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Rough estimations in emergency mode are now playing an important role in making key decisions for managing disasters including search and rescue. Most of the studies only paid attention to the earthquakes and ignored the presence of disaster chains and the hazard interactions in earthquakes. Bayesian Networks are ideal tools to explore the causal relationships between events, combine prior knowledge and observed data, and are integrated to solve uncertain problems. In such situations, we present improvements based on a Bayesian Network Model in approaches to estimations of casualties in earthquakes. According to the development of the earthquake disaster chain in literature, the proposed model extracts the key events of earthquakes, considers the hazard interactions, and constructs the Bayesian Networks based on a scenario-based method, to deal with the events in the earthquakes. In the model, lifeline system damages, fires, landslides, and debris flow have been integrated into the networks. The conditional probability tables are encoded by using the collected cases. Validations in the Netica allow the simulation of expected shaking intensity and estimation of the expected casualties by strong earthquakes in emergency mode. Compared to the literature, the method is closer to the fact in the rough estimations, providing important information for our response to earthquakes. Further, rough estimations are started when only seismic intensity or fewer earthquake source parameters are available. &nbsp

Owing to the unique electronic structure, kagome materials AV3Sb5 (A=K, Rb, Cs) provide a fertile platform of quantum phenomena such as the strongly correlated state and topological Dirac band. It is well known that RbV3Sb5 exhibits a 2×2 unconventional charge density wave (CDW) state at low temperature, and the mechanism is controversial. Here, by using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS), we successfully manipulated the CDW state in the Sb plane of RbV3Sb5, and realized a new √ 3×√ 3 modulation together with the ubiquitous 2×2 period in the CDW state of RbV3Sb5. The work provides a new understanding of the collective quantum ground states in the kagome materials.

Primary vaginal cancer is rare, accounting for only 2% of all gynecological malignant tumors. Primary vaginal cell carcinoma is mainly squamous cell carcinoma, accounting for about 90%, and adenocarcinoma only accounts for 8–10%. Primary signet ring cell carcinoma of vagina is rare and has not been reported in the literature. This paper reports a case of signet ring cell carcinoma in vagina.

The heterotrimeric Tel2-Tti1-Tti2 or TTT complex is essential for cell viability and highly observed in eukaryotes. As the co-chaperone of ATR, ATM, DNA-PKcs, mTOR, SMG1, and TRRAP, the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related kinases (PIKKs) and a group of large proteins of 300–500 kDa, the TTT plays crucial roles in genome stability, cell proliferation, telomere maintenance, and aging. Most of the protein kinases in the kinome are targeted by co-chaperone Cdc37 for proper folding and stability. Like Cdc37, accumulating evidence has established the mechanism by which the TTT interacts with chaperone Hsp90 via R2TP (Rvb1-Rvb2-Tah1-Pih1) complex or other proteins for co-translational maturation of the PIKKs. Recent structural studies have revealed the α-solenoid structure of the TTT and its interactions with the R2TP complex, which shed new light on the co-chaperone mechanism and provide new research opportunities. A series of mutations of the TTT have been identified that cause disease syndrome with neurodevelopmental defects, and misregulation of the TTT has been shown to contribute to myeloma, colorectal, and non-small-cell lung cancers. Surprisingly, Tel2 in the TTT complex has recently been found to be a target of ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that has been used by millions of patients. This discovery provides mechanistic insight into the anti-cancer effect of ivermectin and thus promotes the repurposing of this Nobel-prize-winning medicine for cancer chemotherapy. Here, we briefly review the discovery of the TTT complex, discuss the recent studies, and describe the perspectives for future investigation.

