Fish species-specific TRIM gene FTRCA1 negatively regulates interferon response through attenuating IRF7 transcription

In mammals and fish, emerging evidence highlights that TRIM family members play important roles in the interferon (IFN) antiviral immune response. Fish TRIM family has undergone an unprecedented expansion leading to generation of finTRIM subfamily, which is exclusively specific to fish. Our recent results have shown that FTRCA1 (finTRIM C. auratus 1) is likely a fish species-specific finTRIM member in crucian carp C. auratus and acts as a negative modulator to downregulate fish IFN response by autophage-lysosomal degradation of protein kinase TBK1. In the present study, we found that FTRCA1 also impedes the activation of crucian carp IFN promoter by IRF7 but not by IRF3. Mechanistically, FTRCA1 attenuates IRF7 transcription levels likely due to enhanced decay of IRF7 mRNA, leading to reduced IRF7 protein levels and subsequently reduced fish IFN expression. E3 ligase activity is required for FTRCA1 to negatively regulate IRF7-mediated IFN response, because ligase-inactive mutants and the RING-deleted mutant of FTRCA1 lose the ability to block the activation of crucian carp IFN promoter by IRF7. These results together indicate that FTRCA1 is a multifaceted modulator to target different signaling factors for shaping fish IFN response in crucian carp.</p

Characterization of a new feather-degrading bacterium from Calotes versicolor feces

A total of 842 spore-forming strains were isolated from 221 animal feces samples, in which a new feather-degrading bacterium identified as Bacillus sp. 50-3 based on morphological, biochemical and 16S rDNA tests was isolated from Calotes versicolor (an agamid lizard) feces. The bacterium can degrade native feather completely at mild conditions and in much shorter time (36 h) when using chicken feather as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. It presented optimum growth and maximum keratinase activity (680±25 U/ml, 36 h) at 37°C and pH 7.0 in feather meal medium. The keratinase of Bacillus sp. 50-3 was active on feather keratin as substrate and presented optimum additive quantity of 1.0% (w/v). So the high efficiency of Bacillus sp. 50-3 on feather-degradation suggested its potential use in biotechnological processes, especially in decreasing the environment pollution.Keywords: Animal feces, Bacillus, chicken feathers, keratinase, optimum conditions

Dynamical encircling exceptional point in largely detuned multimode optomechanical system

Dynamical encircling exceptional point(EP) shows a number of intriguing physical phenomena and its potential applications. To enrich the manipulations of optical systems in experiment, here, we study the dynamical encircling EP, i.e. state transfer process, in largely detuned multimode optomechanical system. The process of state transfer has been investigated with different factors about the location of start point, the orientation and the initial state of the trajectories around the EP in parameter space. Results show that the nonreciprocal and the chiral topological energy transfer between two optical modes are performed successfully by tuning the effective optomechanical coupling in the multimode system with large detuning. Moreover, the factor of evolution speed about system parameters is also discussed. Our work demonstrates the fundamental physics around EP in large detuning domain of multimode optomechanical system and provides an alternative for manipulating of optical modes in non-hermitian system.Comment: 9 pages,7 figure

Enhanced sensing mechanism based on shifting an exceptional point

Non-Hermitian systems associated with exceptional points (EPs) are expected to demonstrate a giant response enhancement for various sensors. The widely investigated enhancement mechanism based on diverging from an EP should destroy the EP and further limits its applications for multiple sensing scenarios in a time sequence. To break the above limit, here we proposed a new enhanced sensing mechanism based on shifting an EP. Different from the mechanism of diverging from an EP, our scheme is an EP non-demolition and the giant enhancement of response is acquired by a slight shift of the EP along the parameter axis induced by perturbation. The new sensing mechanism can promise the most ffective response enhancement for all sensors in the case of multiple sensing in a time sequence. To verify our sensing mechanism, we construct a mass sensor and a gyroscope with concrete physical implementations. Our work will deepen the understanding of EP-based sensing and inspire designing various high sensitivity sensors in different physical systems.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Unveiling the Siren's Song: Towards Reliable Fact-Conflicting Hallucination Detection

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT/GPT-4, have garnered widespread attention owing to their myriad of practical applications, yet their adoption has been constrained by issues of fact-conflicting hallucinations across web platforms. The assessment of factuality in text, produced by LLMs, remains inadequately explored, extending not only to the judgment of vanilla facts but also encompassing the evaluation of factual errors emerging in complex inferential tasks like multi-hop, and etc. In response, we introduce FactCHD, a fact-conflicting hallucination detection benchmark meticulously designed for LLMs. Functioning as a pivotal tool in evaluating factuality within "Query-Respons" contexts, our benchmark assimilates a large-scale dataset, encapsulating a broad spectrum of factuality patterns, such as vanilla, multi-hops, comparison, and set-operation patterns. A distinctive feature of our benchmark is its incorporation of fact-based chains of evidence, thereby facilitating comprehensive and conducive factual reasoning throughout the assessment process. We evaluate multiple LLMs, demonstrating the effectiveness of the benchmark and current methods fall short of faithfully detecting factual errors. Furthermore, we present TRUTH-TRIANGULATOR that synthesizes reflective considerations by tool-enhanced ChatGPT and LoRA-tuning based on Llama2, aiming to yield more credible detection through the amalgamation of predictive results and evidence. The benchmark dataset and source code will be made available in https://github.com/zjunlp/FactCHD.Comment: Work in progres

