Protein concentrates were prepared from heat-stabilized defatted rice bran and analyzed for their functional properties. Rice bran proteins were prepared by alkaline extracted and Alcalase 2.4L ...hydrolysis. The yield of rice bran proteins were 32.9% and 44.79%, respectively. Rice bran proteins had molecular sizes between 0.1 and over 97.4kDa; maximum solubilities of 72.5% and 84.56% at pH 11.0; maximum emulsifying capacities of 0.149 and 0.634; maximum emulsion stabilities of 24.26 and 25.96min; maximum foam capacities of 98% and 115%; maximum foam stabilities of 30.6 and 26.9mL at 30min; water absorption of 3.71 and 4.4g/g and oil absorption of 4.24 and 5.13g/g. These results demonstrate that the extracted rice bran protein has potential as a nutraceutical ingredient in food applications.
► Commercial microwave links are a novel method for measuring instantaneous rainfall. ► 676h of rainfall are evaluated using 2 different calculating methodologies. ► Correlation values compared with rain gauges reach 0.85 for 10min rainfall. ► Measuring skill improves as density of microwave link grid increases.
The edible mushroom Termitomyces is an agaric‐type basidiomycete fungus that has a symbiotic relationship with fungus‐growing termites. An understanding of the detailed development mechanisms ...underlying the adaptive responses of Termitomyces sp. to their growing environment is lacking. Here, we compared the transcriptome sequences of different Termitomyces sp. samples and link‐stipe grown on fungus combs in situ and monocultured in vitro. The assembled reads generated 8052 unigenes. The expression profiles were highly different for 2556 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of the treated samples, where the expression of 1312 and 1244 DEGs was upregulated in the Mycelium and link‐stipe groups respectively. Functional classification of the DEGs based on both Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis revealed an expected shift in fungal gene expression, where stress response genes whose expression was upregulated in link‐stipe may adaptively be involved in cell wall hydrolysis and fusion, pathogenesis, oxidation‐reduction, transporter efflux, transposon efflux and self/non–self‐recognition. Urease has implications in the expression of genes involved in the nitrogen metabolism pathway, and its expression could be controlled by low‐level nitrogen fixation of fungus combs. In addition, the expression patterns of eleven select genes on the basis of qRT‐PCR were consistent with their changes in transcript abundance, as revealed by RNA sequencing. Taken together, these findings may be useful for enriching the knowledge concerning the Termitomyces adaptive response to in situ fungus combs compared with the response of monocultures in vitro.
Significance and Impact of the Study: The first study of the gene regulation from transcriptome can provide a theoretical basis for the subsequent further excavation of key developmental functional genes of Termitomyces sp. We found an important but not yet biologically defined Termitomyces tissue, link‐stipe. There are a lot of important developmental genes and stress response genes in the link‐stipe tissue, which can provide an important reference to analyse the development mechanism of Termitomyces sp. The important cohesion of link‐stipe tissue in the whole symbiotic system is demonstrated.
Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) are more frequent in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Due to limited access to leptomeningeal lesions, the ...purpose of this study was to explore the potential role of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a source of liquid biopsy in patients with LM.
Primary tumor, CSF, and plasma in NSCLC with LM were tested by next-generation sequencing. In total, 45 patients with suspected LM underwent lumbar puncture, and those with EGFR mutations diagnosed with LM were enrolled.
A total of 28 patients were enrolled in this cohort; CSF and plasma were available in 26 patients, respectively. Driver genes were detected in 100% (26/26), 84.6% (22/26), and 73.1% (19/26) of samples comprising CSF cell-free DNA (cfDNA), CSF precipitates, and plasma, respectively; 92.3% (24/26) of patients had much higher allele fractions in CSF cfDNA than the other two media. Unique genetic profiles were captured in CSF cfDNA compared with those in plasma and primary tissue. Multiple copy number variations (CNVs) were mainly identified in CSF cfDNA, and MET copy number gain identified in 47.8% (11/23) of patients was the most frequent one, while other CNVs included ERBB2, KRAS, ALK, and MYC. Moreover, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of TP53 was identified in 73.1% (19/26) CSF cfDNA, which was much higher than that in plasma (2/26, 7.7%; P<0.001). There was a trend towards a higher frequency of concomitant resistance mutations in patients with TP53 LOH than those without (70.6% versus 33.3%; P=0.162). EGFR T790M was identified in CSF cfDNA of 30.4% (7/23) of patients who experienced TKI progression.
