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As a transcription factor, Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4 Group A Member 1 (NR4A1) binds to downstream target genes to participate in cell proliferation and cell differentiation. We found that the NR4A1 reached the highest expression at 60 h after the differentiation of goat intramuscular preadipocytes. Overexpression of goat NR4A1 increased the number of intracellular lipid droplets and up-regulated the expression of adipocyte-differentiation-related marker genes including AP2, SREBP1, ACC, GPAM, and DGAT2, while the relative expression levels of Pref-1 and HSL were significantly decreased. On the contrary, after NR4A1 was knocked down by siRNA, the number of intracellular lipid droplets and the relative expression levels of LPL, CEBPα, CEBPβ, ACC, and DGAT2 were significantly decreased, and the relative expression levels of Pref-1 and HSL were significantly up-regulated. These results suggest that NR4A1 promotes the differentiation of goat intramuscular preadipocytes. Transcriptome sequencing was carried out after overexpression of goat NR4A1, and the KEGG enrichment analysis result showed that the most differentially expressed genes were related to adipocyte differentiation and were enriched in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. LY249002, an inhibitor of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, was introduced and decreased the number of intracellular lipid droplets, and the relative expression levels of C/EBPα, SREBP1, AP2, C/EBPβ, GPAM, ACC, DGAT1, DGAT2, and ATGL were decreased accordingly. The above results indicate that overexpression of goat NR4A1 may promote the differentiation of intramuscular preadipocytes through the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.

The melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) family found in eukaryotes plays a crucial role in cell proliferation and differentiation, spermatogenesis, neural development, etc. This study explored the validation and evolution of MAGE genes in eukaryotic genomes and their distribution and expression patterns in pigs. In total, 249 MAGE genes were found on 13 eukaryotic species. In total, 33, 25, and 18 genes were located on human, mouse, and pig genomes, respectively. We found eight, four, and three tandemly duplicated gene clusters on the human, mouse, and pig genomes, respectively. The majority of MAGE genes in mammals are located on the X chromosome. According to the phylogenetic analysis, the MAGE family genes were classified into 11 subfamilies. The NDN gene in zebrafish (DreNDN) was the root of this evolutionary tree. In total, 10 and 11 MAGE genes on human and mouse genomes, respectively, exhibited a collinearity relationship with the MAGE genes on pig genomes. Taking the MAGE family genes in pigs, the MAGE subfamilies had similar gene structures, protein motifs, and biochemical attributes. Using the RNA-seq data of Duroc pigs and Rongchang pigs, we detected that the expression of type I MAGE genes was higher in reproductive tissues, but type II MAGE genes were predominantly expressed in the brain tissue. These findings are a valuable resource for gaining insight into the evolution and expression of the MAGE family genes.

Despite the prevalence of depression in lactating mothers, there is a lack of knowledge about the excretion of antidepressants into breast milk and its potential adverse effects on infants. This creates concern, making depressed lactating mothers more likely to avoid pharmacological treatment. Clinical lactation studies are the most accurate and direct method to predict and demonstrate the excretion of antidepressants into human breast milk, and results from clinical studies can be included in drug labels to help physicians and patients make decisions on antidepressant use during lactation. However, there are limited clinical trials and studies on the pharmacokinetics of antidepressants in lactating women because of a lack of enrollment and ethical and confounding factors, creating a lack of knowledge in this area. To bridge this gap in knowledge, alternative methods should be sought to help estimate the antidepressant concentration in breast milk, which is used to assess the safety and transfer of antidepressants into breast milk. We provide a comprehensive review of the usage of these cost-effective, time-efficient, and ethically feasible methods that serve to provide a valuable estimation of the safety and transfer of antidepressants into breast milk before conducting clinical studies.

Intercropping, a well-established agroecological technique designed to bolster ecological stability, has been shown to have a significant impact on soil health. However, the specific effects of tea/Trachelospermum jasminoides intercropping on the physicochemical properties and functional microbial community structure in practical cultivation have not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we utilized high-throughput sequencing technology on the 16S/ITS rDNA genes to assess the impact of tea intercropping with T. jasminoides on the composition, diversity, and potential functions of the soil microbial community in tea gardens. The results indicated that the tea/T. jasminoides intercropping system significantly increased pH levels, soil organic matter, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and enzyme activity, ultimately augmenting soil nutrient levels. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of the bacterial co-occurrence network and topological structure portrayed a more intricate and interconnected soil bacterial community in tea gardens. Remarkably, the abundance of beneficial genera, including Burkholderia, Mesorhizobium, Penicillium, and Trichoderma, underwent a substantial increase, whereas the relative abundance of pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Curvularia experienced a marked decline. Functional predictions also indicated a notable enhancement in the abundance of microorganisms associated with nitrogen and carbon cycling processes. In summary, the intercropping of tea and T. jasminoides holds the potential to enrich soil nutrient content, reshape the microbial community structure, bolster the abundance of functional microorganisms, and mitigate the prevalence of pathogenic fungi. Consequently, this intercropping system offers a promising solution for sustainable tea garden management, overcoming the limitations of traditional cultivation methods and providing valuable insights for sustainable agriculture practices.

Nannochloropsis gaditana, a microalga known for its photosynthetic efficiency, serves as a cell factory, producing valuable biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, and pigments. These components make it an ideal candidate for biofuel production and pharmaceutical applications. In this study, we genetically engineered N. gaditana to overexpress the enzyme fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (cyFBPase) using the Hsp promoter, aiming to enhance sugar metabolism and biomass accumulation. The modified algal strain, termed NgFBP, exhibited a 1.34-fold increase in cyFBPase activity under photoautotrophic conditions. This modification led to a doubling of biomass production and an increase in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) content in fatty acids to 20.78–23.08%. Additionally, the genetic alteration activated the pathways related to glycine, protoporphyrin, thioglucosides, pantothenic acid, CoA, and glycerophospholipids. This shift in carbon allocation towards chloroplast development significantly enhanced photosynthesis and growth. The outcomes of this study not only improve our understanding of photosynthesis and carbon allocation in N. gaditana but also suggest new biotechnological methods to optimize biomass yield and compound production in microalgae.

Surface chemistry and bulk structure jointly play crucial roles in achieving high-performance supercapacitors. Here, the synergistic effect of surface chemistry properties (vacancy and phosphorization) and structure-derived properties (hollow hydrangea-like structure) on energy storage is explored by the surface treatment and architecture design of the nanostructures. The theoretical calculations and experiments prove that surface chemistry modulation is capable of improving electronic conductivity and electrolyte wettability. The structural engineering of both hollow and nanosheets produces a high specific surface area and an abundant pore structure, which is favorable in exposing more active sites and shortens the ion diffusion distance. Benefiting from its admirable physicochemical properties, the surface phosphorylated MnCo2O4.5 hollow hydrangea-like structure (P-MnCoO) delivers a high capacitance of 425 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, a superior capability rate of 63.9%, capacitance retention at 10 A g−1, and extremely long cyclic stability (91.1% after 10,000 cycles). The fabricated P-MnCoO/AC asymmetric supercapacitor achieved superior energy and power density. This work opens a new avenue to further improve the electrochemical performance of metal oxides for supercapacitors.

