Combination of high anti-SKI and low anti-TMED5 antibody levels is preferable prognostic factor in esophageal carcinoma.

Given that esophageal cancer is highly malignant, the discovery of novel prognostic markers is eagerly awaited. We performed serological identification of antigens by recombinant cDNA expression cloning (SEREX) and identified SKI proto-oncogene protein and transmembrane p24 trafficking protein 5 (TMED5) as antigens recognized by serum IgG antibodies in patients with esophageal carcinoma. SKI and TMED5 proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli, purified by affinity chromatography, and used as antigens. The serum anti-SKI antibody (s-SKI-Ab) and anti-TMED5 antibody (s-TMED5-Ab) levels were significantly higher in 192 patients with esophageal carcinoma than in 96 healthy donors. The presence of s-SKI-Abs and s-TMED5-Abs in the patients' sera was confirmed by western blotting. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the TMED5 protein was highly expressed in the cytoplasm and nuclear compartments of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues, whereas the SKI protein was localized predominantly in the nuclei. Regarding the overall survival in 91 patients who underwent radical surgery, the s-SKI-Ab-positive and s-TMED5-Ab-negative statuses were significantly associated with a favorable prognosis. Additionally, the combination of s-SKI-Ab-positive and s-TMED5-Ab-negative cases showed an even clearer difference in overall survival as compared with that of s-SKI-Ab-negative and s-TMED5-Ab-positive cases. The s-SKI-Ab and s-TMED5-Ab biomarkers are useful for diagnosing esophageal carcinoma and distinguishing between favorable and poor prognoses.

Parachitinimonas caeni gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of family Burkholderiaceae isolated from activated sludge collected in Shenzhen, PR China.

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic and filamentous bacterial strain, designated as DQS-5T, was isolated from the activated sludge of a municipal sewage treatment plant in Shenzhen, PR China. Optimal growth was observed at 28 °C and pH 7.5. Catalase and oxidase activities were detected. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain DQS-5T was most closely related to the genera Chitinimonas and Chitinivorax (91.0-93.4 % and 92.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively) and was close to the member of the family Burkholderiaceae. The complete genome sequence of strain DQS-5T contains 5 653 844 bp and 57.3 mol% G+C. The average nucleotide identity, digital DNA-DNA hybridization and average amino acid identity values between the genome of strain DQS-5T and those of its close relatives were 75.9-77.2, 19.0-20.3 and 57.2-61.8 %, respectively. Chemotaxonomic analysis of strain DQS-5T indicated that the sole respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8, the predominant cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0 and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c), and the major polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, aminophospholipid and aminolipid. The phylogenetic, genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data demonstrate that strain DQS-5T represents a novel species in a novel genus within the family Burkholderiaceae, for which the name Parachitinimonas caeni gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. Strain DQS-5T (=KCTC 92788T=CCTCC AB 2022320T) is the type and only strain of P. caeni.

The effects of multitasking on metacognitive monitoring in primary and secondary school students.

Influenced by the epidemic and the rapid popularization of smart devices, media multitasking has become increasingly common in people's lives and has attracted the attention of researchers, particularly among adolescents who are native to the digital era. However, previous studies have focused primarily on the relationship between multitasking and general cognitive functions, paying less attention to the connection between multitasking and metacognition, and there is a lack of research specifically addressing adolescents in this context. To address this gap, the current study conducted two experiments with upper primary and secondary school students to explore the relationship between multitasking and adolescents' metacognition under intrinsic and extrinsic cue conditions using metacognitive monitoring as an indicator. The results revealed that multitasking significantly reduced adolescents' metacognitive monitoring accuracy. However, the scores on the media multitasking questionnaire did not significantly correlate with metacognitive monitoring accuracy in the laboratory task. This finding suggested that multitasking, under both intrinsic and extrinsic cue conditions, impairs the accuracy of metacognitive monitoring for primary and secondary school students. However, daily media multitasking activities among these students were not significantly correlated with metacognitive monitoring accuracy.

