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Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum (S. Gallinarum) is an avian-specific pathogen responsible for fowl typhoid, a severe systemic disease with high mortality in chickens. This disease poses a substantial burden to the poultry industry, particularly in developing countries like China. However, comprehensive genome datasets on S. Gallinarum are lacking. Here, we present the most extensive S. Gallinarum genome dataset, comprising 574 well-collated samples. This dataset consists of 366 genomes sequenced in our laboratory and 208 publicly available genomes, collected from various continents over the past century. Using in silico prediction, we categorized S. Gallinarum into three distinct biovars. Regarding antimicrobial resistance, 238 strains (41.5%) carried antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) with a total of 635 records, while 232 strains (40.4%) exhibited multi-drug resistance. Mobile genomic elements (MGEs) serve as critical drivers for ARGs. Our dataset includes 5,636 MGEs records, with most MGEs belonging to prophages and plasmids. This dataset expands our understanding of the genomic characteristics of S. Gallinarum, providing valuable resources for future genomic studies to improve disease management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viruses constitute the most diverse and abundant biological entities on Earth. However, our understanding of this tiniest life form in complex ecosystems remains limited. Here, we recover 20,102 viral OTUs from twelve intertidal zones along the Chinese coasts. Our analysis demonstrates high viral diversity and functional potential in intertidal zones, encoding important functional genes that can be potentially transferred to microbial hosts and mediate elemental biogeochemical cycles, especially carbon, phosphate and sulfur. Virus-host abundance dynamics vary among different microbial lineages. Viral community composition is closely associated with environmental conditions, including dissolved organic matter. Concordant biogeographic patterns are observed for viruses and microbes. Viral communities are generally habitat specific with low overlaps between intertidal and other habitats. Environmental factors and geographic distance dominate the compositional variation of intertidal viromes. Overall, these findings expand our understanding of intertidal viromes within an ecological framework, providing insights into the virus-host coevolutionary arms race. The dynamic intertides, located between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, serve as a favorable habitat for exploring virus-host relationships. Here, the authors recover 20,102 viral OTUs from twelve intertidal zones along the Chinese coasts, with further analyses expanding our understanding of intertidal viromes within an ecological framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between protein kinases and their substrates are critical for the modulation of complex signaling pathways. Currently, there is a large amount of information available about kinases and their substrates in disparate public databases. However, these data are difficult to interpret in the context of cellular systems, which can be facilitated by examining interactions among multiple proteins at once, such as the network of interactions that constitute a signaling pathway. We present KiNet, a user-friendly web portal that integrates and shares information about kinase-substrate interactions from multiple databases of post-translational modifications. KiNet enables the visual exploration of these interactions in systems contexts, such as pathways, domain families, and custom protein set inputs, in an interactive fashion. We expect KiNet to be useful as a knowledge discovery tool for kinase-substrate interactions, and the aggregated KiNet dataset to be useful for protein kinase studies and systems-level analyses. The portal is available at https://kinet.kinametrix.com/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machining different types of complex parts requires changing speed of the motorized spindle to accommodate the various processes, resulting in temperature rise or decline and then causing thermal deformation of machine tool, which plays a significant impact on the machining accuracy of the parts. According to the Law of Conservation of Energy and Fourier's Law of Heat Conduction, the heat transfer mechanism of the motorized spindle is investigated. Based on the thermo-solid structure coupling theory, the analytic models of the temperature field and thermal deformation for the motorized spindle are established, and the thermal hysteresis phenomenon is explored by means of the case studies. The characteristic experiments were carried out under variable working conditions and the model parameters were identified using Genetic Algorithm (GA). The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed models for predicting temperature and thermal deformation of the spindle are validated which is applicable to compensate the thermal errors. Moreover, compared with data-driven modeling approach, our study needs lesser data for parameter identification, greatly saving the computation time in modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock abrasivity plays an important role in the machine design, construction scheduling, and budgeting of TBM projects. Establishing several faster and simpler estimation equations for the Cerchar Abrasivity Index (CAI) of rocks is, therefore, very important. This study investigated the correlation between the CAI and mechanical properties of rock, rock mass classification parameters, and machine performance. A TBM construction database including 159 tunnel sections is established. Several acceptable and practical estimation equations of CAI are developed using simple and multiple regression analysis (0.66 < R2 < 0.76). In this process, a normalized specific energy is proposed to evaluate the machine performance. The results show that the rock compressive strength and brittleness index are the most dependent parameters to explain CAI, and the estimated rock mass strength also indicates a close correlation. In addition, the contribution of a rock mass classification system and machine performance index for estimating CAI cannot be ignored. Finally, the estimation performance of the developed equations is compared and evaluated, and a new method for selecting an optimal model based on ranking is proposed. Since the input parameters of the proposed equations can be readily available at the project planning stage, they are very practical for TBM designers, tunnel designers, and contractors. Highlights: The correlations between the CAI and rock mechanical properties, rock mass classification parameters, and machine performance are investigated. A normalized specific energy index is proposed for assessing the performance of rocks excavation by TBMs. Several acceptable and practical estimation equations of CAI are developed using simple and multiple regression analysis. A new method for selecting optimal estimation model based on ranking is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tritium content in the surface water of the Suifen River in China was measured using an ultra low-level liquid scintillation spectrometer. In August and October, a total of 30 samples were collected (15 per month) The measured 3H activity concentration ranged from 5.08 to 9.75 Bq L−1, and the annual effective dose ranged from 0.07 to 0.13 μSv. These values are below WHO's recommendations, indicating no risk to human health. Although the 3H activity concentration was higher in October than in August, statistical analysis did not show a significant difference between the two months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dexmedetomidine (DEX) is a highly selective α2-adrenoceptor agonist with sedative effects on sleep homeostasis. Oxytocin-expressing (OXT) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus (PVNOXT) regulate sexual reproduction, drinking, sleep-wakefulness, and other instinctive behaviors. To investigate the effect of DEX on the activity and signal transmission of PVNOXT in regulating the sleep-wakefulness cycle. Here, we employed OXT-cre mice to selectively target and express the designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD)-based chemogenetic tool hM3D(Gq) in PVNOXT neurons. Combining chemogenetic methods with electroencephalogram (EEG) /electromyogram (EMG) recordings, we found that cannula injection of DEX in PVN significantly increased the duration of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in mice. Furthermore, the chemogenetic activation of PVNOXT neurons using i.p. injection of clozapine N-oxide (CNO) after cannula injection of DEX to PVN led to a substantial increase in wakefulness. Electrophysiological results showed that DEX decreased the frequency of action potential (AP) and the spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (sEPSC) of