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There is a huge quantity of microorganisms in the gut of fish, which exert pivotal roles in maintaining host intestinal and general health. The fish immunity can sense and shape the intestinal microbiota and maintain the intestinal homeostasis. In the meantime, the intestinal commensal microbes regulate the fish immunity, control the extravagant proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms, and ensure the intestinal health of the host. This review summarizes developments and progress on the known interactions between host immunity and intestinal microorganisms in fish, focusing on the recent advances in zebrafish (Danio rerio) showing the host immunity senses and shapes intestinal microbiota, and intestinal microorganisms tune host immunity. This review will offer theoretical references for the development, application, and commercialization of intestinal functional microorganisms in fish. Key points: • The interactions between the intestinal microorganisms and host immunity in zebrafish • Fish immunity senses and shapes the microbiota • Intestinal microbes tune host immunity in fish [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a huge quantity of microorganisms in the gut of fish, which exert pivotal roles in maintaining host intestinal and general health. The fish immunity can sense and shape the intestinal microbiota and maintain the intestinal homeostasis. In the meantime, the intestinal commensal microbes regulate the fish immunity, control the extravagant proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms, and ensure the intestinal health of the host. This review summarizes developments and progress on the known interactions between host immunity and intestinal microorganisms in fish, focusing on the recent advances in zebrafish (Danio rerio) showing the host immunity senses and shapes intestinal microbiota, and intestinal microorganisms tune host immunity. This review will offer theoretical references for the development, application, and commercialization of intestinal functional microorganisms in fish. Key points: • The interactions between the intestinal microorganisms and host immunity in zebrafish • Fish immunity senses and shapes the microbiota • Intestinal microbes tune host immunity in fish [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty acyl reductases (FARs) are key enzymes that participate in sex pheromone biosynthesis by reducing fatty acids to fatty alcohols. Lepidoptera typically harbor numerous FAR gene family members. Although FAR genes are involved in the biosynthesis of sex pheromones in moths, the key FAR gene of Spodoptera litura remains unclear. In this work, we predicted 30 FAR genes from the S. litura genome and identified a domain duplication within gene SlitFAR3, which exhibited high and preferential expression in the sexually mature female pheromone glands (PGs) and a rhythmic expression pattern during the scotophase of sex pheromone production. The molecular docking of SlitFAR3, as predicted using a 3D model, revealed a co‐factor NADPH binding cavity and 2 substrate binding cavities. Functional expression in yeast cells combined with comprehensive gas chromatography indicated that the SlitFAR3 gene could produce fatty alcohol products. This study is the first to focus on the special phenomenon of FAR domain duplication, which will advance our understanding of biosynthesis‐related genes from the perspective of evolutionary biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, ecological damage and environmental pollution have become increasingly serious. Experts in various fields have started to study related issues from diverse points of view. To prevent the accelerated deterioration of the ecological environment, ecolinguistics emerged. Eco-critical discourse analysis is one of the important parts of ecolinguistics research, that is, it is a critical discourse analysis of the use of language from the perspective of the language's ecological environment. Firstly, an ecological tone and modality system are constructed from an ecological perspective. Under the guidance of the ecological philosophy of "equality, harmony, and symbiosis", this study conducts an ecological discourse analysis on the Sino-US trade friction reports, aiming to present the similarities and differences between the two newspapers' trade friction discourses and to reveal the ecological significance of international ecological factors in the discourse. Secondly, this method establishes a vector expression of abstract words based on emotion dictionary resources and introduces emotion polarity and part-of-speech features of words. Then the word vector is formed into the text feature matrix, which is used as the input of the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model, and the Back Propagation algorithm is adopted to train the