Next Generation sequencing (NGS) applied to human papilloma viruses (HPV) can provide sensitive methods to investigate the molecular epidemiology of multiple type HPV infection. Currently a ...genotyping system with a comprehensive collection of updated HPV reference sequences and a capacity to handle NGS data sets is lacking. HPV-QUEST was developed as an automated and rapid HPV genotyping system. The web-based HPV-QUEST subtyping algorithm was developed using HTML, PHP, Perl scripting language, and MYSQL as the database backend. HPV-QUEST includes a database of annotated HPV reference sequences with updated nomenclature covering 5 genuses, 14 species and 150 mucosal and cutaneous types to genotype blasted query sequences. HPV-QUEST processes up to 10 megabases of sequences within 1 to 2 minutes. Results are reported in html, text and excel formats and display e-value, blast score, and local and coverage identities; provide genus, species, type, infection site and risk for the best matched reference HPV sequence; and produce results ready for additional analyses.
The xylem limited plant pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa causes economically important diseases on agronomic, horticultural and landscape plants. This review includes the current status of ...polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based systems for detection and characterization of X. fastidiosa, and presents a genome-wide analysis of strain differentiation. The use of genomics data for strain comparisons will improve the understanding of the genetic determinants of strain specific pathogenicity and virulence. The genome-level analysis can be applied to design new strategies for management and control of Xylella fastidiosa associated diseases in a wide range of crops.
•Multiple time-varying delay links are introduced into fractional-order competitive neural networks.•An integral inequality associated with every upper bound of each time-varying delay is ...proposed.•Based on integral inequality, a generalized fractional-order Halanay inequality is obtained.•The stability criterion is dependent on the topological structure of networks.
Competitive neural networks have become increasingly popular since this kind of neural networks can better describe the dynamics of cortical cognitive maps with unsupervised synaptic modifications. In this paper, we first propose fractional-order competitive neural networks with multiple time-varying-delay links and explore the global asymptotic stability of this class of neural networks. A novel and generalized integral inequality related to every upper bound of each time-varying delay is given. Moreover, based on Lyapunov method and graph theory, we obtain some sufficient conditions with the help of this integral inequality to guarantee the global asymptotic stability. The theoretical results offer a new perspective to show the close relationship between the stability criterion and the topological structure of networks. Finally, an illustrative numerical example is given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the theoretical results.
The safety of high-speed trains is considerably compromised by increasing speed trends. Thus, braking plate technology has been applied to high-speed trains. The purpose of this study is to clarify ...the evolution law of the flow field of the vehicle during the opening of the braking plate and analyze the influence of the plate movement on the aerodynamic performance of the train. In this study, the flow field was computed using incompressible Navier–Stokes equations and the shear-stress transport (SST) k–ω turbulence model, and the unsteady flow over the opening brake plates was simulated using moving overlapping grids and dual time-stepping. The numerical method was verified through comparison with wind tunnel data (error <8%). The results reveal that the upstream braking plate significantly decreases the aerodynamic forces of the downstream plate during opening of the plates and causes the aerodynamic drag of the downstream braking plate to fluctuate significantly when it increases. The operation of the braking plate produces a small increase in the drag force of the train body (2.6%), but it significantly decreases the lift force of the train body (by up to 94%), especially during the opening of the braking plates. The flow field in the upper part of the train is significantly changed by the opening of the braking plate. In particular, the pressure in the cavity of the braking device changes sharply, and the surface is subjected to a large pulse pressure.
•The maximum aerodynamic forces of the braking plates appeared during opening.•Effect of opening braking plate on aerodynamic drag and lift of train body.•The evolution of the flow in the upper part of train during the opening of plate.•Compared with upstream plate, the flow field of downstream plate are more complex.
Ferulic acid (FA) has antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, and is a promising drug to treat sepsis.
To study the therapeutic effect of FA in sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and its ...underlying mechanisms.
