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Abstract Objective We aim to investigate the association between prognosis and outcomes following myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, as well as peripheral blood levels of NLRP3 and the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG). Methods A total of 100 patients who underwent emergency coronary intervention following myocardial infarction confirmed by coronary angiography at our hospital between October 2021 and May 2023 were included in this study. Patients were stratified into two groups based on their prognoses: the control group (n = 73), which did not experience new myocardial infarctions or require hospitalization for heart failure or suffer sudden cardiac death post-interventional treatment; and the observation group (n = 27), which experienced one or more cardiovascular events post-treatment. Patient demographics were obtained from clinical records while biochemical analyses assessed peripheral blood triglycerides, blood glucose levels, and TyG index. Additionally, ELISA measurements determined levels of NLRP3 as well as inflammatory factors IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP in peripheral blood samples. Cardiac function was evaluated according to NYHA standards. Univariable Cox regression analysis identified factors influencing patient prognosis while Pearson correlation analysis examined relationships among prognosis, outcomes following myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, TyG index, and peripheral blood NLRP3. Results No significant differences were observed in the general characteristics between the two patient groups (P > 0.05). However, the observation group exhibited higher levels of peripheral blood triglycerides, blood glucose, and TyG index compared to the control group (P

Abstract The intrinsic oncogenic mechanisms and properties of the tumor microenvironment (TME) have been extensively investigated. Primary features of the TME include metabolic reprogramming, hypoxia, chronic inflammation, and tumor immunosuppression. Previous studies suggest that senescence‐associated secretory phenotypes that mediate intercellular information exchange play a role in the dynamic evolution of the TME. Specifically, hypoxic adaptation, metabolic dysregulation, and phenotypic shifts in immune cells regulated by cellular senescence synergistically contribute to the development of an immunosuppressive microenvironment and chronic inflammation, thereby promoting the progression of tumor events. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the processes by which cellular senescence regulates the dynamic evolution of the tumor‐adapted TME, with focus on the complex mechanisms underlying the relationship between senescence and changes in the biological functions of tumor cells. The available findings suggest that components of the TME collectively contribute to the progression of tumor events. The potential applications and challenges of targeted cellular senescence‐based and combination therapies in clinical settings are further discussed within the context of advancing cellular senescence‐related research.

Abstract Metabolic reprogramming provides tumors with an energy source and biofuel to support their survival in the malignant microenvironment. Extensive research into the intrinsic oncogenic mechanisms of the tumor microenvironment (TME) has established that cancer-associated fibroblast (CAFs) and metabolic reprogramming regulates tumor progression through numerous biological activities, including tumor immunosuppression, chronic inflammation, and ecological niche remodeling. Specifically, immunosuppressive TME formation is promoted and mediators released via CAFs and multiple immune cells that collectively support chronic inflammation, thereby inducing pre-metastatic ecological niche formation, and ultimately driving a vicious cycle of tumor proliferation and metastasis. This review comprehensively explores the process of CAFs and metabolic regulation of the dynamic evolution of tumor-adapted TME, with particular focus on the mechanisms by which CAFs promote the formation of an immunosuppressive microenvironment and support metastasis. Existing findings confirm that multiple components of the TME act cooperatively to accelerate the progression of tumor events. The potential applications and challenges of targeted therapies based on CAFs in the clinical setting are further discussed in the context of advancing research related to CAFs.

IntroductionAmpelopsis grossedentata (vine tea), a high polyphenol content antioxidant plant resource, is renowned for its medicinal benefits. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Ampelopsis grossedentata extract (AGE) on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant ability, enhancement of intestinal immunity, improvement of intestinal structure, and regulation of gut microbiota in swine.MethodsA total of 135 weaned piglets were randomly divided into three groups: a control group, a low-dose group, and a high-dose group. Pigs were weighed and blood was collected on days 36, 85, and 154. The feed intake was recorded daily to calculate growth performance parameters. On day 154, five to six pigs in each group were randomly selected and euthanized to obtain a small intestine to investigate the effects of AGE on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant abilities and gut microbiota.ResultsThe results showed that 500 mg/kg AGE increased the expression of anti-inflammatory and immune cytokines (IL-10, IgG, and IgA) (p

m6A methylation is the most frequent modification of mRNA in eukaryotes and plays a crucial role in cancer progression by regulating biological functions. Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding proteins (IGF2BP) are newly identified m6A ‘readers’. They belong to a family of RNA-binding proteins, which bind to the m6A sites on different RNA sequences and stabilize them to promote cancer progression. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms by which different upstream factors regulate IGF2BP in cancer. The current literature analyzed here reveals that the IGF2BP family proteins promote cancer cell proliferation, survival, and chemoresistance, inhibit apoptosis, and are also associated with cancer glycolysis, angiogenesis, and the immune response in the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, with the discovery of their role as ‘readers’ of m6A and the characteristic re-expression of IGF2BPs in cancers, it is important to elucidate their mechanism of action in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. We also describe in detail the regulatory and interaction network of the IGF2BP family in downstream target RNAs and discuss their potential clinical applications as diagnostic and prognostic markers, as well as recent advances in IGF2BP biology and associated therapeutic value.

