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Jujube ( Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is the first tree species in China, with a long history and abundant yield. However, fresh jujubes have a short shelf-life and are not resistant to storage. Therefore, more and more processed jujube products are being studied. These processed products can extend the shelf-life of jujubes and attract widespread attention for their rich functional nutrients. This review summarized changes in nutrients of fresh jujube and processed products and the research progress of different preparation methods of jujubes. Meanwhile, the pharmacological effects of bioactive components in jujube-based products were concluded. Jujube and its processed products contain rich polysaccharides, vitamin C, and other functional nutrients, which are beneficial to humans. As the initial processing method for jujubes, vacuum freezing or microwave drying have become the most commonly used and efficient drying methods. Additionally, processed jujube products cannot be separated from the maximum retention of nutrients and innovation of flavor. Fermentation is the main deep-processing method with broad development potential. In the future, chemical components and toxicological evaluation need to be combined with research to bring consumers higher quality functional jujube products and ensure the sustainable development of the jujube industry.

Steel structures located in subtropical marine climates face harsh conditions such as strong sunlight and heavy rain, and they are extremely corroded. In this study, a waterborne coating with excellent corrosion resistance, hydrophobic ability, high-temperature resistance and high density was successfully prepared by using modified nanoscale titania powders and grafted polymers. The effects of three modifiers on titania nanoparticles and waterborne coatings' properties were studied independently. The experimental results showed that the activation index of the modification employing methacryloxy silane reached 97.5%, which achieved the best modification effect at 64.4 °C for 43.3 min. The waterborne coating with nanoscale titania modified by methacryloxy silane exhibited the best hydrophobic effect, with a drop contact angle of 115.4° and excellent heat resistance of up to 317.2 °C. The application of the waterborne modified coating in steel structures under subtropical maritime climates showed that the waterborne titania coatings demonstrated excellent resistance to corrosion, high temperatures and harsh sunlight, with a maximum service life of up to five years. Economic analysis indicated that, considering a conservative three-year effective lifespan, this coating could save more than 50% in cost compared with conventional industrial coatings. Finally, the strengthening mechanism of the polymer coatings with modified nanoscale titania was analyzed.

Single-cell RNA sequencing technology (scRNA-seq) has been steadily developing since its inception in 2009. Unlike bulk RNA-seq, scRNA-seq identifies the heterogeneity of tissue cells and reveals gene expression changes in individual cells at the microscopic level. Here, we review the development of scRNA-seq, which has gone through iterations of reverse transcription, in vitro transcription, smart-seq, drop-seq, 10 × Genomics, and spatial single-cell transcriptome technologies. The technology of 10 × Genomics has been widely applied in medicine and biology, producing rich research results. Furthermore, this review presents a summary of the analytical process for single-cell transcriptome data and its integration with other omics analyses, including genomes, epigenomes, proteomes, and metabolomics. The single-cell transcriptome has a wide range of applications in biology and medicine. This review analyzes the applications of scRNA-seq in cancer, stem cell research, developmental biology, microbiology, and other fields. In essence, scRNA-seq provides a means of elucidating gene expression patterns in single cells, thereby offering a valuable tool for scientific research. Nevertheless, the current single-cell transcriptome technology is still imperfect, and this review identifies its shortcomings and anticipates future developments. The objective of this review is to facilitate a deeper comprehension of scRNA-seq technology and its applications in biological and medical research, as well as to identify avenues for its future development in alignment with practical needs.

Overwhelming evidence points to an aberrant Wnt/β-catenin signaling as a critical factor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cervical cancer (CC) pathogenesis. Dicerandrol C (DD-9), a dimeric tetrahydroxanthenone isolated from the endophytic fungus Phomopsis asparagi DHS-48 obtained from mangrove plant Rhizophora mangle via chemical epigenetic manipulation of the culture, has demonstrated effective anti-tumor properties, with an obscure action mechanism. The objective of the current study was to explore the efficacy of DD-9 on HepG2 and HeLa cancer cells and its functional mechanism amid the Wnt/β catenin signaling cascade. Isolation of DD-9 was carried out using various column chromatographic methods, and its structure was elucidated with 1D NMR. The cytotoxicity of DD-9 on HepG2 and HeLa cells was observed with respect to the proliferation, clonality, migration, invasion, apoptosis, cell cycle, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade. We found that DD-9 treatment significantly reduced tumor cell proliferation in dose- and time-dependent manners in HepG2 and HeLa cells. The subsequent experiments in vitro implied that DD-63 could significantly suppress the tumor clonality, metastases, and induced apoptosis, and that it arrested the cell cycle at the G 0 /G 1 phase of HepG2 and HeLa cells. Dual luciferase assay, Western blot, and immunofluorescence assay showed that DD-9 could dose-dependently attenuate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling by inhibiting β-catenin transcriptional activity and abrogating β-catenin translocated to the nucleus; down-regulating the transcription level of β-catenin-stimulated Wnt target gene and the expression of related proteins including p -GSK3-β, β-catenin, LEF1, Axin1, c -Myc, and CyclinD1; and up-regulating GSK3-β expression, which indicates that DD-9 stabilized the β-catenin degradation complex, thereby inducing β-catenin degradation and inactivation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. The possible interaction between DD-9 and β-catenin and GSK3-β protein was further confirmed by molecular docking studies. Collectively, DD-9 may suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis of liver and cervical cancer cells, possibly at least in part via GSK3-β-mediated crosstalk with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling axis, providing insights into the mechanism for the potency of DD-9 on hepatocellular and cervical cancer.

Five new naphthalene derivatives dalesconosides A-D, F ( 1 - 4 , 6 ), a known synthetic analogue named dalesconoside E ( 5 ), and eighteen known compounds ( 7 - 24 ) were isolated from Daldinia eschscholzii MCZ-18, which is an endophytic fungus obtained from the Chinese mangrove plant Ceriops tagal . Differing from previously reported naphthalenes, compounds 1 and 2 were bearing a rare ribofuranoside substituted at C-1 and the 5-methyltetrahydrofuran-2,3-diol moiety, respectively. Their structures were determined by detailed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectroscopic (MS) analyses, while the absolute configurations were established by theoretical electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation. Compounds 1 , 3 , 13 - 17 and 19 showed broad ranges of antimicrobial spectrum against five indicator test microorganisms ( Enterococcus faecalis , Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans ); especially, 1 , 16 and 17 were most potent. The variations in structure and attendant biological activities provided fresh insights concerning structure-activity relationships for the naphthalene derivatives.

Developing novel, safe, and efficient proangiogenic drugs is an important approach for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In this study, 4 new compounds, including 3 azaphilones ( 1 - 3 ) and 1 dihydroisocoumarin ( 4 ), as well as 13 known compounds ( 5 - 17 ), were isolated from the sea-mud-derived fungus Neopestalotiopsis sp. HN-1-6 from the Beibu Gulf of China. The structures of the new compounds were determined by NMR, MS, ECD, and NMR calculations. Compounds 3 , 5 , and 7 exhibited noteworthy proangiogenic activities in a zebrafish model at a concentration of 40 μM, without displaying cytotoxicity toward five human cell lines. In addition, some compounds demonstrated antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , and Candida albicans , with MIC values ranging from 64 μg/mL to 256 μg/mL.

