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Measuring pore-water pressure (PWP) in frozen soils poses significant challenges in geotechnical testing experiments, and understanding PWP is crucial for unraveling the mechanism of frost heave generation in cold regions. This paper aims to clarify the development pattern of PWP in frozen soil through laboratory tests, specifically focusing on excess PWP generated under dynamic loading. Seven sets of triaxial tests were conducted to investigate the variations in excess PWP and deformation influenced by temperature, dynamic stress amplitude, and dry density. The results reveal that excess PWP in warm saturated frozen soil undergoes two stages: pore pressure increase and dissipation. The change of external factors mainly affects the peak value of excess PWP and the change rate of excess PWP. Unlike unfrozen soil, excess PWP has a small dissipation rate after the peak and may remain dynamically stable in the later stage of loading. In addition, two empirical models of excess PWP applicable to saturated frozen soils were proposed based on the developmental patterns of excess PWP in frozen soils, and the feasibility was validated using the results obtained from laboratory tests. The model is of great significance for predicting the development of excess PWP in frozen soil under dynamic load.

Habitat corridors provide connectivity to decrease the negative effects of fragmentation. However, numerous current studies on habitat corridors remain in the design stage, and there is a lack of research addressing the challenges and feasibility of actual construction. Therefore, fine-scale analyses of habitat corridors are needed to provide deeper insights. We proposed a fine-scale habitat corridor design using the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) population in the Mabian Dafengding National Nature Reserve as a case study. The research combined field quadrats, camera traps, and remote sensing data to complete analyses using the species distribution model, landscape pattern index, circuit theory model, and least-cost path (LCP) model. The results show that 53 km2 of suitable habitat for giant pandas exists in the reserve, and anthropogenic disturbance and bamboo cover were key environmental factors affecting giant pandas’ habitat suitability. Fragmentation has caused suitable habitat isolation, and the core habitat is non-contiguously scattered between the north and south. In the design of ten habitat corridors, two primary corridors connect the core habitat from north to south. The proposed primary corridors, roughly 1.4 km wide, are limited by natural impediments such as rivers, food resources, and anthropogenic disturbance. Our research used the latest methods and data to design the habitat corridor and reveals many difficulties for actual construction, despite employing approaches such as the LCP. Our findings enhance the understanding of habitat corridor feasibility and support the development of giant panda conservation efforts.

Copper, a vital mineral nutrient, possesses redox qualities that make it both beneficial and toxic to organisms. Excessive environmental copper exposure can result in neurological damage and cognitive decline in humans. Astrocytes, the predominant glial cells in the brain, are particularly vulnerable to pollutants, but the mechanism of copper-induced damage to astrocytes remains elusive. The aim of this study was to determine the role of the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway in initiating NLRP3 inflammasome-induced astrocyte pyroptosis and chronic inflammation under conditions of copper overload. Our findings indicated that copper exposure elevated mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) levels, resulting in mitochondrial damage in astrocytes. This damage caused the release of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into the cytoplasm, which subsequently activated the cGAS-STING pathway. This activation resulted in interactions between STING and NLRP3 proteins, facilitating the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome and inducing pyroptosis. Furthermore, depletion of mtROS mitigated copper-induced mitochondrial damage in astrocytes and reduced mtDNA leakage. Pharmacological inhibition of STING or STING transfection further reversed copper-induced pyroptosis and the inflammatory response. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the leakage of mtDNA into the cytoplasm and the subsequent activation of the cGAS-STING-NLRP3 pathway may be potential mechanisms underlying copper-induced pyroptosis in astrocytes. These findings provided new insights into the toxicity of copper.

Elastocaloric refrigeration technology is a solid-state alternative to the traditional vapor compression technology. It is considered to be highly efficient, energy-saving and environmentally friendly. Out of the materials with elastocaloric effect, NiTi shape memory alloy is the most researched due to its excellent comprehensive mechanical and functional properties. However, it has some problems like large superelastic hysteresis, relatively high transformation stress and poor cyclic stability, which hinder its commercial application. This article explains the mechanism of elastocaloric effect and its characterization methods. Relevant research progress including the effects of considering elemental doping, mechanical processing, heat treatment, surface finishing, optimization of preparation methods and gradient structure on elastocaloric effect in NiTi alloy are summarized. In addition, the development and current status of elastocaloric refrigeration based on NiTi alloy are analyzed in this paper.

ABSTRACT: This study determined metabolizable energy (ME) and developed ME prediction equations for broilers based on chemical composition of soybean meal (SBM) and rapeseed meal (RSM) using a 2 × 10 factorial arrangement of age (11 to 14 or 25 to 28 d of age) and 10 sources of each ingredient. Each treatment contained 6 replicates of 8 broilers. The ME values were determined by total collection of feces and urine. Principal components analysis (PCA) of the chemical composition clearly revealed distinct differences in SBM and RSM based on a principal components (PC) score plot. The nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) of SBM was higher in broilers from 25 to 28 than 11 to 14 d of age (P = 0.013). Interactions between broiler age and ingredient source affected apparent metabolizable energy (AME) of SBM and ME of RSM (P < 0.05). The ME of SBM in 11 to 14 and 25 to 28-day-old broilers were estimated by crude protein (CP) content (R2≥ 0.782; SEP ≤ 83 kcal/kg DM; P < 0.001). The AME and AMEn of RSM in 11 to 14-day-old broilers were estimated by ether extract (EE), ash and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (R2 = 0.897, SEP = 106 kcal/kg DM; P = 0.002), and by EE and ash (R2 = 0.885, SEP = 98 kcal/kg DM; P = 0.001), respectively. The AME and AMEn of RSM in 25 to 28-day-old broilers were estimated by ash and ADF (R2 = 0.925, SEP = 104 kcal/kg DM; P < 0.001) and by ash and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (R2 = 0.921, SEP = 91 kcal/kg DM; P < 0.001), respectively. These results indicate that ME of these 2 plant protein ingredients are affected interactively by chemical composition and age of broilers. This study developed robust, age-specific prediction equations of ME for broilers based on chemical composition for SBM and RSM. Overall, ME values can be predicted from CP content for SBM, or EE, ash, ADF, and NDF for RSM.

