•DGE combining with transgenic work to discover drought response genes in Caragana korshinskii Kom.•Hundreds of differentially expressed genes were screened.•One potential drought response functional ...gene has been identified.
Caragana korshinskii Kom. is a legume shrub that is widely distributed across desert habitats with gravely, sandy, and saline soils in Asia and Africa. C. korshinskii has highly developed roots and a strong tolerance to abiotic stress. At present, there are few genetic studies of C. korshinskii because of the limited availability of genomic resources. To understand the comprehensive mechanisms that are associated with drought tolerance, we used RNA-seq to survey the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in comparisons of drought-treated and control plants. After analysing the sequencing results, we found 440 differentially expressed genes existing in drought-treated and control plants. Among the DEGs, 39 unigenes showed up-regulated expression after drought treatment, while 401 unigenes were down-regulated. We used the KEGG database to annotate these drought-induced genes; 126 unigenes were identified by KEGG pathway annotation, and approximately 28% of the unigenes with known function fell into categories related to fatty acid metabolism, starch, sucrose metabolism, and nitrogen metabolism, suggesting that these pathways or processes may be involved in the drought response. Finally, we confirmed that one gene has a potential function in drought tolerance.
Our study is the first to provide transcriptomic resources for Caragana korshinskii and to determine its digital gene expression profile under conditions of drought stress using the assembled transcriptomic data for reference. These data provide a valuable resource for genetic and genomic studies of desert plants under abiotic stress conditions.
The dried rhizome of Cimicifuga heracleifolia Kom. (C. heracleifolia) is a popular traditional Chinese medicine, which has been extensively used in Asian countries for its anti-inflammatory, ...antipyretic and analgesic activities. However, further utilization and application of C. heracleifolia have been hampered due to a lack of full understanding of its active ingredients.
The present study aims for clarification of the systematical chemical profile of C. heracleifolia and the immunomodulatory effect of its main bioavailable component.
Comprehensive chemical profile of C. heracleifolia was systematically analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography hyphenated with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS). Xenobiotics after oral administration of C. heracleifolia extracts were investigated to hunt for bioavailable components. The immunomodulatory activity evaluation of cimigenoside was achieved on poly(I:C)-induced airway inflammation mouse and BEAS-2B cell models from aspects of neutrophil infiltration, lung inflammation by using microscope analysis, quantification of production and expression of inflammatory cytokine and chemokines by using ELISA and quantitative PCR.
By UPLC-Q-TOF/MS analysis, 110 compounds (including 81 triterpenoids, 21 cinnamic acid derivatives, and 8 other structure types) were identified or tentatively characterized in ethanolic extract of C. heracleifolia. Based on the data of chemical profile, xenobiotics of C. heracleifolia were subsequently analyzed, and triterpene glycosides were detected as the major bioavailable ingredients. Oral administration of cimigenoside, a representative triterpene glycoside, could prevent neutrophils infiltration in the lung due to suppression of the production of CXCL2 and CXCL10, and the expression of P-selectin, VCAM1 in poly(I:C)-induced airway inflammation model mice. Moreover, cimigenoside also inhibited the productions of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines from human airway epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B cells) induced by poly(I:C).
Triterpene glycosides were the main components of C. heracleifolia extract, and cimigenoside was considered as the effective component with immunomodulatory effect on the pulmonary immune system by oral administration.
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•Chemical profile of Cimicifuga heracleifolia Kom. were systematically characterized.•Triterpene glycosides of Cimicifuga heracleifolia Kom. were the major bioavailable components.•Cimigenoside showed a strong anti-inflammatory activity on poly(I:C)-induced airway inflammation mice model.•Cimigenoside could reduce the release of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in poly(I:C)-stimulated BEAS-2B cells.
