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Lignocellulose, as the most abundant natural organic carbon on earth, plays a key role in regulating the global carbon cycle, but there have been only few studies in marine ecosystems. Little information is available about the extant lignin-degrading bacteria in coastal wetlands, limiting our understanding of their ecological roles and traits in lignocellulose degradation. We utilized in situ lignocellulose enrichment experiments coupled with 16S rRNA amplicon and shotgun metagenomics sequencing to identify and characterize bacterial consortia attributed to different lignin/lignocellulosic substrates in the southern-east intertidal zone of East China Sea. We found the consortia enriched on woody lignocellulose showed higher diversity than those on herbaceous substrate. This also revealed substrate-dependent taxonomic groups. A time-dissimilarity pattern with increased alpha diversity over time was observed. Additionally, this study identified a comprehensive set of genes associated with lignin degradation potential, containing 23 gene families involved in lignin depolymerization, and 371 gene families involved in aerobic/anaerobic lignin-derived aromatic compound pathways, challenging the traditional view of lignin recalcitrance within marine ecosystems. In contrast to similar cellulase genes among the lignocellulose substrates, significantly different ligninolytic gene groups were observed between consortia under woody and herbaceous substrates. Importantly, we not only observed synergistic degradation of lignin and hemi-/cellulose, but also pinpointed the potential biological actors at the levels of taxa and functional genes, which indicated that the alternation of aerobic and anaerobic catabolism could facilitate lignocellulose degradation. Our study advances the understanding of coastal bacterial community assembly and metabolic potential for lignocellulose substrates. IMPORTANCE It is essential for the global carbon cycle that microorganisms drive lignocellulose transformation, due to its high abundance. Previous studies were primarily constrained to terrestrial ecosystems, with limited information about the role of microbes in marine ecosystems. Through in situ lignocellulose enrichment experiment coupled with high-throughput sequencing, this study demonstrated different impacts that substrates and exposure times had on long-term bacterial community assembly and pinpointed comprehensive, yet versatile, potential decomposers at the levels of taxa and functional genes in response to different lignocellulose substrates. Moreover, the links between ligninolytic functional traits and taxonomic groups of substrate-specific populations were revealed. It showed that the synergistic effect of lignin and hemi-/cellulose degradation could enhance lignocellulose degradation under alternation of aerobic and anaerobic conditions. This study provides valuable taxonomic and genomic insights into coastal bacterial consortia for lignocellulose degradation.

To extend our understanding of the development of adolescent grit, we examined the relationships between social support and the two facets of grit (i.e., perseverance of effort and consistency of interest) and whether the relations were moderated by age and gender. Our sample was composed of 1475 Chinese adolescents with ages ranging from 10.65 to 19.24 years old (M.sub.age = 14.98, SD.sub.age = 1.66). The results showed that social support was positively related to perseverance of effort but not significantly related to consistency of interest. However, these relations were moderated by age. Specifically, the effect of social support on perseverance of effort declined as age increased, but remained positive among late adolescents. Nevertheless, the effect of social support on consistency of interest was positive only among early adolescents, and the effect decreased and even became marginally negative among late adolescents. Gender difference was further examined, and the results show that the moderating role in the relationship between social support and perseverance of effort was only significant among males rather than females. That is, the positive effect of social support on perseverance of effort did not change with age among females. Theoretic and practical implications are discussed., Author(s): Lili Song [sup.1] [sup.2] , Yueyue Zhou [sup.1] [sup.2] , Yong Wang [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.454868.3, 0000 0004 1797 8574, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute [...]

