De novo entecavir+adefovir dipivoxil+lamivudine triple-resistance mutations resulting from sequential therapy with adefovir dipivoxil, and lamivudine

Additional file 4: Figure S3. Electropherogram of rtM204 V+rtL180 M+rtA181 V+rtI169 V clone in Patient 3 (GenBank accession number: KU751729)

Spatiotemporal variations and its driving factors of soil conservation services in the Three Gorges Reservoir area in China

Soil conservation services play a vital role in regulating ecosystem services to prevent soil erosion and ensure regional ecological security. Therefore, effective evaluation and quantification of soil conservation services in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) are conducive to sustainable management under future global change. In this study, based on a basic database, including land use/cover data, soil data, topographic data, meteorological data, and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) data as the basic databases, to evaluate the temporal and spatial changes of soil conservation services in the TGRA from 1990 to 2015 at a regional-scale level using the general soil loss equation. The results showed that forest ecosystems (including coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests, coniferous forests, shrub forests, and broad-leaved forests) made a greater contribution (69%) to regulating soil conservation in TGRA, followed by farmland ecosystems (29%). In total TGRA, large spatial variation in soil conservation, such as the highest appeared in the northern hinterland, whereas the lowest was mostly shown in the northwest with relatively frequent human activities and developed industry and agriculture. In general, soil conservation in the TGRA ecosystem gradually increased from 1990 to 2015, with a total increase of 6%. In this period, with the effective implementation of ecological projects, such as the conversion of farmland to forest and natural forest protection, the distributed proportion of forest land area in total TGRA showed a significant increase. In the meantime, the increase of vegetation coverage also helps the restoration of ecosystem structure and function and the improvement of soil conservation services. Our findings will aid our knowledge regarding the ecosystem services of the TGRA and provide implications for future sustainable land management and ecological protection

Isolation and characterization of an Aux/IAA gene (LaIAA2) from Larix

The phytohormone auxin controls many aspects of plant development. Auxin/indole-3-acetic acid (Aux/IAA)  transcriptional factors are key regulators of auxin responses in plants. To investigate the effects of auxin on  gene expression during the rooting process of Larix cuttings, a subtractive cDNA library was constructed and  272 UniEST were obtained by using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH). Based on a fragment of 272  UniEST, the full-length cDNA of LaIAA2, an Aux /IAA gene from Larix was isolated. Then, the response  expression of LaIAA2 to auxin was determined by treating with different sources and concentration of auxin and cycloheximide and the expression patterns of LaIAA2 were examined in different tissues. The results show  that LaIAA2 appears to be the first response gene of auxin and LaIAA2 gene was involved in the root  development and auxin signaling. The express pattern of LaIAA2 gene indicated that it might play a central role in root development, specially regulated lateral and adventitious root production.Key words: Aux/IAA gene family, auxin, LaIAA2, Lari

Thermoresponsive Pickering emulsions stabilized by silica nanoparticles in combination with alkyl polyoxyethylene ether nonionic surfactant

We put forward a simple protocol to prepare thermo-responsive Pickering emulsions. Using hydrophilic silica nanoparticles in combination with a low concentration of alkyl polyoxyethylene monododecyl ether (C12En) nonionic surfactant as emulsifier, oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions can be obtained which are stable at room temperature but demulsified at elevated temperature. The stabilization can be restored once the separated mixture is cooled and re-homogenized, and this stabilization-destabilization behavior can be cycled many times. It is found that the adsorption of nonionic surfactant at the silica nanoparticle-water interface via hydrogen bonding between the oxygen atoms in the polyoxyethylene headgroup and the SiOH groups on particle surfaces at low temperature is responsible for the in situ hydrophobization of the particles rendering them surface-active. De-hydrophobization can be achieved at elevated temperature due to weakening or loss of this hydrogen bonding. The time required for demulsification decreases with increasing temperature and the temperature interval between stabilization and destabilization of the emulsions is affected by the surfactant headgroup length. Experimental evidence including microscopy, adsorption isotherms and three-phase contact angles is provided to support the mechanism

