phosphorus source. The results indicate that non-integrated plasmids express α-amylase with 2-fold and 1.6-fold higher enzyme activity compared to integrated plasmids, respectively; The use of FLO10, EXG1, and MSB2 signal peptides results in 2.5-fold, 1.94-fold, and 1.75-fold higher α-amylase activity than the conventional signal peptide α-MF, respectively; Arecombinant strain for heterologous expression of α-amylase is successfully screened using the phosphite dehydrogenase gene (ptxD). The process of gene operation is simplified, the genetic operation tools are improved, and green, safe, and low-cost nutrition-dependent screening markers are provided, which lays a foundation for the application and promotion of the Pichia pastoris secretory expression system.

Abstract The oversized TE11 mode bend is able to make the transmission direction of electromagnetic wave to turn 90°, and it is one of the key components in the high‐power microwave system. The mode coupling characteristics between the TE11 and parasitic modes under two different polarisations in the bending waveguide are analysed, and it is found that the TE11 suffers less interferences from parasitic modes when its polarisation direction is perpendicular to the bending plane, and the corresponding 90° TE11 bend is easier to realise high performance. To verify this analysis, an oversized 90° TE11 bend waveguide working at 10 GHz is designed, and its structural length is only 7.5 times the central working wavelength. Simulated results indicate that its relative bandwidth is 15.6% when the transmission efficiency is over 98%, and its maximum power handling capacity reaches 5.6 GW at short microwave pulse duration (less than 100 ns). The S‐parameters indicate that its S21 is about −0.1 dB from 9.5 to 10.5 GHz, and its S11 is under −25 dB in the same frequency range. Meanwhile, the high power test indicates that the bend works stably when the injected power is 3 GW.

Abstract The intermitochondrial cement (IMC) and chromatoid body (CB) are posited as central sites for piRNA activity in mice, with MIWI initially assembling in the IMC for piRNA processing before translocating to the CB for functional deployment. The regulatory mechanism underpinning MIWI translocation, however, has remained elusive. We unveil that piRNA loading is the trigger for MIWI translocation from the IMC to CB. Mechanistically, piRNA loading facilitates MIWI release from the IMC by weakening its ties with the mitochondria-anchored TDRKH. This, in turn, enables arginine methylation of MIWI, augmenting its binding affinity for TDRD6 and ensuring its integration within the CB. Notably, loss of piRNA-loading ability causes MIWI entrapment in the IMC and its destabilization in male germ cells, leading to defective spermatogenesis and male infertility in mice. Collectively, our findings establish the critical role of piRNA loading in MIWI translocation during spermatogenesis, offering new insights into piRNA biology in mammals.

Abstract For 800 Gbps/λ and beyond optical transmission systems, frequency-dependent impairments (FDI) degrade coherent optical transceiver (CO-TRx) performance severely. Calibration and compensation of such FDI in factories includes amplitude/phase frequency response (AFR/PFR), skew, and ripple for both transmitters(Tx) and receivers (Rx). However, due to the polarization rotation and phase rotation effects in optical link, the separation and extraction of FDI from different polarization or I/Q tributaries is challenging. Here we report a FDI calibration method based on orthogonal separation scheme and frequency domain analysis. The proposal can simultaneously characterize and separate the Tx/Rx sides FDI including AFR, PFR, and time skew of four tributaries. Finally, the effectiveness is demonstrated by transmitting a 96 GBuad Nyquist-16QAM signal on a 64 GBaud-class CO-TRx.

The X-band medium distance microwave wireless power transmission (MWPT) system based on multilayer rectifier diode design is demonstrated in this paper. In order to pursuit highest rectification efficiency, the harmonic suppression rectifying circuit is proposed, which can acquire more than 60% rectification efficiency at the working frequency of 10 GHz. For the sake of longer distance, the Cassegrain antenna with an aperture of 1.6 m and the receiving planar array antenna with an area of 2 m × 2 m for the novel applications are designed. In the interest of improving the effective receiving area, the microwave rectifying antenna adopts the layered design of the receiving array antenna and the microwave rectifying circuit. Finally, this X-band medium distance MWPT system based on multilayer rectifier diode can achieve 400 W DC power with 10% RF-DC conversion efficiency for the distance of 70 m. The MWPT system can been applied in medium to long distance MWPT system, such as charging of various sensors, wireless power supplying and so on.

Abstract The tumor microenvironment is one of the important drivers of tumor development. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a major component of the tumor stroma and actively participate in tumor development, invasion, metastasis, drug resistance, and other biological behaviors. CAFs are a highly heterogeneous group of cells, a reflection of the diversity of their origin, biomarkers, and functions. The diversity of CAF origin determines the complexity of CAF biomarkers, and CAF subpopulations expressing different biomarkers may play contrasting roles in tumor progression. In this review, we provide an overview of these emerging CAF biomarkers and the biological functions that they suggest, which may give a better understanding of the relationship between CAFs and tumor cells and be of great significance for breakthroughs in precision targeted therapy for tumors. Video Abstract

Flake graphite has excellent explosive electron emission performance for its plenty surface micro-bulges and high graphitization degree, but its advantages have rarely been studied in relativistic magnetrons. In this paper, flake graphite cathodes with different fineness were used in coaxial diodes and relativistic magnetrons, and the influence of the surface microstructure of the flake graphite cathode on the relativistic magnetron performance is demonstrated for the first time. The result showed that the graphite microstructure mainly affected the initiation stage of explosive emission. Moreover, the delay time is determined by the degree of graphitization and the surface microstructure of graphite, and the surface microstructure plays a major role. Under the applied voltage of ~330kV-~490kV, The finer flake graphite possessed a shorter emission delay and facilitated the microwave excitation. The excitation time of finer flake graphite is $\sim 3ns$ , and $\sim 5ns$ for lager flake graphite. After several operations of the relativistic magnetron, the edges of flake graphite were blunted, and the surface of the flake graphite appeared droplet-like areas formed by anode atom sputtering. This work reveals the advantages of the finer flake graphite cathode in the fast priming of the relativistic magnetron, thus shedding new light on cathode design of the relativistic magnetron.

