Fine Mapping of qAL5.2 Controlling Anther Length in Oryza sativa.

Anther length is the critical floral trait determining hybrid rice seed production and is controlled by many quantitative trait loci (QTL). However, the cloning of genes specifically controlling anther size has yet to be reported. Here, we report the fine mapping of qAL5.2 for anther size using backcross inbred lines (BILs) in the genetic background of Oryza sativa indica Huazhan (HZ). Gene chip analysis on the BC4F2 and BC5F1 population identified effective loci on Chr1, Chr5, and Chr8 and two genomic regions on Chr5, named qAL5.1 and qAL5.2. qAL5.2 was identified in both populations with LOD values of 17.54 and 10.19, which explained 35.73% and 25.1% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. Ultimately qAL5.2 was localized to a 73 kb region between HK139 and HK140 on chromosome 5. And we constructed two near-isogenic lines (NILs) for RNA-seq analysis, named NIL-qAL5.2HZ and NIL-qAL5.2KLY, respectively. The result of the GO enrichment analysis revealed that differential genes were significantly enriched in the carbohydrate metabolic process, extracellular region, and nucleic acid binding transcription, and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that alpha-linolenic acid metabolism was significantly enriched. Meanwhile, candidate genes of qAL5.2 were analyzed in RNA-seq, and it was found that ORF8 is differentially expressed between NIL-qAL5.2HZ and NIL-qAL5.2KLY. The fine mapping of qAL5.2 conferring anther length will promote the breed improvement of the restorer line and understanding of the mechanisms driving crop mating patterns.

Eco-friendly bamboo pulp foam enabled by chitosan and phytic acid interfacial assembly of halloysite nanotubes: Toward flame retardancy, thermal insulation, and sound absorption.

Lightweight, porous cellulose foam is an attractive alternative to traditional petroleum-based products, but the intrinsic flammability impedes its use in construction. Herein, an environmentally friendly strategy for scalable fabrication of flame-retardant bamboo pulp foam (BPF) using a foam-forming technique followed by low-cost ambient drying is reported. In the process, a hierarchical structure of halloysite nanotubes (HNT) was decorated onto bamboo pulp fibers through layer-by-layer assembling of chitosan (CS) and phytic acid (PA). This modification retained the highly porous microcellular structure of the resultant BPF (92 %-98 %). It improved its compressive strength by 228.01 % at 50 % strain, endowing this foam with desired thermal insulation properties and sound absorption coefficient comparable to commercial products. More importantly, this foam possessed exceptional flame retardancy (47.05 % reduction in the total heat release and 95.24 % reduction in the total smoke production) in cone calorimetry, and it showed excellent extinguishing performance, indicating considerably enhanced fire safety. These encouraging results suggest that the flame retardant BPF has the potential to serve as a renewable and cost-effective alternative to traditional foam for applications in acoustic and thermal insulation.

Do Illegitimate Tasks Lead to Work Withdrawal Behavior among Generation Z Employees in China? The Role of Perceived Insider Status and Overqualification.

Generation Z employees in the workplace cause a management challenge that enterprises have recently faced. The unique characteristics of Generation Z employees necessitate an urgent update to the knowledge of organizational management. However, few studies of the literature focus on the workplace behaviors of Generation Z. This study proposes that illegitimate tasks may lead to work withdrawal behavior among Generation Z employees. Based on the equity theory model, this study constructed a moderated mediation model to explore the impact of illegitimate tasks on the work withdrawal behavior of Generation Z employees, as well as the mediating role of perceived insider status and the moderating role of perceived overqualification. The analysis of survey data from 283 Generation Z employees in China at two time points found that illegitimate tasks are positively correlated with work withdrawal behavior. At the same time, the mediating role of perceived insider status was successfully confirmed. The results also showed that perceived overqualification strengthened the effect of illegitimate tasks on work withdrawal behavior and the mediating effect of perceived insider status. This study offers new insights into the management and development of Generation Z employees and the sustainable evolution of workplace relationships from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

Identity by descent mapping of HCV spontaneous clearance in populations of diverse ancestry.

