Complete genome sequence of a novel dsRNA virus from the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum.

Fusarium oxysporum is a widespread plant pathogen that causes fusarium wilt and fusarium root rot in many economically significant crops. Here, a novel dsRNA virus tentatively named "Fusarium oxysporum virus 1" (FoV1) was identified in F. oxysporum strain 3S-18. The genome of FoV1 is 2,944 nucleotides (nt) in length and contains two non-overlapping open reading frames (ORF1 and 2). The larger of these, ORF2, encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of 590 amino acids with a molecular mass of 67.52 kDa. ORF1 encodes a putative nucleocapsid protein consisting of 134 amino acids with a molecular mass of 34.25 kDa. The RdRp domain of FoV1 shares 60.00% to 84.24% sequence identity with non-segmented dsRNA viruses. Phylogenetic analysis further suggested that FoV1 is a new member of the proposed genus "Unirnavirus" accommodating unclassified monopartite dsRNA viruses.

Characterization of Fusarium solani associated with tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) root rot in Henan, China.

The aim of this study was to characterize the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) population obtained from tobacco roots with root rot symptoms using morphological characteristics, molecular tests, and assessment of pathogenicity. Cultures isolated from roots were white to cream with sparse mycelium on PDA with colony growth of 21.5 ± 0.5 to 29.5 ± 0.5 mm after 3 days. Sporodochia were cream on carnation leaf agar (CLA) and spezieller nährstoffarmer agar (SNA), and macroconidia formed in sporodochia were 3- to 6-septate, straight to slightly curved, with wide central cells, a slightly short blunt apical cell, and a straight to almost cylindrical basal cell with a distinct foot shape, ranging in size from 20.92 to 64.37 µm × 3.91 to 6.57 µm. Microconidia formed on CLA were reniform and fusiform with 0 or 1 to occasionally 2 septa, that formed on long monophialidic conidiogenous cells, with a size range of 5.99 to 32.32 µm × 1.76 to 5.84 µm. Globose to oval chlamydospores were smooth to rough-walled, 6.5 to 13.3 ± 0.37 µm in diameter, terminal or intercalary, single or in pairs, occasionally in short chains on SNA. Molecular tests consisted of sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the translation elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α), RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB1), and second largest subunit (RPB2) regions. All the obtained sequences revealed 98.14%~100% identity to Fusarium solani in both Fusarium ID and Fusarium MLST databases. Phylogenetic trees of the EF-1α gene and concatenated three-loci data showed that isolates from tobacco in Henan grouped in the proposed group 5, which is nested within FSSC clade 3 (FSSC 5). Twenty-seven of the 28 isolates caused a root rot of artificially inoculated tobacco seedlings, with a disease index ranging from 15.00 ± 1.67 to 91.11 ± 2.22. Cross pathogenicity tests showed that three representative isolates were virulent to six species of Solanaceae and two of Poaceae, with disease indexes ranging from 6.12 ± 0.56 to 84.44 ± 0.00, indicating that these isolates have a wide host range. The results may inform control of tobacco root rot through improved crop rotations.

Identification of serum exosomal metabolomic and proteomic profiles for remote ischemic preconditioning.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) refers to a brief episode of exposure to potential adverse stimulation and prevents injury during subsequent exposure. RIPC has been shown to increase tolerance to ischemic injury and improve cerebral perfusion status. Exosomes have a variety of activities, such as remodeling the extracellular matrix and transmitting signals to other cells. This study aimed to investigate the potential molecular mechanism of RIPC-mediated neuroprotection. METHODS: Sixty adult male military personnel participants were divided into the control group (n = 30) and the RIPC group (n = 30). We analyzed the differential metabolites and proteins in the serum exosomes of RIPC participants and control subjects. RESULTS: Eighty-seven differentially expressed serum exosomal metabolites were found between the RIPC and control groups, which were enriched in pathways related to tyrosine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, serotonergic synapses, and multiple neurodegeneration diseases. In addition, there were 75 differentially expressed exosomal proteins between RIPC participants and controls, which involved the regulation of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) transport, neutrophil degranulation, vesicle-mediated transport, etc. Furthermore, we found differentially expressed theobromine, cyclo gly-pro, hemopexin (HPX), and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), which are associated with neuroprotective benefits in ischemia/reperfusion injury. In addition, five potential metabolite biomarkers, including ethyl salicylate, ethionamide, piperic acid, 2, 6-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxymethylphenol and zerumbone, that separated RIPC from control individuals were identified. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that serum exosomal metabolites are promising biomarkers for RIPC, and our results provide a rich dataset and framework for future analyses of cerebral ischemia‒reperfusion injury under ischemia/reperfusion conditions.