Stage-Specific Alteration and Prognostic Relationship of Serum Fumarate Hydratase Autoantibodies in Gastric Cancer.

The relationship between energy production and cancer is attracting attention. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological significance of fumarate hydratase (FH), a tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme, in gastric cancer using autoantibodies as biomarkers. The study analyzed 116 patients who underwent gastric cancer surgery and 96 healthy controls. Preoperative serum FH autoantibody (s-FH-Ab) titers were analyzed using an immunosorbent assay with an amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine the cutoff s-FH-Ab titer. Clinicopathological factors and prognosis were compared between the high and low s-FH-Ab groups. The s-FH-Ab levels were significantly higher in the gastric cancer group than in the control group (p = 0.01). Levels were elevated even in patients with stage I gastric cancer compared with healthy controls (p = 0.02). A low s-FH-Ab level was significantly associated with distant metastasis (p = 0.01), peritoneal dissemination (p < 0.05), and poor overall survival (p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that low s-FH-Ab levels were an independent risk factor for poor prognosis (p < 0.01). Therefore, s-FH-Ab levels may be a useful biomarker for early diagnosis and the prediction of prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.

JMJD6 Autoantibodies as a Potential Biomarker for Inflammation-Related Diseases.

Inflammation is closely associated with cerebrovascular diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancers, and it is accompanied by the development of autoantibodies in the early stage of inflammation-related diseases. Hence, it is meaningful to discover novel antibody biomarkers targeting inflammation-related diseases. In this study, Jumonji C-domain-containing 6 (JMJD6) was identified by the serological identification of antigens through recombinant cDNA expression cloning. In particular, JMJD6 is an antigen recognized in serum IgG from patients with unstable angina pectoris (a cardiovascular disease). Then, the serum antibody levels were examined using an amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay-linked immunosorbent assay and a purified recombinant JMJD6 protein as an antigen. We observed elevated levels of serum anti-JMJD6 antibodies (s-JMJD6-Abs) in patients with inflammation-related diseases such as ischemic stroke, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), diabetes mellitus (DM), and cancers (including esophageal cancer, EC; gastric cancer; lung cancer; and mammary cancer), compared with the levels in healthy donors. The s-JMJD6-Ab levels were closely associated with some inflammation indicators, such as C-reactive protein and intima-media thickness (an atherosclerosis index). A better postoperative survival status of patients with EC was observed in the JMJD6-Ab-positive group than in the negative group. An immunohistochemical analysis showed that JMJD6 was highly expressed in the inflamed mucosa of esophageal tissues, esophageal carcinoma tissues, and atherosclerotic plaques. Hence, JMJD6 autoantibodies may reflect inflammation, thereby serving as a potential biomarker for diagnosing specific inflammation-related diseases, including stroke, AMI, DM, and cancers, and for prediction of the prognosis in patients with EC.

High-Efficiency Miniaturized Ultrasonic Nebulization Sample Introduction System for Elemental Analysis of Microvolume Biological Samples by Inductively Coupled Plasma Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry.

Sensitive and high-throughput analysis of trace elements in volume-limited biological samples is highly desirable for clinical research and health risk assessments. However, the conventional pneumatic nebulization (PN) sample introduction is usually inefficient and not well-suited for this requirement. Herein, a novel high-efficiency (nearly 100% sample introduction efficiency) and low-sample-consumption introduction device was developed and successfully coupled with inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QMS). It consists of a micro-ultrasonic nebulization (MUN) component with an adjustable nebulization rate and a no-waste spray chamber designed based on fluid simulation. The proposed MUN-ICP-QMS could achieve sensitive analysis at a low sampling rate of 10 µL min-1 with an extremely low oxide ratio of 0.25% where the sensitivity is even higher comparing to PN (100 µL min-1). The characterization results indicate that the higher sensitivity of MUN is attributed to the smaller aerosol size, higher aerosol transmission efficiency, and improved ion extraction. In addition, it offers a fast washout (20 s) and reduced sample consumption (as low as 7 µL). The absolute LODs of the studied 26 elements by MUN-ICP-QMS are improved by 1-2 orders of magnitude compared with PN-ICP-QMS. The accuracy of the proposed method was validated by the analysis of human serum, urine, and food-related certified reference materials. Furthermore, preliminary results of serum samples from patients with mental illnesses demonstrated its potential in the field of metallomics.

