Search

ABSTRACTObjectiveThe main purpose of the present study was to assess the beneficial effect of Lactobacillus plantarumGM11 (LacPGM11), screened from Sichuan traditional fermented food, in depressive rats induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS).MethodsMale SPF SD rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups: the control group, CUMS group and CUMS + LacPGM11 group (n = 10). The rats in the CUMS and LacPGM11 groups received CUMS stimulation for 42 d. The behavioral tests and levels of monoamine neurotransmitter, glucocorticoid hormone and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the serum and hippocampus were measured. The effects of LacPGM11 on the mRNA and protein expression of BDNF and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in the hippocampus were also investigated.ResultsAfter supplementation for 21 d, LacPGM11 was associated with alleviation of depressive-like behavior, not anxiety-like behavior, in depressive rats. LacPGM11 increased the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and BDNF and decreased the level of cortisol (CORT) in the serum and hippocampus in depressed rats. In addition, treatment with LacPGM11 also increased the mRNA and protein expression of BDNF and CREB in the hippocampus.ConclusionsThis work has revealed that LacPGM11 has potential beneficial effects on depression. This effect might be related to alleviating monoamine neurotransmitter deficiency, HPA axis hyperfunction and CREB-BDNF signaling pathway downregulation. This study demonstrates that LacPGM11 could be a potential therapeutic approach to treat depression and other mental health problems.

The finite inverted beta mixture model (IBMM) has been proven to be efficient in modeling positive vectors. Under the traditional variational inference framework, the critical challenge in Bayesian estimation of the IBMM is that the computational cost of performing inference with large datasets is prohibitively expensive, which often limits the use of Bayesian approaches to small datasets. An efficient alternative provided by the recently proposed stochastic variational inference (SVI) framework allows for efficient inference on large datasets. Nevertheless, when using the SVI framework to address the non-Gaussian statistical models, the evidence lower bound (ELBO) cannot be explicitly calculated due to the intractable moment computation. Therefore, the algorithm under the SVI framework cannot directly use stochastic optimization to optimize the ELBO, and an analytically tractable solution cannot be derived. To address this problem, we propose an extended version of the SVI framework with more flexibility, namely, the extended SVI (ESVI) framework. This framework can be used in many non-Gaussian statistical models. First, some approximation strategies are applied to further lower the ELBO to avoid intractable moment calculations. Then, stochastic optimization with noisy natural gradients is used to optimize the lower bound. The excellent performance and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified in real data evaluation.

Large-scale deployed cameras in the automated container terminal (ACT) area helps on-site staff better identify unexpected yet emergency events by monitoring port personnel trajectories. Rainy weather is ${a}$ common yet typical problem which may significantly deteriorate trajectory extraction performance. To tackle the problem, the study proposes an ensemble framework to extract personnel trajectory from port-like surveillance videos under varied rainy weather scenarios. Firstly, the proposed framework learns fine-grained personnel features with the help of the object query and transformer encoder-decoder module from the input port-like image sequences, and thus obtains port personnel locations from the input low-visibility images. Secondly, the personnel positions are further associated in a frame-by-frame manner with the help of neighboring kinematic movement information and feature information. Finally, a memory mechanism is introduced in the proposed framework to suppress personnel trajectory discontinuity outlier. In that manner, we can obtain accurate yet consistent personnel trajectories, and each person is assigned with a unique ID. We verified the proposed model performance on three port-like rainy videos involving with interferences of rain, rain streak and fog. Experimental results show that the proposed port personnel trajectory extraction framework can obtain satisfied performance considering that the average multi-target accuracy (MOTA), the average value of judging the same target ( ${\mathbf {IDF}}_{\mathbf {1}}$ ), average recall rate (IDR) and average precision (IDP) were larger than 92%.

