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•Matured compost inoculation influenced sewage sludge composting properties.•Heating and volatile solid degradation rates in the thermophilic phase were reduced.•Matured compost ...increased enzyme contents during the mesophilic phase.•Bacterial diversity increased in the mesophilic phase with matured compost.•Matured compost affected correlations of microorganisms and enzyme activities.
The influence of matured compost inoculation during sewage sludge with sawdust composting was assessed. Mature compost reduced the heating rate, thermophilic phase, peak temperature, and volatile solid degradation rate, with no significant effect on pH and germination index. Matured compost addition also increased the cellulase, peroxidase, arylsulfatase, and urease contents during the mesophilic phase, and increased the urease content but decreased the cellulase, peroxidase, protease, and arylsulfatase contents during the cooling phase, with no significant effect on enzyme activities at the thermophilic phase. Matured compost increased the diversity of bacteria during the mesophilic and thermophilic phases, but reduced the fungal diversity throughout composting. Matured compost significantly improved uniformity of the bacterial community and affected the structure of the bacterial and fungal communities, while changing the correlation between some functional microorganisms and enzyme activities. These results provide guidance for optimizing the composting process when matured compost as bulking agent.
Although itch and pain have many similarities, they are completely different in perceptual experience and behavioral response. In recent years, we have a deep understanding of the neural pathways of ...itch sensation transmission. However, there are few reports on the role of non‐neuronal cells in itch. Microglia are known to play a key role in chronic neuropathic pain and acute inflammatory pain. It is still unknown whether microglia are also involved in regulating the transmission of itch sensation. In the present study, we used several kinds of transgenic mice to specifically deplete CX3CR1+ microglia and peripheral macrophages together (whole depletion), or selectively deplete microglia alone (central depletion). We observed that the acute itch responses to histamine, compound 48/80 and chloroquine were all significantly reduced in mice with either whole or central depletion. Spinal c‐fos mRNA assay and further studies revealed that histamine and compound 48/80, but not chloroquine elicited primary itch signal transmission from DRG to spinal Npr1‐ and somatostatin‐positive neurons relied on microglial CX3CL1‐CX3CR1 pathway. Our results suggested that microglia were involved in multiple types of acute chemical itch transmission, while the underlying mechanisms for histamine‐dependent and non‐dependent itch transmission were different that the former required the CX3CL1‐CX3CR1 signal pathway.
Main Point
Microglia were involved in multiple types of acute chemical itch transmission, while the underlying mechanisms for histamine dependent and non‐dependent itch transmission were different. The former required the CX3CL1‐CX3CR1 signal pathway.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious health problem in the world. However, little is known about the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of TBI. Here, we show that TBI activates neuregulin 1 ...(NRG1)-ErbB4 signaling, with an increased expression of NRG1 and ErbB4 in the traumatic region. Specifically knocking out
ErbB4
in parvalbumin-positive (PV
+
) interneurons exacerbates motor function deficits in mice after TBI. Consistently, PV-ErbB4
−/−
mice showed larger necrotic area and more edema when compared with PV-ErbB4
+/+
mice. Replenishment of NRG1 through intranasal application of the recombinant protein in PV-ErbB4
+/+
mice enhanced neurological function. Moreover, using an in vitro neuronal culture system, we found that NRG1–ErbB4 signaling protects neurons from glutamate-induced death, and such protective effects could be diminished by GABA receptor antagonist. These results indicate that NRG-ErbB4 signaling protects cortical neurons from TBI-induced damage, and such effect is probably mediated by promoting GABA activity. Taken together, these findings unveil a previously unappreciated role for NRG1-ErB4 signaling in preventing neuronal cell death during functional recovery after TBI.
Abstract
Carbon-introducing difunctionalization of C-C double bonds enabled by transition-metal catalysis is one of most straightforward and efficient strategies to construct C-C and C-X bonds ...concurrently from readily available feedstocks towards structurally diverse molecules in one step; however, analogous difunctionalization for introducing germanium group and other functionalities remains elusive. Herein, we describe a nickel-catalyzed germylative alkylation of activated olefins with easily accessible primary, secondary and tertiary alkyl bromides and chlorogermanes as the electrophiles to form C-Ge and C-C
alkyl
bonds simultaneously. This method provides a modular and facile approach for the synthesis of a broad range of alkylgermanes with good functional group compatibility, and can be further applied to the late-stage modification of natural products and pharmaceuticals, as well as ligation of drug fragments. More importantly, this platform enables the expedient synthesis of germanium substituted ospemifene-Ge-OH, which shows improved properties compared to ospemifene in the treatment of breast cancer cells, demonstrating high potential of our protocol in drug development.
Organic synthesis using gold has gained tremendous attention in last few years, especially heterogeneous gold catalysis based on gold nanoparticles has made its place in almost all organic reactions, ...because of the robust and green nature of gold catalysts. In this context, gold nanopore (AuNPore) with a 3D metal framework is giving a new dimension to heterogeneous gold catalysts. Interestingly, AuNPore chemistry is proving better than gold nanoparticles based chemistry. In this review, along with recent advances, major discoveries in heterogeneous gold catalysis are discussed.
