Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) is a rare retinal disorder characterised by incomplete retinal vascular development. Symptoms vary widely from none to blindness even within the same family. Multiple genes related to the Wnt pathway have been found to be associated with FEVR. Recent studies identified tetraspanin 12 (TSPAN12) as a cause of the autosomal dominant inheritance form of FEVR. Here, we describe a novel TSPAN12 mutation in a Chinese family with FEVR. Targeted next-generation sequencing...

An important management strategy for the development of sustainable agriculture in orchards is the management of ground cover. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the effects of ground cover on fruit yield and quality. We performed a meta-analysis of 580 observations collected from 116 peer-reviewed field studies, to assess the effects of ground cover on fruit yield and quality indicators. Overall, ground cover significantly increased fruit yield, soluble solid content, sugar content, and vitamin...

Here we report the discovery and identification of antibacterial substances from the secondary metabolites of a new strain Bacillus velezensis BA-26. The whole genome of B. velezensis BA-26 was sequenced. Its genome data were annotated, and four potentially unknown gene clusters and nine known secondary metabolite synthetic gene clusters were analyzed and excavated by antiSMASH software. Based on the predicted secondary metabolites from the genome of strain BA-26, the material identification of isolated and purified...

Additional file 1 Supplementary Table S1. The expression levels of 1627 dynamically expressed genes in the reprogramming procedure of rhesus monkey fibroblast cells toward neuroephithelia stem cells. Supplementary Table S2 to S17. The enriched GO terms of genes in Cluster G0 to G15 of Figure 1A, respectively. Supplementary Table S18. The expression levels of 495 dynamically expressed TEs in the reprogramming procedure of rhesus monkey fibroblast cells toward neuroephithelia stem cells. Supplementary Table S19. The...

In this paper we develop a likelihood ratio test for independence between multivariate discrete random vectors whose components may be dependent or may have different marginal distributions. A special case that tests independence between two discrete random variables is also discussed. The model under the null hypothesis is constructed based on the marginal distributions of the random variables, while the model under the alternative is built by adding a common random effect which is not...

Perchlorate (ClO4−) industrial wastewater requires efficient removal to prevent adverse environmental impacts, however, high concentration and low biodegradability give rise to poor ClO4− bioreduction performance. S2−-autotrophic granular sludge (S2−-AuGS) was firstly cultivated for high concentration perchlorate (ClO4−) removal in the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor (ClO4−: 150 mg L−1). Simultaneously, the S2− was utilized to control the SO42− generation as electron donor, the effluent SO42− concentration (190 mg L−1) was satisfied with drinking water...

Additional file 4. Funnel plots for top MR findings, leave-one-out results for top DTI-Disorder pairs, general contribution of DTI to neuropsychiatric disease after sensitivity test adjustment, Rank-Rank overlaps between MR effect and heterogeneity for ROI-Disease analysis.

Patients with depression have a high prevalence of developing dyslipidemia. In this study, we aim to investigate the difference of serum lipids, including total cholesterol (TCH), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), between the depressed patients and healthy controls. Sex differences in lipids and their psychological correlations were also included. The study included 56 healthy controls (males/females = 26/30) and 110 first-diagnosed drug-naïve outpatients (males/females = 35/75). A total of...

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) include the transition and transversion of a single base. In this study, we found two cSNPs (rs110757796 and rs110652478) in the FABP4 (fatty acid-binding protein 4) gene and tested their population genetic parameters in five Chinese cattle breeds. FABP4 is a key marker molecule for lipid production. It plays a crucial role in the growth and development of animals. Thus, we also analyze the association between the two cSNPs of FABP4...

Selenium (Se) is an essential element for the human body. Humans meet their basic Se requirements primarily through food consumption. The largest Se-rich contiguous area in China is located in the southeast of Guangxi. In this study, the Se accumulation and translocation in the Guangxi rice–soil system was assessed. Organically bound Se (O-Se) was found to be the main type of soil Se (72.5%), and had a good linear relationship with soil total Se (TSe)...

Surra, one of the most important animal diseases with economic consequences in Asia and South America, is caused by Trypanosoma evansi. However, the mechanism of immune evasion by T. evansi has not been extensively studied. In the present study, T. evansi extracellular vesicles (TeEVs) were characterized and the role of TeEVs in T. evansi infection were examined. The results showed that T. evansi and TeEVs could activate TLR2-AKT pathway to inhibit the secretions of IL-12p40,...

The current investigation reports the synthesis of N-CDs using glucosamine, ascorbic acid, and ethylenediamine precursors by a simple hydrothermal technique. The formation of N-CDs was proved by various characterisation techniques such as X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FT-IR). The optical properties were investigated by fluorescence and UV-vis spectrophotometer. Also, N-CDs showed high selectivity in detecting the MTZ compared to several other analytes. However, the metronidazole...

