Characterization of a novel curled-cotyledons mutant in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]

Cotyledons that affect the plant development are important part of soybean. We describe a recessive soybean mutant, designated as curled-cotyledons mutant which is derived from sodiumazide (NaN3) and 60Coγ ray mutagenized seeds of the ‘Nannong 94-16’ cultivar. The curled-cotyledons mutant has defective morphology in cotyledons development, compared to the wild-type plants. Additionally, it also has other aberrant agronomic character, such as longer growth period, and smaller plants. In the mutant, the embryo sac becomes smaller and bulbous, and ultrastructure of developing cotyledons exhibits larger vacuole, some organelles degradation, and membranous multilamellar appear at different stages. Protein and amino acid contents in seeds of mutant are higher than those of the wild type, especially methionine and cysteine. These results suggest that the curled-cotyledons mutant is a novel cotyledon development mutant, which could serve as a basic material to study seed composition and cotyledon development in soybean.Keywords: Soybean, mutant, curled-cotyledons, gene

Investigation on Satisfaction among Elderly Residents of Senior Homes in China from a Social Marketing Perspective

Background: An aging society is a challenge for China with over 200 million adults aged over 60.  In respond to the growing aging population, senior homes become inevitable care model for frail older adults in China.  However, current senior homes seldom consider elderly special needs in their design, construction and operation stages which induce the low level of satisfaction.  Hence, this paper introduces social marketing concept into the senior homes for improving elderly satisfaction.  By adopting social marketing, operators of senior homes provide product (including built environment, healthcare services, social activities and so on) and set price in order to achieve positive behavior of the elders (i.e., satisfaction).Methods: To achieve this, questionnaire survey was conducted with 248 elderly respondents living in senior homes over than 6 months.  Several statistical methods including descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regression modeling were used to analyze quantitative data.Results: The results identified nine social marketing variables including charge rate, built environment, daily caring services, catering services, medical treatment, cleanliness, recreation activities, library and seminar.  Current findings indicated that (1) most senior homes in China pay attention to improve living environment and healthcare services, but might ignore the importance of charge rate and social activities; (2) all social marketing variables were significantly positively related to elderly satisfaction on senior homes; and (3) charge rate, built environment, daily caring services, catering services, medical services and cleanliness exert positive impact on overall satisfaction of elderly residents.  Conclusion: Social marketing as a growing applied approach in healthcare industry is innovatively introduced to senior homes in China.  By adopting social marketing, Chinese senior homes should investigate elders’ special needs and requirements and provide appropriate living environment and caring services. Keywords: China; Elders; Satisfaction; Senior Homes; Social Marketin

Differentiation enhances Zika virus infection of neuronal brain cells.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging, mosquito-borne pathogen associated with a widespread 2015-2016 epidemic in the Western Hemisphere and a proven cause of microcephaly and other fetal brain defects in infants born to infected mothers. ZIKV infections have been also linked to other neurological illnesses in infected adults and children, including Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and meningoencephalitis, but the viral pathophysiology behind those conditions remains poorly understood. Here we investigated ZIKV infectivity in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, both undifferentiated and following differentiation with retinoic acid. We found that multiple ZIKV strains, representing both the prototype African and contemporary Asian epidemic lineages, were able to replicate in SH-SY5Y cells. Differentiation with resultant expression of mature neuron markers increased infectivity in these cells, and the extent of infectivity correlated with degree of differentiation. New viral particles in infected cells were visualized by electron microscopy and found to be primarily situated inside vesicles; overt damage to the Golgi apparatus was also observed. Enhanced ZIKV infectivity in a neural cell line following differentiation may contribute to viral neuropathogenesis in the developing or mature central nervous system

Prevalent Exon-Intron Structural Changes in the APETALA1/FRUITFULL, SEPALLATA, AGAMOUS-LIKE6, and FLOWERING LOCUS C MADS-Box Gene Subfamilies Provide New Insights into Their Evolution

