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Gastrointestinal disease is characterized by gastrointestinal dysfunction with dysbiosis of the microbiome. Probiotics may act as biological agents in treating gastrointestinal diseases through modifying gut microbiota. However, several challenges, including safety, stress resistance, postcolonization quantification, and evaluation models, may hinder the application of probiotics in gastrointestinal diseases. This review introduces the emerging methods for delivering probiotics as well as available materials. Furthermore, we elucidated bacteriocins and their role in helping probiotics obtain a competitive advantage over other strains and challenges of large-scale application. Bacteriocins produced by probiotics also showed promising efficacy in gastrointestinal diseases including the capacity of immune stimulation, intestinal barrier protection, and cytotoxicity against intestinal tumorigenesis. For the quantification of probiotics in complex microbiomes and evaluation methods of probiotic encapsulated delivery systems, recent fluorescent labeling technology and various in vitro and in vivo models were also reviewed. Given the widespread use of probiotic agents in the microecological therapy of gastrointestinal diseases, further understanding of the multiple challenges of probiotic application and the updated methods to improve the colonization and evaluation system of probiotics is of great significance for probiotics as live biotherapeutics.

New remedies are required for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) due to insufficient efficacy of available therapies. Here, we used chemogenetic approaches combined with in vivo pharmacology to elucidate the role of basolateral amygdala (BLA) astrocytes in DNP pathogenesis and provide new insights into therapeutic strategies for DNP.A streptozotocin-induced DNP model was established. Designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) were used to regulate astrocyte activity. Mechanical hyperalgesia was assessed using the electronic von Frey test. Anxiety-like behaviors were detected using open field and elevated plus maze tests. Astrocytic activity was detected by immunofluorescence, and cytokine content was determined by ELISA.BLA astrocytes were regulated by DREADDs, and inhibition of BLA astrocytes attenuated mechanical allodynia and pain-related negative emotions in DNP rats. Contrastively, temporary activation of BLA astrocytes induced allodynia without anxious behaviors in naive rats. In addition, koumine (KM) alleviated mechanical allodynia and anxiety-like behaviors in DNP rats, inhibited the activation of BLA astrocytes and suppressed the inflammatory response. Furthermore, persistent activation of BLA astrocytes through chemogenetics mimicked chronic pain, and KM alleviated its pain hypersensitivity and anxiety-like behaviors.DREADDs bidirectionally regulate the activity of BLA astrocytes, which proves for the first time the role of BLA astrocyte activation in the pathogenesis of DNP and represents a novel therapeutic strategy for DNP. KM ameliorates DNP, perhaps by inhibiting the activation of BLA astrocytes and reveal KM as a potential candidate for treating DNP.

To determine whether exoskeleton-assisted walking (EAW) improves pulmonary ventilation function, motor function and related body structure, and activities equivalently as the conventional exercise program for people with spinal cord injury (SCI).Forty participants (7 females and 33 males; age 37.1±12.0 years) with thoracic SCI were randomized into two groups and undertook 16 sessions of 50-60 min training (4 days/week). Participants in the EAW group received EAW trainings, such as assisted standing, walking, and climbing the stairs. The control group received a conventional exercise program. Outcomes were measured at baseline and upon completion of treatment.After trainings, the EAW group improved more than the control group in the forced vital capacity (FVC, 0.53 L [0.01-1.06 L]), predicted FVC% (19.59 [6.63-32.54]) and forced expiratory volume in 1s (0.61 L [0.15-1.07 L]), basic activities of daily living (BADL) (19.75 [10.88-28.62]), and distal femoral cartilage. Participants in the EAW group completed 6-minute walk test with median 17.3 meters while wearing the exoskeleton. There was no difference in trunk and lower extremity motor function, bone mineral density, and adverse events (P0.05).In people with lower thoracic neurological level of SCI, EAW training has potential benefits to facilitate pulmonary ventilation function, walking, BADL and thickness of cartilage comparing to a conventional excise program.This study provided more evidence for using EAW in clinic, and partly proved EAW had equivalent effects as conventional exercise program, which may combine with conventional exercise program for reducing burden of therapists in the future.

