Complete Genome Sequence of Thermoactinomyces vulgaris Strain CDF, a Thermophilic Bacterium Capable of Degrading Chicken Feathers.

strain CDF was isolated from soil and shown to have the ability to degrade chicken feathers at high temperatures. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of this bacterium, which is 2,595,509 bp long with 2,642 predicted genes and an average G+C content of 48.14%.

Establishment and application of a multiplex RT-PCR to differentiate wild-type and vaccine strains of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Due to outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) and the wide use of attenuated live vaccine, both wild-type and vaccine strains (CV777) are believed to circulate in Chinese pig farms. Thus, identification of different PEDV strains is of epidemiological importance. In this study, a multiplex RT-PCR method was established based on the sequence features of spike (S) gene and ORF3 gene of PEDVs.

Calmodulin Is the Fundamental Regulator of NADK-Mediated NAD Signaling in Plants.

Calcium (Ca) signaling and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) signaling are two basic signal regulation pathways in organisms, playing crucial roles in signal transduction, energy metabolism, stress tolerance, and various developmental processes. Notably, calmodulins (CaMs) and NAD kinases (NADKs) are important hubs for connecting these two types of signaling networks, where CaMs are the unique activators of NADKs. NADK is a key enzyme for NADP (including NADP and NADPH) biosynthesis by phosphorylating NAD (including NAD and NADH) and therefore, maintains the balance between NAD pool and NADP pool through an allosteric regulation mode.

Tri-Spiral Donor for High Efficiency and Versatile Blue Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials.

Blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters that can simultaneously achieve high efficiency in doped and nondoped organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are rarely reported. Reported here is a strategy using a tri-spiral donor for such versatile blue TADF emitters. Impressively, by simply extending the nonconjugated fragment and molecular length, aggregation-caused emission quenching (ACQ) can be greatly alleviated to achieve as high as a 90 % horizontal orientation dipole ratio and external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of up to 33.

In vitro and in vivo mechanism of hepatocellular carcinoma inhibition by β-TCP nanoparticles.

Studies have showed that nanoparticles have a certain anti-cancer activity and can inhibit many kinds of cancer cells. β-tricalcium phosphate nanoparticles (nano-β-TCP) displays better biodegradation, but the application and mechanism of nano-β-TCP in anti-cancer activity are still not clear. The objective of this study was to synthesize nano-β-TCP and investigate its inhibitory properties and mechanism on hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells in vitro and in vivo.

Scopulariopsis/Microascus isolation in lung transplant recipients: A report of three cases and a review of the literature.

The current knowledge of invasive Scopulariopsis/Microascus infection in lung transplantation has been derived from only four case reports. Although these fungi are uncommon compared with Aspergillus, they are highly resistant to the current antifungal agents, and the mortality is extremely high. To explore the risk factors, clinical manifestations, notable diagnostic characteristics and outcomes of positive Scopulariopsis/Microascus isolation in lung transplantation patients.

Effect of Weightlessness on the 3D Structure Formation and Physiologic Function of Human Cancer Cells.

With the rapid development of modern medical technology and the deterioration of living environments, cancer, the most important disease that threatens human health, has attracted increasing concerns. Although remarkable achievements have been made in tumor research during the past several decades, a series of problems such as tumor metastasis and drug resistance still need to be solved. Recently, relevant physiological changes during space exploration have attracted much attention.

Thiophene Disubstituted Benzothiadiazole Derivatives: An Effective Planarization Strategy Toward Deep-Red to Near-Infrared (NIR) Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

As one of the three primary colors that are indispensable in full-color displays, the development of red emitters is far behind the blue and green ones. Here, three novel orange-yellow to near-infrared (NIR) emitters based on 5,6-difluorobenzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (BTDF) namely BTDF-TPA, BTDF-TTPA, and BTDF-TtTPA were designed and synthesized. Density functional theory analysis and photophysical characterization reveal that these three materials possess hybridized local and charge-transfer (HLCT) state feature and a feasible reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) from the high-lying triplet state to the singlet state may conduce to an exciton utilization exceeding the limit of 25% of traditional fluorescence materials under electrical excitation.