AP1/FUL, SEP, AGL6, and FLC subfamily genes play important roles in flower development. The phylogenetic relationships among them, however, have been controversial, which impedes our understanding of the origin and functional divergence of these genes. One possible reason for the controversy may be the problems caused by changes in the exon-intron structure of genes, which, according to recent studies, may generate non-homologous sites and hamper the homology-based sequence alignment. In this study, we first performed exon-by-exon alignments of these and three outgroup subfamilies (SOC1, AG, and STK). Phylogenetic trees reconstructed based on these matrices show improved resolution and better congruence with species phylogeny. In the context of these phylogenies, we traced evolutionary changes of exon-intron structures in each subfamily. We found that structural changes have occurred frequently following gene duplication and speciation events. Notably, exons 7 and 8 (if present) suffered more structural changes than others. With the knowledge of exon-intron structural changes, we generated more reasonable alignments containing all the focal subfamilies. The resulting trees showed that the SEP subfamily is sister to the monophyletic group formed by AP1/FUL and FLC subfamily genes and that the AGL6 subfamily forms a sister group to the three abovementioned subfamilies. Based on this topology, we inferred the evolutionary history of exon-intron structural changes among different subfamilies. Particularly, we found that the eighth exon originated before the divergence of AP1/FUL, FLC, SEP, and AGL6 subfamilies and degenerated in the ancestral FLC-like gene. These results provide new insights into the origin and evolution of the AP1/FUL, FLC, SEP, and AGL6 subfamilies

Effect of different blood pressure management modes on blood pressure management in patients with essential hypertension

Objective To investigate the effect of blood pressure telemonitoring management mode, blood pressure self-monitoring management mode, and outpatient blood pressure management mode on the level of blood pressure and the rate of reaching the standard for blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension. Methods A total of 441 patients with essential hypertension were recruited and randomly divided into telemonitoring group with 156 patients, non-telemonitoring group with 144 patients, and conventional group with 141 patients. The patients in the telemonitoring group and the non-telemonitoring group were provided with the same model of intelligent electronic blood pressure monitor, and they were managed in accordance with the telemonitoring management mode and the self-monitoring management mode, respectively. The patients in the conventional group received blood pressure management according to the outpatient blood pressure management mode and were asked to go to the community clinic regularly to have their blood pressure measured by a physician. Related data were recorded before management and after 6 months of management, including office blood pressure, the rate of reaching the standard for blood pressure, medication, body mass index, waist circumference, and lifestyle. Results After 6 months of management, all three groups had significant reductions in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (t=5.611-14.434,P<0.05). The telemonitoring group had significantly greater changes in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure after management compared with the conventional group and the non-telemonitoring group (F=-2.984--14.803,P<0.05). After 6 months of management, compared with the conventional group and the non-telemonitoring group, the telemonitoring group had a significantly higher rate of reaching the standard for blood pressure (χ2=12.688, 14.066,P<0.05), a significantly higher number of antihypertensive drugs (F=38.571,t=5.859, 8.325,P<0.05), and a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving combined medication (χ2=31.058, 56.524,P<0.05), and there were no significant differences in the above indicators between the conventional group and the non-telemonitoring group (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the improvement of life style between the three groups before ma-nagement and after 6 months of management (P>0.05). Conclusion Compared with blood pressure self-monitoring management mode and outpatient blood pressure management mode, blood pressure telemonitoring management mode can better manage blood pressure, improve the rate of reaching the standard for blood pressure, and increase the proportion of patients with combined medication

A simulation method for finite non-stationary time series

When uploading content they are required to comply with their publisher agreement and the SHERPA RoMEO database to judge whether or not it is copyright safe to add this version of the paper to this repository. Abstract In this paper we propose a novel simulation method which enables us to obtain a large number of simulated time series cheaply. The developed method can be applied to any non-stationary time series of finite length and it guarantees that not only the marginal distributions but also the autocorrelation structures of observed and simulated time series are the same. Extensive simulation studies have been conducted to check the performance of our method and to assess if the overall dynamics of the observed time series is preserved by the simulated realizations. The developed simulation method has also been applied to the real size data of cocoon filament, which can be reeled from a cocoon produced by a silkworm. Very good results have been achieved in all the cases considered in the paper

Effect of Maillard Reaction on Tropomyosin Immunoreactivity in Mactra veneriformis

In this study, xylose and arabinose were subjected separately to Maillard reaction with a crude extract of Mactra veneriformis under dry-heating conditions. The immunoreactivity and digestion properties of the Maillard reaction products (MRPs) were analyzed, finding that the Maillard reaction could reduce the immunoreactivity of allergens derived from Mactra veneriformis, increase the continuous digestion rate of the crude extract in simulated gastrointestinal fluid, and reduce the particle diameter of the digestion products. After that, TM in the MRPs was separated and purified, and its structural characteristics and immunoreactivity were analyzed. The results showed that the α-helix content of TM decreased and the β-sheet, β-turn, and random coil contents increased after the Maillard reaction, the surface hydrophobicity increased, and the spatial structure changed, which eventually led to a reduction in the immunoreactivity of TM. This study provides a theoretical basis for the development of hypoallergenic clam products