BRL1 and BRL3 are novel brassinosteroid receptors that function in vascular differentiation in Arabidopsis

Plant steroid hormones, brassinosteroids (BRs), are perceived by the plasma membrane-localized leucine-rich-repeat-receptor kinase BRI1. Based on sequence similarity, we have identified three members of the BRI1 family, named BRL1, BRL2 and BRL3. BRL1 and BRL3, but not BRL2, encode functional BR receptors that bind brassinolide, the most active BR, with high affinity. In agreement, only BRL1 and BRL3 can rescue bri1 mutants when expressed under the control of the BRI1 promoter. While BRI1 is ubiquitously expressed in growing cells, the expression of BRL1 and BRL3 is restricted to non-overlapping subsets of vascular cells. Loss-of-function of brl1 causes abnormal phloem:xylem differentiation ratios and enhances the vascular defects of a weak bri1 mutant. bri1 brl1 brl3 triple mutants enhance bri1 dwarfism and also exhibit abnormal vascular differentiation. Thus, Arabidopsis contains a small number of BR receptors that have specific functions in cell growth and vascular differentiation.Fil: Caño Delgado, Ana. Salk Institute. Plant Biology Laboratory; Estados Unidos. Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Yin, Yanhai. Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Estados Unidos. Salk Institute. Plant Biology Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Yu, Cong. University of Michigan; Estados UnidosFil: Vafeados, Dionne. Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Estados Unidos. Salk Institute. Plant Biology Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Mora Garcia, Santiago. Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Estados Unidos. Salk Institute. Plant Biology Laboratory; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Cheng, Jin Chen. University of Michigan; Estados UnidosFil: Nam, Kyoung Hee. University of Michigan; Estados UnidosFil: Li, Jianming. University of Michigan; Estados UnidosFil: Chory, Joanne. Salk Institute. Plant Biology Laboratory; Estados Unidos. Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Estados Unido

Efficacy and safety of rituximab for systemic lupus erythematosus treatment: a meta-analysis

Background: Given the inconsistency of previous studies and the newly emerging evidence, we decided to conduct a meta-analysis. Methods: The meta-analysis included 2 randomized controlled trials and 13 observational studies 742 patients in total. Qualified studies were properly searched from databases . Data were analyzed by the RevMan 5.3 software. Results were demonstrated as WMD , SMD and RR with 95% CIs, I2 and P value. Results: we observed that a remarkable increase of complement C3 in the rituximab group than placebo group (WMDfixed=7.67mg/dL, 95%CIs=-0.16~15.50, I2=0%, P=0.05). A significant increase of complement C4 was observed in the rituximab group than placebo group (WMDfixed=3.14mg/dL, 95%CIs=1.06~5.22, I2 =0%, P=0.003). Notably decreased peripheral CD19+B cells in rituximab group than placebo group (WMDfixed=-117.93n/\u3bcl, 95%CIs=-172.94~-62.91, I2 =0%, P<0.0001) in RCTs. Patients with severe or refractory SLE got more satisfactory efficacy results after receiving rituximab in observational studies, such as British Isles Lupus Assessment Group index score, SLE Disease Activity Index score, complement C3/C4, anti-dsDNA antibodies, peripheral CD19+B cells and so on. Safety profiles were no difference between rituximab and placebo groups. Conclusion: although the efficacy of rituximab is highly controversial for SLE, our study shows that rituximab presents a satisfying efficacy and safety for SLE

Ozone pollution effects on gas exchange, growth and biomass yield of salinity-treated winter wheat cultivars

A sand-culture experiment was conducted in four Open-Top-Chambers to assess the effects of O-3 on salinity-treated winter wheat. Two winter wheat cultivars, salt-tolerant Dekang961 and salt-sensitive Lumai15, were grown under saline (100 mM NaCl) and/or O-3 (80 +/- 5 nmol mol(-1)) conditions for 35 days. Significant (P<0.05) O-3-induced decreases were noted for both cultivars in terms of gas exchange, relative water content, growth and biomass yield in the no-salinity treatment Significant (P<0.01) corresponding decreases were measured in Dekang961 but not in Lumai15 in the salinity treatment. Soluble sugar and proline contents significantly increased in both cultivars in combined salinity and O-3 exposure. O-3-induced down-regulation in the gradients of A-C-1 and A-PPFD response curves were much larger in Dekang961 than in Lumai15 under saline conditions. Significant (P<0.05) interactions were noted in both salinity x cultivars and salinity x O-3 stresses. The results clearly demonstrated that O-3 injuries were closely correlated with plant stomatal conductance (g(s)); the salt-tolerant wheat cultivar might be damaged more severely than the salt-sensitive cultivar by O-3 due to its higher gs in saline conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Study on Heat Transfer Performance and Anti-Fouling Mechanism of Ternary Ni-W-P Coating

