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[Display omitted] • The 0D/1D CuWO 4 /Mn 0.3 Cd 0.7 S S-scheme heterojunction was synthesized successfully. • The catalysts achieved full-spectrum dual-functional photocatalytic degradation and hydrogen production. • The full-spectrum responses mechanism and S-scheme heterojunction mechanism were explained by DFT. Integrating photocatalytic oxidation for pollutant removal with hydrogen production via photocatalysis presents a promising approach for sustainable water purification and renewable energy generation, circumventing the sluggish multi-electron transfer inherent in photocatalytic water oxidation. This study introduces novel zero-/one-dimensional (0D/1D) CuWO 4 /Mn 0.3 Cd 0.7 S step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunctions that exhibit exceptional bifunctional capabilities in photocatalytic degradation and hydrogen production under full-spectrum illumination. The degradation efficiency for tetracycline (TC) using 5 %-CuWO 4 /Mn 0.3 Cd 0.7 S reaches 94.3 % and 94.5 % within 60 min and 6 h, respectively, under ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) and near-infrared (NIR) light. Notably, these 0D/1D CuWO 4 /Mn 0.3 Cd 0.7 S S-scheme heterojunctions demonstrate superior hydrogen production, achieving rates of 12442.03 μL g-1h−1 and 2418.54 μL g-1h−1 under UV–Vis light and NIR light irradiation, respectively—these rates are 2.3 times and 55.2 times higher than that of Mn 0.3 Cd 0.7 S alone. This performance enhancement is attributed to the intrinsic dimensional effects, transitions of transition metal d-d orbitals, and S-scheme hole/electron (h+/e−) separation characteristics. Additionally, experimental results and density functional theory (DFT) calculations have clarified the modulation of electronic configurations, band alignment, and interfacial interactions via 0D/1D S-scheme heterojunction engineering. This study sheds light on the electron transfer mechanism within S-scheme heterojunction and enhances the effectiveness, economy, and sustainability of recalcitrant pollutant removal and hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amorphous-crystalline heterostructure (Ni/NiMoO 4 /NiCo(OH) x) is prepared by wet chemical etching method for HMFOR and HER. The interaction between NiCo(OH) x and Ni/NiMoO 4 heterointerface regulates the electronic structure of catalyst to facilitate the adsorption behavior of reaction intermediates, thereby showing good performance for HMFOR-assisted H 2 production. [Display omitted] • Coupling of crystalline and amorphous materials provides abundant active sites. • Interactions between heterointerfaces optimize the adsorption of intermediates. • High FDCA selectivity (99.8%) and stability (40 cycles) for HMF oxidation. • Only 1.34 V is required to reach 10 mA cm−2 for HMFOR-assisted H 2 production. The development of catalysts with high activity, selectivity, and stability is critical for biomass upgrading coupled with hydrogen evolution. In this study, we present a simple method for fabricating crystalline-amorphous phase heterostructures using the etching effect of the acidic medium generated during cobalt salt hydrolysis, resulting in the formation of NiCo(OH) x -modified Ni/NiMoO 4 nanosheets electrode (NiCo(OH) x /Ni/NiMoO 4 /NF). The nanosheets array formed during the synthesis process enlarges the surface area of the prepared catalyst, which facilitates the exposure of electrochemically active sites and improves mass transfer. Unexpectedly, the strong coupling interactions between the amorphous-crystalline heterointerface optimize the adsorption of reaction molecules and the corresponding charge transfer process, consequently boosting the catalytic activity for the 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation reaction (HMFOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Specifically, NiCo(OH) x /Ni/NiMoO 4 /NF catalyst requires only 1.34 V to obtain a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HMFOR-coupled H 2 evolution, and operates stably for 13 consecutive cycles with good product selectivity. This work thus provides insights into the design of efficient and robust catalysts for HMFOR-assisted H 2 evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a kind of coupled FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) equations, combined the classical FHN equations with the mechanics equation. The traveling pulses in coupled FHN equations in the presence of doubly-diffusive effect and local time delay are investigated. The singular orbits are constructed by analyzing limit dynamics of the equations in the traveling wave framework. Particularly, the full system involves three time scales, making it more challenging to seek for the invariant manifold. In order to establish the traveling pulses for the full system, the main analysis relies on the geometric singular perturbation theory and Exchange Lemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is one of the tightest physical barriers to prevent pathogens from invading the central nervous system (CNS). However, the mechanism by which Zika virus (ZIKV) crossing the BBB remains unresolved. We found ZIKV induced high morbidity and mortality in newborn mice, accompanied by inflammatory injury on CNS. ZIKV was found to replicate primarily in the cortex and hippocampus in neonatal mouse brains. An in vitro model revealed that ZIKV had no impact on hBMECs permeability but led to endothelial activation, as shown by the enhancement of adhesion molecules expression and F-actin redistribution. ZIKV replication in hBMECs might be associated with the suppression of IFN-β translation via inhibiting RPS6 phosphorylation. On the other hand, ZIKV infection induced IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs), activated the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, and promoted chemokine secretion. This study provides an understanding of virus replication and transmigration across the BBB during ZIKV infection. • ZIKV was found to replicate primarily in the cortex and hippocampus in neonatal mouse brains. • ZIKV had no impact on hBMECs permeability but led to endothelial activation. • ZIKV replicated on hBMECs might associate with the suppression of IFN-β translation via inhibiting RPS6 phosphorylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Congenital blindness leads to the reorganization of hemispheric asymmetry. • Decreased properties in the left occipital regions causes the changes of asymmetry. • The reorganized asymmetry is associated with interhemispheric connections. Congenital blindness offers a unique opportunity to investigate human brain plasticity. The influence of congenital visual loss on the asymmetry of the structural network remains poorly understood. To address this question, we recruited 21 participants with congenital blindness (CB) and 21 age-matched sighted controls (SCs). Employing diffusion and structural magnetic resonance imaging, we constructed hemispheric white matter (WM) networks using deterministic fiber tractography and applied graph theory methodologies to assess topological efficiency (i.e., network global efficiency, network local efficiency, and nodal local efficiency) within these networks. Statistical analyses revealed a consistent leftward asymmetry in global efficiency across both groups. However, a different pattern emerged in network local efficiency, with the CB group exhibiting a symmetric state, while the SC group showed a leftward asymmetry. Specifically, compared to the SC group, the CB group exhibited a decrease in local efficiency in the left hemisphere, which was caused by a reduction in the nodal properties of some key regions mainly distributed in the left occipital lobe. Furthermore, interhemispheric tracts connecting these key regions exhibited significant structural changes primarily in the splenium of the corpus callosum. This result confirms the initial observation that the reorganization in asymmetry of the WM network following congenital visual loss is associated with structural changes in the corpus callosum. These findings provide novel insights into the neuroplasticity and adaptability of the brain, particularly at the network level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese medicine residue (CMR) is composed of wet substances, so using hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) to recover renewable energy from the residue is a suitable treatment method. Chromium (Cr), a kind of heavy metal element, is enriched in hydrochar and severely restricts its effective utilization. An in-depth analysis of the migration path and mechanism of Cr in hydrochar is helpful in promoting energy utilization for CMR. Here, licorice, a significant Chinese medicine, was selected as the example to analyze the evolutions of its pore and chemical structures and their effects on the migration mechanism of Cr during the HTC process. The products obtained under various HTC conditions were analyzed using nitrogen adsorption, FTIR, and 13C NMR. The results show that, considering reaction time and relevant reactions as the primary factors during the HTC process, the migration pathway of Cr in hydrochar undergoes two stages, and they are the accompanying migration stage and the recovery aggregation stage. Active adsorption sites for Cr may exist within the pore structure of hydrochar. In the HTC process, hydrolysis, decarboxylation, and decarbonylation reactions are the direct drivers of Cr migration, while aromatization is the underlying cause of Cr recovery and aggregation. It is hypothesized that Cr catalyzes the acetylene cyclotrimerization reaction, thereby promoting the formation of aromatic structures in hydrochar and integrating into the hydrochar carbon skeleton. [Display omitted] • The migration pathway of Chromium (Cr) in hydrochars undergoes two stages. • The