Ramie, Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaudich, family Urticaceae, is a plant native to eastern Asia, and one of the world's oldest fibre crops. It is also used as animal feed and for the phytoremediation of ...heavy metal‐contaminated farmlands. Thus, the genome sequence of ramie was determined to explore the molecular basis of its fibre quality, protein content and phytoremediation. For further understanding ramie genome, different paired‐end and mate‐pair libraries were combined to generate 134.31 Gb of raw DNA sequences using the Illumina whole‐genome shotgun sequencing approach. The highly heterozygous B. nivea genome was assembled using the Platanus Genome Assembler, which is an effective tool for the assembly of highly heterozygous genome sequences. The final length of the draft genome of this species was approximately 341.9 Mb (contig N50 = 22.62 kb, scaffold N50 = 1,126.36 kb). Based on ramie genome annotations, 30,237 protein‐coding genes were predicted, and the repetitive element content was 46.3%. The completeness of the final assembly was evaluated by benchmarking universal single‐copy orthologous genes (BUSCO); 90.5% of the 1,440 expected embryophytic genes were identified as complete, and 4.9% were identified as fragmented. Phylogenetic analysis based on single‐copy gene families and one‐to‐one orthologous genes placed ramie with mulberry and cannabis, within the clade of urticalean rosids. Genome information of ramie will be a valuable resource for the conservation of endangered Boehmeria species and for future studies on the biogeography and characteristic evolution of members of Urticaceae.
Femtosecond lasers enable flexible and thermal‐damage‐free ablation of solid materials and are expected to play a critical role in high‐precision cutting, drilling, and shaping of electronic chips, ...display panels, and industrial parts. Although the potential applications are theoretically predicted, true 3D nano‐sculpturing of solids such as glasses and crystals, has not yet been demonstrated, owing to the technical challenge of negative cumulative effects of surface changes and debris accumulation on the delivery of laser pulses and subsequent material removal during direct‐write ablation. Here, a femtosecond laser‐induced cavitation‐assisted true 3D nano‐sculpturing technique based on the ingenious combination of cavitation dynamics and backside ablation is proposed to achieve stable clear‐field point‐by‐point material removal in real time for precise 3D subtractive fabrication on various difficult‐to‐process materials. As a result, 3D devices including free‐form silica lenses, micro‐statue with vivid facial features, and rotatable sapphire micro‐mechanical turbine, all with surface roughness less than 10 nm are readily produced. The true 3D processing capability can immediately enable novel structural and functional micro‐nano optics and non‐silicon micro‐electro‐mechanical systems based on various hard solids.
From technical points to cavitation mechanism, this work demonstrates an unprecedented laser nano‐subtractive technology based on continuous controllable precise ablation with both true 3D and wide material applicability, especially for hard crystals. This versatile technology will surely become a standard manufacturing method for various 3D devices in the micro‐nano field.
Loss-of-function mutations in the histone demethylases KDM5A, KDM5B, or KDM5C are found in intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) patients. Here, we use the model organism ...Drosophila melanogaster to delineate how KDM5 contributes to ID and ASD. We show that reducing KDM5 causes intestinal barrier dysfunction and changes in social behavior that correlates with compositional changes in the gut microbiota. Therapeutic alteration of the dysbiotic microbiota through antibiotic administration or feeding with a probiotic Lactobacillus strain partially rescues the behavioral, lifespan, and cellular phenotypes observed in kdm5-deficient flies. Mechanistically, KDM5 was found to transcriptionally regulate component genes of the immune deficiency (IMD) signaling pathway and subsequent maintenance of host-commensal bacteria homeostasis in a demethylase-dependent manner. Together, our study uses a genetic approach to dissect the role of KDM5 in the gut-microbiome-brain axis and suggests that modifying the gut microbiome may provide therapeutic benefits for ID and ASD patients.
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•Deficiency of KDM5 demethylase causes gut dysbiosis and abnormal social behavior in flies•Lactobacillus plantarum administration improves social behavior in kdm5-deficient animals•KDM5 maintains proper immune activity in a transcriptional and microbiota-mediated manner•KDM5 demethylase affects social behavior through the gut-microbiome-brain axis
Mutations in members of the KDM5 gene family are found in intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder patients. Chen et al. discovered that KDM5-microbiota interactions contribute to animal social behavior. Drosophila deficient in kdm5 display gut dysbiosis, abnormal social behavior, and aberrant immune activation, which Lactobacillus plantarum administration can improve.
