Overexpression of OsERF106MZ promotes parental root growth in rice seedlings by relieving the ABA-mediated inhibition of root growth under salinity stress conditions.

BACKGROUND: Roots are essential for plant growth and have a variety of functions, such as anchoring the plant to the ground, absorbing water and nutrients from the soil, and sensing abiotic stresses, among others. OsERF106MZ is a salinity-induced gene that is expressed in germinating seeds and rice seedling roots. However, the roles of OsERF106MZ in root growth remain poorly understood. RESULTS: Histochemical staining to examine ß-glucuronidase (GUS) activity in transgenic rice seedlings harboring OsERF106MZp::GUS indicated that OsERF106MZ is mainly expressed in the root exodermis, sclerenchyma layer, and vascular system. OsERF106MZ overexpression in rice seedlings leads to an increase in primary root (PR) length. The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is thought to act as a hidden architect of root system structure. The expression of the ABA biosynthetic gene OsAO3 is downregulated in OsERF106MZ-overexpressing roots under normal conditions, while the expression of OsNPC3, an AtNPC4 homolog involved in ABA sensitivity, is reduced in OsERF106MZ-overexpressing roots under both normal and NaCl-treated conditions. Under normal conditions, OsERF106MZ-overexpressing roots show a significantly reduced ABA level; moreover, exogenous application of 1.0 µM ABA can suppress OsERF106MZ-mediated root growth promotion. Additionally, OsERF106MZ-overexpressing roots display less sensitivity to ABA-mediated root growth inhibition when treated with 5.0 µM ABA under normal conditions or exposed to NaCl-treated conditions. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-qPCR and luciferase (LUC) reporter assays showed that OsERF106MZ can bind directly to the sequence containing the GCC box in the promoter region of the OsAO3 gene and repress the expression of OsAO3. CONCLUSIONS: OsERF106MZ may play a role in maintaining root growth for resource uptake when rice seeds germinate under salinity stress by alleviating ABA-mediated root growth inhibition.

Effect of Annealing and Thickness of Co40Fe40Yb20 Thin Films on Various Physical Properties on a Glass Substrate.

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of annealing and thickness on various physical properties in Co40Fe40Yb20 thin films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the amorphous structure of Co40Fe40Yb20 films. The maximum surface energy of 40 nm thin films at 300 °C is 34.54 mJ/mm2. The transmittance and resistivity decreased significantly as annealing temperatures and thickness increased. At all conditions, the 10 nm film had the highest hardness. The average hardness decreased as thickness increased, as predicted by the Hall-Petch effect. The highest low-frequency alternative-current magnetic susceptibility (χac) value was discovered when the film was annealed at 200 °C with 50 nm, and the optimal resonance frequency (ƒres) was in the low frequency range, indicating that the film has good applicability in the low frequency range. At annealed 200 °C and 50 nm, the maximum saturation magnetization (Ms) was discovered. Thermal disturbance caused the Ms to decrease when the temperature was raised to 300 °C. The optimum process conditions determined in this study are 200 °C and 50 nm, with the highest Ms, χac, strong adhesion, and low resistivity, which are suitable for magnetic applications, based on magnetic properties and surface energy.

The Influence of Oxidation on the Magnetic, Electrical, and Mechanical Properties of Co40Fe40Yb20 Films.

A typical body-centered cubic (BCC) CoFe(110) peak was discovered at approximately 2θ = 44.7°. At 2θ = 46°, 46.3°, 47.7°, 55.4°, 54.6°, and 56.4°, the Yb2O3 and Co2O3 oxide peaks were visible in all samples. However, with a heat treatment temperature of 300 °C, there was no typical peak of CoFe(110). Electrical characteristics demonstrated that resistivity and sheet resistance reduced dramatically as film thickness and annealing temperatures increased. At various heat treatments, the maximum hardness was 10 nm. The average hardness decreased as the thickness increased, and the hardness trend decreased slightly as the annealing temperature was higher. The highest low-frequency alternative-current magnetic susceptibility (χac) value was discovered after being annealed at 200 °C with 50 nm, and the optimal resonance frequency (fres) was discovered to be within the low-frequency range, indicating that the Co40Fe40Yb20 film can be used in low-frequency applications. The maximum saturation magnetization (Ms) was annealed at 200 °C for 50 nm. Thermal disturbance caused the Ms to decrease as the temperature reached to 300 °C. The results show that when the oxidation influence of as-deposited and thinner films is stronger than annealing treatments and thicker thickness, the magnetic and electrical properties can be enhanced by the weakening peak of the oxide, which can also reduce interference.

