Typological research on the spatial forms of small towns in the Pearl River Delta, China

After the reform and opening, it has experienced a rapid growth of rural industrialisation, towns have undergone dramatic reconstructions in the Pearl River Delta region. The forms present the characteristics of peri-urbanization, which is usually defined as 'small towns' in Chinese academic. Nowadays, the research on its forms roughly summarises them as mixed urban and rural areas. In fact, the spatial forms of small towns in the Pearl River Delta have various differences, forming a great variance from "big industrial towns" to "small rural towns". This paper aims to analyse the spatial diversity of small towns in the Pearl River Delta by typo-morphology. First, this paper analyses the characteristics of four types of plane units in small towns in the Pearl River Delta. Second, taking the complexity of plan units as the clue, the paper summarises four types of morphological regions in small towns, Pearl River Delta region: Old Town, Old Village, Industrial Accretion, and Living Accretion. Finally, the paper divides small towns in PRD into 3 types and 9 subtypes through the analysis of spatial expansion

Identification and comprehensive analyses of the CBL and CIPK gene families in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The interaction analysis of wheat TaCBL and TaCIPK proteins were performed by Y2H method. (PDF 191 kb

Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Release of A1 Pulley by Using a Needle Knife: A Prospective Study of 41 Cases

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasonography-guided percutaneous A1 pulley release with the needle knife for trigger finger.Methods: The prospective study included 21 patients (21 fingers) who underwent blind release with the needle knife and 20 patients (20 fingers) who underwent ultrasonography-guided release with the needle knife. The thickness and width of A1 pulley, clinical grade before and after release, complications, and operation time were compared between the groups.Results: The results showed that the ultrasonography-guided group had significantly better grade postoperatively and reached to 100% complete release in one time compared to the blind group (p < 0.05). Moreover, no any complications had been happened in the ultrasonography-guided group. A relatively longer operation time of the ultrasonography-guided group was observed compared to the time of the blind group.Conclusions: The needle knife is a very good tool for release of triggering fingers. Ultrasound provides a direct and precise visualization of the thickness, width and location of A1 pulley lesion. The combined use of ultrasound and the needle knife can achieve the best result for trigger finger. Moreover, the combination changes the traditional opinion and operator-dependent mode that were once widely adopted in the hospital of Chinese Medicine

Comprehensive Evaluation of Tea Cultivars Suitable for Matcha Production Using Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Matcha was prepared from 36 tea cultivars grown in the same tea garden according to the shading requirements for fresh leaves to be used for the production of matcha and its 11 quality indexes such as sensory quality, major physicochemical properties and chroma values were analyzed. In order to select tea cultivars suitable for the manufacturing of matcha, a comprehensive evaluation model of matcha quality was established by cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression analysis. The CA results showed that the 36 cultivars could be divided into three groups. Matcha from group I had the best quality with green color, fresh and mellow taste, and low phenol/ammonia ratio. Matcha from group II had high phenol/ammonia ratio and strong astringent taste. Matcha from Group III, consisting of etiolated and albino cultivars, had poor color and aroma quality. The PCA results showed that the cumulative contribution rate of the first five principal components was 88.152%. Comprehensive evaluation of matcha using the evaluation function constructed based on the first five principal components showed that the top 10 cultivars were Zhongcha 102, Taicha 12, Zhongcha 108, Fuding Dahao, Meizhan, Fuding Dabai, Fuyun 6, Zi Mudan, Maolv and Yingshuang. The model describing the relationship between sensory quality and physicochemical properties established by multiple linear regression analysis was as follows: y = 3.167|a*| + 46.850 (R2 = 0.710, P < 0.001). The scores of matcha cultivars evaluated by this model were highly consistent with the comprehensive evaluation results based on principal components, indicating that the a* value of dried tea could be used as a representative index to evaluate the quality of matcha. The results of this study can provide a reference for evaluating the suitability of tea cultivars for matcha manufacturing

Identification of novel TMEM231 gene splice variants and pathological findings in a fetus with Meckel Syndrome