model. Finally, in the light of the trained CNN model, the unlabeled news is predicted, and the experimental results are analyzed. The results reveal that during the training process of Chinese and English datasets, the accuracy of the training set can reach nearly 100%, and the loss rate can be reduced to 0. On the test set, the classification accuracy of Chinese text can reach 83%, while that of English text can reach 90%, and the experimental results are ideal. This study provides an explanatory approach for ecological discourse analysis on the news reports of Sino-US trade frictions and has certain guiding significance for the comparative research on political news reports under different ideologies between China and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Precambrian–Cambrian unconformity boundary is ubiquitous and globally documented, which is of great significance to studying major global scientific issues such as environmental transition, positions of the supercontinent, Cambrian explosion, and global geochemical cycle. However, few studies have been on the palaeogeographic features and provenance changes of the Precambrian–Cambrian unconformity boundary at the southern margin of North China Craton (NCC). This uncertainty hampers us from further understanding the early climate change and plate evolutionary history of the NCC. To improve the knowledge of the palaeogeographic features and provenance changes of the Precambrian–Cambrian unconformity boundary on the southern margin of the NCC, the Luoquan and Xinji formations at the southern margin of the NCC were selected as the research object integrated with sedimentary petrology, trace elements, and detrital zircon geochronology investigation. The results suggest a depositional gap between the Luoquan and Xinji formations. The former is glacial to deglaciation deposits, while the latter is shallow to coastal sediments. Compared with the sedimentary stratum of the South China Craton, the Luoquan Formation lacks at least one transgression and regression cycle. The Xinji Formation has detrital zircon age peaks of 1200, 1100, and 950 Ma, unavailable in the Luoquan Formation. The provenance areas of the Luoquan and Xinji formations have changed, indicating that the provenances of the Luoquan Formation belong to the NCC and part of the provenances of the Xinji Formation belong to the North Qinling Terrane (NQT). The trace element data indicate that the tectonic setting of the Luoquan and Xinji formations has changed from a continental island arc to a passive continental margin. It is suggested that the NCC be involved in the evolution of Rodinia supercontinent, which leads to the change of the provenance and tectonic setting. This research provides an explanation for the Precambrian–Cambrian tectonic history, basin development, stratigraphic correlation, and palaeogeographic reconstruction of NCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During Neoproterozoic global climate changed drastically and associated glacial deposits have been found worldwide. However, there are few such records at the southern margin of the North China Craton (NCC), limiting the comparison of the glacial deposits with other parts of the world. In this study, five sections of the Neoproterozoic Luoquan Formation were investigated in a systematic field survey using traditional sedimentology, geochemistry, and geochronology methods to reveal genesis, paleoclimate, paleoenvironment, and provenance of the Luoquan Formation. The results reveal depositional evidence for glaciation, such as sedimentary characteristics of massive diamictites, bedded and weakly bedded diamictites, sandstone lenses, lonestone-bearing siltstone, glacial relics, and striated pavements. All geochemical indicators show positive trends, such as in the values of Fe/Mn, Mg/Ga, Sr/Ba, ΣREE, and Cu/Zn. The zircon U–Pb data of the stable sandstone strata in the Luoquan Formation show a main peak at 2494 million years (Ma) and secondary peaks at 1656, 2100, and 2233 Ma. Sedimentary characteristics, glacial relics, changes in geochemical values, and the provenance age of detrital zircons suggest that the Luoquan Formation represents glacial meltwater deposits that eroded the nearby strata in a gradually warming environment. The direction of glacier migration, from north to south, revealed that the NCC deposition process occurred in the late Neoproterozoic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of an energy distribution network can improve the system's ability to absorb new energy, and its stable and efficient operation has become more and more important. The security and stability analysis of a distribution network needs accurate distribution network model parameters as support. At present, the installation of PMU equipment in China's distribution network synchronous phase angle measurement unit is limited, which brings