An miR-200 Cluster on Chromosome 23 Regulates Sperm Motility in Zebrafish

Besides its well-documented roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis, the function of the p53-microRNA axis has been recently revealed in the reproductive system. Recent studies indicated that miR-200 family members are dysregulated in nonobstructive azoospermia patients, whereas their functions remain poorly documented. The aim of this study was to investigate the function of the miR-200 family on zebrafish testis development and sperm activity. There was no substantial difference in testis morphology and histology between wild-type (WT) and knockout zebrafish with deletion of miR-200 cluster on chromosome 6 (chr6-miR-200-KO) or on chromosome 23 (chr23-miR-200-KO). Interestingly, compared with WT zebrafish, the chr6-miR-200-KO zebrafish had no difference on sperm motility, whereas chr23-miR-200-KO zebrafish showed significantly improved sperm motility. Consistently, ectopic expression of miR-429a, miR-200a, and miR-200b, which are located in the miR-200 cluster on chromosome 23, significantly reduced motility traits of sperm. Several sperm motility-related genes, such as amh, wt1a, and srd5a2b have been confirmed as direct targets of miR-200s on chr23. 17a-ethynylestradiol (EE2) exposure resulted in upregulated expression of p53 and miR-429a in testis and impairment of sperm motility. Strikingly, in p53 mutant zebrafish testis, the expression levels of miR-200s on chr23 were significantly reduced and accompanied by a stimulation of sperm motility. Moreover, the upregulation of miR-429a associated with EE2 treatment was abolished in testis with p53 mutation. And the impairment of sperm activity by EE2 treatment was also eliminated when p53 was mutated. Together, our results reveal that miR-200 cluster on chromosome 23 controls sperm motility in a p53-dependent manner.</p

Effects of Particle Size and Gluten Content on Starch Digestibility of Noodles in Vitro

In order to study the effects of particle size and gluten content on the starch digestibility of noodles in vitro， 0%， 5% and 10% of gluten were added into wheat flour with different particle size to make Chinese noodles， and noodles with large and small particles were separated after drying and grinding. The morphology， structural thermal properties and in vitro starch digestion properties of noodle samples were investigated. The results showed that with the increase of gluten content in noodle samples， the surface smoothness and gelatinization temperatures were increased， while the enthalpy values were decreased， and the area of gluten network formed in the noodles after cooking were increased. The in vitro digestion kinetics results showed that the starch digestion extent was decreased with the decreasing of flour size or the increasing of gluten content

Heterologous SH3-p85β inhibits influenza A virus replication

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signalling pathway can support the replication of influenza A virus through binding of viral NS1 protein to the Src homology 3 (SH3) domain of p85β regulatory subunit of PI3K. Here we investigated the effect of heterologously overexpressed SH3 on the replication of different influenza A virus subtypes/strains, and on the phosphorylation of Akt in the virus-infected cells. We found that heterologous SH3 reduced replication of influenza A viruses at varying degrees in a subtype/strain-dependent manner and SH3 overexpression reduced the induction of the phosphorylation of Akt in the cells infected with PR8(H1N1) and ST364(H3N2), but not with ST1233(H1N1), Ph2246(H9N2), and Qa199(H9N2). Our results suggest that interference with the NS1-p85β interaction by heterologous SH3 can be served as a useful antiviral strategy against influenza A virus infection

Associations among multidomain lifestyles, chronic diseases, and dementia in older adults: a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study

BackgroundUnhealthy lifestyles and chronic diseases are commonly seen and treatable factors in older adults and are both associated with dementia. However, the synergistic effect of the interaction of lifestyles and chronic diseases on dementia is unknown.MethodsWe determined independent associations of multidomain lifestyles and chronic diseases (cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension) with dementia and examined their synergistic impact on dementia among older adults. The data were drawn from the Hubei Memory and Aging Cohort Study. We created a summary score of six factors for multidomain lifestyles. Dementia was diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV. Logistic regression and multiple correspondence analyses were used to explore the relationships among multidomain lifestyles, chronic diseases, and dementia. A sensitivity analysis was performed to minimize the interference of reverse causality and potential confounders.ResultsIndependent associations with dementia were found in unhealthy (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.38–2.61) and intermediate healthy lifestyles (OR, 3.29, 2.32–4.68), hypertension (OR, 1.21, 1.01–1.46), diabetes (OR, 1.30, 1.04–1.63), and cerebrovascular disease (OR, 1.39, 1.12–1.72). Interactions of diabetes (p = 0.004), hypertension (p = 0.004), and lifestyles were significant, suggesting a combined impact on dementia. Sensitivity analysis supported the strong association among multidomain lifestyles, chronic diseases, and dementia prevalence.ConclusionAn unhealthy lifestyle was associated with a higher prevalence of dementia, regardless of whether the participants had chronic diseases; however, this association was stronger in individuals with chronic diseases. Multidomain lifestyles and chronic diseases may have an enhanced impact on dementia