PVNOXT neurons through α2-adrenoceptors. Therefore, these results identify that DEX promotes sleep and maintains sleep homeostasis by inhibiting PVNOXT neurons through the α2-adrenoceptor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friction has been considered to mediate physiological activities of cells, however, the biological friction between a single cell and its ligand-bound surface has not been thoroughly explored. Herein, we established a friction model for single cells based on an atomic force microscopy (AFM) combined with an inverted fluorescence microscopy (IFM) to study the friction between a highly sensitive platelet and fibrinogen-coated surface. The study revealed that the friction between the platelet and fibrinogen-coated tip is mainly influenced by specific ligand–receptor interaction. Further, we modeled the biological friction, which consists of specific interaction, non-specific interaction, and mechanical effect. Besides, the results suggested that the velocity can also affect specific ligand–receptor interactions, resulting in the friction change and platelet adhesion to fibrinogen surfaces. The study built a friction model between a single cell and its ligand-bound surface and provided a potential method to study the biological friction by the combination of AFM and IFM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation and upgrading of traditional energy industries have increasing theoretical and practical relevance in today’s economic orientation of sustainable development. Many governments have tried to issue a batch of transformation and upgrading (TFU) policies with the hope of guiding traditional enterprises’ smooth change. However, there is a dearth of systematic research on the long-term effects of TFU policies, which is not conducive to improving those policies. This paper aims to study what TFU policies generate to concerned traditional energy enterprises in the long run from a perspective of capital asset pricing. Taking China’s coal-fired power generation industry, the typical and the largest traditional energy industry, as the sample, 318 TFU policies issued by the Chinese government and the relevant data of A-share listed coal and thermal power enterprises in the industry were collected. The Latent Dirichlet Allocation model was employed to categorize the TFU policies into six types, and then the Jensen alpha model was built to test the long-term effects of each type of TFU policy at varying lagged periods. The results show that under all the types of TFU policies, the Jensen alpha values of both coal and thermal power stock portfolios are significantly negative at each lagged period, implying negative long-term effects. Further statistical analysis shows that the Jensen alpha values of central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are stochastically larger than those of local SOEs under most types of TFU policies, indicating that central SOEs are generally less negatively affected. Moreover, the varying characteristics of the Jensen alpha values between coal and thermal power portfolios and between central and local SOEs were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the event-triggered finite-time state and output feedback H 2 / H ∞ control problem for discrete-time stochastic mean-field systems (MFSs). Firstly, for a class of MFSs with external interference signals and stochastic white noise, the H 2 and H ∞ performance functions are given, which contain some mathematical expectation terms. In order to reduce communication burden and network congestion, a novel event-triggered mechanism (ETM) is constructed, which has a minimum triggering interval to effectively avoid Zeno behavior. Next, by constructing two novel Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals (LKFs), some sufficient conditions for stochastic MFSs to satisfy stochastic finite-time (SFT) H 2 / H ∞ boundedness are established, and the minimum H 2 performance index upper bound of the system is found. Then, the control gains for the two designed controllers and the event-triggered strategy parameters are obtained by using the linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated through the performance of the designed controllers in a multi-particle system with 2000 interacting particles and a stochastic mean-field system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article studies fixed/preassigned-time synchronization in a fuzzy inertial neural network characterized by discontinuous activation functions and mixed delays. First, we adopt a more accurate method to calculate the settling-time. Then, we extend the result of fixed-time synchronization (FXS) to preassigned-time synchronization (PAS). Next, by designing event-triggered controller and applying the non-smooth theory, the stability criterion of FXS/PAS are obtained. Finally, in the simulation section, we illustrate the validity and practicability of the results by listing a specific example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive impairment is considered to be one of the important comorbidities of diabetes, but the underlying mechanisms are widely unknown. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is the most abundant water channel in the central nervous system, which plays a neuroprotective role in various neurological diseases by maintaining the function of glymphatic system and synaptic plasticity. However, whether AQP4 is involved in diabetes-related cognitive impairment remains unknown. β-dystroglycan (β-DG), a key molecule for anchoring AQP4 on the plasma membrane of astrocytes and avoiding its targeting to lysosomes for degradation, can be cleaved by matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). β-DG deficiency can cause a decline in AQP4 via regulating its endocytosis. However, whether cleavage of β-DG can affect the expression of AQP4 remains unreported. In this study, we observed that diabetes mice displayed cognitive disorder accompanied by reduction of AQP4 in prefrontal cortex. And we found that bafilomycin A1, a widely used lysosome inhibitor, could reverse the downregulation of AQP4 in diabetes, further demonstrating that the reduction of AQP4 in diabetes is a result of more endocytosis-lysosome degradation. In further experiments, we found diabetes caused the excessive activation of MMP-9/β-DG which leaded to the loss of connection between AQP4 and β-DG, further inducing the endocytosis of AQP4. Moreover, inhibition of MMP-9/β-DG restored the endocytosis-lysosome degradation of AQP4 and partially alleviated cognitive dysfunction in diabetes. Our study sheds new light on the role of AQP4 in diabetes-associated cognitive disorder. And we provide a promising therapeutic target to reverse the endocytosis-lysosome degradation of AQP4 in diabetes, such as MMP-9/β-DG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore paroxetine's effect on nerve growth factor (NGF), human neurotrophin-4 (NT-4), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in post-stroke depression. Ninety-two post-stroke depression patients from April 2021 to April 2023 in our hospital were selected and numbered 1 to 92 after enrollment. Forty-six patients with odd number and 46 patients with even number were, respectively, included in the control and observation group. In addition to basic treatment, control group was treated with flupentixol melitracen tablets orally, and observation group received paroxetine hydrochloride orally. The levels of NGF, NT-4, BDNF, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), homocysteine (Hcy), noradrenaline (NE), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) changes of National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). NGF, NT-4, and BDNF levels were compared between groups at T0, T1, and T2 levels were higher, and the levels at T2 were higher than those at T1, and observation group levels were higher (P < 0.05); NGF, NT-4, and BDNF levels were compared among groups, time, and interaction. 