An asymptomatic geminivirus activates autophagy and enhances plant defenses against diverse pathogens.

Plant viral diseases cause great losses in agricultural production. Virus cross-protection is a strategy in which a mild virus is employed to shield plants against subsequent infections by severe viral strains. However, this approach is restricted to protection against the same viruses. In this study, we observed that pre-inoculation with apple geminivirus (AGV) reduced the accumulation of secondarily infected heterologous viruses, such as cucumber mosaic virus, potato virus X, and tobacco mosaic virus in Nicotiana benthamiana, tomato, and pepper plants. Transcriptional expression analysis showed that autophagy-related genes were transcriptionally up-regulated upon AGV inoculation at an early stage of infection. Accordingly, autophagic activity was observed to be elevated following AGV infection. Interestingly, AGV accumulation was reduced in autophagy-deficient plants, suggesting that autophagy activation promotes AGV infection in the plant. Moreover, pre-inoculation with AGV provided cross-protection against infection with a phytopathogenic bacterium (Pseudomonas syringae) and fungus (Botrytis cinerea) in Nicotiana species. In summary, our study showed that AGV, an asymptomatic virus, could protect plants against severe viral, fungal, and bacterial diseases to some extent through the activation of autophagy pathways, highlighting its potential as a biocontrol agent for managing a wide range of plant crop diseases in the field.

Associations of traditional healthy lifestyle and sleep quality with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease: two population-based studies.

AIMS: To examine whether an extended lifestyle metrics incorporating sleep quality improves risk stratification for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), at-risk metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and significant fibrosis. METHODS: A total of 5011 participants with abdominal ultrasound from Imaging sub-cohort of South China Cohort (ISSCC) and 3672 participants underwent vibration controlled transient elastography from US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (US NHANES) were included. Liver Essential 5 was constructed by incorporating sleep quality into traditional healthy lifestyles (HLS). RESULTS: A total of 4.66-17.72% of the association between traditional HLS and MAFLD was mediated by sleep quality regardless of the detection techniques, and their joint associations on MAFLD were significant in both cohorts. ORs for individuals with poor sleep and unfavorable HLS were 1.72 (1.29-2.30) in ISSCC and 2.25 (1.55-3.26) in US NHANES, respectively. Around half of the participants previously considered as following a favorable HLS were re-classified by Liver Essential 5 with significantly higher prevalences of MAFLD in both cohorts (P < 0.001). Similar results were also found on at-risk MASH and significant fibrosis in US NHANES. ORs of participants with per one increment increase in Liver Essential 5 were 0.82 (0.77-0.89) and 0.79 (0.70-0.88) for MAFLD in ISSCC and US NHANES, 0.62 (0.48-0.78) for at-risk MASH and 0.78 (0.65-0.93) for significant fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Liver Essential 5, which incorporates sleep quality and traditional lifestyle factors, provides additional risk stratification for MAFLD-related outcomes.

Association of adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet with risk of dementia according to social economic status: a prospective cohort in UK Biobank.

The EAT-Lancet Commission has proposed a reference diet aiming to promote human health and environmental sustainability. Socioeconomic disadvantage and poor diet are well-known risk factors for dementia; however, whether the effect of this reference diet on dementia varies by socioeconomic status has not been investigated. The dietary habits of 190,893 participants from UK-Biobank were assessed; the association of EAT-Lancet diet with incident dementia across socioeconomic status was determined by Cox models. One thousand seven hundred twenty-eight dementia cases were identified during a median of 12.24 years follow-up. An inverse association between adherence to EAT-Lancet diet and all-cause dementia (high vs. low; hazard ratio [HR], 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.82, 0.72-0.94) or late-onset dementia (high vs. low; HR, 95% CI: 0.78, 0.68-0.91) was observed only in individuals with high socioeconomic status. On the contrary, no protective effects of EAT-Lancet diet on early-onset dementia were observed, regardless of the socioeconomic status. Our findings indicated that adherence to an environment-friendly diet helps attenuate risk of dementia only in individuals with high socioeconomic level.

