The genome and transcriptome of Japanese flounder provide insights into flatfish asymmetry

Flatfish have the most extreme asymmetric body morphology of vertebrates. During metamorphosis, one eye migrates to the contralateral side of the skull, and this migration is accompanied by extensive craniofacial transformations and simultaneous development of lopsided body pigmentation(1-5). The evolution of this developmental and physiological innovation remains enigmatic. Comparative genomics of two flatfish and transcriptomic analyses during metamorphosis point to a role for thyroid hormone and retinoic acid signaling, as well as phototransduction pathways. We demonstrate that retinoic acid is critical in establishing asymmetric pigmentation and, via cross-talk with thyroid hormones, in modulating eye migration. The unexpected expression of the visual opsins from the phototransduction pathway in the skin translates illumination differences and generates retinoic acid gradients that underlie the generation of asymmetry. Identifying the genetic underpinning of this unique developmental process answers long-standing questions about the evolutionary origin of asymmetry, but it also provides insight into the mechanisms that control body shape in vertebrates.National Natural Science Foundation of China [31130057, 31461163005, 31530078, 31472269, 31472262, 31472273]; State 863 High Technology R&D Project of China [2012AA092203, 2012AA10A408, 2012AA10A403-2]; Education and Research of Guangdong Province [2013B090800017]; Taishan Scholar Climb Project Fund of Shandong of China; Taishan Scholar Project Fund of Shandong of China for Young Scientists; Shanghai Universities First-class Disciplines Project of Fisheries; Program for Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at the Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning; Shanghai Municipal Science, Special Project on the Integration of Industryinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

What Is the Focus of Structural Reform in China?—Comparison of the Factor Misallocation Degree within the Manufacturing Industry with a Unified Model

The misallocation of production factors, with structural misallocation as an important aspect, is a key instigator of low total factor productivity (TFP) growth rate in China, but one important question is which structural misallocation of what factor is more serious in China. Using China’s manufacturing industrial enterprise data from 1998 to 2013, we calculated and compared the factors misallocation degree among industries, ownerships and regions. The results indicated that, the misallocation among industries was most serious, which led to a TFP loss of 8.12% annually. The misallocation among ownerships ranked second, which led to a TFP loss of 5.49%. The least degree of the misallocation recorded among provinces led to TFP loss of 3.05%. By using the relative severity index, the rank is the same. As to the capital, the misallocation among ownerships was most serious, which led to TFP loss of 4.62%. But as to the labor, the misallocation among industries was most serious, which led to TFP loss of 4.58%. Moreover, the misallocation among ownerships alleviated rapidly from 1998 to 2007, while alleviated slower among industries and regions. However, from 2008 to 2013, all three types of structural misallocation have become worse, especially in labor. These conclusions are important to identify the focus of structural reform in China

Honokiol Attenuates Oligomeric Amyloid β1-42-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease in Mice Through Attenuating Mitochondrial Apoptosis and Inhibiting the Nuclear Factor Kappa-B Signaling Pathway

Background: Increasing evidence indicates that amyloid β oligomer (AβO) is toxic to neurons in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of honokiol on AβO-induced learning and memory dysfunction in mice. Methods: AD mice model was established by AβO intrahippocampal injection. The cognitive function was evaluated using Morris water maze (MWM). Nissl staining was used to examine the hippocampal neuron damage. Primary hippocampal neurons were exposed to AβO. The apoptosis in the hippocampal tissues and primary neurons was assessed using terminal dexynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling-neuronal nuclei (NeuN) and Hoechst staining, respectively. The mitochondrial membrane potential and radical oxygen species were detected using standard methods. Western blotting assay was used to check the expression levels of apoptotic and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling-associated proteins and electrophoretic mobility shift assay was used to detect NF-κB-DNA binding. Results: Honokiol increased the time spend in the target zone of the AD mice in the MWM. In addition, honokiol dose-dependently attenuated AβO-induced hippocampal neuronal apoptosis, reactive oxygen species production and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Furthermore, AβO-induced NF-κB activation was inhibited by honokiol, as well as the upregulated amyloid precursor protein and β-secretase. Conclusion: Honokiol attenuates AβO-induced learning and memory dysfunction in mice and it may be a potential candidate in AD therapy

Two-Period Reputation Model of Knowledge Sharing between Enterprises Based on Signal Game Analysis

Knowledge sharing between enterprises is an important way to obtain external research and development (R&D) resources and keep competitiveness. This paper used a reputation model based on a two-period signal game to explore knowledge-sharing micromechanism between enterprises and key influencing factors of enterprises. The results show that reputation effects are an important mechanism that will make knowledge sharing between enterprises operate effectively. Motivated by reputation effects, even those noncooperative enterprises continue to pretend to be cooperative enterprises for knowledge sharing before the end of the game. Finally, we adopt the analytical methods and conclusions given by the model in this article to analyze opportunistic problems in knowledge sharing among cooperative enterprises and put forward some valuable suggestions on the conditions for the effective use of corporate reputation effects

