Complexation of Z-ligustilide with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin to improve stability and oral bioavailability

To improve the stability and oral bioavailability of Z-ligustilide (LIG), the inclusion complex of LIG with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) was prepared by the kneading method and characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis (DTA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. LIG is capable of forming an inclusion complex with HP-β-CD and the stoichiometry of the complex was 1:1. Stability of the inclusion complex against temperature and light was greatly enhanced compared to that of free LIG. Further, oral bioavailability of LIG and the inclusion complex in rats were studied and the plasma drug concentration-time curves fitted well with the non-compartment model to estimate the absolute bioavailability, which was 7.5 and 35.9 %, respectively. In conclusion, these results show that LIG/HP-β-CD complexation can be of great use for increasing the stability and biological efficacy of LIG

Introgressive hybridization between two close species Siniperca chuatsi and Siniperca kneri (Percomorpharia: Sinipercidae) in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River

Siniperca chuatsi and Siniperca kneri are two economically important freshwater fishes endemic to East Asia. Recently, some Siniperca specimens collected from Lake Poyang and Lake Dongting in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River couldn't be clearly identified as they showed intermediate morphological characteristics between S. chuatsi and S. kneri, and some inter-species hybrids were detected by microsatellite loci. To further verify genetic composition of these intermediate individuals, and determine the prevalence and degree of introgression between the two Siniperca species, a large set of high-quality, independent, diagnostic genetic markers were necessarily required. Based on enrichment and sequencing of target genes in sinipercid fishes, 463 loci (FST = 1) between S. chuatsi and S. kneri were selected and verified for species diagnosis. A total of 349 loci with 458 diagnostic SNPs were identified for discriminating S. chuatsi and S. kneri. From those markers, 224 diagnostic SNPs (only one SNP per locus) were selected to identify and categorize 48 specimens with intermediate morphological characters. The results showed that there were 8 specimens identified as hybrids, 8 specimens as S. chuatsi and 32 specimens as S. kneri. NEWHYBRIDS analysis showed that the hybrid offsprings were composed of the first-generation hybrid (2 individuals), first-generation backcross (1 individual), second-generation backcross (1 individual) and fourth-generation backcross (4 individuals), and the backcrossing could happen to both S. chuatsi and S. kneri. These hybrids could occur naturally, or escaped from farmed fish, due to extensive artificial breeding practice in these regions. However, the origin of the introgressive hybridization can't be easily traced. Therefore, some measures for protecting genetic resource of Siniperca speies in the Yangtze River should be enforced, such as assessing genetic background of the cultured stocks, reducing the escapement from farmed fish, and monitoring the trend of introgressive hybridization between Siniperca species in the future

Dronevision: An Experimental 3D Testbed for Flying Light Specks

Today's robotic laboratories for drones are housed in a large room. At times, they are the size of a warehouse. These spaces are typically equipped with permanent devices to localize the drones, e.g., Vicon Infrared cameras. Significant time is invested to fine-tune the localization apparatus to compute and control the position of the drones. One may use these laboratories to develop a 3D multimedia system with miniature sized drones configured with light sources. As an alternative, this brave new idea paper envisions shrinking these room-sized laboratories to the size of a cube or cuboid that sits on a desk and costs less than 10K dollars. The resulting Dronevision (DV) will be the size of a 1990s Television. In addition to light sources, its Flying Light Specks (FLSs) will be network-enabled drones with storage and processing capability to implement decentralized algorithms. The DV will include a localization technique to expedite development of 3D displays. It will act as a haptic interface for a user to interact with and manipulate the 3D virtual illuminations. It will empower an experimenter to design, implement, test, debug, and maintain software and hardware that realize novel algorithms in the comfort of their office without having to reserve a laboratory. In addition to enhancing productivity, it will improve safety of the experimenter by minimizing the likelihood of accidents. This paper introduces the concept of a DV, the research agenda one may pursue using this device, and our plans to realize one

Supporting nickel on vanadium nitride for comparable hydrogen evolution performance to platinum in alkaline solution

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an effective means to producing hydrogen from electrolytic water splitting. However the best-performing catalysts use expensive Pt-group metals. Cheaper non-precious metal alternatives have shown low activity as their mechanism of H-2 formation (Volmer-Heyrovsky) leads to high overpotentials. Here, we report an outstanding HER catalyst (Ni/VN) highly dispersed nickel supported on vanadium nitride that matches the turnover frequency of the platinum on carbon (Pt/C) benchmark material. It is more durable than Pt/C in alkaline solution. Ni/VN follows the low-overpotential (Volmer-Tafel) mechanism of H-2 formation, with a 43 mV overpotential at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2). This value is even below that of Pt/C (57 mV). The support of VN enhances the dispersion of nickel, weakens the surface oxidation, decreases the hydrogen binding energy, and therefore significantly improves the HER catalysis. This result removes one of the major barriers for scalability of electrolytic water-splitting by demonstrating that nitride-based materials can match and even surpass the efficiency and durability of precious metal catalysts

Genome-Wide Identification of Papain-Like Cysteine Proteases in Gossypium hirsutum and Functional Characterization in Response to Verticillium dahliae

