Noninteractive Verifiable Outsourcing Algorithm for Bilinear Pairing with Improved Checkability

It is well known that the computation of bilinear pairing is the most expensive operation in pairing-based cryptography. In this paper, we propose a noninteractive verifiable outsourcing algorithm of bilinear pairing based on two servers in the one-malicious model. The outsourcer need not execute any expensive operation, such as scalar multiplication and modular exponentiation. Moreover, the outsourcer could detect any failure with a probability close to 1 if one of the servers misbehaves. Therefore, the proposed algorithm improves checkability and decreases communication cost compared with the previous ones. Finally, we utilize the proposed algorithm as a subroutine to achieve an anonymous identity-based encryption (AIBE) scheme with outsourced decryption and an identity-based signature (IBS) scheme with outsourced verification

Cadmium and Its Neurotoxic Effects

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that has received considerable concern environmentally and occupationally. Cd has a long biological half-life mainly due to its low rate of excretion from the body. Thus, prolonged exposure to Cd will cause toxic effect due to its accumulation over time in a variety of tissues, including kidneys, liver, central nervous system (CNS), and peripheral neuronal systems. Cd can be uptaken from the nasal mucosa or olfactory pathways into the peripheral and central neurons; for the latter, Cd can increase the blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability. However, mechanisms underlying Cd neurotoxicity remain not completely understood. Effect of Cd neurotransmitter, oxidative damage, interaction with other metals such as cobalt and zinc, estrogen-like, effect and epigenetic modification may all be the underlying mechanisms. Here, we review the in vitro and in vivo evidence of neurotoxic effects of Cd. The available finding indicates the neurotoxic effects of Cd that was associated with both biochemical changes of the cell and functional changes of central nervous system, suggesting that neurotoxic effects may play a role in the systemic toxic effects of the exposure to Cd, particularly the long-term exposure

The influence of angiopoietin-like protein 3 on macrophages polarization and its effect on the podocyte EMT in diabetic nephropathy

BackgroundPodocyte injury, which involves the podocyte epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, is a crucial factor contributing to the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN) and proteinuria. Our study aimed to examine the protective properties of Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (Angptl3) knockout on podocyte damage and macrophage polarization in DN mice and podocytes treated with HG. Furthermore, we also sought to investigate the underlying molecular mechanism responsible for these effects.MethodsDN was induced in B6;129S5 mice through intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg of streptozotocin (STZ). Subsequently, the changes in renal function, podocyte apoptosis, inflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α], interleukin-6 [IL-6], and interleukin-1β [IL-1β]), IL-10, TGF-β1, IL-1Ra, IL-10Ra, and nephrin were evaluated. Moreover, we investigated the mechanism underlying the role of Angptl3 in macrophages polarization, podocyte injury, podocyte EMT.ResultsOur findings revealed that Angptl3 knockout significantly attenuated STZ or HG-induced renal dysfunction and podocyte EMT. In both in vivo and in vitro studies, Angptl3 knockout led to (1) promote the transformation of M1 type macrophages into M2 type macrophages; (2) amelioration of the reduced expression of nephrin, synaptopodin, and podocin; (3) inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation and release of IL-1β; and (4) regulation of α-SMA expression via the macrophage polarization. (5) After HG treatment, there was an increase in pro-inflammatory factors and foot cell damage. These changes were reversed upon Angptle knockdown.ConclusionOur study suggests that the knockout of Angptl3 alleviates podocyte EMT and podocyte injury by regulating macrophage polarization

Genome-wide identification of the soybean cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase gene family and its diverse roles in response to multiple abiotic stress

Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX) irreversibly degrades cytokinin, regulates growth and development, and helps plants to respond to environmental stress. Although the CKX gene has been well characterized in various plants, its role in soybean remains elusive. Therefore, in this study, the evolutionary relationship, chromosomal location, gene structure, motifs, cis-regulatory elements, collinearity, and gene expression patterns of GmCKXs were analyzed using RNA-seq, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and bioinformatics. We identified 18 GmCKX genes from the soybean genome and grouped them into five clades, each comprising members with similar gene structures and motifs. Cis-acting elements involved in hormones, resistance, and physiological metabolism were detected in the promoter regions of GmCKXs. Synteny analysis indicated that segmental duplication events contributed to the expansion of the soybean CKX family. The expression profiling of the GmCKXs genes using qRT-PCR showed tissue-specific expression patterns. The RNA-seq analysis also indicated that GmCKXs play an important role in response to salt and drought stresses at the seedling stage. The responses of the genes to salt, drought, synthetic cytokinin 6-benzyl aminopurine (6-BA), and the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) at the germination stage were further evaluated by qRT-PCR. Specifically, the GmCKX14 gene was downregulated in the roots and the radicles at the germination stage. The hormones 6-BA and IAA repressed the expression levels of GmCKX1, GmCKX6, and GmCKX9 genes but upregulated the expression levels of GmCKX10 and GmCKX18 genes. The three abiotic stresses also decreased the zeatin content in soybean radicle but enhanced the activity of the CKX enzymes. Conversely, the 6-BA and IAA treatments enhanced the CKX enzymes’ activity but reduced the zeatin content in the radicles. This study, therefore, provides a reference for the functional analysis of GmCKXs in soybean in response to abiotic stresses