presence of active adsorption sites for chromium on hydrochars. • Reactions such as hydrolysis are the direct drivers of Cr migration. • The aromatization reaction is the underlying cause of the change in Cr content. • The Cr-catalyzed reaction promotes the generation of aromatic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Bifunctional phosphated gallia with high BET SSA was prepared by solvent-free method. • Synthesized catalyst was used in the catalytic conversion of carbohydrates to HMF. • Lewis (L-) acidity arose from Ga3+, whereas P-OH was responsible for B-acid sites. • Main influential parameters on HMF yield were optimized using Box-Behnken design. • Optimal GaP exhibited ∼ 66, 57 and 50% HMF yields for glucose, sucrose, and starch. To develop an efficient catalyst/process for the production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), bifunctional phosphated gallia (GaP) catalysts were prepared by solid-state grinding, an eco-friendly method, and applied for glucose-to-HMF transformation. Strong Lewis (L) acid sites for isomerization of glucose-to-fructose were introduced by unsaturated Ga3+, while Bronsted (B) acid sites for dehydration of fructose-to-HMF were originated from P-OH group. The glucose-to-HMF process was optimized by response surface methodology to maximize the HMF yield. Complete glucose conversion and 65.72 ± 2.3% HMF yield were obtained at 175 °C, 2.75 h in THF/H 2 O biphasic-system. This catalytic performance can be attributed to the high surface area/porosity, sufficient total acidity, and well-balanced B/L acid sites of the GaP. Reusability/stability of the catalyst was demonstrated in 4 consecutive experiments. This catalyst also proved to be active in transforming other carbohydrates to HMF, obtaining ∼ 57%, ∼ 50%, and ∼ 31% yield with sucrose, starch, and cellulose, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine depend on the N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor containing 2B subunit (NR2B), whose function is influenced by its phosphorylated regulation and distribution within and outside synapses. It remains unclear if ketamine's rapid onset of antidepressant effects relies on the dynamic phosphorylated regulation of NR2B within and outside synapses. Here, we show that ketamine rapidlyalleviated depression-like behaviors and normalized abnormal expression of pTyr 1472 NR2B and striatal-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase (STEP) 61 within and outside synapses in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) induced by chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) and conditional knockdown of STEP 61, a key phosphatase of NR2B, within 1 hour after administration Together, our results delineate the rapid initiation of ketamine's antidepressant effects results from the restoration of NR2B phosphorylation homeostasis within and outside synapses. The dynamic regulation of phosphorylation of NR2B provides a new perspective for developing new antidepressant strategies. [Display omitted] • NR2B plays a critical role in the rapid antidepressants' effects of ketamine in rats. • STEP 61 regulates homeostasis of NR2B phosphorylation within and outside synapses. • Chronic stress and knockdown of STEP 61 disrupts homeostasis of NR2B phosphorylation. • Ketamine rescues NR2B phosphorylation imbalance initiate rapid antidepressant effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gait recognition is a promising biometric technology that aims to identify the target subject via walking pattern. Most existing appearance-based methods focus on learning discriminative spatio-temporal representations from gait silhouettes. However, these methods pay less attention to probing the causality between identity factors and identity labels, which often mislead the model to learn gait representations that are susceptible to identity-irrelevant factors. In this paper, we attribute the cause that leads to the decline of model generalization under different external conditions to identity-irrelevant factors. We formulate the causalities among the identity factors, identity-irrelevant factors, and identity labels as a structural causal model (SCM). We accordingly propose a novel gait recognition framework named GaitSCM to learn covariate invariant gait representations, which is mainly composed of three components, including feature extraction module, feature disentanglement module, and backdoor adjustment. Specifically, we design a feature extractor with regard to the movement patterns of different body parts to learn fine-grained gait motion features, and then present a two-branch feature decoupling module to disentangle identity features and identity-irrelevant features with the aid of the classification confusion loss. To relieve the negative effect of identity-irrelevant factors, we develop a backdoor adjustment strategy to eliminate spurious associations between identity and identity-irrelevant features, which further facilitates the proposed framework to generate more powerful identity representations. Extensive experiments conducted on two public datasets validate the effectiveness of our method. The average Rank-1 can reach 93.2% and 90.4% on CASIA-B and OU-MVLP datasets, respectively, which verifies the superiority of GaitSCM. Source code is released at: https://github.com/HuoweiCode/GaitSCM. • A novel causal representation learning framework GaitSCM for gait recognition is proposed. • A causal analysis based on SCM reveals the spurious relation in gait recognition. • Feature decoupling and backdoor adjustment are used to perform causal intervention. • GaitSCM achieves competitive results on the CASIA-B and OU-MVLP datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cell therapy has achieved remarkable efficacy in treating hematological malignancies, but it confronts many challenges in treating solid tumors, such as the immunosuppressive microenvironment of the solid tumors. These factors reduce the antitumor activity of CAR-T cells in clinical trials. Therefore, we used the immunocytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) to enhance the efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy. In this study, we engineered CAR-IL12R54 T cells that targeted mesothelin (MSLN) and secreted a single-chain IL-12 fused to a scFv fragment R54 that recognized a different epitope on mesothelin. The evaluation of the anti-tumor activity of the CAR-IL12R54 T cells alone or in combination with anti-PD-1 antibody in vitro and in vivo was followed by the exploration of the functional mechanism by which the immunocytokine IL-12 enhanced the antitumor activity. CAR-IL12R54 T cells had potency to lyse mesothelin positive tumor cells in vitro. In vivo studies demonstrated that CAR-IL12R54 T cells were effective in controlling the growth of established tumors in a xenograft mouse model with fewer side effects than CAR-T cells that secreted naked IL-12. Furthermore, combination of PD-1 blockade antibody with CAR-IL12R54 T cells elicited durable anti-tumor responses. Mechanistic studies showed that IL12R54 enhanced Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production and dampened the activity of regulatory T cells (Tregs). IL12R54 also upregulated CXCR6 expression in the T cells through the NF-κB pathway, which facilitated T cell infiltration and persistence in the tumor tissues. In summary, the studies provide a good therapeutic option for the clinical treatment of solid tumors. [Display omitted] • CAR-IL12R54 T exhibits superior anti-tumor activity and safety profile than CAR T and CAR-IL12 T. • Combination of PD-1 blockade antibody and CAR-IL12R54 T cells induces durable anti-tumor immunity. • IL12 enhances CXCR6 expression in T cells, facilitating their tumor infiltration and persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Antibiotics as emerging pollutants in water pose great risks to human health. Due to their persistence in the environment, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been proposed for the degradation of antibiotics. Therefore, developing efficient catalysts for AOPs becomes critical for the removal of antibiotics. Herein, we develop self-propelled CuS-based micromotors (CuS@Fe 3 O 4 /Pt) as active heterogenous catalysts for efficient photo-Fenton degradation of antibiotics. Combining the merits of conventional heterogenous and homogenous catalysts, the prepared micromotors are easy to recycle and free of secondary pollution risks, while demonstrating high degradation efficiency due to self-induced intensification of mass transfer via autonomous motion and microbubble generation. The H 2 O 2 in the Fenton reagents can serve as the fuel for the micromotors to drive their self-propulsion by bubbles generated from catalytic decomposition of H 2 O 2 by the platinum layer. The dual-stimuli-responsiveness of the micromotors to magnetic field and light irradiation allows multi-modes of propulsion and guidance in different systems. The efficient photothermal effect of CuS enables the micromotors to achieve collective phototactic motion toward light, whereas magnetic responsiveness facilitates the recovery and collection of the micromotors. The synergistic effect of CuS and Fe 3 O 4 NPs in H 2 O 2 under visible light irradiation generates a large amount of OH · and · O 2 – to effectively degrade tetracycline within several minutes. With these advantages, the dual-stimuli-responsive CuS-based micromotors provide a new strategy for enhanced degradation of antibiotics in water purification applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • ZnO@Bi 4 O 5 I 2 /ZnS tandem heterojunction is fabricated by three thermal reactions. • Unique core-shell nanostructure restrains photo-corrosion of Bi 4 O 5 I 2. • Tandem heterojunction favors spatial charge separation. • The narrow bandgap of 2.40 eV extends the photoresponse region. A