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[Display omitted] Photocatalytic performance of polymeric carbon nitride (CN) is primarily restricted by limited light utilization and poor charge separation efficiency. To this end, skeleton modification strategy was adopted by attaching thiophene ring and polar nickel complex (NiL) onto CN. The obtained bifunctionalized carbon nitride (TCN-NiL) displayed obviously elevated optical absorption and photoexcited charge separation efficiency. The NiL, with polar structure, plays as active sites like cocatalyst thus exhibited platinum-like H 2 evolution activity from water splitting under visible light. The optimized photocatalytic H 2 generation rate over TCN-NiL reached 136.7 μmol·h−1 without any cocatalyst, the highest rate reported so far in noble-metal-free CN-based catalysts, which is 5 times of that of CN loaded with 3 wt% Pt. Additionally, the maximum wavelength of performing H 2 production capacity over TCN-NiL extends to 550 nm from 450 nm of CN, suggesting an excellent visible light absorption ability. This work provides a way for modifying CN to enhance the photocatalytic activities in a noble metal free system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Cu precursors affected the location of the Cu2+ ions in the Cu-SSZ-13 catalysts. • The Cu2+ ions located at six-member rings showed stronger charge offset. • CuO increased after hydrothermal treatment to promote the NH 3 -SCR reaction. • SCR mechanism changed for Fresh-II catalyst after hydrothermal treatment. Different Cu precursors were adopted to adjust the isolated Cu2+ ions and CuO species in the Cu-SSZ-13 catalysts. The Cu2+ ions were mainly located at eight-member rings in the catalysts with the Cu precursors of Cu(NO 3) 2 (Fresh-I) and CuSO 4 (Fresh-II), while that located at six-member rings in the catalysts with the Cu precursors of CuCl 2 (Fresh-III) and Cu(CH 3 COO) 2 (Fresh-IV). All catalysts showed>90% of NO conversion and 100% of N 2 selectivity at 200–680 °C. Fresh-I and Fresh-II catalysts showed an unexpected increase of the high-temperature activity after hydrothermal treatment. The characterizations revealed that the hydrothermal treatment promoted the production of CuO species, which accelerated the adsorption of NO x species to enhance the high-temperature SCR activity. Moreover, the SCR reaction pathway changed from Langmuir-Hinshelwood to Eley-Rideal mechanisms for the Fresh-II catalyst after the hydrothermal treatment, which was verified by in situ DRIFTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grass carp reovirus (GCRV) infections and hemorrhagic disease (GCHD) outbreaks are typically seasonally periodic and temperature-dependent, yet the molecular mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we depicted that temperature-dependent IL-6/STAT3 axis was exploited by GCRV to facilitate viral replication via suppressing type Ⅰ IFN signaling. Combined multi-omics analysis and qPCR identified IL-6, STAT3, and IRF3 as potential effector molecules mediating GCRV infection. Deploying GCRV challenge at 18 °C and 28 °C as models of resistant and permissive infections and switched to the corresponding temperatures as temperature stress models, we illustrated that IL-6 and STAT3 expression, genome level of GCRV, and phosphorylation of STAT3 were temperature dependent and regulated by temperature stress. Further research revealed that activating IL-6/STAT3 axis enhanced GCRV replication and suppressed the expression of IFNs, whereas blocking the axis impaired viral replication. Mechanistically, grass carp STAT3 inhibited IRF3 nuclear translocation via interacting with it, thus down-regulating IFNs expression, restraining transcriptional activation of the IFN promoter, and facilitating GCRV replication. Overall, our work sheds light on an immune evasion mechanism whereby GCRV facilitates viral replication by hijacking IL-6/STAT3 axis to down-regulate IFNs expression, thus providing a valuable reference for targeted prevention and therapy of GCRV. [Display omitted] • GCRV-induced transcription and phosphorylation of STAT3 are temperature-dependent. • IL-6/STAT3 axis regulates transcription of type Ⅰ IFN and genome level of GCRV. • STAT3 interacts with IRF3. • STAT3 represses transcriptional activation of IFN promoter. • IL-6/STAT3 axis regulates nuclear translocation of IRF3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Fourteen aromatic compounds were isolated from the stems, leaves and fruits of Amomum villosum. • Compound 5 could inhibit the upregulation of intracellular ROS levels under oxidative stress stimulation. • The CETSA identified the PGAM5 protein as the antioxidant target of compound 5. The dried fruit of Amomum villosum is an important spice and medicinal plant that has received great attention in recent years due to its high content of bioactive components and its potential for food additives and drug development. However, the stems and leaves of A. villosum are usually disposed of as waste. Based on the study of the fruits of A. villosum , we also systematically studied its stems and leaves. Fourteen aromatic compounds (1−14) were isolated and identified from A. villosum , including five new compounds (1−5) and nine known compounds (6−14). Among them, compounds 2−5 , 8−10 , 12−13 were obtained from the fruits of A. villosum , and compounds 1 , 6−7 , 11 , 14 were isolated from the stems and leaves of A. villosum. Based on chemical evidence and spectral data analysis (UV, ECD, Optical rotation data, 1D and 2D-NMR, and HR-ESI-MS), the structures of new compounds were elucidated. Furthermore, all compounds were tested for their effects on the survival rate of BV-2 cells in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Among them, compound 5 showed antioxidant effects. Through network pharmacology screening and the cell thermal shift assay (CETSA), the Phosphoglycerate Mutase 5 (PGAM5) protein was identified as the antioxidant target of compound 5. Molecular docking results showed that compound 5 maintains binding to PGAM5 by forming hydrogen bond interactions with Lys93 and Agr214. In summary, A. villosum had potential medicinal and food values due to the diverse bioactive components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating a team of crop protection unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for a scheduled spraying task over fields is a method that seeks to overcome the various limitations of using individual UAVs. However, given some of the issues with pesticide spraying operations involving multiple UAVs (multi-UAVs), such as differences in hardware, irregular field borders, spray drift, and operator proficiency, assigning spraying sub-tasks to multi-UAVs during crop protection is more important and more complex than for other homogeneous multi-agent systems in common use. In this study, a mathematical model of a heterogeneous multi-UAV crop protection system is established. Based on this model, an optimal spraying task assignment problem (OSTAP) for multi-UAVs used in crop protection is proposed. To solve this problem, it is converted to an equivalent combinatorial problem. The order irrelevant enumeration solution (OIES) algorithm is proposed where time and space complexities are more efficiently implemented on a horizontal comparison among OIES, equal task assignment (ETA), sequential task assignment (STA), discrete particle swarm optimisation (DPSO), and a full permutation algorithm. Numerical simulation with a six-UAV system showed that OIES could solve OSTAP in a finite time using C++ in the Visual Studio environment and performed efficiently and accurately. Finally, with the proposed OIES, an OSTAP application software was developed as a visualisation of an OSTAP solution. With this application, a spraying test with the five-UAV system was carried out to determine the effectiveness of OIES in an actual pesticide spraying operation. Test results showed that OIES performs best with these algorithms, which takes only 51.3% of the operating time taken by ETA and it requires fewer flights. • Mathematical model of heterogeneous UAVs established for crop protection. • Propose optimal spraying task assignment problem with multiple agricultural UAVs. • Order irrelevant enumeration solution proposed and performance analysed numerically. • Efficiency of the algorithms verified in spraying tests with five agricultural UAVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation of delayed bitterness is an intractable problem in the processing of citrus juice. This study analyzed the distribution of main bitter-causing substances in sweet orange and the effect of heat treatment, storage temperature, clarification, and homogenization on the limonin content in sweet orange juice. The segment membrane accounted for 34–42% of limonin in the fruit and 21–45% of limonoate A-ring lactone (LARL). Heat treatment accelerated the formation of limonin in juice. Pectinase treatment appeared to facilitate the formation of limonin by reducing the pH of juice. In addition, refrigeration at 4 °C was found to restrain the formation of limonin in juice by inhibiting the activity of limonin D-ring lactone hydrolase (LDLH). In conclusion, segment membrane may have a great contribution to the delayed bitterness of sweet orange juice due to its abundant LARL. These results may provide some guidance for citrus processing and bitterness removal. [Display omitted] • The segment membrane of sweet orange contained abundant LARL and limonin. • High temperature exacerbated the formation of limonin in sweet orange juice. • Refrigeration (4 ℃) inhibited the formation of limonin in sweet orange juice. • Pectinase treatment facilitated the formation of limonin by reducing the juice pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Isolation of 33 compounds from dried fruits of Amomum villosum through activity directed separation. • The structure of the new compound was identified