Aims
Plant tissues are the reservoirs of beneficial and harmful microbes that regulates plant growth. In the present study, we investigated the diversity, function and colonization of sugarcane roots ...associated with Bacillus spp.
Methods and Results
A total of 20 Bacillus strains were isolated and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and their genetic diversity was examined by BOX, ERIC, REP, (GTG)5 PCR techniques. Among all Bacillus isolates, 65% showed indole acetic acid‐like compounds production, 50% solubilized phosphorus and 25% of the isolates were able to secrete siderophore. Moreover, all 20 Bacillus isolates showed antifungal activity against eight fungal pathogens and 11 of them (55%) antagonized tomato grey mold. Based on the plant growth‐promoting traits and antifungal potential, isolate Y8 was selected for root and plant tissue colonization assays and a greenhouse‐level sugarcane growth promotion study. Fluorescence microscopy results confirmed that isolate Y8 has a strong ability to colonize in the sugarcane root and leaves, and the root surface association of Y8 was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, greenhouse experimental results demonstrated that Y8 has a significant effect on enhancing sugarcane biomass and root length.
Conclusions
Endophytic Bacillus strains have growth‐promoting properties and anti‐fungal ability that can enhance plant fitness in an eco‐friendly manner.
Significance and Impact of the Study
Endophytic Bacillus strains would be a potential alternative to chemical fertilizer as well as a biocontrol agent in the future.
•The dynamic model of an eccentric rotating CFRP cylindrical shell using FSDT is established for the first time.•The buckling and free vibration analyses of the eccentric rotating CFRP cylindrical ...shell are presented.•Taking into account the influences of coriolis and centrifugal forces caused by eccentric rotation.•The critical bucking mode of the shell alters from (1, 1) to (2, 1) with the increase of rotating speed.
In this paper, the dynamic model of an eccentric rotating carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminated cylindrical shell based on the first-order shear deformation theory is established for the first time. The buckling and free vibration analyses of the eccentric rotating CFRP laminated cylindrical shell under the axial excitation are presented. Taking into account the influences of Coriolis force and centrifugal force caused by eccentric rotation. By utilizing the Hamilton principle, the first-order shear deformation theory and the von-Karman type nonlinear geometric relationship, a system of the partial differential governing equations for the eccentric rotating CFRP laminated cylindrical shell is derived. Then, the ordinary differential equations of the eccentric rotating CFRP laminated cylindrical shell are obtained according to Galerkin method. The present method are validated by carrying out some comparisons with the existing results in the published literatures. The natural frequencies and critical buckling loads of the system are solved numerically. In this study, the influences of the eccentric distance, ratio of radius to length, rotating speed as well as the number of layers of the eccentric rotating CFRP laminated cylindrical shell on the buckling and free vibration behaviors are discussed.
Public controversy regarding the potential overdiagnosis and overmedication of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has continued for decades. This study used the National ...Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan (NHIRD-TW) to explore trends in ADHD diagnosis in youths and the proportion of those receiving medication, with the aim of determining whether ADHD is overdiagnosed and overmedicated in Taiwan.
Youths (age ≤18 years) who had at least two NHIRD-TW claims records with ADHD diagnosis between January 2000 and December 2011 were selected as the subject cohort. In total, the study sample comprised 145 018 patients with ADHD (mean age at a diagnosis of ADHD: 7.7 ± 3.1 years; 21.4% females). The number of cases of ADHD were calculated annually for each year (from 2000 to 2011), and the number of cases per year who received medication was determined as those with at least one record of pharmacotherapy (immediate-release methylphenidate, osmotic controlled-release formulation of methylphenidate, and atomoxetine) in each year.
The prevalence rates of a diagnosis of ADHD in the youths ranged from 0.11% in 2000 to 1.24% in 2011. Compared with children under 6 years of age, the ADHD diagnosis rates in children aged between 7 and 12 years (ratio of prevalence rates = 4.36) and in those aged between 13 and 18 years (ratio of prevalence rates = 1.42) were significantly higher during the study period. The prevalence in males was higher than that in females (ratio of prevalence rates = 4.09). Among the youths with ADHD, 50.2% received medications in 2000 compared with 61.0% in 2011. The probability of receiving ADHD medication increased with age. More male ADHD patients received medications that females patients (ratio of prevalence rates = 1.16).
The rate of ADHD diagnosis was far lower than the prevalence rate (7.5%) identified in a previous community study using face-to-face interviews. Approximately 40-50% of the youths with ADHD did not receive any medications. These findings are not consistent with a systematic public opinion about overdiagnosis or overmedication of ADHD in Taiwan.
