Unraveling the relative importance of ecological processes regulating microbial community structure is a central goal in microbial ecology. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing to examine the ...relative contribution of selective and neutral processes in the assembly of abundant and rare subcommunities from three subtropical bays of China. We found that abundant and rare bacterial taxa were distinctly different in diversity, despite the similar biogeographic patterns and strong distance-decay relationships, but the dispersal of rare bacterial taxa was more limited than that of abundant taxa. Furthermore, the environmental (selective processes) and spatial (neutral processes) factors seemed to govern the assembly and biogeography of abundant and rare bacterial subcommunities, although both factors explained only a small fraction of variation within the rare subcommunity. More importantly, variation partitioning (based on adjusted R
in redundancy analysis) showed that spatial factors exhibited a slightly greater influence on both abundant and rare subcommunities compared to environmental selection; however, the abundant subcommunity had a much stronger response to spatial factors (17.3% of pure variance was explained) than that shown by the rare bacteria (3.5%). These results demonstrate that environmental selection and neutral processes explained the similar biogeographic patterns of abundant and rare subcommunities, but a large proportion of unexplained variation in the rare taxa (91.1%) implies that more complex assembly mechanisms may exist to shape the rare bacterial assemblages in the three subtropical bays.
We present a complete and independent list of the dimension-nine operator basis in the Standard Model effective field theory by an automatic algorithm based on the amplitude-operator correspondence. ...A complete basis (Y-basis) is first constructed by enumerating the Young tableau of an auxiliary SU(N) group and the gauge groups, with the equation-of-motion and integration-by-part redundancies all removed. In the presence of repeated fields, another basis (P-basis) with explicit flavor symmetries among them is derived from the Y-basis, which further induces a basis of independent monomial operators through a systematic process called desymmetrization. Our form of operators has advantages over the traditional way of presenting operators constrained by flavor relations, in the simplicity of both eliminating flavor redundancies and identifying independent flavor-specified operators. We list the 90456 (560) operators for three (one) generations of fermions, all of which violate baryon number or lepton number conservation; among them we find new violation patterns as ΔB = 2 and ΔL = 3, which only appear at the dimensions d ≥ 9.
Peroxisomes account for ~35% of total H2O2 generation in mammalian tissues. Peroxisomal ACOX1 (acyl‐CoA oxidase 1) is the first and rate‐limiting enzyme in fatty acid β‐oxidation and a major producer ...of H2O2. ACOX1 dysfunction is linked to peroxisomal disorders and hepatocarcinogenesis. Here, we show that the deacetylase sirtuin 5 (SIRT5) is present in peroxisomes and that ACOX1 is a physiological substrate of SIRT5. Mechanistically, SIRT5‐mediated desuccinylation inhibits ACOX1 activity by suppressing its active dimer formation in both cultured cells and mouse livers. Deletion of SIRT5 increases H2O2 production and oxidative DNA damage, which can be alleviated by ACOX1 knockdown. We show that SIRT5 downregulation is associated with increased succinylation and activity of ACOX1 and oxidative DNA damage response in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our study reveals a novel role of SIRT5 in inhibiting peroxisome‐induced oxidative stress, in liver protection, and in suppressing HCC development.
Synopsis
This study reveals a role for SIRT5 in regulating peroxisomal H2O2 and ROS homeostasis and indicates its potential function in liver protection and hepatocellular carcinoma suppression.
SIRT5 is localized in peroxisomes where it controls H2O2 metabolism.
SIRT5‐mediated desuccinylation inhibits ACOX1 activity by suppressing its active dimer formation.
SIRT5 downregulation increases ACOX1 activity and oxidative DNA damage response in HCC.
This study reveals a role for SIRT5 in regulating peroxisomal H2O2 and ROS homeostasis and indicates its potential function in liver protection and hepatocellular carcinoma suppression.
Objective
To assess the efficacy of intensive acupuncture (3 times weekly for 8 weeks) versus sham acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (OA).