The power capacity of reflectarray antennas (RAs) is investigated through full-wave simulations and high-power microwave (HPM) experiments in this paper. In order to illustrate the results in detail, two RA elements are designed. The simulated power handling capacity of two RA elements are 7.17 MW/m2 and 2.3 GW/m2, respectively. To further study the HPM RA, two RA prototypes operating at 2.8 GHz are constructed with the aperture size of 1 m × 1 m. Simulations and experimental measurements are conducted for the two prototypes. The experimental results demonstrate that, even when subjected to 1 GW of power, the radiation beam of the RA with the second elements can still propagate in the intended direction. This research will establish a basis for advancing the practicality of RAs in HPM applications.

BackgroundPopulation knowledge and attitudes toward obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome are critical to public health initiatives to overcome the disease. Healthcare education is an appropriate approach to expediting the process to build active medical practice models in the public.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding OSA and healthcare education demand among the Chinese general population.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was performed online via Wenjuanxing in China between 8 February and 8 March 2022, using a 34-item questionnaire designed and reviewed by multidisciplinary experts.ResultsThis study enrolled 1507 respondents, aged 18 to 68, with a city-to-countryside ratio of approximately 2:1. Four-fifths of respondents reported that they had children (n = 1237), and mothers accounted for 57.7%. If they or their children had symptoms of OSA, nearly nine in 10 respondents would undertake positive medical practices, especially parents. A total of 89.4% of the respondents reported a desire to receive healthcare education through the new multimedia approach, and most were concerned about the etiology of OSA.ConclusionThe current study indicated that even the higher educated and urban populations in China had insufficient knowledge about positive attitudes toward and practices regarding OSA, indicating an urgent demand for healthcare education. A special emphasis should be placed on appropriating population demand for healthcare education and promoting the benefits of active medical practice models in sleep medicine.

Stress is known to induce a reduction in adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) and anxiety-like behaviors. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are secreted in response to stress, and the hippocampus possesses the greatest levels of GC receptors, highlighting the potential of GCs in mediating stress-induced hippocampal alterations and behavior deficits. Herein, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of the hippocampus following corticosterone (CORT) exposure revealed the central regulatory role of the p21 (Cdkna1a) gene, which exhibited interactions with oxidative stress-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs), suggesting a potential link between p21 and oxidative stress-related pathways. Remarkably, p21-overexpression in the hippocampal dentate gyrus partially recapitulated CORT-induced phenotypes, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, diminished AHN, dendritic atrophy, and the onset of anxiety-like behaviors. Significantly, inhibiting ROS exhibited a partial rescue of anxiety-like behaviors and hippocampal alterations induced by p21-overexpression, as well as those induced by CORT, underscoring the therapeutic potential of targeting ROS or p21 in the hippocampus as a promising avenue for mitigating anxiety disorders provoked by chronic stress.

This paper introduces a novel single-layer microstrip patch element designed to achieve a wide beamwidth, in order to address the growing demand for wide-angle scanning capabilities in modern phased array systems. The proposed element, comprising a slot-etched circular patch and an array of metallized holes arranged in square rings, offers a unique approach to beam shaping. By carefully adjusting parameters such as the slot structure and feeding position, our element is engineered to simultaneously excite both the TM01 and TM21 modes, a key feature that contributes to its wide beamwidth characteristics. Through the constructive interference of these modes, our element demonstrates a remarkable 3 dB beamwidth of approximately 150° in both principal planes, showcasing its potential for wide-angle scanning applications. To validate the practical performance of this proposed element, two linear phased arrays are manufactured and experimentally evaluated. The simulation results confirm the wide-angle scanning capability of the antennas in both the E-plane and H-plane. Furthermore, the experimental assessment demonstrates that these linear phased arrays can effectively generate scanning beams within a frequency range of 25 GHz to 28 GHz, covering a wide angular range from −60° to 60°, while maintaining a gain loss within 3 dB. This innovative design approach not only offers a promising solution for achieving a wide beamwidth in microstrip patch elements, but also holds significant potential for the development of cost-effective phased arrays with wide-angle scanning capabilities, making it a valuable contribution to the advancement of phased array technology.

Developing molecular electronics is challenged by integrating fragile organic molecules into modern micro/nanoelectronics based on inorganic semiconductors. Li et al. apply rolled-up nanotechnology to assemble on-chip molecular devices, which can be switched between photodiodes and volatile memristors.