Despite the well-documentation of the effects of straw returning on soil structural stability and fertility, its long-term in situ impacts on profile aggregate size composition and organic carbon (OC) fractions remain poorly investigated. To address this research gap, the present nine-year field trial explored the co-effects of straw returning and chemical fertilization on soil total OC (TOC), dissolved OC (DOC), resistant OC (ROC), easily oxidative OC (EOC), as well as soil aggregate size composition of different soil depths (0–15, 15–30, and 30–50 cm) in a paddy field, East China. To do so, four different treatments were set up, including no straw returning plus no fertilization (CK), conventional fertilization (F), straw returning plus conventional fertilization (SF), and straw returning plus 80 % conventional fertilization (SDF). Our findings revealed that the >2 mm aggregates were dominant in all treatments, particularly in SF and SDF 0–30 cm soil layers ranging from 62 to 70 % (P 2 mm aggregates, respectively, differing from 3.86 to 15.8 g/kg and 250–413 mg/kg, respectively (P

Leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) is crucial in plant physiology and ecological research. Although several LCC products have recently been generated at a regional or global scale, understanding their accuracy is still a concern in the scientific community. We intercompared and analyzed five existing LCC products (MuSyQ LCC, MODIS LCC, MERIS LCC, GLCC, and GLOBMAP MERIS LCC) over China in terms of spatial continuity and spatiotemporal consistency over seven plant functional types. The products of 2011 and 2019 over China were used in this study. Research findings indicate (1) the 30 m-resolution MuSyQ LCC has the highest accuracy compared to field LCC of cropland and grassland types, with an RMSE of 19.5 μg/cm2, while MODIS LCC product demonstrates a more robust fit to the measured LCC, with an R2 of 0.341. (2) Interpolation of products with lower spatial resolution e.g. MODIS LCC, MERIS LCC, and GLOBMAP MERIS LCC, generally improves spatial continuity. The non-interpolated 30 m MuSyQ LCC exhibits good regional continuity due to its high spatial resolution. The lowest spatial continuity is found over shrubs for all products. (3) MODIS LCC and MuSyQ LCC of 2019 demonstrate high overall spatial consistency and exhibit the highest correlation over cropland sites. MODIS LCC and GLOBMAP MERIS LCC of 2011 demonstrate high temporal consistency over deciduous forests, evergreen forests, grasslands, and shrubs sites. The most robust overall temporal consistency is exhibited among all products in the deciduous needleleaved forest, followed by evergreen needleleaved forest and grassland. The findings of this research are essential for improving leaf chlorophyll content inversion algorithms and for understanding and better use of LCC products in land surface models.

In this work, SiCp reinforced Al–Si–Mg matrix composites were prepared by stirring casting with different SiCp sizes. The effect of SiCp sizes on the microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated, and different strengthening effects were systematically calculated and analyzed. With the decrease of SiCp sizes, the microstructure of composites is refined and the plasticity is improved significantly. The refined SiCp also leads to a more intense grain refinement strengthening and thermal expansion mismatch strengthening. However, an abnormal decrease of yield strength is discovered with the refinement of SiCp, which is due to the influence of SiCp on GP zones strengthening in the matrix. As SiCp sizes decreasing, the increased SiCp/Al interfaces capture more Mg atoms, and then inhibits the formation of GP zones in the α-Al. Therefore, the refined SiCp weaken the precipitation strengthening in composites. These acicular Mg–Si GP zones exhibit a preferentially growing direction along Al and present a same structure as α-Al with coherent interfaces which pin dislocations and provide precipitation strengthening. The high density of GP zones also increases nano-hardness and elastic modulus of α-Al, which improves the wear resistance of SiCp/Al–Si–Mg composites. Therefore, it is suggested that the interaction between the SiCp and precipitates in matrix should also be considered to obtain a suitable strengthening effect in the design of SiCp/Al alloy composites.

Background: Optimizing second-line biologic therapies for adult ulcerative colitis (UC) post first-line failure is essential. Objective: Compare second-line biologic therapy efficacy in adult UC patients with prior treatment failure. Methods: A comprehensive search of electronic databases up to May 2023 was conducted to assess second-line biologic therapy efficacy using a random effects model. Parameters analyzed included clinical remission rate, clinical response rate, mucosal healing rate, annual discontinuation rate, and colectomy rates. Results: Forty-three research papers were analyzed. Clinical remission rates for second-line biologics were ranked at 6–14 weeks: Infliximab (30%) was followed by Vedolizumab (29%), Ustekinumab (27%), and Adalimumab (19%). At 52–54 weeks, the order shifted, with Vedolizumab (35%) followed by Infliximab (32%), Ustekinumab (31%), and Adalimumab (26%). The mucosal healing rate was 21%, ranked as: Infliximab (31%), Vedolizumab (21%), Adalimumab (21%), and Ustekinumab (14%). The annual discontinuation rate stood at 20%, with Adalimumab (25%), Vedolizumab (18%), Infliximab (17%), and Ustekinumab (16%). Discontinuation rates due to primary failure (PF), secondary failure (SF), and adverse events (AE) were 6%, 12%, and 3%, respectively. The annual colectomy rate was 9%, with Adalimumab (15%) followed by Vedolizumab (10%), Ustekinumab (9%), and Infliximab (5%), and colectomy rates of 10% due to PF, 12% due to SF, and 4% due to AE. Conclusion: For UC patients with first-line treatment failure, it is recommended to prioritize infliximab or vedolizumab as second-line biologic therapies, while avoiding adalimumab as the primary choice. Further clinical trials are necessary to assess ustekinumab efficacy accurately.

Sunitinib, the first-line targeted therapy for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), faces a significant challenge as most patients develop acquired resistance. Integrated genomic and proteomic analyses identified PYGL as a novel therapeutic target for ccRCC. PYGL knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, cloning capacity, migration, invasion, and tumorigenesis in ccRCC cell lines. PYGL expression was increased in sunitinib-resistant ccRCC cell lines, and CP-91149 targeting the PYGL could restore drug sensitivity in these cell lines. Moreover, chromatin immune-precipitation assays revealed that PYGL upregulation is induced by the transcription factor, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α. Overall, PYGL was identified as a novel diagnostic biomarker by combining genomic and proteomic approaches in ccRCC, and sunitinib resistance to ccRCC may be overcome by targeting PYGL.

The chiral pesticide hexythiazox was extensively employed in agricultural activities and has garnered growing concern for its harmful impact on the ecosystem. This study investigates the toxicodynamic earthworm at the enantiomeric level of hexythiazox. Earthworms exhibited notable enantioselectivity during the accumulation stage. Furthermore, the presence of earthworms can impact the rate of degradation and enantioselectivity of hexythiazox in soil. The accumulation of the two hexythiazox enantiomers in the earthworm adhered to the one-compartment model, whereas the elimination phase was governed by the first-order kinetics equation. Furthermore, it was discovered that there was no notable enantioselectivity observed during the elimination phase.

This study presents an innovative investigation into the wetting characteristic and flow behavior of sand particles, which have different shapes, sizes, and textures, when they bonded with silicate binder. The results revealed that the apparent contact angles of fine and angular particles with the binder are higher than those of coarse and circular particles. In addition, after modifying the four systems with anionic surfactants, the equilibrium contact angles decreased by 42.8%, 26.7%, 26.5%, and 7%. These findings suggest that coarse and circular particles demonstrate stronger wetting properties with the binder compared to fine and angled particles. Additionally, the cohesion and internal friction angle of the wet sand mixture can be measured through the ring shear test. Moreover, the unconfined yield strength and main consolidation stress can be calculated using the Mohr Coulomb model to obtain the yield locus and quantify the flowability of the wet sand mixture. The yield trajectory of sand mixtures at specific consolidation stresses suggests that the most important factor affecting the flowability of wet sand particles is particle size distribution. Wet mixtures of coarse and circular particles exhibit lower cohesive forces, indicating higher fluidity.