Comprehensive Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses Identify a Candidate Gene Set in Cross-Resistance for Endocrine Therapy in Breast Cancer.

Endocrine therapy (ET) of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), selective estrogen receptor downregulators (SERDs), and aromatase inhibitors (AIs) has been used as the gold standard treatment for hormone-receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer. Despite its clinical benefits, approximately 30% of patients develop ET resistance, which remains a major clinical challenge in patients with HR+ breast cancer. The mechanisms of ET resistance mainly focus on mutations in the ER and related pathways; however, other targets still exist from ligand-independent ER reactivation. Moreover, mutations in the ER that confer resistance to SERMs or AIs seldom appear in SERDs. To date, little research has been conducted to identify a critical target that appears in both SERMs/SERDs and AIs. In this study, we conducted comprehensive transcriptomic and proteomic analyses from two cohorts of The Cancer Genome Atlas Breast Invasive Carcinoma (TCGA-BRCA) to identify the critical targets for both SERMs/SERDs and AIs of ET resistance. From a treatment response cohort with treatment response for the initial ET regimen and an endocrine therapy cohort with survival outcomes, we identified candidate gene sets that appeared in both SERMs/SERDs and AIs of ET resistance. The candidate gene sets successfully differentiated progress/resistant groups (PD) from complete response groups (CR) and were significantly correlated with survival outcomes in both cohorts. In summary, this study provides valuable clinical implications for the critical roles played by candidate gene sets in the diagnosis, mechanism, and therapeutic strategy for both SERMs/SERDs and AIs of ET resistance for the future.

Effects of Perceived Benefit on Vitamin D Supplementation Intention: A Theory of Planned Behaviour Perspective.

There are many factors that affect vitamin D supplementation, including those from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB); however, how the perceived benefit acts in the model remains unknown. In the current study, we tested the efficacy of the TPB and the impacts of the perceived benefit (PBE) in the model. The subjects were 287 customers who purchased vitD from pharmacies in major cities in Taiwan. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression analyses, and path analysis via SPSS and AMOS were used to analyse the data. The original TPB model explained 47.5% of the variance of intention with the three variables of attitude (ß = 0.261), perceived behavioural control (ß = 0.183), and subjective norms (ß = 0.169). The model that incorporated PBE increased the explained variance to 59.7%, and PBE became the strongest predictor (ß = 0.310) and a significant mediator linking attitude, subjective norms, perceived control (ANC) with supplementation intention. PBE and attitude were the two most important variables in predicting vitD supplementation intention. We suggest that updated information regarding dietary sources of vitD and its benefits should be included in health- or nutrition-related courses in education programs for the overall health of the nation.

Impact of Annealing on Magnetic Properties and Structure of Co40Fe40W20 Thin Films on Si(100) Substrate.

Co40Fe40W20 monolayers of different thicknesses were deposited on Si(100) substrates by DC magnetron sputtering, with Co40Fe40W20 thicknesses from 10 to 50 nm. Co40Fe40W20 thin films were annealed at three conditions (as-deposited, 250 °C, and 350 °C) for 1 h. The structural and magnetic properties were then examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), low-frequency alternative-current magnetic susceptibility (χac), and an alternating-gradient magnetometer (AGM). The XRD results showed that the CoFe (110) peak was located at 2θ = 44.6°, but the metal oxide peaks appeared at 2θ = 38.3, 47.6, 54.5, and 56.3°, corresponding to Fe2O3 (320), WO3 (002), Co2O3 (422), and Co2O3 (511), respectively. The saturation magnetization (Ms) was calculated from the slope of the magnetization (M) versus the CoFeW thickness. The Ms values calculated in this manner were 648, 876, 874, and 801 emu/cm3 at the as-deposited condition and post-annealing conditions at 250, 350, and 400 °C, respectively. The maximum MS was about 874 emu/cm3 at a thickness of 50 nm following annealing at 350 °C. It indicated that the MS and the χac values rose as the CoFeW thin films' thickness increased. Owing to the thermal disturbance, the MS and χac values of CoFeW thin films after annealing at 350 °C were comparatively higher than at other annealing temperatures. More importantly, the Co40Fe40W20 films exhibited a good thermal stability. Therefore, replacing the magnetic layer with a CoFeW film improves thermal stability and is beneficial for electrode and strain gauge applications.