using multiple identification methods. • Isocoronarin D has been proven to have obvious anti-inflammatory activity and has been extensively studied in pharmacology. The fruits of Amomum villosum are often considered a medicinal and food homologous material and have been found to have therapeutic effects in chronic enteritis, gastroenteritis, and duodenal ulcer. The aim of this study is to discover the anti-inflammatory active ingredients from dried ripe fruits of A. villosum and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms. We verified that the inhibitory activity of the ethyl acetate extract was superior to Dexamethasone (Dex), so we ultimately chose to study the ethyl acetate extract from the fruits of A. villosum. A total of 33 compounds were isolated from its ethyl acetate extract, including nine known diterpenoids (compounds 1 – 9), twelve known sesquiterpenoids (compounds 10 – 21), ten known phenolics (compounds 22, 23 , 25 – 29 , 31 – 33) and two new phenolics (24 and 30). On the basis of chemical evidences and spectral data analysis (UV, ECD, Optical rotation data, 1D and 2D-NMR, HR-ESI-MS, NMR chemical shift calculations), the structures of new compounds were elucidated. Among these compounds, isocoronarin D (5) was found to have good anti-inflammatory activity. Further research has found that isocoronarin D can down-regulate the protein levels of COX2 and NOS2, activate Nrf2/Keap1 and suppress NF-κB signaling pathway in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. In addition, isocoronarin D inhibited inflammasome assembly during inflammasome activation by hampering the binding of NLRP3 and ASC. Further evidence revealed that isocoronarin D suppressed the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome via blocking the formation of ASC specks. From these results, isocoronarin D may be the important bioactive compound of A. villosum and exhibits anti-inflammatory effects by regulating the NF-κB/Nrf2/NLRP3 axis in macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the relationship between parameters of the bonded-particle model (BPM) and the macroscopic properties of maize kernel may provide a useful insight into the better control of maize processing. This study provides a first step towards the simulation of maize kernel damage behaviour by determining BPM parameters for uniaxial-compressed maize kernels within the discrete element method. Reverse engineering technology was used to obtain a highly accurate representation of maize kernel shape. Rupture force and stiffness were determined by a reliable algorithm. The effects of BPM parameters on mechanical response were examined by employing Plackett–Burman experimental design in conjunction with response surface method to perform significance analysis for the effects of factor combinations. The results showed that shear modulus, coefficient of restitution between particles, and critical normal and shear stress have strong influences on rupture force and stiffness in respect to particle-based parameters, contact parameters, and parallel–bond parameters. Shear modulus and critical normal and shear stress have a significant interactions on stiffness. [Display omitted] • Failure mechanism of maize kernel analysed in the uniaxial-compressed test using BPM. • Significant parameters affecting mechanical properties of maize kernels proposed. • Effects of single factors and factor combinations on macroscopic properties examined. • Particle-based parameters, contact parameters, parallel–bond parameters considered. • Successful calibration strategy provided for DEM modelling of maize kernel with BPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem cell-derived β cells (SC-β cells) differentiated from stem cell-derived pancreatic progenitor (PP) cells are promising tools for enabling normal glucose control of islet transplants and have therapeutic potential for type 1 diabetes treatment. Pancreatic specification is essential for SC-β cell induction in vitro and low-quality PP cells may convert into derivatives of non-pancreatic lineages both in vivo and in vitro , impeding PP-derived β cell safety and differentiation efficiency. Circular RNA (circRNA) commonly determines the fate of stem cells by acting as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA). Currently, the relationships between endogenous circRNA and pancreatic specification remain elusive. Herein, we used whole transcriptome sequencing analysis and functional experiments to reveal that deficiency of hsa_circ_0032449 resulted in posterior foregut-derived PP cells with a weakened the progenitor state with decreased expression of PDX1, NKX6.1 and CCND1. As differentiation processed into maturation, silencing of hsa_circ_0032449 suppressed PP cell development into functionally mature and glucose-responsive SC-β cells. These SC-β cells exhibited lower serum C-peptide levels compared with those of control groups in nude mice and had difficulties in reversing hyperglycemia in STZ-induced diabetic nude mice. Mechanistically, loss of hsa_circ_0032449 participated in PI3K-AKT signaling transduction by acting as a ceRNA to sponge miR-195-5p and by influencing the expression of the downstream target CCND1 at transcription and translation levels. Overall, our findings identified hsa_circ_0032449 as an essential PP cell-fate specification regulator, indicating a promising potential in clinical applications and basic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of performance-based earthquake engineering, the risk-informed assessment framework has received broad recognition over the world, of which the probability seismic fragility analysis is an important step. The classic seismic fragility adopts the lognormal assumption and forms a parametric derivation. With the development of fragility theory, researchers are hoping to seek out non-parametric approaches to express the intrinsic fragility in a pure analytical form without any distribution assumptions. Besides, how to keep the calculation efficiency (e.g., combining with cloud approach) and how to consider the non-stationary stochastic responses (e.g., combining with non-stationary stochastic excitation model) are critical aspects in fragility that deserve further attention of researchers. In this paper, a kernel density estimation (KDE) based non-parametric cloud approach is proposed for efficient seismic fragility estimation of structures under non-stationary excitation. First, the methodology framework of the efficient approach is illustrated. Then, the procedures of non-stationary stochastic seismic response of structures and KDE-based non-parametric cloud approach for efficient seismic fragility are demonstrated. After that, an application example via a three-span-six-story reinforced concrete frame is given for implementation, followed with a parametric analysis of critical factors. During the process, the classic parametric linear-regression based cloud approach (cloud-LR) and benchmark Monte-Carlo-simulation based cloud approach (cloud-MCS) are also incorporated for validation. In general, the analysis verifies the effectiveness of the non-parametric cloud-KDE approach without requiring more computation work (i.e., same as the parametric cloud-LR approach and much less than the benchmark cloud-MCS approach). Meanwhile, the non-parametric cloud-KDE approach indicates a comparable accuracy with the classic fragility approaches (i.e., less deviation than the parametric cloud-LR approach and much closer to the benchmark cloud-MCS approach), and with the increase of stochastic cloud-point number, the corresponding fitting degree of cloud-KDE approach is growing better. The research provides a new sight for the development of non-parametric seismic fragility approach, and the corresponding findings can be further combined with the probabilistic hazard and risk analysis for a non-parametric assessment procedure in performance-based earthquake engineering. • Develop a kernel-density-based non-parametric methodology for seismic fragility estimation. • Combine the cloud approach and the non-stationary excitation for both efficiency and accuracy. • Incorporate the parametric cloud-LR and the benchmark cloud-MCS approaches for validation. • Provide a new sight for the development of non-parametric seismic fragility estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) of innate immune system, playing crucial roles in immune defense against pathogens. TLR18, a member of TLR1 family, is fish-specific TLR and involves in the immune response against bacterial infection. Currently, the structural biology of fish TLR18 is poorly elaborated. In this study, the structure and ligand binding of TLR18 (smTLR18) of soiny mullet (Liza haematocheila), an economically valuable aquaculture mugilid species, were analyzed. The extracellular domain (ECD) of smTLR18 formed an open-loop horseshoe-shaped structure with the concave surfaces made up of 19 parallel β-strands (LRR1-LRR19), lacking Z-loop that seen in human TLR9. The intracellular Toll/interleukin (IL)-1 (TIR) domain contained a central 4-parallel β-sheet (βA-βD) surrounded by 5 α-helices (αA-αE). Molecular docking analysis revealed that both ECD domain and TIR domain of smTLR18 could form homodimers. For the ECD homodimer, the main residues involved in dimer formation were located from LRR10 to LRR14. For the TIR homodimer, the residues involved in dimer formation were located in BB loop, αB helix, αC helix and DD loop. Ligand binding analyses revealed that peptidoglycans (PGNs) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), two main bacterial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), were the potential ligands of smTLR18. The van der Waals and Coulombic interactions contributed to the interactions between smTLR18 and PGNs, while only van der Waals dominated the interactions between smTLR18 and LPS. The residues involved in ligands binding were located from LRR9 to LRR13. Our results provided the structural bases for elucidate the ligand binding of fish TLR18. • The structures of ECD and TIR of soiny mullet TLR18 were constructed. • The residues involved in formation of ECD dimer and TIR dimer were characterized. • The residues involved in LPS and PGNs binding were characterized. • LPS and PGN were potential ligands of fish TLR18. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) of innate immune system, playing crucial roles in immune defense against pathogens. TLR18, a member of TLR1 family, is fish-specific TLR and involves in the immune response against bacterial infection. Currently, the structural biology of fish TLR18 is poorly elaborated. In this study, the structure and ligand binding of TLR18 (smTLR18) of soiny mullet (Liza haematocheila), an economically valuable aquaculture mugilid species, were analyzed. The extracellular domain (ECD) of smTLR18 formed an open-loop horseshoe-shaped structure with the concave surfaces made up of 19 parallel β-strands (LRR1-LRR19), lacking Z-loop that seen in human TLR9. The intracellular Toll/interleukin (IL)-1 (TIR) domain contained a central 4-parallel β-sheet (βA-βD) surrounded by 5 α-helices (αA-αE). Molecular docking analysis revealed that both ECD domain and TIR domain of smTLR18 could form homodimers. For the ECD homodimer, the main residues involved in dimer formation were located from LRR10 to LRR14. For the TIR homodimer, the residues involved in dimer formation were located in BB loop, αB helix, αC helix and DD loop. Ligand binding analyses revealed that peptidoglycans (PGNs) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), two main bacterial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), were the potential ligands of smTLR18. The van der Waals and Coulombic interactions contributed to the interactions between smTLR18 and PGNs, while only van der Waals dominated the interactions between smTLR18 and LPS. The residues involved in ligands binding were located from LRR9 to LRR13. Our results provided the structural bases for elucidate the ligand binding of fish TLR18. • The structures of ECD and TIR of soiny mullet TLR18 were constructed. • The residues involved in formation of ECD dimer and TIR dimer were characterized. • The residues involved in LPS and PGNs binding were characterized. • LPS and PGN were potential ligands of fish TLR18. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Punicic acid (PuA; 18:3Δ9 cis ,11 trans ,13 cis ), a conjugated linolenic acid isomer bearing three conjugated double bonds, is associated with various health benefits and has potential for industrial use. The major nature source of this unusual fatty acid is pomegranate (Punica granatum) seed oil, which contains up to 80% (w/w) of its fatty acids as PuA. Pomegranate seed oil, however, is low yielding with unstable production and thus limits the supply of PuA. Metabolic engineering of established temperate oil crops for PuA production, therefore, has the potential to be a feasible strategy to overcome the limitations associated with sourcing PuA from pomegranate. In this study, the cDNAs encoding a pomegranate fatty acid conjugase and a pomegranate oleate desaturase were co-expressed in canola-type Brassica napus. Transgenic B. napus lines accumulated up to 11% (w/w) of the total fatty acids as PuA in the seed oil, which is the highest level of PuA reported in metabolically engineered oilseed crops so far. Levels of seed oil PuA were stable over two generations and had no negative effects on seed germination. The transgenic B. napus lines with the highest PuA levels contained multiple transgene insertions and the PuA content of B. napus seed oil was correlated with efficiency of oleic acid desaturation and linoleic acid conjugation. In addition, PuA accumulated at lower levels in polar lipids (5.0–6.9%) than triacylglycerol (7.5–10.6%), and more than 60% of triacylglycerol-associated PuA was present at the sn -2 position. This study provides the basis for the commercial production of PuA in transgenic oilseed crops and thus would open new prospects for the application of this unusual fatty acid in health and industry. • The punicic acid biosynthetic pathway was successfully integrated into Brasscia napus (canola) via metabolic engineering. • Seeds of the transgenic canola can accumulate 11% of total seed oil as punicic acid. • Punicic acid levels in transgenic lines were stable over two generations without affecting seed germination and viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than two decades after the discovery of adult neurogenesis in humans, researchers still struggle to elucidate the underlying transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms. RNA interference is a crucially important process in the central nervous system, and its role in adult neurogenesis is poorly understood. In this work, we address the role of Dicer-dependent microRNA biogenesis in neuronal differentiation of adult neural stem cells within the subventricular zone of the mouse brain. Loss of the Dicer1 gene in the tailless (Tlx)-positive cells did not cause the decline in their numbers, but severely affected differentiation. Thus, our findings identify yet another phenomenon associated with microRNA pathway deregulation in adult neural stem cells which might be of relevance both for neuroscience and clinical practice. • Dicer ablation in neural stem cells at SVZ does not induce their death. • Differentiation of progenitor cells is crucially dependent on Dicer activity. • Dicer depletion results in an exhaustion of larger size neurospheres. • SVZ microRNA profiling reveals a multifaceted consequence of Dicer depletion in neural stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Different size of atomically precise Au nanoclusters on LDH by a modified electrostatic adsorption strategy. • Effects of size and active site structure on air oxidative activity of benzyl alcohol. • Au 38 /LDH with bi-icosahedron structure exhibits the highest activity with TOF of 1884 h−1. • More negatively charged Au sites of Au 38 /LDH greatly contribute to the activation of α-C–H bond. The effects of size and active site structure on catalytic activity were deeply investigated in air oxidation of benzyl alcohol over a series of Ni 3 Al-LDH (layered double hydroxides)-supported Au n nanocluster (NC) catalysts Au n /LDH (n = 25, 38, ~127), obtained by modified electrostatic adsorption of atomically precise Au 25 Capt 18 , Au 38 Capt 24 and Au ~127 -Capt (Capt: captopril) NCs followed proper calcination. Detailed characterizations show that the Au 25 /LDH, Au 38 /LDH and Au ~127 /LDH possess ultrafine Au NCs size of 1.2 ± 0.2, 1.4 ± 0.3 and 1.8 ± 0.5 nm, respectively, which are majorly dispersed on the edge sites of the small-sized LDH nanosheets (20–40 nm). All the catalysts exhibit excellent catalytic activities in air oxidation of benzyl alcohol without external base associated with the remarkable size- and active site structure-dependence. The catalyst Au 38 /LDH shows the highest activity with TOF of 1884 h−1, which can be attributable to the ultrafine bi-icosahedron structure Au 38 NCs and the strongest Au 38 NCs – Ni-OH (LDH) synergistic effect facilitating the activation of α-C H bond of benzyl alcohol over more negatively charged Au sites upon XPS, CO-DRIFTs and kinetic isotope studies. The findings of the size- and active site structure-dependence of supported Au n cluster catalysts in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol provide important guiding principles for the rational design of supported Au n cluster catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tafazzin is a mitochondrial enzyme that exchanges fatty acids between phospholipids by phospholipid–lysophospholipid transacylation. The reaction alters the molecular species composition and, as a result, the physical properties of lipids. In vivo , the most important substrate of tafazzin is the mitochondria-specific lipid cardiolipin. Tafazzin mutations cause the human disease Barth syndrome, which presents with cardiomyopathy, skeletal muscle weakness, fatigue, and other symptoms, probably all related to mitochondrial dysfunction. The reason why mitochondria require tafazzin is still not known, but recent evidence suggests that tafazzin may lower the energy cost associated with protein crowding in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Unlabelled Image • Tafazzin is a mitochondrial enzyme. • It exchanges fatty acids between phospholipids and lysophospholipids. • The reaction alters the molecular species composition of membrane lipids. • The most important substrate of tafazzin cardiolipin. • Tafazzin mutations cause the human disease Barth syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study takes advantage of recent advances in machine learning to establish a physics-based data analytic platform for distributed reconstruction of mechanical properties in layered components from full waveform data. In this vein, two logics, namely the direct inversion and physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), are explored. The direct inversion entails three steps: (i) spectral denoising and differentiation of the full-field data, (ii) building appropriate neural maps to approximate the profile of unknown physical and regularization parameters on their respective domains, and (iii) simultaneous training of the neural networks by minimizing the Tikhonov-regularized PDE loss using data from (i). PINNs furnish efficient surrogate models of complex systems with predictive capabilities via multitask learning where the field variables are modeled by neural maps endowed with (scaler or distributed) auxiliary parameters such as physical unknowns and loss function weights. PINNs are then trained by minimizing a measure of data misfit subject to the underlying physical laws as constraints. In this study, to facilitate learning from ultrasonic data, the PINNs loss adopts (a) wavenumber-dependent Sobolev norms to compute the data misfit, and (b) non-adaptive weights in a specific scaling framework to naturally balance the loss objectives by leveraging the form of PDEs germane to elastic-wave propagation. Both paradigms are examined via synthetic and laboratory test data. In the latter case, the reconstructions are performed at multiple frequencies and the results are verified by a set of complementary experiments highlighting the importance of verification and validation in data-driven modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a wind tunnel experiment on the deformation and dynamics of a flexible plate with attached mass blocks mounted behind a circular cylinder. The mass blocks are fixed at a distance of 3/4 of the plate length from the rear stagnation point of the cylinder. Different flexible plates with lengths ranging from 1 D to 7 D and thicknesses equaling 0.5% D and 1% D (where D is the cylinder diameter) are tested and compared. It is found that as the plate length increases, the deformation behavior of the flexible plate can be classified into three sequential regimes — "linear-shaped", "fish-shaped", and "trumpet-shaped" — with the Strouhal number decreasing gradually. The deformation regime changes at a longer plate length for the thicker flexible plate (1% D) than for the thinner one (0.5% D). Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis reveals that the deformation of the flexible plate is mainly dominated by the first two POD modes, and that the "fish-shaped" and "trumpet-shaped" regimes are characterized by the bending mode and deflection mode, respectively. Additionally, in the "trumpet-shaped" regime, the flexible plates have higher maximum and mean elastic strain energies. A kinematic analysis of the characteristic points on the flexible plate shows that the movement of the plate's free end lags behind that of the mass blocks, and its phase lag decreases as the plate length increases. In particular, the fluctuating drag of the experimental model shows a step change when the deformation regime changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chickpea is one of the most widely consumed pulses, and chickpea protein has been reported to have superior protein bioavailability among different pulses. The high protein level in chickpea supplies nutrition and active peptides with potential antioxidant, antihypertensive, and anticancer properties. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of chickpea-derived proteins and peptides on gut microbial modulation and its relationship with antioxidant activities. In vitro fecal batch culture fermentation showed that chickpea albumin peptides had the highest antioxidant ability, drastically promoted Bifidobacterium growth, and enhanced the levels of lactic bacteria (i.e., Pediococcus , Weissella), and an acetate/propionate-producing bacteria Veillonella. The albumin peptides also stimulated the highest generation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and suppressed the generation of byproducts, including ammonia and indole. These findings indicated that antioxidant activity performs a crucial role in colonic fermentation and that chickpea-derived albumin peptides with outstanding antioxidant ability and prebiotic potential can be applied as functional food ingredients. [Display omitted] • Chickpea AP presented outstanding antioxidant ability. • Chickpea AP significantly enhanced abundances of Bifidobacterium , Weissella etc. • Chickpea AP significantly promoted SCFA production. • Chickpea AP can be applied as functional food ingredients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonylphenols (NPs) are a group of endocrine-disrupting surfactants that mimic estrogen. To determine the developmental toxicity and thyroid-disrupting effect of NPs, the effects of exposure to nonylphenol (NP), 4-nonylphenol (4-NP), and nonylphenol ethoxylate (NP-12) were examined according to the frog embryo teratogenesis assay- Xenopus (FETAX) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development test guidelines 231 (TG231). In FETAX, the LC 50 values of NP, 4-NP, and NP-12 were 59.14 mg/L, 10.13 mg/L, and 14.60 mg/L, respectively. At 10.0 mg/L, NP, 4-NP, and NP-12 significantly decreased the total length of tadpoles, and NP and 4-NP increased gut malformation and bent tails. In surviving tadpoles, the EC 50 values for malformation of NP, 4-NP, and NP-12 were 4.66, 6.51, and 13.08 mg/L, respectively. The teratogenic indices of NP, 4-NP, and NP-12 were 12.69, 1.56, and 1.08, respectively, suggesting the teratogenic potential of NP and 4-NP. In a range-finder assay for TG231, the 96-h LC 50 values of NP, 4-NP, and NP-12 were 2.0, 2.0, and 10.57 mg/L, respectively. When NF stage 51 larvae were exposed for 21 days, larval growth was inhibited by NP, 4-NP, and NP-12 at 0.67, 0.07, and 0.37 mg/L, respectively. 4-NP at 0.07 mg/L accelerated the developmental stage and significantly increased hind limb length, while 0.67 mg/L 4-NP delayed the developmental stage and decreased hind limb length, suggesting a bimodal effect of 4-NP on metamorphosis. NP and NP-12 at test concentrations did not alter the larval stage, but NP-12 at 0.37 mg/L significantly decreased total length and tail length, suggesting growth inhibition in larvae. The total colloid area of thyroid follicles was significantly increased by 0.07 mg/L 4-NP but not by NP and NP-12, suggesting that 4-NP may interfere with thyroid function. Together, the developmental toxicity of NPs was in the following order: 4-NP, NP-12, and NP. 4-NP may alter metamorphosis driven by thyroid hormones in X. laevis. • Developmental toxicity of nonylphenols was tested by frog embryo teratogenesis assay. • Metamorphosis toxicity of nonylphenols was tested using Xenopus laevis larvae. • Nonylphenol showed the highest teratogenic potential. • 4-nonylphenol may alter metamorphosis driven by thyroid hormones in Xenopus laevis. • 4-nonylphenol in the water environment may disrupt amphibian metamorphosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citrate esters are considered functional alternatives to phthalate plasticizers, but their toxicity remains poorly understood. The toxicity of citrate esters, including triethyl 2-acetylcitrate (ATEC) and trihexyl O-acetylcitrate (ATHC), were examined together with that of bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) using the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Test Guideline 407 (OECD TG407). Following 28-day oral administration, no significant differences in body weight or the weight of the brain, pituitary, heart, epididymis, seminal vesicles, or coagulating gland were found between the vehicle control and DEHP, ATEC or ATHC groups. In the 400 mg/kg day DEHP group, liver, adrenal, thymus, spleen, kidney, testis, and prostate weights were significantly increased. In the 400 mg/kg day ATHC group, kidney, adrenal, thymus, testis and prostate weights were significantly increased. In the 400 mg/kg day ATEC group, kidney, adrenal and testis weights were significantly increased. Hepatocyte size was significantly increased in the 400 mg/kg day DEHP group, suggestive of hepatotoxicity, but was not increased in the ATEC or ATHC groups. There were no significant differences in white blood cell, red blood cell or platelet counts, hemoglobin concentrations, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, fasting glucose, insulin, or testosterone concentrations between the vehicle control and DEHP, ATEC and ATHC groups. In the ATHC 400 mg/kg day group, T3 was decreased while T4 was increased, suggestive of disruption of thyroid function. The results of the OECD TG407 subacute repeated dosing toxicity test indicate ATEC is less toxic compared to ATHC or DEHP and could be recommended as an alternative to phthalate plasticizers. • Toxicity of citrate esters were examined using subacute repeated dosing toxicity test. • Systemic toxicity of bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate is higher than those of citrate esters. • Triethyl 2-acetylcitrate is less toxic compared to bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate. • Triethyl 2-acetylcitrate could be recommended as an alternative to phthalate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Spray drying is an economic technique used in preservation and production of Monascus pigment powder. This study was performed to encapsulate the Monascus pigment with maltodextrin using spray drying technique with three types of carrier agents: propylene glycol, mannitol and polyglycerol ester at different concentrations (0.5%, 1% and 1.5%). Analyses of particle size, the spattering behavior, microstructure, color value, and thermal profile were performed on the obtained powder. The addition of propanediol, mannitol and polyglycerol ester in combination with maltodextrin led to an increase of 17.5%, 45.8%, and 23.5% in the volume mean diameter of Monascus pigment powder, respectively. The decrease of spattering of Monascus pigment with maltodextrin was clearly evident in the case of formulations containing 1.5% polyglycerol ester. Scanning electronic microscopy analyses showed that Monascus pigment particle treated with maltodextrin exhibited microstructures that were smooth and dented, while the particles treated with carriers exhibited rough, irregular surface and adherence of smaller particles on their surfaces. UV–visible spectroscopy proved that the addition of carriers did not influence the molecular structure of Monascus pigment compared to the powder without carrier treatment. Differential scanning calorimeter analysis revealed that mannitol enhanced water vaporization during spray drying process as lower enthalpy change was observed in thermogram. The addition of an appropriate carrier (0.5%, 1.5% propanediol or 1% mannitol) improved the color values of Monascus pigment. Highlights • Monascus pigment was prepared by spray drying using three types of carrier