Chinese herb related molecules Catechins, Caudatin and Cucurbitacin-I inhibit the proliferation of glioblastoma by activating KDELR2-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Brain gliomas are difficult in the field of tumor therapy because of their high recurrence rate, high mortality rate, and low selectivity of therapeutic agents. The efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the treatment for tumours has been widely recognized. Here, three Chinese herb related molecules, namely Catechins, Caudatin and Cucurbitacin-I, were screened by bioinformatic means, and were found to inhibit the proliferation of glioblastoma T98G cells using Colony-forming and CCK-8 assays. Notably, the simultaneous use of all three molecules could more significantly inhibit the proliferation of glioma cells. Consistent with this, temozolomide, each in the combination with three molecules, could synergistically inhibit the proliferation of T98G cells. Results of qPCR assay was also showed that this inhibition was through the activation of the KDELR2-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER) pathway. Molecular docking experiments further revealed that Catechins, Caudatin and Cucurbitacin-I could activate ER stress might by targeting KDELR2. Taken together, these results suggest that these herbal molecules have the potential to inhibit the growth of glioma cells and could provide a reference for clinical therapeutic drug selection.

An RpoN-dependent PEP-CTERM gene is involved in floc formation of an Aquincola tertiaricarbonis strain.

BACKGROUND: The floc is a characteristic of microbial aggregate growth, displaying cloudy suspensions in water. Floc formation has been demonstrated in a series of bacteria and the floc-forming bacteria play a crucial role in activated sludge (AS) process widely used for municipal sewage and industrial wastewater treatment over a century. It has been demonstrated that some exopolysaccharide biosynthesis genes and the sigma factor (sigma54 or rpoN) were required for floc forming in some bacteria. However, the mechanism underlying the floc formation stills need to be elucidated. RESULTS: In this study, we demonstrate that a TPR (Tetratricopeptide repeats) protein-encoding gene prsT is required for floc formation of Aquincola tertiaricarbonis RN12 and an upstream PEP-CTERM gene (designated pepA), regulated by RpoN1, is involved in its floc formation but not swarming motility and biofilm formation. Overexpression of PepA could rescue the floc-forming phenotype of the rpoN1 mutant by decreasing the released soluble exopolysaccharides and increasing the bound polymers. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the wide-spread PEP-CTERM proteins play an important role in the self-flocculation of bacterial cells and may be a component of extracellular polymeric substances required for floc-formation.

Characterization of genomic instability-related genes predicts survival and therapeutic response in lung adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most common subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Its progression is characterized by genomic instability. In turn, the level of genomic instability affects the prognosis and immune status of patients with LUAD. However, the impact of molecular features associated with genomic instability on the tumor microenvironment (TME) has not been well characterized. In addition, the effect of the genes related to genomic instability in LUAD on individualized treatment of LUAD is unknown. METHODS: The RNA-Sequencing, somatic mutation, and clinical data of LUAD patients were downloaded from publicly available databases. A genetic signature associated with genomic instability (GSAGI) was constructed by univariate Cox regression, Lasso regression, and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Bioinformatics analysis investigated the differences in prognosis, immune characteristics, and the most appropriate treatment strategy among different subtypes of LUAD patients. CCK-8 and colony formation verified the various effects of Etoposide on different subtypes of LUAD cell lines. Cell-to-cell communication analysis was performed using the "CellChat" R package. The expression of the risk factors in the GSAGI was verified using real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: We constructed and validated the GSAGI, consisting of five genes: ANLN, RHOV, KRT6A, SIGLEC6, and KLRG2. The GSAGI was an independent prognostic factor for LUAD patients. Patients in the high-risk group distinguished by the GSAGI are more suitable for chemotherapy. More immune cells are infiltrating the tumor microenvironment of patients in the low-risk group, especially B cells. Low-risk group patients are more suitable for receiving immunotherapy. The single-cell level analysis confirmed the influence of the GSAGI on TME and revealed the Mode of action between tumor cells and other types of cells. qRT-PCR and IHC showed increased ANLN, RHOV, and KRT6A expression in the LUAD cells and tumor tissues. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that genes related to genomic instability can affect the prognosis and immune status of LUAD patients. The GSAGI we identified has the potential to guide clinicians in predicting clinical outcomes, assessing immunological status, and even developing personalized treatment plans for LUAD patients.

