A major gene for chilling tolerance variation in Indica rice codes for a kinase OsCTK1 that phosphorylates multiple substrates under cold.

Rice is susceptible to chilling stress. Identifying chilling tolerance genes and their mechanisms are key to improve rice performance. Here, we performed a genome-wide association study to identify regulatory genes for chilling tolerance in rice. One major gene for chilling tolerance variation in Indica rice was identified as a casein kinase gene OsCTK1. Its function and natural variation are investigated at the physiological and molecular level by its mutants and transgenic plants. Potential substrates of OsCTK1 were identified by phosphoproteomic analysis, protein-protein interaction assay, in vitro kinase assay, and mutant characterization. OsCTK1 positively regulates rice chilling tolerance. Three of its putative substrates, acidic ribosomal protein OsP3B, cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel OsCNGC9, and dual-specific mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase OsMKP1, are each involved in chilling tolerance. In addition, a natural OsCTK1 chilling-tolerant (CT) variant exhibited a higher kinase activity and conferred greater chilling tolerance compared with a chilling-sensitive (CS) variant. The CT variant is more prevalent in CT accessions and is distributed more frequently in higher latitude compared with the CS variant. This study thus enables a better understanding of chilling tolerance mechanisms and provides gene variants for genetic improvement of chilling tolerance in rice.

The RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb9 activates ATG1 transcription and autophagy.

Macroautophagy/autophagy is a conserved process in eukaryotic cells that mediates the degradation and recycling of intracellular substrates. Proteins encoded by autophagy-related (ATG) genes are essentially involved in the autophagy process and must be tightly regulated in response to various circumstances, such as nutrient-rich and starvation conditions. However, crucial transcriptional activators of ATG genes have remained obscure. Here, we identify the RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb9 as an essential regulator of autophagy by a high-throughput screen of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene knockout library. Rpb9 plays a crucial and specific role in upregulating ATG1 transcription, and its deficiency decreases autophagic activities. Rpb9 promotes ATG1 transcription by binding to its promoter region, which is mediated by Gcn4. Furthermore, the function of Rpb9 in autophagy and its regulation of ATG1/ULK1 transcription are conserved in mammalian cells. Together, our results indicate that Rpb9 specifically activates ATG1 transcription and thus positively regulates the autophagy process.

The HPV16 E6, E7/miR-23b-3p/ICAT signaling axis promotes proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT of cervical cancer cells.

Cervical cancer (CC) remains one of the most common female malignancies, with higher incidence and mortality rates. more than 99% of CCs are associated with persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus. In view of the growing evidence that HPV 16 E6 and E7, two key oncoproteins encoded by HPV 16, regulate the expression of many other multifunctional genes and downstream effectors that contribute to the development of CC. Herein, we undertook a comprehensive effort into how HPV16 E6, E7 oncogenes affect the progression of CC cells. Previous studies have shown that ICAT expression was significantly increased in CC and had a pro-cancer effect. We observed that knockdown of HPV16 E6, E7 expression in SiHa and CasKi cells resulted in significant inhibition of ICAT expression and upregulation of miR-23b-3p expression. Besides, dual luciferase assays confirmed that ICAT was a target gene of miR-23b-3p, and negatively modulated by miR-23b-3p. Functional experiments showed that the overexpression of miR-23b-3p suppressed malignant behaviors of CC cells, such as migration, invasion and EMT. The overexpression of ICAT counteracted the suppressive effect of miR-23b-3p on HPV16-positive CC cells. Furthermore, after the knockdown of HPV16 E6 and E7, the inhibition of miR-23b-3p could increase the ICAT expression and rescue the siRNA HPV16 E6, E7-mediated suppressive impact on the aggressiveness of SiHa and CaSki cells. Collectively, our findings uncover that HPV16 E6, E7/miR-23b-3p/ ICAT axis plays an important role in HPV16-positive CC pathogenesis, which may serve as a promising therapeutic target for HPV16-associated CC.

Blazar Constraints on Neutrino-Dark Matter Scattering.