A novel high-speed and process-compatible carrier-stored trench-gate bipolar transistor (CSTBT) combined with split-gate technology is proposed in this paper. The device features a split polysilicon electrode in the trench, where the left portion is equipotential with the cathode. This design mitigates the impact of the anode on the trench gate, resulting in a reduction in the gate-collector capacitance (C GC ) to improve the dynamic characteristics. On the left side of the device cell, the P-layer, the carrier-stored (CS) layer and the P-body are formed from the bottom up by ion implantation and annealing. The P-layer beneath the trench bottom can decrease the electric field at the bottom of the trench, thereby improving breakdown voltage (BV) performance. Simultaneously, the highly doped CS layer strengthens the hole-accumulation effect at the cathode. Moreover, the PNP doping layers on the left form a self-biased pMOS. In a short-circuit state, the self-biased pMOS turns on at a certain collector voltage, causing the potential of the CS-layer to be clamped by the hole channel. Consequently, the short-circuit current no longer increases with the collector voltage. The simulation results reveal significant improvements in comparison with the conventional CSTBT under the same on-state voltage (1.48 V for 100 A/cm 2 ). Specifically, the turn-off time (t off ) and turn-off loss (E off ) are reduced by 38.4% and 41.8%, respectively. The short-circuit current is decreased by 50%, while the short-circuit time of the device is increased by 2.46 times.

Electrocatalytic urea synthesis from CO 2 and nitrogenous substances represents an essential advance for the chemical industry, enabling the efficient utilization of resources and promoting sustainable development. However, the development of electrocatalytic urea synthesis has been severely limited by weak chemisorption, poor activation and difficulties in C-N coupling reactions. In this review, catalysts and corresponding reaction mechanisms in the emerging fields of bimetallic catalysts, MXenes, frustrated Lewis acid-base pairs and heterostructures are summarized in terms of the two central mechanisms of molecule-catalyst interactions as well as chemical bond cleavage and directional coupling, which provide new perspectives for improving the efficiency of electrocatalytic synthesis of urea. This review provides valuable insights to elucidate potential electrocatalytic mechanisms.

Manganese molybdate has garnered considerable interest in supercapacitor research owing to its outstanding electrochemical properties and nanostructural stability but still suffers from the common problems of transition metal oxides not being able to reach the theoretical specific capacitance and lower electrical conductivity. Doping phosphorus elements is an effective approach to further enhance the electrochemical characteristics of transition metal oxides. In this study, MnMoO 4 ·H 2 O nanosheets were synthesized on nickel foam via a hydrothermal route, and the MnMoO 4 ·H 2 O nanosheet structure was successfully doped with a phosphorus element using a gas-solid reaction method. Phosphorus element doping forms phosphorus-metal bonds and oxygen vacancies, thereby increasing the charge storage and conductivity of the electrode material. The specific capacitance value is as high as 2.112 F cm -2 (1760 F g -1 ) at 1 mA cm -2 , which is 3.2 times higher than that of the MnMoO 4 ·H 2 O electrode (0.657 F cm -2 ). The P-MnMoO 4 //AC ASC device provides a high energy density of 41.9 Wh kg -1 at 666.8 W kg -1 , with an 84.5% capacity retention after 10,000 charge/discharge cycles. The outstanding performance suggests that P-MnMoO 4 holds promise as an electrode material for supercapacitors.

In this study, oxidized single-walled carbon nanohorns (oxSWCNHs) were prepared using nitric acid oxidation and subsequently combined with 3'6-carboxyfluorescein through charge transfer to prepare fluorescent probes. These oxSWCNHs were used to quench fluorogen signals at short distances and dissociate ssDNA using cryonase enzymes. We established a method for rapidly detecting tetracycline (TC) in complex samples based on the amplification of cryonase enzyme signals. After optimizing the experimental conditions, our method showed a detection limit of 5.05 ng/mL, with good specificity. This method was used to determine the TC content in complex samples, yielding a recovery rate of 90.0-103.3%. This result validated the efficacy of our method in detecting TC content within complex samples.

In order to comprehend the molecular composition of coal and better understand the process of coal combustion, this study involved the development of a molecular structure model for Heiyanquan coal in Xinjiang, as well as the optimization and annealing dynamics simulation of the model. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were utilized to investigate the spontaneous combustion characteristics of coal at different temperatures (room temperature, 50-500 °C with 50 °C interval). The findings revealed that the coal primarily consists of aromatic carbon, with the aromatic structure mainly comprising naphthalene, anthracene, and phenanthrene, and the aliphatic carbon mainly consisting of CH 2 and CH, along with a small quantity of minerals. The empirical molecular formula of Heiyanquan coal was determined to be C 175 H 125 O 21 N 3 . After the optimization, the total energy of the model was significantly reduced, and the aromatic layers tended to align in a regular parallel manner, with van der Waals energy playing a crucial role in maintaining structural stability. As the temperature increased, the activation energy of the three stages also increased, with the combustion stage exhibiting the highest activation energy. The presence of hydroxyl groups and oxygen-containing functional groups was found to mainly participate in the reaction, while the content of aromatic hydrocarbons remained relatively stable, C=C exhibited a decreasing trend, and C-O displayed an increasing trend. Moreover, it was observed that 1 × 1 and 2 × 2 were the predominant aromatic stripes in the coal samples, accounting for more than 90% of the total stripes.

The co-culture strategy, which mimics natural ecology by constructing an artificial microbial community, is a useful tool for the activation of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) to generate new metabolites, as well as to increase the yield of respective target metabolites. As part of our project aiming at the discovery of structurally novel and biologically active natural products from mangrove endophytic fungi, we selected the co-culture of a strain of Phomopsis asparagi DHS-48 with another Phomopsis genus fungus DHS-11, both endophyted in mangrove Rhizophora mangle considering the impart of the taxonomic criteria and ecological data. The competition interaction of the two strains was investigated through morphology observation and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and it was found that the mycelia of the DHS-48 and DHS-11 compacted and tangled with each other with an interwoven pattern in the co-culture system. A new approach that integrates HPLC chromatogram, 1 HNMR spectroscopy, UPLC-MS-PCA, and molecular networking enabled the targeted isolation of the induced metabolites, including three new dimeric xanthones phomoxanthones L-N ( 1 - 3 ), along with six known analogs ( 4 - 9 ). Their planar structures were elucidated by an analysis of their HRMS, MS/MS, and NMR spectroscopic data and the absolute configurations based on ECD calculations. These metabolites showed broad cytotoxic activity against the cancer cells assessed, of which compounds 7 - 9 displayed significant cytotoxicity towards human liver cells HepG-2 with IC 50 values ranging from 4.83 μM to 12.06 μM. Compounds 1 - 6 exhibited weak immunosuppressive activity against the proliferation of ConA-induced (T-cell) and LPS-induced (B-cell) murine splenic lymphocytes. Therefore, combining co-cultivation with a metabolomics-guided strategy as a discovery tool will be implemented as a systematic strategy for the quick discovery of target bioactive compounds.