Microalloying is a cost-effective strategy to develop high performance nickel-based superalloys. Here, the mechanisms of rare earth Y in IN713C on purification, mechanical property improvement, and microstructure modification were systematically investigated. Via melt purification of Y, the O, N, and S elements are reduced to 5 ppm in the IN713C alloy. By adding Y to 74 ppm, the yield strength, tensile strength, and elongation of the IN713C alloy at 650 °C are increased by 12.2%, 14.5%, and 66%, respectively. Microstructure analysis indicated that the strength of the alloy is improved by refining the size and increasing the volume fraction of the γ’ phase. The plasticity of the alloy is improved by modifying the morphology and distribution of MC carbides. The modification of carbide morphology can be attributed to the enrichment of Y at the surface of carbides and the change of segregation of Nb, which is the main carbide-formation element.

Interfacial bonding has attracted extensive attention because it essentially affects the performance of SiC reinforced Al matrix composites. To investigate the impact of Ni and Cu inherent in the Al matrix on the interfacial bonding of the composite, Al–Si–Mg/oxidized SiC composite and Al–Si–Cu–Ni–Mg/unoxidized SiC composite were fabricated by semisolid stir casting. Our study demonstrated that several intermetallics can nucleate and grow on the surface of SiC in Al–Si–Cu–Ni–Mg/unoxidized SiC composite during solidification, forming the intermetallic/unoxidized SiC interface and Al-intermetallic-SiC transition structure. The bonding of the Al3CuNi/unoxidized SiC interface is stronger than the conventional Al/oxidized SiC interface. The Al3CuNi/unoxidized SiC interface is functional in impeding crack propagation and withstanding loading during deformation. Moreover, the Al-intermetallic-SiC transition structure can alleviate the agglomeration of SiC particles, improve the overall coherency and coordinate the deformation of the composite. The extraordinary interface and structure strengthen the composite to a certain extent both at room and high temperatures.

This work investigated the influence of cooling rate (0.04, 0.87, 15.2 and 156.2 K/s) on the microstructure and compressive properties of Al–4Cu–3Li-0.7 Mg–1Zn alloys fabricated by several casting molds. The experiment results revealed that the microstructure cooled at low cooling rates of 0.04, 0.87 and 15.2 K/s is composed of α-Al, α(Al)+T2, θ (Al2Cu), T1 phases and core-shell configuration (Al13Fe4/Al7Cu2Fe phase). This core-shell structure is observed for the first time in an Al–Cu–Li alloy. However, T1 and core-shell configuration vanish at the high cooling rate of 156.2 K/s due to the insufficient diffusion time of Cu, Li and Fe elements. As the cooling rate increases, the average secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) decreases significantly from 110.3 to 7.5 μm and the relationship between SDAS and cooling rate has been established. The average diameter/thickness of the α(Al)+T2, Al2Cu and Al13Fe4/Al7Cu2Fe phases decreases dramatically from 16.9 to 1.0 μm, 8.1 to 0.8 μm and 7.5 to 0.7 μm with the increase of cooling rate, respectively. Fine spherical Al13Fe4/Al7Cu2Fe and Al2Cu phases are beneficial to the improvement of comprehensive compressive properties. Additionally, the solute concentration in the matrix decreases, while the hot-tear resistance and volume fraction of secondary phases increase with increasing cooling rate. The empirical equations are established between (compressive properties, SDAS) and cooling rate. The fracture failure is responsible for the initial hot tearing at low cooling rates, the α(Al)+T2 or Al2Cu or Al13Fe4/Al7Cu2Fe phases at the moderate cooling rate, and the α(Al)+T2 phase at the high cooling rate.

Background & Aims: Dysfunction of the intestinal epithelial barrier comprising the junctional complex of tight junctions and adherent junctions leads to increased intestinal permeability, which is a major cause of uncontrolled inflammation related to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The NAD+-dependent deacetylase SIRT1 is implicated in inflammation and the pathologic process of IBD. We aimed to elucidate the protective role and underlying mechanism of SIRT1 in cell-cell junction and intestinal epithelial integrity. Methods: The correlation of SIRT1 expression and human IBD was analyzed by GEO or immunohistochemical analyses. BK5.mSIRT1 transgenic mice and wild-type mice were given dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) and the manifestation of colitis-related phenotypes was analyzed. Intestinal permeability was measured by FITC-dextran and cytokines expression was analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression of the cell junction–related proteins in DSS-treated or SIRT1-knockdown Caco2 or HCT116 cells was analyzed by Western blotting. The effects of nicotinamide mononucleotide in DSS-induced mice colitis were investigated. Correlations of the SIRT1-β-TrCP1-Snail1-Occludin/Claudin-1/E-cadherin pathway with human IBD samples were analyzed. Results: Reduced SIRT1 expression is associated with human IBD specimens. SIRT1 transgenic mice exhibit much-reduced manifestations of DSS-induced colitis. The activation of SIRT1 by nicotinamide mononucleotide bolsters intestinal epithelial barrier function and ameliorates DSS-induced colitis in mice. Mechanistically, DSS downregulates SiRT1 expression, leading to destabilization of β-TrCP1 and upregulation of Snail1, accompanied by reduced expression of E-cadherin, Occludin, and Claudin-1, consequently resulting in increased epithelial permeability and inflammation. The deregulated SIRT1-β-TrCP1-Snail1-Occludin/Claudin-1/E-cadherin pathway correlates with human IBD. Conclusions: SIRT1 is pivotal in maintaining the intestinal epithelial barrier integrity via modulation of the β-TrCP1-Snail1-E-cadhein/Occludin/Claudin-1 pathway.

The microstructure and properties of stirred cast SiCP/A359 composites under different cooling rates were studied. The strengthening mechanism of the composite material under three cooling rates was analyzed, and the failure mechanism of the composite material was elucidated by means of in-situ tension and EBSD testing. The results showed that increasing the cooling rate simultaneously refined the grains, secondary dendrites, and eutectic silicon, resulting in improved distribution uniformity of SiC and the stacking fault density of eutectic silicon. Additionally, the relationship between the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) and cooling rate (v) of the SiCP/A359 composite was described using the equation SDAS = 56.02v^(-0.3). There was a positive correlation between cooling rate and yield strength, with particle strengthening being the main contributor to the strength of composites with high cooling rates, resulting in significantly higher strength than samples with low cooling rates. The geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) density at the eutectic Si-Al boundary was found to be higher than other positions after the material was loaded, and the main crack propagated mainly along the eutectic region. Secondary cracks, including SiC cracking, eutectic silicon cracking, interface separation, and shrinkage cracking, may become part of the main crack by bridging.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents a malignant tumor of the urinary system. Individuals with early-stage RCC could be cured by surgical treatment, but a considerable number of cases of advanced RCC progress to drug resistance. Recently, numerous reports have demonstrated that a variety of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) contribute to tumor occurrence and development. ncRNAs can act as oncogenic or tumor suppressor genes to regulate proliferation, migration, drug resistance and other processes in RCC cells through a variety of signaling pathways. Considering the lack of treatment options for advanced RCC after drug resistance, ncRNAs may be a good choice as biomarkers of drug resistance in RCC and targets to overcome drug resistance. In this review, we discussed the effects of ncRNAs on drug resistance in RCC and the great potential of ncRNAs as a biomarker of or a new therapeutic method in RCC.