Neutrino emission in coincidence with gamma rays has been observed from the blazar TXS 0506+056 by the IceCube telescope. Neutrinos from the blazar had to pass through a dense spike of dark matter (DM) surrounding the central black hole. The observation of such a neutrino implies new upper bounds on the neutrino-DM scattering cross section as a function of DM mass. The constraint is stronger than existing ones for a range of DM masses, if the cross section rises linearly with energy. For constant cross sections, competitive bounds are also possible, depending on details of the DM spike.

Multistep optimization for the electrodeposited mixed perovskite FA1-yCsyPbBrxI3-xsolar cells.

The electrodeposition method has recently been developed for the fabrication of perovskite solar cells due to its potential advantages in commercial preparation. However, there is few studies on the preparation of perovskite solar cells by the electrodeposition method, especially on the perovskite FAPbI3-based solar cells. Herein, we fabricated the mixed perovskite FA1-yCsyPbBrxI3-xsolar cells by an optimized electrodeposition method, in which the electrodeposited PbO2reacts directly with FAI and an appropriate amount of CsBr dopants. The corresponding solar cells display the best PCE of 4.97%. By regulating the growth temperature in the reaction between PbO2and FAI/CsBr, the efficiency of the mixed perovskite solar cells can be promoted to 10.18%. These results illustrate that the element doping and growth environment regulation can optimize the quality of the perovskite films, thus promoting the efficiency of the perovskite solar cells. With further optimizing the growth process in the electrodeposition method, it is expected to open up a new commercial preparation route for the perovskite solar cells in the near future.

Challenges for psychiatric nurses working with non-suicidal self-injury adolescents: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric nurses play a crucial role in treating and supporting adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in China. However, few studies have explored their experiences and challenges. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this qualitative study was to describe the challenges experienced by psychiatric nurses when working with adolescents having NSSI behaviors. METHODS: This was a descriptive qualitative study using phenomenological approach. 18 psychiatric nurses from psychiatric wards were recruited from a tertiary hospital from Changsha, Hunan province, China. In-depth interview was performed for each participant collecting information about their feelings and experiences taking care of NSSI adolescents. ATLAS.ti 8 was used to enter data and perform thematic analysis following the six-phased process described by Braun and Clarke. RESULTS: Two main themes and five sub-themes were summarized in this study. Nurses experienced both (1) Internal challenges (Lacking knowledge and skills to deal with NSSI adolescents and Feeling hard and stressful working with NSSI adolescents) and (2) External barriers (Unrealistic high expectations from family and schools, Uncooperative parents and Little help from communities and schools). CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric nurses had to face with their own negative feelings, insufficient knowledge and skills, alongside with pressures and little help from family, schools and communities when working with NSSI adolescents. Targeted training programs of treating NSSI adolescents and their supporting systems be performed in nurses, furthermore, family, schools and societies should also be raised.

LncRNA SNHG3 regulates the BMSC osteogenic differentiation in bone metastasis of breast cancer by modulating the miR-1273g-3p/BMP3 axis.

BACKGROUND: Research on the role of lncRNAs in the process of bone metastasis in breast cancer (BM-BCa) has just begun at an early stage, and an increasing number of lncRNAs have been proved to play a regulatory role in the process of BM-BCa. Our study focused on the balance of osteogenic-osteoclast regulated by lncRNA-SNHG3 in bone metastasis microenvironment. METHODS: SNHG3 level of clinical tissues and breast cancer cell lines was determined by RT-qPCR. ALP staining, ALP activity identification and western blotting of OPG, OSX, RUNX2, BMP2 together with BMP3 was performed to verify the osteogenesis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) both in vitro and in vivo. Exosomes derived from MDA-MB-231 were characterized and sequenced, followed by RT-qPCR. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay was utilized to analyze the binding sites of miR-1273g-3p on SNHG3 and BMP3. RESULTS: Expression of BMP3 was positively regulated by SNHG3 via exosomal miR-1273g-3p. CONCLUSION: The overexpression of SNHG3 in breast cancer cells may be responsible for osteolytic metastasis Thus, knockdown of SNHG3 might be a potential target for improvement of BM-BCa Treatment.

