Membrane-associated collagens with interrupted triple-helices (MACITs):evolution from a bilaterian common ancestor and functional conservation <i>in C. elegans</i>

Protein sequence alignment of human collagens XIII, XXIII, XXV and six alternative spliced variants of COL-99. The protein sequence of the newly identified COL-99f was compared with the other COL-99 variants and human collagens XIII, XXIII and XXV. Putative furin cleavage residues in these proteins and the peptides for producing the COL-99 antibodies AB5625.11 and AB693 are highlighted in the sequence. (PDF 22 kb

Development of a Personalized Pharmacologic Treatment Repository for Bronchial Asthma Based on the 2018 Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Bronchial Asthma in Primary Care（Practice Edition）

Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease with high heterogeneity, polygenic inheritance, complex etiology and many complications. The effects of prevention and treatment for a bronchial asthma patient often depend on whether the patient has received a personalized health management. In order to be in line with the international management level of bronchial asthma, the updates in the 2018 Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Bronchial Asthma in Primary Care (Practice Edition, here in after referred to as the 2018 Guideline) contain the idea of early intervention, optimized medication regimens, and highlighted standardized management approach regarding bronchial asthma. To promote personalized pharmacologic management of bronchial asthma in primary care, and to provide online pre-, mid- and post-diagnosis pharmaceutical services for physicians, as well as personalized pharmacologic monitoring and management services for bronchial asthma patients in the community, pharmacists have developed a search engine with integrated functions of &quot;pre-judgment, early warning and prediction&quot; to collect medication information related to bronchial asthma using the information technology, according to the pharmacologic treatment path &quot;initial treatment, long-term treatment, degradation principle&quot; put forward in the 2018 Guideline, with the &quot;one factory, one drug, one specification&quot; individualized instruction as a basis

Genomic analysis of oesophageal squamous-cell carcinoma identifies alcohol drinking-related mutation signature and genomic alterations

Approximately half of the world's 500,000 new oesophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases each year occur in China. Here, we show whole-genome sequencing of DNA and RNA in 94 Chinese individuals with ESCC. We identify six mutational signatures (E1–E6), and Signature E4 is unique in ESCC linked to alcohol intake and genetic variants in alcohol-metabolizing enzymes. We discover significantly recurrent mutations in 20 protein-coding genes, 4 long non-coding RNAs and 10 untranslational regions. Functional analyses show six genes that have recurrent copy-number variants in three squamous-cell carcinomas (oesophageal, head and neck and lung) significantly promote cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The most frequently affected genes by structural variation are LRP1B and TTC28. The aberrant cell cycle and PI3K-AKT pathways seem critical in ESCC. These results establish a comprehensive genomic landscape of ESCC and provide potential targets for precision treatment and prevention of the cancer

Consensus Recommendation for Mouse Models of Ocular Hypertension to Study Aqueous Humor Outflow and Its Mechanisms.

Due to their similarities in anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology to humans, mice are a valuable model system to study the generation and mechanisms modulating conventional outflow resistance and thus intraocular pressure. In addition, mouse models are critical for understanding the complex nature of conventional outflow homeostasis and dysfunction that results in ocular hypertension. In this review, we describe a set of minimum acceptable standards for developing, characterizing, and utilizing mouse models of open-angle ocular hypertension. We expect that this set of standard practices will increase scientific rigor when using mouse models and will better enable researchers to replicate and build upon previous findings

Reconfigurable topology of electric vehicle wireless power transfer system to achieve constant-current and constant-voltage charging based on multiple windings

In the wireless charging system of electric vehicles, different charging stages have different charging requirements, namely constant-current (CC) charging mode and constant-voltage (CV) charging mode. The purpose of this paper is to provide a multi-winding wireless charging system with a reconfigurable topology to realize CC and CV charging with different optimal load resistances so that high efficiency can be achieved over a large load resistance range. The designed system can form different compensation topologies by switching on and off relays, such as the series–series topology and the inductor–capacitor–capacitor-series topology. Different topologies have different optimal load resistances, therefore, it can realize efficient transmission in a large load resistance range. In addition, the half-bridge scheme and the full-bridge scheme are the other two functioning modes for each topology. At the same time, the efficiency of the system can reach up to 94.34% and 95.13% in the half-bridge as well as full-bridge schemes under the CC mode. The highest transmission efficiency can reach 93.37% and 90.78% for the half-bridge as well as full-bridge schemes under the CC mode, respectively. Experiment results have validated the proposed method

Remediation of hydrocarbon-heavy metal co-contaminated soil by electrokinetics combined with biostimulation

