Response of arum lily calli to culture filtrate of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum

This report demonstrated that culture filtrate of Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum isolate ZT0505, the pathogen of bacterial soft rot disease of arum lily (Zantedeschia sp.), contained extracellular enzymes and caused arum lily leaf tissue and callus maceration. Arum lily leaf tissue and callus sensitivity to culture filtrate coincided with the host susceptibility to the pathogen. The rates of survival of callus pieces were determined after exposure for various times to culture filtrate. Survival of callus pieces (%) increased with reduction of exposure time from 20 to 14 h and from 14 to 8 h. One out of 30 callus pieces was still viable after 3 cycles of 8 h exposure. Subsequently, the surviving cells in this callus pieces proliferated and differentiated into shoots. Based on this initial work, the callus screening using culture filtrate as selection agent may be useful for in vitro selection of soft rot resistant germplasm in arum lily

The draft genome of a socially polymorphic halictid bee, Lasioglossum albipes

Background: Taxa that harbor natural phenotypic variation are ideal for ecological genomic approaches aimed at understanding how the interplay between genetic and environmental factors can lead to the evolution of complex traits. Lasioglossum albipes is a polymorphic halictid bee that expresses variation in social behavior among populations, and common-garden experiments have suggested that this variation is likely to have a genetic component. Results: We present the L. albipes genome assembly to characterize the genetic and ecological factors associated with the evolution of social behavior. The de novo assembly is comparable to other published social insect genomes, with an N50 scaffold length of 602 kb. Gene families unique to L. albipes are associated with integrin-mediated signaling and DNA-binding domains, and several appear to be expanded in this species, including the glutathione-s-transferases and the inositol monophosphatases. L. albipes has an intact DNA methylation system, and in silico analyses suggest that methylation occurs primarily in exons. Comparisons to other insect genomes indicate that genes associated with metabolism and nucleotide binding undergo accelerated evolution in the halictid lineage. Whole-genome resequencing data from one solitary and one social L. albipes female identify six genes that appear to be rapidly diverging between social forms, including a putative odorant receptor and a cuticular protein. Conclusions: L. albipes represents a novel genetic model system for understanding the evolution of social behavior. It represents the first published genome sequence of a primitively social insect, thereby facilitating comparative genomic studies across the Hymenoptera as a whole

Synthesis and evaluation of temperature- and glucose-sensitive nanoparticles based on phenylboronic acid and <i>N</i>-vinylcaprolactam for insulin delivery

Poly N-vinylcaprolactam-co-acrylamidophenylboronic acid p(NVCL-co-AAPBA) was prepared from N-vinylcaprolactam (NVCL) and 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (AAPBA), using 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. The synthesis and structure of the polymer were examined by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and 1H-NMR. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were utilized to characterize the nanoparticles, CD spectroscopy was used to determine if there were any changes to the conformation of the insulin, and cell and animal toxicity were also investigated. The prepared nanoparticles were found to be monodisperse submicron particles and were glucose- and temperature-sensitive. In addition, the nanoparticles have good insulin-loading characteristics, do not affect the conformation of the insulin and show low-toxicity to cells and animals. These p(NVCL-co-AAPBA) nanoparticles may have some value for insulin or other hypoglycemic protein delivery

Co(salen) catalysed oxidation of synthetic lignin-like polymer: Co(salen) effects

In this paper, Co(salen) [salen = N, N’-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine] complex was studied as oxygen activators for the catalytic oxidation of a lignin model polymer using water as the solvent, with molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide as the oxidants. The effect of Co(salen) on oxidation was tested by spectroscopic methods (FTIR, 13C-NMR and GC-MS). The reactions catalysed by Co(salen) included Cα-alcohol oxidation, Cα-Cβ side chain cleavage, demethoxylation, aromatic ring cleavage, and β-O-4 cleavage. In addition to the mechanistic information obtained, the effect of Co(salen) suggests that Co(salen) can be important for the catalytic oxidation, as they affect the oxidation of lignin model polymer. The reaction performed in the presence of Co(salen) was more efficient than without it. The formation of aldehyde in the catalytic oxidation, as shown by GC-MS, could be identified as the mechanism of oxidative cleavage of the β-O-4 bonds

