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Optic fiber measurement technology has been widely used to obtain multiparameters in severe environments, such as high-temperature and high-pressure steam pipelines. This study develops a novel optic fiber sensor with dual Fabry-Perot (FP) cavities to improve the efficiency of simultaneously measuring temperature and pressure. The sensor incorporates fiber metallization and laser welding to enhance the package capability. The dual FP fiber in the sensor is fused from single-mode fiber (SMF) and hollow core fiber (HCF). The end of SMF connects the head of HCF and forms the dual FP cavities, which exhibit distinct temperature and pressure responses through a temperature self-decoupling process and realizing simultaneous temperature and pressure measurements. Furthermore, the sensor package methods are experimentally investigated: laser welding provides excellent stability at high temperatures compared with glue adhesive and soldering fixation. Finally, the sensor measurement experiments show the temperature sensitivities of the two FP cavities were 22.28 pm/°C and 59.56 pm/°C in the range of $20~^{\circ }$ C $\sim 400~^{\circ }$ C, respectively. The pressure sensitivities were −273.12 and −3730.26 pm/MPa in the range of $0\sim 10$ MPa, respectively. The maximum error of the dynamic experiments for the designed sensors was 6.86%, and the trend was the same as that of the commercial sensors. These results are of great significance in providing feasibility and accuracy sensors for equipment simultaneous multiparameter measurements.

• A free-standing cross-linking LA-PAM-PEO polymer solid electrolyte with high mechanical strength was prepared via a simple electrospinning method. • The 3D cross-linking structure of LA, PAM and PEO effectively disturbed the order of PEO chains and thus reduced the crystallinity of PEO, which is beneficial for the improvement of ionic conductivity. • The LA-PAM-PEO solid electrolyte enable to simultaneously enhance the adsorption of Li+ and TFSI−for promoting the uniform deposition of lithium and inhibiting the growth of lithium dendrites. • The LiF and more content of Li 3 N in the SEI layer formed with LA-PAM-PEO as an electrolyte has more electrochemical stability, which contributes to the long cycling stability of solid-state battery. Solid state lithium-ion batteries (SLIBs) have been considered as one of the most promising sustainable next-generation technologies for energy storage. However, the poor interfacial compatibility and low ion conductivity of solid electrolytes still remain a major challenge for SLIBs. Herein, a free-standing flexible solid polymer LA-PAM-PEO electrolyte is constructed through the electrospinning technology featuring with high Li+ conductivity (6.1 × 10−4 S cm−1), strong mechanical strength and high Li+ migration number (0.32), which breaks the restriction between ionic conductivity and mechanical strength in polymer solid electrolyte. The cross-linking between LA, PAM and PEO is verified to decrease the crystalline of PEO, thus increasing the Li+ conductivity. Moreover, benefiting from the 3D network composed of interconnected nanofibers and the covalent bonds between LA, PAM and PEO, the mechanical strength of LA-PAM-PEO SPE was also effectively improved. The LA-PAM-PEO SPE also delivers a high electrochemical window (4.95 V), and low interface resistance (243.8 Ω). As a result, the Li/Li symmetrical cell with the LA-PAM-PEO displayed outstanding stability after 1000 h with the uniform Li deposition on the interface of Li electrode, in sharp contrast to the PEO SPE. In addition, the Li/LA-PAM-PEO SPE/LFP displays a discharge capacity of 135 mA h g−1 after 1000 cycles at the rate of 1 C, with a capacity retention of 93.5%. The proposed LA-PAM-PEO SPE thus opens new possibilities for the fabrication and engineering of solid-state Li-ion batteries. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small molecules from the family of γ-lactones have a wide variety of biological activities, including antibiotics and biofilm inhibitors against bacterial pathogens. In the present study, a group of six β-arylamino-γ-lactones known as tetronamides were synthesized from reduced mucobromic acid and different anilines (38–77%). The compounds were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectrometry (MS). The six tetronamides were evaluated for antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against the plant bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas citrissp. citri(Xcc), which causes citrus canker, one of the most devastating citrus diseases worldwide. Four compounds (3b, 3d, 3e, and 3f) showed a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Xcc of 500 μg/mL, while the other two (3aand 3c) had a MIC against Xcc of 1000 μg/mL. The bacterial biofilm inhibition activity was evaluated by testing the concentrations between 0 and 125 μg/mL. The results showed that all the six compounds inhibited the biofilm formation at concentrations lower than MIC. The best performances in biofilm inhibition were recorded for the compounds with the presence of a halogen on the aromatic ring (3b, 3e, and 3f), displaying a median biofilm inhibition concentration (IC50) of 15.4 μg/mL. This study suggested that tetronamides have potential as Xcc biofilm inhibitor to control citrus canker alone or together with other antimicrobials.

Flowering plants have evolved numerous intraspecific and interspecific prezygotic reproductive barriers to prevent production of unfavourable offspring1. Within a species, self-incompatibility (SI) is a widely utilized mechanism that rejects self-pollen2,3to avoid inbreeding depression. Interspecific barriers restrain breeding between species and often follow the SI × self-compatible (SC) rule, that is, interspecific pollen is unilaterally incompatible (UI) on SI pistils but unilaterally compatible (UC) on SC pistils1,4–6. The molecular mechanisms underlying SI, UI, SC and UC and their interconnections in the Brassicaceae remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that the SI pollen determinant S-locus cysteine-rich protein/S-locus protein 11 (SCR/SP11)2,3or a signal from UI pollen binds to the SI female determinant S-locus receptor kinase (SRK)2,3, recruits FERONIA (FER)7–9and activates FER-mediated reactive oxygen species production in SI stigmas10,11to reject incompatible pollen. For compatible responses, diverged pollen coat protein B-class12–14from SC and UC pollen differentially trigger nitric oxide, nitrosate FER to suppress reactive oxygen species in SC stigmas to facilitate pollen growth in an intraspecies-preferential manner, maintaining species integrity. Our results show that SRK and FER integrate mechanisms underlying intraspecific and interspecific barriers and offer paths to achieve distant breeding in Brassicaceae crops.

