Bis{1-[(4-methyl­phen­yl)imino­meth­yl]-2-naphtho­lato-κ2 N,O}nickel(II)

In the title complex, [Ni(C18H14NO)2], the NiII ion lies on an inversion center and is coordinated in a slightly distorted square-planar environment. The 1-[(4-methyl­phen­yl)imino­meth­yl]-2-naphtho­late ligands are coordinated in a trans arrangement with respect to the N and O atoms. In the symmetry-unique ligand, the dihedral angle between the naphthalene ring system and the benzene ring of the methyl­phenyl group is 49.03 (7)°

Genome Composition and Divergence of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Originating in China.

An in-depth annotation of the newly discovered coronavirus (2019-nCoV) genome has revealed differences between 2019-nCoV and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or SARS-like coronaviruses. A systematic comparison identified 380 amino acid substitutions between these coronaviruses, which may have caused functional and pathogenic divergence of 2019-nCoV

Insertion of a TRIM-like sequence in MdFLS2-1 promoter is associated with its allele-specific expression in response to Alternaria alternata in apple

Alternaria blotch disease, caused by Alternaria alternata apple pathotype (AAAP), is one of the major fungal diseases in apple. Early field observations revealed, the anther-derived homozygote Hanfu line (HFTH1) was highly susceptible to AAAP, whereas Hanfu (HF) exhibited resistance to AAAP. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the difference in sensitivity of HF and HFTH1 to AAAP, we performed allele-specific expression (ASE) analysis and comparative transcriptomic analysis before and after AAAP inoculation. We reported an important immune gene, namely, MdFLS2, which displayed strong ASE in HF with much lower expression levels of HFTH1-derived alleles. Transient overexpression of the dominant allele of MdFLS2-1 from HF in GL-3 apple leaves could enhance resistance to AAAP and induce expression of genes related to salicylic acid pathway. In addition, MdFLS2-1 was identified with an insertion of an 85-bp terminal-repeat retrotransposon in miniature (TRIM) element-like sequence in the upstream region of the nonreference allele. In contrast, only one terminal direct repeat (TDR) from TRIM-like sequence was present in the upstream region of the HFTH1-derived allele MdFLS2-2. Furthermore, the results of luciferase and β-glucuronidase reporter assays demonstrated that the intact TRIM-like sequence has enhancer activity. This suggested that insertion of the TRIM-like sequence regulates the expression level of the allele of MdFLS2, in turn, affecting the sensitivity of HF and HFTH1 to AAAP

Genome-wide variant-based study of genetic effects with the largest neuroanatomic coverage

Background: Brain image genetics provides enormous opportunities for examining the effects of genetic variations on the brain. Many studies have shown that the structure, function, and abnormality (e.g., those related to Alzheimer's disease) of the brain are heritable. However, which genetic variations contribute to these phenotypic changes is not completely clear. Advances in neuroimaging and genetics have led us to obtain detailed brain anatomy and genome-wide information. These data offer us new opportunities to identify genetic variations such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect brain structure. In this paper, we perform a genome-wide variant-based study, and aim to identify top SNPs or SNP sets which have genetic effects with the largest neuroanotomic coverage at both voxel and region-of-interest (ROI) levels. Based on the voxelwise genome-wide association study (GWAS) results, we used the exhaustive search to find the top SNPs or SNP sets that have the largest voxel-based or ROI-based neuroanatomic coverage. For SNP sets with >2 SNPs, we proposed an efficient genetic algorithm to identify top SNP sets that can cover all ROIs or a specific ROI. Results: We identified an ensemble of top SNPs, SNP-pairs and SNP-sets, whose effects have the largest neuroanatomic coverage. Experimental results on real imaging genetics data show that the proposed genetic algorithm is superior to the exhaustive search in terms of computational time for identifying top SNP-sets. Conclusions: We proposed and applied an informatics strategy to identify top SNPs, SNP-pairs and SNP-sets that have genetic effects with the largest neuroanatomic coverage. The proposed genetic algorithm offers an efficient solution to accomplish the task, especially for identifying top SNP-sets

ER Stress Negatively Modulates the Expression of the miR-199a/214 Cluster to Regulates Tumor Survival and Progression in Human Hepatocellular Cancer

Background: Recent studies have emphasized causative links between microRNAs (miRNAs) deregulation and tumor development. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), more and more miRNAs were identified as diagnostic and prognostic cancer biomarkers, as well as additional therapeutic tools. This study aimed to investigate the functional significance and regulatory mechanism of the miR-199a2/214 cluster in HCC progression. Methods and Findings: In this study, we showed that miR-214, as well as miR-199a-3p and miR-199a-5p levels were significantly reduced in the majority of examined 23 HCC tissues and HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cell lines, compared with their nontumor counterparts. To further explore the role of miR-214 in hepatocarcinogenesis, we disclosed that the ER stressinduced pro-survival factor XBP-1 is a target of miR-214 by using western blot assay and luciferase reporter assay. Reexpression of miR-214 in HCC cell lines (HepG2 and SMMC-7721) inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis. Furthermore, ectopic expression of miR-214 dramatically suppressed the ability of HCC cells to form colonies in vitro and to develop tumors in a subcutaneous xenotransplantation model of the BALB/c athymic nude mice. Moreover, reintroduction of XBP-1s attenuated miR-214-mediated suppression of HCC cells proliferation, colony and tumor formation. To further understand the mechanism of the miR-199a/214 cluster down-expression in HCC, we found that thapsigargin (TG) and tunicamycin (TM) or hypoxia-induced unfolded protein response (UPR) suppresses the expression of the miR-199a/21

Identifying Treatments for Taste and Smell Disorders: Gaps and Opportunities.

