circRNA3669 promotes goat endometrial epithelial cells proliferation via miR-26a/RCN2 to activate PI3K/AKT-mTOR and MAPK pathways

The development of receptive endometrium(RE) from pre-receptive endometrium(PE) for successful embryo implantation is a complex dynamic process in which the morphology and physiological states of the endometrial epithelium undergo a series of significant changes, including cell proliferation and apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanisms are not yet fully understood. In this study, a higher circRNA3669 level was observed in PE than in RE of goats. Functional assays revealed that this overexpression promoted the proliferation of goat endometrial epithelial cells(GEECs) by activating the expression of genes related to the PI3K/AKT-mTOR and MAPK pathways,thereby inhibiting apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, circRNA3669 functioned as a competing endogenous RNA(ceRNA) to upregulate Reticulocalbin-2(RCN2) expression at the post-transcriptional level by interacting with and downregulating miR-26a in GEECs. In addition, RCN2, which is highly expressed in the PE of goats, was found to be regulated by β-estradiol(E2) and progesterone(P4). Our results demonstrated that RCN2 also affected the key proteins PI3K, AKT, mTOR, JNK, and P38 in the PI3K/AKT-mTOR and MAPK pathways, thereby facilitating GEECs proliferation and suppressing their apoptosis in vitro. Collectively, we constructed a new circRNA3669-miR-26aRCN2 regulatory network in GEECs, which further provides strong evidence that circRNA could potentially play a crucial regulatory role in the development of RE in goats.

Effect of solvents on the morphology and structure of barium titanate synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method

Tetragonal barium titanate was synthesized from barium hydroxide octahydrate and titanium tetrachloride through a simple one-step hydrothermal method.The effect of different solvents on the crystal structure and morphology of barium titanate nanoparticles during the hy-drothermal process was investigated.Except for ethylene glycol/water solvent,impurity-free barium titanate was synthesized in pure water,methanol/water,ethanol/water,and isopropyl alcohol/water mixed solvents.Compared with other alcohols,ethanol promotes the formation of a tetragonal structure.In addition,characterization studies confirm that particles synthesized in methanol/water,ethanol/water,and isopropyl al-cohol/water mixed solvents are smaller in size than those synthesized in pure water.In the case of alcohol-containing solvents,the particle size decreases in the order of isopropanol,ethanol,and methanol.Among all the media used in this study,ethanol/water is considered the optimum reaction media for barium titanate with high tetragonality(defined as the ratio of two lattice parameters c and a,c/a=1.0088)and small aver-age particle size(82 nm),which indicates its great application potential in multilayer ceramic capacitors.

Analyses of circRNA profiling during the development from pre-receptive to receptive phases in the goat endometrium

Background: Recent studies have revealed that noncoding RNAs play important regulatory roles in the formation of endometrial receptivity.Circular RNAs(circRNAs) are a universally expressed noncoding RNA species that have been recently proposed to act as miRNA sponges that directly regulate expression of target genes or parental genes.Results: We used Illumina Solexa technology to analyze the expression profiles of circRNAs in the endometrium from three goats at gestational day 5(pre-receptive endometrium,PE) and three goats at gestational day 15(receptive endometrium,RE).Overall,21,813 circRNAs were identified,of which 5,925 circRNAs were specific to the RE and 9,078 were specific to the PE,which suggested high stage-specificity.Further analysis found 334 differentially expressed circRNAs in the RE compared with PE(P < 0.05).The analysis of the circRNA-miRNA interaction network further supported the idea that circRNAs act as miRNA sponges to regulate gene expression.Moreover,some circRNAs were regulated by estrogen(E2)/progesterone(P4) in endometrial epithelium cell lines(EECs) and endometrial stromal cell line(ESCs),and each circRNA molecule exhibited unique regulation characteristics with respect to E2 and P4.Conclusions: These data provide an endometrium circRNA expression atlas corresponding to the biology of the goat receptive endometrium during embryo implantation.