Abstract Anoikis resistance is an essential prerequisite for tumor metastasis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Herein, we report that the oncoprotein hepatitis B X-interacting protein (HBXIP) is prominently upregulated in breast cancer cells following ECM detachment. Altering HBXIP expression can impair the anchorage-independent growth ability of tumor cells. Mechanistically, HBXIP, which binds to Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) to activate nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), contains a cis-acting antioxidant response element (ARE) in the gene promoter and is a target gene of Nrf2. The HBXIP/Nrf2 axis forms a reciprocal positive feedback loop that reinforces the expression and tumor-promoting actions of each protein. In response to ECM detachment, Nrf2 reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, protects the mitochondrial membrane potential and increases cellular ATP, GSH and NADPH levels to maintain breast cancer cell survival. Meanwhile, the reinforcement of HBXIP induced by Nrf2 inhibits JNK1 activation by inhibiting ubiquitin-mediated degradation of Prdx1, which also plays an essential role in promoting ECM-detached cell survival. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation was identified between HBXIP expression and Prdx1 expression in clinical breast cancer tissues and TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas clinical data of breast invasive carcinoma based on the cBioPortal cancer genomics database. Co-expression of HBXIP and Prdx1 predicts a poor prognosis for breast cancer patients. Collectively, our findings reveal a significant mechanism by which the HBXIP/Nrf2 feedback loop contributes to anoikis resistance by maintaining redox homeostasis and inhibiting JNK1 activation and support the likely therapeutic value of the HBXIP/Nrf2 axis in breast cancer patients.

IntroductionA vicious cycle ensues whereby prolonged exposure to social stress causes increased production of glucocorticoids (GCs), leading to obesity even further. Understanding the role of GCs, the key element in the vicious circle, might be helpful to break the vicious circle. However, the mechanism by which GCs induce obesity remains elusive.MethodsCorticosterone (CORT) was administered to mice for 8 weeks. Food and water intake were recorded; obesity was analyzed by body-weight evaluation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); intestinal proliferation and survival were evaluated by H&E staining, EdU-progression test, TUNEL assay and immunofluorescence staining of Ki67 and CC3; RNA-seq was performed to analyze transcriptional alterations in small intestines and livers.ResultsChronic CORT treatment induced obesity, longer small intestines, hepatic steatosis and elevated levels of serum insulin and leptin in mice; CORT-treated mice showed increased cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis of small intestines; RNA-seq results indicate that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were enriched in several cell growth/death-associated signaling pathways.DiscussionHerein we find that administration of CORT to mice promotes the proliferation and survival of intestinal cells, which might contribute to the longer small intestines and the elongated intestinal villi, thus leading to increased nutrient absorption and obesity in mice. Understanding CORT-induced alterations in intestines and associated signaling pathways might provide novel therapeutic clues for GCs or stress-associated obesity.

This paper demonstrates the analysis of a long-distance high-power microwave wireless power transmission (MWPT) system based on asymmetrical resonant magnetron and cyclotron-wave rectifier. In the system, the novel magnetron with the asymmetrical resonant cavity, the straps, and the output loop coupling circuit can effectively promote the beam–wave interaction, suppress the mode competition, and enhance the output coupling, which results in a 400 kW output microwave power with a conversion efficiency of 45%. The transceiver Cassegrain antenna system with its simple structure, high conversion efficiency, and high power capacity can attain an integral power transmission efficiency of 2.6% at 10 km distance. The cyclotron-wave rectifier with high efficiency and single-tube high power capacity can achieve 85% microwave to DC conversion efficiency. Finally, the long-distance high-power MWPT system can achieve 8.5 kW DC power with about 1% DC–DC transmission efficiency at the operating 2.45 GHz frequency and for the 10 km distance. Such a system is likely a potential and attracting solution to remotely power the fuel-free aerial vehicle from the ground, can also provide electrical power to an isolated mountain top or an island, and even an alternative to transmit the power from space solar power satellite in geostationary orbit to the ground.

In this paper, a novel X-band TM01–TE01 mode converter for high-power microwave (HPM) system is proposed. To realize the compact design, a helical corrugated waveguide with large deformation is employed to convert the TM01 mode into TE01 mode. By optimizing the structure parameters, the simulation results demonstrate that the maximum conversion efficiency of the proposed TM01–TE01 mode converter reaches 98.8% at 9.2 GHz. Moreover, this mode converter exhibits a conversion efficiency of over 95% in the operation band from 8.7 to 9.42 GHz, and the power capacity of the mode converter reaches GW-level in theory. More importantly, the overall longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the mode converter are less than three wavelengths. The results show the compact structure and high conversion efficiency of this mode converter, which has great potential application value in the HPM system.

An improved multiple imputation based on R language is proposed to deal with the miss of data in a fire prediction model, which can affect the accuracy of the prediction results. Hazard and operability (HAZOP) is used to accurately find the data related to the research purpose, and exclude data with a missing rate greater than 80% and small differences in characteristics. Then, by changing the m value in the mice package under the R language (R-mice), the relevant parameters of the complete filling factor set under different m values are obtained. The value of m is determined after observing and comparing the parameters. The proposed method fully considers the randomness of filling and the difference between the generated dataset. Taking Hubei Province as an example, the data processed by this method are used as the input of the Bayesian network, and the fire trend is used as the output. The results show that the improved multiple imputation based on R-mice can solve the problem of missing data very well, and have a high prediction effect (AUC = 94.0800). In addition, the results of the predictive reasoning and sensitivity analysis show that the government’s supervision has a vital influence on the trend of fires in Hubei Province.

Circular RNA (CircRNA) is a newly identified special class of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) that plays an important regulatory role in the progression of certain diseases. Herein, our results indicate that CircMEG3 is downregulated expression and negatively correlated with the expression of telomerase-related gene Cbf5 in human liver cancer. Moreover, CircMEG3 inhibits the growth of human liver cancer stem cells in vivo and in vitro. CircMEG3 inhibits the expression of m6A methyltransferase METTL3 dependent on HULC. Moreover, CircMEG3 inhibits the expression of Cbf5, a component of telomere synthetase H/ACA ribonucleoprotein (RNP; catalyst RNA pseudouracil modification) through METTL3 dependent on HULC. Thereby, CircMEG3 inhibits telomerase activity and shortens telomere lifespan dependent on HULC and Cbf5 in human liver cancer stem cell. Strikingly, increased Cbf5 abrogates the ability of CircMEG3 to inhibit malignant differentiation of human liver cancer stem cells. In summary, these observations provide important basic information for finding effective liver cancer therapeutic targets.