Smc5/6, like cohesin and condensin, is a structural maintenance of chromosomes complex crucial for genome stability. Unlike cohesin and condensin, Smc5/6 carries an essential Nse2 subunit with SUMO E3 ligase activity. While screening for new DNA replication checkpoint mutants in fission yeast, we have identified two previously uncharacterized mutants in Smc5/6. Characterization of the mutants and a series of previously reported Smc5/6 mutants uncovered that sumoylation of the RecQ helicase Rqh1 by Nse2 facilitates the checkpoint signaling at the replication fork. We found that mutations that eliminate the sumoylation sites or the helicase activity of Rqh1 compromised the checkpoint signaling similar to a nse2 mutant lacking the ligase activity. Surprisingly, introducing a sumoylation site mutation to a helicase-inactive rqh1 mutant promoted cell survival under stress. These findings, together with other genetic data, support a mechanism that sumoylation of Rqh1 by Smc5/6-Nse2 recruits Rqh1 or modulates its helicase activity at the fork to facilitate the checkpoint signaling. Since the Smc5/6 complex, Rqh1, and the replication checkpoint are conserved in eukaryotes, a similar checkpoint mechanism may be operating in human cells.

DNA replication checkpoint is a cell signaling pathway that is activated in response to perturbed replication. Although it is crucial for maintaining genomic integrity and cell survival, the exact mechanism of the checkpoint signaling remains to be understood. Emerging evidence has shown that RecQ helicases, a large family of helicases that are conserved from bacteria to yeasts and humans, contribute to the replication checkpoint as sensors, adaptors, or regulation targets. Here, we highlight the multiple functions of RecQ helicases in the replication checkpoint in four model organisms and present additional evidence that fission yeast RecQ helicase Rqh1 may participate in the replication checkpoint as a sensor.

Objective To investigate the effects of simulated 2-week microgravity on the ocular fundus hemodynamics of central retinal artery and the retinal and choroidal thickness in autogenous rats. Methods Eight healthy SD rats were designed in self-control, designed for the control before tail suspension, the tail suspension for 1, 4, 7 and 14 d. A rat model of simulated microgravity method was established by tail suspension. The peak maximum systolic velocity (PSV) of central retinal artery (CRA) in rats was detected and analyzed by color Doppler ultrasonography. The retinal and choroidal thicknesses were measured by the enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (EDI SD-OCT). Results The PSV value in each different period after tail suspension was decreased compared with that in the control before tail suspension (P0.05), but there was a significant difference between the tail suspension for 1 d and the tail suspension for 14 d (P0.05). The choroidal thickness was lower in the control before tail suspension than that in each different period after tail suspension (P

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can benefit many plants, but their effects on walnuts are not yet known. The present study aimed to analyze the effect of five AMF species, namely, Acaulospora scrobiculata, Diversispora spurca, Glomus etunicatum, G. mosseae and G. versiforme on biomass production, chlorophyll contents, sugar fraction contents, and mineral element contents of walnut (Juglans regia L.) seedlings. The five AMF species colonized roots of walnut, established mycorrhizas in roots and hyphae in soil, and released easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein into soil, whilst D. spurca exhibited the best effect. All the AMF inoculations, except A. scrobiculata, stimulated shoot and root biomass production. Mycorrhizal fungal inoculations collectively increased leaf chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll a+b concentrations, and thus promoted leaf sucrose accumulation, which provides an important mycorrhiza-carbon source to roots. AMF inoculations conferred a positive effect on leaf N, P, K, Mg, Fe, B, Zn and Cu contents, while they reduced leaf Mn contents. These results concluded that AMF were beneficial to the growth and physiological activities of walnut, which gives the support for the AMF application in walnut.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an established yeast model for studying the cellular mechanisms conserved in humans, such as the DNA replication checkpoint. The replication checkpoint deals with replication stress caused by numerous endogenous and exogenous factors that perturb fork movement. If undealt with, perturbed forks collapse, causing chromosomal DNA damage or cell death. Hydroxyurea (HU) is an inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) commonly used in checkpoint studies. It produces replication stress by depleting dNTPs, which slows the movement of ongoing forks and thus activates the replication checkpoint. However, HU also causes side effects such as oxidative stress, particularly under chronic exposure conditions, which complicates the studies. To find a drug that generates replication stress more specifically, we tested three other RNR inhibitors gemcitabine, guanazole and triapine in S. pombe under various experimental conditions. Our results show that guanazole and triapine can produce replication stress more specifically than HU under chronic, not acute drug treatment conditions. Therefore, using the two drugs in spot assay, the method commonly used for testing drug sensitivity in yeasts, should benefit the checkpoint studies in S. pombe and likely the research in other model systems.

