Physics-based assessment of earthquake potential on the Anninghe-Zemuhe fault system in southwestern China.

The seismic hazard of a fault system is controlled by the maximum possible earthquake magnitude it can host. However, existing methods to estimate maximum magnitudes can result in large uncertainties or ignore their temporal evolution. Here, we show how the maximum possible earthquake magnitude of a fault system can be assessed by combining high-resolution fault coupling maps with a physics-based model from three-dimensional dynamic fracture mechanics confirmed by dynamic rupture simulations. We demonstrate the method on the Anninghe-Zemuhe fault system in southwestern China, where dense near-fault geodetic data has been acquired. Our results show that this fault system currently has the potential to generate Mw7.0 earthquakes with maximum magnitudes increasing to Mw7.3 by 2200. These results are supported by the observed rupture extents and recurrence times of historical earthquakes and the b values of current seismicity. Our work provides a practical way to assess the earthquake potential of natural faults.

VmSom1 is Essential for Growth, Development, Maintenance of Cell Wall Integrity and Virulence in Valsa mali.

Apple Valsa canker disease, caused by Valsa mali Miyabe et Yamada, severely endangers the healthy growth of apple trees. The Som1, located downstream of the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase A (cAMP-PKA) pathway, plays crucial roles in the growth, development, morphological differentiation, and virulence of filamentous fungi. In this study, we identify and functionally characterize VmSom1, a homolog of Som1, in Valsa mali. The VmSom1 gene is located on chromosome 12, encoding an 824 amino acid protein. Phylogenetic analysis reveals VmSom1 as a fungal Som1 homolog. The VmSom1 deletion mutants exhibit slower growth rates and fail to produce pycnidia. Additionally, their hyphal growth is significantly inhibited on media containing Calcofluor White, Congo Red, NaCl, and sorbitol. The growth rate of VmSom1 deletion mutants is reduced on maltose, lactose, sucrose and fructose media but increases on glucose medium. Moreover, the mycelial growth rate of the VmSom1 deletion mutant is significantly lower than that of the wild-type strain in peptone, NH4SO4, NaNO3, and no nitrogen. Notably, the distances between the septa increase, and chitin concentration shifts to the hyphal tip in the VmSom1 deletion mutant. Furthermore, compared with the wild-type strain, the VmSom1 deletion mutant exhibits fewer diseased spots on apple fruit and branches. Overall, our findings demonstrate that VmSom1 is involved in regulating the growth and development, colony surface hydrophobicity, osmotic stress, cell wall integrity maintenance, carbon and nitrogen source utilization, septa formation, and virulence of V. mali.

The enhanced neutral process with decreasing cell size: a study on phytoplankton metacommunities from the glacier-fed river of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

The cell size of phytoplankton is an important defining functional trait that can serve as a driver and sentinel of phytoplankton community structure and function. However, the study of the assembly patterns and drivers of phytoplankton metacommunities with different cell sizes has not been widely carried out. In this study, we systematically investigated the biodiversity patterns, drivers, and assembly processes of the three phytoplankton cell sizes (micro: 20-200 µm; nano: 2-20 µm; pico: 0.2-2 µm) in the Za'gya Zangbo River from the source to the estuary using 18S rDNA amplicon sequencing. The results demonstrated that the alpha diversity and co-occurrence network complexity for all three sizes of phytoplankton increased to a peak downstream of the glacier sources and then decreased to the estuary. The nanophytoplankton subcommunity consistently had the highest alpha diversity and co-occurrence network complexity. On the other hand, total beta diversity followed a unimodal trend of decreasing and then increasing from source to estuary, and was dominated by species replacement components. In addition, deterministic processes driven mainly by physiochemical indices (PCIs) and biogenic elements (BGEs) dominated the assembly of micro- and nanophytoplankton subcommunities, whereas stochastic processes driven by geographical factors (GGFs) dominated the assembly of picophytoplankton subcommunities. The results explained the contradictions in previous studies of phytoplankton community assembly processes in highland aquatic ecosystems, elucidating the different contributions of deterministic and stochastic processes, and the complexity of compositional mechanisms in shaping the assembly of micro-, nano-, and picophytoplankton in this highland glacial river. IMPORTANCE: The cell size of phytoplankton is a key life-history trait and key determinant, and phytoplankton of different cell sizes are differentially affected by ecological processes. However, the study of the assembly patterns and drivers of phytoplankton metacommunities with different cell sizes has not been widely carried out. We provide an in-depth analysis of phytoplankton community diversity across three cell sizes in the glacier-fed river, describing how the pattern of phytoplankton communities differs across cell sizes in response to geochemical gradients. The results show that the smaller phytoplankton (picophytoplankton) are relatively more influenced by dispersal-based stochastic processes, whereas larger ones (microphytoplankton and nanophytoplankton) are more structured by selection-based deterministic processes.

