Relationship between the Degree of Polymerization of Chitooligomers and Their Activity Affecting the Growth of Wheat Seedlings under Salt Stress.

Seven chitooligomers (COSs) with determined degrees of polymerization (DPs) (chitotetraose to chitooctaose, DP 8-10, DP 10-12) and a heterogeneous COS with various DPs were first applied to explore the relationship between the DP of COSs and their effect on the growth of wheat seedlings under salt stress. The results showed that COS could promote the growth of wheat seedlings under salt stress. Moreover, chitohexaose, chitoheptaose, and chitooctaose exhibited stronger activity compared with other COS samples, which suggested that their activity had a close relationship with the DP.

Deficient melanocortin-4 receptor causes abnormal reproductive neuroendocrine profile in female mice.

Deletion of the melanocortin-4-receptor (Mc4r) gene in mice causes hyperphagia, followed by hyperinsulinemia, obesity and progressive infertility. Evidence shows that the number of developed corpora lutea is reduced in obese MC4R-knockout (MC4R KO) female mice, but the mechanism is unclear. The effect of hyperphagia and obesity by MC4R KO on pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion and ovulation remains unknown.

Monomer composition of chitooligosaccharides obtained by different degradation methods and their effects on immunomodulatory activities.

Three kinds of chitooligosaccharides were prepared using traditional (ZCOS), microwave irradiation (WCOS), and enzymatic hydrolysis (YCOS), and their monomer compositions and in vitro and in vivo immunomodulatory activities were determined. ZCOS was mainly comprised of disaccharides and trisaccharides; WCOS was mainly comprised of disaccharides to hexasaccharides with or without acetyl groups; and YCOS was mainly comprised of trisaccharides to pentasaccharides without acetyl groups. Differences in monomer composition and acetyl groups affected their immunomodulatory activities.

Water Exchange Method Significantly Improves Adenoma Detection Rate: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Adenoma detection rate (ADR) is a key colonoscopy quality indicator in Western clinical literature. Our low ADR prompted us to assess novel methods to improve performance. Western retrospective reports suggested that water exchange (WE) could increase ADR.

Subsequent haemorrhage in children with untreated brain arteriovenous malformation: Higher risk with unbalanced inflow and outflow angioarchitecture.

Objectives: Children with brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) are at risk of life-threatening haemorrhage in their early lives. Our aim was to analyse various angioarchitectural features of bAVM to predict the risk of subsequent haemorrhage during follow-up in children.

Methods: We identified all consecutive children admitted to our institution for bAVMs between July 2009 and September 2015.

Construction, implementation and testing of an image identification system using computer vision methods for fruit flies with economic importance (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Background: Many species of Tephritidae are damaging to fruit, which might negatively impact international fruit trade. Automatic or semi-automatic identification of fruit flies are greatly needed for diagnosing causes of damage and quarantine protocols for economically relevant insects.

Results: A fruit fly image identification system named AFIS1.

Biochemical and kinetic evaluation of the enzymatic toxins from two stinging scyphozoans Nemopilema nomurai and Cyanea nozakii.

Jellyfish envenomations are emerging as an important public health concern occurred worldwide. In China, the situation is getting worse with numerous people stung by jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai (N. nomurai) and Cyanea nozakii (C.

Accurate electron affinity of V and fine-structure splittings of V via slow-electron velocity-map imaging.

We report the high-resolution photoelectron spectra of negative vanadium ions obtained via the slow-electron velocity-map imaging method. The electron affinity of V was determined to be 4255.9(18) cm or 0.

The Regulatory Effects of Long Noncoding RNA-ANCR on Dental Tissue-Derived Stem Cells.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) have been recognized as important regulators in diverse biological processes, such as transcriptional regulation, stem cell proliferation, and differentiation. Previous study has demonstrated that lncRNA-ANCR (antidifferentiation ncRNA) plays a key role in regulating the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). However, little is known about the role of ANCR in regulating other types of dental tissue-derived stem cells (DTSCs) behaviours (including proliferation and multiple-potential of differentiation).

Roles of Peroxisomes in the Rice Blast Fungus.

The rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, is a model plant pathogenic fungus and is a severe threat to global rice production. Over the past two decades, it has been found that the peroxisomes play indispensable roles during M. oryzae infection.

Accurate electron affinity of Pb and isotope shifts of binding energies of Pb(.).

Lead (Pb) was the last element of the group IVA whose electron affinity had a low accuracy around 10 meV before the present work. This was due to the generic threshold photodetachment measurement that cannot extent well below 0.5 eV due to the light source limitation.

A potential molecular model for studying apoptosis enhanced by the interaction of BCL-G with JAB1 in swine.

BCL-G, an apoptotic factor in Bcl-2 family, is involved in several kinds of diseases by interacting with several proteins. Although many studies on mouse and human BCL-G have been reported, porcine BCL-G (pBCL-G) has been little investigated. In this study, our results showed that pBCL-G was universally expressed in porcine tissues.

Synthesis of Novel Pyrimethanil Grafted Chitosan Derivatives with Enhanced Antifungal Activity.

In this study, three pyrimethanil grafted chitosan (PML-g-CS) derivatives were obtained. The structures of the conjugates were confirmed by FT-IR, (1)H NMR, and EA. The grafting ratios were measured by HPLC.