Camellia is a genus of evergreen shrubs or trees, such as C. japonica, C. sinensis, C. oleifera, etc. A group of beneficial soil microorganisms, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), inhabit the rhizosphere of these Camellia spp. A total of eight genera of Acaulospora, Entrophospora, Funneliformis, Gigaspora, Glomus, Pacispora, Scutellospora, and Sclerocystis were found to be associated with Camellia plants with Glomus and/or Acaulospora being most abundant. These mycorrhizal fungi can colonize the roots of Camellia spp. and thus form arbuscular mycorrhizal symbionts. AMF is an important partner of Camellia spp. in the field of physiological activities. Studies indicated that AMF inoculation has been shown to promote plant growth, improve nutrient acquisition and nutritional quality, and increase resistance to drought, salinity and heavy metal contamination in potted Camellia. This review thus provides a comprehensive overview of AMF species occurring in the rhizosphere of Camellia spp. and summarizes the variation in root AMF colonization rate as well as the environmental factors and soil nutrients affecting root colonization. The paper also reviews the effects of AMF on plant growth response, nutrient acquisition, food quality, and stress tolerance of Camellia spp.

The presence of the intrinsic band gap of 3.06 eV makes atomically thin carbon nitride sheets (CNs) a promising spin-based semiconductor material. However, the absence of localized spins makes the pristine CNs intrinsically nonmagnetic. Here we report the realization of strong room-temperature (RT) ferromagnetism with a high Curie temperature of ca. 524.2 K in atomically thin 2D CNs by annealing pristine CNs at 700 °C. In particular, the RT saturated magnetization reaches as high as 0.71 emu/g, which is the highest value reported so far in carbon-based materials. The structural characterization combined with density functional theory calculations reveals that (i) the seven C-C bonds per unit cell were formed after annealing and (ii) the C-C bonds can introduce high-density localized spins and realize the long-range ferromagnetic couplings among these spins.

As a beneficial endophytic fungus, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are widely distributed in nature and can symbiotically grow with approx. 80% of terrestrial plants, helping host plants to grow and develop with increased tolerance to various stresses. One of the most important functions of AMF is to promote the uptake of P from the soil by the host plant. The available findings explain the role of mycorrhizal fungi. For example, AMF increase the phosphorus uptake area of plant roots by improving the root architecture, and the extraradical mycelium can extend beyond the phosphorus-deprived areas that are inaccessible to the root, helping to expand new phosphorus sources. AMF also increase the secretion of phosphatases and organic acids in plant roots to improve the soil environment for accelerating the conversion of insoluble phosphorus. The phosphorus transporter protein genes expression is induced by AMF to enhance host P acquisition. The review briefly outlines these potential mechanisms and suggests outlooks for future research.

By using scanning tunneling microscopy, we investigated the electronic evolution of T d-WTe2 via in-situ surface alkali K atoms deposition. The T d-WTe2 surface is electron doped upon K deposition, and as the K coverage increases, two gaps are sequentially opened near Fermi energy, which probably indicates that two phase transitions concomitantly occur during electron doping. The two gaps both show a dome-like dependence on the K coverage. While the bigger gap shows no prominent dependence on the magnetic field, the smaller one can be well suppressed and thus possibly corresponds to the superconducting transition. This work indicates that T d-WTe2 exhibits rich quantum states closely related to the carrier concentration.