Enhanced visible-light-assisted peroxymonosulfate activation over MnFe_(2)O_(4) modified g-C_(3)N_(4)/diatomite composite for bisphenol A degradation

The MnFe_(2) O_(4)/g-C_(3) N_(4)/diatomite composites(Mn/G/D) were prepared via a facile precipitation-calcination method in this study.The Mn/G/D possessed higher specific surface area,lower electron-hole pairs' recombination rate,as well as wider and stronger visible light absorption capacity.Since the synergistic effect between g-C_(3 )N_(4) and MnFe_(2) O_(4),the photogene rated electron could transfer from g-C3 N4 to MnFe_(2) O_(4),which could promote the migration of electrons as well as enhance the photocatalytic activity and peroxymonosulfate(PMS) activation efficiency.Mn/G/D-5% composite displayed the excellent degradation performance of bisphenol A(BPA) with the removal efficiency of 99.9% under PMS/Vis system,which was approximately 2.47 and 63.8 times as high as that of the Mn/G/D-5%/PMS and Mn/G/D-5%/Vis system,respectively.Moreover,negative electricity derived from diatomite surface also promoted the photogenerated carriers' migration,and the degradation rate constant was around 2.4 times higher than that of MnFe_(2) O_(4)/g-C_(3) N_(4)(Mn/G).In addition,quenching experiments showed that both radical pathway(h^(+),·OH,·O_(2)^(-)and SO_(4)·^(-)) and non-radical pathway(^(1) O_(2)) were responsible for the degradation of BPA.

Impacts of climate change mitigation on agriculture water use:A provincial analysis in China

Agriculture consumes huge amounts of water in China and is profoundly affected by climate change.This study projects the agricultural water use towards 2030 under the climate change mitigation target at the provincial level in China by linking a computable general equilibrium(CGE)model and a regression model.By solving the endogeneities amongst agricultural water use,output and climate factors,we explore how these variables affect water use and further predict future trends through soft-link with the IMED|CGE model.It is found that sunshine duration has a slightly positive impact on water use.Furthermore,agricultural output will significantly drive agricultural water use based on historical data of the past 16 years.Results also show that carbon reduction would have a trade-offor co-benefit effect on water use due to regional disparity.Provinces with increasing agricultural exports,such as Xinjiang and Ningxia,would anticipate considerable growth in agricultural water use induced by carbon reduction.The soft-link method proposed by this study could be applied for future studies that aim to incorporate natural and geographical factors into human activities,and vice versa,for assessing sustainable development policies in an integrated way.

PBX/Knotted 1 homeobox-2(PKNOX2)is a novel regulator of myocardial fibrosis

Much effort has been made to uncover the cellular heterogeneities of human hearts by single-nucleus RNA sequencing.However,the cardiac transcriptional regulation networks have not been systematically described because of the limitations in detecting transcription factors.In this study,we optimized a pipeline for isolating nuclei and conducting single-nucleus RNA sequencing targeted to detect a higher number of cell signal genes and an optimal number of transcription factors.With this unbiased protocol,we characterized the cellular composition of healthy human hearts and investigated the transcriptional regulation networks involved in determining the cellular identities and functions of the main cardiac cell subtypes.Particularly in fibroblasts,a novel regulator,PKNOX2,was identified as being associated with physiological fibroblast activation in healthy hearts.To validate the roles of these transcription factors in maintaining homeostasis,we used single-nucleus RNA-sequencing analysis of transplanted failing hearts focusing on fibroblast remodelling.The trajectory analysis suggested that PKNOX2 was abnormally decreased from fibroblast activation to pathological myofibroblast formation.Both gain-and loss-of-function in vitro experiments demonstrated the inhibitory role of PKNOX2 in pathological fibrosis remodelling.Moreover,fibroblast-specific overexpression and knockout of PKNOX2 in a heart failure mouse model induced by transverse aortic constriction surgery significantly improved and aggravated myocardial fibrosis,respectively.In summary,this study established a high-quality pipeline for single-nucleus RNA-sequencing analysis of heart muscle.With this optimized protocol,we described the transcriptional regulation networks of the main cardiac cell subtypes and identified PKNOX2 as a novel regulator in suppressing fibrosis and a potential therapeutic target for future translational studies.