Accumulating evidence shows that the abnormal increase in the mortality of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) caused by apoptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis is closely related to the function of mucous membrane immunity and barrier function in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). As a procedural death path that integrates the above-mentioned many deaths, the role of PANoptosis in UC has not been clarified. This study aims to explore the characterization of PANoptosis patterns and determine the potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets. We constructed a PANoptosis gene set and revealed significant activation of PANoptosis in UC patients based on multiple transcriptome profiles of intestinal mucosal biopsies from the GEO database. Comprehensive bioinformatics analysis revealed five key genes (ZBP1, AIM2, CASP1/8, IRF1) of PANoptosome with good diagnostic value and were highly correlated with an increase in pro-inflammatory immune cells and factors. In addition, we established a reliable ceRNA regulatory network of PANoptosis and predicted three potential small-molecule drugs sharing calcium channel blockers that were identified, among which flunarizine exhibited the highest correlation with a high binding affinity to the targets. Finally, we used the DSS-induced colitis model to validate our findings. This study identifies key genes of PANoptosis associated with UC development and hypothesizes that IRF1 as a TF promotes PANoptosome multicomponent expression, activates PANoptosis, and then induces IECs excessive death.

Enhancers are located upstream or downstream of key deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences in genes and can adjust the transcription activity of neighboring genes. Identifying enhancers and determining their functions are important for understanding gene regulatory networks and expression regulatory mechanisms. However, traditional enhancer recognition relies on manual feature engineering, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive, making it difficult to perform large-scale recognition analysis. In addition, if the original dataset is too small, there is a risk of overfitting. In recent years, emerging methods, such as deep learning, have provided new insights for enhancing identification. However, these methods also present certain challenges. Deep learning models typically require a large amount of high-quality data, and data acquisition demands considerable time and resources. To address these challenges, in this paper, we propose a data-augmentation method based on generative adversarial networks to solve the problem of small datasets. Moreover, we used regularization methods such as weight decay to improve the generalizability of the model and alleviate overfitting. The Transformer encoder was used as the main component to capture the complex relationships and dependencies in enhancer sequences. The encoding layer was designed based on the principle of k-mers to preserve more information from the original DNA sequence. Compared with existing methods, the proposed approach made significant progress in enhancing the accuracy and strength of enhancer identification and prediction, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method. This paper provides valuable insights for enhancer analysis and is of great significance for understanding gene regulatory mechanisms and studying disease correlations.

Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) is an emerging porcine intestinal coronavirus that can cause acute diarrhea, vomiting, rapid weight loss, and high mortality in newborn piglets. Cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) is a molecular mediator of innate antiviral immunity and converts cholesterol to 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC). Previous studies have reported that CH25H and 25HC have an antiviral effect against multiple viruses. However, the interplay between SADS-CoV infection and CH25H or 25HC is still uncertain. Here, we found that CH25H and its enzymatic product 25HC restrained SADS-CoV replication by blocking membrane fusion. Our results show that CH25H was upregulated by SADS-CoV infection in vitro and in vivo, and that it was an IFN-stimulated gene in porcine ileum epithelial cells. Moreover, CH25H and CH25H mutants lacking catalytic activity can inhibit SADS-CoV replication. Furthermore, 25HC significantly suppressed SADS-CoV infection by inhibiting virus entry. Notably, we confirmed that CH25H and 25HC blocked SADS-CoV spike protein-mediated membrane fusion. Our data provide a possible antiviral therapy against SADS-CoV and other conceivable emerging coronaviruses in the future.

To address the fuzzy reconstruction effect on distant objects in unbounded scenes and the difficulty in feature matching caused by the thin structure of power lines in images, this paper proposes a novel image-based method for the reconstruction of power transmission lines (PTLs). The dataset used in this paper comprises PTL progressive motion sequence datasets, constructed by a visual acquisition system carried by a developed Flying-walking Power Line Inspection Robot (FPLIR). This system captures close-distance and continuous images of power lines. The study introduces PL-NeRF, that is, an enhanced method based on the Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) method for reconstructing PTLs. The highlights of PL-NeRF include (1) compressing the unbounded scene of PTLs by exploiting the spatial compression of normal L∞; (2) encoding the direction and position of the sample points through Integrated Position Encoding (IPE) and Hash Encoding (HE), respectively. Compared to existing methods, the proposed method demonstrates good performance in 3D reconstruction, with fidelity indicators of PSNR = 29, SSIM = 0.871, and LPIPS = 0.087. Experimental results highlight that the combination of PL-NeRF with progressive motion sequence images ensures the integrity and continuity of PTLs, improving the efficiency and accuracy of image-based reconstructions. In the future, this method could be widely applied for efficient and accurate 3D reconstruction and inspection of PTLs, providing a strong foundation for automated monitoring of transmission corridors and digital power engineering.

In this study, the digestion and fermentation properties of the bioactive water-soluble polysaccharide (HEP-W), and alkali-soluble polysaccharide (HEP-A) from Hericium erinaceus and the impact on the human colonic microbiota were determined using simulated saliva-gastrointestinal digestion and human fecal fermentation models in vitro. The basic physicochemical properties of HEP-W and HEP-A were determined at the same time. The results showed that the in vitro simulated digestion had almost no effect on the physicochemical properties of HEP-W and HEP-A, indicating that HEP-W and HEP-A were partially degraded. During fermentation, HEP-W and HEP-A increased the relative abundance of the dominant butyric acid-producing genera, the microbial community structure was significantly regulated, the gas production and short-chain fatty acid production in the fermentation broth were significantly increased, and the pH of the fermentation broth was reduced. There were structural and other differences in HEP-W and HEP-A due to different extraction methods, which resulted in different results. These results suggest that HEP-W and HEP-A may be potential gut microbial manipulators to promote gut health by promoting the production of beneficial metabolites by intestinal microorganisms using different butyric acid production pathways.

The application of polymer flocculants plays a pivotal role in the slurry separation process of shields, and the dispersant used for treating cutter mud cakes can significantly impact the effectiveness of polymer flocculants, potentially leading to reduced efficiency in slurry separation. Experiments were conducted to select appropriate flocculants and investigate the influence of dispersants on flocculant effectiveness, aiming to assess the effect of flocculants and explore the relationships and mechanisms governing their influence. Changes in the patterns of slurry flocculation were revealed in terms of flocculation-driven precipitation and vacuum-filtration effects. The purpose of this article is to provide a reference for the field application of polymer flocculants in the shield field. The conclusions are as follows. Inorganic flocculants containing 0.5% polyaluminum chloride (PAC) exhibit the most effective flocculation, demonstrating strong charge neutralization action. Organic flocculants containing 0.1% cationic polyacrylamides (CPAM) exhibit the most effective flocculation, demonstrating strong bridging and net capture effects. The dispersant sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) can significantly weaken the charge-neutralizing action of flocculants and slightly enhance bridging and net capture effects. SHMP can impede the flocculation of slurry with PAC. For CPAM, SHMP can enhance the flocculation of slurry at a low mass fraction (0.1% and 0.3%), while SHMP can significantly hinder flocculation at a high mass fraction (0.5% and 1%). A low mass fraction of SHMP reduced slurry viscosity to 246.3 mPa.s and enhanced vacuum filtration, while a high mass fraction of SHMP increased slurry viscosity to 667.2 mPa.s and hindered vacuum filtration. In conclusion, while dispersants reduce the effectiveness of inorganic flocculants at any mass fraction, a small number of dispersants enhances the performance of organic flocculants; thus, the organic flocculant CPAM is recommended for slurry separation.

