Ionizing Radiation Resistance in Deinococcus Radiodurans

Deinococcus radiodurans is unmatched among all known species in its ability to resist ionizing radiation and other DNA-damaging factors. It is considered a model organism in the study of DNA damage and repair. Treatment of D. radiodurans with an acute dose of 5,000 Gy of ionizing radiation with almost no loss of viability, and an acute dose of 15,000 Gy with 37% viability. The extreme radiation resistance of this bacterium is due to efficient DNA repair capacity, high antioxidant activities, and unique cell structure. Based on the latest findings, the general characteristics and ionizing radiation resistance mechanisms of D. radiodurans are reviewed and discussed in this paper

DUSP6: Potential interactions with FXR1P in the nervous system

229-237Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a leading genetic cause of autism intellectual disorder and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with either limited treatment options or incurable. Fragile X-related gene 1 (FXR1) is a homolog of the Fragile X mental retardation gene 1 (FMR1), the causative gene of FXS, and both are highly homologous and functionally identical. In FXS, both PI3K (AKT/mTOR signaling pathway) and ERK1/2 (MAPK signaling pathway) expression levels were abnormal. Dual specificity phosphatase 6 (DUSP6) is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) that participates in the crosstalk between the two signaling systems of MEK/ERK and mTOR. By interacting with multiple nodes of MAPK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways (including the mTOR complex), DUSP6 regulates cellular growth, proliferation, metabolism and participates in pathological processes of cancer and cognitive impairment. However, whether there is an interaction between FXR1P and DUSP6 and the effects of DUSP6 on the growth of SK-N-SH cells remains elusive. As demonstrated by our results, FXR1P was identified in the cytoplasm and nucleus of SK-N-SH cells co-localized with DUSP6, which might have regulated ERK1/2 signaling pathways in SK-N-SH cells. To a certain extent, FXR1P may reverse the negative regulation of ERK1/2 by DUSP6. Moreover, we discovered that not only does DUSP6 inhibit proliferation, but it also promotes the apoptosis of SK-N-SH cells

Identification and comprehensive analyses of the CBL and CIPK gene families in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The interaction analysis of wheat TaCBL and TaCIPK proteins were performed by Y2H method. (PDF 191 kb

Severity of enterovirus A71 infection in a human SCARB2 knock-in mouse model is dependent on infectious strain and route

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a major etiological agent of human hand, foot and mouth disease, and it can cause severe neurological complications. Although several genotypes of EV-A71 strains are prevalent in different regions of the world, the genotype C4 has circulated in mainland China for more than 20 years. The pathogenicity of different EV-A71 clinical isolates varies and needs to be explored. In this study, hSCARB2 knock-in mice (N = 181) with a wide range of ages were tested for their susceptibility to two EV-A71 strains with the subgenotypes C4 and C2, and two infection routes (intracranial and venous) were compared. The clinical manifestations and pathology and their relationship to the measured viral loads in different tissues were monitored. We observed that 3 weeks is a crucial age, as mice younger than 3-week-old that were infected became extremely ill. However, mice older than 3 weeks displayed diverse clinical symptoms. Significant differences were observed in the pathogenicity of the two strains with respect to clinical signs, disease incidence, survival rate, and body weight change. We concluded that hSCARB2 knock-in mice are a sensitive model for investigating the clinical outcomes resulting from infection by different EV-A71 strains. The intracranial infection model appears to be suitable for evaluating EV-A71 neurovirulence, whereas the venous infection model is appropriate for studying the pathogenicity of EV-A71