Parathalassolituus penaei gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the family Oceanospirillaceae isolated from a coastal shrimp pond in Guangxi, PR China.

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped and motile bacterium with bipolar flagella, designated G-43T, was isolated from a surface seawater sample collected from an aquaculture in Guangxi, PR China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain G-43T was most closely related to the family Oceanospirillaceae and distantly to the most closely related genera Venatorbacter and Thalassolituus (95.52 % and 94.45-94.76 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively), while similarity values to other Oceanospirillaceae type strains were lower than 94.0 %. Strain G-43T was found to grow at 4-30 °C (optimum, 25-28 °C), pH 6-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and with 0-4.0 % NaCl (w/v; optimum at 2 % NaCl). Chemotaxonomic analysis of strain G-43T indicated that the sole respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8, the predominant cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c and/or C16 : 1 ω6c) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω7c and/or C18 : 1 ω6c), and the major polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, aminolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, phospholipids and an unidentified lipid. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 55.4 mol%. The phylogenetic, genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data demonstrate that strain G-43T represents a novel species in a novel genus within the family Oceanospirillaceae, for which the name Parathalassolituus penaei gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. Strain G-43T (=KCTC 72750T= CCTCC AB 2022321T) is the type and only strain of Parathalassolituus penaei.

Tessaracoccus caeni sp. nov., a novel member of Propionibacteriaceae isolated from activated sludge in Hefei, PR China.

A floc-forming bacterial strain, designated HF-7T, was isolated from the activated sludge of an industrial wastewater treatment plant in Hefei, PR China. Cells of this strain were Gram-stain-positive, catalase- and oxidase-negative, facultatively anaerobic, and rod-shaped. Growth occurred at 20-42 °C (optimum, 28 °C), at pH 5.5-10.5 (optimum, pH 7.5) and with 0-8.0 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 1 %). The major fatty acid was anteiso-C15 : 0. The polar lipid profile contained phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol. The DNA G+C content was 67 mol% from whole genomic sequence analysis. Based on the results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, this strain should be assigned to the genus Tessaracoccus and is closely related to Tessaracoccus arenae CAU 1319T (95.87 % similarity), Tessaracoccus lapidicaptus IPBSL-7T (95.19 %) and Tessaracoccus bendigoensis Ben 106T (94.63 %) but separated from them by large distances in different phylogenetic trees. Based on whole genome analysis, the orthologous average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values against two of the closest relatives were 75.21-76.50 % and 14.2-24.4 %, respectively. The phylogenetic, genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data demonstrated that strain HF-7T could be distinguished from its phylogenetically related species and represents a novel species within the genus Tessaracoccus, for which the name Tessaracoccus caeni sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HF-7T (=KCTC 49959T=CCTCC AB 2023019T).

