Biogeography and diversity patterns of abundant and rare bacterial communities in paddy soils along middle and lower Yangtze River.

The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River serve as principal rice production bases in China, yet the biodiversity and ecological processes of bacterial communities in paddy soils are not well understood. This study explores the diversity, composition, ecological function, and assembly processes of abundant and rare bacterial communities in paddy soils. A total of 129 paddy soil samples from 43 sites along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were collected and analyzed using NovaSeq sequencing. The results showed that the dominant phylum for both abundant and rare taxa was Proteobacteria, with a greater relative abundance of the abundant taxa. The diversity of the abundant community was lower than that of the rare community. Soil properties and geographic variables explained more of the variation in the abundant community than in the rare community. The rare community exhibited a significant distance-decay relationship. The assembly of the abundant community was more influenced by stochastic processes, although both the abundant and rare communities were governed by stochastic processes. It is concluded that both abundant and rare bacterial communities exhibit differing biogeographic patterns, yet they undergo similar ecological processes in the paddy soils along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. These observations offer a theoretical framework for a deeper comprehension of the function of both abundant and rare bacteria, as well as the development and preservation of soil bacterial diversity within agricultural ecosystems.

Alkaline phosphatase LapA regulates quorum sensing-mediated virulence and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 under phosphate depletion stress.

IMPORTANCE: Our previous study demonstrated that the expression of lapA was induced under phosphate depletion conditions, but its roles in virulence and biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa remain largely unknown. This study presents a systematic investigation of the roles of lapA in virulence induction and biofilm formation by constructing a lapA-deficient strain with P. aeruginosa PAO1. The results showed that deletion of the lapA gene evidently reduced elastase activity, swimming motility, C4-HSL, and 3-oxo-C12-HSL production, and increased rhamnolipid production under phosphate depletion stress. Moreover, lapA gene deletion inhibited PAO1 biofilm formation in porcine skin explants by reducing the expression levels of las and rhl quorum sensing systems and extracellular polymeric substance synthesis. Finally, lapA gene deletion also reduced the virulence of PAO1 in Caenorhabditis elegans in fast-kill and slow-kill infection assays. This study provides insights into the roles of lapA in modulating P. aeruginosa virulence and biofilm formation under phosphate depletion stress.

Observer-based event-triggered output feedback control for fractional-order cyber-physical systems subject to stochastic network attacks.

This paper is engaged in investigating the observer-based event-triggered output feedback control issue for fractional-order cyber-physical systems with stochastic network attacks, where the order scale of the fractional derivative used is 0<α<1. An event-triggered scheme (ETS) with output-independent threshold is proposed to renew the observer input so as to reduce the redundant data communications. Considering the effects of the ETS and network attacks, a novel closed-loop fractional-order control system model is constructed. By making use of fractional-order Lyapunov indirect approach, sufficient conditions that can insure the global stochastic asymptotic stability of the established closed-loop control system are obtained. Moreover, according to the singular value decomposition (SVD) of matrix, the co-design of the gains of the desired observer and controller is addressed by finding the solution of the linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, a numerical example and a diesel engine control system are provided to validate the feasibility of the adopted observer-based control method.

Quantized filtering for T-S fuzzy networked systems with saturation nonlinearities: An output-dependent triggering method.

This paper addresses the problem of H∞ filter design for T-S fuzzy systems with saturation nonlinearities. For the purpose of reducing network burden, an output-dependent triggering scheme and a quantizer are introduced at the same time. The output-dependent triggering scheme is applied to determine whether or not the current instant information should be transmitted to the quantizer. Saturation nonlinearities, as a common phenomenon in networked systems due to the physical or technological constraints, is also considered here. Then a filtering error model with aforementioned characteristics is established. By using Lyapunov functional approach and stochastic analysis techniques, some matrix inequality-based sufficient conditions for the existence of the fuzzy filter are obtained. Moreover, a co-design algorithm for solving the suitable filter and the event generator is derived. Finally, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Diarylheptanoids from Rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum Inhibit Aggregation of α-Synuclein.

Two new diarylheptanoids, alpinin A (1) and alpinin B (2), together with 18 known diarylheptanoids (3-20), were isolated from the rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum. Their structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including high-resolution mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, and one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Structurally, alpinin A is a new member of the small family of oxa-bridged diarylheptanoids and contains the characteristic 2,6-cis-configured tetrahydropyran motif (C1-C5 oxa bridge). The absolute configuration of alpinin A was confirmed by asymmetric total synthesis of the enantiomer (ent-1), corroborating the assignment of the molecular structure. The absolute configuration of alpinin B was determined on the basis of the analysis of the circular dichroism exciton chirality spectrum. We evaluated the inhibitory activity of all isolated diarylheptanoids against α-synuclein aggregation at 10 µM. Alpinins A and B significantly inhibited α-synuclein aggregation by 66 and 67%, respectively.

[Anti-complement alkaloids from whole plants of Viola yedoensis].

Fifteen alkaloids were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract of the whole plants of Viola yedoensis by various column chromatographic techniques such as silica gel and Sephadex LH-20. Their structures were identified as neoechinulin A（1）,N-benzoyl-L-p-hydroxy-phenylalaninol（2）,aurantiamide acetate（3）,aurantiamide（4）,anabellamide（5）,trichosanatine（6）,indole-3-carboxylic acid methyl ester（7）,3-carboxyindole（8）,N-trans-feruloyl-tyramine（9）,paprazine（10）,7'-（3', 4'-dihydroxyphenyl）-N-[(4-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]propenamide（11）,cannabisin F（12）,N-(4-hydroxyphenethyl)octacosanamide（13）,N-(4-hydroxyphenethyl)hexacosanamide（14）and N-benzoyl-L-phenylalaninol（15）. All the compounds except 3 and 4 were isolated from this plant for the first time. These alkaloids exhibited anti-complement activity against the classical pathway(CP)and the alternative pathway(AP)with the CH50 and AP50 values ranging from 0.12 to 0.33 g•L⁻¹ and 0.22 to 0.50 g•L⁻¹, respectively. Preliminary mechanism study using complement-depleted sera showed that these alkaloids acted on different complement components in the complement activation cascade.