The expression and interaction proteins analysis of BjuFKF1/LKP2 in B. juncea.

Brassica juncea is one of a unique vegetable in China, its tumorous stem can be processed into pickle or as fresh vegetable. For a long time, early-bolting as a main factor affects yield and quality of B. juncea, which happens about 15% all year round. As plant specific blue light receptors, FKF1/LKP2 involved in photoperiod flowering. To analyze the expression levels of BjuFKF1/BjuLKP2 and screen their interaction proteins in B. juncea, qRT-PCR and yeast two hybrid assays were recruited. qRT-PCR assays found that the expression levels of BjuFKF1 and BjuLKP2 were up-regulated expressed under both white and blue light. When under different light, BjuFKF1 was significantly increased at vegetative growth stage, but decreased in flowers under blue light. For BjuLKP2, its expression levels did not show significant changes under different light treatment. To investigate interaction proteins, BjuFKF1 and BjuLKP2 were used as bait proteins, and nine potential proteins were screened from yeast library. Yeast two hybrid assays was recruited to further verify their interaction, the results showed that both BjuFKF1 and BjuLKP2 interacted with BjuCOL, BjuCOL3, BjuCOL5, BjuAP2, BjuAP2-1 and BjuSKP1f, only BjuLKP2 interacted with BjuSVP-1 and BjuCDF1 in vivo. In this study, BjuFKF1 and BjuLKP2 were up-regulated expressed under both white and blue light. Yeast two hybrid results verified that BjuFKF1 and BjuLKP2 interacted with six and eight of those nine proteins in vivo, respectively. All of those results will provided reference genes to study BjuFKF1/BjuLKP2 regulated flowering pathway in B. juncea.

The crystal structure of Atg18 reveals a new binding site for Atg2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is a highly conserved catabolic eukaryotic pathway that is critical for stress responses and homeostasis. Atg18, one of the core proteins involved in autophagy, belongs to the PROPPIN family and is composed of seven WD40 repeats. Together with Atg2, Atg18 participates in the elongation of phagophores and the recycling of Atg9 in yeast. Despite extensive studies on the PROPPIN family, the structure of Atg18 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae has not been determined. Here, we report the structure of ScAtg18 at a resolution of 2.8 Å. Based on bioinformatics and structural analysis, we found that the 7AB loop of ScAtg18 is extended in Atg18, in comparison to other members of the PROPPIN family. Genetic analysis revealed that the 7AB loop of ScAtg18 is required for autophagy. Biochemical and biophysical experiments indicated that the 7AB loop of ScAtg18 is critical for interaction with ScAtg2 and the recruitment of ScAtg2 to the autophagy-initiating site. Collectively, our results show that the 7AB loop of ScAtg18 is a new binding site for Atg2 and is of functional importance to autophagy.

Effectiveness of an Assertive Community Treatment program for people with severe schizophrenia in mainland China - a 12-month randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is an evidence-based treatment program for people with severe mental illness developed in high-income countries. We report the first randomized controlled trial of ACT in mainland China. METHODS: Sixty outpatients with schizophrenia with severe functional impairments or frequent hospitalizations were randomly assigned to ACT (n = 30) or standard community treatment (n = 30). The severity of symptoms and level of social functioning were assessed at baseline and every 3 months during the 1-year study. The primary outcome was the duration of hospital readmission. Secondary outcomes included a pre-post change in symptom severity, the rates of symptom relapse and gainful employment, social and occupational functioning, and quality of life of family caregivers. RESULTS: Based on a modified intention-to-treat analysis, the outcomes for ACT were significantly better than those of standard community treatment. ACT patients were less likely to be readmitted [3.3% (1/30) v. 25.0% (7/28), Fisher's exact test p = 0.023], had a shorter mean readmission time [2.4 (13.3) v. 30.7 (66.9) days], were less likely to relapse [6.7% (2/30) v. 28.6% (8/28), Fisher's exact test p = 0.038], and had shorter mean time in relapse [3.5 (14.6) v. 34.4 (70.6) days]. The ACT group also had significantly longer times re-employed and greater symptomatic improvement and their caregivers experienced a greater improvement in their quality of life. CONCLUSION: Our results show that culturally adapted ACT is both feasible and effective for individuals with severe schizophrenia in urban China. Replication studies with larger samples and longer duration of follow up are warranted.