Current temperature measurement technology in laser manufacturing cannot obtain the internal three-dimensional (3D) temperature distribution of the melt pool. Necessary information for laser-manufacturing process optimization is lacking, including the melt pool depth and depth-to-width ratio. We propose a method for 3D temperature measurement based on orthogonal dual-channel single-camera spectral imaging. The 3D temperature field distribution of the melt pool can be obtained by collecting projected radiation data from two perpendicular angles. Use of a single monochrome camera for spectral imaging at three wavelengths ensures excellent spatial and temporal consistency during measurements. To verify the feasibility of the method, we measured the 3D temperature field in a melt pool of 304 stainless steel irradiated by a Gaussian laser beam (continuous laser, 500 W) with different irradiation times. The results indicate that the temperature field exhibits an approximately axisymmetric distribution on each cross-section at different depths. The temperature is highest in the center and gradually decreases around it. As the depth increases, the high-temperature area (>1730 K) gradually becomes smaller, and the temperature of each cross-section decreases. The maximum temperature, depth, width, and depth-to-width ratio of the melt pool at different times were obtained from the measured 3D temperature distributions. With an irradiation time of 0–80 s, the maximum temperature of the melt pool exhibited three stages: rapid increase (20–2230 K), slow increase (2230–2280 K), and stabilization. The growth of the width and depth of the melt pool indicated a similar process, increasing rapidly at first and gradually slowing. The depth-to-width ratio decreased rapidly at first and gradually stabilized. The proposed method for 3D temperature measurement has potential use in laser manufacturing for process control and quality improvement.

Aerial object tracking has recently shown great potential in the field of remote sensing. However, small objects with limited feature information pose a huge challenge to aerial trackers. Despite significant improvements, most trackers still struggle to capture enough discriminative features and overcome background disturbances. In this work, we propose an efficient aerial tracker (SmallTrack) based on the Siamese network to improve the discrimination of small objects. It consists of two effective modules, namely the wavelet pooling layer (WPL) and graph enhanced module (GEM). First, WPL decomposes the input into four subbands via wavelet domain learning and fully utilizes the high- and low-frequency information in the subbands to preserve the discriminative features of small objects. Second, GEM embeds the pixels on the classification responses as nodes in graph learning through graph neural networks (GNNs), which naturally mines the similarity between pixels. Based on the pixel-level modulation constructed from graph theory, GEM enhances the understanding of small objects and highlights them in the classification responses. The proposed tracker achieves leading performance on five aerial benchmarks, while maintaining a high running speed of 72.5 frames/s. Besides, real-world tests on an aerial platform have proven the effectiveness of SmallTrack. The code and models are available at https://github.com/xyl-507/SmallTrack.

Diseases such as liver cancer, extrahepatic biliary obstruction and osteocarcinoma are closely associated with the abnormal level of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Hence, it is essential to develop a convenient assay to detect ALP activity. Herein, a novel signal-on fluorescent biosensor on account of the fluorescence signal of the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorochrome 2,2′,2′′,2′′′-((ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrayltetrakis(benzene-4,1-diyl))tetrakis(oxy))tetraacetic acid (EBTAC) encapsulated zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8@EBTAC) was designed to monitor ALP. Due to the aggregation-induced emission of EBTAC, the synthetic ZIF-8@EBTAC shows robust fluorescence. Once pyrophosphate (ppi) was added, its complexation with Zn2+in ZIF-8 triggered the collapse of the ZIF-8 framework, releasing encapsulated EBTAC molecules and restoring to free state, leading to the dramatical decrease in fluorescence. ALP could catalyze the hydrolysis of ppi to phosphate (pi), which is difficult to bind to Zn2+and has little effect on the fluorescence of ZIF-8@EBTAC. Therefore, with the assistance of the substrate ppi, the ultimate fluorescence of ZIF-8@EBTAC was positively related with ALP activity. The constructed biosensor was able to monitor the ALP activity well from 0.01 to 100 U L−1, and a detection limit of 0.01 U L−1was achieved. Based on the ability of EBTAC serving as a fluorescent probe with aggregation-induced luminescence properties, this proposed design can be applied to diverse targets and provide new ideas for the establishment of fluorescent biosensors.

Transgene-free plant genome editing in the T0 generation is highly desirable but challenging1,2. Here we achieved such a goal using a co-editing strategy via Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression of cytosine base editor to edit ALSencoding acetolactate synthase to confer herbicide chlorsulfuron resistance as a selection marker, Cas12a/CRISPR RNA for editing gene(s) of interest, and green fluorescent protein for selecting transgene-free transformants. The biallelic/homozygous transgene-free mutation rates for target genes among herbicide-resistant transformants ranged from 1.9% to 42.1% in tomato, tobacco, potato and citrus. This co-editing strategy is particularly useful for transgene-free genome editing of vegetatively propagated and perennial plant species in the T0 generation.

Exploring the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of the border land use multifunctionality (LUMF) provides insights for taking advantage of border land use and optimizing border land use policies. Based on the improved Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) mode, this study identifies and evaluates the LUMFs in the China-Vietnam border area between 2000 and 2018 from the perspectives of agricultural production, social security, ecological service, landscape recreation, and national security. The results show that: 1) The comprehensive land use functions in most counties and cities continued to be improved. 2) The comprehensive land use function exhibits remarkable spatial divergence and aggregation characteristics. The high-value area of the agricultural production function and social security function evolves from the east to the west. In addition, the spatial evolution of ecological service function is complicated, without an obvious spatial divergence and aggregation pattern. The landscape recreation function shows different spatial differentiation characteristics in the early and middle stage, and forms a large cluster in the later stage. Finally, the spatial evolution pattern of the national security function is significant. 3) Designing differentiated border land policies, improving border land use security, and establishing a long-term mechanism for ecological protection and ecological compensation can aid in optimizing the LUMF level in the border area.

ABSTRACTLittle is known about the role of hsa_circ_0103232 in melanoma. This study researched the role of hsa_circ_0103232 in melanoma progression. Hsa_circ_0103232 expression in clinical tissues of melanoma patients and melanoma cells was detected by qRT-PCR. Hsa_circ_0103232 localization in melanoma cells was visualized by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Hsa_circ_0103232 effect on melanoma cells viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion was explored by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, Edu experiment, wound healing assay, and Transwell experiment. RNA pull-down assay and dual-luciferase reporter gene assay were performed to verify the binding of hsa_circ_0103232 with miR-661, and the binding of miR-661 and RAB3D. Xenograft tumor models were constructed. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used for protein expression detection. Hsa_circ_0103232 expression was increased in melanoma patients, indicating lower overall survival. Hsa_circ_0103232 was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of melanoma cells. Silencing hsa_circ_0103232 suppressed melanoma cell viability, proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) (P< 0.01). Hsa_circ_0103232 functioned as a sponge of miR-661 to increase RAB3D expression. miR-661 overexpression partially reversed hsa_circ_0103232 promoting effect on melanoma cells viability, proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT (P< 0.01). In melanoma patients, hsa_circ_0103232 expression was negatively correlated with miR-661 and positively correlated with RAB3D. Silencing hsa_circ_0103232 suppressed melanoma cell growth in vivo and Ki67 and RAB3D expression in xenograft tumors (P< 0.01). Hsa_circ_0103232 is a tumor promoter in melanoma to enhance malignant phenotype and growth in vivo via sponging miR-661/RAB3D. Hsa_circ_0103232 may be a novel target for melanoma treatment.