Quantifying the effects of environmental variables on radial growth has real significance for reasonably predicting the impacts of environmental changes on tree dynamics. This study used Picea ...crassifolia, a widely distributed dominant evergreen coniferous tree species found on the north-eastern fringe of the Tibetan Plateau, as a case study to analyse the associations of radial growth with environmental variables during 1960–2018 using a correlation analysis and sliding correlation analysis. The responses of radial growth to different moisture conditions were further quantitatively evaluated through the generalised linear model and relative dominance analysis. The results show that the radial growth of P. crassifolia is mainly influenced by moisture conditions in the study area. Specifically, the response times of P. crassifolia radial growth to soil moisture and precipitation differ, as radial growth has a significant positive correlation with precipitation in the early growth period. Notably, radial growth has a remarkable and stable correlation with soil moisture in the autumn and winter seasons of the previous year. This study provides a theoretical foundation and scientific grounds for analysing the response of Tibetan Plateau forests to climate change and can act as a reference for future research on the response of radial growth to soil moisture in alpine regions.
•Soil moisture impacts the growth of P. crassifolia on the northeast edge of the Tibetan Plateau.•The response time of P. crassifolia to soil moisture is more stable.•Precipitation in May and June promotes the growth of P. crassifolia.•Soil moisture of the previous year is used for tree growth at the beginning of the growing season.•The response of radial growth to soil moisture is positive and stable from 1960 to 2018.
Challenging dominant historical narratives that gloss over the history of colonialism and slavery, black collectives in the Netherlands are increasingly turning to the history of history writing ...(metahistory) by black radical thinkers. Counter histories in which transatlantic slavery features central, serve to situate ongoing practices of institutional racism and to articulate claims to citizenship and national memory. Placing different mobilizations of these histories in an international context, we identify two repertoires through which activists invoke them: iconicity and articulation. While both emphasise the importance of tradition, iconicity highlights the canonisation of persons and events and suggests that they can be drawn upon for inspiration in all times, and places. Traditions formed through articulation are brought into existence as part of the cultural-political work of mobilisation, when the mobilisation ends they may be reinterpreted and rearticulated to a new political context. These repertoires are not mutually exclusive and may even be mutually constitutive. However, this article shows different uses of alternative histories in the Netherlands and highlights the tensions between the two registers to understand ongoing formations of antiracist and anticolonial political subjectivities.
: The Knowledge of Malnutrition - Geriatric 2.0' (KoM-G 2.0) instrument was designed to quantify nursing staff malnutrition knowledge in inpatient medical and rehabilitation care facilities, as well ...as home health care. It has been used to assess grasp of current clinical practice guidelines and proficiency in addressing issues related to malnutrition. It provides insight into familiarity with and capacity to tackle issues pertaining to malnutrition in clinical practice. Furthermore, it has been used assess the effectiveness of educational interventions aimed at improving nursing professionals knowledge and awareness of malnutrition.
: The quality of nursing education affects malnutrition risk assessment, monitoring of food intake, and effectiveness of nutrition care. Improvements in malnutrition education require determining the current level of knowledge and benchmarking with other countries. In the Czech Republic, no nationwide assessment of nursing staff malnutrition knowledge has ever been conducted.
: The purpose of the study was to translate the KoM-G 2.0 instrument, gather initial validity evidence, and evaluate nursing staff knowledge of malnutrition in inpatient medical, rehabilitation care facilities, and home care in the Czech Republic. All inpatient healthcare facilities and home healthcare facilities in the Czech Republic were invited to participate. The Czech version of the internationally standardized KoM-G 2.0 (KoM-G 2.0 CZ) was used to assess nursing staff malnutrition knowledge between 3 February 2021 and 31 May 2021. A total of 728 nurses began the questionnaire, and 465 (63.9%) of respondents completed it and were included in the study. Data analyses examined instrument difficulty, discriminability, and reliability, as well as sources of variation in knowledge scores.
: The psychometric characteristics of the KoM-G 2.0 CZ instrument included the difficulty index Q (0.61), the discriminant index (ULI 0.29, RIT 0.38, upper-lower 30% 0.67), and Cronbach alpha (0.619). The overall mean of correct answers was 6.24 (SD 2.8). There was a significant impact of educational attainment and nutrition training on KoM-G 2.0 CZ scores.
