Karyotype Description and Comparative Chromosomal Mapping of 5S rDNA in 42 Species.

This study was conducted to evaluate the 5S rDNA site number, position, and origin of signal pattern diversity in 42 plant species using fluorescence in situ hybridization. The species were selected based on the discovery of karyotype rearrangement, or because 5S rDNA had not yet been explored the species. The chromosome number varied from 14 to 160, and the chromosome length ranged from 0.63 to 6.88 µm, with 21 species having small chromosomes (<3 µm). The chromosome numbers of three species and the 5S rDNA loci of nineteen species are reported for the first time. Six 5S rDNA signal pattern types were identified. The 5S rDNA varied and was abundant in signal site numbers (2-18), positions (distal, proximal, outside of chromosome arms), and even in signal intensity. Variation in the numbers and locations of 5S rDNA was observed in 20 species, whereas an extensive stable number and location of 5S rDNA was found in 22 species. The potential origin of the signal pattern diversity was proposed and discussed. These data characterized the variability of 5S rDNA within the karyotypes of the 42 species that exhibited chromosomal rearrangements and provided anchor points for genetic physical maps.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Phyllostachys incarnata Wen, 1982.

Phyllostachys incarnata Wen, 1982 is one of the important material and edible bamboo specie of high quality in China. We reported the complete chloroplast(cp) genome of P. incarnata in this study. The cp genome of P. incarnata (GenBank accession number: OL457160) was a typical tetrad structure with a full length of 139,689 bp, comprising a pair of inverted repeated (IR) regions (21,798 bp) separated by a large single-copy (LSC) region (83,221 bp) and a small single-copy (SSC) region (12,872 bp). And the cp genome contained 136 genes, including 90 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 19 cp genomes suggested that P. incarnata was relatively close to P. glauca among the species analyzed.

Therapeutic potential of nanotechnology-based approaches in osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial disease that affects the entire joint, often resulting in severe pain, disability, psychological distress, and a lower quality of life. Patient self-management is emphasized in OA clinical recommendations. Currently, the clinical treatment of OA mainly focuses on pain relief and the improvement of joint function, with few options for regenerating degenerative cartilage or slowing the progression of OA. Therefore, we first reviewed the current treatment of OA, and then summarized the research advances of nanotechnology in OA treatment, including nano drug delivery systems for small molecule drugs, nucleic acids and proteins, nano-scaffolds for cartilage regeneration, and nanoparticle lubricants. Finally, we discussed the opportunities and potential challenges of nanotechnology in OA treatment.

Effects of high fat in the diet on growth, antioxidant, immunity and fat deposition of Macrobrachium rosenbergii post-larvae.

Lipids are essential nutrients for organisms, and high-fat feeds for shrimp may cause oxidative stress. This study evaluated the effects of feeding high fat in the diet on the growth, antioxidant, immunity, and liver fat accumulation of Macrobrachium rosenbergii post-larvae. Five groups with an initial body weight of 0.0084 ± 0.001 g were fed five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets (47.01% crude protein and 18.40 kJ/g gross energy) containing 8%, 10%, 12%, 14% and 16% (named L8, L10, L12, L14 and L16) lipid for 8 weeks, respectively. The results showed that the weight gain rate (WGR) and specific growth rate (SGR) of L8 group were significantly higher than those of L10, L12, L14 and L16 group (P < 0.05), and the feed coefficient (FCR) of L8 group was significantly lower than that of other groups (P < 0.05). With the increase of dietary fat level, the content of MDA and the activity of SOD increased significantly, and the activities of T-AOC and CAT decreased significantly (P < 0.05). H&E staining clearly revealed the occurrence of hepatocyte swelling, hepatocyte vacuolization and nucleus displacement to the peripheral cell vacuolization in the L16 group, and hepatic lipid accumulation was further observed in the L14 and L16 group by Oil red O staining. In addition, high-fat diet significantly upregulated the expression of Dorsal, Relish and IκBα mRNA, and also upregulated the expression of fat synthesis-related genes FAS, ACC, DGAT and fat transport-related gene FABP (P < 0.05), and significantly downregulated the expression of fat metabolism-related genes AMPK and CPT-1 (P < 0.05) compared to that of the L8 group. In conclusion, this study showed that feeding a high-fat diet could induce oxidative stress, inhibit growth performance, alter antioxidant capacity, cause hepatic fat deposition and affect the immune system of M. rosenbergii post-larvae.

Impact of Yiqi Huoxue Decoction on the Relationship between Remodeling of Cardiac Nerves and Macrophages after Myocardial Infarction in Rats.

