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Antibiotic resistance is a pressing global health challenge, and polymyxins have emerged as the last line of defense against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative (MDR-GRN) bacterial infections. Despite the longstanding utility of colistin, the complexities surrounding polymyxins in terms of resistance mechanisms and pharmacological properties warrant critical attention. This review consolidates current literature, focusing on polymyxins antibacterial mechanisms, resistance pathways, and innovative strategies to mitigate resistance. We are also investigating the pharmacokinetics of polymyxins to elucidate factors that influence their in vivo behavior. A comprehensive understanding of these aspects is pivotal for developing next-generation antimicrobials and optimizing therapeutic regimens. We underscore the urgent need for advancing research on polymyxins to ensure their continued efficacy against formidable bacterial challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To construct and validate a computed tomography (CT) radiomics model for differentiating lung neuroendocrine neoplasm (LNEN) from lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) manifesting as a peripheral solid nodule (PSN) to aid in early clinical decision-making. Methods: A total of 445 patients with pathologically confirmed LNEN and LADC from June 2016 to July 2023 were retrospectively included from five medical centers. Those patients were split into the training set (n = 316; 158 LNEN) and external test set (n = 129; 43 LNEN), the former including the cross-validation (CV) training set and CV test set using ten-fold CV. The support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used to develop the semantic, radiomics and merged models. The diagnostic performances were evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and compared by Delong test. Preoperative neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels were collected as a clinical predictor. Results: In the training set, the AUCs of the radiomics model (0.878 [95% CI: 0.836, 0.915]) and merged model (0.884 [95% CI: 0.844, 0.919]) significantly outperformed the semantic model (0.718 [95% CI: 0.663, 0.769], p both<.001). In the external test set, the AUCs of the radiomics model (0.787 [95% CI: 0.696, 0.871]), merged model (0.807 [95%CI: 0.720, 0.889]) and semantic model (0.729 [95% CI: 0.631, 0.811]) did not exhibit statistical differences. The radiomics model outperformed NSE in sensitivity in the training set (85.3% vs 20.0%; p <.001) and external test set (88.9% vs 40.7%; p = .002). Conclusion: The CT radiomics model could non-invasively, effectively and sensitively predict LNEN and LADC presenting as a PSN to assist in treatment strategy selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit ripening is controlled by internal factors such as hormones and genetic regulators, as well as external environmental factors. However, the impact of redox regulation on fruit ripening remains elusive. Here, we explored the effects of L-cysteine hydrochloride (LCH), an antioxidant, on tomato fruit ripening and elucidated the underlying mechanism. The application of LCH effectively delayed tomato fruit ripening, leading to the suppression of carotenoid and lycopene biosynthesis and chlorophyll degradation, and a delayed respiration peak. Moreover, LCH-treated fruit exhibited reduced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation and increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), compared with control fruit. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that a substantial number of genes related to ethylene biosynthesis (ACS2, ACS4, ACO1, ACO3), carotenoid biosynthesis (PSY, PDS, ZDS, CRTISO), cell wall degradation (PG1/2, PL, TBG4, XTH4), and ripening-related regulators (RIN, NOR, AP2a, DML2) were downregulated by LCH, resulting in delayed ripening. These findings suggest that the application of LCH delays the ripening of harvested tomato fruit by modulating the redox balance and suppressing the expression of ripening-related genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metallurgical quality control of magnesium (Mg) and Mg alloys in melting process is required to ensure a satisfied mechanical and corrosion performance, while the typical used steel crucible introduces impurities and interfacial interaction during melting process. Therefore, a systematic study about impurities diffusion and interfacial interaction between molten Mg and steel is necessary. In the present study, the interfacial reaction between molten AZ91D Mg alloy and mild steel during melting process was investigated with the melting temperatures of 700 °C, 750 °C and 800 °C. The results show that Al(Fe, Mn) intermetallic layer is the intermetallic primarily formed at the interfaces of AZ91D melt and mild steel. Meanwhile, Al8(Mn, Fe)5 is indexed between Al(Fe, Mn) and AZ91D. AlFe3C appears between the mild steel and Al(Fe, Mn) at 700 °C and 750 °C, but absent at 800 °C due to the increased solubility of carbon in Mg matrix. It is found that the growth of the intermetallic layer is controlled by diffusion mechanism, and Al and Mn are the dominant diffusing species in the whole interfacial reaction process. By measuring the thickness of different layers, the growth constant was calculated. It increases from 1.89(±0.03)×10-12 m² ·s-1 at 700 °C to 3.05(±0.05)×10-12 m² ·s-1 at 750 °C, and 5.18(±0.05)×10-12 m² ·s-1 at 800 °C. Meanwhile, the content of Fe is linearly increased in AZ91D with the increase of holding time at 700 °C and 750 °C, while it shows a significantly increment after holding for 8 h at 800 °C, indicating holding temperature is more crucial to determine the Fe content of AZ91D than holding time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoflavones are predominantly found in legumes and play roles in plant defense and prevention of estrogen-related diseases. Genistein is an important isoflavone backbone with various biological activities. In this paper, we describe how a cell factory that can de novo synthesize genistein was constructed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Different combinations of isoflavone synthase, cytochrome P450 reductase, and 2-hydroxyisoflavone dehydratase were tested, followed by pathway multicopy integration, to stably de novo synthesize genistein. The catalytic activity of isoflavone synthase was enhanced by heme supply and an increased intracellular NADPH/NADP+ ratio. Redistribution of the malonyl-CoA flow and balance of metabolic fluxes were achieved by adjusting the fatty acid synthesis pathway, yielding 23.33 mg/L genistein. Finally, isoflavone glycosyltransferases were introduced into S. cerevisiae, and the optimized strain produced 15.80 mg/L of genistin or 10.03 mg/L of genistein-8-C-glucoside. This is the first de novo synthesis of genistein-8-C-glucoside in S. cerevisiae, which is advantageous for the green industrial production of isoflavone compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly globally prevalent obesity and related metabolic disorders have underscored the demand for safe and natural therapeutic approaches, given the limitations of weight loss drugs and surgeries. This study compared the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of five different varieties of citrus physiological premature fruit drop (CPFD). Untargeted metabolomics was employed to identify variations in metabolites among different CPFDs, and their antilipidemic effects in vitro were assessed. The results showed that Citrus aurantium L. 