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Observation of coral spawning times is valuable to detect spawning patterns and identify the potential mechanisms behind coral reproduction. Although large amount of data on global coral spawning records have become available over the past decades, information on coral spawning in the northern South China Sea remains scarce. In this study, we investigated the spawning patterns of scleractinian corals in Luhuitou fringing reef, Hainan Island, China, from 2009 to 2021 in relation to lunar cycles (month and day). The spawning times of 22 coral species from five genera (Acropora, Montipora, Platygyra, Dipsastraea, and Galaxea) within three families (Acroporidae, Merulinidae, and Euphylliidae) were recorded, with spawning occurring from lunar February to May 2009-2021. Recorded spawning events started at a period of increasing seawater temperature. Acropora, the most documented genus, spawned between lunar February and April, but primarily in lunar March. Importantly, the spawning time of Acropora was delayed for one lunar month in 2016 most likely due to a rapid decrease in monthly mean seawater temperature in lunar February. Spawning lunar days before, on or after full moon of corals in the Luhuitou Reef, including those of the Acropora species, were highly variable between years even for the same species. No predictable pattern of spawning times can thus be detected. Nonetheless, our results fill up an information gap on coral spawning patterns in the northern South China Sea that may be useful for further understanding of the reproductive biology of scleractinian corals throughout the Indo-West Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberculosis (TB) constitutes a formidable global health challenge, exacerbated by the rise of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) strains. The effectiveness of anti-TB drugs has been hindered by this emergence of resistance. To address this, the development of synergistic compounds, informed by drug resistance mechanisms, holds promise for mitigating resistance emergence and shortening treatment durations. This review focuses on the amalgamation of anti-TB drugs with potentiators targeting the cell wall, efflux pump, and β-lactamase. Our aim is to offer insights that guide the future development of novel potentiators with enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of water seepage in bolt holes and decrease of anchoring force during the hardening of traditional cement anchoring agents, a L16 (45 ) orthogonal test was carried out to test the fluidity, compressive strength and impermeability pressure indexes based on the water to binder ratio, expansive agent content, silica fume content, early strengthening agent content and superplasticizer content of the anchoring agent. Through the range analysis and analytic hierarchy method, a group of high early strength and good impermeability anchoring agent was preferred, and the bond strength of anchoring agent-rock interface was measured by the bolt pull-out test. Results show that the water to binder ratio is the most important factor affecting each index, and the weight of the remaining factors varies with the index. On the whole the influence of early strengthening agent and expansive agent is greater. The optimal ratio is 0.34 of water to binder ratio, 12% of expansive agent, 6.5% of silica fume, 3% of early strengthening agent and 0.44% of superplasticizer contents. By optimizing the mix ratio, the anchoring agent can have the early strength and impermeability, which can provide the reference for the grotto anchoring projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the basic selection criteria of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and food and livelihood security research trends, this paper established an evaluation framework and indicator system for food and livelihood security in GIAHS and selected the first GIAHS site in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a case for empirical evaluation. The results demonstrate that the food and livelihood security of farmers at this site was at a medium level, with an average evaluation value of 2.91, which still lagged behind the level of better food and livelihood security. Specifically, the average values of farmers' evaluation of food security and livelihood security were 1.43 and 1.48, respectively, which show that farmers' food security in the study area was at a medium level and that of livelihood security was relatively good. Simultaneously, the more simple a farmers' economic activities (i.e., agriculture-oriented economic activities or non-agriculture-oriented economic activities), the worse their food and livelihood security; while the more diversified the economic activities (i.e., engaged in part-time economic activities), the better the food and livelihood security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the mechanism responsible for the embrittlement of concretes containing lightweight aggregates at cryogenic temperatures, a series of experiments were performed on all-lightweight