Metallic glass (MG), with the superiorities of unique disordered atomic structure and intrinsic chemical heterogeneity, is a new promising and competitive member in the family of environmental ...catalysts. However, what is at stake for MG catalysts is that their high catalytic efficiency is always accompanied by low stability and the disordered atomic configurations, as well as the structural evolution, related to catalytic performance, which raises a primary obstacle for their widespread applications. Herein, a non‐noble and multicomponent Fe83Si2B11P3C1 MG catalyst that presents a fascinating catalytic efficiency while maintaining remarkable stability for wastewater remediation is developed. Results indicate that the excellent efficiency of the MG catalysts is ascribed to a unique atomic coordination that causes an electronic delocalization with an enhanced electron transfer. More importantly, the in situ self‐reconstructed hierarchical gradient structure, which comprises a top porous sponge layer and a thin amorphous oxide interfacial layer encapsulating the MG surface, provides matrix protection together with high permeability and more active sites. This work uncovers a new strategy for designing high‐performance non‐noble metallic catalysts with respect to structural evolution and alteration of electronic properties, establishing a solid foundation in widespread catalytic applications.
Fe‐based metallic glass catalysts with a disordered atomic structure are prepared by a melt‐spinning technique. The metallic glass catalysts present excellent catalytic performance in both efficiency and stability when compared to the state of the art. The high catalytic efficiency is due to their intrinsic formation of metallic bonds and electronic delocalization, while the superior catalytic stability is owing to their self‐reconstruction ability.
Nucleotide‐binding domain, leucine‐rich repeat family with a caspase activation and recruitment domain 3 (NLRC3) participates in both immunity and cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the ...role of NLRC3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying mechanisms. We collected human liver tissues from nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), HCC, and adjacent normal tissues to characterize the pattern of NLRC3 expression by real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Then, we used the HCC cell line, HuH‐7, transfected with small interfering RNA to silence the NLRC3 expression. 5‐Ethynyl‐2'‐deoxyuridine assay, scratch assay, and transwell invasion assay were used for assessing proliferation, migration, and invasion, respectively. Flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay were conducted to assess cell apoptosis. The expression of NLRC3 was reduced in human HCC tissues, compared with normal liver and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis tissues. After knocking down of NLRC3, the proliferation, migration, and invasion were increased in HuH‐7 cells. And flow cytometry and TUNEL assay showed that HuH‐7 cell apoptosis was suppressed after NLRC3 knockdown. As for the underlying mechanisms, knockdown of NLRC3 in HuH‐7 cells was associated with the activation of Janus kinase 2/signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (JAK2/STAT3) pathway under interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) stimulation. NLRC3 expression was downregulated in human HCC tissues. NLRC3 silencing in HuH‐7 cells can promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. JAK2/STAT3 pathway activation induced by IL‐6 may be the underlying mechanism for HCC when NLRC3 expression is silenced. And the invasion of HuH‐7 cells was partially suppressed by the STAT3 specific inhibitor (cryptotanshinone). Therefore, NLRC3 may play a significant role in HCC and might be a therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.
Accurate estimation of extreme precipitation is vital for the prediction of hydrologic extremes and flood risk management. Recent satellite-based precipitation products provide important alternative ...sources of data for such applications, yet their quality and applicability with respect to extreme precipitation have not been studied sufficiently. In this study, the performances of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B42 and Global Precipitation Measurement Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals (GPM IMERG) data in extreme precipitation estimation were evaluated over China. Both annual maximum precipitation and extreme rainfall events exceeding the 90th percentile were examined and compared with gauge measurements for the periods of 2000–2017 and 2014–2017. It was found that: (1) both satellite products captured the spatial pattern of extreme precipitation well over China with an overall underestimation for extreme rainfall rate and an overestimation for annual total extreme precipitation volume; (2) TRMM 3B42 data had limited ability to detect extreme rainfall events, while GPM IMERG performed slightly better; (3) both products produced good estimation of extreme precipitation with short-medium recurrence intervals, but exhibited consistent underestimation at all return periods; (4) GPM IMERG outperformed TRMM 3B42 for nearly all evaluation metrics when compared over the same time period; (5) the performances were better in south and east China with humid monsoon climate, than in arid west China with high altitude, indicating a significant influence of topography and climate. Our results indicated high potential of satellite products to represent the spatial pattern, overall volume and probability characteristics of extreme precipitation over China, and revealed the general superiority of GPM IMERG to TRMM 3B42. Meanwhile, more studies are still needed to validate data in regions with complex topography and dry climate, and further improve the retrieval algorithm to better support disaster risk reduction and other hydrological applications, especially in areas with a sparse gauge network.
