Bioinformatics Analysis of Metabolism Pathways of Archaeal Energy Reserves.

Energy storage compounds play crucial roles in prokaryotic physiology. Five chemical compounds have been identified in prokaryotes as energy reserves: polyphosphate (polyP), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), glycogen, wax ester (WE) and triacylglycerol (TAG). Currently, no systematic study of archaeal energy storage metabolism exists.

Structure and Evolution of Glycogen Branching Enzyme N-Termini From Bacteria.

In bacteria, glycogen plays important roles in carbon and energy storage. Its structure has recently been linked with bacterial environmental durability. Among the essential genes for bacterial glycogen metabolism, the -encoded branching enzyme GBE plays an essential role in forming α-1,6-glycosidic branching points, and determines the unique branching patterns in glycogen.

Infection in Dustmen in Northeastern China: A Case-Control Seroprevalence Study.

Background: Toxoplasmosis is caused by an intracellular parasite , which can infect many hosts including humans.

Methods: In order to estimate whether dustmen are more susceptible to , a case-control study was conducted containing 332 dustmen from Jilin and Heilongjiang in Northeastern China, as well as 332 general populations from the same regions as control subjects. Serum samples were tested IgG and IgM antibodies to using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Memantine can relieve the neuronal impairment caused by neurotropic virus infection.

Neurotropic viruses, such as the rabies virus (RABV) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), induce neuronal dysfunction and complication, causing neuronal damage. Currently, there are still no effective clinical treatments for neuronal injury caused by neurotropic viruses. Memantine, a drug capable of passing through the blood-brain barrier, noncompetitively and reversibly binds to n-methyl- d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors.

Study on Flow Field Characteristics of the 90° Rectangular Elbow in the Exhaust Hood of a Uniform Push⁻Pull Ventilation Device.

A uniform push⁻pull ventilation device can effectively improve indoor air quality (IAQ). The 90° rectangular elbow is an important part of the push⁻pull ventilation device. This paper analyzes the flow field characteristics of the 90° rectangular elbows under different working conditions.

The effect of hyperosmolality application time on production, quality, and biopotency of monoclonal antibodies produced in CHO cell fed-batch and perfusion cultures.

Hyperosmolality has been commonly investigated due to its effects on the production and quality characteristics of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) produced in CHO cell fed-batch cultures. However, the application of hyperosmolality at different times and its effect on biopotency have seldom been researched, especially in perfusion culture. In our study, different degrees of hyperosmolality induced by sodium chloride were investigated in anti-IgE rCHO cell fed-batch cultures and anti-CD52 rCHO cell perfusion cultures during the initial and stable phases.

Emergent neural turing machine and its visual navigation.

Traditional Turing Machines (TMs) are symbolic whose hand-crafted representations are static and limited. Developmental Network 1 (DN-1) uses emergent representation to perform Turing Computation. But DN-1 lacks hierarchy in its internal representations, and is hard to handle the complex visual navigation tasks.

Evolution of Volatile Compounds and Spoilage Bacteria in Smoked Bacon during Refrigeration Using an E-Nose and GC-MS Combined with Partial Least Squares Regression.

The changes in the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and biogenic amines (BAs) in smoked bacon during 45-day refrigerated storage is investigated using solid-phase micro-extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography. In total, 56 VOCs and 6 BAs were identified and quantified. The possible pathways leading to their formation are analyzed and considered as the potential signs of microbial activity, especially by specific spoilage microorganisms (SSOs).

Prediction of organic contaminant uptake by plants: Modified partition-limited model based on a sequential ultrasonic extraction procedure.

Predicting the translocation of organic contaminants to plants is crucial to ensure the quality of agricultural goods and assess the risk of human exposure through the food web. In this study, the performance of a modified plant uptake model was evaluated considering a number of chemicals, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), with a range of physicochemical properties; different plant species (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk (swamp morning glory), Chrysanthemum coronarium L. (crown daisy), Zea mays L.

