Bright persistent luminescence from pure organic molecules through a moderate intermolecular heavy atom effect.

Generally, strong phosphorescence always implies a short luminescence lifetime. So, pure organic molecules with strong persistent phosphorescence at room temperature are rarely explored. Here, a new strategy is used to explore strong persistent phosphorescence of carbazole derivatives through an intermolecular moderate heavy atom effect.

Three Conserved Regions in Baculovirus Sulfhydryl Oxidase P33 Are Critical for Enzymatic Activity and Function.

Baculoviruses encode a conserved sulfhydryl oxidase, P33, which is necessary for budded virus (BV) production and multinucleocapsid occlusion-derived virus (ODV) formation. Here, the structural and functional relationship of P33 was revealed by X-ray crystallography, site-directed mutagenesis, and functional analysis. Based on crystallographic characterization and structural analysis, a series of P33 mutants within three conserved regions, i.

Uncoupling of Protease -Cleavage and Helicase Activities in Pestivirus NS3.

The nonstructural protein NS3 from the family is a multifunctional protein that contains an N-terminal protease and a C-terminal helicase, playing essential roles in viral polyprotein processing and genome replication. Here we report a full-length crystal structure of the classical swine fever virus (CSFV) NS3 in complex with its NS4A protease cofactor segment (PCS) at a 2.35-Å resolution.

IFITM1 suppresses expression of human endogenous retroviruses in human embryonic stem cells.

Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 1 (IFITM1), a member of the IFITM protein family, is a component of a multimeric complex involved in the transduction of antiproliferation and cell adhesion signals. IFITM1 is thought to play a role in antiproliferation and immune surveillance, and has been shown to restrict infection by numerous viruses. It is highly expressed in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) but its role in hESCs remains to be elucidated.

Environmental Drivers and Predicted Risk of Bacillary Dysentery in Southwest China.

Bacillary dysentery has long been a considerable health problem in southwest China, however, the quantitative relationship between anthropogenic and physical environmental factors and the disease is not fully understand. It is also not clear where exactly the bacillary dysentery risk is potentially high. Based on the result of hotspot analysis, we generated training samples to build a spatial distribution model.

The interplay of climate, intervention and imported cases as determinants of the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangzhou.

Dengue is a fast spreading mosquito-borne disease that affects more than half of the population worldwide. An unprecedented outbreak happened in Guangzhou, China in 2014, which contributed 52 percent of all dengue cases that occurred in mainland China between 1990 and 2015. Our previous analysis, based on a deterministic model, concluded that the early timing of the first imported case that triggered local transmission and the excessive rainfall thereafter were the most important determinants of the large final epidemic size in 2014.

Interannual variation in methane emissions from tropical wetlands triggered by repeated El Niño Southern Oscillation.

Methane (CH ) emissions from tropical wetlands contribute 60%-80% of global natural wetland CH emissions. Decreased wetland CH emissions can act as a negative feedback mechanism for future climate warming and vice versa. The impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on CH emissions from wetlands remains poorly quantified at both regional and global scales, and El Niño events are expected to become more severe based on climate models' projections.

The first all-season sample set for mapping global land cover with Landsat-8 data.

We report the world's first all-season training and validation sample sets for global land cover classification with Landsat-8 data. Prior to this, such samples were only available at a single date primarily from the growing season. It is unknown how much limitation such a single-date sample has to mapping global land cover in other seasons of the year.

Integrated mRNA and lncRNA expression profiling for exploring metastatic biomarkers of human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is crucial for various human cancers, but the function and mechanism of lncRNAs is largely unknown in human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), the second most common liver cancer. In this study, we performed transcriptomic profiling of ICC and normal tissues, and found 2148 lncRNAs and 474 mRNAs were significantly upregulated, whereas 568 lncRNAs and 409 mRNAs were downregulated in ICC tissues. Enrichment analysis suggests these differentially expressed genes mainly focus on response to stimulus, development, and cell proliferation.

Climate change and human infectious diseases: A synthesis of research findings from global and spatio-temporal perspectives.

The life cycles and transmission of most infectious agents are inextricably linked with climate. In spite of a growing level of interest and progress in determining climate change effects on infectious disease, the debate on the potential health outcomes remains polarizing, which is partly attributable to the varying effects of climate change, different types of pathogen-host systems, and spatio-temporal scales. We summarize the published evidence and show that over the past few decades, the reported negative or uncertain responses of infectious diseases to climate change has been growing.