: Our findings provide initial validity evidence that KoM-G 2.0 CZ is useful and appropriate for assessing malnutrition knowledge among Czech nursing staff. Our research identified gaps in knowledge and examples of good practice in understanding malnutrition that can be applied internationally. The knowledge of academic nurses was greater; therefore, we suggest they play a key role in nutritional care. We recommend continuous education to improve understanding of malnutrition in this setting.
Haloxylon ammodendron and Nitraria roborowskii Kom are dominant groups characterised in Qaidam Basin. Elucidating the salt-tolerant mechanism of these two plants, which can grow successfully in this ...desert area affected by salinity and alkalinity, contributes to the protection and restoration of local vegetation. In this paper, seed germination feature responses in saline-alkali conditions were tested. H. ammodendron seeds retained 72% of germination percentage (GP) under high salinity up to 500 mmol L−1 saline solution and other germination parameters showed a significant decrease under increasing salinity without alkaline stress (P < 0.05). GP of N. roborowskii Kom was significantly accelerated from 0 to 200 mmol L−1 saline solution (P < 0.05), while other germination parameters were significantly accelerated from 0 to 100 mmol L−1 saline solution without alkaline stress (P < 0.05). Germination parameters of H. ammodendron under low concentration (concentration < 300 mmol L−1) alkali stress (pH < 8.78) were accelerated than non-alkali stress. Germination parameters of N. roborowskii Kom seeds were significantly inhibited under alkali stress (P < 0.05); moreover, the facilitation of low salinity was diminished by alkali stress (P < 0.05). The regression models of germination parameters and salinity under different pH values presented cubic curves, quadratic curves, and linear model and all models were significant (P < 0.05) in both plants.
This research aimed to identify bacterial species present in six detoriated painted relief samples collected from the catacomb of Kom Al-Shoqafa cemetery in Alexandria, Egypt, and to evaluate their ...antibacterial susceptibility toward chitosan nanoparticles synthesized in the study. Genomic DNA from three bacterial isolates were amplified using universal 16S rDNA primers and comparative 16S rDNA sequence analysis showed that the isolates had a sequence similarity of ≥91% with Paenibacillus albidus Paenibacillus typhi and Paenibacillus wynii The 16S rDNA gene sequence of these isolates were deposited in the GenBank database under accession numbers MW644543, MW644573, and MW644586, respectively. This research provides new molecular information on the microbial diversity of ancient detoriated painting samples in Egypt. Furthermore, the antibacterial susceptibility of these three bacterial strains were tested against synthesized chitosan nanoparticles (characterized by transmission electron microscopy) employing the well diffusion method, with the nanoparticles exhibiting significant antibacterial activities. Overall, this study provides valuable information on bacterial diversity in ancient painting samples and highlights chitosan nanoparticles as potential antibacterial agents that could be implemented for the preservation of these paintings.
This paper proposes an efficient pipelined architecture of elliptic curve scalar multiplication (ECSM) over GF(2 m ). The architecture uses a bit-parallel finite field (FF) multiplier accumulator ...(MAC) based on the Karatsuba-Ofman algorithm. The Montgomery ladder algorithm is modified for better sharing of execution paths. The data path in the architecture is well designed, so that the critical path contains few extra logic primitives apart from the FF MAC. In order to find the optimal number of pipeline stages, scheduling schemes with different pipeline stages are proposed and the ideal placement of pipeline registers is thoroughly analyzed. We implement ECSM over the five binary fields recommended by the National Institute of Standard and Technology on Xilinx Virtex-4 and Virtex-5 field-programmable gate arrays. The three-stage pipelined architecture is shown to have the best performance, which achieves a scalar multiplication over GF(2163) in 6.1 μs using 7354 Slices on Virtex-4. Using Virtex-5, the scalar multiplication for m = 163, 233, 283, 409, and 571 can be achieved in 4.6, 7.9, 10.9, 19.4, and 36.5 μs, respectively, which are faster than previous results.