novel zinc sulfide quantum dot (ZnS QD)/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanosphere/bismuth-enriched bismuth oxyiodide (Bi 4 O 5 I 2) tandem heterojunction photocatalyst is fabricated through two-step solvothermal, calcination and one-step hydrothermal strategies. The successfully constructed core-shell nanostructure can increase the interface area and the active sites of the composite photocatalysts. The formation of a Z-scheme/Type-II tandem heterojunction favors the transfer and spatial separation of charge carriers, in which Bi 4 O 5 I 2 plays a bridging role to connect ZnO and ZnS. Simultaneously, the participation of Bi 4 O 5 I 2 significantly shortens the band gap of the composite photocatalyst. This dual functional ZnO@Bi 4 O 5 I 2 /ZnS composite photocatalyst has a high photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 578.4 µmol g−1h−1 and an excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency for bisphenol A (BPA) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (TCP). In addition, cycling tests show that ZnO@Bi 4 O 5 I 2 /ZnS has a high stability, which is favorable for practical applications. This novel ZnO@Bi 4 O 5 I 2 /ZnS Z-scheme/Type-II tandem heterojunction photocatalyst will provide new ideas for the multichannel charge transfer of other highly efficient heterojunction photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent mRNA modification in mammals. However, m6A modification profiling and its potential role in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have not yet been investigated. In this work, we performed comprehensive m6A analysis in placental tissues from GDM and control patients to elucidate the role of m6A in GDM. An m6A RNA profile identified that m6A levels were strongly decreased in 3′-untranslated regions (UTRs) and coding sequences (CDSs) near stop codons in GDM placenta samples. Among the many methylated mRNAs, MazF-qPCR verified that the m6A levels of the BAMBI 3′-UTR and CDS were significantly decreased in GDM. BAMBI mRNA and protein expression was significantly decreased in GDM, suggesting that m6A plays a key role in regulating gene expression. In addition, it was verified that the m6A levels of GDM related genes (INSR and IRS1) were significantly reduced in GDM. Taken together, our data suggest that down-regulation of m6A both in the 3′-UTR and CDS near stop codons of placental mRNAs is involved in GDM development in Han Chinese women. • Down-regulation of m6A in both the 3′-UTR and CDS of BAMBI in placental tissue contributes to GDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

6S-5-methyltetrahydrofolate calcium salt crystal form C (MTHF-CAC) is a stable form of active folate. Compared with folic acid, MTHF-CAC is unaffected by the polymorphism of genes for folate-metabolizing enzymes and can be directly absorbed by the human body. In this study, MTHF-CAC was characterized by XRD, FTIR, DSC, and TGA. The effects of temperature, light, pH, and freeze–thaw cycles on the stability of MTHF-CAC solution were studied. The protective effects of ascorbic acid (AA) and cysteine (Cys) on MTHF-CAC were investigated by HPLC. The retention rate of MTHF-CAC solution was 82.6% after 6 days of storage at 4 °C but only 0.8% after heating at 75 °C for 330 min. Under UHT conditions, AA and Cys exerted protective effects on MTHF-CAC. 120 μg/mL of AA and Cys increased the retention of MTHF-CAC by 89.9% and 85.3%, respectively. The protective effect of AA was better than that of Cys. The research on the characterization and stability of MTHF-CAC provided the basic information for its application in the food industry. [Display omitted] • Solid-state MTHF-CAC had higher thermal stability than folic acid. • Temperature, light and pH affectet the stability of MTHF-CAC. • AA and Cys were effective at stabilising MTHF-CAC against oxidative degradation. • The regeneration of oxidized MTHF-CAC occurred with the addition of AA or Cys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a major global health issue that urgently requires innovative and precise treatment options. In this context, saikosaponin has emerged as a promising candidate, offering a variety of therapeutic benefits that may be effective in combating depression. This review delves into the multifaceted potential of saikosaponins in alleviating depressive symptoms. We summarized the effects of saikosaponins on structural and functional neuroplasticity, elaborated the regulatory mechanism of saikosaponins in modulating key factors that affect neuroplasticity, such as inflammation, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, oxidative stress, and the brain-gut axis. Moreover, this paper highlights existing gaps in current researches and outlines directions for future studies. A detailed plan is provided for the future clinical application of saikosaponins, advocating for more targeted researches to speed up its transition from preclinical trials to clinical practice. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To select candidate genes for goat prolificacy, we managed six multi- and six single-kid female goats at the same feeding level and in the same management mode over a 4-year period. These goats showed stable differences in litter size over five continuous parturition records. Whole-genome re-sequencing was used in all 12 to select candidate genes, namely, AURKA , ENDOG , SOX2 , RORA , GJA10 , RXFP2 , CDC25C , and NANOS3 , by the strength of their differentiation signals. Most of the selected genes were enriched in the coiled coil process and ovarian development, which suggests that the coiled coil process has a potential regulatory effect on fecundity. Detection of the distribution of variants and association analyses with litter size in 400 goats showed that NANOS3 exon mutations may lead to a transformation of the protein structure. The variation in CDC25C , ENDOG , and NANOS3 showed a significant association with litter size. These results can contribute to the improvement of reproduction traits in the artificial breeding of goats. • Some candidate genes, such as ENDOG, RORA, SMAD5, RXFP2, CDC25C and NANOS3 , was selected out by the strongest differentiation signals. • The coiled coil process and ovarian development enriched most genes at selective regions. • NANOS3 mutations may lead to the protein structure transformation, and variations in CDC25C, ENDOG and NANOS3 showed association with litter size [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parasitoid of whiteflies Encarsia formosa has been widely applied to reduce whitefly-mediated damage on vegetables and ornamental plants grown in greenhouses. Although its chemosensory behavior has been described, the mechanism by which E. formosa recognizes chemical volatiles at the molecular level remains unknown. In this study, we obtained 66,632 unigenes from antennae transcriptomic architecture of E. formosa , of which 19,473 (29.2%) were functionally annotated. All that matters is that we manually identified 39 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) from above dataset, and further investigated the tissue and stage-specific expression profiles of all identified OBP genes by real-time quantitative PCR. Among these OBP genes, 32 were enriched in antennae, and 2 in body. In addition, 4 OBPs were highly expressed in pupae, and 32 in 6-hour-age adults after eclosion. In addition to identifying OBP genes from E. formosa , this study provides a molecular basis for further functional studies of OBPs and the interactions of hosts and parasitic wasps. • Total 66,632 unigenes were obtained and 19,473 were annotated. • Total 295 olfactory-related genes were identified. • Total 39 odorant-binding proteins were cloned and analyzed. • Total 32 OBPs were highly expressed in antennae and adult stage for E. formosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WW domain containing E3 Ub-protein ligase 2 (WWP2) plays an important role in tumor progression as an E3 ligase of PTEN. Here, we investigated the role of WWP2 in gastric cancer (GC). We found that WWP2 is overexpressed in GC tissues, which is closely related to poor prognosis of GC patients. Using a WWP2-shRNA lentivirus expressing system, we established WWP2 stable-knockdown GC cell lines and found that knockdown of WWP2 inhibits the proliferation of GC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Also, WWP2 silencing induced the up-regulation of PTEN protein level and down-regulation of AKT phosphorylation level. We further investigated the role of PTEN in this regulating process by performing rescue assay and found that PTEN is essential for WWP2-mediated regulation of GC cells proliferation. Taken together, our results demonstrated that WWP2 promotes proliferation of GC cells by downregulating PTEN, which may provide new therapeutic targets for GC. • A high level of WWP2 expression is closely associated with poor prognosis of GC patients. • Knockdown of WWP2 inhibits proliferation of GC cells in vitro. • WWP2 promotes proliferation of gastric cancer cells in a PTEN-dependent manner. • Knockdown of WWP2 suppresses GC tumor growth in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to develop a novel protocol using superheated water (SW)-assisted radio frequency (RF) for evaluating the heating performance of food products. Beef sausage was selected as the ready-to-eat (RTE) food for the research. In this study, thermal properties (TPs) and dielectric properties (DPs) were measured. A computer simulation model was developed to explore the influence on internal temperature distribution during SW-assisted RF heating. Food qualities including texture, color, and microstructure were investigated. The results indicate an electrode gap of 180 mm and a sample height of 80 mm was chosen based on the electric current, respectively. The distribution of the electric field was well simulated