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This work deals with the dynamic-memory event-triggered-based load frequency control issue for interconnected multiarea power systems (IMAPSs) associated with random abrupt variations and deception attacks. To facilitate the transient faults, a semi-Markov process is addressed to model the dynamic behavior of IMAPSs. In order to modulate transmission frequency, a novel area-dependent dynamic-memory event-triggered protocol (DMETP) is scheduled by resorting to a set of the historically released packets (HRPs), which ensures better dynamic performance. From the viewpoint of the defender, the randomly occurring deception attack is taken into account, which is regulated by a Bernoulli-distributed scalar. Benefitting from the DMETP scheduling, a novel framework of the memory-based asynchronous control strategy is formulated, in which the hidden semi-Markov model is adopted to reveal the mode mismatches. Based on the Lyapunov theory, sufficient conditions are established to ensure the stochastic stability of the resulting systems. In the end, the simulation result is presented to reveal the efficiency of the proposed dynamic-memory event-triggered-based approach.

This study addresses the asynchronous control problem for a semi-Markov switching system in the presence of singular perturbation and an improved triggering protocol. To decrease the occupation of network resources, an improved protocol is skillfully established by adopting two auxiliary offset variables. Unlike the existing protocols, the established improved protocol is capable of arranging information transmission with more degrees of freedom, thereby reducing the communication frequency and maintaining control performance. Apart from the reported hidden Markov model, a nonhomogeneous hidden semi-Markov model is used to handle the mode mismatch between the systems and controllers. Benefiting from Lyapunov techniques, parameter-dependent sufficient conditions are devised to ensure a stochastically stable subject to a predetermined performance. Finally, the validity and practicability of the theoretical results are verified via a numerical example and a tunnel diode circuit model., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate protein-coding gene expression primarily found in plants and animals. Fungi produce microRNA-like RNAs (milRNAs) that are structurally similar to miRNAs and functionally important in various biological processes. The fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) is the causal agent of Banana Fusarium vascular wilt that threatens global banana production. It remains uncharacterized about the biosynthesis and functions of milRNAs in Foc. In this study, we investigated the biological function of milRNAs contributing to Foc pathogenesis. Within 24 hours post infecting the host, the Argonaute coding gene FoQDE2, and two Dicer coding genes FoDCL1 and FoDCL2, all of which are involved in milRNA biosynthesis, were significantly induced. FoQDE2 deletion mutant exhibited decreased virulence, suggesting the involvement of milRNA biosynthesis in the Foc pathogenesis. By small RNA sequencing, we identified 364 small RNA-producing loci in the Foc genome, 25 of which were significantly down-regulated in the FoQDE2 deletion mutant, from which milR-87 was verified as a FoQDE2-depedent milRNA based on qRT-PCR and Northern blot analysis. Compared to the wild-type, the deletion mutant of milR-87 was significantly reduced in virulence, while overexpression of milR-87 enhanced disease severity, confirming that milR-87 is crucial for Foc virulence in the infection process. We furthermore identified FOIG_15013 (a glycosyl hydrolase-coding gene) as the direct target of milR-87 based on the expression of FOIG_15013-GFP fusion protein. The FOIG_15013 deletion mutant displayed similar phenotypes as the overexpression of milR-87, with a dramatic increase in the growth, conidiation and virulence. Transient expression of FOIG_15013 in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves activates the host defense responses. Collectively, this study documents the involvement of milRNAs in the manifestation of the devastating fungal disease in banana, and demonstrates the importance of milRNAs in the pathogenesis and other biological processes. Further analyses of the biosynthesis and expression regulation of fungal milRNAs may offer a novel strategy to combat devastating fungal diseases., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Arsenic sulfide (As 4 S 4 ) is a mineral drug that can be administrated orally and has been applied in the treatment of myeloid leukemia. The aim of this work is to investigate the therapeutic effect of As 4 S 4 in highly metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) animal model, as As 4 S 4 has not been applied in the treatment of breast cancer yet. To overcome the poor solubility of original As 4 S 4 , a formulation of hydrophilic As 4 S 4 nanoparticles (e-As 4 S 4 ) developed previously was applied to mouse breast cancer cells as well as the tumor-bearing mice. It was shown that e-As 4 S 4 was much more cytotoxic than r-As 4 S 4 , strongly inhibiting the proliferation of the cells and scavenging intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). The oral administration of e-As 4 S 4 significantly increased the accumulation of arsenic in the tumor tissue and eliminated ROS in tumor tissues. Besides, e-As 4 S 4 could also inhibit the activation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and NLRP3 inflammasomes. Consequently, the angiogenesis was reduced, the metastasis to lung and liver was inhibited and the survival of tumor-bearing mice was prolonged. In conclusion, e-As 4 S 4 holds great potential for an alternative therapeutics in the treatment of breast cancer, due to its unique function of correcting the aggressive microenvironment.