Design, synthesis and antimicrobial activity of 6-N-substituted chitosan derivatives.

Three novel 6-N-substituted chitosan derivatives were designed and synthesised and characterized by FTIR and NMR. The degree of substitution was calculated by elemental analysis results. The antimicrobial activities of the target compounds were evaluated by twofold serial broth dilution method and poisoned food technique.

Combined proteomics and transcriptomics identifies sting-related toxins of jellyfish Cyanea nozakii.

Unlabelled: Jellyfish sting has become a worldwide issue of critical concern to human health and safety in coastal areas in recent decades. Cyanea nozakii is one of the dominant blooming species and dangerous stingers in China. However, it remains unclear how many and what types of toxins are present in the venom.

Three new species of Acidiostigma Hendel (Diptera: Tephritidae: Trypetinae) and an updated key to species from the eastern Palaearctic and Oriental Regions.

Three new species of Acidiostigma Hendel from China are described and illustrated. The new species are A. nigrofasciola Chen and Zhang, sp.

Major histocompatibility complex class II DAB alleles associated with intestinal parasite load in the vulnerable Chinese egret (Egretta eulophotes).

The maintenance of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) polymorphism has been hypothesized to result from many mechanisms such as rare-allele advantage, heterozygote advantage, and allele counting. In the study reported herein, 224 vulnerable Chinese egrets (Egretta eulophotes) were used to examine these hypotheses as empirical results derived from bird studies are rare. Parasite survey showed that 147 (65.

Comparison of visceral and body fat indices and anthropometric measures in relation to untreated hypertension by age and gender among Chinese.

Background: The aim of the study was to compare the efficiency of bioelectrical indices (percentage body fat, PBF; visceral fat index, VFI) and various anthropometric measures (body mass index, BMI; waist circumference, WC; waist-to-height ratio, WHtR) on determining hypertension in Chinese.

Methods: We conducted the community-based cross-sectional survey during August of 2013 to August of 2015 in 66 sample sites selected by multistage random sampling method from Henan province. 14,364 residents were included in the study.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 levels and aortic valve calcification: A prospective, cross sectional study.

Objective: To investigate the possible association between plasma proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and the incidence and severity of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD).

Methods: This prospective, cross sectional study involved patients with and without (controls) aortic valve calcification diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography and dual source computed tomography (DSCT) scan. Aortic valves calcification scores were calculated from DSCT scans and patients were graded: grade 1, no calcification; grade 2, mildly calcified; grade 3, moderately calcified; grade 4, heavily calcified.

[Fluorescence Spectroscopic Characteristics and Cu-complexing Ability of Soil Dissolved Organic Matter].

Extracted and dialyzed from four kinds of soil and chicken manure, DOM samples were analyzed to investigate their molecular weight distribution, chemical structure characteristics and the metal binding capacity. The results showed that the integral area of the molecular weight of chicken manure DOM was much higher than those of other samples, which indicated the high content of organic matter. And the peat soil followed it.

Soy Isoflavones Regulate Lipid Metabolism through an AKT/mTORC1 Pathway in Diet-Induced Obesity (DIO) Male Rats.

The pandemic tendency of obesity and its strong association with serious co-morbidities have elicited interest in the underlying mechanisms of these pathologies. Lipid homeostasis, closely involved in obesity, has been reported to be regulated by multiple pathways. mTORC1 is emerging as a critical regulator of lipid metabolism.

Accurate Electron Affinity of Iron and Fine Structures of Negative Iron ions.

Ionization potential (IP) is defined as the amount of energy required to remove the most loosely bound electron of an atom, while electron affinity (EA) is defined as the amount of energy released when an electron is attached to a neutral atom. Both IP and EA are critical for understanding chemical properties of an element. In contrast to accurate IPs and structures of neutral atoms, EAs and structures of negative ions are relatively unexplored, especially for the transition metal anions.

Modeling of acute cadmium toxicity in solution to barley root elongation using biotic ligand model theory.

Protons (H(+)) as well as different major and trace elements may inhibit cadmium (Cd) uptake in aquatic organisms and thus alleviate Cd toxicity. However, little is known about such interactions in soil organisms. In this study, the independent effects of the cations calcium (Ca(2+)), magnesium (Mg(2+)), potassium (K(+)), H(+) and zinc (Zn(2+)) on Cd toxicity were investigated with 5-day long barley root elongation tests in nutrient solutions.

Total saponins from dioscorea septemloba thunb reduce serum uric acid levels in rats with hyperuricemia through OATP1A1 up-regulation.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of total saponins of Dioscorea (TSD), an extract of the Chinese herbal Bi Xie, on hyperuricemia and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. The rat hyperuricemia model was established by administration of adenine. Thirty-two rats were randomly allocated into 4 groups: model group, low/high-dose TSD-treated groups, and allopurinol-treated group.

Short communication: The role of autoinducer 2 (AI-2) on antibiotic resistance regulation in an Escherichia coli strain isolated from a dairy cow with mastitis.

Extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-positive Escherichia coli is a major etiological organism responsible for bovine mastitis. The autoinducer 2 (AI-2) quorum sensing system is widely present in many species of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria and has been proposed to be involved in interspecies communication. In E.