Current genetic studies (e.g. gene knockout) have suggested that EsxA and EsxB function as secreted virulence factors that are essential for Mycobaterium tuberculosis (Mtb) intracellular survival, specifically in mediating phagosome rupture and translocation of Mtb to the cytosol of host cells, which further facilitates Mtb intracellular replicating and cell-to-cell spreading. The EsxA-mediated intracellular survival is presumably achieved by its pH-dependent membrane-permeabilizing activity (MPA). However, the data from other studies have generated a discrepancy regarding the...

Pickering emulsion is widely used in food, drug administration, and cosmetics. In practical applications, surfactants are often co-present with particles, so it is particularly critical to study particle-surfactant interactions. Pickering emulsions were prepared using stearyltrimethylammoniumchloride organic montmorillonite (STAC/MMT) and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO-3) as stabilizers. Effects of AEO-3 content, STAC/MMT content, oil-water ratio, emulsification temperature, emulsification time on emulsion stability were systematically revealed by studying the particle size distribution and phase volume of the...

A simple, fast, air-assisted liquid-liquid micro-extraction technique using the solidification of a floating organic droplet method was developed for the extraction of three strobilurin fungicides in water samples before analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). In this method, a low-density solvent (1-dodecanol) was used as the extraction solvent. Fine extraction solvent droplets were rapidly formed and dispersed into the water samples through air-pumping by syringe rather than an organic...

Natural plant-derived protein with excellent bioactivities has attracted much attention so a functional protein with molecular weight of 15.2 kDa was extracted from Millettia speciosa Champ. leaf for the first time. Under the pH of 12.0, solid-liquid ratio of 1:40 (w/v), extraction time of 2.0 h, and extraction temperature of 50 °C, the highest extracting efficiency (79.25 ± 0.78%) of the Millettia speciosa Champ. leaf protein (MLP) was achieved. The main structure of MLP contained...

A simple, fast, air-assisted liquid-liquid micro-extraction technique using the solidification of a floating organic droplet method was developed for the extraction of three strobilurin fungicides in water samples before analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). In this method, a low-density solvent (1-dodecanol) was used as the extraction solvent. Fine extraction solvent droplets were rapidly formed and dispersed into the water samples through air-pumping by syringe rather than an organic...

A new type of metal-free catalyst was successfully prepared by doping boron (B) in the carbon nanotube. The catalyst had 99.4% removal of phenol in 60 min at pH 7 by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS). In order to explore the origin of the high catalytic activity, the samples were characterized by Raman and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the process of catalytic degradation were investigated. The Raman results showed that...

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 42 patients...

Jiaxing is a medium-sized city in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), which showed complex local and surrounding pollution sources. To study the COVID-19 impact on the ambient PM2.5 in Jiaxing, we collected the PM2.5 samples from 2 January to 25 April 2020 and analysed their chemical compositions (including carbon components, water-soluble ions (WSIs), and inorganic elements). The concentration of PM2.5 was 83.13 ± 30.93 μg/m3 before COVID-19 pandemic and then remarkably decreased with COVID-19 outbreak...

Users rely heavily on mobile phones as multi-purpose devices to support all kinds of tasks. This study conceptualises mobile phone deep structure use and aims at unveiling such behaviour. Towards this end, this study goes beyond the traditional technology usage theories based on rationality and instrumentality. It is replaced by a relationship-based theory, the attachment theory, to investigate how users’ attachment to mobile phones is formed and how such attachment influences mobile phone deep structure...

A growing body of evidence suggests the pivotal role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in influenza virus infection. Based on next-generation sequencing, we previously demonstrated that Lnc45 was distinctively stimulated by H5N1 influenza virus in mice. In this study, we systematically investigated the specific role of Lnc45 during influenza A virus (IAV) infection. Through qRT-PCR, we first demonstrated that Lnc45 is highly up-regulated by different subtypes of IAV strains, including H5N1, H7N9, and H1N1 viruses....

Soluble pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase (STH), catalyzes a reversible hydrogen transfer between NADH and NADPH, is widely utilized in cofactor engineering. In the present study, we expanded the distribution range of STH to more unreported bacteria. Meanwhile, STH was mainly found in α, γ, δ-proteobacteria, acidobacteria, actinobacteria and planctomycetes. The enzymological properties of two novel STHs from Acidobacteria bacterium KBS 146 (AbSTH) and Nocardia jiangxiensis (NjSTH) were characterized. The optimum temperature and pH of AbSTH and...

This study explored whether using a coal or biomass stove for cooking was associated with a greater risk of red blood cell (RBC) folate insufficiency among pregnant women compared to using clean energy. A researcher-designed questionnaire was used to collect information on exposure-related factors and confounding factors. RBC folate concentrations were examined by microbiological assay. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors related to RBC folate insufficiency. The use of coal or firewood...