BackgroundThe prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is rapidly increasing globally. With a concerning increase among adolescents due to unhealthy habits, obesity, and hypertension, understanding the current status of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to CVD prevention among middle school students is crucial for developing effective school-based health programs to prevent CVD.MethodsThe analytic cross-sectional survey is used in questionnaires to assess KAP related to CVD prevention among middle school students (N = 17,731) from 50 schools across 16 provinces in China in June–July 2023. The pass rate of KAP scores is categorized as good and poor. Independent predictors of good KAP of CVD prevention are ascertained using a binary logistic regression model.ResultsThe study surveyed 8,118 (45.78%) junior high school students and 9,613 (54.22%) high school students. The overall mean [standard deviation (SD)] for the knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 26.88 (8.12), 53.53 (7.22), and 39.80 (5.96), respectively. The knowledge scores had the lowest pass rate at 56.89%. Only 6.83% of the students know “the definition of blood pressure in adolescents.” Attitudes toward health were positive, though the attitude regarding “the danger of prolonged sedentary to cardiovascular health” scored lowest at 73.55%. The practice section had a pass rate of 89.30%; 40.27% of students reported that they spend more than an hour a day on screens. Only one-third of the students would go to bed before 12 o’clock. In univariate analysis, junior high school and high school students differed significantly in knowledge and practice (p

In order to realize the high-precision assembly of the mirror of the aeronautical optical system, a semi-kinematic flexible support structure applied to the airborne field was designed. This paper studies the support principle and assembly method of flexible support of mirror. Firstly, according to the kinematic theory of space mechanism, the spatial degrees of freedom of the mirror were theoretically analyzed. Then, in view of the difficulties encountered in the assembly and application of the mirror, a flexible support structure was designed. Then, the design results were verified by means of finite element analysis. Finally, the processing and assembly of a flexible support structure of the mirror was completed, and the relevant experimental tests were carried out. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the mirror after assembly with flexible support structure is better than λ/50 (λ = 632.8 nm), and the mass is less than 2 kg. The model fundamental frequency modal of the whole assembly is 645 Hz, which is higher than the design requirement. All simulation and test results show that the flexible support structure works well, meets the requirements of aviation optical system, and has the advantages of simple assembly, high precision, stability and reliability.

Abstract Klebsiella pneumoniae is a leading cause of severe infections in humans and animals, and the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains highlights the need to develop effective vaccines for preventing such infections. Live attenuated vaccines are attractive vaccine candidates available in the veterinary field. We recently characterized that the K. pneumoniae kbvR (K lebsiella biofilm and virulence regulator) mutant was a highly attenuated strain in the mice model. In the present study, the characterization, safety, and protective efficacy of ΔkbvR strain as a live attenuated vaccine were evaluated. The synthesis and activity of type 1 fimbriae were increased in the ΔkbvR strain. All mice inoculated by the subcutaneous route with 105, 106, and 107 colony-forming units (CFU) doses of the ΔkbvR strain survived. Subcutaneous immunization with two doses of 105 or 107 CFU ΔkbvR elicited a robust humoral immune response, and provided protection against the following K. pneumoniae intraperitoneal infection. The antisera of mice immunized with 105 CFU dose improved the opsonophagocytic ability and complement-mediated lysis not only to the same serotype strain but also to the different serotype strain. The passive transfer of antisera from 105 CFU dose-immunized mice provided protection against K. pneumoniae infection. Overall, our results suggest the great potential of the ΔkbvR strain as a novel vaccine candidate against K. pneumoniae infections in herds or humans.

Context Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) is a controversial evaluation index of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) in children and adolescents. Objective To assess the accuracy of WHtR as a measure to screen for clusters of at least one CVRF (CVRF1), two CVRFs (CVRF2), and three CVRFs (CVRF3) in different ages, sexes, regions and cut-offs. Methods The PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, Springer, Taylor & Francis Online, Wiley Online Library, Wanfang, and CNKI databases were searched for eligible publications up to June 2021. The QUADAS-2 checklist was used to assess the methodology of the included studies. Results Twenty-two studies that evaluated 85281 children and adolescents aged 5–19 years were included in the meta-analysis. The AUSROC values were 0.56 (95% CI: 0.54–0.57), 0.82 (95% CI: 0.81–0.83), and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.89–0.90) for CVRF1, CVRF2, and CVRF3, respectively. Higher AUSROC values were found for adolescents (12–19 years), that is, 0.91 (95% CI: 0.88–0.93), 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87–0.92) for males, and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.90–0.91) for a cut-off of ≥ 0.51 in the identification of CVRF3. Conclusion WHtR can be used as an accurate screening tool for CVRF3 and CVRF2 in children and adolescents, and it is recommended to select different cut-offs according to different ages, sexes, and regions.