Using directional solidification technique, a series of Nb–Si in situ composites with nominal compositions of Nb–16Si–23Ti–4Cr–2Al-2Hf-xRe (x = 0, 0.1, 0.4, 0.6, at.%) were manufactured to investigate the phase constituent, microstructural evolution and room temperature fracture toughness. These four different alloys all consisted of Nbss, αNb5Si3 and γNb5Si3, while Rhenium was primarily partitioned in Nbss matrix. With further addition content of Re, the silicide got refinement firstly, its average size minimized to 4.68 μm in 0.4Re alloy; but that coarsened again in 0.6Re alloy which resulting in the maximum micro-hardness of 1627 HV. The ductile Nbss matrix in 0.4Re alloy exhibited best continuity and its volume fraction rose to 63.1%; that triggered more obvious microcrack, fracture step and crack bifurcation, especially interface decohesion during loading process, thus increasing the room temperature fracture toughness from 8.4 MPa m1/2 to 13.1 MPa m1/2. But the 0.6Re alloy had an adverse effect on room temperature plasticity due to higher proportion and larger size of silicide, then exerted perceptible constraint for ductile Nbss matrix. In order to better optimize the mechanical performance of Nb–Si based alloys, the alloying amount of Rhenium should be properly selected to circumvent its concentration-sensitive effect.

Asphalt mixture was a granular material, and traditional mechanical testing methods were difficult to reveal the failure mechanism. To evaluate the micromechanical behavior of asphalt mixture in the failure process, the DEM (Discrete Element Method) model of the uniaxial compression test was established. The virtual aggregate particle database with real morphology properties was constructed, and the linear parallel bond model was used to simulate the adhesion of asphalt. In the DEM model of the asphalt mixture failure process, the movement of asphalt mortar and coarse aggregate was evaluated, and the Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) was proposed to represent the microcrack. Finally, the three-dimensional spherical coordinate histogram was used to analyze the evolution of magnitude and direction of the coarse aggregate skeleton contact force. It found that the movement of coarse aggregate was less than that of asphalt mortar in the process of the uniaxial compression test, and the coarse aggregate movement was affected by its particle size and location. The result also found that although the adhesive and cohesion failure could occur at the same time, the adhesive failure was less than cohesion failure in the early stage of the uniaxial compression test, and the aggregate with larger particle size could reduce the generation of adhesive failure. Compared with the magnitude of coarse aggregate skeleton contact force, the change of direction was the main reason for a decrease in stress when the asphalt mixture specimen exceeded the peak strength.

When measuring the thermal conductivity of liquids with transient methods, natural convection occurs inevitably and whether it can be ignored is unknown. The quantitative deviation introduced by natural convection should be revealed clearly to ensure reliable experiment. In this study, the influence of natural convection is quantitatively evaluated in measuring the thermal conductivity of liquids with transient plane source method. By numerically mimicking the transient heat transfer process within liquids, the sensor temperature responses with neglecting and considering natural convection are obtained and used to calculate the corresponding thermal conductivity. The difference between them represents the quantitative influence introduced by natural convection. The effects of sensor orientation, heating time and heating power are compared for lead-bismuth eutectic alloy, GaInSn alloy, deionized water, molten salt, glycerol and cupric sulfate. Experiments are performed to verify the simulation. It is found that for the liquids with lower Prandtl number (

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of coating technology on the cysteamine (CSH) release in the digestive tract and the growth-promoting effect of enteric-coating CSH in broilers. First, using the self-developed computer-controlled simulated digestion system to mimic the digestion process in vitro, the release of 2 coated CSH (CSH-I and CSH-Ⅱ) were studied. The results showed that less than 10% of CSH-I was released after gastric digestion and 52.35% of CSH-I was released with additional 4 h of small intestinal digestion. In contrast, 83.62% of CSH-Ⅱ was released during the gastric digestion. In order to verify the growth-promoting effects of CSH-I, a feeding trial was conducted in a completely randomized block arrangement with 3 treatments in 6 blocks, 5 chickens per replicate. Broilers were fed with corn-soybean meal diet either supplemented with 0 (CON), 200 mg/kg uncoated CSH (CSH) or 200 mg/kg CSH-I from d 7 to 42, respectively. Body weight and FI was recorded at d 21 and 42. Excreta were collected from d 39 to d 42 to determine the total tract retention (TTR) of dietary nutrients. In comparisons with controls, birds fed with CSH-I had greater BW, ADG, and ADFI and increased TTR of DM, gross energy (GE), NDF and hemicellulose (P < 0.05). In addition, duodenal villi height and surface area were also greater in those CSH-I-fed birds. In contrast, the growth performance of birds fed with uncoated CSH did not significantly differ from controls. Although the TTR of DM and GE was higher in birds fed with CSH than controls, no differences in small intestine morphology were noted. Thus, the type I coating (CSH-I) could be good enteric-coating technology to increase CSH release in the duodenum, improve digestion and duodenal morphology, and therefore growth performance in broilers.

Net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) is a useful tool to analyze the carbon balance of different areas. Since it is impossible to measure NEE in-situ at a regional or global scale, this study has conducted a NEE estimation model to map the NEE of global terrestrial systems. By training the model with 2774 series of data collected from the database of AmeriFlux and Fluxnet, and relevant studies, the model has achieved a substantial global NEE estimation with R2 = 0.60, 0.68, and 0.67 for arable land, forest, and grassland systems. According to the estimation, the average annual global NEE was −18.41 billion tons C. Asia was the continent who had the highest NEE (33.93% of global NEE), and forests were the ecosystems who contributed most to global CO2 absorption (51.75% of global NEE). When comparing with the global CO2 emissions, the model results also showed that Asia, North America, and Europe have run out of their ecosystem potential to absorb the CO2 emitted. The countries with top 10 greatest C emission had smaller effective NEEs to deal with their own emitted C except Russia and Canada. Considering the economic contribution of different countries, NEE estimation model could be a helpful tool to achieve a better fairness of controlling C emission tasks by considering both C emission generation and natural C emission handling ability.

Precisely delivering combinational therapeutic agents has become a crucial challenge for anti-tumor treatment. In this study, a novel redox-responsive polymeric prodrug (molecular weight, MW: 93.5 kDa) was produced by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The amphiphilic block polymer-doxorubicin (DOX) prodrug was employed to deliver a hydrophobic photosensitizer (PS), chlorin e6 (Ce6), and the as-prepared nanoscale system [NPs(Ce6)] was investigated as a chemo-photodynamic anti-cancer agent. The glutathione (GSH)-cleavable disulfide bond was inserted into the backbone of the polymer for biodegradation inside tumor cells, and DOX conjugated onto the polymer with a disulfide bond was successfully released intracellularly. NPs(Ce6) released DOX and Ce6 with their original molecular structures and degraded into segments with low MWs of 41.2 kDa in the presence of GSH. NPs(Ce6) showed a chemo-photodynamic therapeutic effect to kill 4T1 murine breast cancer cells, which was confirmed from a collapsed cell morphology, a lifted level in the intracellular reactive oxygen species, a reduced viability and induced apoptosis. Moreover, ex vivo fluorescence images indicated that NPs(Ce6) retained in the tumor, and exhibited a remarkable in vivo anticancer efficacy. The combinational therapy showed a significantly increased tumor growth inhibition (TGI, 58.53%). Therefore, the redox-responsive, amphiphilic block polymeric prodrug could have a great potential as a chemo-photodynamic anti-cancer agent.