A Novel Composite Hydrogel Composed of Formic Acid-Decellularized Pepsin-Soluble Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel and Sacchachitin Hydrogel as Wound Dressing to Synergistically Accelerate Diabetic Wound Healing.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogel can create a favorable regenerative microenvironment and act as a promising dressing for accelerating the healing of diabetic wound. In this study, a simple and effective decellularization technique was developed and optimized to obtain acellular extracellular matrix (aECM) from porcine skin. It was found that decellularization at 30% formic acid for 72 h effectively decellularized porcine skin while retaining >75% collagen and ~37% GAG in the aECM with no presence of nuclei of cellular remnants. aECM hydrogel was fabricated by digesting aECM with pepsin in various acidic solutions (0.1 N HCl, glycolic acid (GA) and 2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid (PCA)) and then treated with a pH-controlled neutralization and temperature-controlled gelation procedure. Based on physical characterizations, including SDS-PAGE, rheological analysis and SEM analysis, aECMHCl hydrogels fabricated at 25 mg/mL in 0.1 N HCl were selected. Four polymeric ECM-mimic hydrogels, including sacchachitin (SC), hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan (CS) and three composite hydrogels of combining SC either with aECMHCl,25 (aECMHCl/SC), HA (HA/SC) or CS (SC/CS) were prepared and evaluated for WS-1 cell viability and wound-healing effectiveness. Cell viability study confirmed that no hydrogel dressings possessed any toxicity at all concentrations examined and ECMHCl, HA and ECMHCl/SC at higher concentrations (>0.05%) induced statistically significant proliferation. Diabetic wound healing study and histological examinations revealed that ECMHCl/SC hydrogel was observed to synergistically accelerate wound healing and ultimately stimulated the growth of hair follicles and sweat glands in the healing wound indicating the wound had healed as functional tissues. The results support the great potential of this newly produced ECMHCl/SC composite hydrogel for healing and regeneration of diabetic wounds.

Alkaline manganese electrochemistry studied by in situ and operando spectroscopic methods - metal dissolution, oxide formation and oxygen evolution.

Manganese-based systems are considered as candidate electrocatalysts for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER), because of their abundance in biochemical oxygen producing catalyst systems. In this work, the surface of metallic manganese was investigated in situ and operando in potentiodynamic cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments and potentiostatic chronoamperometry (CA) experiments in NaOH. In both cases, the surfaces were initially reduced. At corresponding potentials, no oxide species can be detected by Raman spectroscopy, though electrochemical data and the absence of dissolution above the reversible potential for reactions of type Mn → MnII indicate that the material is passive. The CV shows anodic peaks at potentials in line with expectations on the basis of thermodynamic data for the oxidation to Mn3O4 and Mn2O3; the thickness of the surface layer increases by a few nm during these peaks, as evidenced by spectroscopic ellipsometry. Dissolution of Mn as evidenced by downstream electrolyte analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in a scanning flow cell (SFC-ICP-MS) of the electrolyte is negligible in the range of electrode potential vs. Ag|AgCl|3 M KCl, EAg|AgCl, up to 0.3 V. Remarkably, Raman spectra already show the occurrence of α-MnO2 at EAg|AgCl > -0.25 V, which is ca. 0.5 V below the potential at which oxidation to MnO2 is expected. This observation is attributed to disproportionation above a certain level of MnIII. For EAg|AgCl > 0.4 V, dissolution sets in, at a constant layer thickness. Above the onset potential of the OER, at EAg|AgCl≈ 0.6 V, SFC-ICP-MS analysis shows fast dissolution, and the oxide layer thickness is constant or increases. CA experiments during the OER show strong dissolution, and the re-formation of a strongly disordered, ß-MnO2-like oxide, which exists in a quasi-stationary state at the interface. Several CV cycles increase the dissolution per cycle and the fraction of α-MnO2 on the surface which cannot be reduced. The high dissolution currents show that metallic Mn is hardly suitable as an OER catalyst, however, at least the MnIV oxides remain stationarily present in the system.