Background: Acute infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects millions of individuals worldwide. Host genetics plays a role in spontaneous clearance of the acute infection which occurs in approximately 30% of the individuals. Common variants in GPR158, genes in the interferon lambda (IFNL) cluster, and the MHC region have been associated with HCV clearance in populations of diverse ancestry. Fine mapping of those regions has identified some key variants and amino acids as potential causal variants but the role of rare variants in those regions and in the genome, in general, has not been explored. We aimed to detect haplotypes containing rare variants related to HCV clearance using identity-by-descent (IBD) haplotype sharing between unrelated cases/case pairs and case/controls pairs in 3,608 individuals with European and African ancestry. Results: We detected 1,711,832 and 5,678,043 and individual pairs of IBD segments in the European and African ancestry individuals, respectively. As expected, individuals of African descent had more, and shorter segments compared to Europeans. We did not detect any significant IBD signals in the known associated gene regions. Conclusions: IBD is based on sharing of haplotypes and is most powerful in populations with a shared founder or recent common ancestor. For the complex trait of HCV clearance, we used two outbred, global populations that limited our power to detect IBD associations. Overall, in this population-based sample we failed to detect rare variations associated with HCV clearance in individuals of European and African ancestry.

Mechanism of Yangxin Tongmai Decoction in the Treatment of Coronary Heart Disease with Blood Stasis Syndrome Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking.

This study aimed to explore the mechanism of Yangxin Tongmai decoction (YXTMD) in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD) with blood stasis syndrome (BSS) using network pharmacology and molecular docking, and to verify these results through clinical trials. The active compounds of YXTMD were identified using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database, and the targets of the active compounds were predicted using the SwissTarget Prediction database. The targets of CHD and BSS were predicted using the GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGKB, TTD, and DrugBank databases. The common targets of "herb-disease-phenotype" were obtained using a Venn diagram, then used Cytoscape software 3.8.2 and its plug-in CytoNCA and STRING database to construct the "herb active compounds-common target" and protein-protein interaction networks. R language software and bioconductor plug-in were used for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. AutoDock was used for the molecular docking analysis. Finally, clinical trials were conducted to confirm the results of network pharmacology. Eighty-three active components were obtained, and the core active components were 5,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone, tetramethoxyluteolin, isosinensetin, sinensetin, and 5,7-dihydroxy-2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)chroman-4-one. A total of 140 common targets were identified, and the core targets were EGFR, VEGFA, AKT1, STAT3, TP53, ERBB2, and PIK3CA. Biological processes identified by the GO analysis primarily involved wound healing, regulation of body fluid levels, and vascular process in circulatory system. The cellular components were primarily located in the membrane raft, membrane microdomain, and plasma membrane raft. The primary molecular functions were activity of transmembrane receptor protein kinase, transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase, and protein tyrosine kinase. KEGG analysis showed that the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway was closely related to the treatment of CHD with BSS by YXTMD. Molecular docking results showed that the core active components had a good binding activity with the core targets. The clinical trial results showed that YXTMD improved the BSS scores and decreased the serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Moreover, the levels of PI3k and AKt mRNA were upregulated and the levels of GSK-3ß mRNA were downregulated. YXTMD has multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway effects in the treatment of CHD with BSS, and its mechanism of action may involve activation of the PI3K-AKt signaling pathway, downregulation of GSK-3ß, and mediation of in vivo lipid metabolism-based metabolic processes.

Chiral Brønsted acid catalyzed asymmetric oxidation of N-acyl sulfenamide by H2 O2 : An efficient approach to obtaining chiral N-acyl sulfinamide.

Although the power of chiral sulfinamide reagents in synthetic chemistry has long been recognized, methods for their synthesis are still auxiliary-based approaches which possess the disadvantages of poor atom economy and limited substrate universality. Due to the weak nucleophilicity of amides, it is more difficult to prepare chiral N-acylsulfinamides by traditional methods. Herein, we describe an example of catalytic asymmetric synthesis of N-acyl sulfinamides. In this work, N-acyl sulfenamides act as useful substrates, because of the indispensable N-H bond, which could form an efficient hydrogen bond with chiral phosphoric acid. H2 O2 (35%) was used as the terminal oxidant for preparation of sulfinamides in high yields and enantioselectivities, which could be easily derivatized to sulfoxides without loss of the enantioselectivity.

Improving the Mould and Blue-Stain-Resistance of Bamboo through Acidic Hydrolysis.