The uncoupling of catalysis and translocation in the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

The nucleotide addition cycle of nucleic acid polymerases includes 2 major events: the pre-chemistry active site closure leading to the addition of one nucleotide to the product chain; the post-chemistry translocation step moving the polymerase active site one position downstream on its template. In viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs), structural and biochemical evidences suggest that these 2 events are not tightly coupled, unlike the situation observed in A-family polymerases such as the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase. Recently, an RdRP translocation intermediate crystal structure of enterovirus 71 shed light on how translocation may be controlled by elements within RdRP catalytic motifs, and a series of poliovirus apo RdRP crystal structures explicitly suggest that a motif B loop may assist the movement of the template strand in late stages of transcription.

Osthole inhibits the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for approximately 90% of all cases of primary liver cancer, and the majority of patients with HCC are deprived of effective curative methods. Osthole is a Chinese herbal medicine which has been reported to possess various pharmacological functions, including hepatocellular protection. In the present study, we investigated the anticancer activity of osthole using HCC cell lines.

A structural view of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerases from the Flavivirus genus.

The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) from the Flavivirus genus is naturally fused to a methyltransferase (MTase), and the full-length protein is named nonstructural protein 5 (NS5). Similar to polymerases from other RNA viruses, the flavivirus RdRP has an encircled human right hand architecture with palm, fingers, and thumb domains surrounding its polymerase active site. In contrast to primer-dependent RdRPs that have a spacious front channel to accommodate the template-product RNA duplex, the flavivirus RdRP has a priming element as a thumb domain insertion, partially occupying the front channel to facilitate the de novo initiation process.

Binding versus Conventional Pancreaticojejunostomy in Preventing Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of a new technology, binding pancreaticojejunostomy (BPJ), with conventional pancreaticojejunostomy (CPJ) after pancreaticoduodenectomy in preventing postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF).

Methods: Randomized controlled trials and observational studies were retrieved from literature searches. Pooled OR with 95% CI for dichotomous variables and weighted mean difference with 95% CI for continuous variables were calculated.

Climate-driven increase of natural wetland methane emissions offset by human-induced wetland reduction in China over the past three decades.

Both anthropogenic activities and climate change can affect the biogeochemical processes of natural wetland methanogenesis. Quantifying possible impacts of changing climate and wetland area on wetland methane (CH) emissions in China is important for improving our knowledge on CH budgets locally and globally. However, their respective and combined effects are uncertain.

The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change.

The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change is an international, multidisciplinary research collaboration between academic institutions and practitioners across the world. It follows on from the work of the 2015 Lancet Commission, which concluded that the response to climate change could be "the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century". The Lancet Countdown aims to track the health impacts of climate hazards; health resilience and adaptation; health co-benefits of climate change mitigation; economics and finance; and political and broader engagement.

Bafilomycin A1 induces caspase-independent cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma cells via targeting of autophagy and MAPK pathways.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is refractory to chemotherapies, necessitating novel effective agents. The lysosome inhibitor Bafilomycin A1 (BafA1) at high concentrations displays cytotoxicity in a variety of cancers. Here we show that BafA1 at nanomolar concentrations suppresses HCC cell growth in both 2 dimensional (2D) and 3D cultures.

Rapid corn and soybean mapping in US Corn Belt and neighboring areas.

The goal of this study was to promptly map the extent of corn and soybeans early in the growing season. A classification experiment was conducted for the US Corn Belt and neighboring states, which is the most important production area of corn and soybeans in the world. To improve the timeliness of the classification algorithm, training was completely based on reference data and images from other years, circumventing the need to finish reference data collection in the current season.

SUMO Modification Stabilizes Enterovirus 71 Polymerase 3D To Facilitate Viral Replication.

Unlabelled: Accumulating evidence suggests that viruses hijack cellular proteins to circumvent the host immune system. Ubiquitination and SUMOylation are extensively studied posttranslational modifications (PTMs) that play critical roles in diverse biological processes. Cross talk between ubiquitination and SUMOylation of both host and viral proteins has been reported to result in distinct functional consequences.

Chemical Targeting of a G-Quadruplex RNA in the Ebola Virus L Gene.

In the present study, our bioinformatics analysis first reveals the existence of a conserved guanine-rich sequence within the Zaire ebolavirus L gene. Using various methods, we show that this sequence tends to fold into G-quadruplex RNA. TMPyP4 treatment evidently inhibits L gene expression at the RNA level.