Background: Serum vitamin D is associated with hyperuricemia. However, previous studies have been controversial, with limited focus on children and adolescents. Objective: This study aimed to examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between serum vitamin D and serum uric acid (SUA) levels in children and adolescents. Methods: The cross-sectional survey comprised 4777 participants aged 6 to 18 years, while the longitudinal survey involved 1641 participants aged 6 to 12 years, all derived from an ongoing cohort study in Shenzhen, China. Restricted cubic splines were used to visualize the dose–response relationship between vitamin D and SUA and the risk of higher SUA status. Two-segment generalized linear models (GLM) and logistic models were used to assess the association between vitamin D and SUA and higher SUA status, respectively. The longitudinal analysis used GLM. Results: We observed an inverted U-shaped relationship between vitamin D and SUA (p-overall < 0.0001, p-nonlinear = 0.0002), as well as the risk of higher SUA status (p-overall = 0.0054, p-nonlinear = 0.0015), with the vitamin D inflection point at 24.31 and 21.29 ng/mL, respectively. A 10 ng/mL increment in 25(OH)D3 levels, when below 20.92 ng/mL, was associated with a 68% rise in the risk of higher SUA status (OR: 1.68, 95%CI: 1.07–2.66). Conversely, when 25(OH)D3 levels were above or equal to 20.92 ng/mL, a 10 ng/mL increment was associated with a 45% reduction risk of higher SUA status (OR: 0.55, 95%CI: 0.36–0.84). Longitudinal analysis indicated that the annual change of SUA was from −4.80 (β, 95%CI: −10.74, 1.13) to −9.00 (β, 95%CI: −15.03, −2.99) and then to −6.77 (β, 95%CI: −12.83, −0.71, p for trend = 0.0212) μmol/L when increasing the quartile of vitamin D3. Conclusions: An inverse U-shaped relationship was observed between vitamin D and SUA as well as the risk of higher SUA status. Sufficient vitamin D levels appear to play a preventative role against the age-related increase in SUA. Ensuring adequate vitamin D levels may be beneficial in improving uric acid metabolism.

This study aimed to discuss the influence of specimen sizes on the compressive strength parameters of wood, specifically focusing on their compression strength, elastic modulus, and Poisson’s ratio. Therefore, three different-sized specimens (20 mm × 20 mm × 30 mm, 40 mm × 40 mm × 60 mm, 60 mm × 90 mm × 90 mm) were manufactured and tested in the longitudinal, radial, and tangential directions, following the standard testing method for acquiring the compressive strength of wood. Subsequently, based on the experimental results, compressive parameters, failure mechanisms, load–displacement curves, and stress–strain relationships were systematically analyzed for the three different-sized specimens. Meanwhile, the influence of specimen size on the compressive strength parameters of wood was also evaluated through finite element numerical simulations, utilizing the obtained mechanical parameters. The results revealed a significant correlation between compressive strength and specimen size, indicating a decrease in compressive strength with an increasing specimen size. Conversely, the elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio exhibited less sensitivity to specimen size changes. Notably, the compressive strength parameters derived from small-sized specimens (20 mm × 20 mm × 30 mm) exhibited a lack of rationality, while those obtained from medium-sized (40 mm × 40 mm × 60 mm), and large-sized specimens (60 mm × 90 mm × 90 mm) demonstrated greater reliability, providing precise results in finite element numerical simulations.

Seed emulsion polymerization was an effective modification method to improve not only the properties of polymers but also the compatibility between different polymers by designing special core-shell structures. In this study, poly (butadiene-styrene-vinyl pyridine) (VPR)/poly (acrylonitrile-butadiene) (NBR) core–shell nanoparticles (VPR/NBR) were prepared by seed emulsion polymerization using VPR as seed emulsion and butadiene and acrylonitrile as monomers. Subsequently, HVPR/HNBR was obtained by direct hydrogenation of the core–shell nanoparticles in latex using Wilkinson’s catalyst under high temperature and H2 pressure. It is noteworthy that the unsaturated C=C double bonds in the core (VPR) and shell (NBR) of HVPR/HNBR nanoparticles were reduced simultaneously during the hydrogenation process without obvious sequence. The particle size and size distribution of the particles remained consistent before and after hydrogenation, indicating that the synthesized core-shell nanoparticles have excellent stability. This study provides a new perspective on the chemical modification of NBR and promises an environmentally friendly “green” process for the industrial hydrogenation of unsaturated elastomers.

Hydraulic fracturing operations possess the capacity to induce the reactivation of faults, increasing the risk of fault slip and seismic activity. In this study, a coupled poroelastic model is established to characterize the distribution and movement of fluids within rock formations in the Shangluo region of Sichuan province, China. The effect of hydraulic fracturing projects on the variations of pore pressure and Coulomb effective stress within a high-permeability fault is analyzed. The potential fault-slip mechanism is investigated. The results show that the fault plays different roles for fluid movement, including the barrier, fluid transport channel, and diversion channel, which is related to injection–production schemes. In addition, fluid injection leads to a high probability of fault reactivation. We find that increasing the injection time and fluid injection rate can result in larger slip distances. The injection production scenarios influence the fault-slip mechanism, resulting in a normal fault or reverse fault. However, the arrangement of production wells around the injection can effectively reduce the risk of fault reactivation.

Fetal hyperthyroidism can occur secondary to maternal autoimmune hyperthyroidism. The thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TRAb) transferred from the mother to the fetus stimulates the fetal thyroid and causes fetal thyrotoxicosis. Fetuses with this condition are difficult to detect, especially after maternal Graves disease therapy. Here, we present two cases of fetal hyperthyroidism with maternal hypothyroidism and review the assessment and intrauterine therapy for fetal hyperthyroidism. Both women were referred at 22+ and 23+ weeks of gestation with abnormal ultrasound findings, including fetal heart enlargement, pericardial effusion, and fetal tachycardia. Both women had a history of Graves disease while in a state of hypothyroidism with a high titer of TRAb. A sonographic examination showed a diffusely enlarged fetal thyroid with abundant blood flow. Invasive prenatal testing revealed no significant chromosomal aberration. Low fetal serum TSH and high TRAb levels were detected in the cord blood. Fetal hyperthyroidism was considered, and maternal oral methimazole (MMI) was administered as intrauterine therapy, with the slowing of fetal tachycardia, a reduction in fetal heart enlargement, and thyroid hyperemia. During therapy, maternal thyroid function was monitored, and the dosage of maternal levothyroxine was adjusted accordingly. Both women delivered spontaneously at 36+ weeks of gestation, and neonatal hyperthyroidism was confirmed in both newborns. After methimazole and propranolol drug treatment with levothyroxine for 8 and 12 months, both babies became euthyroid with normal growth and development.

This paper investigates joint beamforming in a secure integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) system assisted by reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). The system communicates with legitimate downlink users, detecting a potential target, which is a potential eavesdropper attempting to intercept the downlink communication information from the base station (BS) to legitimate users. To enhance the physical-layer secrecy of the system, we design and introduce interference signals at the BS to disrupt eavesdroppers’ attempts to intercept legitimate communication information. The BS simultaneously transmits communication and interference signals, both utilized for communication and sensing to guarantee the sensing and communication quality. By jointly optimizing the BS active beamformer and the RIS passive beamforming matrix, we aim to maximize the achievable secrecy rate and radiation power of the system. We develop an effective scheme to find the active beamforming matrix through fractional programming (FP) and semi-definite programming (SDP) techniques and obtain the RIS phase shift matrix via a local search technique. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in enhancing communication and sensing performance. Additionally, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of introducing the interference signals and RIS in enhancing the physical-layer secrecy of the ISAC system.