Bamboo is much more easily attacked by fungus compared with wood, resulting in shorter service life and higher loss in storage and transportation. It has been long accepted that the high content of starch and sugars in bamboo is mainly responsible for its low mould resistance. In this paper, acetic acid, propionic acid, oxalic acid, citric acid, and hydrochloric acid were adopted to hydrothermally hydrolyze the starch in bamboo, with the aims to investigate their respective effect on the mould and blue-stain resistance of bamboo, and the optimized citric acid in different concentrations were studied. The starch content, glucose yields, weight loss, and colour changes of solid bamboo caused by the different acidic hydrolysis were also compared. The results indicated that weak acidic hydrolysis treatment was capable of improving mould-resistant of bamboo. The mould resistance increased with the increased concentration of citric acid. Bamboo treated with citric acid in the concentration of 10% could reduce the infected area ranging to 10-17%, the growth rating of which could reach 1 resistance. The content of soluble sugar and starch remained in bamboo decreased significantly from 43 mg/g to 31 mg/g and 46 mg/g to 23 mg/g, respectively, when the citric acid concentration varied from 4% to 10%. Citric acid treatments of 10% also caused a greatest surface colour change and weight loss. The results in this study demonstrated citric acid treatment can effectively reduce the starch grain and soluble sugars content and improve mould resistance of bamboo, which can be attributed to the reduction of starch grain and soluble carbohydrates (such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose, etc.) in bamboo.

[Design and Implementation of Optical System of High Flux Suspension Chip Testing Instrument].

Based on the flow fluorescence technology and the coded microspheres decoding analysis technology of high throughput suspension chip, an optical system of flow dot matrix instrument is studied. The instrument adopts an innovative optical system design. In the laser spot shaping optical path, the secondary shaping lens multiplexing design is adopted to ensure that the shape and width of fluorescence signals excited by different wavelengths are completely consistent. The functional blocks of the whole optical system are designed in an integrated way, and the installation of each module can be completed at one time, which is more convenient for installation or replacement; the optical module has high overall integration and simplified structure. The accuracy of installation position is ensured through accurate optical path calculation and mechanical processing.

Evaluating the accuracy and diagnostic value of CFW and a new fluorescent reagents, fluorescent brightener 85, for the diagnosis of vulvovaginal candidiasis.

BACKGROUND: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common vaginitis in females. The commonly used diagnostic method, 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) smear microscopy, makes it not very easy to recognize fungi. METHODS: Vaginal secretions were collected from clinically suspected VVC patients and divided into four groups and examined using KOH, CFW (Calcofluor White), FB 85(fluorescent brightener 85), and culture. The data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: In total, 110 patients with suspected VVC were recruited. The positive rates of KOH, CFW, FB 85, and the culture method were 68.2%, 64.5%, 61.8%, and 77%, respectively. According to the McNemar test, there was no statistically significant difference between the KOH, CFW, and the FB 85 methods (p > 0.05). However, CFW had a shorter diagnosis time than the KOH method and had a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). Moreover, CFW has the highest sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. In morphological recognition, it was easier to recognize fungal structures with CFW and FB 85 than with the KOH. CONCLUSIONS: The fluorescent method is a good method for the diagnosis of VVC. And the fungi can be found more quickly. Similar to CFW, FB 85 is also a potential good fluorescent reagent for the diagnosis of VVC and has potential value for application in clinical fungal infection diseases.

Advances in Photonic Devices Based on Optical Phase-Change Materials.

Phase-change materials (PCMs) are important photonic materials that have the advantages of a rapid and reversible phase change, a great difference in the optical properties between the crystalline and amorphous states, scalability, and nonvolatility. With the constant development in the PCM platform and integration of multiple material platforms, more and more reconfigurable photonic devices and their dynamic regulation have been theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated, showing the great potential of PCMs in integrated photonic chips. Here, we review the recent developments in PCMs and discuss their potential for photonic devices. A universal overview of the mechanism of the phase transition and models of PCMs is presented. PCMs have injected new life into on-chip photonic integrated circuits, which generally contain an optical switch, an optical logical gate, and an optical modulator. Photonic neural networks based on PCMs are another interesting application of PCMs. Finally, the future development prospects and problems that need to be solved are discussed. PCMs are likely to have wide applications in future intelligent photonic systems.