5-HT, Hcy, and NE levels at T0 were compared between groups; 5-HT and NE levels at T1 and T2 were higher than those at T0, the levels at T2 were higher than those at T1, and observation group levels were higher (P < 0.05); Hcy level at T1 and T2 was lower, its level at T2 was lower than those at T1, and observation group levels were lower (P < 0.05); 5-HT, Hcy, and NE levels were compared among groups, time, and interaction (P < 0.05). HAMD and NIHSS at T0 were compared; T1 and T2 were lower than T0, T2 was lower than T1, and observation group was lower (P < 0.05); HAMD and NIHSS were compared among groups, time, and interaction (P < 0.05). For post-stroke depression, paroxetine treatment can effectively improve NGF, NT-4, BDNF, 5-HT, Hcy, and NE levels and effectively reduce the degree of neurological damage and depression, which has high clinical application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the impact of post-thrombectomy isolated subarachnoid hemorrhage (i-SAH) and other types of intracranial hemorrhage (o-ICH) on patient's neurological outcomes. Methods: Stroke data from 2018 to 2022 in a tertiary care center were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with large vessel occlusion from ICA to M2 branch were included. Post-thrombectomy intracranial hemorrhages at 24 h were categorized with Heidelberg Bleeding Classification. Neurological impairment of patients was continuously assessed at admission, at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h, and at discharge. Predictors of i-SAH and o-ICH were assessed. Results: 297 patients were included. i-SAH and o-ICH were found in 12.1% (36/297) and 11.4% (34/297) of patients. Overall, NIHSS of i-SAH patients at discharge were comparable to o-ICH patients (median 22 vs. 21, p = 0.889) and were significantly higher than in non-ICH patients (22 vs. 7, p < 0.001). i-SAH often resulted in abrupt deterioration of patient's neurological symptoms at 24 h after thrombectomy. Compared to non-ICH patients, the occurrence of i-SAH was frequently associated with worse neurological outcome at discharge (median NIHSS increase of 4 vs. decrease of 4, p < 0.001) and higher in-hospital mortality (41.7% vs. 23.8%, p = 0.022). Regardless of successful reperfusion (TICI 2b/3), the beneficial impact of thrombectomy appeared to be outweighed by the adverse effect of i-SAH. Incomplete reperfusion and shorter time from symptom onset to admission were associated with higher probability of i-SAH, whereas longer procedure time and lower baseline ASPECTS were predictive for o-ICH occurrence. Conclusion: Post-thrombectomy isolated subarachnoid hemorrhage is a common complication with significant negative impact on neurological outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heavy metal cadmium (Cd) is a toxic and bioaccumulative metal that can be enriched in the tissues and organs of living organisms through the digestive tract. However, more research is needed to determine whether food-sourced Cd affects the homeostasis of host gut microflora. In this study, the snail Bradybaena ravida (Benson) was used as a model organism fed with mulberry leaves spiked with different concentrations of Cd (0, 0.052, 0.71, and 1.94 mg kg−1). By combining 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing with biochemical characterization, it was found that there were increases in the overall microbial diversity and abundances of pathogenic bacteria such as Corynebacterium, Enterococcus, Aeromonas, and Rickettsia in the gut of B. ravida after exposure to Cd. However, the abundances of potential Cd-resistant microbes in the host's gut, including Sphingobacterium, Lactococcus, and Chryseobacterium, decreased with increasing Cd concentrations in the mulberry leaves. In addition, there was a significant reduction in activities of energy, nutrient metabolism, and antioxidant enzymes for gut microbiota of snails treated with high concentrations of Cd compared to those with low ones. These findings highlight the interaction of snail gut microbiota with Cd exposure, indicating the potential role of terrestrial animal gut microbiota in environmental monitoring through rapid recognition and response to environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercury (Hg) is a persistent soil pollutant, and its toxicity can be evaluated using soil enzyme indicators. However, a thorough understanding of how the enzyme resists and remains resilient to Hg stress is essential, as it significantly impacts the accuracy of toxicity assessments. Therefore, it is worthwhile to understand the functional stability of urease in soil under Hg pollution. This study compares the effects of Hg at different concentrations and exposure times on soil urease. Results indicate that soil urease activity was enhanced in the first two hours under low levels of Hg pollution, decreased after six hours of acute Hg pollution, and reached its maximum reduction in 24 hours. The urease in fluvo-aquic soil, with higher soil organic matter showed higher resistance to Hg acute pollution than that in red soil. Over a longer aging process, soil urease activity gradually recovered with time. Hormesis effects were observed in red soil under high Hg stress after 30 days, showing the strong resilience of urease enzyme function to Hg pollution. The ecological dose, ED10, (the Hg concentration causing a 10% reduction in soil urease activity) ranged from 0.09 to 0.59 mg kg−1 under short-term exposure, and was lower than that under a longer aging process (0.28 to 2.71 mg kg−1). Further, aging reduced the Hg ecotoxicity due to decreased Hg availability and the resilience of soil urease activity. This indicates that the risk of Hg pollution estimated by soil urease as an indicator depends on exposure time and enzyme stability. These factors need consideration in heavy metal pollution assessments using soil enzymes. Highlights: Duration of contamination influences the Hg toxicity to soil urease. Short-time exposure to low-level Hg stress exhibited hormesis effect on soil urease. Soil urease resilience potential to Hg pollution depends on soil type. Soil urease shows strong resilience during the aging process in the presence of Hg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The punching shear performance of reinforced concrete (RC) slab–column joints with shearhead reinforcement was investigated to optimize shearhead reinforcement design. Nine slab–column joint specimens were designed with different flange thicknesses, web thicknesses, cantilever lengths, and anchor stud sizes. The specimens were subjected to reversed static loading tests to investigate their failure history and failure modes; measure the load capacity, deformation, and strain of the joints; investigate the influence of different design combinations on the punching shear failure mode and load capacity of the joints; and elucidate their failure mechanisms. Test simulation analysis and numerical parametric analysis were conducted based on the test results. The results showed that the shearhead enhanced the punching shear performance of the slab–column joint and improved the brittleness of the punching shear failure. Installing steel section flanges and anchor studs enhanced the synergy among the longitudinal reinforcement, steel section, and concrete in the joint, and increasing the web thickness and installing flanges both improved the punching shear capacity and ductility of the joint. The installation of flanges on the web of the steel section increased the ultimate load capacity by more than 40% and increased the mid-span displacement at failure by more than twice that of the specimen without flanges and the specimen with studs. Adding anchor studs to the web of the steel section increased the ultimate punching shear capacity of the RC slab–column joint by 25%. Using anchor bolts instead of flanges improved the punching shear capacity of the joint but was not as effective in improving ductility. Increasing the flange thickness to increase the load capacity had a marginal effect; the ultimate load capacity increased by only 7% when the web area increased by 2/3, and the shearhead did not enhance punching shear capacity if the cantilever of the steel section was too short. Finally, based on the existing code, test results and numerical parametric analysis results, a method for calculating the punching shear capacity of RC slab–column joints with shearhead reinforcement was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to fulfill the urgent requirements of functional products, circuit integration of different functional devices are commonly utilized. Thus, issues including production cycle, cost, and circuit crosstalk will get serious. Neuromorphic computing aims to break through the bottle neck of von Neumann architectures. Electronic devices with multi-operation modes, especially neuromorphic devices with multi-mode cognitive activities, would provide interesting solutions. Here, pectin/chitosan hybrid electrolyte gated oxide neuromorphic transistor was fabricated. With extremely strong proton related interfacial electric-double-layer coupling, the device can operate at low voltage of below 1 V. The device can also operate at multi-operation mode, including bottom gate mode, coplanar gate and pseudo-diode mode. Interestingly, the artificial synapse can work at low voltage of only 1 mV, exhibiting extremely low energy consumption of ∼7.8 fJ, good signal-to-noise ratio of ∼229.6 and sensitivity of ∼23.6 dB. Both inhibitory and excitatory synaptic responses were mimicked on the pseudo-diode, demonstrating spike rate dependent plasticity activities. Remarkably, a linear classifier is proposed on the oxide neuromorphic transistor under synaptic metaplasticity mechanism. These results suggest great potentials of the oxide neuromorphic devices with multi-mode cognitive activities in neuromorphic platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to objectively assess the effect of three surgical approaches for posterior uterine fibroid resection: transumbilical laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS), vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) in prone position (vNOTES-P), and vNOTES in the lithotomy position (vNOTES-L). A retrospective analysis was conducted on data pertaining to all patients who underwent vNOTES and LESS for single posterior fibroids at our institution from January 2023 to July 2023. Patients were categorized into three groups based on the surgical approach: vNOTES-P group (n = 30), vNOTES-L group (n = 17), and LESS group (n = 32). Comparative analysis was performed on the demographic characteristics and perioperative outcomes among the three groups of patients. All 79 patients underwent surgery without the need for conversion to laparotomy. There were no statistically significant differences among the LESS group, vNOTES-P group, and vNOTES-L group in terms of operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and perioperative complication rates. In the vNOTES-L group, two patients required conversion to LESS during surgery. Patients had faster return of bowel function (less time to flatus) in the vNOTES group compared to the LESS group (P < 0.05). However, three cases of postoperative infection occurred in the vNOTES group, while none were reported in the LESS group. Compared to LESS, vNOTES demonstrates significant advantages in alleviating postoperative pain, shortening time to passage of flatus, speeding recovery and enhancing cosmetic outcomes. Particularly, vNOTES-P for posterior uterine fibroid resection, as an emerging surgical approach, offers certain advantages in facilitating surgical maneuverability and reducing operative time, rendering it more suitable for posterior uterine fibroid resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression patterns of immune cells in renal cancer patients, including myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), regulatory T cells (Tregs), CD3 + /CD4 + T cells, CD3 + / CD8 + T cells, and CD3- CD16 + CD56 + cells. In addition, this study will explore the correlation between these immune markers and the progression of renal cell carcinoma and evaluate their potential application in predicting the therapeutic effect of renal cell carcinoma. Methods: In this study, 80 renal cancer patients who received treatment in our hospital from October 2022 to December 2023 were selected as the research object and 50 healthy people who underwent a physical examination at the same time were selected as the control group. All participants had a 3 ml venous blood sample taken in the morning on an empty stomach. All patients with renal cell carcinoma have been confirmed by histopathological diagnosis. Clinicopathological data including age, gender, BMI, clinical stage, tumor size and pathological type were collected.MDSC, Treg, CD3 + /CD4 + T cells, CD3 + /CD8 + T cells, the ratio of CD3 + /CD4 + T cells/CD3 + /CD8 + T cell and the expression level of CD3-CD16 + CD56 + cells were detected by flow cytometry. Results: Through the detection of flow cytometry, we observed that there was no significant difference in gender, age, BMI and other baseline characteristics between renal cancer patients and healthy controls, and the P value was greater than 0.05. However, in the analysis of peripheral blood immune cell subsets, including CD3 + /CD4 + , CD3 + /CD8 + , CD3 + /CD4 + /CD3 + /CD8 + ratio, NK cells, regulatory T cells (T-reg), polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSC) and mononuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSC) were significantly different between renal cell carcinoma group and normal control group (P < 0.05). Specifically, the expression levels of CD3 + /CD4 + and CD3 + /CD8 + cells in renal cancer patients were lower than those in normal subjects, while the expression levels of T-reg, PMN-MDSC and M-MDSC were relatively high. (2) In the flow cytometry analysis, the expression level of immune cell subsets in the peripheral blood of renal cancer patients was detected.The results showed that there was no significant correlation between the expression of CD3 + /CD4 + , CD3 + /CD8 + , CD3 + /CD4 + /CD3 + /CD8 + ratio, NK cells, T-reg cells, PMN-MDSC and M-MDSC and the sex, age, BMI and pathological type of the patients. These differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05).At the same time, CD3 + /CD8 + T cells, the ratio of CD3 + /CD4 + /CD3 + /CD8 + and the expression level of NK cells were not significantly correlated with tumor size and clinical stage (P > 0.05). However, the expression levels of CD3 + /CD4 + cells, M-MDSC, PMN-MDSC, and T-reg cells were statistically significantly different with tumor size and clinical stage (P < 0.05).There was a significant difference between these indexes and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). (3) The results of Logistic regression analysis showed that the low expression of CD3 + /CD4 + lymphocytes and the high expression of T-reg, PMN-MDSC and M-MDSC in peripheral blood may be related to the clinical stage of renal cell carcinoma. Conclusion: (1) Compared with healthy individuals, patients with renal cell carcinoma showed a significant decrease in CD3 + /CD4 + T cells, CD3 + /CD8 + T cells and CD3-CD16 + CD56 + cells, while the CD4 + /CD8 + ratio increased. In addition, the number of PMN-MDSC, M-MDSC and T-reg cells was significantly increased compared with the normal population, indicating that the immune system function of patients was impaired. (2) The expression levels of CD3 + /CD4 + , PMN-MDSC, M-MDSC and T-reg were different in tumor size and clinical stage. Specifically, the expression levels of PMN-MDSC, M-MDSC, and T-reg increased correspondingly with the increase in tumor diameter and the progression of the clinical stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Invadopodia facilitate cancer cell extravasation, but the molecular mechanism whereby invadopodia-specific proteases such as MT1-MMP are called to invadopodia is unclear. Methods: Mass spectrometry and immunoprecipitation were used to identify interactors of MT1-MMP in metastatic breast cancer cells. After identification, siRNA and small molecule inhibitors were used to assess the effect these interactors had on cellular invasiveness. The chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model was used to assess extravasation and invadopodia formation in vivo. Results: In metastatic breast cancer cells, MT1-MMP was found to associate with plectin, a cytolinker and scaffolding protein. Complex formation between plectin and MT1-MMP launches invadopodia formation, a subtype we termed iplectin (i = invadopodial). iPlectin delivers MT1-MMP to invadopodia and is indispensable for regulating cell surface levels of the enzyme. Genetic depletion of plectin with siRNA reduced invadopodia formation and cell invasion in vitro. In vivo extravasation efficiency assays and intravital imaging revealed iplectin to be a key contributor to invadopodia ultrastructure and essential for extravasation. Pharmacologic inhibition of plectin using the small molecule Plecstatin-1 (PST-1) abrogated MT1-MMP delivery to invadopodia and extravasation efficiency. Conclusions: Anti-metastasis therapeutic approaches that target invadopodia are possible by disrupting interactions between MT1-MMP and iplectin. Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT04608357 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have found that leader humor exerts an impact on employees' affection and cognition, thus promoting innovative behavior. However, the effectiveness of leaders in activating employees' motivation to innovate through the expression of humor, especially in stressful situations, is still unknown. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources theory and Emotional Contagion theory, we explore how leaders use humor to stimulate harmonious passion of employees and promote innovative behavior under two typical stressful situations of high performance expectation and team relationship conflict. The cross-level moderated mediation model is tested using data collected from 458 employees and 99 supervisors in 10 manufacturing companies in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. Our findings reveal that leader humor positively affects employee innovative behavior by fostering greater harmonious passion. Additionally, we discover that the effect of leader humor on harmonious passion is enhanced when employees are faced with higher performance expectation and greater team relationship conflict, which in turn generates more innovative behaviors. Our study focuses on the social attributes of leader humor, enriches the research on leader humor expression in stressful situations and unveils the effective pathway to promote employee innovative behavior from a motivational perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), as porous materials, have great potential for exploring high-performance electrochemiluminescence (ECL) probes. However, the constrained applicability of MOFs in the realm of ECL biosensing is primarily