Predicting Operational Stability for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Exciplex Cohosts.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) employing exciplex cohosts have gained attractive interest due to the promising high efficiency, low driving voltage, and potential low cost in future solid-state lighting sources and full-color displays. However, their device lifetime is still the most challenging weakness and rarely studied, which is regarded as a time consuming and complicated work. Therefore, a simplified but effective and comprehensive approach is demonstrated to give prediction for the exciplex cohosts operating lifespan and analyze their possible degradation mechanisms by considering molecular dissociated activation energy with internal exciton dynamics correlations.

Isobavachalcone exerts anti‑proliferative and pro‑apoptotic effects on human liver cancer cells by targeting the ERKs/RSK2 signaling pathway.

Aberrant activation of the extracellular signal‑regulated kinases (ERKs)/ribosomal S6 kinase 2 (RSK2) signaling pathway is frequently determined in various human tumor types, including liver cancer, and has been considered as a promising target for cancer chemoprevention and therapy. In the present study, using computer‑aided virtual screening and molecular docking, isobavachalcone (IBC), a natural chalcone compound, was identified to be an ATP‑competitive inhibitor targeting ERK1/2 and RSK2. Cell Counting Kit‑8, EdU incorporation and colony formation assays were used to detect the effects of IBC on cell viability and proliferation, and the results demonstrated that IBC effectively inhibited the proliferation of liver cancer HepG2 and Hep3B cells, whereas it had no notable cytotoxic effect on immortal liver L02 cells.

(BBTV) nuclear shuttle protein interacts and re-distributes BBTV coat protein in .

(BBTV) is a circular single-stranded DNA virus with multi-components. The knowledge about interaction between viral proteins and pathogenesis mechanism of BBTV remains unclear. In this study, the coat protein gene (, ORF 516 bp) and nuclear shuttle protein gene (, ORF 465 bp) from BBTV B2 isolate of the Southeast-Asia group were cloned.

Significance and Mechanisms of P-glycoprotein in Central Nervous System Diseases.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a member of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter family. Because of its characteristic luminal surface location, high transport potency and structural specificity, Pgp is regarded as a selective gatekeeper of the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) to prevent the entry of toxins or unwanted substances into the brain. In recent years, increasing evidence has shown that P-gp is involved in the immune inflammatory response in the Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders by regulating microglia activation, and mediating immune cell migration.

Propagermanium, a CCR2 inhibitor, attenuates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury through inhibiting inflammatory response induced by microglia.

CCR2 could recruit immune cells migrating into brain after ischemic stroke. It is unclear whether and why Propagermanium (PG, a CCR2 inhibitor) is able to protect against ischemic injury. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and reperfusion injury in C57BL/6 J male mice were performed in vivo to mimic ischemic stroke.

Highly Efficient Blue Fluorescent OLEDs Based on Upper Level Triplet-Singlet Intersystem Crossing.

Purely organic electroluminescent materials, such as thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) and triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) materials, basically harness triplet excitons from the lowest triplet excited state (T ) to realize high efficiency. Here, a fluorescent material that can convert triplet excitons into singlet excitons from the high-lying excited state (T ), referred to here as a "hot exciton" path, is reported. The energy levels of this compound are determined from the sensitization and nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy measurements, i.

Incorporation of rubidium cations into blue perovskite quantum dot light-emitting diodes via FABr-modified multi-cation hot-injection method.

Solution-processed lead halide perovskite quantum dots (QDs) are emerging as one of the most promising candidates for emissive display application. Although perovskite QDs with a full spectrum of visible light emissions have been realized for years, realizing the efficient electroluminescence of blue perovskites at room temperature still faces severe challenges. Herein, we demonstrate both the efficient photoluminescence and electroluminescence of the blue perovskite QDs via a simple FABr-modified multi-cation hot-injection (FMMHI) method.