Research perspective in the clinical management of Kawasaki disease.

This study examines research perspective in the clinical diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular complications in Kawasaki Disease (KD). Starting with an overview of the disease, it introduces KD's clinical manifestations, etiology, epidemiological features, and its impact on the cardiovascular system. Subsequently, the study discusses in detail the diagnostic methods, pathological mechanisms, and treatment strategies for KD, including foundational and emerging approaches such as high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin and aspirin therapy, biologic therapy, and corticosteroid pulse therapy. Additionally, it outlines strategies for preventing cardiovascular complications, including early risk assessment and long-term management. The study also explores the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic with an increase in KD-like symptoms, emphasizing the need for further studies on the association between SARS-CoV-2 and KD. Lastly, it explores future research directions to enhance understanding of KD and improve patient outcomes and quality of life. This study provides valuable insights into the comprehensive treatment and management of KD and highlights avenues for future research.

Uplift of the Tibetan Plateau driven by mantle delamination from the overriding plate.

The geodynamic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau remains highly debated. Any model of its evolution must explain the plateau's growth as constrained by palaeo-altitude studies, the spatio-temporal distribution of magmatic activity, and the lithospheric mantle removal inferred from seismic velocity anomalies in the underlying mantle. Several conflicting models have been proposed, but none of these explains the first-order topographic, magmatic and seismic features self-consistently. Here we propose and test numerically an evolutionary model of the plateau that involves gradual peeling of the lithospheric mantle from the overriding plate and consequent mantle and crustal melting and uplift. We show that this model successfully reproduces the successive surface uplift of the plateau to more than 4 km above sea level and is consistent with the observed migration of magmatism and geometry of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary resulting from subduction of the Indian plate and delamination of the mantle lithosphere of the Eurasian plate. These comparisons indicate that mantle delamination from the overriding plate is the driving force behind the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and, potentially, orogenic plateaus more generally.

Right thalamic volume mediates impact of the dopamine beta-hydroxylase gene on the endowment effect.

The endowment effect is a tendency that individuals overvalue items belonging to them relative to those items that do not. Previous studies showed a strong relation between the dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) gene and the endowment effect (EE), and a link between EE and task-based functional MRI activation in multiple brain regions. However, the role of brain structure on EE remains unclear. In this study, we have explored whether regional brain volume mediate the effect of the DBH gene on EE. Results showed that rs1611115, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at DBH loci, were significantly associated with right thalamus volume and the endowment effect in males but not in female participants. Specifically, male DBH rs1611115 T-carriers had larger right thalamus volume compared to carriers of CC genotype and exhibited a greater endowment effect. Importantly, we found that right thalamus volume mediated the effect of rs1611115 on the endowment effect in male participants. This study demonstrated how thalamic volume plays an important mediating role between genetics and decision-making in humans.

Location matters: altered interhemispheric homotopic connectivity in post-stroke dyskinesia.