Shoot/Root Interactions Affect Soybean Photosynthetic Traits and Yield Formation: A Case Study of Grafting With Record-Yield Cultivars

Improvement of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield and photosynthesis physiology have been achieved over decades of cultivar breeding. Identification of the mechanisms involved in shoot-root interactions would be beneficial for the development of yield improvement breeding strategies. The objectives of this study were to investigate soybean shoot-root interactions with different-year released soybean cultivars and to evaluate their effects on grain yield and yield components. Soybean grafts used in this study were constructed with two record-yield cultivars Liaodou14 (L14) and Zhonghuang35 (Z35) and eleven cultivars released in 1966–2006 from the United States and Chinese. The grafting experiments were conducted as pot-culture experiments and repeated in 2014 and 2015. Our results showed that net photosynthesis rate (PN) was positively correlated to both root activity and root bleeding sap mass (RBSM) during the R6 reproductive stage. Moreover, different year-released soybean shoots had all exhibited capabilities of changing the root activity and architecture of L14 and Z35 rootstocks to “generation”-specific patterns during all reproductive stages. However, these influences were independent of the photosynthetic strength. Yield analysis had demonstrated that high-yielding root systems (L14 and Z35 rootstocks) could cause more than 15% of yield increase in seven out of eleven common scions in a scion-genotype-dependent manner. For Williams-descendant cultivar scions, L14 and Z35 rootstocks promoted yields mainly by increasing the seed number (SN), but those scions of Amsoy-descendent cultivars showed mainly seed weight (SW) increases when grafted onto L14 and Z35 rootstocks. On the other hand, although most tested common rootstocks did not show significant influence over the final yields in record-yield L14 and Z35 scions, they were obviously capable of shifting the formation of yield components when compared to L14 and Z35 self-grafting controls. Taken together, soybean shoots could influence the root physiology and played a crucial role in the determination of yield potentials. Synergistically with shoots, soybean roots played a more supportive role during the realization of yield potentials through root activities and by balancing the formation of yield components. These findings provided interesting insightful information for developing new breeding strategies which aim to pyramid elite physiological and yield traits by selecting specific parental combinations

Histidine‐mediated synthesis of chiral cobalt oxide nanoparticles for enantiomeric discrimination and quantification

Chiral transition metal oxide nanoparticles (CTMOs) are attracting a lot of attention due to their fascinating properties. Nevertheless, elucidating the chirality induction mechanism often remains a major challenge. Herein, the synthesis of chiral cobalt oxide nanoparticles mediated by histidine (Co3O4@L-His and Co3O4@D-His for nanoparticles synthesized in the presence of L- and D-histidine, respectively) is investigated. Interestingly, these CTMOs exhibit remarkable and tunable chiroptical properties. Their analysis by x-ray photoelectron, Fourier transform infrared, and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy indicates that the ratio of Co2+/Co3+ and their interactions with the imidazole groups of histidine are behind their chiral properties. In addition, the use of chiral Co3O4 nanoparticles for the development of sensitive, rapid, and enantioselective circular dichroism-based sensors is demonstrated, allowing direct molecular detection and discrimination between cysteine or penicillamine enantiomers. The circular dichroism response of the chiral Co3O4 exhibits a limit of detection and discrimination of cysteine and penicillamine enantiomers as low as 10 µm. Theoretical calculations suggest that the ligand exchange and the coexistence of both species adsorbed on the oxide surface are responsible for the enantiomeric discrimination. This research will enrich the synthetic approaches to obtain CTMOs and enable the extension of the applications and the discovery of new chiroptical properties.National Natural Science Foundation of China | Ref. 22271257Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2019-108954RB-I00Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2020/09Universidade de Vigo/CISU

Colonic mucosal biopsy location can not affect the results of mucosal metabolomics and mucosal microbiota analysis in IBS

ObjectiveTo compare and analyze the mucosal metabolites and mucosal microbiota of different parts of colon in patients with IBS.MethodsA total of 10 patients with IBS-D and six healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. All enrolled participants underwent two biopsies of the ileocecal and sigmoid colon during colonoscopy. Metabolomic profiling of one piece of tissue was conducted using desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (DESI-MS), and the gut flora of the other piece was examined using 16S rRNA sequencing. The metabolic profiles and flora of the ileocecal and sigmoid colonic mucosa in each group were further analyzed in this study.Results(1) Principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that mucosal metabolites did not differ in different parts of the colon in either the IBS-D or HC groups. (2) In the mucosal microbiome analyses, no differences between the microbiota of the two parts of the colon were found by using Principal Co-ordinates Analysis (PCoA). In IBS group, comparing with sigmoid mucosa, the chao1 richness indice was higher and the Shannon index was lower in the ileocecal mucosa (p = 0.40, p = 0.22). However, in the HC group, microbiome analysis of the ileocecal mucosa showed lower values for Chao 1 and Shannon indices than those of the sigmoid colon mucosa (p = 0.06, p = 0.86). (3) Compared with the HC group, 1,113 metabolic signal peaks were upregulated, whereas 594 metabolites were downregulated in the IBS-D samples. Moreover, the PCA of the metabolites showed significant separation between the IBS-D and HC groups. (4) Chao1 expression was significantly higher in the mucosal microbiota with IBS-D than in the HC (p = 0.03). The Shannon index was lower in IBS-D, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.53). PCoA revealed a significant difference in the microflora structure between the IBS-D and HC groups.ConclusionThe mucosal metabolic profile and mucosal flora structure of the colon were similar, despite different locations in IBS and healthy subjects. IBS had abnormal colonic mucosal metabolism and flora disturbances

