Disorder induced multifractal superconductivity in monolayer niobium dichalcogenides

The interplay between disorder and superconductivity is a subtle and fascinating phenomenon in quantum many body physics. The conventional superconductors are insensitive to dilute nonmagnetic impurities, known as the Anderson's theorem. Destruction of superconductivity and even superconductor-insulator transitions occur in the regime of strong disorder. Hence disorder-enhanced superconductivity is rare and has only been observed in some alloys or granular states. Because of the entanglement of various effects, the mechanism of enhancement is still under debate. Here we report well-controlled disorder effect in the recently discovered monolayer NbSe$_2$ superconductor. The superconducting transition temperatures of NbSe$_2$ monolayers are substantially increased by disorder. Realistic theoretical modeling shows that the unusual enhancement possibly arises from the multifractality of electron wave functions. This work provides the first experimental evidence of the multifractal superconducting state

Value of Time to Positivity of Blood Culture in Children with Bloodstream Infections

Objective. This study was to investigate the microbiological characteristics and the relationship between the time to positivity (TTP) of blood cultures and different bacterial species and to assess the clinical value of TTP in children with bloodstream infections (BSIs). Methods. The TTP of all the blood cultures from children with suspected BSIs was retrospectively collected in 2016. The microbiological characteristics and the relationship between the TTP of blood cultures and different bacterial species were also analyzed. Results. A total of 808 strains were isolated from 15835 blood cultures collected, and 145 (17.9%) were Gram-negative, 636 (78.7%) were Gram-positive, and 27 (3.3%) were fungi. The bacteria were divided into definite pathogens (174), possible pathogens (592), fungi (27), and contaminants (15). The average TTP of all positive blood cultures was 30.97 and ranged from 3.23 h to 92.73 h. The TTP of Gram-negative strains was significantly shorter than that of Gram-positive strains (P<0.001) and fungi (P = 0.032). The mean TTP for E. coli (15.60 h) was shortest within the group of Gram-negative isolates, and the mean TTP for Streptococcus (17.34 h) within the group of Gram-positive isolates. Significant difference of the TTP was detected in methicillin-resistant vs methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) positive vs negative Enterobacteriaceae, and extensive drug-resistant and non-XDR A. baumannii. The median TTP in patients with BSI was significantly shorter than in those without it (P<0.001). ROC curve analysis indicated that the TTP cutoff value of CoNS, S. aureus, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae was 22.72 h, 19.6 h, 18.58 h, and 16.43 h, respectively, with most sensitive and specific predictor of BSIs. Conclusions. Our data acknowledged that TTP is a valuable index for the early prognosis of BSIs. TTP not only provides additional utility as a general predictor of bacteria with smear result but also provides the implication of drug-resistant organisms

Probiotics database: a potential source of fermented foods

Probiotics have been widely explored in production, research, environmental protection, and disease prevention. Recent efforts have been devoted to the separation of new probiotics from microbes that have never been discovered and the research of their mechanism of action. PBDB, it is a database that collects probiotics from different fermented foods. It has been established and collected 1730 known probiotics (768 production, 264 research, 22 environmental protection, 17 disease control, 659 others) providing the biological information for use in humans, animals, and plants. The database will be updated and expanded periodically. The database can provide empirical data for better comprehension and application in bioinformatic studies. The potential function of the database has been confirmed by the included database, which allows for the analysis of biological information and the mechanisms of probiotics to predict new probiotics from unknown microbial resources. PBDB can be accessed at http://www.lzubiodrugs.com/

Multi-Omics Techniques for Analysis Antifungal Mechanisms of Lipopeptides Produced by <i>Bacillus velezensis</i> GS-1 against <i>Magnaporthe oryzae</i> In Vitro

Magnaporthe oryzae is a fungal pathogen that causes rice blast, a highly destructive disease. In the present study, the bacteria strain GS-1 was isolated from the rhizosphere soil of ginseng and identified as Bacillus velezensis through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, whole genome assembly, and average nucleotide identity analysis. B. velezensis strain GS-1 exhibited significant antagonistic activity to several plant fungal pathogens. Through whole genome sequencing, 92 Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes and 13 gene clusters that encoded for secondary metabolites were identified. In addition, strain GS-1 was able to produce the lipopeptide compounds, surfactin, fengycin, and plantazolicin. The inhibitory effects of lipopeptide compounds on M. oryzae were confirmed, and the antagonistic mechanism was explored using transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis. Differential expressed genes (DEGs) and differential accumulated metabolites (DAMs) revealed that the inhibition of M. oryzae by lipopeptide produced by GS-1 downregulated the expression of genes involved in amino acid metabolism, sugar metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and autophagy. These results may explain why GS-1 has antagonistic activity to fungal pathogens and revealed the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of lipopeptides produced by GS-1 on fungal growth, which may provide a theoretical basis for the potential application of B. velezensis GS-1 in future plant protection