A subset D⊆V(G)is said to be a positive influence dominating set of a graph Gif every vertex v∈V(G)has at least half of its neighbors in D. The positive influence domination number of G, denoted by γPI(G), is the cardinality of the smallest positive influence dominating set of G. To find a smallest positive influence dominating set of Gis called the positive influence domination problem. In this paper, we first establish some sharp lower bounds on γPI(G). Next, we investigate the complexity of the positive influence domination problem and show that the decision version of it is NP-complete even when restricted to bipartite graphs and split graphs. Moreover, we prove that the positive influence domination problem on graphs with maximum degree 3 remains APX-complete.

Lactylation was initially discovered on human histones. Given its nascence, its occurrence on nonhistone proteins and downstream functional consequences remain elusive. Here we report a cyclic immonium ion of lactyllysine formed during tandem mass spectrometry that enables confident protein lactylation assignment. We validated the sensitivity and specificity of this ion for lactylation through affinity-enriched lactylproteome analysis and large-scale informatic assessment of nonlactylated spectral libraries. With this diagnostic ion-based strategy, we confidently determined new lactylation, unveiling a wide landscape beyond histones from not only the enriched lactylproteome but also existing unenriched human proteome resources. Specifically, by mining the public human Meltome Atlas, we found that lactylation is common on glycolytic enzymes and conserved on ALDOA. We also discovered prevalent lactylation on DHRS7 in the draft of the human tissue proteome. We partially demonstrated the functional importance of lactylation: site-specific engineering of lactylation into ALDOA caused enzyme inhibition, suggesting a lactylation-dependent feedback loop in glycolysis.

We report on the discovery of two high-pressure minerals, tuite and ahrensite, located in two small shock-induced melt pockets (SIMP 1 and 2) in the Zagami martian meteorite, coexisting with granular and acicular stishovite and seifertite. Tuite identified in this study has two formation pathways: decomposition of apatite and transformation of merrillite under high-P-Tconditions. Chlorine-bearing products, presumably derived from the decomposition of apatite, are concentrated along the grain boundaries of tuite grains. Nanocrystalline ahrensite in the pyroxene clast in SIMP 2 is likely to be a decomposition product of pigeonite under high-P-Tconditions by a solid-state transformation mechanism. The pressure and temperature conditions estimated from the high-pressure minerals in the shock-induced melt pockets are ~12–22 GPa and ~1100–1500 °C, respectively, although previous estimates of peak shock pressure are higher. This discrepancy probably represents the shift of kinetic relative to thermodynamic phase boundaries, in particular the comparatively small region that we examine here, rather than a principal disagreement between the peak shock conditions.

Objective To investigate the influences of the diffusion gradient directions (angular resolution) and the strength of the diffusion gradient (bvalue) on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics and tractography of various connective tissues in knee joint.Design Two rat knee joints were scanned on a preclinical 9.4-T system using a 3-dimensional diffusion-weighted spin echo pulse sequence. One protocol with bvalue of 500, 1500, and 2500 s/mm2were acquired separately using 43 diffusion gradient directions. The other protocol with bvalue of 1000 s/mm2was performed using 147 diffusion gradient directions. The in-plane resolution was 45 µm isotropic. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were compared at different angular resolution. Tractography was quantitatively evaluated at different bvalues and angular resolutions in cartilage, ligament, meniscus, and growth plate.Results The ligament showed higher FA value compared with growth plate and cartilage. The FA values were largely overestimated at the angular resolution of 6. Compared with FA, MD showed less sensitivity to the angular resolution. The fiber tracking was failed at low angular resolution (6 diffusion gradient directions) or high bvalue (2500 s/mm2). The quantitative measurements of tract length and track volume were strongly dependent on angular resolution and bvalue.Conclusions To obtain consistent DTI outputs and tractography in knee joint, the scan may require a proper bvalue (ranging from 500 to 1500 s/mm2) and sufficient angular resolution (>14) with signal-to-noise ratio >10.

The fluid-structure interaction (FSI) in case of fish swimming in the vortex street is investigated by numerical simulations. The vortex street is generated by a D-section cylinder. A 2-D fish model is placed on the downstream centerline of the bluff cylinder at a distance of 4 diameters away from the center of the cylinder. To simulate the fish body undulation and movement, the moving mesh is generated by a coupling approach based on the radial basis function and the overset grid technology. The Navier-Stokes equation in the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian form is solved by coupling with the kinematics equation. Three cases are investigated: in a stationary position without deformation, a passive locomotion without deformation, and an active deformation based on the Kármán gait model. The results indicate that the fish body is acted by an alternating force and moment when it is located in the centerline of the vortex street. Furthermore, the fish could extract sufficient kinetic energy to overcome the drag under suitable conditions even when it keeps rigid and out of the suction zone. When the fish body undulates based on the Kármán gait model, the interaction is evidently shown between the fish body and the vortices. The theoretical analysis demonstrates that the lateral force and the moment acting on the fish body vary in a cosine formula, with the lateral translation and the body rotation as a result. This study focuses on the behavior of the fish body in the bluff cylinder wake and reproduces some phenomena observed in the experiments. Besides, the Kármán gait model is also theoretically analyzed, for the further exploration of the FSI mechanism in case of fish swimming.

Despite recent remarkable progress, person re-identification (ReID) still suffers from a shortage of annotated training data. To deal with this problem, there has been a boost of interest in developing various data augmentation methods. In this paper, we are devoted to developing an end-to-end joint representation learning framework for the ReID task on the basis of a novel data augmentation strategy. Specifically, we regard the original training dataset as a source domain and generate the counterpart augmented domains through image channel shuffling. Accordingly, we design a symmetric classification network for ReID learning. By investigating the domain-level and identity-level relationship between domains, we use the idea of negative transfer and structural consistency to optimize the network for learning discriminative feature embeddings. Comprehensive experiments on some benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our proposed approach. Source code is released at: https://github.com/flychen321/negative_transfer_reid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shenyankangfu Tablet (SYKFT) is a Chinese patent medicine that has been used widely to decrease proteinuria and the progression of chronic kidney disease.

