Accurate and rapid aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) detection is essential for ensuring the safety of food supplies. In this paper, we introduce a distance-readout paper-based microfluidic chip (DPMC) that offers a sensitive and reliable method for the detection of AFB1. The DPMC comprises a DNA hydrogel sensitive valve and a paper-based capillary channel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is widely accepted that biological motion (BM) perception involves the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). Yet, how individual neurons and neural circuits in pSTS encode BM remains unclear. Here we combined electrophysiological recordings with neural network modeling to elucidate BM computations in two subregions of pSTS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNuclear receptors (NRs) are a class of essential proteins that regulate the expression of specific genes and are associated with multiple diseases. In silico methods for prescreening potential NR binders with predictive binding ability are highly desired for NR-related drug development but are rarely reported. Here, we present the PbsNRs (Predicting binders and scaffolds for Nuclear Receptors), a user-friendly web server designed to predict the potential NR binders and scaffolds through proteochemometric modeling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerbivore insects deploy salivary effectors to manipulate the defense of their host plants. However, it remains unclear whether small RNAs from insects can function as effectors in regulating plant-insect interactions. Here, we report that a microRNA (miR29-b) found in the saliva of the phloem-feeding whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) can transfer into the host plant phloem during feeding and fine-tune the defense response of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This research aimed to understand the long-term trends in the age of menarche among girls and spermarche among boys, and to analyze the factors that may influence the onset of menarche and first spermarche.
Methods: The study was based on data from 49 566 students in Henan Province collected from the Chinese National Surveys on Students' Constitution and Health (CNSSCH) conducted between 2000 and 2019. Median age at menarche and spermarche was estimated by probit analysis.
ETS variant transcription factor 5 (ETV5), a master transcription factor during development, exerts vital function on the occurrence and progression of various cancers. In order to systematically analyze and explore ETV5 potential specific regulatory mechanisms in pan-cancer, RNA sequencing data and clinicopathological features of patients with various tumors were obtained through the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases, and an integrated data mining analysis was carried out, including the association of ETV5 expression with patient prognosis, drug sensitivity and epigenetic modification. The results revealed that abnormally highly expressed ETV5 resulted in unfavorable prognosis and differential drug sensitivity in multiple malignancies, and its expression was associated with epigenetic modification modulators including EZH2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe molecular mechanisms of plant responses to phytophagous insect eggs are poorly understood, despite their importance in insect-plant interactions. This study investigates the plant defense mechanisms triggered by the eggs of whitefly , a globally significant agricultural pest. A transcriptome comparison of tobacco plants with and without eggs revealed that whitefly eggs may activate the response of defense-related genes, including those involved in the salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Jasmonic acid (JA) is an important phytohormone used to defend against herbivores, but it does not respond to whitefly feeding. Conversely, another phytohormone, salicylic acid (SA), is induced when plants are fed upon by whiteflies. JA has a better anti-whitefly effect than SA; however, there is limited research on how to effectively improve plant resistance by utilizing the different responses of these phytohormones to whitefly feeding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNicotiana benthamiana, a widely acknowledged laboratory model plant for molecular studies, exhibits lethality to certain insect pests and can serve as a dead-end trap plant for pest control in the field. However, the underlying mechanism of N. benthamiana's resistance against insects remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is one of the world's foremost agricultural pests. Recently, we found that a wild relative of tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) demonstrates remarkable attractiveness and nearly 100% lethality towards whiteflies. Therefore, it can act as a dead-end trap crop for whitefly control in the field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethanogenic archaea are main contributors to methane emissions, and have a crucial role in carbon cycling and global warming. Until recently, methanogens were confined to Euryarchaeota, but metagenomic studies revealed the presence of genes encoding the methyl coenzyme M reductase complex in other archaeal clades, thereby opening up the premise that methanogenesis is taxonomically more widespread. Nevertheless, laboratory cultivation of these non-euryarchaeal methanogens was lacking to corroborate their potential methanogenic ability and physiology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Our previous studies have found that the composition ratio of Prevotella melaninogenica (Pm) on buccal mucosa surface of oral lichen planus (OLP) patients increased significantly compared with control. Furthermore, Pm could invade the epithelium of OLP patients. This study aimed to further explore the impact of Pm on oral keratinocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Perforator artery disease (PAD) is an important subtype of ischemic stroke. The risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with PAD are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors affecting the unfavorable prognosis of PAD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElectro-optic modulators are essential devices on silicon photonic chips in modern optical communication networks. This paper presents a compact, low-loss electro-optic modulator. The modulation efficiency is greatly improved by embedding the lower half of the slot waveguide into the buried oxide layer and inserting graphene at the junction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe deep application of chiral metasurfaces requires higher flexibility. Herein, we propose a multidimensional tunable chiral graphene metasurface, which uses coherent control to obtain more than 0.8 circular conversion dichroism (CCD) at 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this paper, a nested micro-ring refractive index sensor based on a subwavelength grating waveguide and the Vernier effect is proposed. In this scheme, the nested micro-ring structure is combined with a subwavelength grating structure to enhance the contact area between the optical field and the analyte, and the wavelength offset is doubled through the Vernier effect. The proposed sensor can effectively increase sensing sensitivity, taking into account the improvement of the free spectral range.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHumans can distinguish flying birds from drones based solely on motion features when no image information is available. However, it remains unclear which motion features of animate motion induce our animacy perception. To address this, we first analyzed the differences in centroid motion between birds and drones, and discovered that birds exhibit greater acceleration, angular speed, and trajectory fluctuations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAiming at the problems of narrow working bandwidth, low efficiency, and complex structure of existing terahertz chiral absorption, we propose a chiral metamirror composed of C-shaped metal split ring and L-shaped vanadium dioxide (VO). This chiral metamirror is composed of three layers of structure, a gold substrate at the bottom, the first polyethylene cyclic olefin copolymer (Topas) dielectric layer and VO-metal hybrid structure as the top. Our theoretical results led us to show that this chiral metamirror has a circular dichroism (CD) value greater than 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-desirable solar energy absorption and poor charge transfer efficiency are two problems that limit the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) photocatalytic techniques. Herein, a metal-free boron-doped graphdiyne quantum dot (BGDs) modified hollow tubular g-CN photocatalyst (BGD/TCN) was synthesized to activate PMS and achieved effective space separation of carriers for degradation of bisphenol A. With 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmmonia is a ubiquitous potential inhibitor of anaerobic digestion processes, mainly exhibiting inhibition towards methanogenic activity. However, knowledge as to how ammonia affects the methanogens is still limited. In this study, we cultured a multitrophic methanogen, Methanosarcina barkeri DSM 800, with acetate, H/CO, and methanol to evaluate the influence of ammonia on different methanogenic pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtherosclerosis is the key pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases; oxidative stress, which is induced by the generated excess reactive oxygen species (ROS), has been a crucial mechanism underlying this pathology. Nanoparticles (NPs) represent a novel strategy for the development of potential therapies against atherosclerosis, and multifunctional NPs possessing antioxidative capacities hold promise for amelioration of vascular injury caused by ROS and for evading off-target effects; materials that are currently used for NP synthesis often serve as vehicles that do not possess intrinsic biological activities; however, they may affect the surrounding healthy environment due to decomposition of products. Herein, we used nontoxic fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide derived from a marine organism, to develop chitosan-fucoidan nanoparticles (CFNs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic kidney disease (CKD) is well recognized as a distinct contributor to cardiac hypertrophy, while the underlying mechanism remains incompletely understood. Here, the authors show that myocardial mitochondrial oxidative damage is early and prominent in CKD and distinctively stimulates the STING-NFκB pathway by releasing mitochondrial DNA to drive cardiac hypertrophy. Furthermore, the authors reveal that ornithine decarboxylase (ODC1)-putrescine metabolic flux is transactivated by NFκB and is required for the STING-NFκB pathway to drive cardiac hypertrophy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cell Biochem
September 2022
The functions of oral mucosa include barrier, sensation, and secretion. The barrier protection function is particularly important, which includes physical barrier and immunological barrier. Few studies have revealed the function of oral mucosa by displaying the map of normal oral mucosal cells from the perspective of single cells.
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