An efficient HOTf-catalyzed 1,4-addition reaction of difluoroenoxysilanes to chromones was developed, providing rapid access to valuable C2-difluoroalkylated chroman-4-ones. 3g showed antiproliferative effect on HCT116 cells with an IC50 of 6.37 μM.

The HA:Tb/Zn synthesized by hydrothermal method synchronously achieved good antibacterial effect, better osteogenic activity, and stable fluorescence.

With the increasing amount of medical data and the high dimensional and diversified complex information, based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, a new way is provided that is multi-source, heterogeneous, high dimensional, real-time, multi-scale, dynamic, and uncertain. Driven by medical and health big data and using deep learning theories and methods, this paper proposes a new mode of “multi-modal fusion-association mining-analysis and prediction-intelligent decision” for intelligent medicine analysis and decision making. First, research on “multi-modal fusion method of medical big data based on deep learning” explores a new method of medical big data fusion in complex environment. Second, research on “dynamic change rules and analysis and prediction methods of medical big data based on deep learning” explores a new method for medical big data fusion in complex environment. Third, research on “intelligent medicine decision method” explores a new intelligent medicine decision method.

Federated learning (FL), a distributed machine-learning framework, is poised to effectively protect data privacy and security, and it also has been widely applied in variety of fields in recent years. However, the system heterogeneity and statistical heterogeneity of FL pose serious obstacles to the global model’s quality. This study investigates server and client resource allocation in the context of FL system resource efficiency and offers the FedAwo optimization algorithm. This approach combines adaptive learning with federated learning, and makes full use of the computing resources of the server to calculate the optimal weight value corresponding to each client. This approach aggregated the global model according to the optimal weight value, which significantly minimizes the detrimental effects of statistical and system heterogeneity. In the process of traditional FL, we found that a large number of client trainings converge earlier than the specified epoch. However, according to the provisions of traditional FL, the client still needs to be trained for the specified epoch, which leads to the meaningless of a large number of calculations in the client. To further lower the training cost, the augmentation FedAwo ∗ algorithm is proposed. The FedAwo ∗ algorithm takes into account the heterogeneity of clients and sets the criteria for local convergence. When the local model of the client reaches the criteria, it will be returned to the server immediately. In this way, the epoch of the client can dynamically be modified adaptively. A large number of experiments based on MNIST and Fashion-MNIST public datasets reveal that the global model converges faster and has higher accuracy in FedAwo and FedAwo ∗ algorithms than FedAvg, FedProx, and FedAdp baseline algorithms.

Itaconic acid, a Krebs cycle-derived immunometabolite, is synthesized by myeloid cells in response to danger signals to control inflammasome activation, type I interferon (IFN) responses, and oxidative stress. As these pathways are dysregulated in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we investigated the role of an itaconic acid derivative in the treatment of established murine lupus.Female (NZW × NZB)FProteinuria, kidney immune complex deposition, renal scores of severity and inflammation, and anti-RNP autoantibodies were significantly reduced in the 4-OI treatment group compared to the vehicle group. Splenomegaly decreased in the 4-OI group compared to vehicle, with decreases in activation markers in innate and adaptive immune cells, increases in CD8+ T cell numbers, and inhibition of JAK1 activation. Gene expression analysis in splenocytes showed significant decreases in type I IFN and proinflammatory cytokine genes and increased Treg cell-associated markers in the 4-OI group compared to the vehicle group. In human control and lupus myeloid cells, 4-OI in vitro treatment decreased proinflammatory responses and B cell responses.These results support targeting immunometabolism as a potentially viable approach in autoimmune disease treatment, with 4-OI displaying beneficial roles attenuating immune dysregulation and organ damage in lupus.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have significant potential to provide solutions for the friction reduction and the lubricity problem of mechanical moving friction pairs. However, the realization of excellent lubrication or even superlubricity and long lifetime under heavy loading conditions is still a great challenge, which is crucial for the applications of DLC in harsh environments. Here, we construct a group of property-strengthening Si-DLC/PLC multilayer films that could withstand ultrahigh contact stresses and achieve robust superlubricity. Under a peak Hertz contact stress of up to 2.37 GPa, the setup of a bilayer thickness of 324 nm enables the multilayered film (an overall film thickness of 1.53 μm) to achieve a superlow coefficient of friction toward 0.001 and an ultralow wear rate of 3.13 × 10