Abstract Background At present, Astragalus mongholicus products on the market represent two growth patterns: imitative wild A. mongholicus (WAM) and cultivated A. mongholicus (CAM). The 6-year-old WAM (A6) and 2-year-old CAM (B2) products are often sold as commodities. This study aimed to explore the effects of the abovementioned growth patterns on the biosynthetic mechanisms of isoflavone accumulation in A. mongholicus products. Results In this paper, the content of calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside in 6-year-old WAM (A6) was significantly higher than that in 2-year-old CAM (B2) based on high-performance liquid chromatography. Tissue anatomy indicated that A6 has developed phloem fibers, thickened secondary walls, and a more well-developed vascular system than B2. Thirteen differentially accumulated metabolites were found in A6 and B2 by UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS, of which isoflavones were highly and significantly enriched in A6. By combining transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis, we found that the metabolomics profile was the same as the transcriptomics profile in both A6 and B2. In total, 11 novel isoflavone-related genes were isolated using BLAST and functional annotation through RNA-Seq and Iso-Seq. The results of integrated analysis, Short Time-series Expression Miner analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis showed that the regulation of four key enzymes, cinnamate 4-hydroxylase, 6-deoxychalcone synthase, chalcone reductase, and chalcone isomerase, led to the high accumulation of isoflavones in A6. In addition, AmUFGT (c778119) and AmUCGT (c303354) were predicted to be 7-O-glycosyltransferases by phylogenetic analysis; these genes catalyze formononetin and calycosin, respectively. Conclusions The findings of this work will clarify the differences in the biosynthetic mechanism of isoflavone accumulation between A6 and B2, which will guide the cultivation of A. mongholicus.

Abstract The tumor microenvironment (TME), which is regulated by intrinsic oncogenic mechanisms and epigenetic modifications, has become a research hotspot in recent years. Characteristic features of TME include hypoxia, metabolic dysregulation, and immunosuppression. One of the most common RNA modifications, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation, is widely involved in the regulation of physiological and pathological processes, including tumor development. Compelling evidence indicates that m6A methylation regulates transcription and protein expression through shearing, export, translation, and processing, thereby participating in the dynamic evolution of TME. Specifically, m6A methylation-mediated adaptation to hypoxia, metabolic dysregulation, and phenotypic shift of immune cells synergistically promote the formation of an immunosuppressive TME that supports tumor proliferation and metastasis. In this review, we have focused on the involvement of m6A methylation in the dynamic evolution of tumor-adaptive TME and described the detailed mechanisms linking m6A methylation to change in tumor cell biological functions. In view of the collective data, we advocate treating TME as a complete ecosystem in which components crosstalk with each other to synergistically achieve tumor adaptive changes. Finally, we describe the potential utility of m6A methylation-targeted therapies and tumor immunotherapy in clinical applications and the challenges faced, with the aim of advancing m6A methylation research.

Abstract As an important component of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), it has been established that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) promote the progression of tumor cells. MSCs can directly promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of tumor cells via cytokines and chemokines, as well as promote tumor progression by regulating the functions of anti-tumor immune and immunosuppressive cells. MSCs-derived extracellular vesicles (MSCs-EVs) contain part of the plasma membrane and signaling factors from MSCs; therefore, they display similar effects on tumors in the immunosuppressive TME. The tumor-promoting role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the immunosuppressive TME has also been revealed. Interestingly, MIF exerts similar effects to those of MSCs in the immunosuppressive TME. In this review, we summarized the main effects and related mechanisms of tumor-associated MSCs (TA-MSCs), TA-MSCs-EVs, and MIF on tumors, and described their relationships. On this basis, we hypothesized that TA-MSCs-EVs, the MIF axis, and TA-MSCs form a positive feedback loop with tumor cells, influencing the occurrence and development of tumors. The functions of these three factors in the TME may undergo dynamic changes with tumor growth and continuously affect tumor development. This provides a new idea for the targeted treatment of tumors with EVs carrying MIF inhibitors.

Abstract Nature has selected, produced, and evolved numerous molecular architectural motifs over billions of years for particular bio‐functions. During this process, molecular self‐assembly plays a critically important role. Inspired by these delicate assemblies, scientists devote themselves to developing various sophisticated complexes assembled by diverse and numerous structural motifs. By far, most of the examples focus on single‐molecule self‐assembly or co‐assembly between two molecules, seldom works report the co‐assembly among three building blocks due to the substantially increased complexity and decreased controllability. Here we report a novel three‐component co‐assembly among L‐glutathione (L‐GSH), AgNO3, and an aggregation‐induced emission luminogen (AIEgen), namely triphenylamine–pyridinium (abbreviated to TPA‐Py). TPA‐Py, L‐GSH, and Ag+ co‐assemble into numerous long and ordered nanowires with left‐handed helices, which show remarkable AIE properties that can be observed by naked eyes. This effect is only detected in this system, the replacement of TPA‐Py with other AIEgens, L‐GSH with other cysteine derivatives or anions, Ag+ with other metal ions, could not lead to the unique AIE effect, which endows this system with high specificity and controllability. This work provides new insight into the design of biomolecule recognition systems and discloses that ternary co‐assembly could become a facile route to build sophisticated nanobiomaterials.

Highlights 1. Technologies such as microfluidics can improve EVs isolation efficiency. 2. Engineering technologies can improve EVs drug loading efficiency and tumor targeting. 3. EVs-based drug co-delivery systems are being developed, such as those with liposomes and hydrogels.

