Foreign Direct Investment, Domestic Investment, and Economic Growth in China: A Time Series Analysis

In this paper, we investigate the causal link between foreign direct investment (FDI), domestic investment and economic growth in China for the period 1988-2003. Towards this purpose, a multivariate VAR system with error correction model (ECM) and the innovation accounting (variance decomposition and impulse response function analysis) techniques are used. The results show that while there is a bi-directional causality between domestic investment and economic growth, there is only a single-directional causality from FDI to domestic investment and to economic growth. Rather than crowding out domestic investment, FDI is found to be complementary with domestic investment. Thus, FDI has not only assisted in overcoming shortage of capital, it has also stimulated economic growth through complementing domestic investment in China.foreign direct investment, domestic investment, economic growth, multivariate VAR system, error correction model

Microbial diversity and community composition of fecal microbiota in dual-purpose and egg type ducks

IntroductionDucks are important agricultural animals, which can be divided into egg and dual-purpose type ducks according to economic use. The gut microbiota of ducks plays an important role in their metabolism, immune regulation, and health maintenance.MethodsHere, we use 16S rDNA V4 hypervariable amplicon sequencing to investigate the compositions and community structures of fecal microbiota between egg (five breeds, 96 individuals) and dual-purpose type ducks (four breeds, 73 individuals) that were reared under the same conditions.ResultsThe alpha diversity of fecal microflora in egg type ducks was significantly higher than that in dual-type ducks. In contrast, there is no significant difference in the fecal microbial community richness between the two groups. MetaStat analysis showed that the abundance of Peptostreptococcaceae, Streptococcaceae, Lactobacillus, Romboutsia, and Campylobacter were significantly different between the two groups. The biomarkers associated with the egg and dual-purpose type ducks were identified using LEfSe analysis and IndVal index. Function prediction of the gut microbiota indicated significant differences between the two groups. The functions of environmental information processing, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism, and metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides were more abundant in egg type ducks. Conversely, the genetic information processing, nucleotide metabolism, biosynthesis of amino acids and secondary metabolites, glycan biosynthesis and metabolism, fatty acid elongation, and insulin resistance were significantly enriched in dual-purpose type ducks.DiscussionThis study explored the structure and diversity of the gut microbiota of ducks from different economic-use groups, and provides a reference for improving duck performance by using related probiotics in production

Five Post-Translational Modification Residues of CmPT2 Play Key Roles in Yeast and Rice

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) is one of the largest cut flowers in the world. Phosphate transporter Pht1 family member CmPht1;2 protein (CmPT2) plays an important role in response to low-phosphate (LP) stress in chrysanthemum. Post-translational modification (PTM) can modulate the function of proteins in multiple ways. Here, we used yeast and rice systems to study the role of putative PTM in CmPT2 by determining the effect of mutation of key amino acid residues of putative glycosylation, phosphorylation, and myristoylation sites. We chose nine amino acid residues in the putative PTM sites and mutated them to alanine (A) (Cmphts). CmPT2 recovered the growth of yeast strain MB192 under LP conditions. However, G84A, G222A, T239A, Y242A, and N422A mutants could not grow normally under LP conditions. Analysis of phosphorus absorption kinetics showed that the Km of CmPT2 was 65.7 μM. Among the nine Cmphts, the expression of five with larger Km (124.4–397.5 μM) than CmPT2 was further evaluated in rice. Overexpression of CmPT2-OE increased plant height, effective panicle numbers, branch numbers, and yield compared with that of wild type ‘Wuyunjing No. 7’ (W7). Overexpression of Cmphts-OE led to decreased plant height and effective panicle numbers compared with that of the CmPT2-OE strain. The Pi content in roots of CmPT2-OE was higher than that of the W7 under both high (normal) phosphate (HP) and LP conditions. However, the Pi content in the leaves and roots was significantly lower in the N422A-OE strain than in the CmPT2-OE strain under both HP and LP conditions. Under LP conditions, the phosphorus starvation response (PSR) genes in CmPT2-OE were inhibited at the transcription level. The expression patterns of phosphorus-related genes in T239A, Y242A, and N422A-OE under LP conditions were different from those of CmPT2-OE. In conclusion, these five post-translational modification residues of CmPT2 play key roles in modulating the function of CmPT2. This work boosters our understanding of the function of phosphate transporters and provides genetic resources for improving the efficiency of phosphorus utilization in crop plants

Detection of αB-Conotoxin VxXXIVA (αB-CTX) by ic-ELISA Based on an Epitope-Specific Monoclonal Antibody

In view of the toxicological hazard and important applications in analgesics and cancer chemotherapeutics of αB-CTX, it is urgent to develop an accurate, effective and feasible immunoassay for the determination and analysis of αB-CTX in real samples. In this study, MBP-αB-CTX4 tandem fusion protein was used as an immunogen to elicit a strong immune response, and a hybridoma cell 5E4 secreting IgG2b against αB-CTX was successfully screened by hybridoma technology. The affinity of the purified 5E4 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was 1.02 × 108 L/mol, which showed high affinity and specificity to αB-CTX. Epitope 1 of αB-CTX is the major binding region for 5E4 mAb recongnization, and two amino acid residues (14L and 15F) in αB-CTX were critical sites for the interaction between αB-CTX and 5E4 mAb. Indirect competitive ELISA (ic-ELISA) based on 5E4 mAb was developed to detect and analyze αB-CTX in real samples, and the linear range of ic-ELISA to αB-CTX was 117–3798 ng/mL, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 81 ng/mL. All the above results indicated that the developed ic-ELISA had high accuracy and repeatability, and it could be applied for αB-CTX detection and drug analysis in real samples

Development of Immunochromatographic Strip for Detection of αB-VxXXIVA-Conotoxin Based on 5E4 Monoclonal Antibody