Consistent Iodine Status Assessment in Chinese Adults by Different Spot Urinary Iodine Concentrations in a Day Together With Corresponding Correction Coefficients.

Objective: The aim of this research was to determine the correction coefficients of different spot urinary iodine concentrations (UICs) in a day to predict the early morning UIC, to make the different spot UICs of a day comparable in assessing iodine status in the same population. Methods: In total, 424 participants aged 18 to 28 years were recruited from Tianjin, China. Three spot urine samples were collected from each participant during three periods of the day (6:30-7:00, 10:00-10:30, and 16:00-16:30). A total of 1272 urine samples were collected. A 24-hour dietary record was reported by each participant for 3 consecutive days. Results: Both the UICs at 10:00-10:30 and 16:00-16:30 were higher than that at 6:30-7:00 (181.75 or 198.15µg/L vs 157.69 µg/L; all p < 0.05). Bland-Altman plot showed no good agreements between the other two spot UICs and that at 6:30-7:00 with both Bland-Altman indexes of 7.1%. Correction coefficients used to predict UIC at 6:30-7:00 from the UIC at 10:00-10:30 and 16:00-16:30 were 0.9231 and 0.8592, respectively. The predicted UICs at 6:30-7:00 by using the UIC at 10:00-10:30 and 16:00-16:30 both had no statistically significant difference with the actual UIC at 6:30-7:00 (all p > 0.05). Bland-Altman plot showed good agreements between the predicted UICs and actual UICs at 6:30-7:00 with both Bland-Altman indexes of 4.5%. Conclusions: It was reliable to predict the early morning UIC using correction coefficients of other spot UIC of the day, which gave a new idea for standardizing the methodology of surveys assessing iodine status of a population.

Salt Intake of Lactating Women as Assessed by Modified Food Weighted Records.

OBJECTIVE: High salt intake among lactating women can increase the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in infants/offspring. However, considering the limited salt intake data in lactating women, the aims of this study were to compare the salt intake assessed by modified food weighted records (FWR) with that estimated by 24-h urinary sodium excretion and to investigate the salt intake of lactating women. METHODS: In total, 30 lactating women aged 20-39 years who were 2 to 4 months postpartum were recruited from the cities of Tianjin and Luoyang in China. The household salt intakes of the lactating women were collected by modified FWR for 3 days. Information on the gender, age, eating behaviours and labour intensity of the family members and guests dining at home during the 3 days was recorded. Meanwhile, 24-h urine samples of lactating women were collected. RESULTS: The salt intakes of the lactating women estimated by modified FWR and 24-h urinary sodium excretion were 8.50 ± 5.32 g/d and 9.34±3.74 g/d (t=-1.29, P=0.207), respectively, which exceeded the WHO recommendation of 5 g/d. There was a significant correlation (r=0.628, P < 0.001) between the salt intakes assessed by the two methods. A Bland-Altman plot showed no significant mean difference between the two methods (salt intake measured by 24-h urinary sodium excretion-salt intake assessed by modified FWR=0.46 g/d, P=0.207). CONCLUSIONS: The modified FWR is a reliable tool to assess the salt intake of lactating women. The salt intake of lactating women in China remains higher than the WHO recommendation and should be restricted through further efforts.

Acute Administration of Lactate Exerts Antidepressant-like Effect Through cAMP-dependent Protein Synthesis.