Association of Life's Essential 8 With Incident Cardiovascular Disease Among Individuals With Depression: A Prospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Depression is an increasing illness worldwide that severely diminishes the quality of life. In this study we sought to elucidate the association of the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8) metrics with the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among depression participants and further quantify the related theoretical reduction of long-term CVD burden. METHODS: We included 20,832 participants with depression from the UK Biobank. LE8, including diet quality, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep duration, body mass index, lipids, glucose, and blood pressure, was calculated at baseline and categorized into low, medium, and high levels. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for major cardiovascular events (MACE) were calculated using Cox models. We further quantified the population-attributable fraction (PAF) for CVD. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 12.0 years, 658 MACE were recorded. After multi-variable adjustment, compared with participants with low LE8, people with high LE8 had a decreased risk of MACE (HR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.22-0.47), non-fatal MACE (HR, 0.39, 0.26-0.61), myocardial infarction (HR, 0.23, 0.12-0.44), and ischemic stroke (HR, 0.52, 0.27-0.99). Overall 50.7% (95% CI, 34.5%-66.9%) of MACE and 48.0% (95% CI, 29.5%-66.4%) of nonfatal MACE were attributable to the low and medium adherence to LE8 at the 5-year follow-up, respectively. Suboptimal control of blood pressure ranked as the top contributor to all types of CVD in individuals with depression. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal adherence to LE8 was associated with lower burden of CVD in those with depression. Adopting a comprehensive lifestyle intervention might help further reduce CVD burden in those with mental disorders.

A bibliometric review of unilateral neglect: Trends, frontiers, and frameworks.

BACKGROUND: Owing to the adverse effects of unilateral neglect (UN) on rehabilitation outcomes, fall risk, and activities of daily living, this field has gradually got considerable interest. Notwithstanding, there is presently an absence of efficient portrayals of the entire research field; hence, the motivation behind this study was to dissect and evaluate the literature published in the field of UN following stroke and other nonprogressive brain injuries to identify hotspots and trends for future research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Original articles and reviews related to UN from 1970 to 2022 were retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science Core Collection. CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Bibliometrix software were used to observe publication fields, countries, and authors. RESULTS: A total of 1,202 publications were incorporated, consisting of 92% of original articles, with an overall fluctuating upward trend in the number of publications. Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States made critical contributions, with Neuropsychologia being the most persuasive academic journal, and Bartolomeo P. ranked first in both the quantity of publications and co-citations. Keywords were divided into four clusters, and burst keyword detection demonstrated that networks and virtual reality might additionally emerge as frontiers of future development and warrant additional attention. CONCLUSIONS: UN is an emerging field, and this study presents the first bibliometric analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of research in the field. The insights and guidance garnered from our research on frontiers, trends, and popular topics could prove highly valuable in facilitating the rapid development of this field while informing future research directions.

The relationship between prognosis and temporal muscle thickness in 102 patients with glioblastoma.

Temporal muscle thickness measured on 3D MRI has recently been linked to prognosis in glioblastoma patients and may serve as an independent prognostic indicator. This single-center study looked at temporal muscle thickness and prognosis in patients with primary glioblastoma. Overall survival was the major study outcome. For a retrospective analysis from 2010 to 2020, clinical data from 102 patients with glioblastoma at the Department of Oncology Radiotherapy of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University were gathered. Fifty-five cases from 2016 to 2020 contained glioblastoma molecular typing data, of which 45 were IDH wild-type glioblastomas and were analysed separately. TMT was measured on enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance images in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.Overall patient survival (OS) was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and survival curves were plotted using the log-rank-sum test to determine differences between groups, and multifactorial analyses were performed using a Cox proportional-risk model.The median TMT for 102 patients was 6.775 mm (range: 4.95-10.45 mm). Patients were grouped according to median TMT, and the median overall survival (23.0 months) was significantly longer in the TMT > median group than in the TMT median group (P 0.001; Log-rank test). Analysing 45 patients with IDH wild type alone, the median overall survival (12 months) of patients in the TMT > median group was significantly longer than that of patients in the TMT ≤ median group (8 months) (P < 0.001; Log-rank test).TMT can serve as an independent prognostic factor for glioblastoma.

