High power self-Q-switched Tm:YAP laser.

To the best of our knowledge, the output performance of a self-Q-switched Tm:YAP laser has been controlled by adjusting the cavity length for the first time. By using a concise concave-flat cavity, a pulsed laser emitting at 1993 nm is produced without any additional modulation device. Under a stable self-Q-switched mode, the maximum average output power of 9.76 W is achieved from the laser when the incident pump power is 28.78 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 36.9% and an optical-to-optical conversion efficacy of 33.9%. Also, the narrowest pulse width of 485 ns at 48.97 kHz is obtained from the laser with a single pulse energy of 199.3 µJ. As far as we know, this laser has the highest average power and narrowest pulse width compared to other self-Q-switched Tm:YAP lasers.

Combination of high-frequency electrocautery therapy and ALA-PDT in hyperkeratotic vulvar lichen sclerosus: Series of seven cases.

SIGNIFICANCE: ALA-PDT effectively treats Vulvar lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (VLSA), but it requires multiple repetitions for satisfactory results. To enhance efficacy, we employed a combination of high-frequency electrocautery therapy and ALA-PDT in treating seven VLSA patients. APPROACH: Lesions and leukoplakia in the seven women with VLSA were removed using a high-frequency generator. PDT was administered after wound healing, and it was repeated six times. Follow-up assessments were carried out at 1, 3, and 6 months to evaluate the severity of pruritus and investigate lesion repigmentation. RESULTS: Following the combined therapy, the disappearance of pruritus was observed in all patients, and normal color and thickness were restored to their skin. Two patients reported mild pruritus with a score of 2 one month after treatment, which persisted until the 6-month follow-up, while the remaining patients remained free from pruritus. No recurrence of skin lesions was observed in any of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The combined therapy for the treatment of VLSA is found to be convenient, effective, and easily promotable.

Short-Term Ambient Air Pollution and Urticaria in Guangzhou, China: Estimating the Association and Population Attributable Fraction.

Limited evidence is available regarding the association between acute exposure to ambient air pollutants and the risk of urticaria, even though the skin is an organ with direct contact with the external environment. This study utilized generalized additive models to investigate the association between particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 µm (PM10) and 2.5 µm (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and daily outpatient visits for urticaria in Guangzhou, China from 2013 to 2017. We also estimated the attributable fraction of urticaria outpatient visits due to air pollution. A total of 216,648 outpatient visits due to urticaria occurred during the study period. All air pollutants were significantly associated with an increased excess risk of urticaria. Each 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and SO2 was associated with an increase of 1.23% (95% CI: 0.42%, 2.06%), 0.88% (95% CI: 0.28%, 1.49%), 3.09% (95% CI: 2.16%, 4.03%), and 2.82% (95% CI: 0.93%, 4.74%) in hospital visits for urticaria at lag05, respectively. It was estimated that 3.77% (95% CI: 1.26%, 6.38%), 1.91% (95% CI: 0.60%, 3.26%), 6.36% (95% CI: 4.38%, 8.41%), and 0.08% (95% CI: 0.03%, 0.14%) of urticaria outpatient visits were attributable to PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and SO2 using the World Health Organization's air quality guideline as the reference. Relatively stronger associations were observed during the cold season. This study indicates that short-term air pollution may play a significant role in outpatient visits for urticaria, and that such relationships could be modified by season.

First report of leaf spot disease caused by Alternaria alternata in Tilia miqueliana in Jiangsu Province, China.