In this work, mechanisms of two different deformation and fracture modes at 1250 °C of directional solidified Nb-Si-Ti based multi-alloys are investigated to explore the influence of element Zr on the high temperature properties. The 5Zr alloy exhibits the least drop of tensile strength and it shows the best comprehensive property of the plasticity and the tensile strength. Zr reduces α-Nb5Si3 and weakens the load-carrying capacity at high temperatures. Meanwhile, γ-Nb5Si3 are introduced by the addition of Zr which improve the plasticity and provides a significant work hardening to recover the tensile strength at 1250 °C. New super-dislocations are discovered for the first time with a slip system of (112¯0) in γ-Nb5Si3 which significantly improve the plasticity and promotes a coordinated deformation between Nb solid solutions and γ-Nb5Si3. Due to the different phase compositions, two models are derived to discuss the deformation mechanisms at high temperatures. In order to achieve an enough tensile strength at high temperatures, it is suggested that microstructures consisting of two phases is more beneficial to provide a good load-carrying capacity (Nbss/α) or a significant work hardening (Nbss/γ) at high temperatures.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is an environment-relevant malignancy with a high mortality. Nitrosamines, a class of nitrogen-containing environmental carcinogens, are widely suggested as a risk factor for ESCC. However, how nitrosamines affect metabolic regulation to promote ESCC tumorigenesis is largely unknown. In this study, the transition trajectory of serum metabolism in the course of ESCC induced by N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA) in rats was depicted by an untargeted metabolomic analysis, and the potential molecular mechanisms were revealed. The results showed that the metabolic alteration in rats was slight at the basal cell hyperplasia (BCH) stage, while it became apparent when the esophageal lesion developed into dysplasia (DYS) or more serious conditions. Moreover, serum metabolism of severe dysplasia (S-DYS) showed more similar characteristics to that of carcinoma in situ (CIS) and invasive cancer (IC). Aberrant nicotinate (NA) and nicotinamide (NAM) metabolism, tryptophan (TRP) metabolism, and sphingolipid metabolism could be the key players favoring the malignant transformation of esophageal epithelium induced by NMBA. More particularly, NA and NAM metabolism in the precancerous stages and TRP metabolism in the cancerous stages were demonstrated to replenish NAD+ in different patterns. Furthermore, both the IDO1-KYN-AHR axis mediated by TRP metabolism and the SPHK1-S1P-S1PR1 axis by sphingolipid metabolism provided an impetus to create the pro-inflammatory yet immune-suppressive microenvironment to facilitate the esophageal tumorigenesis and progression. Together, these suggested that NMBA exerted its carcinogenicity via more than one pathway, which may act together to produce combination effects. Targeting these pathways may open up the possibility to attenuate NMBA-induced esophageal carcinogenesis. However, the interconnection between different metabolic pathways needs to be specified further. And the integrative and multi-level systematic research will be conducive to fully understanding the mechanisms of NMBA-induced ESCC.

In present paper, a delayed SEIR model of malware propagation on mobile wireless sensor networks is formulated. Basic reproduction number of the model is calculated by employing the next generation matrix method and impact of the time delay due to incubation period of malware is discussed with the help of eigenvalue method. What is more, properties of the Hopf bifurcation are derived by using center manifold method. To minimize number of the infectious nodes and the cost related with detoxication, an optimal control strategy is presented by constructing a suitable Hamiltonian function. Numerical calculations are performed to justify the obtained theoretical findings.

The pressure relief valves are equipped in the primary circuit loop to release steam to prevent high temperature core melting in severe accident. When severe accident occurs, whether the valve can be opened smoothly and worked reliably are crucial for ensuring the safety of the reactor. In this study, the analysis and evaluation of operability and integrity of the pressure relief valve are performed. The 3D thermo-mechanical coupling simulation is conducted for closed gate valve to predict its operability by taking account of the contact nonlinearities, temperature load and mechanical load. Besides, the structural integrity analysis of the fully-open gate valve under transient thermal shock is investigated by transient fluid flow and heat transfer simulation, instantaneous stress analysis and creep analysis. The instantaneous mechanical performances at critical locations and the creep characteristics of the valve during the pressure releasing process are analyzed and then evaluated according to the RCC-MR criterion. The results show that the valve can be opened smoothly, and the integrity with negligible creep and significant creep can be ensured in the studied severe accident case. The systematic evaluation method of the structural operability and integrity in severe nuclear accident is achieved in this work.

Gross primary production (GPP) models driven by fine resolution remote sensing data characterize the spatial and temporal heterogeneities in plant photosynthesis, which is largely dependent on biome-specific maximum photosynthetic capacity. The red-edge reflectance, sensitive to leaf chlorophyll content, is a good proxy of maximum photosynthetic capacity. More importantly, studies show that the red-edge reflectance-related chlorophyll content index (CIr) multiplied by the incident photosynthetic active radiation (PARin) strongly correlates to GPP estimated at carbon flux towers (GPPflux). Yet, to the best of our knowledge, there is no systematic study investigating the general relationship between fine spatial resolution CIr and GPP among biomes and the relationship between CIr and maximum photosynthetic capacity in GPP models. To provide an overview on incorporating space-borne CIr into a GPP model, we applied fine resolution Sentinel-2-derived CIr and GPPflux over 57 flux sites representative of 10 biomes. We investigated the relationship between CIr and GPPflux, and the spatio-temporal relationship between CIr and ecosystem maximum photosynthetic capacity indicated by the potential ecosystem light use efficiency (LUEpot). We also evaluated the relationship between other five vegetation indices (VIs) and GPPflux. Results showed that the CIr multiplied by PARin has a higher agreement (R2 > 0.5) with GPP than other VIs. A universal relationship exists between the CIr multiplied by PARin and GPP, except for forest biomes. The CIr also strongly (R2 > 0.5) relates to the LUEpot during the peak of the growing season. The CIr has a low spatial variance (CV = 0.25) among biomes, highlighting that CIr can be a proxy of maximum photosynthetic capacity in GPP models that do not require biome-dependent coefficients. This study provides insight for incorporating CIr into GPP models and better quantifying global terrestrial photosynthesis.

Health risks caused by crucial environmental carcinogens N-nitrosamines triggered ubiquitous attention. As the liver exerted vital function through metabolic process, lipid metabolism disorders have been confirmed as potential drivers for toxicological effects, and the mechanisms of lipid regulation related to hepatotoxicity induced by N-nitrosamines remained largely unclear. In this study, we comprehensively explored the disturbance of hepatic lipid homeostasis in mice induced by nitrosamines. The results implied that nitrosamines exposure induced hepatotoxicity accompanied by liver injury, inflammatory infiltration, and hepatic edema. Lipidomics profiling analysis indicated the decreased levels of phosphatidic acids (PA), phosphatidylcholines (PC), phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), lyso-phosphatidylcholines (LPC), lyso-phosphatidylethanolamines (LPE), diacylglycerols (DAG) and triacylglycerols (TAG), the elevation of ceramides (Cer) and decomposition of free fatty acids (FFA) in high-dose nitrosamines exposure group. Importantly, nitrosamines exposure promoted fatty acid oxidation (FAO) by facilitating fatty acid uptake and decomposition, together with the upregulation of genes associated with FAO accompanied by the activation of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β and NLRP3. Furthermore, fatty acid translocase CD36-mediated fatty acid oxidation was correlated with the enhancement of oxidative stress in the liver caused by nitrosamines exposure. Overall, our results contributed to the new strategies to interpret the early toxic effects of nitrosamines exposure.

