Whole-genome resequencing reveals genetic diversity and adaptive evolution in Chinese honeybee (Apis cerana cerana) in Guizhou, China.

Introduction: Guizhou Province, characterized by complex and diverse geographic and climatic environments, has rich genetic resources for the Chinese honeybee (Apis cerana cerana) and is one of the main bee-producing areas in China. However, research on the genetic diversity of Chinese honeybee in the Guizhou region is very limited, despite implications for conservation of biodiversity. Methods: In this study, we analyzed the genetic diversity, differentiation, and selection signals based on 116 Chinese honeybees from 12 regions in Guizhou Province using whole-genome sequencing. Results: We identified 1,400,430 high-quality SNPs across all samples. A population structure analysis revealed two independent genetic subgroups of Chinese honeybees in Guizhou, a Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau population in western Guizhou and a hilly-mountainous population in eastern Guizhou. The average nucleotide diversity (Pi) ranged from 0.00138 to 0.00161 and average expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.2592 to 0.2604. The average genetic differentiation index (F ST) for Chinese honeybees in pairwise comparisons of 12 regions ranged from 0.0094 to 0.0293. There was clear genetic differentiation between the western plateau and the eastern hilly mountainous areas of Guizhou; however, F ST values between the eastern and western populations ranged from 0.0170 to 0.0293, indicating a low degree of differentiation. A genome-wide scan revealed a number of genes under selection in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau environment. These genes were related to growth and development, reproduction, and cold resistance, and several candidate genes involved in environmental adaptation were identified, including CTR, MAPK, MAST, HSF, and MKKK. Discussion: The results of the present study provide important theoretical bases for the conservation, evaluation, development, and utilization of genetic resources for Chinese honeybees in the Guizhou region and for further investigations of environmental adaptation and underlying mechanisms in the species.

Morphological and molecular response mechanisms of the root system of different Hemarthria compressa species to submergence stress.

Introduction: The severity of flood disasters is increasing due to climate change, resulting in a significant reduction in the yield and quality of forage crops worldwide. This poses a serious threat to the development of agriculture and livestock. Hemarthria compressa is an important high-quality forage grass in southern China. In recent years, frequent flooding has caused varying degrees of impacts on H. compressa and their ecological environment. Methods: In this study, we evaluated differences in flooding tolerance between the root systems of the experimental materials GY (Guang Yi, flood-tolerant) and N1291 (N201801291, flood-sensitive). We measured their morphological indexes after 7 d, 14 d, and 21 d of submergence stress and sequenced their transcriptomes at 8 h and 24 h, with 0 h as the control. Results: During submergence stress, the number of adventitious roots and root length of both GY and N1291 tended to increase, but the overall growth of GY was significantly higher than that of N1291. RNA-seq analysis revealed that 6046 and 7493 DEGs were identified in GY-8h and GY-24h, respectively, and 9198 and 4236 DEGs in N1291-8h and N1291-24h, respectively, compared with the control. The GO and KEGG enrichment analysis results indicated the GO terms mainly enriched among the DEGs were oxidation-reduction process, obsolete peroxidase reaction, and other antioxidant-related terms. The KEGG pathways that were most significantly enriched were phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction etc. The genes of transcription factor families, such as C2H2, bHLH and bZIP, were highly expressed in the H. compressa after submergence, which might be closely related to the submergence adaptive response mechanisms of H. compressa. Discussion: This study provides basic data for analyzing the molecular and morphological mechanisms of H. compressa in response to submergence stress, and also provides theoretical support for the subsequent improvement of submergence tolerance traits of H. compressa.

Chaste honey in long term-storage: Occurrence and accumulation of Maillard reaction products, and safety assessment.

Honey, a natural sweetener that can be stored long-term, is prone to Maillard reactions. Maillard reaction products (MRPs), such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), α-dicarbonyl compounds (α-DCs), and advanced glycation end products (AGEs), negatively affect human health. We analyzed MRP accumulation in chaste honey over four years. In the first year, α-DCs were dominant with total contents of 509.7 mg/kg. In the second year, Amadori compounds increased, accounting for the largest percentage. Their formation at the initial stage showed inhibition of the Maillard reaction over time. AGE contents were approximately 1.00 mg/kg over four years, which is negligible compared to other foods. Increased 5-HMF was significantly correlated with storage time (p < 0.01), making it a suitable indicator of honey quality. Due to the lack of MRP risk assessments, we compared our findings with daily intake of MRPs from other foods, and the levels of MRPs in honey over four years are acceptable.