Background: Motor impairment is the most prevalent consequence following a stroke. Interhemispheric homotopic connectivity, which varies regionally and hierarchically along the axis of the somatomotor-association cortex, plays a critical role in sustaining normal motor functions. However, the impact of strokes occurring in various locations on homotopic connectivity is not fully understood. This study aimed to explore how motor deficits resulting from acute strokes in different locations influence homotopic connectivity. Methods: Eighty-four acute ischemic stroke patients with dyskinesia were recruited and divided into four demographically-matched subgroups based on stroke locations: Group 1 (G1; frontoparietal, n = 15), Group 2 (G2; radiation coronal, n = 16), Group 3 (G3; basal ganglia, n = 30), and Group 4 (G4; brain stem, n = 23). An additional 37 demographically-matched healthy controls were also recruited in the study. Multimodal MRI data, motor function assessments, and cognitive tests were gathered for analysis. Interhemispheric homotopic functional and structural connectivity were measured using resting-state functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging, respectively. These measurements were then correlated with motor function scores to investigate the relationships. Results: Voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) analysis showed that strokes in the frontoparietal and basal ganglia regions led to diminished homotopic connectivity in the somatosensory/motor cortex. In contrast, strokes in the radiation coronal and brainstem regions affected subcortical motor circuits. Structural homotopic connectivity analysis using diffusion tensor imaging showed that frontoparietal and basal ganglia strokes predominantly affected association fibers, while radiation coronal and brainstem strokes caused widespread disruption in the integrity of both cortical-cortical and cortical-subcortical white matter fibers. Correlation analyses demonstrated significant associations between the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores with the VMHC in the inferior temporal gyrus for G1 (G1; r = 0.838, p < 0.001; r = 0.793, p < 0.001; and r = -0.834, p < 0.001, respectively). No statistically significant associations were observed in Groups 2, 3, and 4. Conclusion: Our results suggest that motor deficits following strokes in various regions involve distinct pathways from cortical to subcortical areas. Alterations in lesion topography and regional functional homotopy provide new insights into the understanding of neural underpinnings of post-stroke dyskinesia.

A Biomimetic Cement-Based Solid-State Electrolyte with Both High Strength and Ionic Conductivity for Self-Energy-Storage Buildings.

Cement-based materials are the foundation of modern buildings but suffer from intensive energy consumption. Utilizing cement-based materials for efficient energy storage is one of the most promising strategies for realizing zero-energy buildings. However, cement-based materials encounter challenges in achieving excellent electrochemical performance without compromising mechanical properties. Here, we introduce a biomimetic cement-based solid-state electrolyte (labeled as l-CPSSE) with artificially organized layered microstructures by proposing an in situ ice-templating strategy upon the cement hydration, in which the layered micropores are further filled with fast-ion-conducting hydrogels and serve as ion diffusion highways. With these merits, the obtained l-CPSSE not only presents marked specific bending and compressive strength (2.2 and 1.2 times that of traditional cement, respectively) but also exhibits excellent ionic conductivity (27.8 mS·cm-1), overwhelming most previously reported cement-based and hydrogel-based electrolytes. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, we assemble the l-CPSSE electrolytes with cement-based electrodes to achieve all-cement-based solid-state energy storage devices, delivering an outstanding full-cell specific capacity of 72.2 mF·cm-2. More importantly, a 5 × 5 cm2 sized building model is successfully fabricated and operated by connecting 4 l-CPSSE-based full cells in series, showcasing its great potential in self-energy-storage buildings. This work provides a general methodology for preparing revolutionary cement-based electrolytes and may pave the way for achieving zero-carbon buildings.

Ultrathin, Mechanically Durable, and Scalable Polymer-in-Salt Solid Electrolyte for High-Rate Lithium Metal Batteries.

Polymer-in-salt solid-state electrolytes (PIS SSEs) are emerging for high room-temperature ionic conductivity and facile handling, but suffer from poor mechanical durability and large thickness. Here, Al2O3-coated PE (PE/AO) separators are proposed as robust and large-scale substrates to trim the thickness of PIS SSEs without compromising mechanical durability. Various characterizations unravel that introducing Al2O3 coating on PE separators efficiently improves the wettability, thermal stability, and Li-dendrite resistance of PIS SSEs. The resulting PE/AO@PIS demonstrates ultra-small thickness (25 µm), exceptional mechanical durability (55.1 MPa), high decomposition temperature (330 °C), and favorable ionic conductivity (0.12 mS cm-1 at 25 °C). Consequently, the symmetrical Li cells remain stable at 0.1 mA cm-2 for 3000 h, without Li dendrite formation. Besides, the LiFePO4|Li full cells showcase excellent rate capability (131.0 mAh g-1 at 10C) and cyclability (93.6% capacity retention at 2C after 400 cycles), and high-mass-loading performance (7.5 mg cm-2). Moreover, the PE/AO@PIS can also pair with nickel-rich layered oxides (NCM811 and NCM9055), showing a remarkable specific capacity of 165.3 and 175.4 mAh g-1 at 0.2C after 100 cycles, respectively. This work presents an effective large-scale preparation approach for mechanically durable and ultrathin PIS SSEs, driving their practical applications for next-generation solid-state Li-metal batteries.