agents with maltodextrin. • 1.5% polglycerol ester with maltodextrin decreased the spattering of Monascus pigment. • Monascus pigment prepared with maltodextrin + carriers exhibited rough, irregular surface and adherence of smaller particles. • 1% mannitol + 13% maltodextrin effectively increased the color values of Monascus pigment powder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionizing radiation (IR) triggers the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which shows potential roles in damaging the DNA and proteins at the nucleus, and eventually results in apoptosis and even cell death. Antioxidant agents can inhibit the generation of ROS after IR exposure. Tannic acid (TA), has an antioxidant activity involving in preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. However, little is known about the effects of TA on irradiation-induced apoptosis in megakaryocytes. Here, we evaluated the anti-radiation activity of TA in megakaryocytes. Our results showed that TA protected megakaryocytes from apoptosis induced by IR, attenuated IR-induced increases in the production of ROS, and inhibited the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Moreover, TA down-regulated NAPDH oxidase 1 (Nox1) expression, and decreased the phosphorylated levels of JNK and p38. Furthermore, JNK inhibitor could reduce apoptosis induced by X-irradiation in M07e cells. In vivo experiments confirmed that TA could promote the platelet recovery, reduce the percentage of apoptosis CD41 + megakaryocytes in bone marrow and raise survival during 30 days in mice by total body irradiation. In conclusion, TA can protecte the megakaryocytes from apoptosis caused by IR through inhibiting Nox1 expression to reduce ROS generation and repressing JNK/p38 MAPK pathway activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A high-efficiency and functional NiO/CeO 2 heterostructure nanocatalyst exhibits outstanding HER performance in 1 M KOH with a low overpotential of 99 mV at the current density of 10 mA•cm−2 and a modest Tafel slope of 78.4 mV dec−1. • The atomic-scale analysis of the interfacial structure and the locale electronic states have been provided by the combination of advanced electron microscopic characterization and first principle calculation. • It has been found that the charge transfer occurs from Ni to Ce at the interfacial region, resulting in the valence state variation and increased formation of V O and Ce3+ cations, which would optimize the ΔG H* and facilitate the hydrogen evolution process. • The improved HER performance could be attributed to synergistic coupling interactions and electron redistribution at the interface of NiO and CeO 2. To understand the underlying mechanism of the interfacial charge transfer and local chemical state variation in the nonprecious-based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts, a model system of the NiO/CeO 2 heterostructure was chosen for investigation using a combination of the advanced electron microscopic characterization and first-principles calculations. The results directly proved that interfacial charge transfer occurs from Ni to Ce, leading to reduction in the valence state of Ce and increased formation of V O. This would optimize ΔG H* and facilitate the hydrogen evolution process, resulting in outstanding HER performance in 1 M KOH with a low overpotential of 99 mV at the current density of 10 mA•cm−2 and a modest Tafel slope of 78.4 mV•dec−1 for the NiO/CeO 2 heterostructure sample. Therefore, the improved HER performance could be attributed to the synergistic coupling interactions and electron redistribution at the interface of NiO and CeO 2. These results concretely demonstrate the direct determination of the interfacial structure of the heterostructure and provide atomistic insights to unravel the underlying mechanism of interfacial charge transfer induced HER performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LINC complexes span across the nuclear envelope and are assembled by SUN and KASH proteins. SUN1 and SUN2 are the two most abundant SUN proteins in mammals. In SUN2, the predicted coiled-coil domain preceding the SUN domain forms a three-helix bundle that constitutes an autoinhibitory domain (AID) to lock down the SUN domain. Here, we found that SUN1 also contains an AID preceding the SUN domain and solved the structure of the AID-SUN tandem of SUN1. SUN1 AID also adopts a three-helix bundle conformation that interacts with the SUN domain and keeps it in an autoinhibited state. Disruptions of the interaction interface in the AID-SUN tandem restored the SUN domain activity for binding to the KASH peptide. Structural comparison further demonstrated that the autoinhibited conformations of the AID-SUN tandems from SUN1 and SUN2 are similar and the intramolecular interdomain packing in SUN1 is slightly more compact than that in SUN2 due to minor variations of the residues in the interaction interface. Thus, AID is a conserved functional domain in SUN proteins and this work provides the structural evidence to support the conversation of the AID-mediated autoinhibition of SUN proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One way that languages are able to communicate a potentially infinite set of ideas through a finite lexicon is by compressing emerging meanings into words, such that over time, individual words come to express multiple, related senses of meaning. We propose that overarching communicative and cognitive pressures have created systematic directionality in how new metaphorical senses have developed from existing word senses over the history of English. Given a large set of pairs of semantic domains, we used computational models to test which domains have been more commonly the starting points (source domains) and which the ending points (target domains) of metaphorical mappings over the past millennium. We found that a compact set of variables, including externality , embodiment , and valence , explain directionality in the majority of about 5000 metaphorical mappings recorded over the past 1100 years. These results provide the first large-scale historical evidence that metaphorical mapping is systematic, and driven by measurable communicative and cognitive principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Cu-SAPO-34 with P/Al ratio of 1.2 showed good hydrothermal stability. • The grain size of Cu-SAPO-34 increased with the increase of P/Al ratio. • Large grain size promoted transformation of CuO to Cu2+ after hydrothermal aging. • Large grain size limited aggregation of Cu2+ after hydrothermal aging. Cu-SAPO-34 is a promising catalyst for abatement of NO via selective catalytic reduction with NH 3 (NH 3 -SCR), but its hydrothermal stability needs to be enhanced. In this work, the Cu-SAPO-34 catalysts with different P/Al ratios of 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 were prepared, and the temperature window with NO conversion >90% (T 90) for all catalysts were similar (160–570 °C). The T 90 of Cu-SAPO-34 with P/Al of 0.8 dramatically decreased (220–470 °C) after hydrothermal treatment, and interestingly, the catalysts with high P/Al ratios (1.0 and 1.2) remained high activity. The T 90 of the aged catalysts with P/Al of 1.2 was 155–525 °C. The characterizations showed that the increase of P/Al ratio not only enhanced the crystallinity but also enlarged the grain size of catalysts, which were conducive to the zeolite framework stability. Moreover, the Cu-SAPO-34 with large grain size facilitated the conversion of CuO to isolated Cu2+ ions as well as inhibited the aggregation of Cu species. Furthermore, the large grain sized catalysts provided more acid sites, and thus, the catalysts presented excellent hydrothermal stability. In situ DRIFTS analysis confirmed the existence of both Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Eley-Rideal pathway over the catalyst with a P/Al ratio of 1.2. This work provided a facile method to promote the hydrothermal stability of Cu-based zeolite catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A probabilistic assessment is performed using different seismic fragility analysis approaches for structures under non-stationary stochastic ground motions. Four commonly used probabilistic seismic fragility analysis (PSFA) approaches are adopted, which are least squares regression (LSR), maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), kernel density estimation (KDE) and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). The principles of the four PSFA approaches are first introduced, and the theories of non-stationary stochastic acceleration time series are introduced in light of the spectral representation of random functions. Then an analytical procedure of different PSFA approaches is constructed for structures under non-stationary stochastic motions. After that a case study is carried out to analyze the results of the four PSFA approaches. The demand distributions of univariate random variable under certain intensity measure levels are discussed, and multiple fragility curves under different limit states for all the approaches are compared. In general, the MCS approach is set as the benchmark to verify the effectiveness of other approaches, but it is computationally consuming. The non-parametric KDE approach is recommended to estimate the univariate distribution under specified IM levels, because it can reflect the real distribution characteristics with combined efficiency and accuracy. For the seismic fragility under different limit states, the LSR approach is suitable for efficient data processing and general trend assessment, at the expense of accuracy. The MLE approach indicates a better applicability under a smaller response threshold and slighter damage conditions, while the KDE approach shows a better applicability under a larger response threshold and severer damage conditions. The paper compares the accuracy and applicability of various PSFA approaches under multiple conditions, and provides a basis to link probabilistic hazard and risk analyses for performance assessment in the future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is a worldwide commercially important aquatic species. In recent years, pathogenic diseases cause great economic losses and hinder the industry of largemouth bass. To further understand the immune response against pathogens in largemouth bass, splenic transcriptome libraries of largemouth bass were respectively constructed at 12 h post-challenged with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (polyI:C) by using RNA sequencing technology (RNA-seq). RNA libraries were constructed using 9 RNA splenic samples isolated from three biological replicates of the three groups and sequenced on the DNBSEQ platform. A total number of 86,306 unigenes were obtained. Through pairwise comparisons among the three groups, we identified 11,295 different expression genes (DEGs) exhibiting significant differences at the transcript level. There were 7, 7, and 13 signal pathways were significantly enriched in LPS-PBS comparison, polyI:C-PBS comparison, and LPS-polyI:C comparison, respectively, indicating that the immune response to different pathogens was distinct in largemouth bass. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the immune response of largemouth bass against different pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) stimuli using transcriptomic analysis. Our results provide a valuable resource and new insights to understanding the immune characteristics of largemouth bass against different pathogens. • Nine RNA libraries of spleen of largemouth bass were constructed. • The immune responses against LPS and polyI:C were pairwise compared. • The different signaling pathway after LPS and polyI:C challenge were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, landfill sludge (LS) has accumulated in large quantities, and its reduction and dewatering are urgently needed. To address pollution problems and clogging of drainage boards caused by chemical conditioning combined with traditional vacuum preloading (TVP), a freeze-thaw combined with step vacuum preloading (F/T-SVP) method is proposed. A comparative experimental study was carried out between TVP and SVP to explore the anti-clogging mechanism of F/T-SVP in treating LS. As a result, the water discharge for the original sludge (OS) is 1840 ml, the water discharge for TVP is 8830 ml and for SVP is 10,010 ml; The total settlement of SVP is 16% higher than that of TVP; TVP has a volume reduction ratio of 57.6%, while SVP has 66.8%; the OS's water content was 86%, which was reduced to 57.6% by F/T-SVP; The center of the drainage board of TVP is seriously clogged, while the particles of SVP are evenly distributed; The tendency for small particles to undergo transport is relatively low at the beginning of SVP, which can effectively reduce clogging; TVP mainly focuses on the compression of large pores into small pores, and SVP mainly focuses on the compression of large into small pores and micropores. In SVP, there is more consolidation and a more compact structure. When F/T-SVP is used to treat LS, the pores are gradually penetrated, effectively avoiding the generation of clogging and improving LS's drainage and consolidation. [Display omitted] • A combined freeze-thaw and step vacuum preloading method were proposed to treat landfill sludge. • The drainage and consolidation effects of TVP and SVP in treating LS were compared. • The microstructural properties of LS in using freeze-thaw and SVP were investigated. • The anti-clogging mechanism of SVP and TVP in treating LS were explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aquatic environment, linked to the sustainable development of human existence and ecological environment, is influenced comprehensively by anthropogenic and natural activities. In light of the continuously low concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) in surface water in plain river networks and the phenomenon of delay in the improvement of surface water quality, this research aims to introduce a method that may be utilized in identifying the critical driving forces of DO in surface water and their lagging characteristics, which will contribute to the assessment and adjustment of water quality drivers and/or policies. The research analyzes a typical small watershed in a river network region of the Yangtze River Delta plain as the study area, collecting 35-year (1986–2020) data on several water quality parameters, decades of anthropogenic activities, and two natural factors. The time series methods of vector autoregressive model, Granger causality tests, forecast error variance decompositions, and impulse response functions (hereinafter referred to as VAR+), which are rarely applied in related research, were employed in this study and proved helpful for screening out pivotal drivers and capturing the lagging responses of DO level to driving forces at each lagged time. Results show that there exists a fluctuating drop in DO level in surface water from 1986 to 2008 and a steady climb from 2008 to 2020, with the lowest DO level being present in 2008. The impulsive perturbations of phosphate fertilizer consumption (PFC), motor vessel number, and precipitation minimally increase DO concentration, while the impulsive perturbation of gross domestic product (GDP) causes the sharpest drop in DO level. With these perturbations, the driving force of PFC persists for approximately seven years, and the driving forces of water temperature, permanent population, and GDP persist for only five years. Future research could be conducted with spatial hysteresis, selection of lag order and variable quantity within the model, as well as intermediate variables between drivers and DO level for exploring driving pathways and mechanisms. [Display omitted] • VAR based method captures the lagging responses of DO level to driving forces. • The driving force of phosphorus fertilizer on DO level lasts for 7 years. • Phosphorus fertilizer and rainfall are key drivers of DO level in surface water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Ten new indole alkaloids were isolated from Uncaria rhynchophylla. • Their structures were elucidated by the analysis of spectroscopic data and quantum chemical calculations. • Eight of the ten new compounds exhibited at least one antagonistic effect on the dopamine D2 and Mu opioid receptors. • Compounds 1 and 21 processed dual-target activities on the two receptors. Ten new indole alkaloids (1 – 10) as well as eleven known analogs (11 – 21) were isolated from the stems and hooks of Uncaria rhynchophylla. Their structure elucidation was based on extensive NMR studies, MS and ECD data, with the essential aid of DFT prediction of ECD spectra. Compound 1 was determined as a 17,19 - seco - cadambine - type alkaloid, and compound 3 was confirmed to be a 3,4 - seco - tricyclic monoterpene indole alkaloid, which are the first seco - alkaloids possessing such cleavage positions from U. rhynchophylla. All the isolated compounds were evaluated for their bioactivities on dopamine D2 and Mu opioid receptors for discovering natural therapeutic drugs targeting central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Compounds 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 20 and 21 showed antagonistic bioactivities on the D2 receptor (IC 50 0.678–15.200 μM), and compounds 1 , 3 , 6 , 9 , 10 , 13 , 18 , 19 and 21 exhibited antagonistic effects on the Mu receptor (IC 50 2.243–32.200 μM). Among them, compounds 1 and 21 displayed dual - target activities. Compound 1 showed conspicuous antagonistic activity on D2 and Mu receptors with the IC 50 values of 0.678 ± 0.182 μM and 13.520 ± 2.480 μM, respectively. Compound 21 displayed moderate antagonistic activity on the two receptors with the IC 50 values at 15.200 ± 1.764 μM and 32.200 ± 5.695 μM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a considerable amount of landfill sludge (LS) accumulating worldwide, threatening the surrounding environment and land safety. It is urgent to dewater and reduce LS. Chemical conditioning is the most common treatment for LS, which can pollute the environment and limit resource exploitation. Therefore, a more environmentally friendly and efficient freeze-thaw combined vacuum preloading method is proposed. Experimental studies were conducted to investigate the influence of different freezing temperatures on the dewatering properties, compression and consolidation features, and the mechanism of microstructural change in LS. The results show that the freezing temperature has an important influence on the dewatering, compression, vacuum drainage, consolidation, and microstructure characteristics of LS. The compressibility of LS does not improve when the freezing rate is too high. Freeze-thaw cycles can improve sludge's permeability and consolidation properties by one to two orders of magnitude, and a suitable freezing temperature can significantly improve sludge's permeability and consolidation properties. After vacuum drainage and consolidation, the maximum volume reduction ratio of sludge can reach 55.3%, and the water content of LS can be reduced from 86% to 66%. The distribution of large pores and mesopores in LS increases as the freezing temperature decreases, reaching a maximum of −15 °C, which can substantially improve permeability, drainage, and consolidation efficiency. • The vacuum filtration characteristics of landfill sludge (LS) under different freezing temperatures were studied. • The LS's consolidation properties under different freezing temperatures were investigated. • The effect of freezing temperature on vacuum drainage characteristics of LS was studied. • The change of LS's particle size and pore size distribution under different freezing temperatures were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long term residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in