A small heat shock protein (SlHSP17.3) in tomato plays a positive role in salt stress.

Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are molecular chaperones that are widely present in plants and play a vital role in the response of plants to various environmental stimuli. This study employed transgenic to investigate the impact of the new tomato () sHSP protein (SlHSP17.3) on salt stress tolerance.

Identification and characterization of novel genetic variants in the first Chinese family of mucopolysaccharidosis IIIC (Sanfilippo C syndrome).

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIC (MPS IIIC) is one of inherited lysosomal storage disorders, caused by deficiencies in lysosomal hydrolases degrading acidic mucopolysaccharides. The gene responsible for MPS IIIC is HGSNAT, which encodes an enzyme that catalyses the acetylation of the terminal glucosamine residues of heparan sulfate. So far, few studies have focused on the genetic landscape of MPS IIIC in China, where IIIA and IIIB were the major subtypes.

Bioinspired Jumping Soft Actuators of the Liquid Crystal Elastomer Enabled by Photo-Mechanical Coupling.

Jumping, a fundamental survival behavior observed in organisms, serves as a vital mechanism for adapting to the surrounding environment and overcoming significant obstacles within a given terrain. Here, we present a light-controlled soft jumping actuator inspired by asphondylia, which employs a closed-loop structure and utilizes a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE). Photo-mechanical coupling highlights the significant influence of the light source on the actuator's jumping behavior.

Characterization of the circRNA Landscape in Interleukin-4 Induced Anti-Inflammatory Microglia.

Microglia are resident innate immune cells that play an essential role in the development and surveillance of the central nervous system as well as the shared pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Microglia rapidly respond to multiple inflammatory stimuli and activate towards different phenotypes, such as pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory phenotypes. Cytokines, epigenetic and long non-coding RNA modulations have been shown to regulate microglial activation; however, the role of circRNAs in microglia-mediated neuroinflammation remains elusive.

Citrulline inhibits LPS-induced pyroptosis of RAW264.7 macrophages through NF-κB signaling pathway.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of citrulline on the pyroptosis of mouse macrophage RAW264.7 and the mechanism. We investigated the effect of citrulline on pyroptosis of RAW264.

Effects of ammonia on morphological characteristics and nanostructure of soot in the combustion of diesel surrogate fuels.

The morphological characteristics and nanostructure of soot particles in pure n-heptane (CH) and n-heptane/ammonia co-flow diffusion flames were analyzed and compared using thermophoretic sampling and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation combining with quantitative image information extraction methods. The results showed that the overall formation and evolution of soot particles in NH-doped n-heptane flames along the flame centerline were similar with that without NH-doping. However, compared to n-heptane flame, the peak average diameter of primary soot particles and the peak gyration radius of soot aggregates in NH-doped flames were reduced by about 45% and 37%, respectively, which indicated that the growth of both primary soot particles via surface reaction/condensation and soot aggregates via coagulation were significantly decreased.

The heterogeneity of microglial activation and its epigenetic and non-coding RNA regulations in the immunopathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases.

Microglia are resident immune cells in the brain and play a central role in the development and surveillance of the nervous system. Extensive gliosis is a common pathological feature of several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia. Microglia can respond to multiple inflammatory insults and later transform into different phenotypes, such as pro- and anti-inflammatory phenotypes, thereby exerting different functions.

The Double-Faceted Role of Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2 in the Immunopathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease.

() is one of the most common causative genes in Parkinson's disease (PD). The complex structure of this multiple domains' protein determines its versatile functions in multiple physiological processes, including migration, autophagy, phagocytosis, and mitochondrial function, among others. Mounting studies have also demonstrated the role of LRRK2 in mediating neuroinflammation, the prominent hallmark of PD, and intricate functions in immune cells, such as microglia, macrophages, and astrocytes.

Identification and characterization of two novel noncoding tyrosinase (TYR) gene variants leading to oculocutaneous albinism type 1.