Tilia miqueliana Maxim., a tall deciduous tree in the Malvaceae family, is native to china and is cultivated in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces as an ornamental plant. T. miqueliana has currently received increased attention because of its value as timber, a source plant for honey, and in formal landscape architecture (Wang et al. 2022). In the last three years, symptoms of leaf spot disease were observed in T. miqueliana fields （9-year-old tree）and a breeding nursery _(1-year-old saplings) in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. Field surveys showed that, the disease incidence was approximately 10% and 40% in the fields and breeding nursery, respectively. Symptoms of leaf spot disease on T. miqueliana appeared as small, circular, or near-circular/irregular black lesions on the upper surfaces of the leaves. As the disease progressed, the spots expanded into irregular shapes with the center turning yellow to black and leaves wilted from margins to centers. In severe cases, the yellow necrotic area extended to the margin, which ultimately led to leaf curling and death. To analyze the presence of the pathogenic microorganism, pieces of leaf at the junction of diseased and healthy tissue (about 3x3 mm) were taken from symptomatic plants, sterilized with 75% ethanol for 1 min and 2% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) for 2 min, and washed 3 times with ddH2O. The leaf pieces were transferred onto Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) plates and incubated at 28°C for 3 days in the dark. Colonies were observed and transferred to fresh PDA plates. Sixteen fungal isolates were obtained and one (named D4-2) of them was verified using Koch's assumption. Single spores of D4-2 were cultured in PDA medium, while its initial colony morphology was fluffy white colonies, which then gradually turned dark yellow from the centre to the edge. To further analyze the form of the spores, a hypha was incubated on fresh synthetic low-nutrient agar (SNA) using cellophane and inverted cultivation was performed for 20 days in the dark. Obclavate or obpyriform conidia (10 to 30 × 2 to 18 µm, n=5) were produced in chains and were pale brown to brown in color. The morphology was consistent with that of Alternaria sp.. The molecular identification of the isolated representative fungus D4-2 was conducted via the amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (White et al. 1990),translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF) (Carbone and Kohn. 1999), glyceraldehyde-3-dehydrogenase (GAPDH) (Berbee et al. 1999) and RNA polymerase II beta subunit (RPB2) using the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, GPD1/GPD2, and RPB2-5F2/fRPB2-7cR (Sung et al. 2007) respectively. All these sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers OP108438 (ITS), OP168372 (RPB2), OQ473880 (TEF), and OP168374 (GAPDH). Based on the GAPDH, RPB2, and TEF regions of D4-2, MEGA-11 was used to construct a neighbor-joining tree (1000 replications) with 31 other known species that had a relatively close evolutionary relationship with species from the Alternaria genus (Woudenberg et al. 2013). The phylogenetic tree indicated 100% bootstrap support between D4-2 and A. alternata. The branches showing the distribution of other species were exactly the same as that of the consensus tree based on the Bayesian 50 % majority rule that represented the Alternaria-complex (Woudenberg et al. 2013). The initial Koch's Postulates was verified using PDA slices with mycelium (pure PDA slices were used as control) that were inverted on the leaves at 25℃ for 3 days before removing slices and observing the phenotype after 7 days. Only leaves infected with D4-2 showed the same symptoms. Moreover, the spore suspension (at a concentration of 107 spores/mL) of D4-2 was applied to the leaves of T. miqueliana seedlings. After 15 days of incubation at 26 ℃ , the leaves showed the same symptoms. Subsequently, the pathogen was reisolated and cultured from these invaded leaves using the same method described above. Morphological and molecular identifications were consistent with those of D4-2. Above all, the pathogenic fungus (D4-2) isolated from T. miqueliana leaves was confirmed to be A. alternata. T. miqueliana is considered to be an endangered species due to the deep dormancy of its seeds that result in a low natural germination rate (Wu and Shen. 2021). At present, research on T. miqueliana mainly focuses on seed germination and breeding technology, and there is hardly any research on the diseases occurring in T. miqueliana. Therefore, we believe that this is the first report of leaf spot disease caused by A. alternata on T. miqueliana in China.

Brain distribution and metabolic profiling of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone in rats investigated by UHPLC-HRMS/MS following peripheral administration.