Maternal hypothyroidism is an important problem of modern healthcare and is reported to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases in the offspring later in life. However, it is unclear whether hypothyroidism during pregnancy causes vascular damage in the fetal period. We established the prenatal hypothyroidism rat model and collected the fetuses at the 21th day of gestation (GD21). Thyroid hormone concentrations in maternal and offspring blood serum were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The thoracic aortas of the fetuses were isolated for microvessel functional testing and histochemical stainings. qPCR and Western blot were performed to access mRNA and protein expression. We found that the concentrations of thyroid hormones in the serum of pregnant rats and fetuses were significantly suppressed at GD21. The responses of the fetal thoracic aortas to SNP were significantly attenuated in the PTU group. However, no statistical difference was found between the two groups when treated with either inhibitor (ODQ) or activator (BAY58-2667) of sGC. The production of O

The organization of the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) determines its electronic structure and so governs the charge transport process and device performance when adopted into a molecular device. We report a systematic study on the supramolecular structure and rectification performance of the ferrocene (11-ferrocenyl-1-undecanethiol, FUT) based SAM modulated by mixed SAM with inert 1-undecanethiol (C

Reading fluency – the speed and accuracy of reading connected text – is foundational to educational success. The current longitudinal study investigates the neural correlates of fluency development using a connected-text paradigm with an individualized presentation rate. Twenty-six children completed a functional MRI task in 1st/2nd grade (time 1) and again 1-2 years later (time 2). There was a longitudinal increase in activation in the ventral occipito-temporal (vOT) cortex from time 1 to time 2. This increase was also associated with improvements in reading fluency skills and modulated by individual speed demands. These findings highlight the reciprocal relationship of the vOT region with reading proficiency and its importance for supporting the developmental transition to fluent reading. These results have implications for developing effective interventions to target increased automaticity in reading.

Retrospective cohort study.To investigate the association between neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio (NPAR) and pneumonia in patients with SCI.Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University.SCI patients admitted to West China Hospital within 24 h of injury were consecutively enrolled. Blood samples were collected on admission. Pneumonia was diagnosed based on chest radiography and clinician records of patient symptoms and laboratory tests. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between NPAR and pneumonia. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to assess the predictive value of NPAR.A total of 264 SCI patients were included, of whom 65 (24.6%) developed pneumonia. NPAR was positively correlated with pneumonia (OR 2.66, 95% CI, 1.06-6.71, p = 0.038). Patients in the upper NPAR tertile (2.35-3.71) had a higher risk of pneumonia than patients in the lower tertile (1.66-2.12) after adjustment for potential confounders (OR 2.55, 95% CI, 1.05-6.19, p = 0.039). The risk of pneumonia increased stepwise across NPAR tertiles (p for trend = 0.031). The optimal cutoff value of NPAR for predicting pneumonia was 2.17 with a sensitivity of 0.82 and a specificity of 0.50. There was a significant interaction between NPAR and neurological level of injury (p for interaction = 0.034), with no significant association between NPAR and pneumonia in patients with cervical SCI.A higher NPAR was independently associated with higher risk of pneumonia in a dose-dependent manner in patients with non-cervical SCI.