Serum anti-PCK1 antibody levels are a prognostic factor for patients with diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Autoantibodies develop in autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus (DM), and atherosclerosis-related diseases. However, autoantibody biomarkers have not been successfully examined for diagnosis and therapy. METHODS: Serological identification of antigens through recombinant cDNA expression cloning (SEREX) was used for primary screening of antigens. The cDNA product was expressed in bacteria and purified. Amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay-linked immunosorbent assay (AlphaLISA) was used to evaluate antibody levels in serum samples. RESULTS: Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1) was recognized as an antigen by serum IgG antibodies in the sera of patients with atherosclerosis. AlphaLISA showed significantly higher serum antibody levels against recombinant PCK1 protein in patients with DM and cardiovascular disease than in healthy donors, but not in those with acute ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for anti-PCK1 antibodies was 0.7024 for DM. The serum anti-PCK1 antibody levels were associated with age, platelet count, and blood pressure. Anti-PCK1-antibody-positive patients showed significantly lower overall survival than the negative patients. CONCLUSIONS: Serum anti-PCK1 antibody levels were found to be associated with DM. The anti-PCK1 antibody marker is useful for predicting the overall survival of patients with DM.

Glycyrrhetinic Acid Receptor-Mediated Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Loaded Doxorubicin as a Nanotherapeutic System for Liver Cancer Treatment.

In this study, we designed and developed a DOX nanodrug delivery system (PEG-GA@ZIF-8@DOX) using ZIF-8 as the carrier and glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) as the targeting ligand. We confirmed that DOX was loaded and PEG-GA was successfully modified on the surface of the nanoparticles. The in vitro release profile of the system was investigated at pH 5.0 and 7.4. The cellular uptake, in vitro cytotoxicity, and lysosomal escape characteristics were examined using HepG2 cells. We established an H22 tumor-bearing mouse model and evaluated the in vivo antitumor activity. The results showed that the system had a uniform nanomorphology. The drug loading capacity was 11.22 ± 0.87%. In acidic conditions (pH 5.0), the final release rate of DOX was 57.73%, while at pH 7.4, it was 25.12%. GA-mediated targeting facilitated the uptake of DOX by the HepG2 cells. PEG-GA@ZIF-8@DOX could escape from the lysosomes and release the drug in the cytoplasm, thus exerting its antitumor effect. When the in vivo efficacy was analyzed, we found that the tumor inhibition rate of PEG-GA@ZIF-8@DOX was 67.64%; it also alleviated the loss of the body weight of the treated mice. This drug delivery system significantly enhanced the antitumor effect of doxorubicin in vitro and in vivo, while mitigating its toxic side effects.

Cellulose-mediated floc formation by the activated sludge bacterium Shinella zoogloeoides ATCC 19623.

BACKGROUND: Bacterial floc formation plays a central role in the activated sludge (AS) process. The formation of AS flocs has long been known to require exopolysaccharide biosynthesis. We had demonstrated that both expolysaccharides and PEP-CTERM (a short C-terminal domain includes a near-invariant motif Pro-Glu-Pro (PEP)) proteins were required for floc-forming in Zoogloea resiniphila MMB, a dominant AS bacterium. However, the PEP-CTERM proteins are not encoded in the genome of AS bacterium Shinella zoogloeoides ATCC 19623 (formerly known as Zoogloea ramigera I-16-M) and other sequenced AS bacteria strains. The mechanism underlying floc formation of Shinella and related AS bacteria remained largely unclear. RESULTS: In this study, we have sequenced and annotated the complete genome of S. zoogloeoides ATCC 19623 (aka I-16-M), previously isolated in USA and treated as the neotype for the AS floc-forming bacterium Zoogloea ramigera I-16-M, and another AS strain XJ20 isolated in China. Mariner transposon mutagenesis had been conducted to isolate floc-forming-deficient mutants in the strain ATCC 19623 as previously performed by using Tn5 transposon three decades ago. The transposon insertional sites of multiple mutants were mapped to the gene cluster for bacterial cellulose synthesis (bcs) and secretion, and the role played by these genes in floc-formation had been further confirmed by genetic complementation. Interestingly, the restriction map of this bcs locus-flanking region was highly similar to that of the previously identified DNA fragment required for floc-formation in 1980s. Cellulase treatment abolished the floc-forming phenotype of S. zoogloeoides ATCC 19623 but not that of Z. resiniphila MMB strain. The FTIR spectral analyses revealed that the samples extracted from S. zoogloeoides ATCC 19623 were cellulose polymer. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that we have largely reproduced and completed the unfinished pioneering work on AS floc-formation mechanism, demonstrating that the floc-formation and flocculating capability of Shinella were mediated by extracellular cellulose polymers.