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been utilized to probe the renal microstructures but investigating the three-dimensional (3D) tubular network still presents significant challenges due to the complicated architecture of kidney. This study aims to assess whether high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) could improve the reconstruction of 3D tubular architectures. Kidneys from both mice and rats were imaged using 3D diffusion-weighted pulse sequences at 9.4 T. Five healthy mouse kidneys were scanned at an isotropic spatial resolution of 40 μm, with a bvalue of 1500 s/mm2across 46 diffusion encoding directions. The study employed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and generalized Q-sampling imaging (GQI) to examine the tubular orientation distributions and tractography, validated by conventional histology. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were quantified and compared among the inner medullar (IM), outer medullar (OM), and cortex (CO) at different angular resolutions. FA values, estimated with 6 diffusion-weighted images (DWIs), were significantly overestimated by 49.9% (p < 0.001) in IM, 179.4% (p < 0.001) in OM, and 225.5% (p < 0.001) in CO, compared to using 46 DWIs. In contrast, MD exhibited less variations to angular resolution variations (3.4% in IM, 4.2% in OM, and 4.6% in CO). Both DTI and GQI at high angular resolution successfully traced renal tubular structures throughout the kidney, with GQI demonstrating superior performance in generating more continuous tracts. Furthermore, disrupted renal tubule structures were observed in a chronic kidney disease (CKD) rat model. HARDI, especially when combined with the GQI approach, holds promise in tracking complicated 3D tubule architectures and may serve as a potent tool for kidney disease research.

HLB, caused by the vascular pathogen CLas, is the most devastating and widespread citrus disease. Quantitative vascular proteomics was performed in sweet orange upon CLas infection, revealing dynamic accumulation of proteases and peroxidases. Subsequent activity profiling highlighted the importance of these enzymes in two citrus varieties grown under greenhouse and field conditions.

Huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the most catastrophic citrus diseases. HLB pathogens CandidatusLiberibacter asiaticus (Las), Ca. L. africanus (Laf), and Ca. L. americanus (Lam) and their insect vectors Asian citrus psyllids (ACP, Diaphorina citri) and African citrus psyllids (AfCP, Trioza erytreae) are invading citrus producing regions where HLB was absent previously, including the Mediterranean basin. Importantly, the Mediterranean region is one of the two major citrus producing areas without HLB. Here, I provide a short perspective regarding a) information related to the distribution of the HLB pathogens and psyllid vectors in this region and neighboring countries, b) predicted distribution of the HLB for this region, c) the possible evolution of Liberibacters and how they could have established their relationship with different hosts, and d) approaches to fend off HLB. Specifically, I emphasized the following measurements: quarantine measures against AfCP, ACP, Las, Laf, and Lam, early detection and diagnosis of HLB and removal of inoculum, surveillance of AfCP and ACP and eradication of citrus psyllids once identified.

The aboveground parts of terrestrial plants, collectively called the phyllosphere, have a key role in the global balance of atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen. The phyllosphere represents one of the most abundant habitats for microbiota colonization. Whether and how plants control phyllosphere microbiota to ensure plant health is not well understood. Here we show that the Arabidopsisquadruple mutant (min7 fls2 efr cerk1; hereafter, mfec)1, simultaneously defective in pattern-triggered immunity and the MIN7 vesicle-trafficking pathway, or a constitutively activated cell death1(cad1) mutant, carrying a S205F mutation in a membrane-attack-complex/perforin (MACPF)-domain protein, harbour altered endophytic phyllosphere microbiota and display leaf-tissue damage associated with dysbiosis. The Shannon diversity index and the relative abundance of Firmicutes were markedly reduced, whereas Proteobacteria were enriched in the mfecand cad1S205Fmutants, bearing cross-kingdom resemblance to some aspects of the dysbiosis that occurs in human inflammatory bowel disease. Bacterial community transplantation experiments demonstrated a causal role of a properly assembled leaf bacterial community in phyllosphere health. Pattern-triggered immune signalling, MIN7 and CAD1 are found in major land plant lineages and are probably key components of a genetic network through which terrestrial plants control the level and nurture the diversity of endophytic phyllosphere microbiota for survival and health in a microorganism-rich environment.

Background: Electroacupuncture (EA) can promote nerve and vascular regeneration, confer neuroprotection, inhibit apoptosis and inflammatory reactions, reduce oxidative stress injury, regulate neurochemicals and inhibit the formation of brain oedema in cerebral ischemic. However, the precise site of EA stimulation in the treatment of cerebral ischemic is unclear. Objective: In the present study, we investigated the effect of EA at the acupoints of different meridians in motor function recovery and the involvement of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), phosphorylated Protein Kinase B (P-Akt), phosphorylated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (p-eNOS) and Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1(CD31) were examined in the peri-infarction cortex of rats. Methods: The Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model or sham surgery was performed in a total of Ninety male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were randomly divided into five groups: a sham group, a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) group, a Yang meridian group, a Yin meridian group and a combined Yang and Yin meridian group. EA stimulus was given during the middle cerebral artery occlusion. The neurobehavioural function was measured using Modified Neurological Severity Scores (mNSS), the rotarod test and the ladder rung walking test, and the protein expression of VEGF, P-Akt, p-eNOS in the peri-infarction cortex was detected by Western blot. Immunofluorescence was used to measure the vascular density of the peri-infarction cortex. Results: EA at different meridian acupoints has no effect on the infarction volume, while EA at Yin meridian acupoints significantly promoted neurobehavioural functional recovery, increased the vascular density and enhanced protein kinase B/Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (Akt/eNOS) phosphorylation and VEGF expression. Conclusion: In the early stage of stroke, EA at Yin meridian acupoints can improve neurobehavioural functional recovery and the mechanism of this effect may be related to the enhanced expression of VEGF, P-Akt and p-eNOS in the peri-infarction cortex of rats.

The knowledge of ligand–protein interactions is essential for understanding fundamental biological processes and for the rational design of drugs that target such processes. Carbene footprinting efficiently labels proteinaceous residues and has been used with mass spectrometry (MS) to map ligand–protein interactions. Nevertheless, previous footprinting studies are typically performed at the residue level, and therefore, the resolution may not be high enough to couple with conventional crystallography techniques. Herein we developed a subresidue footprinting strategy based on the discovery that carbene labeling produces subresidue peptide isomers and the intensity changes of these isomers in response to ligand binding can be exploited to delineate ligand–protein topography at the subresidue level. The established workflow combines carbene footprinting, extended liquid chromatographic separation, and ion mobility (IM)–MS for efficient separation and identification of subresidue isomers. Analysis of representative subresidue isomers located within the binding cleft of lysozyme and those produced from an amyloid-β segment have both uncovered structural information heretofore unavailable by residue-level footprinting. Lastly, a “real-world” application shows that the reactivity changes of subresidue isomers at Phe399 can identify the interactive nuances between estrogen-related receptor α, a potential drug target for cancer and metabolic diseases, with its three ligands. These findings have significant implications for drug design. Taken together, we envision the subresidue-level resolution enabled by IM–MS-coupled carbene footprinting can bridge the gap between structural MS and the more-established biophysical tools and ultimately facilitate diverse applications for fundamental research and pharmaceutical development.