'Daidai' physiological premature fruit drop (DDPD) and Citrus aurantium 'Changshan-huyou' physiological premature fruit drop (HYPD) exhibited higher levels of phytochemicals and stronger antioxidant activity. There were 97 differential metabolites identified in DDPD and HYPD, including phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, organic acids, terpenes, and lipids. Additionally, DDPD and HYPD demonstrated potential antilipidemic effects against oleic acid (OA)-induced steatosis in HepG2 hepatocytes and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In conclusion, our findings reveal the outstanding antioxidant activity and antilipidemic effects of CPFD, indicating its potential use as a natural antioxidant and health supplement and promoting the high-value utilization of this resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(2S)-eriodictyol (ERD) is a flavonoid widely found in citrus fruits, vegetables, and important medicinal plants with neuroprotective, cardioprotective, antidiabetic, and anti-obesity effects. However, the microbial synthesis of ERD is limited by complex metabolic pathways and often results in a low production performance. Here, we engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae by fine-tuning the metabolism of the ERD synthesis pathway. The results showed that the ERD titer was effectively increased, and the intermediate metabolites levels were reduced. First, we successfully reconstructed the de novo synthesis pathway of p-coumaric acid in S. cerevisiae and fine-tuned the metabolic pathway using promoter engineering and terminator engineering for the high-level production of (2S)-naringenin. Subsequently, the synthesis of ERD was achieved by introducing the ThF3′H gene from Tricyrtis hirta. Finally, by multiplying the copy number of the ThF3′H gene, the production of ERD was further increased, reaching 132.08 mg L−1. Our work emphasizes the importance of regulating the metabolic balance to produce natural products in microbial cell factories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthocyanins are the main phenolic active components in blueberry, which have attracted much attention due to their excellent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and eye protection functions. However, anthocyanins in blueberry are easily affected by light, oxygen, pH value, metal ions and other factors, and their absorption and utilization rate are low in the human body, which limits their application. This review summarized the functional activities, extraction and purification methods, and stabilization technology of anthocyanins in blueberry, and hope to provide reference for the application of anthocyanins in food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effects of calcium ion, pectin and NFC citrus juice addition on the sensory and nutritional quality of fruit juice-type canned yellow peach, the processing technology of juice-type canned yellow peach was opti¬mized by using Dangshan yellow peach NJ83 as raw material and the combination of yellow peach pulp and NFC citrus juice through evaluation indexes such as chromaticity, texture characteristics and sensory level. The results of visual anal-ysis and variance analysis showed that the adding amount of calcium ion had the greatest impact on the sensory quality of juice-type canned yellow peach, followed by NFC orange juice, and the last was pectin. The optimal process was as follows: The mass fraction of calcium ion was 0.4%, the mass fraction of pectin was 0.35%, the mass fraction of NFC fruit juice was 8%. In the final product, fruit juice was transparent, the pulp was golden yellow, the color was uniform, the block shape was complete without burrs, the taste was sweet and sour, the hardness was moderate. HPLC was further used to detect the flavonoids in canned foods under the optimal process and found that the content of hesperidin in juice-type canned yellow peach was 70.665 mg/kg, which was 22 times higher than 3.149 mg/kg in water-type. The content of narirutin (9.193 mg/kg) and didymin (6.807 mg/kg) were 161 times and 33 times higher in juice-type can than in water-type can, respectively. Therefore, juice-type canned yellow peach is a new canned product with both taste and nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The comprehensive utilisation of food waste has become a global development demand for enhancing their added value. This study aimed to develop and utilise physiological fruit drop of Citrus aurantium L. var Daidai with rich phenolic acids and flavonoids. Therefore, different concentrations (1%, 3%, 5%, 10% wt, based on pullulan weight) of daidai physiological fruit drop extracts (DE) were incorporated into pullulan/bacterial cellulose (BC) packaging film (PB2‐DE). The effects of different concentrations of DE on composite films were comprehensively evaluated. It was found that the mechanical properties, ultraviolet barrier properties, and antioxidant properties of the films were improved with the addition of DE. Moreover, application tests have verified that films containing DE can effectively maintain the attractive quality of strawberries. Conclusively, the results demonstrated the feasibility of DE incorporation into films to increase the value of the waste and the potential applicability of films containing DE in strawberry preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the associations of lipid indicators and mortality in Beijing Elderly Comprehensive Health Cohort Study. METHODS: A prospective cohort was conducted based on Beijing Elderly Comprehensive Health Cohort Study with 4499 community older adults. After the baseline survey, the last follow-up was March 31, 2021 with an average 8.13 years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) with 95% CI for cardiovascular disease (CVD) death and all-cause death in associations with baseline lipid indicators. RESULTS: A total of 4499 participants were recruited, and the mean levels of uric acid, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) showed an upward trend with the increasing remnant cholesterol (RC) quarters (Ptrend < 0.05), while the downward trend was found in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). During the total 36,596 person-years follow-up, the CVD mortality and all-cause mortality during an average 8.13 years of follow-up was 3.87% (95% CI: 3.30%-4.43%) and 14.83% (95% CI: 13.79%-15.86%) with 174 CVD death participants and 667 all-cause death participants. After adjusting for confounders, the higher level of TC (HR = 0.854, 95% CI: 0.730-0.997), LDL-C (HR = 0.817, 95% CI: 0.680-0.982) and HDL-C (HR = 0.443, 95% CI: 0.271-0.724) were associated with lower risk of CVD death, and the higher level of HDL-C (HR = 0.637, 95% CI: 0.501-0.810) were associated with lower risk of all-cause death. The higher level of RC (HR = 1.276, 95% CI: 1.010-1.613) increase the risk of CVD death. Compared with the normal lipid group, TC ≥ 6.20 mmol/L group and LDL-C ≥ 4.10 mmol/L group were no longer associated with lower risk of CVD death, while RC ≥ 0.80 mmol/L group was still associated with higher risk of CVD death. In normal lipid group, the higher levels of TC, LDL-C and HDL-C were related with lower CVD death. CONCLUSIONS: In community older adults, higher levels of TC and HDL-C were associated with lower CVD mortality in normal lipid reference range. Higher RC was associated with higher CVD mortality, which may be a better lipid indicator for estimating the CVD death risk in older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the influence of heat treatment (HT) on Satsuma mandarin fruit's postharvest quality and cuticle composition, we immersed the fruit for 3 min in hot water at 52°C and subsequently stored them at room temperature (25°C) for 28 days, and fruit quality parameters, such as good fruit rate, weight loss rate, firmness, total soluble solids, total titratable acidity, and ascorbic acid content, were monitored. Additionally, changes in the peel's cuticle composition were analyzed, and wax crystal morphologies on the fruit surface were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The findings revealed that appropriate HT effectively preserved fruit quality. The main compositions of wax and cutin on the fruit's surface remained consistent between the HT and the CK during storage. The total content of wax and cutin initially increased, peaking on the 14th day of storage, and then decreased, falling below the levels observed on day 0. Notably, the total amount of cutin in the HT group exceeded that of the control group. Specifically, ω‐hydroxy fatty acids with mid‐chain oxo groups and mid‐oh‐ω‐hydroxy fatty acids constituted approximately 90% of the total cutin content. Moreover, the HT group exhibited higher (p < 0.05) total wax content in relation to the control. Fatty acids and alkanes were the predominant components, accounting for approximately 87.5% of the total wax. SEM analysis demonstrated that HT caused wax crystals to melt and redistribute, effectively filling wax gaps. It suggests that HT holds promising potential as a green, safe, and eco‐friendly commercial treatment for preserving the postharvest quality of Satsuma mandarin. Practical Application: In this study, Satsuma citrus (Citrus unshiu) underwent heat treatment (HT) and was subsequently preserved at room temperature (25°C) for 28 days. The findings revealed that HT significantly improved fruit quality compared to the control group. These findings provide valuable insights into the advancement of eco‐friendly and pollution‐free citrus preservation methods, offering essential strategies and process parameters for their practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current adversarial attacks against deep learning models have achieved incredible success in the white-box scenario. However, they often exhibit weak transferability