Diversity Patterns of Eukaryotic Phytoplankton in the Medog Section of the Yarlung Zangbo River.

As one of the important biodiversity conservation areas in China, the ecosystem in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is fragile, and is particularly sensitive to global changes. To reveal the diversity pattern of phytoplankton, the metabarcode sequencing was employed in the Medog section of the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River during autumn 2019 in present study. The phytoplankton assemblies can be significantly divided into the main stem and the tributaries; there are significant differences in the phytoplankton biomass, alpha and beta diversity between the main stem and the tributaries. While both the main stem and the tributaries are affected by dispersal limitation, the phytoplankton assemblages in the entire lower reaches are primarily influenced by heterogeneous selection. Community dissimilarity and assembly process were significantly correlated with turbidity, electrical conductivity, and nitrogen nutrition. The tributaries were the main source of the increase in phytoplankton diversity in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Such diversity pattern of phytoplankton in the lower reach may be caused by the special habitat in Medog, that is, the excessive flow velocity, and the significant spatial heterogeneity in physical and chemical factors between stem and tributaries. Based on the results and conclusions obtained in present study, continuous long-term monitoring is essential to assess and quantify the impact of global changes on phytoplankton.

Antibiotics in the rice-crayfish rotation pattern: Occurrence, prioritization, and resistance risk.

Antibiotics are extensively utilized in aquaculture to mitigate diseases and augment the productivity of aquatic commodities. However, to date, there have been no reports on the presence and associated risks of antibiotics in the emergent rice-crayfish rotation (RCR) system. This study investigated the occurrence, temporal dynamics, prioritization, sources, and potential for resistance development of 15 antibiotics within the RCR ecosystem. The findings revealed that during the crayfish breeding and rice planting periods, florfenicol (FFC) predominated in the RCR's surface water, with peak and average concentrations of 1219.70 ng/L and 57.43 ng/L, and 1280.70 ng/L and 52.60 ng/L, respectively. Meanwhile, enrofloxacin (ENX) was the primary antibiotic detected in RCR soil and its maximum and average concentrations were 624.73 ng/L and 69.02 ng/L in the crayfish breeding period, and 871.27 ng/L and 45.89 ng/L in the rice planting period. Throughout the adjustment period, antibiotic concentrations remained relatively stable in both phases. Notably, antibiotic levels in surface water and soil escalated during the crayfish breeding period and subsided during the rice planting period, with these fluctuations predominantly influenced by FFC and ENX. Source analysis indicated that the antibiotics in RCR predominantly originated from aquaculture activities, supplemented by water exchange processes. Utilizing the entropy utility function and a resistance development model, FFC, clarithromycin (CLR), and roxithromycin (ROX) in surface water, along with ENX, CLR, and ROX in soil, were identified as priority antibiotics. FFC, ENX, and ROX exhibited a medium risk for resistance development. Consequently, this study underscores the necessity to intensify antibiotic usage control during the crayfish breeding period in the RCR system to mitigate environmental risks.

Phosphorus release from newly inundated soils and variation in benthic algal nutrient limitation induced by rising water levels of Qinghai Lake, China.