A new aromatic glycoside (1) and twelve (2–13) known aromatic glycosides were isolated from the n-butyl alcohol of the 70% EtOH extract of the aerial part of Bupleurum chinense. Among them, compounds 4–7, 9, 11–13 were isolated from Umbelliferae plants for the first time. Their structures were elucidated by NMR and MS spectroscopy, and the absolute configuration of compound 1 was elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 6 and 10 showed moderate cytotoxic activities on...

A new highly oxygenated cycloheptane derivative crustane (1), along with fourteen known compounds (2–15) were isolated from Penicillium crustosum JT-8. The structure of compound 1 was determined by extensive spectroscopic data, DP4+ probability analyses and dimolybdenum CD method. Compound 1 exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with MIC of 4.0 μg/mL.

5-Methylcytosine (m5C) is a type of RNA modification that exists in tRNAs and rRNAs and was recently found in mRNA. Although mRNA m5C modification has been reported to regulate diverse biological process, its function in adipogenesis remains unknown. Here, we demonstrated that knockdown of NOL1/NOP2/Sun domain family member 2 (NSUN2), a m5C methyltransferase, increased lipid accumulation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes through accelerating cell cycle progression during mitotic clonal expansion (MCE) at the early stage of adipogenesis....

Recovering phosphorus (P) from excess sludge of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has attracted considerable attention. An efficient P release method is undoubtedly critical for a satisfactory recovery performance. In this study, the effectiveness of three sludge pretreatment methods, i.e. anaerobic digestion (AD), EDTA-anaerobic digestion (EA) and ultrasound combined with EA (U-EA), on P release and struvite recovery from excess sludge was investigated. The results showed that different pretreatment methods resulted in the different characteristics of...

Recovering phosphorus (P) from excess sludge of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has attracted considerable attention. An efficient P release method is undoubtedly critical for a satisfactory recovery performance. In this study, the effectiveness of three sludge pretreatment methods, i.e. anaerobic digestion (AD), EDTA-anaerobic digestion (EA) and ultrasound combined with EA (U-EA), on P release and struvite recovery from excess sludge was investigated. The results showed that different pretreatment methods resulted in the different characteristics of...

A new type of metal-free catalyst was successfully prepared by doping boron (B) in the carbon nanotube. The catalyst had 99.4% removal of phenol in 60 min at pH 7 by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS). In order to explore the origin of the high catalytic activity, the samples were characterized by Raman and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the process of catalytic degradation were investigated. The Raman results showed that...

Foliar nutrient diagnosis is a potent tool for nutrient management in crops. Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) plantation in China dominates the worldwide litchi cultivation, and Feizixiao is the most widely cultivated species in China. Herein, 538 leaf samples were collected at fruit swelling stage and the terminal shoot maturing stage during 2016–2017, and the fruit yields of all the sampled trees were recorded. The suitability of four nutrient diagnosis methods including critical value approach (CVA),...

Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV), an emergent flavivirus, causes domestic waterfowls to suffer from severe egg-drop syndrome and fatal encephalitis, greatly threatens duck production globally. Like other mosquito-borne flaviviruses, the envelope (E) protein of all DTMUV strains was N-glycosylated at the amino acid position 154. Thus far, the biological roles of DTMUV E glycosylation have remained largely unexplored. Herein, we demonstrated the key roles of E glycosylation in the replication and pathogenicity of DTMUV in ducks...

The Meso- to Neoproterozoic Eras were characterized by environmental, evolutionary, and lithospheric stability in the North China Craton (NCC). It is controversial that huge uplift(s) occurred in the North China Craton during this period. The southern NCC developed early terrestrial deposition in the late-Paleoproterozoic and glacial sequence in the late Neoproterozoic record integrated geological history of the NCC in the intervening interval. Geochemistry compositions of mid-Mesoproterozoic carbonaceous slates (ca. 1330 Ma) show similar provenances to...

Additional file 2.

A new dihydroflavone, 2(S)-isookanin-4′-methoxy-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), and a new polyacetylene glucoside, (10S)-tridecane-2E-ene-4,6,8-triyne-1-ol-10-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), along with seven known compounds (3–9), were isolated from the herb of Bidens parviflora Willd. The structures of all the extracted compounds were elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, 1 D and 2 D NMR spectra, as well as circular dichroism (CD).

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a class of enzymes with detoxification function. GSTs can be used for the degradation of toxic aromatic compounds, such as dyes. In order to promote their application and cost-effective dye degradation and to understand their structure and function more deeply, we cloned and expressed a gst2 gene from Trametes gibbosa—a white rot fungus. T.gibbosa gst2 has a 672-bp open reading frame (ORF) and encodes 223 amino acids. The recombinant Tg-gst2 in...

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...