Oculocutaneous albinism type 1 (OCA1), resulting from pathogenic variants in the tyrosinase (TYR) gene, refers to a group of phenotypically heterogeneous autosomal recessive disorders characterized by a partial or a complete absence of pigment in the skin/hair and is also associated with common developmental eye defects. In this study, we identified two novel compound heterozygous TYR variants from a Chinese hypopigmentary patient by whole-exome sequencing. Specifically, the two variants were c.

Study on the removal characteristics of different air pollution control devices for condensable particulate matter in coal-fired power plants.

This study reports the emissions of condensable particulate matter (CPM) and filterable particulate matter (FPM) in two coal-fired power plants with different air pollution control devices (APCDs). The mechanisms of CPM removed by existing APCDs in coal-fired power plants were explored, and a series of analyses were also carried out on the composition and characteristics of CPM. The results show that the removal efficiencies to CPM by electrostatic-bag-precipitator (EBP) and ESP are 77.

A Step-by-Step Refined Strategy for Highly Efficient Generation of Neural Progenitors and Motor Neurons from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Limited access to human neurons, especially motor neurons (MNs), was a major challenge for studying neurobiology and neurological diseases. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) could be induced as neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and further multiple neural subtypes, which provide excellent cellular sources for studying neural development, cell therapy, disease modeling and drug screening. It is thus important to establish robust and highly efficient methods of neural differentiation.

Using artificial neural network in predicting the key fruit quality of loquat.

The formation and regulation of loquat fruit quality have always been an important research field to improve fruit quality, commodities, and market value. Fruit size, soluble solids content, and titratable acid content represent the most important quality factors in loquat. Mineral nutrients in abundance or deficiency are among the most important key factor that affect fruit quality.

Rasagiline combined with levodopa therapy versus levodopa monotherapy for patients with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review.

Objective: The aim of this report was to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of rasagiline (R) plus levodopa (L) (R + L) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) compared with that of L monotherapy, in order to provide a reference resource for rational drug use.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of R + L for PD published up to September 2018 were searched. Sensitivity analyses were also performed.

Transcriptome analysis of Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc.) fruit treated with heat and 1-MCP.

Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc.) is a typical fruit tree grown in the hilly region of Southern China.

Integrating proteomic and transcriptomic analyses of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) in response to cold stress.

The expression levels of many genes and the related proteins change and regulate physiological and metabolic processes that help the plant survive harsh environmental conditions under cold stress. Damage due to cold and freezing conditions often causes dynamic loss of loquat fruits in cultivated parts of northern China. To illustrate the mechanism of cold tolerance in the loquat, we combined the transcriptomic analysis with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data from loquat leaves under 4 °C treatment.

A new strategy for estimating two-locus recombination fractions under some natural inequality restrictions.

Linkage analysis is now being widely used to map markers on each chromosome in the human genome, to map genetic diseases, and to identify genetic forms of common diseases. Two-locus linkage analysis and multi-locus analysis have been investigated comprehensively, and many computer programs have been developed to perform linkage analysis. Yet there exists a shortcoming in traditional methods, i.

A robust approach based on Weibull distribution for clustering gene expression data.

Background: Clustering is a widely used technique for analysis of gene expression data. Most clustering methods group genes based on the distances, while few methods group genes according to the similarities of the distributions of the gene expression levels. Furthermore, as the biological annotation resources accumulated, an increasing number of genes have been annotated into functional categories.

MicroRNA regulation constrains the organization of target genes on mammalian chromosomes.

The regulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is a complicated process requiring a large number of molecular events to be coordinated in both space and time. It is not known whether this complicated regulation process constrains the organization of target genes on mammalian chromosomes. We performed a genome-wide analysis to provide a better picture of chromosomal organization of miRNA target genes.

Expression of the human hepatitis B virus large surface antigen gene in transgenic tomato plants.

The original hepatitis B virus (HBV) large surface antigen gene was synthesized. In order to optimize the expression of this gene in tomato plants, the tobacco pathogenesis-related protein S signal peptide was fused to the 5' end of the modified gene and the sequence encoding amino acids S, E, K, D, E, and L was placed at the 3' end. The gene encoding the modified HBV large surface antigen under the control of a fruit-specific promoter was constructed and expressed in transgenic tomato plants.