The interfacial charge transfer from the substrate may influence the electronic structure of the epitaxial van der Waals (vdW) monolayers and thus their further technological applications. For instance, the freestanding Sb monolayer in puckered honeycomb phase ({\alpha}-antimonene), the structural analog of black phosphorene, was predicted to be a semiconductor, but the epitaxial one behaves as a gapless semimetal when grown on the Td-WTe2 substrate. Here, we demonstrate that interface engineering can be applied to tune the interfacial charge transfer and thus the electron band of epitaxial monolayer. As a result, the nearly freestanding (semiconducting) {\alpha}-antimonene monolayer with a band gap of ~170 meV was successfully obtained on the SnSe substrate. Furthermore, a semiconductor-semimetal crossover is observed in the bilayer {\alpha}-antimonene. This study paves the way towards modifying the electron structure in two-dimensional vdW materials through interface engineering., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures

Rad3 is the orthologue of ATR and the sensor kinase of the DNA replication checkpoint in Schizosaccharomyces pombe Under replication stress, it initiates checkpoint signaling at the forks necessary for maintaining genome stability and cell survival. To better understand the checkpoint initiation process, we have carried out a genetic screen in fission yeast by random mutation of the genome, looking for mutants defective in response to the replication stress induced by hydroxyurea. In addition to the previously reported mutant with a C-to-Y change at position 307 encoded by tel2 (tel2-C307Y mutant) (Y.-J. Xu, S. Khan, A. C. Didier, M. Wozniak, et al., Mol Cell Biol 39:e00175-19, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1128/MCB.00175-19), this screen has identified six mutations in rqh1 encoding a RecQ DNA helicase. Surprisingly, these rqh1 mutations, except for a start codon mutation, are all in the helicase domain, indicating that the helicase activity of Rqh1 plays an important role in the replication checkpoint. In support of this notion, integration of two helicase-inactive mutations or deletion of rqh1 generated a similar Rad3 signaling defect, and heterologous expression of human RECQ1, BLM, and RECQ4 restored the Rad3 signaling and partially rescued a rqh1 helicase mutant. Therefore, the replication checkpoint function of Rqh1 is highly conserved, and mutations in the helicase domain of these human enzymes may cause the checkpoint defect and contribute to the cancer predisposition syndromes.

Rad3 is the orthologue of ATR and the sensor kinase of the DNA replication checkpoint inSchizosaccharomyces pombe. Under replication stress, it initiates checkpoint signaling at the forks necessary for maintaining genome stability and cell survival. To better understand the checkpoint initiation process, we have carried out a genetic screen in fission yeast by random mutation of the genome looking for mutants with defects in Rad3 kinase signaling. In addition to the previously reportedtel2-C307Ymutant (1), this screen has identified six mutations inrqh1encoding a RecQ DNA helicase. Surprisingly, theserqh1mutations except a start codon mutation are all in the helicase domain, indicating that the helicase activity of Rqh1 plays an important role in the replication checkpoint. In support of this notion, integration of two helicase-inactive mutations or deletion ofrqh1generated a similar Rad3 signaling defect and heterologous expression of human RECQ1, BLM and RECQ4 restored the Rad3 signaling and partially rescued arqh1helicase mutant. Therefore, the replication checkpoint function of Rqh1 is highly conserved and mutations in the helicase domain of these human enzymes may cause the checkpoint defect and contribute to the cancer predisposition syndromes.