Structural neuroimaging biomarkers for obsessive-compulsive disorder in the ENIGMA-OCD consortium: medication matters

No diagnostic biomarkers are available for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, we aimed to identify magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers for OCD, using 46 data sets with 2304 OCD patients and 2068 healthy controls from the ENIGMA consortium. We performed machine learning analysis of regional measures of cortical thickness, surface area and subcortical volume and tested classification performance using cross-validation. Classification performance for OCD vs. controls using the complete sample with different classifiers and cross-validation strategies was poor. When models were validated on data from other sites, model performance did not exceed chance-level. In contrast, fair classification performance was achieved when patients were grouped according to their medication status. These results indicate that medication use is associated with substantial differences in brain anatomy that are widely distributed, and indicate that clinical heterogeneity contributes to the poor performance of structural MRI as a disease marker

Structural neuroimaging biomarkers for obsessive-compulsive disorder in the ENIGMA-OCD consortium: medication matters

No diagnostic biomarkers are available for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, we aimed to identify magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers for OCD, using 46 data sets with 2304 OCD patients and 2068 healthy controls from the ENIGMA consortium. We performed machine learning analysis of regional measures of cortical thickness, surface area and subcortical volume and tested classification performance using cross-validation. Classification performance for OCD vs. controls using the complete sample with different classifiers and cross-validation strategies was poor. When models were validated on data from other sites, model performance did not exceed chance-level. In contrast, fair classification performance was achieved when patients were grouped according to their medication status. These results indicate that medication use is associated with substantial differences in brain anatomy that are widely distributed, and indicate that clinical heterogeneity contributes to the poor performance of structural MRI as a disease marker

DNN-Based ADNMPC of an Industrial Pickling Cold-Rolled Titanium Process via Field Enhancement Heat Exchange

The dynamic neural network based adaptive direct nonlinear model predictive control is designed to control an industrial microwave heating pickling cold-rolled titanium process. The identifier of the direct adaptive nonlinear model identification and the controller of the adaptive nonlinear model predictive control are designed based on series-parallel dynamic neural network training by RLS algorithm with variable incremental factor, gain, and forgetting factor. These identifier and controller are used to constitute intelligent controller for adjusting the temperature of microwave heating acid. The correctness of the controller structure, the convergence, and feasibility of the control algorithms is tested by system simulation. For a given point tracking, model mismatch simulation results show that the controller can be implemented on the system to track and overcome the mismatch system model. The control model can be achieved to track on pickling solution concentration and temperature of a given reference and overcome the disturbance

From Beijing to Bentonville: Do Multinational Retailers Link Markets?

Each of the world's largest retailers---Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco, and Metro---entered China after 1995. Their subsequent expansion in China may have influenced Chinese exports through two channels. First, they may have enhanced bilateral exports between the retailers' Chinese operations and destination countries also served by stores in the retailers' networks. Second, Chinese city-level exports to all destinations may have grown if multinational retailer presence enhanced the general export capabilities of local suppliers. Evidence from Chinese city-level retail goods exports supports the capability hypothesis as the expansion of Chinese city exports follows the geographic expansion of the retailers' Chinese stores and global procurement centers.

Determining gravitational wave radiation from close galaxy pairs using a binary population synthesis approach

Context. The early phase of the coalescence of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries from their host galaxies provides a guaranteed source of low-frequency (nHz-$\mu$Hz) gravitational wave (GW) radiation by pulsar timing observations. These types of GW sources would survive the coalescing and be potentially identifiable. Aims. We aim to provide an outline of a new method for detecting GW radiation from individual SMBH systems based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) observational results, which can be verified by future observations. Methods. Combining the sensitivity of the international Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) and the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) detectors, we used a binary population synthesis (BPS) approach to determine GW radiation from close galaxy pairs under the assumption that SMBHs formed at the core of merged galaxies. We also performed second post-Newtonian approximation methods to estimate the variation of the strain amplitude with time. Results. We find that the value of the strain amplitude \emph{h} varies from about $10^{-14}$ to $10^{-17}$ using the observations of 20 years, and we estimate that about 100 SMBH sources can be detected with the SKA detector.Comment: 6pages,6figures,1tabl