Masked Language Model Based Textual Adversarial Example Detection

Adversarial attacks are a serious threat to the reliable deployment of machine learning models in safety-critical applications. They can misguide current models to predict incorrectly by slightly modifying the inputs. Recently, substantial work has shown that adversarial examples tend to deviate from the underlying data manifold of normal examples, whereas pre-trained masked language models can fit the manifold of normal NLP data. To explore how to use the masked language model in adversarial detection, we propose a novel textual adversarial example detection method, namely Masked Language Model-based Detection (MLMD), which can produce clearly distinguishable signals between normal examples and adversarial examples by exploring the changes in manifolds induced by the masked language model. MLMD features a plug and play usage (i.e., no need to retrain the victim model) for adversarial defense and it is agnostic to classification tasks, victim model's architectures, and to-be-defended attack methods. We evaluate MLMD on various benchmark textual datasets, widely studied machine learning models, and state-of-the-art (SOTA) adversarial attacks (in total $3*4*4 = 48$ settings). Experimental results show that MLMD can achieve strong performance, with detection accuracy up to 0.984, 0.967, and 0.901 on AG-NEWS, IMDB, and SST-2 datasets, respectively. Additionally, MLMD is superior, or at least comparable to, the SOTA detection defenses in detection accuracy and F1 score. Among many defenses based on the off-manifold assumption of adversarial examples, this work offers a new angle for capturing the manifold change. The code for this work is openly accessible at \url{https://github.com/mlmddetection/MLMDdetection}.Comment: 13 pages,3 figure

Effect of moxibustion on the expression of GDNF and its receptor GFRα3 in the colon and spinal cord of rats with irritable bowel syndrome

Background: Moxibustion treatment has been found to ameliorate clinical symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhoea and constipation in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Herein we investigated the mechanisms underlying the use of moxibustion in a rat model of IBS. Methods: In our study, an IBS model was established in rats by colorectal distension (CRD) stimulus and mustard oil enema. The rats were randomly divided into a normal group, model group, mild moxibustion group, electroacupuncture group, probiotic group and dicetel group. Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) scores were determined within 90 min of the last treatment. The expression of GDNF/GFRα3 protein and mRNA in the colon and spinal cord were detected by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time-PCR, respectively. Results: The IBS model rats had significantly higher AWR scores than the normal group (P<0.01). After mild moxibustion treatment, the AWR score was significantly reduced (20 mm Hg, P<0.05; 40 mm Hg, 60 mm Hg and 80 mm Hg, P<0.01). The model group showed significantly more colonic glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF/GFRα3 (GDNF family receptor α3) protein and mRNA expression in the colon and spinal cord than the normal group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression of GDNF/GFRα3 protein and mRNA in the colon and spinal cord of the rats were significantly decreased in the mild moxibustion group (colon: GDNF and GFRα3 protein, P<0.01; GDNF and GFRα3 mRNA, P<0.01; spinal cord: GDNF and GFRα3 protein, P<0.01; GDNF mRNA, P<0.05, GFRα3 mRNA, P<0.01). Conclusions: Our data suggest that moxibustion therapy may mitigate CRD-induced increases in the expression of GDNF and its receptor GFRα3 in the colon and spinal cord in a rat model of IBS

Tunable Nanodielectric Composites

This paper presents a progress update with the development of nanodielectric composites with electric field tunability for various high energy, high power electrical applications. It is demonstrated that nonlinear electrical/dielectric properties can be achieved via the nanostructure and interface engineering. A high level summary was given on the progress achieved as well as challenges remaining in nanodielectric engineering towards high energy density capacitors for energy storage and conversion, nonlinear dielectrics for tunable device, and high voltage varistor for surge suppression