In the manufacturing process of optical lenses, the lack of monitoring and detection of the central processing process leads to low processing efficiency and difficulty in ensuring product consistency. We propose a digital twin system for alignment processing to address this issue. The system adopts a hierarchical architecture based on the digital twin five-dimensional model, aiming to improve the fidelity and interactivity of the virtual model of the centring lathe by combining dimension-driven virtual models with integrated data and physical models of the turning mechanism. We have successfully achieved the semantic and physical fusion of multi-source heterogeneous data during centring processing using information models and OPC UA-based data interaction methods. In addition, we adopted the VMD-GRU method based on feature fusion for real-time monitoring of critical components of the centring lathe. Finally, we validated the feasibility and effectiveness of the digital twin system for the central lathe through development examples. The application of this system is expected to promote the digital and intelligent development of high-precision optical component processing, providing references including references for related manufacturing fields. In summary, we propose a digital monitoring and detection system for the centring process of optical lens manufacturing. The application of this system will help improve product consistency and processing efficiency while reducing risks and costs in the manufacturing process.

The application of sericin hydrogels is limited mainly due to their poor mechanical strength, tendency to be brittle and inconvenient sterilization. To address these challenges, a sericin hydrogel exhibiting outstanding physical and chemical properties along with cytocompatibility was prepared through crosslinking genipin with degraded sericin extracted from fibroin deficient silkworm cocoons by the high temperature and pressure method. Our reported sericin hydrogels possess good elasticity, injectability, and robust behaviors. The 8% sericin hydrogel can smoothly pass through a 16 G needle. While the 12% sericin hydrogel remains intact until its compression ratio reaches 70%, accompanied by a compression strength of 674 kPa. 12% sericin hydrogel produce a maximum stretch of 740%, with breaking strength and tensile modulus of 375 kPa and 477 kPa respectively. Besides that, the hydrogel system demonstrated remarkable cell-adhesive capabilities, effectively promoting cell attachment and, proliferation. Moreover, the swelling and degradation behaviors of the hydrogels are pH responsiveness. Sericin hydrogel releases drugs in a sustained manner. Furthermore, this study addresses the challenge of sterilizing sericin hydrogels (sterilization will inevitably lead to the destruction of their structures). In addition, it challenges the prior notion that sericin extracted under high temperature and pressure is difficult to directly cross-linked into a stable hydrogel. This developed hydrogel system in this study holds promise to be a new multifunctional platform expanding the application area scope of sericin.

Galeruca daurica (Joannis) is a pest species with serious outbreaks in the Inner Mongolian grasslands in recent years, and its larvae and eggs are extremely cold-tolerant. To gain a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanism of its cold-tolerant stress response, we performed de novo transcriptome assembly of G. daurica via RNA-Seq and compared the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of first- and second-instar larvae grown and developed indoors and outdoors, respectively. The results show that cold tolerance in G. daurica is associated with changes in gene expression mainly involved in the glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathway, the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway and the production of heat shock proteins (HSPs). Compared with the control group (indoor), the genes associated with gluconeogenesis, fatty acid biosynthesis and HSP production were up-regulated in the larvae grown and developed outdoors. While the changes in these genes were related to the physiological metabolism and growth of insects, it was hypothesized that the proteins encoded by these genes play an important role in cold tolerance in insects. In addition, we also investigated the expression of genes related to the metabolic pathway of HSPs, and the results show that the HSP-related genes were significantly up-regulated in the larvae of G. daurica grown and developed outdoors compared with the indoor control group. Finally, we chose to induce significant expression differences in the Hsp70 gene (Hsp70A1, Hsp70-2 and Hsp70-3) via RNAi to further illustrate the role of heat stress proteins in cold tolerance on G. daurica larvae. The results show that separate and mixed injections of dsHSP70A1, dsHsp70-2 and dsHsp70-3 significantly reduced expression levels of the target genes in G. daurica larvae. The super-cooling point (SCP) and the body fluid freezing point (FP) of the test larvae were determined after RNAi using the thermocouple method, and it was found that silencing the Hsp70 genes significantly increased the SCP and FP of G. daurica larvae, which validated the role of heat shock proteins in the cold resistance of G. daurica larvae. Our findings provide an important theoretical basis for further excavating the key genes and proteins in response to extremely cold environments and analyzing the molecular mechanism of cold adaptation in insects in harsh environments.

The quality of lamb meat is positively correlated with intramuscular fat content. In recent years, a large number of studies have shown that miRNAs play an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of adipocytes. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of miR-92a-3p on the differentiation of goat intramuscular preadipocytes. The results showed that the expression level of miR-92a-3p was low in the early stage of differentiation, reached the highest level on the third day of differentiation, and then decreased. And miR-92a-3p can inhibit the accumulation of lipid droplets and down-regulate the determinants of adipogenic differentiation. Mechanistically, by predicting target genes, we found that miR-92a-3p affects the differentiation of goat intramuscular preadipocytes and the accumulation of lipid droplets by regulating the expression of goat gene APOL6. This study provides important new information to better understand the relationship between miRNAs and the differentiation of goat intramuscular preadipocytes, thus providing a new reference for goat intramuscular adipogenesis.

Goat intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition is precisely regulated by many key genes as well as transcription factors. Nevertheless, the potential of the regulators of goat IMF deposition remains undefined. In this work, we reported that the transcription factor FOS is expressed at a low level at the early differentiation stage and at a high level in late differentiation. The overexpression of FOS inhibited intramuscular adipocyte lipid accumulation and significantly downregulated the expressions of PPARγ, C/EBPβ, C/EBPα, AP2, SREBP1, FASN, ACC, HSL, and ATGL. Consistently, the knockdown of FOS, facilitated by two distinct siRNAs, significantly promoted intramuscular adipocyte lipid accumulation. Moreover, our analysis revealed multiple potential binding sites for FOS on the promoters of PPARγ, C/EBPβ, and C/EBPα. The expression changes in PPARγ, C/EBPβ, and C/EBPα during intramuscular adipogenesis were opposite to that of FOS. In summary, FOS inhibits intramuscular lipogenesis in goats and potentially negatively regulates the expressions of PPARγ, C/EBPβ, and C/EBPα genes. Our research will provide valuable data for the underlying molecular mechanism of the FOS regulation network of intramuscular lipogenesis.

Background and aims: Childhood and adolescence are critical periods for linear growth and preventing stunting. Current evidence indicates that dietary protein intake in children and adolescents is often two to three times higher than the recommendations in many regions worldwide. However, few studies have focused on the association between high protein intake and linear growth and stunting in this population. We aim to investigate this association in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in a population with relatively high protein consumption. Methods: We conducted a large cross-sectional study involving 3299 participants from Shenzhen, a modern metropolis of China. Protein intake, including total protein, animal protein, and plant protein, was evaluated by a food-frequency questionnaire and expressed as grams per kilogram of body weight per day (g·kg−1·d−1) and as a percentage of total energy intake (%E). The primary outcomes were body height and height-for-age Z score (HAZ). Generalized linear models and logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the associations between protein intake and outcomes. We also conducted stratified analyses across different genders and pubertal stages in the aforementioned associations. Results: The mean protein intake was 1.81 g·kg−1·d−1 (17% E). After adjusting for serum calcium, zinc, vitamin D3, vitamin A levels, birth outcomes, lifestyle, and parental characteristics, each standard deviation increase of 1 in protein intake (0.64 kg−1·d−1) is found to be associated with a −5.78 cm change in body height (95% CI: −6.12, −5.45) and a −0.79 change in HAZ (95% CI: −0.84, −0.74). Consistent results were observed when protein intake was expressed as %E or specifically as animal or plant protein. Moreover, the relationship between protein intake and linear growth remained consistent across genders in different pubertal stages, similar to that of the overall participants. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the potential hazards of high protein intake on linear growth in children and adolescents. Caution should be exercised when promoting increased protein consumption in children and adolescents who already have a high intake of protein.