4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is known to be a tobacco-specific N-nitrosamine and has peripheral carcinogenic properties. It can also induce oxidative stress, glial cell activation, and neuronal damage in the brain. However, the distribution and metabolic characteristics of NNK in the central nervous system are still unclear. Here, a sensitive and effective UHPLC-HRMS/MS method was established to identify and investigate the metabolites of NNK and their distribution in the rat brain. In addition, the pharmacokinetic profiles were simultaneously investigated via blood-brain synchronous microdialysis. NNK and its seven metabolites were well quantified in the hippocampus, cortex, striatum, olfactory bulb, brain stem, cerebellum, and other regions of rat brain after peripheral exposure (5 mg/kg, i.p.). The average content of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) in all brain regions was at least threefold higher than that of NNK, indicating a rapid carbonyl reduction of NNK in the brain. Lower concentrations of pyridine N-oxidation products in the cortex, olfactory bulb, hippocampus, and striatum might be related to the poor detoxification ability in these regions. Compared to α-methyl hydroxylation, NNK and NNAL were more inclined to the α-methylene hydroxylation pathway. Synchronous pharmacokinetic results indicated that the metabolic activity of NNK in the brain was different from that in the blood. The mean α-hydroxylation ratio in the brain and blood was 0.037 and 0.161, respectively, which indicated poor metabolic activity of NNK in the central nervous system.

Chloroplast Genomes of Genus Tilia: Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution.

Tilia is a complex genus in the family Malvaceae that has high ecological and economical values. Owing to the lack of sufficient distinguishable morphological and molecular characteristics, interspecific relationships in this genus are not clear. Chloroplast (cp) genomes are small, meanwhile most angiosperms usually undergo matrilineal inheritance. Consequently, they can be used in molecular systematics and phylogenetic analyses. Here, we sequenced and assembled cp genomes from T. endochrysea, T. tomentosa, T. miqueliana, T. americana and T. cordata, and compared them with those of seven previously reported Tilia species. Similar gene contents, gene orders and GC contents existed among the 12 cp genomes, which ranged from 162,564 to 162,855 bp and encoded 113 unique genes. Abundant simple sequence repeats (119-127) and dispersed repeats (97-135) were detected in Tilia cp genomes. In total, 11 hypervariable regions were identified that could be suitable for species identification and phylogenetic studies. A phylogenetic analysis of Malvaceae based on 5 hypervariable genes (matK + ndhF + rpoB + rpoC2+ycf1) revealed that all eight subfamilies were monophyletic groups. Additionally, the genus Tilia was divided into three groups on the basis of all 521 molecular variation loci. The current study provides valuable insights into the genomic evolution of the genus Tilia.

Rapid and visual detection of Mycoplasma synoviae by recombinase-aided amplification assay combined with a lateral flow dipstick.

Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is an important avian pathogen that has brought substantial economic losses to the global poultry industry. Fast and accurate diagnosis is one of the critical factors for the control of MS infection. This study established a simple, rapid and visual detection method for MS using a recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) combined with a lateral flow dipstick (LFD). The reaction temperature and time of the RAA-LFD assay were optimized after selecting the primers and probe, and the specificity and sensitivity rates were analyzed. The results showed that RAA could amplify the target gene in 20 min at a constant temperature of 38°C, and the amplification products could be visualized by LFD within 5 min. There was no cross-reaction with Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), Pasteurella multocida (P. multocida), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), and avian reovirus (ARV). Furthermore, the RAA-LFD assay exhibited high sensitivity with a detection limit of 10 copies/µL. A total of 128 clinical samples with suspected infection of MS were tested by RAA-LFD, PCR, and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RFQ-PCR). The coincidence rate of the detection results was 95.3% between RAA-LFD and PCR, and 98.4% between RAA-LFD and RFQ-PCR. These results suggested that the RAA-LFD method established in the present study was easy to use and was associated with strong specificity and high sensitivity. This method was very suitable for the rapid detection of MS in clinical practice.