using Comsol software, and simulated temperature profiles were found to be highly consistent with experimental results. Simulated results revealed the temperature profile was more uniform when the cylindrical sample was surrounded by circulating water. Furthermore, SW-assisted RF treatment demonstrated superior quality attributes in terms of texture, color and microstructure compared to SW heating alone owing to shorter heating time and relatively uniform temperature distribution. Therefore, SW-assisted RF heating has the potential to be a fast and efficient experimental tool for heating the various RTE foods safely and efficiently. [Display omitted] • A SW-RF system was developed to evaluate the heating performance of RTE foods. • Computer model for simulating SW-RF heating of beef sausage was established. • The simulated temperature profiles were in good agreement with experimental data. • Texture, color and microstructure of beef sausage was improved by SW-RF heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaussian Graphical models (GGM) are widely used to estimate network structure in domains ranging from biology to finance. In practice, data is often corrupted by latent confounders which biases inference of the underlying true graphical structure. In this paper, we compare and contrast two strategies for inference in graphical models with latent confounders: Gaussian graphical models with latent variables (LVGGM) and PCA-based removal of confounding (PCA+GGM). While these two approaches have similar goals, they are motivated by different assumptions about confounding. In this paper, we explore the connection between these two approaches and propose a new method, which combines the strengths of these two approaches. We prove the consistency and convergence rate for the PCA-based method and use these results to provide guidance about when to use each method. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our methodology using both simulations and two real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive an asymptotic formula for p n (N , M) , the number of partitions of integer n with part size at most N and length at most M. We consider both N and M are comparable to n. This is an extension of the classical Hardy-Ramanujan formula and Szekeres' formula. The proof relies on the saddle point method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Sepsis-induced brain injury is frequently encountered in critically ill patients with severe systemic infection. Butein (3,4,2′,4′-tetrahydroxychalcone) has been demonstrated as the neuro-protective agent via reducing inflammation and oxidative stress on neurons. Moreover, activation of silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) inhibits apoptosis, oxidation and inflammation thus alleviating sepsis-induced multiorgan injuries. In present study, we show that butein administrated intraperitoneally (10 mg/kg) saved mice from sepsis-induced lethality by increasing 7-day survival rate after cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) surgery. Additionally, butein treatment enhanced SIRT1 signaling thus decreasing the Ac-NF-κB, Ac-FOXO1 and Ac-p53 levels, thus attenuating the brain injury of mice after CLP surgery by decreasing cerebral edema, maintaining the blood-brain barrier integrity, inhibiting neuronal apoptosis, and decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines production (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β) and oxidative stress (downregulation of MDA, and upregulation of SOD and CAT) in both serum and cerebral cortex tissues. Moreover, butein treatment attenuated LPS induced neurological function loss. However, all above mentioned neuro-protective actions of butein were partially inhibited by EX527 co-treatment, one standard SIRT1 inhibitor. Collectively, butein attenuates sepsis-induced brain injury through alleviation of cerebral inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis by SIRT1 signaling activation. Highlights • Butein saved mice from sepsis-induced lethality and attenuated the brain injury. • Butein enhanced SIRT1 thus decreasing the Ac-NF-κB, Ac-FOXO1 and Ac-p53 levels. • Neuro-protection of butein were abolished by one standard SIRT1 inhibitor. • Collectively, butein attenuates sepsis-induced brain injury via SIRT1 signaling activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The chiral buckling unit cell has two stable states. • The axial stiffness of the unit cell in two states has an order-of-magnitude difference. • Low band gap frequency and wide band gap can be obtained by changing the states of the outer and inner stiffness structures. • The metamaterial can be used for low-frequency vibration isolation and has the potential for energy absorption, tensile-torsion material and dynamic logic gates. • The hybrid supercells can further broaden the band gap width, lower the band gap frequency, and have up to 16 different dynamic responses. This paper proposes a tunable local resonance metamaterial with chiral buckling structures for low-frequency vibration isolation. The unit cell consists of the inner and outer buckling stiffness structure, basic structure, and local resonator. The bistability of three kinds of unit cells with different initial shapes of beams is investigated and compared via the elliptic integral method and finite element analysis. Then, their axial stiffness in different states is studied. The dynamic responses of the metamaterial with simple unit cells and hybrid supercells are theoretically derived and analyzed by Bloch's theorem and transfer coefficient method. Theoretical, numerical, and experimental results demonstrate that the unit cell with initially convex downward beams has strong bistability and determinate deformation modes. The axial stiffness of the unit cell in two stable states differs by an order of magnitude. Changing some specific parameters broadens the gap in the axial stiffness between the two stable states. The axial negative stiffness characteristics and rotation effect of the unit cell have the potential for energy dissipation and tensile-torsion material. The metamaterial with simple unit cells has tunable and wide band gap and low-frequency vibration isolation via the stable states switching of the inner and outer buckling stiffness structures. The metamaterial with hybrid supercells can further broaden the band gap width and lower the band gap frequency, which has up to 16 different band gap characteristics. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the carbon peaking and neutrality targets in China, carbon price and technological innovation will play increasingly important roles in recent future. It is widely-known that carbon price and technological innovation can contribute significantly to emission reduction, respectively; but it is still unclear whether the cooperation effects of carbon price and technological innovation would be positive or negative. In this paper, we assume that there are 3 types of emission reduction measures in China's industrial enterprises, which are improvement of energy efficiency, adjustment of energy structure, and substitution of pollution inputs and non-pollution inputs; then we introduce carbon price and technological innovation respectively and simultaneously, and establish 12 scenarios based on the Data Envelopment Analysis models combined with material balance principal (DEA-MBP), and estimate the additional emission reductions and additional production costs of China's industrial enterprises when carbon price and technological innovation exist respectively or simultaneously. The counterfactually estimating results show that there would be significant regional and sectorial heterogeneities in carbon emission reduction characteristics for China's industrial enterprises. If low-carbon technologies in some sectors have the ability to reduce carbon emissions at the expense of high additional production cost, carbon pricing policies would encourage enterprises to adopt new mitigation technologies and increase additional emission reduction by more than 20%, especially technologies focusing on the adjustment of energy structure and the substitution of pollution inputs by non-pollution inputs. However, in some sectors which have already been covered by carbon pricing policies, the additional carbon pricing policy may not have a significant effect on emission reduction, and the emission reduction would decrease by 10%. [Display omitted] • Cooperation effects of carbon price and technological innovation are estimated. • DEA-MBP models and multiple emission reduction measures/scenarios are applied. • Introduction of carbon price would encourage the adopting of new mitigation technologies. • Carbon price and technological innovation would have overlapping effects. • Significant regional and sectorial heterogeneities exist in emission reduction features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paired electrosynthesis of formate was built on a bifunctional CuS/TiO 2 composite which exhibited selective production of formate in cathodic CO 2 reduction and anodic CH 3 OH oxidation. [Display omitted] • A bifunctional CuS/TiO 2 composite toward CO 2 R and MOR was designed. • Synergistic effects between CuS/TiO 2 boost the formate production performance. • A paired electrosynthesis of formate was built on CuS/TiO 2 composite. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide into energy-carrying compounds or value-added chemicals is of great significance for diminishing the greenhouse effect. However, it is still imperative to replace the less-value anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) to improve the technical economy. Herein, we firstly reported a bifunctional CuS/TiO 2 catalyst for both anodic methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and cathodic carbon dioxide reduction (CO 2 R). The in-built abundant CuS/TiO 2 heterointerfaces are found to boost the CO 2 R and MOR to produce formate. Based on the unique bifunctionality of CuS/TiO 2 , a paired electrosynthesis of formate was performed with a total Faradaic efficiency (FE) of about 170 %, in which the cathodic CO 2 R achieved a formate FE of about 70 %, and the anodic MOR exhibited an almost 100 % formate FE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