shale ceramsite concrete (ALWSCC) and icicles at temperatures from -5 to -15 °C. The mechanical properties of ALWSCC specimens at cryogenic temperatures were analysed, the dependence of cryogenic mechanical properties on ice crystal volume and freezing temperature was also investigated. The Hansen model was used to invert the elastic modulus of ice crystals by a step-bystep approach. Results show that the compressive strength of ALWSCC specimens increases with the increasing volume fraction of ice crystals, and the strengthening effect gradually decreases after the ice crystal volume fraction exceeds 16.5%. The cubic compressive strength of ALWSCC specimens with ice crystals is more sensitive to freezing temperatures than that of dried ALWSCC specimens. Shear failure occurs when icicles are compressed, and the density and strength of ice increase with decreasing temperature below the freezing point. The elastic modulus of ice crystals is much higher than that of icicles at the same temperature, showing a huge size effect, and the ratio of the elastic modulus is less affected by temperature. The conclusions obtained in this study are important for understanding the mechanism of variation in the material properties of lightweight aggregate concrete in regions that experience cryogenic temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. The present study aimed to investigate the biological role of microRNA-183-5p (miR-183-5p), a novel tumor-related microRNA (miRNA), in HCC and illuminate the possible molecular mechanisms. The expression patterns of miR-183-5p in clinical samples were characterized using qPCR analysis. Kaplan–Meier survival curve was applied to evaluate the correlation between miR-183-5p expression and overall survival of HCC patients. Effects of miR-183-5p knockdown on HCC cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion capabilities were determined via Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assays, flow cytometry, scratch wound healing assays and Transwell invasion assays, respectively. Mouse neoplasm transplantation models were established to assess the effects of miR-183-5p knockdown on tumor growth in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assays and rescue assays were performed for mechanistic researches. Results showed that miR-183-5p was highly expressed in tumorous tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Elevated miR-183-5p expression correlated with shorter overall survival of HCC patients. Moreover, miR-183-5p knockdown significantly suppressed proliferation, survival, migration and invasion of HCC cells compared with negative control treatment. Consistently, miR-183-5p knockdown restrained tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, programmed cell death factor 4 (PDCD4) was identified as a direct target of miR-183-5p. Additionally, PDCD4 down-regulation was observed to abrogate the inhibitory effects of miR-183-5p knockdown on malignant phenotypes of HCC cells. Collectively, our data suggest that miR-183-5p may exert an oncogenic role in HCC through directly targeting PDCD4. The current study may offer some new insights into understanding the role of miR-183-5p in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The H-shaped steel spacing and cement content are the key parameters of TRD (Trench cutting Re-mixing Deep wall), which directly affects the stress and displacement of the wall. To ensure the stability of the foundation pit, it is of great practical significance to optimize the steel spacing and cement content. Taking the urban utility tunnel in Hangzhou as the engineering background, the triaxial tests of cement-soil were conducted to study the influence of cement content on the strength of the cement-soil. The finite element model was established to analyze the deformation, stress distribution of cement-soil, and the spacing of H-shaped steel. Results show that the unconfined compressive strength and elastic modulus of cemented-soil increase linearly with the increase of the cement content in the range of 10%-25%. The tensile stress formed on the side of the foundation pit leads to the cement-soil damage, where there is the maximum horizontal displacement. According to the relationship between the cement content and the maximum H-shaped steel spacing, the optimized steel spacing and the cement content can be determined. The obtained conclusions can provide a reference for the similar engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil quality assessment is an important means to demonstrate how effective land consolidation is. However, the existing assessment system is not sufficient to reflect actual soil quality. So, the purpose of this study is to integrate abiological and biological indicators into a comprehensive assessment to evaluate the paddy soil quality under different land consolidation practices. Soil samples were collected from 35 paddy sites under different land consolidation practices including land merging, land leveling (LL), ditch construction (DC) and application of organic fertilizer (AO). A total of 10 paddy sites were