Preparation of fern root resistant starch by pullulanase and glucoamylase combined with autoclaving-enzymatic method: physicochemical properties and structural characterization.

Background: Fern root starch has a high percentage of amylose and has great potential for application in the field of slow-digesting foods. Clarifying the effect of treatment conditions on fern root starch is key to achieving industrialized production of fern root resistant starch. In the present study, fern root starch was treated by the autoclave-enzymatic method with pullulanase, glucoamylase and mixed enzyme.

Real-time detection of laryngopharyngeal cancer using an artificial intelligence-assisted system with multimodal data.

Background: Laryngopharyngeal cancer (LPC) includes laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, whose early diagnosis can significantly improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients. Pathological biopsy of suspicious cancerous tissue under the guidance of laryngoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosing LPC. However, this subjective examination largely depends on the skills and experience of laryngologists, which increases the possibility of missed diagnoses and repeated unnecessary biopsies.

The effects of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and treatments on the salt tolerance of maize seedlings.

Nanomaterials, including multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), have been recently applied in agriculture to improve stress resistance, leading to contradictory findings for antioxidant responses and mineral nutrient uptake. A pot experiment involving maize in low-salinity sandy loam soils was conducted with the application of different concentrations (0, 20, 50 mg/L) of MWCNTs and the growth-promoting rhizobacterium (). The dose-dependent effects of MWCNTs were confirmed: 20 mg/L MWCNTs significantly promoted the accumulation of osmolytes in maize, particularly K in the leaves and roots, increased the leaf indoleacetic acid content, decreased the leaf abscisic acid content; but the above-mentioned promoting effects decreased significantly in 50 mg/L MWCNTs-treated plants.

A safe and effective surgical method for complex pyriform sinus fistula.

Objective: This article aims to propose a new surgical method for the treatment of pyriform fistula, especially for the complex pyriform fistula.

Methods: A total of 36 patients with pyriform fistula underwent the procedure between August 2017 to October 2020. Surgery was performed by the senior authors using the same technique at the same clinical center for all patients.

Responses of the Soil Microbial Community to Salinity Stress in Maize Fields.

To investigate the diversity and structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities in saline soils, soil samples with three increasing salinity levels (S1, S2 and S3) were collected from a maize field in Yanqi, Xinjiang Province, China. The results showed that the K, Na, Ca and Mg values in the bulk soil were higher than those in the rhizosphere soil, with significant differences in S2 and S3 ( < 0.05).

Stat3-mTOR signaling mediates the stimulation of GLP-1 production induced by IL-27.

GLP-1 is a potent glucose-dependent insulinotropic hormone derived from intestinal L cells. Inflammatory Interleukin-27 (IL-27), a pleiotropic two-chain cytokine, is composed of EBI3 and IL-27 p28 subunits. IL-27 has a protective effect on pancreatic β-cell function.

CPU-GPU hybrid accelerating the Zuker algorithm for RNA secondary structure prediction applications.

Background: Prediction of ribonucleic acid (RNA) secondary structure remains one of the most important research areas in bioinformatics. The Zuker algorithm is one of the most popular methods of free energy minimization for RNA secondary structure prediction. Thus far, few studies have been reported on the acceleration of the Zuker algorithm on general-purpose processors or on extra accelerators such as Field Programmable Gate-Array (FPGA) and Graphics Processing Units (GPU).

FPGA accelerator for protein secondary structure prediction based on the GOR algorithm.

Background: Protein is an important molecule that performs a wide range of functions in biological systems. Recently, the protein folding attracts much more attention since the function of protein can be generally derived from its molecular structure. The GOR algorithm is one of the most successful computational methods and has been widely used as an efficient analysis tool to predict secondary structure from protein sequence.