Background: Meckel Syndrome (MKS, OMIM #249000) is a rare and fatal autosomal recessive ciliopathy with high clinical and genetic heterogeneity. MKS shows complex allelism with other related ciliopathies such as Joubert Syndrome (JBTS, OMIM #213300). In MKS, the formation and function of the primary cilium is defective, resulting in a multisystem disorder including occipital encephalocele, polycystic kidneys, postaxial polydactyly, liver fibrosis, central nervous system malformations and genital anomalies. This study aimed to analyze the genotype of MKS patients and investigate the correlation between genotype and phenotype.Methods: A nonconsanguineous couple who conceived four times with a fetus affected by multiorgan dysfunction and intrauterine fetal death was studied. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was performed in the proband to identify the potentially pathogenic variant. Sanger sequencing was performed in family members. In silico tools were used to analyse the pathogenicity of the identified variants. cDNA TA-cloning sequencing was performed to validate the effects of intronic variants on mRNA splicing. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to investigate the effect of the variants on gene expression. Immunofluorescence was performed to observe pathological changes of the primary cilium in kidney tissue from the proband.Results: Two splice site variants of TMEM231 (NM_001077418.2, c.583-1G&gt;C and c.583-2_588delinsTCCTCCC) were identified in the proband, and the two variants have not been previously reported. The parents were confirmed as carriers. The two variants were predicted to be pathogenic by in silico tools and were classified as pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guideline. cDNA TA cloning analysis showed that both splice site variants caused a deletion of exon 5. RT-PCR revealed that the expression of TMEM231 was significantly decreased and immunofluorescence showed that the primary cilium was almost absent in the proband’s kidney tissue.Conclusion: We reported the clinical, genetic, molecular and histochemical characterisation of a family affected by MKS. Our findings not only extended the mutation spectrum of the TMEM231 gene, but also revealed for the first time the pathological aetiology of primary cilia in humans and provide a basis for genetic counselling of the parents to their offspring

The hTERT Promoter Enhances the Antitumor Activity of an Oncolytic Adenovirus under a Hypoxic Microenvironment

Hypoxia is a microenvironmental factor that contributes to the invasion, progression and metastasis of tumor cells. Hypoxic tumor cells often show more resistance to conventional chemoradiotherapy than normoxic tumor cells, suggesting the requirement of novel antitumor therapies to efficiently eliminate the hypoxic tumor cells. We previously generated a tumor-specific replication-competent oncolytic adenovirus (OBP-301: Telomelysin), in which the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) promoter drives viral E1 expression. Since the promoter activity of the hTERT gene has been shown to be upregulated by hypoxia, we hypothesized that, under hypoxic conditions, the antitumor effect of OBP-301 with the hTERT promoter would be more efficient than that of the wild-type adenovirus 5 (Ad5). In this study, we investigated the antitumor effects of OBP-301 and Ad5 against human cancer cells under a normoxic (20% oxygen) or a hypoxic (1% oxygen) condition. Hypoxic condition induced nuclear accumulation of the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α and upregulation of hTERT promoter activity in human cancer cells. The cytopathic activity of OBP-301 was significantly higher than that of Ad5 under hypoxic condition. Consistent with their cytopathic activity, the replication of OBP-301 was significantly higher than that of Ad5 under the hypoxic condition. OBP-301-mediated E1A was expressed within hypoxic areas of human xenograft tumors in mice. These results suggest that the cytopathic activity of OBP-301 against hypoxic tumor cells is mediated through hypoxia-mediated activation of the hTERT promoter. Regulation of oncolytic adenoviruses by the hTERT promoter is a promising antitumor strategy, not only for induction of tumor-specific oncolysis, but also for efficient elimination of hypoxic tumor cells

Crowdsourced mapping of unexplored target space of kinase inhibitors

Despite decades of intensive search for compounds that modulate the activity of particular protein targets, a large proportion of the human kinome remains as yet undrugged. Effective approaches are therefore required to map the massive space of unexplored compound-kinase interactions for novel and potent activities. Here, we carry out a crowdsourced benchmarking of predictive algorithms for kinase inhibitor potencies across multiple kinase families tested on unpublished bioactivity data. We find the top-performing predictions are based on various models, including kernel learning, gradient boosting and deep learning, and their ensemble leads to a predictive accuracy exceeding that of single-dose kinase activity assays. We design experiments based on the model predictions and identify unexpected activities even for under-studied kinases, thereby accelerating experimental mapping efforts. The open-source prediction algorithms together with the bioactivities between 95 compounds and 295 kinases provide a resource for benchmarking prediction algorithms and for extending the druggable kinome. The IDG-DREAM Challenge carried out crowdsourced benchmarking of predictive algorithms for kinase inhibitor activities on unpublished data. This study provides a resource to compare emerging algorithms and prioritize new kinase activities to accelerate drug discovery and repurposing efforts

A chromosome conformation capture ordered sequence of the barley genome

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