球毛壳霉中一个新的生物碱类化合物（英文）

从球毛壳霉固体发酵产物(Chaetomium globosum)中分离得到一个新的生物碱类化合物和5个已知的化合物,通过多种波谱学方法鉴定了所分离化合物的结构,分别为6-异戊烯基-吲哚甲酸酯(1),N-乙酰基-L-色氨酸(2),xylariol(3),(methoxymethyl)-1H-pyrrole-2-carbaldehyde (4), ergosterol (5), ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (6)。其中,化合物1为新化合物,化合物2和3为首次从该真菌中分离得到。

Generation of B Cell-Deficient Pigs by Highly Efficient CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene Targeting

Generating B cell-deficient mutant is the first step to produce human antibody repertoires in large animal models. In this study, we applied the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat （CRISPR）/CRISPR-associated （Cas） system to target the JH region of the pig IgM heavy chain gene which is crucial for B cell development and differentiation. Transfection of IgM-targeting Cas9 plasmid in primary porcine fetal fibroblasts （PFFs） enabled inducing gene knock out （KO） in up to 53.3% of colonies analyzed, a quarter of which harbored biallelic modification, which was much higher than that of the traditional homologous recombination （HR）. With the aid of somatic cell nuclear transfer （SCNT） technology, three piglets with the biallelic lgM heavy chain gene mutation were produced. The piglets showed no antibody-producing B cells which indicated that the biallelic mutation of the lgM heavy chain gene effectively knocked out the function of the IgM and resulted in a B cell-deficient phenotype. Our study suggests that the CRISPR/Cas9 system combined with SCNT technology is an efficient genome-editing approach in pigs.

Hierarchical assembly of highly efficient visible-light-driven Ag/g-C_(3)N_(4)/kaolinite composite photocatalyst for the degradation of ibuprofen

A novel Ag/g-C_(3)N_(4)/kaolinite composite photocatalyst was fabricated for the first time through a two-step assembly strategy by employing in situ calcination and a photodeposition process.The synthesized Ag/g-C_(3)N_(4)/kaolinite composite reached a higher degradation rate of ibuprofen(IBP)with a reaction rate constant of 0.0113 min^(-1) at an Ag content of 7% under visible-light irradiation,which was approximately 1.87 times that of the Ag/g-C_(3)N_(4) composite.Based on the physicochemical properties,the enhanced photocatalytic activity was attributed to the stronger adsorption property,wider photoresponse range and more efficient separation and transfer of electron-hole pairs.Furthermore,the incorporation of monodispersed Ag nanoparticles onto the g-C_(3)N_(4)/kaolinite sheets provided more reactive sites for the IBP degradation.In addition,according to the EPR study and trapping experiments,it was demonstrated that holes(h^(+))should be the key reactive species.A possible pathway of IBP degradation was also proposed based on the detected intermediates.Overall,the results of this work may facilitate the design of a novel visible-light-driven photocatalyst with a high efficiency that is derived from a natural mineral for environmental remediation.

Advances in the development of power supplies for the Internet of Everything

The Internet of Everything(IoE),which aims to realize information exchange and communications for anything with the Internet,has revolutionized our modern world.Serving as the driving force for devices in the IoE network,power supply systems play a fundamental role in the development of the IoE.However,due to the complexity,multifunctionality and wide-scale deployment of diverse applications,power supply systems face great challenges,including distribution,connection,charging technologies,and management.In this review,some challenges and advances in the development of both power supply systems and their units are presented.In the overall system-level field,establishing sustainable and maintenancefree power supply systems through wireless connections,efficient power management and integrated energy harvesting and storage systems is highlighted.Additionally,the main performance metrics of power supply units are discussed,including energy density,service life,and self-power ability.In addition,some directions of power quality assessment for both the system and unit levels of power supply systems are presented,aiming to provide insight into the future development of high-performance power supply systems for the IoE.

A Bama miniature pig model of monoallelic TSC1 mutation for human tuberous sclerosis complex

Tuberous sclerosis complex(TSC)is a dominant genetic neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by multiple organ hamartomas.Although rodent models bearing a germline mutation in either TSC1 or TSC2 gene have been generated,they do not develop pathogenic lesions matching those seen in patients with TSC because of the significant differences between mice and humans,highlighting the need for an improved large animal model of TSC.Here,we successfully generate monoallelic TSC1-modified Bama miniature pigs using the CRISPR/Cas9 system along with somatic cell nuclear transfer(SCNT)technology.The expression of phosphorylated target ribosomal protein S6 is significantly enhanced in the piglets,indicating that disruption of a TSC1 allele activate the mechanistic target of rapamycin(mTOR)signaling pathway.Notably,differing from the mouse TSC models reported previously,the TSC1^(+/−)Bama miniature pig developed cardiac rhabdomyoma and subependymal nodules,resembling the major clinical features that occur in patients with TSC.These TSC1^(+/−)Bama miniature pigs could serve as valuable large animal models for further elucidation of the pathogenesis of TSC and the development of therapeutic strategies for TSC disease.