We propose a general framework for the specification testing of continuous treatment effect models. We assume a general residual function, which includes the average and quantile treatment effect models as special cases. The null models are identified under the unconfoundedness condition and contain a nonparametric weighting function. We propose a test statistic for the null model in which the weighting function is estimated by solving an expanding set of moment equations. We establish the asymptotic...

The circRNAs sequencing results vary due to the different enrichment methods and their performance is needed to systematic comparison. This study investigated the effects of different circRNA enrichment methods on sequencing results, including abundance and species of circRNAs, as well as the sensitivity and precision. This experiment was carried out by following four common circRNA enrichment methods: including ribosomal RNA depletion (rRNA–), polyadenylation and poly (A+) RNA depletion followed by RNase R treatment (polyA+RNase R),...

Exosomes mediate the interaction between cancer cells and their microenvironment, and play a key role in tumor development. Although exosomes can package lncRNAs to mediate extracellular communication, the role of exosomal lncRNA AY927529 in prostate cancer (PCa) remains unclear. Exosomes were extracted from normal human prostatic epithelial cell lines (BPH-1 and RWPE-1) and PCa cell lines (VCaP and LNCaP, DU145, PC3) by ultrahigh speed centrifugation. Results of Western blot indicated that Alix, HSC70 and TSGl01...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) middle surface antigen (MHBs) mutation or deletion occurs in patients with chronic HBV infection. However, the functional role of MHBs in HBV infection is still an enigma. Here, we reported that 7.33% (11/150) isolates of CHB patients had MHBs start codon mutations compared with 0.00% (0/146) in acute hepatitis B (AHB) patients. Interestingly, MHBs loss accounted for 11.88% (126/1061) isolates from NCBI GenBank, compared with 0.09% (1/1061) and 0.00% (0/1061) for...

Biological treatment is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technique for treating toluene. However, this process is limited by the type and quantity of toluene degraders that can be applied to different environments and methods. It is a feasible solution to constructing new genetic engineering organisms for toluene degradation through biotechnology. To facilitate genetic manipulation and improve gene expression, the toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase locus from Pseudomonas stutzeri was reconstructed and artificially synthesized. All six genes were optimized...

Abstract Background The benefits of mother’s own milk (MOM) for preterm infants have been widely recognized. Many studies have shown that the rate of breastfeeding of premature infants remains very low. Although many studies use measures to promote breastfeeding, few high-quality cluster randomized controlled studies have evaluated the effectiveness of these measures. WeChat is an instant messaging software for smart terminals, and WeChat mini-programs have been widely used to promote health and self-management in China....

Additional file 6: Figure S2. miRNAs with similar expression patterns in crown and leaf tissues at the winter dormancy stage, spring green-up stage and jointing stage.

Additional file 7: Figure S3. miRNAs with different expression patterns in crown and leaf tissues at the winter dormancy stage, spring green-up stage and jointing stage.

Surra, one of the most important animal diseases with economic consequences in Asia and South America, is caused by Trypanosoma evansi. However, the mechanism of immune evasion by T. evansi has not been extensively studied. In the present study, T. evansi extracellular vesicles (TeEVs) were characterized and the role of TeEVs in T. evansi infection were examined. The results showed that T. evansi and TeEVs could activate TLR2-AKT pathway to inhibit the secretions of IL-12p40,...

Drug-resistant pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has severely threatened human health and arouses widespread concern. Sortase A (SrtA) is an essential virulence factor of S. aureus, which is responsible for the covalent anchoring of a variety of virulence-related proteins to the cell wall. SrtA has always been regarded as an ideal pharmacological target against S. aureus infections. In this research, we have determined that orientin, a natural compound isolated from various medicinal plants, can effectively...

Two new polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs), hyperbeanins P-Q (1-2), and two new biosynthetic precursors, hyperbeanins R-S (3-4), were isolated from Hypericum beanii, together with three known analogs (5-7). Compound 1 was one of type A PPAPs featured with unusual bicyclo[5.3.1]hendecane core. The structures of isolates were established by NMR spectroscopic methods, experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra and comparisons with known compounds. Compounds 5 and 6 showed obvious hepatoprotective activity at 10 µM against paracetamol-induced...

Tumor-derived exosomes (exo) could modulate the biological behaviors of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Here, the role of microRNA (miR)-10a-5p-modified gastric cancer (GC) cells-derived exo for HUVECs was studied. GC tissue specimens were collected, and miR-10a-5p and zinc finger MYND-type containing 11 (ZMYND11) levels were determined. HUVECs interfered with ZMYND11 or miR-10a-5p-related oligonucleotides. Exo was extracted from GC cells (HGC-27 exo), and miR-10a-5p mimic-modified HGC-27 exo were co-cultured with HUVECs. HUVECs viability, migration and...

No clear consensus has been reached about the clinical features in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the clinical characteristics and prognosis of NHL patients with chronic HBV infection (HBsAg+). Seven electronic databases were searched for relevant studies up to 31 January 2021. Hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) corresponding to 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to estimate the outcomes. The primary...