challenges to the parameter correction of the distribution network. In this paper, an automatic correction algorithm of distribution network parameters based on the CIM model and measurement data is proposed for the distribution network system without PMU. Firstly, the distribution network topology construction technology based on XML files and key fields of the distribution network is proposed, and the non/small impedance devices (such as switches) are merged and reduced. The breadth-first traversal algorithm is used to verify the connectivity of the constructed topology. Then, based on the topology construction and the least squares method, an iterative parameter correction technique is constructed. Finally, the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are verified in a standard IEEE 33-bus system distribution network and an example of the China Southern Power Grid. The topology connections constructed based on the CIM model have significantly enhanced the efficiency of parameter correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions: Af9 protein in cochlea may be closely related to endolymph regulation by aldosterone and thus may be involved in pathogenesis of endolymphatic hydrops (EH). Objectives: EH is the pathological characteristic of Ménière's disease (MD). Aldosterone could induce EH, but its relationship with MD is still controversial. The aim of the present study is to investigate the Af9 protein expression in guinea pig cochlea and regulation of Af9 expression and cochlear function by aldosterone. The role of Af9 in pathogenesis of EH is discussed. Methods: Thirty guinea pigs were randomly divided into two groups. The treatment group was intraperitoneally injected with aldosterone 0.1mg/kg/d for 5 days, while the control group was done with saline. Hearing and histomorphology of cochlea were examined. In addition, expression of Af9 protein was studied. Results: The hearing threshold of the treatment group was increased. EH was induced in 73% of guinea pigs in the treatment group, and no EH was found in the control group. Af9 protein was found in spiral limbus, stria vascularis, Reissner's membrane, organ of Corti and spiral ganglion in both groups. Af9 expression in cochlea decreased significantly at protein level after treatment by aldosterone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mars Atmospheric Wind Imaging Interferometer offers several advantages, notably its high throughput, enabling the acquisition of precise and high vertical resolution data on the temperature and wind fields in the Martian atmosphere. Considering the current absence of such an Interferometer, this paper introduces a novel Mars wind field imaging interferometer. In analyzing the photochemical model of O2 (a1Δg) 1.27 μm molecular airglow radiation in the Martian atmosphere and considering the impact of instrument signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we have chosen an optical path difference (OPD) of 8.6 cm for the interferometer. The all-solid-state polarized wind imaging interferometer is miniaturized by incorporating two arm glasses as the compensation medium in its construction, achieving the effects of field-widening and temperature compensation. Additionally, an F-P Etalon is designed to selectively filter the desired three spectral lines of O2 dayglow, and its effect is evaluated through simulations. The accuracy of the proposed compact Mars polarized wind imaging interferometer for detecting Mars' wind field and temperature field has been validated through rigorous theoretical derivation and comprehensive computer simulations. The interferometer boasts several advantages, including its compact and small size, static stability, minimal stray light, and absence of moving parts. It establishes the theoretical, technological, and instrumental engineering foundations for future simultaneous static measurement of Martian global atmospheric wind fields, temperature fields, and ozone concentrations from spacecraft, thereby significantly contributing to the dataset for investigating Martian atmospheric dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Analyzed the clinical features and treatment process of the patient suffering from immunodeficiency with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE)-like syndrome in a novel mutation of PRKDC. Case presentation: The patient had multiple positive auto-antibodies, chest CT and bronchoscopy showed Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage(DAH), and psychiatric symptoms showed brain atrophy by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Whole exon sequencing showed that novel complex heterozygous mutations of PRKDC gene (C. 1777 − 710_1777-709INSA (IVS16/IC16), C.1337T > A(p.Phe446Tyr). The mature B cell (CD19 + CD27 + CD38 dimIgD IgM-) were absent. The treatment of high-dose methylprednisolone (MP) and cyclophosphamide(CTX) can