The complete plastome of Panax stipuleanatus: Comparative and phylogenetic analyses of the genus Panax(Araliaceae)

Panax stipuleanatus(Araliaceae) is an endangered and medicinally important plant endemic to China.However, phylogenetic relationships within the genus Panax have remained unclear. In this study, we sequenced the complete plastome of P. stipuleanatus and included previously reported Panax plastomes to better understand the relationships between species and plastome evolution within the genus Panax.The plastome of P. stipuleanatus is 156,069 base pairs(bp) in length, consisting of a pair of inverted repeats(IRs, each 25,887 bp) that divide the plastome into a large single copy region(LSC, 86,126 bp) and a small single copy region(SSC, 8169 bp). The plastome contains 114 unigenes(80 protein-coding genes,30 tRNA genes, and 4 r RNA genes). Comparative analyses indicated that the plastome gene content and order, as well as the expansion/contraction of the IR regions, are all highly conserved within Panax. No significant positive selection in the plastid protein-coding genes was observed across the eight Panax species, suggesting the Panax plastomes may have undergone a strong purifying selection. Our phylogenomic analyses resulted in a phylogeny with high resolution and supports for Panax. Nine proteincoding genes and 10 non-coding regions presented high sequence divergence, which could be useful for identifying different Panax species.

Risk-stratification model to select conversion surgery for advanced gastric cancer patients

Objective: Conversion surgery is a surgery with a purpose of R0 resection in primary advanced gastric cancer(GC) that responded well to systemic chemotherapy. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of conversion surgery for advanced GC.Methods: A total of 618 advanced GC patients receiving systemic chemotherapy were stratified into low-,moderate-and high-risk groups based on a nomogram-predicted probability of overall survival. The survival of conversion surgery and chemotherapy alone groups was compared using the log-rank test and Cox regression analysis after propensity score matching(PSM).Results: A nomogram with good discrimination(concordance index: 0.65) and accurate calibration was constructed. After PSM, the median survival time(MST) of conversion surgery was 26.80 months, compared with16.60 months of chemotherapy alone(P<0.001). Conversion surgery was associated with a longer MST for patients in the low-risk group(30.40 months vs. 20.90 months, P=0.013), whereas it was not associated with prolonged survival in the moderate-and high-risk groups(P=0.221 and P=0.131, respectively).Conclusions: Conversion surgery was associated with longer survival, especially for low-risk population.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL BLUE LIGHT EMITTING ROD-COIL DIBLOCK OLIGOMER

Four new rod-coil diblock molecules, which had well-defined para-phenylene oligomers (PPP, from biphenyl to quinquephenyl) as rigid segments and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO, M-w ca. 750) as flexible segments, were synthesized. The chemical structure and the number of repeating unit in PEO coil and PPP rod were characterized by H-1-NMR and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The diblock oligomers showed good solubility in common organic solvents and aggregated in water as characterized by a blue shift in UV-vis absorption spectra, a red shift in emission spectra, quenching of the fluorescence and formation of the microfibrilla and fractal-like structures. The formation of different supramolecular structures meant that this effort might lead to commercial important highly organized functional materials.

3D-printed tissue repair patch combining mechanical support and magnetism for controlled skeletal muscle regeneration

Physical forces,such as magnetic and mechanical stimulation,are known to play a significant role in the regulation of cell response.In the present study,a biomimetic regeneration patch was fabricated using E-jet 3 D printing,which integrates mechanical and magnetic stimulation in a biocompatible"one-pot reaction"strategy when combined with a static magnetic field(SMF).The magneto-based therapeutic regeneration patch induced myoblasts to form aligned and multinucleated myotubes,regulated the expression of myogenic-related genes,and activated the p38αmitogen-activated protein kinase pathway via the initiation of myogenic differentiation.To validate the efficiency of the proposed strategy,the regeneration patch was implanted into mice and exposed to a suitable SMF,which resulted in significantly enhanced in vivo skeletal muscle regeneration.The findings demonstrated that appropriate external physical stimulation provides a suitable biophysical microenvironment that is conducive to tissue regeneration.The method used in the present study represents a promising technique to induce the regeneration of damaged skeletal muscle tis sue.

