Photocatalysis, as a novel technique, has been widely used for antibiotic pollution remediation in wastewater. In the processes of degradation and removal of antibiotics, the impact of photocatalysts ...on microenvironment is very important but remains poorly understood. In the present study, the effect of typical photocatalyst g-C
3
N
4
(Graphitic carbon nitride) on microbial community was investigated in two sediment types (riverbed sediment and pig-farm sediment) polluted by tetracycline (TC) in central southern China. The riverbed sediment and pig farm sediment samples were respectively exposed to g-C
3
N
4
(25, 75, 125 mg⋅kg
–1
) and TC (60, 120, 180 mg⋅L
–1
) treatments alone or combination for 30 days, respectively. The bacterial community and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of the treated sediments were analyzed by Illumina sequencing and metagenomic sequencing. Studies had shown that: TC, g-C
3
N
4
, and TC/g-C
3
N
4
have significant effects on the changes of microbial communities and components in riverbed sediment, but they do not exist in pig farm sediment. The most alterations of microbial taxa were
Acidobacteriota
,
Actinobacteriota
, and
Desulfobacterota
in riverbed sediment, and
Elusimicrobiota
in the pig farm sediment under various treatments. Through network analysis, it was found that the distribution of microorganisms in the pig farm sediment is more complex and more stable. The addition of g-C
3
N
4
reduced the absolute abundance of ARGs in the two examined sediments, but not significantly changed their relative abundance of ARGs. The g-C
3
N
4
application was beneficial to the removal of TC residues and to the prevention of the generation and transmission of ARGs in sediments. Our results suggested that g-C
3
N
4
was a suitable photocatalyst with excellent application prospect for the removal of TC residues and the control of ARGs in environment.
Drivers of metabolic diversification Liu, Zhenhua; Duran, Hernando G. Suarez; Harnvanichvech, Yosapol ...
New phytologist,
August 2020, Volume:
227, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
• Plants produce an array of specialized metabolites with important ecological functions. The mechanisms underpinning the evolution of new biosynthetic pathways are not well-understood. Here, we ...exploit available genome sequence resources to investigate triterpene biosynthesis across the Brassicaceae.
• Oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs) catalyze the first committed step in triterpene biosynthesis. Systematic analysis of 13 sequenced Brassicaceae genomes was performed to identify all OSC genes. The genome neighbourhoods (GNs) around a total of 163 OSC genes were investigated to identify Pfam domains significantly enriched in these regions. All-vs-all comparisons of OSC neighbourhoods and phylogenomic analysis were used to investigate the sequence similarity and evolutionary relationships of the numerous candidate triterpene biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) observed. Functional analysis of three representative BGCs was carried out and their triterpene pathway products were elucidated.
• Our results indicate that plant genomes are remarkably plastic, and that dynamic GNs generate new biosynthetic pathways in different Brassicaceae lineages by shuffling the genes encoding a core palette of triterpene-diversifying enzymes, presumably in response to strong environmental selection pressure.
• These results illuminate a genomic basis for diversification of plant-specialized metabolism through natural combinatorics of enzyme families, which can be mimicked using synthetic biology to engineer diverse bioactive molecules.
Business-to-business (B2B) marketers hesitate to embrace social media as a marketing tool, unlike their business-to-consumer (B2C) counterparts, and they struggle to implement successful social media ...strategies due to their limited understanding of the phenomenon. Drawing on communication and word-of-mouth theories, the authors investigate how marketers use Twitter differently across contexts and predict key factors likely to influence the message strategies used in each. A longitudinal content analysis and logistic regression support the assessment of a sample of more than 7000 tweets by Fortune 500 companies. Marketers in B2B and B2C settings exhibit significant differences in their branding and selling strategies; their use of message appeals; and the use of cues, links, and hashtags to support information searches. Whereas B2B marketers tend to use more emotional than functional appeals in their tweets, neither B2C nor B2B marketers have adopted “hard sell” message strategies.
•This paper analyzes Twitter communications for Fortune 500 companies.•B2B tweeting strategies are different than those for B2C.•B2B marketers use corporate brand names, functional appeals, and information search cues/links more frequently than B2C.•Emotional appeals are more frequent than functional appeals within B2B communications.
The aberrant expression of miR-221 is a hallmark of human cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its involvement in drug resistance, together with a proved
efficacy of anti-miR-221 ...molecules, strengthen its role as an attractive target candidate in the oncologic field. The discovery of biomarkers predicting the response to treatments represents a clinical challenge in the personalized treatment era. This study aimed to investigate the possible role of miR-221 as a circulating biomarker in HCC patients undergoing sorafenib treatment as well as to evaluate its contribution to sorafenib resistance in advanced HCC.
