Antimicrobial compounds from Athyrium sinense damage the cell membrane of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus

Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus is a widely distributed pathogen that causes ring rot of potato. Antimicrobial activity assays demonstrated that petroleum ether extracts from Athyrium sinense was a fraction with strong activity against C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical compounds in this fraction, and to investigate the antimicrobial mechanism. The dominant components were palmitic acid (25.78%), neophytadiene (13.66%), linoleic acid (8.95%), oleic acid (8.20%), phloretic acid (7.48%), methyl sinapate (6.92%), e-11-hexadecen-1-ol (6.10%), 1-hexadecanol (5.41%), and stearic acid (2.87%). Electron micrographs showed that application of the petroleum ether extracts seriously altered the morphology of C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus. Release of alkaline phosphatase and leakage of intracellular soluble protein confirmed that the integrity of the cell membrane was destroyed. Furthermore, ATPase activity, intracellular DNA content, and cell membrane potential were all demonstrated to be inhibited. In addition, the petroleum ether extract penetrated through the damaged cell membrane, and subsequently disrupted the cell cycle of the bacteria. We concluded that the petroleum ether fraction of ethanolic Athyrium sinense extracts was effective to inhibit C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus by damaging the cell membrane, and could be used as a natural alternative for C. michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus control

Investigation and protection of fishery resources in the middle of Bohai Sea

In May and October 2017, 12 stations were set up in the Central Bohai Sea for fishery resources investigation. The results show that there are many dominant species in this area, and the inshore fishery resources are higher than those in the open sea because of the abundant nutrients from land, the high density of zooplankton and the food of swimming animals. In order to effectively protect the fishery resources in the Central Bohai Sea, this paper puts forward some suggestions, such as strengthening the protection propaganda, scientific and reasonable fishing, and strengthening the management of marine environment

Dynamic placement of the linker histone H1 associated with nucleosome arrangement and gene transcription in early Drosophila embryonic development

The linker histone H1 is critical to maintenance of higher-order chromatin structures and to gene expression regulation. However, H1 dynamics and its functions in embryonic development remain unresolved. Here, we profiled gene expression, nucleosome positions, and H1 locations in early Drosophila embryos. The results show that H1 binding is positively correlated with the stability of beads-on-a-string nucleosome organization likely through stabilizing nucleosome positioning and maintaining nucleosome spacing. Strikingly, nucleosomes with H1 placement deviating to the left or the right relative to the dyad shift to the left or the right, respectively, during early Drosophila embryonic development. H1 occupancy on genic nucleosomes is inversely correlated with nucleosome distance to the transcription start sites. This inverse correlation reduces as gene transcription levels decrease. Additionally, H1 occupancy is lower at the 5\u27 border of genic nucleosomes than that at the 3\u27 border. This asymmetrical pattern of H1 occupancy on genic nucleosomes diminishes as gene transcription levels decrease. These findings shed new lights into how H1 placement dynamics correlates with nucleosome positioning and gene transcription during early Drosophila embryonic development

Vitamin E stabilizes iron and mitochondrial metabolism in pulmonary fibrosis

Introduction: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a fatal chronic lung disease that causes structural damage and decreased lung function and has a poor prognosis. Currently, there is no medicine that can truly cure PF. Vitamin E (VE) is a group of natural antioxidants with anticancer and antimutagenic properties. There have been a few reports about the attenuation of PF by VE in experimental animals, but the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood.Methods: Bleomycin-induced PF (BLM-PF) mouse model, and cultured mouse primary lung fibroblasts and MLE 12 cells were utilized. Pathological examination of lung sections, immunoblotting, immunofluorescent staining, and real-time PCR were conducted in this study.Results: We confirmed that VE significantly delayed the progression of BLM-PF and increased the survival rates of experimental mice with PF. VE suppressed the pathological activation and fibrotic differentiation of lung fibroblasts and epithelial-mesenchymal transition and alleviated the inflammatory response in BLM-induced fibrotic lungs and pulmonary epithelial cells in vitro. Importantly, VE reduced BLM-induced ferritin expression in fibrotic lungs, whereas VE did not exhibit iron chelation properties in fibroblasts or epithelial cells in vitro. Furthermore, VE protected against mitochondrial dysmorphology and normalized mitochondrial protein expression in BLM-PF lungs. Consistently, VE suppressed apoptosis in BLM-PF lungs and pulmonary epithelial cells in vitro.Discussion: Collectively, VE markedly inhibited BLM-induced PF through a complex mechanism, including improving iron metabolism and mitochondrial structure and function, mitigating inflammation, and decreasing the fibrotic functions of fibroblasts and epithelial cells. Therefore, VE presents a highly potential therapeutic against PF due to its multiple protective effects with few side effects

Between Two Nations: Political Ideology and the Role of the State in the COVID-19 Response in China and the USA

