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Machine learning methods can establish complex nonlinear relationships between input and response variables for stadium fire risk assessment. However, the output of machine learning models is considered very difficult due to their complex "black box" structure, which hinders their application in stadium fire risk assessment. The SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method makes a local approximation to the predictions of any regression or classification model so as to be faithful and interpretable, and assigns significant values (SHAP value) to each input variable for a given prediction. In this study, we designed an indicator attribute threshold interval to classify and quantify different fire risk category data, and then used a random forest model combined with SHAP strategy in order to establish a stadium fire risk assessment model. The main objective is to analyze the impact analysis of each risk characteristic on four different risk assessment models, so as to find the complex nonlinear relationship between risk characteristics and stadium fire risk. This helps managers to be able to make appropriate fire safety management and smart decisions before an incident occurs and in a targeted manner to reduce the incidence of fires. The experimental results show that the established interpretable random forest model provides 83% accuracy, 86% precision, and 85% recall for the stadium fire risk test dataset. The study also shows that the low level of data makes it difficult to identify the range of decision boundaries for Critical mode and Hazardous mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasingly, studies have discovered that different fatty acids (Fas) are linked to colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Methods: We systematically searched Embase and Medline databases to identify eligible studies that examined the associations of different types of Fas with CRC risk. The effect estimates and their 95% confidence intervals (Cis) were pooled using a random-effects model. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to examine the robustness of the study findings. Results: This study evaluated the associations of 28 dietary and 18 blood Fas with CRC risk by summarizing the most updated evidence from 54 observational and four Mendelian Randomization (MR) studies. The present findings suggested that high dietary intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexanoic acid (DHA), and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) are related to low risk of CRC, while the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio and trans-FA are related to high risk of CRC. The summary of all cohort studies found that a high intake of SFA and DHA was a protective factor for CRC, and a high intake of the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio was a risk factor for CRC. In the subgroup analysis of cancer subsites, we found that the dietary intake of linoleic acid (LA) and trans-FA are risk factors, while DPA is a protective factor for colon cancer. High dietary DHA intake was associated with a lower risk of rectal cancer, while the dietary n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio was associated with a higher risk of rectal cancer. Meta-analysis of blood FA levels showed a significant reverse association between blood pentadecanoic acid and CRC risk, whilst other blood Fas showed no significant association with CRC risk. All included MR studies showed that high plasma arachidonic acid (AA) is associated with increased CRC risk. Conclusions: Current evidence on the dietary intake and blood levels of Fas in relation to CRC risk is less consistent. Future studies are needed to investigate how the metabolism of Fas contributes to CRC development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory tract infections such as the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has seriously threatened public health in the last decades. The experience of fighting against the epidemic highlights the importance of user-friendly and accessible point-of-care systems for nucleic acid (NA) detection. To realize low-cost and multiplexed point-of-care NA detection, a swing-assisted multiplexed analyzer for point-of-care respiratory tract infection testing (SMART) was proposed to detect multiple respiratory tract pathogens using visible loop-mediated isothermal amplification. By performing hand-swing movements to generate acceleration force to distribute samples into reaction chambers, the design of the SMART system was greatly simplified. By using different format of chips and integrating into a suitcase, this system can be applied to on-site multitarget and multi-sample testing. Three targets including the N and Orf genes of SARS-CoV-2 and the internal control were simultaneously analyzed (limit of detection: 2000 copies/mL for raw sample; 200 copies/mL for extracted sample). Twenty-three clinical samples with eight types of respiratory bacteria and twelve COVID-19 clinical samples were successfully detected. These results indicate that the SMART system has the potential to be further developed as a versatile tool in the diagnosis of respiratory tract infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infections by Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi A strain are still a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Generation of antibodies against the Vi capsular polysaccharide of S. Typhi via either pure polysaccharide or protein–polysaccharide conjugate is a very effective way to protect against S. Typhi. To date, there is no commercially available vaccine against S. Paratyphi A. The O-specific polysaccharide (OSP) has been generally considered a good vaccine target for Paratyphi A. Here, a bivalent vaccine against Vi and OSP was generated using the Multiple Antigen Presenting System (MAPS). Three different protein constructs, including CRM197, rEPA of Pseudomonas, and a pneumococcal fusion protein SP1500-SP0785, were fused to Rhizavidin (Rhavi) and evaluated their impact on immunogenicity when incorporated as fusion proteins affinity-bound to the two polysaccharides. We compared the antibody responses, antibody avidity, and cidal activity of sera post-immunization with monovalent vs. combination vaccines. We also wished to evaluate the generation of Vi-specific memory B cells in mice. We found little interference when combination vaccine was compared to monovalent vaccines with respect to antibody concentration and cidal activity of sera. Significant affinity maturation was noted for both Vi and OSP antigens. Thus, our preclinical results with a combination Vi- and OSP-MAPS vaccine strongly support the feasibility of this approach and its application of this approach to other important salmonella and Shigella species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Kadsura coccinea was planted in large quantities in south China in recent years, and its functions and effects need to be further studied and discovered. We had previously found that Kadsura coccinea fruit extract has anti-diarrhea effects on mice, so we want to explore its influence on broiler breeding. The result showed that added 200 mg/kg Kadsura coccinea fruit extract to basic feed can replace traditional antibiotics as a growth promoter. It can improve the growth, slaughter performance, and antioxidant and regulate intestinal microorganisms of broilers, which indicated that the Kadsura coccinea fruit extract is feasible as a feed additive. This study aimed to determine whether adding Kadsura coccinea fruit extract to the diet of broilers could replace antibiotics. For this study, 300 one-day-old AA white feathered broilers were divided into five groups (no sex separated), with six repetitions per group (n = 10), as follows: blank control group (basal feed, CK group), positive drug (basal feed + 300 mg/kg aureomycin, PD group), and Kadsura coccinea low-dose, medium-dose, and high-dose groups (basal feed + 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 300 mg/kg of Kadsura coccinea fruit extract, LD group, MD group and HD group). The experiment period was divided into early (1–21 days) and late (22–42 days) stage. We found that supplementation with Kadsura coccinea fruit extract in the diet significantly improved the growth performance of broilers (p < 0.05), reduced the feed to meat ratio (p < 0.05), reduced the fat percentage (p < 0.05), while had no significant effect on meat quality (p > 0.05) and Kadsura coccinea fruit extract could promote the development of immune organs to different extents, enhance antioxidant capacity, the contents of SOD and GSH-Px in serum were significantly increased (p < 0.05), improve the ratio of villus height to crypt depth. Finally, Kadsura coccinea fruit extract increased the relative abundance of probiotics and beneficial bacteria (Bacteroidales, NK4A214, Subdoligranulum and Eubacterium hallii) (p < 0.05) and reduced the relative abundance of harmful bacteria (Erysipelatoclostridium) (p < 0.05) in the gut of broilers. Compared with positive drug group, most of the indexes in the medium-dose