Systematic transcriptome profiling of pyroptosis related signature for predicting prognosis and immune landscape in lower grade glioma.

BACKGROUND: Pyroptosis is a programmed cell death mediated by the gasdermin superfamily, accompanied by inflammatory and immune responses. Exogenously activated pyroptosis is still not well characterized in the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, whether pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in lower-grade glioma (LGG) may be used as a biomarker remains unknown. METHODS: The RNA-Sequencing and clinical data of LGG patients were downloaded from publicly available databases. Bioinformatics approaches were used to analyze the relationship between PRGs and LGG patients' prognosis, clinicopathological features, and immune status. The NMF algorithm was used to differentiate phenotypes, the LASSO regression model was used to construct prognostic signature, and GSEA was used to analyze biological functions and pathways. The expression of the signature genes was verified using qRT-PCR. In addition, the L1000FWD and CMap tools were utilized to screen potential therapeutic drugs or small molecule compounds and validate their effects in glioma cell lines using CCK-8 and colony formation assays. RESULTS: Based on PRGs, we defined two phenotypes with different prognoses. Stepwise regression analysis was carried out to identify the 3 signature genes to construct a pyroptosis-related signature. After that, samples from the training and test cohorts were incorporated into the signature and divided by the median RiskScore value (namely, Risk-H and Risk-L). The signature shows excellent predictive LGG prognostic power in the training and validation cohorts. The prognostic signature accurately stratifies patients according to prognostic differences and has predictive value for immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint expression. Finally, the inhibitory effect of the small molecule inhibitor fedratinib on the viability and proliferation of various glioma cells was verified using cell biology-related experiments. CONCLUSION: This study developed and validated a novel pyroptosis-related signature, which may assist instruct clinicians to predict the prognosis and immunological status of LGG patients more precisely. Fedratinib was found to be a small molecule inhibitor that significantly inhibits glioma cell viability and proliferation, which provides a new therapeutic strategy for gliomas.

Pseudaquidulcibacter saccharophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of family Caulobacteraceae, isolated from a water purification facility with supplement of starch as a carbon source.

During a survey of microbial communities in the influent (ambient water) and effluent of a water purification facility with aeration and supplement of starch as carbon source, a novel bacterial strain, designated SZ9T, was isolated from the effluent sample. Colonies of strain SZ9T were small (approximately 0.5-1.0 mm in diameter), creamy-white, circular, smooth, translucent and convex. Cells were facultative anaerobic, motile by means of a single polar flagellum, rod-shaped, multiplied by binary fission, Gram-stain-negative, oxidase-positive and catalase-negative. Growth occurred at 10-40 °C (optimum, 28 °C) and pH 5.5-8.0 (optimum, pH 7.5). The range of NaCl concentration for growth was 0-1.0 % (w/v), with an optimum of 0-0.5 % (w/v). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences suggested that strain SZ9T formed a lineage within the family Caulobacteraceae of the class Alphaproteobacteria and showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to Aquidulcibacter paucihalophilus TH1-2T (92.44%), followed by Vitreimonas flagellata SYSU XM001T (89.61 %), Asprobacter aquaticus DRW22-8T (89.49 %) and Hyphobacterium vulgare WM6T (89.49%). The predominant fatty acids (>10 % of the total fatty acids) of strain SZ9T was summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1 ω6c and/or C16 : 1 ω7c), summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 ω6c and/or C18 : 1 ω7c) and C16 : 0. The sole respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-10, and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylcholine and two unidentified glycolipids. The whole genome of strain SZ9T was 2 842 140 bp in size, including 2769 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes and two rRNA genes, and the genomic G+C content was 41.4 mol%. The orthologous average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain SZ9T and other genera within the family Caulobacteraceae were 64.50-66.62 %, 46.96-54.17 % and 27.70-31.70 %, respectively. Therefore, based on the results of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, the isolated strain SZ9T could be distinguished from other genera, suggesting that it represents a novel species of a novel genus in the family Caulobacteraceae, for which the name Pseudaquidulcibacter saccharophilus gen. nov., sp. nov is proposed. The type strain is SZ9T (=CCTCC AB2021029T=KCTC 82788T).