Structure characterization of two novel polysaccharides isolated from the spikes of Prunella vulgaris and their anticomplement activities.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The spikes of Prunella vulgaris have long been used as a traditional Chinese medicine to treat various inflammation-related diseases. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize homogenous polysaccharides from this herb and to evaluate their anticomplement activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Anticomplement activity-guided fractionation of the hot water extract of P. vulgaris was performed by DEAE-cellulose and size-exclusion chromatography, yielding two homogeneous polysaccharides PW-PS1 and PW-PS2. The homogeneity, molecular weight, monosaccharide composition and linkage of the two polysaccharides were determined in addition to other chemical characterizations. The anticomplement activity of the polysaccharides was evaluated and expressed as 50% hemolytic inhibition concentration through the classical pathway (CH50 value) and alternative pathway (AP50 value). The preliminary mechanism for the complement activation cascade was also assessed. RESULTS: PW-PS1 and PW-PS2 were both branched acidic polysaccharides. PW-PS1 was composed of Ara, Xyl, and 4-methoxy-Glc A in a ratio of 1.0: 2.6: 0.8. The main linkages of the sugar residues of PW-PS1 included terminal ß-d-Xylp, 1,4-linked ß-d-Xylp, 1,3-linked α-d-Arap, 1,3,5-linked α-d-Arap, and terminal 4-methoxy-α-d-Glcp A. PW-PS2 was composed of Rha, Ara, Xyl, Gal, and Gal A in a ratio of 0.6: 1.0: 1.3: 1.8: 3.4. The main linkages between the sugar residues of PW-PS2 included terminal Araf, 1,4-linked ß-d-Xylp, 1,3-linked α-d-Rhap, terminal α-d-Galp, and 1,4,6-linked α-d-Galp. PW-PS1 and PW-PS2 inhibited complement activation through both the classical and alternative pathways with CH50 values of 0.28 and 0.13mg/mL, respectively, and AP50 values of 0.40 and 0.35mg/mL, respectively. Preliminary mechanism studies using complement component-depleted sera showed that PW-PS1 acted on the C1q, C3, and C9 components and that PW-PS2 acted on the C1q, C2, C3, C5, and C9 components. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that PW-PS1 and PW-PS2 could be valuable for the treatment of diseases associated with the excessive activation of the complement system.

Actuator fault estimation and accommodation for switched systems with time delay: Discrete-time case.

This paper investigates the problems of actuator fault estimation and accommodation for discrete-time switched systems with state delay. By using reduced-order observer method and switched Lyapunov function technique, a fault estimation algorithm is achieved for the discrete-time switched system with actuator fault and state delay. Then based on the obtained online fault estimation information, a switched dynamic output feedback controller is employed to compensate for the effect of faults by stabilizing the closed-loop systems. Finally, an example is proposed to illustrate the obtained results.

Anti-complement sesquiterpenes from Viola yedoensis.

Two new germacrane sesquiterpenes, yedoensins A (1) and B (2), together with 8 known ones (3-10) were isolated from the herb of Viola yedoensis. The structures of the new compounds were established by extensive spectroscopic means including 1D ((1)H and (13)C) and 2D NMR experiments (HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY) as well as HR-ESI-MS analysis. The absolute configurations of the known sesquiterpenes versicolactone B (3) and madolin W (6) were determined by a modified Mosher's method for the first time. The sesquiterpenes 1-3, and 5-9 exhibited anti-complement activity against the classical pathway (CP) and the alternative pathway (AP) with the CH50 and AP50 values ranging from 0.14 to 0.37mg/mL and 0.32 to 0.54mg/mL, respectively. Preliminary mechanism study using complement-depleted sera showed that yedoensin A (1) and versicolactone B (3) acted on C1q, C3 and C9, while madolin W (6), aristoyunnolin E (7) and madolin Y (9) interacted with C1q, C3, C5 and C9 components in the complement activation cascade.

A new unusual delta11(12)-oleane triterpene and anti-complementary triterpenes from Prunella vulgaris spikes.

Anti-complementary activity-guided fractionation of the ethanolic extract of Prunella vulgaris spikes led to the isolation of a new, unusual delta11(12) triterpene, 3beta,13beta-dihydroxyolic-11-ene-28-oic acid (1), along with thirteen known triterpenes (2-14). The structure of the new compound was established by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis. All the isolates were evaluated for their anti-complementary activity against the classical pathway (CP) and alternative pathway (AP). Eight triterpenes (1-8) showed anti-complementary activity against CP and AP, with CH50 and AP50 values of 0.15-0.37 mg/mL, and 0.29-0.53 mg/mL, respectively. Mechanism study using complement-depleted sera showed that oleanolic acid (2) acted selectively on C1q, C5, and C9 components, while 2alpha-hydroxy oleanolic acid (3) interacted with C1q, C3, C5 and C9, and 2alpha,3alpha-dihydroxyolic-12-ene-28-oic acid (4) blocked C1q, C2, C3, C5 and C9.