ABSTRACT Klebsiella pneumoniae is a pathogen known for its high frequency of antimicrobial resistance. Responses to various environmental stresses during its life can influence the resistance to antibiotics. Here, we demonstrate the role and mechanism of KbvR regulator in the response to environmental osmotic stress and in the effect of osmotic stress on antimicrobial resistance. The kbvR mutant strain exhibited increasing tolerance to high osmotic stress and certain antibiotics, including β-lactams. The expression levels of KbvR and outer membrane porin OmpK36 were upregulated in response to high osmotic stress in the wild type (WT), and the deletion of kbvR decreased the expression level of ompK36. The membrane permeability of the kbvR mutant strain was decreased, which was partly restored through the upregulated expression of OmpK36. The DNA affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq) and microscale thermophoresis (MST) assay disclosed the binding of KbvR to the promoter of the ompK36 gene, indicating that KbvR directly and positively regulated the expression of OmpK36. The high osmotic stress increased the susceptibility to β-lactams and the expression of ompK36 in the WT strain. However, the increased ompK36 expression and the susceptibility to β-lactams in the kbvR mutant strain under high osmotic stress were lower than those of WT. In conclusion, our study has identified that high osmotic stress in the environment influenced the resistance of K. pneumoniae to antibiotics and that the regulation of KbvR with OmpR on the expression of OmpK36 was involved in countering high osmotic stress to change the antimicrobial resistance. IMPORTANCE Klebsiella pneumoniae is considered a global threat because of the rising prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains and their optimal adaptation to clinical environments and the human host. The sensing and adaption abilities of bacteria to the environmental osmotic stress can change the expression of their outer membrane porins, membrane permeability, and resistance to antibiotics. This study reports that KbvR is a newly found regulator that can be upregulated under high osmotic stress and directly regulate the expression of OmpK36 to change the resistance of K. pneumoniae to β-lactam antibiotics. The results demonstrate how adaptation to high osmotic stress changes the sensitivity of K. pneumoniae to antibiotics. The mechanism can be used to sensitize bacteria to antibiotics and highlight new potential strategies for exploiting shared constraints in governing adaptation to diverse environmental challenges.

Abstract As driven by the increase in global fuel demand and decrease in worldwide reserves of conventional oil, it is important to develop new production technologies for heavy oil. In this work, copolymers PAAI7, PAAI10, and PAAI15 were synthesized and evaluated as potential viscosity reducers for heavy oil. iso‐Tridecyloxypolyethylene glycol acrylates (I13CxAA, x = 7, 10, 15), acrylic amide (AM), and 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) were polymerized to give the copolymers PAAIx, respectively. Copolymers PAAIx were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR spectroscopy, and TGA and showed good thermal stabilities as the decomposition temperature was above 350°C. Their viscosity‐average molecular weights were measured as in the range between 6.53 × 106 and 10.58 × 106 g/mol. The effects of temperature, shear rate, and salinity on the viscosity of polymer solutions were studied, and PAAIx had reasonable rheological properties. The solutions of PAAIx in formation water could emulsify heavy oil sample to form oil‐in‐water emulsion when mass ratio of oil:water was in the range of 6:4‐2:8, respectively. The rates of reduction in viscosity of emulsions compared with that of original oil sample were 53.5%‐97.5% at 50°C under shear rate of 20 s−1. The effects of oil:water ratio, emulsifying temperature, and shear rate on the viscosities of emulsions were extensively studied, and the effect of the polymer structure on the emulsification and viscosity reduction of heavy oil was also discussed. Among three copolymers, PAAI15 formed the most stable emulsion with heavy oil and the emulsion had the lowest viscosity. PAAI15 had the potential for further study.

Battery health prediction is very important for the safety of lithium batteries. Due to the factors such as capacity regeneration and random fluctuation in the use of lithium ion battery, the accuracy and generalization ability are poor when using a single scale feature to predict the health state of lithium ion battery. To solve these problems, we propose a comprehensive prediction method based on variational mode decomposition, integrated particle filter, and long short-term memory network with self-attention mechanism. Firstly, the capacity data of lithium ion battery is decomposed by variational mode decomposition to obtain the residual component which can reflect the global degradation trend of lithium ion battery and intrinsic mode functions component that can reflect the local random fluctuation. Then, the particle filter algorithm is employed to predict the residual component, and the long short-term memory network with self-attention mechanism is proposed to predict the intrinsic mode functions component. Finally, the prediction results of each subcomponent are reconstructed to obtain the final prediction value of lithium ion battery health state. The experimental results show that the prediction method proposed in this article has good prediction accuracy and stability.

Travel time estimation (TTE) is widely applied for ride dispatching, ride-hailing, and route navigation. There are many factors affecting the travel time of a driver on a given trajectory, including the distance, road type, driving habits, traffic congestion, etc. Existing works fail to model the complex relationships of these factors for TTE. To fill this gap, in this paper, we first analyze how these factors work together in determining the travel time. In particular, the travel time depends on the distance and driving speed on each road segment of the trajectory, where the driving speed depends on the driving habits and the environment, including the static factors like the road type (highway or byway) and speed limit and the dynamic factor like the time of the day and congestion. Among these factors, driving habits and traffic conditions (e.g., jam) are the most difficult ones to model. Second, we propose to learn the driving habits of each driver via meta-learning and estimate the conditions based on the current and historical traffic conditions (via recurrent neural networks) of this road and its connected road segments (via graph convolutional neural network). The experimental results on two real taxi trajectory datasets show that our approach outperforms three state-of-the-art methods significantly.

