Protoplast transformation as a potential platform for exploring gene function in Verticillium dahliae

Position of siRNAs along the Vta2 gene of V. dahliae. The position of different siRNAs designed to target this gene is shown in this figure. Sequence underlined with different colors shows different siRNAs. (JPG 7797 kb

Modelling floppy iris syndrome and the impact of phenylephrine on iris buckling

Abnormal iris movement (floppy iris syndrome) during intraocular surgery is associated with an increased risk of intraoperative complications. We have previously investigated this scenario with respect to intracameral air in corneal endothelial transplantation, and described the concept of iris buckling. As a number of clinical interventions are recommended for addressing floppy iris syndrome, we wished to evaluate the impact of intracameral phenylephrine on iris buckling and so refine our mathematical model. We considered the stability of an iris structure under a uniform pressure loading. We performed mathematical and computational simulations to demonstrate iris buckling, and then altered the parameters to assess the impact of phenylephrine on the model. We elucidated a number of buckled iris configurations which become unstable as the intraocular pressure increased, for transversely isotropic iris material properties, and identified a positive correlation between the critical pressure and the iris stiffness. A mechanical analysis with a dilated pupil (mimicking phenylephrine use) was also conducted, and demonstrated a significant increase in the critical pressure required to induce iris buckling. We have shown that iris buckling can arise at lower pressures when the iris stiffness is reduced, as in floppy iris syndrome. The use of phenylephrine was shown to prevent iris movement (buckling) by increasing the required critical pressures. This refined model demonstrates the positive effectiveness of phenylephrine in the management of floppy iris syndrome and gives evidence to the clinical practice of using this as a preventative measure

The 225-year precipitation variability inferred from tree-ring records in Shanxi Province, the North China, and its teleconnection with Indian summer monsoon

Understanding the interactions between the East Asian summer monsoon and Indian summer monsoon is a challenging task because of the insufficient proxy records. In this study, we reconstructed a 225-year precipitation record by combining ring widths of Pinus tabulaeformis and stable oxygen isotope ratios of Larix principis-rupprechtii using a multi-proxy dendroclimatology approach in the North China. The reconstructed record explained 51.9% of the variance in the observed precipitation during 1955–2003. The precipitation series could indicate the intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon. A spatial field analysis indicated that the series was strongly correlated with the reconstructed records of the surrounding area and a large part of the Indian subcontinent. The reconstructed records were significantly and positively correlated with All Indian Precipitation records (r = 0.32, n = 132, p < 0.001) and with a proxy of the Indian summer monsoon. These findings suggest that a persistent teleconnection exists between the reconstructed record and the Indian summer monsoon records from the past 225 years. The observed interannual synchronisation potentially resulted from the transport of partial water vapour from the Indian summer monsoon area to NC; however, this synchronisation could not be attributed to the El Nino-South Oscillation (ENSO). When considering an interdecadal time scale, the synchronisation with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has varied since 1779, implying that the NAO may serve as an additional atmospheric pattern that affects this teleconnectio

Insight into the Interaction of Metal Ions with TroA from Streptococcus suis

The scavenging ability of sufficient divalent metal ions is pivotal for pathogenic bacteria to survive in the host. ATP-binding cassette (ABC)-type metal transporters provide a considerable amount of different transition metals for bacterial growth. TroA is a substrate binding protein for uptake of multiple metal ions. However, the function and structure of the TroA homologue from the epidemic Streptococcus suis isolates (SsTroA) have not been characterized.Here we determined the crystal structure of SsTroA from a highly pathogenic streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS)-causing Streptococcus suis in complex with zinc. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis revealed that apo-SsTroA binds Zn(2+) and Mn(2+). Both metals bind to SsTroA with nanomolar affinity and stabilize the protein against thermal unfolding. Zn(2+) and Mn(2+) induce distinct conformational changes in SsTroA compared with the apo form as confirmed by both circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. NMR data also revealed that Zn(2+)/Mn(2+) bind to SsTroA in either the same site or an adjacent region. Finally, we found that the folding of the metal-bound protein is more compact than the corresponding apoprotein.Our findings reveal a mechanism for uptake of metal ions in S. suis and this mechanism provides a reasonable explanation as to how SsTroA operates in metal transport