The complete chloroplast genome of Tilia endochrysea Handel-Mazzetti 1926 (Malvaceae).

Tilia endochrysea Handel-Mazzetti 1926, distributed in the southern margin of Chinese Subtropical Zone, is the only one species in genus Tilia has dehiscent fruit. The whole chloroplast genome of T. endochrysea was 162,838 bp with 36.46% GC content, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 91,264 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 20,414 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 51,160 bp. The chloroplast genome encodes 130 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The phylogenetic tree shows T. endochrysea was the basal taxon in Tilia and closely related to Craigia yunnanensis (Smith et Evans 1921).

Comparative transcriptomic analysis reveals genes related to the rapid accumulation of oleic acid in Camellia chekiangoleosa, an oil tea plant with early maturity and large fruit.

Camellia chekiangoleosa has a higher oleic acid content and a shorter reproductive cycle than typical oil tea plants. It was intensively sampled over six C. chekiangoleosa seed development stages. The content of fatty acids determined by GC showed that the accumulation of fatty acids gradually increased from the S1 to S5 stages, and the maximum concentration was reached in S5. Then, fatty acids declined slightly in S6. The main fatty acid component showed the same accumulation trend as the total fatty acids, except linolenic acid, which remained at a low level throughout seed developmental stages. Changes in the expression of fatty acid accumulation-related genes were monitored using second-generation and SMRT full-length transcriptome sequencing. Finally, 18.92 G accurate and reliable data were obtained. Differential expression analysis and weighted coexpression analysis revealed two "gene modules" significantly associated with oleic acid and linoleic acid contents, and the high expression of ENR, KAS I, and KAS II, which accumulate substrates for oleic acid synthesis, was thought to be responsible for the rapid accumulation of fatty acids in the early stage. The rapid increase in fatty acids in the second stage may be closely related to the synergy between the high expression of SAD and low expression of FAD2. In addition, many transcription factors, such as ERF, GRAS, GRF, MADS, MYB and WRKY, may be involved in the fatty acid synthesis. Our data provide a rich resource for further studies on the regulation of fatty acid synthesis in C. chekiangoleosa.

The changes in antibiotic resistance genes during 86 years of the soil ripening process without anthropogenic activities.

This study aimed to reveal the baseline of natural variations in antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soil without anthropogenic activities over the decades. Nine soil samples with different time of soil formation were taken from the Yancheng Wetland National Nature Reserve, China. ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were characterized using metagenomic analysis. A total of 196 and 192 subtypes of ARGs were detected in bulk soil and rhizosphere, respectively. The diversity and abundance of ARGs were stable during 69 years probably due to the alkaline pH soil environment but not due to antibiotics. Increases in ARGs after 86 years were probably attributed to more migrant birds inhabited compared with other sampling sites. Multidrug was the most abundant type, and largely shared by soil samples. It was further shown that soil samples could not be clearly distinguished, suggesting a slow process of succession of ARGs in the mudflat. The variation partitioning analysis revealed that the ARG profile was driven by the comprehensive effects exhibited by the bacterial community, MGEs, and environmental factors. Besides, pathogenic bacteria containing ARGs mediated by migrant birds in the area with 86 years of soil formation history nearing human settlements needed special attention. This study revealed the slow variations in ARGs in the soil ripening process without anthropogenic activities over decades, and it provided information for assessing the effect of human activities on the occurrence and dissemination of ARGs.

Endothelial Cell Morphology Regulates Inflammatory Cells Through MicroRNA Transferred by Extracellular Vesicles.