First report of Fusarium tricinctum Species complex causing root rot of tobacco in China.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is an economically important crop in China. In June 2021, a root rot disease was observed on tobacco (cv. Yunyan99) in Lushi, Mianchi, and Luoning counties of western Henan, China. Diseased tobacco plants exhibited wilting with leaf chlorosis and root rot accompanied by purplish to brown vascular discoloration. The symptoms were observed in four surveyed fields, 57 ha in total, and disease incidence ranged from 21 to 56%. Five symptomatic plants with leaf chlorosis and root rot were randomly collected from each field for pathogen isolation. Tissue pieces from diseased roots were surface sterilized in 75% ethanol for 30 s then rinsed with sterile distilled water three times, air dried, and placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Five isolates, SL1, SL2, SL3, LN and KC, were purified by single-spore culturing. On PDA, colonies grew at a rate of 2-5 mm/day and produced abundant cottony, white to pink aerial mycelia and rose pigment on the reverse side of the culture plate. From 7-day-old cultures grown on carnation leaf agar (CLA), macroconidia were straight to subarcuate, with blunt and slightly hooked apical and basal cells, had three to four septa, measured 23.4 to 44.6×3.5 to 4.2 µm (n=30). Cylindrical, napiform or oval microconidia were one to two-celled, measuring 6.3 to 22.9×2.2 to 4.9 µm (n=30). Spherical chlamydospores were intercalary or terminal, in chains. Such characteristics resembled those of the Fusarium tricinctum species comples (FTSC; Batra and Lichtwardt 1962; Leslie and Summerell 2006). To confirm the morphological diagnosis, the genomic DNA of the isolates were extracted, the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α), RNA polymerase I largest subunit (RPB1) and second largest subunit (RPB2) genes were amplified with primers EF1/EF2, F5/G2R and 5f2/7cr respectively (O'Donnell et al. 2010), and sequenced. Maximum likelihood analysis was carried out using MEGA 7. Sequences were 97.55% to 100% identical to corresponding DNA sequences of FTSC based on GenBank and Fusarium MLST BLASTn analysis, and deposited in GenBank (ON637268.1-ON637272.1, ON637275.1-ON637279.1, ON637282.1-ON637286.1). Based on the morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis, the isolates were identified as F. acuminatum (SL1, SL2, SL3 and LN; Senatore et al. 2021) and F. reticulatum (KC; Moreira et al. 2019). Koch's postulates were conducted to verify the pathogenicity of individual isolates. The four-leaf stage healthy tobacco seedlings (Yunyan99, n=30) were inoculated by pouring 20 mL conidial suspension (1×107 conidia/mL) around the rhizosphere. Control seedlings were inoculated with sterilized water (n=30). All the treatments were maintained under greenhouse conditions with a 12-h light/dark photoperiod at 25±0.5℃ and 70% relative humidity for 30 days. The assay was conducted three times. Foliage chlorosis and root rot were observed on the inoculated tobacco seedlings, whereas the control seedlings remained asymptomatic after 30 days. The pathogens were reisolated from the necrotic tissue from all inoculated seedlings and were identified by sequencing partial EF-1α and RPB2 genes. Fusarium tricinctum species complex are known as an important causal of cereals Fusarium Head Blight (FHB; Laraba, et al. 2022). In China, F. acuminatum can also infect herb plants and fruits, such as Angelica sinensis, Schisandra chinensis (Ma et al. 2022; Shen et al. 2021). To our knowledge, this is the first report of root rot on tobacco caused by FTSC members in China as well as the world. This finding expands the host range known for FTSC and will be helpful for developing effective control strategies of tobacco root rot.

Effects of Wood Content and Modification on Properties of Wood Flour/Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate Biocomposites.

Biodegradable polymers have recently become attractive and have been increasingly used as matrix materials to replace fossil plastics due to concerns about the environmental issue. However, their application areas are limited due to their high costs and natural properties. In this study, we fabricated ecofriendly and economical polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) composites loaded with various concentrations of wood flour (WF) to investigate the effects on the PBAT and WF interfaces as well as the physical properties of the WF/PBAT biocomposites. Then, WF was acetylated with acetic anhydride, and the effect of WF acetylation on the mechanical and thermal properties of the biocomposites were investigated. The results showed that the tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength and flexural modulus increased with WF loading in the composites, and acetylation could not only further increase these properties, but also increase the impact strength and elongation at break. The incorporation of WF would weaken the thermal stability of PBAT, but the thermal stability of the biocomposite could be improved after WF acetylation. The cold crystallization temperature and hydrophobicity of the WF/PBAT samples would be increased with the increasing load of the WF, while the melting enthalpy and the crystallinity of the samples reduced gradually. A morphological analysis of the modified composites revealed that the matrix exhibited greater interfacial interactions with the WF compared to the WF/PBAT. Considering the much lower cost of WF compared to PBAT, the improved properties of WF/PBAT biocomposites will make it economically competitive with other commercial polymers, and these biocomposites should have much wider application areas.

A body-size-dependent series of Chinese adult standing phantoms for radiation dosimetry.