Viscosity-reducer flooding is an effective method to improve oil recovery after the water flooding of heavy oil, and water-in-oil emulsion (W/O emulsion) is easily formed during this process. W/O emulsion has a strong ability to improve mobility ratio and block off high permeability layers, which can effectively improve sweep coefficient and enhance oil recovery. The microscopic visual glass model is mainly used to study the microscopic oil displacement mechanism of dilute oil; however, there are few studies on the emulsification mechanism and influencing factors of heavy oil. The purpose of this paper is to study the mechanism of heavy oil emulsification caused by viscosity reducer at the microscopic level, and the effect of emulsification on heavy oil recovery. The visible physical experiments with the glass microscopic models with different permeability and pore sizes were carried out to study the mechanism and main controlling factors of emulsification and the oil displacement effect of viscosity reducer. On this basis, the software was used to calculate the oil recovery in different areas of the model in different flooding stages, which provides a more intuitive understanding of the oil displacement effect of viscosity reducer. The results showed that there are mainly three types of emulsifications between pores: pore throat-breaking emulsification, blind-end emulsification, and pore channel extrusion emulsification. Hence, the mechanism of the three types of emulsifications and the relationship between droplet size with shear stress have been explored. The shear stress increased with the increase of the shear rate, and the oil droplet size in the model decreased with the increase of the shear. The blocking mechanism of pore throat and the shearing action of viscosity-reducer solution are the main mechanisms of viscous oil emulsification between pores. Generally, the particle size of the emulsified oil droplets formed by the blocking action is large, and it is easy to form pore throat emulsion. The particle size of emulsified oil droplets formed by shearing of viscosity-reducer solution is small. When the pore diameter is smaller than the particle size of oil droplets, the mobility of oil droplets between pores is poor, which means the oil droplets easily accumulate at the blind end to form residual oil. From the results of viscosity-reducer flooding experiments, the heavy oil recovery in each area of the model has been significantly improved after viscosity-reducer flooding compared with water flooding, with the recovery factor in the edge area of the model improving by up to 24.22%. The viscosity-reducer solution has a significant displacement effect on the residual oil in the edge area of the model.

Abstract High‐performance gas sensors are highly desirable for environmental monitoring, clinical medicine, and industrial production. Herein, a gas sensor with excellent sensing response at room temperature is presented based on zinc oxide/reduced graphene oxide (ZnO/rGO) composites. The ZnO/rGO composites with various contents of rGO and the pure ZnO are successfully fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method. Particularly, the ZnO/rGO sensor with 1.5 mL of the rGO exhibits highest sensing response in a wide range from 5 ppb to 10 ppm NO2 concentration and its response arrives at 13.46 when exposed to 2 ppm NO2 at room temperature. Furthermore, ZnO/rGO sensors show short response time (2 ppm, 26 s) and recovery time (2 ppm, 164 s) at room temperature. The proposed ZnO/rGO sensors present high sensitivity, excellent reproducibility, and stability. In addition, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the increased electrical conductivity under exposure of NO2 gas are attributed to the numerous reactive sites and carrier mobility of rGO. These results demonstrate that ZnO/rGO gas sensor has huge potential for applications in industrial and environmental monitoring.

Complicated synthesis procedure and instability of 1T-MoS2 impede its practical application for hydrogen evolution reaction. Here, we propose a new strategy to drive the synthesis of stabilized 1T-MoS2 by Ni doping. Ni doping forms the NiS covalent bonds, inducing the slip of S atoms and stabilizing 1T structure. The materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Electrochemical tests including linear sweep voltammetry etc. indicate that the 1T/2H-MoS2/8%Ni has an overpotential of 162 mV and a Tafel slope of 80 mV dec−1 along with a good stability.

Because the influence of shear on the rheology of waxy crude oil must be considered according to the composition and structure of the waxy crude oil transported via pipeline when a new pipeline is constructed, the risks associated with changes in the waxy crude oil composition during the pipeline operation must be considered in advance. To provide a policy-making basis for designers of new pipelines and managers of existing pipelines, the wax appearance temperature, crude oil components, wax structure and wax crystal morphology were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gas chromatography (GC), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and polarization microscopy. The influence of shear on the rheology of waxy crude oil treated by a flow improver and the relationships among this influence and the waxy crude oil composition, the wax structure and the shear temperature were investigated. The results indicated that above the wax appearance temperature, shear does not affect the rheology of waxy crude oil treated by a flow improver, whereas below the wax appearance temperature, the influence of pipeline shear on the rheology of waxy crude oil is related to the composition of the waxy crude oil and wax structure, which can improve the rheology of certain crude oils but can also deteriorate the rheology of other crude oils. However, pump shear can deteriorate the rheology of crude oil treated by a flow improver. The main reasons for the abovementioned phenomena are that a large number of wax crystals in the crude oil and shear changes the structures of the larger wax crystals formed by eutectic interactions between the flow improver molecules and wax molecules below the wax appearance temperature. In summary, this study provides a reference value for flow improvement research, pipeline design and pipeline management. Keywords: Pipeline shear, Pump shear, Crude oil composition, Shear temperature, Wax appearance temperature, Flow improver

