Production of Glycopeptide Derivatives for Exploring Substrate Specificity of Human OGA Toward Sugar Moiety.

O-GlcNAcase (OGA) is the only enzyme responsible for removing N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc) attached to serine and threonine residues on proteins. This enzyme plays a key role in O-GlcNAc metabolism. However, the structural features of the sugar moiety recognized by human OGA (hOGA) remain unclear. In this study, a set of glycopeptides with modifications on the GlcNAc residue, were prepared in a recombinant full-length human OGT-catalyzed reaction, using chemoenzymatically synthesized UDP-GlcNAc derivatives. The resulting glycopeptides were used to evaluate the substrate specificity of hOGA toward the sugar moiety. This study will provide insights into the exploration of probes for O-GlcNAc modification, as well as a better understanding of the roles of O-GlcNAc in cellular physiology

Hydrological Variation Characteristics of Rivers in Humid Region: Oujiang River, China

AbstractOujiang River was selected as the case study, and a dataset of daily flow series at Xuren Station was used to explore the hydrologic characteristics of rivers in humid areas, by using the ‘Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration’ approach and ‘Range of Variability Approach’. Results showed that the overall alteration of the hydrological regime for Oujiang River belonged to the low alteration category, and some key eco-hydrological characteristics should be protected in certain key periods to maintain the integrality and health status of river ecosystems

Industry-finance integration activities is beneficial to the improvement of business performance of fishery companies—Based on DEA-CCR Model and DEA-Malmquist Model

Fisheries are an essential component of the national economy. The evaluation of fishery enterprises' business performance helps reveal the fishery industry's operating efficiency and serve the fishery economy's sustainable and high-quality development. This study used the data of fishery companies with industry-finance integration on the stock market from 2012-2021 and conducted a comparative study on the business performance of fishery companies with industry-finance integration on the stock market based on the DEA-CCR model and DEA- Malmquist index method. Two main results were revealed (i) the integration of industry and finance was an effective means to improve business performance, and the financial gains from the integration of industry and finance by listed fishery companies improve the overall efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises. (ii) The average TFP of listed fishery companies in China is declining, and technological decline is the main reason for the decline in TFP

Origins and stepwise expansion of R2R3-MYB transcription factors for the terrestrial adaptation of plants

The R2R3-MYB transcription factors play critical roles in various processes in embryophytes (land plants). Here, we identified genes encoding R2R3-MYB proteins from rhodophytes, glaucophytes, Chromista, chlorophytes, charophytes, and embryophytes. We classified the R2R3-MYB genes into three subgroups (I, II, and III) based on their evolutionary history and gene structure. The subgroup I is the most ancient group that includes members from all plant lineages. The subgroup II was formed before the divergence of charophytes and embryophytes. The subgroup III genes form a monophyletic group and only comprise members from land plants with conserved exon–intron structure. Each subgroup was further divided into multiple clades. The subgroup I can be divided into I-A, I-B, I-C, and I-D. The I-A, I-B, and I-C are the most basal clades that have originated before the divergence of Archaeplastida. The I-D with the II and III subgroups form a monophyletic group, containing only green plants. The II and III subgroups form another monophyletic group with Streptophyta only. Once on land, the subgroup III genes have experienced two rounds of major expansions. The first round occurred before the origin of land plants, and the second round occurred after the divergence of land plants. Due to significant gene expansion, the subgroup III genes have become the predominant group of R2R3-MYBs in land plants. The highly unbalanced pattern of birth and death evolution of R2R3-MYB genes indicates their important roles in the successful adaptation and massive radiation of land plants to occupy a multitude of terrestrial environments

Soil pH, total phosphorus, climate and distance are the major factors influencing microbial activity at a regional spatial scale