attributed to their inadequate water stability, which consequently impairs the overall ECL efficiency. Herein, we developed a competitive ECL biosensor based on a novel tightest structural ruthenium-based organic framework emitter combining the proximity hybridization-induced catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) strategy and the quenching effect between the Ru-MOF and ferrocene for detecting paraquat (PQ). Through a simple hydrothermal synthesis strategy, ruthenium and 2,2ʹ-bipyrimidine (bpm) are head-to-head self-assembled to obtain a novel tightest structural Ru-MOF. Due to the metal–ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) effect between ruthenium and the bpm ligand and the connectivity between the internal chromophore units, the Ru-MOF exhibits strong ECL emissions. Meanwhile, the coordination-driven Ru-MOF utilizes strong metal–organic coordination bonds as building blocks, which effectively solves the problem of serious leakage of chromophores caused by water solubility. The sensitive analysis of PQ is realized in the range of 1 pg/mL to 1 ng/mL with a detection limit of 0.352 pg/mL. The tightest structural Ru-MOF driven by the coordination of ruthenium and bridging ligands (2,2ʹ-bipyrimidine, bpm) provides new horizons for exploring high-performance MOF-based ECL probes for quantitative analysis of biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common healthcare-associated infection and the leading cause of gastroenteritis-related deaths worldwide. To investigate the effects of peptide composition of different protein products on CDI, we analyzed and compared the peptide sequences and compositions from Engraulis japonicus and Glycine max using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). An animal model of CDI was also established to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of these peptides in vivo. The peptide compositions of E. japonicus and G. max differed, with only 11% of the peptide sequences being identical. Oral administration of the tested peptides could reduce intestinal inflammation, repair the intestinal barrier, increase the proportion of beneficial bacteria, and reduce the proportion of harmful bacteria, providing a therapeutic effect against CDI. However, the peptides may differ considerably in some aspects. E. japonicus peptides were superior to G. max peptides in promoting colon epithelial cell proliferation and repairing tight intestinal cell junctions. Interestingly, the two sources of peptides have different effects on the cecal microbiome. E. japonicus peptides can effectively restore the diversity and richness of intestinal microbiota, while G. max peptides have poor regulatory effects on the intestinal microbiota structure. Overall, E. japonicus peptides showed better results than G. max peptides in treating CDI. This study supports the potential treatment of CDI with natural peptides and promotes the development of specialty foods for CDI enteritis. Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common healthcare-associated infection and the leading cause of gastroenteritis-related deaths worldwide. To investigate the effects of peptide composition of different protein products on CDI, we analyzed and compared the peptide sequences and compositions from Engraulis japonicus and Glycine max using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). An animal model of CDI was also established to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of these peptides in vivo. The peptide compositions of E. japonicus and G. max differed, with only 11% of the peptide sequences being identical. Oral administration of the tested peptides could reduce intestinal inflammation, repair the intestinal barrier, increase the proportion of beneficial bacteria, and reduce the proportion of harmful bacteria, providing a therapeutic effect against CDI. However, the peptides may differ considerably in some aspects. E. japonicus peptides were superior to G. max peptides in promoting colon epithelial cell proliferation and repairing tight intestinal cell junctions. Interestingly, the two sources of peptides have different effects on the cecal microbiome. E. japonicus peptides can effectively restore the diversity and richness of intestinal microbiota, while G. max peptides have poor regulatory effects on the intestinal microbiota structure.CDI is the leading cause of gastroenteritisrelated deaths worldwide. we compared the peptide sequences and compositions from using UPLC-MS/MS. An animal model of CDI was established to investigate the potential therapeutic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged as a pivotal tool for exploring cellular landscapes across diverse species and tissues. Precise annotation of cell types is essential for understanding these landscapes, relying heavily on empirical knowledge and curated cell marker databases. In this study, we introduce MarkerGeneBERT, a natural language processing (NLP) system designed to extract critical information from the literature regarding species, tissues, cell types, and cell marker genes in the context of single-cell sequencing studies. Leveraging MarkerGeneBERT, we systematically parsed full-text articles from 3702 single-cell sequencing-related studies, yielding a comprehensive collection of 7901 cell markers representing 1606 cell types across 425 human tissues/subtissues, and 8223 cell markers representing 1674 cell types across 482 mouse tissues/subtissues. Comparative analysis against manually curated databases demonstrated that our approach achieved 76% completeness and 75% accuracy, while also unveiling 89 cell types and 183 marker genes absent from existing databases. Furthermore, we successfully applied the compiled brain tissue marker gene list from MarkerGeneBERT to annotate scRNA-seq data, yielding results consistent with original studies. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the efficacy of NLP-based methods in expediting and augmenting the annotation and interpretation of scRNA-seq data, providing a systematic demonstration of the transformative potential of this approach. The 27323 manual reviewed sentences for training MarkerGeneBERT and the source code are hosted at https://github.com/chengpeng1116/MarkerGeneBERT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefit of high-dose melphalan followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HDM-ASCT) for multiple myeloma (MM) patients with renal insufficiency (RI) is debated. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of HDM-ASCT in MM patients with RIs, and the findings were compared with real-world data. The study included 26 articles, 13 of which were pooled for meta-analysis. We compared three different types of MM patients with RI against MM patients with normal renal function (NRF). These patients were: MM patients with RI at the time of transplantation; MM patients with RI at the time of diagnosis; MM patients with RI at diagnosis but with NRF at transplantation. The meta-analysis indicated that MM patients with RIs conditioned with melphalan ≤ 140 mg/m2 followed by ASCT had transplant-related mortality rates comparable to those without RIs. The complete response rates post-ASCT were similar between MM patients with RIs and those with NRF. Although progression-free survival (PFS) was statistically similar between the groups, MM patients with RIs had significantly poorer overall survival (OS) than those with NRF. The real-world data supported these findings. With a reduced dose of melphalan, ASCT is safe and effective for MM patients with RI. MM patients with RI have similar complete response rates and PFS after ASCT compared to MM patients with NRF. The lower OS in MM patients with RI indicates the need for further research to improve OS in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress (HS) poses a significant challenge to plant survival, necessitating sophisticated molecular mechanisms to maintain cellular homeostasis. Here, we identify SICKLE (SIC) as a key modulator of HS responses in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). SIC is required for the sequestration of RNA DEBRANCHING ENZYME 1 (DBR1), a rate-limiting enzyme of lariat intronic RNA (lariRNA) decay, into stress granules (SGs). The sequestration of DBR1 by SIC enhances the accumulation of lariRNAs, branched circular RNAs derived from excised introns during pre-mRNA splicing, which in turn promote the transcription of their parental genes. Our findings further demonstrate that SIC-mediated DBR1 sequestration in SGs is crucial for plant HS tolerance, as deletion of the N-terminus of SIC (SIC1–244) impairs DBR1 sequestration and compromises plant response to HS. Overall, our study unveils a mechanism of transcriptional regulation in the HS response, where lariRNAs are enriched through DBR1 sequestration, ultimately promoting the transcription of heat stress tolerance genes. SICKLE sequestrates DBR1 into stress granules to promote the accumulation of lariRNAs, which upregulate heat stress-related