Chicoric acid (CA), an active phenolic acid of Echinacea purpurea (Linn.) Moench, has been demonstrated to exhibit antioxidative, antiviral and immunological activities. A prior study showed that CA is a water-soluble compound with low bioavailability. The current study was performed to study the intestinal absorption mechanism of CA and improve its bioavailability using natural biodegradable chitosan. A Caco-2 monolayer cell model was established to characterise the mechanisms involved in the intestinal absorption of CA. The bioavailability improvement of CA was studied in Sprague–Dawley rats after oral (20 mg/kg) administration of 0.5% chitosan. In vitro, the results showed that the absorption transport of CA was fairly poor, with Papp values of 8.2 × 10−8 to 2.1 × 10−7 cm/s in the absorption direction and 1.5 × 10−7 to 2.6 × 10−7 cm/s in the secretory direction. The permeability was increased by EDTA and chitosan in both directions. Moreover, the transport through the intestinal monolayer was H+ dependent, and P-glycoprotein and OATP2B1 transporters were involved in the intestinal transport of CA. In vivo, the absorption of CA was increased and accelerated with chitosan in rats because the bioavailability was 1.74-fold that of the prototype drug. The above mentioned results indicated that CA was a poor absorption drug and that paracellular and carrier-mediated trancellular transport both participated in its transport route. Chitosan is an excellent absorption enhancer for CA. The transport characteristics uncovered in this study lay the groundwork for further studies directed toward the development and utilisation of its new formulations.

Wireless Sensor network (WSN) is used for a wide range of uses, including defense, healthcare, environmental tracking etc. In this work, we have formulated a Susceptible-infected-terminally infected-recovered (SITR) model to investigate the offensive worm dynamics in remote sensor networks utilizing Sokol-Howell functional response. The positive invariance and boundedness of the model have been investigated in the proposed work. In addition to that, the existence of possible equilibrium points with feasible conditions has been evaluated. The local stability of all equilibrium points and the global stability of the interior steady state of nodes are measured with the Rougth-Hurwitz criteria, Lasalle’s invariance principle, and Bendixson-Dulac criteria. The impact of noise on the proposed model is being investigated. The numerical imitations are carried out, which strengthens the diagnostic discoveries. Our numerical simulation reveals that growth rate, internode interference coefficients, and crashing rates are critical to the model's dynamics.

Allee effects, defined as the positive relationships between component fitness and population density (or size), play an important role in the dynamics of small or lowdensity populations. Reintroduction has become a widely applied tool with the continuous loss of biodiversity. Since reintroduced populations are initially small, Allee effects commonly exist when a species is colonizing new habitat. However, direct evidence of positive density-dependence acting in reintroduced populations is rare. To understand the role of Allee effects in regulating post-release population dynamics of reintroduced species, we analyzed time-series data collected from two spatially isolated populations of the reintroduced Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Shaanxi Province, China (Ningshan and Qianyang Counties). We examined the potential relationships between population size and (1) survival and reproductive rates, (2) per capita population growth rates for the existence of Allee effects in the reintroduced ibis populations. The results showed that the simultaneous occurrence of component Allee effects in survival and reproduction have been detected, while the reduction of adult survival and per female breeding probability led to a demographic Allee effect in the Qianyang ibis population, which may have contributed to the population decline. In parallel, mate-limitation and predation as the possible initiation mechanisms of Allee effects were presented. Our findings provided the evidence of multiple Allee effects in reintroduced populations and conservation management strategies to eliminate or reduce the strength of Allee effects in future reintroductions of endangered species were proposed, including release of large number of individuals, food supplementation, and predator control.

Multi-modal therapeutics are emerging for simultaneous diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Polymeric carriers are often employed for loading multiple drugs due to their versatility and controlled release of these drugs in response to a tumor specific microenvironment. A theranostic nanomedicine was designed and prepared by complexing a small gadolinium chelate, conjugating a chemotherapeutic drug PTX through a cathepsin B-responsive linker and covalently bonding a fluorescent probe pheophorbide a (Ppa) with a branched glycopolymer. The branched prodrug-based nanosystem was degradable in the tumor microenvironment with overexpressed cathepsin B, and PTX was simultaneously released to exert its therapeutic effect. The theranostic nanomedicine, branched glycopolymer-PTX-DOTA-Gd, had an extended circulation time, enhanced accumulation in tumors, and excellent biocompatibility with significantly reduced gadolinium ion (Gd3+) retention after 96 h post-injection. Enhanced imaging contrast up to 24 h post-injection and excellent antitumor efficacy with a tumor inhibition rate more than 90% were achieved from glycopolymer-PTX-DOTA-Gd without obvious systematic toxicity. This branched polymeric prodrug-based nanomedicine is very promising for safe and effective diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Wenzhou virus (WENV) was first identified in rodents and Asian house shrews in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. However, little is known about the prevalence of WENV infections in humans in China. To determine the threat that WENV may pose to humans, we determine the seroprevalence of WENV in healthy individuals in China in this study. Cross-reactivities of nucleoprotein (NP) were detected between Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and WENV using Western blot and ELISA assy. The prevalence of specific IgG antibodies against WENV NP was investigated in different age groups of 830 healthy individuals aged 0–70 years old in China using a competition ELISA assay. The results indicate that WENV and LCMV share cross-reactive epitopes between NPs. The total seroprevalence of WENV in healthy adults was 4.6%, with 3.6% (8/221) for individuals 15–44 years of age, 5.4% (17/317) for individuals 45–59 years of age, and 4.1% (4/98) for older adults over 60. The total seroprevalence of WENV in children under age 15 was 1.5%, with 2.9% (1/34) in children aged 2–5 years, and 2.2% in 5–14 years (2/91). The finding suggests that WENV or WENV-like virus may sporadically infect humans of China.

Lightweight alloys produced by pressurized castings suffer from flow-induced microstructural segregation due to the migration of externally solidified crystals (ESCs). Although some qualitative research has been carried out on ESCs migration, quantitative prediction of it is still demanded. In this respect, an ESCs migration model based on hydrodynamics and the rheological behaviour of semi-solid metals (SSMs) is proposed to estimate flow-induced microstructural segregation. By employing the model, a plug flow region having a decisive influence on ESCs migration is observed according to the flow simulation of yield-pseudoplastic SSMs. Good agreement between the experimental data and the simulation results is obtained, suggesting that such flow-induced microstructural segregation is controllable by manipulating process parameters such as solid fraction, cavity size and filling velocity. A real-time in situ synchrotron X-ray radiography experiment is carried out to reveal the nature of ESCs migration and provide evidence for the hypothesized flow-induced ESCs migration mechanism. A semi-empirical solid fraction-related rheological (SFR) model capable of relating rheological parameters with solid fraction of SSMs is also proposed, enabling the optimization of process parameters.