4-Amino-2-Trifluoromethyl-Phenyl Retinate (ATPR), an all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) derivative, possesses the ability to relief several carcinoma. Here, we explored the potential molecular mechanism of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 6 (eIF6) in ATPR-induced leukemia cell differentiation. Our research showed that ATPR could inhibit cell proliferation and promote cell differentiation in several leukemia cell lines. Besides, ATPR remarkably reduced the expression of eIF6 in vitro . Interestingly, the reduction of eIF6 contributed to restraining proliferation of K562 cells by inhibiting CyclinD1, C-myc and blocking cell cycle, as well as promoting differentiation of K562 cells by increasing the expression of C/EBPε, cell surface antigen CD11b and inducing renal-shrinkage of nuclear. Furthermore, the over-expression of eIF6 restrained the effects of ATPR on cell proliferation and maturation in K562 cells. In Addition, Notch1/CBF-1 signal activated by Chrysin could increase expression of eIF6 and restrain the differentiation in ATPR-induced K562 cells. Taken together, all above results indicated that ATPR induced differentiation of leukemia cells by decreasing eIF6 through Notch1/CBF-1 signal, which might exert an innovative treatment for leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is a DNA damage sensor that catalyzes the poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR) onto a variety of target proteins, such as histones, DSB repair factors and PARP1 itself under consumption of NAD + . Besides, PARP1 can affect a variety of proteins in noncovalent modification manner to carry out specific cellular functions. Here, we established a method to generate non-radiolabeled free PAR by PARG moderately cleaving PAR from autoPARylated PARP1, and utilized dot-blot assay to determine the interaction between free PAR and interested proteins. The methods to generate free PAR and detect the noncovalent interactions between proteins and free PAR are nonradioactive and convenient, which will facilitate the studies to explore the significance of PAR reading in various biological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has poor outcome with conventional chemotherapy regimens due to its aggressive behavior. The acquisition of anoikis resistance, a programmed cell death process triggered by substratum detachment, is an important mechanism in TNBC metastasis. Therefore, agents that can restore the sensitivity of cancer cells to anoikis may be helpful for the treatment of metastatic TNBC. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of Tubeimosides V (TBMS-V), a cyclic bisdesmoside isolated from the ethanol extracts of tubers of B. paniculatum., on anoikis resistance and the involvement of caveolin-1(CAV-1)-related signaling pathways in such process in MDA-MB-231 cells. The results showed that the treatment of TBMS-V could sensitize cancer cells to anoikis, which was associated with suppression of anchorage-independent culture-induced CAV-1 overexpression, EGFR activation as well as ITGB1-FAK activation. The data from this study might contribute to providing a potential therapeutic target for metastatic TNBC and suggest the possibility of TBMS-V and its derivatives for metastatic TNBC therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The IL-10 dependent regulatory function of B cells had recently more and more investigated and play important roles in cancer immunity, however, beyond IL-10 whether other inhibitory cytokines play an important role in cancer is lacking. Here, we investigated the role of IL-35 producing B cells in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods Thirty-two healthy controls (HC) and 49 untreated CRC patients were enrolled and the IL-35 producing B cells in the peripheral blood were investigated. Additionally, CD4 + CD25 +/high CD127 low/− regulatory T (Treg) and CD14 + HLA-DR low/− myeloid‑derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) were also investigated. Results Results show that IL-35 producing B cells were significantly upregulated during the clinical progression of CRC, and negatively correlated with CD3 + T cell, positively correlated with the frequency of CD4 + CD25 +/high CD127 low/− Treg cells and CD14 + HLA-DR low/− MDSCs of these CRC patients. Conclusions Together, IL-35 producing B cells were significantly elevated in CRC, indicating this B cell subset might participate in the immune suppression of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the deterioration of wooden breast myofibrillar protein (WBMP) functional properties (such as gel and emulsification performance) caused by oxidative stress, making it difficult to use as normal MP in the processing and utilization of protein gel/emulsion products. The functional properties of chicken deteriorate, affecting its processing and utilization. High-intensity ultrasound (HIU) was introduced in the unfolding‒refolding process of pH-shifting treatment to improve functional properties on WBMP. The results showed that the WUH-R group (HIU applied during the WBMP unfolding stage) had the higher solubility, emulsification, and rheology. The zeta potential and particle size indicated that HIU significantly disrupted the protein structures (P < 0.05). The fluorescence spectrum showed that protein hydrophobicity was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced from 69.60 ± 2.03 (WBMP) to 43.39 ± 1.33 (WUH-R). Similarly, circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that HIU facilitated the conversion of α-helix (25.12 ± 0.78% to 46.37 ± 2.14%) to β-sheet (27.61 ± 2.47% to 7.28 ± 0.89%). Our results demonstrate that HIU can promote the complete unfolding of WBMP. Nonetheless, in the WU-RH group (HIU applied during the WBMP refolding stage), HIU inhibited the assembly of proteins. In the WU-RH group, the particle size became larger, while the solubility and emulsibility became worse. In general, HIU is only added in the unfolding phase of protein pH-shifting to improve its functional properties and facilitate the reuse of WBMP. • High-intensity ultrasound facilitated the α-helix transformed into β-sheet of protein structure. • High-intensity ultrasound could make protein easily refold into a stable structure. • High-intensity ultrasound during the refolding process inhibited the assembly of proteins. • The recombination effect of the pH-shifting would be hindered by high-intensity ultrasound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrodynamics played an important role in the design and operation of bioreactors for wastewater treatment. In this work, an up-flow anaerobic hybrid bioreactor built-in with fixed bio-carriers was designed and optimized using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The results indicated that the flow regime involving with vortex and dead zone was greatly affected by the positions of water inlet and bio-carrier modules. The ideal hydraulic features were obtained when the water inlet and bio-carrier modules located 9 cm and 60 cm above the bottom of reactor. Using the optimum hybrid system for nitrogen removal from wastewater with low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N = 3), the denitrification efficiency could reach 80.9 ± 0.4%. Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed that the microbial community divergence occurred among the biofilm on bio-carrier, the suspended sludge phase and the inoculum. Especially, the relative abundance of denitrifying genera Denitratisoma in the biofilm of bio-carrier reaches 5.73%, 6.2 times higher than that in the suspended sludge, implying the imbedded bio-carrier was conductive to enrich the specific denitrifiers to polish the denitrification performance with low carbon source. This work provided an effective method for the design optimization of bioreactor based on CFD simulation, and developed a hybrid reactor with fixed bio-carrier for nitrogen removal from wastewater with low C/N ratio. [Display omitted] • The design of hybrid reactor built-in with bio-carriers was optimized by CFD. • Enhanced denitrification of wastewater with low C/N ratio was achieved. • Genus with different functions were diverged between sludge and biofilm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is estimated that abnormal accumulation of all-trans-retinal (atRAL) is a leading cause of photoreceptor degeneration in retinal degenerative diseases. Deficiency of interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP), a retinoid transporter in the visual cycle, is responsible for the impaired clearance of atRAL and results in atRAL toxicity in retina. Therefore, IRBP has been proposed to be a potent target in preventing atRAL-induced photoreceptor degeneration. In this study, the neuroprotective effect of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) against atRAL toxicity in the differentiated Y-79 cells, a in vitro model of photoreceptor, was first investigated. Our findings showed that atRAL could induce cytotoxicity, oxidative/nitrosative stresses, apoptosis and leukostasis in the differentiated Y-79 cells; however, the pre-treatment of TMP significantly attenuated such effects in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, our results indicated that TMP exerted its neuroprotective effect mainly through upregulating IRBP expression. The present study significantly contributes to better understanding the important role of IRBP in retinal degenerative diseases and forms the basis of the therapeutic development of TMP in such diseases in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insect ryanodine receptors are the main targets of diamide insecticides that have highly selective insecticidal activity but are less toxic to mammals. Therefore, these insecticides are ideal for pest control. Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) play a critical role in Ca 2 + signaling in muscle and non-muscle cells. In this study, we cloned the complete cDNA ( DcRyR ) of the RyR from the citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri , a serious pest of citrus orchards in China. The open reading frame of RyR is 15,378 bp long and encodes a protein with 5126 amino acids with a computed molecular weight of 579.523 kDa. DcRyR shows a high amino acid sequence identity to RyRs from other insects (76%–95%) and low identity to those from nematodes and mammals (44%–52%). DcRyR shares many features of insect and vertebrate RyRs, including a MIR domain, two RIH domains, three SPRY domains, four copies of RyR repeat domain, RIH-associated domain at the N-terminus, two consensus calcium-binding EF-hands and six transmembrane domains at the C-terminus. The expression of DcRyR mRNA was the highest in the nymphs and lowest in eggs; DcRyR mRNA was 1.85-fold higher in the nymphs than in the eggs. Among the tissues, DcRyR mRNA expression was 4.18- and 4.02-fold higher in the adult head and thorax than in the abdomen. DcRyR had three alternative splice sites and the splice variants showed body part-specific expression and were developmentally regulated. These results may help investigate target-based resistance to diamide insecticides in D. citri . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pine nut peptide possesses good antioxidant activity. But the research related to the decreased quality and the development of off-flavour during storage is limited. In the present study, a 3–10 kDa fraction of pine nut ( Pinus koraiensis ) peptide (PNP 3–10 kDa ) was prepared by enzymolysis and ultrafiltration. Thereafter, PNP 3–10 kDa was stored for 30 days at 75% relative humidity and 25 °C. Changes in DPPH radical scavenging capacity, secondary structure (by FT-MIR), surface structure (by SEM) and volatile compounds (by SPME-GC-MS) were measured at various time intervals over thirty days. Results showed that the DPPH radical scavenging capacity decreased from 76.91% ± 0.49% to 40.50% ± 0.84% with the accumulation of volatile compounds. The secondary structure and surface structure was not changed. However, the form and size of PNP 3–10 kDa particle were changed dramatically during the storage. In total 15 volatile compounds were identified during the storage. The intensity of volatile compounds presented dynamic changes. 2-Ethylhexyl acetate and pyrazines were mainly formed through esterification and Maillard reaction. The reactions appeared to be strongest by the sixth day. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that 30 days' storage could cause remarkable changes to the volatile compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although both insulin and estrogen receptor α (ERα) are known to exert inhibitory effects on testicular steroidogenesis, it remains unknown whether these pathways regulate testosterone (T) production under certain pathological conditions [ e.g., type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)] in a coordinated manner. Here, we found that the expression of forkhead box protein A3 (Foxa3), an essential transcriptional regulator engaged in adipogenesis and energy metabolism, was significantly down-regulated in the Leydig cells (LCs) from T-deficient T2DM mice. Functionally, upon hCG stimulation, Foxa3 recruits to the Esr1 promoter and suppresses the transactivation of Esr1 gene. Disruption of this recruitment by T2DM-elicited hyperinsulinemia led to abnormal activation of ERα pathway, inhibited steroidogenic enzyme genes expression, and thus caused inadequate T production. Therapeutically, insulin-impaired and Foxa3 ablation-compromised steroidogenesis were effectively rescued by a pharmacological inhibitor of the ERα pathway. These findings reveal an obligatory coregulatory role of Foxa3 in the regulation of ERα expression and of the Foxa3/ERα cascade, at least in part, in the pathogenesis of androgen deficiency caused by T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amyloid β (Aβ) is a critical stimulator that promotes the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). NLRP3 inflammasome activation induced by Aβ is estimated to be responsible for retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) dysfunction in such disease. Puerarin, one of the major active constituents of Kudzu root, has been widely used in the clinical treatment of AMD in China for decades; however, the detailed molecular mechanism remains far from clear. In this study, we investigated the protective effect and underlying mechanism of puerarin against Aβ 1–40 -induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in LPS-primed ARPE-19 cells. The results showed that Aβ 1–40 induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation mainly via triggering ROS-dependent oxidative stress, particularly lipid peroxidation, and endoplasmic reticulum stress in LPS-primed ARPE-19 cells; however, such effect could be significantly reversed by puerarin in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the effect of puerarin was potentially mediated through activating Nrf2/HO-1 antioxidant signaling pathway and inhibiting Aβ 1–40 -induced phosphorylation of IRE1 and PERK as well as nuclear expression of ATF6α. Therefore, the significance of the current study is to reveal the novel mechanism of puerarin in the prevention of AMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trend toward a more fiercely competitive and strictly environmentally regulated electricity market in several countries, including China has led to efforts by both industry and government to develop advanced performance evaluation models that adapt to new evaluation requirements. Traditional operational and environmental efficiency measures do not fully consider the influence of market competition and environmental regulations and, thus, are not sufficient for the thermal power industry to evaluate its operational performance with respect to specific marketing goals (operational effectiveness) and its environmental performance with respect to specific emissions reduction targets (environmental effectiveness). As a complement to an operational efficiency measure, an operational effectiveness measure not only reflects the capacity of an electricity production system to increase its electricity generation through the improvement of operational efficiency, but it also reflects the system's capability to adjust its electricity generation activities to match electricity demand. In addition, as a complement to an environmental efficiency measure, an environmental effectiveness measure not only reflects the capacity of an electricity production system to decrease its pollutant emissions through the improvement of environmental efficiency, but it also reflects the system's capability to adjust its emissions abatement activities to fulfill environmental regulations. Furthermore, an environmental effectiveness measure helps the government regulator to verify the rationality of its emissions reduction targets assigned to the thermal power industry. Several newly developed effectiveness measurements based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) were utilized in this study to evaluate the operational and environmental performance of the thermal power industry in China during 2006–2013. Both efficiency and effectiveness were evaluated from the three perspectives of operational, environmental, and joint adjustments to each electricity production system. The operational and environmental performance changes over time were also captured through an effectiveness measure based on the global Malmquist productivity index. Our empirical results indicated that the performance of China's thermal power industry experienced significant progress during the study period and that policies regarding the development and regulation of the thermal power industry yielded the expected effects. However, the emissions reduction targets assigned to China's thermal power industry are loose and conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alterations in stiffness of the trabecular meshwork (TM) may play an important role in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the second leading cause of blindness. Specifically, certain data suggest an association between elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) and increased TM stiffness; however, the underlying link between TM stiffness and IOP remains unclear and requires further study. We here first review the literature on TM stiffness measurements, encompassing various species and based on a number of measurement techniques, including direct approaches such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and uniaxial tension tests, and indirect methods based on a beam deflection model. We also briefly review the effects of several factors that affect TM stiffness, including lysophospholipids, rho-kinase inhibitors, cytoskeletal disrupting agents, dexamethasone (DEX), transforming growth factor- β 2 (TGF- β 2 ), nitric oxide (NO) and cellular senescence. We then describe a method we have developed for determining TM stiffness measurement in mice using a cryosection/AFM-based approach, and present preliminary data on TM stiffness in C57BL/6J and CBA/J mouse strains. Finally, we investigate the relationship between TM stiffness and outflow facility between these two strains. The method we have developed shows promise for further