CCD photometric study of the W UMa-type binary II CMa in the field of Berkeley 33

The CCD photometric data of the EW-type binary, II CMa, which is a contact star in the field of the middle-aged open cluster Berkeley 33, are presented. The complete R light curve was obtained. In the present paper, using the five CCD epochs of light minimum (three of them are calculated from Mazur et al. (1993)'s data and two from our new data), the orbital period P was revised to 0.22919704 days. The complete R light curve was analyzed by using the 2003 version of W-D (Wilson-Devinney) program. It is found that this is a contact system with a mass ratio $q=0.9$ and a contact factor $f=4.1$. The high mass ratio ($q=0.9$) and the low contact factor ($f=4.1$) indicate that the system just evolved into the marginal contact stage

Role of 5-HT1A-mediated upregulation of brain indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase 1 in the reduced antidepressant and antihyperalgesic effects of fluoxetine during maintenance treatment

The reduced antidepressant and antihyperalgesic effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine during maintenance treatment has been reported, but little is known about the molecular mechanism of this phenomenon. In three comorbid pain and depression animal models (genetic predisposition, chronic social stress, arthritis), we showed that the fluoxetine’s antidepressant and antihyperalgesic effects were reduced during the maintenance treatment. Fluoxetine exposure induced upregulation of the 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A (5-HT1A) auto-receptor and indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase 1 (IDO1, a rate-limiting enzyme of tryptophan metabolism) in the brainstem dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), which shifted the tryptophan metabolism away from the 5-HT biosynthesis. Mechanistically, IDO1 upregulation was downstream to fluoxetine-induced 5-HT1A receptor expression because 1) antagonism of the 5-HT1A receptor with WAY100635 or 5-HT1A receptor knockout blocked the IDO1 upregulation, and 2) inhibition of IDO1 activity did not block the 5-HT1A receptor upregulation following fluoxetine exposure. Importantly, inhibition of either the 5-HT1A receptor or IDO1 activity sustained the fluoxetine’s antidepressant and antihyperalgesic effects, indicating that 5-HT1A-mediated IDO1 upregulation in the brainstem DRN contributed to the reduced antidepressant and antihyperalgesic effects of fluoxetine. These results suggest a new strategy to improving the therapeutic efficacy of SSRI during maintenance treatment

A global monthly field of seawater pH over 3 decades: a machine learning approach

The continuous uptake of anthropogenic CO2 by the ocean leads to ocean acidification, which is an ongoing threat to the marine ecosystem. The ocean acidification rate was globally documented in the surface ocean but limited below the surface. Here, we present a monthly four-dimensional 1°×1° gridded product of global seawater pH, derived from a machine learning algorithm trained on pH observations at total scale and in-situ temperature from the Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP). The constructed pH product covers the years 1992–2020 and depths from the surface to 2 km on 41 levels. Three types of machine learning algorithms were used in the pH product construction, including self-organizing map neural networks for region dividing, a stepwise algorithm for predictor selection, and feed-forward neural networks (FFNN) for non-linear relationship regression. The performance of the machine learning algorithm was validated using real observations by a cross validation method, where four repeating iterations were carried out with 25 % varied observations for each evaluation and 75 % for training. The constructed pH product is evaluated through comparisons to time series observations and the GLODAP pH climatology. The overall root mean square error between the FFNN constructed pH and the GLODAP measurements is 0.028, ranging from 0.044 in the surface to 0.013 at 2000 m. The pH product is distributed through the data repository of the Marine Science Data Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at http://dx.doi.org/10.12157/IOCAS.20230720.001 (Zhong et al., 2023)

Nearly a decade-long repeatable seasonal diversity patterns of bacterioplankton communities in the eutrophic Lake Donghu (Wuhan, China).

Uncovering which environmental factors govern community diversity patterns and how ecological processes drive community turnover are key questions related to understand the community assembly. However, the ecological mechanisms regulating long-term variations of bacterioplankton communities in lake ecosystems remain poorly understood. Here we present nearly a decade-long study of bacterioplankton communities from the eutrophic Lake Donghu (Wuhan, China) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with MiSeq platform. We found strong repeatable seasonal diversity patterns in terms of both common (detected in more than 50% samples) and dominant (relative abundance >1%) bacterial taxa turnover. Moreover, community composition tracked the seasonal temperature gradient, indicating that temperature is a key environmental factor controlling observed diversity patterns. Total phosphorus also contributed significantly to the seasonal shifts in bacterioplankton composition. However, any spatial pattern of bacterioplankton communities across the main lake areas within season was overwhelmed by their temporal variabilities. Phylogenetic analysis further indicated that 75%-82% of community turnover was governed by homogeneous selection due to consistent environmental conditions within seasons, suggesting that the microbial communities in Lake Donghu are mainly controlled by niche-based processes. Therefore, dominant niches available within seasons might be occupied by similar combinations of bacterial taxa with modest dispersal rates throughout different lake areas

Rigid three-dimensional Ni3S4 nanosheet frames: Controlled synthesis and their enhanced electrochemical performance

Rigid three-dimensional (3D) NiS nanosheet frames assembled from ultrathin nanosheets are synthesized via a facile solvothermal method. Compared to flat NiS sheets, 3D NiS nanosheet frames have both a high free volume and high compressive strength. They can deliver a very high specific capacitance of 1213 F g with good rate performance. In addition, these 3D NiS nanosheet frames are stabilized by plastically deformed ridges. The stabilized nanosheet frames did not unfold or collapse during electrochemical tests, and thus showed enhanced cycling ability

The two-component system CpxAR is required for the high potassium stress survival of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

IntroductionActinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is an important respiratory pathogen, which can cause porcine contagious pleuropneumonia and lead to great economic losses to worldwide swine industry. High potassium is an adverse environment for bacteria, which is not conducive to providing turgor pressure for cell growth and division. Two-component system CpxAR is an important regulatory system of bacteria in response to environmental changes, which is involved in a variety of biological activities, such as antibiotic resistance, periplasmic protein folding, peptidoglycan metabolism and so on.MethodsHowever, little is known about the role of CpxAR in high potassium stress in A. pleuropneumoniae. Here, we showed that CpxAR is critical for cell division of A. pleuropneumoniae under high potassium (K+) stress.ResultsqRT-PCR analysis found that CpxAR positively regulated the cell division genes ftsEX. In addition, we also demonstrated that CpxR-P could directly bind the promoter region of the cell division gene ftsE by EMSA.DiscussionIn conclusion, our results described a mechanism where CpxAR adjusts A. pleuropneumoniae survival under high-K+ stress by upregulating the expression of the cell division proteins FtsE and FtsX. These findings are the first to directly demonstrate CpxAR-mediated high-K+ tolerance, and to investigate the detailed molecular mechanism