Macrophages are predominant immune cells in the tumor microenvironment where they display an immunosuppressive M2 phenotype to support tumor growth. Reprogramming M2-like tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) to antitumor M1 phenotype represents as a promising strategy in cancer immunotherapy. In this work we reported that one cationic polysaccharide spermine modified pullulan (PS) could act as an effective immunological stimulator to modulating either naïve (M0) or M2 macrophages towards M1 phenotype. We showed that PS upregulated the expression of TLR1/3/4 and promoted the phosphorylation of Akt, Erk, JNK, following the activation of NF-κB, which led to the polarization towards M1. In a murine breast cancer model of tumor cell 4T1 inoculation, subcutaneous injection of PS induced effective antitumor effect through reprogramming M2 macrophages in the tumor microenvironment to M1, increased CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, and decreased the expression of CD31 in the tumor mass, which together inhibited the tumor progression and the metastasis in lung and liver, leading to the prolong of the mice survival. In conclusion, PS could effectively stimulate the immunological function of macrophages. Therefore, PS may provide a novel immunological stimulator to cancer immune therapies., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

We report that the mass ratio of the polycation to serum in the medium determines the (RNA interference) RNAi efficiency in vitro by using spermine-modified pullulan (Ps) and spermine-modified dextran (Ds) as polycation models. The high ratio of Ps to serum protein (Ps/Pr) mediated the formation of larger polyplexes, which led to the promoted cellular uptake, enhanced lysosomal escape, and elevated RNAi efficiency. In addition, the supplementary of free Ps also enhanced small interfering RNA transfection because of the elevation of Ps/Pr. Similar results were obtained with Ds. Compared with the adjustment of the nitrogen to phosphate (N/P) ratio in the polyplex, these findings revealed a more applicable strategy to tune the polycation-mediated RNAi efficiency in the serum-containing culture medium.

Cationic macromolecules are attractive for use as small interfering RNA (siRNA) carriers due to their performance in non-immunological reactions, customization during synthesis, and low costs compared to viral carriers. However, their low transfection efficiency substantially hinders their application in both clinical practices and academic research, which is mostly attributable to the low capacity of siRNA/cationic macromolecule complexes to escape lysosomes. To address this challenge, we designed an amphiphilic fullerene derivative (C 60 -Dex-NH 2 ) for efficient and controllable siRNA delivery. To synthesize C 60 -Dex-NH 2 , terminally aminated dextran was conjugated to C 60 . The conjugate was further cationized by covalently introducing ethylenediamine to the dextran. The physicochemical characteristics of C 60 -Dex-NH 2 was examined with elemental analyses, gel permeation chromatography, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance ( 13 C, HPDEC), agarose gel electrophoresis, and dynamic light scattering. The cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, intracellular distribution, and in vitro RNA interference (RNAi) of siRNA/C 60 -Dex-NH 2 complex was evaluated in the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The RNAi efficiencies mediated by C 60 -Dex-NH 2 in vivo was evaluated in subcutaneous tumor-bearing mice. The results showed that C 60 -Dex-NH 2 has a specific amphiphilic skeleton and could form micelle-like aggregate structures in water, which could prevent siRNA from destroying by reactive oxygen species (ROS). When exposed to visible light, C 60 -Dex-NH 2 could trigger controllable ROS generation which could destroy the lysosome membrane, promote the lysosomal escape, and enhance the gene silencing efficiency of siRNA in vitro and in vivo. The gene silencing efficiency could reach a maximum of 53% in the MDA-MB-231-EGFP cells and 69% in the 4T1-GFP-Luc2 tumor-bearing mice., Statement of Significance: We designed a novel photosensitive amphiphilic carrier (C 60 -Dex-NH 2 ) for efficient and controllable siRNA delivery, which can be used in gene therapy. We showed that C 60 -Dex-NH 2 could destroy lysosome membrane via controllable generation of ROS when exposed to light, which can help siRNA to escape from lysosome before degradation. This can enhance the gene silencing efficiency significantly and provides a useful way to regulate RNAi efficiency by light. One advantage for C 60 -Dex-NH 2 system is C 60 has broad absorbance spectrum and can be activated by weak visible light; Furthermore, C 60 -Dex-NH 2 has a specific amphiphilic structure, which may prevent siRNA from degrading and allows C 60 -Dex-NH 2 to embed into the lipid membrane of lysosome to improve the ROS induced lysosomal disturbance after internalization., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Purpose: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of normal conjunctival tissues is a major reason of pterygium generation; α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) is a maker in EMT. In this study, we investigated if human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) can inhibit α-SMA expression and migration of human pterygium fibroblasts (hPFs) in vitro., Materials and Methods: Coculture of hAMSCs and hPFs was completed by using a Transwell coculture system. The α-SMA expression of hPFs was detected by immunocytochemistry and western blot analysis. The migration ability of hPFs was measured by means of a migration assay. Immunoreactivity for α-SMA was detected in all pterygium fibroblasts examined., Results: The expression of α-SMA in cocultured hPFs was significantly lower than in hPFs. Similar result was demonstrated in western blot analysis. In addition, migration assay showed that hAMSCs reduce the migration of hPFs., Conclusions: These results suggested that hAMSCs have the potential to inhibit the generation and invasiveness of pterygium in vitro.