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) has been proven to be an excellent material for mitigating the continuous impact of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. Carbon doping has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the CO 2 reduction performance of TiO 2 . In this study, we investigated the effects of carbon doping on TiO 2 using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Two carbon doping concentrations were considered (4% and 6%), denoted as TiO 2 -2C and TiO 2 -3C, respectively. The results showed that after carbon doping, the band gaps of TiO 2 -2C and TiO 2 -3C were reduced to 1.58 eV and 1.47 eV, respectively, which is lower than the band gap of pure TiO 2 (2.13 eV). This indicates an effective improvement in the electronic structure of TiO 2 . Barrier energy calculations revealed that compared to pure TiO 2 (0.65 eV), TiO 2 -2C (0.54 eV) and TiO 2 -3C (0.59 eV) exhibited lower energy barriers, facilitating the transition to *COOH intermediates. These findings provide valuable insights into the electronic structure changes induced by carbon doping in TiO 2 , which can contribute to the development of sustainable energy and environmental conservation measures to address global climate challenges.

Nanoemulsion is a new multi-component drug delivery system; the selection of different oil phases can give it special physiological activity, and play the role of "medicine and pharmaceutical excipients all-in-one". In this paper, we used glycyrrhizic acid as the natural surfactant, and Blumea balsamifera oil (BB) and tea tree oil (TTO) as the mixed oil phase, to obtain a new green functional composite nanoemulsion. Using the average particle size and polydispersion index (PDI) as the evaluation criteria, the effects of the oil ratio, oil content, glycyrrhizic acid concentration, and ultrasonic time on the nanoemulsion were systematically investigated. The stability and physicochemical properties and biological activities of BB-TTO NEs prepared via the optimum formulation were characterized. The optimal prescription was BB: TTO = 1:1, 5% oil phase, 0.7% glycyrrhizic acid, and 5 min ultrasonication time. The mean particle size, PDI, and zeta potential were 160.01 nm, 0.125, and -50.94 mV, respectively. The nanoemulsion showed non-significant changes in stability after centrifugation, dilution, and 120 days storage. These nanoemulsions were found to exhibit potential antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of BB-TTO NEs against Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is 2975 μg/mL, 2975 μg/mL, and 5950 μg/mL, respectively. A lower level of inflammatory cell infiltration and proportion of fibrosis were found in the synovial tissue of AIA rats treated with BB-TTO NEs. These findings demonstrate that the BB-TTO NEs produced in this study have significant potential for usage in antibacterial and anti-inflammatory areas.

Background: This research analyses the relations between anxiety symptoms from the network perspective to deepen the understanding of anxiety in front-line medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and can also provide a reference for determining potential goals of clinical interventions., Methods: A convenience sampling was adopted, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) was administered to front-line medical staff through online platforms. A regularized partial correlation network of anxiety was constructed and then we evaluated its accuracy and stability. The expected influence and predictability were used to describe the relative importance and the controllability, using community detection to explore community structure. The gender-based differences and the directed acyclic graph were implemented., Results: The connections between A1 "Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge" and A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying", A6 "Becoming easily annoyed or irritable" and A7 "Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen", etc., were relatively strong; A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying" and A3 "Worrying too much about different things" had the highest expected influence, and A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying" had the highest predictability. The community detection identified two communities. The results of the gender network comparison showed the overall intensity of the anxiety network in women was higher than that in men; DAG indicated that A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying" had the highest probabilistic priority; the lines from A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying" to A1 "Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge" and A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying" to A7 "Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen" represented the most important arrows., Conclusion: There exist broad interconnections among anxiety symptoms of front-line medical staff on the GAD-7. A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying" might be the core symptom and a potential effective intervention target. It was possible to bring an optimal result for the entire GAD symptom network by interfering with A2 "Not being able to stop or control worrying". GAD may have two "subsystems". The modes of interconnection among anxiety may be consistent between genders.

The development and utilization of new plant-fiber composite materials and microcellular foam molding processes for the manufacturing of automotive components are effective approaches when achieving the lightweight, low-carbon, and sustainable development of automobiles. However, current research in this field has mainly focused on component performance development and functional exploration, with a limited assessment of environmental performance, which fails to meet the requirements of the current green and sustainable development agenda. In this study, based on a life cycle assessment, the resource, and environmental impacts of plant-fiber composite material automotive components and microcellular foam molding processes were investigated. Furthermore, a combined approach to digital twinning and life cycle evaluation was proposed to conduct resource and environmental assessments and analysis. The research results indicate that under current technological conditions, resource and environmental issues associated with plant-fiber composite material automotive components are significantly higher than those of traditional material components, mainly due to differences in their early-stage processes and the consumption of electrical energy and chemical raw materials. It is noteworthy that electricity consumption is the largest influencing factor that causes environmental issues throughout the life cycle, especially accounting for more than 42% of indicators such as ozone depletion, fossil resource consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions. Additionally, the microcellular foam molding process can effectively reduce the environmental impact of products by approximately 15% and exhibits better overall environmental performance compared to chemical foaming. In future development, optimizing the forming process of plant-fiber composite materials, increasing the proportion of clean energy use, and promoting the adoption of microcellular foam injection molding processes could be crucial for the green and sustainable development of automotive components.

An innovative optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR)-based distributed temperature sensing method is proposed that utilizes a Rayleigh backscattering enhanced fiber (RBEF) as the sensing medium. The RBEF features randomly high backscattering points; the analysis of the fiber position shift of these points before and after the temperature change along the fiber is achieved using the sliding cross-correlation method. The fiber position and temperature variation can be accurately demodulated by calibrating the mathematical relationship between the high backscattering point position along the RBEF and the temperature variation. Experimental results reveal a linear relationship between temperature variation and the total position displacement of high backscattering points. The temperature sensing sensitivity coefficient is 7.814 μm/(m·°C), with an average relative error temperature measurement of -1.12% and positioning error as low as 0.02 m for the temperature-influenced fiber segment. In the proposed demodulation method, the spatial resolution of temperature sensing is determined by the distribution of high backscattering points. The temperature sensing resolution depends on the spatial resolution of the OFDR system and the length of the temperature-influenced fiber. With an OFDR system spatial resolution of 12.5 μm, the temperature sensing resolution reaches 0.418 °C per meter of RBEF under test.

