The Elicitation Effect of Pathogenic Fungi on Trichodermin Production by Trichoderma brevicompactum

The effects of six species of phytopathogenic fungi mycelia as elicitors on trichodermin yield by Trichoderma brevicompactum were investigated. Neither nonviable nor viable mycelia of Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria solani, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, and Thanatephorus cucumeris demonstrated any elicitation on the accumulation of trichodermin. However, the production of trichodermin was increased by the presence of viable/nonviable Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum mycelia. The strongest elicitation effect was found at the presence of nonviable R. solani. At the presence of nonviable R. solani, the maximum yield of trichodermin (144.55 mg/L) was significantly higher than the Control (67.8 mg/L), and the cultivation time to obtain the maximum yield of trichodermin decreased from 72 h to 60 h. No difference of trichodermin accumulation was observed by changing the concentration of nonviable R. solani from 0.1 to 1.6 g/L. It was observed that the optimum time for adding nonviable R. solani is immediately after inoculation. The diameter of T. brevicompactum mycelial globule after 72 h cultivation with nonviable R. solani elicitor was smaller than that of the Control

Establishment and verification a nomogram for predicting portal vein thrombosis presence among admitted cirrhotic patients

BackgroundPortal vein thrombosis (PVT) is an increasingly recognized complication of cirrhosis and possibly associated with mortality. This study aims to evaluate provoking factors for PVT, then establish a concise and efficient nomogram for predicting PVT presence among admitted cirrhotic patients.Materials and methodsAll cirrhotic patients admitted in Hunan Provincial People's Hospital between January 2010 and September 2020 were retrospectively reviewed, the clinical and laboratory data were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression method were used for screening the independent predictors and constructing the nomogram. The calibration curve was plotted to evaluate the consistent degree between observed outcomes and predicted probabilities. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was used to assess the discriminant performance. The decision curve analysis (DCA) was carried out to evaluate the benefits of nomogram.ResultsA total of 4,479 patients with cirrhosis were enrolled and 281 patients were identified with PVT. Smoking history, splenomegaly, esophagogastric varices, surgical history, red blood cell transfusion, and D-dimer were independent risk factors for PVT in cirrhosis. A nomogram was established with a good discrimination capacity and predictive efficiency with an the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.704 (95% CI: 0.664–0.745) in the training set and 0.685 (95% CI: 0.615–0.754) in the validation set. DCA suggested the net benefit of nomogram had a superior risk threshold probability.ConclusionA concise and efficient nomogram was established with good performance, which may aid clinical decision making and guide best treatment measures

End-to-End Quantum Vision Transformer: Towards Practical Quantum Speedup in Large-Scale Models

The field of quantum deep learning presents significant opportunities for advancing computational capabilities, yet it faces a major obstacle in the form of the "information loss problem" due to the inherent limitations of the necessary quantum tomography in scaling quantum deep neural networks. This paper introduces an end-to-end Quantum Vision Transformer (QViT), which incorporates an innovative quantum residual connection technique, to overcome these challenges and therefore optimize quantum computing processes in deep learning. Our thorough complexity analysis of the QViT reveals a theoretically exponential and empirically polynomial speedup, showcasing the model's efficiency and potential in quantum computing applications. We conducted extensive numerical tests on modern, large-scale transformers and datasets, establishing the QViT as a pioneering advancement in applying quantum deep neural networks in practical scenarios. Our work provides a comprehensive quantum deep learning paradigm, which not only demonstrates the versatility of current quantum linear algebra algorithms but also promises to enhance future research and development in quantum deep learning.Comment: 24pages, 10 figure

Prevalence of syphilis infection in different tiers of female sex workers in China: implications for surveillance and interventions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Syphilis has made a dramatic resurgence in China during the past two decades and become the third most prevalent notifiable infectious disease in China. Female sex workers (FSWs) have become one of key populations for the epidemic. In order to investigate syphilis infection among different tiers of FSWs, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 8 sites in China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Serum specimens (n = 7,118) were collected to test for syphilis and questionnaire interviews were conducted to obtain socio-demographic and behavioral information among FSWs recruited from different types of venues. FSWs were categorized into three tiers (high-, middle- and low-tier FSWs) based on the venues where they solicited clients. Serum specimens were screened with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for treponemal antibody followed by confirmation with non-treponemal toluidine red unheated serum test (TRUST) for positive ELISA specimens to determine syphilis infection. A logistic regression model was used to determine factors associated with syphilis infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall syphilis prevalence was 5.0% (95%CI, 4.5-5.5%). Low-tier FSWs had the highest prevalence (9.7%; 95%CI, 8.3-11.1%), followed by middle-tier (4.3%; 95%CI, 3.6-5.0%, <it>P </it>< 0.001) and high-tier FSWs (2.2%; 95%CI, 1.6-2.9%, <it>P </it>< 0.001). Factors independently associated with syphilis infection included older age, lower education level, geographic location, lower tier of typology, and injection drug use.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This multi-site survey showed a high prevalence of syphilis infection among FSWs and substantial disparities in syphilis prevalence by the tier of FSWs. The difference in syphilis prevalence is substantial between different tiers of FSWs, with the highest rate among low-tier FSWs. Thus, current surveillance and intervention activities, which have low coverage in low-tier FSWs in China, should be further examined.</p

cDNA Cloning and Expression Pattern of Homolog of Alpha Subunit of Platelet-Activating Factor Acetylhydrolase Ib from the Chinese Oak Silkworm, Antheraea pernyi

Platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of platelet-activating factor (PAF). A homolog of alpha subunit of PAF-AH(Ib) from Antheraea pernyi (Guérin-Méneville) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) (ApPAFAHIbα) was isolated and characterized. The obtained cDNA sequence was 1843 base pairs (bp) long with an open reading frame (ORE) of 678 bp encoding 225 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence shared several conserved features of PAF-AHs of other organisms, and revealed 88, 60, and 46% identity with the homologues of Bombyx mori, Drosophila melanogaster, and Homo sapiens, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that lepidopteran PAFAHIbαs including ApPAFAHIbα might be a new member of the PAF-AHs family of insects. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed that the ApPAFAHIbα gene was transcribed at four developmental stages and expressed in all tissues tested

ART1 induces aberrant methylation of uPA promoter: a preliminary study

Colorectal carcinoma remains one of the most prevalent cancers with high morbidity and mortality. Arginine ADP-ribosyltransferase 1 (ART1) is one of the major mono-ADP-ribose transferases and has been shown to be involved importantly in many biological processes. DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism in tumorgenesis.However, the influence of ART1 on DNA methylation contributing to this function in colorectal carcinoma cells remains unclear. The expression and activity of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) was detected by western blotting. The binding between ART1 and DNMT1 was assessed by co-immunoprecipitation. The methylation status of uPA gene was determined by bisulfite sequencing PCR. DNMT1 expression and activity were increased as ART1 was silenced, and decreased as ART1 was over-expressed in CT26 colorectal carcinoma cells. The expression of DNMT1 decreased and uPA increased, respectively, following the treatment with 5-aza-2’deoxycytidine in GFP-shART1 group. Invasion and metastasis were enhanced in GFP-shART1 group treated with 5-aza-dC. Similar regulation of expression of DNMT1 and uPA were confirmed in Balb/c mice. This study revealed that silencing of ART1 induced hypermethylation of uPA gene and over-expression causes hypomethylation. It probably relates to the feedback mechanism of NF-κB to PARP1 thus mediating the expression and activity of DNMT1. The relationship between ART1 and DNA methylation might offer a new therapeutic target for the improved treatment of this major cancer

Effect of Bacillus subtilis BS-Z15 metabolite mycosubtilin on body weight gain in mice

Our previous study reported that the metabolite of Bacillus subtilis BS-Z15 n-butanol site could reduce body weight gain in mice, showing anti-obesity effects. This study further demonstrated the effects of purified mycosubtilin on the body weight gain and gut microbiota of Kunming mice. 30 male Kunming white mice were randomly selected into three groups at four weeks of age: Control (group A), gavage-administered with saline daily; n-butanol site treated (group B), gavage-administered with n-butanol site metabolites (90 mg/kg); and mycosubtilin treated (group C), gavage-administered with mycosubtilin (6 mg/kg). Different groups’ gut microbiota compositions were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that the effects of mycosubtilin and n-butanol sites were consistent; the treatment groups showed a significant reduction in body weight gain as well as triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein contents as compared to the control group (P &lt;0.05). Moreover, the size and contents of epididymal adipocytes were also significantly reduced (P &lt;0.05), and the gavage administration of mycosubtilin could significantly increase the expression levels of lipolysis gene adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) in the mice liver. Mycosubtilin and n-butanol site treatments could significantly alter the composition of the gut microbiota as compared to the physiologic saline treatment. B. subtilis BS-Z15 metabolites may regulate weight gain primarily by mycosubtilin, according to these findings. The mycosubtilin might reduce weight gain in mice by regulating lipid metabolism, thereby reducing fat accumulation and altering the composition of gut microbiota

TCR Repertoire as a Novel Indicator for Immune Monitoring and Prognosis Assessment of Patients With Cervical Cancer

There is increasing evidence that deep sequencing-based T cell repertoire can sever as a biomarker of immune response in cancer patients; however, the characteristics of T cell repertoire including diversity and similarity, as well as its prognostic significance in patients with cervical cancer (CC) remain unknown. In this study, we applied a high throughput T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing method to characterize the T cell repertoires of peripheral blood samples from 25 CC patients, 30 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) patients and 20 healthy women for understanding the immune alterations during the cervix carcinogenesis. In addition, we also explored the signatures of TCR repertoires in the cervical tumor tissues and paired sentinel lymph nodes from 16 CC patients and their potential value in predicting the prognosis of patients. Our results revealed that the diversity of circulating TCR repertoire gradually decreased during the cervix carcinogenesis and progression, but the circulating TCR repertoires in CC patients were more similar to CIN patients than healthy women. Interestingly, several clonotypes uniquely detected in CC patients tended to share similar CDR3 motifs, which differed from those observed in CIN patients. In addition, the TCR repertoire diversity in sentinel lymphatic nodes from CC patients was higher than in tumor tissues. More importantly, less clonotypes in TCR repertoire of sentinel lymphatic node was associated with the poor prognosis of the patients. Overall, our findings suggested that TCR repertoire might be a potential indicator of immune monitoring and a biomarker for predicting the prognosis of CC patients. Although functional studies of T cell populations are clearly required, this study have expanded our understanding of T cell immunity during the development of CC and provided an experimental basis for further studies on its pathogenesis and immunotherapy