The chemical senses of taste and smell play a vital role in conveying information about ourselves and our environment. Tastes and smells can warn against danger and also contribute to the daily enjoyment of food, friends and family, and our surroundings. Over 12% of the US population is estimated to experience taste and smell (chemosensory) dysfunction. Yet, despite this high prevalence, long-term, effective treatments for these disorders have been largely elusive. Clinical successes in other sensory systems, including hearing and vision, have led to new hope for developments in the treatment of chemosensory disorders. To accelerate cures, we convened the Identifying Treatments for Taste and Smell Disorders conference, bringing together basic and translational sensory scientists, health care professionals, and patients to identify gaps in our current understanding of chemosensory dysfunction and next steps in a broad-based research strategy. Their suggestions for high-yield next steps were focused in 3 areas: increasing awareness and research capacity (e.g., patient advocacy), developing and enhancing clinical measures of taste and smell, and supporting new avenues of research into cellular and therapeutic approaches (e.g., developing human chemosensory cell lines, stem cells, and gene therapy approaches). These long-term strategies led to specific suggestions for immediate research priorities that focus on expanding our understanding of specific responses of chemosensory cells and developing valuable assays to identify and document cell development, regeneration, and function. Addressing these high-priority areas should accelerate the development of novel and effective treatments for taste and smell disorders

Statistical inference for a competing failure model based on the Wiener process and Weibull distribution

Competing failure models with degradation phenomena and sudden failures are becoming more and more common and important in practice. In this study, the generalized pivotal quantity method was proposed to investigate the modeling of competing failure problems involving both degradation and sudden failures. In the competing failure model, the degradation failure was modeled through a Wiener process and the sudden failure was described as a Weibull distribution. For point estimation, the maximum likelihood estimations of parameters $\mu$ and $\sigma^2$ were provided and the inverse estimation of parameters $\eta$ and $\beta$ were derived. The exact confidence intervals for parameters $\mu$, $\sigma^2$, and $\beta$ were obtained. Furthermore, the generalized confidence interval of parameter $\eta$ was obtained through constructing the generalized pivotal quantity. Using the substitution principle, the generalized confidence intervals for the reliability function, the $p$th percentile of lifetime, and the mean time to failure were also obtained. Simulation technique was carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed generalized confidence intervals. The simulation results showed that the proposed generalized confidence interval was effective in terms of coverage percentage. Finally, an example was presented to illustrate the application of the proposed method

Progress, Challenges, and Perspectives of Bioleaching for Recovering Heavy Metals from Mine Tailings

The accumulation of mine tailings on Earth is a serious environmental challenge. The importance for the recovery of heavy metals, together with the economic benefits of precious and base metals, is a strong incentive to develop sustainable methods to recover metals from tailings. Currently, researchers are attempting to improve the efficiency of metal recovery from tailings using bioleaching, a more sustainable method compared to traditional methods. In this work, the research status of using biological leaching technologies to recover heavy metals from tailings was reviewed. Furthermore, CiteSpace 5.7.R2 was used to visually analyze the keywords of relevant studies on biological leaching of tailings to intuitively establish the current research hotspots. We found that current research has made recent progress on influencing factors and microbial genetic data, and innovations have also been made regarding the improvement of the rate of metal leaching by biological leaching combined with other technologies. This is of great significance for the development of bioleaching technologies and industrial production of heavy metals in tailings. Finally, challenges and opportunities for bioleaching provide directions for further research by the scientific community

Ecological Treatment and Resource Utilization of Wastewater from a Chicken Transfer Station

Research was conducted at a chicken transfer station to assess ecological treatment and resource utilization. The study examined three aspects: wastewater ecological treatment, resource utilization maximization, and process optimization. Process design and operation monitoring were carried out to treat and reuse wastewater from a chicken feeder station over two periods. The first period was operated in 2014, adopting the mode of pretreatment plus a constructed wetland. Results show that the relevant indicators basically meet the regulatory requirements at that time. The second period carried out in 2017 improved upon the results obtained during the first period. On the basis of strengthening the pretreatment and constructed wetland functions, full recycling of tailwater and zero discharge of wastewater was achieved. The aquatic plant water celery used for wetland wastewater purification function also reached the standard of safe vegetable consumption, producing systematic ecological and economic benefits. The second phase of the project has high promotion and application value in the wastewater treatment of the chicken transfer station. This study demonstrates an improved approach to poultry production wastewater treatment by transforming wastewater into an agricultural product while achieving wastewater reuse and environmental pollution control