Rad3 is the orthologue of ATR and the sensor kinase of the DNA replication checkpoint in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Under replication stress, it initiates checkpoint signaling at the forks necessary for maintaining genome stability and cell survival. To better understand the checkpoint initiation process, we have carried out a genetic screen in fission yeast by random mutation of the genome, looking for mutants defective in response to the replication stress induced by hydroxyurea. In addition to the previously reported mutant with a C-to-Y change at position 307 encoded by tel2 (tel2-C307Y mutant) (Y.-J. Xu, S. Khan, A. C. Didier, M. Wozniak, et al., Mol Cell Biol 39:e00175-19, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1128/MCB.00175-19), this screen has identified six mutations in rqh1 encoding a RecQ DNA helicase. Surprisingly, these rqh1 mutations, except for a start codon mutation, are all in the helicase domain, indicating that the helicase activity of Rqh1 plays an important role in the replication checkpoint. In support of this notion, integration of two helicase-inactive mutations or deletion of rqh1 generated a similar Rad3 signaling defect, and heterologous expression of human RECQ1, BLM, and RECQ4 restored the Rad3 signaling and partially rescued a rqh1 helicase mutant. Therefore, the replication checkpoint function of Rqh1 is highly conserved, and mutations in the helicase domain of these human enzymes may cause the checkpoint defect and contribute to the cancer predisposition syndromes.

Realizing the strong ferromagnetism (FM) with both the Curie temperature above room temperature and high magnetization in graphene, is key for its real application in future spintronics. Nitrogen-doping has been confirmed to be one of the most promising ways for experimental realization of room temperature FM in graphene. However, the comprehensive mechanism, which needs to verify the enhancements of both the nitrogen complexes-induced magnetism and the FM coupling among them, remains to be completely explored, which impedes the experimental optimization of the FM in nitrogen-doped graphene (NG). Here, we theoretically perform a comprehensive analysis on the FM enhancement in NG. The enhancement of both the magnetic moments and FM coupling highly depends on the N concentration and relative geometric configuration of the N complexes. Especially, the magnetic moments and FM coupling are attributed to the σ-π magnetic interaction between the localized and itinerant moments, the band reconstruction originated from the proximity of N complexes, and the sublattice match/mismatch. The FM enhancement is high sensibility to the geometric configurations of the N complexes, and only the presence of graphitic-3N combined with trimerized pyridine can realize the sublattice-independent strong FM in the high N-concentration limit. Whereas the low N-concentration limit favors the substantial FM enhancement in all systems, but would unavoidably undergo both the low Curie temperature and low magnetization due to the relatively low N-concentration. We hope that the comprehensive mechanism of FM enhancement we offered can push the optimization of the FM in NG via tuning its N concentration and geometric configuration of the N complexes by the rational design of the specific experimental strategies.

Metallization of 1T-TaS_{2} is generally initiated at the domain boundary of a charge density wave (CDW), at the expense of its long-range order. However, we demonstrate in this study that the metallization of 1T-TaS_{2} can be also realized without breaking the long-range CDW order upon surface alkali doping. By using scanning tunneling microscopy, we find the long-range CDW order is always persisting, and the metallization is instead associated with additional in-gap excitations. Interestingly, the in-gap excitation is near the top of the lower Hubbard band, in contrast to a conventional electron-doped Mott insulator where it is beneath the upper Hubbard band. In combination with the numerical calculations, we suggest that the appearance of the in-gap excitations near the lower Hubbard band is mainly due to the effectively reduced on-site Coulomb energy by the adsorbed alkali ions.

In response to perturbed DNA replication, ATR (ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related) kinase is activated to initiate the checkpoint signaling necessary for maintaining genome integrity and cell survival. To better understand the signaling mechanism, we carried out a large-scale genetic screen in fission yeast looking for mutants with enhanced sensitivity to hydroxyurea. From a collection of ∼370 primary mutants, we found a few mutants in which Rad3 (ATR ortholog)-mediated phospho-signaling was significantly compromised. One such mutant carried an uncharacterized mutation in tel2, a gene encoding an essential and highly conserved eukaryotic protein. Previous studies in various biological models have shown that Tel2 mainly functions in Tel2-Tti1-Tti2 (TTT) complex that regulates the steady-state levels of all phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-like protein kinases, including ATR. We show here that although the levels of Rad3 and Rad3-mediated phospho-signaling in DNA damage checkpoint were moderately reduced in the tel2 mutant, the phospho-signaling in the DNA replication checkpoint was almost completely eliminated. In addition, the tel2 mutation caused telomere shortening. Since the interactions of Tel2 with Tti1 and Tti2 were significantly weakened by the mutation, destabilization of the TTT complex likely contributes to the observed checkpoint and telomere defects.