Phantoms of different sizes, as indicated by several studies, have a significant impact on the accuracy of dose calculations. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a body-size-dependent series of Chinese standing adult phantoms to improve the accuracy of radiation dosimetry. In this study, the Chinese reference polygon-mesh phantomsCRAM_S/CRAF_Shave been refined and a method for automatically constructing lymph nodes in a mesh phantom has been proposed. Then, based on the refined phantoms, this study has developed 42 anthropometric standing adult computational phantoms, 21 models for each gender, with a height range of 145-185 cm and weight as a function of body mass index corresponding to healthy, overweight and obese. The parameters were extracted from the National Occupational Health Standards (GBZ) document of the People's Republic of China, which covers more than 90% of the Chinese population. For a given body height and mass, phantoms are scaled in proportion to a factor reflecting the change of adipose tissue and the internal organs. The remainder is adjusted manually to match the target parameters. In addition, the constructed body-size-specific phantoms have been implemented in the in-house THUDose Monte Carlo code to calculate the dose coefficients (DCs) for external photon exposures in the antero-posterior, postero-anterior and right lateral geometries. The results showed that organ DCs varied significantly with body size at low energies (<2MeV) and high energies (>8MeV) due to the differences in anatomy. Organ DC differences between a phantom of a given size and a reference phantom vary by up to 40% for the same height and up to 400% for the whole phantom. The influence of body size differences on the DCs demonstrates that the body-size-dependent Chinese adult phantoms hold great promise for a wide range of applications in radiation dosimetry.

An encoder-decoder network for direct image reconstruction on sinograms of a long axial field of view PET.

PURPOSE: Deep learning is an emerging reconstruction method for positron emission tomography (PET), which can tackle complex PET corrections in an integrated procedure. This paper optimizes the direct PET reconstruction from sinogram on a long axial field of view (LAFOV) PET. METHODS: This paper proposes a novel deep learning architecture to reduce the biases during direct reconstruction from sinograms to images. This architecture is based on an encoder-decoder network, where the perceptual loss is used with pre-trained convolutional layers. It is trained and tested on data of 80 patients acquired from recent Siemens Biograph Vision Quadra long axial FOV (LAFOV) PET/CT. The patients are randomly split into a training dataset of 60 patients, a validation dataset of 10 patients, and a test dataset of 10 patients. The 3D sinograms are converted into 2D sinogram slices and used as input to the network. In addition, the vendor reconstructed images are considered as ground truths. Finally, the proposed method is compared with DeepPET, a benchmark deep learning method for PET reconstruction. RESULTS: Compared with DeepPET, the proposed network significantly reduces the root-mean-squared error (NRMSE) from 0.63 to 0.6 (p < 0.01) and increases the structural similarity index (SSIM) and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) from 0.93 to 0.95 (p < 0.01) and from 82.02 to 82.36 (p < 0.01), respectively. The reconstruction time is approximately 10 s per patient, which is shortened by 23 times compared with the conventional method. The errors of mean standardized uptake values (SUVmean) for lesions between ground truth and the predicted result are reduced from 33.5 to 18.7% (p = 0.03). In addition, the error of max SUV is reduced from 32.7 to 21.8% (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the feasibility of using deep learning to reconstruct images with acceptable image quality and short reconstruction time. It is shown that the proposed method can improve the quality of deep learning-based reconstructed images without additional CT images for attenuation and scattering corrections. This study demonstrated the feasibility of deep learning to rapidly reconstruct images without additional CT images for complex corrections from actual clinical measurements on LAFOV PET. Despite improving the current development, AI-based reconstruction does not work appropriately for untrained scenarios due to limited extrapolation capability and cannot completely replace conventional reconstruction currently.

First Report of Tobacco Root Rot Caused by Fusarium falciforme in China.

