4,353 research outputs found
Examining Scientific Writing Styles from the Perspective of Linguistic Complexity
Publishing articles in high-impact English journals is difficult for scholars
around the world, especially for non-native English-speaking scholars (NNESs),
most of whom struggle with proficiency in English. In order to uncover the
differences in English scientific writing between native English-speaking
scholars (NESs) and NNESs, we collected a large-scale data set containing more
than 150,000 full-text articles published in PLoS between 2006 and 2015. We
divided these articles into three groups according to the ethnic backgrounds of
the first and corresponding authors, obtained by Ethnea, and examined the
scientific writing styles in English from a two-fold perspective of linguistic
complexity: (1) syntactic complexity, including measurements of sentence length
and sentence complexity; and (2) lexical complexity, including measurements of
lexical diversity, lexical density, and lexical sophistication. The
observations suggest marginal differences between groups in syntactical and
lexical complexity.Comment: 6 figure
Novel matrine derivative MD-1 attenuates hepatic fibrosis by inhibiting EGFR activation of hepatic stellate cells
In vitro micro-propagation of Longiflorum-Asiatic (LA) hybrids lily (Lilium) cultivar ‘eyeliner’
Bulblets propagation by tissue culture was one of the key techniques in the production of lily (Lilium) bulbs. Therefore, in vitro micro propagation of lily bulblets was studied in detail in this paper. L A hybrids lily cultivar ‘eyeliner’ was selected as the materials. By using the method of orthogonal design, the following were concluded from the research: the optimum treatment and disinfection methods of ‘eyeliner’ bulb scales was soaking in 1:500 carbendazim solution for 30 min, disinfection in 75% alcohol for 10 to 60 s, disinfection in 2% NaClO solution for 15 min; the optimum medium for bud induction of ‘eyeliner’ was MS + 0.5 mg·L-1 6-benzyl aminopurine (6-BA) + 0.1 mg·L-1 naphlene acetic acid (NAA) + 90 g·L-1 sucrose, and 25°C and in darkness; the optimum medium for bulblets induction of ‘eyeliner’ was 2MS + 1.0 mg·L-1 6-BA + 0.5 mg·L-1 NAA + sucrose 90 g·L-1 + Paclobutrazol (PP333) 2 mg·L-1; the optimum culture condition for bulblets induction of ‘eyeliner’ was 20°C, 14 h·day-1 lightness + 10 h·day-1 darkness. The optimum medium for rooting culture of ‘eyeliner’ was ½ MS + 0.8 mg·L-1 NAA + 3 g·L-1 activated charcoal, 20°C, 14 h·day-1 lightness + 10 h·day-1 darkness.Keywords: Lily bulb, orthogonal experiment, in vitro micro propagatio
Types of Scientific Collaborators: A Perspective of Author Contribution Network
The purpose of this study is to investigate interaction between collaborators within individual studies by measuring how they made contributions to their studies. Author contribution network is constructed based on the author contribution statements of 140,000 full-text articles in PloS by viewing every collaborator as a node and a shared contribution as an edge. Three types of contributors are identified: general team-players, factotums, and mavericks. The preliminary result suggests that division of labor widely exists in scientific re-search and the latter two types of collaborators are common in small teams
Effects of ClpP protease on biofilm formation of Enterococcus faecalis
Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), one of the main pathogens responsible for refractory periapical periodontitis and nosocomial infections, exhibits markedly higher pathogenicity in biofilms. Objectives: Studies have shown that caseinolytic protease P (ClpP) is involved in biofilm formation. However, to date, few studies have investigated the role of ClpP in the survival of E. faecalis, and in enhancing biofilm formation. Therefore, we investigated the role of ClpP in the formation of E. faecalis biofilms. Methodology: In our study, we used homologous recombination to construct clpP deleted and clpP complement strains of E. faecalis ATCC 29212. A viable colony counting method was used to analyze the growth patterns of E. faecalis. Crystal violet staining (CV) and confocal scanning laser microscopy (CLSM) were used to characterize biofilm mass formation and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the biofilm microstructure. Data was statistically analyzed via Student’s t-test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The results exhibited altered growth patterns for the clpP deletion strains and depleted polysaccharide matrix, resulting in reduced biofilm formation capacity compared to the standard strains. Moreover, ClpP was observed to increase biofilm formation in E. faecalis. Conclusion: Our study shows that ClpP can increase biofilm formation in E. faecalis and emphasizes the importance of ClpP as a potential target against E. faecalis
Upregulation of Endogenous HMOX1 Expression by a Computer-Designed Artificial Transcription Factor
Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is well known as a cytoprotective factor. Research has revealed that it is a promising therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases. In the current study, an HMOX1 (HO-1 gene) enhancer-specific artificial zinc-finger protein (AZP) was designed using bioinformatical methods. Then, an artificial transcription factor (ATF) was constructed based on the AZP. In the ATF, the p65 functional domain was used as the effector domain (ED), and a nuclear localization sequence (NLS) was also included. We next analyzed the affinity of the ATF to the HMOX1 enhancer and the effect of the ATF on endogenous HMOX1 expression. The results suggest that the ATF could effectively upregulate endogenous HMOX1 expression in ECV304 cells. With further research, the ATF could be developed as a potential drug for cardiovascular diseases
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