In earthquake-prone areas, pile-anchor structures are widely employed for slope reinforcement due to their reliable performance. Current research has primarily focused on static and quasi-static analyses of slopes reinforced by using pile-anchor structures, with limited investigation into their dynamic response. In this work, the finite element method (FEM) is used to study the dynamic behavior of a pile-anchor slope system, and the extended finite element method (XFEM) is used to simulate the progressive failure processes of piles. Three different reinforcement schemes, which include no support, pile support, and pile-anchor support, are considered to examine the performance of the pile-anchor structure. The simulation results suggest that the pile-anchor structure displays a reduction of 39.6% and 40.6% in the maximum shear force and bending moment of the piles, respectively, compared to the pile structure. The XFEM is utilized to model the progressive failure process of the piles subjected to seismic loading. We find that crack initiation in the pile body near the slip surface, for both the pile supported and the pile-anchor supported conditions, occurs when the peak ground acceleration arrives. Crack growth in the piles completes in a very short period, with two distinct increments of crack area observed. The first increment occurs when the peak ground acceleration arrives and is significantly larger than the second increment. Consequently, for the seismic design of piles, it is necessary to strengthen the pile body around slip surfaces. The novelty of this paper is that we realize the simulation of crack initiation and propagation in piles subjected to seismic loading.

The cell cycle is the fundamental cellular process of eukaryotes. Although cell-cycle-related genes have been identified in microalgae, their cell cycle progression differs from species to species. Cell enlargement in microalgae is an essential biological trait. At the same time, there are various causes of cell enlargement, such as environmental factors, especially gene mutations. In this study, we first determined the phenotypic and biochemical characteristics of a previously obtained enlarged-cell-size mutant of Nannochloropsis oceanica, which was designated ECS. Whole-genome sequencing analysis of the insertion sites of ECS indicated that the insertion fragment is integrated inside the 5′-UTR of U/P-type cyclin CYCU;1 and significantly decreases the gene expression of this cyclin. In addition, the transcriptome showed that CYCU;1 is a highly expressed cyclin. Furthermore, cell cycle analysis and RT-qPCR of cell-cycle-related genes showed that ECS maintains a high proportion of 4C cells and a low proportion of 1C cells, and the expression level of CYCU;1 in wild-type (WT) cells is significantly increased at the end of the light phase and the beginning of the dark phase. This means that CYCU;1 is involved in cell division in the dark phase. Our results explain the reason for the larger ECS size. Mutation of CYCU;1 leads to the failure of ECS to fully complete cell division in the dark phase, resulting in an enlargement of the cell size and a decrease in cell density, which is helpful to understand the function of CYCU;1 in the Nannochloropsis cell cycle.

Current COVID-19 vaccines are effective countermeasures to control the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic by inducing systemic immune responses through intramuscular injection. However, respiratory mucosal immunization will be needed to elicit local sterilizing immunity to prevent virus replication in the nasopharynx, shedding, and transmission. In this study, we first compared the immunoprotective ability of a chimpanzee replication–deficient adenovirus–vectored COVID-19 vaccine expressing a stabilized pre–fusion spike glycoprotein from the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain Wuhan–Hu–1 (BV-AdCoV-1) administered through either aerosol inhalation, intranasal spray, or intramuscular injection in cynomolgus monkeys and rhesus macaques. Compared with intranasal administration, aerosol inhalation of BV-AdCoV-1 elicited stronger humoral and mucosal immunity that conferred excellent protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in rhesus macaques. Importantly, aerosol inhalation induced immunity comparable to that obtained by intramuscular injection, although at a significantly lower dose. Furthermore, to address the problem of immune escape variants, we evaluated the merits of heterologous boosting with an adenovirus–based Omicron BA.1 vaccine (C68–COA04). Boosting rhesus macaques vaccinated with two doses of BV-AdCoV-1 with either the homologous or the heterologous C68–COA04 vector resulted in cross–neutralizing immunity against WT, Delta, and Omicron subvariants, including BA.4/5 stronger than that obtained by administering a bivalent BV-AdCoV-1/C68–COA04 vaccine. These results demonstrate that the administration of BV-AdCoV-1 or C68–COA04 via aerosol inhalation is a promising approach to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission and curtail the pandemic spread.

The nonstationary characteristics caused by significant variation in hydrometeorological series in the context of climate change inevitably have a certain impact on the selection of an optimal gauging network. This study proposes an entropy-based, multi-objective, rain gauge network optimization method to facilitate the design of a 43 stations-based network in Huaihe River Basin (HRB), China. The first goal of this study is to improve the accuracy of gauge-related information estimation through the selection and comparison of discretization methods. The second goal of this study is to quantify the impact of trend-caused nonstationarity on optimal network design using the sliding window method. This study compares the divergence of three kinds of discretization methods, including the floor function-based approach, Scott’s equal bin width histogram (EWH-Sc) approach, and Sturges’s equal bin width histogram (EWH-St) approach. The matching degree of the variance and marginal entropy of the observed series is computed to select the most suitable of the above three discretization methods. The trend-caused nonstationarity in 75% of all stations in the HRB could definitely influence the final results of the optimal rain-gauge network design using the sliding window method. Therefore, in future studies of rain-gauge network optimization, it is necessary to carry out uncertainty research according to local conditions in view of climate change and human activities.

Deep rock formations in extreme environments are characterized by complex working conditions, various structures, high hardness, and high resistance to compression. However, existing coring techniques leave the cores of deep rock formations vulnerable to residual stresses, resulting in poor fidelity during deep coring. This paper develops a rock-breaking model for the structural parameters of drill bits. It proposes that a drill bit’s structural parameters in terms of back-rake and side-rake angles will affect the core’s fidelity performance. In addition, the core’s mechanical specific energy and maximum stress will reflect the fidelity effect. The accuracy of the theoretical model was verified via simulation analysis. The simulation results show that the tool’s average cutting force and Standard deviation of cutting force increase as the drill bit’s back-rake and side-rake angles vary. This leads to increased shear friction on the core, which affects the maximum stress and mechanical specific energy, and, subsequently, the fidelity of the core. The back-rake angles ranged from 15° to 25°, with the optimum back-rake angle of 21° producing a maximum stress and a mechanical specific energy that were 0.69 and 0.85 times higher than the highest point, respectively. The side-rake angles range from 5° to 15°, with the optimum side-rake angle of 10° producing a maximum stress and a mechanical specific energy that were 0.76 and 0.96 times higher than the highest point, respectively. The finite element method error was 1.21%. This work’s main results will help reveal the fidelity mechanisms of the drilling process and contribute to the development of fidelity drill bits for complex surface drilling processes.

In the process of production, processing, transportation, and storage of edible oils, the oils inevitably come into contact with plastic products. As a result, plasticizers migrate into edible oils, are harmful to human health, and can exhibit reproductive toxicity. Therefore, the determination of plasticizers in edible oils is very important, and a series of sample preparation methods and determination techniques have been developed for the determination of plasticizers in edible oils. Phthalic acid ester (PAE) plasticizers are the most widely used among all plasticizers. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the sample preparation methods and detection techniques reported for the determination of PAEs in edible oils since 2010, focusing on sample preparation methods of edible oils combined with various separation-based analytical techniques, such as gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC) with different detectors. Furthermore, the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of these techniques as well as the prospective future developments are also discussed.