soils are of great concerning because they seriously threaten food security and human health. This article focuses on isolation of OCP-degrading strains and their performance in bioremediation of contaminated soil under ex situ conditions. A bacterium, Chryseobacterium sp. PYR2, capable of degrading various OCPs and utilizing them as a sole carbon and energy source for growth, was isolated from OCP-contaminated soil. In culture experiments, PYR2 degraded 80–98% of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) or 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT) isomers (50 mg L −1 ) in 30 days. A pilot-scale ex situ bioremediation study of highly OCP-contaminated soil augmented with PYR2 was performed. During the 45-day experimental period, DDT concentration was reduced by 80.3% in PYR2-augmented soils (35.37 mg kg −1 to 6.97 mg kg −1 ) but by only 57.6% in control soils. Seven DDT degradation intermediates (metabolites) were detected and identified in PYR2-augmented soils: five by GC/MS: 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDD), 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDE), 1-chloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethylene (DDMU), 1-chloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDMS), and dichlorobenzophenone (DBP); and two by LC/MS: 4-chlorobenzoic acid (PCBA) and 4-chlorophenylacetic acid (PCPA). Levels of metabolites were fairly stable in control soils but varied greatly with time in PYR2-augmented soils. Levels of DDD, DDMU, and DDE in PYR2-augmented soils increased from day 0 to day 30 and then decreased by day 45. A DDT biodegradation pathway is proposed based on our identification of DDT metabolites in PYR2-augmented systems. PYR2 will be useful in future studies of OCP biodegradation and in bioremediation of OCP-contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian evolutionary conserved signaling intermediate in Toll pathways (ECSIT) is an important intracellular protein that involves in innate immunity, embryogenesis, and assembly or stability of the mitochondrial complex I. In the present study, the ECSIT was characterized in soiny mullet (Liza haematocheila). The full-length cDNA of mullet ECSIT was 1860 bp, encoding 449 amino acids. Mullet ECSIT shared 60.4%∼78.2% sequence identities with its teleost counterparts. Two conserved protein domains, ECSIT domain and C-terminal domain, were found in mullet ECSIT. Realtime qPCR analysis revealed that mullet ECSIT was distributed in all examined tissues with high expressions in spleen, head kidney (HK) and gill. Further analysis showed that mullet ECSIT in spleen was up-regulated from 6 h to 48 h after Streptococcus dysgalactiae infection. In addition, the co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) assay confirmed that mullet ECSIT could interact with tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6). Molecular docking revealed that the polar interaction and hydrophobic interaction play crucial roles in the forming of ECSIT-TRAF6 complex. The resides of mullet ECSIT that involved in the interaction between ECSIT and TRAF6 were Arg107, Glu113, Phe114, Glu124, Lys120 and Lys121, which mainly located in the ECSIT domain. Our results demonstrated that mullet ECSIT involved in the immune defense against bacterial and regulation of TLRs signaling pathway by interaction with TRAF6. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on ECSIT of soiny mullet, which deepen the understanding of ECSIT and its functions in the immune response of teleosts. • Sequence features of mullet ECSIT were analyzed. • Expressions of mullet ECSIT in normal tissues were analyzed. • Expressions of mullet ECSIT in spleen following bacterial infection were analyzed. • The interaction between mullet ECSIT and TRAF6 was detected by Co-IP assay. • The residues that involved in the forming of ECSIT-TRAF6 complex were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is an inflammatory disorder. Pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) may play a pivotal role in the central nervous system (CNS) inflammation of depression. Here, we investigated IL-1β alteration in serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-exposed rats, a well-documented model of depression, and further explored the molecular mechanism by which CUMS procedure induced IL-1β-related CNS inflammation. We showed that 12-week CUMS procedure remarkably increased PFC IL-1β mRNA and protein levels in depressive-like behavior of rats, without significant alteration of serum and CSF IL-1β levels. We found that CUMS procedure significantly caused PFC nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) inflammatory pathway activation in rats. The intriguing finding in this study was the induced activation of nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome with the increased IL-1β maturation in PFC of CUMS rats, suggesting a new grade of regulatory mechanism for IL-1β-related CNS inflammation. Moreover, microglial activation and astrocytic function impairment were observed in PFC of CUMS rats. The increased co-location of NLRP3 and ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1) protein expression supported that microglia in glial cells was the primary contributor for CUMS-induced PFC NLRP3 inflammasome activation in rats. These alterations in CUMS rats were restored by chronic treatment of the antidepressant fluoxetine, indicating that fluoxetine-mediated rat PFC IL-1β reduction involves both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. These findings provide in vivo evidence that microglial NLRP3 inflammasome activation is a mediator of IL-1β-related CNS inflammation during chronic stress, and suggest a new therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The industrial applications of enzymes are usually hindered by the high production cost, intricate reusability, and low stability in terms of thermal, pH, salt, and storage. Therefore, the de novo design of nanozymes that possess the enzyme mimicking biocatalytic functions sheds new light on this field. Here, we propose a facile one-pot synthesis approach to construct Cu-chelated polydopamine nanozymes (PDA-Cu NPs) that can not only catalyze the chromogenic reaction of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DP) and 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AP), but also present enhanced photothermal catalytic degradation for typical textile dyes. Compared with natural laccase, the designed mimic has higher affinity to the substrate of 2,4-DP with K m of 0.13 mM. Interestingly, PDA-Cu nanoparticles are stable under extreme conditions (temperature, ionic strength, storage), are reusable for 6 cycles with 97 % activity, and exhibit superior substrate universality. Furthermore, PDA-Cu nanozymes show a remarkable acceleration of the catalytic degradation of dyes, malachite green (MG) and methylene blue (MB), under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. These findings offer a promising paradigm on developing novel nanozymes for biomedicine, catalysis, and environmental engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Energy levels, line strengths, oscillator strengths, radiative decay rates, and fine-structure collision strengths are presented for the Zn-like ions Nb XII and Mo XIII. The atomic data are calculated with the AUTOSTRUCTURE code, where relativistic corrections are introduced according to the Breit–Pauli distorted wave approach. We present the calculations of atomic data for 110 fine-structure levels generated from fifteen configurations (1s22s22p63s23p63d10)4s2, 4s4p, 4p2, 4s4d, 4s4f, 4s5s, 4p4d, 4s5p, 4s5d, 4p4f, 4p5s, 4d2, 4d4f, 4f2, and 3d94s24p. Fine-structure collision strengths for transitions from the ground and the first four excited levels are presented at six electron energies (20, 50, 80, 110, 150, and 180 Ryd). Our atomic structure data are compared with the available experimental and theoretical results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Partially functionalized AuNPs were synthesized under the assistance of CTAB. [•] A one-step synthesis of AuNP dimers with high yield was demonstrated. [•] The method could be generalized to other surfactants and nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Nesfatin-1 inhibits the proliferation and growth of HO-8910 cells by G1 phase arrest. [•] Nesfatin-1 enhances HO-8910 cell apoptosis. [•] Nesfatin-1 inhibits HO-8910 cell proliferation via mTOR and RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway. [•] The first report of nesfatin-1-mediated proliferation in ovarian epithelial carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) was used for depth profiling of black rice and the visualisation and quantification of the heterogeneous protein distribution. The SEM-EDS images of black rice grains revealed high protein content in the aleuronic layer, cell membrane and amyloplasts, especially in the spheroidal particles among the amyloplasts. This phenomenon has not been directly observed by other apparatuses because successive abrasion of brown rice by milling destroys the integrity of the cell walls and amyloplasts. Consistent with the SEM-EDS findings, confocal laser scanning microscopy and the Kjeldahl method preformed after successive milling indicated that the protein content of black rice decreases from the surface to the inner layer. Pasting curves obtained with a viscometer indicate that the protein distribution significantly affects the peak viscosity, setback viscosity, and pasting temperature of rice starch. Protein extraction weakened the structural stability of starch granules, possibly because the protective effect of protein is lost during extraction. This study improves the understanding of the protein distribution in rice grains and its effect on the pasting properties of rice starch; the findings are useful in food processing for managing rice nutrient compositions. • SEM−EDS