Bacterial drug resistance is rapidly developing as one of the greatest threats to human health. Bacteria will adopt corresponding strategies to crack the inhibitory effect of antibiotics according to the antibacterial mechanism of antibiotics, involving the mutation of drug target, secreting hydrolase, and discharging antibiotics out of cells through an efflux pump, etc. In recent years, bacteria are found to constantly evolve new resistance mechanisms to antibiotics, including target protective protein, changes in cell morphology, and so on, endowing them with multiple defense systems against antibiotics, leading to the emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria and the unavailability of drugs in clinics. Correspondingly, researchers attempt to uncover the mystery of bacterial resistance to develop more convenient and effective antibacterial strategies. Although traditional antibiotics still play a significant role in the treatment of diseases caused by sensitive pathogenic bacteria, they gradually lose efficacy in the MDR bacteria. Therefore, highly effective antibacterial compounds, such as phage therapy and CRISPER-Cas precision therapy, are gaining an increasing amount of attention, and are considered to be the treatments with the moist potential with regard to resistance against MDR in the future. In this review, nine identified drug resistance mechanisms are summarized, which enhance the retention rate of bacteria under the action of antibiotics and promote the distribution of drug-resistant bacteria (DRB) in the population. Afterwards, three kinds of potential antibacterial methods are introduced, in which new antibacterial compounds exhibit broad application prospects with different action mechanisms, the phage therapy has been successfully applied to infectious diseases caused by super bacteria, and the CRISPER-Cas precision therapy as a new technology can edit drug-resistant genes in pathogenic bacteria at the gene level, with high accuracy and flexibility. These antibacterial methods will provide more options for clinical treatment, and will greatly alleviate the current drug-resistant crisis.

The addition of salts is an effective way to improve the properties of polysaccharide/protein complexes for use in foods. However, there is no comparative study on the effects of different ions on the complex system of low methoxyl pectin (LMP)/ sodium caseinate (CAS) complex. The effects of different concentrations of three salt ions (Na+, K+, Ca2+) on the physicochemical and rheological properties of the LMP/CAS complex were determined in this study, and the structure of LMP/CAS complex was characterized. The results showed that the addition of these three salt ions affected zeta potential, particle size, and turbidity of the LMP/CAS complex, and lead the LMP/CAS complex to form a more regular and uniform network structure, which helped improve its stability, solubility, and rheological properties. The particle size and turbidity value of the complex achieved with Ca2+ were higher than those obtained using Na+ and K+. Moreover, the secondary structure of the proteins in the complex changed to adding high concentrations of Ca2+. Our study provides valuable information for the application of the LMP/CAS complex in the food industry.

The addition of hydrocolloid is an effective method to improve the properties of native starch. However, few studies have investigated the effects of konjac glucomannan (KGM) on canna starch (CS). In this study, the effects of various KGM concentration on the pasting, rheological, textural, and morphological properties of CS were investigated. The addition of KGM significantly increased CS’s pasting viscosities. Incorporation of KGM in CS at a relatively high level (1.2% w/w) exerted a significant influence on the pasting properties of CS. The consistency coefficient of CS was notably increased by KGM (from 43.6 to 143.3 Pa·sn) and positively correlated positive with KGM concentration. KGM concentration at a relatively high level (1.2% w/w) increased the elasticities and cohesiveness of CS by 53.3% and 88.0%, respectively, in texture profile analysis. The polarized optical microscope images indicated that KGM played an important part in protecting the crystalline structure of CS during heating. A denser porous microstructure with a filamentous network was observed in gelatinized KGM/CS mixtures as compared with the CS control. This research advances the knowledge of interactions between KGM and CS and opens possibilities to improve rheological properties of CS and to develop its new functionalities with KGM addition.

In this paper, the joints between Al and Cu bars were fabricated by continuous drive friction welding. The microstructures and the compositions of the composites were analyzed by SEM, EDS and XRD. The surface temperature was observed using an infrared thermographic camera. The interface temperatures were suggested in the range of 648~723 K at different welding parameters. The interdiffusion between Al and Cu atoms is extraordinarily rapid, as the interdiffusion coefficients could reach 7.8 × 10−12 m2/s. Intermetallic phases Al2Cu and Al4Cu9 were identified in all samples in view of the XRD and EDS analyses. The effective Gibbs free energy change of formation model was proposed to predict the Al–Cu compound formation at solid-state interface, and the calculation combined with kinetic factors showed that Al2Cu (Al side) and Al4Cu9 (Cu side) appeared first.

Rotary friction welding was conducted on A286 with a diameter of ϕ 25 mm under 300, 900 and 2100 rpm to understand the structural response of the joint welded at different rotation speeds. Joint morphologies, grain structures inside the morphologies and the corresponding mechanism that governs its formation were characterized and investigated using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), which focused on three featured zones located at the center, 1/2R and periphery of the joint. The influence of structural response on joint properties was also investigated. Results show that the morphology of the joint evolves from ‘disk shape’ to ‘near-line shape’ and ‘scissors shape’ as the rotation speed increases from 300 rpm to 2100 rpm. At low rotation speed, refined and recrystallized grains were formed inside disk shape morphologies. Whereas, sub-grains and deformed grains were evolved at the middle (900 rpm) and high (2100 rpm) rotation speed. The recrystallized grains surrounded by the ‘disk shape’ morphology have a positive effect on the joint strength compared with the sub-grains and deformed grains confined by the ‘near-line shape’ and ‘scissors shape’ morphologies.