Since the formation of fouling reduces heat transfer efficiency and causes energy loss, anti-fouling is desirable and may be achieved by coating. In this work, a nickel-tungsten-phosphorus (Ni-W-P) coating was prepared on the mild steel (1015) substrate using electroless plating by varying sodium tungstate concentration to improve its anti-fouling property. Surface morphology, microstructure, fouling behavior, and heat transfer performance of coatings were further reported. Also, the reaction path, transition state, and energy gradient change of calcite, aragonite, and vaterite were also calculated. During the deposition process, as the W and P elements were solids dissolved in the Ni crystal cell, the content of Ni element was obviously higher than that of the other two elements. Globular morphology was evenly covered on the surface. Consequently, the thermal conductivity of ternary Ni-W-P coating decreases from 8.48 W/m&middot;K to 8.19 W/m&middot;K with the increase of W content. Additionally, it goes up to 8.93 W/m&middot;K with the increase of heat source temperature 343 K. Oxidation products are always accompanied by deposits of calcite-phase CaCO3 fouling. Due to the low surface energy of Ni-W-P coating, Ca2+ and [CO3]2&minus; are prone to cross the transition state with a low energy barrier of 0.10 eV, resulting in the more formation of aragonite-phase CaCO3 fouling on ternary Ni-W-P coating. Nevertheless, because of the interaction of high surface energy and oxidation products on the bare matrix or Ni-W-P coating with superior W content, free Ca2+ and [CO3]2&minus; can be easy to nucleate into calcite. As time goes on, the heat transfer efficiency of material with Ni-W-P coating is superior to the bare surface

First principles study of dissolved oxygen water adsorption on Fe (001) surfaces

In order to study the mechanism of dissolved oxygen content on the surface corrosion behavior of Fe-based heat transfer, the first principle is used to study the adsorption of O2 monomolecular, H2O monolayer and dissolved oxygen system on Fe-based heat transfer surface. The GGA/PBE approximation is used to calculate the adsorption energy, state density and population change during the adsorption process. Calculations prove that when the dissolved oxygen is adsorbed on the Fe-based surface, the water molecule tends to adsorb at the top sites, and the oxygen molecule tends to adsorb at Griffiths. When the H2O molecule adsorbs and interacts on the Fe (001) surface, the charge distribution of the interfacial double electric layer changes to cause the Fe atoms to lose electrons, resulting in the change of the surface potential. When the O2 molecule adsorbs on the Fe (001) crystal surfaces, the electrons on the Fe (001) surface are lost and the surface potential increases. O2 molecule and the surface of the Fe atoms are prone to electron transfer, in which O atom's 2p orbit for the adsorption of O2 molecule on Fe (001) crystal surface play a major role. With the increase of the proportion of O2 molecule in the dissolved oxygen water, the absolute value of the adsorption energy increases, and the interaction of the Fe-based heat transfer surface is stronger. This study explores the influence law of different dissolved oxygen on the Fe base heat exchange surface corrosion, and the base metal corrosion mechanism for experimental study provides a theoretical reference

Differentiation between immune checkpoint inhibitor‐related and radiation pneumonitis in lung cancer by CT radiomics and machine learning

Purpose Consolidation immunotherapy after completion of chemoradiotherapy has become the standard of care for unresectable locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer and can induce potentially severe and life-threatening adverse events, including both immune checkpoint inhibitor-related pneumonitis (CIP) and radiation pneumonitis (RP), which are very challenging for radiologists to diagnose. Differentiating between CIP and RP has significant implications for clinical management such as the treatments to pneumonitis and the decision to continue or restart immunotherapy. The purpose of this study is to differentiate between CIP and RP by a CT radiomics approach. Methods We retrospectively collected the CT images and clinical information of patients with pneumonitis who received immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) only (n = 28), radiotherapy (RT) only (n = 31), and ICI+RT (n = 14). Three kinds of radiomic features (intensity histogram, gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) based, and bag-of-words features) were extracted from CT images, which characterize tissue texture at different scales. Classification models, including logistic regression, random forest, and linear SVM, were first developed and tested in patients who received ICI or RT only with 10-fold cross validation and further tested in patients who received ICI+RT using clinicians’ diagnosis as a reference. Results Using 10-fold cross validation, the classification models built on the intensity histogram features, GLCM based features, and bag-of-words features achieved an area under curve (AUC) of 0.765, 0.848, and 0.937, respectively. The best model was then applied to the patients receiving combination treatment, achieving an AUC of 0.896. Conclusions This study demonstrates the promising potential of radiomic analysis of CT images for differentiating between CIP and RP in lung cancer, which could be a useful tool to attribute the cause of pneumonitis in patients who receive both ICI and RT