quickly relieve the symptoms of the patient. Conclusion: We described the case of an infant immunodeficiency with SLE like-syndrome, which may cause by PRKDC mutation, treated successfully with high-dose MP and CTX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people eat polished rice, while rice bran, a by-product known to be rich in protein and expected to have potential functions for health benefits, has not been effectively utilized. In this study, we determined that orally administered Val-Tyr-Thr-Pro-Gly (VYTPG) derived from rice bran protein improved cognitive decline in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). It was demonstrated that VYTPG was released from model peptides corresponding to fragment sequences of original rice proteins (Os01g0941500, Os01g0872700, and allergenic protein) after treatment with thermolysin, a microorganism-derived enzyme often used in industrial scale processes. The thermolysin digest also improved cognitive decline after oral administration in mice. Because VYTPG (1.0 mg/kg) potently improved cognitive decline and is enzymatically produced from the rice bran, we named it rice-memolin. Next, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the cognitive decline improvement associated with rice-memolin. Methyllycaconitine, an antagonist for α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, suppressed the rice-memolin-induced effect, suggesting that rice-memolin improved cognitive decline coupled to the acetylcholine system. Rice-memolin increased the number of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cells and promoted the mRNA expression of EGF and FGF-2 in the hippocampus, implying that these neurotropic factors play a role in hippocampal neurogenesis after rice-memolin administration. Epidemiologic studies demonstrated that diabetes is a risk factor for dementia; therefore, we also examined the effect of rice-memolin on glucose metabolism. Rice-memolin improved glucose intolerance. In conclusion, we identified a novel rice-derived peptide that can improve cognitive decline. The mechanisms are associated with acetylcholine and hippocampal neurogenesis. Rice-memolin is the first rice-brain-derived peptide able to improve cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is a serious worldwide agricultural pest, threatening food security and crop production. Sex pheromone lures are commonly used in population monitoring and biological control of FAWs. Although the sex pheromone components of the FAW have been successfully identified, there are no reports on the molecular mechanism of FAW sex pheromone biosynthesis. In this study, we identified a total of 99 genes related to the biosynthesis of sex pheromones from the S. frugiperda genome, which belonged to 11 families of genes. Based on gene expression patterns and phylogenetic analysis, several genes had PG-biased expression, indicating that they may play an important role in sex pheromone biosynthesis. These results could lay a solid foundation for understanding the molecular mechanisms of S. frugiperda sex pheromone biosynthesis and provide new targets for developing novel pest control methods based on disrupting sexual communication. Spodoptera frugiperda is an agricultural pest causing substantial damage and losses to commercial crops. Sex pheromones are critical for successful mating in Lepidoptera and have been used for monitoring and control of many pest species. The sex pheromone of S. frugiperda is known, but the genes involved in its biosynthesis have not been identified. We systematically studied 99 candidate sex pheromone genes in the genome of S. frugiperda including 1 acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), 11 fatty acid synthases (FASs), 17 desaturases (DESs), 4 fatty acid transport proteins (FATPs), 29 fatty acyl-CoA reductases (FARs), 17 acetyl-CoA acetyltransferases (ACTs), 5 acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (ACDs), 3 enoyl-CoA hydratases (ECHs), 3 hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenases (HCDs), 6 ethyl-CoA thiolases (KCTs), and 3 acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs). Based on the comparative transcriptome results, we found 22 candidate sex pheromone biosynthesis genes predominately expressed in pheromone glands (PGs) than abdomens without PGs including SfruFAS4, SfruFATP3, SfruACD5, SfruKCT3, SfruDES2, SfruDES5, SfruDES11, SfruDES13, SfruFAR1, SfruFAR2, SfruFAR3, SfruFAR6, SfruFAR7, SfruFAR8, SfruFAR9, SfruFAR10, SfruFAR11, SfruFAR14, SfruFAR16, SfruFAR29, SfruACT6, and SfruACT10. A combination of phylogenetic and tissue-specific transcriptomic analyses indicated that SfruDES5, SfruDES11, SfruFAR2, SfruFAR3, and SfruFAR9 may be key genes involved in the sex pheromone synthesis of S. frugiperda. Our results could provide a theoretical basis for understanding the molecular mechanisms of sex pheromone biosynthesis in S. frugiperda, and also provide new targets for developing novel pest control methods based on disrupting sexual communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that various active components of licorice have anticancer effects. However, few studies have investigated the mechanism of action of licorice in gastric cancer. The effect of active compounds in licorice on the biological activity of gastric cancer cells was investigated in vitro (MKN-45 cells). Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to predict the potential targets of licorice against gastric cancer and verify the binding stability of target proteins to compounds. In addition, the anticancer effect of licorice was assessed using a mouse model of gastric cancer. The licorice-active component (quercetin) effectively inhibited proliferation, caused cell cycle arrest, and promoted apoptosis in MKN-45 cells, accompanied by increased Cyt-C, decreased BCL-2, and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial damage. Further research showed that quercetin targeted EGFR, blocked the ERK signaling pathway, and downregulated PTGS2. In the in vivo experiment, quercetin treatment resulted in reduced tumor volume, decreased Ki67 and BCL-2 expression in tumor tissue, increased caspase 3 and BAX levels, and induced mitochondrial damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty acyl‐CoA reductases (FARs) play an important role in the synthesis of fatty alcohols in various organisms. Based on the important function of FAR genes, they can be used as a potential molecular target for controlling agricultural pests. Although the FAR genes have been studied in a number of insects, the gain, loss, and molecular evolution of FAR genes between different Hemipteran species still require comprehensive and systematic study. This study systematically identified and analysed 352 FAR genes from 12 Hemipteran species, including six typical true bug species, Cimex lectularius, Apolygus lucorum, Halyomorpha halys, Oncopeltus fasciatus, Rhodnius prolixus and Gerris buenoi. The number of FAR genes per species ranged from 17 to 43, and a phylogenetic analysis showed that the identified FAR genes of Hemiptera can be classified into 11 clades. The gain and loss of FAR genes have occurred in some Hemipteran species. These FAR genes conform to the birth‐and‐death model in the evolutionary process. Through selection pressure analysis, we determined that G. buenoi in clade 11 evolved under the pressure of positive selection, with the evolutionary sites of A at position 214 and T at position 451, thus clarifying the differences in amino acids among species and providing a better understanding of the molecular evolutionary mechanism of Hemipteran FAR. In addition, structural analysis of the FAR genes revealed duplication of the two conservative domains, the Rossmann‐fold domain and the sterile domain, of the FAR in four species, namely Bemisia tabaci, Diaphorina citri, R. prolixus and Trialeurodes vaporariorum. This study lays a foundation for further studies on the molecular functions of Hemiptera FAR, and provides a possible new target for the control of Hemiptera, especially the stink bugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selenization is a key process to prepare Cu 2 ZnSnS x Se 4-x (CZTSSe) thin films from sulfide for high efficient solar cell. To explore the effect of annealing atmosphere on the substitution of S by Se in Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) thin films, different selenization atmosphere (Vacuum or Ar) are used. By examining the annealed sample, it is found that selenization under Ar atmosphere replaces S with Se more efficiently, resulting large grain and small band-gap. The reaction kinetics has been studied to explore such phenomena. It demonstrates that the substitution reaction is enhanced when the flowing Ar carries off S gas. Finally, the effect of annealing atmosphere on oxide-based CZTSSe devices has also been studied. The Vacuum selenized CZTSSe device shows a higher efficiency of 4.4%, due to the more appropriate band-gap. To the best of our knowledge, this is the best device performance in oxides nanoparticles-derived CZTSSe solar cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous state-of-the-art recommendation frameworks employ deep neural networks in Collaborative Filtering (CF). In this paper, we propose a cross feature fusion neural network (CFFNN) for the enhancement of CF. Existing studies overlook either user preferences for various item features or the relationship between item features and user features. To solve this problem, we construct a cross feature fusion network to enable the fusion of user features and item features as well as a self-attention network to determine users’ preferences for items. Specifically, we design a feature extraction layer with multiple MLP (Multilayer