Current knowledge regarding the long-term humoral response of people infected with human immunodeficiency virus to the third dose of inactivated coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is incomplete. As a result, concerns remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccination. To improve our understanding of the safety and immunogenicity of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine booster in people living with HIV (PLWH), a prospective study was conducted on participants who had not yet received a third dose of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine, had no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and had received a second dose of the vaccine more than six months prior. The primary safety outcomes included the incidence of adverse reactions, changes in CD4+ T-cell count, viral load, blood routine examination, liver and kidney function examination, blood sugar, and blood lipid examination. The pseudovirus-neutralizing antibody responses to the D614G variant, Delta variant, and Omicron variants BA.5 and BF.7 were evaluated before vaccination, 14 days, 28 days, 3 months, and 6 months after vaccination to evaluate the immune response of PLWH to the injection of inactivated vaccine booster and the safety of the vaccine. In conclusion, COVID-19 vaccine booster shots were effective in PLWH, resulting in an increase in the number of CD4+ T-cells, neutralizing antibodies that lasted up to six months, and higher levels of neutralizing antibodies lasting approximately 3 months. However, the vaccine protection against the two variants of BA.5 and BF.7 was significantly lower than that of D614G and Delta.

The presence or absence of subcutaneous adipose accumulation will affect the energy storage, insulation resistance and metabolism of animals. Proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes play a significant role in lipid deposition. The objective of this study was to clone the goat CXCL17 gene and investigate its potential functions on goat subcutaneous preadipocytes’ proliferation by gaining or losing function in vitro. The goat CXCL17 gene was cloned by Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and bioinformatics analysis was performed. The expression of the CXCL17 gene in the different goat tissues and adipocytes at different differentiation stages was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR). The results showed that the cloned sequence of goat CXCL17 gene is 728 bp and the CDS region is 357 bp, encoding 118 amino acids. CXCL17 protein is located in nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria and extracellular matrix. Tissue-expression profiles revealed that CXCL17 expressed in all of the examined tissues. In visceral tissues, the highest expression level was found in lung (p < 0.01); in muscle tissues, the highest CXCL17 expression level was found in the longissimus dorsi (p < 0.01) and in adipose tissues, the highest expression level was found in subcutaneous adipose (p CXCL17 expression levels upregulated at 48 h (p < 0.01), 72 h (p < 0.01), 120 h (p < 0.01) and downregulated at 96 h (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the results of crystal violet staining and semi-quantitative assay showed that transfection with 1 μg CXCL17 expression plasmid reduced the cell numbers in vitro. Meanwhile, the expression of CCND1 was significantly decreased. A similar consequence happened after interfering with CXCL17 expression. However, plasmid transfected with 2 μg pEGFPN1-CXCL17 increased the number of cells in vitro. These results suggest that CXCL17 is involved in the proliferation of goat subcutaneous preadipocytes.

As a vivid practice of urban-rural interaction, empowerment is playing an increasingly salient role in rural revitalization around the world. Yet, existing studies on empowerment practices are still insufficient. This paper examines how empowerment practices affect the economic development of rural communities in China. This study constructs an integrated variable to measure the practice of rural empowerment in China. Data for this study were obtained from the community data of the China Rural Household Panel Survey (CRHPS) in 2017 to empirically verify the impact of empowerment practices on the rural collective economy. The results indicate that empowerment practice has a significant role in promoting the economic development of rural communities. Regarding the heterogeneity of the number of leaders, the fewer rural community leaders there are, the less empowered a village will be. For the heterogeneity of the income of the rural collective economy, the higher the income is, the more significant the promoting effect of empowerment on rural communities will be.

Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positions include various useful signals and some unmodeled errors. In order to enhance the accuracy and extract the features of the GNSS daily time sequence, an improved method of complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD) and multi-PCA (MPCA) based on correlation coefficients and block spatial filtering was proposed. The results showed that the mean standard deviations of the raw residual time sequence were 1.09, 1.20 and 4.79 mm, while those of the newly proposed method were 0.15, 0.20 and 2.86 mm in north, east and up directions, respectively. The proposed method outperforms wavelet decomposition (WD)-PCA and empirical mode decomposition (EMD)-PCA in effectively eliminating low- and high-frequency noise, and is suitable for denoising nonlinear and nonstationary GNSS position sequences. Furthermore, feature extraction of the denoised GNSS daily time series was based on CEEMD, which is superior to WD and EMD. Results of noise analysis suggested that the noise components in the original and denoised GNSS time sequence are complex. The advantages of the proposed method are the following: (i) it fully exploits the merits of CEEMD and WD, where CEEMD is first used to obtain the limited intrinsic modal functions (IMFs) and then to extract seasonal and trend features; (ii) it has good adaptive processing ability via WD for noise-dominant IMFs; and (iii) it fully considers the correlation between the different components of each station and the non-uniform behavior of common mode error on a spatial scale.

Intramuscular fat contributes to the improvement of goat meat quality. N6-Methyladenosine (m6A)-modified circular RNAs play important roles in adipocyte differentiation and metabolism. However, the mechanisms by which m6A modifies circRNA before and after differentiation of goat intramuscular adipocytes remain poorly understood. Here, we performed methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) and circRNA sequencing (circRNA-seq) to determine the distinctions in m6A-methylated circRNAs during goat adipocyte differentiation. The profile of m6A-circRNA showed a total of 427 m6A peaks within 403 circRNAs in the intramuscular preadipocytes group, and 428 peaks within 401 circRNAs in the mature adipocytes group. Compared with the intramuscular preadipocytes group, 75 peaks within 75 circRNAs were significantly different in the mature adipocytes group. Furthermore, the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses of intramuscular preadipocytes and mature adipocytes showed that the differentially m6A-modified circRNAs were enriched in the PKG signaling pathway, endocrine and other factor-regulated calcium reabsorption, lysine degradation, etc. m6A-circRNA–miRNA–mRNA interaction networks predicted the potential m6A-circRNA regulation mechanism in different goat adipocytes. Our results indicate that there is a complicated regulatory relationship between the 12 upregulated and 7 downregulated m6A-circRNAs through 14 and 11 miRNA mediated pathways, respectively. In addition, co-analysis revealed a positive association between m6A abundance and levels of circRNA expression, such as expression levels of circRNA_0873 and circRNA_1161, which showed that m6A may play a vital role in modulating circRNA expression during goat adipocyte differentiation. These results would provide novel information for elucidating the biological functions and regulatory characteristics of m6A-circRNAs in intramuscular adipocyte differentiation and could be helpful for further molecular breeding to improve meat quality in goats.

PDZK1IP1 is highly expressed in tumor tissue and has been identified as a tumor biomarker. However, the role of PDZK1IP1 in goat subcutaneous preadipocyte differentiation remains largely unknown. The molecular mechanism of autophagy in regulating the differentiation of goat subcutaneous preadipocytes has not been clarified yet. In our study, PDZK1IP1 gain of function and loss of function were performed to reveal its functions in preadipocyte differentiation and autophagy. Our results showed that the overexpression of PDZK1IP1 inhibited the differentiation of goat subcutaneous preadipocytes, whereas it promoted autophagy. Consistently, the knockdown of PDZK1IP1 demonstrated the opposite tendency. Next, we investigated whether PDZK1IP1 inhibited the differentiation of goat preadipocytes by regulating autophagy. We found that inhibiting autophagy can rescue the PDZK1IP1-induced differentiation restraint in goat subcutaneous preadipocytes. In conclusion, PDZK1IP1 acts as a regulator of adipogenesis, and inhibits goat subcutaneous preadipocyte differentiation through promoting autophagy. Our results will contribute to further understanding the role and mechanism of PDZK1IP1 in controlling adipogenesis.

