Genetic diversity and selection of three nuclear genes in Schistosoma japonicum populations

Background: The blood fluke, Schistosoma japonicum still causes severe disease in China, the Philippines and Indonesia. Although there have been some studies the molecular epidemiology of this persistent and harmful parasite, few have explored the possibility and implications of selection in S. japonicum populations. Methods: We analyzed diversity and looked for evidence of selection at three nuclear genes (SjIpp2, SjFabp and SjT22.6) in 13 S. japonicum populations. Results: SjT22.6 was found to exhibit high nucleotide diversity and was under positive selection in the mountainous region of mainland China. As a tegumental protein, its secondary and tertiary structure differed between S. japonicum strains from the mountainous and lakes regions. In contrast, SjIpp2 and SjFabp had relatively low levels of nucleotide diversity and did not show significant departure from neutrality. Conclusions: As a tegument-associated antigen-encoding gene of S. japonicum, SjT22.6 has high nucleotide diversity and appears to be under positive selection in the mountainous region of mainland China

Epigenetic mapping of the metabolome reveals mediators of the epigenotype-phenotype map

Identifying the sources of natural variation underlying metabolic differences between plants will enable a better understanding of plant metabolism and provide insights into the regulatory networks that govern plant growth and morphology. So far, however, the contribution of epigenetic variation to metabolic diversity has been largely ignored. In the present study, we utilized a panel of Arabidopsis thaliana epigenetic recombinant inbred lines (epiRILs) to assess the impact of epigenetic variation on the metabolic composition. Thirty epigenetic QTL (QTLepi) were detected, which partly overlap with QTLepi linked to growth and morphology. In an effort to identify causal candidate genes in the QTLepi regions and their putative trans-targets, we performed in silico small RNA and qPCR analyses. Differentially expressed genes were further studied by phenotypic and metabolic analyses of knockout mutants. Three genes were detected that recapitulated the detected QTLepi effects, providing evidence for epigenetic regulation in cis and in trans These results indicate that epigenetic mechanisms impact metabolic diversity, possibly via small RNAs, and thus aid in further disentangling the complex epigenotype-phenotype map

An Automatic Diagnosis of Arrhythmias Using a Combination of CNN and LSTM Technology

Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal evaluation is routinely used in clinics as a significant diagnostic method for detecting arrhythmia. However, it is very labor intensive to externally evaluate ECG signals, due to their small amplitude. Using automated detection and classification methods in the clinic can assist doctors in making accurate and expeditious diagnoses of diseases. In this study, we developed a classification method for arrhythmia based on the combination of a convolutional neural network and long short-term memory, which was then used to diagnose eight ECG signals, including a normal sinus rhythm. The ECG data of the experiment were derived from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. The experimental method mainly consisted of two parts. The input data of the model were two-dimensional grayscale images converted from one-dimensional signals, and detection and classification of the input data was carried out using the combined model. The advantage of this method is that it does not require performing feature extraction or noise filtering on the ECG signal. The experimental results showed that the implemented method demonstrated high classification performance in terms of accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity equal to 99.01%, 99.57%, and 97.67%, respectively. Our proposed model can assist doctors in accurately detecting arrhythmia during routine ECG screening

Heterogeneous Catalytic Synthesis of 2-Methylbenzimidazole from 2-Nitroaniline and Ethanol Over Mg Modified Cu-Pd/γ-Al2O3

The direct synthesis of benzimidazoles from 2-nitroaniline and ethanol over Cu-Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalysts has the advantages of requiring easily available starting materials, having high efficiency, and a simple procedure. The modification by Mg of the Cu-Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst could improve the catalytic activity significantly. The addition of Mg to the Cu-Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst could maintain and promote the formation of CuPd alloy active sites. Meanwhile, the basicity of the support was enhanced appropriately by Mg, which generated more basic sites (Al-Oδ−) to accelerate the dehydrogenation of alcohol and increased the rate of the whole coupled reaction. The 2-nitroaniline was completely converted over Cu-Pd/(Mg)γ-Al2O3 after reacting for six hours, and the yield of 2-methylbenzimidazole was 98.8%. The results of this work provide a simple method to develop a more efficient catalyst for the “alcohol-dehydrogenation, hydrogen transfer and hydrogenation” coupled reaction system

EpiRILsand parentsQTL-mapping_rawLCMScdfs

EpiRILs and parents QTL-mapping raw LCMS dat

Synthesis of 2‑Methylbenzimidazole in Continuous Flow: Mechanism of Cu–Pd/(K)γ-Al₂O₃‑Catalyzed Deactivation and Regeneration

