The FilZ protein contains a single PilZ domain and facilitates the swarming motility of pseudoalteromonas sp. SM9913

Swarming regulation is complicated in flagellated bacteria, especially those possessing dual flagellar systems. It remains unclear whether and how the movement of the constitutive polar flagellum is regulated during swarming motility of these bacteria. Here, we report the downregulation of polar flagellar motility by the c-di-GMP effector FilZ in the marine sedimentary bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. SM9913. Strain SM9913 possesses two flagellar systems, and filZ is located in the lateral flagellar gene cluster. The function of FilZ is negatively controlled by intracellular c-di-GMP. Swarming in strain SM9913 consists of three periods. Deletion and overexpression of filZ revealed that, during the period when strain SM9913 expands quickly, FilZ facilitates swarming. In vitro pull-down and bacterial two-hybrid assays suggested that, in the absence of c-di-GMP, FilZ interacts with the CheW homolog A2230, which may be involved in the chemotactic signal transduction pathway to the polar flagellar motor protein FliMp, to interfere with polar flagellar motility. When bound to c-di-GMP, FilZ loses its ability to interact with A2230. Bioinformatic investigation indicated that filZ-like genes are present in many bacteria with dual flagellar systems. Our findings demonstrate a novel mode of regulation of bacterial swarming motility

Evolution and effects assessment of China's minimum wage policy

China has formulated and implemented minimum wage policy for over two decades. The background and process of policy formulation is discussed within recent market reforms, along with some implementation programs, adjustments and results. There are disparities in minimum wage standards between various regions. Relations between the Minimal Living Guarantee standard of urban residents and the Minimum Wage standard in provincial capitals are presented. Some effects of adjustments to minimum wages on employment and income structure are calculated

Evolution of Urban Resilience from a Multiscale Perspective: Evidence from Five Provinces in Northwest China

As a new idea of urban risk management, building resilient cities with the ability to resist, eliminate, and adapt to uncertain risks is of great importance to mitigate risk impacts and promote sustainable urban development. Based on the adaptive cycle model and the characteristics of an urban system, this study analyzes the resilience levels of cities, urban agglomerations, and provinces and their adaptive stages. The results show that (1) the comprehensive resilience of cities in the five provinces of northwest China is on the rise and that the differences between cities are gradually narrowing. The development stages of the urban adaptive cycle can be divided into six stages: the rapid exploitation stage, exploitation-conservation stage, stable conservation stage, conservation-release stage, development reorganization stage, and reorganization-exploitation stage. (2) The spatial distribution of the comprehensive resilience of urban agglomerations is “high in the southeast and low in the northwest,” and the development stage of the adaptive cycle is consistent with its central city or central region. (3) The level of resilience varies greatly among provinces, and the development stage of the adaptive cycle is equivalent to the average level of all cities in the province and is closely related to their respective development forces and urban problems. These findings can provide reference for policymakers to formulate scientific resilience building strategies to achieve regional sustainable development

Value of General Movements Assessment in Predicting Neuromotor Development Outcomes in Neonates with Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: General movements assessment (GMA) is a non-invasive tool for early assessment of neonatal spontaneous movements. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of GMA in predicting the neuromotor development outcomes of high-risk infants with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS). Methods: The results of GMA at different phases in 80 children with NRDS expected to be born between September 2020 and July 2021 were collected, and the neuromotor development outcomes were verified by Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2) follow-up from March 2022 to May 2022. The study used the screening method and the Chi-square test to analyze the predictive value of different phases of GMA. Results: The GMA writhing movements phase showed an accuracy of 70.00%, a sensitivity of 82.76%, a specificity of 62.75%, a positive predictive value of 55.81%, a negative predictive value of 86.49%, a Youden index of 0.46, and a positive likelihood ratio of 2.22. The GMA fidgety movements phase showed an accuracy of 95.00%, a sensitivity of 96.55%, a specificity of 94.12%, a positive predictive value of 90.32%, a negative predictive value of 97.96%, a Youden index of 0.91, and a positive likelihood ratio of 16.42. The differences between the specificity, accuracy and negative predictive values of GMA were statistically different (χ22 = 9.600, p2 < 0.005; χ23 = 17.316, p3 < 0.005; χ25 = 10.268, p5 = 0.001), while no statistically significant differences were found in the comparison of sensitivity and positive predictive values (p1 = 1.000; χ24 = 2.690, p4 = 0.101). Conclusions: GMA has a favorable predictive value for neuromotor development outcomes in children with NRDS. Clinical Trial Registration: ChiCTR2200061223