•Spatial pattern and overall volume of extreme precipitation were well captured.•Both TRMM and GPM had limited capability to detect extreme rainfall event.•Good estimation of extreme precipitation of short-medium return period was produced.•GPM outperformed TRMM in extreme precipitation estimation and detection.•The performances were better in humid south and east China than in arid west China.
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•Cell surface and extracellular secretions possessed strong antioxidant capacity.•Addition of starters accelerated acidification in sausages during the fermentation.•Protein ...degradation of inoculated sausages was deepened by starters.•DPPH free radical scavenging capacity of peptides increased after inoculation.
This study investigated in vitro antioxidant activity of Lactobacillus plantarum CD101 and its effect on antioxidant peptides formation in fermented sausage. The antioxidant substances of L. plantarum CD101 were mainly distributed on the cell surface and extracellular secretions. L. plantarum CD101 affected the acidification and proteolysis during the fermentation. Combined with electrophoresis and peptide content analysis, these results indicated the effectiveness of the starters in promoting peptide formation, accompanied by a small change in antioxidant activities. Forty-four effective peptides were identified by LC-MS/MS. The masses of the peptides were less than 3 kDa, and their amino acid sequences were between 5 and 27 amino acids in length. Thus, L. plantarum CD101 may be beneficial to inhibit the oxidative rancidity of fermented sausage through its in vitro antioxidant activity, while effectively promoting protein degradation with a weak effect on antioxidant peptides promotion.
The degradation of the ecological environment caused by industrialization presents a major challenge for policymakers as they aim to develop sustainability. Is there a way to balance industrial ...growth and environmental sustainability? To answer this pressing question, we constructed a micro-level longitudinal dataset containing 41,419 firms with 148,877 observations during 2000–2013 to develop a fine-grained understanding of the environmental implications as firms closely follow the recent technology trend in automation and intelligence. Our findings strongly support business environmental management strategies of using autonomous and intelligent technologies as a response to more rigorous environmental regulations, while caution has to be made on the notion that “technology is everything.” The increasing level of robot adoption contributes to pollution abatement in an intensive form mediated by productivity change, change-in-process, and end-of-pipe interventions. A further decomposition of the productivity effect implies that the drop in the emission intensity of the exhaust gas is due to the rise in total outputs and the decline in air pollution level. In contrast, the drop in the emission intensity for exhaust water is because of the rise of total outputs exceeding the rise of water pollution level. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analyses provide rich implications to guide environmental management practices.
•The industrial robot application mitigates the firm's emission intensity of air and water pollutants.•The productivity effect plays a positive and significant role in mediating robot usage and pollution abatement.•The level of pollutant emission intensities is further due to the change in total outputs and pollution level.•The increasing robot adoption contributes to pollution abatement mediated by intervention effect.•The heterogeneity analyses provide rich implications to guide environmental management practices.
Phosphate-solubilizing fungi (PSF) generally enhance available phosphorus (P) released from soil, which contributes to plants' P requirement, especially in P-limiting regions. In this study, two PSF, ...TalA-JX04 and AspN-JX16, were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) widely distributed in P-deficient areas in China and identified as Talaromyces aurantiacus and Aspergillus neoniger, respectively. The two PSF were cultured in potato dextrose liquid medium with six types of initial pH values ranging from 6.5 to 1.5 to assess acid resistance. Both PSF were incubated in Pikovskaya's liquid media with different pH values containing five recalcitrant P sources, including Ca3(PO4)2, FePO4, CaHPO4, AlPO4, and C6H6Ca6O24P6, to estimate their P-solubilizing capacity. No significant differences were found in the biomass of both fungi grown in media with different initial pH, indicating that these fungi could grow well under acid stress. The P-solubilizing capacity of TalA-JX04 was highest in medium containing CaHPO4, followed by Ca3(PO4)2, FePO4, C6H6Ca6O24P6, and AlPO4 in six types of initial pH treatments, while the recalcitrant P-solubilizing capacity of AspN-JX16 varied with initial pH. Meanwhile, the P-solubilizing capacity of AspN-JX16 was much higher than TalA-JX04. The pH of fermentation broth was negatively correlated with P-solubilizing capacity (p<0.01), suggesting that the fungi promote the dissolution of P sources by secreting organic acids. Our results showed that TalA-JX04 and AspN-JX16 could survive in acidic environments and both fungi had a considerable ability to release soluble P by decomposing recalcitrant P-bearing compounds. The two fungi had potential for application as environment-friendly biofertilizers in subtropical bamboo ecosystem.
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