Sympathetic nerve remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) has an indispensable role in cardiac remodeling. Numerous works have shown that sympathetic nerve remodeling can be delayed by inhibition of inflammatory response. Earlier studies have shown improvement in ventricular remodeling and inhibited chronic stage neural remodeling by Yiqi Huoxue decoction (YQHX). Therefore, the current study looked at the inhibitory effect of YQHX prescription on proinflammatory mediators and macrophages and the effect on neural remodeling at 3 and 7 days after MI. YQHX inhibited the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) proteins and macrophage infiltration within 7 days after myocardial infarction. YQHX could decrease Th-positive nerve fiber density in the area around infarction and reduce the expression of growth-associated protein 43 (GAP43), nerve growth factor (NGF), and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) proteins, which was associated with the remodeling of sympathetic nerves. Thus, the nerve remodeling inhibition after MI due to YQHX may be through its anti-inflammatory action. These data provide direct evidence for the potential application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the remodeling of sympathetic nerves after MI.

Application of Transcriptome Analysis to Understand the Adverse Effects of Hypotonic Stress on Different Development Stages in the Giant Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii Post-Larvae.

Salinity is one of the important environmental factors affecting survival and growth of aquatic animals. However, the impact of low-salinity stress on M. rosenbergii post-larvae at different development stages remains elusive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the underlying mechanisms of hypotonic stress at different development stages of M. rosenbergii post-larvae through transcriptome analysis and antioxidant parameters detection. The salinity of the control group was 15 psu (S15) and the hypotonic stress group was 6 psu (S6). Samples were collected at 7 days-post-hatch (dph), 14 dph and 21 dph larvae. The results showed that hypotonic stress caused oxidative damage in post-larvae evidenced by decreased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px); superoxide dismutase (SOD); anti-superoxide anion free radical (ASAFR); and increased malondialdehyde (MDA); nitric oxide (NO); and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels. Transcriptome analysis showed that there were 1428, 1187, 132 DEGs including 301, 366, 4 up-regulated genes and 1127, 821, 128 down-regulated genes at 7 dph, 14 dph and 21 dph larvae under hypotonic stress, respectively. Furthermore, GO and KEGG enrichment indicated that hypotonic stress led to dysregulation of immune signals including lysosome and autophagy in the 7 dph larvae. The autophagy-related genes including beclin 1-associated autophagy-related key regulator (Barkor); ubiquitin-like modifier-activating enzyme ATG7 (ATG7); Beclin; autophagy-related protein 13 (ATG13); nuclear receptor-binding factor 2 (Nrbf2); ubiquitin-like-conjugating enzyme ATG3 (ATG3); vacuole membrane protein 1 (VMP1); and autophagy-related protein 2 (ATG2) decreased at 7 dph, and 14 dph larvae, and then increased at 21 dph larvae under hypotonic stress. In the 14 dph and 21 dph larvae, the renin-angiotensin system was activated. In conclusion, our data indicated that hypotonic stress reduced the antioxidant capacity and impaired the immune system in post-larvae, but as development progresses, the adaptability of post-larvae to hypotonic stress gradually increased, and might reach a new homeostasis through the RAS signaling pathway.

Geometry-Guided Dense Perspective Network for Speech-Driven Facial Animation.

Realistic speech-driven 3D facial animation is a challenging problem due to the complex relationship between speech and face. In this paper, we propose a deep architecture, called Geometry-guided Dense Perspective Network (GDPnet), to achieve speaker-independent realistic 3D facial animation. The encoder is designed with dense connections to strengthen feature propagation and encourage the re-use of audio features, and the decoder is integrated with an attention mechanism to adaptively recalibrate point-wise feature responses by explicitly modeling interdependencies between different neuron units. We also introduce a non-linear face reconstruction representation as a guidance of latent space to obtain more accurate deformation, which helps solve the geometry-related deformation and is good for generalization across subjects. Huber and HSIC (Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion) constraints are adopted to promote the robustness of our model and to better exploit the non-linear and high-order correlations. Experimental results on the public dataset and real scanned dataset validate the superiority of our proposed GDPnet compared with state-of-the-art model. The code is available for research purposes at http://cic.tju.edu.cn/faculty/likun/projects/GDPnet.

Effects of Yiqi Huoxue Decoction on Post-Myocardial Infarction Cardiac Nerve Remodeling and Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy in Rats.

