Plastidial Starch Phosphorylase in Sweet Potato Roots Is Proteolytically Modified by Protein-Protein Interaction with the 20S Proteasome

Post-translational regulation plays an important role in cellular metabolism. Earlier studies showed that the activity of plastidial starch phosphorylase (Pho1) may be regulated by proteolytic modification. During the purification of Pho1 from sweet potato roots, we observed an unknown high molecular weight complex (HX) showing Pho1 activity. The two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and reverse immunoprecipitation analyses showed that HX is composed of Pho1 and the 20S proteasome. Incubating sweet potato roots at 45°C triggers a stepwise degradation of Pho1; however, the degradation process can be partially inhibited by specific proteasome inhibitor MG132. The proteolytically modified Pho1 displays a lower binding affinity toward glucose 1-phosphate and a reduced starch-synthesizing activity. This study suggests that the 20S proteasome interacts with Pho1 and is involved in the regulation of the catalytic activity of Pho1 in sweet potato roots under heat stress conditions

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Measurement of nuclear modification factors of gamma(1S)), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) mesons in PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The cross sections for ϒ(1S), ϒ(2S), and ϒ(3S) production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV have been measured using the CMS detector at the LHC. The nuclear modification factors, RAA, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of yields for each state, are studied as functions of meson rapidity and transverse momentum, as well as PbPb collision centrality. The yields of all three states are found to be significantly suppressed, and compatible with a sequential ordering of the suppression, RAA(ϒ(1S)) > RAA(ϒ(2S)) > RAA(ϒ(3S)). The suppression of ϒ(1S) is larger than that seen at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, although the two are compatible within uncertainties. The upper limit on the RAA of ϒ(3S) integrated over pT, rapidity and centrality is 0.096 at 95% confidence level, which is the strongest suppression observed for a quarkonium state in heavy ion collisions to date. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.Peer reviewe

Electroweak production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions root s =13 TeV

A measurement of the electroweak (EW) production of two jets in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV is presented, based on data recorded in 2016 by the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The measurement is performed in the lljj final state with l including electrons and muons, and the jets j corresponding to the quarks produced in the hard interaction. The measured cross section in a kinematic region defined by invariant masses m(ll) > 50 GeV, m(jj) > 120 GeV, and transverse momenta P-Tj > 25 GeV is sigma(EW) (lljj) = 534 +/- 20 (stat) fb (syst) fb, in agreement with leading-order standard model predictions. The final state is also used to perform a search for anomalous trilinear gauge couplings. No evidence is found and limits on anomalous trilinear gauge couplings associated with dimension-six operators are given in the framework of an effective field theory. The corresponding 95% confidence level intervals are -2.6 <cwww/Lambda(2) <2.6 TeV-2 and -8.4 <cw/Lambda(2) <10.1 TeV-2. The additional jet activity of events in a signal-enriched region is also studied, and the measurements are in agreement with predictions.Peer reviewe

Bose-Einstein correlations of charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt s = 13 TeV

Bose-Einstein correlations of charged hadrons are measured over a broad multiplicity range, from a few particles up to about 250 reconstructed charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The results are based on data collected using the CMS detector at the LHC during runs with a special low-pileup configuration. Three analysis techniques with different degrees of dependence on simulations are used to remove the non-Bose-Einstein background from the correlation functions. All three methods give consistent results. The measured lengths of homogeneity are studied as functions of particle multiplicity as well as average pair transverse momentum and mass. The results are compared with data from both CMS and ATLAS at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV, as well as with theoretical predictions.[graphic not available: see fulltext]Bose-Einstein correlations of charged hadrons are measured over a broad multiplicity range, from a few particles up to about 250 reconstructed charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The results are based on data collected using the CMS detector at the LHC during runs with a special low-pileup configuration. Three analysis techniques with different degrees of dependence on simulations are used to remove the non-Bose-Einstein background from the correlation functions. All three methods give consistent results. The measured lengths of homogeneity are studied as functions of particle multiplicity as well as average pair transverse momentum and mass. The results are compared with data from both CMS and ATLAS at $\sqrt{s} =$ 7 TeV, as well as with theoretical predictions