Overexpressing dominant-negative FGFR2-IIIb impedes lung branching morphogenesis in pigs

Genetic studies with mouse models have shown that fibroblast growth factor receptor 2-Ⅲb（FGFR2-Ⅲb）plays crucial roles in lung development and differentiation. To evaluate the effect of FGFR2-Ⅲb in pig lung development, we employed somatic cell nuclear transfer（SCNT） technology to generate transgenic pig fetuses overexpressing the transmembrane（dn FGFR2-Ⅲb-Tm） and soluble（dn FGFR2-Ⅲb-HFc） forms of the dominant-negative human FGFR2-Ⅲb driven by the human surfactant protein C（SP-C） promoter,which was specifically expressed in lung epithelia. Eight dn FGFR2-Ⅲb-Tm transgenic and twelve dn FGFR2-Ⅲb-HFc transgenic pig fetuses were collected from three and two recipient sows, respectively.Repression of FGFR2-Ⅲb in lung epithelia resulted in smaller lobes and retardation of alveolarization in both forms of dn FGFR2-Ⅲb transgenic fetuses. Moreover, the dn FGFR2-Ⅲb-HFc transgenic ones showed more deterioration in lung development. Our results demonstrate that disruption of FGFR2-Ⅲb signaling in the epithelium impedes normal branching and alveolarization in pig lungs, which is less severe than the results observed in transgenic mice. The dn FGFR2-Ⅲb transgenic pig is a good model for the studies of blastocyst complementation as well as the mechanisms of lung development and organogenesis.

Interface engineering of FeCo LDH@NiCoP nanowire heterostructures for highly efficient and stable overall water splitting

Developing efficient and inexpensive OER electrocatalysts is a challenge for overall water splitting.Herein,the heterostructured Fe Co LDH@NiCoP/NF nanowire arrays with high performance were rationally designed and prepared using an interface engineering strategy.Benefitting from the special heterostructure between Fe Co LDH and Ni Co P,the as-synthesized Fe Co LDH@Ni Co P/NF electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding OER performance with an exceptionally low overpotential of 206 mV to achieve 20 mA/cm^(2)current density in an alkaline electrolyte.Importantly,a cell constructed using the FeCo LDH@NiCoP/NF electrocatalyst as cathode and anode just needs a voltage of 1.48 V at 10 mA/cm^(2),and shows excellent stability over 80 h.Experimental and theoretical results verified that the introduction of Ni Co P efficiently regulates the electronic structure of Fe Co LDH,which tremendously boosts the conductivity and intrinsic catalytic activity of FeCo LDH@NiCoP/NF electrocatalyst.The present work provides guidance for the preparation of other efficient and cheap electrocatalytic materials.

Factors in?uencing the somatic cell nuclear transfer ef?ciency in pigs

Using a data set from our laboratory, we assessed the effects of several factors on pig cloning ef?ciency. The results demonstrated that cells at high con?uence( > 90%) used as donor cell resulted in higher pregnancy rate, delivery rate and overall cloning ef?ciency(number of live offspring born per reconstructed embryo transferred to recipients) compared with the cells at 60% to79% con?uence and 80% to 89% con?uence. Cells with four, ?ve and six passages compromised the pregnancy and delivery rates compared with ?rst passage cells. The number of blastocysts transferred by somatic cell nuclear transfer(SCNT) did not signi?cantly affect the cloning ef?ciency, but transfer of blastocyst derived from in vitro culture 5 d after SCNT achieved a signi?cantly higher pregnancy rate compared with one to two cell SCNT embryos from overnight culture. The highest pregnancy rate, delivery rate and the largest litter size were obtained when Bama Miniature pig ?broblasts were used as donor cells and Landrace/Yorkshire hybrid gilts were used as recipients. Recipients treated with chemicals for estrus synchronization had higher pregnancy rates compared with untreated recipients. Our data might be helpful for improving SCNT ef?ciency in pigs.

Erratum to“A Bama miniature pig model of monoallelic TSC1 mutation for human tuberous sclerosis complex”[Journal of Genetics and Genomics(2020)47,735–742]

This erratum clarifies information in the article“A Bama miniature pig model of monoallelic TSC1 mutation for human tuberous sclerosis complex”by Li et al.(2020).In the“Acknowledgment”section,the statement that“This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31701283,81970164)”should say“This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81874144,81970164)”.