Lactate acts as an important metabolic substrate and signalling molecule modulating neural activities in the brain, and recent preclinical and clinical studies have revealed its antidepressant effect after acute or chronic peripheral administration. However, the neural mechanism underlying the antidepressant effect of lactate, in particular when lactate is acutely administered remains largely unknown. In the current study, we focused on forced swimming test (FST) to elucidate the neural mechanisms through which acute intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of lactate exerts antidepressant-like effect. A total of 238 male Sprague Dawley rats were used as experimental subjects. Results showed lactate produced antidepressant-like effect, as indicated by reduced immobility, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, the antidepressant-like effect of lactate was dependent of new protein synthesis but not new gene expression, lactate's metabolic effect or hydroxy-carboxylic acid receptor 1 (HCAR1) activation. Furthermore, lactate rapidly promoted dephosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) and increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein synthesis in the hippocampus in a cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent manner. Finally, inhibition of cAMP production blocked the antidepressant-like effect of lactate. These findings suggest that acute administration of lactate exerts antidepressant-like effect through cAMP-dependent protein synthesis.

De novo assembly, characterization and comparative transcriptome analysis of gonads reveals sex-biased genes in Coreoperca whiteheadi.

The wild Coreoperca whiteheadi is considered as the primordial species in sinipercine fish, which has valuable genetic information. Unfortunately, C. whiteheadi was listed as a near-threatened species because of the environmental pollution, over-exploitation and species invasion. Therefore, more genetic information is needed to have a better understanding of gonadal development in C. whiteheadi. Here, the first gonadal transcriptomes analysis of C. whiteheadi was conducted and 277.14 million clean reads were generated. A total of 96,753 unigenes were successfully annotated. By comparing ovary and testis transcriptomes, a total of 21,741 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, of which 12,057 were upregulated and 9684 were downregulated in testes. Among them, we also identified about 53 differentially expressed sex-biased genes. Subsequently, the expression of twenty-four DEGs were confirmed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Furthermore, the histological analysis was conducted on ovaries and testes of one-year-old C. whiteheadi. Our results provided basic support for further studies on the function of sex-biased genes and the molecular mechanism of sex determination and reproduction in C. whiteheadi.

De Novo Assembly, Characterization and Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of the Gonads of Jade Perch (Scortum barcoo).

Due to the high meat yield and rich nutritional content, jade perch (Scortum barcoo) has become an important commercial aquaculture species in China. Jade perch has a slow growth rate, taking 3-4 years to reach sexual maturity, and has almost no difference in body size between males and females. However, the study of its gonad development and reproduction regulation is still blank, which limited the yield increase. Herein, the gonad transcriptomes of juvenile males and females of S. barcoo were identified for the first time. A total of 107,060 unigenes were successfully annotated. By comparing male and female gonad transcriptomes, a total of 23,849 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, of which 9517 were downregulated, and 14,332 were upregulated in the testis. In addition, a large number of DEGs involved in sex differentiation, gonadal development and differentiation and gametogenesis were identified, and the differential expression patterns of some genes were further verified using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. The results of this study will provide a valuable resource for further studies on sex determination and gonadal development of S. barcoo.

Autophagy is regulated by endoplasmic reticulum calcium homeostasis and sphingolipid metabolism.

Calcium is involved in a variety of cellular processes. As the crucial components of cell membranes, sphingolipids also play important roles as signaling molecules. Intracellular calcium homeostasis, autophagy initiation and sphingolipid synthesis are associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Recently, through genetic screening and lipidomics analysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we found that the ER calcium channel Csg2 converts sphingolipid metabolism into macroautophagy/autophagy regulation by controlling ER calcium homeostasis. The results showed that Csg2 acts as a calcium channel to mediate ER calcium efflux into the cytoplasm, and deletion of CSG2 causes a distinct increase of ER calcium concentration, thereby disrupting the stability of the sphingolipid synthase Aur1, leading to the accumulation of the bioactive sphingolipid phytosphingosine (PHS), which specifically and completely blocks autophagy. In summary, our work links calcium homeostasis, sphingolipid metabolism, and autophagy initiation via the ER calcium channel Csg2.

Transcriptional regulation of autophagy by RNA polymerase II.

