Modiff: Action-Conditioned 3D Motion Generation with Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models

Diffusion-based generative models have recently emerged as powerful solutions for high-quality synthesis in multiple domains. Leveraging the bidirectional Markov chains, diffusion probabilistic models generate samples by inferring the reversed Markov chain based on the learned distribution mapping at the forward diffusion process. In this work, we propose Modiff, a conditional paradigm that benefits from the denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM) to tackle the problem of realistic and diverse action-conditioned 3D skeleton-based motion generation. We are a pioneering attempt that uses DDPM to synthesize a variable number of motion sequences conditioned on a categorical action. We evaluate our approach on the large-scale NTU RGB+D dataset and show improvements over state-of-the-art motion generation methods

Increasing temperature can modify the effect of straw mulching on soil C fractions, soil respiration, and microbial community composition

Straw mulching has been widely adopted in dryland cropping but its effect on soil respiration and microbial communities under warming are not well understood. Soil samples were collected from a corn field with straw mulching (SM) for nine years and without straw mulching (CK), and incubated at 15°C, 25°C, and 35°C for 60 days. Soil respiration, C fractions and bacterial and fungal community structure were measured SM had greater soil organic carbon and potential C mineralization and a similar microbial biomass carbon throughout the incubation when compared with CK. Soil respiration increased with increasing temperature and its temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) was lower with SM than CK. Similar microbial community composition was found in the soils with SM and CK before incubation. However, SM had a greater bacterial richness and the relative abundances of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, and Basidiomycota, but lower relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Ascomycota than CK after incubation. Bacterial richness and diversity were greater at 15°C and 25°C than 35°C, but there was no difference in fungal richness and diversity among the incubation temperatures. As temperature increased, the relative abundances of Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes decreased, but Gemmatimonadetes and Ascomycota increased, and were significantly correlated with soil C fractions and respiration. These findings indicated that the effect of straw mulching on soil C cycling and microbial community structure can be highly modified by increasing temperature

Effect of Yuanbao Maple Tea Powder with High Chlorogenic Acid Content on Bread Quality

Using Yuanbao maple leaves as raw materials, the extraction process of chlorogenic acid in leaves was optimized, and single-factor and orthogonal experiments were carried out on ultrasonic temperature, time, and solid-liquid ratio through ultrasonic extraction. The results showed that the optimal level of the experiment was when the ratio of solid to liquid was 16:1, the concentration of ethanol was 60%, and the ultrasonic time was 15 min, and the extraction amount was 6.86% (mass fraction). Under the optimal extraction process conditions, the dynamic content of chlorogenic acid in the growth cycle of Yuanbaofeng in 2020 was analyzed. The results showed that the content of chlorogenic acid in the leaves of Yuanbaofeng in June was the highest, and the content in September was the least. In order to further explore the effect of Yuanbao maple tea powder on bread quality, different proportions of Yuanbao maple tea powder were added to bread to study its sensory effects on bread. The effects of scores, moisture content, texture, polyphenol content, antioxidant activity and other qualities. The results show that the water holding capacity, elasticity and anti-oxidation of bread are the best when the addition amount of GTB is 0.5%. Less elastic, more difficult to chew, and gradually unstable antioxidant properties

The global landscape of approved antibody therapies

Antibody therapies have become an important class of therapeutics in recent years as they have exhibited outstanding efficacy and safety in the treatment of several major diseases including cancers, immune-related diseases, infectious disease and hematological disease. There has been significant progress in the global research and development landscape of antibody therapies in the past decade. In this review, we have collected available data from the Umabs Antibody Therapies Database (Umabs-DB, https://umabs.com) as of 30 June 2022. The Umabs-DB shows that 162 antibody therapies have been approved by at least one regulatory agency in the world, including 122 approvals in the US, followed by 114 in Europe, 82 in Japan and 73 in China, whereas biosimilar, diagnostic and veterinary antibodies are not included in our statistics. Although the US and Europe have been at the leading position for decades, rapid advancement has been witnessed in Japan and China in the past decade. The approved antibody therapies include 115 canonical antibodies, 14 antibody-drug conjugates, 7 bispecific antibodies, 8 antibody fragments, 3 radiolabeled antibodies, 1 antibody-conjugate immunotoxin, 2 immunoconjugates and 12 Fc-Fusion proteins. They have been developed against 91 drug targets, of which PD-1 is the most popular, with 14 approved antibody-based blockades for cancer treatment in the world. This review outlined the global landscape of the approved antibody therapies with respect to the regulation agencies, therapeutic targets and indications, aiming to provide an insight into the trends of the global development of antibody therapies

The impact of bilateral brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity difference on cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality

BackgroundThis study aims to investigate the association between an elevated bilateral pulse wave velocity difference (BPWVD) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and all-cause mortality.MethodsThis study included a total of 38,356 participants. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to assess the association between high BPWVD and the increased risk of CVDs and all-cause mortality by calculating hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsA total of 1,213 cases of CVDs were identified over a mean duration of 6.19 years, including 886 cases of cerebral infarction (CI), 105 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and 222 cases of myocardial infarction (MI), along with 1,182 cases of all-cause mortality. The median BPWVD was 42 cm/s (19–80 cm/s). After adjusting for all confounders and baseline brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV), our analysis revealed a significant correlation between a higher risk of CVDs, MI, and all-cause mortality with an increase in BPWVD per standard deviation. HRs (95% confidence interval) were found to be 1.06 (1.01–1.11), 1.11 (1.02–1.21), and 1.07 (1.04–1.10), respectively. Among the participants with higher baPWV on the left side, the HRs (95% confidence interval) were 1.08 (1.02–1.14) for CVDs, 1.27 (1.10–1.46) for incident ICH, 1.16 (1.00–1.24) for incident MI, and 1.10 (1.07–1.15) for all-cause mortality, for per standard deviation increase in BPWVD.ConclusionsOur findings reveal a significant correlation between elevated BPWVD and the risks of developing CVDs and all-cause mortality. This highlights the importance of thoroughly evaluating BPWVD as a means of detecting individuals at risk for CVDs and mortality

Annealing novel nucleobase-lipids with oligonucleotides or plasmid DNA based on H-bonding or π-π interaction:Assemblies and transfections

Lipid derivatives of nucleoside analogs have been highlighted for their potential for effective gene delivery. A novel class of nucleobase-lipids are rationally designed and readily synthesized, comprising thymine/cytosine, an ester/amide linker and an oleyl lipid. The diversity of four nucleobase-lipids termed DXBAs (DOTA, DNTA, DOCA and DNCA) is investigated. Besides, DNCA is demonstrated to be an effective neutral transfection material for nucleic acid delivery, which enbles to bind to oligonucleotides via H-bonding and π-π stacking with reduced toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Several kinds of nucleic acid drugs including aptamer, ssRNA, antisense oligonucleotide, and plasmid DNAs can be delivered by DXBAs, especially DNCA. In particular, G4-aptamer AS1411 encapsulated by DNCA exhibits cellular uptake enhancement, lysosome degradation reduction, cell apoptosis promotion, cell cycle phase alteration in vitro and duration prolongation in vivo, resulting in significant anti-proliferative activity. Our results demonstrate that DNCA is a promising transfection agent for G4-aptamers and exhibites bright application prospects in the permeation improvement of single-stranded oligonucleotides or plasmid DNAs

Genetic mapping reveals a candidate gene CmoFL1 controlling fruit length in pumpkin

Fruit length (FL) is an important economical trait that affects fruit yield and appearance. Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch) contains a wealth genetic variation in fruit length. However, the natural variation underlying differences in pumpkin fruit length remains unclear. In this study, we constructed a F2 segregate population using KG1 producing long fruit and MBF producing short fruit as parents to identify the candidate gene for fruit length. By bulked segregant analysis (BSA-seq) and Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) approach of fine mapping, we obtained a 50.77 kb candidate region on chromosome 14 associated with the fruit length. Then, based on sequence variation, gene expression and promoter activity analyses, we identified a candidate gene (CmoFL1) encoding E3 ubiquitin ligase in this region may account for the variation of fruit length. One SNP variation in promoter of CmoFL1 changed the GT1CONSENSUS, and DUAL-LUC assay revealed that this variation significantly affected the promoter activity of CmoFL1. RNA-seq analysis indicated that CmoFL1 might associated with the cell division process and negatively regulate fruit length. Collectively, our work identifies an important allelic affecting fruit length, and provides a target gene manipulating fruit length in future pumpkin breeding

Neuroinflammation Induced by Surgery Does Not Impair the Reference Memory of Young Adult Mice

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) increases morbidity and mortality after surgery. But the underlying mechanism is not clear yet. While age is now accepted as the top one risk factor for POCD, results from studies investigating postoperative cognitive functions in adults have been controversial, and data about the very young adult individuals are lacking. The present study investigated the spatial reference memory, IL-1β, IL-6, and microglia activation changes in the hippocampus in 2-month-old mice after anesthesia and surgery. We found that hippocampal IL-1β and IL-6 increased at 6 hours after surgery. Microglia were profoundly activated in the hippocampus 6 to 24 hours after surgery. However, no significant behavior changes were found in these mice. These results indicate that although anesthesia and surgery led to neuroinflammation, the latter was insufficient to impair the spatial reference memory of young adult mice

Neuroinflammation Induced by Surgery Does Not Impair the Reference Memory of Young Adult Mice

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) increases morbidity and mortality after surgery. But the underlying mechanism is not clear yet. While age is now accepted as the top one risk factor for POCD, results from studies investigating postoperative cognitive functions in adults have been controversial, and data about the very young adult individuals are lacking. The present study investigated the spatial reference memory, IL-1 , IL-6, and microglia activation changes in the hippocampus in 2-month-old mice after anesthesia and surgery. We found that hippocampal IL-1 and IL-6 increased at 6 hours after surgery. Microglia were profoundly activated in the hippocampus 6 to 24 hours after surgery. However, no significant behavior changes were found in these mice. These results indicate that although anesthesia and surgery led to neuroinflammation, the latter was insufficient to impair the spatial reference memory of young adult mice

Associations of HLA-DP Variants with Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Southern and Northern Han Chinese Populations: A Multicenter Case-Control Study

) locus has been reported to be associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in populations of Japan and Thailand. We aimed to examine whether the association can be replicated in Han Chinese populations. = 0.097∼0.697 and 0.198∼0.615 in northern Chinese population, respectively). loci were strongly associated with HBV infection in southern and northern Han Chinese populations, but not with HBV progression