Application of High-Resolution DNA Melting for Genotyping in Lepidopteran Non-Model Species: Ostrinia furnacalis (Crambidae)

Development of an ideal marker system facilitates a better understanding of the genetic diversity in lepidopteran non-model organisms, which have abundant species, but relatively limited genomic resources. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) discovered within single-copy genes have proved to be desired markers, but SNP genotyping by current techniques remain laborious and expensive. High resolution melting (HRM) curve analysis represents a simple, rapid and inexpensive genotyping method that is primarily confined to clinical and diagnostic studies. In this study, we evaluated the potential of HRM analysis for SNP genotyping in the lepidopteran non-model species Ostrinia furnacalis (Crambidae). Small amplicon and unlabeled probe assays were developed for the SNPs, which were identified in 30 females of O. furnacalis from 3 different populations by our direct sequencing. Both assays were then applied to genotype 90 unknown female DNA by prior mixing with known wild-type DNA. The genotyping results were compared with those that were obtained using bi-directional sequencing analysis. Our results demonstrated the efficiency and reliability of the HRM assays. HRM has the potential to provide simple, cost-effective genotyping assays and facilitates genotyping studies in any non-model lepidopteran species of interest

Localization of Fusobacterium nucleatum in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its possible directly interacting protein molecules: A case series

Introduction. While 15 to 20% of cancers are associated with microbial infection, the relationship between oral microorganisms and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. The location of bacteria in a tumor is closely related to its carcinogenic mechanism. The aim of this study was to analyse bacterial diversity in clinical OSCC tissue samples and tumor distant normal tissues, locate target bacteria, and search for proteins that may interact with target bacteria. Materials and Methods. The 16S rDNA method was used to analyse bacterial diversity in clinical OSCC tissue samples and tumor distant normal tissues. Correlations between Fusobacterium abundance and clinicopathological characteristics were analysed using the χ2 test. The position of target bacteria was analysed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and the expression of CK, CD31, CD45, CD68, cyclin D1, βcatenin, E-cadherin, NF-κB, and HIF-1α was analysed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in OSCC tumor tissues and tumor distant normal tissues. Results. The 16S rDNA results showed that the detected amount of Fusobacterium in OSCC tumor tissues was significantly larger than that in tumor distant normal tissues. High expression of Fusobacterium was significantly correlated with the lifestyle-related oral risk habits, including smoking (p=0.036) and alcohol consumption (p=0.022), but did not correlate with patient sex, age, tumor laterality, tumor size, grade or TNM stage. Fusobacterium nucleatum was enriched in tumor stroma, where CD31+ blood vessels and inflammatory cells (including CD45+ leukocytes and CD68+ macrophages) were densely distributed. Cyclin D1 was mainly expressed in the nucleus of tumor cells. β-catenin was expressed in the tumor cell membrane and was positively expressed in tumor interstitial vascular endothelial cells. E-cadherin was mainly expressed in tumor cell membranes. NF-κB was positively expressed in the cytoplasm of tumor cells, tumor interstitial cells and myo-fibrocytes. HIF-1α was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of tumor interstitial cells. HIF-1α was highly expressed where Fusobacterium nucleatum was densely distributed. Conclusion. According to our study, the detected amount of Fusobacterium in OSCC tumor tissues was significantly larger than that in tumor distant normal tissues, and Fusobacterium nucleatum might aggravate inflammation and hypoxia by interacting with NF-κB and HIF-1α in OSCC

Semiconducting transport in Pb10−x_{10-x}Cux_x(PO4_4)6_6O sintered from Pb2_2SO5_5 and Cu3_3P

The very recent claim on the discovery of ambient-pressure room-temperature superconductivity in modified lead-apatite has immediately excited sensational attention in the entire society, which is fabricated by sintering lanarkite (Pb2SO5) and copper(I) phosphide (Cu$_3$P). To verify this exciting claim, we have successfully synthesized Pb$_2$SO$_5$, Cu$_3$P, and finally the modified lead-apatite Pb$_{10-x}$Cu$_x$(PO$_4$)$_6$O. Detailed electrical transport and magnetic properties of these compounds were systematically analyzed. It turns out that Pb$_2$SO$_5$ is a highly insulating diamagnet with a room-temperature resistivity of ~7.18x10$^9$ Ohm.cm and Cu$_3$P is a paramagnetic metal with a room-temperature resistivity of ~5.22x10$^{-4}$ Ohm.cm. In contrast to the claimed superconductivity, the resulting Pb$_{10-x}$Cu$_x$(PO$_4$)$_6$O compound sintered from Pb$_2$SO$_5$ and Cu$_3$P exhibits semiconductor-like transport behavior with a large room-temperature resistivity of ~1.94x10$^4$ Ohm.cm although our compound shows greatly consistent x-ray diffraction spectrum with the previously reported structure data. In addition, when a pressed Pb$_{10-x}$Cu$_x$(PO$_4$)$_6$O pellet is located on top of a commercial Nd$_2$Fe$_{14}$B magnet at room temperature, no repulsion could be felt and no magnetic levitation was observed either. These results imply that the claim of a room-temperature superconductor in modified lead-apatite may need more careful re-examination, especially for the electrical transport properties.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figure