CSF cfDNA could reveal the unique genetic profiles of LM and should be considered as the most representative liquid biopsy medium for LM in EGFR-mutant NSCLC.
A regulator of the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), α4, has been implicated in a variety of functions that regulate many cellular processes. To explore the role of α4 in human cell transformation and ...tumorigenesis, we show that α4 is highly expressed in human cells transformed by chemical carcinogens including benzo(a)pyrene, aflatoxin B(1), N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, nickel sulfate and in several hepatic and lung cancer cell lines. In addition, overexpression of α4 was detected in 87.5% (74/80) of primary hepatocellular carcinomas, 84.0% (21/25) of primary lung cancers and 81.8% (9/11) of primary breast cancers, indicating that α4 is ubiquitously highly expressed in human cancer. Functional studies revealed that elevated α4 expression results in an increase in cell proliferation, promotion of cell survival and decreased PP2A-attributable activity. Importantly, ectopic expression of α4 permits non-transformed human embryonic kidney cells (HEKTER) and L02R cells to form tumors in immunodeficient mice. Furthermore, we show that the highly expressed α4 in transformed cells or human tumors is not regulated by DNA hypomethylation. A microRNA, miR-34b, that suppresses the expression of α4 through specific binding to the 3'-untranslated region of α4 is downregulated in transformed or human lung tumors. Taken together, these observations identify that α4 possesses an oncogenic function. Reduction of PP2A activity due to an enhanced α4-PP2A interaction contributes directly to chemical carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis.
Large strain plasticity is phenomenologically defined as the ability of a material to exhibit an exceptionally large deformation rate during mechanical deformation. It is a property that is well ...established for metals and alloys but is rarely observed for ceramic materials especially at low temperature ( approximately 300 K). With the reduction in dimensionality, however, unusual mechanical properties are shown by ceramic nanomaterials. In this Letter, we demonstrated unusually large strain plasticity of ceramic SiC nanowires (NWs) at temperatures close to room temperature that was directly observed in situ by a novel high-resolution transmission electron microscopy technique. The continuous plasticity of the SiC NWs is accompanied by a process of increased dislocation density at an early stage, followed by an obvious lattice distortion, and finally reaches an entire structure amorphization at the most strained region of the NW. These unusual phenomena for the SiC NWs are fundamentally important for understanding the nanoscale fracture and strain-induced band structure variation for high-temperature semiconductors. Our result may also provide useful information for further studying of nanoscale elastic-plastic and brittle-ductile transitions of ceramic materials with superplasticity.
Necroptosis is mediated by a signaling complex called necrosome, containing receptor-interacting protein (RIP)1, RIP3, and mixed-lineage kinase domain-like (MLKL). It is known that RIP1 and RIP3 form ...heterodimeric filamentous scaffold in necrosomes through their RIP homotypic interaction motif (RHIM) domain-mediated oligomerization, but the signaling events based on this scaffold has not been fully addressed. By using inducible dimer systems we found that RIP1-RIP1 interaction is dispensable for necroptosis; RIP1-RIP3 interaction is required for necroptosis signaling, but there is no necroptosis if no additional RIP3 protein is recruited to the RIP1-RIP3 heterodimer, and the interaction with RIP1 promotes the RIP3 to recruit other RIP3; RIP3-RIP3 interaction is required for necroptosis and RIP3-RIP3 dimerization is sufficient to induce necroptosis; and RIP3 dimer-induced necroptosis requires MLKL. We further show that RIP3 oligomer is not more potent than RIP3 dimer in triggering necroptosis, suggesting that RIP3 homo-interaction in the complex, rather than whether RIP3 has formed homo polymer, is important for necroptosis. RIP3 dimerization leads to RIP3 intramolecule autophosphorylation, which is required for the recruitment of MLKL. Interestingly, phosphorylation of one of RIP3 in the dimer is sufficient to induce necroptosis. As RIP1-RIP3 heterodimer itself cannot induce necroptosis, the RIP1-RIP3 heterodimeric amyloid fibril is unlikely to directly propagate necroptosis. We propose that the signaling events after the RIP1-RIP3 amyloid complex assembly are the recruitment of free RIP3 by the RIP3 in the amyloid scaffold followed by autophosphorylation of RIP3 and subsequent recruitment of MLKL by RIP3 to execute necroptosis.