group were better or had similar effects. We believe that Kadsura coccinea fruit extract can be used as a potential natural antibiotic substitute in livestock and poultry breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread fungal toxin Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is an inevitable pollutant affecting the health of humans, poultry, and livestock. Although studies indicate that AFB1 is hepatotoxic, there are few studies on AFB1-induced hepatotoxicity in sheep. Thus, this study examined how AFB1 affected sheep liver function 24 h after the animals received 1 mg/kg bw of AFB1 orally (dissolved in 20 mL, 4% v/v ethanol). The acute AFB1 poisoning caused histopathological injuries to the liver and increased total bilirubin (TBIL) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) levels. AFB1 also markedly elevated the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 while considerably reducing the expression of antioxidation-related genes (SOD-1 and SOD-2) and the anti-inflammatory gene IL-10 in the liver. Additionally, it caused apoptosis by dramatically altering the expression of genes associated with apoptosis including Bax, Caspase-3, and Bcl-2/Bax. Notably, AFB1 exposure altered the gut microbiota composition, mainly manifested by BF311 spp. and Alistipes spp. abundance, which are associated with liver injury. In conclusion, AFB1 can cause liver injury and liver dysfunction in sheep via oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and gut-microbiota disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green consumption in China is a major promotion strategy for achieving sustainable development goals. It should be promoted from a long-term perspective based on cooperation from all levels of society. In addition, constantly revising the policy direction using policy discourse as feedback is necessary. This study analyzes policy discourse on green consumption in China from the long-term and time series perspectives. It employs text mining and network analysis by collecting Chinese online portal data on policy discourse over a period from 2000 to 2020. Using text mining, the study finds that green consumption develops through four stages, namely awareness, practice, diffusion, and social responsibility. From a long-term perspective, policymaking and the preparation of government guidelines take place during the awareness stage, the distribution of action plans and related guidelines from central to local governments takes place in the practice stage, and participation in green consumption in the different classes of society occurs in the diffusion stage. The conscious transition to green consumption by the government, the business sector, and the public can be found in the social responsibility stage. The results of the convergence of iterated correlation analysis reveal that policy discourse on green consumption initially transitions from a specific to a diversified topic. This means that, since there are many complex policy and social issues related to green consumption, it is necessary to select and focus on appropriate topics when setting policy directions. Lastly, core–periphery analysis indicates that growers related to global environmental issues, such as carbon neutrality and climate change, are leading green consumption in China. This confirms that green consumption is a key issue that the government and the public must practice to support the sustainable development of mankind, transcending constraints of time, space, class, and ideology. On the basis of its results, the study proposes a development strategy that can strike a balance between the universality and specificity of green consumption in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 2019-nCoV outbreak was first reported, hundreds of millions of people all over the world have been infected. There is no doubt that improving the cure rate of 2019-nCoV is one of the most effective means to deal with the current serious epidemic. At present, Remdesivir (RDV) has been clinically proven to be effective in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. However, the uncertain side effects make it important to reduce the use of drugs while ensuring the self-healing effect. We report an approach here with targeted therapy for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses illness. In this study, mesoporous silica was used as the carrier of RDV, the nucleocapsid protein (N protein) aptamer was hybridized with the complementary chain, and the double-stranded DNA was combined with gold nanoparticles as the gates of mesoporous silica pores. When the RDV-loaded mesoporous silica is incubated with the N protein, aptamer with gold nanoparticles dissociate from the complementary DNA oligonucleotide on the mesoporous silica surface and bind to the N protein. The releasing of RDV was determined by detecting the UV-vis absorption peak of RDV in the solution. These results show that the RDV delivery system designed in this work has potential clinical application for the treatment of 2019-nCoV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective therapy for many psychiatric illnesses. However, intracranial occupying lesions are a relative contraindication to ECT. Arachnoid cysts are benign, congenital, and space-occupying lesions. Our study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of ECT in psychiatric patients with arachnoid cysts. We retrospectively identified 62 psychiatric patients with arachnoid cysts; 43 of them underwent ECT and 19 did not. Their conditions were assessed by CGI-S and different scales depending on different diagnoses (PANSS for schizophrenia; HAMD for depression; YMRS for bipolar disorder). The side effect was assessed by TESS. Significant differences were shown in the reduced scores of the CGI-S between patients who underwent ECT and those who did not (p = 0.001), while, at the same time, there was no significant difference in their TESS score (p = 0.297). The current study found that ECT is an effective and tolerable therapy for psychiatric patients with arachnoid cysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression and anxiety disorders are the two most prevalent psychiatric diseases that affect hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. Understanding the etiology and related mechanisms is of great importance and might yield new therapeutic strategies to treat these diseases effectively. During the past decades, a growing number of studies have pointed out the importance of the stress-induced inflammatory response in the amygdala, a kernel region for processing emotional stimuli, as a potentially critical contributor to the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety disorders. In this review, we first summarized the recent progress from both animal and human studies toward understanding the causal link between stress-induced inflammation and depression and anxiety disorders, with particular emphasis on findings showing the effect of inflammation on the functional changes in neurons in the amygdala, at levels ranging from molecular signaling, cellular function, synaptic plasticity, and the neural circuit to behavior, as well as their contributions to the pathology of inflammation-related depression and anxiety disorders. Finally, we concluded by discussing some of the difficulties surrounding the current research and propose some issues worth future study in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem of the low action recognition accuracy of passengers' unsafe behaviors caused by redundant joints, this study proposes an efficient recognition method based on a Kinect sensor. The method uses the pelvis as the starting point of the vector and high-frequency bone joints as the end point to construct the recognition feature vector. The joint angle difference between actions is obtained by using the cosine law, and the initial test result is converted into action similarity combined with the DTW similarity algorithm. Considering the combination of 3 angle features and 4 joint feature selection methods, 12 combined recognition models are formed. A comparative experiment was carried out to identify five types of unsafe behaviors of metro passengers—punch, one-armed call for help, arms for help, trip forward and trip backwards. The results show that the overall selection of joints has a poor similarity effect and cannot achieve the purpose of recognition. The overall recognition model effect of the local "pelvis divergence method" is higher than that of the local "adjacent joint method", and the local "pelvis divergence method" has the highest recognition result of the maximum angle difference model, and the recognition results of the five unsafe behaviors are 86.9%, 89.2%, 85.5%, 86.7%, and 88.3%, respectively, and the recognition accuracy of this method is 95.7%, indicating the feasibility of the model. The recognition results are more concentrated and more stable, which significantly improves the recognition rate of metro passengers' unsafe behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus, GBS), a broad-spectrum pathogen, causes great economic losses