Yuying Shan, Xi Yu, Yong Yang, Jiannan Sun, Shengdong Wu, Shuqi Mao, Caide Lu Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Ningbo Medical Centre Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315041, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Caide Lu; Shuqi Mao, Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Ningbo Medical Centre Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315041, People’s Republic of China, Email lucaide@nbu.edu.cn; mmmaoshuqi@163.comBackground: The macrotrabecular-massive subtype of hepatocellular carcinoma (MTM-HCC) is an aggressive histological type and results in poor prognosis. We developed a nomogram model based on laboratory results to predict the presence of MTM-HCC.Methods: A total of 357 HCC patients who underwent radical surgery between January 2015 and December 2020 at Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital were grouped according to histological type. After propensity score matching (PSM), 267 patients were divided into MTM-HCC (n = 76) and non-MTM-HCC (n = 191) groups. A LASSO regression analysis model was used to select predictive factors. Finally, a nomogram for predicting the presence of MTM-HCC was established. Decision curve analysis (DCA) was conducted to determine the clinical usefulness of the nomogram model by quantifying the net benefits along with the increase in threshold probabilities.Results: The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates for MTM-HCC were 60.0%, 36.0%, 32.4% and 92.1%, 68.7%, 52.2%, respectively. Survival analysis indicated that the probabilities of achieving DFS and OS were significantly worse in the MTM-HCC group than in the non-MTM-HCC group (P < 0.05). The nomogram model that included AST levels, PT and AFP levels achieved a better C-index of 0.723 (95% CI: 0.659– 0.787). DCA revealed that the nomogram model could lead to net benefits and exhibited a wider range of threshold probabilities in the prediction of MTM-HCC.Conclusion: The nomogram model included AST, PT and AFP could achieve an optimal performance in the preoperative prediction of MTM-HCC.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, macrotrabecular-massive subtype, prognosis, nomogram, aggressiveness

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the themes related to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 in relation to tourism, and specifically to explore how the emotional psyche affects tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. Design/methodology/approach Based on the value-belief-norm theory, a research framework was developed to examine the serial mediation effects of environmental emotions in predicting tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. A total of 741 responses was collected from an online survey. Data were analyzed by the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings Environmental concern does not directly predict tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. Instead, environmental awe and environmental worry serially mediate the relationship between environmental concern and tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. Originality/value This study extends the value-belief-norm theory by integrating environmental emotions and empirically tests the effect of multiple psyches on responsible consumption, contributing to the achievement of SDG 12 in UN Agenda 2030.

Given that the exchange rate of Hong Kong Dollar (HK Dollar) has repeatedly touched the exchange guarantee of the weak and the strong side during recent years beginning from 2008, some scholars began to hold suspicion to its stability. After studying the economic fundamentals, among them the nominal GDP growth rates and inflation rates, the author found that there are endogenous contradictions in economic basis between Hong Kong (HK) and the United States (US), making the linked exchange rate system expose its underbelly. This paper aims to explore the possibility that HK Dollar turns to peg to renminbi (RMB) by studying economic interactions between mainland China and Hong Kong. With the purpose of providing a clear vision in studying how the economic interactions have impacts on their capital flux, and how the mass of capital floods therefore affects the possibility of the peg of the two currencies, this study attempts to divide economic exchanges into direct and indirect factors, the former including goods trade, tourism services and direct investment and the latter mainly including entrepot trade. Based on the detailed data analysis, this research arrives at the conclusion that HK Dollar should peg to RMB also by conceiving the internationalism of RMB as the booster.