in the black-box scenario, especially when attacking those with defense mechanisms. In this work, we propose a new transfer-based blackbox attack called the channel decomposition attack method (CDAM). It can attack multiple black-box models by enhancing the transferability of the adversarial examples. On the one hand, it tunes the gradient and stabilizes the update direction by decomposing the channels of the input example and calculating the aggregate gradient. On the other hand, it helps to escape from local optima by initializing the data point with random noise. Besides, it could combine with other transfer-based attacks flexibly. Extensive experiments on the standard ImageNet dataset show that our method could significantly improve the transferability of adversarial attacks. Compared with the state-of-the-art method, our approach improves the average success rate from 88.2% to 96.6% when attacking three adversarially trained black-box models, demonstrating the remaining shortcomings of existing deep learning models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the influence of Fe3+ on N removal, microbial assembly, and species interactions in a biofilm system was determined. The results showed that maximum efficiencies of ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), total nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (P), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal were achieved using 10 mg/L Fe3+, reaching values of 100, 78.85, 100, and 95.8%, respectively, whereas at concentrations of 15 and 30 mg/L Fe3+ suppressed the removal of NH4+-N, TN, and COD. In terms of absolute abundance, the expression of bacterial amoA, narG, nirK, and napA was maximal in the presence of 10 mg/L Fe3+ (9.18 × 105, 8.58 × 108, 1.09 × 108, and 1.07 × 109 copies/g dry weight, respectively). Irrespective of Fe3+ concentrations, the P removal efficiency remained at almost 100%. Candidatus_Competibacter (10.26–23.32%) was identified as the most abundant bacterial genus within the system. Determinism (50%) and stochasticity (50%) contributed equally to microbial community assembly. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that in the presence of Fe3+, 60.94% of OTUs in the biofilm system exhibited positive interactions, whereas 39.06% exhibited negative interactions. Within the OTU-based co-occurrence network, fourteen species were identified as key microbes. The stability of the system was found to be predominantly shaped by microbial cooperation, complemented by competition for resources or niche incompatibility. The results of this study suggested that during chemical P removal in wastewater treatment plants using biofilm methods, the concentration of supplemental Fe3+ should be maintained at 10 mg/L, which would not only contribute to P elimination, but also enhance N and COD removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The further development of catalytic elements has been plagued by activation and binary problems. The automatic shift model that has emerged in recent years helps components achieve full range. However, the detection data still remains unstable in the shift area (7%~13%). This paper proposes a Catalytic Combustion and Thermal Conductivity (CCTC) model for the specified range, which can be explained fromtwo aspects based on the existing methods. On the one hand, it uses iterative location search to process heterogeneous data, judges the prediction position of data points, and then givesweight evaluation. On the other hand, it corrects the abnormal points, determines the abnormal points in the horizontal direction, and gives the replacement value through the data of adjacent points. The experimental results show that the CCTC model reduces the sum of variance from 17 of the automatic shift model to 13, and the comparison of experimental variance is reduced by 23%. In the full-scale real-time data, the experimental variance of CCTC model and automatic shift model is reduced by 18%. In conclusion, CCTC is a cross section stability framework for full-scale methane measurement, in which the specified heterogeneous combination and anomaly point correction methods improve the stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pharmaceutical wastewater frequently contains high levels of toxic pollutants. If they are discharged untreated, they pose a threat to the environment. The traditional activated sludge process and the advanced oxidation process do not sufficiently remove toxic and conventional pollutants from pharmaceutical wastewater treatment plants (PWWTPs). Methods: We designed a pilot-scale reaction system to reduce toxic organic pollutants and conventional pollutants from pharmaceutical wastewater during the biochemical reaction stage. This system included a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), microbial electrolysis cells (MECs), an expanded sludge bed reactor (EGSB), and a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR). We used this system to further investigate the benzothiazole degradation pathway. Results and discussion: The system effectively degraded the toxic pollutants (benzothiazole, pyridine, indole, and quinoline) and the conventional chemicals (COD, NH4 +-N, TN). During the stable operation of the pilot-scale plant, the total removal rates of benzothiazole, indole, pyridine, and quinoline were 97.66, 94.13, 79.69, and 81.34%, respectively. The CSTR and MECs contributed the most to the removal of toxic pollutants, while the EGSB and MBBR contributed less to the removal of the four toxic pollutants. Benzothiazoles can be degraded via two pathways: the benzene ring-opening reaction and the heterocyclic ringopening reaction. The heterocyclic ring-opening reaction was more important in degrading the benzothiazoles in this study. Conclusion: This study provides feasible design alternatives for PWWTPs to remove both toxic and conventional pollutants at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the intention of space objects plays an important role in aircraft design, aviation safety, military and other fields, and is an important reference basis for air situation analysis and command decision-making. This paper studies an intention estimation method based on fuzzy theory, combining probability to calculate the intention between two objects. This method takes a space object as the origin of coordinates, observes the target's distance, speed, relative heading angle, altitude difference, steering trend and etc., then introduces the specific calculation methods of these parameters. Through calculation, values are input into the fuzzy inference model, and finally the action intention of the target is obtained through the fuzzy rule table and historical weighted probability. Verified by simulation experiment, the target intention inferred by this method is roughly the same as the actual behavior of the target, which proves that the method for identifying the target intention is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Transformer proposed by Google in 2017, it was first used for machine translation tasks and achieved the state of the art at that time. Although the current neural machine translation model can generate high quality translation results, there are still mistranslations and omissions in the translation of key information of long sentences. On the other hand, the most important part in traditional translation tasks is the translation of key information. In the translation results, as long as the key information is translated accurately and completely, even if other parts of the results are translated incorrect, the final translation results' quality can still be guaranteed. In order to solve the problem of mistranslation and missed translation effectively, and improve the accuracy and completeness of long sentence translation in machine translation, this paper proposes a key information fused neural machine translation model based on Transformer. The model proposed in this paper extracts the keywords of the source language text separately as the input of the encoder. After the same encoding as the source language text, it is fused with the output of the source language text encoded by the encoder, then the key information is processed and input into the decoder. With incorporating keyword information from the source language sentence, the model's performance in the task of translating long sentences is very reliable. In order to verify the effectiveness of the method of fusion of key information proposed in this paper, a series of experiments were carried out on the verification set. The experimental results show that the Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU) score of the model proposed in this paper on theWorkshop on