Salmonella entericais comprised of genetically distinct ‘serovars’ that together provide an intriguing model for exploring the genetic basis of pathogen evolution. Although the genomes of numerous Salmonellaisolates with broad variations in host range and human disease manifestations have been sequenced, the functional links between genetic and phenotypic differences among these serovars remain poorly understood. Here, we conduct high-throughput functional genomics on both generalist (Typhimurium) and human-restricted (Typhi and Paratyphi A) Salmonellaat unprecedented scale in the study of this enteric pathogen. Using a comprehensive systems biology approach, we identify gene networks with serovar-specific fitness effects across 25 host-associated stresses encountered at key stages of human infection. By experimentally perturbing these networks, we characterize previously undescribed pseudogenes in human-adapted Salmonella. Overall, this work highlights specific vulnerabilities encoded within human-restricted Salmonellathat are linked to the degradation of their genomes, shedding light into the evolution of this enteric pathogen.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and halogenated derivatives are a series of environmental pollutants with potential toxicity and health risks on biosystems and the ecosystem. Rapid and sensitive analysis of trace PAHs and halogenated PAHs in complex environmental samples is a challenging topic for analytical science. Here we report the development of a nanospray laser-induced plasma ionization MS method for rapid and sensitive analysis of trace PAHs and halogenated PAHs under ambient and open-air conditions. A nanospray tip was applied for loading samples and placed pointing to the MS inlet, being a nanospray emitter with the application of a high voltage. A beam of laser was focused to induce energetic plasma between the nanospray emitter and the MS inlet for ionization of PAHs and halogenated PAHs for mass spectrometric analysis. Meanwhile, an inner-wall naphthyl-coated nanospray emitter was developed and applied as a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) probe for highly selective enrichment of trace PAHs and halogenated PAHs in complex environmental samples, and some organic solvent was applied to desorb the analytes for nanospray laser-induced plasma ionization MS analysis. Satisfactory linearity for each target PAH and halogenated PAH was obtained, with correlation coefficient values (r) no less than 0.9917. The method showed extremely high sensitivity for analysis of trace PAHs and halogenated PAHs in water, with limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) of 0.0001–0.02 and 0.0003–0.08 μg/L, respectively. By using the inner-wall naphthyl-coated nanospray laser-induced plasma ionization MS method, sensitive detection of trace PAHs and halogenated PAHs in real sewage and wastewater samples was successfully achieved.

Chlorinated anthracenes (Cl-Ants), persistent organic pollutants, are widely detected in the environment, posing potential lung toxicity risks due to frequent respiratory exposure. However, direct evidence and a comprehensive understanding of their toxicity mechanisms are lacking. Building on our prior findings of Cl-Ants’ immunotoxic risks, this study developed a three-dimensional coculture spheroid model mimicking the lung’s immune microenvironment. The objective is to explore the pulmonary immunotoxicity and comprehend its mechanisms, taking into account the heightened immune reactivity and frequent lung exposure of Cl-Ants. The results demonstrated that Cl-Ants exposure led to reduced spheroid size, increased macrophage migration outward, lowered cell viability, elevated 8-OHdG levels, disturbed anti-infection balance, and altered cytokine production. Specifically, the chlorine substituent number correlates with the extent of disruption of spheroid indicators caused by Cl-Ants, with stronger immunotoxic effects observed in dichlorinated Ant compared to those in monochlorinated Ant. Furthermore, we identified critical regulatory genes associated with cell viability (ALDOC and ALDOA), bacterial response (TLR5 and MAP2K6), and GM-CSF production (CEBPB). Overall, this study offers initial in vitro evidence of low-dose Cl-PAHs’ pulmonary immunotoxicity, advancing the understanding of Cl-Ants’ structure-related toxicity and improving external toxicity assessment methods for environmental pollutants, which holds significance for future monitoring and evaluation.