China is the largest producer of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) in the world with an estimated production of 2.4 million ton per year (Berbec and Matyka 2020). In June 2021, a root disease was observed on tobacco in three surveyed counties (Xiangcheng, Linying and Jiaxian) in central Henan. Diseased plants exhibited leaf chlorosis and brown to purplish vascular discoloration of the taproot and lateral roots. Approximately 10 to 15% of the plants were symptomatic in the nine fields surveyed, representing 60 ha in total. Root segments (0.5 to 1 cm) from ten diseased plants were surface sterilized in 75% ethanol for 30 s followed by rinsing with sterile distilled water three times. Thirty air dried root pieces were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25℃ in the dark for 2 days. Typical Fusarium spp. colonies were obtained from all root samples. Ten pure cultures were obtained by single-spore culturing (Yz01 to Yz10). Colonies on PDA showed abundant white to cream aerial mycelia with a yellowish-brown center on the reverse side after 7 days, and an average growth rate of 5 mm/day. From 7-day-old cultures grown on carnation leaf agar (CLA), macroconidia had three to four septa, were falciform, with blunt apical cells and slightly hooked basal cell, and measured 20 to 41×3-6.5 µm (n=50). Spherical conidia clusters were formed at the apex of the conidiophores. Abundant reniform and cylindrical microconidia were one to two-celled, with apexes rounded, measuring 7 to 15×2 to 5 µm (n=50). The roughly spherical chlamydospores were intercalary or terminal, single or in chains, and rough walled. Such characteristics were consistent with the Fuarium solani species complex (FSSC) (Leslie and Summerell 2006). The translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α) gene of the ten cultures was amplified with primers EF1/EF2 (O'Donnell et al. 1998), and sequenced. Maximum likelihood analysis was carried out using the EF1-α sequences of the ten cultures (Kumar et al. 2016). The RNA polymerase I largest subunit (RPB1) and second largest subunit (RPB2) genes of the cultures were amplified with primers F5/G2R and RPB2F/R respectively (O'Donnell et al. 1998, 2010), and sequenced. The EF1-α, RPB1 and RPB2 sequences (GenBank accession nos. ON186742.1-ON186751.1, ON241133.1-ON241148.1, ON324054.1-ON324057.1) were 99.4 to 100% identical to the corresponding DNA sequences of Fusarium falciforme based on FUSARIUM-ID BLASTn analysis. Morphological and molecular results confirmed this species as F. falcifome (Díaz-Nájera et al. 2021; Velarde-Félix et al. 2022). Pathogenicity tests were performed in tobacco seedlings grown on autoclaved soil. Healthy six-leaf stage tobacco seedlings (n=30; Zhongyan 100) were inoculated by placing 7-days old wheat seed (15 seeds per plant) infested with the representative culture Yz07 around the root. Thirty seedlings inoculated with sterile wheat seeds served as controls. All the plants were maintained in a growth chamber at 25±0.5℃ and 70% relative humidity. The assay was conducted three times. Typical symptoms of foliage chlorosis and root browning were observed 7 to 14 days after inoculation for all the 90 inoculated seedlings. Fifteen diseased seedlings were randomly selected for tissue isolation, and F. falciforme was reisolated from the 15 seedlings and showed the same morphology and EF1-α gene sequence as the original isolate. Control plants remained asymptomatic and no pathogen was recovered. The results showed that F. falciforme can cause root rot of tobacco. F. falciforme was reported to cause tobacco wilt and root rot in Northwestern Argentina (Berruezo et al. 2018); however, this is the first report of F. falciforme causing root rot of tobacco in China. This species was previously reported in China affecting Weigela florida (Shen et al. 2019) and Dioscorea polystachya (Zhang et al. 2020), showing that F. falciforme has a broad host range in this country. These results may inform control tobacco root rot through improve crop rotations. Funding: Funding was provided by the Science and Technology Project of Henan Provincial Tobacco Company (2020410000270012), Outstanding Youth Science and Technology Fund Project of Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2022YQ09) and Science and Technology Innovation Team project of Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2022TD26). References: Berbec, A. K., and Matyka, M. 2020. Agric. 10:551. Berruezo, L. A., et al. 2018. Eur. J. Plant. Pathol. 151:1065. Díaz-Nájeraet, J. F., et al. 2021. Plant Dis. 105:710. Douriet-Angulo, A., et al. 2019. Plant Dis. 103:11. Kumar, S., et al. 2016. Mol. Biol. Evol. 33:1870. Leslie, J. F., and Summerell, B. A., eds. 2006. The Fusarium Laboratory Manual. Blackwell Publishing, Ames, IA. O'Donnell, K., et al. 1998. PNAS. 95:2044. O'Donnell, K., et al. 2010. J. Clin. Microbiol. 48:3708. Vega-Gutierrez, T. A., et al. 2018. Plant Dis. 103:1. Velarde-Félix, S., et al. 2022. Plant Dis. 106:329. Zhang, X., et al. 2020. Plant Dis. 104:5. The author(s) declare no conflict of interest. Keywords: tobacco root rot, Fusarium falciforme, China.

Modeling of DNA Damage Repair and Cell Response in Relation to p53 System Exposed to Ionizing Radiation.

Repair of DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation plays an important role in the cell response to ionizing radiation. Radiation-induced DNA damage also activates the p53 system, which determines the fate of cells. The kinetics of repair, which is affected by the cell itself and the complexity of DNA damage, influences the cell response and fate via affecting the p53 system. To mechanistically study the influences of the cell response to different LET radiations, we introduce a new repair module and a p53 system model with NASIC, a Monte Carlo track structure code. The factors determining the kinetics of the double-strand break (DSB) repair are modeled, including the chromosome environment and complexity of DSB. The kinetics of DSB repair is modeled considering the resection-dependent and resection-independent compartments. The p53 system is modeled by simulating the interactions among genes and proteins. With this model, the cell responses to low- and high-LET irradiation are simulated, respectively. It is found that the kinetics of DSB repair greatly affects the cell fate and later biological effects. A large number of DSBs and a slow repair process lead to severe biological consequences. High-LET radiation induces more complex DSBs, which can be repaired by slow processes, subsequently resulting in a longer cycle arrest and, furthermore, apoptosis and more secreting of TGFß. The Monte Carlo track structure simulation with a more realistic repair module and the p53 system model developed in this study can expand the functions of the NASIC code in simulating mechanical radiobiological effects.

Identification of Cyclic Dipeptides and a New Compound (6-(5-Hydroxy-6-methylheptyl)-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-2-one) Produced by Streptomyces fungicidicus against Alternaria solani.