Effects of external potassium (K) supply on drought tolerances of two contrasting winter wheat cultivars

BACKGROUND: Drought is a common stress limiting crops growth and productivities worldwide. Water deficit may increase cellular membrane permeability, resulting in K outflow. Internal K starvation may disorder plant metabolism and limit plant growth. However, it is seldom reported about the effects of external K on drought tolerance of contrasting wheat cultivars. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A hydroponics experiment was carried out in a non-controlled greenhouse. Seedlings of drought-tolerant SN16 and intolerant JM22 were simultaneously treated by five levels of K(2)CO(3) (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 mM) and two levels of PEG6000 (0, 20%) for 7 days. External K(2)CO(3) significantly increased shoot K(+) content, water potential, chlorophyll content as well as gas exchange, but decreased electrolyte leakage (EL) and MDA content in both cultivars under PEG6000 stress. Antioxidant enzymes activities were up-regulated by PEG6000 while external K(2)CO(3) reduced those changes. Molecular basis was explained by measuring the expression levels of antioxidant enzymes related genes. Shoot and root biomass were also increased by K(2)CO(3) supply under drought stress. Although adequate K(2)CO(3) application enhanced plant growth for both cultivars under drought stress, SN16 was better than JM22 due to its high drought tolerance. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Adequate external K may effectively protect winter wheat from drought injuries. We conclude that drought-tolerant wheat combined with adequate external K supply may be a promising strategy for better growth in arid and semi-arid regions

Biomass energy utilization and soil carbon sequestration in rural China: A case study based on circular agriculture

Biogas projects have been promoted by the Chinese government in rural areas for several decades. However, these projects have proceeded slowly under the lack of biogas production technology. A circular agricultural experiment in combination with a local biogas promotion project was carried out in Jiangjiazhuang, a typical agricultural village in China, from 2008 to 2015. Agricultural production proceeded in an agricultural loop: Crops -> Grains/crop residues -> Human/cattle -> Human/cattle excreta -> Biogas digester -> Biogas/biogas residues -> Domestic fuels/organic fertilizers -> Crops. The abundant crop residues were used as cattle forage to turn the biomass energy into human-edible food. Human/cattle dejecta was used as the substrate to produce biogas for livelihood energy. Biogas digester residues were used as organic fertilizers after composting to improve soil quality and crop yield. The results showed that the proportion of crop residues used for cattle forage increased from 1.3% in 2008 to 86.2% in 2015, while cattle population increased from 3 to 198. The proportion of biogas in total household energy increased from 1.1% in 2008 to 62.3% in 2015. Soil organic carbon increased under organic fertilizer application from 83.8Mg C hm(-2) to 213.5Mg C hm(-2). Our findings demonstrate that the promotion of circular agriculture may effectively enhance the utilization rate of biomass energy (crop residues) and reduce the consumption potential of fossil energy over 50%. Circular agriculture is a sustainable agricultural system that could improve the environmental conditions in rural areas. Published by AIP Publishing

Effects of external potassium (k) supply on drought tolerances of two contrasting winter wheat cultivars.

BACKGROUND: Drought is a common stress limiting crops growth and productivities worldwide. Water deficit may increase cellular membrane permeability, resulting in K outflow. Internal K starvation may disorder plant metabolism and limit plant growth. However, it is seldom reported about the effects of external K on drought tolerance of contrasting wheat cultivars. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A hydroponics experiment was carried out in a non-controlled greenhouse. Seedlings of drought-tolerant SN16 and intolerant JM22 were simultaneously treated by five levels of K2CO3 (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 mM) and two levels of PEG6000 (0, 20%) for 7 days. External K2CO3 significantly increased shoot K(+) content, water potential, chlorophyll content as well as gas exchange, but decreased electrolyte leakage (EL) and MDA content in both cultivars under PEG6000 stress. Antioxidant enzymes activities were up-regulated by PEG6000 while external K2CO3 reduced those changes. Molecular basis was explained by measuring the expression levels of antioxidant enzymes related genes. Shoot and root biomass were also increased by K2CO3 supply under drought stress. Although adequate K2CO3 application enhanced plant growth for both cultivars under drought stress, SN16 was better than JM22 due to its high drought tolerance. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Adequate external K may effectively protect winter wheat from drought injuries. We conclude that drought-tolerant wheat combined with adequate external K supply may be a promising strategy for better growth in arid and semi-arid regions