Phototransformation is one of the most important transformation pathways of organic contaminants in the water environment. However, how active compounds enable and accelerate the phototransformation of organic pollutants remains to be elucidated. In this study, the phototransformation of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, the first class “human carcinogens”) by various natural porphyrins under solar irradiation was investigated, including chlorophyll a, sodium copper chlorophyllin, hematin, cobalamin, and pheophorbide a. Transformation efficiency of BaP varied considerably with chemical stabilities of the porphyrins. Porphyrins with a lower stability displayed higher BaP transformation efficiencies. BaP transformation had a significant positive correlation with the production of singlet oxygen. Identical phototransformation products of BaP were observed for all investigated porphyrins, and the main products were identified as BaP-quinones, including BaP-1,6-dione, BaP-3,6-dione, and BaP-6,12-dione. The mechanism of natural porphyrins accelerating the BaP phototransformation in water was proposed to proceed via the photocatalytic generation of singlet oxygen resulting in the transformation of BaP to quinones.

Background The safety and efficacy of the TuBridge flow diverter in treating middle cerebral artery aneurysms remains unknown. In this study, we report our preliminary experience treating complex middle cerebral artery aneurysms using the TuBridge flow diverter.Methods A prospectively maintained database of intracranial aneurysms treated with the TuBridge flow diverter was retrospectively reviewed, and patients with middle cerebral artery aneurysms were included in this study. Demographics, aneurysm features, complications, and clinical and angiographic outcomes were assessed. Evaluation of the angiographic results included occlusion grade of aneurysm (O’Kelly–Marotta grading scale), patency of jailed branch(es), and in-stent stenosis.Results Eight patients with eight middle cerebral artery aneurysms were included in this study. The mean aneurysm size was 11.8 ± 6.8 mm. There were no procedure-related complications and there was no morbidity or mortality at a mean follow-up of 11.3 ± 3.6 months. All patients had follow-up angiograms at a mean of 7.5 ± 4.0 months after surgery. Of the eight patients, there was 1 (12.5%) O’Kelly–Marotta grading scale A, 3 (37.5%) O’Kelly–Marotta grading scale B, 1 (12.5%) O’Kelly–Marotta grading scale C, and 3 (37.5%) O’Kelly–Marotta grading scale D. Of the seven patients with jailed branch, the blood flow of jailed branch was unchanged in 4 (57.1%), decreased in 2 (28.6%), and occluded in 1 (14.3%). In-stent stenosis was mild in 2 (25%) patients and moderate in 1 (12.5%) patient.Conclusion Midterm results suggest that endovascular treatment of middle cerebral artery aneurysms using the TuBridge flow diverter is safe and associated with good outcomes. The TuBridge flow diverter may be an option for complex middle cerebral artery aneurysms that are difficult to treat with either clipping or coiling.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of mean platelet volume (MPV) as a biomarker for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods A systematic search for studies published up to March 2019 was performed in the PubMed and Web of Science databases. Three independent investigators screened the titles and abstracts of including studies according to eligibility criteria. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of eligible studies, and statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager version 5.3.Results A total of eight studies with 1230 COPD patients and 443 healthy controls were included in our meta-analysis. No significant differences in MPV level were identified in pairwise comparisons of the acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), stable COPD, and control groups. Furthermore, no significant correlation was observed between MPV level and systemic inflammatory biomarkers.Conclusions MPV does not appear to represent a suitable biomarker of disease phase or inflammatory burden in COPD. However, future large-scale studies should be performed to further investigate the relationship between MPV and COPD.

In this work, the interaction of the soybean Bowman–Birk inhibitor (BBI) with stevioside (STE) was studied by stopped-flow–fluorescence and molecular docking. STE’s inactivation of protease-inhibitor activities in soymilk and the influence of STE addition on the sensory character of soymilk were also evaluated. The results indicate that STE binds BBI with a binding constant (Ka) of 3.38 × 105L mol–1to form a 1:1 complex. The docking study reveals that two hydrogen bonds are formed between the side-chain of Lys16 (reactive site 1) of BBI and the glucose-ring hydroxyl groups of STE, which may block BBI from contacting trypsin and thus deactivate the trypsin-inhibitor activity (TIA) of BBI. Moreover, the residual TIA in soymilk could also be inactivated by STE. A mixture of 159 mg/L STE and 60 g/L sucrose could be used for sweetening soymilk without affecting the sensory characteristics when compared to a reference product sweetened with 9% sucrose.