Machine Translation (WMT) 2017 test dataset is higher than the BLEU score of Transformer proposed by Google on the WMT2017 test dataset. The experimental results show the advantages of the model proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embryo implantation, a crucial step in human reproduction, is tightly controlled by estrogen and progesterone (P4) via estrogen receptor alpha and progesterone receptor (PGR), respectively. Here, we report that N6 -methyladenosine (m6 A), the most abundant mRNA modification in eukaryotes, plays an essential role in embryo implantation through the maintenance of P4 signaling. Conditional deletion of methyltransferase-like 3 (Mettl3), encoding the m6 A writer METTL3, in the female reproductive tract using a Cre mouse line with Pgr promoter (Pgr-Cre) resulted in complete implantation failure due to pre-implantation embryo loss and defective uterine receptivity. Moreover, the uterus of Mettl3 null mice failed to respond to artificial decidualization. We further found that Mettl3 deletion was accompanied by a marked decrease in PGR protein expression. Mechanistically, we found that Pgr mRNA is a direct target for METTL3- mediated m6 A modification. A luciferase assay revealed that the m6 A modification in the 5′ untranslated region (5′-UTR) of Pgr mRNA enhances PGR protein translation efficiency in a YTHDF1-dependent manner. Finally, we demonstrated that METTL3 is required for human endometrial stromal cell decidualization in vitro and that the METTL3-PGR axis is conserved between mice and humans. In summary, this study provides evidence that METTL3 is essential for normal P4 signaling during embryo implantation via m6 A-mediated translation control of Pgr mRNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a non-histone nuclear protein and can be extracellularly secreted to induce sterile inflammation. Although uterine deletion of HMGB1 causes implantation and decidualization defects, how secreted HMGB1 is involved in mouse early pregnancy is still unknown. Methods: Mouse models, mouse primary endometrial cells and human endometrial cell lines were used in this study. Both immunofluorescence and Western blot were performed to show the localization and relative level of HMGB1 and acetylated HMGB1, respectively. Relative mRNA levels were analyzed by real time RT-PCR. Results: The secreted HMGB1 was detected in uterine lumen fluid in mouse periimplantation uterus. There is an obvious difference for secreted HMGB1 levels in uterine fluid between day 4 of pregnancy and day 4 of pseudopregnancy, suggesting the involvement of blastocysts during HMGB1 secretion. Trypsin is clearly detected in mouse blastocyst cavity and in the supernatant of cultured blastocysts. Trypsin significantly stimulates HB-EGF production through activating PAR2 and ADAM17. Uterine injection of PAR2 inhibitor into day 4 pregnant mice significantly reduces the number of implantation sites. HB-EGF released from luminal epithelium can induce mouse in vitro decidualization. The conditioned medium collected from trypsin-treated luminal epithelium is able to induce in vitro decidualization, which is suppressed by EGFR inhibitor. Intrauterine injection of glycyrrhizin (HMGB1 inhibitor) can significantly inhibit mouse embryo implantation. We also showed that exogenous HMGB1 released from human epithelial cells are able to induce human in vitro decidualization. Conclusion: Trypsin can induce decidualization of stromal cells via PAR2-HMGB1- ADAM17-HB-EGF from luminal epithelium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The further development of catalytic elements has been plagued by activation and binary problems. The automatic shift model that has emerged in recent years helps components achieve full range. However, the detection data still remains unstable in the shift area (7%∼13%). This paper proposes a Catalytic Combustion and Thermal Conductivity (CCTC) model for the specified range, which can be explained from two aspects based on the existing methods. On the one hand, it uses iterative location search to process heterogeneous data, judges the prediction position of data points, and then gives weight evaluation. On the other hand, it corrects the abnormal points, determines the abnormal points in the horizontal direction, and gives the replacement value through the data of adjacent points. The experimental results show that the CCTC model reduces the sum of variance from 17 of the automatic shift model to 13, and the comparison of experimental variance is reduced by 23%. In the full-scale real-time data, the experimental variance of CCTC model and automatic shift model is reduced by 18%. In conclusion, CCTC is a cross section stability framework for full-scale methane measurement, in which the specified heterogeneous combination and anomaly point correction methods improve the stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erianthus arundinaceus is a wild relative of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) with many desirable agronomic traits for sugarcane genetic improvement. However, limited knowledge of the complex genome of hexaploid E. arundinaceus has impeded the development of required molecular tools. Dissecting complex genomes into single chromosomes can simplify analyses. The flow-cytometric sorting of a single chromosome of E. arundinaceus in a Saccharum-Erianthus introgression line is reported. A novel approach called genomic in situ hybridization in suspension was used to discriminate the alien chromosome from sugarcane chromosomes at the same size. A total of 218,000 E. arundinaceus chromosome 1 (EaC1) were sorted to >97% purity and amplified DNA was sequenced using Illumina and PacBio technologies. The resulting assembly had a 70.93 Mb contig sequence with an N50 of 19.62 kb. A total of 56.69 Mb repeat sequences were predicted, accounting for 79.1% of the chromosome and 2646 genes having a total length of 1.84 Mb that represented 2.59% of the chromosome. Of these genes, 1877 (70.9%) genes were functionally annotated. The phylogenetic relationship of E. arundinaceus with other species using the chromosome 1 sequence revealed that E. arundinaceus was distantly related to Oryza sativa and Zea mays, followed by Sorghum bicolor, and was closely related to S. spontaneum and Saccharum spp. hybrids. This study provides the first insights into the characteristics of EaC1, and the results will provide tools to support molecular improvement and alien introgression breeding of sugarcane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an essential part of artificial intelligence, many works focus on image processing which is the branch of computer vision. Nevertheless, image localization faces complex challenges in image processing with image data increases. At the same time, quantum computing has the unique advantages of improving computing power and reducing energy consumption. So, combining the advantage of quantum computing is necessary for studying the quantum image localization algorithms. At present, many quantum image localization algorithms have been proposed, and their efficiency is theoretically higher than the corresponding classical algorithms. But, in quantum computing experiments, quantum gates in quantum computing hardware need to work at very low temperatures, which brings great challenges to experiments. This paper proposes a single-photon-based quantum image localization algorithm based on the fundamental theory of single-photon image classification. This scheme realizes the operation of the mixed national institute of standards and technology database (MNIST) quantum image localization by a learned transformation for non-noise condition, noisy condition, and environmental attack condition, respectively. Compared with the regular use of entanglement between multi-qubits and low-temperature noise reduction conditions for image localization, the advantage of this method is that it does not deliberately require low temperature and entanglement resources, and it improves the lower bound of the localization success rate. This method paves a way to study quantum computer vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intervention with natural products is becoming a promising obesity control strategy as healthy eating becomes increasingly popular. The present study aimed to prepare a citrus-based functional jelly (CFJ) from citrus by-products and investigate its bioactive effects in mice. The results of the CFJ preparation showed that the optimal formula of CFJ was 29.12%, 20%, and 3.61% for chenpi, orange juice, and pectin, respectively. The optimized CFJ can be personalized and designed with jelly shapes using 3D food printing technology. The evaluation of the biological activity of the