MSH2 and MSH6 in mismatch repair system account for soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) tolerance to cadmium Toxicity by determining DNA damage response

Our aim was to investigate DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes regulating cadmium tolerance in two soybean cultivars. Cultivars Liaodou 10 (LD10, Cd-sensitive) and Shennong 20 (SN20, Cd-tolerant) seedlings were grown hydroponically on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media containing 0–2.5 mg·L–1 Cd for 4 days. Cd stress induced less random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) polymorphism in LD10 than in SN20 roots, causing G1/S arrest in LD10 and G2/M arrest in SN20 roots. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of MLH1 in LD10-TRV-MLH1 plantlets showed markedly diminished G1/S arrest but enhanced root length/area under Cd stress. However, an increase in G1/S arrest and reduction of G2/M arrest occurred in SN20-TRV-MSH2 and SN20-TRV-MSH6 plantlets with decreased root length/area under Cd stress. Taken together, we conclude that the low expression of MSH2 and MSH6, involved in the G2/M arrest, results in Cd-induced DNA damage recognition bypassing the MMR system to activate G1/S arrest with the assistance of MLH1. This then leads to repressed root growth in LD10, explaining the intervarietal difference in Cd tolerance in soybean

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing for detecting lower respiratory tract infections in sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples from children

Lower respiratory tract infections are common in children. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid has long been established as the best biological sample for detecting respiratory tract infections; however, it is not easily collected in children. Sputum may be used as an alternative yet its diagnostic accuracy remains controversial. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of sputum for detecting lower respiratory tract infections using metagenomic next-generation sequencing. Paired sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples were obtained from 68 patients; pathogens were detected in 67 sputum samples and 64 bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples by metagenomic next-generation sequencing, respectively. The combined pathogen-detection rates in the sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples were 80.90% and 66.2%, respectively. For sputum, the positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs) for detecting bacteria were 0.72 and 0.73, respectively, with poor Kappa agreement (0.30; 95% confidence interval: 0.218–0.578, P < 0.001). However, viral detection in sputum had good sensitivity (0.87), fair specificity (0.57), and moderate Kappa agreement (0.46; 95% confidence interval: 0.231–0.693, P < 0.001). The PPVs and NPVs for viral detection in sputum were 0.82 and 0.67, respectively. The consistency between the sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was poor for bacterial detection yet moderate for viral detection. Thus, clinicians should be cautious when interpreting the results of sputum in suspected cases of lower respiratory tract infections, particularly with regards to bacterial detection in sputum. Viral detection in sputum appears to be more reliable; however, clinicians must still use comprehensive clinical judgment

Roles of MSH2 and MSH6 in cadmium-induced G2/M checkpoint arrest in Arabidopsis roots

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins have been implicated in sensing and correcting DNA damage, and in governing cell cycle progression in the presence of structurally anomalous nucleotide lesions induced by different stresses in mammalian cells. Here, Arabidopsis seedlings were grown hydroponically on 0.5 × MS media containing cadmium (Cd) at 0–4.0 mg L−1 for 5 d. Flow cytometry results indicated that Cd stress induced a G2/M cell cycle arrest both in MLH1-, MSH2-, MSH6-deficient, and in WT roots, associated with marked changes of G2/M regulatory genes, including ATM, ATR, SOG1, BRCA1, WEE1, CYCD4; 1, MAD2, CDKA;1, CYCB1; 2 and CYCB1; 1. However, the Cd-induced G2/M phase arrest was markedly diminished in the MSH2- and MSH6-deficient roots, while a lack of MLH1 had no effect on Cd-induced G2 phase arrest relative to that in the wild type roots under the corresponding Cd stress. Expression of the above G2/M regulatory genes was altered in MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6-deficient roots in response to Cd treatment. Furthermore, Cd elicited endoreplication in MSH2- and MSH6-deficient roots, but not in MLH1-deficient Arabidopsis roots. Results suggest that MSH2 and MSH6 may act as direct sensors of Cd-mediated DNA damage. Taken together, we conclude that MSH2 and MSH6, but not MLH1, components of the MMR system are involved in the G2 phase arrest and endoreplication induced by Cd stress in Arabidopsis roots