Studies of Beauty Suppression via Nonprompt D-0 Mesons in Pb-Pb Collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The transverse momentum spectra of D-0 mesons from b hadron decays are measured at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar D-0 yield is found to be suppressed in the measured p(T) range from 2 to 100 GeV/c as compared to pp collisions. The suppression is weaker than that of prompt D-0 mesons and charged hadrons for p(T) around 10 GeV/c. While theoretical calculations incorporating partonic energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma can successfully describe the measured B -> D-0 suppression at higher p(T), the data show an indication of larger suppression than the model predictions in the range of 2 <p(T) <5 GeV/c.Peer reviewe

Search for an L-mu - L-tau gauge boson using Z -> 4 mu events in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search for a narrow Z' gauge boson with a mass between 5 and 70 GeV resulting from an L-mu - L-tau U (1) local gauge symmetry is reported. Theories that predict such a particle have been proposed as an explanation of various experimental discrepancies, including the lack of a dark matter signal in direct-detection experiments, tension in the measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, and reports of possible lepton flavor universality violation in B meson decays. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 77.3 fb(-1) recorded in 2016 and 2017 by the CMS detector at the LHC. Events containing four muons with an invariant mass near the standard model Z boson mass are analyzed, and the selection is further optimized to be sensitive to the events that may contain Z -> Z'mu mu -> 4 mu decays. The event yields are consistent with the standard model predictions. Upper limits of 10(-8)-10(-7) at 95% confidence level are set on the product of branching fractions B(Z -> Z'mu mu)B(Z' -> mu mu), depending on the Z' mass, which excludes a Z' boson coupling strength to muons above 0.004-0.3. These are the first dedicated limits on L-mu - L-tau models at the LHC and result in a significant increase in the excluded model parameter space. The results of this search may also be used to constrain the coupling strength of any light Z' gauge boson to muons. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Azimuthal separation in nearly back-to-back jet topologies in inclusive 2-and 3-jet events in pp collisions at root s=13TeV

A measurement for inclusive 2- and 3-jet events of the azimuthal correlation between the two jets with the largest transverse momenta, Delta phi(12), is presented. The measurement considers events where the two leading jets are nearly collinear ("back-to-back") in the transverse plane and is performed for several ranges of the leading jet transverse momentum. Proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1) are used. Predictions based on calculations using matrix elements at leading-order and next-to-leading-order accuracy in perturbative quantum chromodynamics supplemented with leading-log parton showers and hadronization are generally in agreement with themeasurements. Discrepancies between the measurement and theoretical predictions are as large as 15%, mainly in the region 177 degrees <Delta phi(12) <180 degrees. The 2- and 3-jet measurements are not simultaneously described by any of models.Peer reviewe

Large meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies five loci for lean body mass

Lean body mass, consisting mostly of skeletal muscle, is important for healthy aging. We performed a genome-wide association study for whole body (20 cohorts of European ancestry with n = 38,292) and appendicular (arms and legs) lean body mass (n = 28,330) measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry or bioelectrical impedance analysis, adjusted for sex, age, height, and fat mass. Twenty-one single-nucleotide polymorphisms were significantly associated with lean body mass either genome wide (p < 5 x 10(-8)) or suggestively genome wide (p < 2.3 x 10(-6)). Replication in 63,475 (47,227 of European ancestry) individuals from 33 cohorts for whole body lean body mass and in 45,090 (42,360 of European ancestry) subjects from 25 cohorts for appendicular lean body mass was successful for five single-nucleotide polymorphisms in/ near HSD17B11, VCAN, ADAMTSL3, IRS1, and FTO for total lean body mass and for three single-nucleotide polymorphisms in/ near VCAN, ADAMTSL3, and IRS1 for appendicular lean body mass. Our findings provide new insight into the genetics of lean body mass