Successful remediation of organics and heavy metals compound pollution is challenging, and their removal using conventional techniques is often difficult. This study developed an enhanced electrokinetics technology to decontaminate a hydrocarbon-heavy metal co-contaminated soil by applying biostimulation and selective membranes (cationic and anionic). A 30-day experiment was conducted in the laboratory to remediate the soil co-contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) (9075 mg/kg) and Ni (446.6 mg/kg). The results demonstrated that the addition of anion-and cation-exchange membranes maintained soil pH stability. BioEK remediation under pH control improved microbial growth, microbial degradation of petroleum and reduced biological toxicity. Microbial action immobilized metals (e.g., reduction in exchangeable Ni and the increase in residual Ni). The degradation rate of TPH in contaminated soil was linearly correlated with the increase in TPH degradation population (P < 0.05). Under the optimum operating conditions, electro-bioremediation achieved 77.4% TPH degradation and 58.5% Ni removal after 30 days. Thus, the application of EK with the use of anion-and cation-exchange membranes improved microbial growth and biodegradation, and indigenous bacteria could effectively reduce metal toxicity. The proposed technique can effectively remediate the soil contaminated by heavy metal and organic pollutants

Dynamics of Cyanobacteria and Related Environmental Drivers in Freshwater Bodies Affected by Mitten Crab Culturing: A Study of Lake Guchenghu, China

Mitten crab aquaculture is prevalent in China, however, knowledge about the threat of cyanobacteria in mitten crab aquaculture-impacted water bodies is limited. Here, seasonal variations of cyanobacteria and their relationships with environmental factors were investigated for Lake Guchenghu area. Results suggested the changes of cyanobacteria community in crab ponds distinguished from the adjacent lake. In the lake, cyanobacterial biomass (3.86 mg/L, 34.6% of the total phytoplankton) was the highest in autumn with the dominance of Oscillatoria, Aphanocapsa and Pesudanabaena. By contrast, in crab ponds, cyanobacteria (46.80 mg/L, 97.2% of the total phytoplankton biomass) were the most abundant in summer when Pesudanabaena and Raphidiopsis were the dominant species. Of particular note was that obviously higher abundance of filamentous and potentially harmful species (e.g., Raphidiopsis raciborskii and Dolichospermum circinale) were observed in ponds compared to the lake. Specifically, water depth (WD), permanganate index (CODMn), total phosphorus (TP), N:P ratio, and NO 2 &minus;-N were the key environmental variables affected cyanobacteria composition. For crab ponds, N:P ratio, water temperature (WT) and TP were the potential environmental drivers of cyanobacteria development. This study highlighted the fact that mitten crab culture had non-negligible influences on the cyanobacteria community and additional attention should be paid to the cyanobacteria dynamics in mitten crab culture-impacted water bodies, especially for those potentially harmful species

Luminescence mechanism and energy level structure of Eu-doped GaN powders investigated by cathodoluminescence spectroscopy

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><font color="#000000">1.5at% Eu-doped GaN powders were prepared by a co-precipitation method. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) results shows that there is only the wurtzite phase. Cathodoluminescence spectra were measured at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature, respectively. The band-to-band luminescence of GaN was shifted from 373 nm to 368 nm with the temperature decreasing from room temperature to liquid nitrogen temperature. The luminescence peaks at 537, 557, 579, 590, 597, 614, 653 and 701 nm are attributed to the Eu ions related transitions in the host of GaN powders and the peak positions were not influenced by the variation of temperature. With the increase of accelerating voltage, the intensity of all luminescence peaks was increased. The strongest luminescence peak at 614 nm shows non-symmetrical shape and is composed of 612, 615 and 621 nm through Lorentzian fitting, which indicates there are oxygen and nitrogen environments of the Eu3+ ions in the Eu-doped GaN powders.</font></span

Valine Supplementation in a Reduced Protein Diet Regulates Growth Performance Partially through Modulation of Plasma Amino Acids Profile, Metabolic Responses, Endocrine, and Neural Factors in Piglets

The objective of this study was to investigate whether valine (Val) supplementation in a reduced protein (RP) diet regulates growth performance associated with the changes in plasma amino acids (AAs) profile, metabolism, endocrine, and neural system in piglets. Piglets or piglets with a catheter in the precaval vein were randomly assigned to two treatments, including two RP diets with standardized ileal digestible (SID) Val:Lysine (Lys) ratio of 0.45 and 0.65, respectively. The results indicated that piglets in the higher Val:Lys ratio treatment had higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) (<i>P</i> < 0.001), average daily gain (ADG) (<i>P</i> = 0.001), feed conversion ratio (FCR) (<i>P</i> = 0.004), lower plasma urea nitrogen (<i>P</i> = 0.032), expression of gastric cholecystokinin (CCK), and hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC). Plasma AAs profiles including postprandial plasma essential AAs (EAAs) profile and in serum, muscle, and liver involved in metabolism of AAs and fatty acids were significantly different between two treatments. In conclusion, Val influenced growth performance associated with metabolism of AAs and fatty acids and both endocrine and neural system in piglets