Effect of adjuvant radiotherapy on overall survival and breast cancer-specific survival of patients with malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast in different age groups: a retrospective observational study based on SEER.

PURPOSE: Malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast (MPTB) is a rare type of breast cancer, with an incidence of less than 1%. The value of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for MPTB has been controversial. The aim of the study was to explore the effect of radiotherapy on the long-term survival of female patients with MPTB at different ages. METHODS: Female MPTB patients were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2000 and 2020. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was conducted to investigate the value of RT for the long-term survival of MPTB patients in different age groups. Additionally, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed for overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) of MPTB patients. Furthermore, propensity score matching (PSM) was also performed to balance the differences in baseline characteristics. RESULTS: 2261 MPTB patients were included in this study, including 455 patients (20.12%) with RT and 1806 patients (79.88%) without RT. These patients were divided into four cohorts based on their ages: 18-45, 46-55, 56-65, and 65-80. Before adjustment, there was a statistically significant difference in long-term survival between RT-treated and non-RT-treated patients in the younger age groups (age group of 18-45 years: OS P = 0.019, BCSS P = 0.016; age group of 46-55 years: OS P < 0.001, BCSS P < 0.001). After PSM, no difference was found in long-term survival of patients in both younger and older groups regardless of whether they received RT (age group of 18-45 years: OS P = 0.473, BCSS P = 0.750; age group of 46-55 years: OS P = 0.380, BCSS P = 0.816, age group of 56-65 years: OS P = 0.484, BCSS P = 0.290; age group of 66-80 years: OS P = 0.997, BCSS P = 0.763). In multivariate COX regression analysis, RT did not affect long-term survival in patients with MPTB. CONCLUSION: There is no evidence that long-term survival of MPTB patients in specific age groups can benefit from RT.

Enhanced interactions among gut mycobiomes with the deterioration of glycemic control.

BACKGROUND: The gut mycobiome is closely linked to health and disease; however, its role in the progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains obscure. Here, a multi-omics approach was employed to explore the role of intestinal fungi in the deterioration of glycemic control. METHODS: 350 participants without hypoglycemic therapies were invited for a standard oral glucose tolerance test to determine their status of glycemic control. The gut mycobiome was identified through internal transcribed spacer sequencing, host genetics were determined by genotyping array, and plasma metabolites were measured with untargeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. FINDINGS: The richness of fungi was higher, whereas its dissimilarity was markedly lower, in participants with T2DM. Moreover, the diversity and composition of fungi were closely associated with insulin sensitivity and pancreatic ß-cell functions. With the exacerbation of glycemic control, the co-occurrence network among fungus taxa became increasingly complex, and the complexity of the interaction network was inversely associated with insulin sensitivity. Mendelian randomization analysis further demonstrated that the Archaeorhizomycetes class, Fusarium genus, and Neoascochyta genus were causally linked to impaired glucose metabolism. Furthermore, integrative analysis with metabolomics showed that increased 4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutaric acid, ketoleucine, lysophosphatidylcholine (20:3/0:0), and N-lactoyl-phenylalanine, but decreased lysophosphatidylcholine (O-18:2), functioned as key molecules linking the adverse effect of Fusarium genus on insulin sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study uncovers a strong association between disturbance in gut fungi and the progression of T2DM and highlights the potential of targeting the gut mycobiome for the management of T2DM. FUNDINGS: This study was supported by MOST and NSFC of China.

Aerogel colorimetric label sensors based on carboxymethyl cellulose/sodium alginate with black goji anthocyanin for monitoring fish freshness.

