Cohomology of Twisted Rota-Baxter operators on Associative~Conformal Algebra

In this paper, we examine the concept of twisted Rota-Baxter (TRB) operators on associative conformal algebras. Our strategy begins by constructing an $L_\infty$-algebra using Maurer-Cartan elements derived from $H$-twisted Rota-Baxter ($H$-TRB) operators on associative conformal algebras. This structure leads us to explore the cohomology of the conformal $H$-TRB operator, which is characterized as the Hochschild cohomology of a specific associative conformal algebra with coefficients in a conformal bimodule. Furthermore, we study the linear and formal deformations of conformal $H$-TRB operators to explore the application of cohomology

Prediction of spatial distribution characteristics of ecosystem functions based on a minimum data set of functional traits of desert plants

The relationship between plant functional traits and ecosystem function is a hot topic in current ecological research, and community-level traits based on individual plant functional traits play important roles in ecosystem function. In temperate desert ecosystems, which functional trait to use to predict ecosystem function is an important scientific question. In this study, the minimum data sets of functional traits of woody (wMDS) and herbaceous (hMDS) plants were constructed and used to predict the spatial distribution of C, N, and P cycling in ecosystems. The results showed that the wMDS included plant height, specific leaf area, leaf dry weight, leaf water content, diameter at breast height (DBH), leaf width, and leaf thickness, and the hMDS included plant height, specific leaf area, leaf fresh weight, leaf length, and leaf width. The linear regression results based on the cross-validations (FTEIW - L, FTEIA - L, FTEIW - NL, and FTEIA - NL) for the MDS and TDS (total data set) showed that the R2 (coefficients of determination) for wMDS were 0.29, 0.34, 0.75, and 0.57, respectively, and those for hMDS were 0.82, 0.75, 0.76, and 0.68, respectively, proving that the MDSs can replace the TDS in predicting ecosystem function. Then, the MDSs were used to predict the C, N, and P cycling in the ecosystem. The results showed that non-linear models RF and BPNN were able to predict the spatial distributions of C, N and P cycling, and the distributions showed inconsistent patterns between different life forms under moisture restrictions. The C, N, and P cycling showed strong spatial autocorrelation and were mainly influenced by structural factors. Based on the non-linear models, the MDSs can be used to accurately predict the C, N, and P cycling, and the predicted values of woody plant functional traits visualized by regression kriging were closer to the kriging results based on raw values. This study provides a new perspective for exploring the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function

The HIV positive selection mutation database

The HIV positive selection mutation database is a large-scale database available at that provides detailed selection pressure maps of HIV protease and reverse transcriptase, both of which are molecular targets of antiretroviral therapy. This database makes available for the first time a very large HIV sequence dataset (sequences from ∼50 000 clinical AIDS samples, generously contributed by Specialty Laboratories, Inc.), which makes possible high-resolution selection pressure mapping. It provides information about not only the selection pressure on individual sites but also how selection pressure at one site is affected by mutations on other sites. It also includes datasets from other public databases, namely the Stanford HIV database [S. Y. Rhee, M. J. Gonzales, R. Kantor, B. J. Betts, J. Ravela and R. W. Shafer (2003) Nucleic Acids Res., 31, 298–303]. Comparison between these datasets in the database enables cross-validation with independent datasets and also specific evaluation of the effect of drug treatment

Effects of the stem extracts of Schisandra glaucescens Diels on collagen-induced arthritis in Balb/c mice

Ethnopharmacological relevance Schisandra glaucescens Diels (SGD) is used in a subclass of traditional Chinese medicine known as “Tujia drugs”. It has been long used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cough with dyspnea, spontaneous sweating, night sweating, chronic diarrhea, and neurasthenia. As a woody liana growing in mountain jungles at the altitudes of 750–1800 m, it is mainly distributed in Sichuan and Hubei Provinces of China. Aim of the study To evaluate the antiarthritic activity of acetate (EA) and n-butanol (Bu) fractions of SGD extract on a collagen-induced arthritis mice model. Materials and methods Acute toxicity of EA and Bu fractions of SGD extract was evaluated by gavage on normal mice. Pharmacological investigations were conducted on arthritis male Balb/c mice. The animal model was induced by immunization with type II bovine collagen (CII) on the 1st and the 14th day of the experimental schedule. EA fraction (104, 312, 936 mg/kg), Bu fraction (156, 469, 1407 mg/kg) of SGD extract was orally administered every two days since the 15th day for 3 weeks. Progression of edema in the paws was measured using a vernier caliper every 3 days since the 10th day. At the end of the experiment, the spleen index and histological changes of the hind knee joints were investigated. Additionally, to explore the possible antirheumatic mechanisms of the EA and Bu fractions, ELISA was carried out to analyze TNF-α, IL-10, IL-6 and IL-1β in the serum. Results The half lethal doses of both EA and Bu fractions were much higher than the dose administered in the pharmacological investigations. Oral administration of EA fraction and Bu fraction of SGD extract significantly and does-dependently inhibited type ІІ collagen induced arthritis (CIA) in mice, as indicated by the effects on paws swelling and spleen index. Histopathological examinations demonstrated that SGD effectively protected the bones and cartilages of knee joints from erosion, lesion and deformation. Besides, the serum concentrations of cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly lower than the ones from the vehicle control group. Respectively, while cytokine IL-10 was remarkably higher compare with the vehicle control group. Conclusions SGD might be a safe and effective candidate for the treatment of RA, and deserves further investigation on the chemical components in both EA and Bu fractions of SGD extract