Multi-Omics Techniques for Analysis Antifungal Mechanisms of Lipopeptides Produced by Bacillus velezensis GS-1 against Magnaporthe oryzae In Vitro

Magnaporthe oryzae is a fungal pathogen that causes rice blast, a highly destructive disease. In the present study, the bacteria strain GS-1 was isolated from the rhizosphere soil of ginseng and identified as Bacillus velezensis through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, whole genome assembly, and average nucleotide identity analysis. B. velezensis strain GS-1 exhibited significant antagonistic activity to several plant fungal pathogens. Through whole genome sequencing, 92 Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes and 13 gene clusters that encoded for secondary metabolites were identified. In addition, strain GS-1 was able to produce the lipopeptide compounds, surfactin, fengycin, and plantazolicin. The inhibitory effects of lipopeptide compounds on M. oryzae were confirmed, and the antagonistic mechanism was explored using transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis. Differential expressed genes (DEGs) and differential accumulated metabolites (DAMs) revealed that the inhibition of M. oryzae by lipopeptide produced by GS-1 downregulated the expression of genes involved in amino acid metabolism, sugar metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and autophagy. These results may explain why GS-1 has antagonistic activity to fungal pathogens and revealed the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of lipopeptides produced by GS-1 on fungal growth, which may provide a theoretical basis for the potential application of B. velezensis GS-1 in future plant protection

Use of LSPR Spectroscopy Biosensing for In Situ Identification of Arsenic from Bioleaching of Realgar by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectroscopy has received extensive attention as a new method in chemical and biological analysis that can be integrated with nanotechnology. As a new analytical method, LSPR possesses various advantages over the traditional bioanalysis method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), including a label-free procedure, low cost, high response speed, simple operation and structure, and ease of storage and transport. Additionally, in situ and high-throughput measurements can be achieved. This study aims to solve the problem of the lack of in situ and highly efficient monitoring methods for current realgar bioleaching processes. An LSPR chip is made to monitor the changes in arsenic content in the process of realgar bioleaching. A convenient, fast, sensitive, and high-throughput method of bioleaching process investigation based on the LSPR spectroscopic in situ monitoring technique is proposed. The LSPR chip provided a highly specific selectivity and a linear detection of arsenic content in the range of 1.0–100.0 μM with detection limit (LOD) 0.898 μM. The developed chip was applied to the quantification of realgar bioleaching sample with satisfactory results

Productivity of strip intercropping systems in agro-pastoral ecotone

Strip intercropping system is not only a technique that achieves high productivity but also an important practice to protect winter and spring wind erosion in Agro-pastoral ecotone. Dry matter accumulation process and yield advantage of intercropping are vital indicators for exploration of intercropping performance and assessing the environmental benefit. This study is aiming to quantify crop growth, yield and land productivity in typical intercropping systems in agro-pastoral ecotone. An expolinear relationship between biomass growth and heat sum of above 0°C temperature was fitted for different crops in the inter-and mono-cropping systems. The regression parameters were used to quantify the delay of crop growth in the intercropping. Land equivalent ratio (LER) was used to explain land productivity and over-yielding of the intercropping systems. The main results showed that sunflower/potato, oats/potato and oats/bean strip intercropping systems with wider width of strips (e.g. 2 m:2 m intercropping) significantly increased land productivity with yield land equivalent ratio (LER) of 1.12, 1.09 and 1.05, respectively, which means 5% to 12% of the land productivity increasing. Intercropping yield advantages were significantly higher in the wider strip intercropping systems than that with narrower ones (1 m:1 m intercropping), and had a less yearly variation. The harvest index (HI) of sunflower was significantly increased in intercropping, while that for other crops were significantly changed. A border row effect was clearly found in the oat based intercropping systems. The border rowers had a significantly higher yield compare to middle rows in the intercrops and sole oats. Strip intercropping decreased the maximum growth rate cm, while the relative growth rate rm stayed as the same as the monoculture. The growth delay of crops in the intercrops was quantified by using the parameter tb, which indicated the thermal time requirement at the time of reaching maximum canopy cover. The growth of five species in the intercropping systems, e.g. sunflower, potato, oats, faba bean and vetch, were delayed 117 to 387 degree days compared to that of monocultures, which resulted 8-26 d of growth delay when we took the daily average temperature (15°C) into accounts. All in all, Strip intercropping systems not only have over-yielding effects and higher economic benefits, especially in intercropping systems with wider strips, but also reduce the agricultural risks in the agro-pastoral ecotone climatically and economically.</p