ABSTRACT This paper reports on the measurement of the large-scale anisotropy in the distribution of cosmic-ray arrival directions using the data collected by the air shower detector ARGO-YBJ from ...2008 January to 2009 December, during the minimum of solar activity between cycles 23 and 24. In this period, more than 2 × 1011 showers were recorded with energies between ∼1 and 30 TeV. The observed two-dimensional distribution of cosmic rays is characterized by two wide regions of excess and deficit, respectively, both of relative intensity ∼10−3 with respect to a uniform flux, superimposed on smaller size structures. The harmonic analysis shows that the large-scale cosmic-ray relative intensity as a function of R.A. can be described by the first and second terms of a Fouries series. The high event statistics allow the study of the energy dependence of the anistropy, showing that the amplitude increases with energy, with a maximum intensity at ∼10 TeV, and then decreases while the phase slowly shifts toward lower values of R.A. with increasing energy. The ARGO-YBJ data provide accurate observations over more than a decade of energy around this feature of the anisotropy spectrum.
Background
The generation of the tolerogenic dendritic cells (DC) is not fully understood yet. Forkhead box protein‐3 (Foxp3) is an important molecule in the immune tolerance. This study tests a ...hypothesis that DCs express Foxp3, which can be upregulated by Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB).
Methods
The expression of Foxp3 by DCs was evaluated by real‐time RT‐PCR, Western blotting, flow cytometry, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay.
Results
We observed that mice treated with SEB at 0.25–0.5 μg/mouse showed high frequencies of transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β‐producing CD4+ T cells and TGF‐β‐producing DCs in the intestine, while the IL‐4+ CD4+ T cells and TIM4+ DCs were dominated in the intestine in mice treated with SEB at 1–10 μg/mouse. Treating DCs with SEB in the culture induced high levels of Foxp3 at the TGF‐β promoter locus. The function of Foxp3 was blocked by STAT6 (signal transducer and activator transcription‐6); the latter was induced by exposing DCs to SEB in the culture at doses of 100–400 ng/ml. Treating allergic mice with specific immunotherapy (SIT) together with SEB significantly promoted the therapeutic effects on the allergic responses than treating with SIT alone.
Conclusion
Dendritic cells have the capacity to express Foxp3, which can be upregulated by exposure to SEB.
Porous materials provide a large surface‐to‐volume ratio, thereby providing a knob to alter fundamental properties in unprecedented ways. In thermal transport, porous nanomaterials can reduce thermal ...conductivity by not only enhancing phonon scattering from the boundaries of the pores and therefore decreasing the phonon mean free path, but also by reducing the phonon group velocity. Herein, a structure–property relationship is established by measuring the porosity and thermal conductivity of individual electrolessly etched single‐crystalline silicon nanowires using a novel electron‐beam heating technique. Such porous silicon nanowires exhibit extremely low diffusive thermal conductivity (as low as 0.33 W m−1 K−1 at 300 K for 43% porosity), even lower than that of amorphous silicon. The origin of such ultralow thermal conductivity is understood as a reduction in the phonon group velocity, experimentally verified by measuring the Young's modulus, as well as the smallest structural size ever reported in crystalline silicon (<5 nm). Molecular dynamics simulations support the observation of a drastic reduction in thermal conductivity of silicon nanowires as a function of porosity. Such porous materials provide an intriguing platform to tune phonon transport, which can be useful in the design of functional materials toward electronics and nanoelectromechanical systems.
Ultralow thermal conductivity of single‐crystalline porous silicon nanowires is probed. An electron‐beam technique is employed to directly measure the porosity of individual nanowires and also measure their thermal conductivity. A classical size effect due to small structure size combined with phonon softening arising from a large surface‐to‐volume ratio is shown to explain this behavior within the framework of diffusive thermal transport.
Diabetes mellitus has been recognized since antiquity. It currently affects as many as 285 million people worldwide and results in heavy personal and national economic burdens. Considerable progress ...has been made in orthodox antidiabetic drugs. However, new remedies are still in great demand because of the limited efficacy and undesirable side effects of current orthodox drugs. Nature is an extraordinary source of antidiabetic medicines. To date, more than 1200 flowering plants have been claimed to have antidiabetic properties. Among them, one-third have been scientifically studied and documented in around 460 publications. In this review, we select and discuss blood glucose-lowering medicinal herbs that have the ability to modulate one or more of the pathways that regulate insulin resistance, β-cell function, GLP-1 homeostasis, and glucose (re)absorption. Emphasis is placed on phytochemistry, anti-diabetic bioactivities, and likely mechanism(s). Recent progress in the understanding of the biological actions, mechanisms, and therapeutic potential of compounds and extracts of plant origin in type 2 diabetes is summarized. This review provides a source of up-to-date information for further basic and clinical research into herbal therapy for type 2 diabetes. Emerging views on therapeutic strategies for type 2 diabetes are also discussed.
Controlling the rate of softening to extend shelf life was a key target for researchers engineering genetically modified (GM) tomatoes in the 1990s, but only modest improvements were achieved. ...Hybrids grown nowadays contain 'non-ripening mutations' that slow ripening and improve shelf life, but adversely affect flavor and color. We report substantial, targeted control of tomato softening, without affecting other aspects of ripening, by silencing a gene encoding a pectate lyase.
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