Recent advances of tetrazole derivatives as potential anti-tubercular and anti-malarial agents.

Tetrazole, a bioisostere of the carboxylic acid group, can replace the carboxyl group in drugs to increase the lipophilicity, bioavailability and reduce side effects. Tetrazole derivatives possess a broad-spectrum of biological properties including anti-tubercular and anti-malarial activities, and some tetrazole-based compounds have already been used in clinics for the treatment of various diseases. Therefore, tetrazole is an important pharmacophore in the development of new drugs.

Acupoint Catgut Embedding Alleviates Insomnia in Different Chinese Medicine Syndrome Types: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To investigate the effects and safety of catgut embedding on alleviating insomnia.

Methods: Totally 510 patients with insomnia were divided into 5 Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome types: Xin (Heart) and Pi (Spleen) deficiency, yin deficiency with excess fire, Xin and gut qi deficiency, Wei (Stomach) disorder, and qi and blood deficiency, respectively. These 5 types of patients were randomly assigned to a catgut embedding group, an acupuncture group or a medication group (30 cases in Xin and Pi deficiency type, Wei disorder type, Xin and gut qi deficiency type, respectively; 40 cases in yin deficiency with excess fire type and qi and blood deficiency type, respectively).

Tacrine(10)-Hupyridone Prevents Post-operative Cognitive Dysfunction via the Activation of BDNF Pathway and the Inhibition of AChE in Aged Mice.

Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) could cause short-term or long-term cognitive disruption lasting weeks or months after anesthesia and surgery in elderly. However, no effective treatment of POCD is currently available. Previous studies indicated that the enhancement of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, and the elevation the cholinergic system, might be effective to prevent POCD.

Membrane-enriched solute carrier family 2 member 1 (SLC2A1/GLUT1) in psoriatic keratinocytes confers sensitivity to 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) treatment.

Psoriasis is a common chronic disease with accelerated epidermal cell growth. Solute carrier family 2 member 1 (SLC2A1), also named GLUT1, transports glucose and its analogues into cells. With elevated membrane-bound GLUT1, psoriatic keratinocytes uptake more glucose with increased glucose metabolism.

Involvement of Nrf2 in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury.

The morbidity rate of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion has increased in modern society, and oxidative stress plays a critical role in the pathological process. Nuclear factor E2-associated factor 2 (Nrf2) is considered a pivotal regulator for maintaining the redox balance and is involved in the initiation of the transcriptional expression of downstream antioxidant enzymes. Moreover, Nrf2 also can be regulated in various ways.

Coherence Plane-Wave Compounding with Angle Coherence Factor for Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging.

Ultrafast ultrasound imaging with plane wave transmission has been a promising technique to image moving objects, however, implies compromises among resolution, contrast and sensitivity. Coherence plane-wave compounding (CPWC) can balance the image quality and frame rate. The image quality, especiallyin terms of the suppression of artifacts stemmed from side lobes, is greatly comprised by reducing the number of the tilted plane-waves.

Highly Sensitive Label-Free Detection of Small Molecules with an Optofluidic Microbubble Resonator.

The detection of small molecules has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers because of its important physiological function. In this manuscript, we propose a novel optical sensor which uses an optofluidic microbubble resonator (OFMBR) for the highly sensitive detection of small molecules. This paper demonstrates the binding of the small molecule biotin to surface-immobilized streptavidin with a detection limit reduced to 0.

Packaged Droplet Microresonator for Thermal Sensing with High Sensitivity.

Liquid droplet and quasi-droplet whispering gallery mode (WGM) microcavities have been widely studied recently for the enhanced spatial overlap between the liquid and WGM field, especially in sensing applications. However, the fragile cavity structure and the evaporation of liquid limit its practical applications. Here, stable, packaged, quasi-droplet and droplet microcavities are proposed and fabricated for thermal sensing with high sensitivity.