Perceptrons) modules to extract both user features and item features. Then, we introduce a cross feature fusion mechanism for an accurate determination of the relationship between different user-item interactions. The features of users and items are crossly embedded and then fed into a prediction network. The attention mechanism enables the model to focus on more effective features. The effectiveness of CFFNN model is demonstrated through extensive experiments on four real-world datasets. The experimental results indicate that CFFNN significantly outperforms the existing state-of-the-art models, with a relative improvement of 3.0 to 12.1 percent on hit ratio (HR) and normalized discounted cumulative gain (NDCG) compared with the baselines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a condition characterized by excessive synthesis and deposition of collagen. There are many clinical methods to alleviate HS, but most of them are accompanied by many complications. To investigate the effects of β‐Elemene, extracted from the ginger family plant Wenyujin, on human hypertrophic scar fibroblast (hHSFs). Cultured hHSFs and human normal fibroblasts, observed the effect of β‐Elemene on apoptosis, extracellular matrix, and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) by western blot, Real Time‐Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT‐PCR), and flow cytometry. Based on our findings, it is clear that β‐Elemene could inhibit the expression of α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), collagen I, and fibronectin, reduced collagen deposition. Further studies had found that β‐Elemene could increase the expression of ERS‐related proteins CHOP and Calnexin in a dose‐dependent manner, thereby promoting the aggregation of cleaved‐caspase‐3 and inducing hHSFs to undergo poptosis. This process may depend on the regulation of P53. The results of our study indicates that β‐Elemene induced hHSFs to undergo apoptosis though ERS pathway in a P53‐dependent manner, which means that our research provided a new strategy for the development of drugs for the treatment of HS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the sensitivity of potential DTI-based biomarkers in detecting microstructural changes for whole-brain white matter in early stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), analyze the relationship between the DTI indices and disease status, and further clarify potential brain regions for disease monitoring and clinical assessment.Methods: Thirty-three non-demented ALS patients and 32 age- and gender-matched subjects participated in this study. DTI data were acquired via 3.0T MRI scanner. Maps of diffusion-related indices including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were obtained. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) were used to investigate whole-brain white matter changes of each index. Correlation analyses between both brain-wide and volume-of-interest (VOI)-wide white matter alterations and clinical factors including ALSFRS-R scores, disease duration, and progression rate were performed.Results: Compared to healthy subjects, ALS patients showed significantly increased RD, MD and reduced FA, mainly along the corticospinal tract (CST) and the body of corpus callosum (CC). Increases in RD were broader than decreases in FA, in CST of both hemispheres. Meanwhile, involvement of several extra-motor regions was also revealed by RD. Significant positive correlation between ALSFRS-R scores and FA, negative correlation between ALSFRS-R and RD were found in left CST.Conclusions: RD may be the most sensitive biomarker for the detection of early demyelination of white matter. Both RD and FA may serve as objective biomarkers for disease severity assessment. CST may be the most affected brain region in non-demented ALS.Key Points: • Changes in RD were broader than those in FA in bilateral CST. • Involvement of extra-motor regions was uncovered by RD. • FA and RD in CST were related to ALSFRS-R scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The substitution of Sn with Ge is one of the promising approaches to fabricate high-efficiency Cu 2 ZnSn 1-x Ge x S(e) 4 (CZTGS(e)) thin-film solar cells, especially for the multijunction or bandgap-graded solar cells. However the evolution of structure and optical properties of CZTGS(e) in a wide composition range (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) hasn't been researched and elucidated systematically. In this paper, CZTGS(e) films were synthesized by selenizing or sulphidising oxide precursors, and their optical, componential and structural property were investigated by absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD)/Raman, respectively. The insertion of germanium into the lattice of Cu 2 ZnSnS(e) 4 (CZTS(e)) is verified by relevant XRD peaks and Raman vibrational modes, as both of them shift towards higher