Myocardial infarction can lead to ventricular remodeling and arrhythmia, which is closely related to nerve remodeling. Our previous study found that Yiqi Huoxue decoction (YQHX) can improve ventricular remodeling and reduce myocardial damage. Therefore, in this study, we observed the effect of YQHX on cardiac neural remodeling and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and its possible mechanism. This research is composed of two parts: animal and H9c2 cells experiments. The animal model of acute myocardial infarction was established by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. H9c2 cells were placed in 94% N2, 5% CO2, and 1% O2 hypoxic environment for 12 hours to replicate the hypoglycemic hypoxia model. The experimental results showed that, compared with the MI group, YQHX can significantly improve heart function after myocardial infarction and reduce nerve remodeling and myocardial hypertrophy. Pathological structure observation demonstrated reducing myocardial tissue damage and decreasing of cell cross-sectional area, diameter, and circumference. The positive rate of TH declined apparently, and the sympathetic nerve density was lower than that of the MI group. After YQHX was given for 28 days, the proneural remodeling factors TH, NGF, and GAP43 in the marginal zone of infarction and stellate ganglion decreased obviously while the inhibitory nerve remodeling factor Sema-3A increased. The myocardial hypertrophic protein ANP and ß-MHC were also significantly inhibited with p-ERK1/2 protein expression level prominently reduced. There was no difference between the YQHX group and the Meto group. After myocardial infarction, nerve remodeling was seen in the marginal area of infarction and stellate ganglion, and the neuropeptides released by which promoted myocardial hypertrophy. The mechanism may be related to the ERK1/2 signaling pathway. YQHX could regulate the ERK1/2 signaling pathway, inhibit the release of nerve remodeling factors and myocardial hypertrophy protein to reduce nerve remodeling, and relieve myocardial hypertrophy.

Predicting 1H NMR relaxation in Gd3+-aqua using molecular dynamics simulations.

Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are used to predict 1H NMR T1 relaxation of water from paramagnetic Gd3+ ions in solution at 25 °C. Simulations of the T1 relaxivity dispersion function r1 computed from the Gd3+-1H dipole-dipole autocorrelation function agree within ≃8% of measurements in the range f0 ≃ 5 ↔ 500 MHz, without any adjustable parameters in the interpretation of the simulations, and without any relaxation models. The simulation results are discussed in the context of the Solomon-Bloembergen-Morgan inner-sphere relaxation model, and the Hwang-Freed outer-sphere relaxation model. Below f0 ≲ 5 MHz, the simulation overestimates r1 compared to measurements, which is used to estimate the zero-field electron-spin relaxation time. The simulations show potential for predicting r1 at high frequencies in chelated Gd3+ contrast-agents used for clinical MRI.

The complete chloroplast genome of Chimonobambusa hejiangensis.

Chimonobambusa hejiangensis is of the unique edible bamboo specie of high quality in China. We studied the complete chloroplast(cp) genome of C. purpurea in this study. The cp genome of C. hejiangensis (GenBank accession: MW186792) was 138,911 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 82,498 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 12,743 bp and a pair of inverted repeated (IR) regions of 21,835 bp. The genome contained 133 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 39 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Based on 39 cp genomes, we used the phylogenetic analysis to build phylogenetic tree, indicating that C. hejiangensis is closely related to C. tumidissinoda. Also, the phylogenetic relationship of lineages might be (Hsuehochloa + (((Shibataea clade + Arundinaria clade) + Indocalamus wilsonii) + ((Bergbambos + Indocalamus) + (((African alpine bamboos + Gaoligongshania) + (Chimonocalamus + Kuruna))+(Thamnocalamus + Phyllostachys clade))))). It could be devoted to phylogenetic analysis of Arundinarieae.

Hybrid AI-assistive diagnostic model permits rapid TBS classification of cervical liquid-based thin-layer cell smears.

Technical advancements significantly improve earlier diagnosis of cervical cancer, but accurate diagnosis is still difficult due to various factors. We develop an artificial intelligence assistive diagnostic solution, AIATBS, to improve cervical liquid-based thin-layer cell smear diagnosis according to clinical TBS criteria. We train AIATBS with >81,000 retrospective samples. It integrates YOLOv3 for target detection, Xception and Patch-based models to boost target classification, and U-net for nucleus segmentation. We integrate XGBoost and a logical decision tree with these models to optimize the parameters given by the learning process, and we develop a complete cervical liquid-based cytology smear TBS diagnostic system which also includes a quality control solution. We validate the optimized system with >34,000 multicenter prospective samples and achieve better sensitivity compared to senior cytologists, yet retain high specificity while achieving a speed of <180s/slide. Our system is adaptive to sample preparation using different standards, staining protocols and scanners.