Isolation and Identification of a High-pathogenicity Strepto- coccus suis Serotype 7 Strain

In order to diagnose the diseased pigs in a certain large pig farm in Binzhou City, Shandong Province, the dead piglets with joint swelling were subjected to necroscopy, and the pathogenic bacterium was isolated and identified. One Gram-positive Streptococcus was isolated. The strain was subjected to characteristic culture, microscopic examination and molecular biological identification, and resistance detection, animal regression experiment and mouse pathogenicity test were carried out. The results showed that the isolate was identified to be Streptococcus suis serotype 7, which was resistant to multiple drugs; and the pathogenicity test showed that the strain had high pathogenicity to pigs, resulting in neurosis on partial pigs, and the strain had no pathogenicity to Kunming and BALB/c mice but certain pathogenicity to CD1 mice.

Stratum Griseum Periventriculare-mediated Fear Emotion Regulates Motor Behavior in Pigeons

A pigeon robot is an ideal experimental animal for research in flying animal robots.The majority of current research publications have entailed electrical stimulation of the motor nuclei to regulate movement forcibly,and although a“virtual fear”behavior model has been proposed,the structure,location,and function of the nuclei that generate fear emotions remain obscure.Previous studies have shown that the Stratum Griseum Periventriculare(SGP)of pigeons is homologous to the mammalian periaqueductal gray(PAG),which plays an essential role in mammalian fear.To reveal the role of fear mediated by the SGP in behavioral regulation,we evaluated the structure and location of the SGP by histologic identification combined with magnetic resonance imaging,and analyzed the behavior of the SGP by electrical stimulation.Finally,the function of the SGP was verified with escape testing and homing experiments in an open field.Our results showed that the SGP is located in the pigeon midbrain and divided into two subregions,the dorsal part of the stratum griseum periventriculare(SGPd)and the ventral part of the stratum griseum periventriculare(SGPv)(the ranges were AP1.5–4.75 mm,ML1.75–6.75 mm,and DV2.2–7.1 mm),and that wired and wireless electrical stimulation freezing was the dominant behavior.In the escape test,SGP electrical stimulation caused the pigeons to flee to a safe place,while in the open-field homing test,electrical stimulation of the SGP induced evasive behavior in pigeons away from their original homing route.These results confirm that the SGP plays a crucial role in fear,and that electrical stimulation of this nucleus induces corresponding fear behaviors.

A family of generalized strongly regular graphs of grade 2

A generalized strongly regular graphof grade p,as anew generalization of strongly regular graphs,is a regular graph such that the number of common neighbours of both any two adjacent vertices and any two non-adjacent vertices takes on p distinct values.For any vertex u of a generalized strongly regular graph of grade 2 with parameters(n,k;a_(1),a_(2);c_(1),c_(2)),if the number of the vertices that are adjacent to u and share ai(i=1,2)common neighbours with u,or are non-adjacent to u and share c,(i=1,2)common neighbours with is independent of the choice of the vertex u,then the generalized strongly regular graph of grade 2 is free.In this paper,we investigate the generalized strongly regular graph of grade 2 with parameters(n,k;k-1,a_(2);k-1,c_(2))and provide the sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of a family of free generalized strongly regular graphs of grade 2.

Rod-shape inorganic biomimetic mutual-reinforcing MnO2-Au nanozymes for catalysis-enhanced hypoxic tumor therapy

Biomimetic nanozymes possessing natural enzyme-mimetic activities have been extensively applied in nanocatalytic tumor therapy.However,engineering hybrid biomimetic nanozymes to achieve superior nanozyme activity remained to be an intractable challenge in hypoxic tumors.Herein,a rod-like biomimetic hybrid inorganic MnO2-Au nanozymes are developed,where MnO2 and ultrasmall Au nanoparticles(NPs)are successively deposited on the mesoporous silica nanorod to cooperatively improve the O2 content and thermal sensitivity of hypoxic solid tumors guided by multi-modal imaging.Under the catalyzing of MnO2,the intratumoral H2O2 is decomposed to greatly accelerate O2 generation,which could boost the curative effect of radiation therapy(RT)and further enhance the Au-catalyzed glucose oxidation.Mutually,the Au NPs can steadily and efficiently catalyze the oxidation of glucose in harsh tumor microenvironment,thus sensitizing tumor cells to thermal ablation for mild photothermal therapy and further promoting the catalytic efficiency of MnO2 with the self-supplied H2O2/H+.As a result,this mutual-reinforcing cycle can endow the nanoplatform with accelerated O2 generation,thus alleviating hypoxic environment and further boosting RT effect.Furthermore,acute glucose consuming can induce downregulation expression of heat shock protein(HSP),achieving starvation-promoted mild photothermal therapy.This synthesized hybrid nanozymes proves to be a versatile theranostic agent for nanocatalytic cancer therapy.