The demand for miniaturization of electronics has been motivating a growing interest in high-performance molecular electronics. Li, Bandari et al. report a fully integrated molecular rectifier based on a molecular heterojunction and microtubular electrode enabling high frequency operation at more than 10 MHz.

miR-155 is associated with the promotion of tumorigenesis. Herein, we indicate that abnormal miR-155 was negatively correlated with the expression of P21WAF1/Cip1. Our results suggest that miR-155 alters the transcriptome and inhibits the expression of H3F3A in liver cancer cells. Therefore, miR-155 inhibits the methylation modification of histone H3 on the 27th lysine. Notably, on the one hand, miR-155-dependent CTCF loops cause the CDK2 interacting with cyclin E in liver cancer cells; on the other hand, miR-155 promotes the phosphorylation modification of CDK2 by inhibiting H3F3A. Subsequently, miR-155 competitively blocks the binding of RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II) to the P21WAF1/CIP1 promoter by increasing the phosphorylation of CDK2, inhibiting the transcription and translation of P21WAF1/CIP1. Strikingly, excessive P21WAF1/CIP1 abolishes the cancerous function of miR-155. In conclusion, miR-155 can play a positive role in the development of liver cancer and influence a series of gene expression through epigenetic regulation.

Abstract Background The functions of HULC have been demonstrated in several cancers. However, its mechanism has not been elucidated in human liver cancer stem cells. Methods Liver cancer stem cells were isolated from Huh7 cells; gene infection and tumorigenesis test in vitro and in vivo were performed. Results We demonstrate that HULC promotes growth of liver cancer stem cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, HULC enhances the expression of Sirt1 dependent on miR675 and then induces the cellular autophagy through Sirt1. HULC enhances CyclinD1 and thereby increases pRB and inhibited P21 WAF1/CIP 1 via autophagy-miR675-PKM2 pathway in human liver cancer stem cells. Ultimately, our results demonstrate that CyclinD1 is required for the oncogenic functions of HULC in liver cancer stem cells. Conclusions It reveals the key molecular signaling pathways for HULC and provides important basic information for finding effective tumor therapeutic targets based on HULC.

Abstract The phyllosphere supports a tremendous diversity of microbes, which have the potential to influence plant biogeography and ecosystem function. Although biocontrol agents (BCAs) have been used extensively for controlling plant diseases, the ecological effects of BCAs on phyllosphere bacteria and the relationships between phyllosphere community and plant health are poorly understood. In this study, we explored the control efficiency of two BCA communities on bacterial wildfire disease by repeatedly spraying BCAs on tobacco leaves. The results of field tests showed that BCAs used in our study, especially BCA_B, had remarkable control effects against tobacco wildfire disease. The higher control efficiency of BCA_B might be attributed to a highly diverse and complex community in the phyllosphere. By 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, we found that phyllosphere microbial community, including community diversity, taxonomic composition and microbial interactions, changed significantly by application of BCAs. According to the correlation analysis, it showed that wildfire disease infection of plants was negatively related to phyllosphere microbial diversity, indicating a highly diverse community in the phyllosphere might prevent pathogens invasion and colonization. In addition, we inferred that a more complex network in the phyllosphere might be beneficial for decreasing the chances of bacterial wildfire outbreak, and the genera of Pantoea and Sphingomonas might play important roles in wildfire disease suppression. These correlations between phyllosphere community and plant health will improve our understanding on the ecological function of phyllosphere community on plants.

miR675 is highly expressed in several human tumor tissues and positively regulates cell progression. Herein, we demonstrate that miR675 promotes malignant transformation of human mesenchymal stem cells. Mechanistically, we reveal that miR675 enhances the expression of the polyubiquitin-binding protein p62. Intriguingly, P62 competes with SETD2 to bind histone H3 and then significantly reduces SETD2-binding capacity to substrate histone H3, triggering drastically the reduction of three methylation on histone H3 36th lysine (H3K36me3). Thereby, the H3K36me3-hMSH6-SKP2 triplex complex is significantly decreased. Notably, the ternary complex’s occupancy capacity on chromosome is absolutely reduced, preventing it from DNA damage repair. By virtue of the reductive degradation ability of SKP2 for aging histone H3.3 bound to mismatch DNA, the aging histone H3.3 repair is delayed. Therefore, the mismatch DNA escapes from repair, triggering the abnormal expression of several cell cycle-related genes and causing the malignant transformation of mesenchymal stem cells. These observations strongly suggest understanding the novel functions of miR675 will help in the development of novel therapeutic approaches in a broad range of cancer types. Keywords: miR675, human mesenchymal stem cell, malignant transformation, P62

This paper proposes a novel metasurface-based monopulse antenna. A multimode pyramidal horn with four ports is selected as the feed of the proposed monopulse antenna. The 3-dB couplers and the optimized waveguide phase shifters are employed to design the monopulse comparator. In order to obtain good sum and difference beams performance, metasurfaces are mounted on a bowl structure to radiate the electromagnetic wave from the sub-reflector. An experimental prototype of the proposed design has been fabricated and measured at Ku-band. The measured results show that the gain ratio between the sum and difference beams is 2.8 dB and 3.7 dB, respectively. More importantly, the peak gain of the sum beam at 16 GHz is 27.1 dB, without considering the loss of the comparator, with a corresponding aperture efficiency of about 41.4%. This indicates that the proposed structure is beneficial for improving the sum and difference beams performance of the monopulse antenna, which is suitable for tracking platforms.