Ramie, Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaudich, family Urticaceae, is a plant native to eastern Asia, and one of the world's oldest fibre crops. It is also used as animal feed and for the phytoremediation of ...heavy metal‐contaminated farmlands. Thus, the genome sequence of ramie was determined to explore the molecular basis of its fibre quality, protein content and phytoremediation. For further understanding ramie genome, different paired‐end and mate‐pair libraries were combined to generate 134.31 Gb of raw DNA sequences using the Illumina whole‐genome shotgun sequencing approach. The highly heterozygous B. nivea genome was assembled using the Platanus Genome Assembler, which is an effective tool for the assembly of highly heterozygous genome sequences. The final length of the draft genome of this species was approximately 341.9 Mb (contig N50 = 22.62 kb, scaffold N50 = 1,126.36 kb). Based on ramie genome annotations, 30,237 protein‐coding genes were predicted, and the repetitive element content was 46.3%. The completeness of the final assembly was evaluated by benchmarking universal single‐copy orthologous genes (BUSCO); 90.5% of the 1,440 expected embryophytic genes were identified as complete, and 4.9% were identified as fragmented. Phylogenetic analysis based on single‐copy gene families and one‐to‐one orthologous genes placed ramie with mulberry and cannabis, within the clade of urticalean rosids. Genome information of ramie will be a valuable resource for the conservation of endangered Boehmeria species and for future studies on the biogeography and characteristic evolution of members of Urticaceae.
Objective
Alterations of empathy have been observed in patients with various mental disorders. The Perth Empathy Scale (PES) was recently developed to measure a multidimensional construct of empathy ...across positive and negative emotions. However, its psychometric properties and clinical applications have not been examined in the Chinese context.
Methods
The Chinese version of the PES was developed and administered to a large Chinese sample (n = 1090). Factor structure, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and convergent, discriminant, as well as concurrent validity were examined. Moreover, 50 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 50 healthy controls were recruited to explore the clinical utility of the PES.
Results
Confirmatory factor analyses supported a theoretically congruent three‐factor structure of empathy, namely Cognitive Empathy, Negative Affective Empathy and Positive Affective Empathy. The PES showed good to excellent internal consistency reliability, good convergent and discriminant validity, acceptable concurrent validity, and moderate to high test–retest reliability. Patients with MDD had significantly lower PES scores compared to healthy controls. Linear discriminant function comprised of the three factors correctly differentiated 71% of participants, which further verified the clinical utility of the PES.
Conclusions
Our findings indicated that the Chinese version of the PES is a reliable and valid instrument to measure cognitive and affective empathy across negative and positive emotions, and could therefore be used in both research and clinical practice.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are being increasingly recognized as major players in governing fundamental biological processes through diverse mechanisms. Maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) is an ...imprinted gene located at 14q32 that encodes a lncRNA correlated with several human cancers. Recently, the methylation-dependent downregulation of MEG3 has been described in liver cancers. However, its biological functional role in liver fibrosis remains unknown. In our study, MEG3 levels were remarkably decreased in CCl4-induced mouse liver fibrosis models and human fibrotic livers as demonstrated by real-time quantitative PCR. Moreover, the expression of MEG3 was downregulated in human hepatic stellate cell lines LX-2 cells in response to transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) stimulation in dose and time-dependent manner. Enforced expression of MEG3 in LX-2 cells inhibited TGF-β1-induced cell proliferation, while promoting cell apoptosis. In addition, hypermethylation of MEG3 promoter was identified by methylation-specific PCR and MEG3 expression was robustly increased by the inhibition of methylation with either 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (5-azadC), or siRNA to DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) in TGF-β1-induced LX-2 cells. More importantly, overexpression of MEG3 could activate p53 and mediate cytochrome c release, subsequently leading to caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in TGF-β1-treated LX-2 cells. These findings suggested that MEG3 may play an important role in stellate cell activation and liver fibrosis progression and act as a novel potential therapeutic target for liver fibrosis.
•The downregulation of long noncoding RNA MEG3 in liver fibrosis.•Downregulation of MEG3 may be due to hypermethylation of MEG3 gene promoter.•MEG3 modulates HSC proliferation by activating p53/caspase-3 signaling pathway.
Time-reversal invariant topological insulator is widely recognized as one of the fundamental discoveries in condensed matter physics, for which the most fascinating hallmark is perhaps a spin-based ...topological protection, the absence of scattering of conduction electrons with certain spins on matter surface. Recently, it has created a paradigm shift for topological insulators, from electronics to photonics, phononics and mechanics as well, bringing about not only involved new physics but also potential applications in robust wave transport. Despite the growing interests in topologically protected acoustic wave transport, T-invariant acoustic topological insulator has not yet been achieved. Here we report experimental demonstration of anomalous Floquet topological insulator for sound: a strongly coupled metamaterial ring lattice that supports one-way propagation of pseudo-spin-dependent edge states under T-symmetry. We also demonstrate the formation of pseudo-spin-dependent interface states due to lattice dislocations and investigate the properties of pass band and band gap states.
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