in fish aquaculture, especially the industry of tilapia. Until now, the knowledge of the immune response mechanism against S. agalactiae infection in tilapia has been limited. In the present study, the gill transcriptome of the tilapia from the GBS and the phosphate buffered saline (PBS) groups were sequenced. The transcriptomic analysis results presented the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at different time points (DEGs number, 6 h: 2122, 9 h: 1851, 15 h: 1791, and 18 h: 2395) after GBS injection, and significantly enriched immune-related gene ontology (GO) terms such as the innate immune response. The significantly enriched immune pathways included the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, the nucleotide oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor signaling pathway, the cytosolic-DNA sensing pathway, and the intestinal immune network for Immunoglobulin A (IgA) production. Most of the DEGs in Toll-like receptor signaling, NOD-like receptor signaling, and cytosolic-DNA sensing pathways presented upregulations at 18 h, which indicated that the innate immune pathways were activated. Two immune-related pathways (phagosome and cell adhesion molecules) were significantly enriched at all time points, suggesting that these two pathways might also play important roles in the immune response against the GBS infection. The results of HE staining showed that the gills of tilapia were damaged seriously at 9 h post-infection, which might be due to the possibility of pyroptosis resulting from the changes of DEGs in the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. This study provided new insight into the mechanisms of gill damage in fish infected with S. agalactiae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is one of the most important food fishes in global aquaculture. The optimal rearing temperature for Nile tilapia is 27–30 °C; however, in some Asian breeding areas, such as south China, water temperatures in summer frequently exceed 35 °C for several days. Potential effects of long-term exposure to high temperatures on the survival and metabolism of tilapia are unclear. In this study, genetically improved farmed tilapia, age six weeks, were exposed to water temperatures of 28, 32, and 36 °C for 15 weeks. Mean survival rates and tolerance to hypoxia were significantly reduced, and respiratory rates were increased in fish reared at 36 °C, compared to the 28 and 32 °C treatments (p < 0.05). Partial temperature compensation for routine metabolic rates was observed after 15 weeks at 36 °C. Gill morphology changes in the 36 °C treatment included curling of the lamellae and hyperplasia of the filament end, which became more pronounced after acute hypoxia (0.2 mg/L O2). Transcriptomics demonstrated that expression of numerous genes related to aerobic metabolism was altered in the 36 °C treatment, including down-regulation of nine genes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In summary, high temperature affected tilapia gill morphology, reduced hypoxia tolerance, and inhibited aerobic metabolism, thus ultimately threatening tilapia viability and survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks–Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR) was evaluated for the assessment of long-term drought monitoring in Huaihe River Basin using daily gauge observation data for the period from 1983 to 2017. The evaluation results show that the PERSIANN-CDR algorithm has a good detection ability for small precipitation events over the whole basin, but a poor ability for extreme precipitation events (>50 mm/day). Daily PERSIANN-CDR estimates perform relatively better in areas with abundant precipitation, while the monthly and yearly PERSIANN-CDR estimates are highly consistent with gauge observations both in magnitude and space. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at various time scales (3, 6, and 12 months) was calculated based on PERSIANN-CDR and gauge observation, respectively. Grid-based values of statistics derived from those SPI values demonstrate that PERSIANN-CDR has a good ability to capture drought events of each time scale across the basin. However, caution should be applied when using PERSIANN-CDR estimates for basin-scale drought trend analysis. Furthermore, three drought events with long duration and large extent were selected to test the applicability of PERSIANN-CDR in drought monitoring. The results show that it has a good ability to capture when and where droughts occur and how far they spread. Due to the overestimation of small precipitation events, PERSIANN-CDR tends to overestimate the number of extreme droughts and their extents. This needs to be considered in future algorithm improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some infants born to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive mothers, especially born to hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive mothers, can still be infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HBV and develop chronic HBV infection. At present, the virological factors affecting HBV MTCT are still unclear. In this study, we found that the mutation rates of amino acids in the HBV X region were high, and there were obvious differences between the immunoprophylaxis success group and the immunoprophylaxis failure group of HBeAg-positive mothers. Specifically, the mutation rate of HBx 128–133 deletion (x128–133del) or corresponding nucleotide 1755–1772 deletion (nt1755–1772del) in the immunoprophylaxis success group was significantly higher than that in the immunoprophylaxis failure group. Furthermore, we found that x128–133del could weaken HBV replication by reducing the level of the HBx protein due to the increased proteasome-dependent degradation of HBx protein, and the transcriptional activity of HBV core promoter (CP)/enhancer II (ENII) due to the attenuated binding capacity of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) to HBV CP/ENII. This study suggests that x128–133del may contribute to immunoprophylaxis success, which may be helpful in clarifying the virological mechanism affecting HBV MTCT and formulating an optimal immunization strategy for children born to HBeAg-positive mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms play a crucial role in litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. The leaf and fine root litters of Robinia pseudoacacia Linn., Quercus acutissima Carr., Pinus tabulaeformis Carr. and Pinus densiflora Sieb. were analysed using the nylon litter bag method and Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing for the amplification of bacterial 16S rRNA V4–V5. We assessed the effects of leaf and root litter species on the bacterial community after one year's decomposition. The results showed that (1) the remaining mass of fine root litter was smaller than that of the leaf litter for R. pseudoacacia and Q. acutissima, while the opposite result was found for P. tabulaeformis and P. densiflora. (2) The bacterial community structure in leaf litter was most highly correlated with the initial N content and N:P, while that in fine roots was most highly correlated with the lignin content. (3) The bacterial phyla Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes were significantly affected by litter and species, whereas the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Chloroflexi were only affected by litter tissues. The relative abundances of Acidobacteria, Firmicutes and Chloroflexi in fine root litter were higher than those in leaf litter, while the opposite result was found for Bacteroidetes. The bacterial genera Burkholderia-Paraburkholderia, Sphingomonas and Mucilaginibacter were affected by litter tissues (p < 0.05). The relative abundance of Burkholderia-Paraburkholderia in fine root litter was higher than that in leaf litter, while the opposite result was found for Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas and Mucilaginibacter. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that the relative abundances of the dominant phyla and genera were affected by the initial litter properties, especially for Bacteroides, Acidobacteria, Burkholderia and Sphingomonas. These findings indicate that litter tissues and their interactions with species are more important than the species in shaping the bacterial diversity and community composition, which was affected by the initial chemical properties of the litter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the interest in metallurgical accident investigation of blast furnace gas (BFG) leakage has increased to explore the engineering failures, more effort is needed to address the individual and organizational causative factors to clear and determine the weak links for improving safety management and accident prevention to achieve green metallurgical manufacturing. This study aims to examine the causative factors and evolution paths of BFG leakage by introducing a combined method, the 24 model and Bayesian network (BN), based on 50 cases of fire, explosion and suffocation accidents caused by BFG leakage. A BN model of BFG leakage was established based on the identification of 25 causative factors by the 24 model. Results showed that eight nodes, including A1 (unsafe operation), A2 (unsafe behavior), A4 (unsafe condition), B1 (valve failure), B2 (improper gas safety operation), X4 (use of BFG violates regulations), X5 (water gas is not cut off before shutdown reduction) and X6 (incomplete steam purging), were more sensitive than others, and the posterior probability of nodes A1, A2, A3 (unsafe command), A4, B1, B2, B4 (improper emergency behavior), B5 (unsafe behaviors on BFG site) increased compared to prior probability. Three main accident causal chains were obtained which indicate that control the unsafe operations (A1) related to gas (B2) and valve (B1) are suggested to be improved. Another important factor is A4 (unsafe condition), which is related to intrinsic safety conditions. Considering the results, the key points of 3E strategy about BFG leakage prevention are suggested. This study provides useful insights to understand the organizational and individual factors and their relative influence in BFG leakage accidents, which will support BFG leakage prevention and safety management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) is an alternative material for use in removable partial denture frameworks; these frameworks must exhibit antibacterial properties to reduce the risk of periodontal disease. In the present study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized via the reduction of silver nitrate with sodium borohydride in a solution containing polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). Transmission electron microscope images and dynamic light scattering confirmed that metallic nanoparticles had been created with an average size of 32 nm. Furthermore, the coating of the PEKK polymeric substrate with 0.5% AgNPs was carried out using an epoxy resin lining at room temperature. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed the successful transfer of the AgNP-in-resin lining onto the polymeric substrate. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy confirmed that the AgNPs had been uniformly deposited onto the PEKK specimens. Finally, the antibacterial activity of the specimens was tested against Porphyromonas gingivalis. An inhibition zone of 22.5 mm and an antibacterial rate of 83.47% were found for the PEKK coated with 0.5% AgNPs (0.5% Ag-PEKK) compared to an untreated polyetheretherketone (PEEK) substrate, evidencing that 0.5% Ag-PEKK has potential antibacterial properties for implant applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report on the synthesis of new organoselenium derivatives, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) scaffolds and Se functionalities (isoselenocyanate and selenourea), which were evaluated against four types of cancer cell line: SW480 (human colon adenocarcinoma cells), HeLa (human cervical cancer cells), A549 (human lung carcinoma cells), MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma cells). Among these compounds, most of the investigated compounds reduced the viability of different cancer cell lines. The most promising compound 6b showed IC50 values under 10 μM against the four cancer cell lines, particularly to HeLa and MCF-7, with IC50 values of 2.3 and 2.5 μM, respectively. Furthermore, two compounds, 6b and 6f, were selected to investigate their ability to induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells via modulation of the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2) and proapoptotic caspase-3 protein. The redox properties of the NSAIDs-Se derivatives were conducted by 2, 2-didiphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), bleomycin-dependent DNA damage and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like assays. Finally, a molecular docking study revealed that an interaction with the active site of thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) predicted the antiproliferative activity of the synthesized candidates. Overall, these results could serve as a promising launch point for further designs of NSAIDs-Se derivatives as potential antiproliferative agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stadium fires can easily cause massive casualties and property damage. The early risk prediction of stadiums will be able to reduce the incidence of fires by making corresponding fire safety management and decision making in an early and targeted manner. In the field of building fires, some studies apply data mining techniques and machine learning algorithms to the collected risk hazard data for fire risk prediction. However, most of these studies use all attributes in the dataset, which may degrade the performance of predictive models due to data redundancy. Furthermore, machine learning algorithms are numerous and applied to fewer stadium fires, and it is crucial to explore models suitable for predicting stadium fire risk. The purpose of this study was to identify salient features to build a model for predicting stadium fire risk predictions. In this study, we designed an index attribute threshold interval to classify and quantify different fire risk data. We then used Gradient Boosting-Recursive Feature Elimination (GB-RFE) and Pearson correlation analysis to perform efficient feature selection on risk feature attributes to find the most informative salient feature subsets. Two cross-validation strategies were employed to address the dataset imbalance problem. Using the smart stadium fire risk data set provided by the Wuhan Emergency Rescue Detachment, the optimal prediction model was obtained based on the identified significant features and six machine learning methods of 12 combination forms, and full features were input as an experimental comparison study. Five performance evaluation metrics were used to evaluate and compare the combined models. Results show that the best performing model had an F1 score of 81.9% and an accuracy of 93.2%. Meanwhile, by introducing a precision-recall curve to explain the actual classification performance of each model, AdaBoost achieves the highest Auprc score (0.78), followed by SVM (0.77), which reveals more stable performance under such imbalanced data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drug resistance of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells against 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) therapy is a major challenge to successful cancer treatment. While previous studies have proposed several 5-FU resistance mechanisms, the effects of the adipokines on cancer cells remain unclear. Thus, this study investigated the effect of resistin on 5-FU-treated CRC cell lines. The upregulation of NLRP3 can regulate the inflammatory responses in cancer cells and then enhance cancer progression. This study investigated the expression level and the function of NLRP3 on 5-FU-induced cytotoxicity in CRC cells and found that resistin-induced ERK activation and increased NLRP3 expression in CRC HCT-116 and DLD-1 cells were mediated by Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The inhibition of TLR4 and ERK by pharmacological inhibitors attenuated the resistin-induced NLRP3 mRNA and protein levels. In contrast, the knockdown of NLRP3 enhanced the cytotoxic effects of 5-FU. Furthermore, quercetin is an effective chemopreventive compound. This study showed that quercetin fermented by Lactobacillus could exhibit low cytotoxicity on normal mucosa cells and improve the function of inhibiting CRC cells. The treatment of CRC cells with fermented quercetin increased the cytotoxicity and enhanced cell death in the presence of resistin. In this study, fermented quercetin induced the cytotoxicity and cell death of 5-FU in resistin-treated CRC cells, which is associated with the downregulation of NLRP3 expression and ERK phosphorylation. These results indicate the role of NLRP3 in the development of drug resistance to 5-FU in CRC cells. Elucidating the mechanism regarding the cytotoxicity effect of quercetin may provide another vision for the development of a chemotherapy strategy for CRC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we designed a rapid tricolour immunochromatographic test strip with double test lines (TS-DTL) and two-colour AuNP probes, which realised the simultaneous detection of tricaine mesylate (TMS) and malachite green (MG). Through a distinct tricolour system (red T1 line, blue T2 line and purple C line), a visual identification of TMS (0.2 μg/mL) and MG (0.5 μg/mL) was quickly achieved on site, which improved the accuracy of naked eye observations. The LODs of TMS in aquaculture water, fish and shrimp were 11.0, 29.6 and 61.4 ng/mL, respectively. MG LODs were 47.0 ng/mL (aquaculture water), 82.8 ng/mL (fish) and 152.4 ng/mL (shrimp). The LOD of MG was close to the similar TS methods. However, visual detection of TMS could meet the requirements of the residue limit (1 μg/mL) of TMS in the USA, and the quantitative detection of TMS was over 16 times lower than the USA standard. The developed platform was rapid (~20 min, HPLC~3 h) and accurate, which was verified using a traditional HPLC method. The recovery rates ranged from 82.2% to 108.6% in