Enhancement and Restoration of Scratched Murals Based on Hyperspectral Imaging-A Case Study of Murals in the Baoguang Hall of Qutan Temple, Qinghai, China.

Environmental changes and human activities have caused serious degradation of murals around the world. Scratches are one of the most common issues in these damaged murals. We propose a new method for virtually enhancing and removing scratches from murals; which can provide an auxiliary reference and support for actual restoration. First, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the hyperspectral data of a mural after reflectance correction, and high-pass filtering was performed on the selected first principal component image. Principal component fusion was used to replace the original first principal component with a high-pass filtered first principal component image, which was then inverse PCA transformed with the other original principal component images to obtain an enhanced hyperspectral image. The linear information in the mural was therefore enhanced, and the differences between the scratches and background improved. Second, the enhanced hyperspectral image of the mural was synthesized as a true colour image and converted to the HSV colour space. The light brightness component of the image was estimated using the multi-scale Gaussian function and corrected with a 2D gamma function, thus solving the problem of localised darkness in the murals. Finally, the enhanced mural images were applied as input to the triplet domain translation network pretrained model. The local branches in the translation network perform overall noise smoothing and colour recovery of the mural, while the partial nonlocal block is used to extract the information from the scratches. The mapping process was learned in the hidden space for virtual removal of the scratches. In addition, we added a Butterworth high-pass filter at the end of the network to generate the final restoration result of the mural with a clearer visual effect and richer high-frequency information. We verified and validated these methods for murals in the Baoguang Hall of Qutan Temple. The results show that the proposed method outperforms the restoration results of the total variation (TV) model, curvature-driven diffusion (CDD) model, and Criminisi algorithm. Moreover, the proposed combined method produces better recovery results and improves the visual richness, readability, and artistic expression of the murals compared with direct recovery using a triple domain translation network.

Eliciting positive emotion through strategic responses to COVID-19 crisis: Evidence from the tourism sector.

While social media are effective means of communicating with adverse customer emotions during a crisis, it remains unclear how tourism organisations can respond to pandemic crisis on social media to prevent negative aftermaths. Using a set-theoretical approach, we investigate how COVID-19 response strategies and linguistic cues of responses are intertwined to evoke positive emotions among consumers. This study entails a qualitative content analysis of tourism organisations' COVID-19 announcements and a social media analytics approach that captures consumers' emotional reactions to these announcements via their Twitter replies. Our results extend some well-established findings in the tourism crisis literature by suggesting that combining innovative response strategy, argument quality, and assertive language can reinforce positive emotions during the COVID-19 crisis. Taking organisational characteristics into consideration, we suggest that young established hotels utilise innovative response strategies, whereas retrenchment response strategies for all types of restaurants should be avoided during the COVID-19 crisis.