was used to observe protein distribution of rice grain in situ. •Protein content was high in the aleuronic layer, cell membrane, amyloplasts. •Protein extractions clearly weakened the structural stability of starch granules. •Protein distributions impacted peak viscosity, setback viscosity and pasting temperature of rice starch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, a thermal-energy method is presented for calculating thermoelastic damping in micromechanical resonators. In this method, thermoelastic damping is interpreted as the generation of thermal energy per cycle of vibration and consequently is expressed in terms of entropy—a thermodynamic parameter measuring the irreversibility in heat conduction. As compared with a commonly used complex-frequency method, this thermal-energy method does not involve complex values and thus can be implemented in ANSYS/Multiphysics, a finite element modeling software, with fast speed. Based on the governing equations of linear thermoelasticity, the mathematical expressions are first derived for thermoelastic damping in micromechanical resonators made from isotropic and anisotropic materials, respectively. Through two sequential numerical simulations: uncoupled elastic modal simulation and transient heat conduction, the numerical values for these expressions are then calculated in ANSYS/Multiphysics for micromechanical resonators taking different structural geometries. This method is verified using the well-known theoretical solution to thermoelastic damping in a beam resonator and experimental data. As a result, the developed thermal-energy method can calculate thermoelastic damping in micromechanical resonators with any complex structural geometry and made from isotropic and/or anisotropic materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the vibration displacement on substrate due to time-harmonic stress sources from a micromechanical resonator fabricated using Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology. The vibrations of a micromechanical resonator exert a time-harmonic stress across the clamped region on its substrate and further excite elastic waves propagating into the substrate, therefore leading to the dissipation of vibration energy—commonly referred to as support loss. Support loss can be quantitatively evaluated in terms of this time-harmonic stress and its corresponding vibration displacement on substrate. To calculate this vibration displacement, this work treats the substrate as either a semi-infinite or infinite elastic medium. Then, the classic elastic wave theories are utilized to describe its behavior, and the Fourier transform or Hankel transform is employed for dealing with the geometrical infinity of the substrate. Consequently, the mathematical expressions for this vibration displacement, under several typical time-harmonic stress sources in micromechanical resonators, are derived. As a result, this work provides the basis for quantitatively evaluating support loss in a micromechanical resonator and predicts the relation of support loss versus some key resonator design parameters and substrate materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to improve the tracking characteristics of a small-scale shaking table, which is used in an active structural control system. Firstly, the active control experimental system is briefly described. Then, a system dynamic model is constructed, which integrates hydraulic actuator system and a three-floor test structure mounted on the shaking table. Due to low natural frequency and small damping, the small-scale shaking table cannot meet the experimental requirements. Thus, three states control algorithm based on pole-assignment principle is applied for extending the acceleration bandwidth and improving system damping. Lastly, the experimental results prove that the new controller is effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • QSE-21 strain and CFS inhibited the growth and development of B. cinerea. • CFS showed a good control effect against postharvest grey mould of fruit. • QSE-21 strain induced the differential expression of many genes in B. cinerea. • CFS activated jasmonic acid signal pathway in tomato fruit. • QSE-21 strain and CFS may be a potential biocontrol agent against gray mould. Postharvest grey mould caused by Botrytis cinerea severely affects the storage and quality of fruit. Plant endophytic bacteria are potential new sources of biocontrol agents for safe and "green" control of fruit diseases. In this study, a bacterial strain, QSE-21, was isolated from tomato stems and identified as Bacillus velezensis. QSE-21 strain and its cell-free supernatant (CFS) strongly inhibited mycelial growth, conidia production and conidia germination of B. cinerea. The CFS effectively protected against B. cinerea infection on different tested fruit, controlling infection by 67.3 % and 60.5 % in tomatoes and apples, respectively. Transcriptome analysis of B. cinerea under QSE-21 strain stress revealed that a large number of genes widely involved in diverse biological processes, such as DNA replication, mismatch repair and carbohydrate metabolism, were differentially expressed. Moreover, CFS rapidly upregulated the expression of genes involved in the jasmonic acid (JA) signalling pathway in tomato fruit. Collectively, our results indicate that QSE-21 strain has the potential to be used as a biocontrol agent for B. cinerea in postharvest fruit and present a global view of B. cinerea gene expression in response to QSE-21 strain, providing a theoretical reference for elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying CFS-mediated biocontrol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Interferon (IFN)-α and -β are important antiviral mediators. IFN-α is widely used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. In our previous studies, a subtype of woodchuck IFN-α (wIFN-α) was characterized and has been shown to be active in suppressing the replication of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) in vitro and vivo. Here, we refined the analysis of the IFN-α/β system of the woodchuck and studied the expression of wIFN-α/β in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from naïve and WHV-infected woodchucks. A number of wIFN-α genes were sequenced and could be classified into 10 subtypes and 3 pseudotypes. The biological activity of different subtypes of wIFN-α was demonstrated by their ability to protect woodchuck cells against encephalomyocarditis virus infection and to induce MxA expression in woodchuck cells. Additionally, a partial sequence of wIFN-β was characterized. A subtyping method for wIFN-α based on restriction length polymorphism analysis was developed. Further, the expression of wIFN by woodchuck PBLs after stimulation with polyI/C was investigated. The maximal production of wIFN by woodchuck PBLs occurred within the first 48h after addition poly I/C. The wIFN-α subtypes 1, 4, and 5 were found to be produced by poly I/C-stimulated woodchuck PBLs, indicating a selective expression of wIFN-α subtypes. PBLs from chronically WHV-infected woodchucks showed a reduced ability to produce wIFN when stimulated with poly I/C. The results suggest that woodchucks with chronic WHV infection have impaired immunological responses to poly I/C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recently, the role of bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) has been extensively studied in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In this study we examined the effect of hypercholesterolemia on cuff-induced intimal thickening in LDL-receptor knockout (LDLR−/−) mice fed with a high-fat diet. We transplanted BM of green fluorescence protein (GFP)-transgenic mice to LDLR−/− mice to identify the cell lineage in the lesion. After BM transplantation mice were fed with a high-fat diet for 4 weeks and were then planted a polyethylene cuff on the right femoral artery. Two weeks after cuff placement, atherosclerotic lesions developed in the intima predominantly consisting of a massive accumulation of foam cells with a number of α smooth muscle actin (αSMA)- and GFP-positive cells. Adventitial small vessels were positive both for CD31 and GFP. Our data indicate that BM-derived cells can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis in the presence of hypercholesterolemia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper discusses a generalized model of high-order Hopfield-type neural networks with time-varying delays. Some novel global stability criteria of the system is derived by using Lyapunov method, linear matrix inequality (LMI) and analytic technique. The LMI-based criteria obtained here are computationally more flexible and more generic than many other existing criteria. A numerical example is given to illustrate our result. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the mammalian immune system, V(D)J rearrangement of immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TCR) genes is regulated in a lineage- and stage-specific fashion. Because each of the seven loci capable of rearrangement utilizes the same recombination machinery, it is thought that V(D)J recombination of each antigen receptor locus is regulated through the differential accessibility of each locus to the V(D)J recombination machinery. Accumulating evidence indicates that chromatin remodeling mediated by DNA methylation and demethylation plays important roles in regulating V(D)J recombination and germline transcription through the Ig and TCR loci. DNA demethylation within the antigen receptor loci appears to be regulated by cis-elements also required for coordinated V(D)J recombination and germline transcription. In this paper, we critically examine the relationship between demethylation and V(D)J recombination as well as the mechanism to regulate DNA demethylation within the antigen receptor loci. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]