Experimental investigation on an integrated thermal management system with heat pipe heat exchanger for electric vehicle

An integrated thermal management system combining a heat pipe battery cooling/preheating system with the heat pump air conditioning system is presented to fulfill the comprehensive energy utilization for electric vehicles. A test bench with battery heat pipe heat exchanger and heat pump air conditioning for a regular five-chair electric car is set up to research the performance of this integrated system under different working conditions. The investigation results show that as the system is designed to meet the basic cabinet cooling demand, the additional parallel branch of battery chiller is a good way to solve the battery group cooling problem, which can supply about 20% additional cooling capacity without input power increase. Its coefficient of performance for cabinet heating is around 1.34 at −20 °C out-car temperature and 20 °C in-car temperature. The specific heat of the battery group is tested about 1.24 kJ/kg °C. There exists a necessary temperature condition for the heat pipe heat exchanger to start action. The heat pipe heat transfer performance is around 0.87 W/°C on cooling mode and 1.11 W/°C on preheating mode. The gravity role makes the heat transfer performance of the heat pipe on preheating mode better than that on cooling mode

A Phase Ib Study of the Simmitecan Single Agent and in Combination With 5-Fluorouracil/Leucovorin or Thalidomide in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumor

Background: Simmitecan is a potent inhibitor of topoisomerase I with anti-tumor activity. This phase Ib trial was conducted to investigate the safety and anti-tumor effect of simmitecan alone or in combination with other drugs.Methods: Eligible patients with advanced solid tumor had no further standard treatment options. Patients were allocated to receive simmitecan alone, simmitecan in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/leucovorin (LV), or simmitecan in combination with thalidomide, 14 days a cycle, until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred.Results: A total of 41 patients were enrolled, with a median age of 55 (range 29–69) years. Among them, 13 patients received simmitecan monotherapy, 10 received simmitecan + 5-FU/LV, and 18 received simmitecan + thalidomide. No dose-limiting toxicity occurred. Overall, the most common grade 3/4 adverse event (AE) was neutropenia (46.2, 70.0, and 88.9%, respectively, in simmitecan, simmitecan + 5-FU/LV, and simmitecan + thalidomide cohorts), and treatment-related severe AEs included anemia and febrile neutropenia (7.7% each in simmitecan cohort), diarrhea (10% in simmitecan +5-FU/LV cohort), and febrile neutropenia (5.6% in simmitecan + thalidomide cohort). The majority of patients (24/41, 58.3%) had progressed on prior irinotecan; nevertheless, partial response was achieved in one colorectal cancer patients treated with simmitecan + thalidomide. The disease control rates of simmitecan, simmitecan + 5-FU/LV, and simmitecan + thalidomide cohorts were 46.2, 80.0, and 61.1%, respectively.Conclusion: This study demonstrated a manageable safety profile of simmitecan as a single agent or as part of a combination therapy. There have not been any safety concerns with simmitecan in combination when compared to simmitecan alone. Simmitecan + 5-FU/LV regimen seemed to have a better efficacy. Nonetheless, the efficacy of this regimen needs to be further explored in the subsequent study

Intelligent Classification and Personalized Recommendation of E-commerce Products Based on Machine Learning

With the rapid evolution of the Internet and the exponential proliferation of information, users encounter information overload and the conundrum of choice. Personalized recommendation systems play a pivotal role in alleviating this burden by aiding users in filtering and selecting information tailored to their preferences and requirements. Such systems not only enhance user experience and satisfaction but also furnish opportunities for businesses and platforms to augment user engagement, sales, and advertising efficacy.This paper undertakes a comparative analysis between the operational mechanisms of traditional e-commerce commodity classification systems and personalized recommendation systems. It delineates the significance and application of personalized recommendation systems across e-commerce, content information, and media domains. Furthermore, it delves into the challenges confronting personalized recommendation systems in e-commerce, including data privacy, algorithmic bias, scalability, and the cold start problem. Strategies to address these challenges are elucidated.Subsequently, the paper outlines a personalized recommendation system leveraging the BERT model and nearest neighbor algorithm, specifically tailored to address the exigencies of the eBay e-commerce platform. The efficacy of this recommendation system is substantiated through manual evaluation, and a practical application operational guide and structured output recommendation results are furnished to ensure the system's operability and scalability