As an important microbial resource, Actinomycetes, especially Streptomyces, have important application values in medicine and biotechnology. Streptomyces fungicidicus SYH3 was isolated from soil samples in tomato-growing areas and showed good inhibitory effects on Alternaria solani in tomato. To obtain pure active compounds, SYH3 fermentation broth was subjected to XAD-16 macroporous resin and silica gel column chromatography. Combined with the repeated preparation and separation of preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), a total of four monomer compounds were obtained after activity tracking. Compound 4 was identified as a new six-membered lactone ring compound named 6-(5-hydroxy-6-methylheptyl)-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-2-one by 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data and mass spectrometry (MS). The other three active compounds belong to the cyclodipeptide, and their half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values against A. solani were 43.4, 42.9, and 30.6 µg/mL, respectively. Compound 4 significantly inhibited the spore germination and induced swollen and deformed local hyphae of A. solani with an IC50 value of 24.9 µg/mL. Compound 4 also had broad-spectrum antifungal activity and had a good antifungal effect on the tested plant-pathogenic fungi. The modes of action of new compound (4) still require further investigation, representing a novel and effective anti-fungal agent for future application.

The young generation in radiation protection (IRPA YGN) in social media and online learning: 'Brave New World' or 'Online Nightmare'?

While online working seems to have become more common since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, social media has the potential to offer greater interactivity and networking capacities. Thus it seems relevant for the IRPA Young Generation Network to investigate the use of social media by members of the young generation in radiation protection (RP) through an online survey. It was also the opportunity to collect early feedback about on-line learning. The survey received 89 answers from 15 countries. The most commonly used social media platforms were first Facebook, then LinkedIn and Twitter, but other social media were reported. The respondents have a multi-objectives approach while on social media, using it for different purposes (chiefly for sharing news and RP related information/educational material) and different audiences (e.g. public, professional). Yet, they are making a very moderate use based on the frequencies of publication and consultation and the challenges they see in social media. The survey also collected the view of the young generation about their practical experience in learning in a virtual setting and its advantages and disadvantages vs. in-person learning. Most participants expressed mixed-feelings about on-line learning. The results show that the young generation can play a role in supporting the extra- and intra-communication activities of the RP community.

Women in radiation (WiR)-a perspective for the strengthening of radiation protection.

Gender balance refers to the equitable treatment and access to opportunities for all genders. In order to achieve true gender balance, a variety of proactive approaches developed collaboratively, with insight from multiple perspectives, need to be implemented. With that purpose, the participation of women in professions related to radiation and radiation protection was prioritised and given high visibility by allocating a 'Women in Radiation' (WiR) Special Session at the 15th International Congress of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA), hosted by South Korea on 20 January 2021. In this session, various issues related to gender balance and equity/equality were highlighted by the panellists, and further elaborated in a subsequent discussion with attendees. The main goal of the WiR Special Session was to convene women from different organisations, career and age stages, disciplines and countries, in particular to consider the Asian-Oceanic vision and status of gender equality, along with other topics to support a 'Call for Action', with concrete recommendations subsequently provided to IRPA. The discussion stressed the main needs and challenges faced by women working in various radiation fields, along with raising awareness of possible professional and employment opportunities. This paper identifies some steps necessary to encourage, enhance and support the inclusion of more diversity in nuclear professions with specific emphasis on women. In conclusion, gender balance and equality must be at the heart of any strategic plan for the future of the radiological protection profession; international cooperation between relevant bodies is essential for success and could serve as a catalyst for specific policy statements aimed at achieving a balanced representation of women in radiological protection.

[Screening methods of traditional Chinese medicine for coronary heart disease and angina pectoris: an exploration based on core outcome set and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation].

It was pointed out in Opinions on Promoting the Inheritance, Innovation and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued by the State Council in 2019 that 100 varieties of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) with unique curative effects should be screened out within about three years. Due to the multi-component and multi-target mechanisms of TCM varieties, it is difficult to directly and simply evaluate their multi-dimensional clinical value using methods applicable to chemical or biological agents. The heterogeneity of outcomes for similar TCM makes it difficult to determine the advantages of similar products. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method that is developed on the basis of core outcome set and fuzzy mathematics for clinical efficacy evaluation of TCM may solve these problems. This study developed a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model for the clinical efficacy evaluation of Chinese patent me-dicines for coronary heart disease and angina pectoris, and selected the previous normative studies with complete or incomplete data for verifying the model application. The results showed that original studies with complete data failed to evaluate and compare the comprehensive efficacy of different interventions. The original research only mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of different interventions in different aspects. The comprehensive clinical efficacy of three different interventions obtained through fuzzy comprehensive evaluation was all graded as level Ⅱ. The original research with incomplete data drew the same conclusions as the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, and the results of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation can provide more comprehensive information. Therefore, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation shows the products with overall advantages of clinical efficacy, which may become a feasible method for the screening of TCM.

Complete genome sequence of a novel mitovirus from the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum.