Curcuma longa possesses powerful antifungal activity, as demonstrated in many studies. In this study, the antifungal spectrum of Curcuma longa alcohol extract was determined, and the resulting EC50 values (mg/mL) of its extract on eleven fungi, including Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium chlamydosporum, Alternaria alternate, Fusarium tricinctum, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium culmorum, Rhizopus oryzae, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum higginsianum, were 0.1088, 0.1742, 0.1888, 0.2547, 0.3135, 0.3825, 0.4229, 1.2086, 4.5176, 3.8833 and 5.0183, respectively. Among them, F. graminearum was selected to determine the inhibitory effects of the compounds (including curdione, isocurcumenol, curcumenol, curzerene, β-elemene, curcumin, germacrone and curcumol) derived from Curcuma longa. In addition, the antifungal activities of curdione, curcumenol, curzerene, curcumol and isocurcumenol and the synergies of the complexes of curdione and seven other chemicals were investigated. Differential proteomics of F. graminearum was also compared, and at least 2021 reproducible protein spots were identified. Among these spots, 46 were classified as differentially expressed proteins, and these proteins are involved in energy metabolism, tRNA synthesis and glucose metabolism. Furthermore, several fungal physiological differences were also analysed. The antifungal effect included fungal cell membrane disruption and inhibition of ergosterol synthesis, respiration, succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and NADH oxidase.

Forsythiae Fructus (FF), the dried fruit of Forsythia suspensa, has been widely used as a heat-clearing and detoxifying herbal medicine in China. Green FF (GF) and ripe FF (RF) are fruits of Forsythia suspensa at different maturity stages collected about a month apart. FF undergoes a complex series of physical and biochemical changes during fruit ripening. However, the clinical uses of GF and RF have not been distinguished to date. In order to comprehensively compare the chemical compositions of GF and RF, NMR-based metabolomics coupled with HPLC and UV spectrophotometry methods were adopted in this study. Furthermore, the in vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activities of 50% methanol extracts of GF and RF were also evaluated. A total of 27 metabolites were identified based on NMR data, and eight of them were found to be different between the GF and RF groups. The GF group contained higher levels of forsythoside A, forsythoside C, cornoside, rutin, phillyrin and gallic acid and lower levels of rengyol and β-glucose compared with the RF group. The antioxidant activity of GF was higher than that of RF, but no significant difference was observed between the antibacterial activities of GF and RF. Given our results showing their distinct chemical compositions, we propose that NMR-based metabolic profiling can be used to discriminate between GF and RF. Differences in the chemical and biological activities of GF and RF, as well as their clinical efficacies in traditional Chinese medicine should be systematically investigated in future studies.

Static strain can be detected by measuring a cross-correlation of reflection spectra from two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). However, the static-strain measurement resolution is limited by the dominant Gaussian noise source when using this traditional method. This paper presents a novel static-strain demodulation algorithm for FBG-based Fabry-Perot interferometers (FBG-FPs). The Hilbert transform is proposed for changing the Gaussian distribution of the two FBG-FPs’ reflection spectra, and a cross third-order cumulant is used to use the results of the Hilbert transform and get a group of noise-vanished signals which can be used to accurately calculate the wavelength difference of the two FBG-FPs. The benefit by these processes is that Gaussian noise in the spectra can be suppressed completely in theory and a higher resolution can be reached. In order to verify the precision and flexibility of this algorithm, a detailed theory model and a simulation analysis are given, and an experiment is implemented. As a result, a static-strain resolution of 0.9 nε under laboratory environment condition is achieved, showing a higher resolution than the traditional cross-correlation method.

The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of energy-input on the mechanical properties of a 304 stainless-steel joint welded by continuous-drive rotary friction-welding (RFW). RFW experiments were conducted over a wide range of welding parameters (welding pressure: 25⁻200 MPa, rotation speed: 500⁻2300 rpm, welding time: 4⁻20 s, and forging pressure: 100⁻200 MPa). The results show that the energy-input has a significant effect on the tensile strength of RFW joints. With the increase of energy-input, the tensile strength rapidly increases until reaching the maximum value and then slightly decreases. An empirical model for energy-input was established based on RFW experiments that cover a wide range of welding parameters. The accuracy of the model was verified by extra RFW experiments. In addition, the model for optimal energy-input of different forging pressures was obtained. To verify the accuracy of the model, the optimal energy-input of a 170 MPa forging pressure was calculated. Three RFW experiments in which energy-input was equal to the calculated value were made. The joints’ tensile strength coefficients were 90%, 93%, and 96% respectively, which proved that the model is accurate.