Preclinical Evaluation of Radioiodinated Hoechst 33258 for Early Prediction of Tumor Response to Treatment of Vascular-Disrupting Agents

This study aimed to explore the use of 131I-Hoechst 33258 (131I-H33258) for early prediction of tumor response to vascular-disrupting agents (VDAs) with combretastatin-A4 phosphate (CA4P) as a representative. Necrosis avidity of 131I-H33258 was evaluated in mouse models with muscle necrosis and blocking was used to confirm the tracer specificity. Therapy response was evaluated by 131I-H33258 SPECT/CT imaging 24 h after CA4P therapy in W256 tumor-bearing rats. Radiotracer uptake in tumors was validated ex vivo using γ-counting, autoradiography, and histopathological staining. Results showed that 131I-H33258 had predominant necrosis avidity and could specifically bind to necrotic tissue. SPECT/CT imaging demonstrated that an obvious “hot spot” could be observed in the CA4P-treated tumor. Ex vivo γ-counting revealed 131I-H33258 uptake in tumors was increased 2.8-fold in rats treated with CA4P relative to rats treated with vehicle. Autoradiography and corresponding H&E staining suggested that 131I-H33258 was mainly localized in necrotic tumor area and the higher overall uptake in the treated tumors was attributed to the increased necrosis. These results suggest that 131I-H33258 can be used to image induction of cell necrosis 24 h after CA4P therapy, which support further molecular design of probes based on scaffold H33258 for monitoring of tumor response to VDAs treatment

Publisher Correction: An anomalous Hall effect in altermagnetic ruthenium dioxide

In the version of this article initially published, square brackets and parentheses were incorrect in Fig. 1g and throughout Fig. 2 (excepting lower labels in Fig. 2d–f). Further, in the second paragraph of the “Consistency with theoretical prediction” subsection of the main article, in the text now reading “the reorientation-field scale, namely, HC = (H2 AE − H2 d) /Hd,” the term “H2 AE” wasn’t shown as squared. The changes have been made in the HTML and PDF versions of the article

The Soil Aggregates and Associated Organic Carbon across the Greater Khingan Mountains: Spatial Patterns and Impacting Factors

(1) Background: The preservation of soil organic carbon (SOC) by soil aggregates (SA) is a key mechanism for the stability of the soil carbon (C) pool. (2) Methods: Soil samples were collected at a 0–20 cm depth from 75 sites across the forest regions of the Greater Khingan Mountains, China, and were fractionated as SA of 0.25–2 mm, 0.053–0.25 mm, and 4+-N, AK, and TP, while 0.25–2 mm SA content was negatively related with pH. (4) Conclusions: Precipitation was helpful for the development of clay aggregates (<0.053 mm), i.e., increasing rainfall-induced aggregate disruption. SOC encourages small SA cementing to large SA, which improves SA stability. OC associated with the SAF of 0.25–2 mm and 0.053–0.25 mm was positively correlated with soil nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, suggesting that the formation of aggregates was conducive to the preservation of soil nutrients

Inverse Scattering Analysis from Measurement Data of Total Electric and Magnetic Fields by Means of Cylindrical-Wave Expansion

Microwave tomography is an effective technique to estimate material distribution, where inverse scattering analysis is performed on the assumption that accurate information on the incident field is known for a measurement curve as well as in the target region. In reality, however, the information may often be unobtainable due to multiple scattering between the transmitting antenna and the target object, or existence of unwanted waves and obstacles. In this paper, a method to extract information on incident fields from measured total field data is proposed. The validity of the proposed method is verified on 2D TMz problems, where a cylindrical, a square, and an L-shape homogeneous object are employed as a target object. Furthermore, it is shown that the method is available even when there are unwanted obstacles outside the measurement curve

Early warning of systemic risk in stock market based on EEMD-LSTM.

With the increasing importance of the stock market, it is of great practical significance to accurately describe the systemic risk of the stock market and conduct more accurate early warning research on it. However, the existing research on the systemic risk of the stock market lacks multi-dimensional factors, and there is still room for improvement in the forecasting model. Therefore, to further measure the systemic risk profile of the Chinese stock market, establish a risk early warning system suitable for the Chinese stock market, and improve the risk management awareness of investors and regulators. This paper proposes a combination model of EEMD-LSTM, which can describe the complex nonlinear interaction. Firstly, 35 stock market systemic risk indicators are selected from the perspectives of macroeconomic operation, market cross-contagion and the stock market itself to build a comprehensive indicator system that conforms to the reality of China. Furthermore, based on TEI@I complex system methodology, an EEMD-LSTM model is proposed. The EEMD method is adopted to decompose the composite index sequence into intrinsic mode function components (IMF) of different scales and one trend term. Then the LSTM algorithm is used to predicted and model the decomposed sub-sequences. Finally, the forecast result of the composite index is obtained through integration. The empirical results show that the stock market systemic risk index constructed in this paper can effectively identify important risk events within the sample period. In addition, compared with the benchmark model, the EEMD-LSTM model constructed in this paper shows a stronger early warning ability for systemic financial risks in the stock market