Chinese blue days: a novel index and spatio-temporal variations

As part of the Blue-Sky Protection Campaign, we develop the Chinese Blue Days Index based on meteorology data from 385 stations in China during 1980–2014. This index is defined as the days with no rain, low cloud cover ≤75th percentile, and visibility ≥15 km at 2 pm. The spatio-temporal variations and possible driving factors of Chinese Blue Days (CBD) are further investigated, revealing a steadily rising rate of 1.6 day (d)/10 year (y) for the nationally averaged CBD during 1980–2014. At regional scales, the CBD exhibit an increasing trend >4 d/10 y in western China and a decreasing trend <−2 d/10 y in southeastern China, northwestern Xinjiang, and Qinghai. The minimum/maximum trends (−7.5/9.5 d/10 y) appear in Yangtze–Huai River Valley (YHRV)/southwestern China (SWC). The interannual variations in CBD are highly related to wind speed and windless days in YHRV but are closely associated with wind speed, rainless days and relative humidity in SWC, suggesting that the two regions are governed by different meteorological factors. Moreover, a dynamic adjustment method called partial least squares is used to remove the atmospheric circulation-related CBD trend. The residual CBD contributions for the total trend in summer and winter are 43.62% and 35.84% in YHRV and are 14.25% and 60.38% in SWC. The result indicates that considerable parts of the CBD trend are due to the change of atmospheric circulation in the two regions

Safety Analysis and System Design of Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery in Substation

This paper discusses the safety protection design of lithium iron phosphate batteries based on the technical characteristics of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Combined with the current background of the application of lithium iron phosphate batteries in substations, the system design of lithium iron phosphate batteries is discussed from many aspects. It focuses on how to ensure its safety in order to improve the application effect of lithium iron phosphate batteries in substations

Research on New Battery System with Energy-Saving and Environment-Friendly Materials

Applying the lithium iron phosphate battery online monitoring system to the DC power supply system of the substation is an innovative measure for energy saving and environmental protection of power enterprises. Nowadays, the world is advocating the use of energy-saving and environmentally-friendly green resources, which undoubtedly opens up a wider space for the research of lithium iron phosphate batteries. The article focuses on the performance analysis of the lithium iron phosphate battery system, the research significance, the composition of the system and the key technologies used

Supplemental Material - Discovery of the mechanism of n-propylparaben-promoting the proliferation of human breast adenocarcinoma cells by activating human estrogen receptors via metabolomics analysis

Supplemental Material for Discovery of the mechanism of n-propylparaben-promoting the proliferation of human breast adenocarcinoma cells by activating human estrogen receptors via metabolomics analysis by Yunxia Chen, Chan Zhao, Jun Zheng, Ning Su and Hainan Ji in Human & Experimental Toxicology</p

Polycomb protein Ezh2 regulates pancreatic β-cell Ink4a/Arf expression and regeneration in diabetes mellitus

Proliferation of pancreatic islet β cells is an important mechanism for self-renewal and for adaptive islet expansion. Increased expression of the Ink4a/Arf locus, which encodes the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16INK4a and tumor suppressor p19Arf, limits β-cell regeneration in aging mice, but the basis of β-cell Ink4a/Arf regulation is poorly understood. Here we show that Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (Ezh2), a histone methyltransferase and component of a Polycomb group (PcG) protein complex, represses Ink4a/Arf in islet β cells. Ezh2 levels decline in aging islet β cells, and this attrition coincides with reduced histone H3 trimethylation at Ink4a/Arf, and increased levels of p16INK4a and p19Arf. Conditional deletion of β-cell Ezh2 in juvenile mice also reduced H3 trimethylation at the Ink4a/Arf locus, leading to precocious increases of p16INK4a and p19Arf. These mutant mice had reduced β-cell proliferation and mass, hypoinsulinemia, and mild diabetes, phenotypes rescued by germline deletion of Ink4a/Arf. β-Cell destruction with streptozotocin in controls led to increased Ezh2 expression that accompanied adaptive β-cell proliferation and re-establishment of β-cell mass; in contrast, mutant mice treated similarly failed to regenerate β cells, resulting in lethal diabetes. Our discovery of Ezh2-dependent β-cell proliferation revealed unique epigenetic mechanisms underlying normal β-cell expansion and β-cell regenerative failure in diabetes pathogenesis