Listeriosis, the disease caused by pathogenic Listeriaspecies, can present severe symptoms in susceptible people. The goal of this study was to develop a novel enrichment broth, Listeriaallose enrichment broth (LAEB), to improve isolation of Listeria monocytogenesand Listeria ivanoviifrom samples through incorporating a specific carbohydrate and reducing inhibitor concentrations. Other coexisting bacteria, particularly Listeria innocua,can interfere with the isolation of pathogenic Listeriain such ways as overgrowth of L. innocuaand the generation of inhibitory metabolites. The incorporation of allose into the novel LAEB was effective for slowing the growth of L. innocuaand other nontarget microorganisms. We determined that 35°C and pH 7.0 under aerobic conditions are optimal for Listeriagrowth in this medium. The novelty of the use of LAEB is the single enrichment procedure at 35°C for 24 h, obviating the need for a secondary enrichment medium. In 50 simulated samples, the sensitivity of the LAEB method (86%) was higher than that of the International Organization for Standardization (EN ISO) method (70%). In 142 naturally contaminated samples tested, the isolation rate for pathogenic Listeriawith the LAEB method was 26.0% (37 of 142 samples), which was significantly higher than the 17.6% (25 of 142 samples) for the EN ISO method. Higher isolation rates and a quicker and easier protocol make the novel LAEB method an appropriate alternative for the isolation of pathogenic Listeria.

Sulfonated holey graphene oxides (SHGOs) have been synthesized by the etching of sulfonated graphene oxides with concentrated HNO3under the assistance of ultrasonication. These SHGOs could be used as fillers for the sulfonated aromatic poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membrane. The obtained SHGO-incorporated SPEEK membrane has a uniform and dense structure, exhibiting higher performance as proton exchange membranes (PEMs), for instance, higher proton conductivity, lower activation energy for proton conduction, and comparable methanol permeability, as compared to Nafion 112. The sulfonated graphitic structure of the SHGOs is believed to be one of the crucial factors resulting in the higher performance of the SPEEK/SHGO membrane, since it could increase the local density of the −SO3H groups in the membrane and induce a strong interfacial interaction between SHGO and the SPEEK matrix, which improve the proton conductivity and lower the swelling ratio of the membrane, respectively. Additionally, the proton conductivity of the membrane could be further enhanced by the presence of the holes in the graphitic planes of the SHGOs, since it provides an additional channel for transport of the protons. When used, direct methanol fuel cell with the SPEEK/SHGO membrane is found to exhibit much higher performance than that with Nafion 112, suggesting potential use of the SPEEK/SHGO membrane as the PEMs.

Boron and nitrogen codoped hollow graphene microspheres (NBGHSs), synthesized from a simple template sacrificing method, have been employed as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Because of their specific hollow structure that consists of boron and nitrogen codoped graphene, the NBGHSs can exhibit even high electrocatalytic activity toward ORR than the commercial JM Pt/C 40 wt %. This, along with their higher stability, makes the NBGHSs particularly attractive as the electrocatalyst for the ORR with great potential to replace the commonly used noble-metal-based catalysts.

•The vanadium redox flow battery energy storage system was built, including the stack, power conversion system, electrolyte storage tank, pipeline system, control system.•By adjusting the system current, the system performance was further studied, including system charge and discharge energy, stack polarization voltage.•The stability of the single battery and the energy consumption of each unit in the system are calculated to provide effective data support for the subsequent improvement of system performance.