direct measurements of mouse TM stiffness, which may be of value in understanding mechanistic relations between outflow facility and TM biomechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a conceptually simple, flexible, and efficient "Combine-and-Conquer" detection framework. The proposed framework is composed of a very simple one-level detection pipeline. We modularized the proposed framework into four parts, Backbone, Neck, Feature Aggregation and Detection Head. To verify the performance of this framework, we design a simple yet strong detector, CC-Det. First CC-Det deploys a backbone network to encode the input image, and then uses a neck network to extract rich features and enlarge the receptive field. Next, a feature aggregation network is deployed to aggregate multi-scale features into one feature map. Finally, only one detection head is deployed on the one-level feature map to output a heatmap and bounding boxes. Compared with existing multi-level detectors such as RetinaNet and FCOS, CC-Det achieves excellent performance with much fewer parameters of model and much lower FLOPs. In addition, CC-Det also achieves better trade-off among speed, accuracy and model size without any elaborate special design, compared to other one-level detectors. Moreover, CC-Det is easy to generalize to other tasks with minor modifications and achieves state-of-the-art performance. Excellent results are presented on COCO, PASCAL VOC, WiderFace and CrowdHuman datasets. • We follow the proposed Combine-and-Conquer to design CC-Det detector with a simple network structure and anchor-free mechanism. Thanks to the one-level feature, the hassle of carefully designing multi-level label assignment like scale range of interest is unnecessary for our framework. • Without any bells and whistles, CC-Det achieves state-of-the-art performance with fewer model's parameters and lower FLOPs, surpassing previous powerful baseline models of multi-level detection framework. • CC-Det is evaluated on multiple datasets, COCO, VOC, WiderFace and CrowdHuman of different detection tasks and achieves excellent performance, demonstrating the versatility of the propose detection framework. • Based on the propose framework, we also design a more efficient yet effective detector, CC-Det-E. Compared with CC-Det, CC-Det-E is almost twice as fast with less than 1% performance loss, achieving better trade-off between precision and speed. • To further demonstrate the powerful potential of Combine-and-Conquer framework, we design a strong yet efficient detector CC-Det-v2. On COCO benchmark, CC-Det-v2 shows excellent trade-off between precision and speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delayed clearance of free form all- trans -retinal (atRAL) is estimated be the key cause of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells injury during the pathogenesis of retinopathies such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are far from clear. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity effect and underlying molecular mechanism of atRAL on human retinal pigment epithelium ARPE-19 cells. The results indicated that atRAL could cause cell dysfunction by inducing oxidative and nitrosative stresses in ARPE-19 cells. The oxidative stress induced by atRAL was mediated through up-regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, activating mitochondrial-dependent and MAPKs signaling pathways, and finally resulting in apoptosis of ARPE-19 cells. The NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin could partly attenuated ROS generation, indicating that NADPH oxidase activity was involved in atRAL-induced oxidative stress in ARPE-19 cells. The nitrosative stress induced by atRAL was mainly reflected in increasing nitric oxide (NO) production, enhancing iNOS, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expressions, and promoting monocyte adhesion. Furthermore, above effects could be dramatically blocked by using a nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) inhibitor SN50, indicated that atRAL-induced oxidative and nitrosative stresses were mediated by NF-κB. The results provide better understanding of atRAL-induced toxicity in human RPE cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although distributed key–value store is becoming increasingly popular in compensating the conventional distributed file systems, it is often criticized due to its costly full-size replication for high availability that causes high I/O overhead. This paper presents two techniques to mitigate such I/O overhead and improve key–value store performance: GPU encoding and locality-aware encoding. Instead of migrating full-size replicas over the network, we split the original file into smaller chunks and encode them with a few additional parity codes using GPUs before dispersing them onto remote nodes. The parity code is usually much smaller than the original file, which saves the extra space required for high availability and reduces the I/O overhead. Meanwhile, the compute-intensive encoding process is largely accelerated by the massive number of GPU cores. Yet, splitting the original file into smaller chunks stored on multiple nodes breaks data locality from application’s perspective. To this end, we present a locality-aware encoding mechanism that allows a job to be dispatched as finer-grained tasks right on the node where the required chunk resides. Therefore, the data locality is preserved at the finer granularity of sub-job (i.e., task) level. We conduct an in-depth analysis of the proposed approach and implement a system prototype named Gest. Gest has been deployed and evaluated on a variety of testbeds demonstrating that high data availability, high space efficiency, and high I/O performance could be collectively achieved at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a well-known estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) ubiquitously present in various environmental media. The present study aims to identify the responsive genes in male fish chronically exposed to low concentrations of BPA at the transcription level. We screened genes from a suppression subtractive hybridization library constructed from male medaka ( Oryzias latipes ) livers after 60-d exposure to 10 μg/L BPA under the condition at which changes of hepatic antioxidant parameters have been previously reported. The identified genes were predicted to be involved in multiple biological processes including antioxidant physiology, endocrine system, detoxification, notably associated with the immune response processes. With real time PCR analysis, the immune-associated genes including hepcidin-like precursor , complement component and factors , MHC class I , alpha-2-macroglobulin and novel immune-type receptor 6 isoform were significantly up-regulated in a nonmonotonic dose response pattern in livers upon exposure to different concentrations of BPA (0.1, 1, 10, 100, 1000 μg/L). Our results demonstrated a negative impact on gene regulation in fish chronically exposed to relatively low and environmentally relevant concentrations of BPA, and suggested the potential immune modulatory effect of chronic EDC exposure on fish. The immunotoxicity of BPA and other EDCs should be much concerned for the health of human beings and other vertebrates exposed to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study proteomics analysis was performed to investigate damage caused to ram sperm by the freeze-thaw process. Sperm motility, viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content were measured to evaluate sperm quality. Compared with fresh groups, motility, viability and ATP content were all lower in freeze–thawed sperm (P < 0.001), and ROS content was higher (P < 0.001). Moreover, 25 differential protein spots were detected in two-dimensional gels using PDQuest 8.0 software and the corresponding proteins were identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-TOF MS) coupled with searching of the NCBI protein sequence database. Among these proteins, hexokinase1 (HXK1), the enzyme that catalyzes the first step of glycolysis in the sperm glycolytic pathway, is known to be associated with sperm motility. Casein kinase II subunit alpha (CSNK2A2), a serine/threonine-selective protein kinase, is associated with sperm apoptosis. We used immunoblotting and immunofluorescence to analyze the expression and localization of these two proteins. HXK1 and CSNK2A2 expression levels in fresh sperm were significantly higher than that in freeze-thawed sperm (P < 0.001). HXK1 and CSNK2A2 were detected in the main part of the sperm flagellum, and the immunofluorescence signal from these proteins was weakened in the freeze-thawed group. Decreased expression of HXK1 and CSNK2A2 may be associated with decreased sperm motility and viability following freeze-thawing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The T gene plays a key role in chordoma pathology. To investigate the role of T gene isoforms in chordoma, 22 skull base chordomas, three chordoma cell lines and 9 infant notochords, which were used as normal controls, were collected. We first conducted droplet digital PCR to quantify the absolute expression levels of the long and short isoforms of the T gene (T-long and T-short, respectively) and revealed that T-long was dominantly expressed in all chordomas and chordoma cell lines, but not in the notochords. The T-long/T-short ratio was significantly different between the chordomas and the notochords. Next, we validated the isoform expression pattern at protein expression level using Western blot in 9 chordomas. Furthermore, the T gene single nucleotide polymorphism site rs2305089, which is the only marker reported to be associated with chordomas, was sequenced in all of the chordoma samples. Association between rs2305089 and T-long/T-short ratio was not significant, indicating