Low anti-CFL1 antibody with high anti-ACTB antibody is a poor prognostic factor in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Cofilin (CFL1, actin-binding protein) and ß-actin (ACTB) are key molecules in the polymerization and depolymerization of actin microfilaments. The levels of these antibodies were analyzed, and the clinicopathological significance in patients with esophageal carcinoma were evaluated. METHODS: The levels of anti-CFL1 and anti-ACTB antibodies were analyzed in serum samples of patients with esophageal carcinoma and of healthy donors. Eighty-seven cases underwent radical surgery and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis was examined. RESULTS: Serum anti-CFL1 antibody (s-CFL1-Ab) levels and anti-ACTB antibody (s-ACTB-Ab) levels were significantly higher in patients with esophageal carcinoma than in healthy donors. Following the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis between healthy donors and esophageal carcinoma, the sensitivity and specificity for serum anti-CFL1 antibody (s-CFL1-Ab) were 53.3% and 68.8%. The sensitivity and specificity for serum anti-ACTB antibody (s-ACTB-Ab) were 54.9% and 67.7%, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that s-CFL1-Ab and s-ACTB-Ab levels were not associated with sex, age, tumor depth, lymph node metastasis, or anti-p53-antibody levels. s-ACTB-Ab levels but not s-CFL1-Ab levels significantly correlated with squamous cell carcinoma antigen. Neither s-CFL1-Ab nor s-ACTB-Ab levels alone were obviously related to overall survival. However, patients with low s-CFL1-Ab levels and high s-ACTB-Ab levels exhibited significantly more unfavorable prognoses than those with high s-CFL1-Ab and low s-ACTB-Ab levels. CONCLUSIONS: Serum levels of anti-CFL1 and anti-ACTB antibodies were significantly higher in patients with esophageal carcinoma than in healthy donors. A combination of low anti-CFL1 and high anti-ACTB antibodies is a poor prognostic factor in esophageal carcinoma.

Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium (DNRA) and Denitrification Pathways Are Leveraged by Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein (CRP) Paralogues Based on Electron Donor/Acceptor Limitation in Shewanella loihica PV-4.

Under anoxic conditions, many bacteria, including Shewanella loihica strain PV-4, could use nitrate as an electron acceptor for dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) and/or denitrification. Previous and current studies have shown that DNRA is favored under higher ambient carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratios, whereas denitrification is upregulated under lower C/N ratios, which is consistent with our bioenergetics calculations. Interestingly, computational analyses indicate that the common cyclic AMP receptor protein (designated CRP1) and its paralogue CRP2 might both be involved in the regulation of two competing dissimilatory nitrate reduction pathways, DNRA and denitrification, in S. loihica PV-4 and several other denitrifying Shewanella species. To explore the regulatory mechanism underlying the dissimilatory nitrate reduction (DNR) pathways, nitrate reduction of a series of in-frame deletion mutants was analyzed under different C/N ratios. Deletion of crp1 could accelerate the reduction of nitrite to NO under both low and high C/N ratios. CRP1 is not required for denitrification and actually suppresses production of NO and N2O gases. Deletion of either of the NO-forming nitrite reductase genes nirK or crp2 blocked production of NO gas. Furthermore, real-time PCR and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) demonstrated that the transcription levels of DNRA-relevant genes such as nap-ß (napDABGH), nrfA, and cymA were upregulated by CRP1, while nirK transcription was dependent on CRP2. There are tradeoffs between the different physiological roles of nitrate/lactate, as nitrogen nutrient/carbon source and electron acceptor/donor and CRPs may leverage dissimilatory nitrate reduction pathways for maximizing energy yield and bacterial survival under ambient environmental conditions.IMPORTANCE Some microbes utilize different dissimilatory nitrate reduction (DNR) pathways, including DNR to ammonia (DNRA) and denitrification pathways, for anaerobic respiration in response to ambient carbon/nitrogen ratio changes. Large-scale industrial nitrogen fixation and fertilizer application raise the concern of emission of N2O, a stable gas with potent global warming potential, as consequence of microbial respiration, thereby aggravating global warming and climate change. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism underlying the choice of two competing DNR pathways. We demonstrate that the global regulator CRP1, which is widely encoded in bacteria, is required for DNRA in S. loihica PV-4 strain, while the CRP2 paralogue is required for transcription of the nitrite reductase gene nirK for denitrification. Sufficient carbon source lead to the predominance of DNRA, while carbon source/electron donor deficiency may result in an incomplete denitrification process, raising the concern of high levels of N2O emission from nitrate-rich and carbon source-poor waters and soils.