The mobilization of internal phosphorus (P) plays a crucial role in transitioning nutrient limitations within lake ecosystems. While previous research has extensively examined P release in littoral zones influenced by fluctuating water levels, there is a paucity of studies addressing the implications of sustained water level rise in this context, particularly as it pertains to nutrient limitations in benthic algae. To address this gap, we conducted an integrated study in Qinghai Lake. In the field sampling and microcosm experiment, we found that P concentrations are elevated in areas subjected to short-term inundation compared to those enduring prolonged inundation, primarily due to the dissolution of sedimentary P fractions. The results of nutrient diffusing substrata (NDS) bioassays indicated that benthic algae in Qinghai Lake displayed either P limitation or NP co-limitation. The transition from P limitation to NP co-limitation suggested that internal P release may serve to ameliorate nutrient limitations in benthic algae. This phenomenon could potentially contribute to the proliferation of Cladophora in the littoral zones of Qinghai Lake, thereby posing long-term implications for the lake's aquatic ecosystem, particularly under conditions of sustained water level rise.

Historical and dispersal processes drive community assembly of multiple aquatic taxa in glacierized catchments in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Understanding the relative role of dispersal dynamics and niche constraints is not only a core task in community ecology, but also becomes an important prerequisite for bioassessment. Despite the recent progress in our knowledge of community assembly in space and time, patterns and processes underlying biotic communities in alpine glacierized catchments remain mostly ignored. To fill this knowledge gap, we combined the recently proposed dispersal-niche continuum index (DNCI) with traditional constrained ordinations and idealized patterns of species distributions to unravel community assembly mechanisms of different key groups of primary producers and consumers (i.e., phytoplankton, epiphytic algae, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and fishes) in rivers in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the World's Third Pole. We tested whether organismal groups with contrasting body sizes differed in their assembly processes, and discussed their applicability in bioassessment in alpine zones. We found that community structure of alpine river biotas was always predominantly explained in terms of dispersal dynamics and historical biogeography. These patterns are most likely the result of differences in species-specific functional attributes, the stochastic colonization-extinction dynamics driven by multi-year glacier disturbances and the repeated hydrodynamic separation among alpine catchments after the rising of the Qilian mountains. Additionally, we found that the strength of dispersal dynamics and niche constraints was partially mediated by organismal body sizes, with dispersal processes being more influential for microscopic primary producers. Finding that zooplankton and macroinvertebrate communities followed clumped species replacement structures (i.e., Clementsian gradients) supports the notion that environmental filtering also contributes to the structure of high-altitude animal communities in glacierized catchments. In terms of the applied fields, we argue that freshwater bioassessment in glacierized catchments can benefit from incorporating the metacommunity perspective and applying novel approaches to (i) detect the optimal spatial scale for species sorting and (ii) identify and eliminate the species that are sensitive to dispersal-related processes.

Effect of Biofilm Forming on the Migration of Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate from PVC Plastics.

Plastic additives, represented by plasticizers, are important components of plastic pollution. Biofilms inevitably form on plastic surfaces when plastic enters the aqueous environment. However, little is known about the effect of biofilms on plastic surfaces on the release of additives therein. In this study, PVC plastics with different levels of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) content were investigated to study the effect of biofilm growth on DEHP release. The presence of biofilms promoted the migration of DEHP from PVC plastics to the external environment. Relative to biofilm-free controls, although the presence of surface biofilm resulted in 0.8 to 11.6 times lower DEHP concentrations in water, the concentrations of the degradation product, monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) in water, were 2.3 to 57.3 times higher. When the total release amounts of DEHP in the biofilm and in the water were combined, they were increased by 0.6-73 times after biofilm growth. However, most of the released DEHP was adsorbed in the biofilms and was subsequently degraded. The results of this study suggest that the biofilm as a new interface between plastics and the surrounding environment can affect the transport and transformation of plastic additives in the environment through barrier, adsorption, and degradation. Future research endeavors should aim to explore the transport dynamics and fate of plastic additives under various biofilm compositions as well as evaluate the ecological risks associated with their enrichment by biofilms.

Recent advancements with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in assessment of the species authenticity with meat and seafood products.