A novel colorimetric aerogel was developed by the complexation of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), sodium alginate (SA), and black goji anthocyanin (BGA) followed by freeze-drying for monitoring fish (Coho salmon) freshness during storage at 4 °C and 25 °C. The various aerogels (C/S/B3:1, C/S/B2:1, C/S/B1:1, C/S/B1:2, and C/S/B1:3) externally and internally were characterized using SEM, FTIR, XRD, DSC, and TGA. Among them, the aerogel composite C/S/B1:2 exhibited the most uniform pore size, largest specific surface area, rapid color changes in various alkaline vapors (5 µM and 50 µM), and better mechanical strength. Furthermore, the colorimetric aerogel became dark blue from light purple during fish storage at temperatures of 4 °C and 25 °C when it reached pH 7.49 and 7.33, TVC 8.9 × 107 CFU/g and 8.5 × 107 CFU/g, and TVB-N 33.8 mg/100 g and 26.12 mg/100 g, respectively, indicating fish completely deteriorated. Taken together, the colorimetric aerogel composite C/S/B1:2 was promising for determining fish freshness, which could be utilized as a non-destructive and useful intelligent sensor in monitoring various fish and meat freshness and/or quality.

A phase 2 study of the PI3Kδ inhibitor parsaclisib in relapsed and refractory marginal zone lymphoma (CITADEL-204).

ABSTRACT: Parsaclisib, a potent and highly selective PI3Kδ inhibitor, has shown clinical benefit in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) B-cell lymphomas. The phase 2 CITADEL-204 study (NCT03144674, EudraCT 2017-000970-12) assessed efficacy and safety of parsaclisib in Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor-experienced (cohort 1) or BTK inhibitor-naive (cohort 2) patients with R/R marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). Patients aged ≥18 years with histologically confirmed R/R MZL, treated with ≥1 prior systemic therapy (including ≥1 anti-CD20 antibody) received parsaclisib 20 mg once daily for 8 weeks then 20 mg once weekly (weekly dosing group [WG]) or parsaclisib 20 mg once daily for 8 weeks then 2.5 mg once daily (daily dosing group [DG]); DG was selected for further assessment. Primary end point of the study was objective response rate (ORR). Owing to slower than expected recruitment, cohort 1 was closed with 10 patients (WG, n = 4; DG, n = 6) enrolled. Based on a planned interim analysis in cohort 2, the futility boundary was not crossed, and enrollment continued to study completion. At data cutoff (15 January 2021), 100 patients were enrolled and treated in cohort 2 (WG, n = 28; DG, n = 72). In the DG, the ORR was 58.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 46.1-69.8), with a complete response rate of 4.2% (95% CI, 0.9-11.7); the lower bound of the ORR 95% CI exceeded the protocol-defined threshold of 40%. The median duration of response was 12.2 months (95% CI, 8.1-17.5) and progression-free survival was 16.5 months (95% CI, 11.5-20.6); median overall survival was not reached. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) among all patients were diarrhea (47.0%), cough (23.0%), and rash (18.0%); the most common grade ≥3 TEAEs included diarrhea (12.0%), neutropenia, and pneumonia (9.0% each). TEAEs led to dose interruptions, reductions, and discontinuations in 56.0%, 16.0%, and 29.0% of all patients, respectively. Durable responses and an overall manageable safety profile were demonstrated in patients with R/R MZL treated with parsaclisib monotherapy.

Preparation of a Dual-Functional Active Film Based on Bilayer Hydrogel and Red Cabbage Anthocyanin for Maintaining and Monitoring Pork Freshness.

In this study, a composite film was created with the dual goal of prolonging pork shelf life and showing freshness. Hydrogel materials as solid base films were selected from gelatin (G), sodium alginate (SA) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) based on their antioxidant activity, water vapor permeability, mechanical properties, as well as their stability, antimicrobial activity, and freshness, which indicates effectiveness when combined with anthocyanins. Furthermore, the effects of several concentrations of red cabbage anthocyanin (R) (3%, 6%, 12%, and 24%) on freshness indicators and bacteriostasis were investigated. The antimicrobial activity of the composite films was evaluated against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Likewise, the freshness indicates effectiveness was evaluated for NH3. Considering the mechanical properties, antibacterial ability, freshness indicator effect, and stability of the composite film, CS film combined with 12% R was selected to prepare a dual-functional intelligent film for pork freshness indicator and preservation. By thoroughly investigating the effect of composite film on pork conservation and combining with it KNN, the discriminative model of pork freshness grade was established and the recognition rate of the prediction set was up to 93.3%. These results indicated that CSR film can be used for the creation of active food packaging materials.