The cucurbit vegetable chieh-qua ( Benincasa hispida var. chieh-qua How) is an important crop in South China and southeast Asian countries. Viral diseases cause substantial loss of chieh-qua yield. To identify the viruses that affect chieh-qua in China, ribosomal RNA-depleted total RNA sequencing was performed using chieh-qua leaf samples with typical viral symptoms. The virome of chieh-qua comprises four known viruses (melon yellow spot virus (MYSV), cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus (CCYV), papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) and watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) and two novel viruses: cucurbit chlorotic virus (CuCV) in the genus Crinivirus and chieh-qua endornavirus (CqEV) in the genus Alphaendornavirus . The complete genomes of the two novel viruses in chieh-qua and three other isolates of CuCV in pumpkin, watermelon and cucumber were determined and the recombination signals of pumpkin and watermelon isolates of CuCV were detected. A reverse transcriptase PCR indicated that the dominant viruses of chieh-qua in Hainan are MYSV (66.67%) and CCYV (55.56%), followed by CuCV (27.41%), WSMoV (7.41%), cucumber mosaic virus (8.15%), zucchini yellow mosaic virus (6.67%), PRSV (6.67%) and CqEV (35.56%). Our findings support diagnostic and prevalence studies of viruses infecting chieh-qua in China, enabling sustainable control strategies for cucurbit viruses worldwide.

The application of flexible indium tin oxide (ITO-free) electrochromic devices has steadily attracted widespread attention in wearable devices. Recently, silver nanowire/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (AgNW/PDMS)-based stretchable conductive films have raised great interest as ITO-free substrate for flexible electrochromic devices. However, it is still difficult to achieve high transparency with low resistance due to the weak binding force between AgNW and PDMS with low surface energy because of the possibility of detaching and sliding occurring at the interface. Herein, we propose a method to pattern the pre-cured PDMS (PT-PDMS) by stainless steel film as a template through constructed micron grooves and embedded structure, to prepare a stretchable AgNW/PT-PDMS electrode with high transparency and high conductivity. The stretchable AgNW/PT-PDMS electrode can be stretched (5000 cycles), twisted, and surface friction (3M tape for 500 cycles) without significant loss of conductivity (ΔR/R ≈ 16% and 27%). In addition, with the increase of stretch (stretching to 10-80%), the AgNW/PT-PDMS electrode transmittance increased, and the conductivity increased at first and then decreased. It is possible that the AgNWs in the micron grooves are spread during PDMS stretching, resulting in a larger spreading area and higher transmittance of the AgNWs film; at the same time, the nanowires between the grooves come into contact, thus increasing conductivity. An electrochromic electrode constructed with the stretchable AgNW/PT-PDMS exhibited excellent electrochromic behavior (transmittance contrast from ~61% to ~57%) even after 10,000 bending cycles or 500 stretching cycles, indicating high stability and mechanical robustness. Notably, this method of preparing transparent stretch electrodes based on patterned PDMS provides a promising solution for developing electronic devices with unique structures and high performance.

This paper introduces a chip-level oven-controlled system for improving the temperature stability of MEMS resonators wherein we designed the resonator and the micro-hotplate using MEMS technology, then bounding them in a package shell at the chip level. The resonator is transduced by AlN film, and its temperature is monitored by temperature-sensing resistors on both sides. The designed micro-hotplate is placed at the bottom of the resonator chip as a heater and insulated by airgel. The PID pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit controls the heater according to the temperature detection result to provide a constant temperature for the resonator. The proposed oven-controlled MEMS resonator (OCMR) exhibits a frequency drift of 3.5 ppm. Compared with the previously reported similar methods, first, the OCMR structure using airgel combined with a micro-hotplate is proposed for the first time, and the working temperature is extended from 85 °C to 125 °C. Second, our work does not require redesign or additional constraints on the MEMS resonator, so the proposed structure is more general and can be practically applied to other MEMS devices that require temperature control.

The Paeonia suffruticosa , known as 'Feng Dan', has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine. In our chemical investigation on the root bark of the plant, five new phenolic dimers, namely, paeobenzofuranones A-E ( 1 - 5 ), were characterized. Their structures were determined using spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS, UV, and IR, as well as ECD calculations. Compounds 2 , 4 , and 5 showed cytotoxicity against three human cancer cell lines, with IC 50 values ranging from 6.7 to 25.1 μM. Compounds 1 and 2 showed certain inhibitory activity on NO production. To the best of our knowledge, the benzofuranone dimers and their cytotoxicity of P. suffruticosa are reported for the first time in this paper.

Salinity is a major factor limiting rice productivity, and developing salt-tolerant (ST) varieties is the most efficient approach. Seventy-eight ST introgression lines (ILs), including nine promising lines with improved ST and yield potential (YP), were developed from four BC 2 F 4 populations from inter-subspecific crosses between an elite Geng ( japonica ) recipient and four Xian ( indica ) donors at the Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Genome-wide characterization of donor introgression identified 35 ST QTLs, 25 of which harbor 38 cloned ST genes as the most likely QTL candidates. Thirty-four are Xian-Geng differentiated ones with the donor ( Xian ) alleles associated with ST, suggesting differentiated responses to salt stress were one of the major phenotypic differences between the two subspecies. At least eight ST QTLs and many others affecting yield traits were identified under salt/non-stress conditions. Our results indicated that the Xian gene pool contains rich 'hidden' genetic variation for developing superior Geng varieties with improved ST and YP, which could be efficiently exploited by selective introgression. The developed ST ILs and their genetic information on the donor alleles for ST and yield traits would provide a useful platform for developing superior ST and high-yield Geng varieties through breeding by design in the future.

A novel Performance Optimized Carrier Stored Trench Gate Bipolar Transistor (CSTBT) with Low Switching Loss has been proposed. By applying a positive DC voltage to the shield gate, the carrier storage effect is enhanced, the hole blocking capability is improved and the conduction loss is reduced. The DC biased shield gate naturally forms inverse conduction channel to speed up turn-on period. Excess holes are conducted away from the device through the hole path to reduce turn-off loss (E off ). In addition, other parameters including ON-state voltage (V on ), blocking characteristic and short circuit performance are also improved. Simulation results demonstrate that our device exhibits a 35.1% and 35.9% decrease in E off and turn-on loss (E on ), respectively, in comparison with the conventional shield CSTBT (C on -SGCSTBT). Additionally, our device achieves a short-circuit duration time that is 2.48 times longer. In high-frequency switching applications, device power loss can be reduced by 35%. It should be noted that the additional DC voltage bias is equivalent to the output voltage of the driving circuit, enabling an effective and feasible approach towards high-performance power electronics applications.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) has emerged as a promising photothermal material for solar desalination. However, its limitation in integrating with organic substances constrains its application because of the lack of functional groups on its surface. Here, this work presents a functionalization approach to introduce three different functional groups (-COOH -OH -NH 2 ) on the surface of MoS 2 by combining them with S vacancies. Subsequently, the functionalized MoS 2 was coated on the polyvinyl alcohol-modified polyurethane sponge to fabricate a MoS 2 -based double-layer evaporator through an organic bonding reaction. Photothermal desalination experiments show that the functionalized material has higher photothermal efficiency. The evaporation rate of the hydroxyl functionalized the MoS 2 evaporator evaporation rate is 1.35 kg m -2 h -1 , and the evaporation efficiency is 83% at one sun. This work provides a new strategy for efficient, green, and large-scale utilization of solar energy by MoS 2 -based evaporators.