CFJ showed that it was low in calories, with a total phenolic content of 12.44 ± 0.26 mg GAE/g. Moreover, the CFJ has a good free radical scavenging ability for ABTS. The results of the mouse experiments showed that the CFJ significantly suppressed the body weight gain and fat deposits with a dose-dependent effect, compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the activities of the antioxidant-related enzymes (CAT and SOD) of the mice were also enhanced after a supplementation with the CFJ. In short, the CFJ is a functional snack enriched in phenolic substances with low-calorie, antioxidant and anti-obesity properties. This work promotes the utilization of citrus by-products and the healthy development of its processing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eco-friendly polyelectrolyte bilayer films were prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) casting method using chitosan (CS) and four types of edible citrus pectin as film substrates. The results showed that the polyelectrolyte bilayer films exhibited excellent comprehensive properties. Furthermore, the interaction between CS and pectin was closely related to the degree of methyl-esterification (DM), molecular weight (Mw), and zeta potential of pectin. The low DM, Mw, and high zeta potential of the low methyl-esterified pectin (LM) resulted in a denser internal structure of the bilayer film, stronger UV shielding performance, and stronger gas barrier ability. The high DM and Mw of the high methyl-esterified pectin (HM) endow the bilayer film with stronger mechanical properties, thermal stability, and antifogging property. The microstructural and spectroscopic analysis showed that there are hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions between the layers. Overall, the developed CS-pectin polyelectrolyte bilayer films provided potential applications for food bioactive packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) is one of the well-known mushrooms in China, which has G. lucidum polysaccharides (GLP) that have been widely studied for various biological activities, such as antioxidant, antitumor, antiinflammatory, antiviral, antidiabetes, and immunomodulatory activities. A signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathway is related to cell proliferation and apoptosis. The relationship between STAT and intestinal protection of GLP is still unknown. We studied the inhibitors AG490 in the STAT pathway and its downstream molecules to analyze the unique effects in the protection of GLP against palmitic acid (PA)-induced porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) injury. Compared to PA treatment, GLP + PA obviously decreased Ca2+ concentration, H2O2 production, NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) nuclear translocation, STAT1 and STAT2 protein levels, and increased nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) nuclear translocation and p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio in IPEC-J2 cells. After inhibition of STAT3 signaling, p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio, NF-κB nuclear translocation obviously decreased and Nrf2 nuclear translocation significantly increased in the GLP + PA group. The protection of GLP on proliferation and apoptosis of PA-induced IPEC-J2 cells was suppressed by inhibiting STAT3. The STAT3 pathway regulated the enterocyte-protective effects of GLP by modulating the nuclear translocation of Nrf2 and NF-κB. We provide new insights into the mechanism of STAT signaling for the protection of GLP on PA-induced intestinal epithelial cell injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the potential active ingredients and targets of Astragalus, and also to predict the targets and mechanisms of Astragalus in the treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Based on the predicted results, the key signaling pathways were validated in a diabetic cardiomyopathy model mouse.Methods: Compounds and targets in Astragalus were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform. The protein names to corresponding "Gene Symbol ID" was convert by STRING database.We obtained targets of diabetic cardiomyopathy data from DisGeNET datasets. The protein-protein interaction network (PPI network) was established using STRING database. Cytoscape 3.6.0 was used to construct a disease-drug-target gene network map and to screen the 10 closest target genes by Cytohuba plug-in. The overlapping genes were then subjected to gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)-based enrichment analysis.Finally, the key molecules of the MAPK signaling pathway were validated by in vitro experiments. Animal experiments were performed using 21 Kunming mice randomly divided into normal group, model group, and Chinese herbal medicine Astragalus group, with seven mice in each group. The myocardium of mice in each group was stained with HE to compare the pathological morphological changes, and Western Blot was also used to compare the key molecules of MAPK signaling pathway, ERK1 and p-p38. Results: Astragalus contained 20 active ingredients with 188 corresponding targets, 220 targets related to diabetic cardiomyopathy and 37 targets acting in conjunction with Astragalus. The common targets were imported into the STRING database to obtain a PPI network graph of overlapping genes, with 37 nodes and 391 edges. The PPI network map was imported into Cytoscape 3.6.0 software, and the most significant top 10 hub genes were obtained using the MCC algorithm in the cytoHubba plugin, namely AKT1,TP53,CASP3,MMP9,EGF,IL-10, CXCL8,IL-1β,VEGFA,PPARG. GO functional enrichment analysis yielded 40 entries for biological process (BP), 23 entries for cellular component (CC), 22 entries for molecular function (MF) and 94 entries for KEGG pathway enrichment screening, mainly involving PI3K-AKT, MAPK, HIF-1, FOXO, TNP pathway and other inflammation or apoptosis regulatory pathways. Animal experiments showed that Astragalus can improve the inflammatory state of myocardial tissue in mice with diabetic cardiomyopathy, and the expression of ERK1 and p-p38 protein in myocardial tissue of mice in the model group was higher than that in the normal group (P<0.05, P<0.01), and after the intervention with Astragalus, the expression of ERK1 and p-p38 protein was significantly lower than that in the model group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05, P<0.01). Conclusion: Astragalus has multi-target, multi-component and multi-pathway action characteristics in the treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy, which can exert anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress effects by regulating protein expression of MAPK signaling pathway ERK1, p-p38. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) plays an important role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Here we set out to explore the role of Akt2 signaling—integral to both RPE homeostasis and glucose metabolism—to DR. Using human tissue and genetically manipulated mice (including RPE-specific conditional knockout (cKO) and knock-in (KI) mice), we investigate whether Akts in the RPE influences DR in models of diabetic eye disease. We found that Akt1 and Akt2 activities were reciprocally regulated in the RPE of DR donor tissue and diabetic mice. Akt2 cKO attenuated diabetes-induced retinal abnormalities through a compensatory upregulation of phospho-Akt1 leading to an inhibition of vascular injury, inflammatory cytokine release, and infiltration of immune cells mediated by the GSK3β/NF-κB signaling pathway; overexpression of Akt2 has no effect. We propose that targeting Akt1 activity in the RPE may be a novel therapy for treating DR. Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) plays an important role in diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression. Here, the authors show AKT1 and AKT2 are reciprocally regulated in the RPE of DR donor tissue and diabetic mice, reducing Akt2 in RPE causing a compensatory increase in Akt1 and attenuating DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of customers' value co-creation behavior on their experiences with and loyalty to P2P accommodations. We propose a theoretical model integrating two lines of tourism research: customer value co-creation and customer experience. To extract the dimensions of customer experience and test the proposed model, 34 in-depth interviews were conducted along with a survey of Chinese Airbnb users. Structural equation modeling and mediation analysis were implemented to assess relationships involving customers' value co-creation behavior, experience, and loyalty. Results indicate that customer citizenship behavior directly influences loyalty. In particular, relationships involving customers' participation behavior and citizenship behavior with loyalty are both mediated by customer experience. Relevant implications and future research opportunities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabbit coccidiosis is a very serious disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria, which increases the production rate of free radicals, especially reactive oxygen species. When the generation of free radicals exceeds the scavenging capacity of the body's antioxidant system, the oxidant-antioxidant balance is broken, resulting in oxidative stress. This study was designed to investigate the effect on the oxidant-antioxidant status of rabbits infected with E. intestinalis and E. magna. To this end, eighteen 30-d-old weaned rabbits were randomly allocated into three groups as follows: the E. intestinalis infection group with 3x10³ sporulated oocysts of E. intestinalis, the E. magna infection group with 20x10³ sporulated oocysts of E. magna, and the uninfected control group. We measured the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) in rabbits' small intestinal tissues (duodenum, jejunum and ileum) of the three groups on day 8. The results showed that CAT activity and MDA levels significantly increased, while the activities of SOD, GSH-Px and T-AOC decreased after E. intestinalis and E. magna infection. Besides, the jejunum and ileum were particularly damaged in the rabbits. It is concluded that the pathological oxidative stress occurs during the E. intestinalis and E. magna infection process and the body's oxidant-antioxidant balance is disrupted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the potential application of plant essential oil in the postharvest preservation of fruits, the inclusion complex (IC) of Litsea cubeba essential oil (LCEO) with hydroxypropyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (HPβCD), prepared by the saturated aqueous solution method, was studied. LCEO/HPβCD‐IC was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size distribution, and thermogravimetric‐differential scanning calorimetry (TG‐DSC) analysis. The formation of LCEO/HPβCD‐IC was confirmed, and the volume average particle diameter was 24.376 µm. Due to the inclusion of HPβCD, the volatility of LCEO was significantly reduced and the thermal stability was significantly improved. In addition, the antifungal activities of the LCEO ICs were compared, and LCEO/HPβCD‐IC was more effective against the citrus postharvest pathogens (P. italicum and G. citri‐aurantii). The effects of the LCEO ICs on the postharvest quality of Shatang mandarin were studied. Compared with the control group (CK) and LCEO/βCD‐IC group, the LCEO/HPβCD‐IC group showed a significant delay in the decrease of good fruit rate, hardness, total soluble solids (TSSs), and Vitamin C (Vc) content, with a lower weight loss rate of Shatang mandarin. Therefore, LCEO/HPβCD‐IC is expected to be used as a green preservative for the storage and preservation of citrus fruits. Practical Application: In this study, LCEO was encapsulated in HPβCD by the saturated aqueous solution method and the prepared inclusion complex was characterized. The effects of LCEO/HPβCD‐IC and LCEO/βCD‐IC on postharvest preservation of Shatang mandarin were compared. This work offers valuable insights into the postharvest preservation of citrus fruit by essential oil inclusion complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The involvement of glycolysis in the regulation of the tumor immune microenvironment has become a novel research field. In this study, the specific functions and clinical significance of glycolysis-related genes (GRGs) and immune-related genes (IRGs) were systematically characterized in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). Methods: We evaluated the prognostic value, interactions, somatic mutations, and copy-number variations of GRGs and IRGs in LUSC from a dataset of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). An integrated glycolysis–immune score (GIS) model was generated by random forest algorithm and stepwise Cox regression analysis. The predictive power of the GIS was examined by survival analysis, receiver operating characteristics, univariate and multivariate analyses, and subgroup analysis. The correlations between GIS and biological functions, glycolysis, immune activity, immune cell infiltration, and genomic changes were analyzed, and the potential of GIS to guide clinical treatment decisions was evaluated. Results: A total of 54 prognostic GRGs and IRGs were identified, and a strong correlation was noted among them. However, most of them had somatic mutations and a high incidence of CNV. The GIS model that contained two GRGs (PYGB and MDH1) and three IRGs (TSLP, SERPIND1, and GDF2) was generated and a high GIS indicated poor survival. Moreover, we found that low GIS was associated with immune pathway activation, M1 macrophage infiltration, and higher immune scores. Finally, patients with low GIS were more sensitive to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Conclusion: An integrated model based on glycolysis and immune genes can distinguish the biological functions and immune infiltration patterns of individual tumors, quantitatively estimate the prognosis of patients with LUSC, and guide chemotherapy and immunotherapy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nondestructive characterization of citrus varieties (Egyptian sweet orange, Lane Late navel orange, Australian orange, and Blood orange) was developed based on near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIRDRS) together with principal component analysis (PCA) and Fisher linear discriminant analysis (FLDA). An experiment for the penetration of NIRDRS into the peel was designed and the effects of different spectral acquisition points were investigated. Pretreatments were used to eliminate the spectral interferences. As an unsupervised pattern recognition method, PCA was used to establish the characterization models. Furthermore, supervised pattern recognition based on PCA and FLDA was employed to enhance the accuracy. The results of the penetration experiments show that near-infrared light enters the citrus peel and is able to characterize the internal composition. Even with the optimized spectral pretreatment, accurate characterization of citrus varieties was not achieved by PCA. However, the accurate characterization of citrus varieties was provided by PCA-FLDA. The accuracies of four spectral acquisition points are 95%, while the characterization accuracies of six spectral acquisition points are 100% combined with optimized spectral pretreatment. Therefore, NIRDRS with PCA-FLDA is suitable for the rapid and nondestructive characterization of citrus varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important food crops around the world, which is sensitive to salt stress, especially in the seedling and booting stage. HD961 is a salt-tolerant rice landrace that grows along coastal beaches and has disease and insect pest resistance, salt tolerance, and vigorous growth characteristics. We performed a combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis to clarify salinity resistance mechanisms in cultivar HD961, which has adapted to salinity soil at the early seedling stage. The results showed that the growth and antioxidant capacity of HD961 were stronger than 9311 under salt stress (SS). Transcriptomic analysis showed that a total of 6,145, 3,309, 1,819, and 1,296 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the groups of TH60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of HD961 for transcriptome), TH120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of HD961 for transcriptome), T60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of 9311 for transcriptome), and T120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of 9311 for transcriptome), respectively. Starch and sucrose metabolism and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis were shared in the four treatment groups based on a KEGG enrichment analysis of DEGs. In addition, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, and fatty acid elongation were specific and significantly different in HD961. A total of 92, 158, 151, and 179 significantly regulated metabolites (SRMs) responded to SS in MH60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of HD961 for metabolome), MH120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of HD961 for metabolome), M60 (control group vs. 60 mM group of 9311 for metabolome), and M120 (control group vs. 120 mM group of 9311 for metabolome), respectively. The KEGG analysis showed that eight common metabolic pathways were identified in the four treatment groups, of which biosynthesis of amino acids was the most significant. Three specific metabolic pathways were identified in the HD961, including glutathione metabolism, ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, and pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis. Integrative analysis between the transcriptome and metabolome showed that glutathione metabolism was specific and significantly affected under SS in HD961. A total of seven SRMs and 48 DEGs and four SRMs and 15 DEGs were identified in the glutathione metabolism pathway in HD961 and 9311, respectively. The Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between reduced glutathione and 16 genes (12 upregulated and four downregulated genes), suggesting these genes could be candidates as salt-tolerance regulation genes. Collectively, our data show that glutathione metabolism plays a critical role in response to SS in rice. Moreover, the stronger regulative ability of related common genes and metabolites might contribute to salt resistance in HD961. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor cells show deregulated metabolism leading to an enrichment of lactate in the tumor microenvironment (TME). This lactate-rich environment has been reported to impair effector T cells. However, T-regulatory cells (Tregs) show metabolic advantages in lactate-rich TME that maintain a strong suppression of effector T cells, which leads to tumor immune evasion. Therefore, the glycolytic process of tumors could represent a therapeutic target, and agents that modify the energy metabolism of tumor cells have therapeutic potential. Resveratrol is a naturally occurring polyphenol that has been confirmed to suppress tumor cells' glycolytic metabolism. In this study, we show that resveratrol induces metabolic reprogramming in ovarian cancer cells. Resveratrol increases oxidative and decreases glycolysis, in association with decreased lactate production both in vitro and in vivo. Lactate reduction in TME weakens the suppressive function of Tregs, and subsequently restores anti-tumor immunity. Significantly, combined resveratrol and PD-1 blockade promote anti-tumor efficacy. These data suggest that resveratrol's anti-tumor actions in ovarian cancer could be explained, in part, through modification of the anti-tumor immunity, and indicate a novel treatment strategy for improving immune checkpoint blockade therapy using resveratrol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Headspace‐gas chromatography‐ion mobility spectrometry (HS‐GC‐IMS) and chemometric methods were utilized to analyze changes in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of yellow‐fleshed peach by 1‐methylcyclopropylene (1‐MCP) treatment and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Meanwhile, the storage quality of yellow‐fleshed peach at room temperature (25°C) was also studied. Yellow‐fleshed peach was treated by four methods, namely, nanomaterial packaging (NA), 1‐MCP fumigation and nanomaterial packaging (1‐MCP‐NA), polyethylene (PE) packaging, and 1‐MCP fumigation with polyethylene packaging (1‐MCP‐PE). Changes in the decay rate, firmness, browning index, soluble solid content, and titratable acid of the fruit were then measured at room temperature at 1, 4 and 10 days of storage. Thirty‐two VOCs, including terpenoids, alcohols, esters, aldehydes, and ketones, were identified. Seventeen VOCs were found to be significant with predictive variable important in the projection (VIP) > 1 and p < 0.05 by analysis of variance and orthogonal projection to latent structure discriminant analysis (OPLS‐DA). After 10 days of storage, the browning index of 1‐MCP‐NA group was 51.7%, which was lower than the control fruit (PE, 76.7%). Compared with other three treatments, 1‐MCP‐NA showed the better ability to delay and inhibit decreases in ester and aldehyde contents, and the ethanol content was lowest in the samples treated by 1‐MCP‐NA during storage. Differences among treatment groups were distinguished by principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering heat map. The results showed that 1‐MCP‐NA could well maintain the quality and flavor stability of yellow‐fleshed peach, and it had a good application prospect in the postharvest preservation of yellow‐fleshed peach. Practical Application: In this study, 1‐methylcyclopropylene (1‐MCP) combined with nanomaterial (NA) packaging (1‐MCP‐NA) proved to have a better fresh preservation effect. 1‐MCP‐NA showed better ability to delay and inhibit decreases in ester and aldehyde contents by HS‐GC‐IMS technique. It provided a new strategy for postharvest storage of yellow‐fleshed peaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the association between CT-derived pectoralis muscle index (PMI) and COVID-19 induced lung injury. Methods: We enrolled 116 elderly COVID-19 patients linked to the COVID-19 outbreak in Nanjing Lukou international airport. We extracted three sessions of their CT data, including one upon admission (T1), one during the first 2 weeks when lung injury peaked (T2) and one on day 14 ± 2 (T3). Lung injury was assessed by CT severity score (CTSS) and pulmonary opacity score (POS). Pneumonia evolution was evaluated by changes of CT scores at T2 from T1(Δ). Results: The maximum CT scores in low PMI patients were higher than those of normal PMI patients, including CTSS1 (7, IQR 6–10 vs. 5, IQR 3–6, p < 0.001), CTSS2 (8, IQR 7–11 vs. 5, IQR 4–7, p < 0.001) and POS (2, IQR 1–2.5 vs. 1, IQR 1–2, p < 0.001). Comorbidity (OR = 6.15, p = 0.023) and the presence of low PMI (OR = 5.43, p = 0.001) were predictors of lung injury aggravation with ΔCTSS1 > 4. The presence of low PMI (OR = 5.98, p < 0.001) was the predictor of lung injury aggravation with ΔCTSS2 > 4. Meanwhile, presence of low PMI (OR = 2.82, p = 0.042) and incrementally increasing D-dimer (OR = 0.088, p = 0.024) were predictors of lung injury aggravation with ΔPOS = 2. Conclusions: PMI can be easily assessed on chest CT images and can potentially be used as one of the markers to predict the severity of lung injury in elderly COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: For patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy, intracranial monitoring remains the gold standard for surgical intervention. Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is the most common cause of pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy in pediatric patients who usually develop seizures in early childhood. Timely removal of the epileptogenic zone (EZ) is necessary to achieve lasting seizure freedom and favorable developmental and cognitive outcomes to improve the quality of life. We applied brain network analysis to investigate potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of EZ that will aid in the resection for pediatric focal epilepsy patients with FCD type II. Methods: Ten pediatric patients with focal epilepsy diagnosed as FCD type II and that had a follow-up after resection surgery (Engel class I [n = 9] and Engel class II [n = 1]) were retrospectively included. Time-frequency analysis of phase transfer entropy, graph theory analysis, and power spectrum compensation were combined to calculate brain network parameters based on interictal epileptiform discharges from ECoG. Results: Clustering coefficient, local efficiency, node out-degree, and node out-strength with higher values are the most reliable biomarkers for the delineation of EZ, and the differences between EZ and margin zone (MZ), and EZ and normal zone (NZ) were significant (p < 0.05; Mann-Whitney U-test, two-tailed). In particular, the difference between MZ and NZ was significant for patients with frontal FCD (MZ > NZ; p < 0.05) but was not significant for patients with extra-frontal FCD. Conclusions: Brain network analysis, based on the combination of time-frequency analysis of phase transfer entropy, graph theory analysis, and power spectrum compensation, can aid in the diagnosis of EZ for pediatric focal epilepsy patients with FCD type II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) show multiple biological functions, while their high hydrophobicity leads to a low bioaccessibility and limits their wide applications. The design of a reasonable food‐grade drug delivery system is an effective strategy to improve the low bioaccessibility of PMFs. In this study, sinensetin, tangeretin and nobiletin were encapsulated in Pickering emulsions stabilized by zein/pullulan complex colloidal particles (ZPPs), and the protection effect and in vitro digestion were characterized. RESULTS: Rheological analysis revealed that ZPP–Pickering emulsion loading with PMFs maintained a strong gel‐like network structure. Moreover, the ability to scavenge free radicals of PMFs was improved by the emulsion delivery system. The antioxidant activity of PMFs encapsulated in Pickering emulsion was positively correlated with the oil volume fraction (φ). ZPP–Pickering emulsion loading with PMFs can effectively delay lipid oxidation, and the φ (70%) of Pickering emulsion showed the most pronounced effects, in which the lipid hydroperoxide content and malondialdehyde content decreased by 64.3% and 38.3% after 15 days of storage, compared with the bulk oil group, respectively. The bioaccessibility of the three PMFs has been increased by ZPP–Pickering emulsion simultaneously and it presented the highest values as its φ was 50%, in which the bioaccessibility of sinensetin, tangeretin and nobiletin increased by 2.5, 3.2 and 3.9 times, compared with the bulk oil group, respectively. CONCLUSION: Pickering emulsion stabilized by ZPPs is an excellent nutrient delivery system for delivering three PMFs simultaneously and imparting functional properties to bioactive delivery systems. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing popularity of the concept of healthy diet, modern obesity treatment is gradually shifting from surgical or pharmacological treatment to nutritional intervention. As a safe and effective measure, natural product interventions are a potential strategy of obesity management. The present study aimed to develop a kind of functional food rich in bioactive compounds (chenpi, kiwifruit, and pectin as raw materials) and investigate their bioactive effects on a mouse model. For development of functional kiwifruit jelly with chenpi (FKJ), the results of single-factor and response surface experiments showed that the optimized formulation was composed of a 30.26% addition of chenpi, 35% addition of kiwifruit juice, and 2.88% addition of pectin. The FKJ obtained with the optimal formulation could be used as a 3D printing raw material to print the desired food shapes successfully. For bioactivity evaluation of FKJ, the results with a mouse model showed that the food intake, liver weight, and adipose tissue weight were significantly decreased after administration of FKJ with dose-dependent effect compared to the CON group (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the serum levels of several inflammatory factors (TG, IL-6, and TNF-α) were decreased and the activities of several antioxidant-related enzymes (SOD, GSH-PX, and CAT) were increased. In short, a functional kiwifruit jelly with chenpi was developed in this study. It is a functional snack food rich in active phenolic compounds, low in calories, with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, and prevents fat accumulation. FKJ could well meet the needs of modern people for nutrition and health and also promote the processing and utilization of natural products, and has good development prospects in the functional food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metalloenzymes are a class of enzymes that catalyze through the metal ions they load. Angelica archangelica flavone synthase I (AnFNS I) and Camellia sinensis flavonol synthase (CaFLS), both of which belong to metalloenzymes, have highly similar structures and metal catalytic cores. However, these two enzymes catalyze the same substrate to produce significantly different products. To identify the cause for the differences in the catalytic characteristics of AnFNS I and CaFLS, their protein models were constructed using homology modeling. Structural alignment and molecular docking was also used to elucidate the molecular basis of the differences observed. To analyze and verify the cause for the differences in the catalytic characteristics of AnFNS I and CaFLS, partial fragments of AnFNS I were used to replace the corresponding fragments on CaFLS, and the catalytic characteristics of the mutants were determined by bioconversion assay in E. coli and in vitro catalytic test. The results suggest that the difference in catalytic characteristics between AnFNS I and CaFLS is caused by the depth of the active pockets and the relative position of the substrate. Mutant 10 which present similar dock result with AnFNS I increased the proportion of diosmetin (a flavone) from 2.54 to 16.68% and decreased the proportion of 4′-O-methyl taxifolin (a flavanol) from 47.28 to 2.88%. It was also indicated that the atoms in the substrate molecule that determine the catalytic outcome may be H-2 and H-3, rather than C-2 and C-3. Moreover, it is speculated that the change in the catalytic characteristics at the changes relative spatial position of H-2/H-3 of hesperetin and the loaded carbonyl iron, caused by charged residues at the entrance of the active pocket, is the key factor for the biosynthesis of flavone from flavanone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of Nobiletin (NOB) on the placenta of Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats that had undergone reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) surgery and to evaluate the safety of NOB intervention during pregnancy. The results showed that NOB alleviated placental hypoxia, attenuated placental cell apoptosis, and inhibited placental damage in RUPP rats. No side effect of NOB intervention during pregnancy was observed. BeWo cell lines with P53 knockdown were then constructed using lentiviral transfection, and the P53 signaling pathway was found to be essential for NOB to reduce hypoxia-induced apoptosis of the BeWo cell lines. In summary, NOB attenuated hypoxia-induced placental damage by regulating the P53 signaling pathway, and those findings may contribute some insights into the role of NOB in placental development and the prevention of placental-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularization, in-depth development and application of the Internet, microblogs have become a mainstream social network platform. Several studies on social networks have conducted researches, and user influence evaluation is an important research hotspot. Most of the existing studies calculate user influence by improving PageRank and have achieved certain results. However, these studies ignored the fusion of users' interest theme similarity and information dissemination ability, and the analysis of interaction behaviors among users is not comprehensive. To address these issues, we propose a new microblog user influence algorithm called microblog user influence based on interest similarity and information dissemination ability (MUI-ISIDA), which fully integrates user's interest theme similarity and information dissemination ability. We construct the model of interest theme similarity and then allocate followers' contributions to the influence of bloggers reasonably. Considering the quality of microblogs, the numbers of forwarding, commenting, and effective interaction behaviors among users, the microblog quality coefficient and the assimilation effect coefficient are designed. On this basis, a user's information dissemination ability model was constructed. We verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm using a real dataset. According to these experimental results, our proposed algorithm achieved higher accuracy in ranking user influence than other state-of-the-art algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of a direct connection between solid edible or medical natural products and bioactive compound profiling is a bottleneck in natural product research and quality control. Here, a novel integrated system, online extraction (OLE)–2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)–HPLC−DAD−QTOF-MS, was fabricated to extract, screen, and identify antioxidants from the whole fruit of Citrus aurantium L. var. amara (CAVA, Rutaceae) simply, rapidly, and efficiently. The system consumes less sample (1.0 mg of CAVA powder) and requires a shorter analytical time (45 min for sample extraction, antioxidants screening, separation, and identification). Eight antioxidant flavonoids were screened and identified, and six available flavanones were sensitively, precisely, and accurately quantified. Two major flavanone glycosides, naringin (50.37 ± 0.43 mg/g) and neohesperidin (38.20 ± 0.27 mg/g), exhibit potent DPPH scavenging activities with IC50 values of 111.9 ± 10.06 and 178.55 ± 11.28 μg/mL. A minor flavanone aglycone, hesperitin (0.73 ± 0.06 mg/g), presents stronger DPPH scavenging activity (IC50, 39.07 ± 2.51 μg/mL). Furthermore, density functional theory calculations demonstrated their electron transport ability and chemical reactivity, which confirmed the screened results. The results indicate that the developed OLE–DPPH–HPLC−DAD−QTOF-MS system provides new perspectives for analysis of antioxidants from complex natural products, which also contribute to the quality evaluation of CAVA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]