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Stem cell-derived exosomes (SC-Exos) are used as a source of regenerative medicine, but certain limitations hinder their uses. The effect of hydrolyzed collagen oligopeptides (HCOPs), a functional ingredient of SC-Exos is not widely known to the general public. We herein evaluated the combined anti-aging effects of HCOPs and exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HucMSC-Exos) using a senescence model established on human skin fibroblasts (HSFs). This study discovered that cells treated with HucMSC-Exos + HCOPs enhanced their proliferative and migratory capabilities; reduced both reactive oxygen species production and senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity; augmented type I and type III collagen expression; attenuated the expression of matrix-degrading metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-9), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α); and decreased the expression of p16, p21, and p53 as compared with the cells treated with HucMSC-Exos or HCOPs alone. These results suggest a possible strategy for enhancing the skin anti-aging ability of HucMSC-Exos with HCOPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in energy demand, environmental issues such as carbon emissions are becoming more and more prominent. China will scale its intended nationally determined contributions by adopting more vigorous policies and measures. China aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The current challenge and priority of China's high-quality development is to ensure a harmonious balance between the ecological environment and the economy. The South-to-North Water Diversion Project passes through Beijing, Tianjin, Henan, and Hebei, which were chosen as the study sites. The carbon emission data was from the China Carbon Emission Database 2000–2019. Decoupling modeling using statistical yearbook data from four provinces and municipalities. KMO and Bartlett's test used SPSS 27 software. The selection of indicators was based on relevance. Analyses were performed using the extended STIRPAT model and ridge regression. Moreover, projections of carbon peaks in the study area for 2020–2035 under different rates of change were simulated by the scenario analysis method. The results show that: (1) The decoupling analysis of the four provinces and cities from 2000-2019 gradually shifts to strong decoupling; (2) Resident population, energy structure, and secondary industry as a proportion of GDP significantly impact carbon emissions; (3) From 2000–2035, Beijing and Henan experienced carbon peaks. The peak time in Beijing was 96.836 million tons in 2010. The peak time in Henan was 654.1004 million tons in 2011; (4) There was no peak in Hebei from 2000–2035. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon abatement in the power sector is essential to achieving the "double carbon" goal, and blockchain technology, one of the most promising emerging technologies, will assist the power sector in efficiently achieving this goal. In terms of the effectiveness of carbon abatement, comparative studies on coordination mechanisms are absent in the existing literature. On this basis, aiming at the cooperative abatement strategy between power generation generators and sellers under the carbon tax policy, this paper has developed four decision models: the Stackelberg game led by power generation enterprises, the simultaneous Nash bargaining decision by both parties, the vertical integration decision by supply chain enterprises, and the cooperative carbon emission reduction game by supply chain enterprises, to analyze the changes in electricity price, sustainability level, power sales, and profits of supply chain members. The results of the numerical analysis show that user preference for blockchain technology and an increase in the proportion of low-carbon electricity information uploaded to the blockchain can significantly improve the sustainability level of the electricity supply chain. The level of investment in green technologies by electricity producers under cooperative abatement decision-making increases compared to the electricity producer-dominated Stackelberg game model. The sustainability level of the electricity supply chain is higher under the Nash simultaneous decision than under the abatement cost-sharing decision, but the decision-maker's profit is lower. The values of overall profit and sustainability level of the electricity supply chain are both highest under the vertically integrated decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to meet the latest requirements for sensor quality test in the industry, the sample sensor needs to be placed in the medium for the cold and hot shock test. However, the existing environmental test chamber cannot effectively control the temperature of the sample in the medium. This paper designs a control method based on the support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm and K-means clustering combined with neural network correction. When testing sensors in a medium, the clustering SVM classification algorithm is used to distribute the control voltage corresponding to temperature conditions. At the same time, the neural network is used to constantly correct the temperature to reduce overshoot during the temperature-holding phase. Eventually, overheating or overcooling of the basket space indirectly controls the rapid rise or decrease in the temperature of the sensor in the medium. The test results show that this method can effectively control the temperature of the sensor in the medium to reach the target temperature within 15 min and stabilize when the target temperature is between 145 °C and −40 °C. The steady-state error is less than 0.31 °C in the high-temperature area and less than 0.39 °C in the low-temperature area, which well solves the dilemma of the current cold and hot shock test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activated microglia act as a double-edged sword for stroke. In the acute phase of stroke, activated microglia might deteriorate neurological function. Therefore, it is of great clinical transforming potential to explore drugs or methods that can inhibit abnormal activation