Cotton, a natural fiber producing crop of huge importance, is often prone to attack of Verticillium dahliae. Papain-like cysteine proteases (PLCPs) constitute a large family in plants and were proposed to involve in plant defense against pathogen attack in a number of studies. However, there is no detailed characterization of PLCP genes in cotton against infection of V. dahliae. In this study, we carried out a genome-wide analysis in cotton and identified seventy-eight PLCPs, which were divided into nine subfamilies based on their evolution phylogeny: RD21 (responsive to desiccation 21), CEP (cysteine endopeptidase), XCP (xylem cysteine peptidase), XBCP3 (xylem bark cysteine peptidase 3), THI, SAG12 (senescence-associated gene 12), RD19 (responsive to desiccation 19), ALP (aleurain-like protease) and CTB (cathepsin B-like). Genes in each subfamily exhibit a similar structure and motif composition. The expression patterns of these genes in different organs were examined, and subfamily RD21 was the most abundant in these families. Expression profiles under abiotic stress showed that thirty-five PLCP genes were induced by multiple stresses. Further transcriptome analysis showed that sixteen PLCP genes were up-regulated in response to V. dahliae in cotton. Among those, GhRD21-7 showed a higher transcription level than most other PLCP genes. Additionally, over-expression of GhRD21-7 led to enhanced resistance and RNAi lines were more susceptible to V. dahliae in cotton. Our results provide valuable information for future functional genomic studies of PLCP gene family in cotton

Metagenomic surveillance and comparative genomic analysis of Chlamydia psittaci in patients with pneumonia

Chlamydia psittaci, a strictly intracellular bacterium, is an underestimated etiologic agent leading to infections in a broad range of animals and mild illness or pneumonia in humans. In this study, the metagenomes of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from the patients with pneumonia were sequenced and highly abundant C. psittaci was found. The target-enriched metagenomic reads were recruited to reconstruct draft genomes with more than 99% completeness. Two C. psittaci strains from novel sequence types were detected and these were closely related to the animal-borne isolates derived from the lineages of ST43 and ST28, indicating the zoonotic transmissions of C. psittaci would benefit its prevalence worldwide. Comparative genomic analysis combined with public isolate genomes revealed that the pan-genome of C. psittaci possessed a more stable gene repertoire than those of other extracellular bacteria, with ~90% of the genes per genome being conserved core genes. Furthermore, the evidence for significantly positive selection was identified in 20 virulence-associated gene products, particularly bacterial membrane-embedded proteins and type three secretion machines, which may play important roles in the pathogen-host interactions. This survey uncovered novel strains of C. psittaci causing pneumonia and the evolutionary analysis characterized prominent gene candidates involved in bacterial adaptation to immune pressures. The metagenomic approach is of significance to the surveillance of difficult-to-culture intracellular pathogens and the research into molecular epidemiology and evolutionary biology of C. psittaci

YhjX Regulates the Growth of Escherichia coli in the Presence of a Subinhibitory Concentration of Gentamicin and Mediates the Adaptive Resistance to Gentamicin

The mechanisms of adaptive resistance of Escherichia coli to aminoglycosides remain unclear. Our RNA-Seq study found that expression of yhjX was markedly upregulated during initial exposure to subinhibitory concentrations of gentamicin. The expression of yhjX was then downregulated dramatically during a second exposure to gentamicin compared to the first exposure. YhjX encodes a putative transporter of the major facilitator superfamily, which is known to be the sole target of the YpdA/YpdB two-component system, the expression of which is highly and specifically induced by pyruvate. To investigate the effect of yhjX on the adaptive resistance of E. coli, in the present study, we constructed yhjX deletion and complemented strains of E. coli ATCC25922. Changes in extracellular pyruvate levels of wide-type and yhjX mutant were measured to determine whether YhjX functions as a pyruvate transporter. The results showed that yhjX deletion improved the growth of E. coli in medium containing subinhibitory concentrations of gentamicin. The yhjX deletion mutant did not exhibit adaptive resistance to subinhibitory concentrations of gentamicin. YhjX might not function as a pyruvate efflux pump in E. coli but was associated with the decrease following a sharp increase in the extracellular pyruvate level. Our findings indicate that yhjX regulates the growth of E. coli in the presence of a subinhibitory concentration of gentamicin and mediates the adaptive resistance to gentamicin

Thyroid function and associated mood changes after COVID-19 vaccines in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis

ContextSevere acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) vaccines may incur changes in thyroid functions followed by mood changes, and patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) were suggested to bear a higher risk.ObjectivesWe primarily aim to find whether COVID-19 vaccination could induce potential subsequent thyroid function and mood changes. The secondary aim was to find inflammatory biomarkers associated with risk.MethodsThe retrospective, multi-center study recruited patients with HT receiving COVID-19–inactivated vaccines. C-reactive proteins (CRPs), thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSHs), and mood changes were studied before and after vaccination during a follow-up of a 6-month period. Independent association was investigated between incidence of mood state, thyroid functions, and inflammatory markers. Propensity score–matched comparisons between the vaccine and control groups were carried out to investigate the difference.ResultsFinal analysis included 2,765 patients with HT in the vaccine group and 1,288 patients in the control group. In the matched analysis, TSH increase and mood change incidence were both significantly higher in the vaccine group (11.9% versus 6.1% for TSH increase and 12.7% versus 8.4% for mood change incidence). An increase in CRP was associated with mood change (p< 0.01 by the Kaplan–Meier method) and severity (r = 0.75) after vaccination. Baseline CRP, TSH, and antibodies of thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) were found to predict incidence of mood changes.ConclusionCOVID-19 vaccination seemed to induce increased levels and incidence of TSH surge followed by mood changes in patients with HT. Higher levels of pre-vaccine serum TSH, CRP, and anti-TPO values were associated with higher incidence in the early post-vaccine phase