Triangular fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy set is one of the extensions of Atanassov’s intuitionistic fuzzy set (A-IFS). The main purpose of this paper is to define some basic operations including "addition", "multiplication", "number multiplication" , "fuzzy number multiplication" and "fuzzy number power" of triangular fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy set. Furthermore, we also prove some propositions concerning laws and properties of these operations and present some examples in this context. Investigations show that our proposed operations for TFNIFSs are generalizations of those of A-IFS. The proposed operations constitutes solid foundation for triangular fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information aggregation and decision making application.

In response to perturbed DNA replication, ATR (ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related) kinase is activated to initiate the checkpoint signaling necessary for maintaining genome integrity and cell survival. To better understand the signaling mechanism, we carried out a large-scale genetic screen in fission yeast looking for mutants with enhanced sensitivity to hydroxyurea. From a collection of ∼370 primary mutants, we found a few mutants in which Rad3 (ATR ortholog)-mediated phospho-signaling was significantly compromised. One such mutant carried an uncharacterized mutation in tel2, a gene encoding an essential and highly conserved eukaryotic protein. Previous studies in various biological models have shown that Tel2 mainly functions in Tel2-Tti1-Tti2 (TTT) complex that regulates the steady-state levels of all phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-like protein kinases, including ATR. We show here that although the levels of Rad3 and Rad3-mediated phospho-signaling in DNA damage checkpoint were moderately reduced in the tel2 mutant, the phospho-signaling in the DNA replication checkpoint was almost completely eliminated. In addition, the tel2 mutation caused telomere shortening. Since the interactions of Tel2 with Tti1 and Tti2 were significantly weakened by the mutation, destabilization of the TTT complex likely contributes to the observed checkpoint and telomere defects.

Walnuts are an economically important forest tree used for timber and nut production, and the nut of fruits is rich in various nutrients, becoming one of the four important nuts in the world. Walnuts have deep roots, which can be colonized by either ectomycorrhizal fungi or arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. These mycorrhizal fungi form beneficial symbioses in roots of walnut. A large number of ectomycorrhizal fungi have been identified, whilst Boletus edulis, Calvatia uiacina, and Cantharelles cibarius isolated from walnut orchards stimulated plant growth and gave the capacity of stress tolerance in walnut. Moreover, Carya illinoensis is a very good host plant for commercial production of truffles, especially Tuber indicum. In addition, ectomycorrhizal fungi accelerate plant growth and enhance potential stress tolerance of walnuts. Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi also showed the improvement of plant growth and nutrient acquisition of walnut, the enhancement of drought tolerance in walnut, nutrient redistribution under walnut interplanting patterns, and the delivery of juglone by mycorrhizal hyphae. A culturable in vitro arbuscular mycorrhizal like fungus Piriformospora indica also enhanced salt tolerance of walnut plants. In this mini-review, the physiological roles of mycorrhizal fungi, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, ectomycorrhizal fungi and arbuscular mycorrhizal like fungus (P. indica) on walnut plants are summarized, and future outlooks in the field are proposed.

Fluorinated graphene has been widely studied and its nonstoichiometric structure is considered as defective. However, the impact of structural defects on optical properties was generally neglected. Here, fluorinated reduced graphene oxide (F-rGO) was prepared by annealing rGO and XeF2, and its structure, bandgap and optical properties are investigated. The results show that there are plenty of vacancies modified by CF2 on the basal plane of F-rGO sheets. With the increasing of the fluorine concentrations from 0.29 to 0.98 at.%, F-rGO exhibits broad tunable gap from 0.42 to 3.0 eV. Interestingly, it shows obviously band-tail absorption and broader PL emission peak due to the fluorinated vacancies. Theoretical calculations show that CF2 group on C mono-vacancy can increase the bandgap. This study provides a new insight into the bandgap opening and PL emission in F-rGO.