Watershed water cycles undergo profound changes under changing environments. Analyses of runoff evolution characteristics are fundamental to our understanding of the evolution of water cycles under changing environments. In this study, linear regression, moving average, Mann–Kendall, Pettitt, accumulative anomaly, STARS, wavelet analysis, and CEEMDAN methods were used to analyze the trends, mutations, and periodic and intrinsic dynamic patterns of runoff evolution using long-term historical data. The intra-annual distribution of runoff in the Dawen River Basin was uneven, with an overall decreasing trend and mutations in 1975–1976. The main periods of runoff were 1.9 and 2.2 years, and the strongest oscillations in the study period occurred in 1978–1983. The runoff decomposition high-frequency term (intra-annual fluctuation term) had a stronger fluctuation frequency, with a period of 0.51–0.55 years, while the low-frequency term (interannual fluctuation term) had a period of 1.55–2.26 years. The trend term for the runoff decomposition tended to decrease throughout the monitoring period and gradually stabilized at the end of the monitoring period, while the period gradually decreased from upstream to downstream. In summary, we used multiple methods to analyze the evolutionary characteristics of runoff, which are of great relevance to the adaptive management of water resources under changing environments.

Leaf inclination is one of the most important components of the ideal architecture, which effects yield gain. Leaf inclination was shown that is mainly regulated by brassinosteroid (BR) and auxin signaling. Here, we reveal a novel regulator of leaf inclination, auxin transporter OsPIN1b. Two CRISPR-Cas9 homozygous mutants, ospin1b-1 and ospin1b-2, with smaller leaf inclination compared to the wild-type, Nipponbare (WT/NIP), while overexpression lines, OE-OsPIN1b-1 and OE-OsPIN1b-2 have opposite phenotype. Further cell biological observation showed that in the adaxial region, OE-OsPIN1b-1 has significant bulge compared to WT/NIP and ospin1b-1, indicating that the increase in the adaxial cell division results in the enlarging of the leaf inclination in OE-OsPIN1b-1. The OsPIN1b was localized on the plasma membrane, and the free IAA contents in the lamina joint of ospin1b mutants were significantly increased while they were decreased in OE-OsPIN1b lines, suggesting that OsPIN1b might action an auxin transporter such as AtPIN1 to alter IAA content and leaf inclination. Furthermore, the OsPIN1b expression was induced by exogenous epibrassinolide (24-eBL) and IAA, and ospin1b mutants are insensitive to BR or IAA treatment, indicating that the effecting leaf inclination is regulated by OsPIN1b. This study contributes a new gene resource for molecular design breeding of rice architecture.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) deposits help improve meat quality such as marbling, juicy, flavor and tenderness. Long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (ACADL) is a key enzyme for catalyzing fatty acid oxidation, and studies have shown ACADL is involved in the deposition and differentiation of intramuscular adipocytes. However, the effect of ACADL on intramuscular adipocytes differentiation in goats needs further study. In this study, to explore the mechanism of ACADL on the development of goat intramuscular adipocytes, we constructed an over-expression plasmids and a SI-RNA of ACADL to explore the function of ACADL on the development of goat IMF. It was found that overexpression of ACADL promoted the differentiation of goat intramuscular adipocytes, and promoted the expression of fat cell differentiation marker genes lipoprotein lipase (LPL), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), APETALA-2-like transcription factor gene (AP2), CCAT enhancer binding protein (CEBPα), preadipocyte Factor 1 (Pref-1) and CCAT enhancer binding protein (CEBPβ), and the opposite trend occurred after interference. In addition, we screened of this related tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway by RNA-Seq. So, we validate the signaling pathway with inhibitor of TNF signaling pathway. In summary, these results indicate that ACADL promotes intramuscular adipocytes differentiation through activation TNF signaling pathway. This study provides an important basis for the mechanism of IMF development.

During forest vegetation rehabilitation, changes in aboveground litter and underground root inputs affect soil microbial communities. Clarifying the effects of forest ecosystem carbon inputs on soil microbial community structure can provide a theoretical basis for the microbial driving mechanism of soil fertility evolution and ecosystem rehabilitation of vegetation rehabilitation in degraded red soil. Our research focuses on a Schima superba pure forest recovered from eroded and degraded red soil in a subtropical region. Five treatments were set as follows: control treatment (CT), mycorrhiza (M), root + mycorrhiza (RM), litter + root + mycorrhiza (LRM), and double litter + root + mycorrhiza (DLRM). We used Illumina HiSeq technology to study the effects of different organic carbon inputs on soil microbial community structure. The results showed that all organic carbon input treatments reduced the total population of soil bacteria by 55–79%; M, RM, and DLRM treatments increased the quantity of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) by 25–37%, ACE index by 25–34%, and Chao1 index by 28–39%. Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the dominant bacteriophyta in the Schima superba pure forest soil. The relative abundance of Alphaproteobacteria decreased by 55% under LRM treatment, and Thermoleophilia increased by 81% under M treatment. The dominant fungal phyla were Basidiomycota and Ascomycota. RM, LRM, and DLRM treatments reduced the relative abundance of Sordariomycetes by 46–64% and increased the relative abundance of Mortierellomycetes by 251–615%. The order of effects of different organic carbon inputs on the bacterial community composition at the phylum level was LRM > RM > M > DLRM and that on the fungal community composition was DLRM > LRM and RM > M. Alphaproteobacteria, Thermoleophilia, Sordariomycetes, and Mortierellomycetes were the main microbial groups affected by changes in organic carbon inputs. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen were the key factors affecting the change of Mortierellomycetes. The bacterial community mainly affected the activity of soil acid invertase, while the fungal community affected the activities of various enzymes, with positive or negative effects. We concluded that the organic carbon inputs changed the species and quantity of soil microorganisms in the Schima superba forest, and the influence of organic carbon input on the fungal community structure was greater than that of bacteria.

Bacterial pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and exerts a significant burden on health-care resources. Antibiotics have long been used as first-line drugs for the treatment of bacterial pneumonia. However, antibiotic therapy and traditional antibiotic delivery are associated with important challenges, including drug resistance, low bioavailability, and adverse side effects; the existence of physiological barriers further hampers treatment. Fortunately, these limitations may be overcome by the application of nanotechnology, which can facilitate drug delivery while improving drug stability and bioavailability. This review summarizes the challenges facing the treatment of bacterial pneumonia and also highlights the types of nanoparticles that can be used for antibiotic delivery. This review places a special focus on the state-of-the-art in nanomaterial-based approaches to the delivery of antibiotics for the treatment of pneumonia.

In this study, polyamide (PA) thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membranes were fabricated via interfacial polymerization on cellulose acetate (CA)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) support layers. Several types of CA/PVDF supports were prepared via the phase inversion method. With increasing CA, the PVDF membrane surface pore size decreased and hydrophilicity increased. The effect of the support properties on the performance and formation mechanism of PA films was systematically investigated via an interfacial polymerization (IP) process. The permselectivity of the resulting TFC membranes was evaluated using a MgSO4 solution. The results show that the desired polyamide TFC membrane exhibited excellent water flux (6.56 L/(m2·h·bar)) and bivalent salt ion rejection (>97%). One aim of this study is to explore how the support of CA/PVDF influences the IP process and the performance of PA film.

Many materials are gradually softened with increasing temperatures in the fire, which will cause severe damage. As a new fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite, the change in mechanical properties of nanometer montmorillonite composite fiber-reinforced bars or plates at elevated temperatures has not been investigated. To obtain a more comprehensive study of the mechanical properties of FRP composites at high temperatures, experimental research on the nanometer montmorillonite composite fiber material under the tensile rate of 1 mm/min was conducted at target temperatures between 20 °C and 350 °C. Finally, the failure mode of the FRP composites after the tensile test was analyzed. The results demonstrate that the elevated temperatures had a major impact on the residual mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites when the exposed temperatures exceeded 200 °C. Below 200 °C, the maximum decrease and increase in the fracture load of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites were between −34% and 153% of their initial fracture load. After exposing to temperatures above 200 °C, the surface color of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites changed from brown to black. When exposed to temperatures between 200 and 300 °C, the ultimate load of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites significantly increased from 731.01 N to 1650.97 N. Additionally, the stress−strain behavior can be accurately predicted by using the proposed Johnson−Cook constitutive model. The experimental results studied in this research can be applied to both further research and engineering applications when conducting a theoretical simulation of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites.