This paper proposes a coordinated control strategy that considers torque vectoring control (TVC) and path following system (PFS) for autonomous vehicles with four in-wheel motors. Firstly, a non-linear vehicle state observer based onUniTire tyremodel is proposed to estimate longitudinal and lateral speed. Then the sideslip angle and tyre slip ratio can be obtained. Secondly, a lateral and longitudinal path following algorithm using the driver model based on optimal preview theory and PI controller is established. For the vehicle safety control of autonomous driving, a layered control scheme is proposed, in which the upper layer employs an adaptive second-order sliding mode controller (ASOSM) to get additional yaw moment. Finally, simulation test results prove that the proposed state observation and coordinated control algorithm is valid.

Background The clinical use of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the intensive care unit (ICU) has dramatically increased, its impact on long-term prognosis in these patients has not been studied. This study aimed to explore the effect of early-TTE on long-term mortality in patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS in ICU.Methods A total of 2833 patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS who had or had not received early-TTE were obtained from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC-III) database after imputing missing values by a random forest model, patients were divided into early-TTE group and non-early-TTE group according to whether they received TTE examination in ICU. A variety of statistical methods were used to balance 41 covariates and increase the reliability of this study, including propensity score matching, inverse probability of treatment weight, covariate balancing propensity score, multivariable regression, and doubly robust estimation. Chi-Square test and t-tests were used to examine the differences between groups for categorical and continuous data, respectively.Results There was a significant improvement in 90-day mortality in the early-TTE group compared to non-early-TTE group (odds ratio  =  0.79, 95% CI: 0.64–0.98, p-value  =  0.036), revealing a beneficial effect of early-TTE. Net-input was significantly decreased in the early-TTE group on the third day of ICU admission and throughout the ICU stay, compared with non-early-TTE group (838.57 vs. 1181.89 mL, p-value  =  0.014; 4542.54 vs. 8025.25 mL, p-value  =  0.05). There was a significant difference in the reduction of serum lactate between the two groups, revealing the beneficial effect of early-TTE (0.59 vs. 0.83, p-value  =  0.009). Furthermore, the reduction in the proportion of acute kidney injury demonstrated a correlation between early-TTE and kidney protection (33% vs. 40%, p-value < 0.001).Conclusions Early application of TTE is beneficial to improve the long-term mortality of patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS.

Objective To study the experimental influences to the measurement of cartilage thickness by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Design The complete thicknesses of healthy and trypsin-degraded cartilage were measured at high-resolution MRI under different conditions, using two intensity-based imaging sequences (ultra-short echo [UTE] and multislice-multiecho [MSME]) and 3 quantitative relaxation imaging sequences (T1, T2, and T1ρ). Other variables included different orientations in the magnet, 2 soaking solutions (saline and phosphate buffered saline [PBS]), and external loading.Results With cartilage soaked in saline, UTE and T1methods yielded complete and consistent measurement of cartilage thickness, while the thickness measurement by T2, T1ρ, and MSME methods were orientation dependent. The effect of external loading on cartilage thickness is also sequence and orientation dependent. All variations in cartilage thickness in MRI could be eliminated with the use of a 100 mM PBS or imaged by UTE sequence.Conclusions The appearance of articular cartilage and the measurement accuracy of cartilage thickness in MRI can be influenced by a number of experimental factors in ex vivo MRI, from the use of various pulse sequences and soaking solutions to the health of the tissue. T2-based imaging sequence, both proton-intensity sequence and quantitative relaxation sequence, similarly produced the largest variations. With adequate resolution, the accurate measurement of whole cartilage tissue in clinical MRI could be utilized to detect differences between healthy and osteoarthritic cartilage after compression.

Accurate and robust source location is fundamental in seismology. Previously, we proposed a new full waveform location method using waves scattered by topography near the source, and we demonstrated its potential in obtaining accurate source location using synthetic data. In the work presented here, we validate this method with observed seismic data from the 1993 Non‐Proliferation Experiment, a chemical explosion with a precisely known location in a region with moderate topography at the Nevada Test Site. We select the first arrivals (Pn/Pg) and their immediate codas to determine the source location and compare our solution with the known location. We use a collocated‐grid finite‐difference method to calculate the strain Green's tensor in a grid‐search volume containing the source and obtain three‐component synthetic waveforms at 12 broadband seismic stations at regional distances using source‐receiver reciprocity. We assess the solution using a least squares misfit between the observed and synthetic waveforms. When scattered coda waves are incorporated, the best solution is within a few hundreds of meters of the exact source location, and the estimated uncertainty of the solution is reduced compared to the waveform‐based solution using only the Pwaves. The solution is robust to the choice of the frequency content and to the addition of random velocity heterogeneity. We conclude that the full waveform source location method is effective for real seismic data, though more validation tests like this one are needed to further understand its efficacy for source‐station geometry, roughness of topography, signal quality, and other factors. We explore the power and limitation of a new full‐waveform location method incorporating scattering by topography with real seismic dataThis location method uses scattering waves to achieve accurate absolute source locations with robust determinations of the source depthThe solution is robust with overlapping finite frequency bands and unmodeled random velocity heterogeneities

Metronomic chemotherapy, a relatively new dosing paradigm for anticancer therapy, is an alternative to traditional chemotherapy that uses maximal tolerated dose (MTD). Although these two dosing regimens both lead to tumor cell death, how cell metabolism is differentially affected during apoptosis remains elusive. Herein, we employed metabolomics to monitor the metabolic profiles of MCF-7 cells in response to the two dosing regimens that mimic MTD and MN treatments using a model chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin (Dox), and correlated the changes of metabolic genes examined by PCR array to integratively describe the reprogrammed metabolic patterns. We found glycolysis, amino acid, and nucleotide synthesis-associated metabolic pathways were activated in response to the MN treatment, whereas these pathways were inhibited in a pronounced way in response to the MTD treatment. Direct supplementation of key metabolites and pharmacological modulation of targeted metabolic enzymes can both regulate cell fates. Subsequently, we tested the combined use of MN dosing with targeted metabolic intervention using a normal cell line and found the combined treatment hardly affected its apoptotic rate. Our in vitro findings using MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells thus suggest the promising perspective of combining MN dosing of chemotherapeutic agents with metabolic modulation to selectively kill cancer cells rather than normal cells.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Nevertheless, there is limited ability to diagnose AKI in its earliest stages through the collection of structural and functional information. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly being used to provide structural and functional data that characterize the injured kidney. Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI is an imaging modality with robust spatial and temporal resolution; however, its ability to detect changes in kidney function following AKI has not been determined. We hypothesized that DCE MRI would detect a prolongation in contrast transit time following toxin-induced AKI earlier than commonly used serum and tissue biomarkers. To test our hypothesis, we injected mice with either vehicle or cisplatin (30 mg/kg) and performed DCE MRI at multiple time points. We found that commonly used kidney injury biomarkers, including creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, did not rise until day 2following cisplatin. Tissue levels of the proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1α, IL-6, C-C motif chemokine ligand 2, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 similarly did not upregulate until day 2following cisplatin. However, the time to peak intensity of contrast in the renal collecting system was already prolonged at day 1following cisplatin compared with vehicle-treated mice. This intensity change mirrored changes in kidney injury as measured by histological analysis and in transporter expression in the proximal tubule. Taken together, DCE MRI is a promising preclinical imaging modality that is useful for assessing functional capacity of the kidney in the earliest stages following AKI.