As one of the most common cause of cancer death in the world, lung cancer causes approximately 1.6 million deaths annually. Among them, NSCLC accounts for approximately 85% of patients in whole lung cancer patients. Ginsenoside Rg1 has been confirmed to play an important role in various diseases including cancer. As one of miRNAs, miR-126 closely involves in pathogenesis of the several types of cancers including colorectal, prostate, bladder and gastric cancer, and so on. Thus, the present study aims to investigate effects of the Ginsenoside Rg1 on NSCLC and underlying mechanism. In the study, two lung cancer cell lines including A549 and H1650 were used. It was found that expression of miR-126 was decreased in PBMC of NSCLC patients compared to healthy control. Expression of miR-126 was decreased in cancer tissue compared to paracancerous tissues in NSCLC patients. Importantly, it was found Ginsenoside Rg1 could inhibit growth of lung cancer cells. miR-126 KD remarkably increased the expression of apoptosis genes including caspase 3 and caspase 9 and decreased cell viability in lung cancer cells including A549 and H1650 cells. Interesting, in silico analysis indicated that miR-126 could target PI3K signaling pathway, which was confirmed by WB assay. KD of PI3KR2 compromised promotion of miR-126 on cell apoptosis. Similarly, it was found that KD of mTOR compromised promotion of miR-126 on cell apoptosis. Inhibition of Ginsenoside Rg1 on growth of lung cancer cells was through miR-126 and mTOR. Thus, the present study confirmed that Ginsenoside Rg1 remarkably inhibit lung cancer, which is through microRNA-126-PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway.

IntroductionThe association between long working hours and cumulative fatigue is widely acknowledged in the literature. However, there are few studies on the mediating effect of working hours on cumulative fatigue using occupational stress as a mediating variable. The present study aimed at investigating the mediating role of occupational stress in the relationship between working hours and cumulative fatigue in a sample of 1,327 primary health care professionals.MethodsThe Core Occupational Stress Scale and the Workers’ Fatigue Accumulation Self-Diagnosis Scale were utilized in this study. The mediating effect of occupational stress was examined using hierarchical regression analysis and the Bootstrap test.ResultsWorking hours were positively associated with cumulative fatigue via occupational stress (p p DiscussionWorking hours can be associated with cumulative fatigue either directly or indirectly via occupational stress. As a result, by reducing occupational stress, primary health care professionals may reduce the cumulative fatigue symptoms caused by long hours of work.

Background Efforts to precisely assess tumor-specific T-cell immune responses still face major challenges, and the potential molecular mechanisms mediating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) microenvironment imbalance after incomplete radiofrequency ablation (iRFA) are unclear. This study aimed to provide further insight into the integrated transcriptomic and proteogenomic landscape and identify a new target involved in HCC progression following iRFA. Methods Peripheral blood and matched tissue samples were collected from 10 RFA-treated HCC patients. Multiplex immunostaining and flow cytometry were used to assess local and systemic immune responses. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were explored via transcriptomic and proteogenomic analyses. Proteinase-3 (PRTN3) was identified in these analyses. And then, the ability of PRTN3 to predict overall survival (OS) was assessed in 70 HCC patients with early recurrence after RFA. In vitro CCK-8, wound healing and transwell assays were conducted to observe interactions between Kupffer cells (KCs) and HCC cells induced by PRTN3. The protein levels of multiple oncogenic factors and signaling pathway components were detected by western blotting. A xenograft mouse model was built to observe the tumorigenic effect of PRTN3 overexpression on HCC. Results Multiplex immunostaining revealed no immediate significant change in local immune cell counts in periablational tumor tissues after 30 min of iRFA. Flow cytometry showed significantly increased levels of CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD8+ T cells, and CD4+CD25+CD127− Tregs and significantly decreased the levels of CD16+CD56+ natural killer cells on day 5 after cRFA (p Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive overview of the immune response and transcriptomic and proteogenomic landscapes of the HCC milieu induced by iRFA, revealing that PRTN3 promotes HCC progression after iRFA. Trial registration ChiCTR2200055606, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=32588.