Species adulteration or mislabeling with meat and seafood products could negatively affect the fair trade, wildlife conservation, food safety, religion aspect, and even the public health. While PCR-based methods remain the gold standard for assessment of the species authenticity, there is an urgent need for alternative testing platforms that are rapid, accurate, simple, and portable. Owing to its ease of use, low cost, and rapidity, LAMP is becoming increasingly used method in food analysis for detecting species adulteration or mislabeling. In this review, we outline how the features of LAMP have been leveraged for species authentication test with meat and seafood products. Meanwhile, as the trend of LAMP detection is simple, rapid and instrument-free, it is of great necessity to carry out end-point visual detection, and the principles of various end-point colorimetry methods are also reviewed. Moreover, with the aim to enhance the LAMP reaction, different strategies are summarized to either suppress the nonspecific amplification, or to avoid the results of nonspecific amplification. Finally, microfluidic chip is a promising point-of-care method, which has been the subject of a great deal of research directed toward the development of microfluidic platforms-based LAMP systems for the species authenticity with meat and seafood products.

Carbon emissions, wastewater treatment and aquatic ecosystems.

As a nexus of environmental pollution, fossil fuel consumption and the global warming, carbon emissions are critical in China's long-term environmental strategies. In the water cycle, carbon is released during wastewater discharge, wastewater treatment, and subsequent changes in aquatic ecosystems. To gain a comprehensive understanding of this entire process, we investigate the intricate connections using balanced panel data from 261 prefecture-level cities in China spanning the period from 2000 to 2020. Each sample is quantified using 48 features derived from hydrosphere, biosphere, anthroposphere, atmosphere, pedosphere and lithosphere. This paper contributes to the relevant studies in the following ways: Firstly, to analyze the basic interaction within the water cycle, we utilize Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Our results indicate a weak linear relationship between wastewater treatment and carbon emissions. We also substantiate the crucial role of the aquatic ecosystems in carbon fixation. Secondly, in order to comprehend the intricate interactions within the Earth system, we employ eight machine learning models to predict carbon emissions. We observe that extremely randomized trees (ET) exhibit the highest predictive accuracy among these models. Thirdly, in interpreting the ET model, we utilize Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques, including Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) and Accumulated Local Effects (ALE). Our 3D-SHAP analysis reveals heterogeneity in the emission effects of wastewater treatment across different sub-groups, indicating that emissions are especially sensitive to increased wastewater treatment in agricultural and tourism cities. Furthermore, 3D-SHAP analysis of the aquatic ecosystems exhibits a series of spikes, signifying that aquatic plants will abruptly lose their carbon storage ability once the degradation of the aquatic ecosystems exceeds a certain threshold. Finally, our ALE evaluation, depicting the dispersion tendency of feature importance, identifies the uncertainty of wastewater carbon release in agricultural and tourism cities, while also affirming the vulnerability of the aquatic ecosystems.

Fish species mislabelling in China: evidence from a survey of frozen, dried, and surimi-based fish products marketed as cod-related species.

'Cod'-related species are among the most appreciated marine fish resources around the world, but are also prone to species mislabelling. In the present study, a total of 76 frozen, dried, and surimi-based fish products, sold as 'Cod' (59 products), 'Atlantic authentic Cod' (11 products), and 'Authentic Cod' (6 products), were collected in China. A species-specific LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) method was used to screen for the presence of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Pacific cod (G. macrocephalus), Alaska pollock (G. chalcogrammus), Southern hake (Merluccius australis), which was cross-confirmed using real-time PCR and DNA sequencing methods. The results highlighted the greatest species diversity for 'Cod' products, and the identified species were from nine different families. It appears that the practice of assigning a specific type or category of species to the common name 'Cod' has not been widely advocated, and the misuse of this ambiguous common name has been a common practice for species adulteration, negatively impacting consumers' rights and marine conservation. To rebuild consumers' confidence, retail fish suppliers have differentiated their products by adding specific qualifiers in front of the common name 'Cod' on the label, such as 'Authentic cod' and 'Atlantic authentic cod'. The endeavour is highly meaningful, since Gadus morhua was identified as the species for a significant majority of 'Atlantic authentic cod' and 'Authentic cod' products (64.7%, 11/17), with the remaining six products identified as Alaskan pollock (G. chalcogrammus), Pacific cod (G. macrocephalus) and North Pacific hake (Merluccius productus). Despite the positive effort to reverse species mislabelling from retail on-line fish suppliers, a standardized fish nomenclature stipulated by the responsible authorities remains crucial for enhancing transparency and continuing to reduce species mislabelling.

