BLV-miR-B1-5p Promotes Staphylococcus aureus Adhesion to Mammary Epithelial Cells by Targeting MUC1.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is widely prevalent worldwide and can persistently infect mammary epithelial cells in dairy cows, leading to reduced cellular antimicrobial capacity. BLV-encoded microRNAs (BLV-miRNAs) can modify host genes and promote BLV replication. We previously showed that BLV-miR-B1-5p significantly promoted Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) adhesion to bovine mammary epithelial (MAC-T) cells; however, the pathway responsible for this effect remained unclear. This study aims to examine how BLV-miR-B1-5p promotes S. aureus adhesion to MAC-T cells via miRNA target gene prediction and validation. Target site prediction showed that BLV-miR-B1-5p could target the mucin family gene mucin 1 (MUC1). Real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, and dual luciferase reporter assay further confirmed that BLV-miR-B1-5p could target and inhibit the expression of MUC1 in bovine MAC-T cells while interfering with the expression of MUC1 promoted S. aureus adhesion to MAC-T cells. These results indicate that BLV-miR-B1-5p promotes S. aureus adhesion to mammary epithelial cells by targeting MUC1.

Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride with g-C3N4/Ag/AgBr composites.

Graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4), as a polymer semiconductor photocatalyst, is widely used in the treatment of photocatalytic environmental pollution. In this work, a Z-scheme g-C3N4/Ag/AgBr heterojunction photocatalyst was prepared based on the preparation of a g-C3N4-based heterojunction via in-situ loading through photoreduction method. The g-C3N4/Ag/AgBr composite showed an excellent photocatalytic performance in the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride pollutants. Among the prepared samples, g-C3N4/Ag/AgBr-8% showed the best photocatalytic ability for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride, whose photocatalytic degradation kinetic constant was 0.02764 min-1, which was 9.8 times that of g-C3N4, 2.4 times that of AgBr, and 1.9 times that of Ag/AgBr. In the photocatalytic process, •O2- and •OH are main active oxygen species involved in the degradation of organic pollutants. The photocatalytic mechanism of g-C3N4/Ag/AgBr is mainly through the formation of Z-scheme heterojunctions, which not only effectively improves the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, but also maintains the oxidation and reduction capability of AgBr and g-C3N4, respectively.

A homologous gene of OsREL2/ASP1, ASP-LSL regulates pleiotropic phenotype including long sterile lemma in rice.

BACKGROUND: Panicle is a harvesting organ of rice, and its morphology and development are closely associated with grain yield. The current study was carried on a mutant screened through an EMS (ethyl-methane sulphonate) mutagenized population of a Japonica cultivar Kitaake (WT). RESULTS: A mutant, named as asp-lsl (aberrant spikelet-long sterile lemma), showed a significant decrease in plant height, number of tillers, thousand-grains weight, seed setting rate, spikelet length, kernel length and effective number of grains per panicle as compared to WT. Asp-lsl showed a pleiotropic phenotype coupled with the obvious presence of a long sterile lemma. Cross-sections of lemma showed an increase in the cell volume rather than the number of cells. Genetic segregation analysis revealed its phenotypic trait is controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene. Primary and fine mapping indicated that candidate gene controlling the phenotype of asp-lsl was located in an interval of 212 kb on the short arm of chromosome 8 between RM22445 and RM22453. Further sequencing and indels markers analysis revealed LOC_Os08g06480 harbors a single base substitution (G→A), resulting in a change of 521st amino acid(Gly→Glu. The homology comparison and phylogenetic tree analysis revealed mutation was occurred in a highly conserved domain and had a high degree of similarity in Arabidopsis, corn, and sorghum. The CRISPR/Cas9 mutant line of ASP-LSL produced a similar phenotype as that of asp-lsl. Subcellular localization of ASP-LSL revealed that its protein is localized in the nucleus. Relative expression analysis revealed ASP-LSL was preferentially expressed in panicle, stem, and leaves. The endogenous contents of GA, CTK, and IAA were found significantly decreased in asp-lsl as compared to WT. CONCLUSIONS: Current study presents the novel phenotype of asp-lsl and also validate the previously reported function of OsREL2 (ROMOSA ENHANCER LOCI2), / ASP1(ABERRANT SPIKELET AND PANICLE 1).

Do data security measures, privacy regulations, and communication standards impact the interoperability of patient health information? A cross-country investigation.

BACKGROUND: The lack of interoperability is one of the biggest obstacles to the complete digitalization of patient health information in electronic medical records (EMR). The high volume of data breaches has put pressure on care providers to adopt data protection measures to remain compliant with legal requirements. Extreme data protection measures can impede information flow, but they also instill confidence in secure information sharing. This study investigates how the adoption of security measures, privacy regulations, and communication standards has impacted patient health information interoperability at technical (TI), semantic (SI), and organizational (OI) levels within the hospitals. METHODS: The study utilizes a quasi-experimental research design to probe the relationships of interest. Secondary data from a survey of randomly selected 773 hospitals conducted by the European Commission in over 30 countries in Europe is used to understand the relationships. The study counters selection bias and accounts for systematic differences in adopting treatments of interest in the hospitals using the propensity score-based approaches for the observational data. RESULTS: The empirical models that account for selection bias explain more observational data variations than those that did not. Access control measures on workstations are linked to 44 % lesser odds of experiencing TI problems. However, hospitals with regional and organizational level privacy regulations have 85 % and 76 % higher odds of experiencing SI and OI problems, respectively. On the other hand, hospitals with a single hospital-wide EMR are 53 % and 43 % less likely to experience TI and SI problems, respectively, in comparison to those with multiple EMR systems. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the differential impacts of data protection measures on the hospitals' three key types of interoperability problems (i.e., TI, SI, and OI). Homogenous EMR systems type and substantial investment in technology are critical to supporting health information interoperability within the hospitals. The study findings inform policy considerations for improving specific aspects of health information's interoperability while preserving patient data privacy and security.

Health Goal Attainment of Patients With Chronic Diseases in Web-Based Patient Communities: Content and Survival Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Activities directed at attaining health goals are a major part of the daily lives of those fighting chronic diseases. A proliferating population of patients with chronic diseases are participating in web-based patient communities, wherein they can exchange health information and pursue health goals with others virtually. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to understand the effect of participation in social media-enabled web-based patient communities on health goal attainment. In particular, we studied the antecedents of health goal attainment in terms of social support and self-reflection in web-based patient communities. METHODS: This data set consists of web-based health management activities of 392 patients across 13 health support groups, that is, groups with medical issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and breast cancer; the data of the activities were collected from a leading web-based patient community. Content analysis was used to code the social interactions among the patients on the web-based platform. Cox regression for survival analysis was used to model the hazard ratio of health goal attainment. RESULTS: Our analysis indicated that emotional support from web-based patient communities can increase patients' probability of achieving their goals (hazard ratio 1.957, 95% CI 1.416-2.706; P<.001) while informational support does not appear to be effective (P=.06). In addition, health-related self-reflection increases the patients' likelihood of goal attainment through web-based patient communities (hazard ratio 1.937, 95% CI 1.318-2.848; P<.001), but leisure-oriented self-reflection reduces this likelihood (hazard ratio 0.588, 95% CI 0.442-0.784; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Social media-enabled web-based platforms assist health goal management via both social interaction and personal discipline. This study extends the understanding of web-based patient communities by investigating the effects of both social and cognitive factors on goal attainment. In particular, our study advocates that health goals relating to chronic conditions can be better managed when patients use the facilities of web-based health communities strategically.