VdPLP, A Patatin-Like Phospholipase in Verticillium dahliae, Is Involved in Cell Wall Integrity and Required for Pathogenicity

The soil-borne ascomycete fungus Verticillium dahliae causes vascular wilt disease and can seriously diminish the yield and quality of important crops. Functional analysis of growth- and pathogenicity-related genes is essential for revealing the pathogenic molecular mechanism of V. dahliae. Phospholipase is an important virulence factor in fungi that hydrolyzes phospholipids into fatty acid and other lipophilic substances and is involved in hyphal development. Thus far, only a few V. dahliae phospholipases have been identified, and their involvement in V. dahliae development and pathogenicity remains unknown. In this study, the function of the patatin-like phospholipase gene in V. dahliae (VdPLP, VDAG_00942) is characterized by generating gene knockout and complementary mutants. Vegetative growth and conidiation of VdPLP deletion mutants (ΔVdPLP) were significantly reduced compared with wild type and complementary strains, but more microsclerotia formed. The ΔVdPLP mutants were very sensitive to the cell-wall-perturbing agents: calcofluor white (CFW) and Congo red (CR). The transcriptional level of genes related to the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway and chitin synthesis were downregulated, suggesting that VdPLP has a pivotal role in the CWI pathway and chitin synthesis in V. dahliae. ΔVdPLP strains were distinctly impaired in in their virulence and ability to colonize Nicotiana benthamiana roots. Our results demonstrate that VdPLP regulates hyphal growth and conidial production and is involved in stabilizing the cell wall, thus mediating the pathogenicity of V. dahliae

Multi-sensor fusion of data for monitoring of Huangtupo landslide in the three Gorges Reservoir (China)

There hides a certain relationship among various monitoring data in a landslide, and the mining of this relationship is of significance to landslide research. In this paper, we first collect multiple monitoring data of riverside 1# slump-mass of Huangtupo landslide, the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, China, including Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring data, inclinometer data, reservoir water level, rainfall, water content, crack width, groundwater level and temperature data, etc. By adopting the combination of quantitative statistics and qualitative simulation method for multi-sensor fusion monitoring data analysis, we overcome the one-sidedness of using a single method or single data type. The result of fusion analysis has indicated that in time periods with low rainfall or when the rainfall is not the major factor, main factors affecting landslide movement are crack development, water content of the landslide and water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir. Compared with the actual monitoring data, the fusion analysis results has a maximum error of 1.9%, which shows a good effect

Experimental Research on the Effect of Oil Charge Ratio on the Cooling Performance of CO2 Air Conditioning System for Electric Vehicles

From the perspective of the engineering application, the influence of the oil charge ratio on the cooling performance of the electric vehicle CO2 air conditioning system is experimentally studied in this paper. An online test device for oil circulation rate is set up on the built CO2 air conditioning system test bench. The experiment is conducted under different ambient temperatures and compressor speeds in the fresh air mode. As the oil charge ratio increases, the oil circulation rate increases as well as the oil mass flow rate, while the refrigerant mass flow rate decreases slightly. Under the refrigerant charge amount of 550 g and ambient temperature of 35 °C and 40 °C, this system reaches its best cooling performance when the oil charge ratio is in the range of 20% and 25%. And the maximum COPs are 2.46 and 2.36, respectively. The increase in the oil charge ratio is beneficial to the improvement of the isentropic efficiency and the volumetric efficiency of the compressor. The change in oil circulation rate has less effect on the pressure drop in the gas cooler than that in the evaporator