Considering the extensive functional redundancy in microbial communities and great difficulty in elucidating it based on taxonomic structure, studies on the biogeography of soil microbial activity at large spatial scale are as important as microbial community structure. Eighty-four soil samples were collected across a region from south to north China (about 1,000 km) to address the questions if microbial activity displays biogeographic patterns and what are driving forces. These samples represented different soil types, land use and climate. Redundancy analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling clearly revealed that soil microbial activities showed distinct differentiation at different sites over a regional spatial scale, which were strongly affected by soil pH, total P, rainfall, temperature, soil type and location. In addition, microbial community structure was greatly influenced by rainfall, location, temperature, soil pH and soil type and was correlated with microbial activity to some extent. Our results suggest that microbial activities display a clear geographic pattern that is greatly altered by geographic distance and reflected by climate, soil pH and total P over large spatial scales. There are common (distance, climate, pH and soil type) but differentiated aspects (TP, SOC and N) in the biogeography of soil microbial community structure and activity

Synergistic strategy with hyperthermia therapy based immunotherapy and engineered exosomes−liposomes targeted chemotherapy prevents tumor recurrence and metastasis in advanced breast cancer

Advanced breast cancer with recurrent and distal organ metastasis is aggressive and incurable. The current existing treatment strategies for advanced breast cancer are difficult to achieve synergistic treatment of recurrent tumors and distant metastasis, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Herein, a synergistic therapy strategy composed of biomimetic tumor-derived exosomes (TEX)-Liposome-paclitaxel (PTX) with lung homing properties and gold nanorods (GNR)-PEG, was designed, respectively. GNR-PEG, with well biocompatibility, cured recurrent tumors effectively by thermal ablation under the in situ NIR irradiation. Meanwhile, GNR-mediated thermal ablation activated the adaptive antitumor immune response, significantly increased the level of CD8+ T cells in lungs and the concentration of serum cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interlekin-6, and interferon-γ). Subsequently, TEX-Liposome-PTX preferentially accumulated in lung tissues due to autologous tumor-derived TEX with inherent specific affinity to lung, resulting in a better therapeutic effect on lung metastasis tumors with the assistance of adaptive immunotherapy triggered by GNR in vivo. The enhanced therapeutic efficacy in advanced breast cancer was a combination of thermal ablation, adaptive antitumor immunotherapy, and targeted PTX chemotherapy. Hence, the synergistic strategy based on GNR and TEX-Liposome provides selectivity to clinical treatment of advanced breast cancer with recurrent and metastasis

Spatiotemporal variations and overflow risk analysis of the Salt Lake in the Hoh Xil Region using machine learning methods

Global warming is inducing dramatic changes in fluvial geomorphology and reshaping the hydrological connections between rivers and lakes. The water level and area of the Salt Lake have increased rapidly since the outburst of the Zonag Lake in the Hoh Xil region of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in 2011, threatening the downstream infrastructure. However, fewer studies have focused on its spatiotemporal variation and overflow risk over long time series. Here, we used three machine learning algorithms: Classification and Regression Trees (CART), Random Forest (RF), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) to extract the area of the Salt Lake for a long time series, analyzed its spatiotemporal variation from 1973 to 2021, and finally assessed the overflow risk. The Kappa coefficient (KAPPA) and the overall accuracy (OA) were used to evaluate the performance of the models. The results showed that Random Forest performs superior in lake extraction (KAPPA = 0.98, overall accuracy = 0.99), followed by Classification and Regression Trees and Support Vector Machine. normalized difference water index is the relatively important feature variable in both RF and CART. Before the outburst event, the area change of the Salt Lake was consistent with the variation in precipitation; after that, it showed a remarkable area increase (circa 350%) in all orientations, and the main direction was the southeast. Without the construction of the emergency drainage channel, the simulation result indicated that the earliest and latest times of the Salt Lake overflow event are predicted to occur in 2020 and 2031, respectively. The results of this paper not only demonstrate that RF is more suitable for water extraction and help understand the water system reorganization event

Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 Promotes Rat Stem Leydig Cell Development

Fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) is reported to be expressed in the testis. How FGF1 affects stem Leydig cell development remains unclear. Here, we report the effects of FGF1 on rat stem Leydig cell development in an ethane dimethane sulfonate (EDS)-treated model. FGF1 (100 ng/testis) significantly increased serum testosterone level, increased PCNA-positive Leydig cell percentage and Leydig cell number, but down-regulated the expression of Lhcgr, Star, Cyp11a1, Hsd3b1, Cyp17a1, and Hsd11b1 in Leydig cells per se, after its daily intratesticular injection from post-EDS day 14 for 14 days. Primary culture of the seminiferous tubules showed that FGF1 stimulated EdU incorporation to stem Leydig cells but blocked the differentiation into the Leydig cell lineage, possibly via FGFR1-mediated mechanism. In conclusion, FGF1 promotes stem Leydig cell proliferation but blocks its differentiation

Four-channel coarse WDM for inter-and intra-satellite optical communications

Abstract A polymer volume grating-based four-channel coarse wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) for inter-and intra-satellite optical communication application is reported for the first time. This compact four-channel WDM device working at 0.83, 1.06, 1.34 and 1.55 mm is designed to build a complete optical link between two satellites, where wavelengths of 0.83 and 1.55 mm are used for data stream channels, 1.06 and 1.34 mm are used for inter-and intra-satellite connection. It is for the first time reported that a WDM device can cover such a large wavelength range in a single substrate. For transverse electric (TE) wave, the channel efficiencies at 0.83, 1.06, 1.34 and 1.55 mm are 55%, 40%, 35% and 45%, respectively. Channel efficiencies for transverse magnetic (TM) waves are 20% lower than those of TE waves on average. Wavelength shifts due to Doppler effect, temperature variations and radiation effects in space can be adequately accommodated. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Wavelength division multiplexing; Satellite communication; Holographic gratings The concept of space-based, free space optical communications among satellites was developed in the early 1960s [1]. However, there was no system demonstration coming into reality until 2001 by ASTRIUM Coarse wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology, which is developed for storage access networks (SANs), finds its great potential for applications in the space-based optical communication system. The data bit-rate independence of the WDM technology ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/optlastec 0030-3992/$ -see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd

Nontyphoidal Salmonella

Background. Nontyphoidal Salmonella infection is a common cause for acute bacterial gastroenteritis in children in China. There have been no reports of the prevalence of lactose intolerance or food allergies in children with nontyphoidal Salmonella infection. The aim of this study was to characterize nontyphoidal Salmonella gastroenteritis in a tertiary children’s hospital and evaluate clinical presentation, lactose intolerance, and food allergies in children with prolonged nontyphoidal Salmonella gastroenteritis. Methods. A retrospective case-series analysis was carried out in a tertiary children’s hospital in Guangzhou, China. We included all infants and children who were diagnosed with nontyphoidal Salmonella gastroenteritis between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016. Patients’ clinical features, feeding patterns, laboratory tests, and treatment outcomes were reviewed. Results. A total of 142 infants and children were diagnosed with nontyphoidal Salmonella gastroenteritis. 52.1% of cases occurred in infants ≤ 12 months of age and the majority (89.4%) in children younger than 3 years old. The most common symptoms were diarrhea (100%), fever (62%), and vomiting (18.3%). Salmonella Typhimurium was the predominant serotype, accounting for 82.4%. 91.5% of patients were treated with antibiotics. Forty-one (28.9%) and 9 (6.3%) children improved with a lactose-free diet and hypoallergenic formula, respectively, when diarrhea persisted for more than a week. Conclusions. Salmonella Typhimurium was the predominant serotype. Most patients with nontyphoidal Salmonella gastroenteritis were younger than 3 years old. Lactose intolerance occurred frequently in children with nontyphoidal Salmonella gastroenteritis and dietary modification should be considered when diarrhea is persistent and prolonged