Under the dual challenges of global downward economic pressure and the COVID-19 pandemic, studying the impact of local government fiscal pressure on public health is a meaningful endeavor. First, this paper analyzes the impact of local government fiscal pressure on public health and clarifies its impact mechanisms. Second, by utilizing panel data of 31 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2020, two-way fixed-effects and mediating-effects models are developed to identify the effects and impact mechanisms of local government fiscal pressure on public health. The results show that local government fiscal pressure can be detrimental to public health through three main mechanisms: reducing public health fiscal expenditures, hindering industrial structure upgrading, and exacerbating environmental pollution. Heterogeneity analysis finds that the negative effects of local government fiscal pressure on public health mainly exist in Central and Western China. Accordingly, three policy implications are proposed: optimizing the fiscal system, accelerating industrial upgrading, and improving the appraisal system of local officers.

Due to their low immunogenicity, high biocompatibility and ready availability in large quantities, plant-derived vesicles extracts have attracted considerable interest as a novel nanomaterial in tumor therapy. Bitter melon, a medicinal and edible plant, has been reported to exhibit excellent antitumor effects. It is well-documented that breast cancer gravely endangers women's health, and more effective therapeutic agents must be urgently explored. Therefore, we investigated whether bitter melon-derived vesicles extract (BMVE) has antitumor activity against breast cancer. Ultracentrifugation was used to isolate BMVE with a typical "cup-shaped" structure and an average size of approximately 147 nm from bitter melon juice. The experimental outcomes indicate that 4T1 breast cancer cells could efficiently internalize BMVE, which shows apparent anti-proliferative and migration-inhibiting effects. In addition, BMVE also possesses apoptosis-inducing effects on breast cancer cells, which were achieved by stimulating the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and disrupting mitochondrial function. Furthermore, BMVE could dramatically inhibit tumor growth in vivo with negligible adverse effects. In conclusion, BMVE exhibits a pronounced antitumor effect on 4T1 breast cancer cells, which has great potential for use in tumor therapy.

This paper focuses on the distributed containment control of continuous-time linear multi-agent systems (MASs) with multiple leaders over fixed topology. A parametric dynamic compensated distributed control protocol is proposed in which both the information from the observer in the virtual layer and actual adjacent agents are employed. The necessary and sufficient conditions of the distributed containment control are derived based on the standard linear quadratic regulator (LQR). On this basis, the dominant poles are configured by using the modified linear quadratic regulator (MLQR) optimal control and Geršgorin's circle criterion, hence the containment control with specified convergence speed of the MAS is achieved. Another main advantage of the proposed design is, in the case of virtual layer failure, by adjusting parameters the dynamic control protocol reduces to static, and the convergence speed can still be specified through the dominant pole assignment method combined with inverse optimal control. Finally, typical numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.

Asobara japonica (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an endoparasitoid wasp that can successfully parasitize a wide range of host species across the Drosophila genus, including the invasive crop pest Drosophila suzukii . Parasitoids are capable of regulating the host metabolism to produce the nutritional metabolites for the survival of their offspring. Here, we intend to investigate the metabolic changes in D. melanogaster hosts after parasitization by A. japonica , using the non-targeted LC-MS (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) metabolomics analysis. In total, 3043 metabolites were identified, most of which were not affected by A. japonica parasitization. About 205 metabolites were significantly affected in parasitized hosts in comparison to non-parasitized hosts. The changed metabolites were divided into 10 distinct biochemical groups. Among them, most of the lipid metabolic substances were significantly decreased in parasitized hosts. On the contrary, most of metabolites associated with the metabolism of amino acids and sugars showed a higher abundance of parasitized hosts, and were enriched for a wide range of pathways. In addition, eight neuromodulatory-related substances were upregulated in hosts post A. japonica parasitization. Our results reveal that the metabolites are greatly changed in parasitized hosts, which might help uncover the underlying mechanisms of host manipulation that will advance our understanding of host-parasitoid coevolution.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of conserved small RNA with a length of 21-24 nucleotides in eukaryotes, which are involved in development and defense responses against biotic and abiotic stresses. By RNA-seq, Osa-miR444b.2 was identified to be induced after Rhizoctonia solani ( R. solani ) infection. In order to clarify the function of Osa-miR444b.2 responding to R. solani infection in rice, transgenic lines over-expressing and knocking out Osa-miR444b.2 were generated in the background of susceptible cultivar Xu3 and resistant cultivar YSBR1, respectively. Over-expressing Osa-miR444b.2 resulted in compromised resistance to R. solani . In contrast, the knocking out Osa-miR444b.2 lines exhibited improved resistance to R. solani . Furthermore, knocking out Osa-miR444b.2 resulted in increased height, tillers, smaller panicle, and decreased 1000-grain weight and primary branches. However, the transgenic lines over-expressing Osa-miR444b.2 showed decreased primary branches and tillers, but increased panicle length. These results indicated that Osa-miR444b.2 was also involved in regulating the agronomic traits in rice. The RNA-seq assay revealed that Osa-miR444b.2 mainly regulated the resistance to rice sheath blight disease by affecting the expression of plant hormone signaling pathways-related genes such as ET and IAA, and transcription factors such as WRKYs and F-boxes. Together, our results suggest that Osa-miR444b.2 negatively mediated the resistance to R. solani in rice, which will contribute to the cultivation of sheath blight resistant varieties.

The Cuiguan pear is called "June snow" and the skin is thin; the meat is crisp and juicy; the taste is thick and fresh; and the juice is rich and sweet. In this study, the volatile organic compounds and the sensory and physicochemical parameters of the Cuiguan pear from four different regions of China (Sichuan (SC), Shangdong (SD), Chongming (CM), Zhuanghang (ZH)) were assessed. The highest differences in the physicochemical parameters were observed between four regions. The volatile fingerprints of GC-IMS showed great differences in the volatile of the Cuiguan pear, which suggested that the aroma of pears could be largely impacted by origin areas. (E)-ethyl-2-hexenoate can be used to distinguish between the 'CM' and pears from other regions. High contents of 2-heptanone, 1-pentanol, 1-butanol, 3-methylbutanol, butyl 2-methylbutanoate, heptyl acetate and butyl acetate were observed in the 'SD'. Dimethyl trisulfide, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, 1-penten-3-one, beta-pinene, γ-terpinene, propanal, (e)-2-pentenal, (e)-2-heptenal, 1-pentanol and 3-methyl-1-pentanol were primarily contained in the 'ZH'. Principal component analysis showed that there was very good discrimination based on the information obtained from GC-IMS for four samples. These findings were in agreement with the sensory analysis. In the opinion of the respondents to the consumer test, 'ZH' resulted in the most appreciated sample based on the average scores of the acceptability. This study provides some reference for the development and utilization of the Cuiguan pear.

Two unusual polyketide-sesquiterpene metabolites, craterodoratins T ( 1 ) and U ( 2 ), along with the known compound craterellin A ( 3 ), were isolated from the higher fungus Craterellus odoratus . The structures of isolated compounds were characterized based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrum (MS) spectroscopic analysis, while the absolute configuration of the compounds was determined by theoretical NMR and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Compound 1 possessed a rare structure with two aromatic groups. Compounds 1 and 3 showed immunosuppressive activity with IC 50 values ranging from 5.516 to 19.953 μ M.