Warm Temperature Increments Strengthen the Crosstalk between Roots and Soil in the Rhizosphere of Soybean Seedlings.

The plant rhizosphere underlies the crosstalk between plant and soil and has a crucial role in plant growth and development under various environments. We examined the effect of temperature rise on the rhizosphere environment of soybean roots to clarify the rhizosphere crosstalk between roots and soil in response to warm temperature rises in a global warming background. The in situ results of root enzyme activity revealed that soybean roots secrete ß-glucosidase, and enzyme spectrum imaging demonstrated different enzymatic activities under different temperature environments. The soil enzyme kinetics results showed that soil enzymatic activity increased with increasing temperature, and soybean rhizosphere soil enzymatic activity was higher than that of non-rhizosphere soil. Rhizosphere soil and non-rhizosphere soil showed that the dominant bacterial phylum in soybean rhizosphere soil was Acidobacteria, and the dominant bacterial genus was JG30-KF-AS9. Compared with non-rhizosphere soil, rhizosphere soil was more nutrient-rich, and root secretions provided abundant carbon sources and other nutrients for soil microorganisms in the rhizosphere. Rhizosphere microorganisms affect plant growth by influencing the decomposition of soil organic carbon. The organic carbon content of rhizosphere soil was higher than that of non-rhizosphere soil under high temperatures.

Systematic review and metanalysis of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and prognosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Hematological parameters have been associated with prognosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The present meta-analysis investigated the utility of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the prognosis of patients with NPC. Methods: Multiple electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science, were systematically searched for studies assessing the association between NLR and NPC from 2011 to 2021. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were utilized to estimate effect size. Use of a fixed effect or random effect model was based on heterogeneity stability was tested by sensitivity analysis, and the risk of bias was assessed by funnel plots. Random effects models were used based on the actual results. Because the NLR grouping criteria for the included studies differed, subgroup analyses were performed. Results: A search of the electronic databases identified 14 studies, encompassing 6693 patients, that met the selection criteria. NLR higher than the cutoff value was significantly associated with poorer OS [HR 1.760, 95% CI 1.470-2.120, p <0.00001] and PFS [HR 1.850, 95% CI 1.430-2.390, p = .006]. Sensitivity analysis showed that the results of the meta-analysis were relatively stable, and funnel plots were used to exclude the risk of bias. Conclusions: Elevated pretreatment NLR in peripheral blood is predictive of poorer OS and PFS in patients with NPC. NLR is an easily measured and important prognostic factor in patients with NPC.

Development of a prediction model for postoperative complications and economic burden analysis in older patients with hip fractures.

Purpose: The high rates of disability and mortality due to postoperative complications of hip fractures in the elderly, especially the oldest-old individuals, have become an increasingly serious global public health concern. This study aimed to establish a nomogram prediction model and analyze the economic burden to guide clinical decision-making and improve patient prognosis. Methods: Data of 514 patients aged over 80 years with hip fractures who received surgical treatment were retrospectively collected, and the patients were divided into training and validation cohorts. Independent risk factors for postoperative complications were identified based on logistic regression analysis, and a nomogram was constructed. The model was evaluated for its discrimination and consistency using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calibration curves, and for its clinical benefit using decision curve analysis (DCA). The economic burden was analyzed using propensity score matching (PSM). Results: The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification ≥Ⅲ, anemia, male sex, diabetes mellitus, and the number of comorbidities were found to be independent risk factors for postoperative complications in oldest-old patients with hip fracture (all P < 0.05). The areas under the curve (AUC) of the nomogram prediction model for the training and validation cohorts were 0.743 and 0.767, respectively, indicating reliable discrimination. The calibration curves and DCA showed that the model has good consistency and high benefits. The direct economic burden of postoperative complications for the patients was US$1045.10. Conclusions: The nomogram model can accurately quantify the risk of postoperative complications among oldest-old patients with hip fractures and guide clinical professionals to implement early and targeted preventive treatment for high-risk patients.