genes and enhance heat-stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a solid-state technique under low temperature conditions, Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped Bi2Mo2O9 phosphors with different concentrations were prepared, exhibiting excellent green up-conversion luminescence property. A thorough investigation was conducted on the phase structure, optical transition, up-conversion luminescence, and down-shifting luminescence properties of the prepared samples. Bi2Mo2O9: Er3+/Yb3+ phosphors excited at 381, 980, and 1550 nm showed strong green fluorescence together with very faint red emission. The mechanism of up-conversion luminescence and its capacity for temperature sensing were examined under the excitation of various wavelengths. Under 980 nm excitation, the maximal relative and absolute sensitivities were determined to be 1.107%K− 1 and 0.756%K− 1 at 303 K and 513 K, respectively. Furthermore, the Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters of Er3+ in Bi2Mo2O9: Er3+/Yb3+ phosphors were calculated using the diffuse reflectance spectra and fluorescence lifetime of Er3+. In addition, material was combined with polyacrylic acid to make an anti-counterfeiting pattern. The results indicate that Bi2Mo2O9: Er3+/Yb3+ phosphor is an excellent green phosphor with optical temperature measurement function, and it also has certain applications in the field of anti-counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a group-based social skills training program for adolescents on the autism spectrum. Although the program has been shown to be effective in improving social skills in autistic adolescents, evidence of its effectiveness from the Mandarin-speaking Chinese population is sparse. The present study used a non-randomized, pre- and post-intervention research design to investigate the feasibility and cultural validity of the program, as well as examine the moderators of intervention outcomes. Methods: Thirty-three autistic adolescents with intelligence quotient above 70 (Mage = 13.57, SDage = 1.43; Male: Female 25:8) and their parents received 14 concurrent 90-minute sessions. Adolescents' autistic traits, challenging behaviors, emotional functioning, socio-cognitive process, social environment factors (school support), and caregivers' well-being were evaluated. Results: The findings suggest that with minor adjustments, the Mandarin version of PEERS® was generally acceptable and feasible for autistic adolescents and their parents. PEERS® may improve the social skills knowledge, reciprocal communication abilities, and emotional well-being of autistic adolescents. Also, participants with a higher level of school support, and parents with lower perceived subjective well-being at baseline may gain more benefits from PEERS®. The cultural adaptation and acceptability of the Mandarin Version of PEERS® were discussed. Conclusion: This feasibility study (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2200061417, 2022-06-23, retrospectively registered) provides a basis for further randomized control trials of the Mandarin version of PEERS®. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a new variant of policy gradient method, named homotopic policy mirror descent (HPMD), for solving discounted, infinite horizon MDPs with finite state and action spaces. HPMD performs a mirror descent type policy update with an additional diminishing regularization term, and possesses several computational properties that seem to be new in the literature. When instantiated with Kullback–Leibler divergence, we establish the global linear convergence of HPMD applied to any MDP instance, for both the optimality gap, and a weighted distance to the set of optimal policies. We then unveil a phase transition, where both quantities exhibit local acceleration, and converge at a superlinear rate after the optimality gap falls below certain instance-dependent threshold. With local acceleration and diminishing regularization, we establish the first result among policy gradient methods on certifying and characterizing the limiting policy, by showing, with a non-asymptotic characterization, that the last-iterate policy converges to the unique optimal policy with the maximal entropy. We then extend all the aforementioned results to HPMD instantiated with a broad class of decomposable Bregman divergences, demonstrating the generality of the these computational properties. As a byproduct, we discover the finite-time exact convergence for some commonly used Bregman divergences, implying the continuing convergence of HPMD to the limiting policy even if the current policy is already optimal. Finally, we develop a stochastic version of HPMD and establish similar convergence properties. By exploiting the local acceleration, we show that when a generative model is available for policy evaluation, with a small enough ϵ 0 , for any target precision ϵ ≤ ϵ 0 , an ϵ -optimal policy can be learned with O ~ (| S | | A | / ϵ 0 2) samples with probability 1 - O (ϵ 0 1 / 3 ) . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu-doped Bi4O5Br2 photocatalyst was synthesized via a solvothermal method, and the influence of Cu doping on its structure, morphology, and photoelectric characteristics was comprehensively investigated by adopting various characterization techniques. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performance of the material was assessed through the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) under visible light. The characterization results demonstrated that compared to the intrinsic Bi4O5Br2, the introduction of Cu resulted in a decreased bandgap, an expanded visible light absorption range, an enhanced visible light absorption intensity, and improved separation efficiency of electrons and holes, thereby enhancing the photocatalytic activity. In the ciprofloxacin degradation experiment, 3%Cu-Bi4O5Br2 exhibited superior performance, achieving a degradation rate of 80.1%, which was more than twice as high as the intrinsic Bi4O5Br2 (53.2%). Moreover, it maintained excellent stability even after undergoing five cycling experiments. The free radical capture experiments indicated that h+, •O2− and •OH played a dominant role in the photodegradation reactions of ciprofloxacin. Finally, this study discussed the possible photocatalytic mechanism and deduced three degradation pathways of ciprofloxacin on the basis of the 8 intermediate products detected by LCMS. In summary, Cu-Bi4O5Br2 demonstrated remarkable photocatalytic performance and stability under visible light response, positioning it as a promising catalyst for future sunlight-based removal of diverse pollutants. The doping of Cu enhances the absorption of visible light by Bi4O5Br2, improving its photocatalytic performance. The photocatalytic degradation mechanism of Cu-doped Bi4O5Br2 photocatalyst mainly includes three approaches. The holes can interact with electrons in ciprofloxacin (CIP), thereby directly oxidizing it. Next, photogenerated electrons combine with dissolved oxygen to form superoxide negative ions, and some of these are further oxidized to produce hydroxyl radicals. Both superoxide negative ions and hydroxyl radicals participate in the degradation of CIP. Last, Cu2+ captures photogenerated electrons and transforms into Cu+, which promotes the reduction of dissolved oxygen molecules to generate superoxide radicals (•O2-), accelerating the degradation of CIP. Meanwhile, Cu+ can be oxidized back to Cu2+. This conversion is dynamic and continuously cycles as long as the illumination persists [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the associations between maternal parenting stress and children's social competence, along with potential moderated mediation mechanisms within Chinese parent-grandparent co-parenting families. The study involved 412 mothers of children aged 3–6 years, who completed questionnaires assessing parenting stress, the quality of the parent-child relationship, the co-parenting relationship with grandparents, and their children's social competence. The results revealed: (1) a negative correlation between maternal parenting stress and children's social competence; (2) mediation of the link between maternal parenting stress and children's social competence by the mother-child relationship; and (3) a moderating effect of the mother-grandparent co-parenting relationship on the relationship between maternal parenting stress and the parent-child relationship. However, no direct moderating effect of the mother-grandparent co-parenting relationship on the association between parenting stress and children's social competence was detected. These findings highlight the significance of considering the co-parenting context in examining the correlations between maternal parenting stress and children's social competence. Highlights: Maternal parenting stress was negatively linked with children's social competence in Chinese intergenerational co-parenting families. The mother-child relationship mediated the link between maternal parenting stress and children's social competence. Mother-grandparent co-parenting has a moderating effect on the mother-child relationship but not on social competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the aging behavior of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipelines, specifically comparing the Pipe Body (PB) and Butt-Fusion Welded Joint (BFWJ) under thermal oxidative and hydrothermal accelerated aging conditions. Our results indicate that the performance disparity between PB and BFWJ diminishes as aging time increases. We also find that the specimen type affects the quantity of polyethylene fibers, with hydrothermal aging significantly affecting the cohesive force among these fibers in both PB and BFWJ. These findings on differential aging processes of PB and BFWJ contribute to a deeper understanding of HDPE pipeline durability and offer practical recommendations for mitigating degradation risks associated with these disparities. This research underscores the importance of considering specific aging behaviors in the maintenance and reliability assessment of HDPE pipeline systems used in energy transport, industrial, and agricultural applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertension is a globally prevalent disease, but the pathogenesis remains largely unclear. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a nutrition-sensitive signal of cellular energy metabolism, which has a certain influence on the development of hypertension. Previously, we found a down-regulation of the phosphorylated (p-) form of AMPK, and the up-regulation of the angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1-R) and that of p-ERK1/2 in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of hypertensive rats. However, the exact mechanism underlying the relationship between AMPK and AT1-R in the PVN during hypertension remains unclear. Thus, we hypothesized that AMPK modulates AT1-R through the ERK1/2-NF-κB pathway in the PVN, thereby inhibiting sympathetic nerve activity and improving hypertension. To examine this hypothesis, we employed a renovascular hypertensive animal model developed via two-kidney, one-clip (2K1C) and sham-operated (SHAM). Artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF), used as vehicle, or 5-amino-1-β-d-ribofuranosyl-imidazole-4-carboxamide (AICAR, an AMPK activator, 60 μg/day) was microinjected bilaterally in the PVN of these rats for 4 weeks. In 2K1C rats, there an increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and circulating norepinephrine (NE). Also, the hypertensive rats had lowered expression of p-AMPK and p-AMPK/AMPK, elevated expression of p-ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2/ERK1/2 and AT1-R, increased NF-κB p65 activity in the PVN compared with the levels of these biomarkers in SHAM rats. Four weeks of bilateral PVN injection of AMPK activator AICAR, attenuated the NE level and SBP, increased the expression of p-AMPK and p-AMPK/AMPK, lessened the NF-κB p65 activity, decreased the expression of p-ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2/ERK1/2 and AT1-R in the PVN of 2K1C rats. Data from this study imply that the activation of AMPK within the PVN suppressed AT1-R expression through inhibiting the ERK1/2-NF-κB pathway, decreased the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, improved hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a challenging neurodegenerative disorder with limited therapeutic success. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), as a promising new source for AD, still requires further exploration to understand its complex components and mechanisms. Here, focused on addressing Aβ (1–40) aggregation, a hallmark of AD pathology, we employed a Thioflavin T fluorescence labeling method for screening the active molecular library of TCM which we established. Among the eight identified, 1,3-di-caffeoylquinic acid emerged as the most promising, exhibiting a robust binding affinity with a KD value of 26.7 nM. This study delves into the molecular intricacies by utilizing advanced techniques, including two-dimensional (2D) 15N-1H heteronuclear single quantum coherence nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular docking simulations. These analyses revealed that 1,3-di-caffeoylquinic acid disrupts Aβ (1–40) self-aggregation by interacting with specific phenolic hydroxyl and amino acid residues, particularly at Met-35 in Aβ (1–40). Furthermore, at the cellular level, the identified compounds, especially 1,3-di-caffeoylquinic acid, demonstrated low toxicity and exhibited therapeutic potential by regulating mitochondrial membrane potential, reducing cell apoptosis, and mitigating Aβ (1–40)-induced cellular damage. This study presents a targeted exploration of catechol compounds with implications for effective interventions in AD and sheds light on the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying Aβ (1–40) aggregation disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a worldwide public health problem. Interventions to delay or prevent the onset of RA have attracted much attention in recent years, and researchers are now exploring various prevention strategies. At present, there is still no unified consensus for RA prevention, but targeting therapeutic windows and implementing interventions for at-risk individuals are extremely important. Due to the limited number of clinical trials on pharmacologic interventions, further studies are needed to explore and establish optimal intervention regimens and effective measures to prevent progression to RA. In this review, we introduce the RA disease process and risk factors, and present research on the use of both Western and Chinese medicine from clinical perspectives regarding RA prevention. Furthermore, we describe several complete and ongoing clinical studies on the use of Chinese herbal formulae for the prevention of RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fog computing, specialized in handling latency-sensitive and resource-hungry tasks, emerges as a pivotal paradigm for Internet of Things (IoT). Task offloading encompasses judgment and forwarding. However, current research predominantly concentrates on the former, neglecting forwarding and the potential occurrence of errors in this process. Additionally, existing models commonly employ continuous-time queuing models. To overcome these limitations, we propose a task offloading strategy considering forwarding errors based on cloud–fog collaboration. The strategy aims to offload tasks according to a predefined offloading ratio. We incorporate forwarding error ratios for all tasks, prioritize access for latency-sensitive tasks, and devise a discrete-time queueing model. Through numerical experiments, we analyze performance trends with offloading ratio. Additionally, a system profit function is employed to ascertain the optimal offloading ratio balancing the key metrics. Our findings underscore the significant advantages of cloud–fog collaboration over traditional pure cloud computing, notably increasing throughput rate while decreasing the blocking rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic autoimmune disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of serum IL-36γ in AS patients and their association with AS. The study enrolled 131 subjects, including 45 with active AS, 46 with inactive AS, and 40 healthy controls (HCs). The basic clinical information of each participant was obtained through physical examination and relevant clinical medical records. Serum IL-36γ levels were detected through an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum IL-36γ levels in the active AS group were significantly higher than those in the HC group (94.72 vs. 65.76 pg/mL, P = 0.0087). The serum IL-36γ concentration in the inactive AS group was increased as compared to that in the HC group (100.90 vs. 65.76 pg/mL, P = 0.0138). Correlation analysis indicated that serum IL-36γ was positively correlated with glutamyl transferase in the active AS group (P = 0.0172), while serum IL-36γ was positively correlated with uric acid in the inactive AS group (P = 0.0151). The area under the curve (AUC) for IL-36γ was 0.6824 (P = 0.0009), and the AUC for IL-36γ combined with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels was 0.8102 (P < 0.0001), according to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. This study found that serum IL-36γ levels were elevated in AS patients and correlated with disease activity. Our results suggest that IL-36γ may be involved in the progression of AS disease and is a potential biomarker for AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benzothiazole derivatives have high biological activity potential and are present in many natural and medicinal products. For these reasons, the synthesis of benzothiazoles is very important in organic synthesis. In this synthetic approach, we found that the utilization of Fe3O4@DOP-Amide/Imid-CuCl2 nanocomposite in the presence of KOAc in ChCl-Urea as