Accurate and efficient forward modeling methods are important for simulation of seismic wave propagation in 3D realistic Earth models and crucial for high‐resolution full waveform inversion. In the presence of attenuation, wavefield simulation could be inaccurate or unstable over time if not well treated, indicating the importance of the implementation of a strong stability preserving time discretization scheme. In this study, to solve the anelastic wave equation, we choose the optimal strong stability preserving Runge‐Kutta (SSPRK) method for the temporal discretization and apply the fourth‐order MacCormack scheme for the spatial discretization. We approximate the rheological behaviors of the Earth by using the generalized Maxwell body model and use an optimization procedure to calculate the anelastic coefficients determined by the Q(ω) law. This optimization constrains positivity of the anelastic coefficients and ensures the decay of total energy with time, resulting in a stable viscoelastic system even in the presence of strong attenuation. Moreover, we perform theoretical and numerical analyses of the SSPRK method, including the stability criteria and the numerical dispersion. Compared with the traditional fourth‐order Runge‐Kutta method, the SSPRK has a larger stability condition number and can better suppress numerical dispersion. We use the complex‐frequency‐shifted perfectly matched layer for the absorbing boundary conditions based on the auxiliary difference equation and employ the traction image method for the free‐surface boundary condition on curvilinear grids representing the surface topography. Finally, we perform several numerical experiments to demonstrate the accuracy of our anelastic modeling in the presence of surface topography. We develop a new optimal strong stability preserving Runge‐Kutta (SSPRK) method for solving the anelastic wave equationWe perform theoretical and numerical analyses of the SSPRK methodWe demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the SSPRK method in anelastic wavefield modeling in the presence of surface topography

Dwarf birch (Betula nana) has a widespread boreal distribution but has declined significantly in Britain where populations are now highly fragmented. We analyzed the genetic diversity of these fragmented populations using markers that differ in mutation rate: conventional microsatellites markers (PCR-SSRs), RADseq generated transition and transversion SNPs (RAD-SNPs), and microsatellite markers mined from RADseq reads (RAD-SSRs). We estimated the current population sizes by census and indirectly, from the linkage-disequilibrium found in the genetic surveys. The two types of estimate were highly correlated. Overall, we found genetic diversity to be only slightly lower in Britain than across a comparable area in Scandinavia where populations are large and continuous. While the ensemble of British fragments maintain diversity levels close to Scandinavian populations, individually they have drifted apart and lost diversity; particularly the smaller populations. An ABC analysis, based on coalescent models, favors demographic scenarios in which Britain maintained high levels of genetic diversity through post-glacial re-colonization. This diversity has subsequently been partitioned into population fragments that have recently lost diversity at a rate corresponding to the current population-size estimates. We conclude that the British population fragments retain sufficient genetic resources to be the basis of conservation and re-planting programmes. Use of markers with different mutation rates gives us greater confidence and insight than one marker set could have alone, and we suggest that RAD-SSRs are particularly useful as high mutation-rate marker set with a well-specified ascertainment bias, which are widely available yet often neglected in existing RAD datasets.

To date developments of seismic attenuation models of the Earth have lagged those of velocity models. This is partly due to difficulties in isolating waveform perturbations caused by attenuation and velocity heterogeneities and partly due to different theories (e.g., ray theory, finite frequency theory) used in most previous and current studies to approximate sensitivity kernels and invert for the attenuation structure. We present in this paper a new method for computing the 3D waveform Fréchet kernels that account for full physical‐dispersion and dissipation attenuation. For solving the 3D isotropic anelastic wave equation described by the generalized Maxwell body model, we extend our previously proposed full waveform modeling method in Cartesian coordinates to that in spherical coordinates, which can provide stable numerical solutions even in the presence of strong attenuation. Then, we apply the scattering‐integral method for calculating 3D travel time and amplitude sensitivity kernels with respect to velocity and attenuation structures. We demonstrate the accuracy of our forward method and the effectiveness of the implementation of absorbing and free surface boundary conditions through numerical tests. Moreover, by choosing the Northwestern United States region as a realistic example, we verify the accuracy of the computed 3D sensitivity kernels through comparing the waveform measurements with predictions from the kernels. Finally, we discuss the importance of calculating full anelastic sensitivity kernels including both effects of physical dispersion and dissipation, where we specially explore the effect of scattering due to random velocity and attenuation heterogeneities on waveform measurements. Anelasticity is an intrinsic property of the Earth that causes energy reduction of propagating seismic waves. Anelastic structures (including velocities and attenuation) are strongly related to temperature, partial melt, and water contents of the Earth, which provide crucial insight into the plate tectonics and geodynamic processes. To date developments of seismic attenuation models have lagged those of velocity models, because of difficulties in isolating effects of velocity heterogeneities and attenuation on waveform perturbations and large discrepancies in various theoretical methods and the resulting attenuation models. The full waveform inversion (FWI) method is promising to deal with the two difficulties and here we develop a novel anelasitc scattering‐integral‐based FWI method. We verify the effectiveness of our forward method in anelastic modeling even in the presence of strong attenuation, and we testify the accuracy of the computed 3D velocity and attenuation sensitivity kernels using the Northwestern United States region as a realistic example. We also demonstrate the importance of computing full anelastic sensitivity kernels including both effects of physical dispersion and dissipation, where we specially estimate the amount of scattering due to heterogeneous velocity and attenuation perturbations on waveform perturbations in subduction zones. We develop a new method for computing 3D sensitivity kernels with full attenuation and verify its accuracy through numerical experimentsWe demonstrate the importance of computing full anelastic sensitivity kernels including both effects of physical dispersion and dissipationScattering due to 30% attenuation heterogeneities alone in subduction zones could contribute up to 9% of observed waveform perturbations We develop a new method for computing 3D sensitivity kernels with full attenuation and verify its accuracy through numerical experiments We demonstrate the importance of computing full anelastic sensitivity kernels including both effects of physical dispersion and dissipation Scattering due to 30% attenuation heterogeneities alone in subduction zones could contribute up to 9% of observed waveform perturbations