The magnetic properties of 50 nm Ni80Fe20 deposited on Cu underlayers with different thicknesses by obliquely sputtering were studied. It was found that the in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (IPUMA) of the Ni80Fe20 film can be induced by the obliquely sputtered Cu underlayer deposited under the NiFe layer. The IPUMA field of NiFe film varies between 20 Oe and 40 Oe when the thickness of Cu underlayer varies from 5 nm to 50 nm. The permeability spectrum results show that the damping factor increases with increasing Cu underlayer thickness. This indicates that changing the thickness of the Cu underlayer of obliquely sputtering is an effective method to adjust the damping factor in the dynamic magnetization process of Ni80Fe20 thin films.

To realize multi-band mode conversion in a high-power microwave incoherent power combination system, a tri-band conversion system (at X-, Ku-, and Ka-bands) is proposed in this paper. The tri-band conversion system mainly consists of three parts: a dual-band multiplexer, a circular waveguide with a 90° bend, and a tri-band mode converter. To investigate the mode coupling characteristics in the system, every part is carefully analyzed and verified. Numerical and simulation results show that the final conversion efficiencies of the conversion system are 98.9% [coaxial transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode–coaxial TE11 mode at 10.16 GHz], 99.1% (coaxial TEM mode–coaxial TE11 mode at 14.45 GHz), and 99.6% (circular TM01–circular TE11 at 30.5 GHz). Meanwhile, its maximum power handling capacities reached 1.5 GW, 957.6 MW, and 726.2 MW. The good agreement between theoretical analyses and simulation results demonstrates that the proposed tri-band system is feasible in high-power microwave applications.

The global increase of community-associated (CA) infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major healthcare problem. Although sequence type (ST) 398 MRSA was first described as a livestock-associated (LA) lineage, human-adapted MRSA (HO-MRSA) ST398 without livestock contact has subsequently been reported from China in our previous study and other later research. The proportion of ST398 HO-MRSA has also remarkably increased in recent years in China. Based on 3878 S. aureus isolates that were collected in a general hospital between 2008 and 2018, we identified 56 ST398 HO-MRSA isolates. The four early appearing isolates of them have been sequenced by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in our previous study. Here, by usage of WGS on the later-appearing 52 isolates and analyzing the phylogenetic dynamics of the linage, we found that 50 isolates clustered together with the former 4 isolates, making it a main clade out of MSSA clones and other MRSA clones, although ST398 HO-MRSA evolved with multiple origins. Drug resistance and virulence gene analysis based on the WGS data demonstrated that ST398 HO-MRSA main clade exhibited a similar pattern in both parts. Furthermore, they all carried a conserved variant of prophage 3 to guarantee virulence and a short SCCmec type V element of class D to maintain considerable lower methicillin resistance. Further phenotypical research verified that the epidemic HO-MRSA ST398 displayed enhanced biofilm formation ability when keeping high virulence. The dual advantages of virulence and biofilm formation in the HO-MRSA ST398 subtype promote their fitness in the community and even in the healthcare environment, which poses a serious threat in clinical S. aureus infections. Therefore, further surveillance is required to prevent and control the problematic public health impact of HO-MRSA ST398 in the future.

Hydraulic fracturing is a key technology in the development of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. With the continuous industrialization and large-scale development of shale gas production in China, the workload of hydraulic fracturing is also increasing rapidly, and the induced seismic events are also increasing gradually, resulting in different degrees of damage to the surrounding ancillary buildings. In order to study the impact of hydraulic fracturing on ancillary buildings, the finite element software ABAQUS was used to establish a three-dimensional model of middle and high-rise isolated structures to simulate the earthquake triggered by hydraulic fracturing. Then, considering the SSI (soil-structure interaction) effect of soil-based structure, the nonlinear dynamic response of the structure under the action of ground motion was analyzed. Through the adoption of different types of soil and the foundation depth, the influence of various parameters is discussed. The study found that in the case of not considering SSI, basal shear force, and displacement between floors of the seismic-isolation structure significantly greater than considering SSI, using hard soil layer, base shear displacement is greater than the soft soil layer and interlayer, shows that due to the effect of hydraulic fracturing, making fluid diffusion in soil, the seismic energy dissipation effect. It is also found that the period, base shear, peak displacement, and interlayer displacement of deep foundation pit are increased compared with shallow foundation pit considering SSI effect.

Abstract High performance, flexibility, safety, and robust integration for micro‐supercapacitors (MSCs) are of immense interest for the urgent demand for miniaturized, smart energy‐storage devices. However, repetitive photolithography processes in the fabrication of on‐chip electronic components including various photoresists, masks, and toxic etchants are often not well‐suited for industrial production. Here, a cost‐effective stamping strategy is developed for scalable and rapid preparation of graphene‐based planar MSCs. Combining stamps with desired shapes and highly conductive graphene inks, flexible MSCs with controlled structures are prepared on arbitrary substrates without any metal current collectors, additives, and polymer binders. The interdigitated MSC exhibits high areal capacitance up to 21.7 mF cm−2 at a current of 0.5 mA and a high power density of 6 mW cm−2 at an energy density of 5 µWh cm−2. Moreover, the MSCs show outstanding cycling performance and remarkable flexibility over 10 000 charge–discharge cycles and 300 bending cycles. In addition, the capacitance and output voltage of the MSCs are easily adjustable through interconnection with well‐defined arrangements. The efficient, rapid manufacturing of the graphene‐based interdigital MSCs with outstanding flexibility, shape diversity, and high areal capacitance shows great potential in wearable and portable electronics.