The complete chloroplast genome of Chimonobambusa purpurea (Bambusatae).

Chimonobambusa purpurea is one of the important bamboo species in southwest of China. We studied the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of C. purpurea in this study. The cp genome of C. purpurea (GenBank accession: MW030500) was 139,574 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 83,171 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 12,811 bp, and a pair of inverted repeated (IR) regions of 21,796 bp. And the genome contained 133 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 39 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Based on 30 cp genomes, we used the phylogenetic analysis to build phylogenetic tree, indicating that C. purpurea is closely related to C. tumidissinoda.

Long non-coding RNA XIST contributes to osteoarthritis progression via miR-149-5p/DNMT3A axis.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are largely involved in the development of osteoarthritis (OA), a chronic and degenerative joint disease. The objective of this paper is to research the functional role and molecular mechanism of lncRNA X inactive specific transcript (XIST) in OA. The levels of XIST, microRNA-149-5p (miR-149-5p), and DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) were measured. Cell viability and apoptosis rate were determined. Associated protein levels were examined through Western blot. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were implemented for confirming the target relation. And the role of XIST on OA in vivo was investigated by a rat model. XIST was expressed at a high level in OA cartilage tissues and IL-1ß-treated chondrocytes. XIST knockdown promoted cell viability but restrained cell apoptosis and extracellular matrix (ECM) protein degradation in IL-1ß-treated chondrocytes. XIST directly targeted miR-149-5p and miR-149-5p down-regulation restored si-XIST-mediated pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic or ECM degradative effects. DNMT3A was a target gene of miR-149-5p and DNMT3A overexpression ameliorated miR-149-5p-induced promotion of cell viability but repression of apoptosis and ECM degradation. Knockdown of XIST reduced DNMT3A level by motivating miR-149-5p expression. The inhibitory influence of XIST down-regulation on OA evolvement was also achieved by miR-149-5p/DNMT3A axis in vivo. In a word, knockdown of XIST can repress the development of OA by miR-149-5p/DNMT3A axis. This study discovers the XIST/miR-149-5p/DNMT3A axis in regulating OA evolution, which is beneficial for understanding the molecular pathomechanism and can lay a good foundation for targeted therapy of OA treatment.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the fig weevil, Aclees cribratus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

Aclees cribratus Gyllenhyl (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an important pest of fig. In this study, the complete mitogenome of A. cribratus was determined, which was 17,329 bp in length and contained 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA, 22 tRNA genes, and 2 control regions. The phylogenetic analysis based on mitogenomes showed that A. cribratus is the sister group of Molytinae.

Electrosynthesis of Well-Defined Metal-Organic Framework Films and the Carbon Nanotube Network Derived from Them toward Electrocatalytic Applications.

An efficient and controllable method to synthesize continuous metal-organic framework (MOF) films is highly desired. Herein, we demonstrate a facile and universal electrochemical method to synthesize homogeneous and uniform zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF, a typical class of MOF family) films on various macroconductive substrates (e.g., conductive glass, Ni foam and carbon cloth) as well as nanostructured substrates (one-dimensional nanorod array, two-dimensional nanowall array, and three-dimensional nanoframework). Particularly, the MOF film can be easily transformed into hierarchical ordered carbon nanotube networks, which display multifunctional electrocatalytic performances, such as excellent activity and good long-term stability in overall water splitting and oxygen reduction. It is worth mentioning that this is the first reported work for electrosynthesis of ZIF films on various conductive substrates, illustrating the great potential of the fast and economical method for constructing functional and integrated films or electrodes toward energy-related applications.

LncRNA SNHG15 contributes to proliferation, invasion and autophagy in osteosarcoma cells by sponging miR-141.

BACKGROUND: LncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 15 (SNHG15) was reported to play an oncogenic role in tumors. However, the role of SNHG15 and its molecular mechanism in osteosarcoma (OS) cells are largely unknown. METHODS: qRT-PCR was performed to evaluate the expression levels of SNHG15 and miR-141 in OS tissues and cells. Cell transfection with different siRNAs, miRNAs or pcDNAs into U2OS and MG63 cells were carried out by Lipofectamine 2000. The effects of SNHG15 and miR-141 on OS cell proliferation, invasion and the levels of autophagy-related proteins were analyzed by MTT assay, Transwell invasion/migration assay and western blot, respectively. Luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm whether SNHG15 could directly interact with miR-141. RESULTS: We found that up-regulation of SNHG15 was inversely correlated with miR-141 expression in OS tissues. SNHG15 knockdown and miR-141 overexpression significantly suppressed cell proliferation, invasion, migration and autophagy while SNHG15 overexpression and miR-141 repression exhibited the opposite effects on OS cells. Besides, SNHG15 could directly interact with miR-141 and regulate its expression. Furthermore, miR-141 suppressing significantly overturned the inhibition on proliferation, invasion, migration and autophagy mediated by SNHG15 knockdown while miR-141 overexpression remarkably attenuated SNHG15 overexpression-induced proliferation, invasion, migration and autophagy in OS cells. CONCLUSION: Our data showed that SNHG15 contributes to proliferation, invasion, migration and autophagy in OS by negatively regulating miR-141, providing a new potential target and prognostic biomarker for the treatment of OS.