Opening a Window on Attention: Adjuvant Therapies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), most commonly known as Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative disease (UC), is a chronic and relapsing intestinal disease which cannot be cured completely. The prevalence of IBD in Europe and in North America has increased over the past 20 years. As most IBD patients are young at onset, their quality of life (QOL) can be influenced to varying degrees. Thus, current treatment goals are typically focused on preventing complications, including maintaining clinical remission and improving the QOL. Adjuvant therapies have been widely concerned as an effective treatment in alleviating IBD symptoms, including dietary intervention, traditional Chinese medicine, smoking, alcohol, and physical activities. This review focuses on different ancillary therapies for IBD treatments, in particular the mechanism of reducing inflammation based on the actual data from research studies. Moreover, comparing the latest data, this review also presented potential future prospect for adjuvant therapies.

Quorum-Sensing Regulation of Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria.

Quorum sensing is a cell-to-cell communication system that exists widely in the microbiome and is related to cell density. The high-density colony population can generate a sufficient number of small molecule signals, activate a variety of downstream cellular processes including virulence and drug resistance mechanisms, tolerate antibiotics, and harm the host. This article gives a general introduction to the current research status of microbial quorum-sensing systems, focuses on the role of quorum-sensing systems in regulating microbial resistance mechanisms, such as drug efflux pump and microbial biofilm formation regulation, and discusses a new strategy for the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria proposed by using quorum quenching to prevent microbial resistance.

[Experimental study on high throughput vitrification by micro-droplet spray method].

There is a great demand for blood and stem cells in clinic. It is difficult to achieve high throughput and to increase the cooling rate at the same time during vitrification. In this paper, a micro-droplet spray system with a container collection device was fabricated, and HepG2 cells were sprayed by this system for high-throughput vitrification. First, the container collection device and a cryo-paper were used to receive micro-droplets in the spray vitrification system. The results showed that the cell survival rate and 24h adhesion rate in container collection vitrification group were significantly higher than those in cryo-paper collection group. Second, HepG2 cells were sprayed and vitrified at increased cell density, and it was found that the results of micro-droplet spray vitrification did not change significantly. Finally, micro-droplet spray vitrification is compared with slow freezing. Cell processing capacity in the vitrification group increased, meanwhile, the cell survival rate and 24h adhesion rate in the vitrification group were significantly higher than those in slow freezing group. The results indicated that the micro-droplet spray vitrification system with container collection device designed in this paper can achieve high-throughput cell vitrification, which is of great significance for mass preservation of small cells.

Chemical structures and characteristics of animal manures and composts during composting and assessment of maturity indices.

Changes in physicochemical characteristics, chemical structures and maturity of swine, cattle and chicken manures and composts during 70-day composting without addition of bulking agents were investigated. Physicochemical characteristics were measured by routine analyses and chemical structures by solid-state 13C NMR and FT-IR. Three manures were of distinct properties. Their changes in physicochemical characteristics, chemical structures, and maturity were different not only from each other but also from those with addition of bulking agents during composting. Aromaticity in chicken manure composts decreased at first, and then increased whereas that in cattle and swine manure composts increased. Enhanced ammonia volatilization occurred without addition of bulking agents. NMR structural information indicated that cattle and chicken composts were relatively stable at day 36 and 56, respectively, but swine manure composts were not mature up to day 70. Finally, the days required for three manures to reach the threshold values of different maturity indices were different.

[Study on chemical compositions and crystallinity changes of bamboo treated with gamma rays].

The structures and qualities of main chemical compositions in cell wall of bamboo treated with gamma rays were tested by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The result indicated that the bamboo crystallinity increased at the beginning of irradiation process, while the crystallinity reduced when the irradiation dose was raised to about 100 kGy. During the whole irradiation process, hemicellulose degraded, and with the irradiation doses increased the non-phenolic lignin changed to the phenolic.

[Study on bamboo treated with gamma rays by X-ray diffraction].

The microfibril angle and crystallinity of bamboo treated with gamma rays were tested by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The result indicated that crystallinity in bamboo increased when irradiation dose was less than 100 kGy, while the irradiation dose was raised to about 100 kGy, crystallinity in bamboo reduced. But during the whole irradiation process, the influence on microfibril angle was not obvious, so it was not the dominant factors on variation in physical-mechanical properties of bamboo during the process of irradiation.