The distribution of beddings varies greatly in shale reservoirs. The influence of beddings on hydraulic fracture propagation has often been studied using simplified geological models, i.e., uniformly distributed bedding models. However, the propagation processes of hydraulic fractures in shale reservoirs with complicated distributed beddings remains unclear. In this research, an outcrop-data-based bedding model of a continental shale formation in the Ordos Basin, China, is built. A mathematical model for fracture propagation is built using the discrete element method and is then verified by a hydraulic fracturing experiment. Reservoir-scale simulations are employed to investigate the influence of geological factors and engineering factors on fracture geometry. The study finds that beddings have significant inhibitory effects on fracture height growth; hydraulic fractures have difficulty in breaking through zones with densely distributed beddings. If a hydraulic fracture encounters a bedding plane with a larger aperture, it is more likely to be captured and expand along the weak interface. High vertical stress difference and a high fluid injection rate can promote the vertical penetration of hydraulic fractures through beddings and activate the bedding system to yield a complex fracture network. Increments in fluid viscosity can increase the resistance of fracture propagation, thereby reducing fracture complexity.

Rhodium (Rh) catalyst has played an indispensable role in many important industrial and technological applications due to its unique and valuable properties. Currently, Rh is considered as a strategic or critical metal as the scarce high-quality purity can only be supplemented by refining coarse ores with low content (2–10 ppm) and is far from meeting the fast-growing market demand. Nowadays, exploring new prospects has already become an urgent issue because of the gradual depletion of Rh resources, incidental pressure on environmental protection, and high market prices. Since waste catalyst materials, industrial equipment, and electronic instruments contain Rh with a higher concentration than that of natural minerals, recovering Rh from scrap not only offers an additional source to satisfy market demand but also reduces the risk of ore over-exploitation. Therefore, the recovery of Rh-based catalysts from scrap is of great significance. This review provides an overview of the Rh metal recovery from spent catalysts. The characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of several current recovery processes, including pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and biosorption technology, are presented and compared. Among them, the hydrometallurgical process is commonly used for Rh recovery from auto catalysts due to its technological simplicity, low cost, and short processing time, but the overall recovery rate is low due to its high remnant Rh within the insoluble residue and the unstable leaching. In contrast, higher Rh recovery and less effluent discharge can be ensured by a pyrometallurgical process which therefore is widely employed in industry to extract precious metals from spent catalysts. However, the related procedure is quite complex, leading to an expensive hardware investment, high energy consumption, long recovery cycles, and inevitable difficulties in controlling contamination in practice. Compared to conventional recovery methods, the biosorption process is considered to be a cost-effective biological route for Rh recovery owing to its intrinsic merits, e.g., low operation costs, small volume, and low amount of chemicals and biological sludge to be treated. Finally, we summarize the challenges and prospect of these three recovery processes in the hope that the community can gain more meaningful and comprehensive insights into Rh recovery.

The realization of microsatellite intelligent mission planning is the current research focus in the field of satellite planning, and mission schedulability prediction is the basis of this research. Aiming at the influence of the sequence tasks before and after the task sequence to be predicted, we propose an online schedulability prediction model of satellite tasks based on bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) on the basis of describing and establishing the satellite task planning and solving model. The model is trained using satellite offline mission planning data as learning samples. In the experiment, the prediction effect of the model is excellent, with a recall rate of 93.17% and a precision rate of 92.59%, which proves that the model can be effectively applied to predict the schedulability of satellite tasks.

As social innovations that help to transition towards a more sustainable food system, alternative food networks (AFNs) in China have attracted much scholarly attention in recent years. However, studies of the community building behavior of AFNs at the micro-level in the Chinese social context are scant. Through in-depth case studies conducted between 2017 and 2021 and social network analysis, our study examines how founders of AFNs successfully facilitate community building among their customers. We find that in China, the traditional social-cultural construct, guanxi, plays a critical role in AFNs’ community formation and expansion. The study identifies a three-stage framework for understanding the community building process of AFNs. First, a group of guanxi of the same kind would form a guanxi-circle. Second, the initial guanxi-circle is enhanced and expanded to multiple secondary guanxi-circles. Third, these multiple guanxi-circles together and the interactions among them constitute the community of AFNs. We argue that to strengthen the community, AFNs operators should inspire key members to form secondary guanxi-circles by enhancing their cognitive trust and emotional trust.

P systems with active membranes, as a sort of basic P system, include in communication rules and out communication rules, where communication rules are controlled by polarizations. However, the communication of objects among living cells may be controlled by several factors, such as proteins, polarizations, etc. Based on this biological fact, in this article, a new class of P systems, named P systems with proteins on active membranes (known as PAM P systems) is considered, where the movement of objects is controlled by both proteins and polarizations. The computational theory of PAM P systems is discussed. More specifically, we show that PAM P systems achieve Turing universality when the systems use two membranes, one protein and one polarization. Moreover, the PAM P systems, with the help of membrane division rules, make the SAT problem solvable. These results indicate that PAM P systems are also a sort of powerful system.

A simple sample preprocessing method was developed for the quantitative determination of amantadine (AMT) in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry cubed (LC-MS3). The LC-MS3 system comprised a Shimadzu Exion LC-20AD HPLC pump coupled with a QTRAP 5500 mass spectrometer. First, the plasma samples were pretreated using acetonitrile as the extracting solution to precipitate protein. Next, amantadine and amantadine-d15 (AMT-d15) were separated on an Agilent Poroshell 120 SB-C18 column (4.6 mm × 50 mm, 2.7 μm) using isocratic elution with solvent A (70% 0.1% formic acid) and solvent B (30% acetonitrile) at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The total run time for each sample was 3 min. The system used triple-stage fragmentation transitions at m/z 152.2→135.3→107.4 for AMT quantification in the positive ion mode and m/z 167.0→150.3→118.1 for AMT-d15 quantification. The LC-MS3 assay was linear (r > 0.995) with a concentration range of 50–1500 ng/mL. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 50 ng/mL, and the intra-day and inter-day accuracies and precisions were less than 8.0% at all concentrations. In addition, the recoveries and matrix effect for AMT in human plasma were within acceptable limits. In terms of stability, AMT had no significant degradation under all conditions. All the results met the requirements of the guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for biological method validation. The novelty of the MS3 assay was that it presented a methodology with higher selectivity and sensitivity. This method was successfully applied to 44 human plasma samples, and the obtained quantitative results were compared with another liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring (LC-MRM) method. The Passing-Bablok regression coefficients and Bland-Altman plot revealed no difference between the LC-MS3 and LC-MRM methods, implying that the developed LC-MS3 method is a reliable and accurate assay for AMT determination in human plasma. These results are also a proof of concept for determining chemicals in biological samples by the LC-MS3 strategy.

Lithium metal batteries are emerging as the next generation of high-density electrochemical energy storage systems because of the ultra-high specific capacity and ultra-low electrochemical potential of the Li metal anode. However, the uneven Li deposition on commercial Cu current collectors result in low Coulombic efficiencies (CEs) and poor cycle life. In this research, we proposed the modification of ZnFx(OH)y on Cu foils to expand the lifespan. As-generated ZnLi alloy and LiF could promote uniform Li nucleation and deposition, thus resulting in an improved Li plating/stripping CE and extended cycle life. The Li-S battery with sulfurized polyacrylonitrile cathode and Li-ZnFx(OH)y@Cu anode (N/P ratio of 1.5:1) maintains 95% capacity after 60 cycles, proving the feasibility of ZnFx(OH)y@Cu for practical applications.