Duckweed (Lemna minor) as a Model Plant System for the Study of Human Microbial Pathogenesis

BACKGROUND: Plant infection models provide certain advantages over animal models in the study of pathogenesis. However, current plant models face some limitations, e.g., plant and pathogen cannot co-culture in a contained environment. Development of such a plant model is needed to better illustrate host-pathogen interactions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We describe a novel model plant system for the study of human pathogenic bacterial infection on a large scale. This system was initiated by co-cultivation of axenic duckweed (Lemna minor) plants with pathogenic bacteria in 24-well polystyrene cell culture plate. Pathogenesis of bacteria to duckweed was demonstrated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus as two model pathogens. P. aeruginosa PAO1 caused severe detriment to duckweed as judged from inhibition to frond multiplication and chlorophyll formation. Using a GFP-marked PAO1 strain, we demonstrated that bacteria colonized on both fronds and roots and formed biofilms. Virulence of PAO1 to duckweed was attenuated in its quorum sensing (QS) mutants and in recombinant strains overexpressing the QS quenching enzymes. RN4220, a virulent strain of S. aureus, caused severe toxicity to duckweed while an avirulent strain showed little effect. Using this system for antimicrobial chemical selection, green tea polyphenols exhibited inhibitory activity against S. aureus virulence. This system was further confirmed to be effective as a pathogenesis model using a number of pathogenic bacterial species. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrate that duckweed can be used as a fast, inexpensive and reproducible model plant system for the study of host-pathogen interactions, could serve as an alternative choice for the study of some virulence factors, and could also potentially be used in large-scale screening for the discovery of antimicrobial chemicals

Child Development in the Face of Rural-to-Urban Migration in China: A Meta-Analytic Review

In the last 30 years, China has undergone one of the largest rural-to-urban migrations in human history, with many children left behind because of parental migration. We present a meta-analytic review of empirical studies on Chinese children's rural-to-urban migration and on rural children left behind because of parental migration. We examine how these events relate to children's emotional, social, and academic developmental outcomes. We include publications in English and in Chinese to uncover and quantify a part of the research literature that has been inaccessible to most Western scholars in the field of child and family studies. Overall, both migrant children and children left behind by migrant parents in China show significantly less favorable functioning across domains than other Chinese children. It appears that, similar to processes found in other parts of the world, the experience of economic and acculturation stress as well as disrupted parent-child relations constitute a risk for nonoptimal child functioning in the Chinese context. Further, we found evidence for publication bias against studies showing less favorable development for migrant children and children left behind. We discuss the results in terms of challenges to Chinese society and to future empirical research on Chinese family life

Parental mind-mindedness but not false belief understanding predicts Hong Kong children's lie-telling behavior in a temptation resistance task

Children can tell lies before they understand the concept of false belief. This study investigated the relationship between parental mind-mindedness, defined as the propensity of parents to view their children as mental agents with independent thoughts and feelings, and the lie-telling behavior of Hong Kong children aged 3-6 years. The results confirmed earlier findings indicating that Hong Kong children&#39;s understanding of false belief is delayed; nevertheless, the participants appeared to lie just as well as children from other cultures. The lie-telling behavior of Hong Kong children was predicted by parental mind-mindedness and children&#39;s age but was unrelated to children&#39;s false belief understanding. It is suggested that children of mind-minded parents are more likely to exercise autonomy in socially ambiguous situations. Future studies should focus on the roles of parenting and children&#39;s multifaceted autonomy when addressing children&#39;s adaptive lie telling. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.</p

Use of 3D faces facilitates facial expression recognition in children

This study assessed whether presenting 3D face stimuli could facilitate children&#39;s facial expression recognition. Seventy-one children aged between 3 and 6 participated in the study. Their task was to judge whether a face presented in each trial showed a happy or fearful expression. Half of the face stimuli were shown with 3D representations, whereas the other half of the images were shown as 2D pictures. We compared expression recognition under these conditions. The results showed that the use of 3D faces improved the speed of facial expression recognition in both boys and girls. Moreover, 3D faces improved boys&#39; recognition accuracy for fearful expressions. Since fear is the most difficult facial expression for children to recognize, the facilitation effect of 3D faces has important practical implications for children with difficulties in facial expression recognition. The potential benefits of 3D representation for other expressions also have implications for developing more realistic assessments of children&#39;s expression recognition.</p