Evaluation on nitrogen conversion during biomass torrefaction and its blend co-combustion with coal.

In this work, biomass torrefaction was combined with coal co-combustion to illustrate the differences in biomass performance and the mechanisms of migration and transformation of nitrogen over the entire course of thermal treatments. XPS analysis illustrated that torrefaction in CO2 suppressed the conversion of pyrrole-N (N-5) to quaternary-N (N-Q), whereas the trend for an O2 atmosphere moved in the opposite direction. During co-combustion, the impact on NO emission reduction shifted from positive to negative as the pretreatment temperature was raised, which is closely related to the six elementary reactions involving the intermediacy of NCO and NH, as well as to heterogeneous reduction of NO with char. In addition, torrefaction in a N2/O2 atmosphere at a lower temperature of 250 °C improved the properties of biomass and achieved the lowest NO emission during co-combustion, which provides the supporting theory needed for using effluent in power plants as a torrefaction medium.

Quantitative urinary tract infection diagnosis of leukocyte esterase with a microfluidic paper-based device.

Leukocyte esterase (LE) is a useful marker that can be used in establishing a diagnosis of urinary tract infections (UTIs). The development of a UTI diagnostic method with quantitative determinations of biomarkers across all age groups is becoming more important. In this report, microfluidic resistance sensors based on silver ink (Ag ink) and silver ink mixed with ZnO nanoparticles (Ag-ZnO ink) were synthesized and coated on cellulose paper, namely LE-Ag-µPADs and LE-Ag-ZnO-µPADs, respectively, for the sensitive detection of LE. The microfluidic design increases the precision of data and further allows for quantitative determination and early detection of LE in human urine. The quantification of LE relies on the change in the resistance readout coating with Ag ink as well as Ag-ZnO ink in the detection zone. A mixture of 3-(N-tosyl-l-alaninyloxy)-5-phenylpyrrole (PE) and 1-diazo-2-naphthol-4-sulfonic acid (DAS) was deposited in the sample zone to selectively recognize LE, and the resulting nonconductive products, i.e., azo compounds, further reacted with the Ag ink and Ag-ZnO ink to increase resistance. The quantitative detectable LE concentrations between 2 to 32 (×5.2 U mL-1), i.e. ≈12 to 108 µg L-1, cover the commercial dipstick range of trace, +1 and +2. The minimum detectable concentration of LE in urine was 1 (×5.2 U mL-1). The lower concentrations of LE detectable by LE-Ag-µPADs (1-8 × 5.2 U mL-1) are below the value achieved with the ELISA LE kit. Urine samples from inpatients with indwelling urinary catheters were used, and the LE levels measured by the present device were highly correlated with those determined by a commercial urine analyser.

Predictors of response to pegylated interferon in chronic hepatitis B: a real-world hospital-based analysis.

Information on the efficacy of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and predictors of the response based on real-world data is limited. Consecutive 201 patients who underwent PEG-IFN treatment for CHB were reviewed. A virological response (VR) was defined as a serum HBV DNA of <2000 IU/mL, and a combined response (CR) was defined a VR accompanied by serological response for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive CHB. For HBeAg-positive CHB patients, the HBeAg seroconversion rate and CR rate were 30.5% and 21.2% at 48 weeks after end of treatment (EOT), respectively. Baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level was associated with HBeAg seroconversion, while baseline hepatitis B s antigen (HBsAg) levels of <250 IU/mL and HBV DNA <2.5 × 10(7) IU/mL were strongly associated with sustained off-treatment CR. For HBeAg-negative CHB, the VR rates were 85.5%, and 27.7% at EOT, and 48 weeks after EOT, respectively; a baseline HBsAg <1,250 IU/mL was associated with sustained off-treatment VR. PEG-IFN treatment has durable HBeAg seroconversion in HBeAg-positive CHB, but results in a high risk of relapse among HBeAg-negative CHB patients. Pre-treatment HBsAg level is an important predictor of VR in CHB patients undergoing PEG-IFN treatment.

Service integrated access network using highly spectral-efficient MASK-MQAM-OFDM coding.

A highly spectral-efficient M-ary amplitude shift keying M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MASK-MQAM-OFDM) was proposed for the access network. With the highly spectral-efficient characteristic of MASK-MQAM-OFDM, seamless integration among passive-optical network (PON), wireless fiber-to-the-antenna (FTTA), and optical wireless visible light communication (VLC) can be achieved without using extra bandwidth for different services. A proof-of-concept experiment was demonstrated. The relation between the spectral efficiency of the MASK-MQAM-OFDM and the upstream signal performance was also discussed.