Fusarium oxysporum is a cosmopolitan plant pathogen that causes fusarium wilt and fusarium root rot in many economically important crops. There is still limited information about mycoviruses that infect F. oxysporum. Here, a novel mitovirus tentatively named "Fusarium oxysporum mitovirus 1" (FoMV1) was identified in F. oxysporum strain B2-10. The genome of FoMV1 is 2,453 nt in length with a predicted AU content of 71.6% and contains one large open reading frame (ORF) using the fungal mitochondrial genetic code. The ORF putatively encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of 723 aa with a molecular mass of 84.98 kDa. The RdRp domain of FoMV1 shares 29.01% to 68.43% sequence identity with the members of the family Mitoviridae. Phylogenetic analysis further suggested that FoMV1 is a new member of a distinct species in the genus Mitovirus.

Aurantio-obtusin improves obesity and insulin resistance induced by high-fat diet in obese mice.

Aurantio-obtusin (AUR) is the main bioactive compound among the anthraquinones, from Cassia seed extract. This study was conducted to identify whether AUR could improve obesity and insulin resistance, induced by a high-fat diet in obese mice. Mice were fed a high-fat diet for 6 weeks and were then assigned to the high-fat diet (HFD) control group, the AUR 5 mg/kg group, or the AUR 10 mg/kg group. AUR improves glucose by activating the expression of PI3K, Akt and GLUT4, GLUT2. AUR altered the expression levels of several lipid metabolism-related and adipokine genes. AUR decreased the mRNA expression of PPAR-γ, FAS and increased the mRNA expression of PPAR-α in liver. AUR lowered SREBP-1c, FAS, SCD-1, inflammatory cytokines, and increased the expression of PPAR-γ, PPAR-α, CPT-1, and adiponectin in white adipose tissue (WAT). AUR docking with the insulin receptor showed that the residues of the insulin receptor, ectodomain, were the same as those around the emodin. The effect of AUR may be elicited by regulating the activity of the insulin signaling pathway, expression of lipid metabolism-related genes, and expression of inflammatory cytokine markers to improve adiposity, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia.

First Report of Fusarium Root Rot of Tobacco Caused by Fusarium sinensis in Henan Province China.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is an economically important crop in China, with an estimated production of 2.2 million tons every year. In June 2018, tobacco plants within the municipality of Sanmenxia (Henan, China) showed symptoms of wilting with leaf yellowing and stunting. Diseased plants exhibited severe necrosis that advanced through the main root (Figure 1 A). The symptoms were observed in nineteen surveyed tobacco fields, 60 ha in total, and approximately 25% of the plants were symptomatic. The disease resulted in a severe loss in tobacco leaf production. Five symptomatic tobacco plants were sampled. Diseased tissues from roots were surface sterilized in 75% ethanol and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Eighteen of the 25 diseased tissues had cultures growing from them, and all the cultures were white colonies with abundant aerial mycelium produced scarlet pigmentation on PDA. One pure culture was obtained by single-spore culturing (SL1). A 10-day-old culture grown on CLA (carnation leaf agar) produced macroconidia that were falcate, straight or slightly curved, 3-septate, 25-35×3.5-4.5 µm (average 26.8×3.7 µm) (n=50). Two types of microconidia (napiform and fusiform) were formed on CLA that were hyaline, with one to two cells. Napiform conidia were 4.5-9.3×3.8-5.9 (average 7.3×5.0 µm) (n=50); fusiform conidia were 6.9-15.8×1.8-3.1 (average 9.9×2.5 µm). Spherical chlamydospores (7-12.5 µm) (n=50) were terminal or intercalary and produced in clumps or in chains (Figure1 B-D). Morphological characteristics of the isolate were similar to the features of Fusarium sinensis previously described by Zhao and Lu (2008). Molecular identification was performed using partial sequences of EF1-α gene (primers EF1/EF2, O'Donnell et al. 1998). Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood-based methods were fitted using MEGA 7 (Moreira et al. 2019，Figure 2). The isolate was also sequenced for ß-tubulin (primers T1/Bt-2b, O'Donnell & Cigelnik 1997)，ribosomal RNA gene (LSU, LROR/LR5 primers, Vu et al. 2019) and rDNA-ITS (ITS 1/ ITS 4 primers, White et al. 1990). Sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers MT947797 (EF1-α), MW484999 (ß-tubulin), MW486649 (LSU) and MT907471 (ITS). The obtained EF1-α sequence was 98.10% identity with those of F. sinensis (MG670388.1) in the GenBank database, whereas the ß-tubulin, LSU and ITS sequences showed 100% identities to the corresponding DNA sequences in F. sinensis (GenBank Acc. Nos. KX880370.1, NG_067454.1 and MH863232.1, respectively). Morphological and molecular results confirmed this species as F. sinensis (Zhao and Lu 2008). Pathogenicity tests were performed on tobacco seedlings grown on an autoclaved matrix (YC/T310-2009). Healthy 6-leaf stage tobacco seedlings were inoculated by pouring a 20 mL conidial suspension (1×106 conidia/mL-1) around the stem base of each plant, 30 plant were inoculated. Thirty control seedlings received sterilized water. All treatments were maintained for 30 days under greenhouse conditions with a 12-h light/dark photoperiod at 25±0.5℃ and 70% relative humidity. The assay was conducted three times. Root rot and foliage chlorosis similar to the ones observed on infected plants in the field were observed on the inoculated tobacco seedlings, whereas the control seedlings remained asymptomatic after 30 days (Figure1 E). The pathogen isolated from the inoculated plant exhibited morphological characteristics identical to F. sinensis and was identified by a partial EF1-α gene sequence. This disease has previously been reported as the causal agent of root and crown rot of wheat in China (Zhao and Lu 2008; Xu et al. 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. sinensis causing root rot on tobacco in China. Funding: Funding was provided by the Science and Technology Project of Henan Provincial Tobacco Company (2020410000270012), Independent Innovation Project of Hennan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2020ZC18) and Research and Development project of Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2020CY010). References: Moreira, G.M., et al. 2019 Plant Dis. O'Donnell, K., et al. 1998. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:2011. O'Donnell, K., et al. 2008. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46:2477. Xu, F., et al. 2018. Front Microbiol. 9:1054. Zhao, Z.H., and Lu, G. Z., 2008. Mycologia, 100:746. The author(s) declare no conflict of interest. Keywords: tobacco root rot, Henan Province, Fusarium sinensis.

