Changes in trehalose content, enzyme activity and gene expression related to trehalose metabolism in Flammulina velutipes under heat shock.

Trehalose plays important roles in the protection of organisms against adverse environmental conditions. The growth and development of Flammulina velutipes is regulated and controlled under complex external conditions. This study investigated the effect of heat stress on trehalose metabolism in mycelia and fruiting bodies.

Inferring the Spatio-temporal Patterns of Dengue Transmission from Surveillance Data in Guangzhou, China.

Background: Dengue is a serious vector-borne disease, and incidence rates have significantly increased during the past few years, particularly in 2014 in Guangzhou. The current situation is more complicated, due to various factors such as climate warming, urbanization, population increase, and human mobility. The purpose of this study is to detect dengue transmission patterns and identify the disease dispersion dynamics in Guangzhou, China.

Transcription of G-quartet supramolecular aggregates into hierarchical mesoporous silica nanotubes.

The use of 5-guanosine monophosphate (GMP) with Sr(2+) ions to form G-quadruplex bundles as supramolecular templates for the preparation of hierarchical mesoporous silica nanotube materials is reported here, and some mesopores with a diameter of 4-22 nm were obtained. Furthermore, some mesopore channels which run perpendicularly to the center axis of the tube and penetrate right through the outer wall of the nanotubes were achieved by removing the templates. Besides, porous hollow silica spheres were obtained by changing some of the reaction conditions during the process of preparation.

A newly discovered ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 correlated with the cryogenic autolysis of Volvariella volvacea.

In Volvariella volvacea, a species of edible mushroom, cryogenic autolysis is a typical part of abnormal metabolism. Previous functional annotation cluster analyses of cold-induced gene expression profiles have shown that the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 (UBE2), rather than the cyclin-like F-box domain alone, forms the functional cluster. In this study, analysis of gene expression profiling showed that only one type of UBE2 in V.

Zinc as an adjunct to antibiotics for the treatment of severe pneumonia in children <5 years: a meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials.

The effect of Zn, as an adjunct to antibiotics, on the treatment of severe pneumonia in young children is still under debate; therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the therapeutic role of Zn for severe pneumonia in children younger than 5 years. PubMed, Cochrane library and Embase databases were systematically searched from inception until October 2015 for randomised-controlled trials (RCT) that assessed the effect of Zn as an adjunct to antibiotics for severe pneumonia. Random-effects model was used for calculating the pooled estimates, and intention-to-treat principle was also applied.

Treatment of lipoid proteinosis with acitretin in two patients from two unrelated Chinese families with novel nonsense mutations of the ECM1 gene.

Lipoid proteinosis is a rare recessive genetic disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations to chromosome 1 at 1q21, the extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) gene. Two children with lipoid proteinosis were reported from two unrelated Chinese families, both manifesting with a typical hoarse voice, white acne-like atrophic lesions and scarring on the skin, and beaded papules around the eyelids. The diagnosis had been confirmed by laboratory tests, skin biopsy and laryngoscope examination.

[REPAIRING SKIN AND SOFT TISSUE DEFECT IN PALM OR DORSUM OF HAND AND FOREARM WITH EPIGASTRIC BILOBED FLAP].

Objective: To introduce the surgical method and effectiveness of repairing skin and soft tissue defect in the palm or dorsum of the hand and forearm with epigastric bilobed flap.

Methods: Between October 2010 and December 2013, 4 male patients with skin and soft tissue defect in the palm or dorsum of the hand and forearm were treated, aged from 36 to 62 years. Of them, 3 cases had degloving injury caused by machines and 1 case had necrosis of fingers and skin after surgery of crush injury.

Anti-Helicobacter pylori activity of bioactive components isolated from Hericium erinaceus.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The fungus Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers is used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat symptoms related to gastric ulcers. Different extracts from the fungus were assessed for anti-Helicobacter pylori activity to investigate the antibacterial activity of the ethanol extracts from H.

The beneficial effects of adjunctive recombinant human interleukin-2 for multidrug resistant tuberculosis.

Introduction: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a hard-to-treat disease with a poor outcome of chemotherapy. In the present study, the efficacy and safety of recombinant human interleukin-2 (rhIL-2) were investigated in patients with MDR-TB.

Material And Methods: Fifty culture-confirmed patients with MDR-TB were included.

Reconfigurable and tunable flat graphene photonic crystal circuits.

Photonic crystal waveguides and circuits are one of the basic modules for integrated photonic devices. They mainly rely on photonic bandgaps to achieve light confinement and manipulation. Herein, we propose a novel general principle or method to achieve reconfigurable and tunable flat graphene photonic crystals (FG-PCs) by selectively electrostatic gating a layer of graphene with periodic gold electrodes.

Mining geographic variations of Plasmodium vivax for active surveillance: a case study in China.

Background: Geographic variations of an infectious disease characterize the spatial differentiation of disease incidences caused by various impact factors, such as environmental, demographic, and socioeconomic factors. Some factors may directly determine the force of infection of the disease (namely, explicit factors), while many other factors may indirectly affect the number of disease incidences via certain unmeasurable processes (namely, implicit factors). In this study, the impact of heterogeneous factors on geographic variations of Plasmodium vivax incidences is systematically investigate in Tengchong, Yunnan province, China.

