Decreasing erucic acid level by RNAi-mediated silencing of fatty acid elongase 1 (BnFAE1.1) in rapeseeds (Brassica napus L.)

The β-ketoacyl CoA synthase encoded by fatty acid elongase 1 gene (BnFAE1.1) is a rate-limiting enzyme regulating biosynthesis of erucic acid in rapeseeds (Brassica napus). To develop low level of erucic acid in rapeseeds by intron-spliced hairpin RNA, an inverted repeat unit of a partial BnFAE1.1 gene interrupted by a spliceable intron was cloned into pCAMBIA3301, and a seed-specific (Napin) promoter was used to control the transcription of the transgene. Four transgenic plants harboring a single copy of transgene were generated. Expression of endogenous BnFAE1.1 gene in developing T3 seeds was significantly reduced. In mature T3 seeds, erucic acid was decreased by 60.8 to 99.1% compared with wild type seeds, and accounted for 0.36 to 15.56% of total fatty acids. The level of eicosenoic acid was also greatly decreased. Furthermore, it resulted in a significant increase in the level of oleic acid, but total fatty acid content in T3 seeds was the same with that in wild type seeds. In conclusion, the expression of endogenous BnFAE1.1 was efficiently silenced by the designed RNAi silencer, causing a significant down-regulation in the level of erucic acid. Therefore, the RNAi-mediated post-transcriptional silencing of FAE1 gene to reduce oleic acid in rapeseeds was an efficient method to breed some new B. napus lines.Key words: Brassica napus L., fatty acid elongase, intron-spliced hairpin RNA, down-regulation, erucic acid

Structure of the Magneto-Exciton and Optical Properties in Fractional Quantum Hall Systems

We report calculated dependence of magneto-exciton energy spectrum upon electron-hole separation $d$ in Fractional Quantum Hall systems. We calculated the dependence of photoluminescence upon $d$, and we obtained the doublet structure observed recently. The Raman scattering spectrum around resonance is calculated: a robust resonance peak at $\nu=1/3$ around gap value is reported.Comment: 13 pages, REVTEX, compressed postscript file (3 figures included

The safety and efficacy of oral antiviral drug VV116 for treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review

Background: Recent trials have highlighted the potential of oral antiviral VV116 in the treatment of patients with mild COVID-19. However, no comprehensive studies have assessed the safety and efficacy of VV116. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to assess the safety and efficacy of VV116. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar websites, with a cutoff date of March 23, to identify pertinent studies. Results: The results from the 3 included studies indicated that no serious adverse events were reported in the VV116 experimental groups, which exhibited a 2.57-day faster time to viral shedding than the control group and demonstrated non-inferiority to the nirmatrelvir-ritonavir control group in alleviating major symptoms. Discussion: Collectively, available studies suggest a reliable safety and efficacy profile for VV116. However, the limited number of trials was insufficient for meta-analysis, and the included population consisted of younger individuals with mild and moderate symptoms, not encompassing the elderly who are severely affected by COVID-19. We hope that more studies will be conducted in the future to ensure that VV116 has a more reliable safety and efficacy profile in the clinical setting, especially in severe or critical patients. © 2023 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.Ural Federal University, UrFUThis research was conducted with financial support from Ural Federal University

Multifractal analysis of complex networks

Complex networks have recently attracted much attention in diverse areas of science and technology. Many networks such as the WWW and biological networks are known to display spatial heterogeneity which can be characterized by their fractal dimensions. Multifractal analysis is a useful way to systematically describe the spatial heterogeneity of both theoretical and experimental fractal patterns. In this paper, we introduce a new box covering algorithm for multifractal analysis of complex networks. This algorithm is used to calculate the generalized fractal dimensions $D_{q}$ of some theoretical networks, namely scale-free networks, small world networks and random networks, and one kind of real networks, namely protein-protein interaction networks of different species. Our numerical results indicate the existence of multifractality in scale-free networks and protein-protein interaction networks, while the multifractal behavior is not clear-cut for small world networks and random networks. The possible variation of $D_{q}$ due to changes in the parameters of the theoretical network models is also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

Molecular-field approach to the spin-Peierls transition in CuGeO_3

We present a theory for the spin-Peierls transition in CuGeO_3. We map the elementary excitations of the dimerized chain (solitons) on an effective Ising model. Inter-chain coupling (or phonons) then introduce a linear binding potential between a pair of soliton and anti-soliton, leading to a finite transition temperature. We evaluate, as a function of temperature, the order parameter, the singlet-triplet gap, the specific heat, and the susceptibility and compare with experimental data on CuGeO_3. We find that CuGeO_3 is close to a first-order phase transition. We point out, that the famous scaling law \sim\delta^{2/3} of the triplet gap is a simple consequence of the linear binding potential between pairs of solitons and anti-solitons in dimerized spin chains.Comment: 7.1 pages, figures include

Observation of Y(2175) in J/ψ→ηϕf0(980)J/\psi\to \eta\phi f_0(980)

The decays of $J/\psi\to \eta\phi f_0(980) (\eta\to \gamma\gamma, \phi \to K^+K^-, f_0(980)\to\pi^+\pi^-)$ are analyzed using a sample of $5.8 \times 10^{7}$ $J/\psi$ events collected with the BESII detector at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPC). A structure at around $2.18$GeV/$c^2$ with about $5\sigma$ significance is observed in the $\phi f_0(980)$ invariant mass spectrum. A fit with a Breit-Wigner function gives the peak mass and width of $m=2.186\pm 0.010 (stat)\pm 0.006 (syst)$GeV/$c^2$ and $\Gamma=0.065\pm 0.023 (stat)\pm 0.017 (syst)$GeV/$c^2$, respectively, that are consistent with those of Y(2175), observed by the BABAR collaboration in the initial-state radiation (ISR) process $e^+e^-\to\gamma_{ISR}\phi f_0(980)$. The production branching ratio is determined to be $Br(J/\psi\to\eta Y(2175))\cdot Br(Y(2175)\to\phi f_0(980))\cdot Br(f_0(980)\to\pi^+\pi^-)=(3.23\pm 0.75 (stat)\pm0.73 (syst))\times 10^{-4}$, assuming that the Y(2175) is a $1^{--}$ state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Active optical clock based on four-level quantum system

Active optical clock, a new conception of atomic clock, has been proposed recently. In this report, we propose a scheme of active optical clock based on four-level quantum system. The final accuracy and stability of two-level quantum system are limited by second-order Doppler shift of thermal atomic beam. To three-level quantum system, they are mainly limited by light shift of pumping laser field. These limitations can be avoided effectively by applying the scheme proposed here. Rubidium atom four-level quantum system, as a typical example, is discussed in this paper. The population inversion between $6S_{1/2}$ and $5P_{3/2}$ states can be built up at a time scale of $10^{-6}$s. With the mechanism of active optical clock, in which the cavity mode linewidth is much wider than that of the laser gain profile, it can output a laser with quantum-limited linewidth narrower than 1 Hz in theory. An experimental configuration is designed to realize this active optical clock.Comment: 5 page