First Report of Root Rot of Tobacco Caused by Fusarium brachygibbosum in China.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is an important cash crop in China, with an estimated production of 2.2 million tons every year (Berbec and Matyka, 2020). In June 2020, a root rot disease was observed on tobacco (cv. Zhongyan 100) in four surveyed counties (Mianchi, Lushi, Duguan and Lingbao) in Sanmenxia. Diseased plants exhibited leaf chlorosis and purplish to brown vascular discoloration of stem, taproot and lateral roots. The disease incidence ranged from 15% to 40% in 11 surveyed fields, 36.7 ha in total. Twenty five diseased tissues were surface sterilized in 75% ethanol and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. Fifteen single-spore isolates were obtained from 25 diseased tissue samples. All cultures growing on PDA had white colonies with abundant aerial mycelia initially, turning into yellow to orange in the center and produced red pigmentation after seven days of growth. The 7-day-old cultures grown on carnation leaf agar (CLA) produced macroconidia that were curved with 3-5 septa, had wide central cells, slightly pointy apex, and measured 17.0-45.9 µm long×3.0-4.6 µm wide (n=50). The microconidia formed on CLA were slightly curved, ovoid with zero to two septa, measuring 5.4-15.5 µm long×2.0-3.2 µm wide (n=50). Spherical chlamydospores (7.58-13.52 µm; n=50) were terminal or intercalary, single or in chains. Such characteristics were typical of Fuarium brachygibbosum (Tirado-Ramírez et al. 2018). DNA from one representative single-spore isolate (MC1) was extracted, and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α), RNA polymerase I largest subunit (RPB1) and second largest subunit (RPB2) genes were amplified with primers EF1/EF2, F5/G2R and RPB2F/R respectively (O'Donnell et al. 1998, 2010), and sequenced. Sequences were submitted to GenBank under accession numbers MT947796 (EF1-α), MW679536 (RPB1) and MW430664 (RPB2). The consensus sequences showed 99.70%, 99.94% and 100% identity to the sequences of F. brachygibbosum strain NRRL 34033 (accession no. GQ505418.1, HM347172.1 and GQ505482.1, Wang et al 2021). Morphological and molecular results confirmed this species as F. brachygibbosum (Al-Mahmooli, et al., 2013, Rentería -Martínez, et al., 2018). Pathogenicity tests were performed on tobacco seedlings grown on autoclaved tobacco specific substrate (Tobacco specific matrix, Ainong Biotechnology Co. Ltd, China). Healthy six-leaf stage tobacco seedlings (n=30; Zhongyan 100) were inoculated by placing 7-days old wheat seed (15 seeds per plant) infested with MC1 around the root. Thirty seedlings inoculated with sterile wheat seeds served as controls. All the plants were maintained in a growth chamber at 25±0.5℃ and 70% relative humidity. The assay was conducted three times. Typical symptoms of foliage chlorosis and root browning were observed 7-14 days after inoculation. The pathogen was reisolated from the necrotic tissue from all inoculated seedlings and was identified by sequencing partial EF1-α and RPB2 genes. Control plants remained asymptomatic and no pathogen was recovered from the control plants. Fusarium brachygibbosum is known as a pathogen of grains and cash crops in China (Shan, et al., 2017, Xia, et al., 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. brachygibbosum causing root rot on tobacco. We believe that our results will help to better understand rhizome fungal diseases affecting tobacco production in China. Acknowledgements: Funding was provided by the Science and Technology Project of Henan Provincial Tobacco Company (2020410000270012), Independent Innovation Project of Hennan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2020ZC18) and Research and Development project of Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2020CY010). References: Al-Mahmooli, I. H., et al. 2013. Plant Dis. 97:687; https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-12-0828-PDN Berbec A. K. and Matyka M. 2020. Agric. 10(11), 551; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10110551 O'Donnell, K., et al. 1998. P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 95(5):2044-2049; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.5.2044 O'Donnell, K., et al. 2010. J. Clin. Microbiol. 48(10)3708-3718; https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00989-10 Rentería -Martínez M.E., et al. 2018. Mex. J. of Phytopathol. 36(2):1-23; https://doi.org/10.18781/R.MEX.FIT.1710-1 Shan, L. Y., et al. 2017. Plant Dis. 101:837; https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-16-1465-PDN Tirado-Ramírez, M. A., et al. 2018. Plant Dis. 103; https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-04-18-0710-PDN Wang, S., et al. 2021. Plant Dis. 2021 Jan 6. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-05-20-0941-PDN. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33406862. Xia, B., et al. 2018. Plant Dis. 102(11):2372; https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-17-1939-PDN The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.