This thesis analyzed the COVID-19 pandemic and its prevalent issues in both US and China. What the COVID-19 pandemic made visible is an alarming side of the political ideologies in both countries. It came to the conclusion that, for China, while solidarity gives the nation the strength to defeat the pandemic, a top-down censorship is penetrated into the collective mentality. For the United States, a greater sense of community embodied in mutual obligation and shared sacrifice is much needed to combat the pandemic. Furthermore, more public trust in science and a more accurate appreciation of the harm to others that is caused by ignoring mask-wearing mandates and social distancing regulations.Bachelor of Art

Gut Microbiota Shifts in Pup Athymic BALB/c Mice: An Updated Identification in Nude Mice

It is commonly recognized that immunodeficiency modifies the gut microbiota in mammals. However, little information on the gut microbiota is available for athymic nude mice; one of the most popular animals for modeling immunodeficiency and tumors. In this study, 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing was performed to investigate the gut microbial composition of pup nude BALB/c mice during a 30-day experimental period. In contrast to pup normal mice, pup nude mice showed a significant variation in gut microbiota. Continuously decreased dynamics of the gut bacterial Shannon index, abnormal Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, the rarity of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species, and a developmental lag of gut bacterial functions were observed in nude mice. The shift in gut microbiota and abnormal colonization of beneficial bacterial species in nude mice provide an updated insight into the nude mouse tumor model and a new perspective for establishing an animal model for study on dysbacteriosis

Research on the Application of Blockchain in Smart Healthcare: Constructing a Hierarchical Framework

This study aims to explore the application of blockchain technology in smart healthcare, establish a hierarchical theoretical framework of smart healthcare, reveal the impact of blockchain on smart healthcare, and finally, construct a development application system of smart healthcare under the blockchain based on stakeholder theory. However, such a hierarchical theoretical framework should consider not only the necessary attributes and the interrelationship among various aspects and attributes but also the role of multiple stakeholders. Therefore, the paper uses fuzzy set theory to filter unnecessary attributes, proposes a decision-making and experimental evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) to manage the complex interrelationships between various aspects and attributes, and uses Interpretive Structure Modeling (ISM) to divide the hierarchy and construct a hierarchical theoretical framework. The results show that (1) the top-level design, the medical record management, and the doctor management are the root causes of system. (2) The specific application of blockchain in the field of smart healthcare is mainly carried out around the intelligent contract, which relies on the medical record management and is constrained by the system, and optimization of application is the key to system upgrading. (3) The internal and external regulation, the medical insurance, and the environmental governance play a guaranteed role for the development of the system and effectively safeguard the interests of stakeholders. (4) The application system of smart healthcare under the blockchain needs to be built based on three layers: the transaction layer, information layer, and stakeholder layer. The theoretical hierarchical framework is intended to guide smart healthcare towards blockchain applications, and stakeholders are suggested to participate in the development application systems

Dissection of Insertion–Deletion Variants within Differentially Expressed Genes Involved in Wood Formation in Populus

Short insertions and deletions (InDels) are one of the major genetic variants and are distributed widely across the genome; however, few investigations of InDels have been conducted in long-lived perennial plants. Here, we employed a combination of RNA-seq and population resequencing to identify InDels within differentially expressed (DE) genes underlying wood formation in a natural population of Populus tomentosa (435 individuals) and utilized InDel-based association mapping to detect the causal variants under additive, dominance, and epistasis underlying growth and wood properties. In the present paper, 5,482 InDels detected from 629 DE genes showed uneven distributions throughout all 19 chromosomes, and 95.9% of these loci were diallelic InDels. Seventy-four InDels (positive false discovery rate q ≤ 0.10) from 68 genes exhibited significant additive/dominant effects on 10 growth and wood-properties, with an average of 14.7% phenotypic variance explained. Potential pleiotropy was observed in one-third of the InDels (representing 24 genes). Seven genes exhibited significantly differential expression among the genotypic classes of associated InDels, indicating possible important roles for these InDels. Epistasis analysis showed that overlapping interacting genes formed unique interconnected networks for each trait, supporting the putative biochemical links that control quantitative traits. Therefore, the identification and utilization of InDels in trees will be recognized as an effective marker system for molecular marker-assisted breeding applications, and further facilitate our understanding of quantitative genomics

The Integration of Blockchain Technology and Smart Grid: Framework and Application

Based on the diffusion of blockchain technology in the smart grid, this paper studies the framework and application of the blockchain technology in the smart grid, so as to combine the blockchain with the smart grid and establish a sustainable supply chain. However, the establishment of a sustainable supply chain is based on a layered theoretical framework. Not only should the framework take into account needless attributes and the relationship among various criteria and aspects but the application should also involve a balance of multiple stakeholders. For the above reasons, this paper uses a combination of Fuzzy-DEMATEL and ISM. The results show that (1) the hierarchical path of sustainable supply chain management of the smart grid under the blockchain starts from the social level, pays attention to system construction, grasps the technical standards, and defines the development goals of the power grid. (2) The development of green energy has become a new market growth point. (3) The control of the operation level becomes the focus of the smart grid. (4) The optimization and development of the economic structure are restricted by social factors. By integrating and optimizing the blockchain and supply chain, this paper puts forward a theoretical framework, establishes a sustainable GIP application system with multistakeholder participation at the supply chain level, and indicates the significance of the blockchain in the smart grid