In the past few decades, advances in the outcomes of patients suffering from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have lagged behind these gained in the treatment of many other malignancies. Although the pivotal role of the SUMO pathway in PDAC has been illustrated, the underlying molecule drivers have yet to be fully elucidated. In the present study, we identified SENP3 as a potential suppressor of PDAC progression through an in vivo metastatic model. Further studies revealed that SENP3 inhibited PDAC invasion in a SUMO system dependent fashion. Mechanistically, SENP3 interacted with DKC1 and, as such, catalyzed the deSUMOylation of DKC1, which accepted SUMO3 modifiers at three lysine residues. SENP3-mediated deSUMOylation caused DKC1 instability and disruption of the interaction between snoRNP proteins, which contributed to the impaired migration ability of PDAC. Indeed, overexpression of DKC1 abated the anti-metastasis effect of SENP3, and DKC1 was elevated in PDAC specimens and associated with a poor prognosis in PDAC patients. Collectively, our findings shed light on the essential role of SENP3/DKC1 axis in the progression of PDAC.

A rapid and efficient method using an alkyl functionalized magnetic nanoparticles-based extraction technique combined with Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography was developed for the detection of trace amounts of polycystic aromatic hydrocarbons in tea leaves. As a popular coating for chromatographic column packing materials, C18-alkyl has been demonstrated to be effective in separating polycystic aromatic hydrocarbons. And the magnetism of the nanomaterials accelerates the extraction process while their high surface ratio enables desirable dispersity in the sample matrix. Meanwhile, the adsorbents can be washed and reused 30 times without compromise on recovery, which greatly reduced the budget. The effects of various parameters were investigated and optimized, and the recoveries for five analytes were in the range of 84.8–103.7%. The reproducibility rate of intra-day and inter-day were below 7.1% and 11.3% respectively. The limits of detection and limits of quantification ranged from 1.69–9.97 ng g-1 and 5.12–30.21 ng g-1, indicating satisfactory sensitivity. Thus, the proposed methodology is rapid, highly efficient, and economical, and it expands the application of magnetic cleanup approaches in complex food matrices.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Connexin 43 (Cx43) acts as a gap junction protein and is involved in many aspects of different cellular processes including intercellular communication. The levels of cellular Cx43 change markedly in response to various pathobiological stresses, but the exact mechanism underlying Cx43 expression in the intestinal epithelium remains largely unknown. The RNA-binding protein HuR regulates the stability and translation of target mRNAs and is identified as a biological regulator of the intestinal epithelium homeostasis. In this study, we tested if HuR regulates Cx43 expression at the posttranscription level and further examined the influence of HuR/Cx43 interaction on the intestinal epithelial barrier function. METHODS: Studies were conducted in differentiated IEC-Cdx2L1 and Caco-2 cells. HuR binding to the Cx43 mRNA was determined by mRNP/IP assays, and the stability of Cx43 mRNA was examined by its half-life with qPCR analysis. Functions of HuR and its regulator Chk2 kinase were examined by their gene silencing or overexpression. Epithelial barrier function was assayed by transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and membrane-impermeable trace FITC-dextran. RESULTS: HuR directly bound to the Cx43 mRNA through its 3’-untranslated region (UTR) rather than 5’-UTR and coding region. HuR silencing decreased Cx43 levels by destabilizing Cx43 mRNA and caused the epithelial barrier dysfunction, as evidenced by a decrease in TEER and an increase in paracellular flux of FITC-dextran. In contrast, Cx43 overexpression rescued the epithelial barrier function in HuR-silenced cells. HuR mediated-Cx43 expression was regulated by ChK2 dependent HuR phosphorylation since decreasing the levels of phosphorylated HuR by silencing ChK2 lowered Cx43 levels and disrupted the barrier function. Reduction in phosphorylated HuR levels by polyamine depletion also inhibited HuR binding to the Cx43 mRNA and decreased Cx43 protein by destabilizing the Cx43 mRNA, which was associated with the epithelial barrier dysfunction. Ectopic overexpression of ChK2 in polyamine-deficient cells not only rescued Cx43 expression but also restored the barrier function. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the Cx43 mRNA is a novel target of HuR and that HuR-induced expression of Cx43 via stabilization of its mRNA plays a critical role in the maintenance of intestinal epithelial barrier function. US Department of Veterans Affairs and NIH This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Yield is one of the most important agronomic traits in alfalfa breeding; however, this is a complex trait affected by genetic and environmental factors. In this study, we used multi-environment trials to test yield-related traits in a diverse panel composed of 200 alfalfa accessions and varieties. Phenotypic data of maturity (MSC), dry matter, plant height (PH), yield (Yi), and fall dormancy (FD) were collected in three locations: Idaho, Oregon, and Washington from 2018 to 2020. Single-trial and stagewise analyses within each environment were used to obtain estimated means by genotype by trait by environment. Genome-wide association studies identified a total of 84 non-redundant markers associated with the traits analyzed. Of those, 55 markers were located at 44 different loci. Ten significant SNPs at the same locus were associated with FD and they were linked to a gene annotated as a nuclear fusion defective 4-like (NFD4) protein. SNPs linked to transcription factors such as Cysteine3Histidine (C3H), Hap3/NF-YB family, and serine/threonine-protein phosphatase 7 proteins were associated with MSC, PH, and Yi, respectively. Our results provide insight into the genetic factors that influence alfalfa maturity, yield, and dormancy, which is helpful to speed up the genetic gain of alfalfa yield improvement.