Prediction-based analysis on power consumption gap under long-term emergency: A case in China under COVID-19.

With the coronavirus pandemic wreathing havoc around the world, power industry has been hit hard due to the proposal of lockdown policies. However, the impact of lockdowns and shutdowns on the power system in different regions as well as periods of the pandemic can hardly be reflected on the foundation of current studies. In this paper, a prediction-based analysis method is developed to point out the electricity consumption gap resulted from the pandemic situation. The core of this method is a novel optimized grey prediction model, namely Rolling IMSGM(1,1) (Rolling Mechanism combined with grey model with initial condition as Maclaurin series), which achieves better prediction results in the face of long-term emergencies. A novel initial condition is adopted to track data with various characteristics in the form of higher-order polynomials, which are then determined by intelligent algorithms to realize accurate fitting. Historical power consumption data in China are utilized to carry out the monthly forecasts during COVID-19. Compared with other competitive models' prediction results, the superiority of IMSGM(1,1) are demonstrated. Through analyzing the gap between predicted consumption values and the actual data, it can be found that the impact of the pandemic on electricity varies in different periods, which is related to its severity and the local lockdown policies. This study helps to understand the impact on power industry in the face of such an emergency intuitively so as to respond to possible future events.

[Effect of icaritin on proliferation and apoptosis of human ovarian cancer cells SKOV3].

Based on the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, this study aimed to observe the proliferation and apoptosis of ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells at different concentrations of icaritin, in order to explore the possible molecular mechanisms. The research object was ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells. The cells were divided into the control group and icaritin groups(5, 10, 20 µmol·L~(-1)), and administrated with drugs for 48 hours. The cell counting kit-8(CCK-8)assay was used to detect the inhibitory effect of icaritin on the proliferation of ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells. The proliferation ability of the SKOV3 cells was detected by EdU assay. Hoechst 33342 fluorescence staining was used to observe the apoptotic morphology of SKOV3 cells in each group. The distribution of cell cycle and the apoptosis rate of each group were detected by flow cytometry. Quantitative Real-time PCR was used to detect mRNA expressions of PTEN, PI3K, Akt in each group of cells. Protein expressions of PTEN, PI3K, Akt and p-Akt were measured by Western blot. The results showed that the cell inhibition rates of icaritin groups were significantly increased compared with the control group(P<0.05). The rates of EdU-positive cells of icaritin groups were significantly decreased(P<0.05). SKOV3 cells in icaritin groups showed morphological changes of apoptosis. Apoptosis rates of icaritin groups were significantly increased(P<0.05). The proportions of cells in G_0/G_1 phase of icaritin groups were decreased(P<0.05), while the proportions of S phase cells were increased(P<0.05). The gene and protein expressions of PTEN in icaritin groups were elevated(P<0.05). The gene expressions of PI3K and Akt in icaritin groups were down-regulated(P<0.05). The protein expression of PI3K and p-Akt in icaritin groups were reduced(P<0.05). These results indicated that icarin may inhibit the proliferation of ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells in vitro, induce cell apoptosis and affect the cycle distribution of cells by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

BeiDou Satellite Positioning Method Based on IoT and Edge Computing.

The BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) developed by China can provide users with high precision, as well as all-weather and real-time positioning and navigation. It can be widely used in many applications. However, new challenges emerge with the development of 5G communication system and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. The BDS needs to be suitable for the large-scaled terminal scenario and provides higher positioning precision. In this paper, a BeiDou differential positioning method based on IoT and edge computing is proposed. The computational pressure on the data center is offloaded to the edge nodes when the massive positioning requests of IoT terminals need to be processed. To ensure the load balancing of the edge nodes, the resource allocation of the terminal positioning requests is performed with the improved genetic algorithm, thereby reducing the service delay of the entire edge network. Moreover, the optimized unscented Kalman filter based on the edge node (EUKF) algorithm is used to improve the positioning precision of IoT terminals. The results demonstrate that the proposed positioning method has better positioning performance which can provide the real-time positioning service for the large-scale IoT terminals.