Rust Secreted Protein Ps87 Is Conserved in Diverse Fungal Pathogens and Contains a RXLR-like Motif Sufficient for Translocation into Plant Cells

BACKGROUND: Effector proteins of biotrophic plant pathogenic fungi and oomycetes are delivered into host cells and play important roles in both disease development and disease resistance response. How obligate fungal pathogen effectors enter host cells is poorly understood. The Ps87 gene of Puccinia striiformis encodes a protein that is conserved in diverse fungal pathogens. Ps87 homologs from a clade containing rust fungi are predicted to be secreted. The aim of this study is to test whether Ps87 may act as an effector during Puccinia striiformis infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Yeast signal sequence trap assay showed that the rust protein Ps87 could be secreted from yeast cells, but a homolog from Magnaporthe oryzae that was not predicted to be secreted, could not. Cell re-entry and protein uptake assays showed that a region of Ps87 containing a conserved RXLR-like motif [K/R]RLTG was confirmed to be capable of delivering oomycete effector Avr1b into soybean leaf cells and carrying GFP into soybean root cells. Mutations in the Ps87 motif (KRLTG) abolished the protein translocation ability. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results suggest that Ps87 and its secreted homologs could utilize similar protein translocation machinery as those of oomycete and other fungal pathogens. Ps87 did not show direct suppression activity on plant defense responses. These results suggest Ps87 may represent an "emerging effector" that has recently acquired the ability to enter plant cells but has not yet acquired the ability to alter host physiology

Inertia matching of CNC cycloidal gear form grinding machine servo system

Reasonable ratio between the load inertia and servo motor inertia plays a decisive role for the dynamic performance and stability of the servo system, as well as the machining accuracy of the whole CNC machine. In order to improve the control performance and contour machining accuracy of the servo system of the CNC cycloidal gear form grinding machine, an optimization design method of the inertia matching for the CNC cycloidal gear form grinding machine servo system is proposed. The two-mass servo driving closed-loop PID control system is constructed, the influence of the different inertia ratios on the dynamic performance and contour errors of the servo system are deeply analyzed, and the inertia ratio is optimized to satisfied with the servo system performance requirements. Finally, the feasibility and practicability of the optimization design method of inertia matching are verified through the inertia ratio optimization grinding experiments of the cycloid gear in the CNC gear form grinding machine. This inertia matching optimization design method provides a valuable reference for the further design of CNC machine servo system

Mouth-Clicks used by Blind Expert Human Echolocators – Signal Description and Model Based Signal Synthesis

Echolocation is the ability to use sound-echoes to infer spatial information about the environment. Some blind people have developed extraordinary proficiency in echolocation using mouth-clicks. The first step of human biosonar is the transmission (mouth click) and subsequent reception of the resultant sound through the ear. Existing head-related transfer function (HRTF) data bases provide descriptions of reception of the resultant sound. For the current report, we collected a large database of click emissions with three blind people expertly trained in echolocation, which allowed us to perform unprecedented analyses. Specifically, the current report provides the first ever description of the spatial distribution (i.e. beam pattern) of human expert echolocation transmissions, as well as spectro-temporal descriptions at a level of detail not available before. Our data show that transmission levels are fairly constant within a 60° cone emanating from the mouth, but levels drop gradually at further angles, more than for speech. In terms of spectro-temporal features, our data show that emissions are consistently very brief (~3ms duration) with peak frequencies 2-4kHz, but with energy also at 10kHz. This differs from previous reports of durations 3-15ms and peak frequencies 2-8kHz, which were based on less detailed measurements. Based on our measurements we propose to model transmissions as sum of monotones modulated by a decaying exponential, with angular attenuation by a modified cardioid. We provide model parameters for each echolocator. These results are a step towards developing computational models of human biosonar. For example, in bats, spatial and spectro-temporal features of emissions have been used to derive and test model based hypotheses about behaviour. The data we present here suggest similar research opportunities within the context of human echolocation. Relatedly, the data are a basis to develop synthetic models of human echolocation that could be virtual (i.e. simulated) or real (i.e. loudspeaker, microphones), and which will help understanding the link between physical principles and human behaviour

Preparation and performance of homogenous braids-reinforced poly (p-phenylene terephthamide) hollow fiber membranes

A novel homogenous braid-reinforced (HBR) poly (p-phenylene terephthamide) (PPTA) hollow fiber membrane was prepared in this study. The effects of PPTA concentration on the morphologies and properties of the membranes were further investigated. The results showed that when the PPTA concentration was 2.0 wt%, the cross-sectional morphology of satisfactory interfacial bonding was achieved and the permeation was still maintained at about 200 (L·m−2·h−1) after ultrasonic vibration. In addition, the tensile force exceeded 600 N, which indicated that the homogeneous effect effectively improved the poor mechanical properties and interfacial bonding. In addition, the HBR PPTA hollow fiber membranes were applied to simulate the membrane bioreactor system to explore the control factors of membrane fouling. The results demonstrated that the average removal of total phosphorus and NH4 +–N was above 49% and 96%, respectively; meanwhile, the operating time was up to 120 days. Furthermore, it was easier to nearly remove the pollutants by chemical cleaning

The Characterization of OXA-232 Carbapenemase-Producing ST437 Klebsiella pneumoniae in China

Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) was epidemic around the world and become a global threat to public health. The most important carbapenem-resistant mechanism is producing carbapenemases, especially Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), which is prevalent in the international clonal complex CC11. The high-risk multidrug-resistant CC11 is widespread worldwide, and KPC-producing and (New Delhi metallo) NDM-producing strains had been reported in this clonal complex before; moreover, cases with the CC11 strain faced more severe forms of drug resistance and treatment challenges than other clonal complexes. In this study, we identified an OXA-232-producing ST437 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate in China, which belonged to CC11. The isolate was resistant to β-lactams, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones but susceptible to fosfomycin, tigecycline, and colistin. The blaOXA-232 gene was located on a 6141 bp ColKP3-type nonconjugative plasmid, and the plasmid was transformed by chemical transformation successfully. This is the first report of OXA-232-producing ST437 K. pneumoniae in China, a new clone of high-risk multidrug-resistant CC11

Inertia matching of CNC cycloidal gear form grinding machine servo system

Reasonable ratio between the load inertia and servo motor inertia plays a decisive role for the dynamic performance and stability of the servo system, as well as the machining accuracy of the whole CNC machine. In order to improve the control performance and contour machining accuracy of the servo system of the CNC cycloidal gear form grinding machine, an optimization design method of the inertia matching for the CNC cycloidal gear form grinding machine servo system is proposed. The two-mass servo driving closed-loop PID control system is constructed, the influence of the different inertia ratios on the dynamic performance and contour errors of the servo system are deeply analyzed, and the inertia ratio is optimized to satisfied with the servo system performance requirements. Finally, the feasibility and practicability of the optimization design method of inertia matching are verified through the inertia ratio optimization grinding experiments of the cycloid gear in the CNC gear form grinding machine. This inertia matching optimization design method provides a valuable reference for the further design of CNC machine servo system