Picolinic acid and picolinate compounds are a remarkable class of synthetic auxin herbicides. In recent years, two new picolinate compounds, halauxifen-methyl (Arylex TM active) and florpyrauxifen-benzyl (Rinskor TM active), have been launched as novel herbicides. Using their structural skeleton as a template, 33 4-amino-3,5-dicholor-6-(5-aryl-substituted-1-pytazolyl)-2-picolinic acid compounds were designed and synthesized for the discovery of compounds with potent herbicidal activity. The compounds were tested for inhibitory activity against the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana roots, and the results demonstrated that the IC 50 value of compound V-7 was 45 times lower than that of the halauxifen-methyl commercial herbicide. Molecular docking analyses revealed that compound V-7 docked with the receptor auxin-signaling F-box protein 5 (AFB5) more intensively than picloram. An adaptive three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship model was constructed from these IC 50 values to guide the next step of the synthetic strategy. Herbicidal tests of the new compounds indicated that compound V-8 exhibited better post-emergence herbicidal activity than picloram at a dosage of 300 gha -1 , and it was also safe for corn, wheat, and sorghum at this dosage. These results demonstrated that 6-(5-aryl-substituted-1-pyrazolyl)-2-picolinic acid compounds could be used as potential lead structures in the discovery of novel synthetic auxin herbicides.

This research study mainly focused on the dynamic malware detection. Malware progressively changes, leading to the use of dynamic malware detection techniques in this research study. Each day brings a new influx of malicious software programmes that pose a threat to online safety by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Internet. The proliferation of harmful software has rendered manual heuristic examination of malware analysis ineffective. Automatic behaviour-based malware detection using machine learning algorithms is thus considered a game-changing innovation. Threats are automatically evaluated based on their behaviours in a simulated environment, and reports are created. These records are converted into sparse vector models for use in further machine learning efforts. Classifiers used to synthesise the results of this study included kNN, DT, RF, AdaBoost, SGD, extra trees and the Gaussian NB classifier. After reviewing the test and experimental data for all five classifiers, we found that the RF, SGD, extra trees and Gaussian NB Classifier all achieved a 100% accuracy in the test, as well as a perfect precision (1.00), a good recall (1.00), and a good f1-score (1.00). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the proof-of-concept employing autonomous behaviour-based malware analysis and machine learning methodologies might identify malware effectively and rapidly.

Thirty novel diamide compounds combining pyrazolyl and polyfluoro-substituted phenyl groups into alanine or 2-aminobutyric acid skeletons were designed and synthesized with pyflubumide as the lead compound to develop potent and environmentally friendly pesticides. The preliminary bioassay results indicated that the new compounds containing the para-hexa/heptafluoroisopropylphenyl moiety exhibit fungicidal, insecticidal, and acaricidal activities. This is the first time that the para-hexa/heptafluoroisopropylphenyl group is a key fragment of the fungicidal activity of new N-phenyl amide compounds. Most of the target compounds exhibited moderate to good insecticidal activity against Aphis craccivora at a concentration of 400 μg/mL, and some showed moderate activity at a concentration of 200 μg/mL; in particular, compounds I-4, II-a-10, and III-26 displayed higher than 78% lethal rates at 200 μg/mL. Compound II-a-14 exhibited a 61.1% inhibition at 200 μg/mL for Tetranychus cinnabarinus . In addition, some of the target compounds exhibited good insecticidal activities against Plutella xylostella at a concentration of 200 μg/mL; the mortalities of compounds I-1, and II-a-15 were 76.7% and 70.0%, respectively. Preliminary analysis of the structure-activity relationship (SAR) indicated that the insecticidal and acaricidal activities varied significantly depending on the type of substituent and substitution pattern. The fungicidal activity results showed that compounds I-1, II-a-10, II-a-17, and III-26 exhibited good antifungal effects. Enzymatic activity experiments and in vivo efficacy of compound II-a-10 were conducted and discussed., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Background and Objectives : Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a progressive disease with a complex etiology and unknown pathogenesis. Gait analysis can objectively assess the functional behavior of the foot, thus revealing essential aspects and influencing factors of gait abnormalities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in spatiotemporal parameters, static and dynamic plantar pressure parameters, and symmetry indices between patients with ONFH and healthy subjects. Materials and Methods : The study population consisted of 31 ONFH patients and 31 healthy volunteers. Gait parameters were obtained from the plantar pressure analysis system for both the ONFH and healthy groups. The symmetry index was calculated according to a formula, including spatiotemporal parameters, static and dynamic plantar pressure distribution, percentage of regional impulse, and percentage of the restricted contact area. Results : Compared with healthy controls, patients with ONFH had slower walking speed, shorter step length and stride length, and increased stride time, stance time, and percentage of stance. patients with ONFH had lower plantar static pressure on the affected side and higher contralateral plantar static pressure during stance than controls. During walking, the peak pressures in all regions on the affected side and the peak pressure in the toe 1 and metatarsal 3 regions on the healthy side were lower in ONFH patients than in controls. The percentage of contact area and regional impulse in the heel of both limbs were higher in ONFH patients than in the control group. The symmetry indexes of stride time, stance time, step length, maximum force, impulse and contacted area were significantly increased in ONFH patients compared to controls, with decreased symmetry. Conclusions : Osteonecrosis of the femoral head leads to characteristic changes in plantar pressure distribution. These changes may be interpreted as an attempt by patients with ONFH to reduce the load on the affected limb. Plantar pressure analysis may assist in the diagnosis of ONFH and can provide an objective quantitative indicator for the assessment of subsequent treatment outcomes.

Field investigation indicated that the reduction in fish spawning was associated with the alteration in water temperatures, even a 2-3 °C monthly difference due to reservoir operations. However, the physiological mechanism that influences the development of fish ovary (DFO) remains unclear. Thus, experiments of Coreius guichenoti were conducted at three different temperatures, optimal temperature (~20 °C, N) for fish spawning, lower (~17 °C, L), and higher (~23 °C, H), to reveal the effects of altered water temperature on the DFO. Comparisons were made between the L and N (LvsN) conditions and H and N (HvsN) conditions. Transcriptomic analysis differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) related to heat stress were observed only in LvsN conditions, indicating that the DFO showed a stronger response to changes in LvsN than in HvsN conditions. Upregulation of DETs of vitellogenin receptors in N temperature showed that normal temperature was conducive to vitellogenin entry into the oocytes. Other temperature-sensitive DETs, including microtubule, kinesin, dynein, and actin, were closely associated with cell division and material transport. LvsN significantly impacted cell division and nutrient accumulation in the yolk, whereas HvsN only influenced cell division. Our results highlight the impact of altered water temperature on the DFO, thereby providing insights for future reservoir operations regarding river damming and climate change and establishing fish conservation measures.