Lithium (Li) metal batteries (LMBs) have received extensive research attention in recent years because of their high energy density. However, uncontrollable Li dendrite growth deteriorates the battery life and brings about severe safety hazards. The rational design of battery separators is an effective approach to regulate uniform Li metal deposition towards boosted cycle life and safety of LMBs. Herein, we review the recent research progress concerning this issue, including mechanically strengthened separator fabrication, functional separator construction towards regulated Li ion deposition, and flame-retardant separator design. Moreover, the key issues and prospects of optimal design of separators are clarified for future development. This minireview is expected to bring new insight into developing advanced separators for long-life and safe LMBs.

Urban water security problems such as water scarcity, water pollution, and flood disasters have restricted the sustainable development of cities. In order to scientifically evaluate the urban water security situation, this study combined the DPSIR (driver, pressure, state, impact, response) model and HEVD (the hazard of disaster-causing factors, the vulnerability of disaster-affected bodies, the instability of the disaster-pregnant environment, and population loss) model to propose a new conceptual framework for DPEBLR (driver, pressure, environment, insecurity-affected body, loss, response). Based on this conceptual framework, 35 indicators were selected to establish an urban water security evaluation index system. In order to solve the problem of randomness and fuzziness of the boundary values of urban water security classification levels, the cloud matter element model was applied. Chongqing was used as an example for verification, and the results showed that the water security status of Chongqing City improved from 2011 (Ⅴ) to 2019 (Ⅱ). This indicates that the water ecology restoration project, centralized water source protection project, centralized water supply project, water-saving society transformation, and flood and drought prevention system construction project implemented in Chongqing has achieved significant results. However, Chongqing still faces the problem that the construction of an urban flood control system cannot meet the speed of urban development. The government should slow down the urbanization and allow the urban flood control system to be ready before the area is occupied. In addition, the awareness of water conservation for industrial use in Chongqing has been formed, and citizens’ awareness of water conservation for domestic use should be enhanced in the future.

The outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has again emphasized the significance of developing rapid and highly sensitive testing tools for quickly identifying infected patients. Although the current reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) diagnostic techniques can satisfy the required sensitivity and specificity, the inherent disadvantages with time-consuming, sophisticated equipment and professional operators limit its application scopes. Compared with traditional detection techniques, optical biosensors based on nanomaterials/nanostructures have received much interest in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 due to the high sensitivity, high accuracy, and fast response. In this review, the research progress on optical biosensors in SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, including fluorescence biosensors, colorimetric biosensors, Surface Enhancement Raman Scattering (SERS) biosensors, and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) biosensors, was comprehensively summarized. Further, promising strategies to improve optical biosensors are also explained. Optical biosensors can not only realize the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 but also be applied to judge the infectiousness of the virus and guide the choice of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, showing enormous potential to become point-of-care detection tools for the timely control of the pandemic.

Goats are an important livestock and goat meat is essential to local people. The intramuscular fat (IMF) content has a great influence on the quality of goat meat. The intramuscular preadipocytes differentiation is closely related to the IMF deposition; however, its potential regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. CircRNAs were revealed to be involved in multiple biological progressions. In this study, we took primary goat intramuscular preadipocyte (GIMPA) as the study model to verify the function and mechanism of chi-circ_0006511, which was abundant and up-regulated in mature adipocytes (GIMA). The results showed that the expression level of chi-circ_0006511 gradually increased in the early stage of GIMPA differentiation, and chi-circ_0006511 was confirmed to promote GIMPA lipid droplets aggregation and up-regulate the adipogenic differentiation determinants, further promoting GIMPA differentiation. Mechanistically, chi-circ_0006511 exerts its function by sponging novel-miR-87, thereby regulating the expression of CD36. The results from this study provided novel significant information to better understand the molecular regulatory mechanism of intramuscular preadipocytes differentiation, thereby providing a new reference for the intramuscular fat adipogenesis in goats.

CIPK (calcineurin B-like-interacting protein kinase) is a kind of serine/threonine protein kinase widely existing in plants, and it plays an important role in plant growth and development and stress response. To better understand the biological functions of the GhCIPK23 gene in upland cotton, the coding sequence (CDS) of the GhCIPK23 gene was cloned in upland cotton, and its protein sequence, evolutionary relationship, subcellular localization, expression pattern and cis-acting elements in the promoter region were analyzed. Our results showed that the full-length CDS of GhCIPK23 was 1368 bp, encoding a protein with 455 amino acids. The molecular weight and isoelectric point of this protein were 50.83 KDa and 8.94, respectively. The GhCIPK23 protein contained a conserved N-terminal protein kinase domain and C-terminal regulatory domain of the CIPK gene family member. Phylogenetic tree analysis demonstrated that GhCIPK23 had a close relationship with AtCIPK23, followed by OsCIPK23, and belonged to Group A with AtCIPK23 and OsCIPK23. The subcellular localization experiment indicated that GhCIPK23 was located in the plasma membrane. Tissue expression analysis showed that GhCIPK23 had the highest expression in petals, followed by sepals, and the lowest in fibers. Stress expression analysis showed that the expression of the GhCIPK23 gene was in response to drought, salt, low-temperature and exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) treatment, and had different expression patterns under different stress conditions. Further cis-acting elements analysis showed that the GhCIPK23 promoter region had cis-acting elements in response to abiotic stress, phytohormones and light. These results established a foundation for understanding the function of GhCIPK23 and breeding varieties with high-stress tolerance in cotton.

Lacticaseicin 30 is one of the five bacteriocins produced by the Gram-positive Lacticaseibacillus paracasei CNCM I-5369. This 111 amino acid bacteriocin is noteworthy for being active against Gram-negative bacilli including Escherichia coli strains resistant to colistin. Prediction of the lacticaseicin 30 structure using the Alphafold2 pipeline revealed a largely helical structure including five helix segments, which was confirmed by circular dichroism. To identify the structural requirements of the lacticaseicin 30 activity directed against Gram-negative bacilli, a series of variants, either shortened or containing point mutations, was heterologously produced in Escherichia coli and assayed for their antibacterial activity against a panel of target strains including Gram-negative bacteria and the Gram-positive Listeria innocua. Lacticaseicin 30 variants comprising either the N-terminal region (amino acids 1 to 39) or the central and C-terminal regions (amino acids 40 to 111) were prepared. Furthermore, mutations were introduced by site-directed mutagenesis to obtain ten bacteriocin variants E6G, T7P, E32G, T33P, T52P, D57G, A74P, Y78S, Y93S and A97P. Compared to lacticaseicin 30, the anti-Gram-negative activity of the N-terminal peptide and variants E32G, T33P and D57G remained almost unchanged, while that of the C-terminal peptide and variants E6G, T7P, T52P, A74P, Y78S, Y93S and A97P was significantly altered. Finally, the N-terminal region was further shortened to keep only the first 20 amino acid part that was predicted to include the first helix. The anti-Gram-negative activity of this truncated peptide was completely abolished. Overall, this study shows that activity of lacticaseicin 30, one of the rare Gram-positive bacteriocins inhibiting Gram-negative bacteria, requires at least two helices in the N-terminal region and that the C-terminal region carries amino acids playing a role in modulation of the activity. Taken together, these data will help to design forthcoming variants of lacticaseicin 30 as promising therapeutic agents to treat infections caused by Gram-negative bacilli.