Given the application of αB-VxXXIVA-conotoxin (αB-CTX) in analgesics and cancer chemotherapeutics, and its threat to humans, it is urgent to develop a rapid, effective and accurate method for the analysis and detection of αB-CTX in real shellfish and medicine drug samples. In the present study, two different immunochromatographic strips were established for αB-CTX detection, based on the monoclonal antibody 5E4 against αB-CTX, and the visual limits of detection (vLOD) for the colloidal gold nanoparticles-based strip (AuNPs-based strip) and nanoflowers-based strip (AuNFs-based strip) were 4 μg/mL and 1.5 μg/mL, respectively. The developed AuNPs-/AuNFs-based strips have good specificity and accuracy, and the detection results were analyzed in less than 10 min, without using an instrument. In view of the excellent repeatability and usability, the established methods could be applied to detect and analyze the content of αB-CTX in real samples

Synthesis and antifungal activity evaluation of new heterocycle containing amide derivatives

<div><p>A series of heterocycle containing amide derivatives (<b>1</b>–<b>28</b>) were synthesised by the combination of acyl chlorides (<b>1a</b>, <b>2a</b>) and heterocyclic/homocyclic ring containing amines, and their <i>in vitro</i> antifungal activity was evaluated against five plant pathogenic fungi, namely <i>Gibberella zeae</i>, <i>Helminthosporium maydis</i>, <i>Rhizoctonia solani</i>, <i>Botrytis cinerea</i> and <i>Sclerotinia sclerotiorum</i>. Results of antifungal activity analysis indicated that some of the products showed good to excellent antifungal activity, as compound <b>2</b> showed excellent activity against <i>G. zeae</i> and <i>R. solani</i> and potent activity against <i>H. maydi, B. cinerea</i> and <i>S. sclerotiorum</i>, and compounds <b>1</b>, <b>8</b> and <b>10</b> also displayed excellent antifungal potential against <i>H. maydi</i>, <i>B. cinerea</i> and <i>S. sclerotiorum</i> and good activity against <i>R. solani</i> when compared with the standard carbendazim.</p></div

Increased IL-33 in Synovial Fluid and Paired Serum Is Associated with Disease Activity and Autoantibodies in Rheumatoid Arthritis

National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) [2010CB529104]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [31170840, 81072401]Objectives. IL-33, a newly found cytokine which is involved in joint inflammation, could be blocked by a decoy receptor-sST2. The expression and correlation of IL-33 and sST2 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are of great interest. Methods. Synovial fluid (SF) was obtained from 120 RA and 30 osteoarthritis (OA) patients, and paired sera were collected from 54 of these RA patients. The levels of IL-33 and sST2 were measured by ELISA. Results. SF IL-33 was significantly higher in RA than in OA, which was correlated with disease activity score 28, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, rheumatoid factor (RF)-IgM, RF-IgG, glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI), and immunoglobulin. Serum IL-33 was correlated positively with SF IL-33 in RA. Furthermore, it was correlated with RF-IgM and GPI. sST2 was partly detectable in RA (13 out of 54, 24.1%), while not in OA. Serum sST2 in RA had no significant correlation with serum IL-33 or SF IL-33. However, SFs from both RA and OA patients did not express sST2. Conclusions. This study supported that IL-33 played an important role in the local pathogenesis of RA. Considering the tight correlation between IL-33 and clinical features, it may become a new target of local treatment

Design, Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship of Novel Aphicidal Mezzettiaside-Type Oligorhamnosides and Their Analogues

Oligosaccharides have been used for an environmentally friendly insect control in the agricultural industry. In order to discover novel eco-friendly pesticides, a series of partially acetylated oligorhamnoses mezzettiasides, 2–8, and their analogues, 9–14, with biosurfactant characteristics were designed and synthesized, some of which exhibited comparable to or even stronger aphicidal activity than pymetrozine. Preliminary SAR studies demonstrated that the aphicidal activity of mezzettiasides analogs is highly dependent on their structures, including both the sugar length and the substitutes on the sugar. Among them, trirhamnolipid 9 displayed the strongest aphicidal activity, with an LC50 of 0.019 mmol/L, indicating that the biosurfactant 9 may have potential for use as an environmentally friendly agricultural pesticide

Genomic characteristics and selection signals of Zhongshan ducks

The Zhongshan duck (ZSP) is a duck breed indigenous to China and is known for its moderate body size, strong disease resistance, tender meat, and little subcutaneous fat. However, the genomic basis of such excellent breeding characteristics remains poorly understood. Therefore, we generated whole-genomes of 58 ZSPs and 180 other indigenous Chinese ducks (60 Jinding ducks, 60 Shan Partridge ducks, and 60 Liancheng white ducks) and identified 10 560 032 single nucleotide polymorphisms and 1 334 893 structural variants. Based on genetic diversity and population structure indices, our results confirm that the ZSP is a unique germplasm resource. In addition, three reproduction-related genes (i.e., OAZ, AMH, and RLF) were located in highly differentiated regions between the ZSP and the other three duck breeds (Jinding duck; Liancheng White duck; Shan Partridge duck), suggesting that these genes may have a strong influence on egg production. Among these genes, AMH may have introgressed from an unknown species of the Anatidae family. We also identified other significant genes in the significantly differentiated window (i.e., 1% cut-off), some of which are responsible for growth and development (SEMA5B and MIB1), metabolism (EDEM3 and Xylb), skeletal system morphogenesis (bglap and MGP), and egg shape (ITPR2). These findings highlight the genetic characteristics of the ZSP that shape an array of its morphological traits. Overall, this study should facilitate a more fine-scale approach towards improving the ZSP and other indigenous ducks in China and even all over the world