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are considered as a way to unlock the unlimited potentials of materials during material design, where solid solution hardening (SSH) is one of the major contributors to their excellent mechanical properties. In this work, machine learning (ML) is applied for modelling SSH in HEAs, and a ML system is established for designing solid solution hardened HEAs. The ML-SSH model is built by considering critical factors in SSH theories and parameters associated with the atomic environment and interactions in HEAs as input features, and is demonstrated to be superior to physical SSH models in terms of hardness prediction. The effects of charge transfer and short range order (SRO) and local composition fluctuations on SSH in HEAs are confirmed using feature engineering approaches. Furthermore, two physical models are modified by introducing charge transfer to enhance their accuracy. Finally, an alloy design system is built by combining the ML-SSH model and ML models for single solid solution phase prediction, achieving good agreement with the experimental results of FeNiCuCo and CrMoNbTi families. The non-equiatomic counterparts with 28.3% and 8.8% hardness values higher than their equiatomic counterparts of FeNiCuCo and CrMoNbTi families respectively are discovered.

Copper (Cu) pollution in water and agricultural soil has always been a worldwide concern. This research aims to investigate the health effects of copper exposure on Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) under the existing environmental quality standards (1 mg/L and 2 mg/L) via lifespan, reproduction, biological markers and transcriptome analysis. The results showed that copper of these two environmental standards shorten the lifespan of nematodes, reduced the brood size, reduced the frequency of pharyngeal pumps and prolonged defecation time as aging-related behaviors, and increased the levels of aging-related markers ROS, MDA and H2O2. There was a certain effect trend for the two exposure concentrations. Further, the possible molecular mechanism of copper-induced aging and reproductive effects on C. elegans was explored. Differential gene expression analysis was performed, and 2332 genes (567 up- and 1765 down-regulated genes) in the 1 mg/L group, 2449 DEGs (724 up- and 1725 down-regulated genes) in the 2 mg/L group in response to copper treatment. The top 20 regulated genes were vit (vit-1, vit-3, vit-4) genes, col genes (col-35, col-72, col-114, col-123, col-164, col-183, col-185), eea-1, him-18 and grl-20, which suggested that cuticle collagen synthesis and yolk expression were disrupted by copper. Analysis of KEGG pathway showed copper exposure widely affects longevity regulation pathways, thereby promoting aging. In summary, the sequencing results extensively and deeply reveal the health hazards of environmentally relevant doses of copper exposure to C. elegans, and behavioral testing verified that copper promoted aging of C. elegans.

Antibiotics are widely used in the treatment of bacterial infections and as food additives in the livestock industry. The wide usage of antibiotics causes residues in animal products, like milk, eggs and meat. A number of studies have reported that antibiotic residues exist at high concentrations in watercourses around the world. Doxycycline (DH), oxytetracycline (OTCC) and florfenicol (FF) are the three most commonly used veterinary antibiotics in China. However, studies of the toxic effects of DH, OTCC and FF are limited. In this study, six-moth-old healthy male adult zebrafish were exposed to 0, 10, 30, 100 μg/L DH, OTCC or FF for 21 days. After exposure, some biochemical parameters changed significantly, including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), pyruvate and acid phosphatase (ACP). In addition, mucus secretion in the gut decreased and the transcription of related genes also decreased significantly. Moreover, the composition of microbiota in the gut changed significantly. DH, OTCC and FF exposure caused the decrease of diversity of gut microbiota. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria increased significantly after OTCC and FF exposure and Fusobacteria decreased in all antibiotic-treated groups. Further functional prediction analysis also suggested changes in gut microbiota in the OTCC and FF-treated groups, especially those linked to metabolism. To support this idea, we confirmed that some glycolipid related genes also increased significantly in the liver of adult zebrafish after antibiotic exposure. According to these results, DH, OTCC or FF exposure could cause the gut microbiota dysbiosis and dysfunction, and hepatic metabolic disorder in adult male zebrafish.

The influence of twist-induced effect on the performance of anisotropic optical fiber is investigated theoretically and numerically. First, we study the light propagation in the twisted optical fiber with twist-induced mechanical stress using the analytical solution of the vector wave equation. Second, under the twist-induced effect, the twisted orbital angular momentum (OAM) fiber simulation model is established using circular photonic crystal fiber (PCF) as an example. Compared with the ordinary ring fiber, PCF has higher refractive index contrast without doping, larger fiber bandwidth, better mode quality, lower confinement loss, and larger manufacturing tolerance. Moreover, we analyze the mode quality and transmission characteristics of the twisted OAM fiber. The results show that the twist-induced effect on the high-order vector mode is different from that of the fundamental mode. The twist-induced effect introduces coupling in the high-order vector mode and changes the structure of the eigenmodes under different torsional effects. These superior optical properties are advantageous to twisted OAM fibers for stable data transmission in large-capacity and long-distance optical fiber communication systems.

The microstructure and room-temperature mechanical properties of directionally solidified and heat-treated Nb‑16Si‑23Ti‑4Cr‑2Al‑2Hf‑0/0.3/0.5Sc (at.%) alloys were investigated. All alloys consisted of Nb-based solid solution (Nbss), α‑Nb5Si3 and γ‑Nb5Si3 with preferred 〈001〉 orientation for the first two phases, and Sc was enriched in γ‑Nb5Si3 phase. Sc-added alloys showed a more continuous Nbss matrix in which the finer Nb5Si3 phase distributed uniformly. The volume fraction of both α‑Nb5Si3 and γ‑Nb5Si3 phase was decreased by Sc addition. Sc alloying reduced the Young's modulus and nano-hardness of Nbss phase. 0.50 at.% Sc addition enhanced the fracture toughness and tensile strength from 9.88 MPa m1/2 and 430.3 MPa to 25.95 MPa m1/2 and 1119.7 MPa. The improvement in fracture toughness was due to the better deformability of Nbss phase. The high tensile strength was attributed to the dispersed and refined Nb5Si3 phase, which was not degraded by the increased Nbss volume fraction since dislocations were not open within most Nbss phase. Besides, the strong interface cohesion was preferable for the strength of Sc-added alloys. Keywords: Microstructure, Growth orientation, Young's modulus, Nano-hardness, Fracture toughness, Tensile strength

The –1 ribosomal frameshifting is vital for the translation of the open reading frame (ORF)1b in SARS-CoV-2. The products of ORF1b participate in viral replication. Therefore, changing the frameshift frequency reduces the survival of the virus. This study aimed to successfully develop a toolkit for screening antiviral drugs. Finally, the FDA-approved drug library was screened, revealing that ivacaftor and (–)-Huperzine A worked well in changing the –1 ribosomal frameshifting of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease characterized by irreversible airflow limitation. The current medications show limited effects on the decline of pulmonary function in COPD. Our multicenter clinical trial found that Bu-Shen-Fang-Chuan fomula (BSFCF), a Chinese herbal formula, markedly reduced the frequencies of acute exacerbation of COPD and delayed lung function decline. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we established a COPD rat model through a 6-month exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) and found that BSFCF (7.2 g/kg) effectively improved CS-induced reduction in pulmonary function and remarkably decreased the numbers of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Importantly, BSFCF treatment notably prevented the accumulation of T-lymphocytes (especially CD8+ T-cells) in the lung of COPD rats. RNA sequencing analysis of lung tissue demonstrated that CXCL9/CXCL10/CXCL11-CXCR3 chemokine axis in the lung of CS-exposed rats was significantly suppressed by BSFCF. Moreover, our Real-time PCR data verified that BSFCF evidently inhibited the mRNA expressions of CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11 and CXCR3. Conclusively, BSFCF markedly improved pulmonary function and attenuated CD8+ T-cells recruitment in the lung of CS-exposed rats, which were partially through inhibition of CXCL9/CXCL10/CXCL11-CXCR3 axis.