Ferulic acid is a ubiquitous phenolic compound in lignocellulose, which is recognized for its role in the microbial carbon catabolism and industrial value. However, its recalcitrance and toxicity poses a challenge for ferulic acid-to-bioproducts bioconversion. Here, we develop a genome editing strategy for Pseudomonas putida KT2440 using an integrated CRISPR/Cas9n-λ-Red system with pyrF as a selection marker, which maintains cell viability and genetic stability, increases mutation efficiency, and simplifies genetic manipulation. Via this method, four functional modules, comprised of nine genes involved in ferulic acid catabolism and polyhydroxyalkanoate biosynthesis, were integrated into the genome, generating the KTc9n20 strain. After metabolic engineering and optimization of C/N ratio, polyhydroxyalkanoate production was increased to ~270 mg/L, coupled with ~20 mM ferulic acid consumption. This study not only establishes a simple and efficient genome editing strategy, but also offers an encouraging example of how to apply this method to improve microbial aromatic compound bioconversion.

Trauma has been shown to have a detrimental impact on individuals; however, it may also provide an opportunity for individual growth. The present study investigated the relationship between post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and creative thinking and examined the role of trait resilience as a potential moderator of the relationship. A longitudinal study was conducted 1.5 months after the Lushan earthquake (T1: June 2013), and 102 students who experienced the earthquake were surveyed. PTSS were measured at T1 (June 2013), trait resilience was measured at T2 (October 2013), and creative thinking was measured at T3 (April 2014). PTSS and trait resilience were measured by self-reported questionnaires, and creative thinking was assessed by the Practical Creative Thinking Test. Overall, PTSS were negatively associated with creative thinking, and trait resilience moderated this relationship. Further analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between PTSS and creative thinking for individuals with high trait resilience. The current study highlights the moderating effect of trait resilience on the relationship between PTSS and creative thinking and identifies a positive association between PTSS and creative thinking among early adolescents with high trait resilience. Our findings suggest that increased creative thinking may be a manifestation of post-traumatic growth in the cognitive process.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of depression, anxiety and insomnia in pregnant Chinese women, and to explore the related risk factors across multiple fields. Method: The participants were 2120 women (Mage = 30.24 years, range = 19–47) from 12 provinces in China. Bivariate correlation and logistic regression analyses were used to explore the risk factors. Chi-square tests and t tests were used to examine whether there were significant differences in mental health status between pregnant women in different periods of gestation. Results: The overall prevalence rates of depression, anxiety and insomnia among pregnant Chinese women were 10.0%, 3.8% and 3.3%, respectively. Risk factors for the mental health of pregnant women were identified across demographic, maternal, physiological, and psychological domains. Among these, severe mobility restrictions and fear of childbirth were found to be the strongest predictors. Conclusions: The prevalence of depression, anxiety and insomnia among pregnant women is low. Pregnant women with a seriously impaired ability to move and fear of childbirth are more likely to experience mental health problems. KEY POINTS: What is already known about this topic: Depression, anxiety, and insomnia are common mental health problems among pregnant women. Prevalence rates vary significantly across different countries and regions. Particularly in a large country like China, prevalence rates differ substantially among different regions. While risk factors for mental health of pregnant women span multiple domains, such as physiological and demographic domains, the most influential factors remain unclear. What this topic adds: A large-scale study from 12 provinces in China showed relatively low prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among pregnant women. Among the numerous factors influencing mental health, severe mobility restrictions and fear of childbirth emerged as the most robust predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of familial clustering in depression is well established, yet the mechanisms by which depression is transmitted within families remain poorly understood. In the current study, we investigate the familial genetic and environmental transmission of depression by incorporating data from both adolescent twins and their parents. A total of 987 twin families were recruited from the Beijing Twin Study. Depression assessments were conducted for both adolescents and their parents. Twins' depression was assessed through reports from both the twins themselves and their parents, while parental depression was assessed by parental self‐report. We employed a nuclear twin family model to examine genetic and environmental influences on adolescent depression. Our results, based on both self‐ and parent‐report, demonstrate significant additive and dominant genetic influences on depression. We also found mild yet significant sibling environmental influences, while familial environmental influences were absent. Notably, parent‐reported