Micropowder MgCO3 was added into magnesite as raw materials to prepare magnesia using a two-step calcination method. The sample magnesite was characterized use X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Experimental results showed that the sample insulated at 1600° C for 3 hours before and after sintering presented a linear change rate of 15.6 % in the case of without adding micropowder MgCO3, the prepared magnesia had a bulk density of 2.31 g/cm3 and apparent porosity of 32.8 %, while MgO grain size was 3.11 μm. In the case of adding 8 % micropowder MgCO3, the sample magnesite before and after sintering showed a linear change rate of 17.9 %. The bulk density, apparent porosity of prepared magnesia were 2.46 g/cm3 and 28.1 % respectively, while the grain size of MgO was 5.15 mm.

The influence of the light burning temperature on the sintering property of nature dolomite has been investigated by two-step sintering process in the temperature range 1500 °C to 1600 °C. The resulting bulk densities and apparent porosities of the sintered dolomite samples were examined, and analyzing the sintered dolomite by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were performed. The results showed light burned at 850 °C for 3 h, the main phases of the dolomite with 3-5 grain size were MgO, CaO and little CaCO3, and then fired at 1600 °C,the density of sintering dolomite reached to 3.38 g/cm3, the apparent property was 1.2 %, the size of MgO grain up to 3.75 μm . However when dolomite light burned at 1050 °C for 3 h, the main phases were MgO and CaO, and then fired at 1600 °C,the density of sintering dolomite only was 3.30 g/cm3, the apparent property was 2.3 %, the size of MgO only was 3.05 μm .

In this paper, some operations on the intuitionistic fuzzy sets, such as Hamacher sum, Hamacher product are introduced, and further develop the intuitionistic fuzzy Hamacher correlated averaging (IFHCA) operator. The prominent characteristics of the operators are that they do not only consider the importance of the elements or their ordered positions, but also reflect the correlation among the elements or their ordered positions. We have applied the IFHCA operators to multiple attribute decision making with intuitionistic fuzzy information.

Nanocarbons in a unique spring-like helical structure were prepared by a simple and low-cost flame combustion method to act as active and conductive nano-springs in constructing a mattress-like graphene-based paper as a flexible freestanding electrode. As the electrode is applied in a supercapacitor, it simultaneously exhibits high activity, cycling and mechanical stability owing to its unique structure. At a working current density of 0.2 mA cm[?]2, the areal capacitance of this electrode is as high as 1.07 F cm[?]2, which is 228% higher than that of the electrode without the helical interlayer. In addition, the capacitive retention of the electrode reaches 93.02% after 1000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 2 mA cm[?]2, and it can remain at 81.22% even if the electrodes are bent 120deg in a symmetrical supercapacitor. Such a preparation route is simple and effective, which makes it a promising method for fabricating general spring-like nanomaterials for high-performance wearable electronic devices.

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DHA-enriched eggs have gained popularity due to their unique nutritional value, but their flavor can be challenging for some consumers to accept. The study analyzed the correlation of lipids and flavors in DHA-enriched egg yolks using comprehensive lipidomics and volatile compound analysis. The results showed that 411 lipids were detected in two egg yolk samples. Among them, 148 lipid species, including 48 DHA-containing lipids, were significantly higher in DHA-enriched egg yolks than in Common ones (P < 0.05). Furthermore, of the 24 volatile compounds detected, the contents of benzaldehyde, heptanal, hexanal, decanal and 2-nonanone in DHA-enriched egg yolks were significantly higher than in Common egg yolks (P < 0.05). The “fishy” smell characteristic of DHA-enriched egg yolks was mainly caused by volatile aldehydes, which may be produced through the hydrolysis of lipids in the egg yolk to free fatty acids and further oxidation. Analysis of the correlation network diagram revealed that phospholipids containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), linoleic acid, or oleic acid chains were the main contributors to the characteristic flavor of DHA-enriched egg yolks. Overall, this study explored the effect of different lipids on the flavor of DHA-enriched egg yolks and provided a theoretical basis for the production and improvement of DHA-enriched eggs.

This study was performed to explore the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the risk of overweight/obesity in both children and adolescents. The PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for relevant studies published before July 12, 2022. Studies with data for calculating the odds ratio (OR) of childhood overweight/obesity and ADHD were included. The literature value was assessed by the cross-sectional evaluation criteria proposed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). All analyses were conducted using StataSE 11 and RevMan 5.3 software with random-effects models. This review included a total of 16 studies covering 14,981 cases and 128,916 controls. According to the meta-analysis, children with ADHD had a significant risk for co-occurring overweight and obesity [OR 1.56; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.32–1.85], especially boys (OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.10–1.90), people in Asia (OR 3.25; 95% CI 1.70–6.21) and Europe (OR 1.85; 95% CI 1.61–2.12), and patients not using medication (OR 1.54; 95% CI 1.22–1.94). ADHD has a significant association with overweight and obesity in both children and adolescents, which may be altered by factors such as geography, gender, and medication use. Timely treatment should be provided to children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD to inhibit the emergence of overweight and obesity.

Introduction:Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a severe form of single ventricle congenital heart disease characterized by the underdeveloped left ventricle. Early serial postmortem examinations revealed a high rate of coronary artery abnormalities in HLHS fetal hearts (e.g., thickened wall and kinking arteries). However, the intrinsic defect in HLHS coronary vessels and its genetic basis remain unclear.Methods:We profiled human fetal heart with an underdeveloped left ventricle (ULV) and induced pluripotent stem cells derived endothelial cells (iPSC-ECs) from HLHS patients at single-cell resolution. CD144+/NPR3-vascular ECs were selected and classified as venous, arterial, and late arterial populations. To study the arterial EC phenotypes, we generated iPSC-arterial ECs (AECs, CDH5+CXCR4+NT5E-/low) derived from 3 HLHS patients and 3 age-matched controls, and evaluated their functionalities including cell cycle regulation, angiogenesis, and inflammatory response.Results:Revealed by single cell RNA-seq and subsequent gene ontology analysis, ULV late arterial EC population showed significant defects in EC development, proliferation, angiogenesis, and Notch signaling compared to the control. Consistently, HLHS iPSCs exhibited impaired AEC differentiation judged by the reduced CXCR4+NT5E-/lowAEC progenitors. Mature HLHS iPSC-AECs showed reduced angiogenesis and enhanced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest with downregulated cell cycle-related genes (e.g., Ki67, CCND1/2). Healthy human aortic smooth muscle cells exhibited abnormal proliferation and synthetic phenotypes when co-cultured with HLHS iPSC-AECs. Additionally, NOTCH pathway genes (e.g., DLL4, HEY1, GJA5) were suppressed in both ULV AECs and HLHS iPSC-AECs. HLHS de novovariant KMT2Ddirectly regulated the transcription of NOTCH targeted genes involved in arterial development and proliferation via H3K4me2. Intriguingly, the treatment of NOTCH ligands (Jag1, Dll1) significantly improved the proliferation of HLHS AECs.Conclusions:Our study revealed that HLHS coronary AECs were dysfunctional in angiogenesis, proliferation, and EC-SMC interaction. KMT2D-NOTCH signaling may contribute to the impaired development and proliferation of HLHS AECs.