PO-040 IDEEA Estimation of Daily Behavior Energy Consumption: Verified by Metabolic Chamber

Objective To investigate the accuracy of Intelligent Device for Energy Expenditure and Activity (IDEEA) in the measurement of energy consumption in the evening of adults in Nanjing. Methods &nbsp;120 subjects were selected, and worn IDEEA into the metabolic chamber for 11 hours of energy consumption test.Body composition by&nbsp;Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry. Sleep metabolic rate（SMR）,Rest&nbsp;metabolic rate （RMR）and Basal metabolic rate（BMR）by&nbsp;metabolic chamber. Results &nbsp;The energy consumption results were paired with sample T test. The results showed significant difference between MC and IDEEA, but the effect size was between 0.004 and 0.042. The correlation between MC and IDEEA was 0.85 to 0 .96. The absolute error rate of energy consumption measurement was from 6.16 % to 7.92 %, of which the measurement error of sleep energy consumption was 6.16 %±4.16 %, and that of Internet energy consumption was 7.92 %±5.99 %. Conclusions Energy measurement of IDEEA absolute error rate is within acceptable range, and it provides a high-precision alternative method for estimating energy consumption. The immediate and cumulative energy consumption data can be used to estimate the energy consumption for human physical activities over a period of time

Dynamical Variations of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic Based on a SEICR Disease Model: A New Approach of Yi Hua Jie Mu

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused more than 150 million cases of infection to date and poses a serious threat to global public health. In this study, global COVID-19 data were used to examine the dynamical variations from the perspectives of immunity and contact of 84 countries across the five climate regions: tropical, arid, temperate, and cold. A new approach named Yi Hua Jie Mu is proposed to obtain the transmission rates based on the COVID-19 data between the countries with the same climate region over the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic will persist over a long period of time or enter into regular circulation in multiple periods of 1–2 years. Moreover, based on the simulated results by the COVID-19 data, it is found that the temperate and cold climate regions have higher infection rates than the tropical and arid climate regions, which indicates that climate may modulate the transmission of COVID-19. The role of the climate on the COVID-19 variations should be concluded with more data and more cautions. The non-pharmaceutical interventions still play the key role in controlling and prevention this global pandemic

Clinical and immunological features of an APLAID patient caused by a novel mutation in PLCG2

BackgroundThe APLAID syndrome is a rare primary immunodeficiency caused by gain-of-function mutations in the PLCG2 gene. We present a 7-year-old APLAID patient who has recurrent blistering skin lesions, skin infections in the perineum, a rectal perineal fistula, and inflammatory bowel disease.MethodsTo determine the genetic cause of our patient, WES and bioinformatics analysis were performed. Flow cytometry was used for phenotyping immune cell populations in peripheral blood. Cytokines released into plasma were analyzed using protein chip technology. The PBMCs of patient and a healthy child were subjected to single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis.ResultsThe patient carried a novel de novo missense mutation c.2534T&gt;C in exon 24 of the PLCG2 gene that causes a leucine to serine amino acid substitution (p.Leu845Ser). Bioinformatics analysis revealed that this mutation had a negative impact on the structure of the PLCγ2 protein, which is highly conserved in many other species. Immunophenotyping by flow cytometry revealed that in addition to the typical decrease in circulating memory B cells, the levels of myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) in the children’s peripheral blood were significantly lower, as were the CD4+ effector T cells induced by their activation. Single-cell sequencing revealed that the proportion of different types of cells in the peripheral blood of the APLAID patient changed.ConclusionsWe present the first case of APLAID with severely reduced myeloid dendritic cells carrying a novel PLCG2 mutation, and conducted a comprehensive analysis of immunological features in the ALPAID patient, which has not been mentioned in previous reports. This study expands the spectrum of APLAID-associated immunophenotype and genotype. The detailed immune analyses in this patient may provide a basis for the development of targeted therapies for this severe autoinflammatory disease