Adamantane-Substituted Acridine Donor for Blue Dual Fluorescence and Efficient Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

To date, blue dual fluorescence emission (DFE) has not been realized because of the limited choice of chemical moieties and severe geometric deformation of the DFE emitters leading to strong intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) with a large Stokes shift in excited states. Herein, an emitter (1'r,5'R,7'S)-10-(4-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)phenyl)-10H-spiro [acridine-9,2'-adamantane] (a-DMAc-TRZ) containing a novel adamantane-substituted acridine donor is reported, which exhibits unusual blue DFE. The introduction of the rigid and bulky adamantane moiety not only suppressed the geometry relaxation in excited state, but also induced the formation of quasi-axial conformer (QAC) and quasi-equatorial conformer (QEC) geometries, leading to deep-blue conventional fluorescence and sky-blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF).

Clinicopathologic Analysis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma After I Interstitial Brachytherapy.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a common malignancy in the head and neck region. Brachytherapy after radical surgery has achieved much progress as a cancer adjuvant treatment. This study focused on the pathologic characteristics of the patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma who underwent seed implantation after radical surgery, and the relationship of these characteristics with prognosis.

Retrospective Observational Study from a Chinese Network of the Impact of Combination Therapy versus Monotherapy on Mortality from Carbapenem-Resistant Bacteremia.

Data for a total of 164 bloodstream infection cases due to carbapenem-resistant (CRE) from 2013 to 2017 were retrospectively collected from 36 tertiary hospitals in 19 provinces in China to evaluate the outcomes and risk factors for mortality by univariable and multivariable analysis. The most frequent infecting species was (69.5%, 114/164).

MIB1 mutations reduce Notch signaling activation and contribute to congenital heart disease.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects in humans, but its genetic etiology remains largely unknown despite decades of research. The Notch signaling pathway plays critical roles in embryonic cardiogenesis. Mind bomb 1 (Mib1) is a vital protein that activates the Notch signaling pathway through promoting ubiquitination, endocytosis and subsequent activation of Notch ligands.

A noninvasive indicator for the diagnosis of early hepatitis B virus-related liver fibrosis.

Background And Aims: Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) detected by FibroScan, combined with biochemical indexes, has shown potential values for assessment of liver fibrosis pathological degrees. Here we aimed to investigate a noninvasive method for hepatitis B virus-related liver fibrosis.

Patients And Methods: In all, 307 patients who underwent liver biopsy and LSM measurement were included.

Transcriptional Activation of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Developing Fruit of Blueberries ( Vaccinium corymbosum L.) by Preharvest and Postharvest UV Irradiation.

The effect and mechanism of preharvest and postharvest ultraviolet (UV) irradiation on anthocyanin biosynthesis during blueberry development were investigated. The results showed that preharvest UV-B,C and postharvest UV-A,B,C irradiation significantly promoted anthocyanin biosynthesis and the transcripts of late biosynthetic genes (LBG) VcDFR, VcANS, VcUFGT, and VcMYB transcription factor as well as DFR and UFGT activities in anthocyanin pathway in a UV wavelength- and developmental stage-dependent manner. VcMYB expression was positively correlated with that of VcANS and VcUFGT and coincided with anthocyanin biosynthesis responding to the UV radiation.

Effect of oxidized lipids stored under different temperatures on muscle protein oxidation in Sichuan-style sausages during ripening.

This study was conceived to research muscle protein oxidation under the influence of four different degrees of oxidized lipids during the ripening of Sichuan-style sausages. Lipids were stored at different temperatures to obtain different oxidation degrees. To elucidate the relationship between lipid oxidation and protein oxidation, the indicators of lipid oxidation, protein oxidation and protein degradation were analysed.

Novel treatment strategies for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who do not benefit from current targeted therapy drugs.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive breast cancer (HER2 BC) is characterized by a high rate of metastasis and drug resistance. The advent of targeted therapy drugs greatly improves the prognosis of HER2 BC patients. However, drug resistance or severe side effects have limited the application of targeted therapy drugs.

How to protect half of Earth to ensure it protects sufficient biodiversity.

It is theoretically possible to protect large fractions of species in relatively small regions. For plants, 85% of species occur entirely within just over a third of the Earth's land surface, carefully optimized to maximize the species captured. Well-known vertebrate taxa show similar patterns.