Essays on Experimental Labor Economics

Over the last decade, the economics literature has seen an explosion of laboratory experiments focused on topics important to the discipline of labor economics. Using laboratory experiments to research labor economics subjects provides advantages over naturally occurring data. Individual decisions and human interactions are complicated. However, we can untangle underpinning mechanisms by either controlling or assessing other confounding factors with controlled laboratory trials, allowing us to explore a specific mechanism in a more direct manner. This dissertation is composed of three chapters. I incorporate behavioral and psychological insights into understanding labor economics issues such as gender inequality, couples divisions of labor and the worker-employer relationship. In the first chapter of my dissertation, “Don’t tell anyone I lost to a girl! Gender stereotypes and hiding low performance”, I seek to gain insights into why men seem to resent being outperformed or subordinate to a female. In an experiment I measure an individual’s willingness to pay to avoid having others know about their poor performance at arithmetic vis-à-vis a competitor. To develop hypotheses, I propose a statistical discrimination model in which individuals are averse to revealing lower performance against a stereotypically worse performer. The experiment tests (a) whether males are willing to pay more to hide poor performance relative to a female; and (b) whether both females and males are willing to pay more to hide the fact that they have been outperformed by a female than by a male. The experiment is conducted in both the US and China. These countries have different cultural norms and beliefs, in particular regarding the degree of gender stereotyping. An incentivized survey of subjects’ beliefs in China reveals a stereotype that males would be better performers than females at arithmetic tasks. In contrast, the survey reveals no stereotype in the US as to who is the better performer. The experimental results show that males in China and the U.S. are averse to being outed as a worse performer when competing against both males and females. Chinese males are more averse to exposure than Chinese females. In contrast to males, females in China are more averse to losing to other females. However, US females are more averse to losing to males. The findings suggest a more complex picture of gender differences than the common view that men hate to lose to women and have the loss revealed. In my second chapter, “Social norms and couples' labor division decisions”, I investigate how social norms predict couples’ decisions to exit the labor force. When there is an exogenous shock, such as an economic crisis, who will be the main breadwinner and who will stay at home? This question is extremely important for gender equity under the current global Covid-19 pandemic. Many schools have moved to online instruction and couples must decide who to stay at home to take care of their children. If more females quit the labor force, we can anticipate an increased gender disparity after the crisis. In this paper, I investigate the relationship between social norms regarding gender roles and couples’ behaviors in deciding who stays in the labor force and who quits. I also study whether peer pressure intensifies the effect. We conduct two separate experiments. One experiment is used to elicit the social norm about gender roles using a Krupka and Weber (2013) procedure. In another experiment, I recruit real-life college couples as subjects to perform a stylized task based on the labor force quitting decision. The task involves both parties initially performing a real effort task for payment. At a point in the session, one member of the couple is required to quit the task. Data gathered in China reveal that college couples are more likely to choose the boyfriend to continue the real-effort task for money and the girlfriend to quit the task, a result that is similar to gender norms in China. Whether their choices are revealed to their peers or not does not play a role in couples’ decisions. This finding implies that peer pressure does not intensify the effect of the social norm. The last chapter of my dissertation examines the effect of unrealized wages in a gift-exchange game. In an experiment, I consider whether employees work harder in response to compensation which might have been but is not actually realized. For example, do workers work harder, even in bad times, to repay a firm that pays generous bonuses in good times? To study this question, I extend the classical experimental gift-exchange game framework to study the effect of unrealized but intended kindness on employees’ effort. The question of interest is whether the workers' performance and the employers' profits are affected if workers are aware of wages they would have received under unrealized business conditions. I investigate a gift-exchange game where employers make wage offers contingent on two randomly realized states, good or bad, and workers choose an effort level after knowing which state is realized. I manipulate the visibility of wages under the unrealized state. By applying the model in Sebald (2010), unrealized wages are predicted to make a difference because they affect the worker's perception of the employer's kindness, and thus workers have a tendency to respond to the promise of high unrealized wages in addition to high realized wages. My main finding is that the awareness of the unrealized wage affects workers' effort choice and employers' profits if current states are good. The positive marginal effect of current wages is greater if wages in the unrealized bad state are higher. However, unrealized wages do not have an effect if current states are bad. These findings suggest that workers tend to reciprocate the unrealized kindness only if their realized payoff is sufficiently high and satisfactory. When firms hire employees in good years, it is profitable to include the information that they will treat the employees well even if the business conditions might be bad some day. However, in bad years, it’s unnecessary to inform the employees about their wage offers in good years

Innovating management mechanism to promote the development of curriculum of ideological and political education penetrating into all majors of medical corses

Ideological and political education is a process in which teachers of specialized courses integrate ideological and political education into classroom teaching and reform while imparting professional knowledge. It is the due meaning of medical education and the inevitable pursuit of medical colleges to carry out the fundamental task of cultivating people by virtue. How to integrate the ideological and political education into the teaching of medical professional knowledge needs teachers to play a leading role and to innovate the current teaching management mechanism. From the perspective view point of administrators, this paper puts forward some suggestions on how to improve the management mechanism and promote the development of ideological and political curriculum penetrating into all medical course

DUSP6: Potential interactions with FXR1P in the nervous system

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a leading genetic cause of autism intellectual disorder and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with either limited treatment options or incurable. Fragile X-related gene 1 (FXR1) is a homolog of the Fragile X mental retardation gene 1 (FMR1), the causative gene of FXS, and both are highly homologous and functionally identical. In FXS, both PI3K (AKT/mTOR signaling pathway) and ERK1/2 (MAPK signaling pathway) expression levels were abnormal. Dual specificity phosphatase 6 (DUSP6) is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) that participates in the crosstalk between the two signaling systems of MEK/ERK and mTOR. By interacting with multiple nodes of MAPK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways (including the mTOR complex), DUSP6 regulates cellular growth, proliferation, metabolism and participates in pathological processes of cancer and cognitive impairment. However, whether there is an interaction between FXR1P and DUSP6 and the effects of DUSP6 on the growth of SK-N-SH cells remains elusive. As demonstrated by our results, FXR1P was identified in the cytoplasm and nucleus of SK-N-SH cells co-localized with DUSP6, which might have regulated ERK1/2 signaling pathways in SK-N-SH cells. To a certain extent, FXR1P may reverse the negative regulation of ERK1/2 by DUSP6. Moreover, we discovered that not only does DUSP6 inhibit proliferation, but it also promotes the apoptosis of SK-N-SH cells

Joint Selling of Complementary Components Under Brand and Retail Competition

Suppliers of complementary goods often package their items together when selling to downstream retailers. One motivation behind this behavior is to reduce double marginalization through coordinated pricing so that system efficiency is improved and individual members can also benefit. The objective of this paper is to understand how competition in supply chains would impact such joint selling partnerships among complementary suppliers. We first model competition at the supply level, which is generated from the existence of multiple partially substitutable brands (or suppliers) for a particular component. We then extend the analysis to a model that also involves retail competition caused by decentralization among retailers who assemble suppliers’ components into final products and sell to customers. The analysis of a model with two complementary components, one of which has multiple brands, indicates that the supply-level competition discourages joint selling of complementary goods. That is, when competing brands become more alike (or substitutable), complementary suppliers act more independently in pricing and selling their items. However, retail competition leads to an opposite effect: Competition among retailers would actually encourage complementary suppliers to package their goods together and act jointly