We aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 lock down on lifestyle in China during the initial stage of the pandemic. A questionnaire was distributed to Chinese adults living in 31 provinces of China via the internet using a snowball sampling strategy. Information on 7-day physical activity recall, screen time, and emotional state were collected between January 24 and February 2, 2020. ANOVA, χ² test, and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used for statistical analysis. 12,107 participants aged 18–80 years were included. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, nearly 60% of Chinese adults had inadequate physical activity (95% CI 56.6%–58.3%), which was more than twice the global prevalence (27.5%, 25.0%–32.2%). Their mean screen time was more than 4 hours per day while staying at home (261.3 ± 189.8 min per day), and the longest screen time was found in young adults (305.6 ± 217.5 min per day). We found a positive and significant correlation between provincial proportions of confirmed COVID-19 cases and negative affect scores (r = 0.501, p = 0.004). Individuals with vigorous physical activity appeared to have a better emotional state and less screen time than those with light physical activity. During this nationwide lockdown, more than half of Chinese adults temporarily adopted a sedentary lifestyle with insufficient physical activity, more screen time, and poor emotional state, which may carry considerable health risks. Promotion of home-based self-exercise can potentially help improve health and wellness.
Aims: The aims of the study were to identify the effects of rice endophyte Pantoea agglomerans YS19 on host plant growth and allocations of photosynthates. Methods and Results: Endophytic diazotrophic YS19 showed nitrogen‐fixing activity in N‐free medium, and produced four categories of phytohormones which were indole‐3‐acetic acid, abscisic acid, gibberellic acid and cytokinin in Luria–Bertani medium. Inoculation of YS19 improved the biomass of the 12‐day‐cultivated host rice seedlings by 63·4% on N‐free medium or by 18·7% on N‐supplemented medium. Spraying of YS19 cell culture onto the rice plants at the premilk stage enhanced the transportation of the photosynthetic assimilation product from the source (flag leaves) to the sink (stachys) significantly. The formation of the plant sink was obviously inhibited when YS19 cell culture was applied at the late milk stage. Conclusions: This research suggests that endophyte YS19 promotes host rice plant growth and affects allocations of host photosynthates. Significance and Impact of the Study: These findings suggested that YS19 possesses the potential for increasing rice production in field application. Meanwhile, a suitable plant growth stage must be selected for the foliar spraying of YS19 cell culture.
Well-defined Fe3O4/Au core/shell nanoparticles were successfully prepared with polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a linker, which are of good monodispersity and strong magnetism. The intact gold shell made these nanoparticles easily modified and biofunctionalized for different biodetection and biosensing purposes. Hereby, they were surface modified with mercaptopropionic acid, followed by conjugating nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and subsequently chelating Ni2+. The resulting biofunctionalized Fe3O4/Au−NTA−Ni2+ composite nanoparticles were used to enrich and separate the histidine-tagged (His-Tag) maltose-binding protein (MBP) directly from the mixture of lysed cells. It has been found that Fe3O4/Au−NTA−Ni2+ can be used for rapid, efficient, and specific enrichment and separation of His-Tag fusion proteins. The enrichment efficiency of the Fe3O4/Au−NTA−Ni2+ nanoparticles is significantly higher than that of metal−chelate affinity chromatography (MCAC). The detection limit of the current method coupled with facile SDS-PAGE can be lower than 5.5 × 10−8M. Due to the ease of operation and good efficiency of separation, diverse bifunctional and even multifunctional nanomaterials can be further developed for biological applications.
Biofilm is bacterial population adherent to each other and to surfaces or interfaces, often enclosed by a matrix. Various biomolecules contribute to the establishment of biofilms, yet the process of building a biofilm is still under active investigation. Indole is known as a metabolite of amino acid tryptophan, which, however, has recently been proved to participate in various aspects of bacterial life including virulence induction, cell cycle regulation, acid resistance, and especially, signaling biofilm formation. Moreover, indole is also proposed to be a novel signal involved in quorum sensing, a bacterial cooperation behavior sometimes concerning the biofilm formation. Here the signaling role and molecular mechanism of indole on bacterial biofilm formation are reviewed, as well discussed is its relation to bacterial living adaptivity.
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