Dynamic variations in distribution of arc light radiation in micro-plasma arc welding with pulsed current (P-MPAW) are complicated, especially, those abnormal variations influenced by high frequency. It can be seen in the study that there are three areas with obvious difference in arc light radiation during micro-plasma arc welding (MPAW). The variations of light radiations and dimensions in arc three areas mainly followed the transient changes in value of pulsed current when frequency was low. However, with an increasing in frequency of pulsed current, these regular dynamic variations following pulsed current were disturbed by high frequency effects, for instance, dynamic inertia effect, high frequency steady effect, and high frequency compression. In addition, resonation phenomenon occurred at some frequency, leading to a large value either in arc light radiation or in arc dimension. Moreover, the transient variations in arc light radiation and arc dimensions were not synchrotrons because of their different dynamic inertia effect. Keywords: P-MPAW, Dynamic variations, Arc light radiation, Dynamic inertia effect, High frequency steady effect, High frequency compression

Beak trimming was a part of routine husbandry for poultry industry, which was the most efficient and economic way to reduce the incidence of cannibalism. However, the controversy about young chicken trimming still exits and it was drawing more concern recently along with the popular of animal behavior and welfare theory. To evaluate the influence of beak trimming on young chicken spleen development and find the key regulators of the spleen development, in this study, the electron microscope technique, flow cytometry and immunohistochemical techniques were used to investigate the effects of beak trimming stress on the spleen development. The result of electronic microscope showed that significant stress response could be found in chicken spleen cells after beak trimming. Cell volume became larger, chromatin of cell nuclear agglutinated conglobation, cytoplasm formed more vacuole, and mitochondria emerged vacuolization phenomenon in splenic lymphocyte after beak trimming. From the flow cytometry, the lymphocyte of spleen in the control group and experimental group were mainly in G1 phase, and the remaining small amount was in S and M phases. Of interest, the number of the lymphocyte which are in G1 phase within immune organ in the experimental group were more than that in the control group, but the number of cells in S and M phases were less than that in the control group. And beak trimming decreased the lymphocytes proliferation index of spleen. Inmmuohistochemical result showed that the beak trimming stress did not affect the expression sites of two apoptosis-related genes, Bcl-2 and Bax, in the spleen. But the expression level of Bcl-2 decreased while Bax increased in chicken immune organs after beak trimming. Furthermore, the beak trimming increased spleen cell apoptosis with a time-dependant style. Our findings may make a contribution to the active precaution of stress response.

Tidal marshes globally face escalating threats from rising sea levels. As critical determinants of tidal marsh platform elevation maintenance, the contributions of marsh soil compaction and subsidence (SCS) are often overshadowed by vertical accretion (VA). Here, we reveal the pervasive presence of the SCS within tidal marshes and its driving forces. Our results demonstrate that while vegetated regions can organize more efficient sediment accumulation, thereby promoting marsh elevation rise, they also contribute to an increase in SCS occurrences, which somewhat hinders marsh elevation growth. Through the established empirical model of SCS, we found that the amount of SCS in the investigated marshes with vegetation cover is twice that of marshes without vegetation. Therefore, from the perspective of SCS, it is imperative to account for the detrimental impact of vegetation on marsh elevation, as we have uncovered that this oversight may lead to an underestimation of the vulnerability of the investigated tidal marsh ecosystem by approximately 13.55 %. We also find that the adversarial game between vegetation colonization and sea-level rise governs the SCS in the self-organization of tidal marshes, but the intensifying inundation from sea-level rise ultimately determines the fate of the SCS. Our study emphasizes the crucial role of the game between sea-level rise and vegetation colonization in the self-organized elevation maintenance of tidal marshes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Microalgae have the potential to fix CO 2 into valuable compounds. Low photosynthetic efficiency caused by low light was one of the challenges faced by microalgae carbon sequestration. In this study, Melatonin (MT) and indole-propionic acid (IPA) were used to alleviate the growth inhibition of Spirulina in CAMC system under low light restriction. The results showed that MT and IPA increased biomass and carbon fixation capacity. 10 mg/L IPA group achieved the maximum biomass and carbon fixation capacity, which were 17.11% and 21.46% higher than control. MT and IPA promoted the synthesis of chlorophyll, which in turn captured more light energy for microalgae growth. The increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities enhanced the resistance of microalgae to low light stress. MT and IPA promoted the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) which was benefit to protect cells. The maximum phycocyanin content and yield was found in 10 mg-IPA group, which was 20.67% and 46.67% higher than control. MT and IPA improved the synthesis of carbohydrates and proteins and increased carbohydrates and proteins yield. This indicated that adding phytohormones was an effective method to alleviate the growth of microalgae restricted by low light stress, which provided a theoretical guidance for the application of CAMC system in CO 2 capture and resource utilization., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest ☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. ☐ The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:, (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Postoperative paraplegia is the major concern with the frozen elephant trunk (FET) procedure in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). It is crucial to identify patients with a high risk of paraplegia before implementing the FET procedure., Methods: From January 2013 to December 2018, 544 patients with ATAAD who underwent FET procedures were included in this study. The segment number of posterior false lumens (PFLs) between T9 and L2 levels was calculated. In-hospital outcomes and long-term survival were investigated on the basis of the number of PFLs., Results: The average age was 46.5 ± 9.9 years, and the proportion of female patients was 19.5% in this cohort. The incidence of postoperative paraplegia was significantly increased when PFL was present in 3 or more segments. Patients were divided into a high-PFL group (3-6 segments; n = 124) and a low-PFL group (0-2 segments; n = 420). The demographic characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. Involvement of the celiac trunk and the superior mesenteric artery was significantly lower in the high-PFL group (all P < .05). The other baseline characteristics and procedural information were statistically balanced. The incidence of postoperative paraplegia was significantly higher in the high-PHL group (7.3% vs 1.9;P = .006). Multivariable logistic analysis revealed that high PFL was independently associated with postoperative paraplegia after an FET procedure (odds ratio, 3.812; 95% CI, 1.378-10.550; P = .010). Additionally, the moderate nasopharyngeal temperature of hypothermic circulatory arrest (≧23.0 °C) was clarified as a protective factor for paraplegia (odds ratio, 0.112; 95% CI, 0.023-0.535; P = .006)., Conclusions: Patients with ATAAD who present with high PFL between T9 and L2 levels have a significantly high risk of postoperative paraplegia if they undergo an FET procedure., (Copyright © 2024 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)