it was not involved in T gene alternative splicing. In conclusion, two T gene isoforms were investigated in skull base chordomas and chordoma cell lines, and the longer isoform was dominantly expressed. The distinct expression patterns of these T gene isoforms may contribute to the pathogenesis of skull base chordomas. However, further studies on the function of these isoforms are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (MPs), due to their impacts on the ecosystem and their integration into the food web either through trophic transfer or ingestion directly from the ambient environment, are an emerging class of environmental contaminants posing a great threat to marine organisms. Most reports on the toxic effects of MPs exclusively focus on bioaccumulation, oxidative stress, pathological damage, and metabolic disturbance in fish. However, the collected information on fish immunity in response to MPs is poorly defined. In particular, little is known regarding mucosal immunity and the role of mucins. In this study, marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) larvae were exposed to 6.0 µm beads of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) at three environmentally relevant concentrations (102 particles/L, 104 particles/L, and 106 particles/L) for 14 days. The experiment was carried out to explore the developmental and behavioural indices, the transcriptional profiles of mucins, pro-inflammatory, immune, metabolism and antioxidant responses related genes, as well as the accumulation of PS-MPs in larvae. The results revealed that PS-MPs were observed in the gastrointestinal tract, with a concentration- and exposure time-dependent manner. No significant difference in the larval mortality was found between the treatment groups and the control, whereas the body length of larvae demonstrated a significant reduction at 106 particles/L on 14 days post-hatching. The swimming behaviour of the larvae became hyperactive under exposure to 104 and 106 particles/L PS-MPs. In addition, PS-MP exposure significantly up-regulated the mucin gene transcriptional levels of muc7-like and muc13-like , however down-regulated the mucin gene expression levels of heg1, muc2 , muc5AC-like and muc13. The immune- and inflammation and metabolism-relevant genes (jak , stat-3 , il-6 , il-1β , tnf-а , ccl-11 , nf-κb , and sod) were significantly induced by PS-MPs at 104 and 106 particles/L compared to the control. Taken together, this study suggests that PS-MPs induced inflammation response and might obstruct the immune functions and retarded the growth of the marine medaka larvae even at environmentally relevant concentrations. • Exposure time- and concentration-dependent accumulation of PS-MPs in medaka larvae was evaluated. • PS-MP exposure significantly decreased the body length of the larvae. • The swimming behaviour of the larvae became hyperactive under PS-MP exposure. • The expression levels of inflammation-related genes were significantly upregulated. • The relative expression levels of mucin genes were significantly modulated after PS-MP exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic environmental pollutants. Quercetin (Que) is a kind of natural flavonoid with neuroprotective, antioxidant, and free-radical scavenging pharmacological activities. However, whether Que has the protective effect of on Cd-induced rat hepatocyte injury is unclear. This study aimed to determine the protective effect of Que on Cd-induced hepatotoxicity in vivo and in vitro. For in vivo, 36 4-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into six groups and were treated with CdCl 2 (2 mg/kg b.w.) and/or Que (50 or 100 mg/kg b.w.). Four weeks later, the rats were sacrificed and livers were collected. The levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, glutathione, malondialdehyde, catalase, and superoxide dismutase were measured. Liver histopathological sections were made, and TUNEL method was performed to detect cell apoptosis. The mRNA and protein expression levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) signaling pathway-related factors and apoptosis-related factors were detected. For in vitro, BRL-3A rat cells were treated with CdCl 2 (12.5 μM) and/or Que (5 μM Que). The mRNA and protein expression levels of ERS signaling pathway-related factors and apoptosis-related factors were detected. Results showed that Cd led to liver injury, disorder of hepatocyte morphology and structure, decreased BRL-3A cells viabilities, increased oxidative damage. The mRNA and protein expression levels of ERS related factors GRP78, PERK, eIF2α, ATF4, CHOP, IRE1α, XBP1, and ATF6 increased. The mRNA and protein levels of apoptosis related factors Caspase12, Caspase3, and Bax increased, whereas Bcl2 decreased. It indicated that cadmium could activate PERK-eIF2α-ATF4-CHOP, IRE1α-XBP1, and ATF6-CHOP ERS-related signal pathways and lead to apoptosis. Moreover, Que can improve the vitality of hepatocytes, and effectively reduce hepatocytes damage, and reduce oxidative damage by Cd. As a result, the mRNA and protein expression levels of ERS related factors were reduced and hepatocyte apoptosis related factors decreased. Therefore, Que can be used as an effective component in daily diet to prevent Cd toxicity. [Display omitted] • Cadmium could induce liver injury, disorder of hepatocyte morphology and structure, decreased hepatocyte viabilities, induce oxidative damage. • Cadmium induced the mRNA and protein expression levels of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) signaling pathway-related factors, leading to hepatocyte apoptosis through PERK-eIF2α-ATF4-CHOP, IRE1α-XBP1 and ATF6-CHOP ERS signal pathways. • Quercetin can improve the vitality of hepatocytes, reduce hepatocytes damage, reduce oxidative damage and ERS induced hepatocyte apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a class of periodic stochastic differential equations driven by Lévy processes (SDEsLP) is studied. Firstly, we give the existence–uniqueness theorem for a large class of SDEsLP. Then, using the properties of the periodic Markov processes, sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of periodic solution to the periodic SDEsLP are given. Finally, an example is introduced to illustrate the results developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vernalization requirement is an important characteristic in crop breeding. Wheat is a widely grown crop in the world that possesses enormous economic significance. To better understand the gene networks in vernalization process, we performed a high-throughput RNA sequencing analysis comparing the transcriptomes of spring and winter wheat cultivars, with and without vernalization (unpublished data). In this study, we selected six unigenes (CL14010, CL12788, CL176, Unigene 16777, CL8746 and Unigene10196) from our transcriptome analysis based on their expression differences to further characterize their function. Transient silencing of the six unigenes individually were achieved through virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) using BSMV vector. The period from germination to spike differentiation were recorded and compared between plants underwent VIGS silencing and the control. Our result showed that VIGS of the six unigenes significantly shortened the period from seedling to double ridge (DR) stage. Resulting in SD period ranging from 59.8 ± 0.60 to 65.8 ± 0.48 days, compared to 85.0 ± 0.73 days in the control. The results indicated that these six unigenes function as suppressors in vernalization process and silence or down-regulation of these genes promoted flower development in wheat. Further characterization of these six unigenes and their function in vernalization and flowering control is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new definition of almost sure permanence of stochastic population systems is proposed in this paper. We consider the stochastic logistic model d x ( t ) = x ( t ) [ a ( t ) − b ( t ) x θ ( t ) ] d t + σ ( t ) x ( t ) d B ( t ) , where B ( t ) is a standard Brownian motion and θ is a positive constant. Under a simple assumption, a interesting result is obtained as follows: 0 < lim inf t → ∞ x ( t ) ≤ lim sup t → ∞ x ( t ) < ∞ a.s. The result is analogous to the result in the deterministic case. And some numerical simulations are introduced to support our main results at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat storage protein genes, especially low molecular weight glutenin subunit (LMW-GS) and gliadin genes are difficult to be expressed in Escherichia coli , mainly due to the presence of highly repetitive sequences. In order to establish a high efficiency expression system for these genes, five different expression plasmids combining with 9 genes, viz. 6 LMW-GS and 3 α-gliadin genes isolated from common wheat and related species, were studied for heterologous expression in E. coli . In this study, when an expressed tag sequence encoding signal peptide, His-S or GST-tag was fused to the 5′ end of LMW-GS or gliadin gene as the leading sequence, all recombination genes could be stably expressed at a high level. On the contrast, as expected, the inserted genes encoding mature protein failed without an expressed tag sequence. This result indicated that using expressed tag sequences as leading sequences could promote LMW-GS and gliadin genes to be well expressed in E. coli . Further transcriptional analysis by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) showed transcription levels of recombination genes (e.g. GST-Glutenin , His-S-Glutenin and SP ∗ -His-Glutenin ) were 4-fold to 33-fold higher than those of the LMW-GS genes, which suggested these expressed tag sequences might play an important role in stimulating transcription. The possible molecular mechanism under this phenomenon was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]