DNA replication checkpoint is a highly conserved cellular signaling pathway critical for maintaining genome integrity in eukaryotes. It is activated when DNA replication is perturbed. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, perturbed replication forks activate the sensor kinase Rad3 (ATR/Mec1), which works cooperatively with mediator Mrc1 and the 9-1-1 checkpoint clamp to phosphorylate the effector kinase Cds1 (CHK2/Rad53). Phosphorylation of Cds1 promotes autoactivation of the kinase. Activated Cds1 diffuses away from the forks and stimulates most of the checkpoint responses under replication stress. Although this signaling pathway has been well understood in fission yeast, how the signaling is initiated and thus regulated remains incompletely understood. Previous studies have shown that deletion of lem2(+) sensitizes cells to the inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase, hydroxyurea. However, the underlying mechanism is still not well understood. This study shows that in the presence of hydroxyurea, Lem2 facilitates Rad3-mediated checkpoint signaling for Cds1 activation. Without Lem2, all known Rad3-dependent phosphorylations critical for replication checkpoint signaling are seriously compromised, which likely causes the aberrant mitosis and drug sensitivity observed in this mutant. Interestingly, the mutant is not very sensitive to DNA damage and the DNA damage checkpoint remains largely intact, suggesting that the main function of Lem2 is to facilitate checkpoint signaling in response to replication stress. Since Lem2 is an inner nuclear membrane protein, these results also suggest that the replication checkpoint may be spatially regulated inside the nucleus, a previously unknown mechanism.

Our aim was to explore whether heat stress protein (HSP) 9 preferentially expresses under heat stress and affects the expression of other heat stress proteins as well as to explore the effect of HSPB9 overexpression and knockdown on apoptosis in DF-1.We used gene cloning to construct an overexpression vector of the target gene, and synthesized the target gene interference fragment to transfect the chicken fibroblast cell line. Gene and protein expression, as well as apoptosis, were detected by RT-qPCR, Western blot, and flow cytometry.Chicken DF-1 cells showed an early state of apoptosis in the early stages of HSPB9 overexpression. In the later stages, as HSPB9 expression increased, the cells showed inhibition of apoptosis. When the cells were under heat stress, HSPB9 expression was much higher and earlier than the expression of HSPB1 and HSPA2. In addition, high expression of HSPB9 had a negative effect on HSPB1 and HSPA2 expression. This negative feedback decreased the percentage of early stages of apoptotic cells and promoted cell survival.HSPB9 expression, although rapid, is detrimental to cell survival early during its overexpression. In heat stress, HSPB9 overexpression, while inhibiting the expression of HSPA2 and HSPB1, is beneficial to cell survival.

In this study, the effects of talc microparticles on mycelia morphology and e-poly-L-lysine (e-PL) production by Streptomyces sp. M-Z18 were investigated for the first time. Changing mycelia morphology with talc microparticles has resulted in e-PL production being enhanced. Talc microparticles caused a decrease of pellet diameter from 297.63 ± 156.33 to 205.65 ± 71.56 μm in shake-flask fermentation. Moreover, the maximum e-PL production reached 2.51 ± 0.08 g L−1 in the presence of 10 g L−1 talc microparticles, which was increased by 50.30%, compared to the control (1.67 ± 0.11 g L−1). The scale-up processes were performed in batch and fed-batch fermentations in a 5 L fermenter with 10 g L−1 talc addition, and the final e-PL production of 30.57 g L−1 was obtained at 168 h, with 44.06% increase over the control. Talc microparticles of 10 g L−1 were then supplied to the fed-batch fermentation with acidic pH shock and agro-industrial by-products, and e-PL production was further increased to 62.36 g L−1 at 192 h, compared to 54.70 g L−1 of the control without supplementary talc. This is also the highest e-PL production reported so far in the literature. These results suggested that talc addition could be an efficient and universal approach for enhancing e-PL production in industry.

