Activatable Peptides for Rapid and Simple Visualization of Protease Activity Secreted in Living Cells

Activity-based monitoring of cell-secreted proteases has gained significant interest due to the implication of these substances in diverse cellular functions. Here, we demonstrated a cell-based method of monitoring protease activity using fluorescent cell-permeable peptides. The activatable peptide consists of anionic (EEEE), cleavable, and cationic sequences (RRRR) that enable intracellular delivery by matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2), which is secreted by living cancer cells. Compared to HT-29 cells (MMP2-negative), HT-1080 cells (MMP2-positive) showed a strong fluorescence response to the short fluorescent peptide via cell-secreted protease activation. Our approach is expected to find applications for the rapid visualization of protease activity in living cells.     

晚清中国在巨文岛事件中的外交斡旋(1885-1886)

朝鲜问题一直是甲午战争前夕东北亚地区国际斗争的焦点之一,在中日双方就中朝宗藩关系体制的存废争执不休的同时,英国和俄国也为争夺对远东的控制而进行了明争暗斗。中国清廷在英俄两国之间展开外交斡旋,中国清廷本着维护中国对朝鲜的宗主权为出发点利用英俄两国的矛盾,使两国的争端得以缓和,最终以俄国允诺不侵占朝鲜领土和英国撤出巨文岛为结束。巨文岛事件的解决是晚清中国政府利用外交斡旋手段处理大国矛盾的比较成功的特例,但也使得清廷滋长了对未来朝鲜问题再度尖锐化的麻痹,盲目自信的态度也为日后甲午战争的外交失败埋下了伏笔。     

MicroRNAs as Potential Biomarkers in the Differential Diagnosis of Lipomatous Tumors and Their Mimics

Adipocytic tumors are the most common subtype of soft tissue tumors. In current clinical practice, distinguishing benign lipomas from well-differentiated liposarcomas (WDLPS), as well as dedifferentiated liposarcomas (DDLPS) from their morphologic mimics, remains a significant diagnostic challenge. This is especially so when examining small biopsy samples and without the aid of additional ancillary tests. Recognizing the important role that microRNAs (miRNAs) play in tumorigenesis and their potential utility in tumor classification, we analyzed routine clinical tissue samples of benign and malignant lipomatous tumors, as well as other sarcoma mimics, to identify distinguishing miRNA-based signatures that can aid in the differential diagnosis of these entities. We discovered a 6-miRNA signature that separated lipomas from WDLPS with high confidence (AUC of 0.963), as well as a separate 6-miRNA signature that distinguished DDLPS from their more aggressive histologic mimics (AUC of 0.740). Functional enrichment analysis unveiled possible mechanistic involvement of these predictive miRNAs in adipocytic cancer-related biological processes and pathways such as PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK signaling, further supporting the relevance of these miRNAs as biomarkers for adipocytic tumors. Our results demonstrate that miRNA expression profiling may potentially be used as an adjunctive tool for the diagnosis of benign and malignant adipocytic tumors. Further validation studies are warranted.     

高层建筑钢结构柱安装测控方法

针对目前高层建筑钢结构柱安装测量控制方法中存在的一些技术盲点,提出处理方法和改进建议。     

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Peptidase M24 Superfamily in Triticum aestivum Demonstrates That TaM24-9 Is Involved in Abiotic Stress Response

The peptidase M24 (Metallopeptidase 24, M24) superfamily is essential for plant growth, stress response, and pathogen defense. At present, there are few systematic reports on the identification and classification of members of the peptidase M24 proteins superfamily in wheat. In this work, we identified 53 putative candidate TaM24 genes. According to the protein sequences characteristics, these members can be roughly divided into three subfamilies: I, II, III. Most TaM24 genes are complex with multiple exons, and the motifs are relatively conserved in each sub-group. Through chromosome mapping analysis, we found that the 53 genes were unevenly distributed on 19 wheat chromosomes (except 3A and 3D), of which 68% were in triads. Analysis of gene duplication events showed that 62% of TaM24 genes in wheat came from fragment duplication events, and there were no tandem duplication events to amplify genes. Analysis of the promoter sequences of TaM24 genes revealed that cis-acting elements were rich in response elements to drought, osmotic stress, ABA, and MeJA. We also studied the expression of TaM24 in wheat tissues at developmental stages and abiotic stress. Then we selected TaM24-9 as the target for further analysis. The results showed that TaM24-9 genes strengthened the drought and salt tolerance of plants. Overall, our analysis showed that members of the peptidase M24 genes may participate in the abiotic stress response and provided potential gene resources for improving wheat resistance.     

Wire-in-Wire TiO2/C Nanofibers Free-Standing Anodes for Li-Ion and K-Ion Batteries with Long Cycling Stability and High Capacity

Wearable and portable mobile phones play a critical role in the market,and one of the key technologies is the flexible electrode with high spe-cific capacity an...     

Structure evolution,dielectric,and conductivity behavior of(K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-Bi(Zn2/3Nb1/3)O3 ceramics

(1-x)K0.5Na0.5NbO3-xBi(Zn2/3Nb1/3)O3 ((1-x)KNN-xBZN,x =0.010,0.015,0.020,0.025,and 0.030) lead-free ceramics were fabricated via a traditional solid-state metho...     

燃气埋地钢制管道外防腐层完整性检测的应用及探讨

本文简要介绍了燃气埋地钢制管道外防腐层完整性检测的基本原理和方法,通过新、旧管道的完整性检测案例,叙述了完整性检测的过程,并分析了需要注意的因素和存在的问题,提出了解决外防腐层完整性检测的一些建议,希望对今后其他类似工程提供一定的参考.     

SVD based scale transform invariant observable degree for LTI system

Dear editor, The basic concept of observability is used to express the possibility to recover the state from measurements in modern control theory [1-3].It is a...     

丙烯酸缩水甘油酯的合成工艺改进

采用充分干燥的丙烯酸钠盐为原料和减压抽滤的后处理方法,对传统丙烯酸缩水甘油酯合成工艺进行改进。探讨了丙烯酸钠纯度、含水量、催化剂及阻聚剂品种、反应条件、减压抽滤时蒸馏压力等因素对丙烯酸缩水甘油酯收率的影响。结果表明,当丙烯酸钠纯度99％以上,含水量小于0．5％,十六烷基三甲基溴化铵为催化剂,对苯二酚为阻聚剂,环氧氯丙烷与丙烯酸钠摩尔比为4．5：1,反应温度100～105℃,反应时间2．5h,减压蒸馏压力0．097MPa时,丙烯酸缩水甘油酯收率达92％以上。