Vascular inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis and the development of cardiovascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis and restenosis, and the dysfunction of endothelial cells (ECs) may result in the activation of monocytes and other inflammatory cells. ECs exhibit an elongated morphology in the straight part of arteries but a cobblestone shape near the pro-atherogenic region such as branch bifurcation. Although the effects of hemodynamic forces on ECs have been widely studied, it is not clear whether the EC morphology affects its own function and thus the inflammatory response of monocytes. Here we showed that elongated ECs cultured on poly-(dimethyl siloxane) membrane surface with microgrooves significantly suppressed the activation of the monocytes in co-culture, in comparison to ECs with a cobblestone shape. The transfer of EC-conditioned medium to monocytes had the same effect, suggesting that soluble factors were involved in EC-monocyte communication. Further investigation demonstrated that elongated ECs upregulated the expression of anti-inflammatory microRNAs, especially miR-10a. Moreover, miR-10a was found in the extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by ECs and transferred to monocytes, and the inhibition of EV secretion from ECs repressed the upregulation of miR-10a. Consistently, the inhibition of miR-10a expression in ECs reduced their anti-inflammatory effect on monocytes. These results reveal that the EC morphology can regulate inflammatory response through EVs, which provides a basis for the design and the optimization of biomaterials for vascular tissue engineering.

Potential Role of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor in the Pathogenesis of Marek's Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Marek's disease virus (MDV) can cause malignant T-cell lymphomas and immunosuppression in chickens. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) not only plays a critical role in inhibiting T-cell responses, but also contributes to multiple aspects of tumour progression. The aim of this study was to reveal the potential role of MIF in the pathogenesis of MDV infection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: MIF gene expression levels were measured by using real-time PCR. Expression was assayed at different times in chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cells and tissue samples of SPF chickens infected with different MDV strains and fold change was calculated by the 2-△△CT method. RESULTS: The expression of MIF was significantly downregulated (p < 0.05 and FC > 2) in CEF cells infected with the very virulent MDV RB1B strain at 48 h post infection (hpi) and in the skin and spleen at 14 days post infection (dpi). The reduction of MIF expression was also found in CEF cells infected by reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J), and MDV vaccine strain CVI988 or in HD11 cells stimulated with TLR2, 3, 4, and 7 ligands. Interestingly, MIF expression decreased continuously from 7 to 28 dpi in the thymus after RB1B virus infection while it increased after CVI988 virus infection. Upregulated expression of MIF was found in CEF infected with RB1B at 96 hpi and in the spleen and skin at 21 and 28 dpi. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed the different expression pattern of MIF in response to MDV infection and indicated that MIF level may be associated with MDV pathogenesis.

Prenatal maternal vaginal inflammation increases anxiety and alters HPA axis signalling in adult male mice.

BACKGROUND: Maternal infection during pregnancy is known to adversely affect foetal development, but previous studies have rarely investigated the impact of gynaecological diseases during pregnancy on offspring during adulthood. Vaginitis is one of the most prevalent gynaecological diseases during pregnancy. METHODS: The effect of maternal vaginal inflammation on offspring was simulated by inducing maternal vaginal infection. We performed a transvaginal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in pregnant mice to induce vaginitis and investigated their offspring by means of behavioural tests and molecular and cellular measurements. RESULTS: Behavioural tests revealed that the offspring of mothers transvaginally injected with LPS exhibited sex-dependent differences. Male offspring showed increased anxiety-related behaviours, including reduced time exploring the open arm in the elevated plus maze test and light chamber in the light-dark box test. Serum levels of corticosterone were increased in LPS male offspring, indicating activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) protein expression and c-Fos positive cells were increased in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in LPS male offspring, which presented with an increased number of microglia. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that prenatal vaginal infection increases anxiety-like behaviour in male offspring, possibly via activation of the HPA axis.

Facile synthesis of a novel WO3/Ag2MoO4 particles-on-plate staggered type II heterojunction with improved visible-light photocatalytic activity in removing environmental pollutants.