This study investigates the characteristics of shaped charge jet formations with a high-polymer liner, as well as its penetration capabilities, by experimental and numerical methods. Two types of liner materials were studied: a high-polymer PTFE liner and a pure copper liner. Pulse x-ray photographic technology was employed to observe the distent jet of the PTFE liner and the particulate jet of the copper liner. The simulation and jet radiography results show that the two jet behaviors with particulate and radial dispersion are ductile behaviors, and the two jet behaviors appear to be related to the liner material. The distent jet formation result from the liner material was crushed at the high-pressure region because the sudden pressure increase produces radial velocity, which results in lateral expansion. Compared with the typical copper penetration performance, the polymer distent jet had a larger aperture and lower penetration depth. Clearly, because of the low polymer liner density, this device will have limited penetration compared to that of a copper liner. The simulated results strongly agree with the experimental results.

The differences in physiological and immunological parameters and pathological damage to organ tissues exposed to chronic heat stress provide the basis for evaluating heat resistance of different chicken breeds (white recessive rock [WRR] and The Lingshan [LS]). Ninety broilers of each breed were divided equally into a chronic heat stress group and a no heat stress group. The effects of chronic heat stress on the physiological and immunological parameters of broilers were analyzed using flow cytometry, ELISA, RT-qPCR, etc. Under heat stress conditions: (1) H and H/L values were significantly increased (P < 0.01) in the 2 breeds, and were higher in the WRR broilers than in the LS broilers at a late stage (P < 0.05). Although the corticosterone levels were also significantly increased (P < 0.01) in both breeds, they were lower in the 49 d WRR broilers than in the LS broilers (P < 0.01). The number of leukocytes were significantly increased in the 49 d WRR broilers (P < 0.01), whereas the number of CD3+, CD8+ cells, and erythrocytes were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). A significantly (P < 0.01) lower number of CD3+, CD4+ T-lymphocytes, and CD4+/CD8+ were present in WRR compared to that in the LS broilers. (2) The HSP70 transcript was significantly increased in the WRR broilers (P < 0.01), and was higher than the level in the LS broilers. The expression level of HSP70 protein was significantly (P < 0.05) increased in WRR broilers. (3) The WRR broilers developed cardiac and leg muscle inflammatory cellular hyperplasia and local inflammatory lesions, as well as cerebral meningitis and inflammatory hyperplasia of the brain tissue. The LS broilers developed mild cerebral inflammatory hyperplasia and mild inflammatory cellular proliferation in the leg muscle. In conclusion, under heat stress conditions, the relative physiological and immunological parameters were worse in the WRR broilers than in the LS broilers. The WRR broilers showed poor heat tolerance as evidenced from the expression of HSP70 and the extent of histopathological damages.

We have previously reported that an erg11 mutation affecting ergosterol synthesis and a hem13 mutation in the heme synthesis pathway significantly sensitize the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe to hydroxyurea (HU) (1, 2). Here we show that treatment with inhibitors of Erg11 and heme biosynthesis phenocopies the two mutations in sensitizing wild-type cells to HU. Importantly, HU synergistically interacts with the heme biosynthesis inhibitor sampangine and several Erg11 inhibitors, the antifungal azoles, in causing cell lethality. Since the synergistic drug interactions are also observed in the phylogenetically divergent Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans , the synergism is likely conserved in eukaryotes. Interestingly, our genetic data for S. pombe has also led to the discovery of a robust synergism between sampangine and the azoles in C. albicans . Thus, combinations of HU, sampangine, and the azoles can be further studied as a new method for the treatment of fungal infections.