Immune-adjuvant loaded Bi2Se3 nanocage for photothermal-improved PD-L1 checkpoint blockade immune-tumor metastasis therapy

Checkpoint blockade based immune therapy has shown to be effective but benefit only the minority of patients whose tumors have been pre-infiltrated by T cells. To overcome this obstacles, a PEG-modified Bi2Se3 nanocage (NC) loaded with imiquimod (R848), which could efficiently destroy the tumors thus producing enough tumor-associated antigens (TAA) and with the existence of R848, a toll-like-receptor-7 agonist, could generate strong anti-cancer immune responses is reported in this study. Moreover, immunogenic Bi2Se3 NC-PEG/R848 mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) sensitizes tumors to checkpoint inhibition mediated by a PD-L1 antibody, not only ablating cancer cells upon NIR laser but also causing strong anti-cancer immunity to suppress distant tumor growth post PTT. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that the Bi2Se3 NC-PEG/R848 could effectively activate a PTT-induced immune response as well as silence immune resistance based on PD-L1 checkpoint blockade to ablate the primary tumor and further inhibit the tumor metastasis. Bi2Se3 NC reported here exhibits high photothermal conversion efficiency and stability, as well as competent drug loading capacity with large hollow structures and high surface area. Our study not only provides a facial way to synthesize Bi2Se3 NC, but also offers an alternative strategy for tumor metastasis.

NIR-II driven plasmon-enhanced cascade reaction for tumor microenvironment-regulated catalytic therapy based on bio-breakable Au-Ag nanozyme

Emerging nanozymes with natural enzyme-mimicking catalytic activities have inspired extensive research interests due to their high stability,low cost,and simple preparation,especially in the field of catalytic tumor therapy.Here,bio-breakable nanozymes based on glucose-oxidase(GOx)-loaded biomimetic Au–Ag hollow nanotriangles(Au–Ag–GOx HTNs)are designed,and they trigger an near-infrared(NIR)-II-driven plasmon-enhanced cascade catalytic reaction through regulating tumor microenvironment(TME)for highly efficient tumor therapy.Firstly,GOx can effectively trigger the generation of gluconic acid(H+)and hydrogen peroxide(H2O2),thus depleting nutrients in the tumor cells as well as modifying TME to provide conditions for subsequent peroxidase(POD)-like activity.Secondly,NIR-II induced surface plasmon resonance can induce hot electrons to enhance the catalytic activity of Au–Ag–GOx HTNs,eventually boosting the generation of hydroxyl radicals(•OH).Interestingly,the generated H2O2 and H+can simultaneously induce the degradation of Ag nanoprisms to break the intact triangle nanostructure,thus promoting the excretion of Au–Ag–GOx HTNs to avoid the potential risks of drug metabolism.Overall,the NIR-II driven plasmon-enhanced catalytic mechanism of this bio-breakable nanozyme provides a promising approach for the development of nanozymes in tumor therapy.

Optimal Pricing Strategies for a Manufacturer and a Value-Adding Retailer in a Dual-Channel Environment

In this paper,we study a supply chain that consists of a manufacturer and a value-adding retailer that sell a product to customers through dual channels,i.e.a traditional channel(TC)and an online channel(OC).Observing that in practice,the manufacturer may or may not offer an OC guide price to the retailer and/or act as the leader in the supply chain,we discuss and compare two practical pricing strategies,with and without an OC guide price,under two different power configurations based on which member of the supply chain acts as the leader.Our results show that if the manufacturer does not provide a guide price,the retailer might/might not set a higher TC price than the two OC prices,depending on the level of migration effectiveness and the potential market demand.However,if the manufacturer does provide a guide price,the retailer will always charge a higher TC price than the guide price(or the two OC prices)when the retailer acts as the leader.Moreover,we show that the two players in the supply chain might or might not prefer the pricing strategies with an OC guide price.Our results also indicate that migration effectiveness harms the retailer's profit,and the manufacturer may benefit from mild competition between the two channels.Finally,we show that regardless of whether the manufacturer chooses to offer an OC guide price or not,both the manufacturer and the retailer prefer to act as the follower for high migration effectiveness and the profit of the supply chain will increase when the retailer acts as the leader for low migration effectiveness.