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is an important legume food crop and plays a crucial role in a secure food supply in many developing countries. Several previous studies have suggested that pigeonpea has great potential for phosphorus (P) deficiency tolerance, but little is known about the underlying mechanism. In this study, the physiological and molecular responses of pigeonpea roots to phosphate (Pi) starvation were investigated through integrating phenotypic, genomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and lipidomic analyses. The results showed that low-Pi treatment increased total root length, root surface area, and root acid phosphatase activity, and promoted the secretion of organic acids (e.g. citric acids, piscidic acids, and protocatechuic acids) and the degradation of phospholipids and other P-containing metabolites in the roots of pigeonpea. Consistent with the morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes, a large number of genes involved in these Pi-starvation responses were significantly upregulated in Pi-deficient pigeonpea roots. Among these Pi-starvation response genes upregulated by low-Pi treatment, four gene families were expanded through recent tandem duplication in the pigeonpea genome, namely phosphate transporter 1(PHT1), phosphoethanolamine/phosphocholine phosphatase(PECP), fasciclin-like arabinogalactan protein(FLA), and glutamate decarboxylase(GAD). These gene families may be associated with Pi uptake from the soil, phospholipid recycling, root morphological remodeling, and regulation of organic acid exudation. Taken together, our results suggest that pigeonpea employs complex Pi-starvation responses to strengthen P acquisition and utilization during low-Pi stress. This study provides new insights into the genome evolution and P deficiency adaptation mechanism of pigeonpea.

A sensitive molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor with specific recognition ability for oleanolic acid was synthesized by modification of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) decorated with tin oxide nanoparticles (nano‐SnO2/MWNTs) and polypyrrole‐imprinted polymer on a carbon electrode. The morphology and electrochemical performance of the imprinted sensor were investigated by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and amperometric i–tcurve. The results showed that the imprinted sensor displayed excellent selectivity toward oleanolic acid. A linear relationship between the response currents and oleanolic acid concentrations ranging from 5.0×10−8g/L to 2.0×10−5g/L was obtained for the imprinted sensor. The limit of detection (LOD) of the imprinted sensor toward oleanolic acid was calculated as 8.6×10−9g/L at a signal to noise ratio (S/N) of 3. This imprinted sensor was successfully applied to the determination of oleanolic acid in Acitinidia deliciosaroot samples.

A core‐shell complex‐imprinted polymer (CIP) was synthesized and evaluated for selective extraction of melamine from dairy products. The CIP synthesis based on surface modification of home‐made silicon microspheres was conducted viaa metal complex as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate as cross‐link and melamine as template. The resulting CIP was characterized by SEM and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. When the amount of silica microspheres was 100 mg and the molar ratio of copper(II) methacrylate to EDGMA was 1:10, well‐dispersed particles were obtained. The complex‐imprinted SPE condition was optimized and the maximum enrichment factor of melamine can be up to 40. The reliability of complex‐imprinted SPE for extraction and enrichment of melamine was investigated and proved by using spiked samples including milk and milk powder with the recoveries ranging from 87 to 92%.

One-dimensional SrSn(OH)6nanowires were successfully synthesized through a rapid simple methodsonochemical synthesis at room temperature without using any templates or surfactants. The growth mechanism has been proposed, and the reaction conditions were carefully investigated. The experimental results revealed that both the ultrasound irradiation and the presence of Na2CO3in the synthetic process had an impact on the fast formation of the SrSn(OH)6nanowires. Moreover, a subsequent precipitationhydrothermal treatment of SrSn(OH)6nanowireswas conducted in ethanol at 180 °C for 8 h in order to improve their crystallinity and thermal stalibity. SrSnO3nanorods were converted by calcination of the hydrothermally treated SrSn(OH)6nanowires at 700 °C for 3 h in air. In particular, it was the first attempt to test the electrochemical properties of the SrSnO3products as anode in a Li ion battery. The resulting SrSnO3nanorods exhibited a better cyclability over 50 cycles with a reversible lithium storage capacity of 200 mA h g−1than that of SrSnO3nanoparticles.

The effects of alloying elements such as Mo, Sn, Zr, Nb, deforming-rate, solid solution and aging treatment on mechanical property and microstructure of near βtype biomedical Ti alloys based on Ti-Nb-Zr system were studied. The Influential factors and their solution were discussed to keep matching of strength, elastic modulus, plasticity and toughness. Ti-Zr-Mo-Nb and Ti-Zr-Sn-Mo-Nb alloy systems possess excellent biocompatibility, lower elastic modulus, higher strength, finer plasticity and fracture toughness matching by means of solid solution and ageing treatment which are much more suitable for surgical implant and orthopedic materials.