Advances in the relationship between temporal muscle thickness and prognosis of patients with glioblastoma: a narrative review.

The most dangerous variety of glioma, glioblastoma, has a high incidence and fatality rate. The prognosis for patients is still bleak despite numerous improvements in treatment approaches. We urgently need to develop clinical parameters that can evaluate patients' conditions and predict their prognosis. Various parameters are available to assess the patient's preoperative performance status and degree of frailty, but most of these parameters are subjective and therefore subject to interobserver variability. Sarcopenia can be used as an objective metric to measure a patient's physical status because studies have shown that it is linked to a bad prognosis in those with cancers. For the purpose of identifying sarcopenia, temporal muscle thickness has demonstrated to be a reliable alternative for a marker of skeletal muscle content. As a result, patients with glioblastoma may use temporal muscle thickness as a potential marker to correlate with the course and fate of their disease. This narrative review highlights and defines the viability of using temporal muscle thickness as an independent predictor of survival in glioblastoma patients, and it evaluates recent research findings on the association between temporal muscle thickness and prognosis of glioblastoma patients.

Coat protein of rice stripe virus enhances autophagy activity through interaction with cytosolic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases, a negative regulator of plant autophagy.

Viral infection commonly induces autophagy, leading to antiviral responses or conversely, promoting viral infection or replication. In this study, using the experimental plant Nicotiana benthamiana, we demonstrated that the rice stripe virus (RSV) coat protein (CP) enhanced autophagic activity through interaction with cytosolic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 2 (GAPC2), a negative regulator of plant autophagy that binds to an autophagy key factor, autophagy-related protein 3 (ATG3). Competitive pull-down and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP)assays showed that RSV CP activated autophagy by disrupting the interaction between GAPC2 and ATG3. An RSV CP mutant that was unable to bind GAPC2 failed to disrupt the interaction between GAPC2 and ATG3 and therefore lost its ability to induce autophagy. RSV CP enhanced the autophagic degradation of a viral movement protein (MP) encoded by a heterologous virus, citrus leaf blotch virus (CLBV). However, the autophagic degradation of RSV-encoded MP and RNA-silencing suppressor (NS3) proteins was inhibited in the presence of CP, suggesting that RSV CP can protect MP and NS3 against autophagic degradation. Moreover, in the presence of MP, RSV CP could induce the autophagic degradation of a remorin protein (NbREM1), which negatively regulates RSV infection through the inhibition of viral cell-to-cell movement. Overall, our results suggest that RSV CP induces a selective autophagy to suppress the antiviral factors while protecting RSV-encoded viral proteins against autophagic degradation through an as-yet-unknown mechanism. This study showed that RSV CP plays dual roles in the autophagy-related interaction between plants and viruses.

Differential sensitivity of ADF isovariants to a pH gradient promotes pollen tube growth.

The actin cytoskeleton is one of the targets of the pH gradient in tip-growing cells, but how cytosolic pH regulates the actin cytoskeleton remains largely unknown. We here demonstrate that Arabidopsis ADF7 and ADF10 function optimally at different pH levels when disassembling actin filaments. This differential pH sensitivity allows ADF7 and ADF10 to respond to the cytosolic pH gradient to regulate actin dynamics in pollen tubes. ADF7 is an unusual actin-depolymerizing factor with a low optimum pH in in vitro actin depolymerization assays. ADF7 plays a dominant role in promoting actin turnover at the pollen tube apex. ADF10 has a typically high optimum pH in in vitro assays and plays a dominant role in regulating the turnover and organization of subapical actin filaments. Thus, functional specification and cooperation of ADF isovariants with different pH sensitivities enable the coordination of the actin cytoskeleton with the cytosolic pH gradient to support pollen tube growth.

Bilateral human laryngeal motor cortex in perceptual decision of lexical tone and voicing of consonant.

