Brassinosteroids (BRs) regulate a wide range of developmental and physiological processes in plants through a receptor-kinase signaling pathway that controls the BZR transcription factors. Here, we ...use transcript profiling and chromatin-immunoprecipitation microarray (ChIP-chip) experiments to identify 953 BR-regulated BZR1 target (BRBT) genes. Functional studies of selected BRBTs further demonstrate roles in BR promotion of cell elongation. The BRBT genes reveal numerous molecular links between the BR-signaling pathway and downstream components involved in developmental and physiological processes. Furthermore, the results reveal extensive crosstalk between BR and other hormonal and light-signaling pathways at multiple levels. For example, BZR1 not only controls the expression of many signaling components of other hormonal and light pathways but also coregulates common target genes with light-signaling transcription factors. Our results provide a genomic map of steroid hormone actions in plants that reveals a regulatory network that integrates hormonal and light-signaling pathways for plant growth regulation.
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▸ Genomic targets of brassinosteroid identified by BZR1 ChIP-chip ▸ Some BZR1 target genes mediate cell elongation ▸ Brassinosteroid regulates other hormone pathways ▸ Brassinosteroid regulates light signaling and light-responsive gene expression
Growth and replication of the protozoan parasite
Toxoplasma gondii
within host cell entail the production of several effector proteins, which the parasite exploits for counteracting the host’s immune ...response. Despite considerable research to define the host signaling pathways manipulated by
T. gondii
and their effectors, there has been limited progress into understanding how individual members of the dense granule proteins (GRAs) modulate gene expression within host cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether
T. gondii
GRA15 protein plays any role in regulating host gene expression. Baby hamster kidney cells (BHK-21) were transfected with plasmids encoding GRA15 genes of either type I GT1 strain (GRA15
I
) or type II PRU strain (GRA15
II
). Gene expression patterns of transfected and nontransfected BHK-21 cells were investigated using RNA-sequencing analysis. GRA15
I
and GRA15
II
induced both known and novel transcriptional changes in the transfected BHK-21 cells compared with nontransfected cells. Pathway analysis revealed that GRA15
II
was mainly involved in the regulation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), NF-κB, HTLV-I infection, and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways. GRA15
I
preferentially influenced the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in host cells. Our findings support the hypothesis that certain functions of GRA15 protein are strain dependent and that GRA15 modulates the expression of signaling pathways and genes with important roles in
T. gondii
pathophysiology. A greater understanding of host signaling pathways influenced by
T. gondii
effectors would allow the development of more efficient anti-
T. gondii
therapeutic schemes, capitalizing on disrupting parasite virulence factors to advance the treatment of toxoplasmosis.
With the development of the economy and the rapid increase in traffic volume, an overload phenomenon often occurs. This paper studied a vehicle load identification technique based on orthotropic ...bridge deck stress monitoring data. The strain responses on the lower edge of multiple U-ribs were collected under vehicles crossed the deck. Firstly, an index based on the cross-correlation function of strain response between different measurement points on the same U-rib was used to evaluate vehicle speed. Secondly, a cosine similarity index was proposed to locate the transverse position of the vehicle. Finally, the unknown vehicle load was identified on the basis of a calibrated strain response area matrix. The effectiveness and anti-noise performance of the proposed method were verified using numerical simulation. An experimental model was designed and some strain gauges were installed to measure the strain response, and the test was carried out to further verify the algorithm’s performance. Numerical and experimental results show that the proposed method could effectively identify the vehicle load with good anti-noise performance. Moreover, a calibration space was provided to guide practical engineering applications. The proposed method does not damage bridge decks, does not affect traffic, and is economical.
Perovskite transition-metal oxides are networks of corner-sharing octahedra whose tilts and distortions are known to affect their electronic and magnetic properties. We report calculations on a model ...interfacial structure which avoids chemical influences and show that the symmetry mismatch imposes an interfacial layer with distortion modes that do not exist in either bulk material, creating new interface properties driven by symmetry alone. Depending on the resistance of the octahedra to deformation, the interface layer can be as small as one unit cell or extend deep into the thin film.
In this study, fermentation with Lactobacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was applied to improve the flavor of cured duck leg meat. Odor and taste evaluations, lipid oxidation, volatile ...flavor substances, and protein degradation were determined to investigate the effects of microbial fermentation on flavor improvement. The results showed that the utilization of L. plantarum represented the most significant effect on lipid peroxidation inhibition (the lowest value of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and the highest content of polyunsaturated fatty acids) and also enhanced the generation of volatile flavor substances than nonfermented duck meat. Microbial fermentation accelerated protein degradation in duck meat. S. cerevisiae could produce glutamate to promote the umami taste flavor of cured duck leg meat, and L. plantarum significantly improved the sweet taste by releasing alanine. Meanwhile, mixed fermentation with the two microbial species resulted in the combination of both of their advantages. These findings not only indicate the potential application of microbial fermentation in characteristic duck meat but also indicate that fermentation improves sensory properties of duck products significantly.
•A sparse-grid collocation method is developed for structural reliability analysis.•The evaluation of probability moments of nonlinear limit state functions is given.•The method is effective for ...estimating low failure probabilities.
This paper develops a sparse grid stochastic collocation method for the reliability analysis of structures with uncertain parameters and loads. The method consists of two standard techniques in uncertainty quantification: the moment-based Gauss transformation and Smolyak-type sparse grid quadrature rule. Unlike the first-order reliability method (FORM) or second-order reliability method (SORM), the developed method does not need the evaluation of the first- or second-order partial derivatives of the limit state function considered and, moreover, does not suffer from the problem of multiple design points. In addition, the developed method is suitable for all problems whose deterministic solutions can be found and usually needs much fewer function evaluations than the Monte Carlo simulation method. Numerical examples demonstrate that the developed method is exact enough for evaluating the mean values, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis of the limit state functions and small probabilities of failure as low as 10−4. Even for probabilities of failure as low as 10−5, the quality of approximation obtained by the method is also acceptable.
Trust is of great significance to the economic and social development of a country. In the case of China, the trust of rural women has undergone tremendous changes along with the development of rural ...areas. It is seen that the trust of rural women has changed from localized to generalized trust, and it is stated that the major factor leading to this transformation is education. To explore the phenomenon empirically, the current study uses the survey data of rural women sourced from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) over the year 2018. Through the ordered probit model, the study reveals that education plays a significant role in influencing rural women's generalized trust and localized trust. Through mediation analysis, the study further reveals that reliance on Internet information, access to public resources, and income are the factors mediating the relationship between education and generalized trust. Besides, the outcomes further unveil that the impact of education on localized trust is stronger when the level of mobility is low. For robustness check, the current study additionally employs a regression discontinuity model. The overall findings elucidate that education is the major factor triggering the trust of rural women in China. The findings propose that policymakers in China should imply education-oriented strategies as individuals with higher levels of education are more inclined to trust others.
In this paper, a novel four-dimensional chaotic system with three quadratic nonlinearities and only one unstable equilibrium is reported. The dynamical behaviors with respect to system parameters and ...initial conditions are analyzed. It shows that the novel system performs periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic motions with the variation of parameters and generates a pair of symmetric coexisting attractors for different initial conditions. Moreover the circuit implementation and impulsive synchronization control of the system are well investigated with the achievement of some theoretical and numerical results.
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