of microglia in the acute phase of stroke to improve neurological function after stroke. Resveratrol has a potential effect of regulating microglial activation and anti-inflammation. However, the molecular mechanism of resveratrol-inhibiting microglial activation has not been fully clarified. Smoothened (Smo) belongs to the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. Smo activation is the critical step that transmits the Hh signal across the primary cilia to the cytoplasm. Moreover, activated Smo can improve neurological function via regulating oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, neurogenesis, oligodendrogenesis, axonal remodeling, and so on. More studies have indicated that resveratrol can activate Smo. However, it is currently unknown whether resveratrol inhibits microglial activation via Smo. Therefore, in this study, N9 microglia in vitro and mice in vivo were used to investigate whether resveratrol inhibited microglial activation after oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) or middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) injury and improved functional outcome via triggering translocation of Smo in primary cilia. We definitively found that microglia had primary cilia; resveratrol partially inhibited activation and inflammation of microglia, improved functional outcome after OGD/R and MCAO/R injury, and triggered translocation of Smo to primary cilia. On the contrary, Smo antagonist cyclopamine canceled the above effects of resveratrol. The study suggested that Smo receptor might be a therapeutic target of resveratrol for contributing to inhibit microglial activation in the acute phase of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the yeast wastewater secondary treatment effluent using catalytic odor oxidation treatment, using an orthogonal reaction experiment to determine the best reaction conditions, and the online monitoring of the pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and liquid ozone concentration monitoring, to the catalytic odor oxidation reaction, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and color removal effect were analyzed. The results showed that the optimal reaction condition for the advanced treatment of yeast wastewater by catalytic ozonation was accomplished with manganese dioxide used as the catalyst and a catalyst dose of 6 g·L−1, pH of 12, and catalytic ozonation reaction time of 20 min. The COD was effectively reduced from 880 mg·L−1 to 387 mg·L−1 under this condition, the chroma was reduced from 700 times to 40 times, and these two parameters of the effluent could meet the standard of GB25462-2010. The real-time monitoring system showed that the whole reaction can be divided into two processes. The first 14 min was the indirect reaction of ozone and then the direct oxidation reaction of ozone. This process was further verified by the change trend of COD and the amount of ozone depletion by COD removal. The average ozone consumption levels of the two stages were 1.97 and 4.91 mgO3·mgCOD−1. This system can effectively monitor the reaction of the catalytic odor oxidation in the complex system to guide the effective use of ozone in practical engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Microglia are closely related to the occurrence and development of oxidative stress. Cerebral ischemia leads to abnormal activation of microglia. Resveratrol can regulate M1/M2-type microglia polarization, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood, although the Nrf2 and Shh signaling pathways may be involved. Given that resveratrol activates Shh, the present study examined whether this is mediated by Nrf2 signaling. Methods: N9 microglia were pretreated with drugs before oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R). HT22 neurons were also used for conditional co-culture with microglia. Cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay. MDA levels and SOD activity in the supernatant were detected by TBA and WST-1, respectively. Immunofluorescence detected Nrf2 and Gli1 nuclear translocation. The levels of CD206, Arg1, iNOS, TNF-α, Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, Shh, Ptc, Smo, Gli1 protein and mRNA were measured by Western blotting or RT-qPCR. Annexin V-FITC Flow Cytometric Analysis detected apoptosis. Results: Resveratrol and Nrf2 activator RTA-408 enhanced the viability of microglia, reduced oxidative stress, promoted M2-type microglia polarization and activated Nrf2 and Shh signaling. ML385, a selective inhibitor of Nrf2, decreased the viability of microglia, aggravated oxidative stress, promoted M1-type microglia polarization and inhibited Nrf2 and Shh signaling. Moreover, resveratrol and RTA-408-treated microglia can reduce the apoptosis and increase the viability of HT22 neurons, while ML385-treated microglia aggravated the apoptosis and weakened the viability of HT22 neurons. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that resveratrol may inhibit oxidative stress, regulate M1/M2-type polarization of microglia and decrease neuronal injury in conditional co-culture of neurons and microglia via the mediation of the Nrf2/Shh signaling cascade after OGD/R injury in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high center of gravity of distributed drive electric buses, it is crucial to enhance their stability and sliding mode control (SMC) is an effective method to enhance vehicle yaw stability. However, the traditional SMC needs to know the upper limits of the interference term in advance and select a better switching gain to obtain a better control effect, which is impossible for vehicle control. To solve the existing problems, an improved adaptive nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode (ANFTSM) control is presented to enhance the stability of distributed drive electric bus. An uncertainty term is introduced as a switching term in the sliding mode variable and the switching gain in the controller is obtained by parameter adaptation without knowing any uncertainty information. In addition, to enhance the stability of the vehicle in real-time, an adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for the weighting factor in the sliding surface is adjusted. A co-simulation of Matlab/Simulink–TruckSim is performed to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm under two typical conditions. The results indicate that the proposed control can follow the ideal value better which improves handling stability and chattering is weaker. Furthermore, the proposed control requires fewer control actions, and also reduces the motor torque variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oregano essential oil (OEO) possesses anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cancer-suppressive properties. Enterococcus faecalis is a foodborne opportunistic pathogen that can be found in nature and the food processing industry. The goal of this investigation was to explore the antimicrobial action and mechanism of OEO against E. faecalis, inactivation action of OEO on E. faecalis in mature biofilms, and its application in chicken breast. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of OEO against E. faecalis strains (ATCC 29212 and nine isolates) ranged from 0.25 to 0.50 μL/mL. OEO therapy reduced intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, caused cell membrane hyperpolarization, increased the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and elevated extracellular malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations. Furthermore, OEO treatment diminished cell membrane integrity and caused morphological alterations in the cells. In biofilms on stainless-steel, OEO showed effective inactivation activity against E. faecalis. OEO reduced the number of viable cells, cell viability and exopolysaccharides in the biofilm, as well as destroying its structure. Application of OEO on chicken breast results in a considerable reduction in E. faecalis counts and pH values, in comparison to control samples. These findings suggest that OEO could be utilized as a natural antibacterial preservative and could effectively control E. faecalis in food manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is a major pathogen that causes severe and fatal cases of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD). HFMD caused by EV-A71 seriously endangers children's health. Although autophagy is an important antiviral defense mechanism, some viruses have evolved strategies to utilize autophagy to promote self-replication. EV-A71 can utilize autophagy vesicles as replication scaffolds, indicating that EV-A71 infection is closely related to its autophagy induction mechanism. VP1, a structural protein of EV-A71, has been reported to induce autophagy, but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we found that the C-terminus (aa 251–297) of VP1 induces autophagy. Mass spectrometry analysis suggested that prohibitin 2 (PHB2) interacts with the C-terminus of the EV-A71 VP1 protein, and this was further verified by coimmunoprecipitation assays. After PHB2 knockdown, EV-A71 replication, viral particle release, and viral protein synthesis were reduced, and autophagy was inhibited. The results suggest that PHB2 interaction with VP1 is essential for induction of autophagy and the infectivity of EV-A71. Furthermore, we confirmed that EV-A71 induced complete autophagy that required autolysosomal acidification, thus affecting EV-A71 infection. In summary, this study revealed that the host protein PHB2 is involved in an autophagy mechanism during EV-A71 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penicillium digitatum is one of the most important pathogens known widely to cause postharvest losses of citrus. It is significant to explore its infection mechanism to improve the control technology of postharvest diseases of citrus. This research aimed to study the changes in gene expression of P. digitatum at its early stages of citrus infection by transcriptomics sequencing and bioinformatics analysis in order to explore the molecular mechanism of its infection. The results showed that genes associated with pathogenic factors, such as cell wall degrading enzymes, ethylene, organic acids, and effectors, were significantly up-regulated. Concurrently, genes related to anti-oxidation and iron transport were equally up-regulated at varying degrees. From this study, we demonstrated a simple blueprint for the infection mechanism of P. digitatum in Citrus reticulata Blanco, which provided a new direction for subsequent pathological research and paves the way for developing new control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vimentin (VIM) is a surface receptor for enterovirus-A71, mediating the initial binding and subsequent increase in EV-A71 infectivity. The caspid protein VP1 variation, A289T, is reportedly closely associated with less severe central nervous system (CNS) infections in humans. However, it is unclear whether VIM is associated with a reduction in CNS infections of EV-A71 in the presence of A289T. We investigated whether VIM served as a receptor for EV-A71 in the presence of an A298T substitution in VP1. EV-A71-289A and EV-A71-289T were used to infect human rhabdomyosarcoma cells, control human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs), and VIM-knockout (KO) HBMECs and inoculated BALB/c mice, SV129 mice, and VIM-KO SV129 mice. Furthermore, we cloned VP1-289A-Flag and VP1-289T-Flag proteins for co-immunoprecipitation analysis. Analysis of viral function revealed that the capacity of viral attachment, replication, and protein synthesis and secretion decreased in HBMECs during an EV-A71-289A infection, the infectivity being higher than that of EV-A71-289T upon VIM-KO. Histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses of brain tissue revealed that cerebral cortical damage was more extensive in EV-A71-289A than in EV-A71-289T infections in control SV129 mice; however, no significant difference was observed upon VIM-KO. Co-immunoprecipitation analysis revealed an interaction between VP1 and VIM, which was attenuated in VP1 harboring A289T; however, this attenuation was reversed by VIM (1-58) peptide. The A289T variation of VP1 specifically decreased the virulence of EV-A71 in HBMECs, and the attenuated interaction between VP1 harboring the A289T variation and VIM essentially decreased the CNS infectivity of EV-A71 in vitro and vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]