Radix polygalae, the dried roots of Polygala tenuifolia and P. sibirica, is one of the most well-known traditional Chinese medicinal plants. Radix polygalae contains various saponins, xanthones, and oligosaccharide esters and these compounds are responsible for several pharmacological properties. To provide basic breeding information, enhance molecular biological analysis, and determine secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways of P. tenuifolia, we applied Illumina sequencing technology and de novo assembly. We also applied this technique to gain an overview of P. tenuifolia transcriptome from samples with different years. Using Illumina sequencing, approximately 67.2% of unique sequences were annotated by basic local alignment search tool similarity searches against public sequence databases. We classified the annotated unigenes by using Nr, Nt, GO, COG, and KEGG databases compared with NCBI. We also obtained many candidates CYP450s and UGTs by the analysis of genes in the secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways, including putative terpenoid backbone and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway. With this transcriptome sequencing, future genetic and genomics studies related to the molecular mechanisms associated with the chemical composition of P. tenuifolia may be improved. Genes involved in the enrichment of secondary metabolite biosynthesis-related pathways could enhance the potential applications of P. tenuifolia in pharmaceutical industries.

BackgroundThe dried root of Polygala tenuifolia, named Radix Polygalae, is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine. Triterpenoid saponins are some of the most important components of Radix Polygalae extracts and are widely studied because of their valuable pharmacological properties. However, the relationship between gene expression and triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis in P. tenuifolia is unclear.Methodology/findingsIn this study, ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF MS)-based metabolomic analysis was performed to identify and quantify the different chemical constituents of the roots, stems, leaves, and seeds of P. tenuifolia. A total of 22 marker compounds (VIP>1) were explored, and significant differences in all 7 triterpenoid saponins among the different tissues were found. We also observed an efficient reference gene GAPDH for different tissues in this plant and determined the expression level of some genes in the triterpenoid saponin biosynthetic pathway. Results showed that MVA pathway has more important functions in the triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis of P. tenuifolia. The expression levels of squalene synthase (SQS), squalene monooxygenase (SQE), and beta-amyrin synthase (β-AS) were highly correlated with the peak area intensity of triterpenoid saponins compared with data from UPLC/Q-TOF MS-based metabolomic analysis.Conclusions/significanceThis finding suggested that a combination of UPLC/Q-TOF MS-based metabolomics and gene expression analysis can effectively elucidate the mechanism of triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis and can provide useful information on gene discovery. These findings can serve as a reference for using the overexpression of genes encoding for SQS, SQE, and/or β-AS to increase the triterpenoid saponin production of P. tenuifolia.

The past decade has witnessed rapid advancements in chloride-ion batteries (CIBs), including the development of transition metal chlorides, oxychlorides and layered double hydroxide cathode materials, as well as organic, aqueous, and solid-state electrolyte systems. However, research on anode materials has still been limited to a few strong alkaline metals due to the high demand for Cl- affinity. The inherent insulating chlorinated phase and reconstructed chlorination process of these metallic anodes are the most severe obstacles to the practical application of CIBs. Herein, high-throughput screening is applied to explore the potential anode materials from the layered perovskite oxychlorides (A2TMO3Cl). The screened Ca2CoO3Cl and Ba2RhO3Cl are identified that can maintain their layered structure during electrochemical processes, thereby enabling a stable Cl- (de)intercalation reaction process. Strong alkaline metals in A2TMO3Cl are directly connected to Cl-, ensuring strong binding ability to meet the requirements of CIB anodes. Meanwhile, transition metal in A2TMO3Cl acts as a redox center, which provides Cl- storage capacity and good electrical conductivity. Based on such a layered framework, Ca2CoO3Cl and Ba2RhO3Cl possess low Cl- diffusion barriers of 0.50 and 0.52 eV, which are numerically and mechanically improved compared to those of the reported CIB anode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LiMnPO4 material has the advantages of abundant raw materials, safety and environmental protection, low price, high theoretical capacity, high stable working voltage platform and so on, showing great potential in lithium-ion batteries. Dissimilar metal ion doping can essentially improve the electronic conductivity of LiMnPO4 and the material's charge and discharge performance, which is an ideal method to improve the electrochemical performance of LiMnPO4. In this paper, the optimal doping concentration of Mg-doped solid solution material was calculated by first principles. At the same time, the corresponding content of LiMn1-xMgxPO4/C cathode material was synthesized by hydrothermal method for experimental verification, so as to prepare the cathode material with excellent electrochemical performance. The results show that the doping of Mg cations does not change the phase of the main phase, but significantly changes the crystal structure parameters. The regulation of the band width directly affects the electronic conductivity of the material, which is directly proportional to the electrochemical performance. EIS and CV test results show that a proper amount of magnesium doping can effectively reduce the impedance of the material, and can effectively alleviate the polarization phenomenon of LiMnPO4 electrode material, accelerate the diffusion rate of Li+, and it is easier to obtain high capacity battery. LiMn23/24Mg1/24PO4/C showed the best electrochemical performance, with an initial capacity of 153.8 mAh/g at 0.05C ratio and a capacity retention rate of 97.5% after 100 cycles at 0.05C ratio. The theoretical calculation is in good agreement with the experimental results, which indicates that the theoretical calculation based on first principles can effectively provide a more reliable theoretical basis for experimental design and subsequent improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dumb English is a serious phenomenon among most teenagers in China. When the assessment system of man-machine dialogue is added to the entrance examination, English listening and speaking ability becomes indispensable to students. How to arouse teenagers' interest in spoken English and effectively improve their listening and speaking ability is very critical. The main learning environment for students is the classroom, hence classroom teaching plays a key role in enriching students' ability of listening and speaking. In view of the problems existing in junior high school classroom and students' listening and speaking ability, the relevant optimization strategies are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]