In this paper, the basic concepts of the equivalent model, vibration modes, and conduction mechanisms of MEMS resonators are described. By reviewing the existing representative results, the performance parameters and key technologies, such as quality factor, frequency accuracy, and temperature stability of MEMS resonators, are summarized. Finally, the development status, existing challenges and future trend of MEMS resonators are summarized. As a typical research field of vibration engineering, MEMS resonators have shown great potential to replace quartz resonators in timing, frequency, and resonant sensor applications. However, because of the limitations of practical applications, there are still many aspects of the MEMS resonators that could be improved. This paper aims to provide scientific and technical support for the improvement of MEMS resonators in timing, frequency, and resonant sensor applications.

Despite the significance of pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in the workplace, most of the existing studies have neglected its negative work outcomes. Drawing upon moral licensing theory and cognitive dissonance theory, we construct a conceptual model of the influence mechanism of employees' PEB (i.e., public-sphere PEB, private-sphere PEB) on workplace deviance through psychological entitlement, and the moderating effect of rationalization of workplace deviance on the relationship between psychological entitlement and workplace deviance. Using two-stage survey data from 216 employees in China, we performed hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modeling method to test our hypotheses. Our findings reveal that public-sphere PEB positively affects psychological entitlement, while private-sphere PEB negatively affects psychological entitlement. Psychological entitlement further positively affects workplace deviance. In addition, rationalization of workplace deviance strengthens the positive impact of psychological entitlement on workplace deviance. This study offers novel insights into the dark side of PEB literature by exploring the PEB-workplace deviance relationship. This study also contributes to managerial implications of how PEB leads to workplace deviance and how to address this issue.

MADS domain transcription factors play roles throughout the whole lifecycle of plants from seeding to flowering and fruit-bearing. However, systematic research into MADS - box genes of the economically important vegetable crop pepper ( Capsicum spp.) is still lacking. We identified 174, 207, and 72 MADS - box genes from the genomes of C . annuum , C . baccatum , and C . chinense , respectively. These 453 MADS - box genes were divided into type I (Mα, Mβ, Mγ) and type II (MIKC* and MIKC C ) based on their phylogenetic relationships. Collinearity analysis identified 144 paralogous genes and 195 orthologous genes in the three Capsicum species, and 70, 114, and 10 MADS - box genes specific to C . annuum , C . baccatum , and C . chinense , respectively. Comparative genomic analysis highlighted functional differentiation among homologous MADS - box genes during pepper evolution. Tissue expression analysis revealed three main expression patterns: highly expressed in roots, stems, leaves, and flowers ( CaMADS93 / CbMADS35 / CcMADS58 ); only expressed in roots; and specifically expressed in flowers ( CaMADS26 / CbMADS31 / CcMADS11 ). Protein interaction network analysis showed that type II CaMADS mainly interacted with proteins related to flowering pathway and flower organ development. This study provides the basis for an in-depth study of the evolutionary features and biological functions of pepper MADS - box genes.

The intestine participates in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism in multiple facets. It is the major site of nutrient digestion and absorption, provides the interface as well as docking locus for gut microbiota, and harbors hormone-producing cells scattered throughout the gut epithelium. Intestinal extracellular vesicles are known to influence the local immune response, whereas their roles in glucose and lipid homeostasis have barely been explored. Hence, this current review summarizes the latest knowledge of cargo substances detected in intestinal extracellular vesicles, and connects these molecules with the fine-tuning regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism in liver, muscle, pancreas, and adipose tissue.

Jinhua ham is a traditional cured meat food in China. For a long time, its grade has mainly been evaluated by the human nose through the three-sticks method, which is highly subjective and is not conducive to establishing evaluation standards through odor markers. In this paper, we analyzed the well-graded Grade I-III hams provided by Jinzi Ham Co., Ltd. (Jinhua, China). Firstly, we used different extraction fibers, extraction temperatures, and extraction time to determine the optimal conditions for headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). Then, the aroma components of Jinhua ham were analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and OAV was calculated to screen the key aroma volatiles of three kinds of Jinhua ham. It was found that a total of 56 components were detected in the three types of ham. Among them, there are 21 kinds of key aroma volatiles. Aldehydes, alcohols, and acids are the three main components of Jinhua ham, and the content of aldehydes gradually decreases from Grade I to Grade III ham. The content of acids gradually increased, and we speculated that the increase in acid content was caused by the proliferation of microorganisms in Grade III ham. The key flavor volatiles in Grade I hams was hexanal and 2-methylbutanal. Grade I hams had a strong meat aroma, pleasant fatty, and roasted aroma without any off-flavors. In Grade II ham, the characteristic volatiles (E,E)-2,4-decadienal and ethyl isovalerate were detected. These two volatiles contribute greatly to the flavor of Grade II ham, which makes the flavor of Grade II ham have a special fruity aroma. They also may be prone to sourness and affect the flavor of the ham. Volatiles with low threshold values, such as pyrazines, furans, and sulfur-containing compounds, were relatively high in Grade III hams. This may also contribute to the poorer flavor quality of Grade III hams. This experiment provided a reliable test method and evaluation basis for the rating of Jinhua ham. These results have positive implications for the establishment of odor markers-based grading criteria.

In this paper, the propagation properties of ultrasonic guided waves (UGWs) in different-thickness composites (i.e., 2, 4 and 9 mm) were critically assessed, and their effectiveness for damage detections and localisations under varying temperatures was demonstrated. A diagnostic film with phased-array lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers based on the ink-jet printing technique was used in the experiments. Initially, the dispersion curves for these composites were compared. Next, the effects of the composite thickness on the A 0 and S 0 mode amplitudes and the group velocity were investigated by active sensing. Next, the behaviours of UGWs under varying temperatures in different-thickness plates were also investigated. Finally, surface-mounted artificial damage and impact damage were detected and located in different composites.

Tumor cells express a high quantity of exosomes packaged with unique cargos under hypoxia, an important characteristic feature in solid tumors. These hypoxic tumor-derived exosomes are, crucially, involved in the interaction of cancer cells with their microenvironment, facilitating not only immune evasion, but increased cell growth and survival, enhanced angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), therapeutic resistance, autophagy, pre-metastasis, and metastasis. This paper explores the tumor microenvironment (TME) remodeling effects of hypoxic tumor-derived exosome towards facilitating the tumor progression process, particularly, the modulatory role of these factors on tumor cell immune evasion through suppression of immune cells, expression of surface recognition molecules, and secretion of antitumor soluble factor. Tumor-expressed exosomes educate immune effector cells, including macrophages, monocytes, T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells (DCs), γδ T lymphocytes, regulatory T cells (Tregs), myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), mast cells, and B cells, within the hypoxic TME through the release of factors that regulate their recruitment, phenotype, and function. Thus, both hypoxia and tumor-derived exosomes modulate immune cells, growth factors, cytokines, receptor molecules, and other soluble factors, which, together, collaborate to form the immune-suppressive milieu of the tumor environment. Exploring the contribution of exosomal cargos, such as RNAs and proteins, as indispensable players in the cross-talk within the hypoxic tumor microenvironmental provides a potential target for antitumor immunity or subverting immune evasion and enhancing tumor therapies.