Development of Construction Workers Job Stress Scale to Study and the Relationship between Job Stress and Safety Behavior: An Empirical Study in Beijing.

Job stress is considered one of the critical causes of construction workers' unsafe behaviors. As a mainstay industry in many countries, the construction industry has a considerable number of employees and the research on how job stress affects workers' unsafe behaviors has important theoretical and practical significance to improve construction safety performance through better job stress management. In this study, the authors thoroughly reviewed the literature and conducted semi-structured interviews to identify the dimensions of job stress, designed the job stress scale and cited the safety behavior measurement scale.

Formation of ZnCoO@MnO core-shell electrode materials for hybrid supercapacitor.

In this work, ZnCoO@MnO core-shell structures are successfully prepared on nickel foam by a simple hydrothermal approach. The obtained core-shell structures exhibit excellent areal capacitance and cycling stability, which may be ascribed to the rational design of a hybrid-material based electrode structure that facilitates ion transport. The as-assembled supercapacitor device shows outstanding specific capacitance, demonstrating that ZnCoO@MnO core-shell structure is a candidate as a supercapacitor electrode material in flexible energy storage applications.

Bottom-Up Assembly of a Highly Efficient Metal-Organic Framework for Cooperative Catalysis.

In this study, we demonstrate a bottom-up assembly of a monomeric copper complex and a two-dimensional (2-D) heterometallic metal-organic framework (MOF) from a carboxylate-functionalized tridentate Schiff base ligand and metal ions. The obtained 2-D MOF features a unique bimetallic copper center which is different from its monometallic precursor and acts as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the Friedel-Crafts reaction and Henry reaction. The MOF catalyst shows a remarkably superior activity compared to its homogeneous counterparts in a wide range of substrates.

Changes in the microbial communities in vacuum-packaged smoked bacon during storage.

This study aimed to gain deeper insights into the microbiota composition and population dynamics, monitor the dominant bacterial populations and identify the specific spoilage microorganisms (SSOs) of vacuum-packed bacon during refrigerated storage using both culture-independent and dependent methods. High-throughout sequencing (HTS) showed that the microbial composition changed greatly with the prolongation of storage time. The diversity of microbiota was abundant at the initial stage then experienced a continuous decrease.

Pupilloplasty by radiofrequency diathermy.

Purpose: Several methods have been reported to treat pupil deformities. However, there are some disadvantages to these methods. Here, we introduce the new technique of pupilloplasty.

A Rhodium-Catalyzed [3 + 2] Annulation of General Aromatic Aldimines/Ketimines and N-Substituted Maleimides.

A new class of rhodium-catalyzed, C-H activation triggered [3 + 2] annulations of aromatic aldimines or ketimines and maleimides was reported in this study. A broad scope of general imines without electron-withdrawing groups were successfully activated and could effectively react with N-substituted maleimide to afford pericyclic, multichiral centered amines in good yields and with excellent diastereoselectivity.

Oxidative Asymmetric Formal Aza-Diels⁻Alder Reactions of Tetrahydro-β-carboline with Enones in the Synthesis of Indoloquinolizidine-2-ones.

Ru-catalyzed tandem amine oxidative dehydrogenation/formal aza-Diels⁻Alder reaction for enantio- and diastereoselective synthesis of indoloquinolizidine-2-ones from tetrahydro-β-carbolines and α,β-unsaturated ketones is described. The reaction proceeds via tandem ruthenium-catalyzed amine dehydrogenation using tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as the oxidant and a chiral thiourea-catalyzed formal aza-[4 + 2] cycloaddition, providing a step-economical strategy for the synthesis of these valuable heterocyclic products.

Quinolone derivatives and their activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most common pathogen both in hospital and community settings, and is capable of causing serious and even fatal infections. Several antibiotics have been approved for the treatment of infections caused by MRSA, but MRSA has already developed resistance to them. More than ever, it's imperative to develop novel, high effective and fast acting anti-MRSA agents.