Speech perception is believed to recruit the left motor cortex. However, the exact role of the laryngeal subregion and its right counterpart in speech perception, as well as their temporal patterns of involvement remain unclear. To address these questions, we conducted a hypothesis-driven study, utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation on the left or right dorsal laryngeal motor cortex (dLMC) when participants performed perceptual decision on Mandarin lexical tone or consonant (voicing contrast) presented with or without noise. We used psychometric function and hierarchical drift-diffusion model to disentangle perceptual sensitivity and dynamic decision-making parameters. Results showed that bilateral dLMCs were engaged with effector specificity, and this engagement was left-lateralized with right upregulation in noise. Furthermore, the dLMC contributed to various decision stages depending on the hemisphere and task difficulty. These findings substantially advance our understanding of the hemispherical lateralization and temporal dynamics of bilateral dLMC in sensorimotor integration during speech perceptual decision-making.

Co-production of 7-chloro-tryptophan and indole pyruvic acid based on an efficient FAD/FADH2 regeneration system.

Efficient FAD/FADH2 regeneration is vital for enzymatic biocatalysis and metabolic pathway optimization. Here, we constructed an efficient and simple FAD/FADH2 regeneration system through a combination of L-amino acid deaminase (L-AAD) and halogenase (CombiAADHa), which was applied for catalyzing the conversion of an L-amino acid to halide and an α-keto acid. For cell-free biotransformation, the optimal activity ratio of L-AAD and halogenase was set between 1:50 and 1:60. Within 6 h, 170 mg/L of 7-chloro-tryptophan (7-Cl-Trp) and 193 mg/L of indole pyruvic acid (IPA) were synthesized in the selected mono-amino acid system. For whole-cell biotransformation, 7-Cl-Trp and IPA synthesis was enhanced by 15% (from 96 to 110 mg/L) and 12% (from 115 to 129 mg/L), respectively, through expression fine-tuning and the strengthening of FAD/FADH2 supply. Finally, ultrasound treatment was applied to improve membrane permeability and adjust the activity ratio, resulting in 1.6-and 1.4-fold higher 7-Cl-Trp and IPA yields. The products were then purified. This system could also be applied to the synthesis of other halides and α-keto acids. KEY POINTS: • In this study, a whole cell FAD/FADH2 regeneration system co-expressing l-AAD and halogenase was constructed • This study found that the activity and ratio of enzyme and the concentration of cofactors had a significant effect on the catalytic process for the efficient co-production of 7-chlorotryptophan and indole pyruvate.

Effect of Low Temperature Reactive Dye Reactive Red 2 on Dyeing and Tensile Properties of Twisted Bamboo Fibers.

This study employed bamboo as the raw material and employed the sodium chlorite method to remove most of the chromogenic groups in bamboo. The low-temperature reactive dyes were then utilized as the dyeing agents in combination with the one-bath method to dye the decolorized bamboo bundles. The dyed bamboo bundles were subsequently twisted into bamboo fiber bundles with high flexibility. The effects of various factors, including dye concentration, dyeing promoter concentration, and fixing agent concentration, on the dyeing properties, mechanical properties, and other properties of the twisted bamboo bundles were investigated using a tensile test, dyeing rate test, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the macroscopic bamboo fibers prepared by the top-down method have excellent dyeability. The dyeing treatment not only improves the aesthetics of bamboo fibers but also improves their mechanical properties to a certain extent. When the concentration of dye is 1.0% (o.w.f.), the concentration of dye promoter is 30 g/L, and the concentration of color fixing agent is 10 g/L, the comprehensive mechanical properties of the dyed bamboo fiber bundles are the best. At this time, the tensile strength is 95.1 MPa, 2.45 times that of undyed bamboo fiber bundles. XPS analysis results show that the relative content of C-O-C in the fiber is significantly increased compared with that before dyeing, which indicates that the formed dye fiber covalent bond can strengthen the cross-linking between fibers, thus improving its tensile performance. The covalent bond is stable, and the dyed fiber bundle can retain its mechanical strength even after high temperature soaping.