solvent is an eco-friendly and efficient catalytic system for the synthesis of 2-aryl benzothiazoles through one-pot three-component reactions of 2-iodoaniline and aromatic aldehydes with thiourea as sulfur source. Under this catalytic system, a broad spectrum of 2-aryl benzothiazoles were successfully synthesized with high to excellent yields. Compared to the reported catalysts or magnetic nanocatalysts, the Fe3O4@DOP-Amide/Imid-CuCl2 nanocatalyst has the following series of features: design of a magnetic ligand through ammonolysis reaction, high magnetic property of the Fe3O4@DOP-Amide/Imid-CuCl2 nanocatalyst, high catalytic activity in the synthesis of benzothiazole derivatives, reusability and high stability of the synthesized magnetic catalyst. The SEM, VSM, BET, and ICP-OES techniques revealed that the recovered Fe3O4@DOP-Amide/Imid-CuCl2 catalyst (after 8 times) had high stability because the magnetic nature, structure, and surface of the recovered catalyst was similar to the fresh catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The WRKY gene family is an important class of transcription factors in higher plants that play key roles in secondary metabolism, phytohormone signaling, plant defense responses, and abiotic stress responses. The WRKY gene family has not been systematically studied in Passiflora edulis, a tropical fruit with edible and medicinal values. In this study, we performed a genome-wide analysis of passion fruit and identified 58 candidate PeWRKY genes distributed unevenly on nine chromosomes of passion fruit. Phylogenetic and gene structure analyses showed that members of the PeWRKY gene family could be categorized into three groups: class I (9), class II (40), and class III (9). Promoter and target gene prediction analyses indicated that the PeWRKY gene may be involved in various biological processes, including growth and development, metabolism, hormones, and stress responses, by regulating multiple target genes. The Ka/Ks ratios of PeWRKY indicated that PeWRKY may have undergone strong purification selection in the passion fruit genome. Tissue expression analysis showed that the PeWRKY gene was expressed in different tissues of Passiflora edulis, where the number and expression of the PeWRKY gene were more significant in the roots. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) showed that the relative expression of all 10 candidate PeWRKY genes was significantly up-regulated in leaf tissues after 48 h of drought stress compared with the control, and only PeWRKY55 and PeWRKY30 genes were down-regulated. In addition, at the time of biotic stress treatment up to 24 h, most PeWRKY genes were up-regulated after treatment, except the PeWRKY40 gene, which showed down-regulation. Three genes, PeWRKY02, PeWRKY30 and PeWRKY58, showed significant up-regulation of their expression after treatment up to 48 h. This study provides a valuable reference for the functional characterization of WRKY genes in passion fruit and other plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) of the orbit is a rare tumor that was first described in 1994. We aimed to investigate its imaging characteristics that may facilitate the differential diagnosis between SFT and other types of orbital tumors. Material and Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of patients with immunohistochemically confirmed orbital SFT from 2002 to 2022 at a tertiary care center were retrospectively analyzed. Tumor location, size, morphological characteristics, and contrast enhancement features were evaluated. Results: Of the 18 eligible patients 10 were female (56%) with a mean age of 52 years. Most of the SFTs were oval-shaped (67%) with a sharp margin (83%). The most frequent locations were the laterocranial quadrant (44%), the extraconal space (67%) and the dorsal half of the orbit (67%). A flow void phenomenon was observed in nearly all cases (94%). On the T1-weighted imaging, tumor signal intensity (SI) was significantly lower than that of the retrobulbar fat and appeared predominantly equivalent (82%) to the temporomesial brain cortex, while on T2-weighted imaging its SI remained equivalent (50%) or slightly hyperintense to that of brain cortex. More than half of the lesions showed a homogeneous contrast enhancement pattern with a median SI increase of 2.2-fold compared to baseline precontrast imaging. Conclusion: The SFT represents a rare orbital tumor with several characteristic imaging features. It was mostly oval-shaped with a sharp margin and frequently localized in the extraconal space and dorsal half of the orbit. Flow voids indicating hypervascularization were the most common findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peony seed is an excellent oil crop, and peony seed oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids needed by the human body. In this study, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), fingerprint, and chemometrics, the correlation between the content of inorganic elements in oil peony seeds, their origins, and varieties were investigated. Meanwhile, estimated daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), hazard index (HI), and carcinogenic risks (CR) were combined to evaluate the comprehensive health risks of heavy metals in peony seed oil. The results showed that the difference in the content of inorganic elements could identify the varieties of oil peony seeds. Sr, K, Ca, V, Al, Fe, Cu, Ba, As, Ga, Co, and Rb were the characteristic inorganic elements that played a role in identification. In addition, The THQs and HIs (< 1) for non-carcinogenic elements indicated no risk. The CRs indicated that the carcinogenic harm was negligible. The study concluded that three varieties of peony seed oil would not pose any health hazard. It provided an effective comprehensive method for the identification of oil peony seeds and predicted the potential health risks of edible peony seed oil, providing a reference for the development and consumption of peony seed oil food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies exploring the relationship between dietary potassium and magnesium intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have yielded inconsistent results and the lack evidence from rural China. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between dietary potassium and magnesium intake and the risk of T2DM in rural China. Data was collected from the Henan Rural Cohort Study in 2017. A validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire assessed dietary potassium and magnesium intake. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the effect of dietary potassium, magnesium and the potassium-magnesium ratio on the risk of T2DM. A total of 38384 individuals were included in the study, and 3616 participants developed T2DM. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the OR (95% CI) of the highest versus dietary potassium and magnesium and potassium-magnesium ratio intakes were 0.67 (0.59, 0.75), 0.76 (0.67, 0.88), and 0.57 (0.50, 0.66), respectively, compared to the subjects with the lowest quartile of intakes. In addition, gender partially influences the relationship between dietary magnesium and T2DM prevalence (P-interaction = 0.042). The group with the highest dietary potassium and dietary magnesium intake had the lowest risk of T2DM, with an OR (95% CI) of 0.63 (0.51-0.77). Dietary potassium and magnesium intake are important modifiable risk factors for T2DM in rural China. Dietary potassium intake > 1.8g/day, dietary magnesium intake > 358.6mg/day and < 414.7mg/day and potassium-magnesium ratio >5.1 should be encouraged to prevent better and manage T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the assembly problems caused by the curing deformation of L-shaped composite structure, a simulation model of the curing deformation of composite part considering tool–part interaction was established. Firstly, the shear slip effect of the tool on the composite structure during curing process was characterized by setting the friction coefficient with the maximum shear stress. Secondly, the effects of composite anisotropy, material thermal expansion and contraction, and matrix chemical shrinkage on the curing deformation were considered. Finally, the cure hardening instantaneously linear elastic model was used to realize the curing deformation simulation calculation under the premise of effectively improving the computational efficiency. Then, the validity of the simulation model was verified by designing experiments of curing deformation of L-shaped structures with different thicknesses and different lay-up sequences. The experimental and simulation analysis results were compared with a maximum error of − 20.8% and an average error of − 7.35%. Results show that for L-shaped structural parts prepared by aluminum tool, the tool–part interaction exacerbates the curing deformation situation of the structure, and the structural stiffness plays an important role in this deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]