On The Nature of the Halogen Bond

The wide-ranging applications of the halogen bond (X-bond), notably in self-assembling materials and medicinal chemistry, have placed this weak intermolecular interaction in a center of great deal of attention. There is a need to elucidate the physical nature of the halogen bond for better understanding of its similarity and differences vis-à-vis other weak intermolecular interactions, for example, hydrogen bond, as well as for developing improved force-fields to simulate nano- and biomaterials involving X-bonds. This understanding is the focus of the present study that combines the insights of a bottom-up approach based on ab initio valence bond (VB) theory and the block-localized wave function (BLW) theory that uses monomers to reconstruct the wave function of a complex. To this end and with an aim of unification, we studied the nature of X-bonds in 55 complexes using the combination of VB and BLW theories. Our conclusion is clear-cut; most of the X-bonds are held by charge transfer interactions (i.e., intermolecular hyperconjugation) as envisioned more than 60 years ago by Mulliken. This is consistent with the experimental and computational findings that X-bonds are more directional than H-bonds. Furthermore, the good linear correlation between charge transfer energies and total interaction energies partially accounts for the success of simple force fields in the simulation of large systems involving X-bonds

How Solvent Influences the Anomeric Effect: Roles of Hyperconjugative versus Steric Interactions on the Conformational Preference

US National Science Foundation [CHE-1055310, CNS-1126438]; China Scholarship Council (CSC); National Science Foundation of China [20873106]; Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2011CB808504]The block-localized wave function (BLW) method, which can derive optimal electron-localized state with intramolecular electron delocalization completely deactivated, has been combined with the polarizable continuum model (PCM) to probe the variation of the anomeric effect in solution. Currently both the hyperconjugation and electrostatic models have been called to interpret the anomeric effect in carbohydrate molecules. Here we employed the BLW-PCM scheme to analyze the energy differences between alpha and beta anomers of substituted tetrahydropyran C5OH9Y (Y = F, Cl, OH, NH2, and CH3) and tetrahydrothiopyran C5SH9Y (Y = F, Cl, OH, and CH3) in solvents including chloroform, acetone, and water. In accord with literature, our computations show that for anomeric systems the conformational preference is reduced in solution and the magnitude of reduction increases as the solvent polarity increases. Significantly, on one hand the solute-solvent interaction diminishes the intramolecular electron delocalization in beta anomers more than in alpha anomers, thus destabilizing beta anomers relatively. But on the other hand, it reduces the steric effect in beta anomers much more than alpha anomers and thus stabilizes beta anomers relatively more, leading to the overall reduction of the anomeric effect in anomeric systems in solutions

A Unified Theory for the Blue- and Red-Shifting Phenomena in Hydrogen and Halogen Bonds

Typical hydrogen and halogen bonds exhibit red-shifts of their vibrational frequencies upon the formation of hydrogen and halogen bonding complexes (denoted as D···Y–A, Y = H and X). The finding of blue-shifts in certain complexes is of significant interest, which has led to numerous studies of the origins of the phenomenon. Because charge transfer mixing (i.e., hyperconjugation in bonding systems) has been regarded as one of the key forces, it would be illuminating to compare the structures and vibrational frequencies in bonding complexes with the charge transfer effect “turned on” and “turned off”. Turning off the charge transfer mixing can be achieved by employing the block-localized wave function (BLW) method, which is an ab initio valence bond (VB) method. Further, with the BLW method, the overall stability gained in the formation of a complex can be analyzed in terms of a few physically meaningful terms. Thus, the BLW method provides a unified and physically lucid way to explore the nature of red- and blue-shifting phenomena in both hydrogen and halogen bonding complexes. In this study, a direct correlation between the total stability and the variation of the Y–A bond length is established based on our BLW computations, and the consistent roles of all energy components are clarified. The <i>n</i>(D) → σ*­(Y–A) electron transfer stretches the Y–A bond, while the polarization due to the approach of interacting moieties reduces the HOMO–LUMO gap and results in a stronger orbital mixing within the YA monomer. As a consequence, both the charge transfer and polarization stabilize bonding systems with the Y–A bond stretched and red-shift the vibrational frequency of the Y–A bond. Notably, the energy of the frozen wave function is the only energy component which prefers the shrinking of the Y–A bond and thus is responsible for the associated blue-shifting. The total variations of the Y–A bond length and the corresponding stretching vibrational frequency are thus determined by the competition between the frozen-energy term and the sum of polarization and charge transfer energy terms. Because the frozen energy is composed of electrostatic and Pauli exchange interactions and frequency shifting is a long-range phenomenon, we conclude that long-range electrostatic interaction is the driving force behind the frozen energy term