three types of real samples, indicating a potential application in on-site fast screening or multiple detection for TMS and MG residues in aquatic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional neural networks tend to fall into local extremum on large datasets, while the research on the strength of rubber concrete using intelligent algorithms to optimize artificial neural networks is limited. Therefore, to improve the prediction accuracy of rubber concrete strength, an artificial neural network model with hybrid algorithm optimization was developed in this study. The main strategy is to mix the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, using the SA algorithm to compensate for the weak global search capability of the PSO algorithm at a later stage while changing the inertia factor of the PSO algorithm to an adaptive state. For this purpose, data were first collected from the published literature to create a database. Next, ANN and PSO-ANN models are also built for comparison while four evaluation metrics, MSE, RMSE, MAE, and R 2 , were used to assess the model performance. Finally, compared with empirical formulations and other neural network models, the result shows that the proposed optimized artificial neural network model successfully improves the accuracy of predicting the strength of rubber concrete. This provides a new option for predicting the strength of rubber concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proteinaceous nanovaccine delivery systems have significantly promoted the development of various high-efficiency vaccines. However, the widely used method of coupling the expression of scaffolds and antigens may result in their structural interference with each other. Monovalent streptavidin (mSA) is a short monomer sequence, which has a strong affinity for biotin. Here, we discuss an orthogonal, modular, and highly versatile self-assembled proteinaceous nanoparticle chassis that facilitates combinations with various antigen cargos by using mSA and biotin to produce nanovaccines. We first improved the yield of these nanoparticles by appending a short sugar chain on their surfaces in a constructed host strain. After confirming the strong ability to induce both Th1- and Th2-mediated immune responses based on the plasma cytokine spectrum from immunized mice, we further verified the binding ability of biotinylated nanoparticles to mSA-antigens. These results demonstrate that our biotinylated nanoparticle chassis could load both protein and polysaccharide antigens containing mSA at a high affinity. Our approach thus offers an attractive technology for combining nanoparticles and antigen cargos to generate various high-performance nanovaccines. In particular, the designed mSA connector (mSA containing glycosylation modification sequences) could couple with polysaccharide antigens, providing a new attractive strategy to prepare nanoscale conjugate vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the reform and opening-up policy of 1978, rural areas in China have experienced significant changes in spatial, social, economic, and environmental development. In this research, we aim to explore the changes in the discourses on rural development over the past 40 years. This can help to understand how problems are framed and why certain strategies are adopted at different times. We employ a quantitative approach and analyze keywords from 32,657 Chinese publications on rural development from 1981 to 2020. From the results, we distinguish eight development paradigms, including "household responsibility system", "rural commodity economy", "social market economy", "sustainable development", "Sannong", "building a new socialist countryside", "beautiful countryside", and "rural revitalization". We also interpret the discursive shifts in three aspects, i.e., actors, places, and activities. We argue that the key characteristic of current rural development discourse is the duality, which emerges between agricultural and non-agricultural industries, economic growth and environmental conservation, urban and rural development, top-down and bottom-up approaches, and modernist and postmodernist discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater is subjected to contamination threats from human activities, such as agriculture, especially long-term farming in the Sanjiang Plain, China. Identifying the sources and distribution of pollution is essential for its reasonable prevention and control. In this study, we analysed the chemical characteristics of 389 samples at 60 shallow groundwater monitoring points from 2011 to 2015 in the Sanjiang Plain using traditional hydrochemical methods, water quality assessment, Pearson's correlation, and principal component analysis (PCA). Although groundwater type in this area was predominantly HCO3-Ca·Mg, three forms of nitrogen pollution (ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite) were all detected in this area. The interaction of natural geochemical and anthropogenic factors during hydrochemical formation is confirmed by the high coefficients of variation and Gibbs plots of the main ions in the water. The overall shallow groundwater situation was described as good, with more than 40% and 90% of groundwater samples suitable for drinking and irrigation according to the quality assessment, respectively. The proportion of poor water quality in the wet season was higher than that in the dry season. NO3-N and NH3-N were identified as the major anthropogenic pollutants in the study area. Results from Pearson's correlation and principal component analysis shows two main pollutants fall into two chemical controlling factors together with natural chemical parameters, which implies that the migration and transformation of pollutants may have affected the overall hydrochemical characteristics of the regional groundwater. Therefore, findings from this paper can provide insight into the chemical evolution of groundwater in response to long-term agricultural activities and can help contribute to better management of groundwater resources and agricultural sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary microbial invasion frequently occurs during AIDS progression in HIV patients. Inflammatory cytokines and other immunoregulatory factors play important roles in this process. We previously established an AIDS model of SIVmac239 infection in northern pig-tailed macaques (NPMs), which were divided into rapid progressor (RP) and slow progressor (SP) groups according to their AIDS progression rates. In this study, we performed 16S rDNA and transcriptome sequencing of the lungs to reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the difference in progression rate between the RPs and SPs. We found that microbial invasion in the RP group was distinct from that in the SP group, showing marker flora of the Family XI, Enterococcus and Ezakiella, and more Lactobacilli. Through pulmonary transcriptome analysis, we found that the transcription factor ZNF683 had higher expression in the SP group than in the RP group. In subsequent functional experiments, we found that ZNF683 increased the proliferation and IFNγ secretion ability of CD8+ T cells, thus decreasing SIV or HIV replication, which may be related to AIDS progression in SIVmac239-infected NPMs. This study helps elucidate the various complexities of disease progression in HIV-1-infected individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology for eco-remediation of Cr(VI) pollution from a subsurface environment has great scientific value and practical significance due to its promising advantages of pollutant remediation and renewable energy generation. The aim of the current review is to summarize the migration characteristics of Cr(VI) in a subsurface soil/water environment and investigate the factors affecting the MFC performance for synchronous Cr(VI) remediation and power generation, and sequentially highlight diverse challenges of MFC technology for in situ remediation of subsurface groundwater and soils. The critical review put forward that Cr(VI) removal efficiency and energy production of MFC can be improved by enhancing the adjustability of cathode pH, setting potential, modifying electrode, and incorporating other technologies into MFC. It was recommended that designing typical large-scale, long-term continuous flow MFC systems, adding electron shuttle media or constructing artificial electron according to actual groundwater/soil and Cr(VI) pollution characteristics, site geology, and the hydrogeology condition (hydrochemical conditions, colloid type, and medium) are essential to overcome the limitations of the small size of the laboratory experiments and improve the application of technology to in situ Cr(VI) remediation. This review provided reference and ideas for future research of MFC-mediated onsite Cr(VI) remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma Treatments and Light Extraction from Fluorinated CVD-Grown (400) Single Crystal Diamond Nanopillars. (C) XPS spectrum of the plasma-fluorinated CVD-grown diamond. Figure Graph: Figure 3 (A) Photoluminescence scan of nanopillars etched into diamond after 