This paper demonstrates a Ku-band medium and long distance microwave wireless energy transmission system based on the rectifier diode. The transmitting compact Cassegrain antenna with an aperture of 1.5m forms a more centralized and uniform 2m x 2m field zone, which has more than 80% transmission efficiency. According to the distribution of receiving field, the multiple ways synthesizers connected to rectangular patch arrays are designed. And the results predict that the receiving efficiency of the antenna is directly related to the performance of the system, which reaches 50%, not including the possible insert loss. Besides, the Ku-band rectifying circuit is optimized and measured, and the comparing results show that the practical rectifier diode can obtain more than 40% conversion efficiency at the operating frequency of 12.75GHz. Finally, the microwave wireless energy transmission system is designed, and it finally obtains 4% DC-DC conversion efficiency at a distance of 60m, which is likely to be used in unmanned aerial vehicle hovering charging system, robot charging while working, isolated island wireless power supplying and wireless charging of various sensors.

MicroRNAs are known to be involved in carcinogenesis. Recently, microRNA-372 (miR372) has been proven to play a substantial role in several human cancers, but its functions in liver cancer remain unclear. Herein, our results demonstrate that miR372 accelerates growth of liver cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, miR372 enhances expression of Y-box-binding protein 1 (YB-1) by targeting for phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) directly and consequently promotes phosphorylation of YB-1 via HULC looping dependent on ERK1/2 and PTEN. In particular, HULC knockdown or PTEN overexpression abrogated this miR372 action. Moreover, miR372 inhibits the degradation of β-catenin dependent on phosphorylation of YB-1 and then enhances the expression and activity of pyruvate kinase M2 isoform (PKM2) by β-catenin-LEF/TCF4 pathway. Furthermore, the loading of LEF/TCF4 on PKM2 promoter region was significantly increased in miR372 overexpressing Hep3B, and thus, glycolytic proton efflux rate (glycoPER) was significantly increased in rLV-miR372 group compared to the rLV group. Moreover, β-catenin knockdown abrogates this function of miR372. Ultimately, miR372 promotes the expression of erbB-2 through PKM2-pH3T11-acetylation on histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9Ac) pathway. Of significance, both YB-1 knockdown and erbB-2 knockdown abrogate oncogenic action of miR372. Our observations suggest that miR372 promotes liver cancer cell cycle progress by activating cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2)-cyclin E-P21/Cip1 complex through miR372-YB-1-β-catenin-LEF/TCF4-PKM2-erbB-2 axis. This study elucidates a novel mechanism for miR372 in liver cancer cells and suggests that miR372 can be used as a novel therapeutic target of liver cancer.

Inflammatory and autophagy-related gene P62 is highly expressed in most human tumor tissues. Herein, we demonstrate that P62 promotes human mesenchymal stem cells’ malignant transformation via the cascade of P62-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)-CUDR-CTCF-insulin growth factor II (IGFII)-H-Ras signaling. Mechanistically, we reveal P62 enhances IGFII transcriptional activity through forming IGFII promoter-enhancer chromatin loop and increasing METTL3 occupancy on IGFII 3′ UTR and enhances H-Ras overexpression by harboring inflammation-related factors, e.g., TNFR1, CLYD, EGR1, NFκB, TLR4, and PPARγ. Furthermore, the P62 cooperates with TNF-α to promote malignant transformation of mesenchymal stem cells. These findings, for the first time, provide insight into the positive role that P62 plays in malignant transformation of mesenchymal stem cells and reveal a novel link between P62 and the inflammation factors in mesenchymal stem cells.

Abstract Background Long noncoding RNA HULC is highly up-regulation in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the functions of HULC in hepatocarcinogenesis remains unclear. Methods RT-PCR, Western blotting, Chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) assay, RNA Immunoprecipitation (RIP) and tumorignesis test in vitro and in vivo were performed. Results HULC is negatively associated with expression of PTEN or miR15a in patients of human liver cancer. Moreover, HULC accelerates malignant progression of liver cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, HULC increasesthe expression of P62 via decreasing mature miR15a. On the other hand, excessive HULC increases the expression of LC3 on the level of transcription and then activates LC3 through Sirt1 (a deacetylase). Notably, HULC enhanced the interplay between LC3 and ATG3. Furthermore, HULC also increases the expression of becline-1(autophagy related gene). Therefore, HULC increases the cellular autophagy by increasing LC3II dependent on Sirt1.Noteworthy, excessive HULC reduces the expression of PTEN, β-catenin and enhances the expression of SAPK/JUNK, PKM2, CDK2, NOTCH1, C-Jun in liver cancer cells. Of significance, our observations also revealed that HULC inhibited PTEN through ubiquitin–proteasome system mediated by autophagy-P62.Ultimately,HULC activates AKT-PI3K-mTOR pathway through inhibiting PTEN in human liver cancer cells. Conclusions This study elucidates a novel mechanism that lncRNA HULC produces a vital function during hepatocarcinogenesis.