diffraction angles and wave-numbers respectively. Besides, the spectrum of absorption revealed that the bandgap of CZTGS(e) can be widely adjusted between 0.96 and 2.0 eV. The preliminary solar cells show that the Voc increases with the increase of bandgap, while the Jsc exhibits opposite tendency. This can be expected to be applied in full solar spectrum absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate functional cerebral abnormalities in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during action observation. Methods: Thirty patients with ALS and 30 matched healthy controls underwent fMRI with an experimental paradigm while observing a video of repetitive flexion-extension of the fingers at three frequency levels or three complexity levels, alternated with periods of a static hand. A parametric analysis was applied to determine the effects of each of the two factors. Results: Action observation activated similar neural networks as the research on execution of action in the ALS patients and healthy subjects in several brain regions related to the mirror-neuron system (MNS). In the ALS patients, in particular, the dorsal lateral premotor cortex (dPMC), inferior parietal gyrus (IPG), and SMA, were more activated compared with the activation in the controls. Increased activation within the primary motor cortex (M1), dPMC, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and superior parietal gyrus (SPG) mainly correlated with hand movement frequency/complexity in the videos in the patients compared with controls. Conclusions: The findings indicated an ongoing compensatory process occurring within the higher order motor-processing system of ALS patients, likely to overcome the loss of function. Key Points: • Action observation activated similar core nodes of MNS in ALS and controls. • Increased activation within M1, dPMC, IFG and SPG mainly correlated with hand movement frequency/complexity. • Differences in patients and controls may be due to compensatory processes in ALS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Quercetin, one of the most widely distributed flavonoids in plants, possesses strong free radical scavenging ability and potent hepatoprotective effects. However, the protective effect and mechanism of quercetin on ethanol-induced oxidative damage in hepatocytes remain unclear. In this study, primary rat hepatocytes were incubated with ethanol and quercetin in the presence or absence of ZnPP 9, an antagonist of HO-1 induction. The ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity was found to be greatly diminished by pre-treatment of quercetin and this hepatoprotective effect could be partly blocked by ZnPP 9. This study also showed that quercetin significantly stimulated HO-1 expression at both mRNA and protein levels, then subsequently induced HO-1 activity. To further study the signaling pathways underlying quercetin-induced HO-1 up-regulation, HO-1 expression and activity in cytosolic microsomal fractions and Nrf2 expression in nuclear fractions were analyzed following quercetin or/and MAPK inhibitor(s) as well as PI3K inhibitor incubation for primary rat hepatocytes. These results indicated that ERK was required to induce HO-1 expression in rat hepatocytes. In summary, these data suggested that quercetin attenuates ethanol-induced oxidative stress through a pathway which involves ERK activation and HO-1 upregulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The pathogenesis and progression of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are associated with free radical injury and oxidative stress, which could be partially attenuated by antioxidants and free radical scavengers. Quercetin, one of the most widely distributed flavonoids in plants, is a natural antioxidant. The hypothesis that quercetin could prevent the ethanol-induced oxidative damage in hepatocytes was investigated. The ethanol-intoxicated (100mM for 8h) rat primary hepatocytes were post-treated (2h), simultaneously treated or pre-treated (2h) with quercetin respectively, while the time-dependent (0.5–8h) and dose-dependent (25–200μM) quercetin pre-treatment were used in the present study. The parameters of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate transaminase (AST), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined to address the alterations of cell damage and antioxidant state after quercetin intervention. The toxic insult of ethanol to hepatocytes was challenged by quercetin and these parameters almost returned to the level of control group when hepatocytes were pre-treated with quercetin at the dose of 50μM for 2–4h before ethanol exposure. In conclusion, quercetin pre-treatment provided protection against ethanol-induced oxidative stress in hepatocytes and may be used as a new natural drug for the prevention and/or treatment of ALD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]