A chemically induced HCC rat model and a xenograft mouse model, together with HCC-derived cell lines were employed to analyze miR-221 modulation by Sorafenib treatment. Data from the functional analysis were validated in tissue samples from surgically resected HCCs. The variation of circulating miR-221 levels in relation to Sorafenib treatment were assayed in the animal models and in two independent cohorts of patients with advanced HCC.
MiR-221 over-expression was associated with Sorafenib resistance in two HCC animal models and caspase-3 was identified as its target gene, driving miR-221 anti-apoptotic activity following Sorafenib administration. Lower pre-treatment miR-221 serum levels were found in patients subsequently experiencing response to Sorafenib and an increase of circulating miR-221 at the two months assessment was observed in responder patients.
MiR-221 might represent a candidate biomarker of likelihood of response to Sorafenib in HCC patients to be tested in future studies. Caspase-3 modulation by miR-221 participates to Sorafenib resistance.
.
In this paper, we introduce the non-convex interval-valued functions for fuzzy-interval-valued functions, which are called
-convex fuzzy-interval-valued functions, by means of fuzzy order relation. ...This fuzzy order relation is defined level-wise through Kulisch–Miranker order relation given on the interval space. By using the
-convexity concept, we present fuzzy-interval Hermite–Hadamard inequalities for fuzzy-interval-valued functions. Several exceptional cases are debated, which can be viewed as useful applications. Interesting examples that verify the applicability of the theory developed in this study are presented. The results of this paper can be considered as extensions of previously established results.
Teaching parents to conduct functional analyses and to implement functional communication training is an efficacious approach for treating socially maintained problem behavior (Derby et al., 1997). ...Research has found that delivering this assessment and intervention package via telehealth technologies is efficient and acceptable to caregivers in the United States (Wacker et al., 2013b). We replicated this work with families residing in rural and urban areas of eight countries. Two behavior therapists located in the United States conducted appointments in the participants' native languages, using interpreters as needed. Parent‐implemented functional analyses and treatment with functional communication training were highly effective in reducing problem behavior in children diagnosed with autism. Furthermore, parents rated the procedures as acceptable and indicated that the treatment would be effective with their children. These findings indicate that telehealth technologies are a viable option for clinicians to provide behavior analysis services to families around the world.
In this paper, the transient response of the parallel RCL circuit with Caputo–Fabrizio derivative is solved by Laplace transforms. Also, the graphs of the obtained solutions for the different orders ...of the fractional derivatives are compared with each other and with the usual solutions. Finally, they are compared with practical and laboratory results.
We define a new rearrangement, called rearrangement by tamping, for non-negative measurable functions defined on R+. This rearrangement has many properties in common with the well-known Schwarz ...non-increasing rearrangement such as the Pólya–Szegő inequality. Contrary to the Schwarz rearrangement, the tamping also preserves the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition of a function.
Summary
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have several known functions in plant development, but their possible roles in responding to plant disease remain largely unresolved. In this study, we described ...a comprehensive disease‐responding lncRNA profiles in defence against a cotton fungal disease Verticillium dahliae. We further revealed the conserved and specific characters of disease‐responding process between two cotton species. Conservatively for two cotton species, we found the expression dominance of induced lncRNAs in the Dt subgenome, indicating a biased induction pattern in the co‐existing subgenomes of allotetraploid cotton. Comparative analysis of lncRNA expression and their proposed functions in resistant Gossypium barbadense cv. ‘7124’ versus susceptible Gossypium hirsutum cv. ‘YZ1’ revealed their distinct disease response mechanisms. Species‐specific (LS) lncRNAs containing more SNPs displayed a fiercer inducing level postinfection than the species‐conserved (core) lncRNAs. Gene Ontology enrichment of LS lncRNAs and core lncRNAs indicates distinct roles in the process of biotic stimulus. Further functional analysis showed that two core lncRNAs, GhlncNAT‐ANX2‐ and GhlncNAT‐RLP7‐silenced seedlings, displayed an enhanced resistance towards V. dahliae and Botrytis cinerea, possibly associated with the increased expression of LOX1 and LOX2. This study represents the first characterization of lncRNAs involved in resistance to fungal disease and provides new clues to elucidate cotton disease response mechanism.
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