Benzimidazole compounds are a pivotal structure within various pharmaceuticals and possess significant medical value. Utilizing Cu–Pd/γ-Al2O3 as the catalyst, benzimidazole can be synthesized directly from 2-nitroaniline and ethanol, offering advantages such as readily available starting materials, high efficiency, and a straightforward process. Modification of the Cu–Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst with potassium (K) can significantly enhance its catalytic activity. The introduction of K into the Cu–Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst effectively sustains and promotes the formation of active sites within the CuPd alloy. Furthermore, K facilitates the dehydrogenation of alcohols, thereby expediting the overall coupling reaction rate. The impact of various factors such as space velocity, reaction temperature, reaction pressure, and solvent on the catalyst’s performance was investigated during the continuous flow synthesis of benzimidazole from ethanol and ortho-nitroaniline. Additionally, characterization techniques such as Nitrogen gas adsorption/desorption, TEM, TPD, TPO, XRD, and TG were employed to explore the catalyst deactivation mechanism. The research outcomes demonstrate that the 5 wt %Cu–5 wt %Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst modified with K exhibited excellent catalytic performance, achieving complete conversion of ortho-nitroaniline and impressive 98.2% selectivity toward 2-methylbenzimidazole under the conditions of a reaction temperature of 433 K, a pressure of 5 MPa, a mass space velocity of 0.28 h–1, and a water-to-ethanol volume ratio of 1:3. Nevertheless, catalyst deactivation became evident after 42 h of continuous operation. Analysis revealed that catalyst deactivation was attributed to changes in the carrier’s crystalline phase, catalyst coking, and trace amounts of CO poisoning. The deactivated catalyst could be effectively regained through high-temperature calcination and reduction. The findings of this study provide a straightforward method for regenerating efficient catalysts within the “alcohol dehydrogenation-hydrogen transfer-hydrogenation” coupled reaction system

Black-Phosphorus-Nanosheet-Reinforced Coating of Implants for Sequential Biofilm Ablation and Bone Fracture Healing Acceleration

Incurable implant-related infection may cause catastrophic consequences due to the existence of a biofilm that resists the infiltration of host immune cells and antibiotics. Innovative approaches inspired by nanomedicine, e.g., engineering innovative multifunctional bionic coating systems on the surface of implants, are becoming increasingly attractive. Herein, 2D black phosphorus nanosheets (BPs) were loaded onto a hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated metal implant to construct a BPs@HA composite coating. With its photothermal conversion effect and in situ biomineralization, the BPs@HA coating shows excellent performances in ablating the bacterial biofilm and accelerating fracture healing, which were verified through both in vitro and in vivo studies. Moreover, differentially expressed genes of bone formation and bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) regulated by the BPs@HA coating were identified using absolute quantitative transcriptome sequencing followed by the screening of gene differential expressions. A functional enrichment analysis reveals that the expression of core markers related to BMSC differentiation and bone formation could be effectively regulated by BPs through a metabolism-related pathway. This work not only illustrates the great potential in clinical application of the BPs@HA composite coating to eliminate bacteria and accelerate bone fracture healing but also contributes to an understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism of osteogenesis physiological function regulation based on an analysis of absolute quantitative transcriptome sequencing

Data from: Epigenetic mapping of the Arabidopsis metabolome reveals mediators of the epigenotype-phenotype map

Identifying the sources of natural variation underlying metabolic differences between plants will enable a better understanding of plant metabolism and provide insights into the regulatory networks that govern plant growth and morphology. So far, however, the contribution of epigenetic variation to metabolic diversity has been largely ignored. In the present study, we utilized a panel of Arabidopsis thaliana epigenetic recombinant inbred lines (epiRILs) to assess the impact of epigenetic variation on the metabolic composition. Thirty epigenetic QTL (QTLepi) were detected, which partly overlap with QTLepi linked to growth and morphology. In an effort to identify causal candidate genes in the QTLepi regions or their putative trans-targets we performed in silico small RNA and qPCR analyses. Differentially expressed genes were further studied by phenotypic and metabolic analyses of knockout mutants. Three genes were detected that recapitulated the detected QTLepi effects, providing evidence for epigenetic regulation in cis and in trans. These results indicate that epigenetic mechanisms impact metabolic diversity, possibly via small RNAs, and thus aid in further disentangling the complex epigenotype-phenotype map.,EpiRILsand parentsQTL-mapping_rawLCMScdfsEpiRILs and parents QTL-mapping raw LCMS dataEpiRILs and parents QTL-mapping_raw LCMS cdfs.zipMutantsSupplTable7_rawLCMscdfsMutants Suppl Table 7_raw LCMs cdfs.zipsamplecodes_rawLCMScdfssample codes _raw LCMS cdfs.xlsx