Mosquito-borne diseases present a significant threat to human health, with the possibility of outbreaks of new mosquito-borne diseases always looming. Unfortunately, current measures to combat these diseases such as vaccines and drugs are often either unavailable or ineffective. However, recent studies on microbiomes may reveal promising strategies to fight these diseases. In this review, we examine recent advances in our understanding of the effects of both the mosquito and vertebrate microbiomes on mosquito-borne diseases. We argue that the mosquito microbiome can have direct and indirect impacts on the transmission of these diseases, with mosquito symbiotic microorganisms, particularly Wolbachia bacteria, showing potential for controlling mosquito-borne diseases. Moreover, the skin microbiome of vertebrates plays a significant role in mosquito preferences, while the gut microbiome has an impact on the progression of mosquito-borne diseases in humans. As researchers continue to explore the role of microbiomes in mosquito-borne diseases, we highlight some promising future directions for this field. Ultimately, a better understanding of the interplay between mosquitoes, their hosts, pathogens, and the microbiomes of mosquitoes and hosts may hold the key to preventing and controlling mosquito-borne diseases.

High-color saturation cotton fabrics dyed with reactive dyes often discharge hydrolyzed dyes during the washing process, resulting in dye transfer and water pollution because of the properties prone to hydrolysis of reactive dyes. To explore the sources of hydrolyzed dyes in the washing microenvironment, the hydrolysis experiment of pure reactive red 195 (RR195) and the washing experiment using some highly saturated colored fabrics (CFSCs) dyed with RR195 in a designed miniature washing device were carried out successively. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was used for the analysis of hydrolysis intermediates and final products of reactive red 195. The experimental results indicated that the structure of the dye shed on the fabric is consistent with the final hydrolysate of reactive red 195, which is the main colored contaminant in washing wastewater. To eliminate the hydrolyzed dyes from the source, an electrochemical degradation device was originally designed to degrade hydrolyzed dyes. The degradation parameters, including voltage, electrolyte concentration, and dye shedding concentration are discussed in the electrochemical degradation experiment. The electrochemical degradation device was also successfully implemented and verified in a home washing machine. The results showed that there were three hydrolysis intermediates and one final hydrolysate product in the hydrolysis process of RR195, and the washing and shedding of colored pollutants were the products of simultaneous hydrolysis of double reaction groups. The designed electrochemical degradation device can effectively eliminate the hydrolyzed reactive dyes and reduce the contaminants’ discharge during household washing.