Abstract Background Severe infections with highly virulent community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are a global problem. However, the molecular events defining the evolution of CA-MRSA are still poorly understood. MRSA of sequence type (ST) 398 is known to frequently infect livestock, while ST398 isolates infecting humans are commonly methicillin-susceptible or represent MRSA originating from livestock-associated (LA)-MRSA. Methods We used whole genome sequencing of newly detected CA-MRSA ST398 isolates, in comparison to geographically matched LA-MRSA and methicillin-sensitive ST398, to determine their evolutionary history. Furthermore, we used phenotypic analyses including animal infection models to gain insight into the evolution of virulence in these CA-MRSA isolates. Finally, we determined methicillin resistance and expression of the methicillin resistance-conferring gene mecA and its penicillin-binding protein product, PBP2a, in a large series of CA-MRSA strains of divergent STs. Results We report several cases of severe and fatal infections due to ST398 CA-MRSA. The responsible isolates showed the typical genetic characteristics reported for human-adapted methicillin-sensitive ST398. Whole genome sequencing demonstrated that they evolved from human-adapted, methicillin-susceptible clones on several different occasions. Importantly, the isolates had not undergone consistent genetic alterations or changes in virulence as compared to their methicillin-susceptible predecessors. Finally, we observed dramatically and consistently lower methicillin resistance and expression of the resistance gene mecA, as compared to hospital-associated MRSA strains, in a diverse selection of CA-MRSA strains. Conclusions Our study presents evidence for the development of highly virulent human-adapted ST398 CA-MRSA isolates from methicillin-susceptible predecessors. Notably, our investigation indicates that, in contrast to widespread notions, the development of CA-MRSA is not necessarily associated with the acquisition of specific virulence genes or other virulence-increasing changes. Rather, our findings emphasize the importance of the CA-MRSA-characteristic staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec types, which provide only low-level methicillin resistance, for that process. Our findings are of particular importance for the diagnosis of CA-MRSA, inasmuch as they indicate that the presence of specific virulence genes cannot generally be used for that purpose.

The 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105) is a newly energetic material with an excellent performance and low sensitivity and has attracted considerable attention. On the basis of the dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D), the high-pressure responses of vibrational properties, in conjunction with structural properties, are used to understand its intermolecular interactions and anisotropic properties under hydrostatic and uniaxial compressions. At ambient and pressure conditions, the DFT-D scheme could reasonably describe the structural parameters of LLM-105. The hydrogen bond network, resembling a parallelogram shape, links two adjacent molecules and contributes to the structure stability under hydrostatic compression. The anisotropy of LLM-105 is pronounced, especially for Raman spectra under uniaxial compression. Specifically, the red-shifts of modes are obtained for [100] and [010] compressions, which are caused by the pressure-induced enhance of the strength of the hydrogen bonds. Importantly, coupling modes and discontinuous Raman shifts are observed along [010] and [001] compressions, which are related to the intramolecular vibrational redistribution and possible structural transformations under uniaxial compressions. Overall, the detailed knowledge of the high-pressure responses of LLM-105 is established from the atomistic level. Uniaxial compression responses provide useful insights for realistic shock conditions.

Abstract In the Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, the membrane-bound ATP-dependent metalloprotease FtsH plays a critical role in resistance to various stressors. However, the molecular mechanism of the FtsH functions is not known. Here, we identified core FtsH target proteins in S. aureus. In the strains Newman and USA300, the abundance of 33 proteins were altered in both strains, of which 11 were identified as core FtsH substrate protein candidates. In the strain Newman and some other S. aureus strains, the sensor histidine kinase SaeS has an L18P (T53C in saeS) substitution, which transformed the protein into an FtsH substrate. Due to the increase of SaeS L18P in the ftsH mutant, Eap, a sae-regulon protein, was also increased in abundance, causing the Newman-specific cell-aggregation phenotype. Regardless of the strain background, however, the ftsH mutants showed lower virulence and survival in a murine infection model. Our study illustrates the elasticity of the bacterial regulatory network, which can be rewired by a single substitution mutation.

In the adult brain GABAA receptors (GABAARs) mediate the majority of synaptic inhibition that provides inhibitory balance to excitatory drive and controls neuronal output. In the immature brain GABAAR signaling is critical for neuronal development. However, the cell-autonomous role of GABAARs in synapse development remains largely unknown. We have employed the CRISPR-CAS9 technology to genetically eliminate GABAARs in individual hippocampal neurons and examined GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses. We found that development of GABAergic synapses, but not glutamatergic synapses, critically depends on GABAARs. By combining different genetic approaches, we have also removed GABAARs and two ionotropic glutamate receptors, AMPA receptors (AMPARs) and NMDA receptors (NMDARs), in single neurons and discovered a striking dichotomy. Indeed, while development of glutamatergic synapses and spines does not require signaling mediated by these receptors, inhibitory synapse formation is crucially dependent on them. Our data reveal a critical cell-autonomous role of GABAARs in inhibitory synaptogenesis and demonstrate distinct molecular mechanisms for development of inhibitory and excitatory synapses.

Background The soil fungal community plays an important role in global carbon cycling and shows obvious seasonal variations, however, drivers, particularly stochastic drivers, of the seasonal variation in the fungal community have never been addressed in sufficient detail. Methods We investigated the soil fungal community variation between summer growing (SG) and winter fallow (WF) stage, through high throughput sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicons. Subsequently, we assessed the contribution of different ecological processes to community assembly using null-model-based statistical framework. Results The results showed that the fungal community diversity decreased significantly after tobacco cropping in the SG stage and the composition showed a clear turnover between the WF and SG stages. The variation in community composition was largely attributable to the presence of a small portion of Dothideomycetes in the WF stage that dominated the soil fungal community in the SG stage. The organic matter, temperature, and water content were the main deterministic factors that regulated the fungal community; these factors explained 34.02% of the fungal community variation. Together with the result that the fungal community was mainly assembled by the dispersal process, our results suggested that the stochastic factors played important roles in driving the seasonal variation of fungal community. The dispersal limitation dominated the fungal community assembly during the WF stage when homogenizing dispersal was the main assembly process of the fungal community in the SG stage. Thus, we proposed that the dispersal processes are important drivers for seasonal variation of fungal community in tobacco planted soil.