Macroautophagy/autophagy is a catabolic recycling pathway and is tightly regulated by upstream signals. Autophagy genes are quickly upregulated upon stimuli such as nutrition limitation in response to the external environment. However, how the transcriptional activation of autophagy genes occurs is not well understood. We recently found that in yeast, the RNA polymerase II subunit Rpb9 specifically and efficiently upregulates the transcription of the autophagy gene ATG1 with the mediation of Gcn4. Such regulation was shown to be essential for autophagic activities induced by starvation. Furthermore, the function of Rpb9 in autophagy and the activation of ATG1 transcription is conserved in mammalian cells. In conclusion, Rpb9 specifically and positively regulates ATG1 transcription as a key regulator of autophagy.

Interface Optimization and Performance Enhancement of Er2O3-Based MOS Devices by ALD-Derived Al2O3 Passivation Layers and Annealing Treatment.

In this paper, the effect of atomic layer deposition (ALD)-derived Al2O3 passivation layers and annealing temperatures on the interfacial chemistry and transport properties of sputtering-deposited Er2O3 high-k gate dielectrics on Si substrate has been investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses have showed that the ALD-derived Al2O3 passivation layer remarkably prevents the formation of the low-k hydroxides generated by moisture absorption of the gate oxide and greatly optimizes the gate dielectric properties. Electrical performance measurements of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with different gate stack order have revealed that the lowest leakage current density of 4.57 × 10-9 A/cm2 and the smallest interfacial density of states (Dit) of 2.38 × 1012 cm-2 eV-1 have been achieved in the Al2O3/Er2O3/Si MOS capacitor, which can be attributed to the optimized interface chemistry. Further electrical measurements of annealed Al2O3/Er2O3/Si gate stacks at 450 °C have demonstrated superior dielectric properties with a leakage current density of 1.38 × 10-9 A/cm2. At the same, the leakage current conduction mechanism of MOS devices under various stack structures is systematically investigated.

Revealing the driving synergistic degradation mechanism of Rhodococcus sp. B2 on the bioremediation of pretilachlor-contaminated soil.

The pretilachlor has been widely used worldwide and has contaminated the environment for many years. The environmental fate of pretilachlor and its residues removal from the contaminated environment have attracted great concern. Reportedly, pretilachlor could partly be transformed to HECDEPA by Rhodococcus sp. B2. However, the effects of pretilachlor on soil bacterial communities and its complete metabolic pathway remain unknown. Herein, we investigated the mechanism of driving synergistic degradation of pretilachlor by strain B2 in the soil. The results revealed that pretilachlor showed a negative effect on bacterial communities and caused significant variations in the community structure. Strain B2 showed the ability to remediate the pretilachlor-contaminated soils and network analysis revealed that it may drive the enrichment of potential pretilachlor-degrading bacteria from the soil. The soil pretilachlor degradation may be facilitated by the members of the keystone families Comamonadaceae, Caulobacteraceae, Rhodospirillaceae, Chitinophagaceae, and Sphingomonadaceae. Meanwhile, Sphingomonas sp. M6, a member of the Sphingomonadaceae family, has been isolated from the strain B2 inoculation sample soil. The co-culture, comprising strain M6 and B2, could synergistic degrade pretilachlor within 30 h, which is the highest degradation rate. Strain M6 could completely degrade the HECDEPA via CDEPA and DEA. In the soil, a comparable pretilachlor degradation pathway may exist. This study suggested that strain B2 had the potential to drive the remediation of pretilachlor-contaminated soils.

Synergistic effects of the Rh-S bond and spatially separated dual cocatalysts on photocatalytic overall water splitting activity of ZnIn2S4 nanosheets under visible light irradiation.

Photodeposition of dual-cocatalysts Pt-Cr or Rh-Cr on the surface of ZnIn2S4 is used to achieve overall water splitting. Compared with the hybrid loading of the Pt element and Cr element, the formation of the Rh-S bond results in space separation of the Rh element and Cr element. The Rh-S bond and space separation of cocatalysts promote the transfer of bulk carriers to the surface and inhibit self-corrosion.