A novel WO3/Ag2MoO4 heterojunction has been synthesized through a facile precipitation method with Ag2MoO4 particles firmly deposited on the surface of WO3 nanoplates, forming "particles-on-plate" type II heterojunction structures. This heterojunction exhibited improved photocatalytic activities for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), 4 chlorophenol (4-CP) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible-light irradiation compared to pure Ag2MoO4 and WO3. In addition, the heterojunction with 10 wt% Ag2MoO4 displays the best photocatalytic performance, which was about 2 times better than that of pure WO3 or Ag2MoO4. The TC photodegradation rate reaches up to 91% within 90 min visible light irradiation. Furthermore, the photocatalytic efficiency of the Ag2MoO4/WO3 heterojunction is 1.3 times higher than that of the mixture of the two individual photocatalysts. This remarkable enhanced photocatalytic performance results from the staggered bandgap between Ag2MoO4 and WO3, which can suppress the recombination of electron-hole pairs efficiently. Moreover, based on the radical trapping experiment, the superoxide radical anions (·OH) and photogenerated holes (h+) are the crucial active oxidizing species.

Exceptional high selectivity of hydrogen/methane separation on a phosphonate-based MOF membrane with exclusion of methane molecules.

A phosphonate-based metal-organic framework membrane was constructed on a porous anodic alumina membrane (PAAM) substrate for H2/CH4 separation for the first time. Owing to the ultra-micro pore windows, this membrane exhibited effective size exclusion for CH4 molecules but suitable permeance for H2 molecules, giving rise to an exceptional high H2/CH4 separation selectivity.

[The orbicularis muscle partial resection combined with orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap graft for treatment of crow's feet in women].

Objective: To observe the effect of the outer orbicularis muscle partial resection combined with orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap transfer to block orbicularis muscle for improvement of crow's feet. Methods: From October 2010 to May 2015,82 cases of females (aged from 27 to 54 years old) with crow's feet were treated with new method(n =41) and traditional method(control, n =41).The new method included partial resection and orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap transfer to block orbicularis muscle. The traditional method was performed to lift the skin and orbicularis oculi muscle to improve the crow's feet. The operation time, the postoperative recovery time, eyes closing function and hematoma, nerve injury and other complications were recorded.1,3,6 and 12 months after operation, the effect was assessed by one cosmetic surgeon who is unkown the groups. Completely correction was assed as 5 points and no improvement or even worse as 0 point.12 months after operation, the patients satisfactory rate was recorded. Results: 75 cases were followed up, including 39 in new method group and 36 in control group. The operative time and postoperative recovery time were (50 ± 5) min,(58 ± 4) min and (5 ±1) d,(6.0±1.5) d in the new method group and control group respectively (P＜0.05).The two groups both had good eyes closing function, no eyes closing fatigue or difficult or other serious complications such as hematoma, nerve injury. Visual analog scale were 3.2 ± 0.6,3.5 ± 0.5,4.2 ± 0.8,4.3 ±0.8 and 3.1 ±0.6,3.4 ±0.9,3.0 ±0.6,2.8 ±0.5 in the new method group and control group at 1,3,6,12 months after surgery respectively. Obviously, the effect in new method group was much better than that in control group after 6 and 12 months with statistical significance (P ＜ 0.05).12 months after surgery, the satisfaction surveys showed satisfactory in 33 cases; fairly satisfactory in 4 cases; dissatisfactory in 2 cases in new method group, and satisfactory in 10 cases; fairly satisfactory in 15 cases; dissatisfactory in 11 cases in the control group, showing significant difference between the 2 groups (P ＜0.05). Conclusions: The outer orbital orbicularis muscle partial resection combined with orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap is reasonable and reliable to correct crow's feet with short recovery and less complication. It is a worthy new method for recommendation.

High Efficiency CdS/CdSe Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells with Two ZnSe Layers.