Methods
In this multicenter, randomized, sham‐controlled ...trial, patients with knee OA were randomly assigned to receive electroacupuncture (EA), manual acupuncture (MA), or sham acupuncture (SA) 3 times weekly for 8 weeks. Participants, outcome assessors, and statisticians were blinded with regard to treatment group assignment. The primary outcome measure was response rate, which is the proportion of participants who simultaneously achieved minimal clinically important improvement in pain and function by week 8. The primary analysis was conducted using a Z test for proportions in the modified intent‐to‐treat population, which included all randomized participants who had ≥1 post‐baseline measurement.
Results
Of the 480 participants recruited in the trial, 442 were evaluated for efficacy. The response rates at week 8 were 60.3% (91 of 151), 58.6% (85 of 145), and 47.3% (69 of 146) in the EA, MA, and SA groups, respectively. The between‐group differences were 13.0% (97.5% confidence interval 97.5% CI 0.2%, 25.9%; P = 0.0234) for EA versus SA and 11.3% (97.5% CI −1.6%, 24.4%; P = 0.0507) for MA versus SA. The response rates in the EA and MA groups were both significantly higher than those in the SA group at weeks 16 and 26.
Conclusion
Among patients with knee OA, intensive EA resulted in less pain and better function at week 8, compared with SA, and these effects persisted though week 26. Intensive MA had no benefit for knee OA at week 8, although it showed benefits during follow‐up.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a new type of endogenous noncoding RNAs with closed circular structure. Emerging evidence indicates that circRNAs play crucial roles in many biological processes by ...regulating linear RNA transcription, downstream gene expression and protein production. Meanwhile, recent studies have suggested that circRNAs have the potential to be oncogenic or anti-oncogenic and play vital regulatory roles in the initiation and progression of tumors. Circular RNA itchy E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (circ-ITCH), a novel circular RNA originated from several exons of ITCH and located on chromosome 20q11.22, was proved to be declined in many malignant tumors, such as melanoma and ovarian cancer, resulting in tumor occurrence and progression. This review summarizes the biogenesis, characteristics, and functions of circRNAs, as well as recent progression regarding the biological functions and potential molecular mechanisms of circ-ITCH, and future challenges in cancer research.
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Stretchable electronics have increasingly gained interest both in the academic and industrial communities owing to its potential to enable a wide variety of applications, especially ...wearable and implantable devices for biomedical applications. As the key component for electronic devices, the design of a suitable semiconductor is essential, while the solution processability and structural tunability of polymer semiconductor make it a promising candidate. Along this line, it is important to consider the mechanical properties of polymer semiconductors in the design of flexible and stretchable devices placed on soft and curved surfaces to accommodate the constant movement of the human body. However, achieving high mechanical deformability and high charge transport properties simultaneously in polymer semiconductors remains a major challenge. In this trend article, we survey various approaches in designing intrinsically stretchable conjugated polymers, focusing on structure-property relationships from a molecular perspective, such as molecular weight, regioregularity, backbone and side chain modifications. Understanding the influence of these molecular structure parameters on thin film morphology may provide general guidelines for achieving desired microstructures that allow mechanical deformation without interrupting charge transport. Beyond highlighting recent key work in this field, we will discuss future prospects of stretchable conjugated polymers.
Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) is extensively used as an oxidant to develop the sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes in the decontamination of organic pollutants and various PMS activation ...methods have been explored. Visible-light-assisted PMS activation to construct a Fenton-like process has shown a great potential for pollution control. In our work, BiVO4 nanosheets were prepared using a hydrothermal process and used to activate PMS under visible light. A rapid degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) was achieved by dosing PMS (0.96 g/L), BiVO4 (0.32 g/L) under visible light with a reaction rate constant of 77.72-fold higher than that in the BiVO4/visible light process. The electron spin resonance and free radical quenching experiments indicate that reactive species of •O2−, h+, •OH and SO4•− all worked, where h+, •OH and SO4•− were found as the dominant contributors to the CIP degradation. The spectroscopic analyses further demonstrate that the photoinduced electrons were directly involved in the PMS activation process. The generated •O2− was partially utilized to activate PMS and more •OH was produced because of the chain reactions between SO4•− and H2O/OH−. In this process, PMS acted as an electron acceptor to transfer the photo-induced charges from the conduction band of BiVO4 and PMS was successfully activated to yield the high-powered oxidative species. From the degradation intermediates of CIP detected by a liquid-chromatography-mass spectrometer, the possible degradation pathways were proposed. The substantially decreased toxicity of CIP after the reaction was also observed. This work might provide new insights into the visible-light-assisted PMS activation mechanisms and is useful to construct environmentally-friendly catalytic processes for the efficient degradation of organic pollutants.
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•PMS was effectively activated by BiVO4 nanosheets for water purification under visible light.•Separation of electron/hole pairs and generation of oxidative species were enhanced.•Visible-light-assisted PMS activation Fenton-like mechanism was elucidated.•High mineralization and low biotoxicity validated the application potential of the system.
The use of lanthanide elements for applications in various industries such as the chemical industry and in biomedical engineering is examined. Topics discussed include lanthanide nanoparticles as MRI ...contrast agents, lanthanide upconversion nanoparticles for biosensing, bioimaging, and therapy and nanoceria for nanomedicine.
Conjugated polymers usually form crystallized and amorphous regions in the solid state simultaneously, making it difficult to accurately determine their precise microstructures. The lack of ...multiscale microstructures of conjugated polymers limits the fundamental understanding of the structure–property relationships in polymer‐based optoelectronic devices. Here, crystals of two typical conjugated polymers based on four‐fluorinated benzodifurandione‐based oligo(p‐phenylene vinylene) (F4BDOPV) and naphthalenediimide (NDI) motifs, respectively, are obtained by a controlled self‐assembly process. The strong diffractivity of the polymer crystals brings an opportunity to determine the crystal structures by combining X‐ray techniques and molecular simulations. The precise polymer packing structures are useful as initial models to evaluate the charge transport properties in the ordered and disordered phases. Compared to the spin‐coated thin films, the highly oriented polymer chains in crystals endow higher mobilities with a lower hopping energy barrier. Microwire crystal transistors of F4BDOPV‐ and NDI‐based polymers exhibit high electron mobilities of up to 5.58 and 2.56 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, which are among the highest values in polymer crystals. This work presents a simple method to obtain polymer crystals and their precise microstructures, promoting a deep understanding of molecular packing and charge transport for conjugated polymers.
Conjugated polymer microwire crystals are obtained from solvated aggregates. The precise crystal packing and electronic structure in the polymer microwires are evaluated for understanding of the charge transport properties. Polymer crystal transistors of F4BDOPV‐2T exhibit higher electron mobilities of up to 5.58 cm2 V−1 s−1 with a much lower hopping energy barrier compared with conventional thin‐film transistors.
Enzyme membrane reactors (EMRs) are becoming increasingly interesting for application in bioconversion processes in food processing, pharmaceutics, biorefinery and wastewater treatment. Integrating ...the highly efficient enzymatic reaction with selectable membrane separation technology, the EMRs are able to reduce product inhibition, improve the stability of the enzyme, increase the number of reaction cycles and sustainably separate products from biotransformation solutions. Generally, in EMRs, enzymes can be either free in the solution, immobilized on an additional carrier or immobilized directly in/on a porous structure of the membrane, of which the system with the enzyme immobilized directly in/on the membrane (EIM) is a relatively simple and most widely applied method. The EIM system not only facilitates recycling of the enzymes but also in many cases additionally enhances enzyme properties such as the stability and viability. A membrane with a porous structure is usually considered as a potential carrier for enzyme immobilization. A series of immobilization methods has been developed to fix the enzymes on the membranes. The purpose of this review is to systemically summarize the immobilization methods of enzymes in/on membranes and the applications of the EIM system for biocatalysis.
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