Unlike rigid actuators, soft actuators can easily adapt to complex environments. Understanding the relationship between the deformation of soft actuators and external factors such as pressure would enable rapid designs based on specific requirements, such as flexible, compliant endoscopes. An effective model is demonstrated that predicts the deformation of a soft actuator based on the virtual work principle and the geometrically exact Cosserat rod theory. The deformation process is analyzed for extension, bending, and twisting modules. A new manufacturing method is then introduced. Through any combination of modules, the soft actuator can have a greater workspace and more dexterity. The proposed model was verified for various fiber-reinforced elastomeric enclosures. There is good agreement between the model analysis and the experimental data, which indicates the effectiveness of the model.

During 2005–2014, community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections increased in Shanghai, China. Most infections were caused by sequence type 59 S. aureus that lacked Panton-Valentine leukocidin. This finding challenges the notion that Panton-Valentine leukocidin is necessary for epidemiologic success of community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus.

Expulsion identification is of significance for welding quality assessment and control in resistance spot welding. In order to improve the identification accuracy, a novel wavelet decomposition and Back Propagation (BP) neural networks with the peak-to-peak amplitude and the kurtosis index were proposed to identify the expulsion from electrode force sensing signals. The rapid step impulse and resultant damping vibration of electrode force was determined as a robust indication of expulsion, and this feature was extracted from the electrode force waveform by seven-layer wavelet decomposition with Daubechies5 wavelets. Then, the energy distribution proportion of the decomposed detail signals were calculated, and the highest-energy one was selected as the target signal. Two statistical indexes were introduced in this paper to measure the target signal in overall situation and volatility. The bigger the peak-to-peak amplitude is, the more violent the fluctuation is. Moreover, the higher the kurtosis index is, the stronger the impact is, and the lower the dispersion degree of the data is. Experimental analysis showed that neither the peak-to-peak amplitude nor the kurtosis index could accurately judge the expulsion defect individually, because of the early signal fluctuation, likely affected by the work-piece clamping, work-piece clearance, or the oxide film thickness. Therefore, the BP neural networks were introduced to identify the expulsion defects, which is a mature and stable non-linear pattern recognition method. Testing experiments presented good results with the trained networks and improved the evaluable accuracy effectively in the quality assessment of the resistance spot welding.

Streptococcus agalactiae, a colonizing agent in pregnant women and the main cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis, has been increasingly associated with invasive disease in nonpregnant adults. We collected a total of 87 non-repetitive S. agalactiae isolates causing community-acquired (CA) and hospital-acquired (HA) infections in nonpregnant adults from a teaching hospital in Shanghai between 2009 and 2013. We identified and characterized their antibiotic resistance, sequence type (ST), serotype, virulence, and biofilm formation. The most frequent STs were ST19 (29.9%), ST23 (16.1%), ST12 (13.8%), and ST1 (12.6%). ST19 had significantly different distributions between CA- and HA-group B Streptococci (GBS) isolates. The most frequent serotypes were III (32.2%), Ia (26.4%), V (14.9%), Ib (13.8%), and II (5.7%). Serotype III/ST19 was significantly associated with levofloxacin resistance in all isoates. The HA-GBS multidrug resistant rate was much higher than that of CA-GBS. Virulence genes pavA, cfb were found in all isolates. Strong correlations exist between serotype Ib (CA and HA) and surface protein genes spb1 and bac, serotype III (HA) and surface protein gene cps and GBS pilus cluster. The serotype, epidemic clone, PFGE-based genotype, and virulence gene are closely related between CA-GBS and HA-GBS, and certain serotypes and clone types were significantly associated with antibiotic resistance. However, CA-GBS and HA-GBS still had significant differences in their distribution of clone types, antibiotic resistance, and specific virulence genes, which may provide a basis for infection control.

BackgroundStaphylococcus epidermidis is a common cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. This study analyzed the differences in genetic endowment and clonal lineages with pathogenesis and resistance traits of S. epidermidis isolates collected from community and hospital environments (patients and healthcare staff) of the same ecological niche, time period, and geographical location in China.Methodology/principal findingsMolecular epidemiology and population analysis showed that nasal colonization rates of S. epidermidis in the community of Shanghai area of China and in healthcare personnel were 44.8% (methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis, MRSE: 17.2%) and 61.3% (MRSE: 30.0%), respectively. 86.7% of clinical isolates were MRSE. Among the strains studied, 44 sequence types (STs) were identified with 91.7% belonging to clonal complex 2 (CC2). Only 40.8% isolates from patients were also found in healthy individuals. MRSE-ST2-SCCmecIII was the predominant clone in clinical isolates, almost resistant to all antibiotics tested. Biofilm-related genes IS256 and icaA were detected in majority of the predominant clinical MRSE-ST2 clone with a 40.5% biofilm-positive rate. No ST2 isolate was found in community setting. We found a high prevalence of arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME) (74.1%). The prevalence of ACME-arc and ACME-opp3 clusters was 71.6% and 32.4%, respectively. Methicillin-sensitive S. epidermidis (MSSE) isolates harbored more ACME (83.3%) than MRSE isolates (67.7%), and there was no association between ACME and SCCmec types. An association was found between low-level ACME presence and invasive infections.Conclusions/significanceWe observed a high level of diversity within S. epidermidis in this study, with CC2 as the dominant clonal complex in both community and hospital settings. Only 40.8% of the isolates from patients were also found in healthy individuals. Contrary to that biofilm formation and multiple antibiotic resistance were associated closely with pathogenicity of S. epidermidis, ACME was more likely to be an indicator for colonization rather than a virulence factor.