The aim of the present experiment was to study the effects of duo-strain probiotics (DSP, Bacillus subtilisand Lactobacillus plantarum) culture supplemented by post-spraying technology on the growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota of grass carp, as well as the viability of the DSP in the post-spraying and storage process. In the present experiment, 900 of Grass carp (41.4 ± 1.8 g) were fed with a basal diet (control group) and the DSP diet containing 105CFU/g (T1 group) or 106CFU/g (T2 group) probiotics supplemented by the post-spraying technology in 9 cages for 6 weeks. Meanwhile, the amount of DSP in the diets was monitored for 30 days. The results revealed that the viability of the B. subtilisand L. plantarumwas 98.14% and 98.09% after the post-spraying and there were no significant differences among 30 days of storage in comparison with final viability of 99.13% and 99.10%. The result of the feed experiment indicated that the diet supplemented DSP significantly increased the percent weight gain (PWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and survival rate (SR) of grass carp, and decreased the feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P < 0.05). Additionally, the digestive enzyme activity (total protease, α-amylase, lipase and trypsin) and antioxidant capacity (superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde and catalase) were significantly improved in the DSP groups than those in the control (P < 0.05). Furthermore, in comparison with the control group, the relative abundance of Bacteroidetesand Firmicuteswas significantly increased (P < 0.05), and Proteobacteriaand Cyanobacteriawere significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Overall, these results in the present experiment demonstrated that post-spraying technology could be a potential way for probiotics supplementation in the aquatic feedstuff process and the beneficial effects of DSP on grass carp.

Alumina-zirconia (Al2O3-ZrO2) composite ceramics were prepared by means of cross spraying and hydrothermal method under atmospheric pressure with nanometer powders doped with ZrO2 as the raw material. Then, the prepared powders and ceramics were characterized by SEM, XRD and BET methods. The results showed that combining cross spraying with hydrothermal method under atmospheric pressure could improve the dispersity of the ZrO2 composite ceramics nanopowders, while adding Al2O3 accelerated the low temperature sintering for 3Y-ZrO2 and improved the bending strength, fracture toughness and density of ZrO2 composite ceramics. In addition, through optimization the bending strength and fracture toughnessof the obtained ceramic, were 1,150 MPa and 8.2 MPa∙m1/2 respectively.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI can provide key insight into renal function. DCE MRI is typically achieved through an injection of a gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agent, which has desirable T1quenching and tracer kinetics. However, significant T2* blooming effects and signal voids can arise when Gd becomes very concentrated, especially in the renal medulla and pelvis. One MRI sequence designed to alleviate T2* effects is the ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequence. In the present study, we observed T2* blooming in the inner medulla of the mouse kidney, despite using UTE at an echo time of 20 microseconds and a low dose of 0.03 mmol/kg Gd. We applied quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and resolved the signal void into a positive susceptibility signal. The susceptibility values [in parts per million (ppm)] were converted into molar concentrations of Gd using a calibration curve. We determined the concentrating mechanism (referred to as the concentrating index) as a ratio of maximum Gd concentration in the inner medulla to the renal artery. The concentrating index was assessed longitudinally over a 17-wk course (3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 17 wk of age). We conclude that the UTE-based DCE method is limited in resolving extreme T2* content caused by the kidney's strong concentrating mechanism. QSM was able to resolve and confirm the source of the blooming effect to be the large positive susceptibility of concentrated Gd. UTE with QSM can complement traditional magnitude UTE and offer a powerful tool to study renal pathophysiology.

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is responsible for the highly contagious infectious bursal disease of chickens. Further understanding the gene-function is necessary to design the tailored vaccine. The amino acid residue 279, located on strand PFof VP2, is one of the three residues that have been reported to be involved in cell-tropism but with some inconsistency. In this study, to further clarify the amino acids involved in the cell tropism of IBDV, a series of mutations about residue 279 were introduced into the VP2 of vvIBDV Gx strain. With the reverse genetic system, we found single mutation of D279N, double mutations of D279N/A284T or Q253H/D279N were not enough to adapt IBDV to chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cell. To evaluate whether residue 279 could influence the replication and virulence of IBDV, the virus rGxHT-279 with three mutations (Q253H/D279N/A284T) was rescued and evaluated. Results showed that the mutation of residue 279 in VP2 had no efficient effects on both the replication efficiency in vitroand the virulence to SPF chickens of IBDV. In summary, the results demonstrated that residue 279 of VP2 did not contribute efficiently to cell tropism, replication efficiency, and virulence of IBDV at least in some strains. These findings provided further information for understanding the gene function of IBDV.

Sepsis is a challenging clinical syndrome caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Here, we identified an unexpected proseptic activity of aconitate decarboxylase 1 (ACOD1) in monocytes and macrophages. Previous studies have suggested that ACOD1, also known as immune-responsive gene 1, is an immunometabolic regulator that favors itaconate production to inhibit bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced innate immunity. We used next-generation sequencing of lipopolysaccharide-activated THP1 cells to demonstrate that ACOD1 accumulation confers a robust proinflammation response by activating a cytokine storm, predominantly through the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway. We further revealed that the phosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) on threonine-160 mediates the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase 8 through receptor for activated C kinase 1, leading to JUN-dependent transcription of ACOD1in human and mouse macrophages or monocytes. Genetic deletion of CDK2or ACOD1in myeloid cells, or the administration of the CDK inhibitor dinaciclib, protected mice against polymicrobial sepsis and was associated with improved survival and decreased cytokine storm. The expression of the CDK2-ACOD1 axis also correlated with severity of illness in a cohort of 40 patients with bacterial sepsis. Thus, our findings provide evidence for a previously unrecognized function of ACOD1 in innate immunity and suggest it as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of sepsis.