The caecal ligation and puncture (CLP) manoeuvre was applied to establish a murine model of sepsis-induced ALI, and female BALB/c mice (6 mice per group) were subjected to 100 mg/kg FA or 0.8 mg/kg ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1, ferroptosis inhibitor) treatment to clarify the role of FA in preserving alveolar epithelial barrier function and inhibiting ferroptosis. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 500 ng/mL)-induced cell models were prepared and subjected to FA (0.1 μM), sh-Nrf2, and Fe (Fe-citrate, ferroptosis inducer; 5 M) treatment to study the in vitro effect of FA on LPS-induced alveolar epithelial cell injury and the role of the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.
We found that FA decreased the lung injury score (48% reduction), lung wet/dry weight ratio (33% reduction), and myeloperoxidase activity (58% reduction) in sepsis-induced ALI. Moreover, FA inhibited ferroptosis of alveolar epithelial cells and improved alveolar epithelial barrier dysfunction. The protective role of FA against alveolar epithelial barrier dysfunction could be reversed by the ferroptosis inducer Fe-citrate, suggesting that FA alleviates alveolar epithelial barrier dysfunction by inhibiting ferroptosis. Mechanistically, we found that FA inhibited ferroptosis of alveolar epithelial cells by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.
Collectively, our data highlighted the alleviatory role of ferulic acid in sepsis-induced ALI by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and inhibiting ferroptosis, offering a new basis for sepsis treatment.
Kucha (Camellia sinensis) is a kind of unique wild tea resources in southwest China, containing sizeable amounts of theacrine (1,3,7,9-tetramethyluric acid) and having a special bitter taste both in ...fresh leaves and made tea. Theacrine has good healthy function locally. But the molecular mechanism of theacrine metabolism in Kucha was still unclear. In order to illuminate the biosynthesis and catabolism of theacrine in Kucha plants, three tea cultivars, C. sinensis 'Shangyou Zhongye' (SY) with low-theacrine, 'Niedu Kucha 2' (ND2) with middle-theacrine and, 'Niedu Kucha 3' (ND3) with high-theacrine, were used for our research. Purine alkaloid analysis and transcriptome of those samples were performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and RNA-Seq, respectively. The related gene expression levels of purine alkaloid were correlated with the content of purine alkaloid, and the results of quantitative real-time (qRT) PCR were also confirmed the reliability of transcriptome. Based on the data, we found that theacrine biosynthesis is a relatively complex process, N-methyltransferase (NMT) encoded by TEA024443 may catalyze the methylation at 9-N position in Kucha plant. Our finding will assist to reveal the molecular mechanism of theacrine biosynthesis, and be applied to selection and breeding of Kucha tea cultivars in the future.
Multi-group models have attracted considerable attention due to their promising potential applications in various fields. In this paper, aperiodically intermittent control is designed to study the ...exponential stability of fractional-order multi-group models with dispersal. By applying Lyapunov method and graph theory, some sufficient conditions about exponential stability are established. From the theoretical results, we observe that the convergence speed depends on the control gain and the order of fractional derivative. Moreover, to show the practicality of theoretical results, we provide an application of modified fractional-order competitive neural networks. A stability criterion is also given to guarantee the exponential stability of modified fractional-order competitive neural networks. Finally, a numerical example is provided to show the effectiveness of the stated results. Some simulation comparisons are also carried out to illustrate the relationship between the convergence speed and the control gain with the order of fractional derivative.
Raman spectra of two series of InAs/AlAs short-period superlattices were measured at room temperature to investigate the impact of strain on the phonon modes taking into consideration the confinement ...effect and interface mode. The evolution of strain in the InAs layer and the AlAs layer was studied in (InAs)
/(AlAs)
superlattices grown at various temperatures (400-550 °C). While the strain existed in the AlAs layer remained almost constant, the strain in the InAs layer varied significantly as the growth temperature increased from 500 to 550 °C. The confinement effect on the optical phonons was analyzed based on results from (InAs)
/(AlAs)
grown at 450 °C (n = 2, 3, 4, and 5). Additionally, the confinement effect was found to be stronger in shorter periods with higher interface quality. The interface phonon modes were resolved between the longitudinal optical and transverse optical phonon modes, which assist in the rough estimation of the thickness of the layers. The disorder-activated acoustic phonon modes at the low-frequency side were also addressed.
PDF