A2b adenosine signaling represses CIITA transcription via an epigenetic mechanism in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Chronic inflammation plays a major role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC), by expressing and presenting major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II) molecules, help recruit T lymphocyte and initiate the inflammatory response within the vasculature. We have previously shown that VSMCs isolated from mice with deficient adenosine A2b receptor (A2b-null) exhibit higher expression of class II transactivator (CIITA), the master regulator of MHC II transcription, compared to wild type littermates.

[Codon usage bias in the straw mushroom Volvariella volvacea].

We analyzed the whole genome coding sequence of Volvariella volvacea to study the pattern utilization of codons by Codon W 1.4.2.

Rigid gas-permeable contact lens related life quality in keratoconic patients with different grades of severity.

Purpose: The aim was to compare the impact of rigid gas-permeable (RGP) contact lenses on vision-related quality of life (VR-QOL) in keratoconic patients with different grades of severity.

Methods: This comparative study was conducted from December 2012 to September 2013 on 46 patients with bilateral keratoconus. Patients were divided into three groups according to the average of the steep keratometry (K) readings in the two eyes of each patient.

A specific type of cyclin-like F-box domain gene is involved in the cryogenic autolysis of Volvariella volvacea.

Cryogenic autolysis is a typical phenomenon of abnormal metabolism in Volvariella volvacea. Recent studies have identified 20 significantly up-regulated genes via high-throughput sequencing of the mRNAs expressed in the mycelia of V. volvacea after cold exposure.

[Phylogenomic analysis reveals the significant expansion of gene families of Volvariella volvacea ].

[OBJECTIVE] Cryogenic autolysis of Volvariella volvacea is an unusual phenomenon of abnormal metabolism. The aim of this study was to describe this molecular feature of abnormal metabolism at the genome-level. [METHODS] We used 21 fungal species for the phylogenomic analysis and then selected 9 representative species in basidiomycetes for the comparative genomic analysis.

High-level expression of a manganese superoxide dismutase (PoMn-SOD) from Pleurotus ostreatus in Pichia pastoris.

The full-length cDNA of Pleurotus ostreatus superoxide dismutase (PoMn-SOD) was cloned and successfully expressed by using the pPIC9K vector under the control of alcohol oxidase 1 promoter with a secretion signal peptide (α-factor) in Pichia pastoris. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blotting demonstrated that recombinant PoMn-SOD, a 21.8 kDa protein, was secreted into the culture medium.

Measurement of modal birefringence in optical waveguides based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

A method for measuring the birefringence in planar waveguide circuits is theoretically proposed and validated. The method is based on the Mach-Zehnder interference and by measuring the spectral shift due to orthogonal polarization states. The birefringence of a silica waveguide is measured to be 2.

Cardiac-specific expression of the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) under the control of a TnIc promoter confers a heart protective effect after myocardial infarction (MI).

Objective: Uncontrolled therapeutic gene expression and neovascularization in non-specific tissues has lowered the safety of gene therapy. The aim of the study was to identify a cardiac-specific promoter to control target gene expression in heart tissue in vitro and in vivo.

Methods: Adenovirus vectors containing the firefly luciferase or hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) genes under control of the Troponin I (TnIc) or Cytomegalievirus (CMV) promoters were transfected into cell lines or injected into the left ventricular wall of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats via thoracotomy.

Cloning, expression, and characterization of a milk-clotting aspartic protease gene (Po-Asp) from Pleurotus ostreatus.

An aspartic protease gene from Pleurotus ostreatus (Po-Asp) had been cloned based on the 3' portion of cDNA in our previous work. The Po-Asp cDNA contained 1,324 nucleotides with an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,212 bp encoding 403 amino acid residues. The putative amino acid sequence included a signal peptide, an activation peptide, two most possible N-glycosylation sites and two conserved catalytic active site.

Enhancing intervertebral disc repair and regeneration through biology: platelet-rich plasma as an alternative strategy.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a common orthopedic disease associated with mechanical changes that may result in significant pain. Current treatments for IDD mainly depend on conservative therapies and spinal surgeries that are only able to relieve the symptoms but do not address the cause of the degeneration and even accelerate the degeneration of adjacent segments. This has prompted research to improve our understanding of the biology of intervertebral disc healing and into methods to enhance the regenerative process.

Cloning of the Lentinula edodes B mating-type locus and identification of the genetic structure controlling B mating.

During the life cycle of heterothallic tetrapolar Agaricomycetes such as Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler, the mating type system, composed of unlinked A and B loci, plays a vital role in controlling sexual development and resulting formation of the fruit body. L.

In vivo identity of tendon stem cells and the roles of stem cells in tendon healing.

We investigated the spatial distribution of stem cells in tendons and the roles of stem cells in early tendon repair. The relationship between tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs) isolated in vitro and tendon stem cells in vivo was also explored. Iododeoxyuridine (IdU) label-retaining method was used for labeling stem cells in rat patellar tendons with and without injury.