[Effects of forest gap on seasonal dynamics of soil organic carbon and microbial biomass car- bon in Picea asperata forest in Miyaluo of Western Sichuan, Southwest China].

Effects of gap sizes (50, 100 and 150 m2) on seasonal dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in soil surface (0-15 cm) and subsurface (15-30 cm) were investigated in a 50-year old Picea asperata plantation in Miyaluo forest, Western Si- chuan, China. In the four seasons, the SOC and MBC contents were higher in the soil surface than in soil subsurface in the four treatments, and varied insignificantly in different seasons. Compared with the control, the SOC content increased by 35.4%, 21.2% and 10.3% in soil surface, and by 45.5%, 25.0% and 12.1% in soil subsurface with the forest gaps of 50, 100 and 150 m2, respectively. The MBC content increased by 26.7%, 16.7%, 11.3% and 24.4%, 12.6%, 7.3% in soil surface and subsurface, respectively. There were significant negative relationship between soil SOC content and the soil pH and moisture, and significant positive relationship between soil SOC content and soil temperature. Significant effects of SOC content, soil pH, soil temperature, soil moisture on MBC content were observed, suggesting that forest gaps could significantly affect envi- ronmental conditions, and increasing gaps could reduce microbial activity and decomposition rate and decrease soil SOC and MBC contents.

[Fine root biomass and carbon storage in surface soil of Cinnamomum camphora plantation in rainy area of West China].

Fine root in forest ecosystems plays an important role in global C cycle. In this study, a measurement was made on the fine root biomass and carbon storage in the surface soil (0-30 cm) of a 31 year-old Cinnamomum camphora plantation in the Rainy Area of West China in November, 2010-December, 2011. The total biomass and carbon storage of the fine roots (living and dead) in the surface soil were 1592.29 kg x hm(-2) and 660.68 kg C x hm(-2), in which, living fine roots accounted for 91.1% and 91.8% respectively. The total biomass and carbon storage of the first five order living roots and dead roots decreased significantly with increasing soil depth, and the living root biomass and carbon storage increased significantly with root order. The sum of the biomass and carbon storage of living and dead fine roots was the largest in autumn and the smallest in winter, but the biomass and carbon storage of the dead fine roots were the largest in winter and the smallest in summer. The biomass and carbon storage of the first two order roots were the largest in summer and the smallest in winter, while those of the last three order roots were the largest in autumn and the smallest in winter. The spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture and nutrients was the main factor affecting the fine root biomass and carbon storage.

Acute toxicity and genotoxicity studies on poly(ε-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) nanomaterials.

In the present study, we prepared poly(ε-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL-PEG-PCL, PCEC) nanomaterials by solvent-extraction method. The obtained PCEC nanomaterials were studied extensively for acute toxicity and genotoxicity using bacterial reverse mutation test (Ames test), chromosomal aberration test and mouse micronucleus test. All of the Sprague-Dawley rats did not show any mortality and clinical signs of toxicity after intravenous injection at the level of 2.4g/kg body weight. Thus, the LD(50) of PCEC nanomaterials was determined to be greater than 2.4g/kg. In Ames test, PCEC nanomaterials were negative in Salmonellatyphimurium strains TA97, TA98, TA100, TA102, and TA1535 with or without metabolic activation. PCEC nanomaterials did not induce chromosomal aberrations in cultured Chinese hamster lung cells up to 5000mug/mL with or without metabolic activation. Micronucleus assay demonstrated that PCEC nanomaterials did not significantly increase micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCE) in the bone marrow of ICR mice or suppress bone marrow, indicating they did not cause chromosome aberrations. In conclusion, our results indicated that PCEC nanomaterials did not cause any acute toxicity and genotoxicity in our experimental conditions. Its potential to be a candidate of drug carrier is worth being further investigated.