selected under conventional tillage (CT) from non-land consolidation area as a control group in Y county, China. The results indicated that soil organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus, bacterial functional diversity (BFD), bacterial and fungal abundances were significantly improved. Fields under LL, among all the land consolidation practices, might still face the risk of land degradation caused by low TN, OM and microbial diversity. High microbial biomass, BFD and OM were significantly higher in fields under AO in nutrient cycle. According to the results of comprehensive assessment, the samples with severe heavy metal contamination and low microbial diversity were generally concentrated in CT. These results indicated that land consolidation was an efficient technique to improve soil quality and could achieve higher quality of agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the significant influence of fibre type and dosage on the mechanical properties of lightweight concrete, an experimental study was undertaken to analyze the mechanical performance characteristics, including compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, energy absorption, high temperature deterioration performance, fracture toughness and dynamic mechanical properties of steel fibre reinforced all lightweight concrete (SFRALWC), polypropylene fibre reinforced all lightweight concrete (PFRALWC), and basalt fibre reinforced all lightweight concrete (BFRALWC). Results showed that the specific strength, energy absorption index and dynamic peak stress of shale ALWC/FRALWC improved with the increase of the compressive strength, and the relation exhibites strong correlation characteristics, which ccould be expressed by quadratic polynomial. SFRALWC with optimal fibre dosage had the highest splitting tensile strength, specific strength, compressive strength and fracture toughness values. Steel fibre (SF) could significantly increase the plasticity, high temperature resistance to deterioration and dynamic impact resistance of all lightweight concrete (ALWC). Polypropylene fibre (PPF) could improve the plasticity and inhibited the high temperature bursting performance of ALWC. BFRALWC was most sensitive to the strain rate of dynamic impact. The conclusions obtained in the study can provide the reference to the similar engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic and optical characterisation including energy band, density of states, dielectric function and absorption coefficient of europium-doped strontium titanate (STO) has been carried out using the density-functional theory (DFT) within the GGA+U (generalised gradient approximation with Hubbard-U corrections) to treat the strong correlation of titanium 3d electrons and europium 4f electrons. The results show that the lattice parameters change slightly and the band gap almost keeps constant within and without europium-doped STO. The europium 4f states are located near Fermi level in host band gap which can act as a trap level and may contribute luminescence. Compared with pure strontium titanate, the imaginary of dielectric function and absorption coefficient for europium-doped has an obvious peak in low energy region; meanwhile the absorption peaks have a red-shift. Besides this, the absorption coefficient in near ultraviolet range has remarkably enhanced, which indicates that europium-doped strontium titanate can be used as a potential luminescent material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report on the magnetic properties and electronic structures of Cr2M'C2T2 (M' = Ti, or V; T = O, OH, or F) systems investigated by means of first-principles calculations. Results indicate that Cr2M'C2T2 can be nonmagnetic, anti-ferromagnetic, or ferromagnetic and either a semiconductor or metal depending on the choice of M' and T and the through-bond coupling interactions that affect the arrangements of Cr2M'C2T2 systems. It was found that Cr2TiC2O2 is nonmagnetic, Cr2TiC2F2 and Cr2TiC2(OH)2 are anti-ferromagnetic. Cr2VC2(OH)2, Cr2VC2F2, and Cr2VC2O2 are ferromagnetic. The Curie temperatures of Cr2VC2(OH)2, Cr2VC2F2 are up to 618.36 and 695.65 K, respectively, calculated by the Heisenberg model with mean-field approximation. By using HSE06 methods, Cr2TiC2F2 was found to have an indirect band gap of approximately 1.35 eV while Cr2TiC(OH)2 was found to have a direct band gap of 0.84 eV. The tunable magnetic properties and electronic structures make the Cr2M'C2T2 (M' = Ti, or V; T = O, OH, or F) double transition metal carbides promising two dimensional materials for applications in spin electronics, photocatalysis, and data storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex arthritic condition in which the genetic factor plays a crucial role. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs1137101 (Gln223Arg) of leptin receptor (LEPR) gene has been demonstrated to be associated with susceptibility to knee OA. However, this association in Chinese Han population has never been examined. The present study aimed to investigate whether Gln223Arg was related to knee OA susceptibility in a Northwest Chinese population with Han ethnicity.Methods: Gln223Arg polymorphisms were genotyped in 587 patients with confirmed knee OA and in 628 age- and sex-matched healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Besides, LEPR genotypes were verified by direct DNA sequencing analysis on PCR products.Results: The genotype and allele frequencies in LEPR SNP rs1137101 were significantly different between cases and control groups (chi-square = 6.52, P = 0.038 for genotype and chi-square = 5.06, P = 0.024 for allele frequencies; respectively). Rs1137101 was correlated with knee OA in the dominant genetic model (GG + GA versus AA) (P = 0.016) and a higher G allele frequency existed (P = 0.024) among all patients with knee OA and controls. On stratification analysis, the genotype GG and G allele were associated with susceptibility to knee OA in females, both young (≤65 years) and old groups (>65 years) and patients with mild knee OA.Conclusions: Our finding suggested that the genetic variant of LEPR gene rs1137101 is independently related to knee OA susceptibility in Northwest Chinese population with Han ethnicity and may serve as a potential biomarker to determine risk of knee OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): This study aimed to establish a novel non-binding, reversible rat model of acute cholangitis of the severe type (ACST). Materials and Methods: Twenty-six rats were randomly divided into the sham-operated group (n=13) and the ACST group (n=13). All rats were intubated with a modified catheter through the external jugular vein. The ACST model was established by ligation of the distal bile duct, placing one end of a modified catheter in the common bile duct, and then injecting lipopolysaccharides from the other end of the catheter and sealing it. The common bile duct pressure was measured before and at 0, 24, 48, and 72 hr after the model was established; similarly, the levels of serum total bilirubin (TBIL), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a were measured at 0, 12, 24, and 48 hr after the model was established. Results: Pathological examination of liver tissues was carried out at 24 and 72 hr. The common bile duct pressure increased gradually after the operation. Serum levels of TBIL, ALT, and TNF-a in the ACST group progressively increased and were significantly higher than those in the sham-operated group, at each time point (P<0.05). Conclusion: Obvious pathological changes were observed in the liver tissue of rats in the ACST group. This model appears to reflect the early course of human ACST and thus, can be used in postoperative experimental studies of ACST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the common problems of quality evaluation method, this paper first establishes a fuzzy software quality evaluation model according to the relationship of software quality subcharacteristics and indicators; furthermore, considering the uncertainty and individual deviations of expert judgment results, this paper corrects and tests the consistency of the incomplete information sorting given by the experts and obtains an integration sorting of gathering different expert opinions through the idea of circling modification; at last, this paper proposes the weighted mutation rate which is used to measure the development balance degree and determines weights of evaluation indicators via weighted mutation rate correction incompletion G1 method, which avoids the problem of integration of subjective and objective weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine protein expression of renal aquaporins (AQP) and ion transporters in hypothyroid (HT) rats in response to an oral water load compared with controls (CTL) and HT rats replaced with L-thyroxine (HT+T). Hypothyroidism was induced by aminotriazole administration for 10 wk. Body weight, water intake, urine output, solute and urea excretion, and serum and urine osmolality were comparable among the three groups at the conclusion of the 10-wk treatment period. One hour after oral gavage of water (50 ml/kg body wt), HT rats demonstrated significantly less water excretion, higher minimal urinary osmolality, and decreased serum osmolality compared with CTL and HT+T rats. Despite the hyposmolality, plasma vasopressin concentration was elevated in HT rats. These findings in HT rats were associated with an increase in protein abundance of renal cortex AQP1 and inner medulla AQP2. AQP3, AQP4, and the Na-K-2Cl cotransporter were also increased. Moreover, 1 h following the oral water load, HT rats demonstrated a significant increase in the membrane-to-vesicle fraction of AQP2 by Western blot analysis. The defect in urinary dilution in HT ruts was reversed by the V2 vasopressin antagonist OPC-31260. In conclusion, impaired urinary dilution in HT rats is primarily compatible with the nonosmotic release of vasopressin and increased protein expression of renal AQP2. The impairment of maximal solute-free water excretion in HT rats, however, appears also to involve diminished distal fluid delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]