Toroidal dipole resonance can significantly reduce radiation loss of materials, potentially improving sensor sensitivity. Generally, toroidal dipole response is suppressed by electric and magnetic ...dipoles in natural materials, making it difficult to observe experimentally. However, as 2D metamaterials, metasurfaces can weaken the electric and magnetic dipole, enhancing toroidal dipole response. Here, we propose a new graphene-integrated toroidal resonance metasurface as an ultra-sensitive chemical sensor, capable of qualitative detection of chlorothalonil in the terahertz region, down to a detection limit of 100 pg/mL. Our results demonstrate graphene-integrated toroidal resonance metasurfaces as a promising basis for ultra-sensitive, qualitative detection in chemical and biological sensing.
We examined whether mucosal melanomas are different in their clinical course and patterns of metastases when arising from different anatomic sites. Our hypothesis was that metastatic behavior would ...differ from primary mucosal melanomas at different anatomical sites.
Clinical and pathological data from 706 patients were compared for their stage distribution, patterns of metastases, CKIT/BRAF mutation status, and overall survival for different anatomical sites.
The anatomic sites of the primary mucosal melanomas were from the lower GI tract (26.5%), nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses (23%), gynecological sites (22.5%), oral cavity (15%), urological sites (5%), upper GI tract (5%), and other sites (3.0%). At initial diagnosis, 14.5% were stage I disease, 41% Stage II, 21.5% Stage III, and 23.0% stage IV. Predominant metastatic sites were regional lymph nodes (21.5%), lung (21%), liver (18.5%), and distant nodes (9%). Oral cavity mucosal melanoma had a higher incidence of regional nodal metastases (31.7% versus 19.8%,P = 0.009), and a higher incidence of lung metastases (32.5% versus 18.5%,P = 0.007) compared to other primary mucosal melanomas. There was a 10% incidence of CKIT mutation and 12% BRAF mutation. Mucosal melanomas from nasal pharyngeal and oral, gastrointestinal, gynecological, and urological had a similar survival with a 1-year survival rate (88%, 83%, 86%), 2-year survival rate (66%, 57%, 61%), 5-year survival rate (27%, 16%, 20%), respectively.
The largest sample size allows, for the first time, a comparison of primary melanoma stage and patterns of metastases across anatomical sites. With few exceptions, the presenting stages, incidence of nodal and distant metastases, the site of predilection of distant metastases, or overall survival were similar despite different primary anatomic sites. These findings suggest that clinical trials involving mucosal melanomas and the administration of systemic therapy can be applied equally to mucosal melanomas regardless of their primary anatomic site.
Titanium matrix composites with the discontinuous reinforcement of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were produced by powder metallurgy and subsequent hot-rolling. In the process of spark plasma ...sintering (SPS), the GNPs were well preserved at low temperature and high compressive pressure. Hot-rolling process was applied to improve the microstructure and properties of the GNPs-Ti matrix composites. The GNPs were uniformly distributed and arranged along with the rolling direction (RD). Also, the GNPs blocked slipping so that the matrix generated {101̅1} <101̅2̅> compressive twining to be compatible with deformation in the rolling process with the increase of GNPs content. Tensile strength test demonstrated an excellent ultimate tensile strength that was 54.2% higher than pure titanium with merely 0.1wt% GNPs addition. The strengthening mechanism of composites was discussed by three main strengthening factors combined with a modified load transfer model and it was thought that the composites were strengthen by grain refinement, load transfer from Ti matrix to GNPs and texture strengthening.
An increasing number of reports have demonstrated enormous strength enhancements in titanium matrix composites (TiMCs) reinforced with graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) on account of the superior mechanical ...properties of GNFs. Unfortunately, the difficulty of uniform dispersion and severe interfacial reaction are simultaneously the most challenging and serious issues in GNFs reinforced TiMCs. In this work, we applied electroless plating method to prepare Ni decorated GNFs (Ni-GNFs) as a reinforcement in Ti matrix to uniformly disperse the GNFs in Ti matrix and relieve the severe interfacial reaction between metal and carbon nanophase. The composite reinforced by low content Ni-GNFs (0.05 wt%GNFs) exhibiting ultimate strength of 793 MPa (+40% compared to monolithic pure Ti), have been processed by short time ball milling process followed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) and hot-rolling (HR). Enormous strength increase of the composite can be attributed to a homogeneous distribution of Ni-GNFs in the Ti matrix coupled with the formation of special interface (Ti/Ti2Ni/nano-TiCX/Ni-GNFs). The load transfer mechanism of Ni-GNFs in composites was investigated by in-situ tensile test, which shows the great interfacial load transfer capability. This work provides a new strategy for dispersion and interface analysis of GNFs reinforced Ti matrix composites.
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