CdS/CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) have been intensively investigated; however, most of the reported power conversion efficiency (PCE) is still lower than 7% due to serious charge recombination and a low loading amount of QDs. Therefore, suppressing charge recombination and enhancing light absorption are required to improve the performance of QDSCs. The present study demonstrated successful design and fabrication of QDSCs with a high efficiency of 7.24% based on CdS/CdSe QDs with two ZnSe layers inserted at the interfaces between QDs and TiO2 and electrolyte. The effects of two ZnSe layers on the performance of the QDSCs were systematically investigated. The results indicated that the inner ZnSe buffer layer located between QDs and TiO2 serves as a seed layer to enhance the subsequent deposition of CdS/CdSe QDs, which leads to higher loading amount and covering ratio of QDs on the TiO2 photoanode. The outer ZnSe layer located between QDs and electrolyte behaves as an effective passivation layer, which not only reduces the surface charge recombination, but also enhances the light harvesting.

Comparative Proteomic and Physiological Analysis Reveals the Variation Mechanisms of Leaf Coloration and Carbon Fixation in a Xantha Mutant of Ginkgo biloba L.

Yellow-green leaf mutants are common in higher plants, and these non-lethal chlorophyll-deficient mutants are ideal materials for research on photosynthesis and plant development. A novel xantha mutant of Ginkgo biloba displaying yellow-colour leaves (YL) and green-colour leaves (GL) was identified in this study. The chlorophyll content of YL was remarkably lower than that in GL. The chloroplast ultrastructure revealed that YL had less dense thylakoid lamellae, a looser structure and fewer starch grains than GL. Analysis of the photosynthetic characteristics revealed that YL had decreased photosynthetic activity with significantly high nonphotochemical quenching. To explain these phenomena, we analysed the proteomic differences in leaves and chloroplasts between YL and GL of ginkgo using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. In total, 89 differential proteins were successfully identified, 82 of which were assigned functions in nine metabolic pathways and cellular processes. Among them, proteins involved in photosynthesis, carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, carbohydrate/energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and protein metabolism were greatly enriched, indicating a good correlation between differentially accumulated proteins and physiological changes in leaves. The identifications of these differentially accumulated proteins indicates the presence of a specific different metabolic network in YL and suggests that YL possess slower chloroplast development, weaker photosynthesis, and a less abundant energy supply than GL. These studies provide insights into the mechanism of molecular regulation of leaf colour variation in YL mutants.

Treponemal antibody in CSF and cellular immunity in peripheral blood of syphilitic patients with persisting positive rapid plasma regain.

The ratio of patients with RPR constant positive more than 2 years despite receiving standard syphilis treatment has been reported to be 11.54%~31.3%. The current interpretations on this phenomenon are cellular immune function restrained and the existence of neurosyphilis or asymptomatic neurosyphilis. We conducted this study to detect the treponemal antibody in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of syphilis patients with persisting RPR positive more than 2 years without neurologic signs, and then explore their relationship. In this study, Treponemal antibody in CSF of 46 syphilitic with HIV negative were measured by syphilis serum test and compared with that of 5 neurosyphilis. Lymphocyte subsets were measured by flow cytometry (FCM) and compared with that of 30 healthy controls. We observed that treponemal antibody in CSF was detected not only in 12 cases (25.21%) of 46 treated patients, but also in 5 neurosyphilis. The ratio of lymphocyte subsets revealed that CD3+, CD4+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells showed no significant differences between the patient and healthy controls (P>0.05), while CD8+ T cells in patients were significant higher than that in healthy controls (P<0.001). Lymphocyte subsets showed no significant differences between the patients with treponemal antibody positive and negative in CSF (P>0.05). In conclusion, the treponemal antibody in CSF of treated patients suggests that part of them were asymptomatic neurosyphilis and with cellular immunodifeciency. And there is no significant relationship between asymptomatic neurosyphilis and cellular immunodeficiency in peripheral blood.

Complete Genome Sequence of Bacillus pumilus Strain WP8, an Efficient Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacterium.

Bacillus pumilus strain WP8 is an efficient plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium. Here, we present the complete genome of WP8 and its genes involved in plant growth promotion and biocontrol.