depression showed higher heritability but lower unique environmental influences compared with self‐reported depression. These results highlight the important role of genetic transmission and sibling environmental transmission in explaining depression. Our study delineates the underlying mechanism of familial transmission in depression and can inform early treatments to halt transmission during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Radon, a potent carcinogen, is a significant catalyst for lung cancer development. However, the molecular mechanisms triggering radon-induced lung cancer remain elusive. Methods Utilizing a radon exposure concentration of 20,000 Bq/m3 for 20 min/session, malignant transformation was induced in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). Results Radon-exposed cells derived from passage 25 (BEAS-2B-Rn) exhibited enhanced proliferation and increased colony formation. Analysis of differential gene expression (DEG) through transcription factors revealed 663 up-regulated and 894 down-regulated genes in radon-exposed cells. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed significant alterations in the malignant transformation pathway of cells, including those related to cancer and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. A PPI network analysis indicated a significant association of oncogenes, such as CCND1, KIT, and GATA3, with lung cancer among differentially expressed genes. In addition, the stability of the housekeeping gene was determined through RT-qPCR analysis, which also confirmed the results of transcriptome analysis. Conclusions The results suggest that transcription factors may play a pivotal role in conferring a survival advantage to radon-exposed cells. This is achieved by malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells into lung carcinogenesis cell phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate crop disease classification is crucial for ensuring food security and enhancing agricultural productivity. However, the existing crop disease classification algorithms primarily focus on a single image modality and typically require a large number of samples. Our research counters these issues by using pre-trained Vision–Language Models (VLMs), which enhance the multimodal synergy for better crop disease classification than the traditional unimodal approaches. Firstly, we apply the multimodal model Qwen-VL to generate meticulous textual descriptions for representative disease images selected through clustering from the training set, which will serve as prompt text for generating classifier weights. Compared to solely using the language model for prompt text generation, this approach better captures and conveys fine-grained and image-specific information, thereby enhancing the prompt quality. Secondly, we integrate cross-attention and SE (Squeeze-and-Excitation) Attention into the training-free mode VLCD(Vision-Language model for Crop Disease classification) and the training-required mode VLCD-T (VLCD-Training), respectively, for prompt text processing, enhancing the classifier weights by emphasizing the key text features. The experimental outcomes conclusively prove our method's heightened classification effectiveness in few-shot crop disease scenarios, tackling the data limitations and intricate disease recognition issues. It offers a pragmatic tool for agricultural pathology and reinforces the smart farming surveillance infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring precise segmentation of colorectal polyps holds critical importance in the early diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. Nevertheless, existing deep learning-based segmentation methods are fully supervised, requiring extensive, precise, manual pixel-level annotation data, which leads to high annotation costs. Additionally, it remains challenging to train large-scale segmentation models when confronted with limited colonoscopy data. To address these issues, we introduce the general segmentation foundation model—the Segment Anything Model (SAM)—into the field of medical image segmentation. Fine-tuning the foundation model is an effective approach to tackle sample scarcity. However, current SAM fine-tuning techniques still rely on precise annotations. To overcome this limitation, we propose WSPolyp-SAM, a novel weakly supervised approach for colonoscopy polyp segmentation. WSPolyp-SAM utilizes weak annotations to guide SAM in generating segmentation masks, which are then treated as pseudo-labels to guide the fine-tuning of SAM, thereby reducing the dependence on precise annotation data. To improve the reliability and accuracy of pseudo-labels, we have designed a series of enhancement strategies to improve the quality of pseudo-labels and mitigate the negative impact of low-quality pseudo-labels. Experimental results on five medical image datasets demonstrate that WSPolyp-SAM outperforms current fully supervised mainstream polyp segmentation networks on the Kvasir-SEG, ColonDB, CVC-300, and ETIS datasets. Furthermore, by using different amounts of training data in weakly supervised and fully supervised experiments, it is found that weakly supervised fine-tuning can save 70% to 73% of annotation time costs compared to fully supervised fine-tuning. This study provides a new perspective on the combination of weakly supervised learning and SAM models, significantly reducing annotation time and offering insights for further development in the field of colonoscopy polyp segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]