Fossil eggshell cuticle elucidates dinosaur nesting ecology.

The cuticle layer consisting mainly of lipids and hydroxyapatite (HAp) atop the mineralized avian eggshell is a protective structure that prevents the egg from dehydration and microbial invasions. Previous ornithological studies have revealed that the cuticle layer is also involved in modulating the reflectance of eggshells in addition to pigments (protoporphyrin and biliverdin). Thus, the cuticle layer represents a crucial trait that delivers ecological signals. While present in most modern birds, direct evidence for cuticle preservation in stem birds and non-avian dinosaurs is yet missing. Here we present the first direct and chemical evidence for the preservation of the cuticle layer on dinosaur eggshells. We analyze several theropod eggshells from various localities, including oviraptorid Macroolithus yaotunensis eggshells from the Late Cretaceous deposits of Henan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong in China and alvarezsaurid Triprismatoolithus eggshell from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana, United States, with the scanning electron microscope (SEM), electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA), and Raman spectroscopy (RS). The elemental analysis with EPMA shows high concentration of phosphorus at the boundary between the eggshell and sediment, representing the hydroxyapatitic cuticle layer (HAp). Depletion of phosphorus in sediment excludes the allochthonous origin of the phosphorus in these eggshells. The chemometric analysis of Raman spectra collected from fossil and extant eggs provides further supportive evidence for the cuticle preservation in oviraptorid and probable alvarezsaurid eggshells. In accordance with our previous discovery of pigments preserved in Cretaceous oviraptorid dinosaur eggshells, we validate the cuticle preservation on dinosaur eggshells through deep time and offer a yet unexplored resource for chemical studies targeting the evolution of dinosaur nesting ecology. Our study also suggests that the cuticle structure can be traced far back to maniraptoran dinosaurs and enhance their reproductive success in a warm and mesic habitat such as Montana and southern China during the Late Cretaceous.

The UV absorption spectrum of the simplest Criegee intermediate CH2OO.

SO2 scavenging and self-reaction of CH2OO were utilized for the decay of CH2OO to extract the absorption spectrum of CH2OO under bulk conditions. Absolute absorption cross sections of CH2OO at 308.4 and 351.8 nm were obtained from laser-depletion measurements in a jet-cooled molecular beam. The peak cross section is (1.23 ± 0.18) × 10(-17) cm(2) at 340 nm.

Co-expression of heterologous desaturase genes in Yarrowia lipolytica.

The hybrid promoter (hp4d) expression cassette, one of the efficient tools of Yarrowia lipolytica expression system, has been applied to produce or secrete a variety of recombinant proteins. This cassette directs a strong gene expression, because the hp4d promoter exhibits high level quasi-constitutive activity. The objective of this study is to test whether two expression cassettes inserted into a vector could function efficiently and simultaneously. Taking advantage of the well-known biosynthesis pathway of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), we examined the performance of Y. lipolytica, transformed with two expression cassettes containing previously cloned Delta12-desaturase and Delta6-desaturase genes, by monitoring fatty acid composition of cellular lipids. Our results confirmed that each individual desaturase gene was expressed efficiently by the expression cassette. When two cassettes with respective desaturase genes, carried on the same vector, were integrated into yeast genome, a significant level of GLA was synthesized from endogenous linoleic acid (LA) and oleic acid (OA). Besides, both expression cassettes functioned effectively without influence from each other. These findings indicated that co-expression of two desaturase genes by this dual cassette vector was effective and simultaneous. Results from the present study provide an alternative approach for both the production of several proteins at the same time, and the development of single cell oil containing high-valued polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).