Development of a one-pot and sequence-specific LAMP assay based on the self-quenching probe integrated by the complementary oligonucleotide for an enhanced fluorescence quenching.

Single-modified fluorogenic primer (Sfp) enables accurate identification of LAMP amplicons without being affected by non-specific products. However, the fluorescence self-quenching by nucleobases for Sfp is generally of low efficiency, and the high background signal makes it a great challenge to achieve visual inspection with naked eyes. In the present study, the oligonucleotide (Ao) complementary to Sfp was designed, which would hybridize to Sfp and dramatically heighten the quenching effect, leading to a low background signal in negative reaction. Instead, for positive reaction, Sfp is incorporated into the double-stranded amplicons, resulting in dequenching and consequently, enhanced fluorescence. The detection scheme can be further improved by a dual-color fluorescence strategy, allowing visual detection of 1 pg rainbow trout DNA in a closed-tube format within 30 min. Therefore, our LAMP-Ao-Sfp assay represents a useful tool for rapid and sensitive detection, and can serve as a reliable method for on-site detection in low-resource settings.

Uncovering the roles of DNA hemi-methylation in transcriptional regulation using MspJI-assisted hemi-methylation sequencing.

Hemi-methylated cytosine dyads widely occur on mammalian genomic DNA, and can be stably inherited across cell divisions, serving as potential epigenetic marks. Previous identification of hemi-methylation relied on harsh bisulfite treatment, leading to extensive DNA degradation and loss of methylation information. Here we introduce Mhemi-seq, a bisulfite-free strategy, to efficiently resolve methylation status of cytosine dyads into unmethylation, strand-specific hemi-methylation, or full-methylation. Mhemi-seq reproduces methylomes from bisulfite-based sequencing (BS-seq & hpBS-seq), including the asymmetric hemi-methylation enrichment flanking CTCF motifs. By avoiding base conversion, Mhemi-seq resolves allele-specific methylation and associated imprinted gene expression more efficiently than BS-seq. Furthermore, we reveal an inhibitory role of hemi-methylation in gene expression and transcription factor (TF)-DNA binding, and some displays a similar extent of inhibition as full-methylation. Finally, we uncover new hemi-methylation patterns within Alu retrotransposon elements. Collectively, Mhemi-seq can accelerate the identification of DNA hemi-methylation and facilitate its integration into the chromatin environment for future studies.

Inhibition of Bcl-6 Expression Ameliorates Asthmatic Characteristics in Mice.

OBJECTIVE: The function of Bcl-6 in T follicular helper (Tfh) cell maturation is indispensable, and Tfh cells play a pivotal role in asthma. This study investigated the impact of Bcl-6 on asthmatic traits. METHODS: The microscopic pathological alterations, airway resistance (AR), and lung compliance (LC) were determined in asthmatic mice and Bcl-6 interference mice. The surface molecular markers of Tfh cells and the Bcl-6 mRNA and protein expression were determined by flow cytometry, RT-qPCR, and Western blotting, respectively. The relationships between the Tfh cell ratio and the IgE and IgG1 concentrations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were determined. RESULTS: Asthmatic inflammatory changes were observed in the lung tissue and were attenuated by Bcl-6 siRNA and dexamethasone (DXM). Asthmatic mice exhibited an increased AR and a decreased LC, while Bcl-6 siRNA or DXM mitigated these changes. The percentages of Tfh cells and eosinophils were significantly increased in the asthmatic mice, and they significantly decreased after Bcl-6 inhibition or DXM treatment. RT-qPCR and Western blotting analyses revealed that the Bcl-6 expression level in PBMCs was significantly higher in asthmatic mice, and it decreased following Bcl-6 inhibition or DXM treatment. The IgE expression in the serum and BALF and the B cell expression in PBMCs exhibited a similar trend. In asthmatic mice, the ratio of Tfh cells in the peripheral blood showed a strong positive correlation with the IgE levels in the serum and BALF, but not with the IgG1 levels. CONCLUSION: The amelioration of airway inflammation and airway hyper-responsiveness is achieved through Bcl-6 suppression, which effectively hinders Tfh cell differentiation, ultimately resulting in a concurrent reduction in IgE production.