0 V bias plasma fluorination. [Extracted from the article]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as key players in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, which is associated with significant risks of heart failure. However, many microRNAs are still not recognized for their functions in pathophysiological processes. In this study, we evaluated effects of miR-218 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy using both in vitro and in vivo models. We found that miR-218 was evidently downregulated in a transverse aortic constriction (TAC) mouse model. Overexpression of miR-218 is sufficient to reduce hypertrophy, whereas the suppression of miR-218 aggravates hypertrophy in primary cardiomyocytes induced by isoprenaline (ISO). In addition, we identified RE1-silencing transcription factor (REST) as a novel target of miR-218; it negatively regulated the expression of REST in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes and the TAC model. These results showed that miR-218 plays a crucial role in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, likely via targeting REST, suggesting a potential candidate target for interfering hypertrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral nerve injury involves divergent alterations within dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons sensitized by persistent inflammation. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) production is crucial in the development of chronic inflammatory responses. Herein, we investigate the changes of TSLP expression in rats' DRG neurons between injured and uninjured sides in the same rat. Linalyl acetate (LA) was served as a TSLP inhibitor and given intraperitoneally. Rats were assigned to be group of chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve and the group of CCI of the sciatic nerve administrated with LA. Over 14 days, the rats were measured for paw withdrawal thresholds. DRGs were collected to assess morphological changes via immunofluorescence study. After receiving CCI, the rats rapidly developed mechanical hyperalgesia. TSLP expression at DRG, on the ipsilateral injured side, was consistent with changes in pain behaviors. TSLP appeared in nerve fibers with both small diameters and large diameters. Additionally, TSLP was expressed mostly in transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1)-positive nociceptive neurons. Administration with LA can attenuate the pain behaviors and expression of TSLP in DRG neurons, and in apoptotic neurons at the injured side, but not in the contra-lateral uninjured side. Overall, these results imply that altered expressions of TSLP in nociceptive DRG neurons contributed to mechanical hyperalgesia in a CCI rat model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of intelligent construction, the intelligent surveillance system using computer vision technology has emerged as a prominent tool to identify unsafe behaviors on construction sites. At the same time, it is still viewed with suspicion by the construction industry, and its penetration rate remains low. To promote the successful implementation of the intelligent surveillance system, this study applied the technology acceptance model approach and developed an intelligent surveillance system acceptance model (ISSTAM) containing 12 variables from individual, organizational, environmental, and technical perspectives. Questionnaires were distributed to construction industry practitioners, 220 of whom provided valid data. Moreover, a structural equation model (SEM) was established for hypothesis testing. The research results suggest that job relevance, government action, training, and technical support positively and indirectly influence the use intention. Meanwhile, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and cost savings directly and positively affect use intention, while privacy risk is verified to have a negative impact upon use intention. This study can help the government, organizations, and technology developers better apply the intelligent surveillance system to improve safety management levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surrogate endpoints have been used to assess the efficacy of a treatment and can potentially reduce the duration and/or number of required patients for clinical trials. Using information theory, Alonso et al. (2007) proposed a unified framework based on Shannon entropy, a new definition of surrogacy that departed from the hypothesis testing framework. In this paper, a new family of surrogacy measures under Havrda and Charvat (H-C) entropy is derived which contains Alonso's definition as a particular case. Furthermore, we extend our approach to a new model based on the information-theoretic measure of association for a longitudinally collected continuous surrogate endpoint for a binary clinical endpoint of a clinical trial using H-C entropy. The new model is illustrated through the analysis of data from a completed clinical trial. It demonstrates advantages of H-C entropy-based surrogacy measures in the evaluation of scheduling longitudinal biomarker visits for a phase 2 randomized controlled clinical trial for treatment of multiple sclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), leading to severe disability and high fatality in survivors, is a devastating disease. Neuro-inflammation, a critical mechanism of cerebral vasospasm and brain injury from SAH, is tightly related to prognoses. Interestingly, studies indicate that 2-[(pyridine-2-ylmethyl)-amino]-phenol (2-PMAP) crosses the blood–brain barrier easily. Here, we investigated whether the vasodilatory and neuroprotective roles of 2-PMAP were observed in SAH rats. Rats were assigned to three groups: sham, SAH and SAH+2-PMAP. SAHs were induced by a cisterna magna injection. In the SAH+2-PMAP group, 5 mg/kg 2-PMAP was injected into the subarachnoid space before SAH induction. The administration of 2-PMAP markedly ameliorated cerebral vasospasm and decreased endothelial apoptosis 48 h after SAH. Meanwhile, 2-PMAP decreased the severity of neurological impairments and neuronal apoptosis after SAH. Furthermore, 2-PMAP decreased the activation of microglia and astrocytes, expressions of TLR-4 and p-NF-κB, inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) and reactive oxygen species. This study is the first to confirm that 2-PMAP has vasodilatory and neuroprotective effects in a rat model of SAH. Taken together, the experimental results indicate that 2-PMAP treatment attenuates neuro-inflammation, oxidative stress and cerebral vasospasm, in addition to ameliorating neurological deficits, and that these attenuating and ameliorating effects are conferred through the TLR-4/NF-κB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoscale tellurium (Te) materials are promising for advanced optoelectronics owing to their outstanding photoelectrical properties. In this work, high-performance optoelectronic nanodevice based on a single tellurium nanotube (NT) was prepared by focused ion beam (FIB)-assisted technique. The individual Te NT photodetector demonstrates a high photoresponsivity of 1.65 × 104 AW−1 and a high photoconductivity gain of 5.0 × 106%, which shows great promise for further optoelectronic device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal contamination in groundwater is a serious environmental problem. Many microorganisms that survive in subsurface porous media also produce extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), but little is known about the effect of these EPS on the fate and transport of heavy metals in aquifers. In this study, EPS extracted from soil with a steam method were used to study the adsorption behaviors of Cu2+ and Cd2+, employing quartz sand as a subsurface porous medium. The results showed that EPS had a good adsorption capacity for Cu2+ (13.5 mg/g) and Cd2+ (14.1 mg/g) that can be viewed using the Temkin and Freundlich models, respectively. At a pH value of 6.5 ± 0.1 and a temperature of 20 °C, EPS showed a greater affinity for Cu2+ than for Cd2+. The binding force between EPS and quartz sand was weak. The prior saturation of the sand media with EPS solution can significantly promote the migration of the Cu2+ and Cd2+ in sand columns by 8.8% and 32.1%, respectively. When treating both metals simultaneously, the migration of Cd2+ was found to be greater than that of Cu2+. This also demonstrated that EPS can promote the co-migration of Cu2+ and Cd2+ in saturated porous media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chewing betel nut is common in Taiwan. Although previous studies have shown that chewing betel nuts is associated with adverse health effects, findings about the impact on bone density have been inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between betel nut chewing and calcaneus ultrasound T-score in a longitudinal study of 118,856 participants from the Taiwan Biobank. Of these participants, 27,002 were followed up with for a median of 4 years. The T-score of the calcaneus was measured in the non-dominant foot using ultrasound. Multivariable analysis showed that a history of chewing betel nut (coefficient β = −0.232; p < 0.001) was significantly associated with low baseline T-score in all participants (n = 118,856). In addition, a long duration of betel nut chewing (per 1 year; coefficient β = −0.003; p = 0.022) was significantly associated with a low baseline T-score in the participants with a history of chewing betel nut (n = 7210). Further, a long duration of betel nut chewing (per 1 year; coefficient β = −0.004; p = 0.039) was significantly associated with a low ΔT-score in the participants with a history of chewing betel nut (n = 1778) after 4 years of follow-up. In conclusion, our results showed that betel nut chewing was associated with a decrease in calcaneus ultrasound T-score, and thus, it is important to stop chewing betel nut to help prevent an increased risk of osteoporosis in the Taiwanese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coinfection caused by various genotypes of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a new disease situation. We previously reported the coexistence of PEDV strains containing different ORF3 genotypes in China. In this study, the PEDV strains 17GXCZ-1ORF3d and 17GXCZ-1ORF3c were isolated and plaque-purified from the same piglet, which had a natural large deletion at the 172–554 bp position of the ORF3 gene or possessed a complete ORF3 gene, respectively. Meanwhile, 17GXCZ-1ORF3d had >99% nt identity with 17GXCZ-1ORF3c in the 5′UTR, ORF1a/1b, S, E, M, N and 3′UTR regions but only demonstrated low nucleotide identities (80.5%) in the ORF3 gene. To elucidate the pathogenicity, 7-day-old piglets were infected. Piglets infected with these two PEDV strains exhibited severe clinical signs and shed the virus at the highest level within 96 hpi. Compared with the piglets inoculated with the 17GXCZ-1ORF3c strain, the piglets inoculated with the 17GXCZ-1ORF3d strain had higher mortality rates (75% vs. 50%), an earlier onset of clinical signs with a significantly higher diarrhea score, lower VH:CD ratios and a higher percentage of PEDV-positive enterocytes. This study is the first to report PEDV coinfections with different ORF3 genotypes, and a PEDV strain with a large deletion in the ORF3 gene might have the advantage of a potential genetic marker, which would be useful during vaccine development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a well-known cytokine for T helper 2 inflammatory responses. A nerve injury activates the neuroinflammation cascade and neuron–glia interaction in dorsal root ganglions (DRG)s, leading to neuropathic pain. Therefore, this study was to investigate the role of TSLP after nerve injury. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided as an experimental group with chronic constriction injury (CCI) to the sciatic nerve and a control group. The mechanical pain threshold response was determined by calibration forceps. After assessment of mechanical allodynia, the ipsilateral spinal cord, DRG, sciatic nerve and skin were harvested. Immunofluorescence staining was performed to identify cell types with various markers. Western blot analyses were performed to evaluate protein expressions. Mechanical allodynia developed after CCI and persisted for the next 14 days. Astrocyte reactions occurred and continued until day 14, too. After CCI, DRG and the sciatic nerve also had significantly increased expressions of TSLP/TSLP-R/STAT5. The TSLPR was localized to sensory neuronal endings innervating the skin. This study is the first to demonstrate that the TSLP complex and the STAT5 pathway in nerve are potential therapeutic targets because of their roles in pain regulation after nerve injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity is a major abiotic stressor that leads to productivity losses in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In this study, transcriptome profiling and heterosis-related genes were analyzed by ribonucleic acid sequencing (RNA-Seq) in seedlings of a mega rice hybrid, Liang-You-Pei-Jiu (LYP9), and its two parents 93–11 and Pei-ai64s (PA64s), under control and two different salinity levels, where we found 8292, 8037, and 631 salt-induced differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. Heterosis-related DEGs were obtained higher after 14 days of salt treatment than after 7 days. There were 631 and 4237 salt-induced DEGs related to heterosis under 7-day and 14-day salt stresses, respectively. Gene functional classification showed the expression of genes involved in photosynthesis activity after 7-day stress treatment, and in metabolic and catabolic activity after 14 days. In addition, we correlated the concurrence of an expression of DEGs for the bHLH transcription factor and a shoot length/salinity-related quantitative trait locus qSL7 that we fine-mapped previously, providing a confirmed case of heterosis-related genes. This experiment reveals the transcriptomic divergence of the rice F1 hybrid and its parental lines under control and salt stress state, and enlightens about the significant molecular mechanisms developed over time in response to salt stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A keloid is a fibroproliferative skin tumor. Proliferating keloid fibroblasts (KFs) demand active metabolic utilization. The contributing roles of glycolysis and glucose metabolism in keloid fibroproliferation remain unclear. This study aims to determine the regulation of glycolysis and glucose metabolism by glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1), an essential protein to initiate cellular glucose uptake, in keloids and in KFs. Tissues of keloids and healthy skin were explanted for KFs and normal fibroblasts (NFs), respectively. GLUT-1 expression was measured by immunofluorescence, RT-PCR, and immunoblotting. The oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) were measured with or without WZB117, a GLUT-1 inhibitor. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were assayed by MitoSOX immunostaining. The result showed that glycolysis (ECAR) was enhanced in KFs, whereas OCR was not. GLUT-1 expression was selectively increased in KFs. Consistently, GLUT-1 expression was increased in keloid tissue. Treatment with WZB117 abolished the enhanced ECAR, including glycolysis and glycolytic capacity, in KFs. ROS levels were increased in KFs compared to those in NFs. GLUT-1 inhibition suppressed not only the ROS levels but also the cell proliferation in KFs. In summary, the GLUT-1-dependent glycolysis and ROS production mediated fibroblast proliferation in keloids. GLUT1 might be a potential target for metabolic reprogramming to treat keloids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural development research integrates numerous theoretical and empirical studies and has evolved over the past few decades. However, few systematic literature reviews have explored the changing landscape. This study aims to obtain an overview of rural development research by applying a bibliometric and visual analysis. In this paper, we introduce four computer-based software tools, including HistCite™, CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Map and Alluvial Generator, to help with data collection, data analysis, and visualization. The dataset consists of 6968 articles of rural development research, which were downloaded from the database Web of Science. The period covers 1957 to 2020 and the analysis units include journals, categories, authors, references, and keywords. Co-occurrence and co-citation analysis are conducted, and the results are exported in the format of networks. We analyze the trends of publications and explore the discipline distribution and identify the most influential authors and articles at different times. The results show that this field of study has attracted progressively more scholars from a variety of research fields and has become multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. The changing knowledge domains of rural development research also reflect the dynamics and complexity of rural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactic acid bacteria have functions in immunoregulation, antagonism, and pathogen inhibition. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in countering oral pathogens and develop related products. After a series of assays to 450 LAB strains, 8 heat-inactivated strains showed a strong inhibitory effect on a caries pathogen, Streptococcus mutans, and 308 heat-inactivated LAB strains showed a strong inhibitory effect on a periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis. The key reasons for inhibiting oral pathogens were bacteriocins produced by LAB and the coaggregation effect of the inactivated cells. We selected Lacticaseibacillus (Lb) paracasei 111 and Lb.paracasei 141, which had the strongest inhibitory effects on the above pathogens, was the main oral health food source. The optimal cultural conditions of Lb. paracasei 111 and Lb. paracasei 141 were studied. An oral tablet with a shelf life of 446 days made of the above strains was developed. A 40 volunteers' clinical study (CSMUH IRB number: CS05065) was conducted with this tablet in the Periodontological Department of the Stomatology Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Chung Shan Medical University (Taiwan). After 8 weeks of testing, 95% and 78.9% of patients showed an effect on reducing periodontal pathogens and improving probing pocket depth, respectively, in the oral tablet group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recessive variants of the SLC26A4 gene are globally a common cause of hearing impairment. In the past, cell lines and transgenic mice were widely used to investigate the pathogenicity associated with SLC26A4 variants. However, discrepancies in pathogenicity between humans and cell lines or transgenic mice were documented for some SLC26A4 variants. For instance, the p.C565Y variant, which was reported to be pathogenic in humans, did not exhibit functional pathogenic consequences in cell lines. To address the pathogenicity of p.C565Y, we used a genotype-based approach in which we generated knock-in mice that were heterozygous (Slc26a4+/C565Y), homozygous (Slc26a4C565Y/C565Y), and compound heterozygous (Slc26a4919-2A>G/C565Y) for this variant. Subsequent phenotypic characterization revealed that mice with these genotypes demonstrated normal auditory and vestibular functions, and normal inner-ear morphology and pendrin expression. These findings indicate that the p.C565Y variant is nonpathogenic for mice, and that a single p.C565Y allele is sufficient to maintain normal inner-ear physiology in mice. Our results highlight the differences in pathogenicity associated with certain SLC26A4 variants between transgenic mice and humans, which should be considered when interpreting the results of animal studies for SLC26A4-related deafness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tremendous amount of work has been done in the recent years in the optimization of input parameters, however, current optimization techniques can only provide a single optimal input process parameter combination. Although alternative techniques have been developed to provide multiple solutions with identical objective values, these techniques have low efficiency when searching for multiple solutions. In this paper, a two-stage filter split-optimization approach is proposed to obtain multiple solutions, at a higher efficiency than for a single-objective optimization problem. The aforementioned tasks are accomplished by first performing an initial split-optimization and then performing a second optimization after excluding input parameters from having their range split into sub-ranges based on the results of the initial optimization. The proposed approach enables the algorithm to explore input parameters that have a more significant impact on the objective function, thereby enabling it to find multiple optimal solutions more efficiently. The proposed approach was validated by using it to optimize the input process parameters of an electrochemical machining problem with five input parameters. The results from the case study show that though the proposed approach provided fewer optimal solutions it was able to obtain them at twice the efficiency when compared to the original method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis B is a globally prevalent viral infectious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). In this study, an immunochromatographic assay (ICA) for the rapid detection of hepatitis B preS2 antigen (preS2Ag) was established. The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) indirectly labelled with goat anti-mouse (GAM) secondary antibody were applied as a nanoprobe for free preS2 antibody (preS2Ab) capturing and signal amplification. By employing sample pre-incubation processing as well, preS2Ag-preS2Ab was sufficiently caught by the GAM-MNPs probe in 5 min. A qualitative sensitivity of 625 ng/mL was obtained by naked-eye observation within 15–20 min. A standard curve (0–5000 ng/mL) was established, with a quantitative limit of detection (LOD) of 3.6 ng/mL, based on the stability and penetrability of the magnetic signal characteristics. The proposed method for preS2Ag was rapid (~25 min, cf. ELISA ~4 h) and had a good accuracy, which was verified using an ELISA kit (relative error < 15%). Large equipment and skilled technicians were not required. The sensitivity and specificity of the developed GAM-MNPs-ICA method were 93.3% and 90% in clinical serum samples (n = 25), respectively. A good detection consistency (84%) was observed between the developed ICA method and 2 types of commercial ELISA kits, indicating that the GAM-MNPs-ICA has a potential application in large-scale screening for and point-of-care diagnosis of hepatitis B or other infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages around the world, which is mainly produced from the allopolyploid Coffea arabica. The genomes of C. arabica and its two ancestors C. canephora and C. eugenioides have been released due to the development of next generation sequencing. However, few studies on C. arabica are related to the PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin efflux transporter despite its importance in auxin-mediated plant growth and development. In the present study, we conducted a genome-wide analysis of the PIN gene family in the three coffee species. Totals of 17, 9 and 10 of the PIN members were characterized in C. Arabica, C. canephora and C. eugenioides, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed gene loss of PIN1 and PIN2 homologs in C. arabica, as well as gene duplication of PIN5 homologs during the fractionation process after tetraploidy. Furthermore, we conducted expression analysis of PIN genes in C. arabica by in silico and qRT-PCR. The results revealed the existence of gene expression dominance in allopolyploid coffee and illustrated several PIN candidates in regulating auxin transport and homeostasis under leaf rust fungus inoculation and the tissue-specific expression pattern of C. arabica. Together, this study provides the basis and guideline for future functional characterization of the PIN gene family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) has been used as a preferred platform for the production of recombinant protein complexes and efficacious vaccines. However, limited protein yield hinders the application of BEVS. It is well accepted that transcription enhancers are capable of increasing translational efficiency of mRNAs, thereby achieving better protein production. In this study, the ability of LvYY1 as a transcription enhancer was assessed. LvYY1 could interact with the WSSV ie1 promoter via binding to special DNA sites in BEVS. The effects of LvYY1 on protein expression mediated by WSSV ie1 promoter of BEVS was investigated using eGFP as a reporter gene. Enhanced eGFP expression was observed in Sf-9 cells with LvYY1. On this basis, a modified vector combining ie1 promoter and LvYY1 was developed to express either secreting CSFV E2 or baculovirus surface displayed H5 HA of AIVs. Compared to control groups without LvYY1, E2 protein yield increases to 1.6-fold, while H5 production improves as revealed by an upregulated hemagglutination titer of 8-fold at least. Moreover, with LvYY1, H5 displaying baculovirus driven by WSSV ie1 promoter (BV-LvYY1-ie1-HA) sustains the transduction activity in CEF cells. In chicken, BV-LvYY1-ie1-HA elicits a robust immune response against H5 AIVs in the absence of adjuvant, as indicated by specific antibody and cytokine responses. The findings suggest its potential function as both a vectored and subunit vaccine. These results demonstrate that the coexpression with LvYY1 serves as a promising strategy to extensively improve the efficiency of BEVS for efficacious vaccine production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As metro systems are becoming more and more widely used, all kinds of emergencies happen from time to time. A series of cases indicate that inefficient emergency response is a dominating cause of tremendous casualties and losses. The fast and valid allocation of emergency resources after the occurrence of metro emergencies has become a key point in improving the sustainability of metro operations. However, few studies have attempted to determine the allocation of emergency resources in metro emergencies. In this study, considering the unpredictability of different emergency scenarios in the metro system, the scenario-response mode was applied in the resource allocation decision. In this mode, a metro emergency scenario framework was first constructed through the identification of metro emergency elements. Next, a multi-objective model was established for the allocation of emergency resources in the metro emergency rescue process using a scenario-based analysis. The model aims to minimize both the penalty costs due to delays and the sum of allocation costs. The particle swarm optimization algorithm was adopted to solve the model. Eventually, a fire accident scenario at Nanjing Metro was applied to verify the feasibility and validity of the presented model and algorithm. The research results not only enrich and improve metro emergency management theoretically, but also enhance metro emergency rescue ability in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]